Jul 3, 2012 |
I’m too old for yoga.
I’m too inflexible for yoga.
I’m too overweight for yoga.
I’m too [fill in the blank] for yoga.
Need a little inspiration to get you off your ass?
Watch the video below. It will only take 4:55 minutes of your time, and I guarantee you will be moved. Even if this video doesn’t inspire you to give yoga a try, it can give you hope that just about anything you think might be unattainable in your life is possible if you just believe in yourself.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/qX9FSZJu448 [/youtube]
You might have already seen this video. It’s got over five million hits and is the personal yoga journey of Arthur Boorman, who for 15 years of his life was a disabled veteran of the Gulf War. He received his injuries as a paratrooper and was told by doctors that he would never walk on his own again without assistance.
For a while, Arthur gave up and turned to food to console him, bringing his weight up to 297 pounds.
Arthur happened to catch a video of former pro-wrestler Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) and decided to give DDP’s brand of yoga a try. He reached out to DDP as well and received personal encouragement from him while he went on his yoga journey.
Don’t give up, keep going, and know that anything is possible.
How many times do we all face personal challenges like this? They might not be as extreme as Arthur’s situation, but we all have projects that at first seem daunting. But if taken in small steps, with patience and a lot of self-love, eventually we can accomplish what initially seemed impossible.
Arthur fell many times, but he got back up. He continued to tell himself that “just because I can’t do it today doesn’t mean I can’t do it someday.” And you will see in the video that Arthur experiences many yoga victories, including losing weight, rocking a headstand, and then coming down from the headstand into crow and jumping back into plank. I can’t even do that – so WOOHOO, Arthur!
I wanted to share this video for anyone out there that might be afraid to try yoga or has given up after just one class. I know yoga is not for everyone. But it’s not something that is going to be easy at first, especially if you have not been exercising regularly. It takes time, determination, and courage. You won’t be able to do everything at first, and the results will not come overnight. But gradually you will start to experience a transformation. Each time you come to your mat, there is an opportunity to make new discoveries, each one taking the body and the mind a little further.
You have to come into yoga with an open mind. When you first start, you might think you’ll never be able to move and stretch the way some of the other students do. The fact is that we are all so much stronger and capable than we allow ourselves credit. And yes, I’m guilty of this too. When I first started, I thought there was no way I’d ever be able to do a headstand or crow pose, and today I can do both of these poses. I can only imagine how much further I’ll take my yoga practice – if Bette Calman can do peacock pose at 93, so can I!
Over the course of one year, Arthur Boorman lost a total of 140 pounds, and more importantly, he was able to prove the doctors wrong. He is walking, practicing yoga, running, and sprinting without any assistance.
Never underestimate what you can accomplish when you believe in yourself.
Never Give Up.
That’s Arthur Boorman’s yoga story. Watch the video, decide what you want to get out there and accomplish in your life, and then set your sights on never giving up!
If you have a personal victory that you would like to share, please leave a comment below. I’d also love to hear from anyone who has tried DDP yoga.
Jun 7, 2012 |
Back in December of 2011, I put a stake in the ground and proclaimed that bakasana (crow pose) was my 2012 dream pose. And if that wasn’t good enough, I even went as far to proclaim that by the end of the year I was setting my sights to master parsva bakasana (side crow) as well. This was quite ballsy for me, mind you, because in the past I haven’t been one to herald my New Year’s resolutions.
The cool thing, though, about having a blog and a community of yoga followers is that I have a vehicle to invite my readers along for the ride and nudge them to publicly proclaim their very own dream poses. When I did, I was blown away by the honest and courageous comments about where they wanted to take their yoga practices in 2012.
I promised to check in with them and with you on the progress, so here is my official mid-year dream pose check-in.
On May 14, this is the update that I sent out to everyone who left a comment:
“I have made some small steps in improving my crow pose. Unfortunately, I experienced some pain in my left wrist, probably as a result of too many chaturangas (and maybe a little arthritis), so I have been nursing my wrist back to good health, which meant no arm balances. I’m still working on building up my upper body and core strength so I can hold the pose longer, but I have had a few small yoga victories where I’ve held the pose longer than I ever had, and that has felt great!”
Here is my update from June 6:
I rose early to a gorgeous morning and decided to do my yoga practice on the beach while enjoying the beautiful sunshine and the sound of the rolling waves. As I was doing my practice I thought to myself, “Maria, let’s give that crow pose a try. The wrists are feeling good, and you need to check in on your progress, so go for it.”
I got my hands in position and started to bring the knees up on the arms and just kind of gracefully flowed into the pose. No wobbles, no “oh shit, I’m never going to be able to hold this,” and no fear that I was going to land on my head. Instead, it magically felt like the way crow pose is supposed to feel. I focused on my breath and started to count how many long steady breaths I could actually get through while still holding the pose. The count was…SEVEN!
Surely, this must be a fluke, I thought. So, I rested for a few breaths, tried it a second time, and nailed my crow pose again! Now, I was really embracing my inner yogini rock-star mode!
I went on to another pose with a big honking grin on my face and decided that I needed to go back to the crow pose one more time, just to make sure I really could hold it that long—and because it felt so damn good.
The third time was not only a charm, but it got me officially hooked on bakasana. Now I know why so many yogis and yoginis love this pose!
The moral of this story and why I’m going to such great lengths to tell about the repeated attempts is to make this point: We’re All Stronger Than We Think We Are! I probably could have held crow pose this long for quite a while, but I avoided it, or maybe even psyched myself out of being able to do it.
Now that I know I can hold the pose, there’s no stopping me!
Wow – I love these yoga victories. They come in small doses and eventually add up to a really joyous feeling, and I got to experience a major yoga victory today. Side crow, here I come.
I’m not the only one with a yoga victory under her Lululemons; check out the progress some special DDD readers have made on their very own yoga dream poses.
Cathy
Cathy doing a headstand - another one of her 2012 yoga victories!
I am excited to report that I have made great progress on my goal…which was to do handstand. At least I am quite sure that is what I wrote or maybe I didn’t write it, but that was my goal! I CAN DO HANDSTAND! Yay! Against the wall, of course, but I don’t need the wall once I am up. I DON’T DO IT EVERY TIME I try. It doesn’t always happen. I’m learning that my breath does affect getting up. I’ve always thought my wrists were weak; they are (I had an injury two years ago), but they seem to be doing better now, though still wish they were stronger. The strength has to come from the core and pecs for handstand. I LOVE it when I do get up. I can EASILY now do HEADSTAND in the middle of the room, which was probably also a goal of mine, but the handstand really gives me an amazing feeling of freedom, I think because the head is completely off the floor.
Maria: WooHoo, Cathy, that is awesome!
Susan
I haven’t really decided which one to focus on. I’ve been trying to incorporate more yoga into my workout routine in general.
Maria: Hey Susan – it’s all good! Keep practicing yoga. That is a great intention to put out there.
Danielle
What a lovely idea to follow up on dream poses! Sorry to hear of your wrist injury, but glad to hear you’re making progress!
I have kind of an unusual follow up, feel free to use as much or as little of it as you like…Full camel! So I spent the first few months of 2012 training for a yoga asana competition (usayoga.org). Thanks to a regular training routine that included 30 – 40 wallbends/day (walking the hands down the wall to the floor, then pressing the chest up against the wall in a bridge, then walking back up), I was able to build enough flexibility to get into full camel two weeks before nationals. Unfortunately, two weeks of full camel wasn’t enough to overcome the nerves onstage, so I let my hips sink backwards too much, scrabbled around for my ankles, gave up, and grabbed my toes. Oops… a little embarrassing, but we live and learn!
If you’re curious, you can actually watch it here (full camel is about 2:25 minutes in):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LuAibhYdEg[/youtube]
Full camel achieved nonetheless. My next dream pose, to be accomplished by February 2013, is…one legged wheel!
Maria: Wow – Danielle that video blew me away! Your routine is beautiful. I’ve never been a fan of turning yoga into a competition, but it looks like it has been a great experience for you. For those of you who live in the greater Cleveland area and want to try out Bikram yoga, Danielle is one of the awesome instructors at Bikram Yoga Cleveland.
There’s still time to start working on a dream pose for 2012. Just remember not to take on too many poses, but rather, just focus on one or two. It doesn’t even have to be a more difficult pose. Maybe your dream pose is to be more present in your practice and during savasana.
Wishing you happy headstands and fulfilled dreams, and I’ll be sure to check back in again with my parsva bakasana updates. If you have a yoga victory to share, please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear about it.
Apr 24, 2012 |
prac·tice/ˈpraktəs/ Verb: Perform (an activity) or exercise (a skill) repeatedly or regularly in order to improve or maintain (or dare I say perfect) one’s proficiency.
Throughout my life, the word “practice” has taken on many meanings and evoked many different emotions. In high school, the practice of track was fun and exhilarating, but not always a picnic. It was a great way to let off steam after school while flexing my competitive spirit. The practice of piano was another story altogether; I not only loathed it, but I lied to my mother and teachers about how long I had done it. Of course, now I’m kicking myself that I did not apply myself to practicing piano, because my repertoire of piano playing consists solely of a crappy version of Chopsticks.
They say practice makes perfect, and to most people I think the word conjures up duty, commitment, hard-work, struggle, and time spent doing something they wish they could master a hell of a lot quicker than all this damn practice is taking. Like me, are you a little guilty of wanting the perfection and wanting it now?
Well, in comes this thing into my life – this yoga thing – and guess what? It’s affectionately referred to as…
Yoga Practice
I showed up to my first practice with a flimsy mat, crooked back, and curious beginner’s mind and knew immediately that there was no way I was going to perfect this practice. I may have been, oh hell, I’ll admit it, I was definitely the most inflexible student in the class, afraid to try more advanced poses, and was definitely not pushing myself to my edge. But something totally foreign was happening to me on my yoga mat; this yoga stuff never felt like “practicing” to me. I wanted to show up on my mat. It didn’t matter if I couldn’t get my heels to the floor in downward dog; I looked for ways to carve more time in my schedule for it and for more ways to bring its teachings into my life.
Funny how this word “practice,” when mashed up with yoga, takes on a whole new wonderful meaning.
Sirsasana II (tripod headstand) – one of my 2011 Yoga Victories
Every time I come to the mat, I get the gift of practicing yoga. If I had perfected it, how fun would that be? Never having anything new to learn, never that thrill of making it into a pose for the first time, never that satisfaction of holding an extra challenging pose for longer than I thought I could, never reaching that blissed out state I can get to when I really allow myself to let go and be present. I’m addicted to all those small yoga victories and can’t imagine what my yoga journey would be like without them.
I think one of the most important things to remember as students of yoga is this simple fact – Yoga is a practice. You have the rest of your life to practice and grow in it. No need to beat yourself up if you can’t touch your toes or do a handstand. Instead, repeat this mantra: How cool is it that there’s still so much to learn about yoga? I have the rest of my life to go on this amazing yoga journey.
Take your time, learn to breathe, turn off your internal critic, turn up the corners of your mouth, smile, be curious, explore, and embrace your yoga practice.
Piano Photo: Ben Goerz
Oct 19, 2011 |
One of the very first yoga videos I ever purchased was Back Care Yoga by Rodney Yee, and ever since then, my back and I have been big fans of Rodney Yee’s teaching. You can imagine how excited I was when I got the opportunity to study with Rodney at a teacher training workshop hosted by Yoga on High.
For the first hour or so of the workshop, I was a bit yoga-star struck as I listened to Rodney. I have to admit that it was both a bit surreal and cool to watch Rodney and his ponytail walk right by my yoga mat giving out instructions. But I wasn’t there to stargaze, and I quickly got my head back to the mat to really soak up a lot of fresh learning. I have so much that I want to write about the experience*. But, one thing in particular that Rodney said really hit home with me, and I have to share it with you.
Rodney told a story about how he was talking to a yoga teacher that described their classes as gentle yoga. Rodney asked the teacher why they needed to use the adjective “gentle” to describe their yoga. Shouldn’t all yoga be gentle? Amen, Rodney!
That statement really struck a chord with me because I love to teach gentle (oops, now I’m using the adjective) yoga classes, but sometimes I wonder if I should be teaching more vigorous flows.
I’m sure that many people have gone to a class and been turned off by an aggressive pace or a class geared towards building up to poses like crow or headstands (the poses I affectionately call ego poses). One of the things I learned in my yoga teacher training is that only five percent of the U.S. population can do mainstream yoga. So, if I want to introduce yoga to students in a positive way, I need to break down the poses, demystify yoga, and teach it in a gentle way.
Yoga is so much more than being able to reach your toes in a forward fold or getting vertical in a headstand. In fact, anything you do can be yoga if it is done with mindfulness and breath. I always tell my students that it doesn’t matter where they are in a pose because as long as they are breathing, they are doing the yoga.
What I loved so much about Rodney’s statement is that he was conveying that teachers should never apologize for a class being gentle; yoga should be gentle, and this was just the affirmation I needed to hear.
*Stay tuned for more about my experience with Rodney and how I, of course, made a complete yoga dork out of myself.
Feb 28, 2011 |
Thanks to everyone who rolled out their red yoga mats, put on their finest black stretchy pants, and cast a vote for the 2010 YOGAR nominees! Unlike the actual Oscar telecast, I’ll keep these announcements short and sweet.
Best Asana
Salamba Sirsasana (Supported Headstand): Yes, the ego pose pulled off a huge upset and took home the coveted Best Asana award. She wowed the crowds last night when she walked down the red yoga mat wearing a sexy-rexy fuschia racer back tank with a peek-a-boo open-front yoke design from Mondetta Performance Gear (MPG). The fashion police gave her a huge thumbs up for the bold color and just the right amount of cleav.
Best Supporting Asana
Vrksasana (Tree Pose): Last year was all about balance and vrksasana helped so many people spread their branches and blossom in their yoga practices, that she was selected hands-up as Best Supporting asana.
Best Director
Everyone was a winner in this category! Clara, Freia, Deirdre, Kreg, Jan, and Judi, thanks again for the amazing work you did this past year. We all have the ability to hand out affirmation each and every day, so remember to award the teachers in your life with a smile and thanks for the work they do.
Best Seva
I really want to thank those of you that commented and clued me in to the great work that is being done by Seane Corn and Off the Mat Into the World. I’m excited to learn even more about this organization and I plan to write about their work this year to thank and support them in their efforts. Take your yoga off the mat this year and into the world!
It was our inaugural year for the YOGAR awards and based on the response, and amount of fun I had with them, they’ll be back again next year!
