Week Three:  EQUANIMITY
There is a famous quote by the theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr. "God, give us the grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."

 During this week we will focus on remembering that although there are many things we cannot change such as, "Traffic, the flu, being laid off..." Rather than fighting these things it is simpler to accept that We Are Not in Control of them. This way we can turn our energy to the things we can change.

 Equanimity is the art of meeting life as it meets you- calmly, without drama or fuss. This is the way out of frustration and into the light. The light leads us back to our naturalness. It is important to remember that throughout life we should expect to encounter four specific joys and their opposites:
Pleasure and Pain, Gain and Loss, Praise and Blame, Fame and  Disrepute.

Somehow we have been conditioned to seek  unchanging pleasure, gain, praise, and fame. But  life does not work this way. Equanimity releases us from unrealistic expectations. Equanimity allows us to stay centered amid the inevitable highs and lows of life.

The focus off Week Three will be to practice Equanimity. In your daily life, your Asana practice and your diet. We will once again add 15 minutes to our asana practice for a 45 minute for 6 days of the week. We will Meditate for 15 minutes each morning and evening. We will focus on how stress affects our food choices.

Week Three Asana:
We will add 15 minutes.
After the INTEGRATION poses and the SUN SALUTATIONS A & B we will continue through to SIDE PLANK, HIGH LUNGE, TWISTING AND BINDING HIGH LUNGE, EXTENDED SIDE ANGLE, PRAYER TWIST, PADAHASTASANA, EAGLE, DANCERS POSE,TREE POSE, LOCUST, BOW,CAMEL, BRIDGE, WHEEL, ABS,SUPTA BADDHA KONASANA,BOAT, VINYASPADMASANA, MARICHYASANA, SHOULDER STAND , FISH POSE,SUPINE LEG RAISE,DEAD BUG, SUPINE TWIST, AND SAVASANA.

Week Three Diet:
We continue to focus on fresh foods .The theme of week three is equanimity, and there is no place where reactivity shows up faster than in our diets. We get stressed and we grab for something to eat, usually something sweet. We feel anxious and we immediately reach for "comfort foods".
A good appetite is considered healthy, but too much of an appetite is a whole other thing.


Week Three Meditation:
We will practice 15 minutes  each morning and evening this week.

EQUANIMITY EXCAVATION QUESTIONS:
1. HOW MUCH DO I BELIEVE THAT THE WINDS OF GRACE SUPPORT ME, AND HOW DOES THIS PLAY OUT IN MY EVERYDAY LIFE?
2.IN WHAT AREAS OF MY LIFE CANI HAVE LESS REACTION AND MORE DEVINE INTERPRETATION? FOR INSTANCE, IN MY RELATIONSHIPS, WHEN THING GET STRESSFUL AT WORK, WHEN I AM STUCK IN TRAFFIC, WHEN I MAKE A MISTAKE, AND SO ON.
3.HOW CAN I ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF MY LIFE THROUGH A SHIFT IN ATTITUDE? HOW WOULD SITUATIONS FEEL DIFFERENT IF I PRACTICED NON-REACTIVITY, RATHER THAN LAUNCHING INTO AN AUTOMATIC RESPONSE?
4. WHAT THINGS ARE MOST LIKELY TO TRIGGER REACTIVITY IN ME?
5.WHAT CAN I DO IN THOSE MOMENTS OF REACTIVITY TO RESPOND BETTER? TAKE A WALK? TAKE A BREATH? REMIND MYSELF THAT EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PRACTICE EQUANIMITY.

http://community.yogajournal.com/_Equanimity-Sequence-for-40-Days-To-Personal-Revolution/blog/205557/25925.html

Week Two :VITALITY

" There is a belief in our culture that we have to get away or go someplace exotic in order to rejuvenate and rediscover our lost radiance.
Yet I believe vitality is something we can find right here, within each moment of our lives.  It doesn't need to be something we taste for only a few day on vacation and then disappears. Vitality is very simply an energy that comes from  living a life of enlightened knowledge and action. When we do what we know to be right and true, we are revitalized and renewed right where we live."
Baron Baptiste

 This week we will add a few things to our  practice. In week two , your  yoga practice will increase by 10 minutes for a 30 minute practice that will increase your vitality. We will introduce the concept of fresh, life-giving foods into your Balancing  Diet, and the focus of our meditation will be noticing and releasing the self-damaging tapes that run in your head. The excavation questions will open your eyes to the practices in your life that are blocking your natural vitality and radiance from shining through.

Week Two Asana:
We will add some new poses and also increase by 10 minutes .
After the INTEGRATION poses and the SUN SALUTATIONS A & B we will continue through to WARRIOR 1 , WARRIOR 2, & REVERSE WARRIOR. Then we add TRIANGLE POSE ,SIDE PLANK POSE, CRESCENT LUNGE POSE or High lunge, PRAYER TWIST, CAMEL POSE, BRIDGE POSE, WHEEL POSE, BOAT POSE, SITTING SPLIT POSE, BOWING SPLIT POSE, DEAD BUG POSE, SUPINE TWIST POSE ENDING IN SAVASANA.

Week Two Diet;
Make fresh foods the focus of your diet this week. This means whole fresh fruits and veggies  and whole grains,if you eat meat , eggs, make it free range organic.  If you drink milk, that should be organic too.If you eat fish, make it wild caught (small non predatory fish are the best choice.) Please try to prepare your foods as much  as possible . If you have to eat away from home, try to choose the same foods from the above list. Also try to eat locally grown fruits and veggies. Drink lots of filtered water from your tap. Try to avoid buying small plastic bottles of water. Buy a reusable water bottle and carry it everywhere you go.

Week Two Vitality Meditation:
 We will increase to a 10 minute meditation each morning and evening.
Try to let go of the negative thoughts that go through your head.

VITALITY EXCAVATION QUESTIONS
1. WHAT IS MY MOST MEANINGFUL CREATION IN LIFE? IS IT MY WORK, MY FAMILY, MYSELF?
2. WHAT IS MY MOST COURAGEOUS ACT? COURAGE DOESN'T ALWAYS MEAN HEROISM- OFTEN COURAGE CAN SHOW UP IN MORE SUBTLE WAYS, SUCH AS HAVING THE COURAGE TO LEAVE A TOXIC RELATIONSHIP, TO TRY SOMETHING NEW , OR TO TAKE A DIFFERENT PATH THEN THOSE AROUND YOU.
3. WHEN DO I FEEL MOST ENERGIZED? FOR SOME PEOPLE, IT IS WHEN THEY ARE WORKING OR PLAYING; FOR OTHERS IT IS WHEN THEY ARE QUIET IR ALONE. WHEN DO YOU FEEL MOST ALIVE?
4 WHAT ARE THE FORCES IN MY LIFE THAT DRAIN MY ENERGY?
5. WHOM DO I RESENT, AND HOW IS THAT RESENTMENT AFFECTING ME?


The following is from  (WEEK ONE:  PRESENCE)
Week 1: Presence
Week 1: Come into Your Body through PRESENCE

Beginning Wednesday Feb 25 2009

"In Week 1, your focus in on waking up and becoming fully present to your body, mind, and life. Most importantly, though, begin to see the underlying factors that are contributing to whenever you feel stuck in your life." Baron urges us to look beyond the form that the dysfunctions in our lives take: the overeating, self-sabotaging, dramatizing...whatever. Instead, become present to what is under these behaviors, "Seek the Truth". And he reminds us of a quote from the Bible "When you know the truth, the truth will set you free." It is time to stop trying to "heal deep wounds with surface Band-Aids." We need to get quiet enough to see the Truth. Then we will see beyond form, we will begin to know the Truth of ourselves.

1. Yoga Practice: I f you want to follow Barons plan you will need to practice Sun Salutations A & B as well  Boat pose, Seated Half Pigeon, Three Legged Tabletop ,Staff, Single- Legged Boat, Single Legged Heron, Twisting Lifted Leg Pose ( Parivritta Crunchasana) Easy Forward Bend ( Janu Sirsasana) Straight Leg Seated Twist  ( Parivrtta Narichyasana) Seated Forward Bend (Paschimotonasana) Dead Bug (Urdhva Mukha Upavista Konasana) and Savasana  closing your sequence by rolling to your right side and resting for a few moments curled up here. Then using the strength of your arms bring yourself to sitting and your hands to (Anjali Mudra) Prayer pose  to your heart and then to your forehead and bow.(See this section in book.) If you don't have the book or follow a different practice  then just practice for a at least 20 minutes 6 days a week.Most of us will be doing our regular classes throughout the 40 days. If you have any specific questions about the practice or postures, bring them to your yoga teacher. Commit to at least 20 minutes of yoga, at 6 days this week.

2. Week 1 Balancing Diet: Before the start of the 40 days, please read pages 93-98. This will help you identify your personal dietary tendencies, hot/cold, deficient/excessive. You will know what is right for you. This is good, because we are slowly eased into the dietary adjustments...nothing too drastic this week.
To-Do:
Identify yourself in the patterns of hot/cold, deficient/excessive.
Begin to include some of the foods that your body needs into your diet.

"You don't have to overhaul your entire diet all at once-this is using the brute force of your will,...willpower does not work. If you start to make the changes in smaller chunks, at whatever pace feels intuitively right for you,...you will rediscover a sense of rightful balance...One thing that will help support making these changes is your daily yoga practice. Your mat becomes a mirror, and as you step onto it every morning, you will be able to start seeing the direct effects of your diet."

3. Presence Meditation (5 minutes)

"Meditation cultivates presence." Read pg. 99. 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes at night.
The focus of this week's meditation is to direct our mind to the moment at hand. Using right aim and right energy (neither too much, nor too little) we practice presence. We do this by focusing our mind on this breath, not the one before or the next one, simply this breath.
Direct meditation questions to taohead at the Meditation , or your yoga teacher.

Yoga Study Group

Yoga and Food

4. Week 1 Presence Excavation Questions:

"The excavation questions will shine a light on the dark corners of your mind, where we all store the beliefs and patterns that are holding us back in life."

Remember, friends, we are committed to full participation in this process. We may believe that our thoughts are "healthy" , but our underlying beliefs are sabotaging us, unconsciously. That explains why we continue to think we are suffering, on any level, from "The world is against me, everything is wrong", to "I know I would be really happy if just this little adjustment were made...I lost 5 pounds, so-and-so did or said the right thing, I found the perfect partner, if I had more money, the right job, house..." and on and on. These thoughts reflect an underlying dissatisfaction. So lets challenge ourselves to examine those thoughts.
Please consider these questions as the week progresses, comment as you feel guided to do so:


a. How much am I taking responsibility to learn and grow from the experiences, both easy and difficult, that I have in my life?

b. What are my beliefs about:

    * My body (Do I believe it is too heavy, too weak, or just right? Do I believe it serves me well?
    * My relationships? (Do they nourish me? What purpose do they serve in my growth and in my life? Do I believe I am treated as I want or ought to be?)
    * My work? (Is it fulfilling?)
    * Spirituality?(Do I believe in a higher power?)
    * Sex? (What role does it play in my life? Do I experience shame or joy around it? Do I misuse it? Do I see it as a vehicle for spiritual and emotional expression?)
    * Money? (Do I believe it is the root of all evil, or does it simply give me freedom to do what I want in life? Do I have a lot of fear around making it or keeping it?)

c. When in my life am I fully present? In my job? With my partner or kids? When I am working? When I am playing? When I am alone?

d. Where in my life am I hiding? In other words, where do I privately know that I need to take more responsibility and/or become fully present?

e. Where in my life am I flirting with disaster?

I was wondering if anyone would be interested in joining me on a  40 day Commitment to improve your health and deepen your yoga practice? I have  decided to dedicate the next 40 days to this. I recently read Baron Baptiste's book.
(40 Days To Personal Revolution) and plan to incorporate this into my life. I also thought that maybe some of you would like to join me. If you have read the book then it will be easy for you to understand the plan but if you don't have the book I will try to post weekly blogs with the basic plan for that week. I also would like you to post comment and thoughts on the  Yoga and Food group comments box. We could keep food logs and help each other with this. So what do you say? Do you want to join me ?

I also wanted to share this.

40 Days
I read this comment on amy@yogawithspirit.com blog

Amy wrote about Lent and how instead of giving something up we could add something to our lives.
"Tomorrow Lent begins. I hear a lot of people talking about giving something up for Lent -- a discipline of sacrifice, I think. Friends give up dessert or Diet Coke or even reality TV.  But lately I've been thinking why not ADD something to our lives during this season geared to draw us into even close relationships with God?"
(amy@yogawithspirit.com)

"Yogic science teaches that it takes 40 days to fully change a habit. A 40-day commitment
to change can provide the shift needed to develop a life-promoting habit or to drop a destructive habit. A first step in experiencing the glorious satisfaction of lasting change is to commit to 40 consecutive days of yogic practice.
40 DAYS YOU CAN DEVELOP OR CHANGE A NEW HABIT.
90 DAYS WILL RENEW ALL OF THE BLOOD CELLS IN THE BODY AND THE NEW HABIT WILL BE MORE INTEGRATED.
120 DAYS WILL ADAPT THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND TO THE NEW PATTERNS.
1000 DAYS WILL MAKE YOU MASTER IT."
(LadyGuru)

So if you are in we start tomorrow .
I have the first weeks plan below
I will also try to post sequence with photos if I can find the poses on the Yoga Journal site.

Starting Wednesday Feb 25 2009