The Minimalist Yogi

I believe that every morning has so much potential; early morning is a powerful and sacred time for personal ritual and practice that can carry you through your whole day. But also, a good nigh sleep makes for the best mornings; when I am well rested I feel that I am more in tuned with the start of the day, more grounded and connected.  Establishing a morning ritual, or routine can make each  morning less unpleasant and more exciting, over time and slowly these practices  can become ingrain. Every morning I like to dedicate at least 6 10 minutes to  yoga, depending on the day I am leaving the house be it at 5:30 am or 7am, I  modify the sequence to accommodate for the day. On days where my morning starts  at 4:50 am I dedicate at least 5-6 minutes of morning to a Surya Namaskara A  and B, or a simple flow that integrates it simple sun salutation. Whereas, on  days where I have leave late in the morning I dedicate at least ...

I find bumblebees to be fascinating insects because they always seem to be busy, doing something if not bothering and terrifying people they are doing something else. Among the many things I like about them is the fact that they are hardworking, and highly organized insects. It is this sense of discipline, teamwork and cooperation that draws me to them. It is easy for me to identify with their sense of discipline and perception of constantly being busy or working. Like many I enjoy being busy and buzzing around, the notion of taking a day off to just relax seems so simple to many, yet so foreign to me. I think many of us are satisfied with this bumblebee life, and there is nothing wrong with it because it is within this state of constantly being busy that we thrive and find ourselves most contented. Where the sun shines and the birds chirp. But sooner or later our bodies will send us the signal to say slow down. This is the state I found myself in today being occupied all week ...

Exploring this flow for while now, I've done some version of it, but still not completely satisfied, but here is a version I've done yesterday. Majority of this flow consists of hip openers which has a lot of benefits. According to San Francisco vinyasa teacher Stephanie Snyder we hold stress and negative emotions—such as fear, guilt, and sadness—in our pelvis. For this reason alone, Snyder believes it’s particularly important to do poses that move prana (life force) through  that area.  But before going ahead trying the flow few things to keep in mind, take your time with opening your hips, because hip ligaments are strong, and DON'T PUSH yourself. Be aware of your breathing and and your knees. If you have any knee issues like I do modify the poses, props to help you as you can see that I use a yoga block while doing the split to protect my knees. Lastly, before starting you might be a little tense depending on when was your last practice, so lubricate your join...

Yesterday I had the most amazing practice or it felts like the most amazing practice in a while; I've recently decided to do all of my practice at home because I am currently unemployed and cannot effort going to a studio every day, so instead I have decided to take control of my practice by doing an hour of yoga everyday starting with simple asana flow sequences than doing challenging poses. Yesterday I decided to do a semi-challenging pose that I haven't done  in a while and I was surprise by how easy the pose has become, all it took was just practice. This is one of those really challenging but great arm balance that requires using pretty much every aspect of you body which I absolutely love because you are not just working on your legs, but also you arms, hips, upper body etc.. It require both open hips, deep twisting and upper body strength, which is something I absolutely lack. The key to this pose is finding a place where you are comfortable and build from there; b...

What Are you up to this weekend? This weekend I have nothing big planned besides helping a friend in his political campaign, doing some schoolwork that I’ve been avoiding all week, and getting some fun reading time.   Recently, I tried to re-read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore's Dilemma for the second time, but I could not bring myself to actually finish the book. This is my second time attempting to read the book, but finding myself completely bored and uninterested. So I’ve decided to go with another book that I’ve been meaning to read for while now; Samuel Huntington “The Clash of Civilizations.” Even though the reading is somewhat heavy and some may even consider boring, I have to say I am enjoying, perhaps it’s my boring personality that’s enjoying it. The author provides an interest perspective into Post- Cold War world, and what we could expect in the future in regards to war; strongly recommend reading it. Apart from reading and canvassing, I’ll be seeing an ol...

It feels like its been forever since I blogged ... oh wait it's 2014 and the last time I blogged was 2013 so it has been forever since I blogged. Happy New Year!! I feel like the boy who cried wolf when it comes to keeping my promises about blogging, so given my poor inability to keep my promises regarding blogging I am not going to give you guys the old speech of “I promise I am going to blog more this year” however, I am going to TRY to write more.  So, lets address the big elephant in the room, yes I am talking about New Years Resolution! if I said I did not have one I’d be lying. I am no different from anyone else out there so, like all the ordinary people who took it upon themselves to set new goals for 2014 so did I. Given that it is 2014, this is my 2014 manifesto: 1. Do what you love, and do it often 2. Be Honest with yourself 3. Let yourself be Vulnerable 4. See as much as you can of what’s right in front of you 5. Treat yourself like you want other...

          I am feeling really tried; before I fall asleep I thought I should blog. I just came from a yoga class that was really layback, which is something I generally don't like because I enjoy intense classes. However, after yesterday running that the gym this class was the perfect thing needed to be ready for tomorrow's gym time.           While looking at my refrigerator yesterday I had one of those moment where I said to myself; " there is nothing I can eat" so instead of going out to lunch I decided to cook something. Using pesto I made few days ago.  I recently saw this video on Vimeo and completely fell in love with it, it's the most adorable video ever.  INGREDIENTS   1 tomato (sliced) 1 avocado (sliced) 1 Cumber (sliced) 2 yellow potato (sliced) 1 cup of almonds  1 cup of Pumpkin seeds  Spinach  Kale  Sweet green pea 2 garlic clove...