YogaWoman: A Documentary

This documentary looks fantastic! I can't wait to see it. Check out more info here.


Yoginis out there who follow the blog, how does your yoga empower you?

Parisian

I'd wear a hat like this if I lived in Paris. Photo via Emily Takes Photos. 

I had breakfast with an incredible professor of mine from Northwestern. It was so fun catching up and enjoying crepes and coffee with her. Professor Vaux is about to pack up and head to Paris for three months. She and her husband are renting a flat in the Montmartre area.


We've been working on her book about Eastwood films and theology for over a year now, and I know I'll be missing her while she's on leave. But I'm also so excited just thinking about her sitting in Parisian cafes and working on her next book :)

Photo via Emily Takes Photos. 

Wouldn't it be fun to sit in the cafes of Paris while you work on your manuscript? I can just picture her there, enjoying the afternoon sun, a good book of poetry, a tiny cup of rich espresso, or an art exhibit at the Louvre.


Would you go abroad for a long trip?


I love reading about families who do. Like Gabrielle at Design Mom (she's in France, too), and David and Sarah (they've been traveling in the Middle East). Bonjour!

Photo via Etsy.

Focus Forward Friday: Rabbit Pose

Photo above via the Bikram Yoga Women's Retreat on Facebook. 

Photo below by yours truly!

Focus Forward Friday: 

A weekly ritual for deepening your practice.

Today's focus: rabbit pose. Anyone out there love this asana? It's the deepest forward fold in the Bikram series, and a great compression posture that comes pretty late in the floor series. 

I find that I have a love-hate relationship with this posture, mostly because of my tight cervical spine. I have to be really careful not to overdo it or go too far... yet at the same time, on days when my neck needs it, Rabbit can be the best medicine! It's one of the most healing postures I've found in Bikram.

My advice for those new to rabbit? Really put a lot of weight into your hands. Pull harder than you think you need to. And do use a towel over your heels. I know some studios teach against this, but that's disappointing to me. You don't want the chance of slipping and throwing your neck out of whack. 

Whatever your studio's dialogue style, be sure to take it slow in this posture, and don't expect results overnight. It can take a long time to feel the stretch move from your neck down your spine, but once you do it's totally worth it!

Photo via Bikram Yoga San Antonio.

Another tip: introduce your belly to your spine and really suck your tummy in. By clearing this space in your abdomen, you'll be able to stretch farther and with more ease. Like in Standing Head to Knee, this is a critical first step for this posture. And a reason not to eat much before class!

Rabbit is also great if you've got a cold or have thyroid problems (it's supposed to aid immunity and balance hormones). Score!

To read more about rabbit pose from Bikram headquarters, click here.

Photo via Bikram's site.

Finally, a little explanation about this series. I realized the other day it's not exactly clear what Focus Forward Friday really is, or why I started it. So I wanted to give you all the whole story :)

Photo via Threading in the Choirs.

Focus Forward Friday is a weekly reminder here on the blog. Its main purpose is to remind you of your own strength and that you have the choice to place your focus where you want it to be -- and that goes for when you're in yoga class or not on the mat!

Wherever you are, you have the power to focus forward. To focus on the present moment. To see yourself in the mirror, doing your yoga -- or see your true self, living your life -- wherever you are right now.

But only if you want to.

The series is also a weekly exploration of where a dedicated yogi should place his or her focus. Each topic I choose is meant to inspire you to think more deeply about how you use your yoga both on and off the mat.

You can think of Focus Forward Friday as a little party every week on the blog. Photo via Max Wanger.

The bottom line behind the series is to get you thinking creatively about how to live your yoga one week at a time. I hope it helps! 

If you have any feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below. Or chime in with a topic you'd love to see me post on next Friday! I'd love to hear from you.

Have a happy weekend, all. Enjoy spring time floating in the air! Get some time with your loved ones and go for a bike ride or have a picnic. I'll be enjoying some time in the hot room, with my Hubs, and with my cousins from North Carolina.

Namaste.

Photo via Sloan Photography.

Focus Forward Friday: Have Fun Doing Your Yoga

 Photos via FYeahYoga on Tumblr.

Focus Forward Friday: 

A weekly ritual for deepening your practice.

Today's focus: have fun! Sometimes yoga can feel so serious. Or scripted. Or formal. My challenge to you on this beautiful, bright Friday is to lighten up. Have fun with your yoga! Do a headstand just because you feel like it, not because it's required in class.

Play. Be lighthearted. Enjoy!

Focus Forward Friday: Get Sponsored to Do Yoga

Photo via Coffee and Yoga.

Focus Forward Friday: 
A weekly ritual for deepening your practice.

Today's focus: the blog sponsorship. Did you read my recent post on how you can get free classes, sweet yoga wear, green products, and a whole bunch of awesome custom yoga advice and motivation from yours truly?

If you missed out, here are the details again.

Who: any yogi, male or female, any age, any location, who practices any style of yoga (not just Bikram!).

When: apps due by the end of January (I can extend the deadline by a few days if you need a bit of extra time). Winners will be announced in early February.

Sponsorship may also induce happiness, relaxation and mind-body connection. 

Photos via Coffee and Yoga.

What: if you are chosen, you'll get a bunch of sweet perks. Free yoga classes (details to be determined). Lots of loot (yoga wear, cool products, treats from me and other blog partners). Excellent advice from an advanced Bikram student who's practiced a variety of styles and who's passionate about sharing yoga with others (and teaching one day!). Ongoing communication. The chance to write for the blog, promote it to your yoga community, and watch it grow. And much, much more! 

How: email me at aliveinthefire at gmail dot com for an application. Then I'll send you the form to fill out with more info on your background, your yoga practice, and what you plan to bring to the blog space and community if you are chosen. Note: you'll want to be sure to read the fine print and sign digitally before you send back. Photos welcome, too! I like being able to put names to faces, and if you've got a shot of yourself doing your favorite posture, that's perfect.


A quick note: only dedicated yogis need apply. I plan to choose someone as my go-to person for discussing yoga-related topics and creative ideas for the blog. I expect to find someone who's creative, fun, laid-back, punctual, hardworking, and kind. I want someone with extreme enthusiasm for their yoga, for the blog, and for making positive changes in their life. If you're not ready to make the commitment, please don't ask for an application.


Along the same lines: please feel free to use your creativity here! You'll need to fill out the application, but if you are so inclined to add to it, share the blog with your friends, increase the followers and invite people to check out the Twitter, by all means -- go for it! Going above and beyond won't hurt your chances :)


Are you ready to take your yoga practice to the next level? 


Contact me today. (aliveinthefire at gmail dot com)

This is not the end; there is no end in yoga. Photo via Coffee and Yoga.

The Little Ones

Photo by Anna Rummey of Rummey Bears.

Photo by Tyler Branch.

Today's post is the latest in the Beyond Childhood series, which features conversation about living love, putting your family first, and how to enjoy marriage and parenthood.

Photo (and all photos below) from the Little Sapling Toys shop.

Today I bring you Little Sapling Toys, a lovely Etsy site with all natural and safe infant and toddler toys. 


Shop owners Nick and Kimber would like to offer 10% off any order to all Alive in the Fire readers. Use the coupon code ALIVE10 when checking out (valid until February 14th).


More about the shop:
We all have a hand in design, production, business, or packaging in some way. During those necessary breaks we play hide and seek, eat, bike or jog. On Sundays we go to church, eat and play games together.

Toys: We brought life to the classic wooden teether by offering the widest selection of shapes available. We have designed and produced a solid selection of organic developmental toys and blocks. Our newest endeavor is the land of personalization with Blue, our laser engraver.

Our Philosophy: Here at LST, we are committed to quality toys and a healthy earth. We plant a tree for every toy sold, use FSC Certified hardwoods, recycled content packaging and participate in our local green power program.

Each toy is handmade in our workshop (which is in transition right now between Boise, Utah and Minnesota). We design our toys to help young children develop creativity, pattern recognition and fine motor skills. However, the most important toy any child can have is his or her caregiver. For this reason, our educational toys are most effective with interactive play.

Read more on Little Sapling Toys and keep up with their sales and giveaways on their Facebook page or their main site.


Get shoppin' for your little ones!

Check out this adorable stacking toy. And what a cute picture!

Little Sapling Toys makes a ton of cute teethers, like this guitar.

Or an airplane, if your little guy loves things that go.

Fun Findings: Yogi Uprising, A Giveaway, and The Perfect Photography Bag

Photo via Trevor Dye of Yogi Uprising.

I have some fun findings to share this afternoon. The first: Trevor Dye of Yogi Uprising, a San Francisco yogi and teacher who offers sliding scale classes (meaning you pay what you can afford).


He's all about getting yoga to the people and practicing anywhere, including the grocery store or the local park. 


Inspiring stuff! It reminds me: guys, you should submit your stories to the Real Men Do Yoga series! I would love to hear from you. Send an email to aliveinthefire at gmail dot com today.

Photos via Trevor Dye of Yogi Uprising.

Next up: a lovely giveaway from another blogger I love. Julie of Wearing Mascara is doing a challenge and using it to give to an amazing charity, the Tourette Syndrome association.


Participate, support her, and enter to win an amazing organic garlic cooking kit here!

Photo via Wearing Mascara.

Finally, I have discovered the perfect photographer's carrying bag via Sarah Rhoads, one of my favorite photographers of all time. I so want to get one of these for the Hubs!

Photo via Kelly Moore.

Check out Kelly Moore's site for more info on these handcrafted beauties!

What fun tidbits are you discovering out there today, yogis?

Focus Forward Friday: Share Your Story

Photo by farm1.static on Flickr Photo via Dudes Doing Yoga.

Focus Forward Friday: 
A weekly ritual for deepening your practice.

Today's focus: the Real Men Do Yoga series! I couldn't be more excited about launching this new feature on Alive in the Fire and I highly encourage you to write in and participate. Comment on the stories. Think about how gender affects our yoga, how we can change stereotypes, how we can make yoga an inviting and non-judgmental practice.

Then share your thoughts!

Have you considered your yoga story and what makes your practice unique? How has yoga transformed you?

Photo via Dudes Doing Yoga. Seriously, if you can do this, you need to write in!

I'm especially looking for guys who yoga to tell their story about life on the mat and what it's like being in the minority (or not) in class. I'd also love to hear from women who have compelling opinions about gender and yoga, who have guy friends and family who practice, or who have respect for their fellow male instructors and yogis.

I want the Real Men Do Yoga series to be electric and dynamic. I want it to get people talking, whether they practice or not (and maybe it'll bring someone to the mat who otherwise never would have planned to try yoga). I want it to be an ongoing conversation between yogis in a respectful, open and creative environment.

Most of all, I want to hear from you! Get talkin'.

Photo via Dudes Doing Yoga.

Find Your Peace

All photos are frames taken  from the film. Wondrous!

I just discovered this amazing video via YogaDork. Ever wonder what happens when a bunch of New York yogis decide to get together with the collective intention of creating more peace and happiness in the world?

Well, here you are.

Choreography and creative vision by Molly Lehman. Revery Media New York City. Song by Trevor Hall.

A pregnant woman practices on a rooftop. Two commuters stretch out before their train arrives.  A ballerina-like yogi does backbends by the water. This little film is full of beauty.

Let's Party

Oh yes, we shall dance.

Sometimes you're just walking along doing what you love and then BAM! it hits you. People are noticing.

Friends, readers, yogis, we've got an awesome little community of 40 here at Alive in the Fire and I couldn't be more grateful. I'm so excited to have you around and I sincerely appreciate your time, attention, and insightful responses on the blog.

I say, let's have a party when we reach 100!

And let's each go out and invite 10 people to follow the blog, and then we can party soon!

Now's a great time to introduce your friends, family, and fellow Bikram addicts to get involved and read along... so much joy (and free stuff) to go around.

As a way to thank you all for your support, I'll be featuring a few followers only giveaways in the next couple of weeks. And all you've got to do to win is add a follower to our happy bunch. Spread the word, and then comment about it (or have your friend do so) on any post so I know what's up.

Pretty soon -- bam! -- we'll be rockin' at 100+. Get to it!

Photos by my beautiful cousin, Joelle.

YogaEarth: For Rainy Days & Quiet Mornings

A lovely morning in the kitchen ends with a balancing drink from YogaEarth.

The dishwasher is humming, its cyclical rinse turning over and over.


Outside, rain patters on the windows.


The day is dark, kept, soft. It is a Saturday for small moments and hushed sounds, for making soup, for curling up and chatting with friends.


It's a peaceful, quiet morning here at home. The Hubs is off on a shoot, Nick's asleep on the couch, and I'm in the kitchen, moving effortlessly between bundt cake batter and wild rice salad, simmering homemade chicken stock on the stove as I finish up the dishes.


Before pulling on my wool socks and cowboys boots to brave the rain, I mix a quick drink. YogaEarth pre-practice mix (beet, apple & acai flavor) with goji, carrot and pineapple juice. I can picture myself on the beach in Puerto Rico. Refreshing. Their products are relaxing, nutritious, effortless.

Plus, they blog about yoga here. Thanks, YogaEarth!

Focus Forward Friday: Take Your Yoga with You!

Lindsay on top of a west-coast mountain doing Triangle. She is mighty!

Focus Forward Friday: A weekly ritual for deepening your Bikram practice.

Today's focus: travel! It's time to celebrate the upcoming trips that Hubs and I have coming up: Thanksgiving in Minneapolis, first week of December in Puerto Rico (for work), and Christmastime in California. I'm so excited!

I'm also thrilled to try some postures in exotic locations: maybe on the beach, in the woods, or even by a lake. Perhaps I can fit in a few classes at new studios.

Do you take your yoga with you when you travel?

Bailey at the beach. Love that Balancing Stick!

A graceful backbend.

My CA friend Lauren does a playful headstand overlooking San Francisco.

I love enjoying nature in an urban setting. Nice Standing Bow, lady!

Water, Water: Blog Action Day 2010!

 Photo by yours truly. Coast to coast, we can't afford to take our water for granted.

It's time to talk about water. I hope if you're reading this and are an avid blogger, you'll consider joining me for Blog Action Day 2010 (note the header that's been chillin' at the top of my homepage for awhile now! It's for a great cause, people!)

Anyway, water is important. You know this if you are a Bikram yogi or not: water is a life source. Sustaining, startlingly alive, and incredibly purifying, water helps us maintain a clean and healthy body, a renewed mind, a refreshed spirit.

Not only is it a physical necessity, but water holds its own spiritual significance. Often a symbol of purification, birth, simplicity, even eternal life, water is a sacred resource in our world today. A political, social and philosophically resonant entity, we should consider water a hot topic in societies around the globe, both those that have it abundantly and those who need it. 

Swimming? For the win. Thanks, water!

Thanks to Blog Action Day 2010, I'd like to share a few insightful facts and figures on the current state of water in the world. I would love your feedback, and feel free to share these freely with those you know!

Water as a Human Right: In July, the United Nations declared access to clean water and sanitation a human right over objection from the United States. Today, nearly one billion people lack basic access to safe drinking water. 

Uninhabitable Rivers: Today, 40% of America’s rivers and 46% of America’s lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life. That’s not surprising considering the fact that 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, storm water, and industrial waste are discharged into US waters annually. 

Food Footprint: Do you know the water footprint of your food? For example, 75 liters of water are required to make a glass of beer and 15,500 liters to make a kilogram of beef. 

Technology Footprint: On an average day, 500 billion liters of water travel through US power plants to power all the technology that we use every day. For example, that shiny new iPhone in your pocket requires half a liter of water to charge. That may not seem like much, but with approximately 6.4 million active iPhones in the US, that’s 3.2 million liters to charge those alone. 

Bottled Water: Even though people in the US have access to clean water from their taps, they drink an average of 200 bottles of water per person each year. Over 17 million barrels of oil are needed to manufacture those water bottles, 86 percent of which will never be recycled. 

You can make a difference.

If we all started small, the world could change in a flash.

I encourage you to take a few easy steps to ensure that you're leaving a light footprint:

• Drink tap water from a reusable bottle (made with safe plastic, of course!). Encourage yogis at your studio to do the same. Boycott the bottled water for sale!
• Use common sense at home: turn off faucets, do light laundry loads, use less while washing dishes. These little moments add up to a great source of water each and every day. Also adjust your sprinklers so they only water your lawn, not the sidewalk!
• Replace the shower head with a more water-efficient one, especially if you're like me and spend more than 10 minutes in there. Ask your yoga studio to do the same!

Hey, that's a pretty fountain. Fill your water bottle instead of buying plastic!

• Take action. Think about joining a group like End Water Poverty, who is lobbying national leaders and taking international action through campaigns like its new The World Walks for Water events (6km walks around the world where participants will demand that global leaders ensure real change toward clean water and sanitation for all). You can also check out their Facebook page, follow them on Twitter, or sign the pledge. Every little bit helps!
• Tell a friend, and have that friend tell a friend. Share this important message with those you know and love -- and those you don't know! Strike up a conversation at lunch with your coworkers today.
• Read some blog posts today. Blog Action Day 2010 is off and running! Check out more awesome posts here.

Help me change the state of water in our world to a happy ending. You can help! Namaste, yogis.