My New Spanish Yoga Book

I just released my first yoga book in Spanish! It is a translation of my Yoga Posture Adjustments and Assisting book. Here is the back cover information in Spanish. For the holidays, it is a great gift for Spanish speaking yoga teachers, trainees, or serious yoga students. There are not many books about yoga in Spanish for teachers, so I am delighted to have published one of them!

La primera guía extensa y comprensible para instructores y estudiantes de yoga en español, que incluye todos los detalles sobre cómo ajustar y asistir a alguien mientras realiza una postura de yoga. Con la reciente popularidad que el yoga ha adquirido, este libro es particularmente invaluable para millones de personas que enseñan o practican esta disciplina, pues las claras instrucciones y la generosa cantidad de fotos facilitan a los instructores el aprendizaje y la comprensión para asistir a sus estudiantes. Los estudiantes también pueden utilizar esta guía para profundizar en su práctica personal y aplicar los principios en parejas. Aquí se demuestran y explican las técnicas de ajuste y asistencia para más de 65 posturas, ilustradas con alrededor de 200 fotos.

Usted puede aprender:

* Como ajustar y asistir a alguien mientras realiza una postura de yoga

* Como ejecutar ajustes utilizando mecánicas corporales efectivas

* Múltiples variantes de como ajustar en una postura

* Frases que pueden ayudar a sus estudiantes o parejas/compañeros de yoga

* Maneras de acomodar diferentes tipos de cuerpos

* Como ayudar a sus estudiantes a profundizar en las posturas de manera segura

La comunidad internacional de yoga se beneficiará enormemente con este libro.

“Pienso que tu libro es fabuloso. Tengo muchos libros de yoga, todos reconocidos internacionalmente por algunos de los Yogis más famosos en el mundo. Aún así llevo largo tiempo buscando “este” libro, con simples, aplicables y manejables técnicas para asistir a mis estudiantes mientras realizan posturas. Encuentro tu libro naturalmente amigable sin ser intimidante ni pretencioso. Es una gran herramienta para instructores y estudiantes en entrenamiento. Me gusta mucho el hecho de que tus modelos sean gente “real”; todos con diferentes tipos de cuerpo y niveles variados en su práctica. Me gustaría utilizar tu libro en mi propio programa de entrenamiento”. – Violeta Pastor Wilson, Entrenadora de Instructores de Yoga, Fundadora de la Alianza Canadiense de Yoga.

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Yoga at Your Wall available at Barnes and Noble!

Amidst the family hardships of late (mom is still in the hospital), a good thing happened today: My newest book, Yoga at Your Wall, by Stephanie Pappas (Codependent Yogi) is in stock and available at Barnes and Noble in Bridgewater, NJ at the Somerville circle! Support your local struggling yogini and pick up a copy! 🙂 Barnes and Noble Somerset Shopping Center 319 Route 202/206 Bridgewater, NJ 08807 908-526-7425
If you are not in NJ or near this store you can request a copy through your own local Barnes and Noble store.
With Gratitude and Love,
Stephanie

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The Reluctant Yogi: One Pose or One Minute a Day Philosophy

Have you taken some yoga classes and read some yoga books, but still find yourself unable to practice on your own?

Try my one pose, or one minute a day philosophy to jump start your yoga practice and overcome your resistance.

The truth is, a daily yoga practice could last one minute or several hours. Give yourself the freedom to decide. Sometimes we may think we want to practice for only five minutes and then two hours magically fly by. If you put pressure on yourself to practice for a long time, you may never practice at all. When students or teachers tell me that they can’t practice or get started practicing on their own, I suggest they try my “one pose or one minute a day” plan. They seem so surprised when I suggest this. Give yourself a break and practice one of your favorite poses on a daily basis, or practice one minute of yoga per day. Notice where it takes you. One minute may turn into one hour before you know it. Let me know what happens! I look forward to your comments here on the blog.

This excerpt is taken from my new book, Yoga at Your Wall.

http://www.YogaAtYourWall.com

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Yoga at Your Wall

Yoga leads us to the realization that Life is not coming AT us, it is coming FROM us.

* Yoga allows you to unlock and unblock nuggets of truth from deep inside yourself.

* Yoga practices cultivate self-care, self-awareness, and self-responsibility.

* Yoga offers you a deeper appreciation of your body – which is your temple this time around.

* Yoga helps you age gracefully and with dignity.

* Yoga offers us the awareness of who we are, and who we are NOT.

* Practice makes your heart grow fonder.

* Yoga is a process of learning, and unlearning.

* Yoga leads to knowledge of the Self and the dawning of the truth that

* Yoga offers us a means to be kinder and more compassionate with ourselves.

* Yoga is more than just touching your toes.

* Yoga is more than fitness. It includes something for all levels of our being: lungs, organs, glands, emotions, mind, spirit, muscles.

* Yoga has the power to bring you into the present moment and accept yourself as you are.

* Yoga is a great way to feel connected in your community.

* Yoga classes are a way of encountering like-minded individuals.

* The breath is more important than the postures.

* Yoga is a friend for life.

* Yoga is the best preventative medicine and it costs nothing!

* Yoga is like a self-therapy and self-massage.

* Yoga is a gift passed on through the ages and never gets old.

* Every time you do a pose or take a breath you do it in a fresh new moment.

* Practicing with friends or loved ones increases understanding, intimacy, and “belongingness.”

* You can practice yoga on your own by listening to your own innate intelligence –

that same intelligence that is there to heal your cuts and wounds.

* Yoga transcends race, culture, religion, class, and age.

* You can practice yoga when you are feeling well, or not so well.

 

 

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Yoga – Radiant Body, Reverent Breath

What I’d really like to share with you about the yoga practice…

Now for sale my new yoga book for all levels

• Yoga offers you a deeper appreciation of your body –your temple this time around.
• Yoga helps you age gracefully and with dignity.
• Yoga offers us the awareness of who we are – and who we are not.
• Yoga offers us a means to be kinder and more compassionate with ourselves.
• Yoga is more than just touching your toes.
• Yoga is more than fitness. It includes something for all levels of our being: lungs, organs, glands, emotions, mind, spirit, muscles.
• Yoga has the power to bring you into the present moment and accept yourself as you are.
• Yoga is a great way to feel connected in your community.
• Yoga classes are a way of encountering like-minded individuals.
• The breath is more important than the postures.
• Yoga is a friend for life.
• Yoga is the best preventative medicine and it costs nothing!
• Yoga is like a self-therapy and self-massage.
• Yoga is a gift passed on through the ages and never gets old.
• Every time you do a pose or take a breath you do it in a fresh new moment.
• Practicing with friends or loved ones increases understanding, intimacy, and belongingness.
• You can practice yoga on your own by listening to your own innate intelligence –
  that same intelligence that is there to heal your cuts and wounds.
• Yoga transcends race, culture, religion, class, and age.
• You can practice yoga when you are feeling well or not so well.
• Yoga just feels so complete.
• http://www.YogaAtYourWall.com

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I’m not drunk, but I just missed my mouth

Well, add another illness to the growing list of tropical diseases I’ve experienced here in the developing world: typhoid fever. Or at least that is what the blood test results vaguely showed. I still have my doubts. Explaining why would be too long of a story for this blog.

Since before Thanksgiving I felt dizzy, lightheaded, weak, unstable on my feet, and tired in a way that was unfamiliar to my body. In Spanish I would describe this feeling to my doctor as “borracha,”  drunk. I described it to my mother as “how you feel after having a high fever for several days.” She couldn’t relate. Drunk seems to get the point across more quickly.

I was at a Christmas party and I noticed that I kept missing my mouth when I sipped my wine. Interesting. Luckily, my summer dress was pink and burgundy.

I noticed I had to lean on the kitchen counter in the mornings while making coffee, as if I were on a fishing boat excursion for too long.

I didn’t drink anything last night on New Year’s eve; I didn’t have to. At least I didn’t spend any money!

Is this the last wall I will hit before my book Yoga at Your Wall is finally in print?

Stay tuned for more from “Typhoid Stefi…”

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Excerpt from Yoga at Your Wall

No coincidences.

During the past year as I wrote Yoga at Your Wall, I experienced one of the most challenging years of my life. As I practiced yoga at physical walls in NJ and Mexico, I also found myself against emotional walls, intellectual walls, and spiritual walls. So many distractions interfered with my writing. At times, what appeared to be stumbling blocks between me and completing this book were actually starting blocks motivating me to write more. Writing and yoga, yoga and writing became the safe places to be.

And as I write this blog, I am fiercely focusing on the page to stop the vertigo that started over a month ago. What do you think? Maybe it will go away once the publisher starts printing the book next week? Is it the last of the great walls before publication?

I offer this book to you in gratitude for getting me through a challenging year. If you find yourself against the wall, hitting your wall, or between a wall and a hard place in life, know that you are not alone. As you read these pages, keep in mind that I was encountering the largest and hardest walls in my life.

At the beginning, I had no electricity in the Caribbean cabin I call home. To order to keep writing, I relied on electrical outlets at friend’s homes and internet cafes. I wrestled with menopausal symptoms, allergies, and various tropical diseases which were all exaggerated by the intense summer heat and humidity. I swatted away a variety of tropical pests between paragraphs: scorpions, spiders, mosquitoes, flies, ants and another unidentified insect that bit in its own unique way. I scratched and itched during file saves.

A few weeks after the initial concept for this book began taking shape, my mom was rushed to the hospital in New Jersey. The diagnosis was heart failure. I shuttled myself back and forth between NJ and Mexico all year. And then there was the break-up of a very intense 6 year relationship, and learning to live alone in a foreign country.

Eventually I had electricity, but so did my neighbors. As I powered up my computer, they powered up their stereo and celebrated with thunderous music and around the clock parties—some lasting for 4 days. As the walls vibrated around me, I inserted my ear plugs and wrote more.

Practicing yoga is an act of kindness toward ourselves. Even if we dedicate 10 minutes a day to our own well-being, self-awareness, and spirit in the middle of chaos and drama, it is time well spent.I hope this book inspires you to practice more yoga— wherever and whenever you encounter walls!

Namaste,

Stephanie

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Yoga at Your Wall

Okay, okay. I will start a blog even if I don’t think anyone will read it.
That comment oozes doubt and low self-worth – those lovely codependent mental tendencies!

The book is finished and will be in print by February 2009.

The web site is http://www.YogaAtYourWall.com

I look forward to sharing this book. I hit all my emotional, spiritual and physical walls while I wrote this book.

I keep hitting them. You are not alone. You will read more about the walls I encountered and encounter on this blog. How could I write otherwise?

Read my blog life lessons from my 9 cats:

Brave adventures from Bat Kitty
Retreating from society from Reina
Paying attention to everyone from Pijamas
Jumping through windows from Junio
Clever entrances and exits from Cow Face Kitty (a.k.a. Gomukha in Sanskrit)
Seven Wonders from Seven (a.k.a. SIETE en Spanish)
Frolic time from Franki
Stealth from Sylvester
Cry when you need to from Little Cry Baby (a.k.a. Chilloncita in Spanish)

Editors, please write me at stefanipappas@hotmail.com if you would like a review copy.

Find me at Stephanie Pappas on Facebook.

Franki Yogi

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