You’ve probably heard the famous song, “Respect,” written by Otis Redding, and powerfully sung by Aretha Franklin. It’s an anthem to anyone who has felt wronged, and needs words of empowerment to regain confidence and courage.

If you’ve ever been in that emotional place of feeling small and stripped of power, you’ll recognize how uncomfortable it is! How can you find shanti, or inner peace, instead?

There could be as many possible paths of forward action as there are ways to practice Hatha Yoga asanas. And I believe you will find the best way forward to create inner peace for you! However, the root of the action will be the same for everybody. At the heart of the discomfort, we must recognize the concept of Maya, which is the illusory world that our minds perceive to be reality. To Yogis, everything we perceive is Maya.

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English is a language with a lot of words. Some even say it has the largest vocabulary, though it’s hard to measure. But in the end, there’s no “competitive linguistics” or trophy for the language with the most words. More on this later!

Because English has so many words, it makes sense that it hosts many homonyms (same word, different meanings) and homophones (same sound, different words with different meanings).

I’ve recently been contemplating one such homonym/homophone: HURDLE/HURDLE/HURTLE, and exploring these words in relationship to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 1.14.

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My personal scuba diving journey began 12 years ago. I clearly remember the day I first dove underwater. It was a lovely sunny day, we were out on a boat and two girls were doing their very first discovery dive. One gave up and decided that she was not going to do the dive. I still don’t know what got into me, but I knew it was the right time to take the plunge. I have observed many times how to put on the equipment and I knew how to use it, but for some reason I had delayed actually doing it myself.

Breathing in scuba….ground rule number one: don’t hold your breath…it takes you up & it’s dangerous.

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IFATFRST
That was the license plate on the car in front of us. My mind instantly read it as, “I Fat First.” I was puzzled why anyone would want that advertised on their car! Then I realized it was supposed to be, “If at First…” an abbreviation of the well known proverb circulating since the 1800s¹, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

After a bit of a laugh at my mistake, the saying got my mental wheels turning.

The phrase “if at first…” was originally published in a teacher’s manual, then used in a song written by Edward Hickson². The aphorism eventually became so popular that it was applied to a range of activities beyond schoolwork.

Here is a verse from Edward Hickson’s song:

‘Tis a lesson you should heed–
Try again;
If at first you don’t succeed,
Try again.
Then your courage should appear;
For if you will persevere,
You will conquer, never fear,
Try again.

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From Prakriti to Purusha – From Earth to Heaven

As I advanced in the study of the chakras, I observed that they were describing my life stages, the ages I have already lived and the ages yet to come.
To put us in context I offer a brief description of the concept of “Chakra”. Coming from the Sanskrit word chakram, it means wheel, circle or waterwheel, and refers to the energy centers that manage the vital energy or prana that forms our energy body and directly influences our other bodies: physical, mental, emotional and, of course, spiritual.
That does not mean that the chakras are developed in these ages as the chakras accompany us, in their totality, from the beginning of our existence. Nor are there only 7 chakras, but the ones mentioned here are the most important and strong, the most studied and well known.

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We all know that fitness benefits only come when we maintain a consistent discipline, whether it’s Yoga, weightlifting or running. A little bit of regular, daily practice will improve health much more than intense practice maintained only for one week each year.

Yet even though we know that consistent exercise is good for us, and we always feel better when we maintain a steady exercise or Yoga routine, many of us still struggle with the discipline to fit Yoga into our overly-packed schedules. Live, in-person classes can help cement our health routine into our schedule, yet many of us must now find the motivation to take live streaming or video classes.

Unfortunately, it requires a lot of discipline to adopt live streaming and video classes into our schedules, and maintain our own health and fitness without external support! Therefore, I’ve compiled a list of the top 5 tactics I use in order to maintain regularity in my at-home Yoga practice, in the hopes it will help you develop your own routine.

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You know you are an aerial yogi when you lose access to your hammock or aerial yoga classes and something deep inside you feels incomplete. When the quarantine shut down aerial studios, those of us without home rigs lost access to hammocks or became dependent on the weather to use an outdoor rig. What’s an aerial yogi to do without a hammock in the house?

Unnata evolved in to the rich method it is today by a long process of exploration. As teachers and students continue to invent, observe, and share ideas, the whole community benefits. So, for those of us without hammocks, let’s use our time off to explore new props and apply some of Unnata Yoga’s methods with the suggestions below.
(For full, complete Yoga classes which use a bed or sofa to replicate the hammock’s support, check out these videos, or these streaming classes with Unnata founder, Michelle Dortignac.)

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You’re likely familiar with the term, “fight, flight, or freeze.” It’s what happens to all sentient beings when we experience fear for our survival. The sympathetic side of our autonomic nervous system turns on, and a whole network of physiological reactions engage to help us survive a potentially deadly situation.

Even though we usually talk about “fight, flight, or freeze” in that order, I’ve noticed that in nature, most animals work their way through those survival reactions in the opposite order. For example, let’s say you’re hiking in the woods, and you come across a deer. If you happen to notice the deer before it sees you (unlikely, but it could happen), once the deer does see you, it will first freeze in place to hopefully “disappear” from your awareness. It perceives you as a threat. Then, if you don’t go away and the deer still feels threatened, it will run away at lightning speed. If for some reason the deer can’t run away, or perhaps you’re physically too close for comfort, the deer will fight with hooves and antlers to defend itself. (Also unlikely, but it could happen! Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=332NKyfklY0)

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Well, this has been quite a year so far! I have to admit that a global pandemic was not on my mental radar coming into the year. As I write this, I am fortunate that I have not had to struggle with loved ones and people I care for being stricken with illness. For all of you who have lost your health or lost people close to you, my heart goes out to you!

OH MY HEART, OH MY HEAD
Temporarily closing my business, Aerial Fit has been hard. It was the right thing to do and I fully support social distancing protocols, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been one of the scariest moments in my life. It makes me realize all the things that are wrapped up in it, things I now see I’ve taken for granted.

My own health… What if I or my partner get sick, how will we run the business? My human connection… What if I can’t get all my students back in, who will I connect with? My livelihood… What else in the world am I qualified to do? My self-identity… This is what I’ve been doing 100% of the time for the past 11 years.

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We like to celebrate exceptional talent and skill that we see in others. As a society, we see talent and skill as hard earned, something all of us can aspire to, and perhaps even achieve if we have a similar dedication and work ethic. We shower people who have exceptional talent and skill with popularity, accolades, and financial remuneration. And if you happen to be one of the many who are not recognized for your skills with popularity, accolades or financial remuneration, then the underlying message is that you just aren’t all that talented: Try harder, or try something else.

Interestingly, in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (the ancient text many teachers use to learn and better understand Yoga techniques), when supernatural spiritual powers (called siddhayah) arise, they aren’t seen as things to be honored, admired or celebrated.
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