![When The Lights Go Out…In The Yoga Room]()
Nov 13, 2012 |
Don’t you just love that moment in yoga class when you’re a big sweaty mess and the teacher turns the lights down? It symbolizes that class is almost over, it’s time to slow down, and there are just a few more asanas until…savasana.
If it’s been a spirited yoga class, one where your energy is just about completely drained, this crossover from light to dark is an oh so welcome relief, almost a blessing in disguise. On the other hand, I have taken classes where I am so in the moment that the lighting cue has pleasantly surprised me, and I think, “Wow, I can’t believe class is almost over. Time flies when you’re finding your bliss; I don’t want it to end!”
I had both of these sensations last weekend in a one hour-and-a-half, hot and sweaty class led by Canadian kirtan and indie pop-rock musician and yoga teacher Wade Imre Morissette. Wade took the packed hot yoga room at Chagrin Yoga through a vigorous vinyasa flow class titled Summon Your Power. This humid room was so full of powerful intentions swirling about that, at one point when I took my camera out to capture a few pictures for the DDD, the lens on my camera was completely fogged up.
Wow – it was hot in that room! But, I still enjoyed getting an assist in a drop back.
Wade’s friendly, soothing voice and simple yet precise cues sprinkled with humor took me to a place of bliss, and when those lights went down, I got an overwhelming feeling of relief: “Aahhhh, class is almost over. You made it!” As much as I didn’t want the class to end, it couldn’t have gotten much sweeter than when Wade serenaded us all through the dark into a soothing savasana.
The Premature Lights Go Down
Those last few moments of class spent in darkness should always be peaceful, quieting the mind. A few more long, deep stretches or twists should be reserved for this moment, preparing the class for savasana.
Sometimes this is not the case, and the instructor pulls a premature lights go down. I know I’m not the only one who has experienced this. You’re in class, you’re tired, the instructor turns down the lights, you get yourself psyched up for savasana, and then the instructor gets the class back up into a standing pose or starts doing core work. My first thought is always, “What the heck? The lights are down; this is not the time or the place for stomach crunches!”
Call me old school, but seriously, when those lights go down, it should be followed by one to two mellow supta asanas that flow right into good ‘ole savasana and some soothing savasana music.
Setting the mood
Time for confessions: When I first started teaching yoga, I have to admit there were many times I forgot to turn the lights down. Yes, I was denying my students those blissful last few minutes of class in the dark. Thankfully, I remember to do so now, and I’m always mindful not to pull the premature lights go down.
I sometimes wonder what students who are completely new to yoga think when I turn the lights down near the end of class. I’m sure I’ve raised quite a few people’s angst levels when those lights take them from a safe bright place to a dark room full of strangers. When I first started practicing yoga, I don’t remember this ever catching me off-guard, but I would love to hear from any of you that have had an interesting first-time story about this. How did you work past the anxiety and sink into the experience?
Do you have a favorite when the lights go down moment? Please leave a comment and share your story!
And on that note, I’ll let Steve Perry and Journey take us out with his version of “When the Lights Go Down.”
[youtube]http://youtu.be/3RzgH9x4-Vk[/youtube]
Oct 18, 2012 |
I spend a lot of time on the beaches of Lake Erie (yes, Lake Erie has beautiful beaches) going for walks. I’d like to say that these walks are all spiritual walking meditations, but I have to admit that most of the time my head is down, looking at the sand in search of sea glass. For those of you unfamiliar with sea glass, it is basically old bottles of beer or coke that get tossed out of fishing boats, which over the years the current of the lake lovingly frosts into beautiful gifts from the sea. Gifts that have taught me a few valuable life lessons.
I guess you could say that I’m a little obsessed with finding sea glass. For me it’s the thrill of the hunt, having a sharp enough eye to spy it amongst the rocks and other shells on the shore, and occasionally I get rewarded with a rare color or unique shape.
Just this past weekend I was taking a beach stroll and started to get impatient when I did not find any sea glass. As I looked up, discouraged, I gasped and caught my breath. With my head dropped, I had missed the absolute stunning beauty of that moment. I had missed all the gorgeous shades of blue in the water and the sky. I had missed the birds soaring through the air. I had missed the feel of the wind across my face. I had missed the sound and beauty of the waves coming up to shore and the sparkling white light of the sun reflecting down on the water. I spent the rest of the walk taking in the beauty of this majestic body of water – truly a gift that I had neglected in my pursuit of old beer bottles.
Lesson #1 – Be Present
Like most things in my life these days, I was able to relate this experience to the practice of yoga. How often do we come to the mat with our heads down? Focused on what is stressing us out, where we have to be after class, or the new pair of yoga pants we’re convinced we need. By focusing on all these things, we miss out on the beauty of our practice. We’re missing the sound of our breath, the way our bodies feel as we move from asana to asana, the utter joy of letting go of all that other crap for one hour so we can find a place of peace.
Ask yourself, are you too busy looking down at the shore? Are you missing the absolute divine beauty of your yoga practice? Close your eyes, notice your breath, and let go.
I took a few of the pieces of sea glass I found and placed them on my desk at home to remind me of the lesson I learned that day – to open my eyes and be fully present in every moment.
Lesson #2 – Don’t be Greedy
I have collected huge bags of sea glass. Someday I’m going to make some jewelry out of it, but I’ll admit, I have accumulated sea glass beyond my capacity to use it in the proper way. These beautiful gems should not be sitting in a bag in my closet. Yes, I am guilty of hoarding sea glass.
Aparigraha, one of the yamas (from the eight limbs of yoga) is all about not being greedy. In my obsession to find sea glass, I have not been living this yama. There really is no need for me to have as much sea glass as I do. I should share my collection with others so they can enjoy it as well. From now on I’ll leave the sea glass on the beach for others to find. And, this week in my yoga classes I’m making up for some of my lack of aparigraha by handing out sea glass to my students for them to take home. My hope is that they will place the sea glass in a place where it will remind them to stay present and to not be greedy.
Ask yourself: What are you hoarding? Greediness can come in many forms, such as holding onto your emotions, not sharing the gifts of your talents or your love with others. Perhaps giveaway some of those old clothes, coats, or household items you’ve been hoarding to a person in need.
Lesson #3 – Patience
This one comes from the incredible book, Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. In the first chapter, Anne talks about the beach, particularly collecting seashells and how we shouldn’t be impatient and seek out or dig for these shells. That would defeat the purpose!
“The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach—waiting for a gift from the sea.”
Ask yourself: Are you being impatient in your yoga practice? Are you beating yourself up because you are not where you want to be in a pose? Practice patience with the body, patience with the breath. Be more open, and you will be rewarded as you blossom and grow into your yoga practice.
I love how life just teaches you lessons in unexpected moments, especially when those lessons are provided while walking down the shore of a beach! Get out there this week and take a walk. It doesn’t matter where you walk – just get outside, turn off the chatter, and see what lessons come to you.
Oct 3, 2012 |
Earlier this year I sent out some intentions that I would combine my loves of travel and yoga together and get out on the road for some yoga festivals and workshops. I even went so far as to document my dream of teaching yoga on as many beaches around the world as I can. That’s the ultimate trifecta of doing what I love – traveling, teaching yoga, spending time on a beach.
I’m here to tell you that setting intentions can be very powerful when you set your mind and your heart in the same direction and believe! I’m living proof. This year I’ve had the opportunity to pack up my yoga mat and go to New York City for the Yoga Journal Conference,
Learning from Desiree Rumbaugh at the NY Yoga Journal Conference
to Santa Monica for 3 incredible days of yoga and music at the Tadasana Festival,
Practicing Yoga with hundreds of people is cool!
and to Yellow Springs, Ohio for a weekend workshop with Erich Schiffmann.
The journey to Yellow Springs included a road trip with my packed up new Road Tripper, a yoga friendly weekend bag from Manduka. If you want to take your yoga practice on the road, check out Manduka’s Journey On Collection, which includes a number of bags that will tote your yoga mat in style to the studio, a day trip, or a longer journey.
The canvas and cotton webbing material used in my bag are both natural, renewable materials that are unbleached and use non-AZO dyes, which reduces the amount of chemicals and toxins released into the environment (and reminds me to be eco-conscious when I travel).
I love the zipper along the bottom that you can use to easily insert and remove your yoga mat. It’s also super roomy to pack everything you need for a weekend of yoga bliss,
and the bottom of the bag has a reminder to keep me grounded!
When I’m not off on a yoga travel adventure, I’ve been using my Road Tripper bag to carry yoga mats, a bolster, blocks, straps, and everything I need when I go on the road to teach private yoga sessions.
What travel dreams do you have? Right now I’m working on my next dream—teaching yoga on a tropical beach somewhere—so stay tuned for future announcements.
Want to get your own Journey On bag from Manduka? Save 10% on any purchase from Manduka with offer code MARIAMEDIA.
Win a FREE Manduka Day Tripper Yoga Mat bag
Where will you be journeying with your yoga practice in the coming year? Leave a comment below to let me know, and you will be entered to win a FREE Day Tripper yoga mat bag from Manduka. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only, and the deadline to enter is Monday, October 8, at noon EST, when one lucky winner will be randomly selected and notified. By sharing your email address, you agree to be part of the Manduka email family and receive special discounts and promotions.
You will get an extra entry into this giveaway if you tweet the following message: Where is your yoga journey taking you? Journey On with @downwarddog & @MandukaYoga to win a Day Tripper #yoga mat bag http://bit.ly/T0FU7g
I received the Road Tripper bag mentioned in this post from Manduka. The thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Save 10% on any purchase from Manduka with offer code MARIAMEDIA 
Sep 27, 2012 |
With just a few weeks of summer left, it seemed like there was road construction and detours everywhere I wanted to go. These detours really hit home when the road into downtown Vermilion was shut down for a few weeks of repairs, leaving me with a big ol’ detour on my way to teach beach yoga classes in Vermilion.
At first, this detour really pissed me off. Why couldn’t they wait until the summer season was over? Why did I always forget about the detour, making me worry on the way to class that I would be late? After a few days of this unnecessary stress and angst, I decided to turn it around, put a smile on my face, and enjoy the scenery on my newfound path. I enjoyed the view of the vineyards along the way, took the time to stop at a bakery I’d never visited, and received inspiration for a yoga class theme.
Why not look at the detours in your life through a new lens, perhaps embracing them as an opportunity to try something new? I have to say that smiling and enjoying the scenery as you go sure as hell beats the alternative of getting pissed off.
We’re all faced with many annoying things that can detour us – judgment, fear, ego, failure. We can let what other people think about us detour us and keep us from our path, or we can be true to ourselves and let go of the judgment. I found a really great quote about this that I shared in my classes:
“If you let people break your spirit and detour you from your path, then you have not been true to yourself or those you’re here to touch, those who believe in you.” –Allison DuBois
We can beat ourselves up on the yoga mat when we fall out of a balance pose or struggle to touch our toes. Or, we can look at these detours through a new lens and approach our yoga practice from a place of love, knowing that each time we fall out of a balance pose, it’s not a failure, but simply another detour that will lead us to grow in strength and in balance.
I gave my classes a couple of examples of people I had encountered recently who had major detours in their lives and chose to smile and enjoy the scenery when they did.
Ginny Walters 200 E-RYT & 500-RYT on the Rollenator
One of those examples was Ginny Walters, a yoga teacher in Cleveland, Ohio. Ginny encountered her detour this summer when she took a fall down some stairs and ended up with a dislocated fracture that led to surgery and eleven screws in her ankle. To a yoga teacher who loves the outdoors, being restrained to a couch is pretty close to a death sentence. But this did not stop Ginny from doing what she loves. Just two weeks after the surgery, she found herself a contraption called the “Rollenator” (actually I think its called rollator, but I like rollenator better) that she could rest her knee on, and she rolled herself back into the yoga studio to teach classes! I’m sure she was in a great deal of pain when she did this, but I can tell you firsthand, you would never have known. I was lucky enough to attend one of her outdoor beach classes in August where she glided across the boardwalk, assisted students, and taught an amazing yoga class.
Ginny told me that she could never have gotten through the fracture without her practice of yoga. When she was injured, she took comfort in the fact that she could still breathe and could continue with her pranayama practice. This practice brought her stillness and peace to overcome her anguish. She is now enjoying getting back to her asana practice and learning new ways to modify all the poses to accommodate her injury. Again, she’s taking the detour and embracing it as an opportunity to learn more about her practice, how to help students with injuries, and to be patient with the body as it heals.
To quote Ginny, “Life is such a journey. We can only hope we find encouragement and enlightenment in everything we encounter.”
Ask yourself, are you embracing all of the detours life is throwing at you? Or, are you missing some of the opportunities they present? Open your eyes, rise to the opportunity, and enjoy the scenery that those pesky little detours provide. Your life will be sweeter and a hell of a lot more fun when you do!
Sep 25, 2012 |
Last week I wrote about putting the teachings of Erich Schiffmann into practice by meditating and asking the universe for direction on what I need to know. So far, so good. The universe has been calling me back (yes calling, not texting—the universe has not quite caught up with technology yet) with helpful tips and affirmations that I am on the right path.
The messages I’ve received to date have motivated me to meditate even more and for longer periods. In a way, it’s a little like getting addicted to Facebook.
So, I wanted to share another cool meditation experience that happened to me. As I was meditating recently, a memory of a quote from Max Strom popped into my brain. In A Life Worth Breathing, Max wrote the following:
“Abandon asking for certain things to make you happy. Why not just pray for happiness? Maybe God knows better than we what would make us the happiest.”
While I was meditating, instead of thinking about or asking for certain things I wanted the universe to tell me, I started to focus my meditation solely on being happy. When I started to do this, the sensation of a bright white light began to shine down on me right at the crown of my head. I have experienced this before in meditation, but this time the light was intense and almost immediate. When I finished my meditation and reflected about the experience, I figured that since I was meditating outdoors, surely the bright light was attributed to the sunshine, but when I looked up into the sky, I noticed I was sitting in the shade and had been for a while.
I’m attributing the bright light to another call from the universe. Of course we should ask for happiness. We don’t need to ask for a new car or a new Manduka yoga mat to make us happy. Just opening your heart and putting out a prayer for happiness is the way to go.
That bright light was the universe telling me, “Yes, Maria, now you are finally getting it!”
Even though it has been over a year since I studied with Max, his message stayed lodged in my mind, and I was pleased that it resurfaced in my meditation practice. They say that when you are ready, the teacher will come; but sometimes the teacher comes, and you just need time to let their lessons catch up. I feel so lucky to have had teachers like Erich Schiffmann and Max Strom to guide me on my meditation journey, and I’m looking forward to continuing the trip!
Ask for Happiness
Try out this little exercise the next time you meditate. It’s really simple and to me just seems like such a humble and straightforward request. Ask to be happy and let the universe figure out what exactly that is. I’m thinking that just the act of meditating on being happy is going to be spiritually beneficial for anyone who tries it. It’s working for me. Please let me know if it works for you.
Lightbulb Image: Paola Murias
