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.
Oct 11, 2011 |
In the past, I’ve written about the importance of hugasana, but today I’d like to share one of my favorite forms of asana – walkasana. What exactly is walkasana? Well, next to meditation, it may just be one of the best ways to clear your mind.
Yes, walkasana is a walk, but it is so much more than a leisurely walk if you add in some pranayama breathing and turn it into a walking meditation. Walkasana is a quiet time when you go outside, breathe fresh air, clear your mind, and refresh. It’s kind of like a reboot for your brain.
I’ve always been a fan of walking, but this exercise form became much more spiritual for me when I went through my yoga teacher training. Each afternoon, usually after lunch, my YTT instructor had the class go out for walking meditation. Sometimes we would talk; sometimes we would walk in silence. I did my yoga teacher training throughout the winter months and no matter how cold and snowy it got, we always went out into nature, even if it was only for a few minutes.
There is something about the freedom of being outdoors and walking that is therapeutic for me. My mind starts to wander away from the stress of the day, and inevitably it relaxes enough that I can come up with a solution to a problem or find a stroke of creative genius. I’ve started to carry a little notepad and pen on my walks to jot down all the ideas that sprout up along the way or bring along my iPhone to record my thoughts.
All this extra creative energy got me thinking that maybe there is something to this walkasana, and sure enough, I did find there is medical proof to back it up. If you are interested, please check out this article about recent medical studies that prove walking or any form of exercise is often accompanied by mental clarity!
Now that it is fall in Ohio, I have even more of an incentive to get out there for some walkasana because it gives me a chance to check out the fall foliage and feel the crisp, cool air along the way. Even if it is just for a few minutes, I’m going to make my best effort to get out every day after lunch to give my body and my mind the break it deserves with a little walkasana. If you live in an area without fall foliage, here are a few pictures from my fall walks last year.
Doesn’t going for a short walk sound better than sitting at your desk during lunch and catching up on email? Give it a try, and put a little walkasana practice into your life (just be sure to remember your notepad and pen).
Oct 3, 2011 |
You hear it all the time: be careful what you wish for because it may just come true. Well, I feel the same way about those powerful little wishes called intentions.
I have to say that setting intentions has been very effective for me this past year, so much so that when the cool peeps at Intent.com asked me to contribute a guest post to their 30-days of Yoga Intents, I couldn’t say no.
It was pretty difficult for me to come up with just one yoga intention to write about, so I opted to create a top ten list of my personal favorites. When you direct your mind and heart in a new direction, it can be very powerful, so take a leap on over to Intent.com and maybe you’ll find an intention that speaks to your heart or find the inspiration for your very own intention!
Would love to hear which intention speaks to you, or what intention is your favorite.
Sep 27, 2011 |
Well I have to admit, I’ve been in a bit of a funk ever since Labor Day, when my beautiful days of summer were ripped away as temperatures dropped and rain clouds appeared. Worse than the fact that I had to turn my furnace on before summer officially ended, I had to pack up all my summer beach yoga gear and say goodbye to a bunch of super cool yogis and yoginis who attended my summer beach yoga classes.
My Monday morning nirvana of going to the beach to “work” is over, and all of a sudden I am back in my home office away from the sun, sand, and surf, dreaming about when and how I can get a winter beach venue lined up (hey, a girl can dream).
I have since given myself a swift kick in the ass; with most things in life, I have a choice. I can choose to be sad that summer is over, or I can choose to be happy about the change in seasons. To embrace the changing color of the leaves, pull out my sweaters, and jump into my new schedule of fall/winter yoga classes (which, by the way, I am very excited about).
I want to send out a big hug to all the wonderful students that attended my classes this summer. I really enjoyed getting to know so many new people while sharing the practice of yoga surrounded by nature in all its glory. It has been very gratifying to me to hear that many of you have fallen in love with yoga and plan to continue to practice it. I also want to send out thanks to the Vermilion Boat Club and Firefly Beach Resort for opening up your venues to me for these special yoga classes.
As the chilly northeast Ohio winter approaches, I will cling onto many warm memories of this summer. One of my most memorable experiences was a night in August when I taught a sunset yoga class. All day long the weather was beautiful, but the weather forecast was calling for thunderstorms to begin right about the time my class was supposed to start. Being the Polly Positive that I am, I held out hope and went to the beach as planned that night to set up for class. As I was raking the beach, the sky turned black, all the tell-tale signs of a good Lake Erie storm began brewing, and I figured the class would be a bust.
At ten minutes before the class was to begin, my first student showed up – right as the rain started to fall. She had a bad day and told me she had been looking forward to the class all afternoon, and now that it was raining, she was really bummed out. As we talked about her day, I saw a few more students dodging the rain and wind as they ran soaking wet up to the pavilion to join us. And then, another car pulled up with one of my students sticking her head out the window chanting, “yo-ga, yo-ga!” It was clear that these women wanted to practice yoga, and by-god, they were not going to let the rain stop them.
We waited a few minutes, the storm calmed, and a smidgen of clear sky started to form at the horizon. So we made the trek down to the beach and started class. About ten minutes in, it started to rain again. The class was looking out at the sky ahead starting to clear, but since I was facing the south, all I could see were black clouds. I kept looking into my students eyes, thinking surely they would want to get out of the rain, but they all had this fearless look of determination. These fierce yogini goddesses wanted to get their yoga on, and buoyed by their enthusiasm and smiles, I forged ahead.
It started to rain harder, and I started to worry about my students slipping on their mats, thinking to myself that surely part of my oath as a yoga teacher was to protect my students from the elements. I finally made the decision to call class, and we all quickly gathered our mats and scurried to shelter.
Within minutes, the rain stopped again (yes, the weather in Ohio can be psycho), and the vote was unanimous to go back to the beach and finish class even though the rain delays had left time for only a few more asanas. Their perseverance paid off, because when I awoke the class from savasana, we were all blessed to share one of the most beautiful sunsets of the summer.
In just a few minutes the sunset went from this…
…to this technicolor light show!
It was an incredible night spent with an amazing group of women, and it will definitely go down in my book of memorable yoga teaching experiences.
As you go into this new season, no matter where you are in your life, choose to be happy, choose to embrace the storms, and look for the blessings in your life with gratitude.
Sep 20, 2011 |
With the change of season from summer to fall I know many of us are feeling overloaded and stressed. When we get busy we tend to let go of really important things like exercise, breathing, and doing good things for ourselves. I know, because I have been struggling with this very thing and knew I needed a little kick in the butt. I went searching for a message I could share in my yoga classes about the importance of taking time to breathe and relax and dusted off this poem that I found a while back. I actually used this poem in the very first yoga class I ever taught, so it felt good to come back to it.
I love the message and so did my classes, so I thought I would share it again. Thanks to Aaron Hoopes of The Art of Zen Yoga for these beautiful words.
Too Busy to Relax By Aaron Hoopes
Too busy to relax they say… complaints, excuses everyday
They sound so weak, so stressed, so tired… a mundane world in which they’re mired
No time to sit and just be quiet… their mind’s a rush of thoughts, a riot
No chance they have to hear the sound… of nature’s wonder all around
Of birds and trees and clouds and air… too much work, it’s just not fair
This really seems quite sad to me… so much to do, no time to be
Breathe I say and move a bit
Then after that we can just sit
And watch the world at its own pace
There is no rush, it’s not a race
And if it were, what is the goal?
Where are you going mind, body, soul?
Too busy to relax I hear… these words seem like they’re based in fear
Tired, weak and too much stress… how did our lives turn such a mess?
We don’t need to look above… to find a place that’s based in love
Turn instead and look within… find your self, it is no sin
Forgive, let go, open your heart… it is the only place to start
Think on that and you might find… throughout your life you have been blind
Breathe I say and move some more
Run, walk, jump, stretch on the floor
Move your body, get up and go
Feel the energy, let it flow
Don’t get caught in negative
Habits that won’t let you live
Too busy to relax? Not true! … this hoax must end, it starts with you
If all you do is just the same… you never will escape this game
Do something new, do something Zen… begin right now, not ‘if’ or ‘when’
Do one thing different, or two, or five… change how you live, become alive
Do or do not, there is no try… step off the cliff and start to fly
Begin with this, you won’t go wrong… remember to breathe, deep and long.
Image: Greg Toran
