Tag Archives: yoga

GIFT DAY 017: pup, yoga, dogs and gifts to give away

17 Jan

I had a helper in my office today….

Pup decided it wasn’t good enough to sit on the floor while I worked… oh, no. He had to sit on my chair.

pup working, jamie eslinger, the promise 365

With me.
We barely fit on the chair together.

He must have been comfortable because he began snoring with his head flat on my desk.

Hard day of work for Pup.

Which reminds me of my gift of the day from yesterday…

yoga dogs calendar
Yoga Dog Calendar.

We received two calendars for Christmas and what is a girl to do with two calendars?

So I sent the extra one to someone who loves dogs as much as I do…

Karen Pearson, my dear, you will soon receive your very own
Yoga Dogs – 2013 Wall Calendar in the mail!

OMG, this gift giving thing is SO MUCH FUN!

Can’t wait to share my gift from today with you. But that will be tomorrow.

In the meantime …Can your dog do yoga? How about snore?

More tomorrow.
Lovemore,
Jamie

{Dog gone it! Want a rainy day remedy? Just search Pinterest with the word “puppy” — you’ll see what I mean.}

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Day 342: christmas yoga all year long

9 Dec

I love lights.
I love greens.
I love Christmastime!

Tonight, as I was headed to yoga, I stopped in front of the supermarket to marvel at the wreaths.

wreaths, thepromise365, jamie eslinger

So pretty. So green. So Christmas.

I wish every single day of the year could be Christmas.

Then again…
I wish I would do yoga every single day of the year too.

That brings me to this:
I can’t WAIT to tell you what I’m doing next year here at The Promise 365 for 2013.

Tomorrow I will. 
Promise. 

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Day 321: surprise!

18 Nov

It’s day seven of my giving challenge and today I was given my own surprise.

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Tonight at dinner, Pam handed me this Yoga Dog calendar, saying, “I just had to get this for you!”

Of course it’s perfect, a calendar with photos of dogs doing yoga poses.

And the cover looks just like our little Brady – with that same crazy Vizsla smile.

It put a smile on my face and reminds me how great it feels to both give and receive.

May the giving continue!

Here’s to Giving Thanks this week and a happy Thanksgiving.

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Day 242: “you can tie your body in knots but without the essence there will always be a piece missing.”

30 Aug

I spent the day (and most of the night) at the Martha’s Vineyard Yoga Festival. I volunteered to help out in exchange for participating. What a good deed, win-win, I thought.

It turned out to be a greater gift to me.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I read the class title for Saul David Raye‘s “Inner Alchemy:  Igniting the Fire of the Heart” — I just knew I had to be there so I signed up.  Especially with this being my year to lovemore+fearless.

The class promised to ”focus on strengthening and activating the spiritual HEART and doing inner transformation through the 7 levels of energy within.”

And, focus on the heart we did. Tonight, I can honestly say I am moved, stretched and mentally drained, and energetically lightened in a very rejuvenating way.

I also participated in my first Kirtan or “chant.”

I left with these thoughts swirling through my head: 

1) We are ever-evolving and never “done” (isn’t that reassuring!)

2) Enlightenment is not a state to aspire to — it is not separate from our current being or something we attain to turn into — it is a state of being who we already are.

3) “Essence” is more important than the pose.

As Saul David Raye said:

“You can tie your body in knots but without the essence there will always be a piece missing.”

How true that is.

It made me think back to my very first hot yoga class — where I strained and stretched in order to “hit” all the right poses, while cranking my neck, looking up at the instructor and around at everyone else in the class to figure out what knot to tie my body into next.

The foreign names of poses meant nothing to me. Garudasana? Balasana? Shavasina?  What the hell were they saying?

Then the instructor announced that we “Type A” people need to stop comparing ourselves in yoga class and stick to our own mat, go at our own pace, and stop competing.

“She’s talking to me.” I thought as I strained my head to see if she was looking directly at me. I had never been told to stop competing before. I am a trained athlete. Competing is what I do!

But that whole new world of yoga exposed my inner athlete and all her self-conscious pursuits.

And, now, four years later, I am still trying to figure out what the instructor is saying. What pose comes next. Where to put my head and hands.

The difference is, today, I found myself dropping into Child’s Pose whenever I felt called. Taking a break whenever I needed it. I stayed flat on my mat in Shavasina as long as I wanted.

The competition was gone. Just breath, in and out, remained. 

And, really, it’s the breath that matters most.

As Saul David Raye explained today, our breath determines the length of our life. The deeper and more we breathe, the longer we live.

And that may be the essence of it all. 
No matter what, just breathe.

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Day 71: follow your bliss

11 Mar

“Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid.”
Joseph Campbell 

Why is it that just when I master something, the next, next thing pops up?

For instance, I just got CROW.

It’s been a long time in the making, but finally, my scrawny little arms mastered the move on my yoga mat.  I can now swing my legs up above my elbows and not fall on my face.

Hallelujah!

I was just feeling strong in my newfound ability to do this, but then (“then” always follows “but”)…

Today, while in yoga class, just as I created my 5-second CROW, the instructor took us one more level up — to a HEADSTAND.

I dropped to the ground and squatted on my mat, looking around the room, watching everyone else commit head down, legs skyward  My mind raced.

Now, just how do I go from my new CROW to THAT?

Then, these words were spoken.
“Are you going to make this easy or struggle with it?”

As I sat there, clinging my bottom to my mat, the full impact of our instructor’s words hit me in the heart. “Are you going to make this easy or struggle with it?”

Am I going to struggle with this?  I asked myself. 
NO!

So, what did I do?
I landed myself right back into CROW, where it was comfortable and clear and EASY.

I am slowly learning to go at my own pace, to walk to the beat of my own drum — and to be less caught up with what others are doing around me in the world, and in yoga class.

I didn’t do a headstand in yoga today.
And, really, who cares?

I have just barely mastered my newfound CROW — which wasn’t easy for me to do just a few weeks ago.  But, now I LOVE it!  I practice it at home while watching TV. I show off to Justin just to prove that I can, indeed, do it.

It is my little accomplishment — a little moment of bliss.

So, today, I followed my bliss. 
And wasn’t afraid.  

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Day 65: lovemore monday :: take out the trash

5 Mar

As you know, I entered this year determined to be fearless. But, I don’t want more fear or less in my life.  I want more love.  So I made up a new word, lovemore!   That’s why Lovemore Mondays are here.

Last week I shared a love story about my Grandma’s Kitchen.

Today’s Lovemore Monday is dedicated to Trash. 

And, I almost missed the best part of today.
Too busy.
Too many things to do.
Too many items on my “to-do list” haunting my subconscious.

I was caught in the vacillation of “to go” or “not to go” to YOGA.

But then, I asked myself the question:  What am I afraid of? 

The answer, of course — pain.

The pain of feeling behind on work. The pain and pressure from my mind as it rattles off items from my to-do list. The pain of squeezing more stuff into my already precious 24 hours of time. And, the big bonanza of them all, the pain of stretching my aching, menstruating body into BINDS and FROGS and CROWS (that I can only do halfway on a good day anyway!).

In the end, I showed up.
At 5:30pm EST I lined up on my mat and down-ward dogged it at Bala Vinyasa. My slow, tired muscles shook with fervor as sweat lined my arms and slipped all the way to the tip of my nose, before falling to the mat below.

Splash!
As the beads of sweat landed in a woman-made puddle below I saw something spectacular happen —  light began to bounce off it.

For the first time, I recognized my sweat’s true beauty. It wasn’t just sweat and tears, it was another ounce of fear melting away. 

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.
Marcus Aurelius

Or, as our yoga instructor said:
“Get the garbage out of your head.”

And, that’s why, on this Lovemore Monday,
when comes to taking out the trash…
I. Love. It.

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Day 53: a love letter to my body

22 Feb

Tonight continues my commitment to more love and less fear this year.  For February, I am writing a love letter each day.  Tonight is dedicated to …my body. 

Dear Body:

Oh. How. You. Ache. Tonight.

Two words: Power Yoga.
And, I must admit, more than my water bottle is screaming “Woman on Fire” tonight!

And, yet, when I push your muscles to the edge, it feels so good, dear Body.

Even in the pain, I feel your strength.
Through the sweat, I understand your power.

It’s funny when you think about it, I have known you for so very, very long. And, yet, just like my oldest friends and dearest confidants, I fear I take you for granted.

And, for that, I apologize.

Because you have always been by my side.  In my side, well, really, you are my sides. You know what I mean.

Thank you for being here for me.

Love,
Jamie  

P.S. I promise to drink more water tonight! Promise.

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Day 42: a love letter to yoga

11 Feb

Tonight continues my commitment to more love and less fear this year.  For February, I am writing a love letter each day.  Tonight is dedicated to …yoga.

Dear Yoga:

I think I fell in love with you before I knew what you were.

Years and years ago, when I was a teenager, I would sit and soak in my stretch before basketball practice.  It felt so good!  It was like my own private moment before all the competition, training and games began.

Back then, I never thought of stretching as an exercise — rather, it was what I was required to do before exercising.  These days, my favorite exercise is just that — stretching, a.k.a. YOU, yoga!

And, today, dear Yoga, I sat in your class and remembered that peaceful stretch.  That moment of being with my mat.  Just being.

(Of course, my being was dripping rivers of sweat down my arms!)

While I am still learning not to treat you like a competition or game, the ex-athlete in me can’t help but look up at the real yogi’s in the room and try to catch up to their Crows, mimic their Frogs and dive like their Dolphins.

I’m still learning to take this stretching exercise to heart — my heart — and go at my own pace.  I suppose that’s the lesson in this life that you have so sweetly and silently shared.

Now, as I sit here resting my sore muscles, my spirit is soaring.
And, it’s all because of you.

Love,
Jamie

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Day 363: the wrap up part 3 :: body

29 Dec

Here we are, closing in on 365 days and the end of this year.  And, what a year it has been.

So much has changed in my world, in this year, that I am dedicating a full day to each of my promises: head, heart, body and soul.

Because if I have learned anything this year, it is this: the magic is in reflection.

Part 3:  body

What does it mean to take care of the body?

As my new friend Belleruth Naparstek reminds me in one of her amazing guided meditations, our body is our “oldest friend” and “steadiest companion.”

And I like that.
Because I never thought of my body in a confidant sort of way.  At least not until this promise.

To the contrary, I spent too many years scrutinizing the shape of my hips, the size of my toes, the stubby-ness of my thumbs, the arc of my belly.  After my cancer treatments I wished for my long thick locks to return, just like after I turned thirty I wished for my dimply cheeks to return to their twenty-something smoothness.

But this is a journey isn’t it, with the body in the lead.

Through the ups and downs of life’s heavy weights and other losses it seems my body has been with me all along.  Right there alongside me, every step of the way.

And it wasn’t until this promise came along that I started to give my body its due.  Seems almost silly to me now that I failed to invest in it.

It has indeed been a year of self-care.

Some of my adventures in self-care brought my body through totally new experiences, like bodywork, chakra massage, an Avyvedic cleanse and meditation.

Others have just reminded me how great it feels to give nourishment to the skin I’m in, like hot rock massages and pedicures.

More than anything I have relied on my night-time bath. 

A nocturnal ritual that lifts my spirits and comforts my body no matter what the rest of the world may be contemplating.  We may be at war, or in economic crisis or fiercely debating the next election — but it just doesn’t matter when I am in my bathwater.

One of the best pieces of advice I heard over this year-long promise to take care of my body was quite simply ironic — do nothing.

That’s right.  DO. NOTHING.

It comes from traditional Chinese medicine and I have come to hear those words echo through my mind when cerebral buttons begin to be pushed and that other voice in my head starts telling my body to do more, be more, try more.

It’s almost too easy isn’t it?

Do nothing.
Of course, it doesn’t mean eat bonbons and down six packs while watching television with Ben and Jerry.

It means, literally stop and do nothing but let your body breathe.

Sure, the massage and yoga and Pilates and hiking have all been invigorating, adventurous and new.  But, all these exercises ended up bringing me back to a place of peace that opened up a space where I could do something extraordinary with my body — breathe.

I guess what I’m trying to say is this: it’s ironic after all the searching, and the classes and the adventures that I am right back in the place where my body first started.

Taking one deep breath.
And then another.


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Day 250: sit. stay. good for you girl!

7 Sep

I made an intention this morning.
I vowed to stay in the room.
To just sit.  Stay.  Good girl.

As I placed my mat on the floor at Tapas Hot Yoga, my instructor, Claire, asked me how I felt — to which I answered, “Tired. I am honestly tired.”

It was not the early class. It wasn’t even Monday morning.
I have not run, walked vigorously, swam or even skipped to my lou my darlin’ — at least not this week. I have no cold, no illness, no excuse.

I have no good reason to be tired.
But, I am.  Or, was.

And, that’s precisely when Claire flashed me a knowing smile and spoke her magic words: “It’s okay if you’re tired, just stay in the room. If nothing else, just stay in the room, you’ll still get all the benefits from being here.”

Hearing her words, rewired my brain.
YES! I thought to myself — I am here, I showed up, that’s all I need to do. The rest is icing on the cake.

I suppose it’s much like writing here everyday.
I made an intention to do it everyday, and not to shop.
So that’s what I’m doing.

Some days I stare at my computer screen blankly while I dig trenches into my heart to pull out just exactly what it is I’m feeling.  On other days, I have an entire blog post written in my head before my fingers hit the keyboard. Still others, I find myself racing against the clock trying to beat that last stoke before midnight just to publish something. Anything. One word before 11:59 pm flashes across my screen (or my cell phone — who wears a watch these days?).

Today, I was tired.
But, it led to an epiphany (thank you Claire).
On some days I will be tired.  On some days I won’t be able to do my best.  On some days, the most I’ve got to give will just be walking through the door and placing my mat on the floor …and that’s it.

And, that is enough.
Actually, it’s better than enough — it’s beautiful.  It’s perfect.  Because it’s where I’m at, whether on my mat or in my head.

Maybe some day, one day, I will be the yogi girl I was meant to be; live up to my potentially noble Namaste bliss.  It might mean dedicating body, heart and soul to downward dogging it more often, more routinely, more deeply, more meaningfully.

Until then, I vow to just keep showing up.
No matter how infrequent or often.
And, when I do, I will not leave the room.

So …see you in class?

Sit.
Stay.
Good for you, girl!

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