Breakdown: Mountain Pose (Tadasana)

This pose is for anyone
who wants to learn
how to use yoga to help yourself.

I practice this pose so many times
throughout the day
that it's become a part of my being.
Lifting my heart,
lifting my spirits,
strengthening & stabilizing
my low back & upper back
and then some.
This is my favorite pose.

Quick tip-
If practicing in a chair and
your feet don't reach the floor-
use a prop to bring the floor up
to meet your feet.
You can use a block,
taped up phonebooks
(no slip n slide needed here),
or even a bolster to bring the floor to you.
Be able to plant both feet on "the floor".
You don't need to stand on them.

Practice it.
Practice it for 10 minutes one day.
Make it a game.
See how often you can "lift your heart"
and add yoga breath.
It becomes addictive-
Helping Yourself is Empowering.

Rock Your Practice!
Lemme know how it goes...
Xo- Suz


Many thanks to
Red Square Yoga Studio
in Seattle, Wa.
for donating the space to film for you!

Self Study- What Keeps Me Going?

Someone asked me the other day
why I do this.
What keeps me going.
Not just the blog, but the teaching,
the practicing, the attitude,
the damn she's still here-ness of it I suppose
still fighting
still talking & breathing
but
not giving up.

I've been thinking about it since asked.
I came up with some answer at the time
talking about I have no choice.
It's what I do &
I have this one life,
sure there's a huge part that makes it
more difficult in many ways but
I'm just glad to be here.

Then I started thinking about why I'm glad at all
why am I glad to be here
with all the awful things in this world
with the suffering of MS,
of others, of loved ones,
of entire societies.

I'm glad because this chance is mine.
I know those things are out there
& I know the impact of having MS.
I also know unconditional love & that
there are only some things I can control.
I've heard it said- that birth is a terminal illness.
It's true- if we're born then we must die eventually-
No one gets to contend with that.

So - Why ?

Because
I get an opportunity at a life until it ends.
not just any life- My Life.
There's a ton of things out of my control but
there's a ton of things I can do for myself
to make my ride more enjoyable.
Included but not limited to-
the blog and the teaching,
the practicing, the attitude,
the damn she's still here-ness of it
still fighting
still talking & breathing
but
not giving up.

It's your life-
how do you want to spend it?!
Rock Your Practice!
Xo- Suz

Developing Your Practice- Why do you wanna do this again?!

There are group yoga classes you can go to.
There are many of them.
I teach them & my friends teach them.
I love practicing with a group.
Group classes are great.

But.

By developing a home practice-
you are taking yoga to a whole new level.

At home- you can place your focus on what
best serves You that day.
Whether that's quenching an insatiable curiousity about breath,
exploring more about meditation in your practice
or adding mantras to help you with
whatever it is you want support for.

At home- you can practice whatever breath technique
best serves You that day.
Whether that's bringing calm to a frazzled system,
bringing balance to a body feeling unbalanced
energetically, emotionally or physically
or using techniques for sleep.

At home- you can decide which meditation would
best serve You that day.
Whether that's meditating to bring calm to the mind,
peace to the heart,
or to bring forward an answer you've been struggling with.

At home- you can choose to make each practice
best serve You that day!
There you can learn how & gain the confidence
to practice off the mat,
which most times,
we end up doing without noticing first.
You can learn how wonderful it feels
to help yourself by
using Your body & breath.
Yoga Empowers You.

Group classes are great for spicing things up.
For feeling the support in the room.
For having the availability of a great instructor
who can help you out with questions.
For doing something fun with friends.
And for deepening Your Personal Practice.

Don't just develop a home practice-
do that & more.
Make it a Personal Practice.
One that will change & shift focus throughout
your life.

What an Adventure...

Yes, You can!
Enjoy!
Xo- Suz