Blog
Mindfulness
| I was first introduced to mindfulness when a friend gave me Thich Nhat Hanh’s book The Miracle of Mindfulness back when I was living in China in 1996.
Thich Nhat Hanh, global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist and “the father of mindfulness,” died a few days ago at the age of 95 years old.
As my friend who introduced me to Nhat Hanh’s teachings texted me, “There is a person who has really helped decrease suffering in this world.”
Nhat Hanh taught mindfulness as a way to live in a state of peace.
Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us or inside of us.
Mindfulness is something that we already have within ourselves; still, mindfulness can be cultivated through sitting, standing, and walking meditation, through short pauses that we insert into... |
Pillars of Yoga
I have been extremely blessed to come across the yoga path in my life. The different aspects of the yoga system have fortified me and healed me in so many ways. Some of the pillars of yoga are: proper exercise, proper breathing, proper relaxation, a vegetarian diet, positive thinking, and meditation.
Meditation practice was my entry to the path of yoga in 1996. I have been practicing consistently for 25 years. Meditation helps me to quiet my mind and live more from the space of my heart. Meditators notice that with a balanced mind, we can stay more in control of our thoughts and emotions.
Positive thinking was my second step into yoga when I became a certified life-coach in 2006. In my training, we learned about how we create and attract the various aspects of our life with our thoughts. Training ourselves in positive thinking allows us to experience more wisdom and inner peace over time.
In 2007, I completed my yoga teacher training in which I learned about proper...
Finding Yoga
My entry point into yoga came in 1996 when I was teaching English in Beijing, China. I was teaching Chinese graduate students at a medical school. In general, the students were amazing, hardworking, humble, brilliant, funny, and pure.
In my spare time, I was looking for “something.” I studied Tai Chi with a teacher at five in the morning, I took buses for hours to study Chinese medical massage, and I read many, many self-help books. To aid my inner quest, I had almost no distractions. When I turned on the TV in my flat, all I saw was Chinese news or dramas in Mandarin (which I did not understand); it was the time before the internet and cell phones. I was open to new information and experiences to come into my life.
My first yoga teacher was my friend Barrie Risman. Barrie was also teaching English in China. She made a cassette recording of her yoga teaching for me, and I moved my body into yoga postures for the first time in my life, by myself, in my...
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The Yogic Diet
A yogic, plant-based diet is great for improving health, state of mind, and sustainability.
