Kelly McGonigal sent me a copy of her book Yoga for Pain Relief: Simple Practices to Calm Your Mind & Heal Your Chronic Pain (New Harbinger Publications, 2009) and I've been sitting on it for nearly two months.
Kelly does not need another review of her book. Eighteen endorsements from yoga experts, health advocates, pain relief specialists, and scientific researchers are spread over four pages. Timothy McCall, the medical editor of Yoga Journal and author of Yoga as Medicine, wrote her foreword. She got a review from Yoga Journal in the March issue and also publishes an article on Surya Namaskar (Sun Salulation) in the same issue.
She has a blog, The Science of Will Power, on Psychology Today (looks like it comes out twice a month), as well as her personal blog, Science and Sutras.
She's giving seminars at the Omega Institute (New York). She's quoted in Time magazine and the New York Times, the Washington Post (her listing of interviews). She's starting to make appearances on TV.
As a psychologist at Stanford University, she's uniquely positioned to see where yoga is interfacing with Western scientific investigation and medical practice, both in terms of theory and practice, at a time when neuroscience is redefining and re-dimensioning our understanding of the human mind. She's also an accomplished yoga instructor and teacher of instructors, as well as the editor for the International Journal of Yoga Therapy.
Do we see a pattern developing here?
She definitely does not need another book review or endorsement from a blogger.
New Harbinger has produced an understated book format, looking similar to the scores of other "Yoga for .... [name your disease, symptom or preferred body part]." Clean design, large font size, gray scale photos. So what sets this book apart from all the stock in the self-help section?
Once I started reading her book, it impressed me as an important blueprint for yoga in the United States. It's a book that I would recommended to anyone who wants to understand what you can get from yoga/meditation. The book hits a kind of "sweat spot:" this is yoga's entry point with the minimal initial physical investment, the lowest opportunity cost and the biggest pay-off. You don't have to get in shape, build up your aerobic capacity, muscular strength and flexibility before seeing results. You don't even need to know what's wrong with you for yoga to do you some good.
The book is extraordinarily accessible: No jargon, either from the Sanskrit or from the academic/scientific lingua franca, no intellectual arrogance, no magical incantation, no gateway to esoteric wisdom, no complicated sequences of poses. Within the first 25 pages (out of 183 pp), she's giving you easy routines to start using what's she teaching, in this case, observing your breath.
One of the things that Kelly said five years ago has stayed with me and she repeats it in the book: people seek out yoga because they are suffering, either physically, psychologically or spiritually. Human suffering is a great motivator and a constant of human existence. The book's virtue is simplifying yoga down to a concise, clear message: Relieve your suffering; start with these easy steps. If Patanjali had written like Kelly, yoga would have taken over the world (kidding -- a little).
Kelly also understands the value of personal narrative alongside the findings of randomized, blind control experiments, and she has included compelling stories of people impacted by yoga throughout the book.
I also appreciate her thoughtful listing of resources: meditation and yoga instruction books, audio/DVD, music for movement, meditation and relaxation, books for people with pain, non-profit organizations supporting people with pain, and organizations supporting research, education, and professional training in yoga and meditation. In addition, she has 50-item bibliography. If you poke around her blogs, personal website or her book site, you'll find lots of pointers to central reference texts, scientific studies, resource centers and specialized knowledge hubs -- stuff that she did not include in the book because they would have gotten in the way.
Labels: health, reading, yoga_resource
At Thrive Yoga's recent Rumbaugh workshop, I had my mat next to a special yogini. I never caught her name. She was hearing impaired and she had brought a sign language interpreter with her. Dave and Susan gave them plenty of room in the corner of the studio (actually, my favorite turf for taking pictures, which is why I ended up next to her). The interpreter frequently stood off to one side signing Desirée's lecture and demos. During the routines, she was sat or stood near the woman and passed on the instructions.
I got a chance to partner with her when we were doing handstands in the inversion session. She was able to get up fine, and I goofed up a couple of times with the support. I also did not know the sign that she gave to let me know that she wanted to come down. I let her get out of having to support me for the hand stand, in part because she could never have supported my weight. I could see that she had a very good personal practice and she was capable of absorbing everything that Desirée was offering.
After the session was over, the woman and her interpreter approached Desirée and had a conversation. There are some obvious obstacles between a hearing-impaired yogi and an instructor because hearing is so important in cuing through a practice. In the workshop's case, this was not even a standard class, but an extended demo/lecture/try-it-yourself format. I am pretty sure that the woman did not know exactly what to expect. Plus, Anusara has its own specific terminology for how a posture is put together and an interpreter would have to be familiar with it to translate that language into appropriate signs. At one point during the session, I was tempted to grab one of Desirée's associates and ask them to actually help the hearing-impaired yogini get a clear idea of what Desirée was asking of us by actually laying hands on her and rotate muscles in spiral directions.
I had been meaning to blog about this encounter on the mats with the hearing impaired, but I forgot about it until I came across a tweet from the Deaf Yoga Foundation, based in New York City. It's main mandates are preparing a yoga sign dictionary, teacher training, and community outreach. The dictionary is interesting because it is drawing on hand gestures in Indian (Hindu) dance. Check out Dancing for the Gods.
Labels: workshop, yoga_resource
For a regular fix of yoga commentary, you can always turn to Huffington Post. I've surprised to find that there is a steady flow of yoga and mindfulness at this mainstream aggregator. Are all the yogis ganging up on Ariana when she's in Pilates class? Or is it simply an easy service to get invited to join? In any case, here's a sampling:
- Take a poll on yoga products as gimmicks or essentials.
- Watch the videos of Tara Stiles, the fashion model turned YouTube yoga star and studio founder. She also blogs.
- Lauren Cahn, a lawyer turned yoga advocate.
- Alanna Zabel, multifaceted writer.
- Sadie Nardini also finds time to blog in the midst of several enterprises.
- Elena Brower is another big-time NYC yoga instructor.
- Waylon Lewis of ElephantJournal fame even lends his byline.
Labels: news, yoga_resource
If I had the time, energy and intention to upgrade this website into something more substantial, I would probably turn it into the equivalent of YogaDork. It's updated regularly with items on news, trends and worthy manifestations of yogadom in the world. Lots of links to news stories (as I do occasionally), but usually rounded out with additional links for context and background, as well as referencing to previous YogaDork items. It also finds stuff out of the blue. For instance, today it has an interesting pointer to the film Addiction, Recovery and Yoga: "How people have used yoga as part of their journey in recovery programs from serious addiction problems to a new life of well-being and emotional stability."
It can be snarky and opinionated when warranted, but still remain grounded in the yamas and niyamas that guide a virtuous life. It understands the temptations of commercialized yoga, the hot teachers, the quirks of yoga culture. It is short on the insights into personal practice so you may want to go elsewhere for that.
I don't know whether it's written by a "he," a "she" or a "they" so I've been referring to the blog as an "it," but there's too much personality impregnated in the content to classify it as a neutral. In any case, it has relieved me of the imperative to upgrade this blog, for the time being.
An Absence: After four years, Visions of Cody is no longer. It was rarely updated over this summer, and "Cody Pomeroy" announced this week that "the time for this particular blog has passed." I will miss his unique voice as expressed in his podcast and commentary. Mitch Blum, his real name, will still blog about music and life. As a fellow mature yogi, I can appreciate how he's evolved -- to the point that he is not now practicing yoga. It requires time, effort and intention to make a great blog,and sometimes one's life sets other priorities.
Labels: audio, news, reading, videos, yoga_resource
Kira Ryder, a West Coast yoga teacher, is one of the rising lights featured in the "21 Under 40" article in Yoga Journal's March 2008 issue. She was early to exploit the advantages of video to open a window into practice. She has 40 videos stashed at LuluBandhas's YouTube Channel. I especially liked her set of six videos on "Opening the Feet" -- yes, you heard me right. Six videos, between 4 and 10 minutes each, on loosening up rigid feet. Just what I need. She also has Lulu Vu, which is her online video outlet for full-length classes, home practice shorts, clips from her teacher training and workshops. She also has a ChannelYoga which highlight non-instructional videos (some links are broken). Kira's studio, Lulu bandha's is in Ojai, CA, near LA. She also has a blog
Labels: feet, videos, yoga_resource
This is not an xray of my knee, but it will serve to illustrate my plight.
My previous entry about my nagging knee injury brought two comforting comments: Mary suggested that I see a sports specialist/orthopedist, and Melissa mentioned that a yoga therapist might help and pointed me in the direction of Doug Keller. Keller is based here in the DC area, but spends a lot of time traveling to yoga workshops and teacher training around the United States and the world so he is not immediately available. His site does contain an archive of about dozen articles that he wrote for Yoga+ magazine, and one did deal with knee issues. I have downloaded several to apply them to my multiple aches and pains.
The helpful responses reminded me that the yogic path should not be isolated, that we can reach out to others for advice, support and commiseration. That's why we have yoga studios where like-minded practitioners can share their experiences. The Internet itself opens up the whole world, both for giving and receiving. Sometimes, injuries and other obstacles get me all wrapped up in the tangles that my mind gets trapped in.
I think my concern was three-fold: first, my yoga-empowered changes have been altering the way that my body parts are moving and changing at different speeds due to variable flexibility, strength and awareness. Second, the injuries themselves can engender changes in the body, compensations for a gimpy knee that may jeopardize my gains of the past four years. Or at least, that's what my neurotic mind was telling me, which just amplified the repercussions of the injury. Third, my ego was telling me that a good yogi would not be hurt himself so I must be failing in my practice in some respect.
Alternatively, I could also take this incident as an opportunity to learn more about how my body works, how it heals, and how it changes in the face of handicaps and stimuli. Greet it as a kind of anti-vinyasa that I have to recognize, accept, deal with, learn from and then assimilate into my yogic path.
I should note that Melissa Garvey and is based here in Washington, DC where she freelances as a writer and editor, and has her own website and YogaPulse blog. Following a link from her blog, I found a fascinating, even-handed article in June 2007 issue of Self, Bad Karma, about the risks of injury in yoga practice. Mary is "anonymous."
Labels: injury, knee, reading, therapy, yoga_resource
BandhaYoga has brought out a second volume of its eye-popping Scientific Keys series on yoga anatomy, this one entitled The Key Poses of Yoga: Your Guide to Functional Anatomy in Yoga. As with the first book (The Key Muscles of Hatha Yoga), the unique perspective on the details of muscles and bones is an imaginative tool for developing a better understanding of what goes on when practicing yoga. The full color illustrations are very useful for teachers and students alike. You can also purchase both books and save $7.00 over the list price ($97). These are not inexpensive books, but given the printing and paper costs, the price is worth it.
As you will see on this site, I am a member of www.BandhaYoga.com's affiliate program, in which I get a small percentage from book or poster sales resulting from visitors to this site clicking on the ads and then purchasing a book. Let me tell you, it's more an endorsement on my part than a revenue source.
Labels: reading, yoga_resource
If you are scheduling your calendar around the growing number of yoga-focused events, you can block off the whole month of September, which a coalition of yoga personalities, media outlets and service companies has declared "Yoga Month." It is "a year-round awareness campaign and will peak September 2008 with millions of health and socially conscious individuals practicing yoga at thousands of yoga studios, businesses, parks and homes around the globe." The campaign will highlight the health value of yoga in dealing with obesity, hypertension, heart disease, breast cancer, menopause, chronic back pain, asthma, arthritis and depression, among other illnesses and conditions. So far, there is no event or affiliate from the Washington, DC area.
Labels: dc_yoga, health, yoga, yoga_resource
The DC area yoga page has become the second most popular page on this site so apparently someone finds it useful. As an additional feature, I have done a little online research and determined which studios offer teacher training and certification. This training component is a sign of a studio's professionalism and scope of services because it takes a substantial investment of knowledge, resources and energy to pull off a 200-hour (or 300 or 500 hour, or pre/post-natal) accredited training program.
Teacher training does not have to be just for those who want to become a teacher. Anyone who wants to deepen his or her understanding of yoga can take a course. My daughter took teacher training last year at Flow Yoga and only a handful of the 20 students are currently teaching. Another way of doing yoga intensive is the 108-hour Anusara immersion program, like the one at Willow Street Yoga.
Finally,
my main yoga shala, Thrive Yoga, is starting a teacher training program in affiliation with Alan Finger and ISHTA Yoga. Two weeks ago I participated in a weekend workshop and was really impressed with Alan Finger's depth of knowledge of yoga, tantra and ayurveda. He's an ol' school yoga guru who traces his lineage back to his teachers: Paramahansa Yogananda (author of the classic book Autobiography of a Yogi), Swami Nishraisananda, Swami Venkatesananda, and Shuddhanand Bharati when they frequented Alan's father's home in South Africa. This is a tradition that is different from the Krishnamacharya branch of the yoga tree (B.K.S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois and T.K.V. Desikachar) that predominates in the States. Finger came to the States in 1975, founded Yoga Works in LA and then came to NYC and founded Yoga Zone/Be Yoga. His participation in the Thrive ISHTA program sets it apart from most teacher training offerings in the Washington area.
The Finger workshop had a strong emphasis on the underlying universe of knowledge that supports yoga. Alan also integrated pranayama and meditation into the experience. He explained how the chakras related to the whole energy system and why they were essential to understanding yoga. He encouraged questions from the participants and let their interests guide the discussion. His laughter was the mantra of the workshop, punctuating his self-deprecating humor and joy of living.
Most people came to the workshop expecting to work up a good sweat with a vinyasa practice. Instead, we really had to exercise our minds. In the lone vinyasa segment during the workshop (I attended Saturday AM and PM sessions, and went to the Sunday session to take photos), Alan gave two adjustments that helped me correct some bad habits: in downward-facing dog, I was not maintain the curve in my lower back; and in twists, I tended to lead with my head and neck, over-exerting, when my head should be the last element to come into play. In other words, I was trying to hard to get into poses.
Labels: dc_yoga, website, yoga_resource
I finished reading the Sharon Begley book, Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain (Ballantine Books, 2007). Actually, I finished it more than 10 days ago, but have not had a chance to write about it. Now, it's hard to remember what I wanted to do. I probably should have been writing as I was reading. Actually, I was traveling during some of that time so I could not post to my blog. Lots of excuses, lots of things keeping me busy, lots of yoga and meditation that take first priority.
In brief, the book firmed up my own sense of hope about where we are headed in the brain sciences. The leap of knowledge and understanding over the past two decades has been huge. And we are only beginning to reformulate theories of the mind and its workings. Freud as the great navigator of the ego and id has been left behind. Even the chemistry of Prozac and Valium seem to be the psychological equivalent of alchemy.
The narrative ran out of gas in the last three chapters. Begley depended on psychological studies and interviews of researchers for the meat of her content. That formula can be dry reading once it is repeated over 250 pages. Even the literary ruse of making the Dalai Lama the focal point of the narrative can squeeze only so much drama. Begley probably could have spared us some of the dry details and gone straight to the conclusions of each study.
Other takes
I was struck by the large number of podcasts that are available on the book. Blog Critics (March). National Public Radio (NPR) has two programs: Diane Rehm Program via Odeo and Talk of the Nation. Dr. Ginger Campbell Brain Science Podcast, Psychjourney Podcasts and Healing the Mind. I have not had a chance to listen to all of them.
Earth and Sky, Psychotherapy Networker The Wonders of Neuroplasticity, Discover: Rewiring the Brain, Brain Technologies and Dana Foundation.
For additional background, here's Sharon Begley's Newsweek bio and the Richard Davidson's personal page at the University of Wisconsin's Lab for Affective Neuroscience.
Labels: meditation, reading, yoga_resource
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
I've heard a lot of nice things about Triangle Yoga in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It's a bit out of the Washington, DC area, but I know of two instructors who took intensive classes there. I ran across this interesting demonstration of combining music and vinyasa on YouTube, while wasting time during lunch.
Rhythmic yoga flow does require a command of the asanas and breath that most beginners don't have. I'm not even sure that I could get it at first try.
Labels: yoga_resource
Thanks to Daily Cup of Yoga, I ran across a recent audio interview with Krisha Das on CBC Radio. I've commented before that he's kinda been the soundtrack of my yoga practice. The lengthy discussion centers on his spiritual practice that parallels his experience with kirtan music. It really gave new insight into his music. I'll Krishna Das speak for himself.
Labels: music, philosophy, yoga_resource
For those who like to peek in on other people's practice, check out the photographs at Yoga is Youthfulness, a San Francisco-area Ashtanga studio.
Labels: photos, yoga_resource
Here is a reason why it's almost futile to assemble an overwhelming inventory of links: Terry Slade's Ashtanga Yoga Links. In a simple format, Terry brings together a huge number of online resources — yoga studios, videos, books, web sites, all with abundant commentary. As with most large collections of links, there is the web rot, hyperlinks that are broken because sites disappeared or pages were moved to new locations. But it's still a cold mine for yoga-centric content. Don't miss Terry's favorite story.
Labels: yoga_resource
For those who are frequently looking up references to yoga poses, Yoga Journal has just put online a new pose finder, with bright new photographs and additional information beyond the straightforward instructions. There are many more sites that have asana photos and instructions, but Yoga Journal tends to be an easy, authoritative reference.
Labels: yoga_resource
I have completed my 30-day challenge of blogging, starting on April 6. Because I had a double entry yesterday, I came out one ahead of the standard count. There might have been a few days of fluff because I came home late after a practice and did not have a lot of creative juices left in me. I don't think anything, like an injury or violated secret, has happened to me because of this increased posting. Another milestone is that it's my 300th posting, but my other blog, La Esquina del Movimiento, has 2,067, since November 10, 2000, compared to April 2004 for this blog.
To prevent this from being pure fluff, I am including a pointer to a site of yoga videos, Channel Yoga. It also has forums, interviews and a Google News ticker. I believe this is the inspiration of Kyra Rider, who has a blog, a yoga demo site and a yoga studio in southern California. I chanced across her network of sites before and forgot to mention them.
Labels: website, yoga_resource
Labels: yoga_resource
I have always been amazed at yogis (and yoginis like Ana Forrest) who can accomplish amazing feats of balance and strength even though they do not appear to be overpowering in strength. This morning I chanced across a YouTube video of an example. I had seen Mark Giubarelli's website years ago when he just had flip cards of poses. Big difference now.
I am running into more and more videos of yoga online, from highly polished productions to the equivalent of a webcam pointing to the back of a room. Just put Ashtanga into a YouTube search, and it brings up scores of video on which you can waste your time instead of practicing yoga. Then again, when you're trying to crack the secret of getting into handstand from crow, it's great to have a video demonstration because it so immediate, direct and palpable. It would take hours of reading instructions to understand it. On the other hand, the written word is great for revealing things that are not evident to the eye -- where should your drishtri be focused.
Labels: edge, inspire, yoga_resource
I have just taken out a year subscription to the premium content at Yoga Basics. I had always remembered it as having a solid, straight-forward design, solid content and bringing out a useful newsletter. But I did not come back regularly until now. As a paying customer, I see a lot more and I especially like the posture section. Tim Burgin has started a new series of posture photographs using a Flash photo applet and maintained stylistic consistency by using a clean, white background that removes any visual distractions. He also gives several angles on the pose so you get a three-dimensional image of the posture. The only drawback is that I cannot link directly to all the poses because most postures are in the premium section and/or in Flash. The standard version uses small format photographs, only 100 px by 100 px. A use of frames makes it hard to use direct links to those poses fully available publicly. In any case, finding a formula for financially supporting a valueable online service is tough so I can appreciate some of the web design and access decisions made. It's just $25 a year.
Another website worthy following to see how it develops is iHanuman.com. It calls itself "the monkey bridge between students, teachers and the ancient wisdom of yoga" and an "online community of yoga teachers dedicated to serving the yoga world." It has audio and video mini classes and interviews. It will have the YogaDancer Asana Index available once the owner recovers from a hosting switch. Yoga Dancer has had the widest collection of photos of asanas, but the quality is uneven. Among the teachers signed up in iHanuman.com are Erich Schiffmann, Suzie Hurley and Angela Farmer.
Labels: yoga_resource
