What is your intention? Open yourself up to find your gems held inside

Let yoga give to you: Remove your veil

January 11, 2016

Image © Yoga Robin® (Vrksasana, Tree Pose)

Grow like a tree even if your leaves fall off as the seasons change, and flower buds wait for their time to bloom. Be like nature ebbing and flowing.

Yoga sutra 1.22 says that as much as you give to your yoga practice, it will give back to you by removing the veil. Remove your veil. Grow.

Namaste.

~ Robin Ellen Lucas, MA

Sometimes the wall offers added security while learning

January 2, 2016

Image © Yoga Robin®

Sometimes the wall helps. My favorite prop.

When you want to get deeper and don't have a teacher to help you, or you are seeking some security, the wall can be a solace.

However, if you use it as a crutch (for too long), it will hold you back from experiencing your true potential. I like the wall in this half handstand pose for shoulder strengthening, and energy in legs pressed against the weight of the wall.

Namaste.

~ Robin Ellen Lucas, MA

Deep relaxation in Savasana

December 24, 2015

Savasana (Image © Yoga Robin®)Savasana is one of my favorite poses. Why? Not because it's a simple relaxation...

It depicts the end of a vibrant and soulful yoga practice preceding it. It's the most spiritual aspect of my yoga practice sometimes, as I assimilate the meditative state I uncovered preceding it with breathing, movement, Samskaras burning and spiritual insight.

Namaste.

~ Robin Ellen Lucas, MA

Sitting in a chair all day is bad for you

December 20, 2015

Ardha Matsyendrasana (Image © Yoga Robin®)

Don't sit at desk all day

It's important to take a break while working at your desk. Sitting in a chair all day is not good for you. Even for a few hours it takes a toll on your cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine. It leads to muscle degeneration, organ damage, lymphatic blockage, psoas contraction, circulatory issues in legs, etc. I personally add psychological craziness to the list.

I do quick yoga breaks often in my office, in particular to keep my spine elongated and shoulders open. I practice Ashtanga yoga every morning so it's a matter of reopening what was already open earlier in the day. If I let all of my hard work succumb to the computer, I feel a combination of carpal tunnel syndrome and skeletal misalignment in my upper back.

Getting into alignment in my yoga practice each morning is such a precious thing! Keeping it is my daily at-home or at-office practice.

Namaste.

Backbends are a sure thing for unleashing prana

December 16, 2015

Natarajasana B (Image © Yoga Robin®)This pose feels so good with the strap. The Ashtanga way is to hold the toes, no strap (and for me, this means that all of my energy goes toward not dropping the foot, or even getting it). My favorite Iyengar teacher instructs this one with a strap.

It is a wonderful shoulder opener (euphoric) and doing it this way I'm feeling the Prana in my shoulders, entire back, up and down legs. I'm even smiling. Using resistance against the strap (foot and shoulders higher up) feels even better. I forget I'm even balancing. My favorite backbend...

Backbends are a sure thing for unleashing all kinds of emotional holding. For me, it's a guarantee and always leaves me happier. Some people experience fear and sadness in backbends (and I'm also one of them) as these feelings hide inside a broken heart or cold heart that doesn't feel much...but can't help but rise to the surface in backbends. Getting the energy to express itself is a wonderful way to release it.

Namaste.

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (Image © Yoga Robin®)

Start here, self that hides: A vision into the yoga self

November 13, 2014

i write whatever you say to meMy yoga stirs up emotions in me and sometimes speaks as pasts and present all intermingle. As my body moves, and as I breathe, my stories are told. Here is a conversation with karmas that were burned one morning.

vision of yoga self

Dear self who hides,

I don’t want to leave you, or myself, behind. When your words are near (and I hear you speaking through me), I cannot help but smile inside. When I am my body, standing in front of myself, sometimes my heart shuts down. Why? I feel you more after I leave you, as if a piece of me is still with you. And so it is; you are me, left floating through the yoga studio room, melting onto the floor.

You transfix me: You are my chakras

June 18, 2014

you are balanced. i live with you.

You are a work of art. It’s not easy but you do it. You live true to who you are and know it. When you are open, chakras, in my yoga practice, I don’t question it.

dear chakras, you help me walk with strength, enchanted. i’m open to each of you as you arrive, speak and feel. i know who you are…

-->> chakra article moved to here.

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Be humble every day: Follow your heart

March 30, 2014

you are free

The root of who I am, sometimes channelled—through other people or inanimate objects—is held in the secret. It is the key to banishing anger, sadness, frustration and any overwhelm.

i feel humble. i am real. does that touch your heart when i say it that way?

Getting in touch with your own heart is easier said than done. It can live unconsciously in ways you never notice until it is pointed out to you, or until you have an epiphany. Too many people speak in a tone that aludes to the opposite of real. When I say real I mean authentic. I mean coming from the heart. This doesn't necessarily mean crying and professing undying love. It means being real, eyes wide open. It's the opposite of being in denial. Isn't that what we all strive toward? Or do we instead wish to hide?

Being humble is the opposite of showy. It's conscious and unmasked. It's secure and intimate. Don't be someone you're not. Every word counts, even the ones you tell yourself internally (the ones you say no one hears). Humble deserves to be repeated.

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Surrender to your heart: Let go of anger, sadness and stories that cover up your love

February 11, 2014

find your peace

Maybe it doesn't seem like it at times, but there is peace within you. Sometimes it's hiding on purpose, so that you cannot find it easily. Let's say you find the source of a problem and throw it out the window. But your inner chaos returns. Why?

Surrendering is a process. You need to believe that it relieves you. And then know that this action needs to be repeated.

But what does surrender even mean?

I'm a rebel… I close my eyes in Bikram Yoga sometimes because it helps me see

December 14, 2013

eye closed and seeingDo you hear me now? Probably not if your eyes are opened, focused in the mirror in your yoga class.

I am here, eyes closed yet wide opened. I am listening to my own chakras, which speak louder with colors through darkened eyelids.

Yoga brings me there, not my own eye contact with myself in the mirror.

Nurturing your body by taking it easy in yoga vs. being lazy: How do you know the difference?

December 1, 2013

Is your yoga sometimes an escape? Do you go to class when you are feeling bored or escaping life, and therefore give life its purpose through your yoga practice? It doesn't matter if it's hardcore or not.

take it easy some days

It's not necessary to expend a 100% effort during every yoga practice. Some days your body needs more tender loving care, and it's better that you show up on your mat than not at all. These can be the most transformative days that rewire your brain, in fact—the days when you are not motivated to go to class and you go anyway.

What happens after yoga class: Where do the toxins and emotions go?

November 6, 2013

capture who you are

After yoga?

What do you do after yoga class? You went, you opened, twisted, sweat and stretched it all out. You unleashed emotions and thoughts, and sealed it all in with intention in the end (savasana).

Do you then just go on with your day?

Yoga—if done mindfully—can create euphoria and bring you to your happiest self. It can also bring you to the opposite as it acts as a sort of catalyst to making you face your darkness, as all that you hold inside your tightest body parts rises to the surface and begs for your attention.

Yoga opens you

This happens without notice with yoga poses that open the hips and shoulders, abdominal twists and mainly yoga breathing (i.e., ujjayi pranayama). With yoga, you are not only wringing out toxins, but also releasing emotions and setting energy free...

Be with what you find

Whether magical or disturbing, you can capture the essense of all that comes up in your yoga class by working with it. You can write it down (to share or not),

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Soften into your muscles: Flexibility within strength

October 29, 2013

the answer to all questions is 'yes'

The opposite of muscle contraction is softening and lengthening. Flexibility is the opposite of muscles.

Balance hardcore with softness

Going hardcore to get what bothers you most out of you, using your own internal fire, is all good. Using the rajas to their fullest is great, while you let them subside into a peaceful state. But there is a balance to that sun energy expended.

Cooling down, stretching out, and really listening in the silence you've created is the whole point of yoga. To get rid of your mind's stories, your insecurities, your anger... is to feel more tranquil.

You are waiting to listen

It is in this place that you are able to listen to your intuition, your own internal teacher.

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Yoga brain while driving to class

October 6, 2013

it's all in the intentionDriving to yoga is part of yoga. I got the chance to notice its power just this morning on a long distance drive to class on this Sunday morning.

it's all in the intention

Not getting into the class because it was full is a bummer, but this event has become part of my yoga too. As I search to find the reason for missing another life-changing class and for wasting up to an hour in the car, I realize that the meaning is in what I experienced on the way there that was inspired by the energy of the class I'd been to countless times—and knew that the long drive justifies the effort. Although missed, I physically and emotionally lived it in advance.

It gave me my personal power. I still have it as I drive home.

Of course it works: On believing

September 18, 2013

visions of purple

Of course it works to believe. And to dream in purple...

While in savasana, your yoga sleep at the end of your practice, not that you should be asleep and dreaming, but concocting or envisioning a dream-come-true will suffice. The energy created during a powerful yoga practice that preceded it could bring you to your knees metaphorically.

It could leave you speechless, silent and in awe, even allowing you to follow yourself up an elevator to look down upon yourself from above. This clarifying space is where all that truly matters is illuminated for you to gaze upon. In solitude.

glow inside me, show me my dream

dreams that come true

If you see a purple light at the crown of your skull while in your savanana, it's a sign of the seventh chakra and connection to the spirit world. A most blissful state of being, it opens to a world where anything is possible. This is where magic comes from. If you can imagine this state of mind as a small flame flickering that never goes out, then you will be forever changed when reaching this state.

Its presence could quite possibly be preparing you for something.

...because your dream just came true...

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how i invite personal power with my yoga practice

July 5, 2013

source: Facebook evokeandimagine

humbled

I am humbled by many of life's experiences. This extends into my yoga practice, despite the fact that I'm a yoga teacher. I always remain a yoga student. As a teacher, it's my mission to always learn from my teachers and students. And there are situations that seem to occur in my life, as if concocted just for me to see and experience.

Continually learning is a sign of confidence, I believe. I never know it all. This is my yoga philosophy.

always a student

Even with myself, I am always a student of my own mind, continually needing to clear

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Summer hours and specials

July 4, 2013

I'm proud to announce my summer hours...

With longer days and earlier risers, I too am waking up earlier to teach as early as 7:00 a.m. I've also extended my teaching hours on Mondays and Wednesdays to accommodate for more hours during the day.

My summer special:

protect your heartbeat, yoga can help

May 7, 2013

hearts matter

You believe in your heartbeat. You live by it unconsciously, but more importantly, you trust it. It is a gage for how you feel. It's a symbol of livelihood. It's the engine for your life's blood.

When you inhale deeply to the top of your chest and feel the euphoria of your day—or stress, and then exhale deeply to the bottom of your solar plexus—as far as you can go held as long as you can go, you feel yoga.

You also feel your parasympathetic nervous system in action. Befriend it for stress-reduction and a healthy heart.

On the flip side, the sympathetic nervous system, which releases the adrenaline hormone when you are stressed, is predominate in sufferers of disease.

Your heart always beats though

Yes, it does but it matters how it beats. The ability of the heart rate to change its beating

do you know the most important part about yoga?

March 27, 2013

breathing is the key of yoga

Do you know that the most important part about yoga is breathing. Sure, flexibility, muscle strength, meditative spaciousness, spirituality, stamina and emotional clearing are all important aspects as well of this 5,000+ year old practice called yoga.

But, to get to the truth of your yoga, you must breathe. Deep inhale. Deep exhale. Keep doing it.

When in doubt or overwhelmed, just breathe. When depressed, just breathe. When overly excited about something to a point where you get nothing else done, just breathe.

yoga on your mat

It's easiest to practice the deepest meditative breathing while on your mat, emulating colors of fire and feeling in your mind