Yoga

It happens to everyone – especially this time of year. Too many parties, too many drinks, too much food, too many sweets…..all so delicious, and all just TOO MUCH.

Life is about balance, and joy, and sometimes that means indulging in a little bit too much. Knowing how to bounce back efficiently is not just a tool for immediate physical recovery, it is a tool that will allow you to have more flexibility and balance and resiliency in your life. If you know how to effectively get back on your lifestyle wagon, it makes jumping off it once in a while much less scary.

A few days of eating like crap can throw even the spryest healthiest person into a downward spiral of bloat, lethargy, and just general UGHHHHH. As we all know, building healthy habits takes FOREVER, but breaking them….that’s another story. That can happen in just a day or two.

3 Tips for Getting Back on Your Wagon

1. HYDRATE. HYDRATE. HYDRATE. Did we say that enough times? HYDRATE.

Super-hydrate in the morning. It will help ensure that you get enough ounces of fluid in you for the day. First thing in the morning, even before your coffee or tea, chug a Liter of water. Just do it. Chug-a-lug. If your overindulgence included alcohol, it doesn’t hurt to add some electrolytes into your morning water. There are a lot of products out there for this right now, here are a few of my faves: Emergen-C Electro Mix & LyteShow Electrolyte Concentrate.

Once you have gotten your morning hydration-blast in, commit to consuming a couple more liters of water over the course of the day. Do whatever you need to do to make this happen. Make your water fun & pretty. Need some ideas? Revisit this Infused Water Article from Yogis in the Kitchen.

2.  SWEAT IT OUT.

We know you don’t want to. And it probably isn’t going to feel great. Pretty much guaranteed that it is not going to be the best workout of your life, but GO ANYWAY. Be gentle with yourself. Don’t expect maximum output, but go and MOVE YOUR BODY. Suffer through. Know it is going to suck, and just get to the other side. (Hint. Hint. Here is our Class Schedule. Pre-register for a class. Your body will thank you later.)

3. PACK YOUR LUNCH (and your snacks).

Weekday food prep will save you. Eating at restaurants, even when you are trying to make healthy choices, exposes you to added salt, fat, & temptation (bread baskets?!?!?) that are unnecessary – especially this time of year. Save your indulgences for the parties and social gathering that make the holidays AWESOME!

Don’t forget to pack a couple (at least two) healthy snacks. Personally, I like to make sure that these snacks are nutrient dense, savory, and have some healthy fats in them. These are especially important mid-afternoon when your energy and attention start to wane. Here are a few ideas from Yogis in the Kitchen: Energy Bites & Pre & Post Yoga Snacks.

So, ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY SEASON. Eat the food. Drink the drinks. Share the cheer. Participate in the special holiday activities, social events, & parties that make your soul feel good. And then keep getting back on your wagon and do the things that make your body feel good. Happy Holidays Funky Buddhas!! <3

It’s time for a book review from one of our lovely teachers, Lindsay!

If you want to make change in your habits, see insight to your past and current behaviors, and more effectively understand and communicate with others, you should definitely read this book!

How are the Four Tendencies different from other personality types classifications (like Myers Briggs or Enneagram)? Gretchen developed a framework that answers the question: How do you respond to expectations? In other words, what makes you act, or not act. The reason this insight into how you respond to expectations is so important, is that it directly impacts what you DO and don’t DO.

Expectations come from two sources: outer expectations (what your boss assigns you) and inner expectations (your New Year’s Resolution). Whether you meet them or you fail at them depends on your Tendency. The Four Tendencies are: Upholder, Questioner, Obliger, and Rebel.

Quick Breakdown:

Upholders readily meet both outer and inner expectations with ease. They love rules and love planning (think Hermione Granger).

Questioners resist outer expectations but meet inner expectations. (They won’t do it because you told them to, they’ll ask why and comply if it makes sense for them.)

Obligers meet outer expectations but resist inner expectations. We love doing things for others but can’t ever seem to find time for ourselves. (Sound familiar? I said “we” because I fall into this category, and so do most, as this Tendency holds the largest percentage of people.)

Rebels resist both inner and outer expectations. They don’t ask why, but rather say “you can’t make me!” or they may be intrigued to actually do the opposite of what external sources ask.

What I learned:

As an Obliger, learning I need outer accountability to meet the inner expectations that I so often struggle with was a huge lightbulb moment for me. For example, say you have a personal goal to practice in studio 4x/week. Gretchen suggests that an Obliger like me would show up for someone else, but not myself (She’s absolutely right!). So, what do I do? Deliberately create outer expectations where there are none. An idea could be taking my friend’s yoga mat home with me after class and scheduling our next practice together. If I don’t show up, my friend can’t practice, and I would never want to be responsible for my friend not being able to get her sweat on (remember, Obligers are people pleasers), so I show up. Get it?!

This circumstance will only work for Obligers, because remember; Upholders and Questioners have no problem meeting inner expectations. Upholders want to work out, so they do. Questioners believe the why and have proof from how they feel after class. Rebels are like “you can’t make me practice more!” (They need to be tricked into thinking it’s their idea.) However, a Rebel may want to prove someone (even themselves wrong) “I’m not flexible, so I can’t do yoga, therefore I am going to show you by getting more flexible!”

After reading this book, I can empathize BIG TIME with my fellow Obligers and make strides to meeting personal goals by creating outer accountability for myself. I also learned techniques for effectively communicating to all Four Tendencies. Gretchen does a fabulous job speaking specifically to how spouses can speak to spouses, doctors to patients, teachers to students, and parents to children. Keep in mind, each Tendency responds differently to outer and inner expectations, which means “speaking to the whole” is speaking to All. Four. Tendencies. There is also a hilarious section in the book on signage, and how it’s possible to succeed or drastically fail to speaking to all Four Tendencies in a simple sign (you know, the one that someone left on the break room microwave telling you to keep it clean).

Curious about the Four Tendencies? Love taking online quizzes? You can take the quiz online here and it is also available in the book (which we have for sale at all three studios!) 😉

If you are super nerdy like me, and this stuff gets you RIDICULOUSLY EXCITED, consider signing up for next month’s 40 Days: Funky Buddha Style, where we will delve into The Four Tendencies, and lots of other similarly fascinating tools.

The 40 Days Curriculum includes:

• Yoga Practice
• Fun yoga tips, tricks, & drills
• An introduction to the science of meditation
• Skill building to develop a meditation and home yoga practice
• Journaling & self-inquiry

But, best of all, you’ll learn and practice specific and clear tools to better understand yourself. What better way to start 2018?

—Linds

Serious about finding more time in your day? Lindsay is our Funky Buddha advocate for minimalism. Read about what boundaries she recommends to keep your smartphone from sneakily stealing away your time/life.

My phone used to be a huge distracting and time wasting device. I would do the scroll, impulse buy, get lost in reading depressing news article after news article after news article. And I could never seem to get rid of the itch to click the home button for fear-of-missing-out (aka  FOMO). Over a year ago, I made a few simple changes on my device and with my habits to “un-plug” without missing out on any features my phone has to offer.

Here are four easy ways you can disconnect:

Turn off notifications.  As. Many. As. Possible. Have you ever caught yourself compulsively checking for a new text or email? Me too. It’s a habit. After clicking on a hilarious text or a picture of a cute baby, your brain got the reward of momentary happiness and is now seeking more. Then, because you did it so many times, the pathway was ingrained and your brain kicked into autopilot. But guess what? The way to change any habit is to first be aware of it. And now you are! Woo-hoo! I recommend turning off ALL social media notifications AND email notifications (more on why later). I keep my text and phone notifications on, but I don’t carry my phone in my pocket, and when I’m home, it’s face down on the kitchen counter. I make the conscious choice NOT to check my phone while I’m at home playing with my kids. Setting this example is super important to me. The result: I get to fully be present for them. I get to watch them play and grow and learn. I get to listen to them, laugh with them, and really see them.

Unsubscribe and Unfollow. Do this. Not just once, but constantly. Evaluate everything that comes into your mailbox and everything in your feeds. I try and unsubscribe from all advertisements. (Careful, they’re sneaky and always creep back in.) Blocking these ads has made me more content and less triggered to shop. My inbox slowly started emptying, and all that was left was the good stuff. This also made the task of checking email quicker by cutting down on the volume of emails. By censoring my input, I make a deliberate choice about what is important to me. Consider this next time you’re scrolling Instagram or Facebook. Unfollow every “meh” and keep every “hell yes!” Then, when you set aside time to mindfully check your email and feeds, it will be perfectly curated for you by you.

Only check email/social media at scheduled and timed intervals. Remember when you turned off your notifications? This is why. Schedule time(s) to check your email and then, during that time, only check email. Do nothing else. Pick a time that’s good for you. Experiment. Get curious. Challenge yourself! That means when you get the urge to check for new emails and it’s not your scheduled time, notice the urgency come up. Feel the feeling. Take a deep breath, and return back to the task you were initially working on. Again, just bringing your awareness to this habit makes positive change possible. I don’t check Instagram until after completing a healthy daily practice (like meditation, yoga, or writing). Then it’s like a little reward. (After I sit down to meditate, I can check Instagram for 5 minutes! *Insert clapping hands emoji*)

Clear the home screen. You’ve unsubscribed and unfollowed and you still find yourself picking up your phone out of habit? Now we need to hide the candy bowl. You know–the candy bowl that sits out on the counter and makes it damn near impossible not to take a chocolate as you walk by. Put the candy in the cupboard. Hide it. Even more effective, get it out of the house. You getting the analogy? Set your home screen to an image that is calming or inspiring. Delete apps you don’t use. Delete apps you feel icky after binging on (news sources, Facebook, Amazon Prime, anyone?) Next, put all your remaining apps in a folder on the second page. Just seeing the app (candy) would make me want to click on (eat) it. Now, because they are hidden in a folder, (but still on my phone) I use the search option to find the app I’m looking for when I need it. For iPhone users, swipe left on the unlocked home screen and the search bar comes up at the top. Does this take a moment longer? Sure it does. But it forces me to pay attention to what I’m doing, so it’s worth it for me.

Today, I use my phone to connect with people, get directions, take pictures, and schedule my next yoga class 😉 . Decide what you want your phone to do for you, and make it happen. Your daily productivity will skyrocket, and this won’t even be the most precious benefit. I used to think more was better, but I’ve learned, the more I strip away the excess, the more I make space and time for what’s important.