Hatha with Sandra D.

It's been a while since my last class with Sandra. I really enjoy her class. I can't quite explain it... though I hope to figure it out some day. We started seated and focused on breath. Sandra does a typical quiet centering. She doesn't talk much through it and only tells us to focus on breath. In today's centering, she spoke about focusing on the breath inhaling through the right nostril because it was a morning class we were probably more left nostril dominant at the time. She told us not to force the breath, but to just visualize the breath coming in through the right nostril and out the left.

Today's practice peak pose was Virabhadrasana III. She first focused on our shoulders. We stretched them as much as possible. Then we worked on the quadriceps. Uttanasana and virabhadrasana III were key postures. Her emphasis on the peak posture was to be "bouyant". We would bend the standing leg and rise up on inhalation. She gave the option to place hands on hips or arms straight back instead of in front.

For savasana, again, it was quiet and restful. No music.

Personal practice in natural light

It's nice having a space dedicated to yoga and dance. I love being able to close the doors, turn on some music, and can just be. But at the same time, when I have the whole house to myself, I just like to do my yoga practice in the living room with everything in its place. I don't need a lot of space for yoga. So, I did my practice in front of the french doors to the morning sunlight. I didn't have a real plan for my practice and just started to move as my body knew and felt was appropriate.

Yoga for Dancers

I'm all about incorporating yoga into a dance warm up. There are probably people out there who do not believe in it; some may argue that it isn't really yoga any more. However, I have seen an article about an Indian lady who has basically made a dance out of yoga asanas.

In my dance class today, we stretched the body first with uttanasana, parighasana, sun salutations, then into warrior II, parsvokonasana, and parsvatanasana. At the end of class, we finished with prasarita padottanasana, paschimottanasana, janu sirsana and upavista konasana.

Yogaless

No yoga practice today. I broke the trend. I definitely feel better when I do yoga. I can give you a lot of excuses for not doing yoga today, ie. work, coworker in town, had to run an errand during lunch, dance rehearsal... but none of them are any good excuse.

India

Sanieh is off to India this weekend. Coincidentally, my friend Jon and his wife are going to a yoga retreat in India in March.

I know a lot of yogis feel like they need India, to go to India, in order to be fulfilled in their path. For some reason, I don't. I grew up around Indians, work with them, and have Indian friends who have been opened to share their culture with me. I am thankful for that. On one level, India is beautiful; full of colors, music, dance... there is so much culture. One another level, there is the reality of poverty, disease, etc. Don't get me wrong, I would love to go to India some day. I feel, when the time is right, it'll happen!

Today's practice is at Sanieh's Hatha Flow class. She shared with us mandala namaskar, much of which was from Shiva Rea. It is a very fluid sequence of postures... almost like modern dance! This is definitely not a practice for beginners.

40-Day Personal Practice Completion

Today marks my last day of a 40-Day Personal Practice. Everyday has a different challenge. Sometimes, it's mental; sometimes, it's physical; sometimes, it's emotional. But whatever it was, I adapted and worked my way to the mat. It's been a wonderful 40 days of growth and introspection. I can't say I've been enlightened or that I am able to do the splits. I can say that I have gotten better.

In addition to moving to my body's needs, I also did the laterals sequence in the "Yoga for Wellness" book. I celebrated my 40th day practice with a long pratice in my dance studio, followed by a long dance practice.

Personal Practice Day 39

This morning's practice involved bringing out the yoga mat. I thought to myself that if I don't do it first thing in the morning, it may not happen. I went through 6 rounds of sun salutations, including a few Warrior II poses.

At the office, I spoke with my coworker John who I am teaching yoga. We both agreed that yoga in the morning is the best way to wake up. A little stretching always helps the body!

Personal Practice Day 38

Today's dance rehearsal was canceled, so I had lots of time to practice. Because it was late in the evening, I kept my practice simple, light, and full of forward bends. Utkatasana, uttanasana, downward dog, cobra, cakravacasana, and vajrasana. I used to think these postures were not enough for a full practice, but I've started to realize that if you embody each posture, there is a lot of energy and work involved.

Personal Practice Day 37

In Sanieh's class today, we began by twisting. Then we focused on arm/shoulder and core strength and stretched the hamstrings. Lots of uttanasana, utkatasana, and adho mukha svanasana. We twisted again. From Ardha Matsyendrasana I, lay hands down on the floor of the side you are twisting into, arms at chaturanga, then pull belly upward into a twisted bakasana. At full expression, the legs are extended, so hamstrings must previously stretched for this.

We had the opportunity to explore this posture a few times. I was happy to find that I could do this posture! It's all thanks to the prep work.

Personal Practice Day 36

I led John today in a hip opening practice today at the office. Time: 12:45. We start in a reclined position, lifting the legs up and then the chest with breath. Then in reclined position, bringing one ankle over the opposite leg's quadricep stretching the hip asymmetrically.

Afterwards we did 6 rounds of sun salutations for more warming up. We interlaced Warrior II in this sequence.

Next was eka pada ustrasana. This was our second time doing this posture, and I can already tell John was needing this posture.

Then Vajrasana.
Then Padakonasana.
Then supta padakonasana.
Dwi pada pitham.
Apanasana.


Great practice!

Personal Practice Day 35

After a late night last night, I woke up late. Then we spent the day cleaning the house. At the end of the day, I did some relaxing, restorative poses like cakravacasana, apanasana, jathara pavritti.

Personal Practice Day 34

Before getting ready for the Sahara Nights show, I did my personal practice at home, which included chest openers and hip openers. I felt great and ready to perform!

Personal Practice Day 33

Today's practice was at Sanieh's Noon class. At the beginning of class, she asked if there was a preference for hip openers or chest openers. The vote ended up being half and half. So, we ended up doing a little bit of both. At the end, during Savasana, Sanieh sang with her guitar a lovely song.

Personal Practice Day 32

We did a flow practice to warm up today in my belly dance class. I wonder if the girls picked up on it because I didn't tell them this is what we are doing. The flow consisted of Prasarita Padottanasana, Parsvottanasana, Eka Pada Ustrasana (one legged camel), Bhujangasana (cobra), Shalabasana (locust), Vajrasana (thunderbolt), Apasansana.

At the end of the class, I use these asanas to cool down: prasarita padottanasana, malasana, paschimottanasana.

Personal Practice Day 31

For some reason, I have been feeling very present. Work is good because I concentrate well. Perhaps it is the yoga? Very basic practice today.

My friend sent me a link to a video on CNN.com called "New twist on yoga". Basically, this lady has made a business out of yoga asana classes but without the "AUM", as they say in the video. I am a pretty minded person, so I can see people liking that. It's basically a yoga workout class. I suppose there are people who would not like that. There's some expectation when you go into a yoga class that you get a little bit of coming inward, whatever the method, be it meditation, chanting, etc. Then, there are people who don't want to go inward for whatever reason. So, this yoga workout class might as well be called a "fit" class.

It's like going into Subway and asking for the sandwich but without the bread... well, then it's not a sandwich any more!

Zen priest

At Sanieh's class today, she shared about what she learned at a workshop with a zen priest this past weekend. Often we hold on to things with a tense arm and gripped hand. What is it in your life that you hold on to like this? Perhaps it is a person, a thing, an activity, etc. Instead of holding on with a strong grip, why not just hold on to it with open palms? She demonstrated the contrast in the arms. I felt that was a good visual.

In our asana practice, we worked towards dhanurasana. We prepped by lifting opposite arm and leg from table top position. For those who wanted the challenge, you can the lifting from downward dog. I attempted it, but balance was definitely a challenge. After lifting, the next step was to bind opposite hand and foot.

I don't know if it was coincidental, but the shape of dhanurasana was similar to the shape her hand made "open palm".

Teaching at the office

John and Ryan were my guinea pigs today. I began our yoga class by asking if there were any trouble spots or special requests. Hamstrings and shoulders. We started slowly with vajrasana to warm up the body. Then I introduced them to a few basic postures. I did not follow my class plan as I had expected to, but that was ok since we did lots of repetitions. John had asked several questions which I was happy to answer. After each posture we'd talk about where in the body they were feeling it. Then we would do the posture again.

I plan to do more warm up with sun salutations and then stretch the shoulders and hamstrings again. Today was a great start!

Student teaching in YYTT

In YYTT today we each were assigned an asana to teach to the class. I had eka pada ustrasana. I wasn't nervous, but my nerves did get the worst of me... I did a silent demo incorrectly, using the wrong arm. But I noticed it as I was about the change sides, so I corrected myself.

Eka pada ustrasana (a.k.a "one-legged camel") is a backbend in a kneeled lunge position that stretches the front body one side at a time. Starting at a tall kneeling position, knees hip distance apart, thighs perpendicular to the floor, hips directly above the knees, the tops of the feet and shins press down on the mat. Use a blanket under the knee and shin.

• Inhale, step the right foot forward with leg straight. Exhale. Inhale, raise the left arm and press the hips forward, draw your shoulder blades down your back. Pelvic floor should be directed downward. The lower quadricep (area above the knee cap)makes contact with the floor. The right leg is at a 90 degree angle. Exhale, release the arm and come back to the starting point where the hips are above the back leg's knee. Repeat 5 more times.
• Step the right foot back to meet with left.
• Repeat 5 times on the other side.
• Step the left foot back to meet the right.

Benefits: Stretches the psoas and hip flexors as well as chest and shoulders. The asymmetrical aspect of this posture helps isolate the stretch on one side of the body at a time.

Contraindications/Modifications:

• Sacrum issues - if you experience any lower back or sacral pain, adapt the posture by laying on your back, both legs extended. Inhale. Exhale to bring the right knee to chest. (Then repeat on the other leg. By laying on our backs, we help keep the sacrum at neutral.
• Knee issues - if you are not able to put any pressure on your knee, you can do the same as above.
• Shoulder issues - an alternative to the raised arm is to rest both forearms on your thigh.

Yoga Overload?

Is there such a thing as too much yoga? I have not come to a conclusion yet... still pondering.

This morning, I went to Jenn W.'s 10:30 Hatha Flow class. Heather from work was there again. We did some partner yoga which was fun and allowed for Heather and I to assist each other in the partner yoga. It also helps that Heather and I are about the same size.

I don't know what exactly it is that draws me to Jenn's class. She isn't as poetic as Sanieh. However, she talks about yoga as you would talk about what you are having for dinner. Yoga just flows out of her mouth so naturally. We did a little bit of Yin Yoga where you stay in a comfortable yoga position for a while, letting your body relax into it. Then we did a flow. Pranayama: left nostril breathing, but first with nadi shodna to clear the passage ways. Then Yin Yoga again to settle our bodies down.

At 12 noon, we had our Yoga Yoga Hatha Yoga Teacher Training session. Kewal introduced us to the Ashtanga lineage, and we did a small and short Ashtanga practice. Following that we talked about the significance of sun salutations and then did a practice entirely around sun salutations.

Today I felt like I had taken 3 yoga asana classes. I feel great, but my body is a littel tired.

Flowers at the house

I enjoyed the flowers this morning. I am not sure the name of this
flower but they are superb.

I went to Sanieh's noon flow class today. I sweated. It seemed like
there were two people new to yoga at this class. They were talking
during the class a bit. Then they rolled up their mats half way
through and left. I wonder what happened.

Personal Practice Day 25

Even though I'm teaching my tribal fusion bellydance class tonight, I did a personal practice this morning. Fresh from a good night's sleep, I did a flow incorporating cakravakasana, rajvasana, utkatasana, plank, cobra, ardha mukha svanasana, warrior I, warrior I + forward bend + clasping the hands overhead. Repeat warrior I and the forward bend stretch 5 . Then repeat three more times starting from utkatasana.

Practice Patience

This is the buddha statue that lives in my home studio. My sister gave this to me two years ago for my birthday.

My shoulders were tight today. I did focus on my shoulders, making
sure they were warmed up and streteched. Shoulder rolls felt really
good.

What did I mean by "Practice Patience"? Well, there are many aspects of this phrase. It could mean different things to different people. Patience with yourself. Patience with others. Patience grow, progress, etc. Patience with coming to relaxation, rest, contentment, etc. For me, "Practice Patience" means to practice yoga daily so that I may be patient with all of the above. If I am patient, what I am, what I become, and what I encounter are all the reward.

Flowers at the office

Today's personal practice was at Sanieh's class. The flow was very
organic and natural feeling, at times it just felt so smooth you
forget you are doing yoga. There was lots of focus on hip opening.

Later that night we went to visit our friend who just moved to a house
out by the lake. I was gifted with some flowers. Most of it I kept at
home, but I brought some to the office with me Wednesday morning. It is so nice to have
flowers at the office.

Personal Practice Day 22

Inspired by Jenn W's flow class on Saturday, I tried to do something similar where I broke up the practice into 3 flows that I repeated twice on each side. After a while I was just moving, listening to what the body needed.

My practice today was mid-day for about an hour. The peak pose was eka pada rajakapotasana where I was able to hook my back foot inside my elbow. That's progress! The 3 flows had different focus:
1.) opening the shoulders, stretching sides, and strengthening legs.
2.) back bends and strengthening.
3.) hip opening.

I am also trying to develop a few short flows of my own that I can teach at dance workshops. We shall see.

Hey, we're more than half way through the 40-day!

Yoga Bliss

I'm sure the name "Yoga Bliss" has been used before. But it was mentioned or referred today in our yoga teacher training. We were discussing the Kripalu style of yoga where you "ride the wave of sensation". Briefly explained, it means that you do some repetitive motion into the posture, then hold the posture for as long as you can. When you feel like you can't hold the posture any longer, hold for another breath. If you continue to hold after a breath, you start to feel bliss. I think there is some psychology in there. Some people feel a sense of accomplishment, pride, etc. afterwards because they went a little further, held it a little longer than before.