Vinyasa

I enjoyed a leisurely 2-hour practice this morning, with many starts and stops, a full pot of chai tea and lots of note-taking. I was reviewing Seane Corn’s DVD. It was the perfect, lazy Saturday morning!

Seane Corn’s Vinyasa Flow DVD is clearly intended for those who are brand-new to yoga, as in: ‘never done a sun salutation’. For this level of practitioner, it’s a great introduction. In the instructional section, Seane covers almost every relevant aspect of Vinyasa practice, including a great introduction to Ujjayi breathing.

Her instructions are clear and she moves at a gentle pace, occasionally bringing the vinyasas up to speed after offering a slower walk-through of the poses in a sequence. For a raw beginner who is moving toward an Astanga practice, I can’t think of a better introduction - this is excellent. But this is NOT a practice DVD for a more intermediate to advanced practitioner. Even an advanced beginner will be a bit bored. Anyone who practices Astanga will definitely find it too basic.

However, for teachers, it’s a GOLD MINE of great alignment, anatomical and cueing information. Seane is a terrific teacher! Her instruction is clear and detailed. Her pacing is spot-on. I took pages of notes and I know I’ll be applying some of these cues and concepts to my own teaching

The interview on the CD is definitely worth listening to, even though it’s a fragmented collection of sound bites. Seane is down-to-earth and big-hearted. Her love of yoga and passion for sharing it really shine through in the interview; despite the choppy format, she comes across as very ‘real’. She’s the kind of teacher I aspire to being.

I flew through the postures in this DVDand took lots of notes, stopping the DVD every so often to jot down a particularly interesting cue or observation. Afterward, I was still craving a practice, so I popped in the Rodney Yee Advanced Yoga DVD and chose the 25 minute hip-opening sequence.

This sequence is from Rodney’s own practice and there are is some good stuff in there, but I’ll repeat my criticism of his ‘Yoga Burn’ DVD: everything moved WAY too fast. I’m a valiant Protector of Knees. Every Baddha Konasana, Janu Sirsasana and particularly, any half-lotus posture is approached with great mindfulness - both in my own practice and in the classes I teach.

There was WAY too much random, quick, thoughtless Baddha Konasana in this sequence. There was also a forward fold happening in Ardha Baddha Padma Padottanasana without a bind to the big toe (the bind stabilizes the knee in half-lotus). And other half-lotus weirdness that didn’t feel right to me. I took note of a few good hip openers that were new to me, but I won’t be using this sequence again.

This week’s State of the Backbend photo was taken way back on Tuesday because I knew my Lady’s was imminent. At the time, I felt like my backbend was worse than usual. I felt heavy. It doesn’t look too bad, though. In fact, it looks a lot like the previous week’s backbend, which seems to happen a lot. ;-)

Arturo has commented that he notices very little change in these photos from week to week. To make things more interesting, I’ve added three objects to the photo this week. Actually, two of them were in the frame already, and I added a third.

If you click on the photo below, you’ll be taken to a larger version of the photo, which makes it easier to spot the changes.

Have fun!

Vinyasa

Rodney Yee’s ‘Yoga Burn’ did not heat me up, but it offered a gentle yoga practice. Today, that’s all I needed.

The style on this DVD is coined ‘slow vinyasa’ and it definitely crawled along. Most poses were repeated three times. Though this sounds like a great idea in theory, the poses were not held for *very* long (in some cases, not even held for a single breath cycle). It was hard to settle into anything and tune into the sensations of the body.

The opening movements and standing poses didn’t heat my body. By the time forward bends rolled around, I wasn’t sufficiently warmed up to feel comfortable in them. I think a few opening Sun salutations would have helped.

The positives: The slow, deliberate pace allowed me to really focus on my breath. Movement in and between poses was so slow and measured, it would have been easy to add an additional focus - say, Bandhas or engaging the abdominals. I liked the format of the DVD. For the same video sequence, there were two different soundtracks: One with full instruction and one with poses only. It was nice to be able to choose a quieter practice that was still led.

For beginners who are new to vinyasa yoga, this DVD provides a gentle introduction to the concept of breath synchronized movement. Anyone who practises Astanga or has a more advanced practice is probably won’t enjoy this one, though it’s a nice practice if you’re feeling under the weather.

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I heard back from Shala Central. They have room for me, so I’m good to go for Monday (through I may try to start on Sunday with their led Primary). The main teachers will be out of town for the last part of ‘my week’, but I’ll get a few days in with them before meeting the sub.

I’ve already started setting my alarm earlier to adjust to the new, earlier-than-early, schedule. Note to self: wash the Manduka.

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Thanks to several long. long walks in the spring sunshine, Princess Fur is finally speaking me to again (despite last week’s grooming debacle). But, as you can see, she’s still not sure she wants her tender, pink belly displayed all over the Internet.

Tough beans, kid!

Yoga Show, Day 2

I taught a class in the morning, so I walked in the door just in time to see Seane Corn conclude her session in the Yoga Garden. I sat down for the meditation. I really, really wish I could have seen her teach. By the way, Seane Corn's hair? Not as curly as it is in the posters. Just sayin'.

Today, I brought along my light 'teaching mat', which I'm perfectly at ease leaving unattended. Then I staked out a spot and took off to find some yummy snacks before the next session. Whenever a session got dull, I wandered off to the booths to play with yoga merch and chat up the vendors.

I had some really amazing conversations. I'm in the midst of doing some marketing and outreach for my teaching. I chatted up a very successful teacher from Ottawa who has just launched two new DVDs. He gave me some great tips about getting my foot in the door for corporate yoga and marketing my services for private sessions.

I also *ahem* had some birthday money in my wallet. I bought a few things. I replaced my cheap mala with a lovely tiger's eye mala. I bought Dr. Cohen's AcuBall at a discount. And I bought a product very similar to YogaToes called 'Healthy Toes'. The latter may prove to be the most fun because I've been making silly jokes about YogaToes for years. Reviews coming soon.

Yes, I know, I know. I was rolling my eyes about merch, but I caved in. At least I didn't buy the yoga mat bag I was eyeing. It was a beautiful bag, but I already have a bag that I never use (but resistance may be futile - I grabbed the bag-makers business card).

I started to recognise some familiar faces in the Yoga Garden today. I'm not the only one 'camped out' there. I chatted at length with another yoga teacher who, like me, got a freebie pass to the show. The pilates teacher behind me does this every year - he buys a three-day show pass for $15 and camps out in the Yoga Garden for the sessions. I ran into someone from the YTT I attended six years ago. I chatted with yoga students who are here for the free classes. It was fun.

I attended 9 half-hour sessions. Today's theme seemed to be “How Not to Teach.” The biggest surprise was how many 'famous' teachers are actually ineffectual assholes in a real teaching situation. A few of the Big Names absolutely left me cold. Also, if Shiva Rea's adherents are any indication, I'm just not into Prana Flow yoga. It's not my thang.

I also reconfirmed that I really dislike Pilates. I knew this already, but the few Pilates presenters reminded me that if I never do 'the hundred' again in my life, I won't be missing much.

Nischala Joy Devi totally wowed me with her guided relaxation. When I saw her on the schedule, I thought: "Uh oh. Flake-o-rama'. I couldn't have been more wrong. She's a great lady, a clear and compelling teacher and she accomplished something truly impressive: she got me to slow down for a half-hour. Although it's entirely possible that I was so exhausted at this point I would have fallen into a soft silly putty state regardless, Nischala rendered me floppy and drooling in under ten minutes. I can't recall the last time I felt so deeply relaxed. I emerged feeling like a million bucks. I'm seriously going to seek out her relaxation CD. Loved her!

The highlight of the day: I got to meet Rodney Yee and his lithe, velour-short-shorts-clad companion, Colleen (read about the scandal here). In my DVD player, Rodney is forever young, trapped in a world that is perpetually the 90s. In person, Rodney's black pony tail is threaded with gray and he's looking a bit worse for the wear. He's aging! Who woulda thunk it? But he gave a great class and I have to admit, he and the infamous Colleen made a wicked team. I actually liked them.

And I have to admit, it's never a bad day when you get a nice adjustment in downward facing dog from Rodney Yee. (it was just a bit surreal watching him stroll around the Yoga Garden during the class, like my DVD player had exploded into life...or sucked me into its screen).

I left early because I had a dinner to go to. I missed the Hare Krishnas and the woman demonstrating a yoga strap sewn together in two places which she is selling for $40. *eye roll* (Neat idea, maybe I'l buy a strap and sew two loops into it).

Here's a rundown of the sessions I attended today:
Seane Corn - Ashtanga Yoga
Twee Merrigan - Prana Flow
Neil Perason - Yoga for Chronic Pain
Jonathan Urla - Yogilates
Alycea Ungaro - Pilates
Michelle Cormack - 5 Elements Vinyasa Flow
Anodea Judith - The Chakras
Nischala Joy Devi - Guided Relaxation
Rodney and Colleen Yee - Yoga

Hatha

WoYoPracMo, Day 30.

The Rodney Yee tape can be done as two separate practices, but it doesn't feel like enough that way. I think doing both practices back-to-back would feel like a Rodney Overload. So today, I did the sun salutations and standing poses in full, then started the tape for Part II. It created a solid 45 minute practice and felt really good. I started my laundry before I started, moving it to the dryer at the half-way point. So I'm productive AND flexible. ;-)

I liked the second part of the practice a lot better than the first (although holding downward dog for 2 minutes yesterday was quite novel). I could do without the props in shoulderstand. Yeah, yeah, I know, I used to honestly believe my head would roll off if I wasn't using a blanket in that pose, but Astanga cured me of that. I like my shoulderstands bareback now.

Still, when Rodney asked me to get out my blanket and strap, I shrugged and said “Okay, dude. I'll play.” Honestly? The blanket just felt wrong. Wrong for my back, wrong for my neck. And the chair for Halasana was just annoying. But the strap really got me thinking. I liked how my arms were anchored in place, in the *right* place. So I may integrate that into my practice - time will tell.

I love all standing balances. Love doing them, love teaching them, so Ardha Chandrasana and Virabhadrasana III were a treat. Bakasana is the only pose I really remembered on this tape (from long, long ago, when I first tried it. I was living in the States, so it's definitely ancient history). I remember Bakasana because I couldn't do it. I couldn't even start to do it, or imagine doing it. So it was pretty wild to do Bakasana relatively easily, hold it with Rodney and release to child's pose with a sigh.

'Scales pose' with blocks: interesting and potentially useful for my Astanga practice. This was done with the feet tucked back, ankles crossed, instead of the feet crossed in front. Both versions would be helpful for jumpbacks.

Overall? Not bad! I would do this one again. It was sufficiently interesting and challenging.

When I finished, it looked like a hurricane had ripped through my apartment. Props everywhere = Iyengar.

Hatha

WoYoPracMo, Day 29.

Once again, I've dug deep into the archives of my old Gaim/Living Arts VHS Tape collection, this time stumbling across an old Rodney Yee favourite: Yoga Practice for Strength. Same 90s vibe, same cheesy Zen-ish music in the background, same Iyengar slant. Boy, he looks young! I think this was definitely shot pre-Colleen, back in the Golden Days of Rodney, before infidelity, accusations of diddling with students and the egomania took over.

I never noticed this before, but he talks like his mouth is full of marbles.

Anyways...

Part I (30 minutes) revolved around vinyasa, executed very, very slllloooowly. After so much Astanga practice, this felt like I was practising yoga in a tub of jello. Even the Patricia Walden video moved a bit more briskly. Two standing poses were interspersed in the third vinyasa sequence: Utthita Trikonasana and Parsvakonasana. The holds were very long on these, 10+ breaths on each side. I can see why it's called Yoga Practice for Strength - these long holds definitely worked the muscles in the legs.

I found this practice very, very easy. I have high hopes for Part II, which covers some inversions and arm balances (I clearly remember having an eye-rolling moment when I tried this tape in the early days of my yoga practice). Should be fun!