WINTER 26
FIND FOCUS THIS WINTER
6 THINGS: for your winter
1. MUSIC: class playlists
2. SNOWBOARDING & THE YOGA SUTRAS
3. EDM MUSIC: house DJ Danger Foley
4. YOGA: hanumanasana aka the splits
5. FOR THE OFFICE WORKER: shoulder flossing
6. ILHA GRANDE, BRAZIL: I solo traveled here
thank you for reading! with love, monica meas
1. MUSIC
CLASS PLAYLISTS: 60 MIN, 45 MIN, 60 MIN. Listen at monicameas.com/music
2. SNOWBOARDING & THE YOGA SUTRAS
Eyes closed, I take a deep breath in through my nose. As I exhale, my eyes open to meet a white gust of cold air in front of my face. My shoulders relax and my stomach softens. I place my hands on the snow around my seat and I look around: the evergreen trees are lined with whispers of powdery white snow, rising and falling with the curves of the mountain tops.
Beneath the trees, I can see trails of white powder caressing the sides of the mountains from top to bottom. If I squint a little, I can almost make out the few skiiers and snowboarders gliding downhill with powdery contrail clouds tailing their heels. My ears meet the whooshing sounds of wind with the occasional bird noise or crunch of snow.
I’m alone at the top of the trail. Taking another deep breath in, I bend down and start tightening the straps on my snowboard’s bindings. In the moments before I drop in, I think about the delicate balance of concentration and freedom required with negotiating down the lines of a mountainside.
As my board crunches and curves downhill through the snow, my mind enters a state of meditative concentration. My eyes read the snow in front of me and my body responds, turning my board with it. In the Bhagavad Gita, Sutra 3.1 touches upon Dharana - Concentration. The 6th of the 8 Limb Path says Desha Bandha Chittasya Dharana, translates from Sanskrit into: Concentration Is The Binding Of The Mind To A Single Place.
The 7th Limb is Dhayana – Meditation, Sutra 3.2 which says that we can only truly see ourselves when the mind becomes quiet and still. Our minds cannot meditate unless we concentrate. For me, sitting still in a room can be really hard and I know there are apps for that kind of stuff but that is just not my jam.
In a world that is noisy and loud, it can feel impossible to turn off our brains. If our thumb isn’t meditatively scrolling through our feed, then we might be thinking about what we have to do the rest of the day. Finding a pocket of time to turn off our brain and body feels like a feat, forget about meditation.
Since I was a young girl, all my report cards were consistent: can’t sit still, can’t shut up. If there was a meme to describe me, it would be: smart girl, lacks focus.
I don’t know if there is a word to describe the energy I have, FOMO of life maybe? Constantly curious, I love learning more about the world and people. I love asking questions and saying ‘yes’ to anything that seems fun and worth my time. This love of life has brought me wonderful experiences and friendships. Once I came into adult money, I was like “okay, let’s go”. Living in Manhattan post-college, the city was the perfect playground for me to indulge in everything and anything. I loved my life. My phone was constantly blowing up and my weekends were full.
After 8 years though, the sparkle of the city started to dim. I started being late to everything that required me to go into Manhattan proper; I noticed that I was cherry-picking my plans more and was always secretly plotting my Irish exit to leave the function.
Time on my bed and couch seemed more inviting, but also more impossible, as time went on. I felt like I didn’t have a moment to breathe, a pocket of time for my mind to unwind itself. I craved time alone.
SENSE WITHDRAWAL - PRATYAHARA, SUTRA 2.54
In the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient yogic text, there is a story about the Upanishad warriors riding a horse-pulled chariot across a battlefield from point A to point B. As the horse travels, his nose perks up because he smells some hay – the chariot veers right. Then his eyes brighten: there’s a bright green patch of grass ahead so the chariot veers left. There’s some detours but the chariot eventually get to Point B; their path was not linear but they still made it.
In life, growth is never linear. There are detours, zig zags, U-Turns and even some extended rest stops. Sometimes we get to where we want to go, and sometimes we never do – our path might have changed or we just simply got distracted. Our senses drive our actions; we see something we like and we indulge. We scroll on our phone and our eyes connect with something cool and bam!, hit of dopamine or an ‘add to cart’. And we are all guilty of playing a song on repeat 10+ times. Our world is driven by external forces and we are influenced by what our senses are consuming. In the story, the chariot represents our mind and the horse represents our senses. If we don’t have control over them, our lives will run chaotic.
Our bank accounts can run low and our social batteries can run empty.
Think about 11 from Stranger Things.
Once she entered the salt sense deprivation tank, she was able to harness the true extent of her whimsy powers and become super powerful. How strong can I be, if I have the control to turn off the world around me? In the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient yogic text, Sutra 2.54 explores Pratyahara – withdrawal of the senses. When I’m snowboarding alone, I feel so at peace because the entire world is quiet around me. At home, I constantly have my phone on ‘do not disturb’ to decrease my screentime distractions. There’s a way to have it on without letting anyone else know, so that way I feel protected in my technological moments of peace.
MEDITATION - DHYANA, SUTRA 3.2
Living in Manhattan, I think I started losing a piece of myself because I was so caught up in the external world around me that I was not investing enough in my internal world. We must quiet the world around us, to look inward, to truly see ourselves.
This is not a ‘Manhattan burnt me out’ story, because I love that place, but this is a ‘I burnt myself out’ story. In a traditional yoga class, the teacher allocates time at the end for savasana – corpse pose. In the practice of yoga, we move our bodies through the physical Asana (Sutra 2.46) practice to prepare our minds for meditation – which is savasana.
As a teacher, I know that these precious moments of stillness at the end of class may be the only time my students have for themselves; on or off the mat. I honor that and before I close out, I express my gratitude to my students for sharing their light with me.
Being alone in our thoughts can be scary for people and rest can feel like a risk. It can also feel like a waste of time. In a world rooted in productivity, our minds are geared to optimize and strategize every waking moment we have.
Off the yoga mat, we need to find moments of stillness for our mind to restore and unwind. It does not have to be in savasana or alone in your room with a self timer. It can be via something you love, something that lights you up.
In the world of sports, athletes are known to enter this thing called a ‘flow state’ where the body goes into auto-pilot and they enter a state of meditative concentration. There is both freedom and control; and that is the delicate balance of what our minds and body move through when we are either on the yoga mat or doing something we love.
For me, that is snowboarding and listening to music. I enter this state of meditative freedom when I’m riding my board or at an electronic music show; it brings me joy and it lets my mind get lost in the moment.
PHYSICAL PRACTICE - ASANA, SUTRA 2.46
For you, reader, think about what brings you joy. Think back to what you used to love to do as a kid: playing outside, ramming monster trucks together (me), dressing up Barbie dolls, watching your grandma knit… Now, think about how can you weave that into your adult life.
Do any of those things have the potential to bring you joy now? Dressing up Barbie dolls can translate to starting a Pinterest board for fashion fits. Ramming monster trucks can translate to watching F1 or MotoGP, or maybe buying a car Lego set to tinker with. All those things can be yoga; you are practicing both concentration and freedom. Entering a state of locking in accomplishes 2/8 limbs on the 8 Limb Path: Sutra 3.2 Meditation – Dhayana and Sutra 3.1 Concentration – Dharana.
I moved to Colorado last year and I truly felt alone; in a good way and a bad way. My second week, I cried getting lost looking for a coffee shop .5 mile from me. I questioned my decision heavy and I felt like I was losing a part of myself. I missed my friends and my community. Maintaining my physical Asana practice (Sutra 2.46) kept me sane and in control. But, I felt like I was losing sight of the big picture of the ‘why’ I moved and couldn’t concentrate on a single goal or action item on my to-do list.
My body felt rested, but my mind was moving a million miles a minute: I felt like I needed to rebuild my life overnight. Book all the doctor appointments, find a nail salon, buy a car, find an Asian grocery store…life things. On top of that, I did not have my community at my home studio YogaRenew. I also no longer had my best friends on the same coast as me. And it’s really hard making new friends as an adult!
CONCENTRATION - DHARANA, SUTRA 3.1
Feeling kind of friendless, I started investing in my passions more: electronic music and snowboarding. Whenever I needed some fresh air at electronic shows, I went outside and there were always some other loners out there too. I’m naturally chatty so the conversations were always lovely and fruitful; I started to really love going to shows alone because of the volume of heartfelt talks I was having with strangers-turned-friends in the smoking section. To this day, I still am in contact with a lot of them and have seen them at numerous shows since our initial encounters.
At the yoga studio, I would hang out after class and yap. On the mountain, I started noticing riders going down the same runs as me - then running into them at the bar for apres.
My perspective on friendship and community has been shifting.
Why put in the work to find people to bring to the things I love, when I can just meet people there?
When you invest in what you love, you naturally start to meet people who love the same thing.
Meditation and ‘flow state’ can originate from everyday pleasures and simply doing what curates joy. There’s this common misconception of what yoga is “supposed” to look like; a Instagram perfect pose or strict idea of what meditation is supposed to be. It is just what brings you joy and allows your mind to breathe, to truly release and to exhale the weight of our thoughts.
Meditation can be dancing to a dubstep DJ in a dark room, or belting out Olivia Dean in a karaoke bar. It can also be sitting at home, listening to jazz music as you read a book. Or driving down the freeway with an oldies rock song on blast. There are online communities; Facebook groups and sub-Reddits to strike conversation and dive deeper into your passions.
I promise you, there is a community out there for everything. Meditation can happen anywhere. As I said before, meditation comes from concentration. Concentrate on what you love.
And concentrate on it deeply, because that can be yoga too.
3. EDM MUSIC
DANGER FOLEY: Yoga instructor to house DJ
STREAM DANGER: Season of the Sun, Love Letter to the Goddesses (on SoundCloud)
ORIGIN STORY: Got hit in the head at show, ended up in a neck brace, started DJing
YOGA: In vinyasa yoga, the sun salutations sequence is meant to built heat in the body. 'Season of The Sun', Danger's track with Roland Clark (from Fatboy Slim!) honors the rising & falling of the sun as it moves through the day.
MENTAL HEALTH: Danger founded the Learn to Fly Project, a 501C3 platform for musicians to share exclusive drops & discuss their mental health openly with fans
BRAIN POWER: Neuroscience & Media Studies degrees. She likes to design intellectually engaging AND rhythmically compelling sets
ARTISTS ONLY: Understanding the struggles of tour life, she founded Danger Den - a sanctuary for artists to unwind & create. Offerings: yoga, sauna, mental health counseling, production equipment, fresh meals
4. YOGA
HANUMUNASANA (SPLIT): A safe & accessible way to go deeper
PROPS: 2 blocks, 1 blanket. Blanket folded in half, in front of mat. Props on highest setting
CUES
⋆ Start in Anjaneyasana, right foot forward on the blanket
⋆ Soften your shoulders and belly
⋆ Slowly start straightening out your front leg as your seat starts to lower towards the ground
GO DEEPER
⋆ Press your heel into the blanket
⋆ Spread out your toes, like there are cotton balls in-between your toes
⋆ Flex your big toe towards your forehead
⋆ Windshield wiper your foot from right to left. Let the blades of your feet get personal with the mat
⋆ Roll your ankle towards the right, then left, pointing your toes when your foot faces forward
MAKE IT RESTORATIVE
⋆ See that gap between your thigh and the mat? Fill it with a pillow/bolster or rolled up blanket
DROP IN
⋆ Soften the front of your knee
⋆ Soften the top of your upper thigh
⋆ Close your eyes and let your belly loosen
VIDEO: monicameas.com/hanumunasana-split
5. FOR THE OFFICE WORKER
SHOULDER FLOSSING: Typing all day causes shoulder & neck tension. This will floss the muscle fibers around your shoulder joints
PROPS: yoga strap, OR a belt, rope, ribbon…
CUES
⋆ Hold out the strap at arm's width distance in front
⋆ Bring it to shoulder height
⋆ Ensure there is no slack, aka the strap is tight
⋆ Slowly, bring the strap overhead
⋆ Lower the strap behind you, towards your lower back
⋆ Lift the strap overhead, in front of you, to the tops of your upper thighs
⋆ Maintain this forward & back motion at a slow pace
GO DEEPER
⋆ Keeping the strap tight, move the strap to the right side of your body and then the left
⋆ Create circles around your body, with the tight strap
⋆ Pause where it feels sticky, spend more time there
6. SOLO TRAVEL
ILHA GRANDE, BRAZIL: Only reachable by boat, this car-free island is where I spent my 23rd birthday
HOSTEL: Balaio, $38 USD a night
TO DO: Drink, hike, chill, surf
GETTING THERE: 1. ~95 mile bus ride from Rio de Janeiro to the port at Conceição de Jacareí. 2. Boat ride to Vila do Abraão
LOPES MENDES BEACH: The whitest and bounciest sand ever. On the morning of my bday, I took a 20min boat ride from Ilha Grande here and there was only one other person on the beach. Gorgeous
VILA DO ABRAAO: I was on a nightly beach walk and outside a bar, I saw my German lover from my Rio de Janiero hostel. Good vibes in the vila - restaurants, bars…its popping
PICO DO PAPAGAIO: Hike through the jungle!
Thank you for letting me share my light with you,
Monica Sor Meas
