Wow

Break ton Neck from Alex Yde on Vimeo.  via ElephantJournal

Even MORE Benefits Than We Thought

The US Women's Soccer Team missed tragedy by thatmuch in Vancouver on Tuesday night.  They decided to have an brief yoga session before finishing for the day, thus avoiding a fatal shooting in the lobby of their hotel.

All the details here.

And the benefits just keep coming.

Don't Wreck Yourself

Here is a response to "How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body", the New York Times article that has yogis across the globe hot under the collar.  Leslie Kaminoff is a yoga anatomy teacher in New York.

If you took the time to read the article, take the time to watch his video to get a different perspective.  I generally agree with what he says.  However, this is such a rich topic that no post or video can do it justice.  Just remember that your body's intuition always trumps an enthusiastic (and even well-informed) yoga teacher.  Always.  And the point of yoga is never about the postures.  Ever.  

It is such a strange phenomenon that modern yoga practitioners think they can tell yoga what yoga is, instead of realizing that yoga tells US what yoga is.  Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of consciousness in order to unite with our infinite life force.  The point is always to steady the mind and connect to the infinite life force.  That is how yoga defines itself.  If we want yoga to be something else, that's our issue, not yoga's issue.

I am pretty sure no one reads the Yoga Sutras I have posted to the left over there, but they are the defining text of yoga and a pretty comprehensive life manual.  Read them sometimes.

Legs in Standing Poses

Extended Legs and Feet

Warrior II Legs and Feet 

Warrior I Legs and Feet

Intense Side Stretch Legs and Feet

Standing Pose basics from class this week.  Look carefully at the relationship between the torso and hips, hips and knees and knees and feet.  Practice these simple variations and a world of standing poses is yours for the taking.

An Excellent Reminder

One of my students was nice enough to share a link to an excellent New York Times article which outlines the many challenges of practicing safe yoga.  Here's a link:

How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body

(Note:  Some of the instructions attributed to BKS Iyengar, while accurate, are from Light On Yoga and have since become outdated and replaced with safer instructions, like using blankets under your shoulders in shoulder stand, as mentioned near the end of the article.)

For You Anatomy Geeks Out There

Anatomy of the Foot

We are beginning our 2012 session with the feet and legs.  A lot of our poses will focus on the placement and action of the feet and legs so that means plenty of standing poses.

It may be helpful if you understand a little about the structures in the feet.  Don't expect to understand it all, just see the bones and how they define the shape and movement in the feet.

What Else Is There To Do?

Yoga is a demanding taskmaster.  It requires practice, discernment, attention and consistency.  Yoga asks us to take responsibility for everything in our lives.  It places us squarely in the face of reality.  Yoga demands our time and effort.  The practice of yoga is a discipline.  It requires precision and order.  It asks us to answer difficult questions.  It asks everything and expects everything in return.

Do you realize how much of your health and well-being you are in charge of?  Do you realize what you say, do and think has a direct effect on your overall health?  What are you doing about that?  Are you doing anything about that?  Are you wrangling your thoughts and behaviors in such a way as to invite health and well-being?  Or you are inviting discord and upset?

If you wish you were more flexible, yoga asks "what are you doing about it?".  If you wish you were stronger or more relaxed yoga asks, "what are you doing about it?"

Yoga IS a demanding taskmaster.  But, I ask you, what else is there to do but better ourselves through truth, compassion and consistency?  Won't tomorrow come anyway?   Won't you be happier if tomorrow comes and you are better because of the work you have done today?

I spend a lot of time taking care of my future self.  I know that every morning in need a giant hair clip to put up my wet hair.  If I see there is no hair clip in my haircare bowl, I make sure I get one there before tomorrow morning.  I know I will have a smoothie tomorrow morning for breakfast, like I have had for the past 15 years.  If I know that the bananas will run out before tomorrow's morning smoothie, I make sure to get some bananas before tomorrow morning.  And when those future moments come, and I have what I need, I am thankful for my past self that took care of my future self.

The time will pass, my friends.  How will you be when you get there?  Will you have all the hair clips and bananas that you need?  Will you be happy with the care to took yesterday to make yourself a better today?

Yoga has helped me understand all of that.  It has helped me take responsibility for myself and constantly strive for a better self.  These are not aloof, magical ideas to me but concrete realities.  Breathe. See. Feel. Be there. Work. Today matters.  

Because, really, what else is there to do?  

Welcome to 2012.  Let's walk with confidence into the New Year.  I think it will be great.  (And, yes, that means we will be working on the feet in our first session of 2012.  I think feet are awesome.)

Purity

Yoga is about poses, yes.  Yoga is also much more.  The poses are merely a platform to practice greater behaviors and concepts.  Any basic teaching of yoga also includes the Yamas and Niyamas, the first two limbs of the eight limbs of yoga.  They are social and personal behavioral guidelines.  They are:

Yamas: (social behavior)
Non-Violence

Non-Lying

Non-Stealing
Moderation
Non-Greed

Niyamas: (personal behavior)
Purity
Contentment
Passion of Conviction
Self-Study
Surrender

We strive to apply these guidelines to our thoughts, words and deeds.

If you are interested in a New Year's resolution, pick a yama or niyama and spend some time applying it to your thoughts, words and deeds.  Non-violence is pretty clear to most of us and may be a good starting place.  Something related to our own inner world, like contentment, may be more difficult to get a handle on.  Consider if you thought, spoke and behaved in a contented manner.  Wouldn't that be nice.  But, wow, what a challenge, isn't it?  Do you know someone like that?  Probably not many.  

Inspiration

I just can't find anyone else who inspires me more than BKS Iyengar.  See what a lifetime of dedicated practice looks like.  He recently celebrated his 93rd birthday.

Intense Side Stretch

Parsvottanasana

Intense (to the) Side Stretch Pose

(I am doing the pose with my left foot forward.  You should start with your right foot forward.  I will describe the pose as you see me doing it above.)

Begin at the top of your mat in Tadasana.  Step the right foot back and directly behind the left foot.  Keep hips facing forward.  Work to keep the back hip moving forward and down; the front hip up and back.  These actions should remain throughout the pose.

Place hands in reverse prayer position, heels of the hands press together.  Inhale and extend the spine up and back, lifting the chest and draping the upper back over the tips of the fingers.  Look up if you can.  Maintain that spinal length as you exhale and bend from the hips.

First, bring the abdomen to the thigh.  Lengthen the chest to the knee.  Continue and lengthen the chin (or forehead) to the shin.  

Maintain an even nature around your midline (the interior plumb line that runs through the center of the torso).  Feet press, legs are firm.  Breathe normally.

To come out, press firmly into the back foot as you inhale up.  Bend the legs slightly and step up.  Repeat on the other side.

Parsvottanasana offers many challenges.  It stretches the front-leg hamstring muscle.  It requires the feet to work for balance.  It strongly extends the spine and works the hips towards evenness while in an uneven pose.  

In class we practiced first with the hands at the hips, elbows back and lifting the chest while remaining upright.  Second with a bend at the hips and the hands on blocks, concaving the back.  Third with a bend at the hips and the arms behind the back, holding the opposite elbows.  You can vary the arm positions as you see fit.  I am executing the full expression of the pose but there are many variations along the way.

Reminder

All classes will be held on a drop-in basis this week.  Regular times.  Regular places.  Regular levels. 

A Mental Rinse

Here's a nice mental cleanser to the previous post.  YogaDork to the rescue, again.

Well..... this happened

Apparently there are some potential (and awful) risks to using the Neti Pot.  If you have a strong stomach, follow this link to the gory details.  If you don't have the stomach, just consider distilled water next time.

Bummer.

I'll search for something happy to post next time.

The Benefit of Yoga Butt

The cutest darn video I've seen in a long time.  Via YogaDork.

Is Downward Dog a Backbend?

Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Dog)

Downward dog is technically a spine-neutral pose.

However, if we section off the spine into upper spine and lower spine, we find that downward dog has forward bending and back bending qualities.

The lower spine, around the lumbar and sacrum (low back and pelvis) should display forward bending qualities.  They should maintain a round nature in the back, feeling as if the top of the pelvic rim is sliding down towards the sitting bones, which moves down towards the heels.  This helps draw the abdomen in towards the spine and helps prevent over stretching the hamstring attachment at the sitting bone.  Some of us have to work hard to feel those actions, others come by those actions more naturally.

The upper spine, around the base of the cervical spine (neck) down through the base of the thoracic spine (ribs) should display more back bending qualities.  That area of the spine and torso should press into the back body and the shoulder blades should move away from the spinal column and down the back.  Those are back bending properties.

Cat Pose

Cow Pose 

A few weeks ago some of us tried entering downward dog from cat and then from cow pose.  Cat pose offers a great opportunity to feel the proper position of the pelvis and abdomen in downward dog.  Cow pose highlights the proper upper back and shoulder work in downward dog.

This session we are working on back bends and shoulders.  Downward dog offers a unique opportunity  to strengthen the shoulders while giving a nice extension to the upper spine.

Since our postures are usually doing the opposite, however, downward dog can pose frustrating challenges.  It is worth the time and attention to work through the obstacles to the benefits.  We'll put some of that work in the bank this week.

Thanksgiving

Just a reminder that there is no Wednesday, Nov 23rd class this week.  It is a scheduled day off because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

There IS class Tuesday, Nov. 22nd, at 1:00pm and 7:00pm like normal.

Yin Yoga

Here is an introduction to Yin Yoga, which is our practice this week.

Although it is not a classic "restorative" practice, I am teaching it during our normal restorative week.  Yin Yoga is a challenging practice and, when part of our regular practice, can restore us to balance and mobility.  

To finish the class, we will practice a gentle Moon Salutation.  Our movements will be slow and smooth, bringing us right into a well-deserved relaxation.

I look forward to seeing everyone in class.

On Being a Musician

Musicians have to really love music to be able to make a living at it, or even play as a hobby.  Imagine being a well-known artist like James Taylor or The Rolling Stones.  Can you even imagine how many times they have played their hit songs?

I love to browse YouTube for live videos of some of my favorite artists.  I like to watch them live, as opposed to a produced video, because I love to watch musicians play together.  It's amazing to me how talented some people are and how they can synchronize so well, over and over and over again.  Wow, I think, they must really love that music because they sure do hear it a lot.  I wonder if they ever get sick of it.

And then I find myself practicing yoga.  Each pose having it's own tenor and tone.  Each pose requiring the mind and body to form a certain alignment and synchronicity.   Each pose feeling brand new each time.

And I prepare to enter a pose, repeating in my head the instructions I have learned from my teachers and recalling the data I have collected from previous practices, trying to integrate all of that in a single moment in time so I can fully express the pose in that single moment.

And I enter the pose, fussing and fidgeting until my body organizes as I ask it to, in a manner conducive to the pose at hand.

And I try to find the places in my body that are working really hard and I back off a little there.  I try to find the places that aren't working and I start to work them on purpose.  I try to have a consistent wrapping and infusion of effort and ease everywhere.

And I breathe.  I try to move the breath everywhere in my body, especially into those spaces that seem to have nothing to do with the pose.  I reach the breath into the base of my pinkie fingers as I breathe in a back bend or I send the breath across my forehead as I balance in half moon pose.

And I pause and just feel myself doing the pose.  I don't adjust anymore.  I don't try.  I just feel where I landed, after my most earnest efforts, and let the pose take over.  I let the landscape above and below my skin expand so I feel big and float-y, strong and steady.

And I remember all the teachers who have taught me that pose and I let my pose be a thankful expression to them.  I think of the yogis who came before me and did this same pose.  I feel part of a flow of time and teaching.  My body and mind hope to do their teaching justice.

And I am done and come out of that pose, sometimes into another pose and sometimes into rest.  I feel what has happened because I did the pose and I feel what has happened because I stopped.  I usually assess my execution of the pose in my head, happy with pieces and unhappy with others.

And I can begin to understand how musicians can play the same song over and over and never tire of the repetition.

I harbor a deep respect for musicians and their abilities.  I happen to be really bad at playing any instrument and I can't really sing very well so I express myself through the symphony of the body and the melody of the poses.  I am at once the songwriter , musician, conductor and audience.

Heard any good poses lately?

Tuesday Night Classes

Dear Tuesday Night Students:

Zumba has agreed to begin and end 10 minutes earlier so our classes do not overlap.  In return, I have agreed that we will not storm the room and will allow the Zumba students time to exit.

Into Winter

We are quickly approaching the beginning of our winter session which will bring us all the way to the end of 2011.

To help us stay warm and ward off the impending gray nature, we will be spending some time working on back bends and opening the chest and shoulders.

Physically, back bends help keep a healthy range of motion to the spinal column, bringing the spine into extension.  Commonly, our spines are in flexion, as we hunch over steering wheels, computer screens and slouch as we sit and wait somewhere.  I attended the Niles West Homecoming football game the other night and found myself easily falling into a heavy-shouldered, rounded back posture.  I made an effort to sit up straight and, although my back muscles were a little sore the next day, I know I was doing good work for my spine, muscles and internal organs.

Energetically, back bends warm the body and bring a bright, open feeling.  We can use the physical practice of back bending to bear on the emotional and social practice of facing life with a strong, open heart.  Yeah, I said it.

Intimately connected to a strong, upright spine is the complex shoulder joint.  We will practice stretching across the front of the chest to open the shoulders as well as opening and strengthening the side and back chest area.  Back bends are a great way to access these sleepy areas of the body.

We have an eight week session so we can look forward to two restorative classes and the ever-fascinating and never-ending quest for balance, integration, ease and well-being.

I can't wait.

To stay inspired, here's a little goodie.

 "Because my body is in pieces, so my mind is free."
-B.K.S. Iyengar