Day 270: Community and yoga studios

Tags

ashtanga yoga, primary series, yoga community, yoga studio

One of the key things that I believe make a yoga studio a success or not is it’s ability to create a sense of community. I believe that the community of a studio is very important. It has always played a huge part in my own choice of where to practice yoga. Finding that sense of community as a yoga teacher though can be challenging sometimes because you end up running all over town teaching in several spaces. Mostly yoga teachers are contractors not staff. It does change the dynamic a little bit.

With this in mind I have been making a real effort to go to some yoga classes at the spaces I teach at so that I can remember what it is like to be a student in each space. (thank you patient kind hard working and wonderful husband for watching our toddler while I do this).

This weekend part of that process involved me attending an Ashtanga class at a studio where I teach Yin Yoga. It was interesting being back in an Ashtanga space doing the primary series after so many years of doing different yoga. I really do like Ashtanga and it was one of the first styles of yoga I did that really hooked me. I can’t do all the vinyasas any more though. It just doesn’t agree with my wrists… but I love the sequence and postures. It was good to back doing this particular set of familiar shapes with my body… I noticed my breath is way smoother now than when I was a regular practitioner of Ashtanga but I am still not able to do all the postures… which is okay. I have realized at this point in my practice that postures is only a tiny bit of what yoga is really about.

Day 265: 108 Sun salutations for peace

Tags

global mala, Sun Salutations, surya namaskar, yoga for charity

Every year there is a fundraiser called a Global Mala where people (usually seasoned yoga practitioners) show up, donate some cash and then do 108 sun salutations in a row together. I went. I did not do anywhere near 108 sun salutations though. Locally the cash raised at the Mala was donated to the United Way which is a charity that helped me greatly in the past when I was a single mom. I felt it was important to be there but I had my two year old and didn’t think the actual “yoga” part of the day would go all that well. I was right.

Each volunteer yoga teacher taught 9 sun salutations. For the first 9 my toddler stayed on my mat… climbing on up me sometimes and cuddling me when I came down into chaturanga. Then for the next 4 or 5 she decided that being on my back was perhaps the coolest way to do a sun salutation. We took a break after that. Plank with a wiggly 25lb weight on your back wasn’t the funnest thing to do. The next 9 sun salutations involved my toddler running around the indoor soccer field where this event was being hosted with me chasing her, making sure she didn’t knock over the sound and audio visual equipment. I finally got her to settle (thank you Youtube videos and Iphone). The next instructor however was an intense “flow aerobic strength core work your butt off“ kind of teacher. She guided us through the most complex sun salutation I have ever done involving a lot of core strengthening work. I was tired and sore from the last two days of yoga I had been practicing. My form was getting weak. I was worried about injuring myself.  I stopped.

What I thought was interesting though is that many other people who stopped in the room were yoga teachers. It seemed many people were keen to do the 108 but a large percentage of teachers took breaks. I think probably many teachers have experience overdoing it. When you have yoga classes to instruct being sore or injured isn’t the best thing either. I don’t know why this dynamic surprised me… but it did.

So ya, I didn’t do much.. but it was very lovely to be a room with so many people practicing yoga together.

Day 79: My Nemesis, Downward Dog

Tags

Adho Mukha Svanasana, corrections in yoga, downward dog, power yoga, vinyasa

Most of the yoga sessions we have been doing in my yoga teacher training have been pretty mellow. I am learning a TON about alignment and posturing with this slowed down focus and attention to detail. Last night however we had a guest teacher (Guy Friswell Yoga) who taught a quicker Vinyasa style flow class. It was so much fun. Guy is a dynamic, inspiring and genuine teacher. Ohhhhh how I have missed flow. I love the energy and the heat generated. I felt sooooooo good after that class. I wish I could do flow all the time. Unfortunately my body is one that has been hurt by doing fast paced yoga classes with improper positioning so I have learned to be really careful in these faster classes. I really have to limit how often I do them. Repetitive strain injuries aren’t fun : (

After our wonderful heated class we broke down my nemesis posture, Downward Dog. EVERY problem area of my body gets worked on in this posture. Tight hamstrings?, Oooops my back is too rounded, let correct that. Tight shoulders? Ooops my chest needs to open more. WHAT? Now my elbows hurt? Corrected that. Ahhhh my wrist! Okay.. corrected that. Really.. it just keeps going.

The funny thing is this is a RESTING posture. I remember when they said that during first yoga class I ever attended. I think it was about three years before I tried yoga again. If that was resting I didn’t want to see what working was. I was in agony. So why do they always do it in classes? It is amazing. It balances all your chakras. It undoes so many of the bad habits we have in our modern bodies. It is a wonderful pose. The best part? I have been corrected in it in a zillion ways now. I am pretty damn familiar with this pose and what can go wrong in it. I feel confident teaching it.

Day 50: Upside down

Tags

asana, headstand, pranayama, Shaolin monks, shoulder stand, yoga

I was feeling a lot better tonight so I actually did what felt like the first real yoga session in a while. I ended up focusing on asanas to help with immune system function and general cold symptoms. (You know.. the ones I avoided yesterday). I also did head stand again for the first time in a long time. Surprisingly it is still pretty comfortable and I can hold the pose easily without putting any pressure on my neck. I quite enjoy inversions… As a kid I was always found hanging upside out of a tree or on the monkey bars. *Oh and by the way.. I didn’t do the Shaolin style headstand shown to the left. I just LOVE some of the crazy pictures of things Shaolin monks can do. 

50 minutes of Mixed Yoga

• 3 Sun Salutations
• Runner’s Lunge
• Runner’s Lunge with chest opening twist
• Half Moon (Bikram style/Ardha Chandrasana with Pada Hastasana
• Child’s Pose
• Pigeon (4 minutes)
• Seal (1 Minute)
• Cobra
• Shoulder Stand
• Plow
• Knee to Ear Pose (Karnapidasana)
• Head stand
• Legs up the wall (five minutes)
• Bound Angle
• Savasana (five minutes)
• Meditation (10  Minutes )
• Alternate Nostril Breathing

Day 43: Ups and downs

Tags

healing benefits of yoga, yoga, yoga boredom. yoga frustration, yoga breathing. meditation. pranayama

I have been struggling a bit getting around to doing yoga. It seems I get into a rhythm where everything is going smoothly and then “thud”..  it all goes away. I get stiff again. I wonder why I made this stupid yoga commitment to myself. I get bored of it. I get bored of writing about it. I get tired. Yoga starts to feel like a chore. Thankfully these moments come and go. Part of this exercise is to watch the bored and frustrated moments, notice how they feel, and keep on doing yoga regardless.  I can’t believe this is day 43. Are you guys sick of me yet???

Whenever I don’t know what to do during my yoga session I look up “yoga for.. whatever is bothering me“. It is kind of fun. There is yoga for ANYTHING. Sad? Try yoga? Horny? Try yoga? Fat? Try yoga? Addicted? Try yoga. Really. Yoga is for EVERYTHING!!!! Today I looked up “Yoga for Sinusitis“. Lo and behold!!! Plow, head stands and shoulder stands are good for your sinuses. So I mixed that into my yoga session and you know what? My sinuses do feel better. Mind over matter? Or does yoga really fix everything?

45 minutes of mixed yoga

• 3 Sun Salutaions
• Downward dog
• Downward dog three legged twist
• Cat cow pose
• Kneeling twists (Thread the needle)
• Japanese kneeling
• Shoulder stand
• Plow
• Little Bridge
• Fish
• Bikram’s spine strengthening series
• Alternate nostril breathing
• Meditation
• Savasana

Day 38: Muscle pretzel?

Tags

asana, Bette Calman, Crane Pose, elderly yoga, inspiring elderly women, Iyengar Yoga, Vanda Scaravelli, yoga

I’m working on getting my physical capability up to doing this sequence. It feels like an impossible task. Practice makes perfect though.. right? I’ve improved a lot at crow since I last tried it.  I sort of did extended side crow too. I had my legs up for maybe one second. I don’t think I am doing it right. Or maybe I am but it is just bloody difficult.

I have posted a photo of Bette Calman. She is 83 and still teaches yoga. I think she was one of the TV yoga teachers of the 1970’s. Women like her inspire more than I can really explain. Another older woman I am a HUGE fan of is Vanda Scaravelli. I was first introduced to her when I read Awakening the Spine. Her approach was so simple and beautiful. She didn’t even start doing yoga until her mid-forties and as far as I know was still teaching well into her 80’s.

45 minutes of mixed yoga

• 3 Sun salutations
• Warrior 1
• Warrior 2
• Extended side angle
• Forward angle
• Forward angle 2
• Humble warrior
• Vinyasa
• Crow
• Side angle prayer
• Side angle bound
• Lizard
• Vinyasa
• Squat
• Squat prayer
• Extended side crow
• Revolved angle prayer
• Revolved angle bound
• Vinyasa
• Triangle 2
• Forward angle
• Revolved triangle
• Revolved side angle
• Savasana

Day 37: Down by the sea!

Tags

classical yoga texts, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Swami Vivekananda, yoga humour

I love it when I have a sitter and I get to do yoga during the day. I have so much more energy for it. I went down to the water again (by my house) but set my mat on a level concrete slab this time instead of the grassy hill. It was much easier to do yoga on the  hard flat ground. I do like doing yoga in the grass and sand but it changes it. When I want to really focus on form and technique flat hard surfaces work the best. Which brings me to a funny topic.. yogic texts. I have read some of the classic yoga texts and they certainly have some fun descriptions of where to do yoga.

From the Yoga Mala by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois
“The practice of Yoga should be in a place that is spotlessly clean and level, have windows, and be suitable for smearing with cow dung.”

From Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda
“Where there is fire, or in water or on ground which is strewn with dry leaves, where there are many ant-hills, where there are wild animals, or danger, where four streets meet, where there is too much noise, where there are many wicked persons, Yoga must not he practised. ”

Yup.. certainly need to take some of these instructions with a grain of salt.. or at least realize that they were written for a different audience.

45 minutes of mixed yoga

• 3 Sun Salutations A
• 3 Sun Salutations B
• Intense Side Stretch with hands in reverse prayer (Parsvottanasana)
• Wide stance forward bend A, C and D
• Wide stance forward bend with a twist to each side
• Cat cow stretch
• Other random kneeling back stretching poses
• Cow Face Pose with eagle arms (3 minutes each side)
• Yin Square Posture (3 minutes each side)

Day 33: My mind is in outer space

Tags

clicking joints, lucid dreaming, mental aspects of yoga, relaxation, Yin Yoga, yoga, yoga with a mild injury

I found I could do sun salutations last night without bothering my toe as long as I skipped plank. Standing doesn’t hurt. It is only when when things bonk the very top of my toe that I feel any pain.  I was glad to be able to do a bit of movement because my body was very achy from walking with a bit of a limp all day. I think the stretching was good for me. My foot kept clunking and clicking too as I moved it. Not in a bad way but almost as if some cramps were getting undone. Why do things click and clunk in our body?? That isn’t actually bones moving around is it?? I have so much to learn about anatomy and how things works.

I did a bit of active yoga and then settled into some calming Yin Yoga. When I was doing the Yin I went pretty far away mentally. I wasn’t asleep but I certainly didn’t feel awake either. It was like I was in a dream. When I stopped doing the yoga and got ready for bed I felt very odd. You know when you “wake up” in your dream. Lucid dreaming? It was like that. I was very relaxed but felt kind of out of it. I slept very deeply again.

45 minutes of mixed yoga

• 3 Sun salutations (sans plank)
• Cat/Cow stretch
• Bikram Yoga’s Half Moon Posture with Hands to Feet
• Reclining Bound Angle Pose ( (5 minutes each side, Yin style)
• Seated wide legged forward fold (5 minutes each side, Yin style)
• SeatedlLeft and right forward fold (5 minutes each side, Yin style)
• Reclining twists (5 minutes each side, Yin style)
• Savasanah

Day 31: Interruptions and distractions

Tags

asana, distraction, vinyasa, yoga

I think I did half an hour of yoga tonight. I am not sure. I did one section of that sequence I am trying to commit to memory but got interrupted several times by several things (mostly my kids). One asana that I have never done before tonight but loved was Humble Warrior. There there was another new one to me…  the Extended Side Crow. I couldn’t figure it out. There was a lot of falling over and no balancing at all. I will have to come back to this one, maybe with some help from a teacher. I felt a little clumsy in my body tonight and had a hard time concentrating. Such is life. Some days yoga feels great. Some days I don’t feel much at all when I do yoga. Today was kind of blah.

• Warrior 1
• Warrior 2
• Extended side angle
• Forward angle
• Forward angle 2
• Humble warrior
• Vinyasa
• Crow
• Side angle prayer
• Side angle bound
• Lizard
• Vinyasa
• Squat
• Squat prayer
• Extended side crow
• Vinyasa
• Triangle 2
• Forward angle
• Revolved triangle
• Revolved side angle
• Vinyasa
• Revolved angle prayer
• Revolved angle bound
• Wide legged bend
• Vinyasa
• Savasana

Day 29: Does it really take 28 days to form a habit?

Tags

ashtanga, discipline, habit forming, moon days, physical comfort, rest, yoga

I am feeling pretty good with how things are going in such a short amount of time. I’m not anywhere near the skill level I used to be at with yoga but things are moving along quickly and I am feeling confident. I can’t believe how different I feel about going into a teacher training now compared to how I felt a month ago. It feels okay. I get less and less worried as the time gets closer. My body is opening up again and I am feeling comfortable and more relaxed than I have felt in over a year.

They say it takes around 28 days to form a habit. I don’t know that I am really in the habit of yoga yet but it is certainly feeling more natural in my body.  In the Ashtanga tradition they don’t practice on moon days (days of rest on the full and new moon). Honestly I think that is about how often I have really wanted to bail on this whole challenge. Roughly every 14 days. If I ever do a challenge like this again I will add rest days in. Sometimes “nothing” is the right thing to do for our bodies.

1 hour of Hatha Yoga

• 3 Sun salutations A
• 3 Sun salutations B
• Balancing stick pose (Tuladandasana)
• Dancer
• Tree
• Toe stand (Padangustasana)
• Wide legged forward fold (Prasarita Padottanasana C)
• Wide legged forward fold (Prasarita Padottanasana D)
• Warrior 1
• Warrior 2
• Extended side angle
• Forward angle
• Side angle with prayer (Utthita Parsvakonasana)
• Side angle with bind (Utthita Parsvakonasana) I used to do this one but will say it was a struggle this time and I couldn’t only get the bind on the left side
• Triangle
• Staff
• Forward fold (Uttanasana)
• Forward fold (Uttanasana with hands under feet)
• Bridge
• Lying Twists
• Savasana