My Yoga Online is a website founded in Vancouver, BC that provides yoga videos and articles, health programs, featured yoga postures, etc, etc, etc!
It's the perfect way to do yoga while traveling, as you can browse for your favourite local or international teacher, pick what kind of yoga you crave that day and follow along to the video anywhere, at anytime.
Along with the yoga classes, you'll find videos on pranayama (breath), lectures on various yoga topics as well as blog entries.
I was asked this year, by My Yoga Online, to share my experiences on the mat with their community.
To check out my most recent article, and this gem of a website, visit :
http://www.myyogaonline.com/about-yoga/learn-about-yoga/proprioception-developing-body-awareness
Namaste xo
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
When I Am Among the Trees
 |
| Taken on my trip to Tofino |
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oak and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness,
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, "Stay awhile."
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, " It's simple," they say,
"and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.'
~Mary Oliver
Among the Trees Playlist
1) Horses~ The Be Good Tanyas
2) Any Day Now ~ Jon and Roy
3) How Low~ Jose Gonzalez
4) Far Far ~ Yael Naim
5) Swing~ Zero 7
6) Sit Down Beside Me ~ Patrick Watson
7) My Baba ~ Trevor Hall
8) Young and Able~ Current Swell
9) Flower ~ Amos Lee
10) Love Will Take You~ Angus & Julia Stone
11) Pink Moon ~ Nick Drake
12) Rain ~ The Innocence Mission
13) The Limit To Your Love ~ Feist
14) I Got Mine~ Jon Middleton
15) Lover of Mine~ Jon Middleton
16) Dance of the Gray Whales~ A Fine Frenzy
Friday, February 1, 2013
Sexy Playlist
Perfect for a juicy, slow flow through asana or simply for a romantic night by the fire with wine in hand ;)
1) Light ~ Dr.Toast
2) Dirty Little Secret (Thievery Corporation Mix) ~ Sarah McLachlan
3) The Gaudy Side of Town~ Gayngs
4)Epicycles ~ Dr.Toast
5) 3am~ Bearcubs
6) Bosque ~ Bomba Estereo
7)Crystal Rope ~ Gayngs
8) El Alma y El Cuerpo ~ Bomba Estereo
9) Waiting Line~ Zero 7
10) Destiny~ Zero 7
11) A Perhistory of Thermodynamics ~ Dr.Toast
12)Memoires de Futur ~ Pina Soundtrack
13)Hope ~ Fat Freddy's Drop
14) Swimming Pools~ Patrick Watson
1) Light ~ Dr.Toast
2) Dirty Little Secret (Thievery Corporation Mix) ~ Sarah McLachlan
3) The Gaudy Side of Town~ Gayngs
4)Epicycles ~ Dr.Toast
5) 3am~ Bearcubs
6) Bosque ~ Bomba Estereo
7)Crystal Rope ~ Gayngs
8) El Alma y El Cuerpo ~ Bomba Estereo
9) Waiting Line~ Zero 7
10) Destiny~ Zero 7
11) A Perhistory of Thermodynamics ~ Dr.Toast
12)Memoires de Futur ~ Pina Soundtrack
13)Hope ~ Fat Freddy's Drop
14) Swimming Pools~ Patrick Watson
Seeds of Change: A Spring Yoga Retreat!
This just in: Sue Horning and I will be leading another retreat to Stowell Lake Farms on Salt Spring Island, May 2-5 2013.
We have a fantastic early bird special on right now, so jump on it!!!!
For all the details, check out our website at www.seedsofchangeretreat.wordpress.com.
Hope you can come.
Namaste xo
P.S. Here is a video from our last retreat on the farm, last fall
http://vimeo.com/56834704
Lets Get Traditional
**** SUNDAY, FEB 17th 1:30-3:30pm @ SEMPERVIVA YOGA (Kits Beach) ****
* Come close your eyes and get lost in the sweet sound of the sitar, while I lead you through a yin/yang asana. James will share the history of India's most ancient instrument, before we cover The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
I'm crossing my fingers that you'll leave your body and escape to India :)
Friday, January 4, 2013
January Workshops
BROGA AT MY PLACE: AN INTRODUCTION TO YOGA
Is your partner nagging you to try yoga? Doctor prescribing yoga to fix your ailments? Have you been meaning to try it for years? Afraid of studios? Think everyone will be watching you? Embarrassed you can't touch your toes?
Why not enjoy your first yoga experience in the comfort of a cozy home, with only 5 other bro's in the same boat as you? We'll have the perfect amount of time to clearly break down each pose & general flows. You'll leave feeling relaxed, empowered and ready for a public class.
Tea, laughs & a long savasana (nap time) will be provided!
Sign up now, as space is limited.
Beginners only!
$25 cash or cheque
Mon Jan, 28th from 5:30-7:00pm
Location: My living room in Kits, Vancouver!
Email emilyjanemillen@yahoo.com to reserve a spot.
Why not enjoy your first yoga experience in the comfort of a cozy home, with only 5 other bro's in the same boat as you? We'll have the perfect amount of time to clearly break down each pose & general flows. You'll leave feeling relaxed, empowered and ready for a public class.
Tea, laughs & a long savasana (nap time) will be provided!
Sign up now, as space is limited.
Beginners only!
$25 cash or cheque
Mon Jan, 28th from 5:30-7:00pm
Location: My living room in Kits, Vancouver!
Email emilyjanemillen@yahoo.com to reserve a spot.
BANDHAS FOR BALANCING
Redirect Energy & Bring Balance Through Bandhas
Sat Jan 12th, 1-3pm, $30 at South Granville YYOGA
In this workshop we'll work to reverse outward flow of exertion to reign in precious energy, by practicing the three energetic locks of the body!
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Proprioception: Where Is My Body In Space?
Earlier this year I came across a TEDtalk by Max Strom entitled, " There Is No App For Happiness." I found myself immediately intrigued, by this big teddy bear before me, and pleasantly hypnotized by his rich voice. If you've ever studied with this yoga teacher, speaker and author you'll know exactly what I mean!
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of learning from him in person, at Semperviva Yoga. I felt like he was our kindergarten teacher, feeding our imaginations with animated stories, as we sat cross legged staring up at his big body and jolly gaze. And you know you're in the presence of a brilliant teacher, when everything they've said sticks. I ingested his words so deeply, that I went home to further research a concept he introduced called, "proprioception."
Proprioception is defined as, " the sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body". For example, touching your nose with your index fingers while closing your eyes tests your ability to proprioceive. The mind has memorized where body parts are so perfectly that you often don't need the use of the eyes to find them.
In fact, we have a deeper relationship to our front body because we can see it, and our back body is more likely to feel somewhat numb or foreign to us. Lets say you were told to touch your belly button-you'd be able to find it without even thinking. However, if asked to quickly penetrate your T7 Vertebra, well....good luck with that one!
Proprioception is what allows us to walk in complete darkness without losing balance. It is what allows us to paint freely, without looking at the hand that's performing the paint stroke. When we're driving, it's what allows us to keep our eyes on the road, and not on our feet, while we break and accelerate.
Max expressed that as we age if we don't continue to stay physically active we lose our body awareness. Thus, one of the number one causes of death with seniors is from a result of falling, because one's proprioception gradually becomes impaired. He shared that for some seniors, finding their nose with the index finger can be a challenging task. This floored me, and I think this sole fact inspired me to write this entry.
I know I'm a healthy 27 year old and am far from being a senior, but I move my body daily and I sometimes crumple it up into pretzel shapes and then I roll up my mat and leave; My yoga practice is often an afterthought.
My first reaction to this was, "Oh, the little things we take for granted." However I then began to reflect on this with great admiration and respect for the work yogis do, and not just physically. As body awareness develops so does your relationship with each individual body part, becoming mindful of exactly where they exist in space. Many areas of ourselves have become unconscious, but the alignment principles of all different types of yoga help to rewire and light up the murky spots inside. I believe that's why you can feel so full after practice: you begin to glow and feel energized because the dots are being connected again and your body parts are being married as one. It's no coincidence that yoga actually translates to mean, "to yoke" or " to unite".
Before Max's workshop, I never actualized how many miracles occur on the mat. For example, lets say my students are in a twisted lunge to the left, their eyes are gazing skyward, and I ask them to bring their left hipbone back while drawing their right sit bone away from their sacrum- they then adjust accordingly. The fact that they can access a very deep portion of their pelvis, without looking, is pretty incredible; it's a skill we take for granted.
Even 2,000 years ago the depths of this work was cherished and eventually expressed in the ancient Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Sutra II.46 states that, "This discipline and attention must be applied to the practice of each asana, to penetrate to its very depths in the remotest parts of the body. Even the meditational asana has to be cultivated by the fibres, cells, joints and muscles in cooperation with the mind." Sutra II.46 Sthira Sukham Asanam
This skill is developed and fine tuned every time we hit the mat. As we become more aligned and aware of our physical bodies, we trust it more. This snowballs into us trusting our hearts, and hearing our intuition with confidence and efficiency. I believe this can morph even more into us being present with everything that surrounds us. We become like animals, noticing everyone's wear abouts, everyone's moods, reading everyone's body language, etc! Nothing goes unnoticed and relationships even deepen- from the bone in our left thigh, to our neighbour down the hall.
To tie my point into a pretty bow, I'll share with you Elizabeth Kadetski's experience on the mat, taken from her recent novel, First There Is A Mountain.
" I could discover my body anew every day, and through it discover the world around me. I could start again- remake my Universe."
http://www.maxstrom.com/
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of learning from him in person, at Semperviva Yoga. I felt like he was our kindergarten teacher, feeding our imaginations with animated stories, as we sat cross legged staring up at his big body and jolly gaze. And you know you're in the presence of a brilliant teacher, when everything they've said sticks. I ingested his words so deeply, that I went home to further research a concept he introduced called, "proprioception."
Proprioception is defined as, " the sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body". For example, touching your nose with your index fingers while closing your eyes tests your ability to proprioceive. The mind has memorized where body parts are so perfectly that you often don't need the use of the eyes to find them.
In fact, we have a deeper relationship to our front body because we can see it, and our back body is more likely to feel somewhat numb or foreign to us. Lets say you were told to touch your belly button-you'd be able to find it without even thinking. However, if asked to quickly penetrate your T7 Vertebra, well....good luck with that one!
Proprioception is what allows us to walk in complete darkness without losing balance. It is what allows us to paint freely, without looking at the hand that's performing the paint stroke. When we're driving, it's what allows us to keep our eyes on the road, and not on our feet, while we break and accelerate.
Max expressed that as we age if we don't continue to stay physically active we lose our body awareness. Thus, one of the number one causes of death with seniors is from a result of falling, because one's proprioception gradually becomes impaired. He shared that for some seniors, finding their nose with the index finger can be a challenging task. This floored me, and I think this sole fact inspired me to write this entry.
I know I'm a healthy 27 year old and am far from being a senior, but I move my body daily and I sometimes crumple it up into pretzel shapes and then I roll up my mat and leave; My yoga practice is often an afterthought.
My first reaction to this was, "Oh, the little things we take for granted." However I then began to reflect on this with great admiration and respect for the work yogis do, and not just physically. As body awareness develops so does your relationship with each individual body part, becoming mindful of exactly where they exist in space. Many areas of ourselves have become unconscious, but the alignment principles of all different types of yoga help to rewire and light up the murky spots inside. I believe that's why you can feel so full after practice: you begin to glow and feel energized because the dots are being connected again and your body parts are being married as one. It's no coincidence that yoga actually translates to mean, "to yoke" or " to unite".
Before Max's workshop, I never actualized how many miracles occur on the mat. For example, lets say my students are in a twisted lunge to the left, their eyes are gazing skyward, and I ask them to bring their left hipbone back while drawing their right sit bone away from their sacrum- they then adjust accordingly. The fact that they can access a very deep portion of their pelvis, without looking, is pretty incredible; it's a skill we take for granted.
Even 2,000 years ago the depths of this work was cherished and eventually expressed in the ancient Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Sutra II.46 states that, "This discipline and attention must be applied to the practice of each asana, to penetrate to its very depths in the remotest parts of the body. Even the meditational asana has to be cultivated by the fibres, cells, joints and muscles in cooperation with the mind." Sutra II.46 Sthira Sukham Asanam
This skill is developed and fine tuned every time we hit the mat. As we become more aligned and aware of our physical bodies, we trust it more. This snowballs into us trusting our hearts, and hearing our intuition with confidence and efficiency. I believe this can morph even more into us being present with everything that surrounds us. We become like animals, noticing everyone's wear abouts, everyone's moods, reading everyone's body language, etc! Nothing goes unnoticed and relationships even deepen- from the bone in our left thigh, to our neighbour down the hall.
To tie my point into a pretty bow, I'll share with you Elizabeth Kadetski's experience on the mat, taken from her recent novel, First There Is A Mountain.
" I could discover my body anew every day, and through it discover the world around me. I could start again- remake my Universe."
http://www.maxstrom.com/
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