Self-Care Tools

April 5, 2020April 5, 2020 by Claudia Fountain, posted in Exercise, Fitness, Flexibility, Mantra, Meditation, newsletter, Online Offerings, Yoga, Yoga Nidra

“When the storms of life come, if they come to me personally, to my family, or to the world, I want to be strong enough to stand and be a strength to somebody else, be shelter for somebody else.”
–Anne Graham Lotz

Self-care in these turbulent times are essential, not just for ourselves, but also for our loved-ones, our neighbors, our fellow human beings sharing this beautiful planet we call Earth.

I have had many moments over the last three weeks where thoughts, fears, and feelings have overcome me. I know I am not alone in this. If you are feeling overwhelmed by emotions, reach out and talk to someone, write it out, dance it out, get some sunshine, pet your beloved dog or cat, do yoga, do any positive activity that helps to balance/level out the intensity of the energy you are feeling.

Some of my self-care go to’s are:

Limiting my daily news exposure to once, maybe twice, a day–like a status check-in.
Keeping a daily routine of showering and dressing like I would if it were a normal day (e.g., no pajamas, wearing my AppleWatch–the activity tracker is a great motivator, putting on mascara–yep!).
Making a healthy, yummy smoothie every morning.
Getting out for a walk, or a bicycle ride, in the neighborhood every single day.
Meditation. Every morning, first thing when I wake up.

Other resources:

https://insighttimer.com This app is FREE, and packed with wonderful guided meditations.
https://breathetogetheronline.com My favorite yoga studio’s online offerings that cover yoga, food, health, mindfulness, and much, much more.
https://www.youtube.com/user/BreatheLosGatos The YouTube channel of my favorite yoga studio.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyrTbb9vwHS6cETGQQwmUWw Lorien offers yoga in support of those who have cancer and their caregivers.

And finally, I have been slowly (and quietly) creating a Vimeo video channel for a while now. There you will find my past videos, and new ones. Some are guided meditations that are useful for reducing stress (Yoga Nidra, Leaf Meditation, and 4-7-8 Breath). The newest videos are active sequences designed to get the body open and moving. Find the videos here: Claudia on Vimeo

Stay well my friends. Stay well.

Online Offerings

March 27, 2020 by Claudia Fountain, posted in Exercise, Fitness, Flexibility, Mantra, Meditation, Online Offerings, Uncategorized, Yoga, Yoga Nidra

As we continue to navigate the waters of these strange times we are in, I am slowly working on adding more online video offerings. Some are guided meditations that help you to ground and find peace. Others are short sessions on improving active ROM. My newest one is 20 minutes of standing leg strengthening and stretching. My hope is that they are useful and helpful!

Please find the videos here: Claudia Fountain on Vimeo

Stay well my friends!

Strange Times…..

March 16, 2020 by Claudia Fountain, posted in Exercise, Flexibility, Meditation, Yoga

“are these in which we live, forsooth.” — George Francis Train

If you are missing your regular health and wellness routines, I have some video content up and available for free. Two are guided meditations, useful for relieving stress (we all could use some of that!). The others are simple short sequences for keeping major joints loose and comfortable, plus one balance challenge. Find the videos here: https://vimeo.com/physiquebyfountain

My hope is to be able to create a few more in the coming weeks.

Stay well my friends!

Regeneration. Growth. Evolution.

March 11, 2020 by Claudia Fountain, posted in newsletter, Yoga

Right now you are changing. Skin cells, red blood cells, white blood cells, colon cells are shifting, either growing or dying, and this change is essential to life. On average, a skin cell lives about two to three weeks, red blood cells for about four months, colon cells for a mere four days, while white blood cells live for more than a year. There are between 50 and 75 trillion cells in the human body, each with their own life span!

As one of my teachers has said, “Life is the ultimate educational experience.” We are designed to change and evolve, down to the cellular level, until the day we die. Evolution is the opposite of stagnation:

Stagnant (adj.): 1) not flowing or running; 2) stale or foul; 3) lack of development, advancement, or progressive movement

To evolve and change, means we take the time to sit with what is, and to parse out where we are making assumptions about our experiences.

For the past few weeks, I have been sitting with my anxiety. This rising tide of anxious feelings is being fed by many things–not least of which are global health concerns. But, a large life-change is also imminent for me–picking up and moving a household out of state is huge. Looking for the right home has proven to be challenging. And, my work has been to sit with my ideas of what home should feel or look like.

Change brings with it many unknowns, and learning to be comfortable with not knowing everything isn’t always easy! Structure, everything in its place, a place for everything, feels good, safe, secure. The truth is loss of structure, or massive changes in our safety nets, can make us feel very ungrounded, as though we are in free-fall. But, what if we flipped our perspective about ground?

“The bad news is you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is, there’s no ground.”
–Chögyam Trungpa

What if no ground meant we could relax? Without fear of a hard landing, we are free to find our authentic selves, beyond the rules, walls, and attachments we have built to keep us ‘safe.’ For me–right now–no ground means shifting from the urgent driving need to already be there in my new home (trying to shortcut the process), to living in the moment, relaxing into the frustration, and sitting with and loving all the questions.

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue.”
–Rainer Maria Rilke

In between who we were and who we are going to be, we find out exactly who we are. What does lack of growth look like in your life? Where do you resist change? What might you discover if you dug down into the hard-packed ground of your garden? Till the soil, plant seeds, and watch what emerges…..

See you on the mat!

Changing Seasons

October 16, 2019October 16, 2019 by Claudia Fountain, posted in newsletter, Yoga

It’s my favorite time of the year, and it totally has me smiling! Something about the shifting quality of light, the cooler temps and changing leaves–it all makes me feel lighter, less weighed down. This year has delivered some landslides that knocked me sideways for sure. And, it was a good thing! Sometimes what we need is to step sideways, get off the merry-go-round, and see life from a completely different perspective. A little bit like doing a headstand. Or, being forced to stop working because of an injury. There are benefits there, if you choose to see them. These sidesteps, while at first may feel like a step in the wrong direction, are in the end the path forward. We only needed to clear some clutter out of the way. Just as trees shed their leaves, we can let go of outdated perspectives, un-necessary commitments, or hard line expectations.

I’ve had a couple of realizations hit me over the past month, that will impact my work-life in a positive way, allowing me to find joy again in what I do. I’ve also re-found my creative inspiration that I will be pouring into writing, drawing, getting back to my mala projects, and even ultimately into this year’s Jack ‘O Lantern!

A quote I ran across this morning, “Life isn’t just what you’re focused on, but around you too.” [Jessica Thompson] My personal goal–reconnecting with the full spectrum of Life, just as it is, without heavy expectations or feeling that “my way” is the only way.

To that end, over the next several weeks, we will focus on discovering our holding patterns, becoming comfortable with releasing expectations, noticing what it feels like in the physical and energetic bodies when we do, and finding contentment in being exactly where we are.

See you on the mat!

P.S.: Over the summer while healing my foot injury, I put together a series of short sequences to help keep my body mobile. Here is a time-lapsed series for opening the hips. No props needed! Since this is a time-lapse, remember to slow the movements down, use your breath as a guide (i.e., in the first pattern, exhale to externally rotate the hip, inhale to internally rotate the hip.) Follow the link: https://vimeo.com/physiquebyfountain

When was the last time you really just chilled?

August 7, 2019August 7, 2019 by Claudia Fountain, posted in newsletter, Yoga

Here I am in August, and I’m dreaming of a vacation! There is no small irony in that statement. I am just finishing my seventh week of being home bound as I heal a fracture in my left foot. I can see the end goal right around the corner. And, I know it will feel so wonderful to be able to move more normally again. These past weeks have been a true lesson on learning to let go of “doing.” Healing became the priority, and no amount of frustration over the things I could not (temporarily) do was going to speed the healing process. Simple things like showering, getting dressed, making something to eat, all have taken longer to do. It quite often feels a bit like a moving meditation as I pay attention to the nuances of maneuvering my body and foot through space with care. This entire experience has been like a (large) nudge (bonk over the head) by the Universe telling me to s l o w d o w n.

Which circles me back around to my opening question–when was the last time you really just chilled? Pulled up the lounge chair, sprayed on sun screen, and read a good book? Taken a stroll down to the end of the pier, sat on the edge, and just dangled your feet? There is immense value to be found in slowing down, giving the body and mind space and time to rest. Physiologically, rest gives the body time to repair and grow, and come back stronger. Mentally, silence–which is rest for the brain–has been shown to lead to the development of new cells in the hippocampus, the key region in the brain associated with learning, memory, and emotion (for some of the research, see: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259110014_Is_silence_golden_Effects_of_auditory_stimuli_and_their_absence_on_adult_hippocampal_neurogenesis).

So, as we enter the final weeks of summer, consider how you might add more rest into your day (naps!), or week (an afternoon at the beach). Next month, I will be off on a two week road trip with family from Europe, to introduce them to the wonders of our National Parks (Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier). I will be giving my foot some hiking physical therapy, and my spirit some much needed communion with nature.

See you on the mat!

P.S., I am very happy to be returning to my regular teaching schedule, beginning this Sunday (8/11)! We will be exploring conservation of energy, consistency, and stability.

Faces of Love

February 8, 2019 by Claudia Fountain, posted in kindness, Yoga

“Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.”

–Mary Oliver

February is the perfect month to consider the many faces of love. Historically, in old world traditions, the beginning of February was marked with festivals (such as Imbolc) that celebrated the first hints of Spring. Daffodils and crocus begin to push fresh green fronds through the cold earth, trees start to produce buds, and birds search for nesting sites in anticipation of the age-old pursuit of fertility and new life.

Love has many faces–passion and compassion, kindness and loving, soft and fierce, fiery and sweet, unconditional (but never conditional), unlimited and full of boundless possibility. What would it be like to immerse ourselves in this infinite flow of love?

“And consider, always, every day, the determination of the grass to grow despite the unending obstacles.” –Mary Oliver

This is the path of yoga: always turn toward the sun; examine all sensations, feelings, and thoughts; extend a hand to someone in need; be fierce but also kind.

This month we will be considering what it means “to do no harm,” to ourselves and others, and meditating on Loving-Kindness (Metta).

See you on the mat!

Yule Time

December 8, 2018 by Claudia Fountain, posted in newsletter, Yoga

“We are approaching the threshold of winter.

Life is being drawn into the earth, painlessly descending down into the very heart of herself.

And we as natural human animals are being called to do the same, the pull to descend into our bodies, into sleep, darkness and the depths of our own inner caves continually tugging at our marrow.”
–Brigit Anna McNeill

There is often an intuitive pull to turn inward at this time of the year. Honoring the natural cycles of light and darkness is innate in most of us. The Winter Solstice was celebrated by many ancient cultures as the rebirth of light. For while the light grows shorter now, it will return. Within this cycle, now is the opportunity to work with some of the heavier aspects of our inner worlds. Acknowledge and honor the sadness, or the heartache, the anger, or resentments. To do this write about them in a journal, or place them on slips of paper to burn in your Yule fire. To bring more light into the darkness, light candles, build fires, put up twinkling lights, take a walk in the sunshine, eat a flavorful, warm meal with loved ones. Spend time in contemplation. What is the spark inside you that lights your fire? How can you grow that light, and share it with others?

See you on the mat!

For my December teaching schedule, there are some additions, some cancellations, and some subs! Please see here: https://physiquebyfountain.com/yoga/

December Meditation: Inner Drishti (gaze)

Find a comfortable, supported seated position and close your eyes. Take three easy, full breaths, releasing tension held in the body on the exhale. Allow the breath to fall into its own natural rhythm. As you continue to breath softly and comfortably, bring your awareness to the shape of your body sitting–noting heaviness, softness, the breath filling all the space within–for three minutes.

Then, gently bring your awareness to your heart, center of your chest–noting sensations such as warmth, expansion/contraction, perhaps even feeling your heartbeat, whatever comes up for you–for three minutes.

Next, gently move your awareness to your third-eye center, middle of the forehead, between the eyebrows–breathing as though through this spot, noting sensations, perhaps the sense of air moving inward to the center of your skull on the inhale, and back out on the exhale–for three minutes.

Next, gently move your awareness to the roof of the skull–again noticing any sensations you may become aware of, using the rhythm of your breath as an anchor–for three minutes.

Finally, simply rest in an open field of awareness, noting all passing phenomenon from the movement of breath, to the flicker of thoughts or images, and sounds reaching your ears. All is allowed, all passes through, nothing lingers, as you remain still and at ease. Rest here for as long as you like. It can be useful to use an app such as “Insight Timer” that allows you set interval chimes.

Enjoy!

“When the storms of life come, if they come to me personally, to my family, or to the world, I want to be strong enough to stand and be a strength to somebody else, be shelter for somebody else.” –Anne Graham Lotz

“Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.”

–Mary Oliver

“The world as we have created it, is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” ― Albert Einstein

“When the storms of life come, if they come to me personally, to my family, or to the world, I want to be strong enough to stand and be a strength to somebody else, be shelter for somebody else.”
–Anne Graham Lotz

“The world as we have created it, is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
― Albert Einstein