Congratulations! It’s Day 21 of our 21 Day Yoga Challenge. I hope you’ve enjoyed my gift of yoga videos, meditations and recipes. Our next 21 Day Yoga Challenge starts April 1 (no kidding!).

So how did you do with the challenge? Were you able to practice yoga and meditation more than what you normally would? I hope so. The 21 Day Yoga Challenge asks that you set aside at least 10 minutes a day for yoga and 10 minutes a day for meditation. However, be happy if you just got a few more days of practice in than your normally would. It’s not about perfection – all or nothing.

It might be nice to take today to reflect upon your practice. Perhaps reflecting on the following questions will provide you with some insight:

• What is the best time of day for you to practice yoga? What is the best time for you to practice meditation?
• What are some things that kept you from practicing? What could you do in the future to make your practice more consistent?
• Do you enjoy your home practice? What can you do to better enjoy your practice?
• Are you stuck in someone else’s idea of what your practice should look like?
• How can you bring more authenticity to your practice? How can you bring more authenticity to your life?
• What do you want your practice to look like in 2014? How do you want to feel?

It’s my great honor to be your guide. Thanks for viewing my yoga video blog. I am sending you the biggest wishes for love, peace and joy.

Namaste,

Suzanne

Welcome to Day 8 of my 21 Day Yoga Challenge. In this challenge, we commit to practicing at least 10 minutes of meditation a day and at least 10 minutes of yoga a day.

Today’s suggested practice is to meditate with the eyes open. I learned this technique while taking a weekend workshop at the Omega Institute with renowned Tibetan Buddhist Pema Chodron. We spent most of our time in group meditation and all of the meditation was done with eyes opened.

The benefit of meditating with the eyes open is that you engage with the world while learning to be still and relaxed. Try finding one point of focus and letting the eyes be soft. Allow yourself to stay in the present moment by allowing everything in – what you see, feel and hear. Notice any judgments that arise. You could also rest your gaze upon an object, such as a candle.

I’ve had a few students tell me that this is the one technique for meditation that works for them. Try it more than once and see if it speaks to you.

Namaste,

Suzanne

It’s Day 7 of our 21 Day Yoga Challenge. Today’s video is a reminder of how to position the body so that you can fully benefit from your meditation practice.

I hope you are enjoying the Challenge. If you’ve missed some days, be gentle with yourself. If you only do yoga and meditate one day more than what you normally would, that’s a success.

Feel free to send me requests for your yoga needs. I’d love to learn more about you and your practice.

I wish you peace, joy and prosperity.

Namaste,

Suzanne

I hear many, many people say that they can’t meditate because their minds are too busy. But meditation isn’t the practice of not having thoughts so much as it is the practice of non-doing. It’s purposefully taking the time to stop physical activity and cultivating stillness – stilling the body and setting the intention to be fully present in what’s agreeable in life as well as what’s disagreeable.

Meditation isn’t something that you either “get” right away or you don’t get at all. It takes effort to cultivate a practice where we aren’t trying to control the outcome or get to a goal.

A lot of people are attached to their lists of things to do – always searching for the next activity – planning, doing, planning, doing.

What would happen to you if surrendered your plans and actions just for a little bit? In your meditation today, watch your thoughts. If and when you have thoughts about the past, simply say the word “past” to yourself and release the thought. If and when you have thoughts of the future (stories, planning, etc.), simply say “future” and gently bring yourself back to your present experience.

In addition to cultivating this stillness by staying in the present during meditation, also try it during the rest of your day.

Namaste,

Suzanne

P.S. Don’t forget tomorrow is “Silent Sunday”. Try to set aside at least one hour or perhaps six hours of silence. Resist the temptation to check Facebook, email, listen to music or the TV. Rest in the silence.

Welcome to Day 6 our 21 Day Yoga Challenge! I hope you love this audio meditation, Meditating With Great Thought Leaders. Consider who inspires you – perhaps great thought leaders from the past, your grandmother or a wise friend. Imagine being surrounded during your meditation today by people who share a message of hope, peace and love.

The following audio meditation is about five minutes long, but you can take as much time as you like listening for a message or surrendering a problem in your life.

Enjoy!

Namaste,

Suzanne

Welcome to my new 21 Day Yoga Challenge. We set the intention during this challenge to practice at least five minutes of yoga and five minutes of meditation a day.

I’m so inspired to be practicing with you and sharing my passion for yoga. Today, I offer this free audio, Mountain Meditation. Take five minutes to relax and bring the qualities of stillness, equanimity, clarity and strength into your life.

The mountain I’ve been thinking about today is Mount Shasta (above) which has a magical majesty.

I am sending you light and love.

Namaste,

Suzanne

A core premise in yoga is the understanding that we are all connected, that we all share the Universe’s light and love. In today’s world it’s easy to forget that. We become isolated. Even when we are surrounded by people, we can hold on to a perspective that keeps us focused so much into our own needs, desires and problems that life seems small and our problems large.

My suggested meditation today is to find some time to shift your focus to how you can be of service to someone. Perhaps today your practice of being of service to others is something small, yet significant such as taking a moment to really listen to someone, to acknowledge the presence of another, to smile at a stranger. Perhaps it’s being able to receive. When you fully receive a compliment, a gift or the attention of another you allow the giver to profit. When we shift our perspective outside of ourselves, we can experience peace of mind and serenity in practicing being a human-being, not a human-doing. In giving to others, we also give to ourselves.

It’s Day 16 of our 21 Day Yoga Challenge, I hope this note finds you happy, healthy and inspired. We have five more days left in this challenge. Let me know how I can be of service to you as you practice yoga and meditation.

Namaste,

Suzanne

Ah, we are half way through our 21 Day Yoga Challenge. As I sat down to write to you this morning, I was trying to think of something that might be helpful to you in your yoga or meditation practice. I took a few moments to meditate on the task at hand to see if any issues percolated in my mind. Then this idea came to me:

A main benefit of meditation is the clarity it provides around an issue that we are working with. When we meditate, we’ll often suddenly get insight into a problem or the exact wording for a proposal. We’re thrilled. Then we go back to our meditation. Fifteen minutes later, we’ve forgotten the solution.

My point is that it’s not cheating to have a notebook handy to capture these gems. Simply stop your meditation. Take notes and then go back to meditating. The Universe has a way of delivering solutions when your mind is at rest. Do yourself a favor, capture them.

Namaste,

Suzanne

I recorded this audio meditation based on the very traditional so hum meditation. This is a simple but very effective tool. By focusing and coordinating the breath and a simple mantra, the mind and body relax. My audio is about 12 minutes long. Once you’ve listened to the audio meditation and have the concept, you can use the so hum technique on your own if it speaks to you.

Let me know how this works for you.

Namaste,

Suzanne

The practice of yoga is the practice of relaxing into everything, what’s agreeable as well as what’s disagreeable. We call “doing yoga” practicing yoga because at best there is no end point. There is no getting it right. There is no competition or judgement.

Try an experiment today. At some point during the day, catch yourself getting irritated, angry, annoyed or hyper. Then as you bring some awareness to what’s disagreeable – a person, a feeling or life simply not going the way you planned, take a moment to be still. Try to release your expectations. Try not to label the situation as either good or bad. Take some deep breaths. Relax your eyes.

Consider that each day we have the opportunity to change our perspective. Letting go of expectations and judgement opens our lives to joy.

Namaste,

Suzanne