In other words, the way you live is the way you live, in good times and in bad, in life and in death.

Whether you are a yoga enthusiast or you're just wondering what this yoga thing is all about Simple Steps" is a gift I give to you to help you know and practice all Eight Limbs of the timeless system called yoga for bodymindspirit wellbeing.

Simple Steps are both easy and comprehensive. You would think that's an asset, yet I have noticed that when it comes to the big revelations in life, we humans often bag the simple answers. We think it has to be complicated or expensive, and run around seeking answers that have us slowly lose sight of the step by step breath by breath ways to handle it all.

The ways of being that support our innate ability to thrive form the substance of Simple Steps.

When I was just 18 years old I found my first yoga class at a local Adult Ed Center. Since I had just graduated from High School I was looking for something to take the place of my beloved gymnastics practice. Yoga seemed familiar.

At some point my teacher started extolling the merits of vegetarianism and drinking green tea. I wasn't interested. What did that have to do with stretching and why should I change my habits? The year was 1969 and it was all way ahead of the curve.

Still I persevered. For one thing, my chronic back pain was easing, relieved for longer periods of time. Unlike other athletic disciplines I engaged in, I actually felt better from yoga rather than worse.

While earning a degree in psychology and theology I became a seeker of knowledge and technique. Finding many of the revered Yogis of the day. I set my sails and traveled to study with each and every one of them. If they were available throughout the 70's and 80's, so was I. From B.K.S. Iyengar to Sri Pattabhi Jois I witnessed many masters with remarkable skills that I was eager to synthesize into my experience.

My education was dynamic and thorough. I learned about the heart of yoga and the meaning of the practice. I studied Paramahansa Yogananda and fell in love with his love. I learned the kriyas and started putting two and two together until step by simple step the practice itself changed my life.

Both of my pregnancies were natural and as near to effortless as such a thing could be. I found that my desires related to work, play and making a difference in the world did't decrease into some peaceful, self-absorbed oasis, but rather increased in intensity and clarity. The whole idea of a peaceful yoga of bliss was merely the outer expression of a brilliant inner life, and the mat was just the tip of the iceberg.

Pains that plagued me were no longer a bother. My eating habits synchronized with my physical needs. As life moved through me, so did my householder yogi status – no ashram walls for a working Mom rather the dedication of creation amidst the bustling world.

With time I added knowledge and training in divergent mindbody disciplines including Polarity Therapy, aikido, Rubenfeld Synergy, hypnotherapy, and various bodywork and energetic arts as my career simply unfolded as it needed to into the expression called Yokibics. My practice made it clear that my life direction was to live, to love and to teach.

Yo Ki Bics

Yo   To yoke, bind or connect.

Ki   Related to the Japanese use of the word for energy, it is life force itself.

BICS  The actions and movements that are the tangible result of an inspired impulse.

Yokibics is mind, body and spirit in action!
A simple recipe for a good life and all these years later yoga is still the basis of my experience.

Today you can take Practitioner and Teacher Training in Yokibics Principles with me. These are Certification Courses of Study as well as a unique Hands-On Spiritual Athlete Mentor-ship.

These advanced courses are specially designed to elevate your perceptual skills well beyond our normal conception of the five senses.

I am happy to share this knowledge with you, and I can help you lay the foundation for it yourself by going back to basics and laying out these 40 Simple Steps as a start.

Based on Patanjali's Eight Limbed Path I have assigned five examples to each of the eight limbs 40 steps in all. You can experience the love, the joy, the commitment and the diversity of this gorgeous system.

Before we start though, there's a word of warning. I'll give you nine of the biggest pitfalls loud and clear ok?

1.     You will want it to be more complicated

2.     You will have a tendency to read the information rather than BE the information

3.     You will say "I know" a lot - as if what really works has to be different from what is already known to you in order to be awesome. Note: it doesn't need to be different. It needs to be done.

4.     You will want to "understand" rather than allow

5.     You will want to be given solutions rather than find them for yourself

6.     You will be frustrated when answers aren't there at all but rather simply more of the journey

7.     You will resist the time it takes

8.     You will resist the change it asks

9.     You will resist the truth

Given that, are you ready?

Just a few minutes a day every day is all that is required to live a healthy awesome life.

Here we go - just do it.

OVERVIEW

SIMPLE STEPS outline the foundation of an age-old yoga philosophy that is a blueprint for health, happiness and peace of mind.

I have created a series of Simple Steps that you can take to incorporate each of the Eight Limbs of Yoga into your daily habits with bites size practices for each one.

Simple!

Choose 1 step from each of the 8 limb to balance and enlarge your transformative practice. Engage all 40 of the Steps and you will develop a rock and roll system of daily practices that will skyrocket your personal relationship with yoga.

Based on the eight-limbed path that forms the structural framework for a well-rounded practice, no one limb is elevated over another in hierarchical order.

Yoga (union) is not merely a physical practice.

Each of the eight limbs is part of a holistic focus which eventually brings completeness to your own bodymind system of health and wellbeing.

I wish someone had done this for me when I was looking for different esoteric and comprehensive systems for my own personal growth. This offering is my gift to you. Get well. Live. Love. Enjoy.

This offering is my gift to myself. If we can reach "The Hundredth Monkey" through something I have offered, then I have done myself a great service as well.

Enjoy!

INDEX to SIMPLE STEP PRACTICES

There are 8 Limbs of Yoga with 5 Simple Step examples for each limb. Choose at least one step from each limb to give you a touchstone with a complete Mindbodyspirit practice.

1. Yamas

The attitude we have to things and people outside ourselves.

5 Steps located on pages 6-10

2. Niyamas

Personal Observances; the way we relate inwardly to ourselves.

5 Steps located on pages 11-15

3. Asana

Body Postures.

5 Steps located on pages 16-24

4. Pranayama

Breathing Exercises.

5 Steps located on pages 25-31

5. Pratyahara

Conscious control of the senses.

5 Steps located on pages 32-37

6. Dharana

Concentration on inner perceptual awareness.

5 Steps located on pages 38-42

7. Dhyana

Devotion through meditation.

5 Steps located on pages 43-47

8. Samadhi

Union with the Divine Source and the experience of Joy!
5 Steps located on pages 48-53