Mobile Om

yoga without bounds

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Learning to Let Go...

Lessons from the Mat from a Mobile Om Yogi

By Amaury Nora

I hadn’t expected to see her again. Yet there she was warmly greeting everybody coming into the yoga studio. My heart picked up speed, perspiration moistening my palms. I wanted to run, but my body froze. I closed my eyes, hoping she and everybody I saw was a figment of my imagination, the result of too many late nights. But when I opened them, there they were standing before me like a bad dream.

With the door open, I shivered, remembering the first time I entered the studio. I shook my head, trying to rid myself of those memories. Hot and cold thoughts raged like a tornado in my head, silencing the crowd noise taking place inside Mobile Om’s Om Base.

With a defeated sigh, I entered the studio.

Gripping my yoga mat, I glided pass the crowd like a ghost, bare feet faintly scuffing across the cold cement floor. Past the crowds, I find a spot at the furthest corner of the room. At least I thought.

I unroll my mat and slowly sit down, hoping my knee joints don’t sound like a fourth of July celebration gone horribly wrong. Looking around, I began to feel a mixture of anxiety and a sense of wonderment. The more I focused on my breathing; a sense of calm began to wash over me. Is this what it means to be one with the mat? Did my mat become a security blanket?

A few minutes passed and there she was again, my first yoga teacher, calling for everyone’s attention. I was hoping to avoid her after my embarrassing first day at yoga class. No avoiding her now. Closing my eyes and I continued focusing on my breathing, suddenly I felt a mental shift. Whatever fear I had about her dissipated like a cloud of smoke. As I opened my eyes, I no longer saw her as just a yoga instructor, but a human being with hopes and dreams and experiences and fears.

Suddenly, I could feel this overwhelming sense of exhilaration and accomplishment taking over around my chest. It was then; I had a sudden moment of clarity. I realized this was my yoga practice, this is about me—only I know what is best for me at this moment.

Although it has been a couple of months since I started practicing yoga, I can already see how yoga is making me become more aware about myself and life. Pema Chödrön can sum the life lesson I took from that day:

“We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder.”

Don’t let life harden you. Let go. There is tenderness, beauty, and grace in being alive.

- Amaury

When Amaury asked to contribute to our blog to give insight to the lessons of a new student on the yoga path, we jumped at the opportunity to feature his words. Amaury has been a practicing with Mobile Om for a few months and is currently participating in our 40 Days to Personal Revolution program. We hope you enjoyed his post and look forward to featuring many more insightful and inspiring posts from him. Namaste.

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40 Days to Personal Revolution - Week One : Presence

This week is the kick off our first time hosting the 40 Days to Personal Revolution program at Om Base. I was overwhelmed and inspired by the amount of authenticity, vulnerability and generosity of the group who gathered for our first meeting yesterday. I am grateful to share this journey with these 12 beautiful yogis and look forward to what the next 40 days have in store. 

The 40 Days program is a yogi support group on a journey together through Baron Baptiste’s 40 Days to Personal Revolution book. The program was designed to transform the mind & body through yoga, meditation, mindful eating and journaling. Each week of the program is designed around a specific theme and specific daily yoga & meditation goals. Week One’s theme is presence. 

“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”
 - Carl Rogers

The first week of the program is all about waking up and becoming fully present in your life. This week is about facing your truth so that you can begin your journey to transformation authentically and honestly. Before any change is possible in life, it is important to take an honest look at your life, remove the blinders, shed light into the shadows and look directly into the eyes of the demons that are holding us back.

This is definitely going to be a challenge for me. I am sure most of you can relate to my always-on-the-go never taking time to sit still lifestyle. Keeping busy is my MO and I rarely slow down enough to take a deep breath. I was confronted by my own resistance to stillness during my morning meditation today. Did you know that 5 minutes is a REALLY LONG TIME to sit still and do nothing?!?

“Just this one breath.” Baron’s instructions for this week’s meditation is to focus on each breath as it comes and goes, paying no mind to the breath that just passed or the one that has yet to come. Sounds simple enough. So this morning, I set my timer for 5 minutes and I sat. Those 5 minutes could have been 5 hours with the amount of thoughts that popped into my head. I thought about work things, friend things and relationship things, I felt sad, angry, overwhelmed, helpless...a million thoughts and a dozen emotions in the span of 5 minutes.

I texted my friend who is also going though the program and expressed to her my frustration with my morning meditation.

“Buckle up.” She said. She was right. It’s going to be a rough ride.

I am beginning to see that staying busy and constantly distracted is my coping mechanism for maintaining the illusion that I have it all together when there is unfinished business in my life. Being on the go allows me to keep up appearance that I am calm, collected, successful and happy, while deep down I feel deficient, defective and like a complete fraud. I know that not confronting these truths, I am robbing myself of my own power. This week will force me be honest with myself and confront the things that I do not want to see so I can experience real change. I know it’s true that the only way to break free is to break through, so I take my friends advice and buckle up. I am ready for the ride...

-Cassandra

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You Are What I Think You Are

“Treat people as they are, and you make them worse. Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”

Our thoughts not only have tremendous impact on our own habits, but they also affect how the people in our lives show up for us. When we label someone in our thoughts as being a certain way, we create a fixed way of being for them. They are the way we think they are and there is no other way in which they can be. This can be as simple as labeling someone as “always late” to something more profound, like calling someone a “bitch”

Once we create an idea in our head that a person possesses a particular characteristic, we start to notice each time our opinion of them is proven right. Your friend who is always late will continue to show up in your life as late, because you probably won’t notice the times when he/she is actually on time. You will continue to prove your opinion about the person in your life whom you have labeled a “bitch” by unconsciously focusing on the things he/she does to support this judgment.

The beauty of humanity is that we are malleable. Just as sure as we are living and breathing beings, our way of being in the world is also ever-changing. Each moment is a fresh opportunity for us to be whatever way we chose to be. There is no concrete definition of who we are that we carry with us our entire lives, unless we chose in each moment to show up that way. Not only can we personally make the choice of how we show up in our lives, but we can create choice around how we chose to see others in our life and, consequently, how they show up for us.

If we always expect someone to be a certain way, they will continue to show up for us in that way. On the other hand, if we give them the space to show up differently, we open up the opportunity for them to be free to be different than we expect. In this, there is also opportunity for us to notice the fault in our initial judgment. We can begin to see past the “story” of who we thought someone is, let go of the expectations of how they have been in the past and open up the possibility for someone to just be exactly who they are. In creating this freedom for others, we also free ourselves of feeling stuck in our own "story" of who we have been and allow space for change. Space for infinite possibility.

I invite you to try this on. Think about a person in your life whom you have labeled as always being a certain way. Keeping this person in your thoughts, state the following mantra “I let go of my judgements and expectations of you and chose to see you as pure potential. I give you space to be fully you.” The next time you interact with this person, remember this mantra and notice any preconceptions that arise. When you see your mind going there, make the choice to let go and open your eyes to a fresh view of this whole, perfect and ever-changing being. Give them the space to be different and watch how they begin to show up differently for you.

Namaste.

Cassandra

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What are you carrying?

This morning, I was reminded of this old buddhist tale I was once told...

One day, two monks set out for a temple in a valley beyond the woods. While cutting a pathway through the woods they came across a choppy stream to cross. There, stood by the bank of the stream, was a beautiful young maiden dressed in silk. She was clearly at a loss as to how to cross without getting muddy and wet.

So, without thinking twice, the elder monk picked her up over his shoulder and waded across to the other side. The younger monk followed in tow.

Upon reaching the other side of the bank the elder monk put her down. The maiden paid her respects and the monks continued on their way to the temple.

As they continued to navigate the forest, the younger monk, still troubled by the stream crossing, said suddenly, “How could you do that? We aren’t even supposed to make eye contact with women let alone pick them up and carry them!”

Without a thought, the elder monk turned to the younger monk and said, “Are you still carrying her?  I put her back down on the other side of the stream”.

And with that he turned and led the way through the forest.

--

This is such a powerful story about letting go. So much of the suffering we experience in this life is our own creation. We hold on to the things that have happened to us in the past. We carry them with us constantly and allow them to permeate our presence. We let our past hinder our path forward. Carrying the burdens of our past affects our ability to truly be present in this moment. We spend our lifetimes living in our heads in the what ifs, should haves and if onlys, that we crowd out any space left to experience what is happening right before us. Just like the younger monk, we seek to understand why things happened to us and we judge ourselves for the mistakes, decisions and choices we have made. We build these little moments into mountains that block our pathway forward. 

What if we chose to just let it all go? Just like the elder monk, when things are finished, let them be finished and move on. We mustn't allow yesterdays thoughts to affect todays progress. Each day, each moment, is a time to start anew with a clean slate. 

What is done is done. Let it go. Let it be. 

Namaste. 

Cassandra

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live your love

We are happy to share this post from monthly contributor, Pauline Greer life design.

Live = to be alive and to maintain ourselves. Love = a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection. Where can we personify and define love in this journey of life? How can our goals and intentions design a life of love?

After many days of journaling and a few weeks of reading Danielle LaPorte’s “The Desire Map” I found my values yearned to nurture my dreams.

I wanted to feel connected to myself and others, creative in my daily life and joyous in my creations. Allowing gratitude for the ability of my talents and freedom for my soul to live with ease.

We can ground ourselves by discovering our values. We can choose our goals to be led by love.   Allowing our values to guide our intentions to design our life.  

To love is to be fully alive in this moment. When I can love the moment, I am living my goals/intentions. Love brings our goal to the now.

Call to action: Design this month to live your love. Create one goal around something you love.  Big or small is not a factor. There are no rules when it comes to love.

#liveyourlove Pauline Greer life design https://www.facebook.com/paulinegreeerlifedesigner

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Meet Me Monday with Nichole Velez of Massage Movil

We love supporting other local wellness professionals and have invited a few of our favorites to be regular contributors to our blog to share their expertise. This week, let us introduce frequent Mobile Om student and possessor of magical hands, Nichole Velez, LMT. Inspired by our mobile business model, Nichole founded her own business on the go, Massage Movil. We aren't lying when we say she has magical hands and what's even more magical is that she brings her massage table to you! Read more about Nichole below and then join come meet her for yoga tonight at Mana House and schedule your first appointment!

Hi there! My name is Nichole Velez, and I am a licensed massage therapist, a budding yogi enthusiast, lover of small furry pups and the owner of Massage Móvil, a local mobile massage studio. That’s right, I bring massage right to your doorstep!

The craft of massage therapy has always been intriguing to me. Thinking that massage is just a luxury, its what you do to reward yourself every few months, once a year, on special occasions, isn’t how I see it. There is a certain power in therapeutic touch.  It gives you more than just a momentary tingle or second of solace. It can comfort. It can heal. And there’s a reason for that. Your skin is the body’s largest organ, and when it’s sensory receptors are stimulated, like say through a massage, a hormone called oxytocin (this is the one that makes you feel good) is released, and cortisol (the one that makes you feel stressed) is reduced. That physical act of therapeutic touch can do so much, and that’s just the beginning. So here I am, sharing the awesomeness that is massage with you!

I’m trained in various modalities such as Swedish massage, Deep Tissue, Trigger Point Therapy, Hot Stone massage and utilize elements of Aromatherapy during my sessions. Since I am a mobile business, bringing massage therapy into your home or office, you can expand your relaxed state of mind by experiencing it in your own atmosphere. In a session with me you can expect nothing but professionalism, education and relaxation. I want nothing more than to help heal the pain and stress you feel in your everyday life.

With that said, Mobile Om has given me an exciting opportunity to be able to do just that!  As a contributor to their blog I will share with the San Antonio Yoga community the numerous benefits of massage, things you can do at home to help with stress or pain, educate on the human anatomy and various other holistic natural ways of healing.

I’m super excited to be able to partner with Mobile Om and share my vision of healing and to connect with such a beautiful community.  

If you’d like to learn more, or would like to book your appointment please visit, www.massagemovil.com

After all, the light within me honors the light within you. Namaste.

Peacefully, Nichole Velez, LMT 117361 Massage Móvil

To book online: Massage Móvil Online Booking

Like Us on Facebook: Massage Móvil Facebook

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Meet Kayleigh, Yoga & Viola Extraordinaire...

One of our beautiful instructors, Kayleigh Miller, is a musician by day, yogi and yoga teacher by night. We love the unique and loving approach she brings to her classes, always reminding students to listen to their bodies from compassion and care. We have invited her to be a regular contributor to our blog, to give her insight into yoga, anatomy and self-care. Come out and meet her this Saturday at her Shoulder Shakti workshop at Mana House. 

"It took me months to get the courage to go to my first yoga class back in 2007- mainstream media led me to believe it was for only thin, beautiful, and flexible women. Yet, my first yoga class was with a fabulous, hilarious, and delightful man, (whom I eventually did my first teacher training with) and my class was filled with bodies of all sizes and shapes and ages. I’m so glad I finally got the courage to try yoga, and that I was able to find a teacher and studio that supported me as a I began my practice.    Yoga means many things to many people, and everyone finds their niche within the wide scope of movement, breath, and meditation practices. As a musician, I’m drawn to learning anatomy and biomechanics to help students move safely in their bodies, especially if they are recovering from an injury or have an overuse pattern. While I started with dynamic forms of yoga, I find the most solace in slower, more mindful practices, and love Yoga Tune Up® and therapy ball work for bringing me home into my own body in new and creative ways. I’m additionally training to become a Restorative Exercise Specialist with biomechanist Katy Bowman, which is honing my movement and kinesiology skills on a whole new level. When I’m not in the yoga space, I’m often walking or running on the Riverwalk, cuddling with my blind chihuahua mix, Missy, or at work in the San Antonio Symphony, where I play viola.   Above all, I want students to move better in their bodies and have fun doing so!" - Kayleigh

Join Kayleigh at Mana House this Saturday from 2-4 pm for her Shoulder Shakti Workshop. 

Whether you are a seasoned yogi looking to strengthen your shoulders, or just someone with shoulder pain or restriction, this workshop is for you! We will explore shoulder, arm and neck anatomy while strengthening often underused muscles and balancing overused tissues. This workshop is for all levels of practitioner, and no yoga experience is required.

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Define, Declare, Design!

We are excited to introduce our community to Pauline Greer life design, a movement, helping others set goals through the power of choice. In light of our collaboration this weekend, we invited Pauline Greer to be a guest on our blog, so you can learn a little more about what she's up to. 

The enrollment of others in our journey is key to our success. Enrollment puts us in alignment with being open to help, and accountability for what we say we are going to do. As I start this new adventure of creating a movement/brand, I would like to take this time to enroll everyone in my intention and to define myself.  In May 2014 I chose to create a movement/brand around helping people design a life they love. Through daily social media post and monthly goal setting workshops I will offer others space to share their passions. This process has already guided me to step out of my comfort zone and I’ve found it is where I feel most alive. I know we can all do the same for each other through the power of enrollment and the defining of ourselves.

- Pauline

Who is Pauline Greer?

She is fun, lively, vibrant and courageous. Pauline Greer is an inspiration to all around her. She is a balance of humility and ferocity. Pauline Greer declares to draw out the greatness and creative genius in everyone she meets. Her core values are connection/creation/joy/gratitude/freedom.

How do you define yourself today? And how can I help?

Pauline Greer life design https://www.facebook.com/paulinegreeerlifedesigner

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What yoga means to me...

"I used to think yoga was just a physical practice for stretching, strengthening and toning the body. I started practicing in 2005 looking for a way to get in better shape and to regain the flexibility I had growing up as a dancer. It was not long before I began to realize my yoga practice was doing more than teaching me to move and breath on my mat, I was also learning to move through life with more ease and create space for breath in my fast-paced life. 

Over the years, my yoga practice has led me out of my comfort zone, taught me to breathe through struggle, create ease around resistance and listen to my intuition, both on and off my mat. Yoga has become much more than something I do, it is who I am."

Cassandra Founder, Mobile Om