sivananda

I can't believe it has already been six weeks since I arrived here. I was tempted to leave the first week I was here. I didn't like the philosophy of the place and was turned off by the slowness of the yoga practice. My point of view has changed, to say the least. To put things briefly, I'm taking the teacher training course in about a month. The yoga may be slow, but I have found something in it that was seriously lacking in the other yoga traditions I have encountered. I still can't say that I prefer any one style to another. They're different, and each serves its purpose. I maintain that I have never taken a bad yoga class.

sivananda yoga ashram

On June 15th, I'm planning on going to the Sivananda Yoga ashram for two months. I've never been there but have heard extraordinary things about it. I'm a bit apprehensive about this whole things, mainly about the logistics of it. I made the prudent decision of pitching a tent vs. staying in the dorm for the sake of saving a few bucks but haven't considered the fact that it's going to be close to 100 degrees and humid. Yay sweaty camping?

chair & twists

Something that I really enjoyed a few classes ago was this relatively simple sequence:

Start out in chair (utkatasana) with hands at heart center. As you exhale, twist to the right, then inhale back to center, and exhale to the left, inhaling back to center, etc. It creates a very nice flow of twisty breaths :)

30-day challenge complete

I finished the 30-day yoga challenge about a week ago and am now entitled to a month of unlimited yoga! I took a break this past weekend and didn't attend class Friday-Sunday but practiced on my own on Saturday. I feel that my asanas have really improved over the past couple of months, particularly over the month when I attended class every single day. I have to admit that I'm completely hooked at this point. I have been since I started yoga, but this time, it's serious ;) I'd like to take a yoga teacher training course some time within the next year. I'd like to do an intensive course, though, preferably at an ashram, rather than a weekend program that stretches out throughout the course of a year. I like the idea of full-immersion at an ashram; plus, I don't plan on living in one particular place for the duration of a year in the near future.

yoga at work

Especially for those who are working desk jobs, most of you undoubtedly feel quite stiff as a result of being crunched over your desk, slouching, sitting uncomfortably. I used to have constant back pain from sitting in front of a computer all day, to the point of having to recline back in my seat, turning my monitor down to meet my gaze. Doing yoga daily has eased much of this discomfort, and I'm happy to say that I generally sit in a more presentable manner these days.

My posture has improved rapidly from doing yoga daily, making it easier for me to sit up straight. Still, I get antsy from sitting there with no movement whatsoever. My body enjoys stretching and twisting and pulling all kinds of maneuvers. Below are a few things I do to keep myself as active as possible while being sedentary (if you have any tips of your own, please comment and share):

• Lotus or half lotus is excellent for the hips and also helps me keep my back straight. My coworkers may think I'm a bit strange, but my body is grateful. Remember to switch out your legs!


• Especially after doing a version of lotus pose, I like to sit back on my knees, either on my toes or heels.


• Something else I enjoy is bending at the knee and swinging both feet behind me on either side of the thigh, while the feet reach out through the holes between the chair arms and back (provided that you have a chair conducive to this pose).


• Most important about the three poses above is the ability to keep your back straight, I have found. If one of them makes you more likely to sit up straight, that's the one to go for.


• I have a swivel chair at work, and I like to do an occasional twist. I keep my torso to face the computer monitor while I rotate the chair to the left and right with my hand, thus creating a twist.


• To build strength, I extend each of my legs one at a time and hold for five minutes each. The knee can either be bent or straight, depending on your needs.

Some of these may get you strange looks, but I find that it helps relieve some of the stress your body endures from being immobile for such a long period of time.

flex your feet; save your hips!

Just a brief reminder to everyone (and myself): unless you're opening your hips, it's important to keep your hips square to prevent hip injuries. One way of making sure your hips are square is to flex your feet and to make sure your feet are pointing towards the floor.

individual benefits from yoga postures

Also, there are general accepted benefits of the various poses. I don't think it's so clearcut, however. It would seem to be that this is, at least on some level, akin to dream analysis. There aren't clearcut symbols or definitions for what benefits what. It's helpful to read about a given pose and its generally-accepted benefits. However, on some level, there are many individual benefits that are unique to each individual. Knowing too much about anything confounds our own experience of whatever it may be. Before I obtain too much second-hand knowledge about yoga, I'd like to play around with the poses and intuit my own take on the poses' benefits for me personally.

For instance (and this is just a fleeting thought with no scientific backing whatsoever), let me go on a limb and say that simple inversions should be good for both short-lasting foul moods or long-lived depression. These are poses that don't require too much vigorous effort and that stretch the back while grounding you as your head reaches towards the ground. Downward-facing dog is an example of this. Also child's pose, forward fold, stretching your feet out upwards against a wall, and rabbit. My intuition is to hold poses longer with less intensity to ease negative feelings. Bringing your hands to your heart center, maybe in tree or tadasana, also helps to center you. Raising your hands to the sky is usually uplifting, and perhaps a mini back-bend would be satisfactory as well, with a dive forward to let it all go. Breath is especially vital. On the contrary, I don't think twists are as good for this. Same goes for high-intensity inversions such as headstands and handstands. This is based from my own experience, however. Others may feel differently, and that doesn't make anyone wrong in my book.

posture preferences and their parallels in body, mind, spirit...

I'm also wondering how posture preferences are correlated to what you need and if there is a great amount of variance on a daily basis. For instance, I'm usually a big fan of half moon and airplane, but today, I wasn't really into them. An obvious point to make would be that feeling unbalanced emotionally manifests itself in physical imbalance as well. I'm looking for something deeper, though. I haven't really looked into this before. I know which poses I generally like and which I don't, but I know there's daily variance as well, which I don't often note.

yoga, mental states, and intensified emotions

My yoga lesson today was admittedly unpleasant. At times, it seems that if I go into yoga practice with something pretty big on my mind, yoga doesn't necessarily help to resolve the issue. Doing yoga in an exhausted state often alleviates the fatigue. However, practicing when I'm deeply concerned about something does not assuage my feelings. I was on the verge of tears in several yoga practices, and it seems that the more I push my body, the more intense the emotions. My strongest practice was about a year ago when I was doing Baptiste yoga in Pittsburgh. A one-and-a-half-hour class at 100 degrees really did me in, especially since I was only beginning then. I came out drenched with sweat, tears, and many tissues to throw out from blowing my nose. Maybe I'm overly sensitive, but it's certainly more than just exercise.

I was pretty lazy today, and I felt pretty miserable that I was taking it easy, but I don't blame myself anymore. I was able to do much less than I usually am, and my endurance was low and my body stiff, but it was appropriate, considering my mental state. There have been times in the past where one such practice would cause me to give up yoga for a while, and this is a huge mistake. Maybe it's a test; it seems inconvenient that it comes at such an inopportune time, but perhaps that's part of it as well.

I guess my question is this: if you're having a particularly bad day, when everything, including yoga, irritates you, should you bother with yoga? I think the answer is yes. My thoughts on this are a bit scattered, and it's difficult for me to articulate exactly what I'm trying to say.

After I came home from yoga this morning, I completely broke down in a crying fit. It's not an easy time, but maybe this sort of allowed for a later uplift. I do feel much better after the morning ordeal. I think it cleared some passageways in a slightly unconventional manner, but it somehow worked, at least for tonight.

Airplane sequence

For this one, we first need to get into airplane pose. There are probably infinite ways of doing this; so, do whichever is the best transition into airplane for you. One way is to get into a solid warrior I, virabhadrasana I. Once you're there, begin to shift your weight into the bent knee, gently lifting your straightened leg off the ground while straightening your bent knee. Meanwhile, begin to lower your torso so that it's parallel to the floor while extending your arms back into airplane stance.

Ultimately, you should be standing on one foot while extending the other backwards (the aim is to have it parallel to the ground). At the same time, bend forward so that your back is parallel to the ground. Your arms should reach backwards at a 45-degree angle from your torso, like an airplane. Palms are facing up, chest lifts, and the gaze is forward.

This is a mini-sequence to work on:

Once you're in airplane, bend the leg that is extended back and reach for it from underneath. Pull it through to the front, lift the torso perpendicular to the ground, and straighten the leg while holding on to your toes (or don't straighten it if this is too much). Now here's the fun part: while holding on to your knee or toes, start to squat down. If you manage to do this (I haven't), eventually start to lift back up. If your foot was straightened, bend at the knee and reach back with the same leg, returning your arms to airplane position.

Another, more challenging, option is to come into warrior III, virabhadrasana III, instead of airplane. The difference is that instead of having airplane arms, stretch your arms out parallel to each other in front of you.

Airplane is one of my favorite poses, and as I realized, it is beneficial to lift your chest into a mini-up-dog while squeezing your shoulders towards each other. Even if your leg doesn't lift very far off the ground or at all, it's helpful to lift your chest to achieve the full benefit. Also, make sure your hips are square to the floor and that the hip opposite of the leg you're lifting isn't shifting up. If it is, you may have to lower your lifted leg a bit.

Airplane is a nice, relatively simple, balancing pose and is good for your hamstrings and your lower back.

Fun yoga poses

Excellent class this evening. I was debating whether I had the energy to go to a later level III class, meaning I'd get home at 9:15pm, having left for work at 7:45am, versus an earlier level I class. I didn't cop out for once and went for it. This is one of my favorite classes and teachers, and it was well worth it.

Some fun things to do (for future reference):

• Warrior 2 --> tree pose --> warrior 2, etc.
• Focusing on slowing down the pace when jumping to a forward fold and back to plank
• Lifting yourself off the floor by using your arm muscles while in full lotus pose
• Doing a hand-stand one leg at a time; starting at the back of your mat and giving yourself the momentum to swing your hands to the floor while pushing one leg up and keeping the other straight down; the focus, again, is doing this slowly and holding it
• Crescent lunge --> swing back leg into palms & hold it up --> swing back for airplane --> step back for lunge
  

And perhaps not as fun but something to work on:

• Extend opposite limbs while in table-top and shift into down-face dog with one arm extended and the opposite foot behind the other

30-days yoga and neck pain

On April 28th, I started a one-month yoga program for which I have to go to yoga class every day. Provided that I do this, I get an unlimited monthly pass for the following month. I have been going nearly every day since I returned to PA in mid-March, anyway, so it's a perfect money-saver for me and a great catalyst to keep me going. It takes quite a large chunk out of my non-existing free time, but it's well worth it.

On Monday evening, I engaged in a bit of an over-zealous headstand practice. Admittedly, I'm not too well-trained in headstands and handstands and undoubtedly approached this improperly. I must have had, considering that I had quite a restless night on Wednesday, and on Thursday morning, I was barely able to get myself up. I still doubt the prudence of my venture to drive to work Tuesday morning as I couldn't twist my head to check my blind spots. This wasn't the safest of things to do, but I had no choice as I can't afford to skip work. I twisted my torso, engaging in all sorts of bodily twists, to make sure no cars were to the side of me when I needed to switch lanes on the highway. Sitting at work, staring at the computer screen, all of Tuesday was quite a challenge, and I made full use of my peripheral vision if I needed to see what was going on around me. Good for the eyes!

I was quite upset because I didn't think I'd be able to do yoga that evening, provided that I actually made it to yoga with my driving condition. As I'm committed to this one-month deal, I figured I would go anyway but would unfortunately miss my favorite Thursday-evening level III class and instead go to the level I. There are no level III classes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Fridays, so Thursday's a big one for me, and the teacher is excellent.

I made it through the work day and drove myself to yoga; finally! I blurted out to the teacher that I hurt my neck and couldn't move at all. "What did you do, wake up with a bad neck?" he asked. "No, I was doing headstands," I admitted, thinking he'd make fun of me. Ah, of course. It happens (quite often). Nothing to feel bad about. This was the response I inferred. Good. Maybe my first yoga-related semi-injury makes me a better yogi, ha. All jokes aside, whatever we did during that practice returned to me all mobility in my neck as if nothing had ever happened. I was pretty amazed. I had read earlier that morning that you should refrain from using your neck when you have neck strain, so I was a bit skeptical. Well, after the rabbit pose and the gentle turning of my head from side to side, this, that, and the other, I was cured. Strange, considering I did something similar throughout the course of the day. I tried gently moving my neck, massaging it, but to no avail. This did it, though, and I now have a newfound respect for the seemingly easy classes that really kick asana when you need it!