Aum Shanti Meditation – from Alan Finger

Shanti, of course, is the Sanksrit word for peace. (The tradition of reciting “shanti, shanti, shanti” 3 times reflects the trinary nature of existence – – the relationship of peace within yourself, peace between you and others, and peace throughout the universe. Buddhists also refer to the Threefold peace of the body, mind and speech). Aum, or Om, is perhaps the most commonly-known Sanskrit mantra, but it has so many significances an entire newsletter might not address them all! However, a few insights follow…

The simplicity of Aum is married to its complexity and its fundamental importance. It is considered the primary sound of the universe, the essential sound of consciousness or creation. Thus in vibrating our bodies and consciousness to Aum, we are aligning ourselves with the divine essence of the universe!

Written and chanted as A-U-M, the mantra again represents a trinity: that of the energies of creation, sustenance and destruction that together bind the universe together. These are sometimes represented by the Hindu deities Brahma (A = Creation), Vishnu (U = Sustenance) and Shiva (M = Destruction or Transcendance). (See below for a wonderful illustration of this representation!) Other trinities for the A-U-M include body-mind-spirit, or self-personal world-universe… there are many possible concordances.

To deeply experience the power of this simple mantra, sit comfortably in your usual meditation seat. Begin by simply working with A-U-M. As you chant aloud, resonate each sound for several seconds before moving to the next sound: Ah…. Oh…. Mm. Notice where you feel the vibrations of each sound in your body. Sense the “Ahh” emanating from the base of your body, vibrating and cleansing the root and belly. Sense the “Ohh” purifying your heart center and throat. Feel the “Mmm” resonating throughout your face and skull to the crown of your head. Repeat aloud at least six times.

Now, repeat the path of A-U-M, but repeat the mantra sounds silently, and feel the same internal vibrations. As you move to this more subtle layer of sensing the mantra, its purifying abilities move more deeply from the physical into the subtle body, releasing the emotions and burdens of the lower self. As this release occurs, the central channel of consciousness is opened and the jiva, your individual spirit, is freed to reunite with paramatman, the source of divine love and inspiration.

Now allow the A-U-M to combine into Aum, and feel you are receiving the divine light of Paramatman, the universe, through that central channel, from the crown of your head, flowing down into your heart, the seat of your jiva, your unique spirit, and into your body.

As you tune in to your breath, let the inhale carry this light down into the center of your body. Begin to let the exhale release from your heart center. Feel on this release the sound of Shanti, peace. As this cycle of inhale and exhale continues, you draw in the inspiration and unconditional love of the universe, filtering it through your unique essence and sending it back out into the world.

You might direct this powerful vibration of peace anywhere you’re inspired to: from your loved ones, to those in need, to places of conflict anywhere in the world. This simple, powerful practice reconnects you to the love, peace and divine oneness within your own heart and throughout the universe.

Alan Finger

Hum-Sa Kriya – Alan Finger

This meditation was one of the first that I learned from my teacher Alan Finger. It is a beautiful way to calm and still the mind and connect to the energy of your body.

The Hum-Sa Kriya is part of the “Ishta Diksha.”

Diksha, meaning “initiation,” is the physical transference of divine energy directly into the brain, which allows for enlightenment. You become free from the limitations and the conditioning of the mind and are released from unnecessary suffering.
Practiced daily, these techniques will tune your mind into a Higher source of personal power that will educate, inspire, and enliven every moment of your living.

The Hum-Sa Kriya directs consciousness to the spinal column, the central cord of intelligence and awareness, and the central channel of energy in the body. The result of this focus is the creation of an alpha rhythm in the brain. Alpha is the scientific term for the brain state of relaxed alertness and accelerated learning- the mind is peaceful but aware and perceptive of its surroundings. It is known to be incredibly healing and revitalizing to the mind and body.

1. Set a small timer for 18 minutes, but don’t press start just yet. Do at least six rounds of Nadi Shodana Pranayama (alternate nostril breathing).

2. If you can, keep your eyes closed, but press the start button on your timer. Bring your focus back to the breath. Whenever you breathe in, silently visualize and hear the sound “Hum” going up the spine from the base of your tail bone to the space between your eyebrows. And whenever you breathe out, use the sound “Sa” down the spine and try to feel the energy move from the mid-brain down to the base of the spine.
Very important: Do not force the breathing.
On your inhalation, visualize a white ball of light lifting up your spine and into the middle of your brain, and on your exhalation, visualize the ball of light slowly floating down your spine back to the base.

3. Repeat this movement. On the inhalation “Hum” up the spine and on the exhalation. “Sa” down to the base.
This focus and repetition brings you deeper and deeper into the center of consciousness, revealing the true nature who you really are.
You’ll notice that in time, your breath slowly becomes smoother. Eventually pauses will appear, moments in between breaths where there’s just a pause and no need to breathe. This is the point at which a sense of just floating in pure bliss occurs.

4. Stay in this place until the timer sounds. When that happens, gently silence the alarm, and come back to sitting. Let yourself take about six or so full deep breaths. Gently open your eyes. Smile. You’ve taken one more step on the journey to Self.

Namaste.
Alan Finger

Integrating the Shadow (or lovin’ Halloween)

“The truth will set you free. ”

Pincha Mayurasana Variation
Pincha Mayurasana Variation

We’re all adept at seeing certain truths.  For some of us, it’s easy to accept that we’re pretty, attractive, talented, loved, or successful.  (And sadly, for some of us, it’s easier to accept a truth that we’re unattractive, unsuccessful, unloved, or untalented!)  But these are simply ideas that we’re comfortable with,  stuff that is easy to swallow.  These are the truths that we’ve gotten used to and repeated to ourselves – or had it told to us – many times.

However, the truths that will really set us free are the ones that resist our attention.  They are the shadowy impressions that we turn away from because we’re afraid of change, pain, or hurting someone else.

However, if we have the bravery to take a good look (as terrifying as it can be), we will discover that the truth is never as frightening as we thought.  It’s like when we were kids and we turned on the light in the closet.  Instead of discovering a terrifying demon, we find our laundry basket and some stuffed animals.  When we trust in our truth and accept responsibility for our feelings, we will actually be relieved.  No longer do we have to lie to ourselves about how we feel or think.  Once we embrace our truth, we can become whole and begin to heal.

Sometimes there are painful consequences to the finally embracing our truth.  Relationships or jobs may end.  Friendships may change or priorities shift.  In yoga class, we may realize that we have to radically change our practice.  But frequently, the acknowledgment of truth creates a launching point for change.  When we arrive fully in ourselves and are able to see a situation more clearly, we create the space to take positive action.  Even if we don’t quite like where we’ve landed, we can now take authentic steps to transform our circumstances, rather than paddling around in the dark.

Halloween is the perfect time of year to welcome the shadows into light.  We can get quiet, look inside, and open ourselves to our own personal truth.  What truths have we been hiding in the closet?  Can we risk opening the doors and letting in the light?

Pincha Mayurasa (forearm stand) is a pose that demands truth and patience.  There are no shortcuts.  A challenging inversion and backbend, pincha Mayurasana requires us to get quiet and be present.  By working on the pose at the appropriate level, we can set up the correct pathways to open the pose in the future. If we try to ego-jump to the end point, we will topple or risk injury.

This week, we will use Pincha Mayurasana to teach us to embrace our truths.  Working step-by-step, we unpeel the ego and explore one of the great heart openers.  The journey is not about completing the pose; all we need to do is show up and authentically participate in the process.

Risks:

Like all backbends, the lower back is at risk for collapse.

Component Parts:

Shoulders: (arm flexed at the shoulder, external rotation of arm, forearm flexed at elbow, forearm pronated)

Warm up with poses that use this arm position: Utthita hastasana, Gomukhasana Arms, Forearm Prep (dolphin), Virabhadrasana I, Virabhadrasana III)

Hamstrings: Warm up with Uttanasana, Prasarita Padottanasana, Parvottanasana, Trikonasasna, Parivrtta Trikonasana

Thoracic backbend Warm up by opening upper back while working to lengthen the lower back.  Baby Cobra, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, Sphinx (nice because it mimics forearms parallel).  Teach the backbend into the upper back only, so to avoid crunching the lumbar.

Core: Plank and forearm plank and abdominal variations.

Legs neutral/Adductors: Work on poses that teach neutral rotation of the legs, like three-legged dog, extended cat/cow, Virabhadrasana III, parvottanasana, lunges.

Possible Sequence (feel free to comment/question):

Child’s pose

Cat/cow, add leg extension (check that leg is neutral in hip)

Forearm cat, raise back leg (lengthen lower back, reach sternum forward, leg neutral)

Forearm plank

Plank pulses (inhale: lift sides of waist up, exhale: back to forearm plank)

Surya C with lunges (first time low lunge, second time open twist, third time high lunge, 4th time high lunge with twist) Vary the backbends: low back, sphinx, cobra/UMS

Trikonasana, working to lengthen sides of waist

Prasarita Padottanasana with twist, opening upper back

Utkatasana with block between thighs and between hands

Vira I with gomukhasana arms

Garudasana (eagle) with Gomukhasana arms into Virabhadrasana III, release arms, standing split, Uttanasana, Tadasana (R/L)

Vinyasa to Parivrtta Parsvakonasana – straighten front leg to long Parsvottanasana

Parivrtta Trikonasana

To wall:  Urdhva Mukha Svanasana at wall (toes on floor, heels up wall, body on floor, hands under elbows. Legs straight and in line with hips. Lift chest forward and up to UMS. Focus on upper back, press heels into wall.)

Virabhadrasana III at wall (hands on wall, hip height)

-add with sphinx arms, strap above elbow

Pincha Mayurasana prep with strap and block

Pincha Mayurasana

Child’s pose

Upavista Konasana

Baddha Konasana

Janu Sirsasana

Ardha Mastyendrasana

Pascimottanasana

Savasana

Natarajasana

Natarajasana, Pose of the Lord of the Dance, is a complex pose that is deep backbend with the added fun of balance.  As with any backbend, is it essential to fully warm up the thoracic spine and hip flexors as well as integrate core stability for the safety of the lower back.  A myriad of arm variations possible in this pose also allow for shoulder and chest opening.

Risk factors: Falling, low back.

What to warm up:

The hip flexors (front of the thighs).  Low lunge, high lunge, and Virabhadrasana I are great poses for opening the front of the thighs.  Hanumanasana with a bolster and a focus on a sagittally neutral pelvis in order to access the BACK leg.  Instead of treating Hanumanasana as a stretch, instead use it to access and tone the adductors, make the legs neutral, and then open the hip flexors of the back leg.  Ardha Bhekasana can also be used to stretch the quads, particularly when we focus on anchoring the pubic bone as we draw the shin in.

The thoracic (upper back).  Work to open the front of the heart by broadening the collarbones, lifting the sternum, and drawing the shoulders deeply into the body.  Can you work to isolate the drawing in of the upper back while you keep your lower back long?  It’s a little bit of a conundrum, but this is exactly the paradoxical work that backbends require.  Poses such as sphinx, bhujangasana (baby cobra), dhanuarsana (bow), and salabhasana (locust) can refine this work.

The core. To maintain a long lower back, we must use strength through the front of the body to contain the area between the front hip points (the ASIS) and the lower ribcage. Poses such as plank, forearm plank, and navasana (as well as other non-yoga varieties that might be in your repertoire) can bring awareness to this area.

The inner thighs/neutral legs.  The adductors link to the core and help keep our legs neutral when they would otherwise flare into external rotation.  Prepare the legs to remain neutral through engaging the adductors in lunges, Virabhadrasana I and Virabhadrasana III.   By engaging the inner thighs and rolling them slightly to the back body, we widen the sacrum, create length through the back and more room to squeegie the buttocks flesh down the thighs.

The shoulders. Classical Natarajasana has the standing leg arm reaching forward, while the bent leg arm reaches over the head in external rotation and flexion to grasp the foot or big toes.  (Like the upper arm in Gomukhasana.)  While this is quite a feat for most of us dealing with tight shoulders and hip flexors, we can approximate the actions of this pose by using a strap around our bent knee ankle.  Make a Grecian sandal with your strap by wrapping it around your ankle and threading the two ends between the big toes.  Presto, you’ve made your leg longer!  Work the actions of the pose here: draw the inner things to each other, tailbone to the floor, lower back long, upper chest opening.  Breathe and then climb your hand down the strap as the opportunity avails. To prepare for the classical variation, use poses such as Adho Mukha Svanasana (down dog), Utthita Hastasana (hands up in tadasana), Gomukhasana (cow-face pose, arms only), and inversions to open the shoulders.

A great variationof Natarajasana is to reach back with both hands and clasp the foot (like your clasping your hands around the top of the foot).  In this variation, the shoulders are in extension, which creates a delicious opportunity for opening the chest.  Use Prasarita Padottanasana C (wide-legged forward bend with hands clasped behind), Purvottanasana,  Setu Bandha (bridge), and Dhanurasana (bow) to prepare the shoulders for this variation.

Props:  Use a strap as a Grecian sandal to assist in the classical variation (see above).  Use the wall to assist in balancing.

Variation: At Wall.  Start in Virabhadrasana III at the wall, hands at the wall, with one foot under the hip and the other reaching back into the center of the room.  Keeping the lower back long, begin to move into a backbending variation by walking the hands up the wall.  Alternatively, strap the arms above the elbows and bring the forearms on the wall parallel, fingers pointing up.  Option to bend the lifted knee , keeping the thigh open and neutral.  Natarajasana at the wall!

Energetics: Natarajasana is a pose about opening into fear.  We are asked to open our hearts on uncertain ground (on one leg).  Before you begin, relax.  Smooth out the breath.  Grounding the energy and stabilizing the standing leg are crucial pillars.  Once the base has been established, then slowly open the upper back into a backbend.  Less is more at first.  From a stable base, let the breath open the pose from the inside.

Giving Gratitude Legs – Ustrasana

Frequently when we leave yoga class, we’re feeling pretty good. We’re stretched, we’re stronger, our minds are a bit more settled. After all, feeling good in our own bodies is a crucial first step on our hatha yoga path. And if that’s what gets us to the mat, so much the better. But at some point in our practice, we begin to have the terrible inkling that our yoga practice is actually happening all the time. It’s just a little more obvious when we’re in our lulu’s and on our mats.

Our practice is just that: practice for our lives. The point of our practice isn’t to have the perfect downward facing dog – although greater physical health is certainly a side effect of yoga. The real juice of our practice is revealed in very practical and everyday situations. Our practice means having a little extra space to respond when someone pushes our buttons or cuts us off in traffic. It’s having the space to feel upset without lashing back. Or it’s using that feel good energy from our class to give back to our families and friends a bit more fully. While improving urdhva dhanurasana is fun, the real potency of our yoga practice is actually experienced off the mat and in our lives.

In honor of Gratitude Week, I’m inviting everyone to “Give their Gratitude Legs”. Take that gorgeous, expansive generosity that begins to flow in class and deliberately manifest it as something tangible in your life. Bring the energy from your heart chakra and manifest it into your legs and your hands — and take action.

Devote just one hour this week to manifest your gratitude. Spend the extra hour with your kids, research a charity to donate to, or listen to a friend that needs some healing.

After all, if we don’t pay it forward, then who will?

Pose of the Week: Ustrasana

In honor of giving gratitude legs, this week’s pose is Ustrasana. Camel pose requires a deep connection to our core, to our legs, to the earth. Out of this deep strength and connection into our roots, we can open our hearts into gravity and radiate.  The interplay between opening up and grounding down makes ustrasana the perfect pose for manifesting gratitude.

Risk factors:

Because ustrasana is a backbend with gravity (as opposed to backbends where we lift up INTO gravity), it is vitally important to maintain the strength and connection of the front of the body to avoid over compressing the lower back.  What makes ustrasana so invigorating and challenging is the play between opening and strengthening the front body. Another risk factor is the neck, as we’re often tempted to drop the head back and cut of the long line of energy up the spine.  Dropping the head back should only be done when the chest is fully opened, and even then should only be done if it comfortable to the student.  I keep my chin tucked into my chest as long as possible and often do not drop my head back at all.

What to warm up:

The thoracic (upper back).  Coil open the upper back back by broadening the collarbones, reaching forward with the sternum, and drawing the shoulders deeply into the body.  Can you work to isolate the drawing in of the upper back while you keep your lower back long?  Imagine drawing the sides of the waistline to the back body as you lengthen the sides and lift the chest.

The core: The stability of our core is essential in controlling the opening our spine in ustrasana.  While the core is important in all backbends, its role is crucial in ustrasana because we are resisting gravity.  Engaging the inner thigh line (the adductors) will help to engage the core and support the backbend.  As we move into backbends, we can grip the buttocks, which can cause external rotation in the thighs and squash the sacrum.  By engaging the inner thighs and rolling them slightly to the back body, we widen the sacrum, create length through the back and more room to reach the sitbones away from the back.  Practicing plank and forearm plank can also teach the front body to engage without shortening.

The hip flexors (front of the thighs).    Prepare the hip flexors for ustrasana through lunges and Virabhadrasana I.  To particularly access the quads, use a runner’s stretch or King Arthur’s Pose (low lunge with the lower leg vertical up the wall).

The shoulders in extension (arms reaching back). Warm up the shoulders in extension through garudasana arms (lower arm), salabhasana or  bridge.  I also like using a strap during uttanasana or prasarita padottanasana to encourage arm extension.  Choose your leg variation, then hold the strap behind you with the palms forward, just wider than your hips.  Draw the heads of the upper arms back (no slouching).  Keep lifting the strap to the ceiling (rather than over the head) as you fold.  Lift the shoulderheads up.

Props:  The wall.  I almost always do ustrasana with my hip points glued to the wall.  I can clearly draw my inner thighs back into the room and lengthen my sitting bones to the floor.  Keeping your hip points at the wall will ensure that you keep your hips and knees lined up and that you continue to use your legs and abdominals to support your weight.   Use a bolster across the back of the shins to bring the floor up to you.  Blocks on either side of the ankles do the same thing.  You can place a block between the thighs to engage the adductors.  An important note in ustrasana is to continually lift up as you go back.  As if you’re lifting your upper back over a limbo bar.  When  your hands find purchase (on the bolster, blocks, or feet), lift up out of the arms and radiate your chest up to the sky.  Finding and nurturing a sense of strength and containment as you drop back in ustrasana will help prepare the body for more rigorous drop backs from standing.

Mark Whitwell – What is yoga?

What is yoga? In this ten-minute segment, Mark – with his typical directness and humor – clarifies the purpose of yoga and exhorts us to participate with authenticity and intimacy in our own lives. I have studied with Mark on several occasions in New York and in Vancouver and always find his clarity and inclusiveness inspiring.

“Yoga is your direct participation
absorption in the given wonder
the extreme intelligence of life
that is of course in every person
every creature
you can do this
it’s not a search
it’s not to use the mind
it’s not to use the body to try to get somewhere
as if you are not “Somewhere”
as if you are not the full blown wonder of life
dependent on a vast process
for your own existence
so there is a right yoga for you
you learn to do that yoga
and then you too can enjoy this direct absorption
participation in the nurturing force that is life already given to you
you are completely loved
completely loved
you are completely cared for
everybody is completely loved
completely cared for
even if the social conditions are suggesting otherwise
even if your mind doesn’t recognize it
by doing your yoga practice on a daily basis
actually and naturally
not obsessively
you too can enjoy this direct absorption
in the wonder that is this life
in all conditions of life including the unseen source
which is responsible for all this appearance here
please enjoy your yoga
YOU ARE HERE NOW

This is a simple argument.
It is easier than easy.
So simple, we seldom speak of it and do not grasp it.
But once seen, it is obvious
and we feel the stark reality of our life,
unmediated by the mind of doubt.

The idea of human imperfection
that is deeply ingrained in the social mind,
in old scientific and religious thinking
blinds us to the perfection that is already in us,
as us, as Life itself, as Nature “her”self.

We are not separate;
we cannot be separate from Nature,
which sustains us in a vast interdependence with everything.

The universe comes perfectly
and is awesome in its integration and infinite existence.
It is our natural state.

Our mission and passion
is to provide the spiritual
and healing powers of yoga
to all who recognize the ancient wisdom
and the wisdom of your own body and mind.”

~Mark’s Hridaya Yoga Sutra describes the spirit of Yoga of Heart: the Healing Power of Intimate Connection
More Heart of Yoga.

Stroke of Insight – Jill Bolte Taylor

This astounding video recounts neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor’s experience of having a stroke. Not only is she able to contextualize the experience from a medical perspective, but she discovers that bliss may be a simple matter of “stepping to the right.” I also highly recommend her book, where she candidly offers her experience of recovery. A definite must for anyone with loved ones who have had a stroke. Also, In the process of recovery, she discovers that she has the power to reprogram her habitual patterns in order to make better choices. And isn’t that what yoga is all about?

YogaFLIGHT – an unexpected journey

My session at the Vancouver Yoga Conference had taken a pause.   An hour-break, then we’d all come back for four more hours of chakra realization.  So far, I’d been banging my hips and sacrum on the ground, trying to tune into my pelvis and the first three chakras.  Now I was fantasizing about tuna sandwiches.

Such musings were interrupted by a voice to my neighbor to the left.  It was one of those rich and resonant voices that reminds you of James Earl Jones.  The kind of voice that Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellan spent years in drama school to develop.  A voice that puts fussy babies to sleep and reassures angry crowds.

The voice belonged to a man radiating kindness.  I was complimented on my note taking, asked very politely if I would be interested in a five-minute experiment in YogaFLIGHT.  YogaFLIGHT?  Was that like Acro-yoga? I asked.  Similar, yes, but YogaFLIGHT was the integration of two passions: yoga and skydiving.  Finding the freedom of weightlessness here on the ground.

I put off the tuna sandwich.  Definitely interested.

Slade, my yogaFLIGHT guide, started me off in a variation of Prasarita Padottanasana.  He lay on his back and supported the weight of my hips with his feet, then stretched my arms over my head for one of those deep, delicious expansions.  “Breathe,” he reminded me.  Oh right, breathing.  I closed my eyes…and let go.

YogaFlight's sKY and slaDE
YogaFlight's sKY and slaDE

To be honest, I cannot tell you exactly what happened.  Slade’s quiet, confident voice would occasionally say things like, “Now reach for your feet,” or “This is called sleeping tortoise,” and I would find myself suspended in a miraculous yoga concoction.  I don’t know how it looked from the outside, but from the little crowd of smiling faces that I awoke to I can imagine it looked pretty fun.  However, I can describe how I felt: present,  connected, safe, light, expansive, joyful.  As if the playfulness and wonder from my childhood could merge with a deep and present awareness of another human.  For those five minutes, everything dropped away except gravity, partnership, and breath.  Guided by Slade, this divine experience was uplifting and centering at the same time.

For those of you who have not yet experienced the freedom and joy of partner yoga and “flying,” I humbly and fervently recommend you do.  I was lucky to have YogaFLIGHT drop into my lap unexpectedly, and even more fortunate that my first guide was such capable and trustworthy partner.

The rest of my day sparkled.

More about sKY and slaDE.

Urdhva Dhanurasana

DSCN3338
Rachel, photo by SBK

Urdhva Dhanurasana, aka Upward Bow  – don’t call it Wheel, that’s a different pose ;).  One of the ultimate yoga stretches for the front of the body, Urdhva Dhanurasana challenges us to maintain our strength though the core as we radiate through our upper chest and heart and stretch our hip flexors and shoulders.  Any restriction in the shoulders or hips will immediately translate into a crunched lower back, so Upward Bow requires a great deal of warming up and opening in order to be happily explored.

Risk factors: The low back.  This is priority number one.  In order to keep our low back long and strong, we much engage the rectus abdominus and create containment through the front of our body.  Opening the shoulders and hip flexors will help us to find an even arch through the spine and take pressure off the lower back to do all the bending.

What to warm up:

The shoulders in flexion (reaching forward and up). Whenever we have the arms over our head, our upper arms must in in external rotation.  This means that poses like adho mukha svanasana (down dog), urdhva hastasana (arms over the head in tadasana – I love this when squeezing a block between the wrists, arms straight, front ribs in), and handstand (urdhva hastasana upside down) will be great warm ups for the shoulders.  You should be able to straighten the arms above the head without bending the elbows or bowing the spine.  If this isn’t possible yet, then keep working on the shoulders and wait before trying Upward Bow.  With time, it will come.

The hip flexors (front of the thighs).  Low lunge, high lunge, and Virabhadrasana I are great poses for opening the front of the thighs.  We are particularly interested in the psoas rather than the quads, as the knees in Urdhva Dhanurasana aren’t really that bent.

The thoracic (upper back).  Work to open the front of the heart by broadening the collarbones, lifting the sternum, and drawing the shoulders deeply into the body.  Can you work to isolate the drawing in of the upper back while you keep your lower back long?  It’s a little bit of a conundrum, but this is exactly the paradoxical work that backbends require.  Poses such as sphinx, bhujanghasana (baby cobra), urdhva mukha svanasana (up dog), and salabhasana (locust) can refine this work.  Twists such as parivrtta parsvakonasana and parivrtta trikonasana are excellent at teaching the body to open the upper spine while engaging the abdominals and lengthening.

The core. To maintain a long lower back, we must use strength through the front of the body to contain the area between the front hip points (the ASIS) and the lower ribcage. Poses such as plank, forearm plank, and navasana (as well as other non-yoga varieties that might be in your repertoire) can bring awareness to this area.  Doing a mild camel with your frontal hip points stuck to the wall and focusing on lifting up an out of the hips can be an effective way to bring attention to the work of the abdominals.

The inner thighs.  The adductors link to the core.  Also, as we press into backbends, the tendency is to grip the buttocks, which can cause external rotation in the thighs and squash the sacrum.  By engaging the inner thighs and rolling them slightly to the back body, we widen the sacrum, create length through the back and more room to reach the sitbones away from the back.  The adductors can be accessed in almost every pose, but are particularly obvious in neutral lunges when we can “scissor” the inner thighs towards each other.  Putting a block between the upper thighs or the inner feet immediately creates and adductor-engaged imprint in the body.

Props:  Use a strap shoulder-width above the elbows to prevent flailing out in the arms and loss of external rotation.  Strap the upper thighs at hip distance apart to keep the legs parallel the hips (and inner thighs down, and sacrum wide).  A block between the upper thighs cues the inner thighs to engage and roll to the floor.  A block between the feet or a strap around the big toes helps to keep the feet parallel and tracking (keeping the thighs neutral rather than externally rotating).  Blocks tilted at the wall can take the pressure out of the wrists by decreasing the angle at which they need to bear weight.

Energetics: Urdhva Dhanurasana is one of the great heart openers.  But we cannot move to opening unless there we have strength through the core of the body.  We need a solid foundation through the legs, pelvis and lower core (energetically we need stability in chakras 1-3) in order to radiate and expand through the upper chest (chakra 4, the heart chakra).  In a recent workshop, Anodea Judith invited us to open our hearts while staying in our core.  In relationships – the purview of chakra 4 – we often find ourselves either hardening and retreating or becoming too malleable and floppy.  We are either defensive, or we let too much in.  Urdhva Dhanurasana invites into the great balance; the more strength and grounding that we can find in our center, the more open and receptive that we can safely become.

Backbending thoughts from Aadil Palkivala:
Physically speaking, backbends move the spine into the body, creating strength in the back of the body and length through the groins, abdominal cavity, rib cage, throat, and frontal shoulders. Backbends charge the kidneys by drawing them into the body, rejuvenating the adrenals and drawing the life force given by the kidneys back into the body. Backbends generally open up three major areas of the body – the pelvis, heart and throat. Therefore, they can open the hips, free the chest from congestion, and bring back a healthy curve to the neck. Most of our daily habits (sitting, driving, working at a desk) cause a collapse in the front of our bodies and push the spine backwards. This is why you will often feel bony lumps on the spine of older people. Backbends bring healthy alignment and mobility back into the spine, moving the vertebrae forwards.

Psychologically speaking, backbends move us toward our future and away from our past, since the back of the body represents the past and the front of our body represents our future. Backbends quieten the hyper-analytical activity of the front brain, and because of the extension produced, trigger a feeling of openness in the limbic system (the emotional center of the brain). In contrast, when we are in a state of fear or anger, we curl up and go into a position of flexion (protection). Thus, psychologically speaking, backbends move us from fear to power.

Energetically speaking, backbends move the spine toward the Pillar of Light in the body. They open up congested and stagnant pelvic energy. This allows the energy to move upward in an expression of aspiration for growth, where it can be transformed by the wisdom of the Heart Chakra. Backbends open up the Heart Chakra, expanding the feeling of love and joy. They also open the throat, allowing the Heart Chakra to express words of beauty and love. This opening also allows the mental energy to move more easily down to the Heart Chakra.

However, a caveat: All the above happens in backbends only if there is the intention for this to happen as you practice. Otherwise you will simply become more flexible!

My friend Chanda Rule’s smokin’ voice

My friend and Circle of Soul sister Chanda Rule sent me this outstanding chant as a little reminder to keep opening to grace.  Keep on, keepin’ on, even when you feel like closing off.  Another sister of mine once said that we were always in either a state of expansion or of contraction.  Listen to Chanda’s voice and feel yourself get a little brighter, a little bolder, a little bigger.  For more of Chanda, check out her site and new album.  She is divine.  Click just to hear her website music, it will make your day just a bit happier.

The devil is in the details

So for that past few years I’ve been practicing ashtanga. Flow, flow, breath, breath. There is a cycle and rhythm to the practice. You move. You keep going. You jump around. You breath some more.

But here I am visiting my old Yoga Works crew. And they study Iyengar.

See, in the yoga world, there are three main lineages: Ashtanga, Iyengar, and the yoga of Desikachar. Most our our Western yoga springs from the same teacher (the granddaddy of yoga as we know it, Krishnmacharya). But where ashtanga focuses on movement and breath, the Iyengar tradition focuses on alignment.

Ruthlessly. Meticulously. SLOWLY.

So now I’m not jumping around. I’m laying on the mat and contemplating the slight external rotation of my thigh in the hip socket as I reach my other leg into the air in supta hasta padangustasana. And then I’m holding it there. For a long time. I’m meditating on the percentage of weight in the ball of my foot during my forward bend. I’m finding that extra degree of external rotation in my upper arms in downward facing dog.

It’s slow, it’s sweaty, it’s focused, it’s hot.

The exquisite attention to detail is like a life-sized magnification glass. We’re using the acute sensation of one part of the body to develop focused concentration (or dharana) that helps settle the monkey mind down. Similar to ashtanga, it’s not really about the body (though it sure can feel that way!), but about the mind. The bodily sensations become a lens for the practice and a means of cultivating mindfulness in our lives. After all, if we can focus and breathe in the discomfort of utkatasana (fierce or chair pose), we may have a little more space to be present in oh, say, an argument with our ex about who left the fridge open. And the capacity to focus on the details in our practice makes us more sensitive the the miraculous detail of everyday life.

We tend to think of joy as something that involves big events: weddings, success, births. And while this is true, the sustaining marrow of life is found in the smallest of everyday occurrences. It’s finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. The shape of a flower, the smile of a friend. The play of light on a skyscraper at sunset. These are the small joys that sustain us when the greater flow is not revealed.

The devil is in the details. And through those tiny portals lies the magnificent expanse of the divine.

Wherever you go, there you are…

New York City has chilled out.
People on the street are less hurried, the traffic flows sedately, the line at Zabar’s is leisurely. There is time to nod and smile at fellow customers without feeling that everyone is clawing for the front of the line. Even on the subway, a civilized distance is observed between the pressing bodies. New York has become freakin’ mellow.

Or maybe not.

The last time I lived in the city, I had a mission, an agenda, a dream. Higher than high ambitions that were not to be thwarted. The city was to be gotten through, gotten over, conquered, and tamed. (Oh, how the gods must have laughed!) Every moment was a rush to the next appointment, every transition too slow for what I needed to get done.

But upon my return to teach a yoga intensive this June, everything looks a lot less harried. My first thought was, wow, there must be fewer people here! Did the population decline? Have that many people lost their jobs?

Um, no.

The reason for the change is laughably obvious. New York hasn’t chilled out, honey, it’s ME. Three years in the Pacific Northwest have slowed me down enough to actually see other people on the street, take my time standing in line, and feel positively mellow in my hyper-kinetic homeland. (That, and the fact that a visit to Delhi makes New York City look like an elderly, sleepy monarch.)

I took an Iyengar class today with Carrie Owerko, where she spoke about how we see the world through the filter of our mindset. When we take a moment to acknowledge where we are – rather than immediately reacting – we have a better shot at practicing direct perception of the present moment. In every situation from “class was sooo hard today” to “my partner is being completely unreasonable,” we can first ask ourselves: where am I coming from? What is my state of mind? What are the vrittis, or thought patterns, that are fogging up my perception?

While my New York state of mind has been tempered with some West coast chill, I still find myself starting to hurry in the street. Looking down and not up and walking too quickly to enjoy the sites that I’m passing. Getting irritated waiting at the deli. When I notice this happening, now I can take a moment to reset. I wipe some of the fog off the mirror and think of the Pacific Northwest. And smile at person next to me in line.

Learning to Ride a Bike

A couple weeks ago, I put my car into storage and started riding my bike.  Now, I am not what you’d call a good bike rider.  My ass hurts, my thighs ache, and grease somehow gets smeared all over my calves.    Small children on tricycles pass me on the street.

While my body may be used to yoga, riding a bike challenges me in a completely different way.  Muscles get tightened rather than lengthened; cardio work is a main component rather than a by-product. And although riding a bike is undoubtedly good for me, it is very humbling and hard.

As I was riding to work last week, however, I noticed a small change. It had become just the slightest bit easier.

I noticed this because I was actually able to think about something other than my screaming legs.
But I hadn’t become suddenly stronger; I was just becoming accustomed to the pain.  Through practice, I was slowly getting used to this new kind of stress.  In that moment, I had a mini-revelation: if it took practice for me to get used to physical discomfort, why should mental discomfort be any different?

As obvious as the connection is, riding my bike reminded me that we are always going to have to move through discomfort when trying something new.  We don’t have the strength when we start. It’s something that we have to practice in order to get.

Exercising new muscles – whether they’re physical or psychological – requires patience, compassion, and diligence.  So don’t be hard on yourself if your thighs are burning (literally or metaphorically). Stay with it. As Pattabhi Jois says, “Practice, practice, and all is coming.”

A necessary side note: After I wrote this blog, I found this video clip of Shri K Pattabhi Jois.  He’s the original purveyor of “Just Do It.” He passed from this world on May 18th, 2009 and has left the world the incredibly legacy of Ashtanga Yoga. Thank you, Guruji. You are missed.

In the face of anxiety…

Last week, I took a roadtrip with my boyfriend. He struggles with anxiety and is working towards flying on planes. In the meantime, we drive. He hasn’t been to Los Angeles for several years, so this was a pretty significant adventure.  The prospect of leaving terra firma and adventuring into the wilds of the United States held the potential for serious discomfort.

We had our moments, of course. All evolution requires some growing pains. There were times with then anxiety would come on, and he would have a choice: open to possibility (that he would live through this moment, that he could survive distress) or close down in fear.

Although his boundaries are far more tangible than most of ours, we all have possibilities that we’ve shut off in order to stay comfortable. We all have places we don’t go, because we “don’t do that,” or we “can’t do that.” Some of us refuse to sing in public (or even sadder, in the privacy of our own home) because we’ve come to think we can’t. Some of us unknowingly put limitations on our ideas of personal success and happiness. We may shy away from something that we’d actually like to do because we are pre-supposing that we won’t be able to do it.

It’s almost easier for my boyfriend. He can see the border between Canada and the United States and determine to step over it. Some of us have been living with our self-imposed limitations for so long that we no longer even recognize that they’re there.

In our practice, we can use our discomfort as a stepping stone to possibility. When we’re in the throes of a pose (say, a strength-challenging hip opener like Warrior II), we can take the space to respond to the discomfort rather than shy away from it. When our thighs start burning and the mind jumps in, “abort, abort!”, we can instead explore the possibility of remaining in the unknown. The inhalation becomes a doorway to greater space and literally creates more space in the body. By engaging in the breath and staying present, we can actually use our anxiety in order to open to possibility.

And then, take this ability to create possibility from your fear into the rest of your life. What neglected corners could use a little loving sunshine?

Levitating, inverting, abs. By request.

I arrived early to my Tuesday class, so asked some of the students if they had any inspirations for the practice.  “Levitation,” replied one particularly cheeky monkey.  “Inversions!” another cried.  “I may get in trouble for this,” said a third, “but I’d like to do abs.”

Alright, I thought.  Levitating, inverted abs it is.

Challenge is an inherent part of any arm balancing themed class.  After all, a solid core connection is essential for any standing on the hands, and that invariably winds up being, well…hard.  You need to connect to the arches of the feet, then follow the inner leg line of energy through the adductors, into the pelvic floor, into the transverse abdominals.  It takes a little effort.

And now, I have to mention India.

While I was in India, I did not practice.  Well, okay, maybe a couple times.  But for the majority of my trip, I spent my time walking, eating, observing, haggling, and generally doing everything but yoga.  So I went from having a 2 hours plus practice most days of the week to doing almost nothing.

And it was GREAT.

You see, about a week into my trip, I suddenly realized that something was different.  I didn’t hurt anymore.  The repetitive injuries that I’d been “working through” had faded and my body seemed to be functioning happily.  Rather than fall apart without my yoga practice, my body seemed to be actually doing better.

Now, this isn’t because yoga is bad for you.  On the contrary, yoga is very (very) good for you.  But I’d been practicing in a way that became counter-productive.  I had been over-stressing my body because I liked the challenge.  I wanted to advance my practice, and it seemed like the only way to do this was to do harder poses.  Wasn’t it?

There’s a part of all of us that thrives on challenge.  On advancement.  (You type A’s  know exactly what I mean.)  But when we overdo it and impose a practice on on our body, rather than experience the practice, our body sends us signals that we’re going too far.  If we’re ambitious, we rarely listen and instead “push through,” only to be stopped in our tracks eventually by some sort of injury.

Does this mean we shouldn’t challenge ourselves?  Of course not!  But we must challenge ourselves while still respecting the voice of our body.  So, in other words, how can we honor ourselves and still attempt levitating, inverted abs?

We must listen to ourselves.  Rather than “do” your practice, “be” your practice.  Be inside your practice, rather than inflicting it on your unsuspecting body.  When the challenges come (and they always do), give yourself the space to respond rather than react.  Instead of shutting off or overcompensating, breathe and integrate the experience.  These moments of stress in yoga class are fertile ground for practicing how to consciously respond to anxiety off the mat.

Notice: what’s your pattern for coping with challenge?  Do you ferociously attack it, or succumb without a fight?  Can we practice being with the challenge without adding a psychological agenda?  Can we actually soften in order to be strong?

Since you may be curious, we wound up practicing the transitions from tripod headstand to bakasana and back again.  Fun, fun, all day long. Levitating, inverting abs, indeed!

Photo by SBK
Photo by SBK

Ajna Chakra: Light

Ajna Chakra, located at the third eye center, opens us to element of light.  In addition to literally seeing, this chakra draws us into the power of visualization, imagination, and abstraction.  We literally connect to a higher frequency (Vishuddha was the frequency of sound, Ajna of light) and our experience moves further beyond the tangible plane.

Suddenly, our world is much larger.  We can use the power of our imagination to understand experiences beyond our own.  Though the understanding of images and words, we can visualize our place in a greater context. Our sight is both external and internal. The sixth chakra opens us to the world of intuition, where we are assimilating information more rapidly than our conscious mind may process. We begin to learn to trust our sixth sense.

The power to visualize is a powerful tool that can expand or limit our consciousness.  While our imagination can set us free to imagine possibilities beyond our immediate experience, we can also impose mental boundaries on ourselves that prevent us from moving into our potential.  Discernment in the sixth chakra is the power to separate vision from illusion. As Anodea Judith writes, “Vision leads us forward and illusion holds us back. A vision is a possibility, a goal to inspire us, constantly changing and evolving. We know a vision isn’t real, and yet we believe in its potential. An illusion tends to be held as certainly and forced into place – something we believe is real and unchangeable. An illusion binds the energy; a vision consciously directs it.”

Exercise: Practice discernment between vision and illusion. Do you impose limits on yourself that have no basis in reality? Can you replace these assumptions with a visualization that pulls your more firmly into your real potential?

Om Guru

Guru – the dispeller of darkness.  It’s a wonderful song for the wintery time of year! I originally sang this song with the musical group, Circle of Soul in New York City. I learned both the melody and harmony line with these fantastic ladies. Om Guru

Vishuddha Chakra: Space

The link from the heart chakra to the more etheric upper chakras, Vishuddha (the throat chakra) is the center of conscious communication.  Like the second chakra, Vishuddha is a creative nexus.  However, unlike the unconscious, earthy, and sensuous energy of Svadisthana, Vishuddha’s creativity is connected to our higher consciousness.  Through its power, we literally express and identify ourselves in relationship to the outside world.  We choose how to allow our energy to impact others, and use our voice to express our boundaries, desires, and needs.

Very pragmatically, we can sometimes feel as if we’ve “lost our voice” when there is a disconnect between our experience and our ability to communicate our needs.  At other times, it is through communicating that we actually realize our own experience.  For example, it is common to “hold it together” until someone asks us to communicate our experience.  This act of articulating facilitates the integration of the experience, and causes us to “break down” or release the emotional energy.

A well-balanced throat chakra allows for an equilibrium between expression and listening.  The element of Vishuddha is space, and it is in the openness and potential of this space that exchange can occur.  Rather than engulf our listeners in a deluge of conversation or retreating into a silent shell, we allow for a meaningful sharing of energy and ideas.  The powerful, unconscious energies of the lower chakras (our emotion and our ego) are refined and processed as we develop our capacity to communicate our personal experience with others.

Our lives are in continual, creative evolution.  Through Vishuddha, we enhance our capacity to filter and share our experience with others.

Exercise: Notice your habits in conversation.  Do you tend to dominate conversation, or retreat and stay silent?  Do you fall into comfortable and disingenuous patter because it seems easy?  Is there a better personal balance for you that you might find in increasing your capacity for conscious communication with others?

Anahata Chakra: Air

What more appropriate chakra to explore on Valentine’s Week than the heart chakra?

We are all familiar with the sensations of the heart.  Almost everyone can relate when someone says that they feel ”light-hearted” or that they have a “heavy heart.”  In this way, the sensations of the heart chakra are some of the most accessible of the system.

At the heart, we reach the very center of the chakra system.  Perfectly balanced between the upper and lower chakras, anahata is the chakra guiding relationships, compassion, and emotional well-being.  It is in the heart that the intuition of the body and the wisdom of the spirit come into manifestation.

While the heart chakra usually is thought to be outer directed (compassion to others), it is also the place where we come into deeper and more harmonious relationship with ourselves.  Here we resolve the myriad of relationships within different (and frequently contradicting) aspects our own life. Only through the compassion and spaciousness of love can we fully accept and integrate the lost or shadowed parts of our history and personality.  When we are able to accept ourselves fully, then we can also begin to accept others fully, without being triggered by the remembrance of fragmented parts of ourselves.

As you practice heart-opening, notice if any judgments or restrictive sensations arise.  Practice nurturing a space of radical self-acceptance and expansion.  Utilize the surrender and freedom of the inhalation to physical space for compassion and integration.