Jamie Abrams*Raw Food*Yoga*Teacher

It's in the rain

Lately things have been ultra busy. I feel like I am being stretched to my limits (no pun intended!). I have been so eager creating and developing that I have been neglecting my self. I am a huge proponent of doing radical self-care and I find myself constantly reminding my students/clients to take measures to really nourish their inner and outer selves. In fact I have been so wrapped-up in ‘teaching’ that I have been not living it. Yikes! Although it is said you teach what you most need to learn.

I have been getting little reminders; like messages from my guardian self-care angels to slow down and give something back to myself. Finally, today I put it into action. My mother-in-law took Zenchai for a couple of hours. I sat at my desk to begin going through emails and other computer-related tasks. This is when I had to really pull myself out of computerland and check in to my inner being. I decided to answer a few important emails and give myself permission to release the computer. I can really get sucked in!

Just before Zenchai left, he randomly pulled open the CD drawer, took out one of my Enya albums and asked to listen to it. By the way, he doesn’t often ask me this sort of thing. Of course, I indulged us both in some lovely tunes. It was having this CD playing in the background that encouraged me to take some ‘me time’.

I felt a burning desire to do some yoga. Before I began, I decided to draw a Saints & Angels Oracle Card from Doreen Virtue’s deck. I pulled ‘Mother’. I thanked my oracle cards because indeed it was right I needed to mother myself. Not only that, but this card also represented my need to alleviate myself of guilt and stress that has been interfering with my joy of parenting. Lately there seems to be more than usual unhelpful head chatter.

So I rolled out my yoga mat, lit a candle and stood on the edge of my mat in Tadasana (Mountain Pose). I looked out through our big glass doors into our garden. The sun was beginning to set and I could see huge dark clouds filling the sky behind our old magical pine tree. I stood there in the twilight and was totally overtaken by emotion. My eyes were filled with enormous tears, my throat with huge sobs and I literally felt my feet were glued to my mat. I was paralyzed by this vast well of emotion. I could hear the song It’s in the rain. It felt so perfect. My little muchkin had again acted as a medium to help me go deeper into myself. I just sobbed. 

MC Yogi: Vote 4 Change

I discovered this really fresh Yogi musician from one of my yoga mentors Alon Sagee. MC Yogi blends hip hop with kirtan (chanting) creating bright, vivid music.

He has a particularly relevant song for the upcoming American election. Click below to listen. Be prepared to smile, tap your feet or yoga wiggle while you take in this colourful song. And once your finished listening to this song stop by his website to hear some of his other fun, joyful yoga music.

Obama '08 - Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo.

The YOGA Show - London

It is that time of year again for the annual YOGA Show in London. It is taking place the 31st October - 2nd November at the Olympia in Kensington. I am really excited about this event. There is going to be a spectacular turn-out of renowned yoga teachers holding some very informative classes.

I already have a few classes highlighted in the programme that I want to attend including a class with Doug Keller a master Anusara Yoga teacher.

The YOGA Show is literally all things yoga under one roof. So I am also keen to see what else is new in the yoga world. I always love looking at the beautiful yoga mat bags, organic yoga clothing, and the latest in yoga mat technology. I might even try to pick-up an eco-yoga mat (I know retail therapy at its best!).

The event is also really reasonably priced. You can enjoy an entire day of yoga for £7 (that is not including any special workshop fees). Click here to see more about the costs.

This is an excellent opportunity to experience yoga in its many forms! I really hope you can make it. Click here to buy your tickets. Remember to drop me a line if you plan on attending. It would be great to see you or you can always look for me there.

Photo from yoga show.

 

A week of Abounding Bliss

Last week literally flew by. So much has happened and I have been dying to get on to the computer to share it all with you.

I’ll start with Claude’s birthday celebration. We just had a quiet day due to him being on jury service. I made him his favorite Russell James recipe, Spinach & Wild Mushroom Quiche, of course with my own flair. It turned out really spectacular. I was even cheeky enough to have snuck one out of the dehydrator before he got home. I will spare you the rest of the details. Naughty wife!

I can almost always be counted on to make a birthday cake or dessert, but this year I opted for the easy road. Behind the scenes, I ordered Claude a cake from Kate Wood’s Raw Living on-line store. We recently bought her latest book, which has really amazing photography. Unfortunately we haven’t had great success with the recipes. We have tried ten or so recipes and only one turned out delicious, a major bummer as the pictures are so appetizing. So with great trepidation I ordered her Quantum Cake.

SURPRISE!!!! The Quantum Cake was fabulous, very dense and rich. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. I can’t believe it lasted us four days.

Chanting - Music for Ecstatic Bliss?

"Oh music, In your depths we deposit our hearts and souls. Thou hast taught us to see with our eyes and hear with our hearts."

                                                   - Kahlil Gibran

Have you ever felt self-conscious or silly chanting?

All those years ago when I did my yoga training I was in the same boat. I felt decently comfortable chanting when in a group, but if asked to lead the chanting I would be brimming with fear-filled tears.

For most of my yoga teaching ‘career’ I have left out chanting in my classes. I felt too self-conscious about my singing voice – even though chanting is nothing like singing. The excuse I gave myself about not introducing chanting to my classes was that it would be too scary for my students or off-putting - even though in my heart-of-hearts I knew it wasn't the truth. It is truly amazing how our fears can manipulate our actions.

So I remained a ‘closet chanter’. I would put my chanting CDs on in the car, while doing my personal yoga practice, or when I was just bumming around the house. I would even do my own chanting invocations during my self-practice, but only if no-one else was home.

I think I have come a long way since then. Although, to date I don’t regularly do chanting in my classes, it is one of my personal teaching goals to dedicate more class time to chanting.

What exactly is chanting, how do you practice chanting and what are the benefits?

Chanting is known as the yoga of sound. It is composed of specific sounds, vibrations and rhythms from the Sanskrit alphabet. These are called mantras, which are a series of sacred syllables that form phrases often chanted or used during meditation.

The ancient yogis had a very clear understanding of how our Universe operated. They acknowledged that the entire Universe is constantly moving - nothing is ever solid or still. This is exactly what modern scientists know to be true today. Everything that exists pulsates, creating a rhythmic vibration otherwise known in yogic philosophy as the sound of OM..

Mantras were often handed down from spiritual teachers to their devotees. To be most effective mantras need to be repeated faithfully, with proper pronunciation, with heart-felt intention and preferably at the same time and place each day.

Take a moment now to indulge your soul and listen to this beautiful chant.

GAYATRI MANTRA- DEVA PREMAL