I probably ate my weight in Thanksgiving left-overs this weekend; I've never been so happy to see the end of a mashed potato bowl. It goes without saying that I am feeling a little tight in the pants, bloated and I went ahead and put the scale in the closet so it would stop taunting me, I'm certain I am not a lone..
I was going to wait until the new year to get started, but then I decided that was just my old self trying to sabotage anything good I have planned for my 25th year. Plus, it being "the holidays" is no excuse to not be mindful of eating and exercise habits. I'm just going to say, I feel really bad for all your sugar freaks out there, the holidays would be a killing for me. LUCKILY, I grew up allergic to Chocolate (something I grew out of in my 20's) so I've never been big on sweets. Thank god!
Most of these changes are directly related to becoming a yogini; First I need to ditch meat, get fit, and make time for practice. Since becoming a yoga instructor is going to require the most work and most changes, I'll start there:
On {reinstating} Vegetarianism:
For 6 years I was a vegetarian, and that is when I felt and looked my healthiest. The yogic community does not require one to become a vegetarian in order to become a yogi, however.. vegetarianism has been referred to as a practice of ahimsa {non-harming}. If becoming a vegetarian leaves your body sick and weak, then you are practicing ahimsa on yourself, this is why (I have read) the Dali Lama is not 100% vegetarian.
I was really him-hawing over becoming vegetarian again, because lets face it, eating meat is just easier-- but I watched a documentary the other day called Life in a Day (which has nothing to do with vegetarianism, but is a great thoughtful film) and I was reminded of how animals are able to sense when danger is present; so in my mind there really is no humane way to kill an animal because ultimately, the animal is afraid, and that produces toxins and in turn, we eat those toxins. {And if you believe in karma, you are also consuming the negative feelings of fear.} I've always took stock in this, and honestly-- we aren't HUGE carnivores over here, but I am eating more meat than I would be willing to kill myself and that's all I will say about that.
I am not saying I will never eat meat again, but I am saying that since I have control over what is in our kitchen, and what I order while we are out.. I will be choosing vegetarian, over non-vegetarian options. I'm looking at a 95/5 ratio-- this leaves some wiggle room for situations where I am not in control of the menu {and an occasional Fish & Chips}. Plus, if the Dali Lama occasionally eats meat, then I can.
On Getting Fit
The extra weight I carry around prevents me from being as flexible as I can be and truth be told, I've never been to a yoga class where the instructor was 'thick.' I'm not judging the chunk, I'm just saying.. Part of the deal is having a healthy mind and BODY. It is my belief that teachers need to be the shining example of what they teach-- I would be very weary if I had an English professor with poor grammar.
Teacher's need not be perfect, since perfection doesn't exist, but I can't expect people to want to take my class if I am not giving them something worth aspiring to spiritually and physically.. The physical is really important to me since so many people who practice yoga are from many different belief systems; I would never expect someone to believe in what I believe if it did not feel right or true to them. The universe talks to us all in many different languages and your body tells a story too; I want mine to say disciplined, determined, healthy, flexible and pure.
On making time to Practice
I work at home, so it is really easy for me to get distracted by cleaning, blogging, commissions, etc; so more often than not I get too distracted to go work out, stretch, do yoga and get some meditation into my day. Really there is no excuse, I am up every morning around 6:30 am and I go to bed sometime in the 10 o'clock hour. That's 16 hours that I have to either waste or use efficiently and effectively-- moving forward, I will be using those hours more productively.
Bottom line is, I need a schedule, and I need to stick to it like white on rice. This new life-style requires a lot of discipline that quite frankly, at the moment, I am lacking.
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I plan on starting a new little feature here on TMBTP wherein I document my journey into becoming a yogini. In the very least this feature will document my journey to becoming an instructor, since it is very likely that becoming a yogini will take many, many years of disciplined practice.
There will be a page, and hopefully a cute, catchy name for this new addition to my blog-- but I haven't come up with afore mentioned name, and I am too lazy to build a page today, so all that will likely happen this weekend.
R and I are tossing around some business ideas, a yoga studio hybrid-- that's all I can say.
I'm ready to wear some scarves with my flip flops! :P
Happy Monday & Namaste!
R
I feel like perhaps this is an odd tangent to go down, but your mention of animal slaughter made me think of the work of Temple Grandin. I don't know if you're familiar with her at all, but she's a famous autistic woman who designs humane slaughterhouses. According the wikipedia entry on slaughterhouses, approximately 54% of the slaughterhouses in the United States are based on her designs. I read her book Thinking in Pictures and while it's mainly a book about how the autistic mind thinks, she talks a lot about how the way she thinks (in pictures) was beneficial in designing slaughterhouses and being empathetic to what an animal would perceive when going through the facility and then from there could make design choices to keep the facility a calm, peaceful, respectful place.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a great book! I really have a passion for the autistic community, so I am excited to check it out. And you are right, a lot of slaughter houses try to practice ethical treatment, as much as they can.
ReplyDeleteI personally have no issue with the consumption of meat, I would prefer it if people did research about WHERE they are getting their meat from.. for *their* benefit-- avoiding added hormones, anti-biotics etc-- but realistically speaking it's a lifestyle that I don't expect everyone to care about or cater to.
Having been present for several "humane slaughters" in my lifetime-- my grandfather had a cattle ranch, where occasionally cows and chickens/turkeys would see their final hour, there is this moment where you know they (the animal) know it is the end for them..Even an animal as unintelligent as the chicken seems to know they are going to be dinner. The movie I watched the other day reminded me of that exact moment, which is why I ultimately decided to stop him-hawing over the decision and just go back to veg..
Plus, health-wise, I am better off as a veg-- my skin is clearer, my body fat % is lower, and I have a lot more energy.
I've been working out, but never thought to go vegetarian. I might have to look into that. Don't you have to supplement with certain vitamins?
ReplyDeleteIf you are eating a wide range of fruits, veggies and legumes(beans) you shouldn't need to supplement. I take B12, fish oil and a multi everyday-- vegetarian or non, so nothing really changes for me, except as a vegetarian I am more mindful of my iron intake-- dark greens, artichokes and beans have a lot of iron in them, so I usually don't have a problem. I have only needed to take iron supplements once for a short period of time-- but that was when I was on the Mac n' cheese and potato diet. ;)
ReplyDelete