Ha ha ha ha!

Laugh! Go on, laugh! Even if you have nothing to laugh about. Did you know that your body can't differentiate between fake and real laughter!?

Laughter is amazing for the body. It can relieve stress levels, improve oxygen supply, change a bad mood into a good one, improve efficiency, better your performance and can even give a little abdominal workout!

During my Moksha Yoga Teacher Training, I had the pleasure of presenting on the subject of Laughter Yoga. Laughter Yoga combines unconditional laughter with yogic breathing. It is the brainchild of Dr. Madan Kataria from Mumbai, India, who created the first Laughter Club in 1995. Today, there are over 6000 Laughter Clubs in 60 countries.

You don't need a reason to laugh. Laughter Yoga doesn't rely on humour, jokes or comedy. I tried some of the Laughter Yoga exercises with my Moksha peeps. You know what...they totally worked! Our contrived laughter turned into real laughter. It really was contagious!

So give it a try. Laugh for no reason at all.

Want to check out a Laughter Club or learn more about Laughter Yoga? Visit their website:

http://www.laughteryoga.org/

See you in hysterics!

Yours in Laughter,

Harmony

P.S. I just love this picture of my grandma and I captured by my mother-in-law, Cindy. My Grandma is always making us laugh. I think I'll give her a call right now...I could use a good laugh!

Goodbye Vegas

Everyday, twice a day for the past month we`ve passed by the Las Vegas Strip on the Con Xpress. As you know, our mornings are silent. We pass by the south end of the strip in silence and through the windows I see the Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, the Luxor and Planet Hollywood.

This has become a most favourite part of my day. As we pass by the strip I think of all the extreme energy going on, and I smile knowing that I will soon be in a hot room for a wicked morning yoga practice. My smile is for the sweating I will do to detox, the holding I will do to build strength and the breathing I will do to keep focus. I smile knowing that for the past month, this has been my life.

400 hours hours of this intensive Moksha Yoga Teacher Training has brought me deeper knowledge of yoga, deeper appreciation for my loved ones and deeper understanding of myself.

I will miss my Moksha family and I am so excited to come home to all of you.

peace.

love.

Harmony

Jivamukti Yoga

Jivamukti means “liberation while living.” We had the chance to experience a Jivamukti Yoga class with Alanna Kaivalya who flew in from New York to teach us here in Vegas. Jivamukti is a modern style of yoga that emerged in 1984 from one of New York City’s best-known yoga studios. Founders David Life and Sharon Gannon created a physically intense yoga class that incorporates elements of breathing, meditation, music and singing.

Alanna's class was amazing. We did Sun Salutations to "Under Pressure" by Queen and Warrior poses to "Freedom" by George Michael. Another George song, "Father Figure" played while we held headstands and shoulder stands, and the sound of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colours" kept us in wheel pose. Class ended with Alanna singing "Amazing Grace" while we were lying in relaxation. And it was just that...amazing!

The most powerful part was that we were asked to dedicate class to a variety of people: someone who made it possible for us to be there, someone we love, someone who inspires us, and even someone we didn't think deserved it. This made for some serious emotions, but I cried lucky, grateful, happy tears. If you've ever tried wheel pose (backbend on all fours), you may appreciate how difficult in can be while crying your eyes out!

Vancouverites, you're in luck. A Jivamukti Centre just opened up in Whistler. Check it out: http://lokawellnessandyoga.com/yoga/

If you try a class, let me know how it goes!

Yours in lucky, grateful, happy tears,

Harmony

More on Hydration...

We had the lucky pleasure of a few fabulously fun and knowledge filled days with Pierre Desjardins, teaching us Functional Anatomy. Pierre is a yogi and renowned Doctor of Osteopathy with amazing passion and an awe-inspiring delivery of lectures.

Pierre talked to us about the vital importance of hydration. I want to share some of the things he had to say to add to my last blog:

1. The normal resting adult needs 4 litres of water daily. 2 of those litres comes from digested food, 2 must come from drinking water throughout the day.

2. Juices, milk, soda, coffee, tea doe not count. Some are even dehydrating, creating a need for more H20!

3. Drink two glasses when you wake up in the morning.

4. Water takes 8 minutes to make a physiological effect of the body.

5. To help your kidneys, and avoid mineral depletion, add a pinch of natural and unrefined sea salt in one of your 8 glasses each day.

See you at the water fountain!

Yours in health,

Harmony

Hydration & Headaches

I like water, it's an important part of my workout regime. I thought I was pretty good at keeping hydrated, but I get a lot of headaches. I think I may have discovered why that might be some of the time: I'm not replenishing my electrolytes.

What about you? Listen to your body. If you feel run down and have headaches after a big work out, perhaps you need to replenish your electrolytes.

There are many products out there that you can use. Here at our Hot Yoga training, Emergen-C is a popular one and can be added straight to your drinking water. We're also adding lemons and drinking coconut water (yum!).

I'm not an expert, so check out other options at the health food store and pharmacy. Let me know if you have any other ways you replenish your electrolytes!

Yours in hydration,

Harmony

Silent Mornings

As a way to ease into our morning yoga practice, we observe Silent Mornings. Every morning when we wake up until after our first yoga class is over, we are silent. For almost three hours we can't talk, email, text, listen to the radio, watch TV, or even gesture. I love it. It's so peaceful. But hard! Most of the time, we all walke around ignoring each other for fear of breaking the silence. Sometimes we can't help but gesture as we organize and pack for the day ahead. One morning I was last out the door. Last out the door and didn't know how to lock-up with the fancy code box lock! So many thoughts ran through my head as I struggled to know what to do. I was committed to keeping silent but couldn't walk away with an unlocked door. So I had to break silence with the bus driver to tell him what was going on. Once on the Con Xpress, I casually leaned into a housemates ear to whisper the dilemma, thinking she knew how to open the door. She did not. She then proceeded to break her silence and speak up to all on the bus asking if anyone knew how to lock the door. Everyone was focused on keeping quiet, so nobody spoke up until finally one of the girls stood up to do the deed.
Ah, yes, Silent Mornings...a difficult thing when you need to communicate an important message!
On another note, I told my husband that we were observing Silent Mornings. He thought it'd be a good thing to implement when I got back! Cheeky monkey!
So what about you? Could you observe silence for a period of time in the mornings? Try it and let me know how you do!
See you in Silence!
Your in Health, Harmony

Yoga in Sin City

Currently, I am spending 6 days a week immersed in the world of yoga. With one day off a week, we've had a couple of chances to step away from the studio and into the lights and delights of Las Vegas. I've enjoyed the visits to the strip, but all the hustle and bustle of the city makes me crave the silent studio.

The training days are long, but amazing. Here is my daily schedule:

5am Wake-Up
6:45am Yoga Class
9am Lecture
12pm Lunch
1pm Lecture
2pm Yoga Class
4pm Lecture
8pm Dinner, Laundry, Food Prep, Sleep

I am so totally impressed with the training content and can't wait to share my new found knowledge and appreciation for all things yoga! We are sweating, breathing and working hard on our physical practice, but there is so much more! From anatomy and physiology, to history and philosophy, I am learning so much about the yoga world. We are taking one class per week in a different yoga style (Sivananda, Yin and Jivamukti so far) and they are all so great! If you haven't tried yoga yet, check it out! Have any questions on how to start? Let me know!

See you in the studio!
Yours in health, Harmony