J is for James

It tickles your brain and heart to explore the Book of James after having fun with the Book of Galatians!  We enjoyed ideas from Beth Moore's James: Mercy Triumphs, The Bare Bones Bible and the Life Application Bible commentary to investigate.  We concluded that balance is best!  Our deeds and works are a response to the free gift of salvation, the gift of abundant life now.

Here's the link for giving attention to the health of your hands, wrists, and forearms: https://www.doyogawithme.com/content/yoga-therapy-hands-wrists-and-forearms

We warmed up with seated sun salutations:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbhTmAygygs

The lyrics of the "Lord of the Dance" are:  http://celtic-lyrics.com/lyrics/309.html  You can complete five seated sun salutations while you sing!

Next week we'll explore K is for Katie!  Here's a little about this AMAZING missionary and her work in the world:  https://amazima.org/about-us/katies-story

Come breathe and balance, s-t-r-e-t-c-h and strengthen your brains, body and heart with zipaDeeBee!!  It's good to the bone . . .

G is for Galatians

The Bare Bones Bible Handbook:  10 Minutes to Understanding Each Book of the Bible by Jim George explains the book of Galatians as St. Paul writing in AD 49 "to defend justification by faith alone.  The gifts of salvation and God's love are given to you purely by God's grace."

In our yoga fun this week, we added movement to the Fruits of the Spirit:  Galatians 5:22-23 -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymNuBZXCK20

We strengthened our knees with these postures:

wall sit:  builds strength in the muscles of the legs and feet, teaches healthy alignment, stabilizes the knee and ankle joints

triangle:  stretches the hamstrings, calves, and inner thighs, engages and strengthens the quadriceps, improves mobility of the hip sockets

warrior 2:  strengthens the muscles of the feet and knees, stabilizes the knee and ankle joints, opens the inner thighs and hips

warrior 1:  strengthens the muscles of the feet and knees, stabilizes the knee and ankle joints, stretches the hip flexors and calf muscles

tree:  strengthens the muscles of the feet, ankles, knees, and legs, stretches the inner thigh muscles, teaches the thigh to rotate in the hip socket

thread the needle:  stretches the gluteus maximus and outer hip muscles, increases mobility of the hip sockets, rotates the thighs externally, reduces strain on the knees

We also moved and breathed The Lord's Prayer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvq-s6mGTuo and the 23rd Psalm:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHpd5TEpFnc

And like the story of Noah's Ark, it's only THE BEGINNING . . . join us next week for "H is for HAPPY!"

zipaDEE--TIME for Yoga, January 18 & 19

Thank you for taking the TIME to yoga at Pisgah and Cedar Grove!  I appreciate your willingness to try new ideas and venture into a variety of topics!  This week we tackled the book of Ecclesiastes.  I thought it was neat how this connected to our It’s Good to be Queen series this summer.  I appreciate how Solomon figures it out:  “life without God is a long and fruitless search for enjoyment, meaning, and fulfillment.” (Bare Bones Bible Handbook, p. 99)  Some folks, like the prophet Jonah, never “get” God’s message, but Solomon did.  The book of Ecclesiastes is his effort to “spare readers the bitterness of learning through personal experience" and acknowledge "that contentment and joy are only found in God.” (Bare Bones Bible Handbook, p. 99-100)

On p. 102 of the Bare Bones Bible Handbook, Jim George elaborates “All is Vanity” --

V -- vanity of godless living

A -- accumulating wealth

N -- not heeding God’s authority

I -- ignoring God’s timing

T -- trusting the wisdom of man

Y -- yearning for pleasure

Cedar Grove yogis, I had the book with me the whole time. . . [sigh]  . . . Pisgah yogis, I forgot to show you the “V” [giggle] from Global Family Yoga’s ABCs:

When we practice yoga we (1) breathe, (2) warm-up, (3) work standing, (4) balance, (5) work on the floor, and (5) REST!  Wednesday’s class had more “up” and “down” and for Thursday I reworked the order of the verses we explored in Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 to align more with our traditional flow of practice:  

https://sites.google.com/site/zipadeebee/resources/yogapractice/ecclesiates3

The head and neck posture I couldn’t remember, Cedar Grove Yogis, was owl twist:  

(picture from Jason Crandell's New Twists on Twist, September 7, 2012)

We usually have the arm reaching down behind the back, like a “second spine.”

The book we read during “legs up the wall” time:  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11045882-just-a-second

I found a audio on youtube of the poem by French Catholic priest, Michel Quoist, “Lord, I Have Time”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ygxHzDv6Ko

Namaste, Yogi Friends!

See you again on February 1 & 2!!! I think it's appropriate we'll be exploring "FLAWED vs. FLAWLESS" next since I made so many mistakes this week???!!! :-)

Aim True

Kelly Branning, Pink Lotus and The Flex instructor, shared a great quote by Baron Baptiste in today's Baptiste's Power Yoga class.   The gist is yoga is union of your true self and how you show up in the world.  For me that connected to a story Amanda Youmans, Learning Commons Specialist at Pleasant Hill Elementary, shared with me this week (and I immediately purchased from Amazon):  The Kraken's Rules for Making Friends by Brittany R. Jacobs!  The Kraken tries to be somebody he's not to make friends.  The Great White Shark reminds him, "Rule number six for making friends:  BE YOURSELF!"

 Then I look in the mirror when I get home, and see my Kathryn Budig necklace:  AIM TRUE . . . yeah, I think I'm supposed to pay attention to this idea today!!  How about you?

Family Yoga Fun

Family Yoga classes are my absolute favorite yoga classes to lead and the opportunities are few and far between . . . but  TODAY was one of those special days!!! Today we had two families and 11 participants have fun with Martin Luther King Birthday YOGA!!!  We took deep breaths, spent some time upside down, got on the bus with Rosa, strengthened our eye muscles to be on the look out for injustices, and closed with a dream.  Ahimsa is a yogi word meaning (1) nobody gets hurt (2) nothing gets broken.  Maybe MLK didn't physically practice yoga, but he did in his head and his heart.  His choices to make changes in peaceful, nonviolent ways are examples for us today.  His life made a positive difference in our world.  How can your life to the same?

Having fun with a Downward Dog Tunnel!  The youngest runs to go through the tunnel again.

Recipe for SUCCESS

When you're trying anything new and different or attempting a change, maybe taking on a project, I've found the following recipe to be most helpful:

(1) Research and Make a Plan--have other folks tried to do what you are trying to do? Google it and Meditate.  If Google doesn't have a plan, you might come up with one when you sit still and quiet . . . 

(2) Surround Yourself with Like Minded Folks--it's the bundle of sticks theory!  A stick may break, but a bundle has strength.  It's why people lose more weight when they "attend the meeting?!"

(3) Make Small Steps--get off the bank and jump in the water, flail around a bit.  The strokes will come!

(4) Celebrate Your Success--even when it's small

(5)  Be Encouraged!  Your mental strength is your success predictor!  Keep looking for the positives when you meet challenges along the way.

(6) It is a JOURNEY, not a final destination!  Be resilient and enjoy the ride.  :-)

zipaDEE-UPDATE

We begin a NEW SERIES on 1/18 and 1/19! Eight sessions of yoga for $60. S-t-r-e-t-c-h and strengthen, breathe and balance in 2017, no matter the weather.

zipaDEE-NOTE -- This week's yoga practice was NOTEworthy!

(1) We focused on the impact of jotting a NOTE to a friend: sharing encouragement, wishing wellness, or expressing gratitude. Small efforts of kindness make a BIG difference in a cranky world.

(2) We discussed journaling and NOTEtaking. How working out a day, lesson, activity, or problem in words on paper helps you reflect in a deeper and more quality way! 

(3) We also sang some NOTES. We didn't "worry if it was good enough for anyone else to hear!"

Next week is zipaDEE-VOTE: Wednesday, 1/11, 5:30 at Pisgah and Thursday, 1/12, 5:00 at Cedar Grove. We'll think about daily quiet and devotion time. Meditation and prayer are necessary because there are some questions Google can't answer . . .