Rainbow Dreams and Art Blog » What is Eischens Yoga?!

A New Year

Lisa — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:34:39 +0000

It’s barely January and today I am thinking about the opportunity for renewal, beginning fresh with many things. My birthday in a couple of days, marks another year of life, and a chance to do many of the things I have been dreaming of, or cleaning up some of the messes I have made.

I am beginning to look at things that are not working, and hope to replace them with things that work better. A birthday is an awesome reason for renewal and making positive changes.

Yesterday, January 29th, was my puppy, CJ’s first birthday. That was a nice reminder to appreciate my furry companions and let them both know how much joy they bring to my life. Even though he may not have realized his day was special, in my heart I had a new-found appreciation for him and his unconditional love.

Yesterday also, I was at the closing ceremony for a Kairos retreat my son attended. I was struck by the words of his teacher and mentor, and those of the others who attended the retreat. Words that stick in my mind were the words he quoted from a book he had read. That if a parent was on his or her deathbed, what were the three things they would say to their kids: “I love you. I am proud of you. Please forgive me.” Those are some pretty powerful words that ring true to me and definitely have special meaning in my relationships with my kids.
My son’s birthday is in a week, and it reminds me that birthdays are not about expensive or extravagant gifts, or impossible standards of attention and behavior you could never realistically hope to achieve. They are simply markers of the passing years, milestones or landmarks in a life that is a gift from God. My life itself is a daily gift to me, and the birthdays of my loved ones is a reminder of just how lucky I am that they are here with me.

Happy New Year, and Happy Birthday. I hope it is a great one.

Endings and Beginnings

Lisa — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 03:56:03 +0000

Today I received some timely reminders that while there are sure to be endings, such as the Autumn weather arriving, the leaves falling, the flowers fading…there are always fresh beginnings. One of the most influential daily reminders I have, is our new Golden Retriever puppy, CJ. At only nine months old, his behavior can be challenging and even downright frustrating at times. But it always helps to remember that he is “new” and everything is new to him. He is seeing the leaves fall off the trees for the first time. This morning I watched him chasing falling leaves into a giant puddle in the street, and while he made both of us soaking wet, I could not help but smile. How new the world is to him every morning when he awakens with his new puppy enthusiasm!

I had the unexpected joy of spending a part of my day with a 2-1/2 year old girl. She was dressed in her leggings and pink tulle skirt, for “dress shopping” with her mom and my sister and friend. She had on this cute t-shirt that said, “Mommy’s Little Monkey.” I marveled at her trying to assist with straightening out the wedding dress trains for my sister. How new and shimmering and sparkling the bridal shop must have been for her! Even when we had lunch, I couldn’t help but be amazed at her creativity in dipping her cantaloupe slice into some ranch dressing. So much of her life is made up of brand new experiences every day. Why not jump in feet first?

Then, even when my own life can seem discouraging or dismal at times, here is my sister with a fresh, new, exciting beginning ahead of her. Seeing her in a beautiful diamond white wedding dress for the first time, took my breath away in more ways than one. A bright new beginning to a new life with someone you love, what could bring more optimism and joy than that? Even the dreary, cloudy and cool weather could not dampen the joyful spirits we felt in that bridal shop today.

Finally, there’s the new beginning of teenage children transitioning into adulthood. Certainly, it is full of endings and goodbyes to things such as the jungle gym in the backyard. Seeing them succeeding, growing and embarking on new adventures, reminds me of when everything was new and exciting to me too. I was their age once. This day was full of endings, but it is the beginnings I am very grateful to have experienced.

Faith

Lisa — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 04:41:56 +0000

It was a dreary Sunday morning when I awoke early. Despite the special occasion that loomed ahead of me, I didn’t feel motivated to get out of bed. I hit the snooze button on my alarm one more time. Amazing how when times are tough it can become so easy to allow precious moments in this short life to pass me by. I rolled over in my bed one more time until my fingers found the furry rump of my aging pet. I wanted to snuggle up next to him and sleep the day away. It had been so hard helping my arthritic dog, Comet, in and out of bed each day that some mornings I am too weak to face reality. What happened to my faith?

This morning my thoughts went immediately to my friend, Br. Eugene, I mean Deacon Eugene, who is now Fr. Eugene. I thought of him awakening early on this very same day, with joy, with enthusiasm, with tremendous faith. Without that kind of faith, without that loving heart, it would have been impossible for him to get out of bed this morning either, just like it was for me. What had happened to my faith? Thinking of what a special day it was for Eugene, I climbed out of bed and began getting ready. I helped my dog, Comet out of bed and woke my kids…was it really that much effort?

Upon getting to the church, I found it nearly impossible to park, let alone to find a safe place to park. I had to drop my son off near one of the entrances so he could get inside in time to serve as an altar boy. At the last moment he seemed hesitant, but I gently urged him to do it. After all, it isn’t often that you get to serve at an ordination. I had a sense this would be a good experience for my young man to have.

At last, I parked and we walked quite a distance to the church. Even since I had been coming here, how very much the neighborhood had changed! You could easily see how this community had been built around this beautiful church and how everyone used to walk to it, and how so many years later the residents of the neighborhood do not attend this church. It is a world that no longer exists. Like that church, I thought of Eugene standing nearly alone in a world that hardly believes that any of this faith stuff is worthwhile. Yet there it stands, as he stood there today an island of faith in a faithless world.

Once inside the church and seated, my attention turned as it inevitably does, to the enormous, other-worldly image of The Blessed Virgin Mary on the dome of the church, behind the iconostas, above the altar. All at once, I was whisked back to my childhood, when I spent my time in the Roman Catholic churches in Detroit, gazing up at the images of Jesus, saints, angels, and Mary above me. Those images were like my very own Sistine Chapel and I wondered about the artists who painted them and the God who inspired them.

I am haunted by this image of Mary. She is like my Mona Lisa. I cannot decide if she is happy or sad, smiling or crying. I could almost swear her expression reflects my mood. Today when I gazed up at her I believed her to be sad. Her eyes looked mournful and troubled, it was as if she was pitying me for what I was feeling. I don’t know if others have this experience with her, as I have never spoken to anyone else about it. My eyes blurred as I focused hard on her image and prayed. I noticed I had tears which I quickly wiped away. Where was my faith? Why am I not strong and brave like Eugene? This breathtakingly beautiful church was built by such people. Such an artist had painted the image of Mary who was now looking over me.

Next thing I knew the ceremony began, with bread and salt, as is Ukrainian tradition. There was Eugene, looking peaceful and quietly happy. No need to be nervous as he is filled with faith. There was the Bishop and just seeing his bishop outfit let me feel the importance of the event about to take place. The only time I had ever been near a bishop before I joined this community, was the day I was confirmed. Then there was my son serving as altar boy. His smile made it all worthwhile. There is just something about that mother-son relationship. One of the things that makes me happiest in this world is to see my son smile. It does something to my heart that I can’t describe. I felt a little twinge of guilt that I don’t help him to smile more. I am not always a very good mom, because sometimes I just don’t believe. My mind went to Eugene’s mother who was there today. What kind of mom must she have been that he had the love and faith to give up so many worldly things to become a priest? And looking at Mary above me in the church, what about the faith and courage required to be the Mother of God!

The ordination ceremony was full of symbolism, faith, courage and love. I know Fr. Eugene will make a wonderful priest. His faith will move mountains. You can already feel it. He is a very special guy and I was honored to be there.

During his homily, the bishop spoke about the kind of heart it takes to be a priest. I had never considered this before. I will never forget his words. And how most of us look for a career that will be finically lucrative and a job that is interesting. Yet Eugene was called to do this and for none of the usual reasons we seek a particular career. He simply had to trust and still has to trust that he will be cared for on his journey, and here he is, a priest. And to be a priest in a world that mostly worships money and wealth, and nothing much beyond that. He already possesses the faith and the kind and generous heart, as well as the courage to walk a different path than most of us. I have seen only glimmers of that kind of heart in myself, like when I adopted my kids.

I was reading about all the rich symbolism in the booklet we had received. The special words that are spoken, the way the four directions are honored, north, south, east and west. The long ceremony seemed to connect heaven and earth, God to man. It connected us all and weaved us all together like the vines of the vineyard mentioned in the prayers. I was a vine in a lush and fruitful vineyard.

At last Fr. Eugene was ordained, and soon after, the church bells began ringing, as if it had been planned all along. I noticed just then that the sun began to come out even though it had been cloudy and dismal. It began to get brighter as the warm sunbeams poured through the clear windows of the cupola above. I noticed that one pool of sunlight was pouring down upon me. It felt so good to be there in that sunlight. It was beautiful and powerful. I looked up at that moment and was convinced that Mary had an almost imperceptible smile. She was smiling. God was smiling.

Fr. Eugene’s faith led me there today. And even though I am at on shakey ground at times, I felt my faith grow a little. The energy in the church was amazing and contagious.

Thank you Fr. Eugene, may God bless you always. May we all find the faith that we need.

Back to School

Lisa — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:39:34 +0000

Everywhere you look this week, the theme is back-to-school. Even the weather has drastically decided to tell us to get back to work.
We took advantage of this week to ease back into our final year of high school slowly. This year we are studying American Government, Speech, and Art.
I am looking forward to another awesome year of learning together. Our biggest challenge? Putting together an e-portfolio for graduation. I will be sure to share that story.

Relieving stress

Lisa — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:42:10 +0000

Although the weather is still quite hot, the summer is coming to an end, and with that comes the ending of fun summer activities, and also some beginnings, such as the start of another school year. No matter how I want some things (such as summer) to stay the same; change is inevitable.

I feel these changes lately, in my own breathing, as I suffer through another hay fever season. It certainly is better than in years past, but it is worse on the days that I allow stress to come in. That is when I really notice how much life’s daily stresses can affect my breathing if I allow it. So many changes have taken place in the past few weeks as the summer draws to a close. I realized that I need to do more yoga and restorative work to help get me through these transitions peacefully. I have felt great sadness at some losses and great joy at happy moments such as my parents’ 50th anniversary, and other exciting news. Staying calm and centered has been a challenge with all the ups and downs. At times, my breathing has felt a bit strained when I was upset, and at other times it even felt as though my heart hurt when I shed a tear, as if that tear could take my breath away. Other days I feel like I am being stretched in a thousand different directions…

“The diaphragm, according to yogic science, is the seat of the intelligence of the heart, and the window to the soul. During stressful situations, however, when you inhale and exhale, the diaphragm becomes too taut to alter its shape. Yogic exercises address this problem by developing elasticity in the diaphragm, so that, when stretched, it can handle any amount of stress, whether intellectual, emotional, or physical.

The practice of asanas and pranayama helps integrate the body, breath, mind, and intellect. Slow, effortless exhalation during the practice of asana brings serenity to the body cells, relaxes the facial muscles, and releases all tension from the organs of perception, the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin…” B.K.S. Iyengar

After years of practice I begin to notice how yoga is helps me stretch myself with getting tighter and more stressed. I am only now just beginning to allow the exhalation to teach me about serenity. I still find myself succumbing to the stress at times, however, I have tools to let go of it again and as the muscles of my diaphragm soften, so does the stress begin to melt away.

It’s a good thing too, because I have two seniors in high school this year, my last year of being a home school mom. Here it is, the first day of September, and I am ready to face the challenges and rewards of my final home school year. Time to EXHALE….

The Summer of Summer School

Lisa — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 22:08:00 +0000

The theme for this summer, for me anyway, seems to be school. When the school year was coming to a close, I calmed myself with the thoughts of a summer “off” and maybe some time to relax and not think much about school. However, that is not the reality this summer, at least not for this home school mom.
I am now looking ahead to my daughters’ senior year in high school…preparing a graduation portfolio, completing our reading list, compiling our volunteer hours, and preparing my curriculum for this, the final year. Nothing can be left to chance and all requirements must be met. This is the year I thought I was waiting for, but, in many ways it will offer some new challenges.
My son also has a summer school theme going on, getting help with math and English this summer. My daughters also spent the last two weeks brushing up on grammar skills. There is just no escaping it, and there is SO much to learn.

Even I will spend some time in summer school of sorts. I am really looking forward to it! I get to do something new and different this summer, which I am sure will come with it’s own unique rewards and challenges…Camp Phoenix.

I love this YMCA Camp Phoenix mission statement:

Camp Phoenix strengthens the bond between families and learning through
individualized attention, exciting hands-on activities which embrace all styles of learning, and by providing positive life experiences in a non-exclusive, caring, multicultural atmosphere.

I could not be more excited about bringing my Storytime Yoga skills to YMCA Camp Phoenix!

The Summer of Summer School

Lisa — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 22:08:00 +0000

I love this YMCA Camp Phoenix mission statement:

I could not be more excited about bringing my Storytime Yoga skills to YMCA Camp Phoenix!

Spring…Death and New Life

Lisa — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 04:44:28 +0000

A week has already passed since I had this experience; however, I believe I will recall it fondly and often for a long time to come. Spring is now upon us, and while the first day of the new season is here, the earth still looks a little brown, muddy and in some places devoid of life. The death and rebirth is a process. Just today, we saw the final remains of a huge snow pile, in the Target parking lot!

A week ago, I was feeling kind of down. Some unfortunate things had happened that brought me so much disappointment, and it was hard to face that certain aspects of my life, or things that I had know and loved, were gone from my life. I didn’t know if I would ever get to enjoy those things again. My daughter’s knee injury seemed more serious than I’d originally thought. That same day, I discovered that my sister’s much-loved cat had to be put to sleep. I felt so sad about the death and loss, that I was in tears as I was driving my son to our YMCA.

Just then, I looked to my left and there in the pastures near the Y, were the sheep I always look forward to seeing. All at once I saw the newborn lambs frolicking in the pasture! They were leaping, kicking up their heels, and thoroughly thrilled with life and the sunny day! I could not have imagined anything more joyful and beautiful if I had dreamed it up myself. I felt myself smiling and feeling so grateful for life and the rebirth that spring brings. There will always be winter, deaths, loss. pain and disappointment. However, the lambs frolicking reminded me how much is new and beautiful in life, and even death doesn’t diminish it. I just had to open my eyes to see, and it was there in front of me in all it’s beauty and enthusiasm. Thank you little lambs, you were just what I needed!

Family Yoga

Lisa — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:08:19 +0000

Another session of Family Yoga just ended, and although I am enjoying the short break, I can’t wait for the next one to begin. I love how Storytime Yoga methods have helped me reach out to touch families through yoga and story.
It was wonderful to see how the parents and the kids seemed to look forward to class each week. The girls in one family chose yoga class over a birthday party at a pizza place. They didn’t want to miss a yoga class, which made it even more of a privilege to teach them.
One of my favorite poses each week, was Community Boat, where all of us gathered in a big circle and held hands, and attempted to assist each other in getting all of our connected feet off the floor at once, as we laughed and breathed together.
One of my favorite story themes, was “The Roar of the Awakening,” when one five year old girl did Lion’s Breath pose and roared playfully another Dad. It was so cute, and we all laughed together. The sense of community, and the warmth of our hearts when we were together each week was something I will cherish for a long time.
I look forward to sharing Storytime Yoga with many, many more families in the days to come!

My Favorite Things List for January 2010

Lisa — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:17:58 +0000

Welcome to January 2010! I hope that it is a healthy, happy one for us all!

Like most everyone, I have made my own personal list of resolutions for the New Year, and I have created a list of favorite things, and of course this includes resources related to health and fitness, art, and storytelling. These are all things and people I feel passionate about and that are helping me get off to a great start this January.

Eischens Yoga

especially my teachers Lynn Shuck

and Kari Tomashik

Storytime Yoga - Sydney Solis!

Arbonne Shakes (great for nutrition and weight loss)

Arbonne Detox Tea

Arbonne Natural Hormones

Skechers Shape ups (exercise shoes) – they have been great for my knees and help me use the whole back of my body…calves, hamstrings, etc.

Alternative Medicine Solutions

Health and Healing Chiropractic - in Rochester

North Oakland Family YMCA – a great place to work out!

Auburn Hills Community Center - a great place to work out!

Woolynns – fiber artist Lynn Shuck…beautiful scarves

Beyond Barbie – beautiful, figurative work by a beautiful artist

Please note, these are all resources that I have had a great experience with, your mileage may vary!