Categories
Environment Mother Earth Nature New York City Pollution Union Zero Waste

April Schedule; Earth Day “Bag It” Screening & Plastic Pollution

I am away on vacation April 12 – 17, traveling to the beautiful red rock area of Sedona, AZ.  Hoping to have deep and transcendent meditations in some of the area’s world-famous vortexes while hiking. We shall see!  I am open to the possibilities.

Friday, April 22 is Earth Day 2016, and I would like to invite you to an environmental event I am co-hosting that afternoon. See flyer and links below. Yoga means “union” in Sanskrit, and union can be defined many ways, such as the union of mind, body, spirit when we practice yoga and qigong.  But I view union also as our connection to one another, the planet, and all the planet’s inhabitants.  My personal belief is that practicing yoga extends way beyond the mat (in fact, that is generally the least amount of time we may be practicing yoga). The true practice of yoga is how we consciously engage with one another and the planet that is our home and source of life.  As such, my community work is very much a yogic practice to me; it is my karma yoga (volunteer work or selfless service).  I see a direct relationship between my teaching and practicing yoga and my lifestyle choices, and that includes trying to make environmentally-friendly choices as much as I can – such as refusing to use single-use throwaway plastics like plastic bags and bottles (and that includes no longer buying those “healthy” ready-made green juices that come in plastic bottles, and of course not buying plastic water bottles).

One of the documentaries that inspired me to make these personal lifestyle changes is “Bag It”. Because it is so profound, my neighborhood association is showing the 45-minute version of “Bag It“, followed by a panel, and audience Q and A on Earth Day 2016!  Please join us to learn about  the alarming environmental issue of plastics in our oceans and the health implications to ourselves and the planet, as well as our economies – and what we can all do to confront this growing problem, and turn the current disastrous trend around.  The event will end with a free raffle drawing during which we will give away eco-friendly bags and other prizes! This event is family friendly and is co-hosted by the environmental club of the Trevor Day School, so it is perfect for all ages!See http://www.west80s.org

https://www.facebook.com/events/558759577622973/   Please feel free to share this email and Facebook Event widely!

Some sobering facts about plastic:

Did you know it costs NYC approximately $ 10 million per year to transport our single-use throwaway plastic bags to landfills each year, and that New Yorkers use over 5 million plastic bags each year – the majority of which are not recycled.  We have all seen plastic bags stuck in our street trees, clogging storm and sewage drains, and being washed out to our waterways; this creates visual urban blight, harm to animals and marine-life, and contamination of our food system.

A recent local study found that there are at least 165 million particles of plastic floating in the waters surrounding NYC at any given time.  Seehttp://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/waters-nyc-165m-plastic-particles-article-1.2530618
It is estimated that by 2050 if we do not reduce our reliance on fossil-fuel based plastics, there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish.   http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/24/oceans-more-plastic-than-fish/79267192/

Find out more about what we can all do locally about this alarming global pollution issue, and learn about the status of NYC’s pending carryout bag legislation by attending my Earth Day event!  See also www.plasticbaglaws.org andwww.bagitnyc.org

Categories
Yoga

March 2016 Schedule, and Core Yoga Workshop

I am back from a lovely week in Florida – soaking in the bright colors of the green palms, blue sky and waters, colorful flowers, and the shining sun was exactly what this warm-weather loving gal needed.  So I am feeling refreshed and energized, and happy to be back to my classes and to reconnect with all of you.

This month, I am offering a special 2-hour yoga and pilates workshop at Integral Yoga on Monday night, March 28th, 6:30-8:30 pm – “Strong to the Core”.  http://iyiny.org/workshops-and-events/calendar/strong-to-the-7035/

In this Workshop, you will learn safe and effective ways to strengthen the core, especially the hard-to-reach lower abdominals. Strong abs make balancing poses easier and are the key to preventing or eliminating back pain. You will learn abdominal exercises that are alternatives to traditional crunches, thereby preventing any neck or upper-back tension, or back strain.  Recent studies have shown that the safest and most effective abdominal exercises are those that work the deep stabilizing muscles (transverse abdominals) and not just the superficial ones.  We will learn those type of exercises, which, by the way, are also safe for people diagnosed with osteopororis. Working with the breath is another key to proper abdominal strengthening work, and we will explore different ways breathing practices in the movements.  The workshop also includes specific back-strengthening poses, standing balances, and a take-home outline.  Enhance your Yoga practice and your life with a strong center!  If you would like to read up on this topic, this is one of favorite articles:  http://www.alinenewton.com/pdf-articles/core.htm

Categories
Celiac Disease Gluten Health

February 2016 – Celiac Disease and Gluten

If you are like me, you are enjoying the Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, and Cold Play concert tonight – it is being sandwiched by some modern gladiator event that I do not watch! 🙂

Seriously, I am quite happy to be working on my yoga newsletter while cooking various veggies and fruit from my last Winter CSA pick-up and the farmers’ market, while my husband is in the “man-cave” watching this thing called the Super Bowl. However, I think my kitchen bowl of baby kale, carrots, and squash is the real super bowl! I did “cook” a frozen gluten-free pizza, that was actually delicious and well-received by the football party- probably more than would have been a bowl of kale! 🙂

Approximately six years ago, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease (an autoimmune disease for which there is no cure; only treatment is strict avoidance of gluten, which is a protein found in wheat and some other grains, like barley). Many people are gluten-free these days either for choice or medical necessity, like me. Luckily, over the years since my diagnosis, as a result of the growing demand for gluten-free foods, there are many more choices and it has become almost mainstream. I have seen first-hand the growing awareness among laypeople, and the options continue to grow. On the upper westside, for example, right next door to Upper West Side Yoga & Wellness where I teach on Thursdays, there is a great local store that is 100% gluten-free: GFreeNY. There are 100% gluten-free bakeries throughout the city, and now even Baked By Melissa’s cupcakes has a gluten-free line (I think the owner/baker developed a gluten allergy which is becoming more common with chefs).

Many assume that I had had digestive issues before my diagnosis, and actually (although the tests indicated compromised intestinal villi) my symptoms manifested in mysterious skin rashes. Luckily, my wonderfully intuitive general practitioner (who also smartly tested me for Lyme Disease years later, but that is another story) suggested the celiac sprue test for me based on those symptoms. Sure enough that test and a biopsy were positive. I feel fortunate to have been tested presumably early in my disease, as undiagnosed Celiac can lead to malnutrition, nerve damage, cancer, growth issues especially in children, and intestinal damage. I do believe my mother unfortunately had undiagnosed Celiac rather than the colitis with which she suffered throughout her adult life, and that eventually led to fatal colon cancer. If only we knew back then; possibly, a simple elimination of gluten could have changed her life!

I am not advocating for everyone to go gluten-free (our house is gluten-free for my safety reasons, but outside of the apartment, my husband eats food with gluten and has no issues). But if you have mysterious symptoms, such as brain-fog, digestive ailments, skin issues, mood swings, bloating, it may behoove you to check with your doctor about doing tests for gluten sensitivities, gluten allergies, or Celiac. (Note, one cannot be accurately tested for Celiac if gluten has already been avoided – the effects of gluten need to be observed by digesting glutinous foods for some time pre-tests.) It is also easy to do a gluten-elimination diet and keep a journal to see if there are any health changes. If you have had interesting experiences with eliminating gluten or adding it back in to your diet, I would be curious to hear!

See Schedule Page for my February 2016 teaching schedule. There will be subs covering my classes while I am away mid-February. Enjoy your Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day!

 

Categories
Ahimsa - non-violence Holidays and self-care New Year's Resolutions Yoga

Happy 2016, and Setting Daily Intentions Rather Than New Year’s Resolutions

Wishing everyone a peaceful, happy and healthy New Year!

I am away this last week in December 2015, and will be taking a writing course New Year’s weekend at Kripalu Yoga Center in the Berkshires. Hopefully, I will learn how to deal most effectively with writer’s block and procrastination – traits I have been experiencing since college and law school! Can anyone else relate to these issues?

In part, I believe that for me, both writer’s block and procrastination stem from old, deep-rooted patterns of perfectionistic goals – ideals which of course, run counter to all that is taught in yoga; i.e., that the journey is more important than the result; that yoga is an exploration of the self, and not a perfect pose (“asana”); that we value the means, over the ends; and as the Bhagavad Gita teaches, it is the integrity of the process that is most important, and thus to let go of attachments to the outcome.

If you, like me, were raised in a traditional Western upbringing, these concepts are antithetical to messages we received at both home and school. Westerners tend to be very results and achievement oriented. I came from that type of background, coupled with the perfectionistic standards of a professional ballet training from a young age.

When I first read the Gita (Eknath Easwaran’s edition) in my first ever yoga teacher training, it was life-changing. I was amazed at how the concepts written about thousands of years ago, still directly applied to our lives in the the 21st Century. I still have to remind myself that staying in the present moment and enjoying the process, as well as valuing the process, is paramount.

Results cannot be controlled, as they are often beyond our mortal individual powers. But we can have control over the integrity of the process, and then let go of attachments to outcomes. Speaking and acting from a center of truth (“satya”) in seeking an environment that is just, peaceful, and non-violent (“ahimsa”) for all is a yogic ideal; we don’t know if that ideal will ever manifest in our lifetimes, yet that unknown does not negate the importance of those sattvic actions and state of being.

Many people create New Year’s resolutions, but often finding they are unable to fulfill those resolutions, become disappointed with themselves. Resolutions tend to be overly ambitious and focused on an unrealistic result, rather than small, step-by-step intermediary goals.

Before teaching the asana portion of all my yoga classes, I like to offer students and myself the opportunity to set an intention for the yoga practice, the day, or further out in time. In this type of practice, we are basically setting mini-resolutions throughout the year that are practical, timely, and manageable. Maybe they are attainable, maybe they are not. The important thing is setting that intention, breathing into it, and then letting go of the attachment to the result.

If we do this type of practice throughout the year, I believe it obviates the need or desire to set unattainable New Year’s resolutions, such as “I will never procrastinate with my writing ever again.” Once a year resolutions that set us up for failure and disappointment may not serve a useful purpose; instead having an intentional daily or weekly practice throughout the year helps us focus on the process over results.

With that in mind, wishing you all the very best for 2016! May we continue to teach one another life’s myriad lessons and support one another in the process!

Nutcracker Ballet Arts

Categories
Nature

Travels to LA

I wrote this blog post from California, where I spent a week on vacation visiting family and friends – most of whom have relocated here from back East.  It always interesting to travel and see the differences in cultures and lifestyles, and given the vast expanse and diversity of the United States, we don’t even have to travel abroad to experience this.

One of my favorite things to do when I first arrive somewhere is to go for a walk or jog, and sightsee along the way.  Especially if I have been on long flight, a walk outdoors seems to reset my body and psyche.  As a New Yorker, I am accustomed to walking a lot during the day, and almost daily leave extra time in my commuting schedule in order to walk through the park as part of my commute before hopping on the subway.  We New Yorkers probably don’t even realize how much extra walking and subway stair climbing we do as we make our daily commute and errands around town.  Many health and fitness coaches recommend using a pedometer or smart watch to record steps taken each day, and it would be an interesting study to compare averages between urban dwellers and those living in the country or suburbs. (Maybe someone has already done this….).

In LA, it is definitely a car culture as everything is very spread out.  Yet, given that the weather is so conducive to being outside many people hike the canyons on a daily basis – even if they have to drive back and forth to do so!  Last time I was here, I enjoyed hiking Runyon Canyon very much, and we enjoyed that hike again.  It is so important for urban dwellers, whether we are on the East or West Coast, to find those pockets of nature on a regular basis.  One never knows what interesting sights will be experienced, and each outdoor walk or run is always very different from the last – especially if we stay focused in the present moment, as our yogic and spiritual practices teach us.

LA tree

Saying hi, mid-run, to an amazing tree in Beverly Hills Park.

Categories
Health Nutrition Seasons Uncategorized Yoga and Qigong

Tips for a Healthy Transition from Summer to Fall

With the changing of the seasons from Summer to Fall, it is especially important to stay in tune with one’s body and energy levels. We can give ourselves permission to adjust schedules as it starts to get darker earlier with temperatures dropping (especially in the mornings and evenings). I have noticed with the beginning of October that I am already wanting to sleep in longer, and to retire to bed earlier (and that comes from a devoted night owl!). But we notice in Nature how animals adjust to the cooler seasons – whether it is hibernating or migrating, and we too have an “animal” nature that is connected to the external Nature. Often in modern society, we feel pressure to ignore our internal clocks and senses, as our work demands do not change in accordance to external natural cycles. So what can we do to nourish ourselves in the cooler months, and with our shorter days?

Certainly, having more warming beverages and cooked foods will help. I have been adding a little ginger to my hot lemon water in the mornings, and that has felt energizing. I am aware of my pitta constitution under the Ayurvedic medicine model, so ginger should not be over-used, but ginger in moderation feels warming and kick-starts my digestive system in the colder mornings now.

Belonging to a local CSA (community-supported agricultural farm) has been wonderful as I am more in sync with the changing veggies each month. Not having grown up farming, and before the CSA membership having shopped in markets where everything is available at all times due to international shipping, I am now more appreciative of the natural bounty and when it is harvested. This past Thursday, we received acorn and butternut squashes, and potatoes for the first time since Winter. It was so fun to think about Fall recipes for the first time in a year, and to feel more in sync with Nature in my cooking (does boiling count as cooking? lol)! In any event, picking up these new starchier foods made me feel more excited about the Fall season, and thinking about the nourishing aspects of heartier meals.

There are also warming practices in yoga and qigong, through using various breathing practices (pranayama) and certain heating poses. We can explore that in our classes this month!

Please note that in addition to my normal schedule, I will be subbing 3 additional yoga classes in October: “Yoga and Qigong” at Integral Yoga and “Teen/ Tween Yoga” at UWS Yoga. I will be away on Thur., Oct. 8th as I am attending The Nature Conservancy’s annual conference in DC! On Monday, Oct. 12, Columbus Day, I am also away as I am guest ballet teaching in the Berkshires! Please see the side bar and my website for my full schedule. Thanks!

Categories
Health Nature Self-care

September 2015; Benefits of Nature

I hope you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

I write this newsletter at the end of a wonderful 2-week vacation in the Berkshires mountains in Western Massachusetts. We were fortunate with the weather and I was able to walk/ jog almost every day outside surrounded by a forest of beautiful trees, listening to the sounds of nature – from the wind rustling the leaves to the hum of the Summer insects, and the bird calls. Nature is endlessly fascinating, and I often stop to view interesting sights along the road, such as turkey feathers, rock formations, berries, apples (growing in great abundance this year), dragonflies, butterflies, and other constantly changing beautiful images before my eyes. (Ironically, this year we saw our first Berkshire bald eagle – but it was diving for food along a busy road and not in the forest. But it was quite the sight, and we were awe-inspired by its’ wing-span and by the fact that we now know there are bald eagles up here, which is a great sign). Stretching on the deck after my wanderings while looking at the blue Summer sky and green trees was so relaxing and invigorating at the same time. A great setting to do deep yoga breathing!

Recently, more studies have come out about the benefits of being in Nature – such as the lowering of blood pressure and the stress hormone cortisol, reducing feelings of stress, hostility and depression, increasing circulation and improving sleep patterns. In fact, in Japan, walking in their many forests is prescribed by doctors and is called “Forest Bathing” or “Shinrin-Yoku”. There is a fairly recent book on this topic: “Your Brain on Nature – The Science of Nature’s Influence on Your Health, Happiness and Vitality” by Eva Selhub, MD and Alan Logan, ND – but most of us don’t need to read a whole book to know what feels intuitively beneficial to us.
So what to do if we are urban dwellers? Well, as often as I can, I make time in my commuting schedule to walk through Central Park on the bridal path, or end the day by getting into the park. We are lucky that we have a lot of NYC parks (even smaller ones are helpful, such as the charming park near Integral Yoga on Hudson and 13th Street). Spend some time each day disconnecting from technology, and bathing in Nature. Bring plants into your apartment, and meditate on their beauty and health benefits. Of course, if you can get into a local forest on the weekends, like in Harriman State Park, that is wonderful too! (There are trains from Penn Station that get to Tuxedo, NY in less than 1 hour.) Wherever is convenient, reap the benefits of walking in Nature, hugging a tree, doing legs up a tree, and combining your spiritual practices with the natural outdoors! I would like to be able to lead yoga and qigong retreats in natural settings in the near future, so stay tuned! I will set that intention, and hopefully it will manifest.

Sunset trees

Sunset Halo Through Forest by Melissa Elstein c 2015

Categories
Life Coaching Psychosynthesis Roberto Assagioli Spiritual coaching

August 2015 – Psychosynthesis Life Coaching and 2015 Conference

I hope you are enjoying your Summer, and hard to believe it is already August!

I am writing from the beautiful city of Montreal, where, for the next few days, I am sightseeing with my husband, before I attend my second Psychosynthesis Conference – this year at John Abbott College outside of Montreal. I have completed a coaching training program with the Synthesis Center in Amherst, Mass. http://www.synthesiscenter.org  I did the 2-year teletraining and independent study option, and loved every minute of it.

I find the psychology theory developed by Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli (a contemporary of Freud and Jung) to be resonant with my beliefs, as Assagioli studied not only Western medicine and psychology, but also Eastern spiritual traditions and yoga philosophy. He developed his own unique system of psychology that merged these studies, and essentially focused on the wholeness of the human being – not the dysfunction. It is very interesting work, and although Assagioli passed away, his work continues through the practitioners trained in his modality all over the world, and it continues to evolve. It even includes eco-synthesis or eco-psychology (how our impact on the planet and environment psychologically affects us as individuals and groups).

More recently, life coaching from a psychosynthesis perspective has been growing in popularity, as it combines practical life skills coaching with spiritual growth (either explicitly with the client or with an underlying implicit spiritual understanding on the part of the coach). For more information of Psychosynthesis and the conference I am attending, see http://www.aap-psychosynthesis.org . If you are interested in psychosynthesis coaching, please contact me! Any area of your life can be improved using this technique, from business advancement to improving relationships, and more.

Categories
Meditation Nature Qigong Spirituality Tai Chi Yoga

July 2015 – Personal Independence & Freedom

Wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July, and that you enjoy a safe and relaxing holiday weekend!

In thinking about what personal freedom means, aside from political freedom, I believe that the yogic principles directly apply. In yoga and other spiritual practices, we seek to undo the layers and layers of conditioning that bind us to repetitive thinking and habits. That conditioning mostly comes from our family environment, and even if our caretakers have wonderful intentions, we as little child sponges do soak up the norms, behaviors, and viewpoints of our family environment. Later, as we age, we also become conditioned by society – our friends, schools, media, etc. We continue through our lifetime to be exposed and conditioned by that which surrounds us. Though, as we age and mature, we begin to notice and perhaps question these outside influences. We can become more discerning and notice the effects of our family and societal influences on our selves. In our spiritual practices, we seek a liberation from these external influences so we can at least glimpse who we really are under all those conditions layers. Many of us have had moments, fleeting as they may be, of such peak transcendent experiences. Those moments are glimpses into who we really are – our true essence. For me, the more I can connect to the unconditioned self, my spirit or soul, the more I feel free and at peace. The paths to these momentary awakenings can be varied – yoga and meditation, qigong and tai chi, dancing, walking in nature, chanting, praying, jogging, being with animals or children, listening to music, connecting to art, and many more possibilities. When have you experienced this type of personal freedom?

Also, my wonderful Tai Chi Easy teacher, Roger Jahnke, OMD, will be teaching July 9 – 12 at The Open Center! Many of you have asked about studying this form of tai chi and qigong, and now is your opportunity. Thursday night, July 9 is the free intro and Friday – Sunday is his training. I highly recommend studying with Dr. Jahnke! Check out www.opencenter.org for more info.

Categories
Mother Earth Nature New York City

June 2015 – Love Your Tree Day

Last month, my neighborhood group (in conjunction with other non-profits, local businesses, the community board, and my city council member) organized two community events regarding the importance of NYC street trees and a neighborhood tree bed cleanup day. We had noticed how unkempt many of our UWS sidewalk tree beds were after the long, rough Winter. Our community outreach aimed to gather residents, businesses, schools and students to “adopt” trees, and to help clean out the litter, cigarettes, dog waste, and to add mulch, till or cultivate the soil, and in some cases plant flowers and add “curb your dog” signs. Here is my article on our successful “Love Your Tree Day” events:

http://www.westsidespirit.com/local-news/20150513/scrapbook-loving-trees-on-the-uws

With NYC Parks Department employees, New York City Council Member Helen Rosenthal and her Community Liasion Jason Harding, Cheryl Blaylock of Trees NY, and Kim Johnson of Curb Allure tree guards: