Services to Ease your Life in 2009

As a yogi, an easy way to practice the ethical principle of ahimsa (non-violence) towards the environment is to actively cut down your junk mail.  If you’re not sure how to do this start here… CatalogChoice and GreenDimes

I’ve reviewed both services and personally opted to go with Catalog Choice.  Sure it’s a little more work but I get the benefit of proactively managing what comes to my mail slot.  And it doesn’t cost me anything but a few minutes of my time.  Time Magazine recently ran an article on the junk mail topic.  For more, click here.

Realizing that not everyone practices asteya (non-stealing/non-coveting), it’s up to you to protect your credit file and reduce your chances of becoming a fraud victim.  Monthly I pay IdentityGuard to watch my name and credit.  Any accounts that are closed, opened or even peeked at are immediately brought to my attention.  I highly recommend this peace-of-mind service.

Lastly for a mini-break from the daily grind, visit DailyOM for some inspiration when you can’t make it to your yoga mat.  I discovered this site a few years back while working in the corporate office environment.  I use to receive their emails daily to provide me with a little solace in the midst of the office chaos.  Now I just visit the homepage of my website, abellaYoga.com, to enjoy it.

My Iyengar Experience

I challenged myself this Fall by registering for a series of Iyengar yoga classes at the Arlington Unity Woods, the premier Iyengar studio in the area.  I congratulate myself for a) trying something new and so different from the style of yoga (power vinyasa) I normally practice, b) making it to more than half of the classes that I prepaid for, and c) doing my best to be available as a student – not once did I mention to anyone that I teach yoga full-time.  I tried to approach the poses as if they were my first time ever trying them.  By keeping an open mind, one can find that there really is a lot to learn from the Iyengar approach.  For me personally, it’s a practice of patience.

The last class was a week ago on Monday night.  If I had known it was going to be 90 minutes of restoratives, I probably would not have gone due to my lack of enthusiasm for solely doing restoratives.  As it turned out, I was very glad I attended – it was exactly what I needed.

For me, one of the most challenging parts of the Iyengar practice is getting use to all the props, particularly the various and specific ways the blankets need to be folded.  Patience and breathing is key to the blanket folding process.  And I think restoratives must be the final exam on blanket folding as everyone was told to have a minimum of five. If it was the final, I must say I think I did a fairly good job in passing it.

We started the class in Savasana (vs. when I practice at my home studio, Down Dog Yoga in DC, we typically start in Down Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana).    After completing a couple other types of supported Corpse poses which we’re wonderful chest openers, we held Hero’s pose (Virasana) for five plus minutes.  Anyone familiar with Hero will understand that by minute three I was appreciative of the blankets under my bum.  Doing Shoulderstand on a chair wasn’t my favorite but it was fun to explore.  And whether you like the pose variation being offered, do it as self-exploration is partly what the asana practice is about.

I plan to continue to dabble in the Iyengar method as it has a lot to offer.  For those not familiar with Iyengar, here’s how I sum it up.  It’s alignment focused –though too many cues for me sometimes, but a safe style to start if you’re new to yoga.  It’s prop intense – this is important to know in that it makes all poses accessible for even the most inflexible.  Also by being forced to use props (like me who rarely uses them in a vinyasa class), proper alignment and patience can be discovered which is a freeing experience.  Freedom is also what yoga partly about.  Lastly, the poses are held for what sometimes can seem like forever which is what can make these classes challenging physically and mentally.

Mr. Iyengar turned 90 this month so obviously there’s something to his style that’s good for the body and soul. I must admit I did sleep like a baby the evenings after my Iyengar practice.

Anjali Mudra

Yoga classes often use the “namaste” or prayer position, aka anjali mudra, at the beginning, end and sometimes even during class.  With the hands in anjali mudra at heart center, a wonderful stretch for the wrists can be experienced as well a nice opening across the chest & collarbones. Some yogis feel it helps keep their shoulders out of their ears.

In addition to stretching, anjali mudra can serve as a reminder that your practice is an offering to your Self.  Anjali means heart.  A mudra is a hand gesture and means offering.  By joining your hands together you create a seal with the hands, a physical gesture of union.  Coincidentally or not, the meaning of yoga is union.  Anjali mudra is a symbolic reference of the union of your individual self to the interconnectedness of all living beings (universal self).

Don’t over think anjali mudra.  Experience it for yourself.  It might have a completely different meaning for you.  As with life, yoga is about the experience.  Be present and your anjali mudra will be defined with time.  Namaste.

No Eyes on the Teacher, Please

In teaching the Baron Baptiste-style of power vinyasa yoga, I was taught not to practice/demonstrate while teaching.  This is a very different method of teaching compared to most yoga studios and group gym classes.

New students in my yoga classes often ask, “Why don’t I demonstrate the poses?”  They initially complain stating it would be easier for them to learn if I was on my mat practicing with them as I teach.

Yes, it’s more challenging for to teach via words only but it’s also a much more empowering way for students to find the poses for themselves.  Here are just a few reasons why I don’t practice when I teach.

First, yoga is physical, mental and spiritual training for the entire body including the senses; hence by the yoga teacher not demonstrating while teaching, students are forced to use their ears.  In turn, students can learn to improve their listening skills.  This will ultimately benefit them off the mat.  And really, who couldn’t profit from this in everyday life?

Second, asana practice isn’t about forcing one’s body to look a certain way in a pose.  Yoga asana is about what the pose “feels” like in “your body” and learning to accept your body just the way it is.  I want my students to find and feel their own Crow Pose  (Bakasana) rather than trying to look like me.  There is no perfect pose.  Everybody’s body is different, so Bakasana is going to look different for every student.  Self-acceptance is the lesson to be discovered here.

Third and going back to the first point, a focal point (aka drishti) is needed in asana practice to keep one physically in the pose as well as mentally on the mat.  A teacher practicing in front of the class is a visual distraction for students, which eliminates students from having a true drishti, a true mental and physical point of concentration.

It’s empowering for students when they realize they don’t need a visual to do yoga.  Everything they need is already inside of them.  I’m just guiding them on how to access their own personal power through feeling yoga poses in their own bodies.  Self-exploration is the key.  It’s not about watching the teacher.