Daydreams, Music, and the Olympics

Songs are like books. They keep us company. I've been listening to a lot of Florence + the Machine lately (and Kate Bush and the Smashing Pumpkins and Lykke Li, lol), and I found a quote by Florence Welch that I think is a good reminder to all of us to embrace our inner children every now and then:

From EnglHub

Did anyone get a chance to see the opening ceremony for the Olympics last night?  I was really excited to get to see some of it with my younger (but much taller) brother. He and I spend a lot of time together . . . we used to eat lunch together every day in high school, which people thought was bizarre because teenage siblings usually aren't best friends.  But there's nothing quite like getting to be fully and unapologetically yourself with someone who knows the extent of your introverted, ridiculous awkwardness! Anyway, the opening ceremony was really beautiful. It captured so much of Korean culture in such a magical fairy tale way--complete with phoenixes and giant white tigers--and at the end, there was a performance of John Lennon's "Imagine" that almost made me cry.  Here it is, in case you missed it:

Beautiful, isn't it? I'm very excited for the figure skating portions of the Olympics. It's like seeing a ballet performance, and the flexibility, strength, and grace of the skaters are amazing.  They can spin and leap and jump while on ice. Meanwhile, I'm over here trying to sort of/almost do a semi-decent Natarajasana (Lord of the Dancer) in yoga. (And now I feel all yoga-y because I just used the official Sanskrit term for a pose for the first time.)

The "ShibSibs" (from NBC)

I'm sending sweet thoughts for everyone on this second Saturday in February.  The time around Valentine's can be difficult sometimes, but please remember that you are loved <3, and please take some time to show yourself some loving-kindness, too. In my research on movement and creativity therapy right now, I've found that cultivating compassion for ourselves and others is just as important for well-being as movement (I hesitate to use the word "exercise" because it can be anxiety-provoking) and wholesome nourishment (not dieting!) are. I've been feeling stressed out lately because of some personal stuff and because of some new jobs that I'm excited about but also nervous about, and taking time to breathe and ground myself has been very helpful. So is this video here by Michelle Elman:

If you haven't watched Michelle's TEDX Talk, you definitely should. It's incredibly moving and beautiful.

That's all for this morning. Now back to my essays :).  Big hugs for everybody!

<3 Frances

Starting a Home Yoga Practice: Calm Over Chaotic

Between yesterday's Super Blue Blood Moon and the start of a new month, it's a perfect time to embrace change and work on cultivating more compassion. Yay! Here's an adorable little picture to get you psyched for warm fuzzies:

From We Love Cats and Kittens 

I've been doing a lot of research lately into the science of empathy, compassion, and overall wellness, and something I've found mentioned over and over again is mindfulness. Yes, the whole "mindfulness" thing is definitely trending right now, but it's so much more than a fad. In its sincerest, most basic form, mindfulness is a mind-body healing practice that has roots in almost all traditions and philosophies.  Prayer, meditation, contemplation . . . they're all forms of mindfulness practice, and they have profound mental and physical health benefits.  Some of the biggest of these benefits can be boiled down to the simple phenomenon of stress reduction. Mindfulness practices help you breathe and decrease your cortisol levels. Less cortisol means better sleep, better skin, and a happy tummy.  It can also help you interact with others more positively.  If you're not freaked out all the time, then you can engage with the world in a more open, optimistic way. (See picture of Amelie Poulain below for inspiration.)

From tumblr

One of the most fun ways you can practice mindfulness at home is by finding hobbies and activities that activate your parasympathetic nervous system (the one that calms you down) and give you an outlet for expressing yourself.  Yoga and dancing are two of my favorites. I remember a few years ago, back when I was running running running all the time, a friend who I admired as being very compassionate and Amelie-like told me that she felt "so calm" because she'd done yoga, and I had this mini-paradigm shift. I think that intense exercise can be wonderful for many people, and I adore 1980's aerobics videos, but for personal health reasons, I've recently had to shift to more traditionally "relaxing" forms of movement.  Like increases like, and because my stress hormones tend to run very high, I need to focus on slowing myself down more than I need to focus on speeding myself up.  I resisted yoga for a very long time because staying still and breathing deeply don't come naturally to me.  Every time I saw a magazine cover or a TV advertisement, there was an image of a sweaty girl in Lulu Lemon doing pushups and panting, and I felt drawn to that sort of intense movement. I felt that I needed to push myself as hard as I could, but the harder I pushed, the higher my standard became.  Soon, nothing felt "challenging" enough, and I couldn't get the endorphin rush needed to reduce my cortisol levels until I'd "hit the wall." 
Note to self: hitting the wall isn't always a good thing!
A few weeks ago, I started doing yoga at home with my mum. The only sort of "cardio" I do comes from cleaning, teaching, the occasional impromptu dance practice, and walking around campus. At first, the shift from cardio junkie to wannabe yogi was challenging because my body was so used to pumping itself up on energizing cortisol hormones every time I went to "exercise," but I'm starting to embrace relaxation and restoration over pushing myself.  And I can actually almost get my heels on the floor in downward dog. OMG.
The reason I'm sharing this isn't to give a big long post about my life and what I'm doing for movement because I know that stuff isn't important. There are WAY more important things going on in the world right now, and I spend 99% of my time thinking about school, the news, writing, library books, my job, my pets, my family, and getting into a speech & communication disorders program at university.  But because yoga has been so helpful for my mental and physical health, I wanted to write about it here just in case anyone out there is resisting mindfulness practices the way that I once did.  The media makes it look like we have to push ourselves hard all the time, but we don't. Move like you love yourself, and if that movement doesn't look like what you see in Nike ads, don't sweat it.
Anyway, if you're looking to start a yoga practice, here are some links that will help you out :). Adriene Mishler's YouTube videos are warm and inviting and encouraging, and she has something for everyone. I strongly recommend her 30 Day "True" program, which ran throughout January but is still available as playlist on her channel.  I also love Lesley Fightmaster's videos.  She has several beginners' playlists, and I enjoy her meditation videos, too.  SarahBeth Yoga is another good channel. The video for IBS and colitis is very helpful.

Yoga With Adriene: www.youtube.com/yogawithadriene
Lesley Fightmaster: www.youtube.com/fightmasteryoga
SarahBeth: www.youtube.com/sarahbethyoga

Love and light!
<3 Frances