Bucket Lists by Nancy Weshkoff
Bucket Lists
By Nancy Weshkoff
This past week, I suffered a personal loss in my life. My Uncle Lenny, my mother’s brother and the last surviving sibling from my grandparents, passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was very special to me. Because he lived around the corner from my parents’ house, we saw him frequently. When I entered the work force, we were both employed in lower Manhattan near the former World Trade Center site. This gave me an opportunity to travel into New York City with Uncle Lenny and have some great talks. Even later in my life, when Moonflower Yoga opened its doors for the first time, Uncle Lenny was there with my Aunt Betty and cousin Catherine to wish me well and offer support.
During his memorial service, many wonderful memories of Uncle Lenny were discussed amongst the crowded room of people that came to say goodbye to a special man. He adored his children, grandchildren, and wife. Although his life was a simple one, he lived it to the fullest. He worked hard and was proud of his job. He raised a great family. When retirement came, he used it to do some projects, spend more time with his friends and family, travel whenever he could to explore something new, or do a simple challenge such as assembling a new jigsaw puzzle. His son, Lee, said at the memorial service that his father always emphasized that you should enjoy every single day that you are given. Uncle Lenny had no bucket list – he was happy with the life he led and cherished each new day. And even though he battled cancer and other illnesses for a couple of years, he still retained this positive attitude.
The mention of bucket lists sparked something inside me. Although it can be fun to dream about things to do in the future, we shouldn’t ignore the present moment that is in front of us. We all have some struggles in our daily life, and things may not go exactly the way we want them to go. Yet there are many wonderful simple things that happen to us each day that we may be ignoring: a beautiful sunrise or sunset, a hug from someone you love, a smile on a child’s face, a silly joke that someone tells you, etc. It is all of these things – and more – that make life special.
At Moonflower Yoga in Bellmore on Long Island’s Nassau County, I emphasize in my yoga classes the importance of being in the present moment and enjoying each day as it comes. When you stop worrying so much about things that may not happen in the future, you can feel so much better. And after having a great yoga class at Moonflower Yoga, we spend several minutes in quiet relaxation to appreciate the goodness of the present moment.
Are you feeling stressed and worrying too much about your own bucket list? Come and join us at Moonflower Yoga to feel better, de-stress, and learn to enjoy the beauty of the present moment. As with my Uncle Lenny, it is the culmination of many present moments that make a wonderful life.
Meditation by Nancy Weshkoff
Meditation
Written by Nancy Weshkoff
Meditation is such a wonderful tool. It brings you a sense of calm and inner peace. It can help tremendously with stress reduction. And in today’s crazy world of constant distractions and mega demands on our time, it is so important that we take just a few minutes to sit comfortably, breathe, and relax.
For some people, meditation is very challenging. I was one of those people. I just couldn’t sit comfortably and quietly. After just a couple of minutes, something would start to twitch, my mind would start to wander, and I couldn’t get to a peaceful place. Then I learned a few simple tips which I am sharing with you:
– When meditating, you want to be in the present moment. This means blocking out regrets from the past or worries about the future. I often liken our mind in meditation to turning on your television set and scanning through the channels. In meditation, we want to focus on one channel – the present – and stick with it. When other thoughts start to creep in, you simply acknowledge them and tell yourself that you don’t need to think about those right now. Then go back to the present.
– Being in the present moment does not mean that you may not hear sounds around you. You could hear a car drive by, a bird singing, a child playing, etc. You just acknowledge these as part of your present moment. But if you hear a car, you don’t let your mind start to think about your own car, having it serviced, etc. You just let it go.
– Your breath work is very important. If you are having difficulty concentrating, do a simple breathing exercise. Thich Nhat Hanh, who writes wonderful words of wisdom, offers this tip: Sit comfortably, breathe, and repeat to yourself several times “I breathe in. I breathe out”. This repetition helps to calm the mind and bring you to the present moment. After just a minute or two of doing this simple breathing exercise, you will feel better.
At Moonflower Yoga, I want to introduce meditation to more people. I know that its wonders can help people feel better and more relaxed. With this goal in mind, we have added a great new yoga class entitled “Present Moment Meditation”. This meditation class is offered at Moonflower Yoga on alternate Tuesday evenings at 7:45 PM. After a day filled with stress and demands, it is wonderful to give yourself an hour to feel calmer and more relaxed with a meditation class led by one of our great yoga teachers. Meditation will also help you to sleep better when your mind is calmer, and sleep is very important to being healthy. In our Present Moment Meditation class, you will be given other tools to help you meditate and reach this peaceful state. If you are in the area of Bellmore, New York, in Long Island’s Nassau County, come and try Moonflower Yoga’s great new meditation class on Tuesday nights! You will feel instantly better.
Moonflower written by Nancy Weshkoff
Moonflower
Written by Nancy Weshkoff
It is early October, a time when many of the summer plants have started to fade. No so for the moonflower plant. Each night when I leave the Moonflower Yoga studio, there is a beautiful white flower waiting for me on the front porch of the studio. The flower comes out at night, and the flower usually lasts one day. And the next evening there is another gorgeous flower to greet me.
Some people have asked me about the name “Moonflower Yoga”. Where did the name come from?
Well, the moonflower plant is one of my favorites. But it also symbolizes something else. While other summer plants start blooming early in their development, the moonflower plant is not that way. The moonflower plant takes it time. It grows a lot of foliage during the summer. And then at the end of the summer when the other plants have faded, the moonflower blooms, something that is unusual for a summer plant.
In many ways, I associate with the moonflower plant. If you don’t know my background, I spent many years working in corporate America until I was suddenly downsized. I decided to turn to the one thing that I always loved and which kept me peaceful – my yoga practice. After graduating from my teacher training program, I decided to take a giant leap of faith and open my own yoga studio. When considering possible names, “moonflower” seemed right to me. The moonflower plant is a bit like me. It took its time to develop into something strong and then blooms later in the season. I associate with this: I, too, grew from my years in the business world, but it is now, a bit later in life, that I am starting to bloom with having my own yoga studio that I truly love.
I hope you will come visit us at Moonflower Yoga in Bellmore, on Long Island, New York’s Nassau County. I have built a small yoga studio with great yoga teachers where we pay personal attention to you, which many of our students have come to love. Moonflower Yoga is a friendly, warm environment which encourages you to blossom as well. And, of course, come by and see our beautiful moonflower plant in action. Hope to see you soon.
