Presence: Week 1 40 Day Challenge

Weekly Theme: Awaken to the Present  40 Days to Personal Revolution  Starts Saturday 8:00 am See FAQs below “There is no actual existence of the past and the future. All there is, is the present.” – Abhijit Naskar  “Live today. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Just today. Inhabit your moments.” – Jerry Spinelli “Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have.” – Eckhart Tolle Our focus this upcoming week is Awakening to the Present.  You can awaken your presence and be present in your asana practice, meditation, eating, and life in general.   Asana (Pose) Practice -- 20 Minutes. What is a 20 minute practice you could commit to doing this week?  It is recommended to do it in the morning.  A time and a place to practice is a great help.  There are specific poses in the book (40 Days to Personal Revolution by Baptiste)  Sun Salutations, Chair, Warriors, Boat Variations, Seated Pigeon, Twists, Seated Forward Folds, Happy Baby, Savasana.  What will your poses be?  This week pick your classes at the studio and register to commit and then schedule in your calendar your home practice days and times.  Grab your Log on our Blog.  You may want to follow it for more on these topics. It is reactivated for this .  Another post about the Laws Foundations to come tomorrow.  Meditation -- Awareness Style Meditation.  5 minutes each morning and evening.  Sit comfortably. Place hands on lap. Notice feeling of body, sounds, thoughts -- all as an observer. Then, focus on just the ebb and flow of your natural breath that is happening in the moment "Just this one breath."  Notice what comes up, when you drift away from the present and come back, starting over with a new breath.  (Tip: it can be helpful to pick a soft, quiet, 5 minute song or if you set a timer make sure it is a gentle sound.) Diet -- Becomng aware of our eating habits and needs.  Do you feel you have extra heat or cold in your body?  Do you dislike hot or cold weather? Perfer cold or hot food or drinks?  Does your personality run hot or cold? There are certain foods which are said to help balance these qualities. Do you feel you need to cleanse or build yourself up?  It is not mentioned in the book but there is a whole field of yoga, Ayurvedic Yoga, dedicated to  these types of things.  Are you interested in learning more?  Workshop opportunity!  Learn about your Doshas (mind/body types) and what to eat to help balance them.  Also how to approach your practice based on them.Let us know you're interested, hit reply.  Questions  --  Some from the book:   When in my life do I feel fully present? Where in my life am I hiding?   Also:  From Kim:   Where are you living mostly?  The Past? The Future?  The Present?   How does each of those places feel?   What does it look like when you are living there?  How does it effect your Present when you are some place else?   Some FAQs about 40 Days  Do I have to come to workshops?  We are offering this journey for you to participate in whatever way works for you. Come to as many classes and/ or workshops as you can (that could be one or many), read emails and blogs, do some home practice. It is your journey; we are here to support it.  Some workshops are donation based, some will have a set contribution.  All will have a portion that goes to Smilow.   Are Classes Styles Changing?  All teachers will still teach their style of classes with the opportunity to weave in the theme of the week.  There are weekly poses in the 40 Day program so they can be incorporated into the sequence.  For example, the first week practice is only 20 minutes long. These are meant to be daily home practices that progress.  At the studio we will support this by introducing some of the poses with modifications, which may be new.  We will also incorporate the theme of the week in to the asana practice as well as breath-work, meditation, relaxation. . . Do I have to buy the book?  You may find it helpful but we will be expounding on the themes every week so you will still get the benefit of exploring those themes.  The book may help you learn more and try more things like meditations, poses, diet.  We have some left at the studio or you can also order it online.