Intrinsic Yoga with Anita Hartman

Most people say they can’t practice Yoga because they are not flexible enough. Don’t let a stiff body be an excuse not to start Yoga. You should just start practicing from wherever you are right now. Don’t judge your practice by how far you can or can’t stretch. It is also important not to feel inadequate because you can’t hold a pose or it doesn't’t’ mirror a picture of a pose. Practice spreading your awareness through your whole body and let the journey begin.

Continued practice of Yoga brings long-term rewards for our body, mind and spirit – our combined physical psychological, and spiritual aspects. It also yields an instant feel-good effect. Our bodies were designed to move. Since many of us lead sedentary lives, we are missing out on the sort of limbering that comes from being physically active. It just feels good to inhabit a looser, freer body than a contracted, tight and bound-up one.

Any Yoga practice that helps you center yourself is rewarding. When you operate from a space that is close to your center, it is easier to be calmer and more focused. Being off balance is a huge source of stress. The real challenge in our lives is to manage to stay centered and respond appropriately to people and events while maintaining a sense of connection with ourselves.

Yoga brings a sense of expansion on many levels. It allows you to rediscover an internal sense of wholeness that, in our fast paced world, is often lost. If your body is restless and your mind is hyperactive you will find it difficult to focus; however, the right practice will work out physical tensions and calm both your mind and body. In contrast if you are lethargic, finding the appropriate practice will bring aliveness back to your body and refresh your mind. Every Yoga practice enhances your level of consciousness and creates a reversal of your current state or condition. Whenever you truly reconnect with yourself, you have the chance to appreciate your essential wholeness. If your Yoga practice expands you and gives you joy, then you have found the right practice for you.

Our personal relationship to food is an extremely important aspect of who we are and what we will become. After all, our bodies and brains are made from what we consume.

All food is energy. Fruit is water saturated with sugars, meat is water dense with blood and fat and proteins and fat is water laden with molecules of latent energy. We need some fat or else we perish.

Many people eat what their brains and taste buds tell them to and not what their bodies need. Learning to distinguish between the two sources of inspiration is a key to creating healthful eating habits.

For example, many vegetarians experience intense cravings for sugar. Eating sweets such as cookies or ice cream may temporarily ease the craving, but the cravings will return because the body wants something else which is usually protein, fat or a trace element their diet is lacking.

On the other end of the spectrum, heavy meat eaters are often prone to the use of stimulants such as coffees alcohol, or sugar because they feel the need for something to help them overcome the weight of lethargy that often accompanies the consumption of large servings of protein. Their bodies would appreciate relief from so much fat and protein and would prefer vegetables and fruit to caffeine and sweets.

Finding the right balance in our diet is necessary for a healthy body. Our bodies are intelligent about what food they need to function optimally with. When we are centered and calm we can sit comfortably and relaxed asking our bodies what they need in the way of sustenance. With practice, you will find your body will tell you what it needs.

“I woke up early today, excited over all I get to do before the clock strikes midnight. My job is to choose what kind of day I am going to have.

Today I can complain because the weather is rainy or I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free.

Today I can feel sad that I don’t have more money or I can be glad that my finances encourage me to plan my purchase wisely and guide me away from waste.

Today I can lament over all that my parents didn't’t give me when I was growing up or I can feel grateful that they allowed me to be born.

Today I can cry because roses have thorns or I can celebrate that thorns have roses.

Today I can mourn my lack of friends or I can excitedly embark upon a quest to discover new job relationships.

Today I can whine because I have to go to work or I can shout for joy because I have job to go to!

Today I can complain because I have to go to school or eagerly open my mind and fill it with knowledge and adventure.

Today I can dejectedly murmur because I have housework to do or I can feel grateful for shelter for my mind, body and soul.

Today stretches ahead of me, waiting to be shaped, and here I am, the sculptor who gets to do the shaping. What today will be like is up to me. And I shall decide what kind of day I shall have!”

“The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.”