Now Dave has a new book out, where he shares more of his unique perspective on practicing yoga without being vegan, snobby, or too serious. He also spills a lot of stories from his own journey into yoga, and why he thinks wine, chocolate, and a great iPod playlist make a practicing all those asanas even more perfect.
Before we get into all the wisdom he's gained out of "dropping a yoga bomb" on L.A., shaking his man boobs (he said it, not me), and opting out of a career in sports PR to dance (badly), (try) to meditate, and being a married woman's boy toy (again, his words), let me say this: I adore Dave because he reminds me a lot of a friend of mine from high school who regularly got me in hot water with our French teacher because he made me laugh, passed me silly notes, and did awful impressions of other students in our class. The thing is, despite all that distraction, I somehow absorbed a lot of French and got great grades that year. I imagine taking a class or sitting in on a Yoga + Chocolate workshop with Dave is quite similar -- you're so busy laughing, rolling your eyes, and listening to Bob Marley, you don't even realize how much centering, Eastern principles, and bliss you are absorbing until it is time to roll up the mat.
Dave shared a bit about his book with me recently, and even gave some extra insights, all just for Shine readers. Here's what he had to say.
Your book is all about "Livin' the Moment." How can you live in the moment if you have a busy life and packed schedule? Can you get what you need out of yoga in ten minutes?
I suggest you keep a Beautiful-Funny-Delicious Moment Journal, and there's one at the back of my book. If you are grinding out and stressed out, this can be a checklist that pulls you out of it. You list beautiful-funny-delicious moments you encounter throughout the day, and it helps you break life into moments rather than living life in a blur.
What's next, after we do this journal?
We are continuously paying partial attention to things. Our minds are paying attention to multiple things at once. We ride that blur during a normal day, and we don't remember moments at all. We can reconfigure the mind so it experiences and appreciates moments.
How have you seen this change people?
In my Yoga + Chocolate workshops, we have a class and then taste these amazing chocolates. People are so relaxed. First, we sweat and get tired, and then we sample all these exploding flavors. It is a moment of sensual ecstacy that's possible because we are relaxed and enjoying being deeply in the moment of where we are.
It is a reminder that there's more to life than multi-tasking. Part of it is teaching people that we've become glorified computers, emailing, texting, filing, and spitting out details. If you think back to 1994, life was totally different. Since then, we've become computers. These moments are a reminder to people of what it was like to be a human being, what it is like to experience all the senses.
In your workshops and in your book, you encourage people to drink wine and eat chocolate, which some people have really tagged as "bad" if you want to be healthy. Why do you think they are actually healthy in combination with yoga?
When you use ritual, when you do yoga, when you listen to music, it slows you down, it slows the senses. By the time you come to the wine or chocolate part, you don't want to devour it. The key is to live with moderation and to connect with the moment.
What are the 5 things you feel like you are here to tell people about living the moment? What do you want the rest of us to know?
I am learning this as I am teaching it. It's a process.
1. What's the first thing you do in the morning? Do you run to your computer? I used to be like that. Try to replace that with some sacred action -- prayer, deep breaths, a walk. What you do first thing in the morning is deeply symbolic of how you come to that day.
2. Make sure to laugh. One of my favorite sayings is, "A personw ithout a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs, jolted by every pebble in the road." Life is a grind. Be sure to have fun with it.
3. Eat dessert. If like is going to be this hard, you deserve it. I know it's not the health advice you will get from a nutritionist. I might get backlash for saying it. I am not saying have a late night gorge. But enjoy a little bit every day. Satisfy the soul and palate. If you do that, if you have that mindset, you are not going to gorge. You will create rituals out of dessert and create an experience for yourself, see it as self-care.
The simple pleasures can provide just as much peace as a dinner at a fancy French restaurant. In this bad economy -- when so many people are cutting vacations and expensive dinners -- little things like dessert can bring us just as much pleasure as those things we've given up.
4. Take a moment. Take a five minute nap. Do something to disengage your mind each day. Follow the philosophy for a few mintes that you have "nowhere to go, no one to be, nothing to do."
We get so caught up in our routines and that makes us have a hard time being creative and insightful. If you can take your lunch time to disengage and pull your mind away from the world around you, you will regain that creativity and insight.
5. We need more touch. We are all deprived of touch, and this deprives us of something we need to heal, to feel nurtured and comforted. We need to reach out more.
This is all great advice, but how do we find people of a like philosophy where we live?
Find a yoga teacher who works for you. There are so many yoga teachers now. First and foremost, listen to word of mouth recommendations. Ask your friends for names of yoga teachers they love. You can also ask at studios. Ask the person at the desk which teacher they recommend. Find your way to a teacher by asking.
Many people who've never taken yoga won't do it again if they don't connect with a teacher. That is such a loss! Instead, ask! Find another teacher you connect with and be open to shifting your lifestyle.
Read more by David Romanelli here in Healthy Living on Shine. His recently released book, Yeah Dave's Guide to Livin' the Moment: Getting to Ecstasy through Wine, Chocolate, and Your iPod Playlist, is now available here or at bookstore near you. You can sign up for his irreverent newsletter at .
