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I have a secret to admit. Sometimes I loose my appetite so badly that it’s hard for me to chew or swallow food. It’s usually due to the heat (or stress) but in this case the heat. So guess what I eat? Baby food! No silly not Gerber baby. I just made my own baby food. It’s delicious! Recipe: 1 sweet potatoe 1 green apple and an inch of ginger. Put it in the blender with a cup of water and voila! Laugh out loud all you want. My food taste goooood! #ieathomemadebabyfood #noshame #iamunique

I’ve been traveling a lot this summer and enjoying all the wonderful things that summer offers. Things like trips to the beach, stand up paddle boarding, swimming in the ocean, time spent with family and of course live music on the lawn. The list goes on.

I must also mention that there’s one more enjoyable thing that I love about summer and that is a cooling yoga practice.

I’m not one to follow the whole hype of hot yoga. I never have. It’s never worked for me. I’m already made up of fire (and lots of air) so while a cooling practice works for me, a hot practice doesn’t so much. Especially in the summer.

Summer is the perfect time to explore a more restorative or yin style yoga practice. In each of these styles the poses are held for longer periods of time, which allows one to explore the more calming aspects of yoga. These practices are also practiced in a cooler place. Plus, they leave you feeling refreshed and energized.

I have honestly always enjoyed a vibrant vinyasa class, but when I discovered restorative and yin yoga, I found balance. I found that on days where my energy needs to take it up a notch I can choose to practice vinyasa (maybe even in a warmer room) and when my energy needs to be more grounded then I can slow it down and stretch it out. To much of anything is never a good thing. To much yang makes one overly aggressive and to much yin spaces them out. Through the balance of yin and yang one can live more in sync with nature.

In Chinese medicine summer is connected to the heart meridian and in Ayurvedic medicine it is associated with pitta energy (fire). This means energy needs to be focused on the heart. It also means there’s already a lot of heat, which means chill out.

I’ve noticed this summer that there’s been a lot of aggression in the world with wars and bombings. I’ve also noticed a lot of aggression with people sending aggressive emails and spewing fire instead of chilling or cooling the conversation.

What if yoga (and life) were practiced in accordance to nature? What if we let ourselves warm up in the winter by building extra heat in the body and we cooled off in the summer by allowing the yoga practice to be like an air conditioner. Ahhhh.

In my opinion there would be less hatred and more love. More peace and less war.

May you be happy
May you be peaceful
May you be filled with joy.

Namaste

Mary Breath

Welcome to my page. I am so excited that I reached 600 likes on my Facebook business page so I am giving away 1 Free copy of my Yoga Matchups Game.
In order to qualify to win you must visit my Facebook Page and leave a comment on the post stating why you love yoga.
I’ll draw a random name on July 31st and I’ll post the winner.
Sending you good luck vibes!
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=739960126046287&id=342955282413442

Stop drop boat. #lakewiley #canoe #boatpose #yogaeverydamnday #marybreathyoga

When things come up in my life I turn to both my yoga mat and my journal. Both help me to get rid of the things that are holding me back from letting go and surrendering into the true essence of my soul.
Both are nourishing and hold space for what I need to let go of. Both practices offer me profound insight into my soul, which allows me to grow like a lotus.
The morning is when I often turn to these practices. I’ll meditate on my cushion and then write in my journal. Once I am done writing I step onto my mat and breathe it all in & breathe it all out…ahhhh…surrender.

It also feels good to write it out….

When others try and bring me down I see this scenario:

They are swimming in shallow waters watching others swim in the deeper waters. It’s unfortunate that they are being so small and shallow inside that they think that watching others in deep water will cause those to drown. All it does is put those who are in the shallow water closer to the wall and those who are swimming deep out into new territories.

How exciting for those who are swimming in the deeper waters to explore and discover new oceans and territories. How unfortunate for those who are in the shallow water to deny their potential of swimming deep and discovering the wonders of the ocean.

What if they allowed themselves to go deeper.
Perhaps I can help them to not be afraid of the depths.
Imagine what they’d find.

I’m so happy when I see my students learn new things. I was teaching swimming tonight and while teaching my yogi student how to tread water I said ‘use your mountain pose and draw your belly to spine. He did it and said ‘miss Mary Beth you are so right!’ He then proceeded to accomplish his swim goal. Yoga and whatever it needs to do 🙂

Exciting Announcement: starting on September 8th I will be teaching a kids yoga class at Okra for kids ages 6-12. Tumbleweeds will be held every Monday from 4:15-5:15pm in the downstairs studio. Another good part about this is parents can practice All Levels Vinyasa in the upstairs studio at the same time. Spread the word and bring your child to this fun filled class. Check out the events link for more information.
https://www.facebook.com/events/565632970211705/

Namaste Yay!
Photo credit: unknown

This is a fun and relaxing mindfulness activity you can do right outside of your door. Build a stone sculpture with rocks and pay attention to how it makes your whole self feel. Don’t focus on perfection. Just focus on being present.

Here’s my very first glitter jar. Check out this photo and notice the glitter moving.
This is a great tool to practice when needing to take a time out and pay attention to the subtleties of being.
Try making one too.

You’ll need:
Jar
Glitter
Water
Glue (clear is optional).

Pour a cup of warm water in the jar
Add glitter
Fill the rest with water

Once done practice shaking your glitter jar and notice the glitter moving downward and through the jar in unique ways. When your mind wanders bring it back to the jar.

Notice how your focus shifts.

Namaste

Mary Breath