Daily Practice?

People often ask me, especially lately as I have been living more time offline and away from social media, how often I practice yoga, and more specifically, what I practice regularly.

Rarely a day passes without some form of yoga, which usually includes these child’s pose side body stretches, ahhhhh….

I am also pretty addicted to lunges, especially a lunge twist, oh, how I love those. And I usually do at least a few sun salutations, and attempt to get myself upside down in some way or another. Some days have much more than other days. Some days much less. I certainly have had much bigger physical yoga moments than I am currently having, and I am working on this, trying to get back to a bit more. I miss it.  I definitely could do more of these….

In addition, every day I do breath work and breath focus, as part of or in addition to some form of mindfulness, if not a proper meditation.

As many know, including students in my classes, there are a lot of other ways to do yoga other than the physical postures many associate with “yoga,” and very often, those practices are just as important, if not more important than a downward facing dog.

I work hard to have integrity and balance in my practice,  and in my life as it relates to my practice. This is also my yoga. One pose at a time. One breath at a time. One moment at a time.

Videos at yoganag.com

Peace, practice, and pauses,
Daisy, aka Yoga Nag

Move. Breathe. Practice. 

​Less words. More action. More movement. More moving with breath. 

Grateful for ALL OF THIS, slow, juicy fireside flow. (Video at http://www.YogaNag.com)

Sweet warm up for my current pose practice. Also some pretty sweet company.


I share this in collaboration with #gratitudeandgrace. Day 3. Join us. 
Led by the wise & wonderful @dianazotos, in partnership with @proskoyoga @erica_mather @patricialadis @francescacervero @medicalyogamom @giuliapline @traceyvincel@arianayoga @yoganag

Love,
Daisy, aka YogaNag
http://www.YogaNag.com

A not so still life. 


Working at @earthtreks while one kid climbs, another sits nearby and does homework. And this mom stops for her promised daily wheel poses. Gonna get those in if nothing else. Yes, my computer and glasses in the foreground amongst the chalk. 

Grateful for capacity to create shapes with this body anywhere. Grateful for a life in mostly stretchy clothing. Grateful I don’t give a crap what people think of me when i #stopanddropyoga anywhere. Grateful for free wifi in smart, wonderful public spaces. Grateful for work I can do almost anywhere. Grateful for my wonderfully, diverse kids. Grateful for this squishy rock climbing floor @earthtreks. It is a GREAT work space for a yogi/writer!

Grateful to also be seeing what I am missing beyond a better wheel pose: a real practice, a long, sweaty one; a teacher guiding me through a wise and careful practice; less time multitasking; and a biggie, work for others beyond those in my immediate circle. 

I share this in collaboration with #gratitudeandgrace. Day 2. Join us. ‘Tis the season. 

Led by the wise & wonderful @dianazotos, in partnership with @proskoyoga @erica_mather
@patricialadis @francescacervero @medicalyogamom @giuliapline @traceyvincel@arianayoga @yoganag

Love,
Daisy, aka YogaNag
http://www.YogaNag.com

Challenge City

Birds in sweaters pigeon together.

I am joining two challenges today. One is easier (I think) than the other. The first is a #twinningchallenge 4.0 for 10 days that I get to do with my great friend, Lika Elwood, an amazing yoga teacher with whom I often get to co-teach (like this coming Sunday afternoon workshop at extendYoga). You will get to see us paired up in my nags, as above. Details on that challenge are below.

The second is the Willow Street Yoga 30-day meditation challenge. Details here: http://www.willowstreetyoga.com/30-day-meditation-challenge/

Which one do think will be harder for me?!

The awesome part is that together they show in a very small way the options for practicing #yogaeverydamnday. They act as a reminder of the breadth of yoga. And, when I say, every day: “Do yoga. Today. Everyday.” I am not saying: “Do asana. Today. Everyday.”  There is a lot of yoga to be had without striking a single pose, as another good friend, Juliet Glassroth, recently talked about on her wise and funny blog, Bitter Buddha. It isn’t just about snapshots of scorpion pose in a bikini, although those are all fine and good too, but can get tiresome every dang day. There are many limbs in this yoga business. Busting fancy or even sweet yoga poses aren’t all the yoga world has to offer. The poses are actually one of eight limbs that include a lot. But I am rambling and perhaps can provide more succinct words on this another day. For now, if you want to know more, get yourself one of the many translations of the Yoga Sutras.

In the meantime, be wise. Take care of yourselves, including your bodies, your minds, and all of the rest of you. Be mindful of others. Live well. Do your yoga. It matters.

Peace and pauses,
Daisy Whittemore
aka, YogaNag
http://www.YogaNag.com

#yogaeverydamnday #practice

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This #TwinningChallenge will be 10 days. You and your twin will both do any variation of the daily hosts’ asana you like and then split screen. Edit to your own taste and both post. BOOM. You just twinned! You don’t have to match our edits. Get crazy or keep it simple … it’s up to you. .Make sure you use the #TwinningChallenge hashtag in your comment so we can find you. You don’t have to tag everyone but please follow all of our generous sponsors. Check in with @yogalu123 and @ninayogalife tonight for our first pose.
Poses:Day 1 – Pigeon pose variationDay 2 – Standing backbendDay 3 – Forearm standDay 4 – Camel pose variation Day 5 – Lizard pose Day 6 – HandstandDay 7 – SplitsDay 8 – Wild ThingDay 9 – WheelDay 10 – Collage Twinning Sponsors: @muladharayoga@superlovetees@yogisurprise@handfulbra@liforme @openheartwarrior @yogapaws @ohmmeyoga @masonjarcoffeeco@21drops @infinitystrapTwinning Hosts:@ninayogalife @yogalu123@yogamand @buddhamom76 @nikki_possibilities @haley.blackman@collectiveyoga @angela_inspired@doodledog @lesliestorms@jsesti @reganwarner@heidiyogi @stephaniekicksbutt@justinyoga @briansword@karenroperyoga @mumma_joy76

 

Blizzard Prep, the Yoga Way

Snow salutations. Lots of grounding poses, opening hips and hamstrings. Even more balance work. All in prep for what is to come.

Stay safe, local friends. Enjoy the snow.

Do #yoga. Today. Everyday.

Peace,
Daisy, aka Yoga Nag

http://www.YogaNag.com
#practice #yogaeverydamnday
#homepractice #practicedaily #presence #snowday #snowsalutations #yogadog

Presence and Care

“The most important thing your student needs from you is your presence and care,” my good friend and teacher, Francesca Cervero, said to a teacher beginning to teach private clients. These words of wisdom have been rumbling around in my brain this week. These are also the most important things I need from me for me too: presence and care. Careful presence and presence-ful care.

Yep. Words to live by. Thanks Francesca. ❤️🙏🏼❤️

Do #yoga. Today. Everyday.

Peace,
Daisy, aka Yoga Nag

http://www.YogaNag.com
#practice #yogaeverydamnday
#homepractice #practicedaily #presence #tlc