Prana Journal
yogalila
"
Yogalila is a a group of yoginis ranging in age from 26 to 60 and spanning the globe from Israel to North America to Hawaii. This blog will be a compendium of our yoga wisdom and experiences." I'm impressed what what I've been reading on their postings. Plus, they link to my blog so I should really give this blog some notice here. I liked the collection of links scattered through the entries. They showed a lot of digging was being done. Nice use of photography, though I would recommend that the thumbnails in the entries expand to larger format photos in the popups. I will also add Yogalila to my Blog section in
Gateway. One day I will actual do a blogroll on this page.
Comfortable in my body
I had an intriguing session tonight at
Flow Yoga, with Andrea leading enthusiastically after a full week of exposure to
John Friend and Anusara teacher training. I felt very comfortable, relaxed in my body as we went through the poses. It was not
hard work, as if I was fighting against the flow. Andrea made a point of taking us through the poses slowly, so that we could explore them and correct our form.
When we went into pigeon (not my favorite), I was able to get quickly into the pose quickly and then relaxed more deeply into it. So I surprised myself.
Sun Salutation
I've seen lots of attempt to explain the Sun Salutation on this web, but this
one is one of the better ones without going into full animation. It's brought to you by
Samadhi Yoga, out of Seattle, Washington. Also check out their online journal,
Jai / Flame even though it's five years old. Just random stuff that I run across surfing instead of doing my home practice.
Honoring the beloved -- and shoulder shrugs
I did not go to Flow Yoga this week because Stephanie (daughter) and I had to celebrate Teresa's birthday. Matt (son) also came over for dinner on the town. It was great to have everyone together to catch up on all the happenings in our lives.
At lunch time this week, I have been doing my kriya and meditation, but also working in some routines to increase the flexibility in my shoulders and upper torso. Basically doing "office yoga" poses on a chair. It's a focus that I want to keep up because my stiff shoulders are holding back my practice. In just four days, I've already noticed a difference. My arms come much closer to my ears when I raise them above my head. However, I can't get be elbows together to do the top half of eagle pose (Garudasana).
Pigeons and pull-ups
Yesterday, I went to
Thrive Yoga and took a class with Susan Bowne. It tested my physical limits, but there were other issues at stake. My intention for the month has been "exploration with playfulness" in my approach to poses and flows. Well, my practice seemed to tilt towards "lost with fidgeting." I was down in
pigeon, a tough pose for my tight hips, and I could never settle into the pose. I pulled and tugged on my legs, and waded my mat up with the tension.
When I was a kid, I went to the YMCA for gym classes. We had to do pull-ups. I could not do a single one -- I'd contract all my muscles in my body with my effort, but would not move an inch. The instructor kept me -- the only kid -- after class until I did one. My father finally got tired of waiting and took me home. We put up a bar in the kitchen doorway so that I could practice. It was not that I had insufficient strength; I just did not know how to contract the right muscles in my arms to pull me up towards the bar.
Sometimes, I feel as if I were 10 again -- trying to pull myself into a pose, but failing to isolate the right muscles to get the job done or contracting indiscriminately and blocking movement. But yoga has an "easy button," like in the Staples commercial. As my mentor says, the only class requirement is to breath.
Progress report
My weekly pilgrimage to
Flow Yoga Center was rewarded with the surprise return of
Adriana, who's been out of town for most of a month. She's going to be gone next week, too, taking in an Anusara training with John Friend.
The class was exceptional, even moving for me -- it might have been the heat caused by the late-day spring sun coming in through the windows or the tapas built up by a full classroom. I was obviously feeling the benefits of keeping up a steady practice, but a few things stuck out:
- In lunge, we bring both arms inside the forward leg and then transition by lowering elbows down on the ground. I was able to get down to the mat with my forearms, instead of modifying the pose by using blocks to support my elbows.
- My torso twists seemed to have extra rotation and I could breath freely in most poses like Utthita Parsvakonasana (Extended Side Angle Pose).
- I discovered how tight my shoulders and arms are and am trying to develop some routines to release them since that seems to be holding me back.
And my daughter go a new job at the Children's Inn at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda working as an assistant. It will give her a major salary increase and a much more exciting challenge for her immense skills.
Krishna Das coming to DC in May
Krishna Das will be coming to the Washington, DC area in late May. He will bring his special interpretation of kirtan to Alexandria, VA at 8:00 PM on Thursday, May 26 at the George Washington Middle School Gymnasium, 1005 Mt. Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, VA.
Tickets cost $20 each in advance, $25 at the door. Maureen Clyne of Prasada Yoga has more information and tickets on sale.
Kirtan is chanting as part of devotional yoga and is usually accompanied by harmoniums, tablas, drums and other instruments. Krishna Das has become the soundtrack of my yoga experience so I will try to make it to the show.
My own private retreat
From late February through most of March, I was living on my own because my wife went to Peru to spend some time with her parents, especially her dad who is getting on in years and can't visit the States like her mom. I could have pretended that I was a bachelor for four weeks. Instead, I turned my "solitude" into my own private yoga retreat --- with the obvious caviat that I still work a 9 to 5:30 job. I had plans to intensify my practice, do dozens of daily sun salutations, meditate like a monk and read through several books and magazines.
Unfortunately, I got a cold the first week of March and that spoiled a lot of the momentum I was building up in my physical practice. But I did a lot of reading, writing and thinking. Some of that reflection found its way into longer pieces that appeared on this site (A Confession and How yoga has changed my life ). This private retreat coincided with the first anniversary of getting serious about yoga. So it was a natural opportunity for taking stock.
I learned that any failure to get deeper into yoga -- or life in general -- was not my wife's fault: i.e., demanding attention from her husband or making supper too late to fit in the practice schedule. At least, that was my lazy mental crutch for explaining my own failings. The month of "solitude" reinforced the idea that maintaining my priorites and acting on them daily yields benefits.
Dogs and Dolphins
I had a nice session at
Flow Yoga Center on Wednesday, but without Stephanie, who was feeling ill. For the life of me, I had the definite impression that my heels were touching the ground in
Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward facing dog) once I had built up some heat and loosened up. Since I was moving through a vinyasa flow at the time, I did not pay much attention at the time, but looking back I clearly remember thinking "What's happening to me?" Debra, the studio owner, was leading us. Lots of prep work to get us ready for headstand, strengthening our necks, shoulders and arms. I was surprised at how comfortable I felt in
Ardha Pincha Mayurasana (dophin pose).
The meaning of Namaste
I've noticed a change in my life that goes beyond the physical implications of asanas and better breathing patterns. It's a revival of a spiritual flame inside me. I know that in the United States, many are uncomfortable talking about the spiritual side of a yoga practice. There are many interpretations of what the Sanskrit term
Namaste means. My favorite is:
"The Divine in me recognizes and honors, the Divine in you."
But how that terms translates into your life is another question. I've tried to give my personal parsing of the word.
