Resolution

It's that time of year when we feel a sense of winding down.  One calendar ends and we anticipate, often with a sense of relief, the start of something new.  But really, isn't it just a new calendar -- out with that old and in with that new?  Is there really such a shift from December 31st to January 1st?  What has actually changed?  What is actually beginning?  Why is this new month so much more significant than the start of any other month?  We celebrate the fading of one year and the start of a new one -- it's the pinnacle of the rushed and feverish holiday season.  New Year's Eve is the star on top of the annual tree.  We close our eyes and count down the seconds until it's New Year's Day.  Let us begin again.

I am a big believer in reflection.  It's important to take stock of where we are now in comparison to where we have come from or where we might go next.  But as I have learned from yoga, nothing much matters besides now.  Learn from the past, yes, and use it to project a bright future, but if I'm not cherishing this moment, what's the point?  Human beings are actually quite fond of this question -- what is the point?  Why are we all here, what's the meaning of any of this?  This is part of the reason we become obsessed with history and the boomerang effect of the future.  And when it comes to the start of a new year, we humans love nothing more than to stop, really stop, and decide that we're going to resolve to change each and every unfortunate behavior or fix every broken run in our figurative ladders by declaring that, starting January 1st, we will do x, y, and z differently.  We will eat better, work out more, finish a project, reach a goal, etc.  As someone who regularly practices yoga four to seven days any given week, there is absolutely no more annoying time of year to get on my mat than the first two or three weeks in January when classes become overrun with people who have added "Try yoga" to their list of New Year's To Do list.  I breath a sigh of relief when February rolls around and class sizes become more manageable and are comprised of people who are there to practice because it's what they do, not what they think they should be doing.  

I've never been a big fan of New Year's Resolutions because they are almost assuredly going to fade into a forgotten sphere until the anxiety of another new calendar rears its ugly head during the next holiday season.  What about the meantime?  What about all of those wasted months when we don't eat well or exercise or work towards goals?  What about those months when newly purchased yoga mats stay rolled up and ignored?  Isn't it better to decide to do things because you want to do them, not because there's a social cue for you to declare you're making a change?

All that said, I did actually make a New Year's Resolution in 2011 to write every day, a goal that I achieved and then re-set for 2012 and again for 2013.  But writing is also something I have a strong passion for and a long history of doing so using the start of a new calendar gave each of these blog projects a framework and an easy accountability.  Did I write today?  Well, check and see.  Would I have been as successful doing this project without the internet and Facebook and Blogger to aid me?  I honestly don't know.  But I am a woman of my word, so when I say I will do something, I do it.  This, I resolve.  Maybe New Year's Resolutions work like this for other people, too.  But most people I know make their list, check it twice, and forget about it in less than a fortnight.

Yes, 2012 is ending, but it's simply a benchmark in a long and hilly timeline.  Make resolutions if they help you refine your ideal self for the coming year, but think about this, also:  resolve to be your best self in every moment that's to come.  It's a lofty goal and it might not be possible, but the higher you aim, the more likely you'll be to succeed.  That might even mean I'll see you roll out your mat next to mine for the first few weeks in January and then disappear until 2014, and that's OK as long as you take the time to appreciate the efforts you make every day to achieve your fullest expression of every pose, both on and off your mat.

Yoga Weather

Dedication Yoga's weekly class on Prospect Hill in Somerville, MA has been suspended for the long, cold New England winter for the obvious reason -- this is a heat-building practice, yes, but the atmosphere in which we practice has to be accommodating.  I miss my time outside with all of my dedicated yogis, many of whom had near-perfect attendance all summer.  I wonder what they're doing now -- if they've found a place to practice indoors.  Because, in all honesty, this brisk chill and early nightfall makes for perfect yoga weather.  Just think of it -- dimly lit studio, heat cranked to 80-degrees, skilled teacher leading a room full of practioners through a sweaty sequence.  I love my evenings on the mat and I make my practice happen nearly seven days a week.  What else would I rather be doing?  I always make the time for this.

It's especially easy for me to do because I work for a yoga studio, the very same where I did my teacher training last spring, so I spend a lot of my time in that environment.  How did I ever get so lucky?  And while I do not teach at this studio, I do still treat it as an education -- a way to learn about my practice and learn from it, too.  I love being a student -- I always have -- but I love it even more now that I have the background in teaching.  It adds a creative layer, a new perspective, a way to see things in a fresh way.  Yoga keeps my learning active and I want to participate in every class.  It's a wonderful thing.

Cool Yoga Stuff # 3: The Less Tangible Aspects of Yoga

There are so many layers to a yoga practice.  There’s the tangible asana or postures – the flow of a sequence with the vinyasa transitions/re-sets.  There’s the balance of achieving the same depth or expression of a posture from right side to left side.  There’s literally balancing on one leg or on the backs of your arms.  There’s flexibility and strength and finding consistency between these two separate-but-equal aspects of practice.  These are all visible, touchable, explainable things that are fleshed out, focused on, and progress-measured for any given yogi.

And then there are the less tangible aspects of practice.  There are mental and emotional challenges or releases; there are energetic realizations.  It’s often said, and is true for me, too, that time on the mat teaches a degree of letting go, of surrendering the mind to the physical awareness of being in this moment only, not dwelling in the past or pushing for the future.  Depending on the dogma of any given yoga teacher or studio or individual practioner, even, the unseen inner progress (which, granted, eventually does morph into a tangible outer result, like it or not – to quote O2 Yoga founder Mimi Loureiro:  “I teach yoga because it makes people nicer.”) is often the most beneficial part of a complete yoga practice.  Yoga almost gives you permission to stop, breathe, and discover the best version of yourself there is. 

The energetics piece of yoga is truly interesting to me and is the next layer I’m exploring.  Does it make a difference if I flip my palms up towards the sky as I sit cross-legged versus flipping my palms down on my knees?  One is said to be a lifting energy, the other grounding.  Does that work?  Is it placebo?  Does it matter either way?  What about mudras like gyan mudra (connecting your thumb and forefinger when the arm is extended) or taking a chin lock in various seated positions – what does that actually do?  It feels more yogic to employ these things, so I do them and I think they make my practice feel more complete, but who knows?  To me, using them is almost like learning correct grammar – if you want to seem less pedestrian, you will take gyan mudra in your twist.

Where I have noticed an actual difference, however, is with my savasana mantra, of all things.  I’ve written about this several times, but it’s something I definitely think is worth repeating as often as humanly possible.  O2 Yoga instructor Carol Ciaravino closed a practice once by asking the class to think “I am” on the inhale and “here now” on the exhale.  So simple.  So revolutionary.  This mantra completely changed my practice.  I started using it in every class and the next thing I knew, I was leaving every class feeling as if I were literally an improved human being.  I felt focused, grounded, and renewed.  And all I did was remind myself to remain present for five minutes at the end of class.  How could anything be this easy?

I discussed this mantra with anyone who would stand still long enough to listen and had some especially interesting conversations with my friend Tom about this topic.  He suggested an alternative to “I am/here now” by thinking “I” on the inhale and “Am” on the exhale.  I experimented with this, too, and for me, “I/Am” was a much louder, bolder statement than “I am/here now.”  My mantra felt grounding, calming, and restorative.  His felt empowering, bold, and energizing.  So when I taught Dedication Yoga last Sunday, this was the energetics option I gave the students – instead of asking them to flip palms up or down, I asked them to pick one mantra or the other, depending on what their energetic needs for the day were.  It’s kind of like a yoga revolution – or a yoga evolution.  The options – the variations – the modifications – are endless.  Do what works best for you and your practice, that’s the bottom line, right?  Simply breathing works wonders for me.

The Guru Inside

Kumare is a social experiment.  Filmmaker Vikram Gandhi wanted to see if he could impersonate a guru, invent a bunch of phony rituals, and find a following.  This film, now playing at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is an amazing experience and ripe with debatable topics.  Is this just a cruel trick he plays on people looking for something genuine?  Does he prove that his theory that the guru inside is all the spiritual leader you need?  Is this man simply a sociopathic genius?

I loved this film.  I loved how awkward it was and how frankly honest this fake guru was about his "true self" and how he seemed to be proving unequivocally that people hear what they want to hear and see what they want to see.  His thesis seems to check out -- many of his followers do learn to believe enough in their inner voices to live by their own code instead of seeking validation and blind guidance from an external source.  But what about the people who simply feel duped?  Was the experiment worth exploiting these "innocent bystanders" -- were they actually innocent bystanders?  The moral, social, and ethical ramifications of the Kumare experiment are beyond fascinating.  

Please go see this film so we can discuss it.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Sarah W.

p.s. Blue Light meditation anyone???  KABAM!

Conquering the Dolphin Vinyasa

A couple of weeks ago I went to a class at Samara Yoga that focused on upper body strengthening and reconceptualizing the "vinyasa" with that goal in mind. Pretty interesting, not to mention tough, stuff. Lately my own practice and my thoughts about teaching have wandered away from the traditional way of doing things. I have been, you might say, testing my "yoga wings" by learning from new teachers and trying to push myself to think outside the box.

I brought this sense of experimentation to Dedication Yoga on Sunday, where I taught something I'll call the Dolphin Vinyasa.

A full vinyasa from standing is pretty much the same as a Sun A:

Inhale as you sweep up to urdhva hastasana
Exhale as you fold forward to uttanasana*
Inhale to lengthen and then step back to plank
Exhale to chaturanga (pushup)
Inhale to urdhva mukha svansanasa (up dog)
Exhale to adho mukha svanasana (down dog)

*Some teachers will add another inhale to ardha uttanasana (emphasizing the flat back), followed by an exhale back to uttanasana.

Often we cue a "half" vinyasa between in between doing a sequence on the right and left sides. This starts with a shift forward to plank from down dog and then moves through the chaturanga pushup and up dog before returning to down dog.

The Dolphin Vinyasa starts from down dog.

1. First, internally rotate your arms, scooping your elbows in and spinning the creases up to the sky (ideally this action is also at work in down dog; get a feel for it by bringing your elbows wider than your shoulders and noticing what it feels like when you hug them in close to your body in proper alignment) while gently lowering to your forearms to the ground (it takes a lot of strength and control to get the left and right forearm to land at the same time!). Hips stay high.

2. Now you should be in dolphin pose.

3. Unlike when you kick up to a forearm stand, you'll want your Dolphin to be long, like a down dog. If you want to get a feel for the right "length," start in a forearm plank and just shift your hips straight up and back (instead of coming into the pose from down dog).

4. On your inhale, come up onto the balls of your feet (think forward motion).

5. On the exhale, shift forward to chaturanga. This sounds, and initially feels, like an impossible transition! But it's just a matter of keeping your elbows bend and closely hugging your ribcage and then shifting the weight forward and moving it from your forearms to your hands. Elbows begin bent and remain bent as you transition from dolphin to chaturanga.

6. Inhale through up dog.

7. Exhale to down dog.

We had an interesting time playing with this Sunday. Both the chaturanga pushup and dolphin are great preparation for other challenging poses, like headstand. Plus, it's always nice to switch things up a bit, if only to remind ourselves why we like our routines.

Namaste! 

Cool Yoga Stuff #2: It starts with a Full Moon...

This sequence was part of Karen Caiazzo's class at O2 Yoga yesterday and I really dug it.

Students started in Samsasthiti (equal standing) at the back of the mat.  With hands spread out from the shoulders in a T-position, right toes pointed off the side of the mat before flexing into the foot and teeter-tottering into a Full Moon balance (couldn't find an image of this one).  Then she cued us back through center without lowering the right foot to the mat and instead had us swing our right legs back into Virabhadrasana Three (Warrior Three):

Then she had us return our hands to the mat and walk out to Downward Dog.

As always, we did the same sequence on the left side to balance things out.  I really enjoyed this and will definitely infuse it in a future class!

Sarah W.

Cool Yoga Stuff #1: Yoga Mandala

A mandala translates as "circle" and are meant to create a visual sense of balance.  These are often found in pictorial forms such as these:

They are used in many different religious or spiritual practices to aid meditation and find a centralizing focus.

Recently, I took a yoga class where we created a physical mandala by stringing together a sequence of postures, similar to a Sun Salutation.  We started by breaking down several basic postures -- Utkatasana (chair pose), Virabhadrasana One (Warrior one), and  Virabhadrasana Two and incorporating each of these postures with variations, such as twists and lateral stretches before stringing the basic postures together in a real-time continuous vinyasa movement that starts you facing forward, spins you around, and then returns you where you started.  It was too cool, so I taught it on Sunday.

Variation options are, of course, limitless.  But what I did was start with Utkatasana:

Then took a vinyasa and then came up through Warrior One:

Before opening out to Warrior Two:

From here, students straighten into the front leg, square off, and then bend into the back knee as they take Warrior Two, now facing towards the back of the mat.  And then it's all repeated again until the students end in Utkatasana (and then Samasthiti or equal standing) facing the front once more.

It's so fun to do -- and builds an insane amount of heat.  Thank you to Kim Freeman from O2 Yoga for introducing me to this challenging sequence!

Sarah W.