Hi there, yogis!

I missed you all last night! I couldn't be more thankful to Sunshine for subbing for me yesterday. I needed a chance to rest a little and catch up on the sleep I missed last week while I was fretting over the GRE. There's nothing like a little Sunshine on these rainy days. :) Speaking of the GRE, I will say that it went really well; but unfortunately, I was one point away from the score I needed. One point! Ah!! This is frustrating, but at the same time, I was pretty shocked over my scores to begin with. After I finished the test, I actually sat there and debated whether or not to look at my scores, because I am optimistic in that way. Alas, my curiosity got the best of me and as I sat there tallying it up, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. At the time of taking it, I only had a vague idea of what I was aiming for. It wasn't until yesterday when I spoke with my advisor that I had the somewhat disheartening realization of missing the mark by one point. I had dreaded this very moment, but in an odd way it just confirmed my dedication to the program, the school and the knowing deep inside that I am meant to be a counselor. It's funny, I never thought I would be applying to go back to school. I also didn't expect to care so much about this specific program. I had intended on applying to a safety school, I thought to myself that maybe I need a backup school; but, at the end of the day, even with my one-point away test score, I want to stay the course. Somehow the score just affirmed that I would rather keep trying for the program that I really want, rather than apply somewhere else. I am, in this moment, really thankful for everything this application process is teaching me. I feel beyond blessed to even have the opportunity to be considered for graduate school. I am taking the GRE again on Wednesday, December 9th. I have taken a little break from studying the past few days, but I am planning on jumping right back in. I just wanted to let you all know how much your support has meant to me throughout this process. I received so many messages of love and support the day of the test and I can not thank you guys enough. I am beyond grateful to know you guys, to be a part of Maitri and for the opportunity to share life with you all; to me that is what yoga is about.  In Libby's last post, she mentioned this idea that there are different types of yoga. Although, yes, it is true there are different types of yoga, there is this one underlying thread: yoga is a connection. I used to live in a lot of separation. For a long time, I think I had to. It was something I learned to do to protect myself at a very young age. When I started practicing, there was a moment on my mat when the teacher said, "don't judge yourself." I could feel the weight of the entire world being lifted off of what felt like, my very heavy shoulders and something in my heart softened. As a recovering perfectionist, I have spent a good portion of my life thinking I needed to be perfect in order to be loved. Yoga teaches us that this isn't true. Perfection is something that separates us, limits us and keeps us from living from our hearts. There have been so many things happening in the world recently because of separation. It's heartbreaking and the day I went in to take my test, I felt that in the grand scheme of things, it's pretty trivial to be so worried about one score. I guess, through this process I have had the overwhelming feeling that in order to do anything, we have to be for ourselves rather than against ourselves and that means, having the courage to remain connected to ourselves no matter what. It's easy to separate. It's easy to step into our fear, but through remaining connected we remain standing in truth and in love, anything else is just no good.

So today yogis, on this rainy Tuesday, I am sharing with you the commitment to staying connected. I am going to keep going. I am determined to keep trying and if Maitri is any indication of what lies in putting your whole heart into something, I know this: there is no failure.

My teacher says, our success is guaranteed. As long as we stay connected and live from our hearts, it doesn't matter whether you practice vinyasa or bikram, what matters is how fully we can say yes to our own humanness.

Sending you all so much love!

P.S. There is no advanced vinyasa with Nicole this evening; she is Spain!
P.P.S. I will be teaching on Wednesday, we will have both classes on Thursday. I will also be teaching Friday and maybe we should celebrate Maitri's bday at some point this month?


We will have light holiday classes next week and don't forget we have Nicole's Beginners Workshop. Tell yo' friends!

Love you guys!
-Sarah

Yoga: Only you can define it

                                                               

It’s All Yoga

by: Libby Young

When I first started yoga that’s what I thought it was: yoga. But whenever I talked 

about it with other people I began getting the question, “What kind of yoga do you 

practice?” I would blankly stare back and they would begin to ramble off names of 

countries? Desserts? Pig Latin? I had no idea what they were saying. 

Now that I’ve dove into the yoga pool, I know my way around from Ashtanga to Yin. 

But I still get that same question, “What kind of yoga do you practice?” Heck, I’m 

guilty of it too. I’m now of the philosophy that all those years ago, in my ignorant 

state, I had it right. I practice yoga. Not Kundalini, not Iyengar, not even Vinyasa, but 

Here at Maitri, we are a Vinyasa studio. But honestly, it’s just a name. If you attend 

classes with any of our instructors, you will experience snippets of many styles; you 

may not even be aware of it. It’s one of the reasons I love it here. So many 

practitioners get stuck in the philosophy of “my style is better than your style”. I’m 

here to say, that’s simply not true. Whether you regularly practice Hatha or Bikram 

or Restorative, it’s all yoga. And more importantly, it’s all worth experiencing. All of 

our instructors take what we love of every style, of our own experiences, and pour it 

into our classes, into our students. Because we all love yoga. Not just Vinyasa, not 

just Kripalu, or Jivamukti, or Power, or Yin, but yoga.

I always challenge my students to learn about the different styles and experience 

them. But more importantly, to realize that one way isn’t the end-all-be-all of yoga. 

It’s all yoga, folks. And practicing under that umbrella of knowledge will lead you to 

places in your practice you didn’t even know were there.

You vs. Yourself: Yoga Practice

By Libby Young

Self-competitiveness is an innate characteristic in all of us. Some more than others; 

but all of us try to push ourselves to be better. Self-competition is when we try to 

outdo our own selves. To take what we’ve accomplished and say “I can do better”. 

When we step onto our yoga mats, we all feel it; that drive to push our bodies 

further and deeper than we ever have before. Every pose is a new challenge. Every 

posture, a goal to beat. 

Is this a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Well, yes and no. Life is the great yin and yang, 

the big balancing act. And it’s no different on your mat. Pushing yourself in your 

yoga practice is important. If I didn’t push myself then my practice would consist of 

savasana for an hour and I most definitely would not be a teacher. Self-competition 

when focused can be a powerful tool to help you achieve things once thought 

impossible. However if I pushed myself too much, I would have very serious injuries 

not limited to: torn muscles, torn ligaments, herniated discs, even broken bones. The 

physical practice of yoga is an exercise and needs to be treated like one. Warm ups 

and cool downs, moving carefully and holding poses with the correct alignment. 

Pushing yourself too hard and too fast won’t help you be better, it will help you get 

hurt. 

So harness that drive into realistic goals for every practice. Take time at the 

beginning (even during Pranayama or breathing) to focus on one specific goal. 

Maybe it’s to hold a balancing posture longer or moving deeper into your forward 

fold; whatever it is, it should be singular. When we bog our minds down with 

becoming the best at everything, we usually accomplish very little. Progress is 

almost always made in the baby steps.  Most importantly, make it realistic. Don’t 

expect to back bend your body into a wheel when you are recovering from a slipped 

disc or put your legs behind your head when you can’t even touch your toes. We 

hear this phrase so much in yoga, but that is because it is an important one: LISTEN 

TO YOUR BODY. Know yourself; know your strengths and your weaknesses. So set 

your goals accordingly and keep that drive in check. And most importantly, be at 

peace with your current state. Often times when we set goals for ourselves, we think 

we should achieve them in a blink of an eye. Be realistic about the timeline as well. 

And forgive yourself even if you surpass it. Be okay with where your practice and 

your body is at on a day-to-day basis. It’s good to look towards a goal and to hold 

ourselves accountable and be disappointed when we don’t reach it. It’s bad to think 

that we can instantly achieve said goal and punish ourselves when we don’t reach it. 

Whether your goal is big or small. Break it down and assess it every day. Let that 

self-competitiveness drive you forward, not crash you into a ditch. We all want to be 

better and to achieve new things. Be aware, be present, and be conscious every time 

you practice and you will succeed.

Time To Breathe

By: Libby Young

Our brains on average make up only 2 percent of our total body weight. But did you 

know that it uses 25 percent of our body’s total oxygen? The kidneys use only 12 

percent and the heart, a meager 7 percent. 

Coined phrases like “Remember to breathe” or “Just breathe” have become more 

emotional placaters than they have biological reminders. Breathing is mental and 

emotionally soothing. It’s been proven to lower stress and reduces anxiety 

drastically and immediately. Breathing to get through pain, breathing to ease a 

crisis, breathing to calm the soul, and so on, is very important. But let’s also not 

forget to breathe for our bodies. 

“Of all the essential nutrients needed by the human, oxygen is the one we must have 

on a moment to moment basis. We can’t live without it even for a few minutes, yet, 

this is the one nutrient most people don’t associate with deficiency problems. 

Nothing could be further from the truth.”    -Raymond Francis

Think about the function of your brain. A little bit of play on words, but thinking is 

not our brains only function. Our brain is the operation system of our body. Of 

course it’s responsible for things like language, creativity, imagination, memory, and 

processing; but its more important role is the complete functionality of our bodies. 

Without our brains our bodies wouldn’t work. Our hearts won’t beat, our stomachs 

won’t digest, our blood won’t flow, much less the millions of other inner workings of 

our wonderful bodies are capable of. So what fuels our brains? Well we know at 

lease 25 percent oxygen does. 

Breathing has become so subconscious for us, that we don’t even realize how 

shallow or fast we breathe on any given day. We have become oxygen deficient. So 

while we might not remember every minute or even every hour to stop and breathe 

fully and slowly, breathe when you can. Establish a pattern of every morning taking 

5 minutes to take deep, slow breaths. Repeat it at night before sleeping. You might 

be surprised how quickly this can become a habit. Breathe when you remember to, 

in the middle of a meeting, on your lunch break, when listening to a friend. The great 

part about it is that no one will even notice! 

Let’s help our bodies by helping our brains. Keep using breath for emotional 

support, but take time in the day to breathe for our physical health as well. Enrich 

yourself with much needed oxygen; your brains will thank you for it!

Information Overload

Vegetarian, pescetarian, flexitarian, fruitarian, even breatharian, what does

any of it really mean? And the real question being: what are we actually supposed to

eat? With so much information out there, we suffer from a lack of it. There’s science

that shows harmful evidence against drinking coffee one week and the next week a

study has been done showing that drinking coffee can decrease your cancer risk. It’s

this same story across the board of food and nutrition. Eat this, don’t eat that, drink

this, but don’t drink too much of that, I’m beginning to think the breatharians have it

I’m not writing this to tell you what to eat or even how much. I want to talk

about information in the nutritional world. When I first began my journey into

nutrition, I felt lost. But if there were scores of books, articles, research papers,

documentaries, movies, and entire websites dedicated to nutritional information,

why did I feel this way? Most people, including myself, often surround themselves in

a fog when presented with an overabundance of information they don’t understand.

It’s not that we are too dumb to make sense of the facts; it’s more about the inability

to process all of said facts instantaneously. With the overabundance of facts about

nutrition, it’s no wonder that most people don’t process it all. So what can we do?

How do we understand what we are supposed to eat?


1. Start small.

Don’t expect to understand nutrition in a day. Food is a science. Just as you

would not be able to master the Theory of Relativity on your lunch break, neither

will you understand all theories of nutritional science. So begin with the basics. Start

to study the science; what is food made of, what are its components? Learn your

macros from your micros. Learn what enzymes are! Food is so much more than

what we pop in the microwave or pick up from the drive-thru. Study the origins.


2. Know your sources

As you begin to look deeper into the science of food, make sure that you are

reading the right material. This is not a subjective thing. If I’m looking at a website

called rippedmuscles.com and reading about plant protein versus animal protein

they may have some skewed facts versus Harvard.edu, which will have information

based on unbiased science.


3. Do the research yourself

Don’t be afraid to read research papers yourself. A wise man once told me,

“Data doesn’t lie, it’s the interpretation of that data that can lie.” Be broad in your

research as well. If you read an article or watch a documentary supporting

something, read or watch its counterpoint, and listen to the dissuading arguments.

Read and watch everything, then make an informed decision. You can’t intake too

much, I promise.


4. Get your hands dirty

As you discover more about nutrition, experiment with it for yourself. When

you begin making informational leaps and bounds, translate it to your life. Cook,

blend, chop, bake, plant, breathe, see what works for you. Give it a little time too. But

if it’s not working, then keep expanding. Don’t get stuck in a nutritional box.


5. Share and connect

Talk about your dietary discoveries and changes with friends and family or

even groups on social media. Having that support can make a huge difference. And

by reaching out, you never know who might share the same ideas as you do! Swap

facts, share recipes, have an experimental cooking night. Food is life, so it makes

sense to incorporate it into other areas of life.

Food is an amazing thing, not something to be misunderstood. Don’t let fad

diets and propaganda from industry fool you into thinking inside the box. Break

free, learn, grow, and make your own nutritional choices for yourself. Life can be

more than delicious; it can also be nutritious.

Information Overload by Libby Young check out her classes at maitriyogaarkansas.com

Have you Heard?

We have a new class on Tuesday evening!

Nicole Calhoun, someone I dearly love and a teacher I respect is teaching an Advanced or Level 3 class on Tuesday evenings at 7:15pm.

Often times, we think of advanced practice as doing all of these arm balances and handstands. However, an advanced practice is what you make it. As we begin practicing more and more we realize it's the subtleties in the practice, as well as being able to take care of and honor yourselves while practicing that makes it potent. Nicole might be able to teach you some fun and awesome ways to get in and out of poses, but the real advanced practice is in your own willingness to step out of your comfort zone and explore the depth of your own Self.

Take it from someone who used to be hesitant about walking into Level 3 classes, but takes master trainings... in those trainings we're not doing handstands, we're looking at the depth of our own humanness, because that's what the asana is trying to get us to do. It's not the pose that matters, it's where the pose takes you inside yourself. The deeper you go, the more we might find it challenging. Advanced is in the way you look at it.

Practice is what you make it.

Our teachers, just help to take us there. Your practice is your own. Your ability to do a handstand doesn't make you an advanced practitioner, the loving-kindness and compassion you bring to your body while trying, does.

Practice, practice, practice.

Love,
Sarah

Go-To List

Hi guys!

I hope you all are having a great week. One thing I get asked a lot about is what to eat in between meals, how I feel about gluten and what do I eat on a regular basis. Well, I will just say that wellness, diet, exercise, etc. is all an experiment. What works for your friend, might not work for you and vice versa. I don't believe in one diet fits all. We have a different chemical make up and we need to honor our bodies and its needs, without being in our heads or egos about what is "yogic," "healthy" or "unhealthy," because it's different for everyone.

Here are some of my go-to tips:

1. Eat fat. Yep. Think good fats: omegas, fatty acids. Your body needs fat, it's good for your skin and essential to a healthy brain and nervous system. I love walnuts, brazil nuts, almonds, avocados and Udo's oil introduced to me by Betina Henschell. :)

2. Water. Water. Water. At least two liters

3. Let's talk about bread for a minute. Currently, I would love a bread maker to make my own, but since I can't have one right now, I stick to pretty much gluten-free options. My FAVORITE is Canyon Bakehouse Bread that offer a variety. Check it out here: http://canyonglutenfree.com/. I also like Rudi's. The main thing with bread is to look at the ingredients. As they say, you want to be able to pronounce them.

4. Almond Butter

5. Cook a warm meal

6. Sip warm water with lemon. It's great for digestion.

7. Fresh fruit

8. Fresh veggies. I like to eat a lot of baby carrots, radishes, broccoli with hummus.

9. Dark Chocolate. I eat it every day.

10. Enjoy everything you eat, if you don't enjoy it, don't eat it.

Through the years, I have gone in many stages and phases of trying to figure out what I think "healthy" means. I found that a lot of these years were spent using my head instead of really being "in" and connected to my body. The thing I've learned is to listen to my body and nourish it. I think as a society our relationship with food has become very distorted. We love it. We hate it. We restrict it. We eat too much of it. We don't know what to do with it. I listened to a lecture through the Integrative Institute for Nutrition about how our relationship with food reflects our relationship to life. There is a really good book for any of you ladies out there interested written by Geneen Roth. Here is a link: https://geneenroth.com/books/
For you guys out there, it's imperative for you too to take care of yourselves. Another great video is from Brene Brown, Listening to Shame.

As a collective, we are here to support each other and the practice of yoga is to nourish you. Don't skimp on nourishing yourselves. You deserve your love and support.

Nourish yourselves.