Tag Archives: Yoga

Misadventures of a Parenting Yogi – Review and Giveaway

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Recently, I was asked to review the newest book by Brian Leaf, Misadventures of a Parenting Yogi. I have previously reviewed his other book, Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi, on this site. Brian nicely sent me a copy to review. It took only one afternoon to read and was an enjoyable, light, summer read. My review, and a chance to own this copy follow the break.

If you are looking for a book that takes a theoretical approach to examining how yoga impacts parenting, this is not it. There are mentions of meditation, yoga practice, and the occasional connection made between parenting and yoga, but they are particularly brief.

If you are looking for a book that will help you to parent across the span of childhood (including preteen and teen years), this is not it. While it does include some parenting advice, it’s fairly restricted to a certain stance and is limited in scope, due to the young ages of the author’s children. For a parent with older children or one who has not always chosen the paths suggested here (or someone with training in family research), this could be sometimes frustrating.

If you are looking for light, easy, funny reading to do in small bits (some chapters are 2 pages), this could be the perfect thing. While there isn’t really anything in the intro to tell you that the book is somewhat tongue in cheek, and I think there should have been, it is. It’s an enjoyable read on one dad’s experience with pregnancy and early childhood.

The book is available on Amazon.com (see link above) for a reasonable price, but you could get it free! While I enjoyed reading the book, I don’t anticipate reading it again and like to pass on my free for review items to readers. So, I shall!

Enter the giveaway by posting 1 comment below regarding connections you see between yoga and parenting. A winner will be drawn on June 15th. Please be sure to either be sure you commenting profile is linked to an email address or check back after that date to see if you won and get me a mailing address.

Walk the Walk: It’s Not Easy

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Image by Helgi Halldórsson on Flickr

Image by Helgi Halldórsson on Flickr

I have taught workshops on dealing with chronic pain. I’ve led sessions on the power of meditation. I’ve counseled many students in gentle yoga classes to hear their bodies, to know that a gentle practice is as “good” as an active practice. I’ve told students in yin that it doesn’t matter whether you can do a pose; it’s the being there and with yourself that is the key. I’ve told friends to take time for themselves, let their bodies heal, stop trying to do everything, and recognize when they need help.

I can definitely talk the talk.

Sometimes, however, walking the walk is harder.

I’ve written before about the challenges of letting go of an active yoga practice or other lifestyle habits due to medical issues. So, I’m not surprised when that keeps coming up. But, I am a little surprised at times about the degree of anger I feel about such changes (recently not being able to have an active yoga practice and taking a break from yoga teaching). I’m a little surprised when I can’t even talk myself into doing the things I would recommend to others. And, I’m more than a little surprised when someone calls me out on it – which happened this week.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Festinger), among others, would say that in such a situation, where I can see that my actions are not matching what I believe, feelings of discomfort or dissonance will arise. Check. Festinger proposed that this dissonance leads to either a change in behavior, a change in cognition, a change in understanding of the situation by adding new beliefs, or a denial of the conflict. Not check. At least not yet. I think, right now, I’m more just rolling around in the dissonance, vacillating between being pissed off at my physical self, being disappointed in my mental self, trying to be more at ease with the situation, and denying that it even exists. People are complicated, yes?

At the fundamental level, I believe that any yoga is good yoga, no matter how active, it is important to listen to the body, meditation has value, and yoga will still be there when I’m healed. Now, I just need to get the other beliefs and behaviors in line, right after I finishing rolling around in my dissonance…

 

Hybrid Eco-Mat by Barefoot Yoga – A Good Choice for a Light Mat

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IMG_1542aRecently, Barefoot Yoga offered to send me one of their products to review for you. I selected the Hybrid Eco Mat, since I’m always looking for environmentally friendly yoga products. My full review follows, but the bottom line on this mat is that it’s priced right, very light, and would be easy to tote around; however, if you like a really sticky mat or a lot of padding and don’t mind spending quite a bit more for something more hefty, it may not be for you.

The Hybrid Eco-Mat I received is a pretty color purple they called Violet. When I received the mat and took it out of the packaging the first thing that I noticed was a slight plasticky smell. This didn’t surprise me, as the mat is made of a poly resin. After I left the mat laying out for several days, the smell almost entirely dissipated.

I also quickly noted that the map was very light. It is certainly much lighter than the (far more pricey) Manduka black mat that I regularly use. This made the eco-mat more comfortable to tote to class, and I think if I was regularly taking public transportation to my yoga classes I might prefer a mat of this weight.

I’ve now used the mat for several vinyasa practices, including gentle and more vigorous sequences. The first use, I noticed that the mat was rather slippery when compared to the Manduka. My hands were sliding quite a bit in downward dog and I felt like I had to use extra effort just to keep them still. However, I’m sure this was excellent for my core! After a couple of uses, the mat seemed to become less slippery. So, I assume that part of the slipperiness at first was the coating of the new mat, which I didn’t wash off as the site advises (as I cleverly only looked after). After a few uses, while it still is less sticky than my usual mat, it is certainly acceptable.

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Eco-Mat

Another difference between this mat and my standard mat is that the eco-mat is thinner. The Manduka is only about 2.5 mm thicker than the Eco Mat, but I do notice this difference. Because I have rheumatoid arthritis, I need some degree of padding between my hands and feet and the floor. So, I think if I were to use this mat regularly for an active practice, I would probably want to place a rug on top of it, particularly on days when the arthritis is worse.

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Manduka Black Mat

While the reduction in thickness makes the mat somewhat less comfortable on sore joints, it does allow you to feel the floor beneath the mat during practice. This may make balancing poses easier and facilitate a greater connection to the ground.

The Hybrid Eco-Mat is made of Polyolefin, a poly resin. And, it is worth noting that Barefoot Yoga states that this mat is fully biodegradable.

The eco-mat runs at about $30 (currently on sale for $23!) for the standard 68 inch length, so it is very affordable, and shipping speed is quite fast. You can purchase the mat at http://barefootyoga.com.

I hope this review has been helpful and feel free to let me know if you have additional questions about this mat.

Namaste,
Lorin

 

I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are my own based on my experience with this product.