Another great post from Michael Lloyd-Billington over at his new SpiritFit blog:

“...We all know certain foods serve better than others when it comes to providing energy and health. And we also know our spiritual values ultimately require us to have the energy to act. When we decide to eat things that aren’t ideal, we know on a certain level we are choosing to limit the energy we have to live our beliefs. Of course food is also a source of pleasure, and virtually all spiritual traditions would say it’s something we’re meant to enjoy. But this complex balance between “food as fuel” and “food as fun” gives us an opportunity to examine our self-awareness. Each time we eat, we have a chance to look at how much we wish to focus on our own pleasure and how much we want to think about serving those around us. By being more mindful, we can move toward a balance that runs closer to our beliefs, choosing foods that provide the right blend of pleasure and energy for service of others.”

Tags: SpiritFit

Monkey Yoga Shala in Oakland, CA has this great flickr set of photos, mostly of founder and co-director Tim Thompson doing some really beautiful and awesome poses.

And when I say “awesome” I mean it in its classic definition:

awesome |ˈôsəm|
adjective
extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear : the awesome power of the atomic bomb.
• informal extremely good; excellent : the band is truly awesome!

Tags: Photos

Fort Collins, Colorado-based Michael Lloyd-Billington is a yogic triple-threat: personal trainer, yoga teacher and raw food advocate. I had the pleasure of having him as a teacher-trainer at the very beginning of my professional yoga career. He is a kind and funny man with some great ideas about mind/body/spirit/yoga which he is beginning to express in a new blog: SpiritFit. Check out his first post about the connection between health and fitness and spiritual quest:

‘We all know what it’s like to have the state of our bodies influence or even over-ride our intentions. We’ve all had moments – probably very many, in fact – when we’ve been less patient or kind or present than we wanted to be simply because our bodies were tired or ill or simply not feeling good. We’ve all had moments when we’ve compromised values or failed to live up to them because our heads were a little less clear due to choices in diet or lifestyle or our bodies were “out of sorts.” The fact is, when we fail to care for our bodies it has a direct impact on our states of mind. And when our minds are not clear, it is extremely difficult or even impossible to live our spiritual beliefs.

‘By contrast, the Yogis realized that, when our bodies are healthy and peaceful, our minds naturally become more clear and controlled. And when our minds are centered, it is much, much easier for us to hold on to and work toward our values.’

Source: Spirituality and Fitness

From WNYC’s Leonard Lopate Show:

Please Explain: Emotion and Color
Friday, February 20, 2009

“Feeling Blue? Green with envy? Why not try putting on some rose-colored glasses. On this weeks Please Explain learn how color can have a tremendous effect on your mood. Dr. Andrew J. Elliot studies how we respond to color at the University of Rochester. Dr. David Brainard is professor of psychology and studies human vision and color perception at the University of Pennsylvania.”

Check out this amazing vogue “battle” from NYC featuring Andre Mizrahi vs. Javier Ninja



Some more very, very fierce vogueing (soundtrack NSFW) After the jump...

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