Yoga, life and death

https://www.facebook.com/benedetta.spada.yoga/posts/10153366449614546:0

My husband suggested that I write a post about death, inspired by this photo. This week, a farmer from Piemonte paid for a lesson of yoga therapy for his mother who is in very bad shape due to a life of lies and self-limiting convictions.
Yoga therapy aims to help the areas which hurt the most, without any movement, but by working with the breath. The therapist has to show no pity for the ego, the ultimate cause of sickness.
When we got home again, my love told me to look what was written on the side of the crate full of heirloom apples: “Rebirth”.

This is what I think of death: for those who live a good life it is merely the passage to something much larger - a better world with people you do not expect to meet but are so happy to see. To not be afraid of death I think is a good indication that I am doing the right thing, but there are many others ( eating and drinking with joy, having fun working and making your dreams come true, to love #kanasimi) and there are times when we meet others who comfort you and show you the way.
I don’t ask too many questions about death because I follow a saying of Jonathan Livingston “ here is the test to now if your mission on earth is finished: if you are alive it is not.”
What is your vision of death?

Some suggestions:
-from Jivamukti http://jivamuktiyoga.com/teachings/focus-of-the-month/p/halloween-and-all-saints-day

Yoga for pregnancy a simple 5 hours training

Yoga for pregnancy and birth is a great goal and I guess business but is not a solution to pick up a few months before giving birth. I would say it is like a gift to receive during pregnancy (specially first pregnancy) as breath awareness and some yoga postures are important during the work to give birth. Indeed my first lesson focus on breath and body awareness, my second and third on the postures which can be helpful to prepare the body and during the delivery. In the end I would say 3 lessons of 1 hour and half can be useful for exercices and postures basis in order to know them and pratice home, can be helpful to find your posture if you decide to give birth naturally and to bring into your delivery a stronger breath and some yogic elements to your delivery room and that it. If you need more (because of past tragic experience of yoga or of delivery, because of hard baby posture or any complication, because you are afraid of or completely new to give birth) I would suggest to you a yoga meeting every 2 weeks for 6 months.

In the end aiming at giving birth is nice to prepare (get a toolkit and be happy) but nothing is more useful that to let go during the delivery your basic instinct.

Some people need yoga because they lost their body and mental balance. So the first easy thing to communicate to pregnant women is to educate their breath with a simple body scan you can check with them a breath dynamics. I personnaly use body scan technics from a medic called Bohle (yogatherapy). It consists of using hands on the side of your upper body to understand that breath is or is not regolar. That breath is a sound and a home which is a doorgate to a mindful life. Taking care of our breath, educating or reeducating our inhalation and exhalation is a good job to do while waiting for our baby. Breath awareness bring to body awareness for exemple. At the end of the first lesson women would get a new breath/body awareness and some advises how to use breath during delivery.

Some others come to yoga for the discipline of asana and the body discovery while practicing unusual postures. For the second lesson I taught some of the relaxing postures recommended for pregnant women in any books: for lower back pain release (cat pose...), for pelvic gym (chair agint wall, use of bandas...), heart burn and indigestion pain (stik pose, body side awareness...), ankle strenghtening (warming up on feet and massage) and the most important resting postures.

Lastly some people discover with yoga a natural way of life, a yogic lifestyle on and off the mat. Bringing all your knowledge about yoga into your delivery room is not easy specially if you have opted for an assisted delivery for any reason you have decided. Last lesson (open to future fathers) focus on compassion practice and emergency or instinctive postures (in case of natural birth preparation). I am 37 years old and in the last 15 years I have assisted many friends and students a small time before and after the birth. I Noticed that something was lacking for and from women, from their partner and family: family compassion practicing and woman instinct valorization. In order to bring mindfulness to my students of the pregnancy yoga course, I like to speak to the male partner to stimolate his protective attitude towards his female partner. Male usually need to see/listen to (more than to feel) so I introduce them to some simple postures to assist their partner to memorize in order to understand how the baby is positioned. Checking the position of the baby (normal birth position or any others) the man is aware of the engagement of his baby and can help to keep a natural position or to bring back his baby in a normal birth position. Last important thing about baby positioning but not least is to let understand if baby is arriving from left or to the right side. Lastly the most interesting thing about body awareness is to bring mindfulness and instinct to rise. As I use to say to stop your mind, to shut up the dancing monkey, feel free to practice a simple Come back to your breath exercize. Feel instead of think. Inhale I am here alive and exhale Let go what is useless. While giving birth you will need a few things, a few thoughts to do what you have to do, so train to be grateful for who you are and let go what is useless. Last lesson finish with chanting as it could be helpful to use it while giving birth.

This course has been done for the first time in Sohum yoga shala in Antibes. Copyright free with permission of Benedetta Spada mentoning your source.

Books:

On Amazon.com http://tinyurl.com/n5qyjze

On Google suggestions http://tinyurl.com/ksja7ac

My suggestion is Olivia H Miller book Prenatal yoga

Global meditation as an experiment of peace

http://globalmeditation.chopra.com/

Why am I teaching yoga?

Holiday is a new opportunity to discover your life and have a mindfulness experience.

So I want to share with you my last yoga class in French Riviera specially the final mantra I have writen to my students:

Kabat-Zinn says in Full Catastrophe Living, " it is impossible to become like somebody else. Your only hope is to become more fully yourself. That is the reason for practicing yoga in the first place". The worst thing you can possibly do is to look around and compare yourself to somebody else, whether it is in yoga or any other field of endeavor.

To be yourself is more simple like to drink a cup of tea but we forget how to do it in our life and we find ourselves busy trying to be like somebody else and comparing us to somebody else who has more beauty, more flexibility, more strongnesss, more anything than us.

Here is my first point, nowadays I have difficulties to find in yoga shala and in life enough moments where someone ( a teacher, a lover, a friend, a yoga mate...) say to another: " try to be yourself" or just to find somebody who loves you like you are, or even better "try to walk in your life respecting yourself and knowing that you can recieve love just because you are you(rself), not because you are somebody else"! 

In many case I have heard people talk about yoga-mindfulness but I keep asking for myself do they really know what is yoga or mindfulness... Sometimes I met acrobatic yogi or some others who practice daily meditation on the rocks and so many others, but outside of their mat they start to be so different, like to be someone else into life or with their family, so I asked for me why should it be like this?

The answer I have given to me for the moment is that one is too much outside of oneself and too much in competition, too less inside oneself, too much in conflict and so on.

In many cases the first step to fond ourself is to find more compassion for our fears and our feelings. So while you meet one of this fears comes you can choose to start to create a new tension because you don't accept this limit or fear and just after increase tensions and pains (or you can decide not to do so).

If you want to change your life you have to come back to a simple option: to be in love with yourself, with your fears, body and mind limits, pains, tensions. If you start to accept who you are, you can help yourself in many moment of your life when may be something not so good happen. At the same time, when you start to reconnect with your breathe, with your heart and yourself you can love your partner with his/her fears, limits, stress, tensions, pains, this is my way to love. My beloved Thich Nhat Hanh would have said if the fear come into your mind just say "Hello my dear fear (inhale). I say you Good bye (exhale). As many times you need".

I like so much to practice Jivamukti yoga or Ashtanga yoga but I believe that in this society there is too much space for our body and competition and there is not enough space for mind, heart, mindfulness... also when you go to the yoga shala and practice you can forget what does mean this practice, not only how use your breath or performance but how to accept yourself, how to love, how to use your tenderness and only throught this way to change your life! This is the power of yoga and mindfulness, not to be perfect, but to give a new opportunity to you and your life. Yoga and mindfulness starts when your vinyasa yoga workout ends up.

In this summer yoga time I'm here in Antibes to teach in a new studio, after many days I'm thinking what I want to introduce in my life and in my yoga classes and I think we need more compassion, more patience with ourself that means for me need to give more space to what happen inside not outside and give more space to our family with the same patience and love everyday.

So if this summer you want to share your yoga with me, please write to me your story, why did you start to practice yoga and mindfulness in your life? Or why not?

Is it possible that you can start to love yourself throuht your limit and fears now is right time!

Benedetta Spada

Thanks to Marc A. Vincent for the english translation.

Photo credit: Marvin

Love 2014 - Part 2

How to pass from romance to love?

Jeopardize, free your choice! One day a maestro, a kind of guru told me: love is a choice of every moments, so take your responsability and love!

The tricky idea is that there is no rule, but I could advice on the contrary: where there is worry there is no space for love.

To my two friends who are getting married:

I wish the best life and to find anytime the willing to choose themselves into irregularities of life.

I wish them to find the right quantity of irony to finish the daily problems.

I wish them to take the responsability not to loose time for unuseful affairs (unuseful to love)

I wish them to find freedom not to look for external confirmations also to be strong as a seal

Here a word for all this called Namaste which means: I glory into you the place where all or the world, if you are in that place we gonna meet there because I am in that space waiting for you, so to be one a d only (una cosa sola).

Love,

Benedetta

La Fontaine maxim remix of mindfulness

 

with courtesy of @francoislange here is a modern maxim to begin your day. Benedetta on holiday think about you: @festivalyoga @yjit @yoganomics

Best 5 Ashtanga vinyasa books

Best book means that the 5 books give you a complete librairy about vinyasa yoga
1- A collective book about Sri Pattabhi Jois
Where does my yoga comes from?!
2- Maehle's ashtanga theory
What does my yoga means?
3- Long's book about anatomy
Where are body joints and channels?!
4- Life and sharon Gannon's book
What is the difference between sequenced yoga and freestyle yoga?
5- Scott's book with sequence illustration
One of the few books with ashtanga primary serie sequence

Yoga season detox (from cold season to warm)

For 3 days in our family we have done a fast time. Fasting with light centrifuge of veggies and fruit, fresh organic infusion, bouillon of veggies from our garden. This time gone away in silence, meditation, gardening, walk and more has given more complicity, and help us to find new mindfulness and new tastefulness.

At this point I want to say: dont eat to lose weight or to get more weight, but eat to feel better, to take care of us and our loved ones.

Anyone can choose freely what to eat, but sometimes our choice is unaware or even worst when to have a lunch has becomen a routine. 

While reducing food portion for a few days, we understood that fasting (including only fresh juice and bouillon) is awakening our senses again from a state of hibernation, and may be finding our body coordinates, reseting our taste and our mind so to sudden restart with mindfulness our own life.

I would say someone who is all-counscious vegan or even openminded macrobiotic can be epicurean.  I do believe in the possibility to change our food education and habits. At 30 years old for exemple, we have many pieces of food education (including fetal, infantil, childhood and adulthood diets) and we have a food pattern made of some really creative fabrication!  I remember myself at 18 eating almost nothing (low fat yogurt and fruit) which had no sense except to be fashionable and beloved. And after a period of being pissed of food, a new way of eating. In a nutshell, it is possible to shut up emotion chaos and having care of yourself for a few days facing your food pattern while fasting. Objective: reset your senses and feelings about food to genuine taste (infantil taste?) and slowly recognize new taste. In a few words tactics is decrease to increase.

You asked (facebook, twitter @mammayoga and radio) me for fasting:

- what to do when happen some signs on the peel?

I personnally use antisectic cream called Kimuli (biosophia)'made of tea tree oil.

- how to prepare fasting?

Classical ayurvedic remedy called triphala (biosophia or any other) for 15 days before. I drink it with water. It can be used also to prepare deeper cleansing.

- what to do when against headache for fasting?

During first 24 hours headache is normal as if you quit drinking coffee. I personally use umeboshi plum.

- how many times do you fast during a year?

Once upon a time the season were 4... Fasting was done during the fifth season, twice a year when changing from cold to warm season and the opposite. But nowadays I would say once during a period of 3/4 days of cold before a warm period, before summer. And some other times as you feel to do it.

- what to do if fasting bring in mind mental fixations and nightmare?

I would say meditate and dont analyse tour nightmare.

Thanks.

External link:
- http://www.biosophia.eu

Summer in french riviera july yoga event 2014

More info later...

Endorse the best people you know to heal the world

Yoga world is a small world where you meet good and bad persons like anywhere else, but I decided to focus on good ones.

If you come in Italy You may meet one day Guido Gabrielli, an openminded and pro publisher, a yoga student and since now a foreveryoung movie actor/director.

Guido has becomen a spiritual sparring partner of mine as We lived both in Milan and be part of a small yoga community.

Lastly I loved Guido Gabrielli' video doc (noi non siamo come James Bond, with Mario Balsamo) and I discovered a young photograph's website reading the leaflet inside the dvd box. Usually Guido call me for photo shoting about yoga so I was very curious to see his photos from Jim Campbell

Looking at his photo gallery, watching for the film, and Reading more about Leukemia, I discovered inbetween the great activity of Guido a few messages to share with anybody such as "life and emotion come before picture or a motion", or "pratice yoga is better than selfish activities but shoting people while praticing yoga is yoga", and "whenever we have low energy on our mat, at any time we carry on a mental, physical or spiritual disturb just then putting more  counsciousness we start to cure itself".

http://www.omlightphotography.com/gallery-list/gallery-guido-gabrielli/

Thanks to the photograph and to the photographed for showing the way to emotion, to sensation and intuition from another prospective.

T find more about Guido:

http://it.linkedin.com/pub/guido-gabrielli/9/350/380

http://www.yogajournal.it/

http://www.pulsapublishing.it/index-1.html

More about Jim Campbell:

http://www.omlightphotography.com/

More about me:

http://it.linkedin.com/in/benedettaspada/en

Yoga festival merano and travel detox programme in Bolzano

Workshop con Benedetta Spada

Our yoga meeting will focus on detox and relaxing techniches, very simple to bring into your dauly life, while traveling and working. Be happy is possible now!

Benedetta Spada was born in Milan, where she has studied Geography and Anthropology at the University, in the meantime she has worked with italian dancers and theater performers, before to dedicate herself to yoga and to alternative therapy. Since then she has worked in Radio Montecarlo, yoga festival and italian tv to promote yoga for the people anywhere.
At 21 years old she become a certified yoga teacher, after a few travels around the world to meet masters of life such as Carlo Patrian, Alejandro Jodorowski, she met in 2009 Sharon Gannon. At 28 she has done a few experiences of yoga studio management, then decide to teach for theater performers during her shows to improve stress management and, at the office during the week to desacralize the work time and place. She also teachs at home, and traveling.
She collaborate with Yoga Journal italy, Yoga festival Milano, she wrote 3 yoga books including Yoga in viaggio (Eifis editore).

Durante l’incontro, saranno spiegate ed eseguite sequenze, esercizi, tecniche detox e rilassamento utili non solo a vivere meglio ma anche a ridurre stati di stress, curare corpo e mente:
imparare ad essere felici e sani si può!

Benedetta Spada insegna yoga dinamico, meditazione e alimentazione consapevole (etica, sana, amorevole, naturale). Collabora come giornalista per Yoga Journal e altre testate, con Radio Montecarlo e Tv private promuovendo uno yoga svincolato da dogmi o spazi... il suo mantra e': "lo yoga e' per tutti!” Da anni tiene corsi per artisti, aziende, privati e tour- workshop in tutto il mondo. Nel 2013 nasce il suo progetto intitolato "Yoga travel detox ", il cui fine è quello di avvicinare allo yoga più persone insegnando che yoga è consapevolezza del respiro… al lavoro, in famiglia, a casa da soli, mangiando, cucinando.

Eat vegan at easter yes we can!

Eat vegan at easter yes we can!

Some of the places I have been to eat vegan anywhere you are in Italy are in the article.

My Vademecum is:

- google before and use the vegan link popularity

- make call the day before and in the meantime you reserve speak about your vegan diet

- when you enter the restaurant say that you red the good reviews about vegan plates and you are happy to be here

- when you sit and speak with the waiter tell himm you are vegan for a week because your doctor said so

- dont ask for grilled veggies (they could be done on the same grill than the meat) and no fresh pasta as it contains eggs (in most of the cases)

- choose a kind of gastronomy vegan friendly like Grande cuisine, world cooking (kosher), or Vegan/vegetarian only

- when you pay stand up and tell the owner you are happy or not before to settle the bill

- write on review website before to go home

(Italiano)

Premessa quando viaggio faccio una grande fatica per prenotare e mangiare come voglio, ecco il mio vademecum personale:

- fate ricerca su territorio chiedendo si alla direzione del vostro hotel, ma sopratutto cercando sui web forum e le recensioni online.

- telefonate per fare la prenotazione chiedendo della cucina o della direzione. Di solito si trovano a fine turno di servizio precedente verso le 15 oppure verso le 23.

- entrando al ristorante citate le vostre fonte "abbiamo letto tutte le recensioni su di voi e per questo abbiamo pensato che ci trattererete bene."

- una volta seduti parlate al cameriere di "intoleranza" e non di scelta vegetariana o vegana se siete in un posto qualunque.

- scegliete altre cucine che sapete essere in linea con la gastronomia e la dieta vegetariana/vegan (VG/VGA) come alta Gastronomia (AG), e la world cooking come Kosher, Ayurveda (WCO). Siate curiosi.

- non chiedete mai vedure alla grillia, le grille rovente sono le stesse dove si cuocce  la carne. Preferite tutte le altre cotture. 

- non prendere pasta fresca che spesso contiene uove.

- al momento del conto fatte presente che anche se sembra che avete mangiato solo contorni siete contenti. Ve la spiego dopo.

- fatte anche voi una recensione veritiera per lasciare alle persone che verrano dopo di voi un resoconto, i nomi delle persone incontrate.

Sources:

- http://www.viverevegan.org/web/guida/ristorantibar-intro/ristorantibar-vegan

- http://www.veganhome.it/ristoranti-locali/

- http://www.happycow.net/reviews/

- http://www.tripadvisor.com poi >Ristoranti>vegetariani e cittá

And veganblogger.

PIEMONTE: uso http://www.tripadvisor.it/RestaurantSearch?geo=187855&q=Torino%2C+Italia&cat=40&pid=

Tried for you:

Villa Soleil (Colleretto Giacosa) di Alberto Domenighini (AC) for the best local cooking.

Soul kitchen (Torino) su 4sqr ( https://it.foursquare.com/v/soul-kitchen/4df74597483b96f73159ad5f ) (VG/VGA)

VENETO: uso questo sito http://veganzi.blogspot.it/p/ristoranti-veg-friendly.html

Tried in Mestre:

Centrale pipl ( http://www.centraleplip.it/ ) di Davide Marchiori and his fantasy!

A Jesolo il magazzino delle scope ( http://www.ristorantedonclaudio.it/chicheteria/team.php ) veg and cheaps.

A Padova: 

Osteria fuoriporta ( http://www.osteriadifuoriporta.it/ ) ask for Matteo for starters and first meals.

ROMAGNA: I used http://www.tripadvisor.it/RestaurantSearch?geo=187801&pid=&q=Bologna%2C+Italia&cat=&src=

Tried for you:

In Parma new opening of Ratatouille ( http://www.happycow.net/reviews/ratatouille-cucina-naturale-parma-39468 ) 

ROMA: I used http://www.tripadvisor.it/RestaurantSearch?geo=187791&pid=&q=Roma%2C+Italia&cat=40&src=

Huge number of good restaurants for vegetarians and vegan.

Tried for you ghetto restaurants (cucina kosher).

Last opening:

Grezzo ( http://www.grezzoitalia.it/ ) di Vito Cortese per un dopo pasto o un regalo di cioccolato.

Firenze: I used  http://www.firenzeturismo.it/i-ristoranti-informano/vuoi-mangiare-biologico.html

Tried for you:

Dolce vegan ( http://www.dolcevegan.it/ ) of Helena Deza Linares with 100% vegan surprises like her "cheeses".

The restaurant of Hotel Savoy of Remo Vannini (and Petrangelli) "buona alla prima".

Ruth ( http://www.kosheruth.com/ ) of Tomas simcha Jelincek. My prefered one.

Milano: i used  http://www.tripadvisor.it/RestaurantSearch?geo=187849&pid=&q=Milano%2C+Italia&cat=40&src=

Is ther anybody in Milan open at easter?!

TOSCANA:

Ristorante of Adler Spa Resort ( http://www.adler-thermae.com/it/ ) il maitre si chiama Raffaele Porceddu chiedete di lui.

Orvieto:

Minù ( http://www.minubistrot.com/ ) with his famous seitofu 

BAT:

Antichi Sapori ( http://www.pietrozito.it/home.php ) of Pietro zitto. Vegetarian menu to agree with.

Ostuni:

Masseria il frantoio ( http://www.masseriailfrantoio.it ). My favourite place in Puglia.

Lecce:

dalle Zie for veggies and fresh pasta without eggs. ( http://www.lezie.it/ )

And in historical restaurants such as Vecchia Osteria e daAngiulino.

Summer 2014 board on my Yoga Van from Rome to Venice to Milan

Guidelines to my next project:

 yoga and crowdfunding

Why yoga why a van?
Yoga Van is a project to help people around Italy and Mediterranean to learn yoga tecniques and meditation, mindfulness.
The project has been created by Benedetta Spada after her book tour experience to present her last book “yoga in viaggio” (travel detox book). The book is an opportunity to help people to learn yoga and meditation out of mat and yoga shala. Everybody can practice everywhere in every moment during life journey. Benedetta expanded the meaning of “yoga in viaggio”, not only a book but a lifestyle to be happy, to have good relations, to approach calm and wellness in every moment of our life. anyway Benedetta started to share the meaning of yoga in viaggio so this book became a blog, a fb page a broadcast Radio, and travel detox workshop with Benedetta on the road.

Why yoga in viaggio is different from other yoga progect?
Because yoga in viaggio wants to share yoga & meditation for modern people a society with low cost and with “happenings”. Benedetta is an antiguru and a modern teacher with a editorialist experience, is a speaker who works in front up to 500 people with natural style and simple approach, she collaborates with Radio Montecarlo from 2007 and she is the first yoga teacher to teach yoga and mindfulness in Radio. Her approach is an unconventional yoga opportunity to put in contact every human with wellness and meditation respecting modern way of life, if you want to be happy and try a new wellness this not means that you have to go to India… but you can now change your life every day where you live, work and travel.
Our project has his own social media&press office.
This is a new opportunity to spread a modern yoga life style. Everybody can practice this simple tecniques but it is important to share. Yoga in viaggio is how you eat, you work, you love, you cook and yes how you practice…

Why me ?
We need only a few partners giving euros (private financing project) which give them the opportunity to help european people to learn more about yoga in viaggio. They support our project, we spread yoga spirit around our world. I like to spend money with purprose.
Creative and makers show cases every week released on a Youtube channel video in italian with english subtitles to follow the tour.

Where and when?
italy/france/spain
From July to September 2014

Offering free or donnation yoga classes, workshop and conference…

So far, this project has been self-funded out of yoga-consciousness need further funding to cover start-up fuel costs, administrative & marketing costs to get the word out, and to purchase more yoga mats.

Min. Budget to start euro. 5,000 (including the yoga happy van to pay)

Thanks for getting the wheels rolling!

“May my life contribute to all beings living healthy, happy and free.”