*This article of mine recently posted on mindbodygreen.com, and I wanted to share it here as well! Enjoy!

I recently completed a yoga teacher training. What did I expect going in? Well, I thought that I’d get the tools I needed to teach yoga, which has been my passion for a long time, and get to deepen my own practice and knowledge of yoga’s history and philosophy. I thought if I was lucky, maybe I’d make a friend or two and have some good times to look back on. What I got was so much more.

In September 2012, I headed to my first hour of my 200-hour training at the Prancing Peacock Yoga Studio in Yardley, PA, after a fiasco involving my husband and a new motorcycle he just purchased. I met a group of beautiful people, and we all took our first deep breaths together as a team, leaping headfirst into the training journey.

As the weekends progressed, we studied asanas, philosophy, anatomy and life in general. We laughed, we cried, we had serious moments and ridiculous moments. We practiced gratitude and loving kindness, and learned about how much good the world has to offer if we all just pause and look around us. We also learned about how much beauty we have inside of us to share with the world if we take some time to open up our channels and access it.

Five months goes by really, really fast, and before we knew it February was upon us. The last weekend of training was immensely difficult. I felt like I was leaving not just new friends, but an entire new family. In the beginning, I thought I might make one or two friends, but I ended up walking away with eleven sisters and a new brother.

The last class we practiced together in February was one of the more painful moments I’ve gone through, and is forever seared into my memory, but the pain was still there because I was leaving my new friends.

For anyone who has ever considered yoga teacher training, go for it. Just take the plunge and do it. I promise it will be worth your while. Yoga is a gift, and having it to share with the world is priceless. Not to mention the fact that it comes with so many amazing memories and experiences you’ll carry with you in your heart for the rest of your life.

To those who aren’t into yoga, find what your passion is and pursue it. Following your dreams will round out your life and reach into depths of your being you didn’t even know existed. We were all put here for a reason, and we were also put here to make the absolute most of every single moment we have on this earth. By following your passion, you open up doors that lead you to a better life, and you make amazing memories and relationships along the way.

No words can express how grateful I am for my yoga teacher training. I thank all of the circumstances and crazy twists and turns my life has taken to lead me here, and of course the people who helped make it possible. To my yoga family, you all have a permanent spot in my heart.

You may have noticed that it has been a while since we have posted here on ShiningSoulYoga. Due to many (great) things going on in our lives, like brand new jobs, travel, and yoga teacher training, posting daily has become a challenge. However, we love our ShiningSoulYoga community and will continue to post moving forward, just a little less frequently! It’s all about quality, not quantity, after all, isn’t it?

We appreciate your understanding as we navigate the tides of life and adjust ourselves to make room for everything we love, which certainly includes ShiningSoulYoga! Look out for new inspiration and insight coming your way each week, and if there is anything you want to hear about, just shoot us an email at ShiningSoulYoga@aol.com

“To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of year, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.” – Rachel Carson

This fast and easy recipe is really satisfying, while keeping it clean with healthy, vegetarian whole foods that come together in a great way! I love experimenting with Tofu as it is so versatile, and this is definitely one of my favorite ways to cook it. Not to mention, this recipe only takes about 15 – 20 minutes at most from start to finish!

Ingredients (Makes 2-3 Servings)

• 1/2 cup of quinoa
• 1 package of firm tofu (I like the use the Lite version) cut into bite-sized cubes
• 1 package of baby portabella mushrooms, pre-sliced
• 1/4 of a white onion
• 1 tbsp of low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp of teriyaki sauce
• 1 tsp of ginger powder
• red pepper flakes to taste

Directions

Cook the quinoa in a sauce pan following directions on the box. In general, for 1/2 a cup of quinoa you will use 1 cup of water, bring it to a boil and then simmer, covered, for approximately 10 minutes. While your quinoa is cooking, put a quarter cup of water in a large wok or pan over high heat. Put in the onion and red pepper flakes, adding water as necessary if it is getting burned off. (You can use a little bit of olive oil instead of water, but I just prefer water.) After the onion is cooked, about 3 minutes, add the mushroom, tofu cubes, soy sauce, teriyaki, ginger powder and red pepper flakes. You may want to add more soy or teriyaki sauce, depending on your taste preferences. Mix it together well and cover for 6 minutes or so – the remaining time the quinoa is cooking.

Once the quinoa is done, remove it from heat, drain it if necessary and add it to the pot where everything else is cooking. Stir everything together and let it cook over low heat for about a minute just to get the flavors spread evenly. Remove it from heat, mix it up well and serve! Enjoy!

“No matter what you experience, there is a complex stability in the larger pattern that invites you to feel stable as you expand and evolve. Living in a world of polarities, yet knowing that all parts are one in the unified whole, creates the underlying framework of connectedness. The hologram of polarity is simply the structure, the loom upon which worlds and realities are woven.

Stability is a matter of perception. Find where you can openly flow and expand in the midst of seeming complexity. Utilize the relationship created by polarity to explore and expand any self-limiting construct. Open your perceptions. Through you, the mysterious balance of the cosmos is fulfilled.”

~Ariel Spilsbury & Michael Bryner

*This quote was borrowed from MysticMamma.com

Until recently I thought watermelon would be a strange addition to salad, but I was proven VERY wrong when I tried this salad out!! This super-simple salad has become a regular in our dinner rotation. As a matter of fact, we had it just last night, served with seared (on the grill) tuna, which made an awesome, light, flavorful summer meal.

Ingredients (Makes a large salad for two):

1/2 a watermelon, cut into bite-size cubes

4 oz of fresh feta cheese (more or less can be added, to taste)

1/2 a white onion, sliced

6 large handfuls of baby spinach, preferably organic

1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Mix it all together in a large bowl, serve and enjoy!

Have you ever had those days where you just don’t feel like yourself? I think that in many ways, feeling like “yourself” can really be attributed to your actions and how close you have come to putting your values on the pedestal they deserve to be on. For example, a few weeks ago I had a string of about four days where between travel and plans, I was unable to squeeze yoga into my schedule, eat well, or spend much time taking in my surroundings and just breathing. I also just didn’t feel like my usual cheerful self, and my energy level was really low. The result? I felt like I lost my grip on my true soul, and needed to work double time to get it back in my grasp.

Now, I’m not saying that I became a different person because I didn’t work out for four days and I had some french fries. But, eating well and exercising are two of my core values that I know are important to my physical well-being and sanity, and going for an extended period doing otherwise made me feel like I was drifting away from my higher purpose.

If you can relate to this, you probably know that what comes along with it is a lot of self-loathing and regret. Well, there is no time for that! Instead, the important thing is to come up with a “recipe” for your next few hours, days and weeks to get yourself back on track, and to notice where and why you slipped up and how you can prevent it in the future.

My first step was to write a list of the things that are most important to me, my “core values,” things I strive to do every day. Those included: Eating Well, Yoga & Exercise, Spending Time Outdoors, Adventure, Success, Love, Energy, and Positivity – all things that are important and crucial to my happiness, and I should stop at nothing to do things to make them happen each and every day.

My suggestion to you is that you create your own list. What are your ingredients for the best “you” possible? Even if you start with a word or idea today, you can add-on to it daily, or weekly – whenever you realize something that makes you happy and you simply cannot go without. Write your list down in a place where you can glance at it every day, to remind yourself of the things that are important to you and make you as happy as possible.

“Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.”
~Goethe

Sweet Summertime! This is the season where people relax the most and life is full of joy and fun. This great yoga sequence, which consists of fun, confidence-boosting yoga poses, was created by Kathryn Budig for Yoga Journal. Enjoy these poses in the comfort of your living room or on the beach… wherever you may find yourself this summer!

Summer Yoga

“There is a depth in each of us that has never uttered a word. It is a place of total aloneness. ‘ A path so narrow,” my teacher would say, ‘that two cannot walk abreast.’

No matter how connected with community, family, friends, society, or nature we might feel, there is a deep silent aloneness in us all. We know that the experiences we have had, the secret moments of joy, beauty, or love, as well as the particular shades of our own sorrow, can be fully known only to ourselves. We may share events with others, but we are each on her own inner journeys, and each is completely unique.

For this very reason —the singular expression that we each are— aloneness is inevitable. The creative force of the universe does not make exact copies, even in clones, so there is no escaping the aloneness that is part of being an original work of cosmic art.

And yet much of human activity aimed at avoiding this very fact. People are often terrified of aloneness because they experience it as loneliness. They keep busy with work, stay in motion by traveling, or surround themselves with people at almost all times. They might use intoxicants, television, sex, or food to dull the awareness of deep aloneness…

In awakened awareness the experience of aloneness is not a cause for fear or despair. It is a sanctuary of silence, a private abode, ‘a room of one’s own’; the place loneliness cannot reach…

I often refer to this majestic aloneness as ‘the mountain seat of freedom.’ It is as though one is resting on a mountaintop, quietly gazing into vastness, enjoying space in all directions. Welcoming whatever arises in the sky, one notices that thoughts pass by like clouds, feeling fades like rainbow colors, sensation flicker like birds twittering.

Here is only the luminous present, the open expanse of being, and whatever is passing through the sky right now. A sense of fullness prevails. No attention is paid to mental commentary about what should or should not be happening. There is just relaxation into what is—only such….

All mental activity effortlessly subsumes into the silence from which it arose… There is only the wind blowing through boundless awareness, the light shining in our eyes, and the sounds of life reverberating right through us.”

- Catherine Ingram

In honor of the full moon today, I’d like to put a spotlight on Yoga’s Sun Salutation’s lesser-known sibling, Moon Salutations. While traditional Sun Salutations are known as a heat-building, intense workout, Moon Salutations are much more soothing and helpful if you are feeling depleted or just need to quiet things down.

In the modern world we are constantly bombarded with all sorts of stimulants which inevitably lead to high stress levels, and this short practice is a great way to create balance in your life. While Moon Salutations (Chandra Namaskar) are certainly “newer” to yoga than Sun Salutes (Surya Namaskar,) the moon has long been considered a source of rejuvenation and peace. The opposite of the sun, the moon has a cooling effect on the body and can help replenish energy that is lost during stressful situations or even an intense workout. Yoga, and life, are ALL about balance.

Here is a breakdown of a Moon Salutation sequence that you can do tonight in honor of the full moon, and to slow down and cool off. You can also watch a video of the sequence here.

1. Begin in a Salutation Seal (Anjali Mudra.) Stand with your feet hip-width apart, turn your palms up and join your pinkies together to let go and listen inward. Take a few deep, slow breaths here.
2. Inhale, open your arms wide and exhale, placing your hands on your lower back, fingers pointing up. Bend back and inhale, then fold forward on an exhale, keeping your knees bent and the neck relaxed. Bring your chest to rest on your thighs, with your palms facing up. Do this move three times.
3. On an exhale, step your left foot back into a High Lunge.
4. Inhale and draw your right arm up overhead as you turn both feet clockwise. You are resting on the outside edge of your back foot, and the toes of your front foot are facing away from your body.
5. Exhale and draw your right hand down the side of your body, so it is pointing at your back toes. Reach towards your back foot. Move between this and step (4) three times.
6. Exhale and turn your whole body counter-clockwise, so that you are in a wide stance with your feet parallel.
7. Inhale and bend your left knee, and extend your right leg, keeping your spine long. Exhale, then inhale and move to the other side. Flow back and forth at least two more times, envisioning you are like seaweed in the ocean, swaying back and forth in the tide.
8. Turn toward your left leg and come back into High Lunge.
9. Inhale, and step back into Plank Pose.
10. Exhale, place your knees on the floor and walk your hands out in front of you, pressing your chest down to the floor.
11. Lower all the way down on your belly and bring your hands by your sides, right under your shoulders. Lift your chest by pressing into the floor and look over your left shoulder, then your right.
12. Push back into Downward Facing Dog and medal through your heels, alternating bent knees. relax your neck and jaw and make it feel good!
13. Come into a full Downward-Dog, Inhale and point your right leg back and to the sky. Then exhale and lower it back down. Repeat on the right side, and then bring your right foot forward into High Lunge.
14. Step your left foot to meet your right and bow over your legs with your arms hanging down, palms facing up.
15. SLOWLY roll up, one vertebra at a time, with your head coming up last. Root down through your feet, and bend back, stretching out your chest.
16. Return to the pose in which you started. Feet hip-width apart, palms up, and take some deep breaths before you repeat the sequence on the second side.

*This sequence was taken from the December 2011 issue of Yoga Journal and was created by Shiva Rea.