Good Day Friends! As of today, I’ve been traveling across the United States for just over six weeks. Keeping up with a regular yoga practice has been a humbling, yet joyous, learning experience. One of the biggest lessons I have learned (and am still working on) is that not having a studio for practice is not an excuse to skip practice.
Between Capoeria classes, pot-lucks, and trail runs, my yoga asana practice has slowed down a bit. I am enjoying a break from regular practice and allowing my body to be challenged through other physical endeavors. In the attached video, I demonstrate one of the ways I try and squeeze in some yoga whether I’m on the road or off. Have a great day! Namaste -George-
“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” -Rosalia de Castro- (Galician romanticist writer and poet) I am currently touring my way across the United States and having a blast! As adventures continue to cross my path, the people I’m spending my time with are making my experiences memorable. Aside from learning to navigate a vast expanse of road ways and foreign cities, I am also having a fun time experiencing life on the road while trying to eat a vegan and mostly raw diet. One of my favorite foodie experiences thus far has been making a green smoothie at a highway rest area (Limestone Rest Area in Illinois). Enjoy the video and continue to enjoy life! More adventures coming soon… Namaste! -George-
Since embarking on my cross-country roadtrip, I have been super fortunate and joyous staying with so many wonderful hosts. Couchsurfing.org has been a fantastic tool for travel. Most recently I have been staying with a great friend and welcoming family near Chicago, IL. After having a wonderful evening with my gracious hosts and enjoying an incredibly delicious high raw potluck, I thought I’d share a few tips on ways to enjoy raw foods.
Five Tips for Ways to Enjoy Raw Foods
1. Have a Potluck-A great way to spend time with others is around a delicious love-filled meal. Having a raw food themed potluck with family, friends, and new acquaintances is a great way for people to open up to new ideas and swap ideas about well-being. If a raw foods potluck sounds too drastic, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian, or Vegan Potlucks are other great meet-up ideas. Continue reading →
I have recently been intrigued in hip stretching postures (pun intended). The hips are a notoriously tight region on most anyone’s body. Many yogis claim that the tightness in one’s hips is a reflection of holding onto past emotions and experiences. Stretching the hips can cause a release of emotions. Tightness in the hips mirrors stagnant emotional attachment in that the both take time for one to let go of. Mindful breathing (pranayama) helps release both physical and emotional tension.
The attached video is a gentle vinyasa yoga sequence I enjoy practicing and teaching. The postures (pigeon & modified downward dog) featured in this video are intended to help open the hips in several different directions. Enjoy the practice and only go as far in the posture as the breath and your body allow. Namaste! -George-
This blog post is part of the “Yoga Practice” series. “Yoga Practice” blog posts include a yoga inspired video with some light content.
I have recently taken a love for Yoga. One of my favorite postures is headstand (also known as Sirasana). Headstand is known by most Yogis and Yoginis as the king of all postures (asanas). The physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of a regular headstand practice are plentiful.
The brain in the control center for thought, action, and emotions. The practice of headstand allows for healthy blood flow to the brain cells as well as the pituitary and peneal glands. These two glands are important for health, growth, and vitality. Continue reading →
I recently collected some delicious spring water in beautiful Ripton, Vermont. It’s always nice to switch up your spring water source if you get a chance. Every spring has a unique flavor and it’s own special qualities. Springs have varied mineral content, so what one spring may be lacking another spring may have in abundance.
In the attached video, I again tested for the spring’s temperature and pH. The temperature of the Ripton, Vermont Luck Number 7 spring was around 44 degrees Fahrenheit with a pH around 5.5. Continue reading →
In lue of an upcoming move to much warmer climate, I have been reducing the amount of my clothes that I own (among other possessions).
Keeping a small inventory of clothes is essential for both short and long term travel. One obvious benefit of having few clothes is the simple fact that the less you have to wear, the less you have to wash. A small chocolate stain on your favorite t-shirt is a great conversation starter and a fun reminder for you to eat more chocolate! (raw and organic of course).
The clothes that have stood the test of to keep or to donate, are all clothes that I love and wear often. When I traveled Thailand this past January I had three shirts and I wore one of them more than 80% of the time (I was abroad for 34 days). With this rant on clothing, I want to talk about some new yoga apparel that I recently introduced into my possession and intend on using often (washing when needed-clean clothes do make a nice first impression). Read on for a review of some great new yoga shorts by Lululemon Athletica.
I recently acquired a pair of Lululemon Athletica “Response Short” yoga shorts. Being that I spend anywhere between 10-25 hours a week in the yoga studio, I have become pretty picky about my practice attire. If had to use few words to describe my overall impression of these shorts thus far…these shorts are great.
I do not consider myself a superb reader by any measure.
The average reader’s word per minute (wpm) speed is somewhere in the range of 125 to 250 (my current rate is about 200 wpm). Think of people, “Speed Readers”, who read at rates of 1000, 2000, or 12,000 words per minute (watch the video for a demonstration of advanced speed reading-note movement of eyes). Currently, I am trying to complete a “Proven Self-Study Plan” to bring my reading speed up to 600 wpm. This is my fourth attempt at the plan. Learning to speed read is difficult.
About Speed Reading
Speed reading is intended to improve a readers’ wpm. Dispelling a common myth, the improved rate of reading does not come with a loss of comprehension or retention of the read material. Improved comprehension is often a claim of many speed reading programs.
Difficulties Learning To Speed Read & Goals
The difficulity of learning to speed read lies in practice of the mind numbing drills intended to expand peripheral vision and train your eyes to remain focused on the center of a page. The allure of speed reading is multi-faceted. Some of my desired benefits include: ability to read all the books I have on my shelf (that I thought I was going to read when I bought them), spend less time reading and more time doing other cool stuff, impress others with my super abilities (just kidding…kind of ), and learn a foreign language (not directly related to speed reading, but free time would help accomplish this goal)
Five Tips for Reading
As I continue to work on my current speed reading plan, I have come up with five tips to improve anyone’s reading:
Read books that you enjoy. Reading something boring, dry, and uninteresting will make reading an activity you do not want to do. If you start reading a book that sucks, stop reading the book and get rid of it. Donate, re-gift, re-cycle…whatever. Someone else may enjoy the content more than you and may end up raving about the information that you missed or may have enjoyed. Use your precious reading time wisely.
Getting your own water is fun! (I think it’s pretty cool too)
If I have the opportunity, I always try to get spring water direct from the source. When gathering my own water, I use large glass bottles (6 Gallon Carboys) to ensure there’s no sort of plastic related chemicals leaching into the water. In this post, you’ll find some facts about water and recommendations for water usage. I am not a scientist or a water expert. I am just an enthusiast of delicious water!
Water is vital for life. The average human’s blood is more than 80% water. While local municipalities do a fine job disinfecting and recycling waste water, tap water often contains chlorine, fluoride, pesticides, heavy metals, other substances that are not intended for consumption. Continue reading →
When thinking about the trip that I’m planning for the end of this month (never driven cross-country), I am faced with the dilemma that plagues any would be road tripper-What do I do with all my stuff?
Since incorporating yoga and some its’ values into my life, I have come across the principal of non-attachment on several occasions (one of the Sutras of Patanjali). When thinking of non-attachment, one can apply this ideology towards relationships, diet, and…stuff!
Material possessions can burden an individual just as much as anything immaterial. Old clothes, antiques, furniture, sporting equipment, and plenty of other stuff can hold onto feelings that are no longer a part of your life. When I started to eat primarily raw foods, I donated all the cooked food stuff I had. This was a great way for me not to constantly be temped to eat the stuff I decided I no longer wanted to consume. Stuff holds associations to the type of person you were when you decided to bring that stuff into your life (this can be good or bad depending on your perspective).
While deciding what stuff to get rid of, there are two common excuses that run through people’s head:
Just In Case-The “just in case excuse“, also known as I “you never know when you might need this” is the most common of all. Tattered t-shirts, worn out shoes, old newspapers…are all possessions that fall victim of this “someday” scenario. Continue reading →
), and learn a foreign language (not directly related to speed reading, but free time would help accomplish this goal)