Friday Book Report: Teaching Yoga

Donna Farhi’s book Teaching Yoga:  Exploring the Teacher-Student Relationship outlines what ethical practice in yoga should be.  It discusses money, sex, boundaries, and confidentiality, among other things.  It’s also a short read, even with the exercises at the end.

Most of the books I read are useful for both fitness enthusiasts and professionals.  This book, obviously, is designed for teachers, but I suppose anyone deeply interested in one way to live out one’s yoga could find it interesting.

It is unfortunate that someone needs to remind yoga teachers (and other professionals in fitness, since I have read similar chapters if not books from both Pilates and personal training angles) about how to be a decent human being in the context of work, but there it is.  None of us is perfect and having ground rules out there is a good idea.

Let’s all be kind and good to each other while respecting each other’s boundaries.

Yeah, drink the water, too...

Recently, my health plan sent me a link to an article about five ways to improve my state of mind.  It passed my personal test for useful information on this topic:  it did not include a recommendation to hydrate, which in my opinion is a secret code for “We have no idea what actually helps, but we know drinking more water won’t hurt.”  Please note:  hydration is definitely important for keeping us healthy and cheerful.  I have nothing against hydration and in fact, I encourage us all to drink more water.

What struck me about the list was that two of the five things were directly related to fitness:  getting moving and getting enough sleep.  I realize that many of us think that these two things are diametrically opposed.  We feel that we either have time to exercise or time to sleep.  Sometimes this is true, but more often than not exercise improves the quality of our sleep enough and frees up enough energy that once we get going, we manage just fine.

Two more items were about screens and friends.  Unplugging from our tech and plugging into our real live networks both help us feel better.  The efficiency expert in me suggests grabbing a friend and heading out for a hike where there is no cell reception:  three items (four, if you count the improved sleep patterns from unplugging and moving) in one go!

(The last item was “Find your words.”  We all need help sometimes, but asking can be hard.  Please know I’m here to help…)

Minds and bodies work best together.  We can do it!

Weight a Minute!

For a bunch of reasons, weight lifting was off-limits to me for a while.  It feels so good to be back at it!  And, of course, there are frustrations.

Time off from weights means that I am not where I was when I stopped.  There is no special magic dispensation for trainers, so I have to work my way back up just like everyone else.  I get to be sore and tired and sometimes discouraged.  I have to talk myself into finishing (and sometimes even starting) workouts.

What motivates me is how I feel when I accomplish things.  I like to be strong.  I like to think of myself as a person who lifts weights and does hard things.

Finding the things that get us through the frustrations makes all the difference.