My wife and I recently had our first kid, a baby boy named Octavian. While I am brand new to being a parent, one thing that struck me immediately was how similar in some ways being a parent is to meditation. Both require you to stay with the moment, to simply be present with what is happening, and both require a certain balance of effort and surrender.

While I’ve had a meditation practice for a while now, I will admit that at times, it’s been hard for me to see concrete examples of how I’ve grown through that practice. I might be able to stay with my breath a little longer now than when I started, but I wasn’t sure that my life had changed much as a direct result of the practice. It ‘s sometimes easy to think of yoga as something that you do only in a controlled environment – either at the studio or in a meditation corner at home, while the rest of life continues on pretty much as normal.

As a new parent however, I’ve had to call upon my mindfulness practice repeatedly in order to be fully present for my child. A meditation practice has given me a valuable tool in beginning this new journey, and conversely, bringing mindfulness to my every day life allows me to practice yoga wherever I am.

Being a parent has reminded me of why we practice – so that when life calls on us to be present, to deal with a crying child without crying ourselves, to experience the rush of rush hour traffic without losing our sense of calm, or to be there for a friend in need, we are able to call upon our experiences and remind ourselves that ‘I know how to do this. I know how to stay with this moment and be centered even when other thoughts might be trying to draw me away from that center”

I was quoted in a Yoga Journal article that just came out. It’s an interesting overview of subbing if you are interested. http://www.yogajournal.com/for_teachers/2721.

I’ve been a little behind on posting to this blog for the last month or so, but I have a good excuse! My wife and I just welcomed our first child – a little baby boy named Octavian Orion Fetz Stallings. I’m taking some time off until the new year to enjoy these first few weeks to their fullest. This is to say, I probably won’t be posting much here and I might be hard to get in touch with for a little while, though then again, I might not. It’s hard to say really. Have a great holiday season and I look forward to seeing some of you again in the new year!

At the end of each week, I post the sequence that I’ve been teaching that week during my classes in Seattle. For more sequences from other weeks, click here. And if you would like to see these sequences in action, come join me for a class!

Grounding and Warm Up

Flow – 3x each side

Standing Poses

Seated and Inversions

At the end of each week, I post the sequence that I’ve been teaching that week during my classes in Seattle. For more sequences from other weeks, click here. And if you would like to see these sequences in action, come join me for a class!

Grounding and Warm Up

Flow – 2x each side

Standing Poses

Seated Poses

At the end of each week, I post the sequence that I’ve been teaching that week during my classes in Seattle. For more sequences from other weeks, click here. And if you would like to see these sequences in action, come join me for a class!

Grounding and Warm Up

Flow – 3x each side

Standing Poses

Seated and Inversions

I have been overdoing it a bit lately with exercise. My work schedule hasn’t really allowed me to take any days off for quite a while until this last weekend. My wife and I were up in Canada, and while there, spent a day at some hot springs soaking in the mineral waters and generally relaxing. After my trip to Breitenbush this spring, I’ve become a firm believer in the benefits of hydrothermalmineral healing (that’s actually what it’s called). Soaking in hot springs relaxes muscles, calms the nervous system, increases blood flow and oxygenation to tissues of the body, and can at least temporarily relieve pain associated with injuries and various conditions. For more serious conditions, such as rheumatism in its various forms, and respiratory conditions, it seems to be that the common recommendation is for treatment lasting at least 15-20 days, but for less serious issues, even a day soaking can be beneficial. By allowing your muscles to relax fully and increasing oxygenation of tissues, the body is able to speed up recovery time. Professional athletes use hot soaks all the time to recover from workouts. I noticed that while I was at Breitenbush this spring, the same amount of asana practice which would have normally left me feeling sore, was no problem alongside daily soaks in the hot springs. So if you have access to a hot soak of any kind, you might consider treating yourself to some relaxation. Recovery is an important part of any exercise program.

Found this article in the N.Y. Times and thought I’d share. Gives a good overview of what to think about when eating for exercise.

Summer is officially here. The weather is beautiful outside, the butterflies are out, and the trees are in their full greenery. Most of the time, unless you run, you probably work out inside. I’ve been trying to take my activities outside this summer and enjoy the sun while we have it. Meeting up with friend on the weekend at the park for acro, and there have been a bunch of yoga in the park events around Seattle this summer (which I swear I will be able to make it to one of these times). There is also an endless array of outdoor activities to take advantage of. Just a little gentle encouragement to get outside. Even if you aren’t “working out” being outside tends to mean being more active. It’s good for the body and good for the mood too. Vitamin D, which we don’t get much of in Seattle, feels really good when it’s available.

This week, I’ve been thinking about patience. Patience I think often is confused with being passive and has therefore some negative associations. In my own life, I’ve used patience to be an excuse not to work hard for certain things, and I’ve also used the association of patience with passivity to become overly attached to goals in my life, thinking that I was simply being proactive. I think that ideally, patience is simply not attaching to an end result, yet also having consistency of effort. In this way, patience is a bit of a misnomer. We can’t just wait around for something to happen, that’s a recipe for disappointment. Yet, equally, being overly attached to a outcome is as well. I’ve been trying to have more consistency in my life. Meditating when I get up in the morning, it’s hard not to want to progress, feel like I’m making progress, yet I also know that the simply act of consistently making time for it is the only thing I can really control. It’s an interesting balance to look for. It requires being in the moment and seeing the means as the end, not the other way around. Still working on that one.