Wednesday, March 23, 2016

"Cluck!"


Hi Youthful Yogis!
Today the Youthful Yogis Blog continues with its "guest writer program". As you can see, I'm a chicken....and I am very happy to be find a place where I can express myself freely!

You recently heard from Frank--I know, such an original name, right? Anyway, Frank the dog was pretty proud of the fact that he was mentioned in a recent Youthful Yogis Q & A entry (you can find it on the left side of the Youthful Yogis homepage). I admit, Frank and I aren't such great friends but I do love reading the questions and answers on this blog, especially when they mention chickens!

"Chickens rule!!"

And that brings me to today's topic...well, sort of. As you probably know, many fantastic yoga poses are named after animals. I wish I could say there's a yoga pose named after a chicken but, sadly, I don't think such a pose exists.


"I'm pretty sure I'm doing yoga right now!"

Sure, Mr. rooster up there might look like he's doing a yoga pose but, honestly, there is no pose named after him.


"No fair!"

Let's look on the bright side, Youthful Yogis...even though there are no poses based on the extreme beauty of hens or the bossy confidence of roosters, there are plenty of poses named after many of our fine feathered friends. Let's take a look!



Pigeon



Pigeon Pose



Eagle


Eagle Pose



Crow
Crow



Crow Pose

Finally, I'd like to show you stork pose...and since I don't have a picture of a human being doing the pose, I'll have to get old Mr. Rooster to help out instead!


Stork


Stork Pose...?!


Well, that's about it for today, Youthful Yogis. It's time for me to go nibble on some grain, scratch around a little and get back to my nest! I hope you've enjoyed looking at some bird-inspired yoga poses today. Try them and let me know what you think!

Hopefully, I'll be invited back to the Youthful Yogis Blog as a guest writer soon. In the meantime, here are a few up and coming authors who I know are trying to get themselves on the blog...keep your eyes out for them!


"Rock on, y'all"



"It's so dry out here...does anyone have any eye drops!!



"Me, writing a blog?!" 

OK, that last guy may not make the cut as a visiting writer. But hey, you never know!

Have a great day, Youthful Yogis. And as the little chicks like to say...


Namaste!!



Friday, March 18, 2016

"Woof!"

Sorry if I surprised you, Youthful Yogis...my name is Frank and today I'm taking over the Youthful Yogis Blog...


"ARGH!"

No, no...not a pirate kind of takeover. What I mean to say is I'm a visiting author, and that's another word for someone who has seen enough cat images for a few days!!

So let's just say there will be no pictures of cats today:


Cat-free zone

I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you of the Youthful Yogis Q & A section of this blog. It's just to your left, underneath Youthful Yogis Listening Activities (another fun thing to check out!)  Q & A stands for "question and answer" and on the Youthful Yogis blog it's a great place to get all your yoga questions figured out.


"It all makes perfect sense now!"

You may be wondering why I am using my very important guest-writer time to talk about the Q & A section of this blog...well, it's because the latest question is all about ME!!


"It's really all about Frank."

You heard it from the mouth of Honest Abe, Youthful Yogis...the latest Q & A discussion revolves around moi. And "moi", as you may know, is French for ME!!!!

Check it out and let me know what you think!



That's all for today Youthful Yogis. If that cat Ping shows up again, I really can't be held responsible. But at least for today it's been a cat-free kind of day!!

Cool!

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Hi Youthful Yogis!
The other day I introduced you to a cat named Ping...

Ping!

I wish I could say that Ping is a cuddly, sweet cat. Unfortunately, the honest truth is that Ping is usually kind of crabby.

"Who me, crabby?!"

I'm not sure what puts Ping in a bad mood: maybe he wasn't treated well as a kitten (his current owners adopted him when he was six months old.) Or maybe he doesn't know how to express his emotions!


"I have no idea how to express what I am feeling right now!"

Whatever the situation, Ping's owners have learned to give him a lot of space!

Open Space

Talking about Ping and his crazy moods reminds me that we all experience lots of different emotions in a given day...sometimes we are happy:



Other times we feel kind of sad:



Just like Ping we might feel crabby:


Or really, really peaceful:


"No worries!"

The great thing about yoga is that is helps us to accept all our emotions!  We learn to check in with how we are feeling and by so doing we take a step towards a deeper understanding of ourselves and others.

Here's an idea, Youthful Yogis...take a few moments every day to breathe deeply. Imagine you have a little camera inside your body and inside your brain as well. Take some pictures! Notice how your body feels...notice what's going on in your head. You might be surprised by what you find!

"Seriously?!!"

Once you are aware of your own situation, it will be lots easier to move through your day...and your yoga practice as well:


"I did not sleep well last night!"



"...and this is just the yoga pose I need!!"


Well, I guess you get the idea here, Youthful Yogis. We all have good days and less-than-good days. And with this in mind, I don't blame Ping for his crabby moods. In fact, I kind of respect the fact that he lets everyone know when he wants to be left alone! Still, I wish he could take a chill pill now and then. I guess that would look something like this...

Serious chilling!

That's all for now. Have a great day and I'll see you again soon!


Namaste






Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Hi Youthful Yogis!
Today I would like to introduce you to a cat named Ping....

Baby Ping

As you can see, when Ping was little he used to like to hang out in the dishwasher! Now that he is older--and just a little chunky-- I don't think he could get into the dishwasher if he wanted to.


"Who are you calling chunky?!"

It's true, Ping has an amazing cat perch where he spends a lot of time (more on that later.) But first, let me just answer the burning question "Why is Ping the cat being profiled in a yoga blog???"

Well, here's the thing....Ping's owner happens to be a yoga teacher and let's just say that makes for a slightly stressful situation! To show you what I mean, here's a short video of Ping from a few years ago, when he wasn't chunky!




If you'd like to see the rest of this movie, which I promise is actually more about yoga than cats, just click on the "yoga movie" link under the cool picture below. It will take you to the Youthful Yogis youtube page where you can find other videos and guided relaxations.

     
Yoga Movie

Have fun!

Namaste



Sunday, March 13, 2016

Hello there, Youthful Yogis!
It's time to rescue the Youthful Yogis Blog. You heard that right...let's brush off the cobwebs and get this party started!

Serious cobwebs!

So here's what you need to know: The real, live author of this blog is named Ellen. But please forget about her because, as you can tell, she really isn't up to the task of keeping this thing going....

NOT up to the task!

Let's just say Ellen is getting a little inspiration from someone who is a wee bit more together. Enough said...really.

The Youthful Yogis Blog is about yoga (of course!). But there's lots of other stuff to talk about. Like brownies, for example. Whoever came up with the idea of making brownies with applesauce instead of butter? Yuck! I can't stand that!  As an official blogger,  I'll just put it out there that the only good brownie is one made with chocolate, sugar and LOTS of butter!


Yum!

Ok, I got that out of my system. Now, let me think what else I have to say....

Oh, right, something about yoga. Well, Here's the thing. If you're going to make brownies, it probably means you are going to EAT brownies. And if you eat brownies you will most likely feel FULL.

Seriously?!!

I'm not even sure where that frog came from but he does kind of look like how I feel after I've had too much to eat!

"What's that you say? The brownies are all gone?!!"

My point is, there's a time and place for everything. If you're planning on doing some yoga, please do it when your tummy isn't full. I like doing yoga in the morning...

"Wait, what time is it right now?!!"

I also like to do yoga before dinner...

Tasty, tasty!

Here are some yoga poses you can choose from:



Only do what feels comfortable. And if you're trying a difficult pose, make sure you have a yoga teacher to help you!

Have fun, be safe and I'll be back soon!