yoga inspiration Archives | GroundingUp Yoga

3 Bullet Thursday

March 15, 2018March 14, 2018jeslarussa

Greetings from sunny West Hollywood, California. It’s Thursday and I’m killing some time before my flight home, so here is the latest rundown of yoga information, inspiration, and lifestyle nonsense from yours truly here at GroundingUp.

What I’m Watching-On Yoga the Architecture of Peace

On Yoga the Architecture of Peace is a documentary chronicling the photographer Michael O’Neill’s yoga journey. He also has a book by the same name that I haven’t gotten to yet. I’m only half way through the film and it is visually stunning, as you would expect from a professional photographer. The plot is this: stressed out perfectionist ruins health, tries yoga for physical and emotional healing, is subsequently healed and becomes obsessed with digging deeper into this ancient magic. This is every modern yogi’s story. His is just more beautifully produced than most. You can stream it on Netflix with your subscription or get it from iTunes for $9.99.

What I’m Reading- J. Brown’s BLOG

J. Brown is a yoga teacher and founder of a yoga studio in Brooklyn, NY. He is not a fan of what the West has done to traditional yoga and he is bitter AF that yoga is a business. I read him and listen to his podcasts because he has a lot to say about the quality of yoga teacher training programs and I keep thinking I’ll be able to make sense of his stance on the yoga industry which seems to be:

Yoga should be regulated but he isn’t sure how it should be regulated but definitely not too much
The Yoga Alliance is the seat of the devil
Yoga should only be a business if it is the kind of yoga J.Brown approves of and if it isn’t a chain like CorePower that is putting the squeeze on small independent yoga studios like his that had to close down because they couldn’t compete with BIG corporate yoga.

Anyway, I plan to keep reading and listening, hoping to hear something that makes some sense.

Deep Thought I’m Pondering-

“My mind is like a bad neighborhood; I try not to go there alone.” Anne Lamott

I mention this quote because we are doing a lot of meditating these days at the studio and I am always amazed by the fact that meditating with a group of people at a schedule time and location is so much easier than making it happen on my own. For quality meditation, being alone with other people is more effective than being alone with myself.

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This site is full of yoga tips, information and inspiration. Check out the recipes section for vegan and vegetarian recipes to fuel your practice or eat a little cleaner. For some deep thoughts about yoga philosophy go here. And for past 3 Bullet Thursdays and other yoga tips and hacks go here.

This article originally published on www.groundingup.com

3 Bullet Thursday

March 1, 2018jeslarussa

This may be the first 3 Bullet Thursday not written and published from an airport bar! Thanks to a break in my business travel, this batch of yoga information, inspiration, and general lifestyle nonsense is coming at you direct from my embarrassingly messy desk.

So, without any further ado, here is a run down of the noteworthy from the yoga world.

What I’m Reading-Living Your Yoga, Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life by Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., P.T.

This book has been on my yoga book shelf for years, and on occasion, I have even referenced it in other yoga articles on this blog. I have not, however, read it cover to cover until now because it just didn’t seem to land with me.

Living Your Yoga is recommended reading the for 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training I am completing, and since I’m an “A student”, I’m reading the book AND making notes. Surprisingly, every page of this book is hitting home for me right now and I’m taking so much from it.

You know what they say, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

Music I’m Listening To-Ambient and Not So Ambient

I love ambient music and iTunes Music knows this about me. So every Friday, the lovely algorithm at iTunes makes some ambient music recommendations just for me. The Fathoms album by Tapes and Topographies was in the mix last week and the iTunes algorithm served up an ambient winner.

In heavy rotation from the not so ambient genre at our house is the Kaleo A/B album. This album was released in 2016, so obviously it isn’t technically new. It is new to my husband though and he asked that I feature the music on 3 Bullet Thursday to make sure other people knew about this Icelandic blues-rock band.

What I’m Wearing-WTF, Lululemon?

I don’t usually spend much time writing about yoga clothing. But as a short chic, I feel it is my duty to tell the world that Lululemon made a pair of pants that are available in petite sizes (28″).

I don’t know what inspired them to finally notice that short people need pants too. Maybe there is a short woman in the design department at Lululemon who went rogue and cut the patterns off 4 inches short. But I urge you to remain calm because it only applies to their Street to Studio Pant II. The 28″ cut is the one for short girls. The 32″ cut is for the tall ladies. Also, technically, the Street to Studio Pant II is a crop style, but on short girls, the 28″ shows up as an ankle pant. Okay, fine. And one more thing, the 28″ isn’t lined. The regular length pants are lined. I guess they sent the rogue short designer packing before she had time to line them.

I have modeled them for you in the photos below. And, one final note about these; size up at least one size. The cut is clingy so if you want to be comfortable in them, which seems to be their purpose, I recommend setting aside your vanity and getting a little extra room.

Lululemon-street-to-studio-III — This is what they look like on a short girl who is not a Lululemon model. These are size 4 in the 28″. I’m 5’2″.

Lululemon-Street-to-studio-III-back — And plenty of room in the trunk!

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This article originally published on www.groundingup.com

3 Bullet Thursday

February 15, 2018February 15, 2018jeslarussa

Here it is, your Thursday rundown of all things yoga information and inspiration from yours truly at the yoga BLOG, GroundingUP. Namaste!

What I’m Reading

I know that a few weeks ago I suggested you read something other than yoga books to avoid burn out during yoga teacher training. So, having said that, I’m taking my own advice and reading two literary classics this week; Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. If you are looking for a quick easy read, go for Treasure Island; it’s shorter than Wuthering Heights and is a little more straight forward.

Now having said that, I need to confess that I am reading a yoga book as well. It’s called Myths of the Asanas: Stories at the Heart of the Yoga Tradition. The book covers approximately XX asanas and includes a description of the anatomical alignment of the pose, its benefits and attributes, and some interesting and entertaining commentary on the asana’s origins. I recommend this book to anyone interested in yoga history or training to be a yoga teacher.

What I’m listening to

From time to time I listen to the From the Heart Podcast by Rachel Brathen. As a podcast, it is very much hit or miss, but I caught an episode where she interviewed Nahko (and Medicine for the People).

Nahko and his band are very much idealists out to change the world by advocating for a long and evolving list of causes. The music style is mostly singer songwriter with a rock leaning. The lyrics are about mindfulness, seeking the meaning of life, and saving the world with love and kindness and whatnot.

For me personally, I’ll need to be incredibly high and on day 3 of a yoga festival before this music is going to resonate with me, but he’s getting tour dates and selling albums, so this is clearly for someone. If you are local and going to BottleRock Napa Valley, you can catch him there Friday, May 25.

Quote I’m Pondering

Some of my readers may know that I’m learning to love Tim Ferriss. He is kind of an ass but he does have some great insight around time management, life goals and success.

Therefore, I dutifully read his blog, listen to his podcasts, and subscribe to his emails. Anyway, the deep thought for my week is something he said recently which is, “How can I make this a gift?” He asks this question when something unfortunate or infuriating happens to him.

Is your flight delayed indefinitely? Tim Ferris wants to you to find a way to make the situation feel like a gift. Um, okay, did you just get 5 hours at an airport (bar) to call your mom, or respond to an email backlog or draft that strategic plan you haven’t been able to focus on? Looks like you did. You are welcome. And thanks, Tim Ferriss, I hate you a little less today. Oh, and fuck you, American Airlines.

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This article originally published on www.groundingup.com