Anusara

I'm loving the new set-up of my apartment. I watched an old episode of Law and Order SVU from the bed last night and I could actually *see* the television for a change (it used to live waaaay across the room). And I installed a light over the bed for optimal pre-sleep reading enjoyment.

I *adore* my little window seat. I've always wanted one. Sure it's a bit manufactured, but I can sit and watch the sun rise from this spot in the morning. And I had tea at my tiny kitchen table this morning.

Living in such a tiny space is something I've grown accustomed to and I'm skilled at using the square footage of have in the most efficient possible way. But I've raised the bar this time - my apartment has never been so functional. I guess I'll stay here for another couple years ;-)

I woke this morning determined to do my practice before anything else. I felt dance-y, so I did a half-hour of Journey Dance (moving through my now-larger space with delight), then a half-hour of Anusara. I was soaked in sweat by the time I finished.

I'm finding myself drawn back into Anusara lately, spontaneously doing handstands around the apartment, engaging in more 'voluntary' backbending. ;-) It's interesting how a daily practice allows me to meander down these paths - dance, difference styles of yoga. Some days, it feels like sheer drudgery, but on others, it's like play.

Yin

Today was a total bliss-out day. I woke this morning and resolved that the day would truly be a Friday full of Goodness. To start, I walked the dog for an hour in the sunshine. The weather is warming up, finally.

My practice was interesting. Using the CD I bought at the Yoga Show, I did Journey Dance for an hour and then segued right into a vinyasa-style Hatha practice. I'm loving the dancing. It makes me keen to try Nia, which I've heard is similar, but a bit more structured.

Yoga, even Astanga, is static even when it's flowing; it's rooted in stillness. It's a nice change to move my body in a flowing, fluid, continuous way. I broke into a sweat, moved erratically across the floor. I found myself deeply and intimately connected with my breath in a way that's different from my experience of breath in yoga.

It's hard to describe. I didn't notice this connection when I was doing Journey Dance in the big group (perhaps because I was so aware of the other people and energies swirling around me). On the Journey Dance CD, Tony Bergins is constantly talking about breathing, urging you to move with the breath and allowing the breath to move you; the breath is the focal point and the movement emerges from it. I like this. A lot. I found that it brought me into a deep connection with my breath as I moved into yoga practice from the dance.

As I moved in vinyasa, I found myself moving around more. I started waving my arms back and up during the sun salutations a la Shiva Rea and I finally started to *understand* that approach to flow yoga. I really enjoyed the feeling of my body moving in space. (After I finished my practice, I found myself swaying around as I did the dishes, swept the floor.).

After vinyasa and a few standing poses, I moved into Yin Yoga. This is a type of yoga that I haven't explored a lot. I know that other Astangis are interested in it (Arturo mentions it in his blog). I used my timer and focused on holding poses for 90 seconds.

At the Yoga Show, I chatted with the Yin Yoga guy. He was explaining that it takes 90 seconds for the fascia and connective tissues around a muscle to release. I seem to have come to a plateau in my flexibility and I'm wondering if this may help me move past that. I enjoyed it, sort of. 90 seconds feels like a long time. ;-)

The rest of the day was just decadent. It's kind of a tradition with me to go out for lunch on Good Friday. Years ago, restaurants were closed on Good Friday, but things have loosened up. It seemed like the entire city was out and about. I ran into two friends as I biked around the city.

I went out for lunch and ended up having Caesars while we waited for the food. Then wandered around Kensington Market and on the way home, stopping at Futures for chocolate cake.

Anyway...all of this to say, it really was a Good Friday.

Restorative

My calves feel like two heavy, sore logs attached to my legs. Ug. I don't think it's from all the yoga. More likely, it's due to Journey Dance and perhaps a small part of the blame can be given to all of the crazy moving squatting things I did in those Shiva Rea-esque Prana Flow classes. Anyways...ouch.

I did a small restorative practice right before I went to bed. I did several hip and hamstring stretches, plus an intense twist learned at Natasha's session yesterday. To be honest, I *am* a bit burned out on yoga at the moment. It's also strange to be back to a home practice. Alone on my mat, it's a bit of a let down not to have Rodney Yee stop by to adjust my downward facing dog, or enjoy a wicked adjustment in upward facing pigeon from Natasha Rizopolous. The truth is, I love taking yoga classes and I miss them. Something to think about, I guess.

I'm still playing my guitar with great dedication. Like yoga, it's a daily practice and my guitar teacher seems pleased with my progress. I'm delighted with my progress so far. I just can't believe how much guitar I can play! I can sing and plan songs! (at the same time!) I can play fancy stuff! It's all very exciting... Alas, today's lesson is the last until mid-May. There were too many scheduling conflicts to set something up so I'm on hiatus until then. Still practicing, though. Teacher has given me “I've Just Seen a Face” by the Beatles to learn.

Ice Hockey finals were tonight and my team played for 5th place. Despite being short-handed and not having a goaltender, we won the game 7-6. I was deeply exhausted and didn't stay long at the pub afterward. The end of the ice hockey season is the end of ice skating for me, until the season starts back up in September.

Yoga Show, Day 3

Today was the last day of the show. I almost didn't go. Outside, the wind was howling (winter doesn't want to let go in Canada - it feels like February). I wondered if I really wanted to ride my bike all the way to the convention centre when I had a good book to read at home. Curiosity won out. I wanted to know if Pilates Guy would be camped out for a third day - he was. I'm glad I showed up. It was a good day.

If yesterday's theme was 'How Not to Teach', today's was 'How to Teach Like a Rockstar'.

The presentation on anatomy totally blew me away. If you're a teacher or a senior practitioner, chances are you've heard of Ray Long's yoga anatomy books. But seeing him in person was mindblowing. The books literally came to life. Right there on the screen sat Mr. Skeleton with his various layers of muscle cheerfully exposed. Mr. Skeleton flexes his rhomboids and voila! His shoulder blades move together! You could observe the movement of the ribcage as Mr. Skeleton took a deep inhalation. What does Mr. Skeleton use his seratus anterior for? Well, let's find out! The audience was rapt.

After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I went up to ask the guy at the computer which software they used to create this miracle. He said it was standard 3D software that they had jazzed up. My geeky-yoga side was all aflutter.

Natasha Rizopolous was once on the cover of Yoga Journal (and I recall she looked pretty good; she's a gorgeous woman). That magazine cover was the extent of my knowledge of her. Well, she walked up on that stage and *completely* blew me away. She's an incredibly gifted teacher and her teaching style really speaks to me (probably because it's so similar to my own, except better. Much better). The clarity and specificity of her instruction was absolutely stunning. Her approach to various familiar-to-me postures was unique and well-grounded in anatomy and body mechanics. She had an eagle eye on the large group she was teaching. She walked around and gave subtle, but effective adjustments. I walked away from that session with pages of notes.

Many presenters sprinted away after their sessions, but Natasha stuck around afterward to answer specific questions one-on-one. I had a heart-to-heart with her regarding some of the challenges I'm facing as a teacher. Her advice was clear and on-the-money. If I could, I would sign up for her teacher training immediately (it's on my life-list). I'll definitely be on the look-out for any of her workshops I can attend.

Doug Swenson (brother of David Swenson and author of several books, including 'Power Yoga for Dummies') was one of the 'big names' at the conference. As his session grew closer, all the hard-core Astangis started streaming in. ;-) Doug led us through a few sun salutations, then we all sat down for the grand finale: The Yoga Demonstration. You can see these things in books or on a DVD, but there's something very jaw-dropping about seeing an advanced Astanga practitioner in person, doing his thing a few feet away from you. I don't go to a shala, so I don't often have the opportunity to see an advanced practitioner. It was stunning and inspiring!

There were some cancellations in the afternoon, so another session of Journey Dance was slotted in. That's how I ended my day. I enjoyed this hour-long version of Journey Dance just as much as the full two-hour session. I bought Toni Bergin's Journey Dance CD, though I know that it will be a different experience doing it at home. Dancing in a huge group has energetic power. It was actually an interesting experience doing Journey Dance in a public space. Even though I knew people were watching me, I still felt free and uninhibited. This is the power of the group.

My overall impression of the Yoga Show was very positive. I definitely think it's worth the $15 entrance fee to see and experience the instruction of so many advanced practitioners. I would definitely do this again. In fact, having had a chance to look at the pricing structure for the conference workshops, I think I would sign up as early as possible to get into a few key workshops with people I respect (like Natasha Rizopolous or Mark Darby) and then spend the rest of my time at the show, interacting with vendors and catching sessions at the Yoga Garden.

Here's a rundown of my sessions today:
Ray Long - Anatomy
Nathasha Rizopolous - Home Yoga Practice
Jennifer Weinert - Purna Yoga
David Newman - Kirtan
Doug Swenson - Astanga Yoga Demonstration
Toni Bergins - Journey Dance

Yoga Show, Day 1

A few days ago, a colleague contacted me out of the blue and offered me a free ticket to the upcoming 'Yoga and Pilates Conference and Show'. She's a personal trainer and is completely disinterested and bored by yoga (resulting in hilarious conversations; another story for another time). She had no interest in using this ticket, which was for the 'show', so she gave it to me.

Full disclosure: I'm a yoga conference skeptic. For years, I've kind of rolled my eyes at the whole thing and if anyone asked, told them that it was an silly waste of money. So I had *really* low expectations going in. I figured that a one-day pass to the 'show' would get me two hours on my feet, looking at Yoga T-shirts, yoga socks, mala beads, palm readers and maybe a few good food samples. I was right about the food samples, but there was more...

I was pleasantly surprised. For starters, the people at the door were not communicating well and after I offered my free one-day coupon to get in, I was presented with a three-day wristband instead of the one-day hand stamp. Oops.

For the first little bit, as expected, I walked around and rolled my eyes a lot. But then I got my hands on a Show schedule and discovered that in the 'Yoga Garden' area, there are free workshops going on all day. Pretty much anyone who's anyone at this conference was giving a short presentation at the Yoga Garden at some point during the weekend. For free.

So I camped out in the Yoga Garden on a loaner mat and did free yoga classes. It was awesome.

I did about two hours of yoga, in bits and pieces. In the process, I experienced some of the stupidest vinyasa yoga I've ever encountered, learned about yoga and neuroscience, listened to a fabulous presentation entitled 'Yoga for the Planet' (an anti-consumerism rant that was ironic, given the location), and was inspired by some amazing teachers (and dumbfounded by some very bad ones).

There was one Astanga session, with Mark and Joanne Darby. I was excited about this because I use their DVD periodically. The session was short, really just sun salutation A. I spoke with Mark afterward though and found him to be a kind, modest and helpful. It was such a pleasure to meet the two of them in person. I was also deeply impressed by the Himalayan Institute's Rolf Sovik, who did a short presentation on Yoga for Meditation. His session was rich with information on strengthening the back for long periods of sitting.

In the evening, there was a free two-hour session of 'Journey Dance' with Toni Bergins. I had seen this advertised at a local yoga studio but couldn't go, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to try it. It was really wonderful. If you like touch-feely hippy-style free-dance, then this would be right up your alley. I felt like a 5-year-old kid again, particularly during the part where we danced around with floaty silk scarves. The two hours passed by quickly. I emerged sweaty and happy.

All in all, it was worthwhile and I'm going back tomorrow, since I have the option to.

For reference, here are the sessions I attended:
Maria Garre - Vinyasa Flow
Lisa Black - Baptiste Yoga (but it was really a lecture on pre-natal; *yawn*)
Blake Martin - The Brain and Yoga
Mark and Joanne Darby - Ashtanga Yoga
Bernie Clark - Yoga for the Planet
Rolf Sovik - Yoga for Meditation
Yogi Vishvketu - Yoga