This morning I had my third yoga class in three days so I've been able to get my body back to homeostasis after a week without a class. Susan Bowen at Thrive Yoga led a hot yoga class, which was packed with people because it was Presidents' Day and more students than normal for a Monday morning put their mats close together to work up a nice sweat. It was a purifying experience because I had already had Saturday and Sunday classes to get my body back into the swing; I was able to get into my poses deeply and with ease so I could concentrate on making micro-adjustments to my posture. I came out of class feeling that I rid myself of a lot of debris and could receive the day to the fullest.

Labels: class

Following up on an entry a few days ago, I went to Thrive Yoga three days in a row — my usual weekend classes and a hot yoga class on Monday morning. Each day opened up a different view on my body as I played with the boundaries of my practice. Moving into handstand in the middle of the room, without a wall to serve as a back-stop going into and out of a headstand from crow pose; dealing with the new balance requirements in tree pose of placing my foot on my thigh, rather than on my calf; noticing that when I'm in an inversion, like plow or shoulderstand, my stomach no longer suffocates my breath by pressing down on my diaphragm. These small nuances in my practice are the blessings that come each class and keep my routine from getting monotonous.

Labels: blessing, class

I've begun to notice changes in my body during my yoga practice. For instance, last night when I was in Warrior II, I was able to move my shoulder blades closer together and further apart independent from my pose. My arms felt lighter and more free. A month ago, my shoulders and scapula seemed to be one solid block of bone and muscle -- roughly the equivalent of a clinched fist. I've commented here before, about getting really fatigued in Warrior II because I seemed to be fighting against myself as well as gravity.

There are other small changes that I've discovered. To prevent myself from trying too hard, I used props as supports (a block under my hand in Half Moon, for instance) so that I did not go too far. I've tried to remove those artificial benchmarks and explore where my body takes me know. I've been surprised. Last night, I skipped the block in Half Moon and accepted the balance with my hand to the floor.

Labels: balance, class, practice

I had a great inversion workshop Jordan Bloom at Thrive Yoga today. Jordan is a gifted Anusara instructor who's based in the DC area, but travels around the world. I can tell why he is such a popular teacher. He spent a lot of time dealing with the basic truths of alignment, building gradually so that when it came time to "invert," it was relatively easy to take the plunge. For me the key was working on my shoulders. One of the first pose that he had us do was a deep lunge with arms stretched above the head. Jordan then had us repeated take our shoulders further back and then reach the arms higher and toward the back. Each time, I got a little deeper back bend. But then, Jordan came behind me and gently pulled my shoulders back even further. It was not a forced pressure, more like the touch used in breaking an egg shell. I could feel the knot of muscle between my shoulder blades dissolve. Once I knew where to focus my efforts, I was able to work on bringing my shoulders back in other poses, like downward-facing dog. The three-hours of the class went flying by.

Another adjustment that Jordan made was for me to widen the placement of my hands on the mat in poses like downward and updward dog, chataranga and other prone poses. He said that the middle of my hand should be even with the outside of my shoulder. That put the little finger of my hand of the edge of the mat and my ring finger running parallel to the edge. They don't make yoga mats wide enough for many men. This adjustment also helped me broaden my shoulders.

Jordan will be coming back to thrive for a three-day workshop in February next year.

Labels: class, practice, shoulders

I took my first Jivamukti class at Flow Yoga. The teacher was Jill Abelson, who happens to be featured in the December issue of Yoga Journal. There are only two certified Jivamukti teachers in the DC area, and they both call Flow Yoga their home studio. The 300-hour residential teacher training program is demanding and requires big bucks and tons of commitment.

For those who are familiar with this style of yoga, Jivamukti flows from a New York City yoga studio run by Sharon Gannon and David Life. Despite being on the trendy edge of urban chic, Gannon and Life are respected innovators in American yoga. It draws a lot on Hindu spiritual practices to expand yoga beyond being just physical exercise.

The class was fast-paced and I sweated up a storm, in part due to the fact that the class was packed. Jill kept things interesting and challenging. Aside from more chanting and pranayama than in most classes, I was not able to put my finger on what makes the Jivamukti style so distinctive. Of course, one class just gives you a short taste of the approach so I should probably hold off on any judgments.

Labels: class, dc_yoga

I went to Thrive Yoga at 8:00 am today to take the meditation and pranayama session before Susan Bower's Sunday morning class of yoga. Several friends had told what a great prep, putting them in a mellow state before they started their practice on the mat. I have to confess that it was a real change of pace for me. This time around, the pranayama practice was designed to slow down and calm the mind. I've been more accustomed to an energized pranayama practice. We used bolsters with added blankets under our backs, and the position threw me off. It took me a while to realize that the accentuated curvature of my spin was shortening my breath. Finally, we sat for about 20 minutes. Susan's voice guided us through the process. I am used to silence during my meditation. So, all in all, I was outside my comfort zone.

I had been promising myself to take this Sunday meditation class since it started up about a month ago. But I am not an early bird by nature and Sunday mornings have their rituals that are hard to break. Despite my quibbling about the session and it being my first time, I will definitely go again. It really did help prepare me for a more mindful yoga practice: it usually takes me 20-30 minutes to shake off what I call the "debris of life" (all the to-do lists, internal dialog and white noise that go on in my head) and surrender to my practice; this time around, I eased into almost immediately. Should I have expected anything less?

Labels: class, meditation

The Thrive Yoga website has undergone an incremental revamping to make it a better resource. The biggest change is that Susan Bowen has decided to start blogging. Her opening salvos have been riffs on the Yogi Sutras of Patanjali. That's a pretty tall order, to turn those sometimes cryptic, frequently insightful refrains into meaningful nuggets for modern-day yogis. She says that other Thrive teachers will be chipping in with blog entries. The blog will also be open to comments, so hopefully it will become a sounding board for the community. There are not many studios that have blogs so this initiative is breaking new ground. Kudos to Susan for being open. Elsewhere on the site, feedback from Thrive students tell how yoga has changed their lives.

Labels: class, reading, yoga_resource

Labels: class, news

New York Times Yoga Is More Than Just Showing Up, but That Does Help. This article is about the approach of some yoga studios having challenges for their clients, like 21 or 30 consecutive days of classes. It's not clear whether the author's concern is the business practice (can the studio pick up new students or make a profit with this marketing technique?) or yoga practice (does a daily practice increase the benefits?). The reporter seems to be dumping multiple issues into a single article. Remember this article came in the Fashion & Style section of the Times.

As a way of creating loyal regulars out of monthly drop-ins, studio owners recently have pushed the self-serving idea that yoga is not to be done lightly, casually or sporadically. They have stopped short of telling erratic classgoers to give it up, but their message is loud and clear: committing to a regular practice is the only way to progress in life and on the mat.

At Thrive Yoga, another 40 Days to a Personal Revolution in the style of the Baron Baptiste school of power vinyasa yoga will be offered starting this month (September 24–November 2). This is a six week program in which you have three class sessions at the studio and the other three can be at home, plus daily meditation (two sessions each), journaling, nutrition and some group talk. This is the second time it's being offered in Rockville. For me, it just comes at the wrong time, since I will be out of town twice during the period.

Flow Yoga frequently has 30-days challenges. Both of these studios do not pitch these packages to newcomers. They are meant for studio regulars who want to push their practice up a level or two.

For the sake of a personal practice, it's far more important to have a home practice because it requires far more discipline and dedication. Of course, taking in a class or two a week is better than nothing, but it's going to be hard to make progress. There is also the issue whether just yoga is enough to keep you physically fit (cardio and strength).

Labels: class, news, practice, yoga

I've had a couple of class sessions this week in which I've been testing some of my understanding about my edge. I've prided myself recently in considering myself a Level-II practitioner, but to be perfectly honest there are parts of my practice that are Level I and others that are even less, as I've mentioned here before. I can "double-dip" (do a full push-up during my Sun Salutation vinyasa) and keep one-leg up in my Chaturanga Dandasana and think I'm going great. But at the same time, my balance poses have barely progressed since I started yoga. Some of these obstacles in my practice are deeply rooted in my musculature. My arm "strength" may actually hide a deeper problem in my shoulders' flexibility.

Because of this uneven quality, I've have a hard time focusing on my edge because it shifts constantly as I move through different poses. By nature, an edge is dynamic and fluid any ways so I am doubly challenged. I can be breezing along and then hit a rough patch, like riding a bike and suddenly hitting deep mud on the path). In some cases, I am actually fighting against my own muscles. I want to power my way through through the resistance. No wonder I expend a lot of energy and end up being really tired. "Ease and grace" would not describe my practice when I am trapped in this kind of negative flow.

As I've stated before, I sense that I have to slow myself down to avoid overrunning my edge, focus inwardly to center my awareness on what is happening now, and be really faithful to the pacing of my breath. It means practicing truthfulness fearlessly, rather than operating under false assumptions about what my yoga and my life should be like.

I did a Flow II class with Angela Cerkevich at Flow Yoga. I tried to slow down intentionally and focus inwardly on what was happening inside me. It was disconcerting because I found myself frequently out of sync with the class. I lost track of my breathing and even time itself because the class seemed to flash by quickly.

Wednesday evening, I took in a vinyasa flow all-levels class with Lisa Johnson at Thrive Yoga. She was video recording the class as part of her requirements for Anusara certification so she was zeroing in on good, solid form in alignment and getting the basics right. It made for a really slowly-paced class, which was what I wanted anyways. I think I did a good job of matching my breath with the class and did not get ahead of my breath. One thing that Lisa mentioned really struck a nerve with me: fear cause psoas muscles to tighten (shorten) up; a good way to counterbalance is to hollow the lower abdomen to allow more room for the psoas to lengthen above the hips.

Labels: class, edge, practice

I took a two-hour workshop at Thrive Yoga today with Susan Bowen: "Are You Edgy?" Good question in more than one way. The premise was that any practitioner needs to find how deeply she can move physically, mentally spiritually into the flow. The "Edge" has become an almost mystical state of hatha yoga in which awareness, breath and body seems to meld into nirvana.

As I mentioned a few days ago, I tend to be utilitarian about my practice. I want to become stronger and more flexible physically, and move with grace and ease through my vinyasa. I wield my practice as a "cure" for my depression. I point towards self-realization of my full potential as a creative force. So my practice is always "out there," probing the boundaries.

So I need to find the balance between the soaring for achievement and the grounding of self-acceptance and peace. Where is the line on my mat between those two dimensions.

We were about a dozen students. These were not necessarily the most accomplished yogis at the studio. Most were mature adults who were coming to terms with the physical demands of yoga, the limits of their bodies and the aspiration to maximize the benefits of the practice. Susan led an initial discussion to find out how we perceive the "edge" and how we thought we could get there. Then we did 20 minutes of intense pranayama, which was very useful in taking me out of the normal frame of reference for practice. We then did a vinyasa practice that emphasized holding the asanas for a long, long time — downward facing dog held until my biceps, tricepts and hamstrings quiver. Sun salutations as a slow progression of endurance. We then did some long restorative poses. Finally, we ended with meditation.

Did I find my edge? I noticed that I have a tendency to overrun my edge. My breathing rhythm becomes accelerated and I just try to push through the need for more air in my lungs. I don't pull back or drop into child's pose to regain my breath. I frequently ascribed this breathing pace to my condition as a guy in his late 50s who is carrying 10-20 pounds more than his ideal and has not been doing enough cardio and aerobic exercising. But now I think it's more complicated than the mere physically. I am not paying attention to my edge.

I also noticed that my practice is uneven — my chatarunga is strong, but ask me to balance on one leg and I fall over. Because there is so much divergence in my practice, it is easy to lose track. Not only to I tend to get into a hyper mode, but when I go through a less than optimal segment of my practice, I start to think I have to catch up.

Labels: class, edge, practice

Today I surprised myself when we were practicing inversions at Thrive Yoga. We were doing supported headstand (Salamba Sirsasana), which has always been problematic for me because when resting on my forearms, my shoulders tended to tense up and make it extremely difficult to sustain my torso and legs above me. I usually used the garden-variety headstand with my hands on the ground and using my elbows as a platform for lifting my legs up. Whenever the class was practicing an inversion, I would opt for a less demanding modification to work on strength in my shoulders.

Today, as we prepped by practicing dolphin pose, I notice that when I raised a leg it came up higher than I had perceived before. I took a couple of trial jumps and I knew that I was close to getting up all the way. I switched to the wall and tried the supported headstand with my forearms for support. I was able to easily bring both legs smoothly over my head -- without really kicking up, which is really a cheat because you have little or no control over the movement. It's like throwing mud against the wall. This time, I noticed that my weight was firmly over my arms and no much pressure was coming down on my neck and head. It would be a simple move to lift up to Feathered Peacock Pose (Pincha Mayurasana). I am still a long way from having the balance and core strength to do without the wall, but I passed another threshold.

The moral of this story is that if you do the prep work enough, you will eventually reach a point when you're within reach of the full pose you're aiming for.

Labels: class

I am months away from being 58 years old and the 60-years-old milestone is just around the corner ("Do not go gentle into that good night..."). My generation may have been pioneers in introducing yoga and other Eastern disciplines in the States, but I don't see a lot of them out on the mat. What lessons have I learned from yoga and fitness in general? None of the following is earth-shattering, but I just want to list them.

1. A senior body is on a steady downward slope of entropy. Having a practice may slow the decline or, more hopefully, reverse it. Taking a week off can be a real setback to keeping fit. You need to do something everyday.
2. Muscle strength is acquired more slowly than during early adulthood, and recovery from exertion takes longer. For me, that works out to taking two days of vigorous yoga and taking a day off for more restorative or yang yoga.
3. Flexibility can be changed over months of work, not days or week. My sense is that it's much harder to change fascia than muscle tissue.
4. Balance seems to be the slowest factor to come around. I still feel that I need a wall nearby, just in case.
5. The natural weight gain that comes with age is really hard to get rid of. My extra 15-plus pounds really weighs me down through a 90 minute practice, and even gets in the way of certain poses.
6. My metabolism seems to function at a different level than younger practitioners. My breathing rhythm seems to be a lot faster than the pace given by instructors, too, especially once we've built up some heat. This may be due to pre-existing diminished lung capacity (I was a smoker for too long): I am still surprised by nuanced improvements from pranayama.
7. The key qualities that I need to cultivate are awareness and acceptance -- awareness because I need to perceive and know where I am and how far I can go, and acceptance because that's the starting point for change and emotional release.
8. Use it or lose it. Given these conditions, anyone should always have a fitness practice and never abandon it in the first place.

But in the end, yoga is yoga. Even if I cannot transform myself in the equivalent of Ana Forrest or Dave Williams, it will still reward me in other ways that have nothing to do with my body.

Labels: blessing, class, life style, practice

I did my Sunday morning session at Thrive Yoga with Jan pushing the crew hard. This was my first class since Wednesday so I was wary that I would feel the effect of lax practice. But she actually started us off at a leisurely pace and gradually led us into a well-faced class. I had to back off some poses because they were beyond my reach (mainly due to tight hips and shoulders and lack of core strength).

I'd like to write something profound about the class, something insightful about my practice or a pose. But I just made it to class, rolled out my mat, followed the instructions and did the best I could. Sometimes, that's all I can expect from yoga. Sure, there's a lot of truth and wisdom that can flow like the breath, but today was not one of those days.

Labels: class

Let me count the ways:

1. I can put my arms behind my back and reach it as far as my opposite hip and even get as far as touching my thigh. I can clasp my hands together and press my arms together, getting a good stretch in the shoulders and opening my chest and collarbone.
2. In extended side angle pose I can get into the bind, which consists of slipping my arm under my thigh and reaching up for my other arm coming behind my back, which is why point one is so important.
3. My heels touch the ground in downward facing dog, but only when I shorten the stance a little. If I move my hands further forward, my heels rise up a little.
4. In the jump forward in the transition from downward facing dog to standing forward bend, I don't land in a semi-crouched position, but with my legs almost fully extended.

None of this happened overnight. I noticed some of these changes months ago, but the accumulation of evidence shows that no consistent practice stays static. The body responds to stimulation, to challenge.

Labels: blessing, class, practice

That's a rhetorical question. Last night I took in a yoga 2 class at Flow Yoga and it was sheer torture for most of the session. Angela, the normal instructor, was out for the week, and her place was taken by Jennifer Rene, another Flow teacher who also leads Pilates classes as well as yoga. Her cheery disposition lured us into the easy flow of the practice and then she ambushed us with a hellish combinations of high lunges into Warrior III into splits and then poses that I've forgotten the names of because I was lost in a cloud of trembling muscles, panting breath, and even dizziness. The most aching vinyasas came in repetitions of four on each side, but who was counting. I sobbed quietly as I folded over in half pigeon. The episode was like a big billboard alongside of the highway to self-realization and enlightenment: "You are not there yet."

And at the end, in all the numbness that comes over the body and the mind, there is the satisfaction of having endured, having persevered and found comfort in savasana.

And I keep telling myself that I don't want to go back to yoga 1 classes because they can be potentially so unfulfilling physically.

Labels: class

I've come to the conclusion that two days in a row of yoga flow 2 classes or equivalent is just about all that my body can take. Even though today is a holiday and I could have taken in a morning class without complication, I needed to allow my body to recover. Yesterday, I could tell that I had less reserves of strength. I could not get into crow and hold it (all the sweating did not help either because it made my knees slip off my elbows.), meaning my core strength was depleted.

I will probably still fit in some yoga today, working on my core and problem areas, doing my pranayama and meditation. I find that doing some pranayama goes a long way for picking up my energy levels. It's nice that I have something to fall back on.

Labels: class, practice

I took a break from blogging these past few days because I needed to catch my prosaic breath and I was just physically exhausted. On Monday and Tuesday, I took two Level-2 vinyasa classes at Flow Yoga with my daughter, Stephanie. I felt pretty good after the first class, but the second one really made me notice that my body had not completely recovered from the previous class — the strength was just not there, especially in my core, thighs and shoulders. By the time I got home last night, I just wanted to eat a light dinner and then go to bed. I got a full eight-hours of really deep sleep, which is unusual for me.

But I notice that throughout these intense sessions, there was a subtle shift in my body's conditioning. In most practices in the past, there would be a moment when I'd say "What am I doing here? Why am I putting myself through this torture?" These past few sessions, I was waiting for that threshold to be reached. I may not have the flexibility or strength to get into a particular pose or through a transition, but I never let that bring me out of my focus. There were poses when I was in way over my head, but I just explored the approach and space into those poses. It's intriguing that a milestone so intangible could seem so significant to me.

So tonight, I am taking it easy. Doing some pranayama, meditation and core strength conditioning. And I'm getting to blog a bit.

Labels: blessing, class

This evening, I took in a class at Thrive Yoga with Marina. I usually don't go to this class because there's not enough time to make the commute home, change clothes and go to the studio. The class is at 6:30. This time, I ran out of the office at 5:40, 15-20 minutes before I usually leave, took the Metro to Rockville, had my wife pick me up at the station, changed into my yoga clothes while we were driving to the studio, and got to the class when it was already started. Late by five minutes. Luckily, I found an open spot by the window, which happens to be my preferred location — a wall to grab onto during balancing poses.

Marina leads a very creative class. The asanas and vinyasas are not that exotic, basically, a Flow I-II level, but she modifies and combines them in unique ways, seemingly improvising as she goes along. She's always asking you to play with the pose, make it your own, stretch it farther and breath deeper, without hurting yourself, of course. She frequently asks you to hold poses for what seems like an eternity. I had a hankering for a class that tested my edge, and Marina did just that.

There's a lot of energy at Thrive Yoga. You can feel it in the lobby and the studios. The 40-day Personal Revolution got underway today, and more than 50 people have signed up to participate. They will have to do six classes a week (three in the studio and the rest at home), daily meditation and group discussions. This regime is modeled after the Baron Baptiste yoga crucible method. I bought his book. I don't think I can join the venture because I just have too many other commitments this month.

On Mondays, I usually go to meditation class at Flow Yoga with my daughter Stephanie, but she is working in Las Vegas this week so I decided to do something different.

Labels: class

I've noticed that I can usually hold most asanas individually, but when they are combined into vinyasa sequences, I have problems with the transitions, especially around the hips. For instance, tonight at Thrive Yoga, we were moving up from Reverse Warrior to Warrior II into Half Moon (Ardha Chandrasana), in which I transition into balancing on one leg and a hand on a block. I never seem able to make the same movement twice; I'm wobbling in and out of the pose; I easily lose my balance and fall out of the pose. It's also a completely different feeling working with the left leg forward from the right leg.

(On the other hand, with Sun Salutations A and B, I've done the sequences thousands of times over the past three years so they've become second nature to me.)

I am sure that this problem is related to my "spinal knot" -- the tightness of my hips, spin and shoulders. If muscles are clinched permanently, they are not going to allow for smooth movement.

A tip of the hat to my teacher tonight, Andrea Creel, who says she reads this blog regularly, bless her heart.

Labels: class, practice, yoga

I've started going to yoga classes with my wife, Teresa, on weekends. For a long while, she was content with taking classes at Bally Fitness on Sundays, but that just did not get it done, and maybe pick up the odd class somewhere else. I bought her a 10-class pass at Thrive Yoga for Christmas, but she immediately came down with a bad cold and other health complications. She was just able to use up for pass, in March when she started going weekdays, when she does not have to worry about her Spanish teaching. On her own, last week, she bought an unlimited month pass.

Teresa has been dabbling in yoga almost as long as I have, since we both began taking classes at Bally Fitness, but she has never taken it as seriously or consistently as I have. Now she still needs to work a lot on her fundamentals and she refuses to take a basics course because she sees it as a watered-down version of a full vinyasa class. So every once in a while, I will shift an eye over to her mat to see how she's doing. She also needs to work on muscle strength and flexibility, the deficiencies of most beginners.

Between my daughter, Stephanie, and me, we've more or less convinced Teresa of the dividends of a steady yoga practice, and she does not want to be left behind.

Labels: class, Teresa, yoga

The separation of ownership at Thrive Yoga has altered my yoga routine, as I mentioned two months ago, in unexpected way. I studied under both owners and maintain the studio website, which gives me no-costs yoga sessions at Thrive. I have just gotten through working with the site designer to purge the site of pictures of Kim Groark (at her request) and bring the graphic design into alignment with the current status at the studio. So much work that I missed two class this week, and I probably missed a few the previous week.

Over the past couple of months, Susan Bowen has brought in several new teachers, which required me to adjust to different voices, paces and sequencing. And there's been a swell of new people taking classes, many of them just getting their feet wet with yoga. Combined with my frequent travels, I seem to be practicing in a different environment even though the physical facilities remain the same.

Kim Groark, the renegade owner, as she likes to call herself, has started teaching elsewhere, and uses the facilities at the American Dance Institute for three classes a week. Her schedule has not fit mine so I have yet to take one of her classes, and not because I am taking sides in the split. She has a newsletter (PDF and a whopping 2.6 mb) that conveys her love for yoga and unique approach to the practice. She does not have website yet, but I would probably offer her the same deal as I have with Thrive -- hosting for classes.

My first reaction was that yoga and meditation should have prevented this breakup that was due to bad vibs between two friends. If yoga is going to bring harmony to the world, why can't it heal a business partnership? But then, I realized that yoga does not keep people from being human. I am sure that both Kim and Susan struggled with this contradiction and decided that the split was the best way to restore their own personal and separate balances. All these changes have meant I have become more detached from my instructors and listen more to my inner teacher about how and where my practice should be headed. They can lead me skillfully in a vinyasa, but they are not going to give me wisdom necessarily.

Labels: blessing, class, meditation, yoga