Category Archives: Yoga
Things I Learned Over My Summer Holidays
Holy Moly. I’ve just finished my first class in six weeks. I’ve been practicing almost daily at home, but not in studio.Things I Learned Over My Summer Holiday, or Things I Really Learned When I Stepped Back Into Class:1. I’m… Continue reading
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Yoga From Your Neck of the Woods
In my neck of the woods, trees twist up through rock. Canadian Shield is the name of the rock that is our foundation as far as you can see. In some areas we’ve got soil – our cities are as… Continue reading
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Yoga From Your Neck of the Woods
In my neck of the woods, trees twist up through rock. Canadian Shield is the name of the rock that is our foundation as far as you can see. In some areas we’ve got soil – our cities are as… Continue reading
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Explosive Insight
I jumped into yoga last year with great expectations of increased strength and flexibility. I also had some notion that looking inward would be a part of it. Except for the astounding stubbornness of my left hamstrings, yoga meets all of… Continue reading
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Beyond Accidental Grace
I’m as acquainted as the next potato head with accidental grace: green lights on the way to work, finding one pair of clean underwear when the washer is broken and every other item of clothing in the universe is dirty… Continue reading
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Spectacular Change
I’m obsessed with menopause. Hot flashes, cataclysmic hormonal shifts, wonky sleep patterns, periods run amok before periods gone altogether – I feel I’m on the verge of something spectacular. My cycles became iffy for a time in my early 30s and… Continue reading
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Flight Plans
It’s back-to-school time. The leaves are turning, and the geese are gathering on the beach to discuss flight plans for the fall. I saw my son off this morning. At 21 years old, he’s off to Montreal to theatre school,… Continue reading
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A Beginner’s Love Letter To Yoga
If I were to write a love letter to yoga today, it would go like this:Dear Yoga,I know, I know, we were just on the mat together, but there’s something I’d like to say before we meet again tomorrow.We live… Continue reading
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Tagged Beginner's yoga, kristin shepherd, Yoga, yoga blog, yoga humor, yoga humour
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Yoga Trolls
The other day, my sister’s friend invited her to a different yoga studio for a class.
“I can’t do it”, said my sister. “I’d love to, but I’m not good enough. I suck.”
Fear shows up in funny ways. Tory pictures an entire class pointing at her and sneering.
This made me laugh for about four seconds. Then I realized that whenever a new challenge comes my way – going back to class after weeks away, trying a new kind of yoga, going to a different studio – my immediate, insane response is, “I can’t, I’m too fat.”
This is obviously absurd. There is no sign posted anywhere in yoga that says Stay Out If You Think You Are Pudgy. Nor have I met a yoga mat that hasn’t welcomed my solid thighs. (Oh my god, the mats are too small for my lardy bum! I’ll have to put four of them together!) Nor, come to think of it, have I ever encountered a yoga teacher who raises one eyebrow and says, “Oh, you think so, do you? If you were enlightened enough to be in my class, you’d be thin. Now stop crying. You can come to my Class For The Fat and Unenlightened.”
Absurd, excessive, twisted, completely un-constructive, I know. But these are the trolls that leap up from under my bridge when I’m facing something new and scary. Or old and scary for that matter.
I like stating my fear out loud. It looks more ridiculous than ever that way. Gives it a loving kick in the head.
I suck. I’m too this, too that. Do you have a fear that yoga brings to light? Would you like to kick it in the head?
Thanks to yoga for showing me where and how I’d like to be more fearless, and thanks to you for the conversation.
Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (about All Things Wonderful) from North Bay, Ontario. Join her on Facebook at Dr. Kristin Shepherd or on Twitter at kristinwonders.
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Tagged Beginner's yoga, kristin shepherd, Yoga, yoga humor, yoga humour
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Inner Teachers
One of you wrote a kind note to me recently in which you encouraged me to discover my “inner teacher” during my home practice. This might involve veering off the straight path I’d been on. What a beautiful idea!
Originally, my home practice was basically whatever I remembered from class, in much the same order we do our asanas in class. Not much imagination involved.
All hell has broken loose, since. This morning I thought, I’ve got to reign this in a bit or I’ll never be able to go back to class. Today’s practice looked like this:
I’m in flannel pajamas, which are far more comfortable than my yoga clothes. I sing show tunes during my Sun Salutations. My secret desire (not so secret now, I guess) is to star in Big! Musicals! I picture some Famous! Broadway! Producer! driving down my very quiet street in Northern Ontario and hearing my voice Soaring! out the front windows, singing, Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better, from Annie Get Your Gun. It’s a tough fantasy to maintain given that I am terrified to sing in front of anyone but my dog. I maintain it nonetheless.
I put henna in my hair today for the first time. It’s mucky, it stinks, and the instructions say keep it on for hours, so I do my entire practice with a goopy head.
Toward the end of today’s practice, which includes some completely invented dance moves (in case that Producer needs a Dancer!, not just a Fabulous! Singer!), I find myself saying, “Oh, yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah”, with each forward bend and each spinal twist. How did my practice become so loud?
Savasana, at the end of all this, is a quiet relief.
Is this my inner teacher at work? I don’t know. I understand that there is no mention of show tunes in The Upanishads, but something in my practice feels freer and more creative these days. Lighter.
Do you have inner teachers? Are they serious? Funny? Creative? Are they dancers? Singers? (Do you want to do a musical together?)
Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, speaker, and workshop wonderwoman in North Bay, Ontario. Join her at kristinshepherd.ca or on Facebook at Dr. Kristin Shepherd.
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Tagged Beginner's yoga, kristin shepherd, Yoga, yoga humor, yoga humour
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