I grew up in a household where you use and reuse everything. You eat what is on your plate, and what won’t kill you will make you stronger.

I am thankful for this very conservative perspective on material but I have also seen when this need to conserve can be a disadvantage to my health.

Let me explain. While eating your brussel sprouts as a child is a good thing, accepting dozens of Christmas cookies, cakes, chocolates, and other sweet treats and cleaning your plate is not. I work at an office where we get so many wonderful items around Christmas. So many thoughtful people bring us goodies but I have had to fight my instinct and throw things away because it is impossible to eat it all before it goes bad. And if I did, I would make myself sick.

The same thing seems to be at this time of the year, when we travel from party to party and house to house, that it is expected to eat pie and Christmas cookies. It may be our instinct to try something everywhere we go, from every person. But I challenge you, like myself, to take a look at that expectation. Can we break that expectation for health? I would like to try.

What are your feelings about waste in general and in relation to not so healthy treats? Are you one to try a little bit of everything?

Stress teaches us a lot about ourselves. We become aware of our natural coping mechanisms. We learn how to motivate ourselves and how to find comfort. These are important things to know about ourselves in order to survive. For me, I have learned I do not always work well under pressure. In fact, if I feel forced to do more than my mental capacities can absorb, I will just shut down, burn out, and give up.

Yet there are others who need rigid structure to succeed. They work best under pressure and relish in endless goals. Learning how best to channel our inner creativities and talents in order to succeed is largely rooted in learning to understand ourselves.

These thoughts, for me, came to mind as I was examining myself as a yoga teacher. The way I run classes is similar to the way I do many things in life. I do not always structure my routines. Instead, I fill my head with endless poses and combinations, preparing just enough to keep me on schedule. I read books and gain knowledge and then I flow as my spirit leads. I have done so many routines on my own, that yoga becomes freedom to move and bend as the body and spirit allow. That is how I engage my inner creativity, through the freedom of flow.

What kind of person are you? Do you work best through structure or go with the flow? How does this relate to your yoga practice?

It’s easy to sit all day when you are stuck in your house. Lying on the couch, curled up with a blanket, and eating for entertainment are the norm when you are confined to the walls of your home. But on days like we have had recently, it is good to keep moving.

Now do not be mislead. I am wholeheartedly for enjoying a cozy afternoon with a book or a nap. We all need to rest. But if you find yourself sitting in one spot for nine, ten, maybe even twelve hours of the day, watching television, here are some better options. Continue Reading…