Hi and welcome to my blog. I'm an American living in Sydney and working as a Coach, Trainer, Speaker and Writer. I specialise in helping people 'Reinvent Themselves', having done so myself both personally and professionally several times over.

I'm 48, divorced and having fun dating again (really for the first time).

I am a dedicated Ashtanga yoga practitioner and do a daily TM meditation. I've done lots of personal development and am a Senior Leader for Robbins Research Institute and a Master Neuro Strategist and NLP Practitioner through Steve Linder's, SRI Training. I'm also currently studying a Certificate in Strategic Intervention through the Robbins Madanes Training Institute.

I strive every day to incorporate what I gain on the yoga mat and the meditation cushion with what I learn from Tony, Steve, Cloe and all of the others within the Robbins and SRI communities with my very full on daily life. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail, but I always learn something. I hope that what I’m learning can help or at least entertain others.

Work Life

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Yoga and Cravings

The sun absolutely glistened on the water as I drove my scooter away from yoga and towards the ocean at Bondi. I wish I could have stayed but I did pull over for a minute or so to take it in before heading back to Woollahra. It was truly beautiful.

As was yoga this morning. First day back since starting back on Fat Flush. It was hard but not as hard as I had anticipated. My body, after over 3 years of consistent practice and 4 months in India last year, is strong and supple. I only did about 2/3 of the practice (through Navasana for the Ashtangis out there) and only single jumpbacks instead of my normal double. But it felt good! Pushing up from plank, the thing I'd most worried about...(after all this is the girl that took a year to do her first pushup in yoga) was easy. Forward bends easy. Standing poses a bit difficult, I've lost some muscle mass in my legs, and Navasana was the hardest. But I feel confident I'll be back to where I was before the holidays within a week. Backbends even felt good. And I did all 7 shoulder stands for the first time since injuring my neck in October. No pain. Yeah!

I think one of the reasons coming back was easier than normal was because I have been treating my body so well! I felt light. Not at all sluggish like I usually do if I don't practice in awhile.

That got me thinking. If it feels so good to treat you body so well why do we spend so much time abusing it with sugar, alcohol, too many carbs and other bad things? We know if feels good to do the right things, yet we still crave the wrong ones.

Now, I had personal experience with really severe cravings a few days ago when my body reacted negatively to the spelt bread I was eating (I've switched to sweet potatoes for the last 2 days with no side affects).

That kind of craving, that physical craving is like being possessed. You want something so bad you would compromise almost anything to get it. At least that's what it felt like at the time.

But there are other kinds of cravings as well. Emotional cravings. Cravings for ritual. I know, for instance that I crave wine, not because I particularly like the taste of it (with the definite exception of a nice New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc on a hot day). But I crave how the wine makes me feel; relaxed and happy. I also crave the ritual of sharing a bottle with a good friend and having a good conversation or of sipping a glass when I'm in the kitchen taking my time cooking a nice dish.

I know there are ways to change your cravings for these rituals or to substitute that behaviour for other behaviour that's less harmful to the body. But do I want to do that? This is what I'm grappling with right now.

Well, not right now. Right now I'm enjoying a veggie fritata, roasted sweet potato and my one cup of organic coffee with Stevia plus. And right now, that's perfectly satisfying to me on this lovely, sunny, summers day in Sydney.

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