Vinyasa

Best Saturday ever! I slept in and spent the morning in my jammies, reading in bed for two hours while sipping chai and cuddling with Princess Fur (who couldn’t believe her good luck. UP! On the bed! And attention! Yay!).

Before teaching my Saturday class, I did a low-stress, just-for-fun yoga practice at the private gym I work at. This venue has mirrors. I wouldn’t want to practice with them on a daily basis, but they’re nice for an alignment check every once in awhile.

It’s weird to see myself in the mirror. I don’t tend to spend time a lot of time looking at myself, so it’s always a shock. I’ve aged!!! And I look far different from how I perceive myself. Odd.

I warmed up with some Suryas and the fundamental poses, plus Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana. Then I moved into a series of hip openers (mostly lunges), quad stretches (a long, luxurious hold in Virasana) and hamstring stretches.

I spent a lot of time in variations of Eka Pada Raj Kapotanasana, trying to balance the stretch between my quadraceps and iliopsoas group.

Laghu Vajrasana was next. I used a sloped bench as the ‘stopping point’ for my head and came up and down about ten times, experimenting with the positioning of my head and shoulders and focusing on coming up with a strong inhalation, something I tend to fail at a LOT. I’m starting to feel more comfortable coming up.

My big Light Bulb Moment of day was head position coming up in Laghu. I’ve been leading with my head instead of my chest, which was making the pose awkward and impossible. The head needs to come up last. Duh. I knew that. Sort of. Well, now I do! And yes, I know that needs to happen when I’m standing from a backbend too. All of these puzzle pieces are gradually coming together...

Then I moved into backbends. I did just one Urdhva Dhanurasana from the floor, walked my hands in and held it, then moved over to the wall for hangbacks. I did several, trying to drop my hands as far down the wall as possible so I could practice coming back up again. Then I did three dropbacks to the floor.

The third one was the charm: my hands lightly plopped to the floor. It was SO awesome. I stopped there so I could end on a ‘high note.’ I’m finding that the more I can move my hips forward as I reached my arms back, the lighter my dropbacks become. When I can find that ‘hang’, the magic happens!

My feet were mat’s width distance today, which I think is the right distance for me. My biggest challenge these days is keeping my toes from pointing out as I drop.

Question for my reading-audience: How far apart are your feet when you’re dropping back? Is a slightly wider stance allowable?

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I’ve become slightly obsessed with my hip flexors lately. Over the past few days, I’ve started taking little ‘lunge breaks’ throughout the day to stretch everything out. I’m feeling huge movement in this area of my body. I’m a bit sore, actually, but in a good way.

These opportunities for Quality Time With My Psoas seem to pop up everywhere. Here are a few of my favourites:

-Waiting for the elevator

-While riding in the elevator

-In the Dog Park (Princess Fur sniffs, I stretch; we’re a good team!)

-Before teaching a class

-Waiting for water to boil in the kitchen

-After a bike ride

-In the line-up at the library (didn’t even raise an eyebrow; they get too many crazy people in there)

At home, I’ve added ‘hangback breaks’ as well. This is particularly convenient while I’m in the kitchen. Hang back, go stir the vegetables. Hang back again, go check on the rice. Hangback, go prepare the tea.

Whenever I’m sitting for an extended time period, I make a point to stretch after I get up. Since I’ve been doing a lot of sitting around this weekend (reading), there have been many, many opportunities to counteract The Lazy with some light stretching. It feels good!

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Here’s this week’s State-of-the-Backbend.

Slightly less deep than the week previous, but I’m bringing more weight into the feet in this rendition, so it’s toss-up. Given how exhausted I was that day, it’s a pretty good showing. Hopefully, next week will show more opening in the hips?

I wish I had thought to bring my camera with me today. I would be interested to see what my backbend looked like after the hip openers I was doing. Maybe next week...

Vinyasa

It’s Earth Hour. I’m typing this post by candlelight, running my laptop off of a battery. But there are no lights on in my apartment! Only candles. Does that count?

It was fun watching all of the lights in the big office towers trickle off. I have a full view of the skyline and I have to admit, it’s a little less twinkly than usual.

Today was excessively busy and I’m exhausted. But I had fun. In the morning, I did a quick YogaDownload vinyasa class to launch my day. I enjoyed 30 minutes of ‘Yoga for Buns #1’ with Dawnelle. I miss these classes! I can’t remember the last time I did a ‘crescent lunge’ (a signature YogaDownload move: a high lunge with the back knee lifted). This class included some unique variations intended to target the gluteals. I jotted down a few notes so I can use some of it in my Hatha classes. My favourite was a table pose with back leg extended and ‘pulsing’ (there was a lot of pulsing).

The Yoga Show is turning out to be a lot of fun (I knew I would warm up to it). I seriously considered signing up for a couple of workshops and I even had money budgeted, but I spent that money on Kino’s workshops instead and it’s a far better value.

As a yoga teacher, the ’show’ part of the conference is gratis and there’s a lot to see. As I did last year, I’m spending much of my time in the ‘Yoga Garden’ where the free classes are offered. Most of the ‘big names’ move through there eventually. It’s amazing how much you can learn in a a short time slot! Sadly, I missed Seane Corn again this year (I was teaching during her session), but I caught a few of the other ‘big names’.

Dharma Mittra is a trip! For the first two minutes he spoke, I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. Finally, I fell into the rhythm of his speech and he became instantly comprehensible - it was eerie, like someone turned on the translator! The best part about Dharma’s session was watching Dharma. The dude’s 70+ and he can casually bend back and grab his ankles. He makes it look easy! I really enjoyed him!

Sadie Nardini’s session was very interesting, emphasis on core work. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by her depth of knowledge and creativity. She strikes me as a generous person who is passionate about her work. The fact that she’s so willing to offer knowledge freely in a public forum (YouTube) is impressive to me. I’m going to check out her videos.

As always, Natasha Rizopoulos was dynamic, funny and informative. I really enjoy her because our teaching styles are very similar - I always take away some great cueing from her sessions. This year, she talked about twists and how to bring the work of a twist into the thoracic spine (she observed that this opening carries over into backbending as well). If I was going to pay for a workshop, I would fork over the big bucks for Natasha’s (Sheesh, how many pages of notes would I take with *two hours* of Natasha?). Maybe next year.

Bo Forbes absolutely blew me away with her short presentation on the Bandhas. This was one of the few sessions that I actively participated in. We spent the entire sequence laying on the floor, isolating Mula and Udiyana Bandha, eventually bringing movement and breath into the mix while engaging the Bandhas. It was *brilliant*! This was the one session applies directly to my own practice.

My favourite session was a Canadian: Ottawa-based Yin teacher Mark Laham. I was lucky enough to enjoy a 90 minute session with Mark. I took pages of notes and learned a few new tricks that I can apply to the classes I teach. He focused on hip opening which is perfect because my students love it and I need it!

I’m attending a few sessions tomorrow and that’s it. I already did my shopping. I bought a much-coveted bamboo stole from Half-Moon and a bamboo headband from Respecterre (I’ll see how it works. If the headband concept is useful for me, I may shell out for the Halo). I also bought a new bag for my Manduka, one with a side zipper. Since I’m schlepping it around town, I needed a better bag and one that is user-friendly.

Vinyasa

I'm having a genuine 'yoga slump' right now. For a week, I've been excited about this weekend. My girlfriend is away and I had this vision of long, lazy yoga practices. None of that has come to pass (I've been doing my practice each day, but reluctantly), but I'm doing a lot of thinking, re-evaluating.

Here's a thought: I spend way too much time on the computer. Yesterday, I cast a critical eye to my RSS feeds and purged, purged, purged. I whittled my list down to a manageable size and I'm going to keep it that way. My goal is to spend no more than a half-hour daily reading feeds. Don't get me wrong - I love reading blogs, but the Internet was beginning to swallow my life.

Since returning to daily meditation, I've started examining other areas of my spiritual practice. I've been dedicating time before bed to reading spiritual writings (right now, I'm re-reading Easwaran's translation of the Upanishads). This has been amazing actually. I want to re-read the Gita next (I usually read the Gita once a year anyway).

A part of my spiritual practice is serving others. My teaching gives me opportunities to put others first, but I still found this area lacking.

To be honest, I've really missed doing my volunteer work. Some of my long-time readers will remember that I used to volunteer regularly at a soup kitchen downtown. My schedule shifted in the spring and it was no longer possible for me to go to the Thursday morning breakfast programme. But a new meal was added on Friday evenings and that's one of my nights off! Happily, some of my favourite people from the Wednesday dinner are working at this one!

I volunteered at the dinner last night. It was so much fun to go back and see old friends. I love this programme because we make no demands of our guests. They don't have to sing songs or listen to sermons to get their meal (and the food is *amazing*). They truly are our 'guests' - we treat each person who comes in as if they were a visitor in our home.

It was fabulous and I'm definitely going to make time for this each week from now on.

Finally, I've been searching for a spiritual community to be a part of. For a while, I was going to Quaker Meetings. The Friends are very welcoming to all comers and since the Meetings are essentially a one-hour meditation, it was working for me. I'm not sure why I stopped going. I guess since Sunday is my only day off, I was feeling over-scheduled.

I signed up for a mailing list for followers of the meditation method I use, but never heard back. This was a disappointment. The thing I like about Easwaran's 8-point programme is that it's comprehensive - it's not *just* about meditation.

Last night, I attended a local women's meditation group that meets monthly. It was an interesting experience (which I will probably deconstruct in hilarious detail in my private blog). Suffice to say, many things surprised me. The fact that we were meditating in chairs surprised me (I didn't - I sat on the floor, but most people were in chairs). The fact that the leader of this group questioned my meditation practice surprised me (Specifically, she questioned the method I use to meditate).

I was polite, but in the back of my mind, I was all 'Dude, seriously?'

I mean, c'mon...we're sitting silently with our eyes closed for 30 minutes. Does it REALLY matter what method I use to still my mind?

To be fair, she may have just been trying to make sure that I understood meditation and felt comfortable. But I got a strong 'do-it-my-way' vibe which automatically triggered my 'fuck-you' reflex.

So, that was that. I'll probably go to the November session, just to feel it out a bit more.

Today's yoga practice came after a period of earnest procrastination that involved doing dishes, sweeping the floor and cleaning up my desk. Finally, I settled down on my mat to do 5 Surya Namaskara A's and then a YogaDownload practice, Heart Opening Flow #1, 20 min, with Jackie (this is another one of the *free* classes; yes, this means you can download free of charge).

I've done longer versions of this one, so I already knew that I liked it. I skipped Ustrasana, though. Backbends are not my friend this week.

Maybe there will be some Astanga tomorrow. Maybe.

Vinyasa

This morning, I did the Heart Opening Flow #1 with Jackie (YogaDownload). I liked this sequence better this time than I did the last time I tried it (45 minute version). I wonder if part of it is just becoming accustomed to the style of the flows and the various poses used on YogaDownload (I find that there is definitely a consistency in transitions and the poses even between instructors).

I had a pretty good Thanksgiving. Yesterday was the 'non-traditional' celebration. I met up with the girlfriend for supper at our favourite sushi place. Afterward, we were browsing a bookstore a few doors down when the power went off. The corner café had candles out when we arrived for dessert. I had a big slice of Chocolate Explosion cake. First time I've had my favourite cake in months and it wasn't as good as I remembered. Hm. Maybe my tastes are changing? It was too sweet...

Real Thanksgiving was on Saturday night and it was marvelous, with great food, fun with friends, lots of knitting (yes, I had to be 'that girl', the one who brings her knitting to the party) and Wii.

I've played around with Wii once before and I've even played the drum set in Rock Band. But I had never tried Wii Yoga. I have to admit, I was really curious. My friend J set it up for me. It had been so long since he used Wii Fit, he had to reinitialize the platform. When he started the programme, it chided him gently: “It's been 118 days since you logged in.” It also noted that he weighed more than he had the last time he logged on. FAIL! Ha, ha!

Wii Yoga? It's stupid. It's all about balancing on a platform so that the little dot stays in the yellow circle. In order to do this, it's necessary to do the posture *wrong*. After I tried Vriksasana (Tree Pose) and rated a big fat Zero (Yoga Amateur!), J shooed me off the platform and demonstrated. He could keep the dot in the circle, but his body was contorted like Astavakra. Geez! What a waste of time.

Wii Yoga is coming out soon and Yoga Dork reviews it here. I won't be buying it.

The other games were better. The platform thingie is fun for other stuff. And I totally rock at Wii bowling. Especially when I do it sitting on the couch and don't bother to put down my knitting. This is when I had my best luck with the game. I'm an awesome couch knitting bowler! I beat everyone except J!

Vinyasa

Oh no. I'm going through one of my sick-of-Astanga phases, I'm afraid. I couldn't coax myself into the Primary Series this morning so I treated myself to a led vinyasa class.

I loved the 30 minute version of Hip Opening Flow #4, but the 40 minute version was even better. It's my all-time favourite, hands down. I loved the Supta Garudasana at the end too. I'm going to add that to my classes next week!

I was so calm and happy afterward, I did my meditation before getting up to make lunch. Today is a holiday here - no classes for me, but ice hockey stops for nothing so I'll be playing a game tonight. I'm meeting the girlfriend at the sushi place for a Thanksgiving maki feast later on this afternoon.

My plans for the afternoon include hunkering down with a good book and doing some knitting.

I'm thankful for hip openers and guilt-free hibernation followed by Japanese food and high-aggression ice sports! Hurrah!

Vinyasa

Today has been non-stop since I woke up at 6:30 a.m.

I'm on a bit of a 'to-do-list' kick right now. Laundry was on my list. I managed to finish two loads while I was doing other things. I took the dog for a walk as the clothes washed, I practised yoga as the clothes dried.

On my way home from teaching a noon class, I stopped and bought groceries. On the bright side, if I can finish these chores now, I'll be able to be a complete vegetable on Sunday, my one day off.

There was a surprise waiting for me in the laundry room. We're moving into a brand new era with my run-down 40-year-old apartment building. Recently, the management replaced the washers and dryers with brand new models! And they work!

The elevators are being modernized too and there's going to be a sauna and exercise room in the basement. The superintendent told me that the sauna opens in a month. I love saunas! Maybe the exercise room will have space for yoga too!

Imagine this: Sauna first, yoga afterward. I'll be like Gumby!

I'm eagerly watching this all unfold. After years of crappy slum-lord-style management and no amenities to speak of, it's pretty exciting to finally have a few perks (and elevators that run properly!).

I did 45 minutes of flow yoga this morning, following the Heart Opening Flow #1 sequence with Jackie. The last time I tried this sequence (the 60 minute version), I didn't like it very much. I guess I've adjusted to Jackie's teaching style because I didn't find her cueing quite as 'over the top' as I did last time.

There was one moment though, when she was talking about stretching the deltoids, and using a syrupy 'Yoga Teacher Voice', when I rolled my eyes. Hard core anatomical descriptions and Yoga Teacher Voice just don't mix well.

I'm off to teach still more classes. One down, three to go. I'll be rolling in around 8 p.m. tonight, exhausted.

I need to meditate before I leave. Yikes, and the dog needs to go out. And are those dishes in the sink? Better get a move on...

Vinyasa

I slept through my alarm clock this morning and missed the early morning meditation session at the Yoga Festival. Now isn't THAT a metaphor for my life?! ;-)

(I'm still giggling about it...)

I did make it to my first session, though, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a 3-hour asana class/workshop with Teacher D from Shala South. I've always been curious about D's teaching background. Though frequently billed as an 'Astanga teacher', she'll be the first to argue that's she's not. Definitely not a 'traditional' one and Shala South is not a 'traditional' studio by any stretch of the imagination.

I've never been to Shala South's Mysore room, but apparently, it's a free-wheeling, 'anything goes' sort of place, where you can do any sequence you like and receive advice and adjustments for your practice.

It sounds *really* cool, actually.

Anyway, Teacher D talked about a bit about her history of practice (very similar to mine): She started out with Iyengar, then a vinyasa practice segueing into traditional Astanga. She lasted about a year in traditional practice before branching off into something that wasn't quite Astanga, but very similar. She talked a lot about the poses of Astanga and how many of them are simply not possible for many people.

Bells went off in my head as she spoke. I've certainly observed this in the years I've taught. It's one of the reasons that I enjoy teaching 'intro' Astanga classes in a non-traditional setting. I believe anybody can do this practice with the right attitude and modifications, but (and truly, I'm not trying to start a war here) the traditional methods don't work for all bodies. I take a very Swenson-eque approach to my teaching, with modifications and alternatives that preserve the spirit and intention of the pose, if not the full expression.

But I digress...

This is where her story got really interesting! In her own practice, Teacher D found herself focusing more and more on breathing (like me, she became weary of the fussiness of Iyengar because she just wanted to 'move and breath'). She experimented with using a metronome (sound familiar? *nudges Arturo*). She eventually started using this technique in the Mysore room where she practised (introducing other practitioners to the concept) and teaching it in her classes. She replaced the metronome with a live drummer (her son was the drummer for our workshop) and started offering two-hour classes with a deep focus on the breath.

I've been to one of these classes and they're amazing.

The workshop was about breathing - not Ujjayi per se, but how to breath diapragmatically and how to breath consistently in vinyasa practice. We discussed the anatomy and action of the diapragm. We used a hammock to create a 3-dimensional representation of the diapragm. We did a few breathing exercises including my favourite lay-on-your-belly-and-observe-the expansion-of-the-low-back (I like to teach this with partners - with a hand on the low back, or using some other feedback mechanism like a towel or block).

Then we enjoyed an oxygen-infused vinyasa practice that was completely the opposite of my last experience with Teacher D (where I sweated buckets). I was slightly warm and very lightheaded from all of that breathing! One participant commented afterward that it felt like a restorative vinyasa class.

For the next several hours, I worked for the Festival as a volunteer. I totally lucked out and got a plum assignment: working the door at the classroom where the senior Iyengar teacher was giving a restorative yoga workshop. She's famous for her restorative classes and rightly so - it looked blissful from my perspective. The classroom had a window and I took copious notes about the configurations of bolsters, blankets and straps.

Ever efficient, the Iyengar teacher's last teaching of the day was a how-to on bundling props for transport back to her studio. She put her participants to work and in less than 10 minutes, everything was ready to go. I've never seen a more speedy exit of equipment from a conference.

My next workshop was on cueing from the perspective of the Pilates tradition. An old teacher of mine was teaching it, so I wasn't terribly surprised when she didn't show up *eye roll*. I quickly scanned the other rooms and chose a session on home practice, given by a teacher from my neighbourhood who is well-versed in Eastern medicine.

It was interesting. I'm more accustomed to using anatomical relationships to generate my verbal instructions and adjustments. This cat was taking his cues off the meridian system. It was kind of awesome. It felt very ephemeral to me, but I was impressed with his depth of knowledge.

Then I went home and emptied my dog.

I made it back in time for a performance by a yoga-based dance troupe. They had amazing energy. Afterward, at the Kirtan, these ladies were still dancing! The Kirtan singer was great too. I was interested in her use of guitar as an accompaniment. There's a new goal for me: learn to play a few chants to eventually lead Kirtan. That would be fun!

Some general observations about the conference:

- It was not as 'high level' as I had hoped and I wasn't impressed with the Asana workshops. Ideally, I would have liked to see more offerings targeted directly to teachers or advanced practitioners. It would have been helpful if there was a rating system for the classes, indicating the level. But then again, all of the classes were beginner/intermediate. Even Teacher D's class was toned down.

- I tried Nia. I hate Nia. I know, I know! I should love Nia, because I love dancing, but I hated how structured and precise it was. For me, my Nia experience really highlighted all of the things I love about Journey Dance and similar approaches (and everything I hated about formal dance). I connect with the concept of 'dance as a spiritual journey' and I feel comfortable and confident in 'free dance.' In Nia, I felt awkward and ugly in my body; it reminded me of aerobics (insert bad 1980s flashbacks).

- Amma has an entire product line! With a logo! Seriously, I'd love to know who was responsible for Amma's 'rebranding'. It's brilliant! If I had a dollar for every Amma coffee mug or water bottle I spotted at this conference...(and there were *many*)

- ...I could have afforded the astonishingly overpriced food. Yes it was organic. Yes, it was authentic Indian (apparently, they used Mira Nair's caterer). And it was very, very good (as a volunteer, I ate lunch for free). But $13 for a small plate and a cup of chai? You can get a decent lunch special in this city for $6. There wasn't even naan!

- I'm tired. Really tired. And totally, completely burnt out on yoga. I don't feel inspired like I did after the Yoga Show. It wasn't a bad experience, it just wasn't great.