Samtosha means contentment, accepting the truth 'as it is".  Not to be confused with happiness or complacency. The is the ability to accept your circumstances and learn how to discern that which we can change and that which we cannot.  Building upon our circumstances to become a better you.

When speaking of balance, their are many factors to take into consideration.  You first must have an awareness of gravity, as well as a sense of the direction of movement.  This awareness must be maintained thru out each and every action.  It is here that you will find and maintain your center of gravity.  If you overstretch in one direction your center of gravity changes and you must balance your direction of movement to maintain your center of gravity.

Balance!  Want to bring awareness to your balance or lack there of, break an ankle.  I have never been so aware of my balance and the importance of it till this adventure with my ankle.  I am ever so grateful for my strong balancing practice and the fruits of that are revealing them self to me daily.  Currently balancing for me is the physical aspect of maintaining my balance on one foot, sitting, standing, extending.

How do you choose what style of yoga is best for you?  First of all it is important to look at the intention, both yours and the teachers.  The intention of any true yoga practice is one of growth, removing obstacles that prevent growth in your spiritual and personal life, be it a physical, an emotional, intellectual or spiritual obstacle.

The ego and pride, intellectual obstacles, and aversion and desire, emotional obstacles,are surprisingly the intention of a lot of the different types of yoga.

On a recent adventure I had what one might call a misadventure.  It is easy to get hooked up into labeling it as such and I find myself struggling more and more as each day passes to make lemonade out of the lemons. 

I slipped on the boat deck and broke my ankle after a most amazing dive in the Bahamas.  Initially the pain was over the top, but having practice yoga with a strong emphasis on pranayama I was able to  practice a technique for pain control that I had until then, only read about.

 I recently saw a link to a training video for asana judges. Really?  USAYoga.org  has a series of videos showing the criteria judges use to judge asana competitions.  Don't believe me, check it out, it is quite entertaining. What is next, are we going to see yoga in the Olympics?     I received an email today from a woman wanting to begin a yoga practice but was concerned about her weight and inability to do yoga.  No wonder she is concerned that yoga is not for her. What type of yoga do you teach? I always respond with Yoga.  If you are looking for a name brand  kind of yoga then you more then likely do not want to practice with me.  My yoga practice and teaching is forever evolving and hopefully so too are my students and teachers. do not offer different levels of classes but rather teach mixed level classes.  We offer a beginner class simply to get people in the door and offer them guidance on which class would be the best place for them to start. We offer Heated on non-heated, but beyond that we direct you more to the personality the classes have taken on. I like to classify my yogi's a bit differently.  A beginner is one who see the practice as physical, pushing and striving for the "ideal" form or shape, not listening to the wisdom of the body and always wanting to worker harder.  We have some people who have been practicing for several years who still fit in this category.An intermediate yogi is one who knows to listen to the wisdom of the body, modifies  and rest when they need to.  They may still be holding on to the concept of Yoga as a physical practice but are not striving for the ideal form, and beginning to see that yoga is more, but maybe not sure what that more is.An advanced yogi is one who gets it, that it is not simply a physical practice, but a lifestyle.  They begin to judge the depths of their practice by the level of ahimsa they practice, or are they more compassionate to themselves and others.  More patient.  Really living their yoga.Their are 8 limbs to yoga practice and tho I believe you can evolve by practicing only one limb of the 8, I question the validity of that being yoga.  Iyengar goes so far as to divide the 8 limbs into to 3 levels.The first level are the do's and don'ts, he is referring to the Yamas and the Niyamas.  The second level is the practice, the practice of the asanas (postures), pranayama (breath), and Pratyahara ((drawing the senses inward)The third level he calls the "wealth of yoga"  the fruits of our practice!  Dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (state of bliss).The next time you are tempted to judge your practice by the ability or lack of, remember the asana's are but a small part of yoga and look at where that attitude comes from.  Do you or your teacher expect perfection and alignment, or encourage compassion and freedom.  A real yoga guide will encourage you to find your way into the asana's, to listen to the wisdom of your body, not push what works for them onto you.Maybe it is time to reevaluate your practice and ask yourself "Why am I practicing Yoga?"Are the terms I have used unfamiliar to you?  Begin to educate yourself, read books, search the internet or take an in-depth yoga study to really get into the heart and soul of your practice. Indepthyogastudy.com is a great place to start if you are in the area.  See You on the mat!

 Today our ship had to make a stop for an emergency transport of a passenger via the US Coast Guard.  Did you know that there is an average of 5 deaths per cruise?  Wow.  However not too surprising as the median age on this ship is well over 55.  The helicopter pad is right outside of our window and of course we were there to capture the moment, and felt very grateful that it was not one of us!Yesterday we took a yoga class on the ship.  The class prior was packed, but for the yoga there were less than 10 of us.

Wow!  What an amazing journey life can be if you stay open to the possibilities.  Not sure what to do about my affiliation with the Yoga Alliance, I decide to see if there are other options.  I have spoke to many teachers in the community about YA and we all seem to have the same concerns.  So I went looking for a solution to the problem.  I am involved with the Texas Yoga Association and as I spoke to the founder about looking for options did not realize that this was part of her Agenda.

As yogi's we believe in Karma and that everyone is responsible for their own.  Which means we can also get away with allot because fellow yogi's typically will not call you out - or make you accountable. 

Case in point, a fellow yoga teacher on a recent trip was always on the look out for photo ops in which to promote herself.  The photos told a different story of her journey, as did her later interpreted use of them on the web.  Several of us who traveled on the same trip were shocked and found it rather comical, yet none of us said anything.