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When a wise farmer is considering buying a horse, they always know to examine the horse's mouth. Because the condition of the horse’s mouth reflects the health of its entire body. No farmer will fork over top dollar for a horse with missing choppers or sore gums. In horses, like humans, dental problems signal other health problems.

Poor oral health has been linked to diabetes and ulcers, but the most striking correlation is with cardiovascular diseases (heart disease, stroke, and atherosclerosis). Several studies have reported that heart disease patients have higher rates of tooth decay and gum disease.

Roberts J. Genco of the University of Buffalo studied 1,372 people over 10 years and reported that heart disease was three times more prevalent for those with gum disease. Another study, published in the Brittish Medical Journal, reported that people with inflammation of the gums had a 25% increased risk of heart disease.

Researchers believe that the oral bacteria that cause dental disease, enter the bloodstream through small tears in the gums. These bacteria cause inflammation in the circulatory system. It seems that if you have good dental health you are likely to have good cardiovascular health too!

How Does Oil Pulling Work?

Oil pulling is 3,000 year old Ayurvedic Medicine practice that is used as an oral therapy. Turns out research supports this practice, oil pulling is believed to help in the excretion of toxic heavy metals, and works to “pull” bacteria, viruses and protozoa from the oral cavity. Oil pulling has been found to be effective in fighting gingivitis, plaque, tooth decay and microorganisms that cause bad breath (bacteria).

How does this work? Well most microorganisms inhabiting the mouth are single-celled. Cells are covered with a lipid (fatty membrane) that serves as the cell’s skin. When these cells come into contact with oil (fat), they adhere to each other.

According to Ayurveda the tongue is connected to various organs (kidneys, heart, lungs, small intestine, and spine). Oil pulling is believed to activate salivary enzymes which absorb toxins (chemical, bacterial, environmental) from the blood and are removed from the body through the tongue. Which is why this practice is said to detoxify and purify the entire human body. One counter argument is that since the oral mucosa is not a semipermeable membrane, toxins of the body from the blood cannot pass through it.

Here are the steps:

First thing in the morning, put one tablespoon of organic cold pressed coconut oil (this is what I use - thank you Costco and Amazon) in your mouth and swish it around. You can start with 5 minutes. And work your way up to 10, then 15, and ultimately reach the goal of 20 minutes of swishing. All you need is a gentle swish, move the oil all around and between your teeth. Do not swallow any of the liquid. Remember this process is “pulling” bacteria and toxins from your mouth. When you are done, this is very important, spit it out in the trash can. If you spit it in the sink, the oil can clog the pipes! Next, thoroughly wash your mouth with clean warm saline water or tap water and clean your teeth with your finger or use routine tooth brushing (use a different toothbrush than your normal one).

I personally jumped right to the 20 minutes per day of oil pulling. I did not have any jaw soreness or tightness, and I thought why not try to extract (pun intended) the full benefit? Admittedly on some days I swish for 15 minutes or 18 minutes. I use coconut oil, because I like the taste and also it has the added benefit of lauric acid which has anti-microbial agents and anti-inflammatory properties.

Benefits:

Your gums should become pinker and healthier. The practice is said to resolve dry mouth/throat and chapped lips. Really there are endless purported benefits, your teeth should become whiter, breath fresher, oral cavity muscles and jaws stronger. I am just going to keep going, but trust me this list isn’t exhaustive.

  • Prevention of dental caries, gingivitis, oral candidias and periodontitis
  • Tooth pain reduction
  • Fixes mobile teeth
  • Improves  oral hygiene.

When practiced regularly it will freshen and stimulate the mind and strengthen your senses. It is beneficial for sore throats, dry face, impaired vision, taste loss and anorexia.

Need I say more?

Get swishing,

LM

P.S. please comment below or reach out to me if you have tried this method. I would love to know how it has worked for you. Also, if you try the method after reading this post, please let me know how it goes! Email [email protected], mahalo!

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Art and Poem by Morgan Harper Nichols.

Aloha Everyone,

As much as I would like to write a heartfelt reflection for you, I am struggling. I’ve had endless thoughts over the last week on George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. And though I have felt compelled to share my two cents, I am going to try to keep it very brief.

In my first draft of this email to you, I wrote, "Now is not the time to amplify my own voice. I truly believe that message. Now is the time to shine the lights on black voices." I am noticing my own speech patterns and have been hyperaware of my words, and as such, I sent this email to a black yoga student and friend of mine, Leana.

Her only feedback to me was this:

"Your message is lovely and very clear.

The only thing I would say is that you shouldn’t be silent. (Not saying that you are), but Your voice needs to be amplified. And you are amplifying you’re voice, especially since you are talking about systemic racism and giving your readers suggestions on material they can read to learn to do better. That’s amplification right there!

Black voices are being heard right now but we also need allies, like you, who have a voice in the community ?. I keep telling people that silence is so loud and people notice."

As for the reading material I advise, keep reading. I asked my friend if I should delete the originally stated line, and she responded, "No, no, no. Not at all."

She recommended the correction to write, “Now is the time to amplify my voice.” 

And she finished with, "Because now is the time ??‍♀️." - Thank you, Leana!


 So, here I go. I want to acknowledge this important moment in our lives. First came the pandemic and months of fear and chaos. And now the entire world has galvanized around creating lifelong change. We are living in a pivotal moment in history, to say the least. The year 2020 will be in the history books, with a loud message. 

Behind the scenes, I have been reading, learning, and talking to family about race. On the one hand, I have never really had these conversations with my family. But on the other, the discussions on ideologies, equality, complicit behaviors and silence, is quite familiar to me. As a liberal arts educated psychology (cognition) major, I took courses in history, sociology, and psychology. Including those on colonization, race, gender, and sexuality. These courses expanded my mind to explore and see life through a broader scope, thank you Skidmore College.

At times, I questioned my own involvement in systemic racism, but never to this current degree. This is the power of the current movement. It is so important, so overdue, it has been silenced, but now it is here. These discussions are difficult and uncomfortable, but ultimately, these conversations will help evolve the world to be a better place for all beings. Before we get there, to that future scenario, Black Lives Matter. Right here, right now, and urgently.

It is not my intention to delve into all of my thoughts here, believe me, this is my attempt at brevity. The systemic racism and injustice strongholds in America are deeply connected to education. I know that is not by any means an all-encompassing explanation, but it is a factor.

How can one begin to question their own involvement in racism if they deny its very existence? Education will help decompose the false conceptualization of a racist as that of a violent outlier. For starters, I can recommend the book White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo. It is an uncomfortable but powerful read.

Aside from reading, I have used the resource of social media, but at times it has felt overwhelming.

I’ve stepped back, logged off, and checked in mentally and physically. I’ve gone for long runs, and practiced yoga. I considered canceling both last week’s yoga class and this week’s class, because I am questioning everything. Second guessing whether or not now is the time for yoga.

I concluded that yes, it is. In fact, I can’t think of a better time to practice than right now. We need to stay fit, mentally and physically. We need to show up, and do better, for ourselves, our family, and the world. If you have a million thoughts circulating right now, as I do, let’s clear space and make sense of them on the mat tomorrow.

In lieu of donating to Aloha United Way tomorrow, 50% of the proceeds from tomorrow’s class will go towards Black Lives Matter to help fund the movement. 

Respond to this email if you would like to take class tomorrow from 8-9:15am. I will respond to you with the link and password.

Love always,

LML

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Photography by Lululemon, Chelsea Abril.

HAPPY ALOHA FRIDAY,

You guys, I did a thing. Actually two. My mind has been percolating on goal setting over the last few weeks. While it is most definitely one thing to set the goals, it is quite another to go after them. We’ve heard this phrase again and again, but today, I asked myself the question: why am I playing small?

This question alone is a provocative one. Am I afraid of my own success? Do I feel undeserving of success? Why should I withhold my skills and knowledge? Don’t others deserve to live this beautiful practice? These questions were a transparent wake up call for me. Like a splash of cold water to your face in the morning, I feel READY. Because the answer to all of these questions was ‘oh my goodness, LM get started! And do not wait another moment.’

I realized, I have all of this knowledge to share! So much to share, and I want to share it! I am not quite sure what sparked this re-ignition to my goal setting and my lifestyle company as a whole, but it has already happened. All things in due time, right? This week, I have been churning out content for you.

The first announcement is that I will be hosting an online offering of my Goal Chaser Series. If you have completed the Goal Chaser Series once, twice, or three times before, I am still here for you! I would love for you to join again.

If you have never been through my Goal Chaser Series, it would be an honor to have you join. I think now, more than ever, as we navigate through this precarious time our goals become that much more important. As we strive to stay on our path of living our most authentic life, it is important to lean on each other while also holding each other accountable.

As I enter the fourth year of my PhD program, the uncertainty of my future come May 2021 has me all kinds of stressed out. For the first time in my three decades of life, the path forward is an unknown. It is simultaneously beautiful and terrifying. I think I have been carrying around subconscious stress related to this CHOICE. Goal setting and living authentically is all about choice.

Only recently, with a toothache of all things, has this question mark in my life become conscious. Do I have a toothache because of this stress? Is that a thing? Turns out, the stress didn’t cause my toothache, but it certainly did not help the situation. Nonetheless, this among other recent events have catapulted me back into this important life work, and I want to share it with you.

The choices we make now, dictate what follows. I am putting in the work now, to assuage my worries about my upcoming graduation. And there is some serious work to do. I want you onboard with me!

Two weeks ago at my Sunday morning yoga class, I shared the smallest piece of this goals work. It ignited my own fire. Since then, I have been on a personal mission to achieve and live in total alignment with my goals. From getting the right amount of R&R, to proper amounts of daily exercise, to work goals (I am getting published!), and beyond.

Goal setting and vision work is about structuring your life, and truly implementing the work moment to moment. Not by May 2021, but right now.

Every single time I share the goal chasers program, I learn something new. I learn about the world, the people around me, life, and most importantly myself. I realize how much it fills me up to see others reach their goals and live their purpose. And ironically, helping you is a part of my ever evolving purpose.

Because here is the thing about our goals, they change! Life is organic. We can’t predict every change in the tides, we need to live moment to moment. Which is why the majority of the goals work is about the present moment. It is about how you show up and live, right now. Hint hint, it might not be the same way you showed up two years ago.

I recently read a phrase in a book that deeply resonated with me, I will paraphrase: “if you’ve got it, share it.” What a wonderful life philosophy. I thought, how cool, my Sunday yoga class is doing this right now. We’ve got a sweet crew of students who show up to their mat and donate, and we’ve raised over $500 to benefit Aloha United Way’s COVID-19 community response and recovery fund.

Then I asked myself, what else do I have to share? I thought, I need to share my goal chaser series again. And as I mentioned, I got the sharing started at my Sunday yoga class two weeks ago. My next thought was, well I am scientist becoming an expert in anatomy and biomechanics, maybe I ought to share this knowledge with the world? And I will be.

I am thrilled to announce the upcoming Anatomy of Movement Training Series. This week, I have been recording lectures and content. The Anatomy of Movement Training Series is a hefty one, I will be covering A LOT in this training. It has been in the works for years, to be honest. Finally, the Summer 2020 timing is perfect to release this to the world.

I will be sending out a separate announcement for each of these offerings. This email is simply to announce these two happenings: I am hosting both an online Goal Chasers Series and an online Anatomy of Movement Training Series. ALL HAPPENING THIS SUMMER (double trouble)!

Yes, it might feel like an LM Summer Camp, but there will be plenty of other people to connect with and grow and learn alongside.

Here are the dates you need to know:
 
Goal Chasers Series (online):
 
Monday, June 15th, 5PM (HST)
Monday, June 22nd, 5PM (HST)
Monday, June 29th, 5PM (HST)
Monday, July 6th, 5PM (HST)

Anatomy of Movement Series (online):
 
Monday, July 13th, 5PM (HST)
Monday, July 20th, 5PM (HST)
Monday, July 27th, 5PM (HST)
Monday, August 3rd, 5PM (HST)

If you are interested in either of these offerings, please email me at [email protected]!

I seriously cannot wait!
 
Goals, goals, goals,
LML

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I know many of my yoga students are athletes, runners, avid walkers, soccer players, swimmers, tennis players, surfers, you name it! And others are non-athletes, but active people. All come to the yoga mat to find balance in their body and mind. This blog post is specifically about the former, balance in the body, which in my opinion, indirectly effects the balance of our mind.
 
Let’s entertain the example of a runner. You can run and run, but if you don’t cross-train, and work on your dynamic mobility, you will ‘run’ into some problems – pun intended. This piece to training is crucial. If you don’t work to maintain proper mobility, you won’t perform as well, you won’t feel as good, and ultimately you are at risk of an injury, if not already injured.
 
Adding in yoga to your weekly run workout regimen, is one way to restore balance to these muscles that have become imbalanced. The type of yoga that is particularly helpful for runners and athletes is vinyasa yoga. Vinyasa yoga is inherently dynamic, we are moving, breath-to-movement, aka breath to posture. The practice will help strengthen and lengthen muscles appropriately, in order to maintain or restore healthy range of motion (ROM).

If you’ve practiced vinyasa yoga before, you know that it can be challenging. One way we are often challenged on the mat is by holding postures (not for terribly long), but it does the job of effectively improving endurance of these muscles. Often times, the muscles that fatigue as we attempt to hold a pose, are those muscles that we need to target and improve strength and in some cases also length. Yes, a muscle can be both tight and weak.
 
The pose that comes to mind immediately for me, is half moon (ardha chandrasana) pictured at the very top. In this pose, we have to hold one leg and arm up in the air (against the force of gravity). The strength it takes to keep our leg lifted, falls to a gluteal muscle known as gluteus medius. When we contract the whole of this muscle, it will abduct the thigh (move it away from the ground, where it is being forced down by gravity).

How does this muscle impact a runner? Or even a walker for that matter?

Well when we have weakness in the gluteus medius, we can develop pelvic drop in the frontal plane, either ipsilaterally (on one side) or bilaterally (on both sides). Visualize the way a model walks down the runway. The model sasses her hips from side to side, this is what pelvic drop (pelvic tilt) in the frontal plane looks like!

One might say that models have weakness in their gluteus medius muscle. Although, I realize they do this walk intentionally, it is no good for functional movement. Particularly, if you are running, and thus adding more force to the movement. Depending on your running foot strike pattern, the vertical ground reaction forces experienced when running are roughly two to three times your body weight.

To a lesser degree, gluteus minimus (a muscle deep to gluteus medius) helps with keeping the pelvis level during movements. Often times as running duration or speed increase, any imbalances we have become more apparent. When gluteus medius and minimus are faced with the need to function under the demands of running, the runner might begin to have continual hip drop. This occurrence might be fine a few times. However, in all likelihood, they won’t be fine if this is felt for every step, over 30 minutes, five times a week, for a year - you get the point. Ultimately, this will stress the sacroiliac joint and the low back. A weak gluteus medius is oftentimes partly to blame for knee and ankle injuries too.

What I am saying is that, though these imbalances are often very subtle, they can become more pronounced and apparent with our athletic activity, and especially so with fatigue.

Yoga is a beautiful practice to maintain proper length and strength of various muscles, including gluteus medius. I have seen many a jock in class, who finds lifting their leg in half moon to be a significant challenge. What's neat about yoga, is that the practice quietly, and humbly, alerts and informs us of such imbalances. Yoga is a way of checking in with our body, like getting your oil changed. We need to check in a tune up car regularly, think of yoga as a weekly, or even daily, system tune up. 

There is one more thing. Yoga is not therapy. It is a practice of repetition. In physical therapy, for example, you might do three sets of 30 seconds of a particular stretch. You will then do this ‘exercise’ three times a day. Conversely, yoga is a neuromuscular training practice for life. So long as you show up to your mat, with dedication, these shifts are possible. It is not therapeutic. Though, mentally it feels this way, in the clinical meaning of the word, it is not. As yoga teachers, we should not be using the word therapy in a literal sense. 

As a yoga teacher, I am not prescribing, holding a stretch for 30 seconds, for three sets, three times a day. Leave that to the professionals who are targeting an imbalance for therapeutic intervention. In yoga, you are holistically, strengthening and lengthening, and neuromuscularly training the whole of your body. You need not worry about overdoing it on pose or stretch, because you are in and out rather quickly.

Here is the catch, one chaturanga with poor form won’t hurt you, but 1,000 may. You know your body best, so long as you are aligned well in your postures, and you can breathe fully, and there is no pain, you can trust in your practice.

The next time you show up to your mat, be an observer. What feels tight or restricted? What feels weak? Notice if one side of the body is significantly stronger and or tighter. If you have a mirror to practice in front of, pay attention to the subtleties of your postural alignment.

Here are some of my fave exercises to strengthen gluteus medius and minimus. You can work these into your yoga practice. 

1) Lie on one side, and abduct the top thigh, bringing your ankle up to about hip height, slowly lower it back down (Repeats x5-10)
2) Side Plank (vashistasana) with the option to abduct the top leg (3-5 breaths)
3) Half Moon (3-5 breaths)
4) Bridge Pose (3-5 breaths)
5) Personal fave add-in to yoga practice – lateral band walks. Place the stretch band just above your ankles or just above your knees. Come into a squat with feet hips width distance apart, maintain the distance between your feet, and laterally side step in your squat (down the length of your mat), then return to back to the top of the mat (Repeats x5-10).

Love and Gratitude,

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Happy Aloha Friday Yogis,

My little brother has informed me that 'Yogis' should be capitalized and I quite agree. Well, here we are again at another Friday. The days do seem to truly blend together. Where now, in most cases, a weekday afternoon run is perfectly acceptable, as is a full work weekend. Because Saturday and Sunday, feel a whole lot like Monday through Friday. At least for me!

If you feel me on this, how about we make Sunday a bit extra special? Join me for Sunday yoga! Here is what we are going to get into on Sunday.

In addition to our regular/sweaty/soulful flow, we are going to switch things up (just a bit). Let's do a little bit of quarantine goal-setting, and a vision meditation, so that we can position ourselves to stay on track together as we work towards our goals. I've said it before, but how amazing would it be if we could emerge from this quarantine, evolved, better, more whole. Depending on what your goals are, you might be wanting to emerge from this period of life with the satisfaction of having been your child's Mom, teacher, therapist, best friend, their everything. Quite simply, your goal might be to read all of Jane Austen's novels (this is one of mine!).

Please bring a pen and paper to class on Sunday. If you want to write in a journal, that works too!

I felt a spark of inspiration today, to 'just do it.' Take a step towards that goal that is within reach, and you know it, but for whatever reason you keep putting it off. Go start it, the hard one, that somehow makes it to the end of the to-do list! It's hard to get started, but you got this. Once it's begun, the momentum will help carry you through. Take the step, and get going!

Join me for the Sunday Yoga Flow, (every week from 8-9:15am). Please email me for the link and password.

We have already donated $500 to Aloha United Way, let's keep it going! Make this your cannot miss weekly appointment, you deserve this time, to process the week, to connect and feel all the feels. And on Sunday, we are going to set some goals!

I hope to see you Sunday on the mat!

Big love,
LML

P.S. The 'Just Do It' theme of today's email, is totally separate from the fact that I would love to work at a company like Nike. However, as the theme emerged, it has now reinforced my connection to this company's mission and beliefs.

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Photography by Aaron Mizushima.
“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”-Albert Einstein
 
Aloha yogis,

I would say this quote sums up why I’ve chosen the career of professional student,  I love learning. When it comes to changing our thinking though, there is no magic snap of the fingers to facilitate this and at times it’s not easy.

Like most things in life, it’s work and dedication, and checking ourselves, moment to moment, to see if we are living with intention. The other morning I wrote in my journal that I simply wanted to be intentional with my time. What a different type of day I had, by ironically, setting an intention to be intentional. It felt like I was being true to myself, in all ways. From getting work done, to doing the dishes, to running, and yoga - I chose these activities. I also chose my words and interactions with others and myself. I think this is piece that makes the challenging work doable, we won't resist it as much mentally and physically, if we check in on our own intentions, our why. 

 Why am I studying inverse dynamics and fluid dynamics? And why am I writing a paper on how software processing variation yields wildly different outcomes in knee adduction moment? Oh yes, because this fits my bigger why. And so, while a lot of my day to day work is ‘hard’ and might not come easy, no it’s plain tedious, by incrementally challenging my brain and self to think differently I am getting one step closer to my bigger goals. And in the process, through the grind, albeit with intention, expanding my mind and changing my thinking. Thus, changing the way I interact with and see the world. And by checking in and seeing the work for what it is, it is less intimidating.

I am no psychologist, but I did work in a psychiatric hospital, many moons ago. I also was an undergraduate psych major and I did research in cognition and neuroscience for my undergraduate thesis. Plus I read, a lot. And I've learned, and the research supports, that to name these feelings in our mind, 'that's fear, that's anger, that's anxiety' is to demystify them and render them less threatening. I think this concept of identification, holds true when it comes to components of our work and patterns in our thinking. We don't need to love the moment to moment, but it is important to connect the things we do with our time to a larger purpose, even if indirectly.

 Yoga has been the key to unlock a lot of these connections for me lately. It has been an absolute constant these days. Quarantine life lends itself very well to academic pursuits, less the data collections themselves. And I am finding this need to stop the brain grind work and let go, through yoga. There is a need as well to break the cycle of inactivity with a few yoga poses throughout the day. To connect mind and body, with soul and purpose, I find myself on the mat daily. Truthfully, I have not practiced yoga to this extent in a long time. Now, this daily connection is currently a must, I simply must schedule in a yoga practice. It has been a godsend.

Living with intention is a breath of fresh air and clarity, in a world that currently feels a mess and at times even scary. 

I feel I am expanding my mind and body over these strange months. Together on the yoga mat, we are all building mental and physical sweat equity, and I am excited to see what comes next, for all of us. It is one thing to be in quarantine bummed, sad, scared, or all of the above, but it is quite another to feel you are growing and learning from these moments in your life.

We are witnessing the once linear thinking patterns of the world as they are being stretched and pulled, torqued, and well you name it, it is happening. We have all been forced to expand our thinking to accommodate the odd circumstances at play, and we are doing it! We are making the most of it, but I think we should be really intentional with this time and try to grow and learn. If not about the world, certainly we can learn about ourselves.

It is tough in many ways. Even more reason, to take the time to connect, to hit pause, to step away from the laptop, and simply sit with yourself and breathe deeply. How do you feel? Meditate on it. Write it down. Be purposeful. Be intentional. 

 Join me tomorrow morning for the Sunday Yoga Flow, (every week from 8-9:15am) via the same link as every other week. Email me for the link and password. 

We have already donated $500 to Aloha United Way, let's keep it going! Make this a cannot miss weekly appointment, you deserve this time, to process the week, to connect and feel all the feels. 

I hope to see you tomorrow (Sunday) on the mat!

Big love,
LML

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Aloha yogis,

I wanted to drop you a quick hello, share some positive news, and say mahalo!

I hope you find that week x (I have lost count) of quarantine is going well for you! I am so happy to share with you that with the donations from my Sunday morning zoom yoga class, I was able to donate $500 to Aloha United Way.

Aloha United Way is a nonprofit organization that has launched a COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund. The donation will help assist in the overwhelming requests for rent and utility assistance, housing, food, healthcare, and more. It will also help answer calls for help and provide referrals to resources, ensuring that our community is taken care of in terms of support for critical human services during these challenging times.

It is incredible that we can come together during a crisis and help raise money. I don't take my position as a yoga instructor for granted. I know that with the help of my students and community, we hold a lot of power to improve the world around us. We hold this potential for good on a daily, moment to moment basis, where smiling to a stranger might radically improve their day, or expressing gratitude to a bank teller, might remind them of the value they to bring to the community. My thinking is that when we feel better, we do better. And yoga makes us feel better! 

And right now, we are doing better! In this case, with COVID-19 and the emergent need for help, worldwide, we galvanized around one specific cause. I have seen this ability of the yoga community to rally around a cause many times; I have taught fundraising classes for breast cancer before and "Downdogs for Diabetes" and many others, and each time I am left amazed and inspired.

Where simply by downdog-ing and chaturanga-ing, we made a tangible difference. It is not the ethereal ripple effect of your yoga practice. No, trust that, we can see the impact here.

Mahalo, to each of you who took the time to show up on your yoga mat. Thank you for practicing and sharing your energy with me and everyone else in class - virtually! Teaching online, has been a really special experience so far. I have seen so many of my students, many of you have moved off island, others have never lived on island, and we even have international yogis joining class! Some of you I haven't seen in 11 years! And yet, here you all are, practicing online with me! It warms my heart. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I am committed to continuing to donate 50% of all proceeds from my Sunday yoga class to COVID-19 community needs. 

Join me for the Sunday Yoga Flow, every week, from 8-9:15am via the same link as every other week. If you haven't joined yet, email me at [email protected] for the link and password if you plan to attend class this Sunday. Let's keep this going!!

I hope to see you Sunday on the mat!

Big love,

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Aloha yogis,

I wanted to give you three quick updates and ask you a few questions about my upcoming Anatomy of Movement Training Series.

1) Join me tomorrow morning for a Sunday Yoga Flow at 8am via the same link as every other week, if you haven't joined yet, here is the link. Please respond to this email to let me know you are joining and I will give you the password and the details!

2) I filmed a foundations yoga class today for you! I feel the integrity of these asanas can sometimes get lost, when we are always striving to achieve that next pose. It is hugely beneficial to every now and then (or often), hit pause and go back to the basics. Always practice with a beginners mind, be a sponge! I have some editing to do on the video, but it will be available soon. Email me here if you are interested in practicing the foundations yoga practice.

3) With all of the new yogis checking in to the online yoga class, I feel compelled more than ever, to add a foundations yoga class to my schedule. Historically speaking, I taught more advanced yoga classes, but as I get older and my own need for yoga shifts, so too does my teaching. Honestly, while I practice "advanced" asanas such as handstand and forearm-stand, the bulk of my own practice is foundations. This involves a lot of breath work, a good balance between balancing/strengthening/dynamic movements, and a whole lot of slow easy stretching towards the end of practice. I am also very intentional about the way I 'train' my nervous system on the mat in this mind-body practice. If you are interested in joining a live Foundations Yoga Flow, please email me here and let me know what days/times work for you!

I hope to see you tomorrow on the mat!

Big love,
LML

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Aloha yogis,

What a week. I hope you are all hanging in there. I have progressed through the many phases of quarantine life. The first week went something like this, “wow, I am actually going to be able to sit down and write my dissertation, which means I will graduate!” The second week went like this, “gosh, my back is stiff from all of these zoom meetings, and three hour long lectures via zoom; I no longer stand up to move from A to B.” The third week, was a mad rush to submit to an academic conference, and I was bizarrely productive. And this week, the fourth week, well, it was hard, in some ways.

I wasn’t prolific with my academic work, but I did cook, bake, clean, and workout. Goodness, my daily workouts turned into three hour affairs. Regularly, I run and then I practice yoga. This is standard for me. Now, I run, and then complete what I have dubbed my ‘parking lot workout’ – yes, it takes place in an empty elementary school parking lot behind my condo building.

I have this intense urge to be outside and feel the sunshine on my face, and I think this is why I became motivated to extend my run into this parking lot charade. To be clear, no one is outside, anywhere near me. It feels glorious, to be both working hard physically, and to breathe fresh air, all while outside the confines of my 500 square foot condo. And of course, the sun-drenched dose of Vitamin D helps as well. The parking lot workout consists of squats, forward and side lunges, slides, high knees, kick butt, high skipping, heel lifts, duck walks, but also lots of jumping and dynamic stretching.

After I feel satisfactorily worked, the workout continues, but the locale changes. I walk home and lift weights. And finally, I cap the night off with a juicy yoga practice. It is basically my whole evening, or so it feels. But surprise, it’s only 7pm! This week, my workouts started to creep to earlier and earlier start times. Can you relate?

Alas, the evening continues, I begin cooking up some kind of creative dinner with the groceries I bought a week prior. Who knew that all of these life modifications that we made due to a quarantine would yield so much more free time for us? I did not. I love it, in some respects, hate it, in others. I hate the unknown, the fear, the wondering – did I already had COVID-19 this January when I had the flu? Do I have it now? Does my husband have it? He just coughed…

In sum, this week, I have been a workout machine and a prolific chef/baker. I was actually feeling somewhat upset about my shortcomings in the normal sense of productivity, but I decided to cut myself some slack. As I am sure you have all been reading in every outlet, these are not normal times; of course we don’t need to read that to know that to be the truth. What does this mean for us, then?

My interpretation: it is okay to not be productive, it is okay to be sad, to be frustrated, to be scared, or even to feel grateful for the precious time you now have for other things – family, hobbies, connection with loved ones, or simply cleaning. Honestly, it’s okay to sleep more, nap, rest, or relax. All of these thoughts and feelings are valid.

As I mentioned previously, I have progressed through all of the phases of quarantine life. Initially, I thought, quarantine living fit my needs, as a self-proclaimed academic-introverted-homebody, fairly well. Now, I can safely say, I miss moving all over town, I miss walking from my office to a meeting down the hall, I miss Jacque from the local grocery store, who I used to see almost every day. I miss seeing friends’ faces, in person. The biggest adjustment, however, is feeling at peace in the present.

Once I got over my own productivity debacle, I had to put in some serious work to calm my nerves when it came to thinking about my family and loved ones, but also, global concerns. There are so many unknowns, health and financial, and it’s a little bit much to wrap your head around at one time. So give yourself the time, cut yourself some slack, ease up on your own expectations. After all, you are trying to figure out humanities issues alongside your own, that is a lot for one person to handle!

My mind oscillates from feeling this sense of impending doom to ‘wow, it’s really great to have my husband in the adjacent room – I am grateful.’ What in the heck? It is a confusing time. And it is okay, to feel joy and fear, to feel productivity in your work, or to up your sloth game for a bit and sleep more. Strange times, take some adjusting, and maybe some strange measures.

I am not prescribing sloth-ing around, I am simply saying, be more gentle with yourself. I am saying, amen, to equal part sloth-ing and producing. It is a wonderful time to learn more about yourself – your tendencies. Observe how you are dealing with the events of today. In fact, my own personal greatest insights into my handling of the COVID-19 quarantine, have revealed themselves in my journal. I shared some of the thoughts in last week’s yoga class, the theme was gratitude. This is  a big cliché, in the yoga world, but hear me out.

I was looking at my to-do list with a lot of heaviness, thinking I have all of these things to do. I took a lunch break to eat and read the New York Times. I read about the outbreak in NYC and the toll this virus truly takes on you, mentally and physically. I thought, rather morbidly, I better appreciate what I have right now, while I have it. Others cannot, simply enjoy an evening run, it’s not a chore, but a gift. Others cannot, roll out of bed, get ready to lecture and pop on the computer to give a lecture to 30 eager undergraduates via Zoom, they’ve lost their jobs. My job is a gift.

I started to look differently at the opportunities I had in front me, because they were just that, opportunities. From this new perspective, they looked a whole lot more like gifts, now. And I was grateful, I am grateful.

I am grateful to the quarantine period, thus far, because in addition to doing my part and feeling as though I am a contributor to the greater good (albeit in the smallest way), it has shifted another perspective for me. It has given me a no BS attitude when it comes to many things. Any excuse that you are about to give as to why you can’t complete this work, go for that run, enjoy that yoga practice, bake that bread, walk your beloved dog, or even veg out with your husband and watch that show, LM – yeah, well I don’t want to hear it.

It’s as though, we can’t fool ourselves, and we are able to get to the heart of the matter. The juxtaposition of quarantine living lessons has me confused too, on the one hand it has taught me acceptance (of productivity, laziness, sadness, happiness, worry, fear, joy, love, and hope), but on the other, it has taught me to get-er-done, no excuses.

I haven’t fully made sense of it yet, which is why my thesis to you is, to just let it be, and learn from yourself. Be honest with your why. You don’t need to provide an excuse. It’s just you - and your - work, workout, hobbies, cooking, home, life. Everyone is struggling through this funky time, wouldn’t it be amazing if we could emerge much more self-aware?

Finally, my initial hope with writing you, was oddly enough to simply drop you a note to let you know, I have a new and improved yoga shala (see the photo). My intention was simply to invite you to join me tomorrow morning, Sunday 8-9:15am (HST), for a live vinyasa yoga class via Zoom (but of course). You will be able to see me flow in full camera view, my head will make the frame now, thanks to my husband and his technical skills.

During this quarantine period, I will be donating 50% of the proceeds of each class to COVID-19 community needs. Furthermore, as we continue the fight against COVID-19, I want to support those serving on the front lines. Class is free for all first responders on the front lines, nurses, doctors, paramedics, fire fighters, and police officers. I want to thank you all, for everything you are doing, all we have to do is stay home.

I have always taught donation yoga, and it fits now more than ever. For everyone else, I know times are tough. If you cannot make a donation, please take class anyways. For anyone making a class donation my Venmo username: @LauraMary-Flynn 

Please email me if you would like to join class!

Sending you all love,

•

Aloha Yogis,

It has been some time since my last email to you! To be specific, you haven’t heard from me since July 2018! Wow. A lot has happened since that time, and I mean a lot. There simply is not enough paper space to give you that type of update here.

I wanted to reach out to you though! I usually reach out over my school recess periods, but the year 2019 proved to be a no-break-type-of-year. Truly, I had every intention of reaching out to you this March over Spring Break (which ended yesterday), with a very different type of update. But then COVID-19 struck.

In a COVID-19-free world, my update would have been thoroughly optimistic. I would have told you all about how my promising research study began on Saturday, and how I was nearly done with my PhD, or at least in the “final chapter” – but alas, times have changed. I am in shock by how quickly the direction and flow of life can be altered, and oddly, it’s simultaneously a reminder of life’s preciousness. For now, here I sit (writing like an old English novelist), to bring you a very different type of update. To be clear, everything from the hypothetical update is true, less the research study beginning.

The study is currently on hold, as non-emergent orthopedic surgeries are not currently happening right now, nor would I want to violate social distancing protocols and expose the elderly to me! For these reasons – along with a myriad of others – my study will take a backseat.

I now have “free” time to actually sit and write up my research. I am working on a number of papers, analyses, and a little yoga project! Let me explain. For the last year, I have been teaching one group yoga class per week (Sundays 8am at Kaimuki Studio) and otherwise my teaching has been 100% private and corporate yoga.

Due to COVID-19, my yoga private sessions have been moved to the Zoom platform! Likewise, I have also moved my Sunday morning yoga class online. Yesterday was the first group Zoom class. After class, I shared a photo of our practice to my Instagram account, and I was moved by the enthusiastic response.

Over the years of teaching yoga in Hawaii, I have seen many of my students come and go. Some lived here and practiced with me for a few years before moving back home; others are from Hawaii, but moved off island for their medical residencies in NYC, Phoenix, San Diego, and Boston, to name a few, surely I’ve missed many more of you docs (you know who you are). Other yoga students now live outside of the US, and I was lucky enough to meet them while they were on island studying. I’ll get to the point, I promise.

After I shared the photo of my Zoom class and disclosed that next week and indefinitely, until we ride out this pandemic, I will be hosting my class online, you all began to sign up. I now have sign-ups from Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, Boston, New York City, Connecticut, Everett (WA), Ålesund (Norway), Strasbourg (France), Japan and beyond.

Point is, this was a huge burst of light in my day. Not simply just hearing from all of my past students, but knowing that you are all there and listening. I felt the pull to offer something more.

A yoga practice with online instruction, isn’t the same as practicing in person, but it gives me hope that I can stay connected to so many of you, even after you move off island. I’ve never felt the desire to platform myself online via YouTube or other streaming services (translation: I was too nervous to make the leap). Now, however, I want to. I want to share yoga with you all, in our time of need. The world needs yoga right now.

I have also been feeling the need to do something, for the world, for my community, for a cause. Earlier this week, I sent this meme out to my brother and sister-in-law...

At the time I sent the meme, I really hadn't yet done much to help. I played my part and practiced social distancing. I bought my food - not too much, not too little - but otherwise, I felt I was contributing to the general state of panic, and not much else. To be honest, I didn’t feel there was much I could do to help. I can’t simply open up the checkbook and make it happen. After all, I am a pro-student and a small (super small) business owner.

I promise, my story here will all tie together. During my run last night, I waved a dramatic hello to the bus driver. I realized, in that moment, that he was a modern day hero. I ran some more, and thought about my recent transactions at Whole Foods, because who doesn't think about food while they are running?

Kidding aside, I thought about how I had praised the cashiers and employees, for also being heroes - now I was running and smiling. I truly believe they deserve thanks for being so brave. They go to work so that we can all continue to be fed, and in doing so put themselves at risk. My small contributions of praise hopefully help a little, but I want to do more.

So finally, as I was hitting the sweet spot of my run (about 20 minutes in), I had the idea of using this online platform for my Sunday yoga class as an opportunity to give back. My Sunday class will hopefully help replace my lost income from my regularly scheduled yoga classes, which are now canceled, while also contributing to the community. Because of you, my students, near and far, we can come together on this platform and make a difference.

During the quarantine period of COVID-19, here is my commitment to you all: I will teach a weekly donation-based Sunday morning yoga class (8-9:15am HST) and I will be donating 50% of the proceeds to a local business or community need. It might be my yoga student's bar that needs to close, or my favorite vegan restaurant in town (Juicy Brew), or a community need such as PPE for our local medical doctors and nurses.

This isn’t just a health crisis, it’s an economic crisis as well. I know more people that work in the retail, restaurant, and tourism industries than don’t. If you can’t make a donation, please take class, and I hope it brightens your day and eases the stress of our current situation.

Now, if you are still reading this, first of all, respect. Second of all, if you can’t make class, here are some other ideas for you.

More thoughts from my evening run:

1) Practice gratitude: Thank you lungs, for allowing me to breathe fully, for extracting oxygen from the atmosphere and passing it off to my bloodstream, and releasing CO2 from my bloodstream and back into the atmosphere. I appreciate you so much right now. I’ve been hearing stories of COVID-19 patients finding gratitude for their lungs, and I want you to know right now (still talking to the lungs), that I love this moment of feeling your full power and health.

2) Appreciate those around you: the bus drivers, the cashiers, the husbands, your parents, your family, your friends. I know I am not alone, when I say that we have all upped our contact-game this week. On Saturday I ‘zoomed’ with my 13 best friends from home (all at once). I know you have all called your friends and family, keep it up. It matters. Your actions matter. Reach out to people, they want to hear from you.

3) Thank you, food: holy bake-athon, we have been cooking and baking and are on par to become Michelin Starred Chefs by the end of this quarantine. Let’s appreciate the simple joy of cooking and breaking bread with the ones we love.

4) Clean: yes, clean your house; if you are stuck inside your home, make sure it is clean and an enjoyable space to be in almost 24/7. If not, you will go bananas. Also, it is a fun and rewarding activity, I’ve found. Thank you to my sister-in-law for reminding me about this particularly fun and energy balancing activity.

5) And lastly, tell people you love them, because you do. <3

Thank you all for reading. Please reach out! I would love to hear from you. Also, for those of you who don’t know what I do now or what I study, the answer is biomechanics. While I am sure that answer doesn't clear anything up for you, because most folks don't know what it is, this is now a reminder to myself to update you on all that I study, in due time. I promise it won’ t be another 2 years from now, but much sooner.

With love and gratitude,