Oct 6, 2010 |
Can’t you just hear Julie Andrews blasting out those lyrics while twirling around on a beautiful Austrian mountainside? The sound of music can just sweep you away, and I got to have one of those Julie Andrews musical moments last week while practicing yoga.
I showed up for yoga class just at it was about to start, and when I walked in the room, the class was jam-packed. I surveyed the room quickly to find a small patch of floor that I could shnorkel* my mat into, but there was no room left. Everyone in the class just kind of gave me a look like, ‘Don’t even try to fit in here next to me.’ I looked up at the instructor, and she waved me up to the front of the class as she picked up her mat and motioned me to take her place on the floor. Not wanting to further disrupt the class, I walked to the front of the room, placed my mat horizontally, and, with a huge amount of unease and angst, I started class with everyone staring at me.
I always wanted to know what it felt like to be a yoga instructor, and now I was getting my opportunity with 20 people facing me head on. I decided the best way to get over my stage fright was by closing my eyes and just getting into the flow. I really like closing my eyes and losing myself during yoga class, so it ended up being a really great class.
After savasana we were all seated for the final moments of class, and the instructor asked us to participate in a few chants of om. Everyone took a deep breath and started their om, and when they did, this beautiful wave of sound washed over me. I was surprised by how loud and strong the sound was as it reverberated off the walls in the front of the room. It felt like I was being bathed in a glorious, magical song—it was uplifting and soothing. Just as the first wave had settled over me, another one came in just as forceful, and I allowed it to flow over me with delight.
If you ever get the chance to face the oms, I highly recommend it. Just like Maria spinning around in the mountains in the Sound of Music, it was a religious experience that I’ll never forget.
*shnor-kel (shnôrkl) verb – a word that was originally developed by Maria’s husband that has crept into her daily vocabulary meaning to connive, sneak, or get yourself into place in a line, an event, or a crowded area. Used in a sentence…That dude shnorkeled his way into the mosh pit to get a better view of the stage.
Sep 7, 2010 |
I was doing yoga with my sister last week, which was super cool. My sister lives out of town, so we’ve never had the chance to practice yoga together before, and it was special to share our practice together.
We were doing Trudie Styler’s Warrior Yoga DVD, with the sounds of the waves coming in from the outside, and it was a little slice of heaven. I kept calling out to my sister, “This is my favorite pose,” and I realized, I have a lot of favorite poses! If yoga poses had fan clubs, here’s the ones I would join and the reasons why. (BTW, these are in no particular order).
Warrior 2 (Virabhadrasana II) — I just feel so fierce when I stand in Warrior II. I especially like to flow into it from warrior or another pose, like triangle.
Mountain (Tadasana)— When the instructor gets the class into this pose with lots of direction, it sometimes seems kind of silly, like how much more direction can we get on standing. But I’ve come to realize the power of this pose and how great it feels to have my heart opened and pressed forward. Standing tall and with my head held high, I feel like anything is possible. I wish I would have started doing this pose as a child; I’d have much better posture.
Child (Balasana) — I’ve been a long-time fan of this pose. It’s one of my go-to poses for stretching the back and relieving back pain. I just recently discovered it is also a great hip opener, so now I have even more reasons to join the child pose fan club. I love it when an instructor assists me in this pose by pushing my lower back down—it is an incredible stretch.
Pigeon (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana) — Actually, I have a love-hate relationship with Pigeon. The stretch it provides to the hips is wonderful, but when the yoga instructor keeps us in pigeon for a long time, I tend to lose my focus and my breath. It hurts so good. I’ve got a ton of angst and stress built up in my hips, so the hip-opening effects of this pigeon pose always bring me back.
Tree (Vrksasana) — If I’m having a good balance day, I like to get really deep into this pose. Standing tall, opening my branches, letting in all of life’s possibilities—the feeling is pure nirvana. This is another one of those great life-affirming yoga poses. I’ve noticed recently that I’ll catch myself standing in tree pose while working in the kitchen or standing in a checkout line, so it has crept into my subconscious (love that!).
Savasana — What can I say? The ultimate resting pose had me at hello. My favorite part of yoga class is when the instructor tells us to lie on the floor and plug into savasana…aah!
So, which yoga pose fan club have you joined? Let me know what your favorites are and the reasons why they rock.
Sep 2, 2010 |
If you’re one of those yoga aficionados that can do all the crazy poses, like headstands and bird of paradise, this blog post will either bore you or amuse you, but if you are a yoga nerd like me and still working on the basics, hopefully this blog will encourage you to keep plugging away at your yoga practice.
I have a couple of yoga instructors who always ask at the beginning of class if there is a pose we would like to work on. I really appreciate this gesture, but, inevitably, the pose that always comes up is the headstand. I’m afraid to try a headstand because I don’t think my core and upper body are strong enough yet and, to be quite honest, I have a really hard head and resting all of my body weight on it really is not appealing to me. That and hearing the thud when class members fall out of a headstand is a little unsettling.
So, I always dread the part of class when we work on the designated pose because it forces me to go out of my comfort zone. I’ll try a few basic steps of the pose but always go to something more safe, like childs pose or goddess pose, to hang out and look busy until the rest of the class is done experimenting. I always figured one day I would get up the nerve to really try it out.
Well, that day came yesterday.
My yoga instructor must have known I needed a nudge, and she gave it to me. We were practicing tripod pose, and I got myself into the basic position just to see what it would feel like when she came over and pointed out the proper way for me to place my head. I had been doing it wrong all this time, and once she got my hands and head in the right position, it felt totally natural to pick my legs up and rest them on my arms.
I got into tripod pose (pre-headstand) with the help of my yoga instructor, Deirdre Sargent, and it felt amazing! I let out a little Woohoo! because this was a big deal for me. I was one step closer to a headstand. Hell, I think I probably could have raised up my legs with a little assistance, but I wasn’t going to push it; one yoga victory for the day was enough to put a smile on my face. I even got a few high fives from other class members. I’ll keep practicing the base tripod pose; my goal is to get those legs up in the air before the month is out for tripod headstand!
Thanks, Deirdre, for giving me the push I needed and doing it in such an encouraging way! I really appreciate everything you have taught me about yoga and myself.
Aug 26, 2010 |
I don’t know about you, but I think everyone loves the opportunity to crack open a fortune cookie and read the message. I always hope it will say something like, “You’re going to get lucky,” or, “You’re going to win a million bucks!” Actually, once I was really surprised when my fortune read, “Play lottery today. Lady Luck is upon you.” I’ve never had a fortune message be that direct about monetary gain, so of course I went out and bought a lottery ticket (actually, several tickets). Did I win? No. Do I think the Ohio Lottery is planting fortune cookie messages at local restaurants to increase sales? Yes!
So, last night I had a craving for sushi and called to order takeout, and here’s what my fortune cookie message read:
“Catch on fire with enthusiasm, and people will come for miles to watch you burn.”
I’ve always been an enthusiastic kind of gal, so, naturally, this fortune cookie got me fired up (no pun intended). I figure this is exactly what I need to do with the Daily Downward Dog and my love for yoga. Be as enthusiastic as all get out, and people will come from all over the world to share in the fun!
Of course, my husband, being a pessimist, had to remind me that the message could be taken in a completely different way. People could be coming to watch me go up in flames (meaning failure).
Well, failure is not an option, so I’m sticking with my own optimistic view.
I’m striking the match, lighting the fire, and fanning the flames of enthusiasm. If you have enjoyed this blog, please help me spread the fire by telling a friend about the cool yoga experiences at the Daily Downward Dog or following me on Twitter and Facebook. It’s getting hot in here, but I think I’ll keep all my clothes on.
Aug 1, 2010 |
Last week I wrote about how my yoga instructor basically had us play mind games to get us through the difficulty of boat pose. I’ll say it again: Yoga boat pose is definitely on my top-five list of poses I really dislike and is a boat trip I do not want to take.
So, this week the instructor asked us to get spiritual in the pose. What? Spiritual! I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can get spiritual when I’m working my abs.
But since it worked last week, I figured I would give it a try. When I really looked inside myself and tried to see the beauty of the pose and concentrate on the good spiritual effects that yoga and this pose has brought to my life, I lost myself again in the spirituality and was able to hold the pose with an amazingly reduced amount of pain and mental anguish.
So, the moral of the story is: When you are doing abdominal exercises or a pose that you just don’t like, use your mind to think of the positive aspects of the pose or everything that is beautiful in your life. Breath into it, play mental mind games, and you can make it through. It really works!
Photo: Karin Lindstrom
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