6 Hot questions raised by the Yoga Meeting in Toronto

This past September, Toronto organized a Town Hall Meeting for yoga teachers, students, practitioners, and/or studio owners.  Such a great idea to get yogis talking about yoga! Just like the tantrics of old they gathered and shared on their concerns, specific to their city, and also as a reflection of the global yoga community.

I listened to the whole series of you tube videos but posted just one here. If you are anything like me you will probably love hearing the discussions, I felt a rush of energy, I wanted to be there, to share with them.

Some of the issues that were brought up and that need to be looked into included (but were not limited to):

1. Do we need some kind of built in system with a third party listening to students and teachers issues? 
2. Would regulating yoga strictly, say like the oil industry, stop teachers' intuition and teaching specifically as they see fit and instead make them follow some book of rules?
3. Is the Yoga Alliance worth it? necessary? useful? Why is it just a "registry" and not a "certification" body? are they truthful?
4. How can we elevate yoga as a professional vocation?
5. Could we have Mentor-ship programs? Would that realistically work in practice?
6. Do teacher training programs talk about how new graduates go about teaching, about making it a profession? Some studios will say they do indeed open the discussion, but does it go far enough?

I believe these to be very valid and contemporary questions, they are coming from us, yogis as a community.  

What questions would YOU add?

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32 Unusual Ways to Practice Concentration

The thing about about yoga is that it has a lot of limbs! They are eight in total.  You start with your "do's" and "don't"  (1 and 2, Yama Niyama)  and then you do your (3) "asana" or poses every day, then you continue on with (4) pranayama or breath extension and if you are lucky you make progress over a very long period of time, much longer than what your mind pictures "long" to be.  


And those are only the first four, the external ones the "easy ones" so to speak, as at least they have a practice, something that can be "done" about them. A measurement that can be tracked. A feeling of progress experienced.

Then comes the real challenge of the internal ones, (5) pratyahara or sense withdrawal is a whole new world in itself, and it is supposed to lead us right into the next one, the sixth one: "concentration".
As I write this somehow I get the feeling that reaching a level of concentration cannot be that hard.

That is: Until we try...

How long can you keep your mind focused on, say, reading this post? How about concentrating for an hour on just the feeling of the air entering and leaving your nostrils? I know, me too.

So I started thinking of ways to help concentration come along, easy methods that can be accessed throughout the day.  Here are 32 ideas:

1. While in the middle of a difficult task, by breathing deeply and clearing the mind for a few moments every half hour. I tried this when I was taking a 3 hour test a few years ago, and it worked like charm.
2. When doing the dishes, by paying full attention to the feel of the water, the texture of the plates
3. Learning a new language, Sanskrit is a good recommendation
4. Cleaning the bathroom, while paying attention to leave no hairs anywhere, not on the floor, not on the tub
5. When doing yoga, by focusing on the breath and following the dristhi (set eye point focus)
6. When we are listening to music we do not like, we can focus on what is it that we feel and how we react, yet not react.
7. When caught like a deer in the headlights, acknowledging what surprises us, noticing our physical and emotional reactions
8. In the middle of a heated argument, by excusing ourselves and walking away for a breather, then re-focusing and trying one of these suggestions
9. Before making a big commitment, by giving ourselves time to think it over, and focus on the pros and cons
10. Writing to do lists when we are clear minded, maybe better in the morning. 
11. Following up on our lists, without trying to run everyone over in our goals, just letting them happen throughout the day. I find that just writing a list has an effect in my actually doing what I wrote.
12. Studying scriptures (the Yoga Sutras, the Baghavad Gita)
13. Writing the things we learned in class.  Taking stock of what we want to remember.
14. Practicing tratak (candle flame gazing) at night, before going to bed
15. Clearing a closet, and doing it mindfully
16. Sitting in a cushion, focusing on the breath, trying that for 20 minutes. Then increasing it to at least 20 minutes in the morning and 20 in the evening.
17. Chanting a mantra 108 times.
18. Memorizing a poem until we know it by heart without taking a break 
19. Resuming in our mind the most important topics of a book chapter after we finish reading
20. Playing a game of chess, with the intention to win
21. Learning a new game. Truco, an Argentinean game, is a great challenge
22. Adding numbers in our head before reaching for Excel, also subtracting multiplying and dividing.
23. Helping the kids with their math homework
24. Listening to kids talk, while actively involved
25. Remembering the names of everybody when we meet a large group of people.  A good technique from my years as a computer trainer was to use their names in a sentence as quickly as possibly and while looking at them. 
26. Doing crosswords or playing scrabble, also while while commuting. Keeping the mind active on things that make it work rather than letting it relentlessly stress us over.
27. Designing a weekly menu that will boost our intelligence (i.e.: including lots of greens and lean proteins).  
28. Coming up with 10 intelligent ideas to help specific issues that our planet (or village) needs help with
29. Writing an article about the 10 things we know we do when we need to focus and how they help
30. Listening to our parents without spacing out or judging
31. Praying with divine focus and devotion
32. Being grateful that our mind works and saying thank you! out loud.

These days I am away at Vipassana, siting in meditation, so I will be returning comments next week. Wish me luck.

Here is a book recommendation from a journalist that heard that about "International Memory Contests", which apparently are almost always won by Germans!  The latest world record is held by a person who can memorize a randonmly spread set of cards in 21 seconds!

He learned the technique and within a year became the American Champion.  In the International competition he came fourth, but that's OK.

An inspiring story for concentration.




RELATED POSTS:
10 Things to Know About Pratyahara (Pratyahara is two limbs behind Concentration and deals with the withdrawal of the senses)
32 Unusual Ways to Practice Pratyahara - Coming soon

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5 simple yogic cleansings

These are 5 easy cleansing practices for starters as we embark on the yogic path of life, and decide to clean our organs of perception and our immediate sphere of influence. There are many others that are way more sophisticated.

If you are curious and do not mind the "eww" factor, see the  Hatha Yoga Pradipika for a whole trip down the rabbit hole.


1.- Word Cleanse
I am a fan of clearing the vocabulary of all negativity.  Words are very powerful spells  capable of producing results in the real world.  They are the carriers of intentions into manifestation.  So, clearing how we speak, choosing words carefully is important, more than important, it is what will direct our destiny.  It is rare to hear me say a bad word (i.e.: a curse), I know how they spread negativity, I even notice how the energy sinks when people utilize them.   I have actually experienced this first hand, and it takes refinement to actually feel the energetic level of the words, it takes practice.  Try a month choosing your words carefully, focusing on elegance and precision.  See what happens.

2.- Kapalabhati, cleansing breathing exercise
There is a pranayama preparation called "kapalabhati".  When I first started doing yoga at Integral Yoga Institute back in the early 2000s, I noticed that they added this breathing thechnique at the end of all (or most) of their classes.  They do not much bother with the exact technique as it is directed by following the teacher (without instruction) in every class regardless of weather there are new students or not, and I always found that leaving the instiutte I would have a new sense of relaxation, a bright alert disposition and a clear mind.


The word Kapalabhati means: "forhead" or "sculp" for Kapal ad "shine" for Bhati. And that is the intended result, to clear, or make our forehead shine.  It is done by forcefully and rather quickly exhaling and flapping the abdominal muscles on the exhalation.  At Integral Yoga we used to do about 100 at a time, which, I admit, was a lot, but then again, the feeling afterwards was delicious.  It is recommended to start with a low count, and of course, to learn it directly from a teacher.

3.- Flossing and using a tongue scrapper

I heard in a movie a dentist saying to his patient to floss only the teeth he would like to keep.  I suppose that sums it up, and if you go to your dentist once every six months as we are all supposed to, you are probably as scared as I am to face the    
hygienst, because you know she will ask if you have been flossing.

As per the tongue scrapping practice, if you have not tried it yet you are in for a treat. Especially if you drink coffee or tea in the morning, right after you wash your teeth, and think you are clean, try it, do it at that exact moment, you may be surprised.



4.- Neti pot cleanse


OK, I admit I am not a fan of this one, but it is one of the most effective things out there to clear synuses and excesses moucus in the nostrils and surounding areas.

The water must be lukewarm, and the amount of salt just right, otherwise it can give a burning sensation.  I usually use about half a tea spoon of some good  Himalayan salt.

The directions attached to any of the neti pots are usually pretty clear, but for me when I learned, the key was the angle at which the face is tilted. I find I must tilt the head at least 135 degrees, meaning diagonally between the horizon line and the floor.  Then just relax, place the tip of the pot on the left nostril and let it do its thing.  Half a pot one side, half a pot the other side.

I normally end the session with a bit of kapalabhati to eliminate any water residue, as it has happened to me to be practicing later and dripping water, not very cool.

5.- Tratak is a yogi practice that clears the optical nerve channels and is said to improve eye sight.  It also aids in concentration, and according to word of mouth from other practitioners, if done before bed it can invoke some very lucid dreaming.

Before bed, sit with a candle at eye sight height and stare into it.  Remove glasses if you wear them.  Look at the candle and do not blink, when your eyes begin to feel a little wet, close them and rest.  Blow the candle before doing so to avoid fires.  In Thailand while at teacher training we used to sing the Triambaka or the Gayatri mantra, and it was beautiful.



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Off to meditation

I am off to a meditation retreat. Been looking forward to time for practice and somewhat living like a monk, even if for a few days.

I have no expectations this time, not sure that I had many the previous time, but this time there are no preconceived ideas, it is what it is.

I have written before about this style of meditation, why I think it is an effective method, and how it transformed me.

There will be posts coming by, I will reply to any comments upon return next week.  If you feel like joining in, just sit and meditate with me.

The picture comes from one of their centers, I think the one in Thailand.
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7 Things I am doing to boost the Fall Practice

So Fall is here in all its splendor, I feel it in the colors (bright oranges, reds and yellows), taste it in the crisp cold shiver of those days where winter is almost in the air, smell it in the apple cider boiling with cinnamon in the afternoons...

I am grateful to be alive, to have love, yoga,  readers in the blog, healthy food in the table, and, of course, a solid practice.  Speaking of which, I normally change a few things when the seasons turn and the wheel of samsara spins, these are the things I am doing in this particular Fall of 2010 to re-energize the practie:

1.- Reading.  Lately I have been reading quite an assortment of books, but the three that are most influential at this time are Freeman's "Mirror of Yoga", because it gets to the heart of it, Marianne Williamson's "A Return to Love", because it shocks me into understanding what is this thing we call love and how does one do that, and David Coulter's "Anatomy of Hatha Yoga" because I realize how much I do not know.

2.- Vipassana 3 day meditation retreat.  As an old student of Vipassana (i.e. have taken the initial 10 day ordeal, I mean, retreat) I am entitled to attend the three day courses.  I am very much looking forward to this experience and at the same time not.  I guess they do this so well that I am not precisely looking forward to it, nor am I dreading it, I am as it were, indifferent, but with the intention to experience it. Doesn't that speak highly of them, hey! no samskaras (psychological conditionings) around it!, how did the manage that!?

Here are the nine reasons why I believe Vipassana is a very effective technique.  I also believe it blends very well with Ashtanga, except for the part where the daily practice goes, but then again, it might be a good exercise in detachment.

3.- Looking into workshop possibilities.  I have not been to an ashtanga workshop in a while and I feel an urge to attend, to be around Ashtangis, to practice with others to focus and narrow down on the practice, to clean primary, and if possible to also experience other cultures.   I have been looking into different choices, not sure what might happen or if it will, but I am open.

4.- Supplements.  This year has been very tough of me, a huge emotional upheaval early in the year broke me down, and at the same time this was an incredible year as I got happily married.  Such ups and downs do take a toll sometimes and antibiotics earlier in the year did not help. I have been investigating from different sources how to boost both mood and the inmmune system, and been taking:

For mood and general well being: Niacin, and a B complex, Choline, SAMe, and 5HTP

For immune system boosting: Probiotics, and also eating Brocolli, Spinach, Greens in general, taking Spirulina, and spreading those salads with Flax Seed oil.  Cutting out as much as possible all fried foods or low grade meals in general, nothing frozen, all cooked and with love.  Also, I have been eating garlic and taking ginger (quite enjoy a nice cup of real chai once in a while, as you can see in this video of me making one).

For the practice in particular: Tumeric and Glucosamine


5.- Video detail exploration of primary.  After attending a short meditation retreat earlier this year I returned to life with a more playful attitude, and one of the areas where this playfullness is reflected is in a lot more videotaping of my own practice. I have found this very enlightening as I hear the collective words of advise of the cyber-shala to which I am very grateful, and also I have noticed things I did not know I did, like the collapsing in chaturanga very early last year, or the shaking in Utitta Hasta Padangusthasana.  It does help to see myself practice, and I am glad this extended beyond back bends.

6.- Changing the sequence for the dropbacks. After a disastrous attempt at dropping back last week, I finally asked the teacher and surrendered yet again in this cirlce of life we call practice, and have stopped using the wall or any other dropback tools,  as directed.  I feel good about it, I had a sense that it was leading me nowhere to just walk the hands down and up or worst using the bed for example.  I am concentrating on the rocking to standing, no easy feast,  to intensify the backbending and the coming up from it.  I even wrote a post to remember all the points to focus on.

7.- Surrendering. In so may ways.  During the summer I found myself a bit upset over the amount of negativity in the web about yoga, or rather, what we "do not want to think of as yoga".  I tried writing about it many times and I could not, I did not find the right direction, the kind -yet strong- words, but I did know that this anger was an opportunity to realize that there are no bad guys out there, and that rather the miracle was to happen in my own shifting in perception.  So I asked for that, for the miracle to see things different.  The result has been a post called "There is no dark side of yoga".  This is one of the ways in which I have been actively practicing surrendering.

Another one is perhaps the forgiving and surrendering my relationship with my sister to Higher Spirit, letting it be what it might, and asking for a new miracle, this time a big one, because seeing this one in a different light is a huge exercise in surrendering. So be it.
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Utitta Hasta - Before and After

Last week I wrote a post about Utitta Hasta that generated a lot of comments and so I started looking at the pose a little closer.  It is easy to become a bit "lazy" in this asana unless we are being adjusted, and here comes my suspicious as of why this might be one of the "most adjusted" poses out there.

For example: at Eddie's studio if you did not want an adjustment you had to either "rush" or "hide" otherwise, you were getting it.

I am beginning to see that one of my -yoga- resolutions for next year might have to be to clean up primary series, and this is perhaps a good place to start.  Breathing the full slow five counts has been a challenge for this year, but now lifting the leg straight, focusing on getting the standing leg solid, straight and as strong as possible while maintaining balance and engaging bandhas/breathing are what comes next.

I did an "AFTER" video in the blue leotard, and although not perfect (and when is it really?), it does show some improvement.  Added the Before too, for comparison purposes.

After



Before

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Age is a myth

What are the traits of youth but a big heart, a non judgmental wide open absorption of whatever is happening in the present moment, a readiness to have fun at the drop of a hat, a committed idealism born of not yet having form rigid ideas of how things work, and the willingness to try those cartwheels, or a back bend,  or ice skating, or snow sliding?

I don't know about you but I do not feel old, never have, probably never will, yet by society standards after a certain age we are on the downhill and so on, thoughts I don't much pay attention to, yet they are there as our collective consciousness.

Perhaps aging is not just getting old, but rather a metaphor, and an alchemy, a churning that turns the brutal energy force of spring into the wisdom of the golden leaves of Autumn.

Maybe aging is reaching the "well done" state, where we can shine our light without being scared of it.

Maybe it is the realization that we can be hard yet soft and vice versa, that we can show who we are in spite of the fear we have that the other person will stop loving us.

Maybe is when we notice we can ask for help when we need it.

Maybe it is when we decide we will find a way to contribute however small however simple.

Maybe is the time when we notice that the anger we feel towards somebody is just a projection from what happened to us in the past, and so suddenly we give way to a miracle and act in a different way, and hence do the impossible: we change, we see things differently.

I have been very inspired by a post that the Mysore napper published a while ago.  The woman in question is 59, started yoga in her 40s and has two grand kids... I completely realized the misconceptions behind  "age" as we see it in the West by watching her in the video.

Watch her drop-back here, and be amazed
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Urdhva Danurasana October 2010

After I taped this October U.D. I followed Annon T's suggestion and asked J about the backbend.  I have no idea how come I did not think of asking him, so thanks Annon T for saying so.  This is obviously advise that applies just to me, but I wanted it here to remember it.

His first point is that UD is fine, but that ideally I would be coming up and dropping back on my own, so to work on that, the issue is my getting into my legs, regaining control over them, rocking and standing up.  So he suggested I rock from the floor and leave the wall behind for a bit.  Also he then helped me rock back and forth, and it turns out that I did not know how to breathe on the rocking.  It is breathing OUT as you rock back, and breathing IN as you come up, or rock forward.  Something that feels absolutely counterintuitive for me, God knows why. Finally, I need to remember to bring my arms closer to each other, and work on deepening the arch.

Very much following the  99% practice tradition,  after that he had me doing the rocking from the floor and coming up 3 times.  By the third one I was exhausted.  I have a feeling I need a lot more energy than I have to do this, frankly I don't know how you people do it.  Then he said, OK now lets drop back, and when I finished I was beyond tired.  I suppose my energy needs a serious re-building make up.

So, after this October one, I will be trying this for the rest of the year, and then maybe I will try and see weather the wall has any sign of change, or maybe even later during 2011.




The hand appearing is HB who is now in the "cult",  an ashtangi on his own right.  I kind of envy how short his practice is sometimes, but at the same time it is really good to see someone else progress, and having two people gives home practice that shala feel, it all sounds and feels more serious.

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3 Things I would say to Pastor Mark

Have you seen this video?  a Christian pastor going a little,  what is the word? "funny bunny" and accusing yogis of being no less than "demonic".  God bless him. I have been thinking about it, and came up with three things I would like to say to him.

Dear Mark,

1.- You who are free of sin, go on and throw the first rock

2- Please Mark, love thy neighbor, even if she happens to do yoga... i.e.: calling her "Demonic" is not very loving... not at all..

But wait! where did I hear that kind of talk before? did anyone say those things before me? I wonder



After the "this-is-what-your-master-says" irony wears off, I still have one more thing I would like to tell him,

3.- You are talented and have charisma for public speaking, all you need is to spread the love now!

You know? I seriously wish I had started reading this book (left) earlier (Gospel According to Jesus by Stephen Mitchell), it it an extraordinary resource that takes away all the blaf that the church has put into what Jesus said, and just gets to what he actually did say and in what context.  A precious resource.

For example, originally I was going to have "Forgive him Lord cause he does not know what he is doing" as one of the three, but guess what?  this book makes the case for how Jesus actually did NOT say that, because this statement assumes an angry God, and God is not angry in Jesus' gospel, so he never said that...  what do you know?

I might have more to say when I finish reading.
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There is NO dark side of yoga

During the past year we have seen the so-called "white elephant nobody wants to talk about" all over the news, starting with the discussions generated by the letter to the editor of Yoga Journal, the rants about some advertisings with a nude yogini (pictures that I actually happen to really like), negative reviews on the publication of a yoga teacher's new book (which I bought and read), a controversial article by a very famous teacher on the NY Times, and as of lately a new yoga studio in Boston founded by senior yoga teachers to bring yoga back into yoga.

So, just to be clear of what I am talking about, the white elephant, is the dark side, the "booty yoga", the "naked yoga",  the "yoga for eccentrics who like to skyboard" the "Star Wars yoga" and so on, the ones that are not yogic enough, the ones that make us frown and go: "that is no yoga"!.  That would be "the dark side" as intended for this post.

I understand, I sometimes feel within me the pinch, the doubt, the discomfort, but my intuition tells me that there is no dark side, or rather, it is one of the two sides that makes the whole, black and white, Vader and Walker, yin and yang, ida and pingala, left and right. Different, but of the same organism.

Consider for example Richard Freeman, one of the most advanced/serious practitioners of yoga in this country (and the world?) (our Yoda?).  Have you ever listened to "The Yoga Matrix" by him? let me rephrase, have you ever actually heard and understood what he is saying ?

I don't mean that in a patronizing tone, I mean from my own experience because it has taken me 2 years to actually remain awake (and dont mean just zzz) at the whole discourse, and I have only recently began to have enough clarity of mind to actually read and understand the first two chapters of its sister book, The Mirror of Yoga.

Today for example I understood one thing.  In the 11th chapter of the Gita, he describes (for us the laymen of the yoga land) that Krishna shows himself to Arjuna in all its immensity, and Arjuna gets scared, and so he changes and changes forms until Arjuna is calm enough to get enlightened, but then Arjuna looses it again and Krishna tells him the only way to really get it is to "love" as in "devotion".  

But what on earth is love? how do we do this?, and so Freeman says that we realize that love is something we can aspire to, by doing all the other practices Krishna explains in the previous chapters.  By doing yoga.

What is my point? it takes years of deep dedication to begin to scratch the surface of "YOGA", years of our time's attention deficit disorder combing, discrimination grooming, presence tunning.

I started yoga because I thought I would get pretty and maybe get lucky with a hot type yogi, not proud of it but is the truth.  I am grateful that I was vane enough to go for it within the disorientation and limitations of my mind at the moment because if I did not go for the lust then I would never have gotten to the Gita, Patanjali, or an unfiltered sense of Marichasana A, a deep silence of savasana, or to understand that love is a practice, or that devotion can be done while putting together the spinach salad.

How about when Freeman says that "tantra" is the outskirts of yoga, the down and dirty area in between neighborhoods where schools meet, where conversations can be whatever they might, and where the people who are practicing at every moment, trying to go deep, wrestling with it, trying to figure it out regardless of definitions, using whatever works, those are the tantrics.

I believe yoga is overdue for what is happening to it, not much different than what was happening in the old days where different schools would meet and discuss and talk and create new brands and tantrics would go off and live naked and covered in ashes while others would go and sit on a cave and yet others would experiment in other bizar ways.

We owe to those trantrics discussions of old the depth we have today.

So today our different experiments involve doing things we do in these times, our times, like butt yoga, or yoga for surfers or the zen of tango and yoga, or whatever.

Oh, and the other part, the materialistic side, the 150 yoga pants.  I sometimes wonder if we can perhaps look a little further.  The 150 pants may be what the attachment producer of today, while the white ashes may have been the attachment producer of old, same story, different names and price tags.  Are there consequences to buying plastic bottles? yes, but do we really believe we can change another person? Or do we have enough discrimination to realize that the only way anyone can change and care is if they so desire to do so, and so, we need to start where we are.  

So, in my opinion, there is no elephant and no dark side, whatever these new movements, they are here to sprout and stay, to show new directions, to crack us up and teach us, to challenge us, to show us how be flexible where it counts the most, to start where we are, to make money or not, the question is, can we accept it and work with, the same way we do in pranayama when we balance the air flow of the nostrils?

May the force be with us

The idea for this post was inspired by Nobel (thank you!), who comments here often, the opinions however are just mine.
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Drop back October 2010

So, tried something different this time around (along with the traditional wall dropback).  I got myself a supported landing area that is high enough (i.e.: the bed) and tried it.  For the looks of it, I am sure if I tried it without support I would go head first into the floor... not nice.

After the first try you can clearly see my Latin frustration, I had never seen it on video, apparently it is real, I do that... anyway, is just that I could not figure out how to stand up.

My question to you guys bed-droppers is, how do you do it?  what do you aim for?  I feel a bit confused here.


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8 Tips for learning Headstands (video)- Sirsasana the "King of Asanas"

Sirsasana, or Headstand is called the "King of Asanas", the queen being Salamba Sarvangasana also known as the shoulder stand.  Like all inversions they are purifying poses which stimulate, among others, the lymphatic system and have an effect on raising kundalini as the energetics of the body flow in an opposite direction. I am working at maintaining the pose for 10 minutes, presently I do 4 or 5, it takes perseverance to establish and maintain it.

In an interview of Joanne Darby (Canadian certified ashtanga teacher living in Montreal) in the book Guruji, she says that Pattabhi Jois encouraged her to stay in it for an hour, which she did.  I have a feeling that once we are able to hold Sirsasana for one hour something must happen, something mystical. I am currently working on upping the time in it as I would like to experience it.

Of  course it is always best to learn Sirsasana directly from  a teacher, these are just pointers on how I learned it.

1- Setup
To begin with is best to be near a wall, and to have some padding. I began practicing with the wall and eventually, after a year or so I felt ready to try in the middle of the room.  I also had my share of falling backwards when trying which is not so pleasant, but helped me learn faster.

Carefully aligning the mat and placing the padding in a nice rectangular shape helps me, it gives the brain a signal that I am taking this seriously.  Although not all pressure would go to the head (it is shared by the triangle formed with the forearms) the padding helps with it.

2.- Foundation
Interlocking the fingers form a triangle, your hands will form something similar to a cup.  Ensure that the elbows are no further than your shoulder with.  A very common mistake is to have the elbows wide apart which although providing a wider stance, does not help in the long run.  Some teachers suggest using a strap to keep the elbows from spreading.

Suppose you had bangs in your hair, an inch higher than where your bangs start to grow is the area that needs to be placed on the floor, the upper portion of the skull is supported by the hands (inside the cup formed by the hands).  Only 30 to 40 percent of the weight goes on the head, and eventually less and less to the point where you can even lift your head up if you wanted to, keep that in mind. Never strain the neck.

3.- Modified Down Dog
Once the head is in place raise the knees from the floor into a modify downward dog.  When I started headstands I used to just do this and feel the sensations, play with what happens to the back as I stay in this position, and just acclimatize to being upside down.  If this is all you do that is fine, take your time.  Always rest in child pose after inversions.

4.- Walking in
This is to me the most fun part of the headstand, as we walk the feet in we begin to feel how the abdominals seem to want to engage, just because, and the closer we get the feet in the more we begin to sense that there is a possibility for the hips to take over the balancing part.  Playing with the walking in is a great teacher.

5.- Kicking up to the wall
Kicking up one leg at the time is a challenge in the beginning as it is a scary proposition.  It must be done carefully, with control and slowly.  Once the legs reach the wall the stabilization is easier, and it is possible to stay in headstand.  This is very gratifying, and although not quite there it is a great start.  If anything hurts, it is vital to stop or seek advise from a teacher.

6.- Playing with balance one leg at the time
The balance can come by playing with the legs, letting them come from the wall one at the time, and sensing what happens to the hips, to the legs, how the different weight movements affect balance.

7.-Coming down with control and resting in child pose
After playing for a while ensure to come down slowly, with as much control as possible, and to rest in child pose for a while.  Some practitioners recommend leaving the hands front, some taking them back as you rest.  The important thing is to actually rest, as coming back up quickly may get you dizzy.

8.- Repeating day after day
You probably already sensed this one, practice makes permanent (I don't like using perfect).  It is good to work at making all movements in a smooth and controlled way.

IMPORTANT:  1) It is always best to learn headstand from a teacher.  2) If you feel dizzy, or if anything hurts, stop.
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Unlikely source for deeper twists: Parivritta Parshvakonasana Video

I am grateful to Tatiana, one of the assistants of John, she is very sweet and clear.  She made a great point a few days ago establishing the connection between a very early pose (video) and how deep the twists will be later on.

I had seen practitioners keep their feet straight at the beginning of Parivritta Parshvakonasana but never quite wanted to do it or understand why, now thanks to Tatiana I know, it allows for the arm to go further and provide a deeper twist.

Since this pose comes at the standing sequence, very early in the game it has a kin effect on what happens later, say in the Marichasanas or Passasana, among others I suppose.

I put anotations along the way to show where the tips are introduced.   Only the second side is shown as the first side was not flattering at all, not sure what is the best angle to video tape such an asana and show the tip.


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5 poses to relieve anxiety/stress - Dedicated to all War Vets and/or in service

Recently I met a woman who has been to Irak, a real warrior, a soldier threading through life with serious issues like those of the Baghavad Gita. I want to dedicate this post to her, honoring her path and all the men and women in the line of fire.

I worked in the corporate world for a long time so I know that moment when it all gets confusing, adrenaline rushes, politics are at their hight, tension goes to the shoulders, and all one can do is go to the "client bathroom" (the one in an enclosed space with an actual door as it was called in my last place of work), and take a breather.

This is a short routine of poses I performed in that very client's bathroom usually at around 4 pm on Thursdays, (sometimes also on Mondays or Wednesdays).  It worked wonders, helped me to come out with a straight spine, a better disposition and calmer eyes, not to mention a clear mind.

The 3:30 minute video includes a few basic poses which you can do fully dressed and even with shoes on, although if you are a female wearing heels it is best to remove them.

The setting of the video is not a bathroom this time, I thought that the winds of the beautiful Hudson valley might help ease and carry away the tension, that is my wish.

It consists of:

1.- A simple forward bend:  use this opportunity to let go of all the tension in your jaws, shoulders, head, even hair.  Bend the knees if you have to, and just play with letting the back roll down and relax.  You can hold on to your elbows if you want.  I found that just this pose had a tremendous relaxing effect for me.  Let me know how it goes for you.

2.- A modified version of Prasaritta Padotanasana:  again a forward bend, but this time the legs are wider apart which gives a better range of play for the legs to bend.  The release of tension will begin to reach the hips.  If you keep on remembering to relax the face, eyes, jaws, head, hair, shoulders and back you will get a nice feeling when you come back up, just do it slowly, vertebrae by vertebrae.

3.- A basic triangle:  Work on stretching the sides of the body, while keeping grounded and rooted on the earth by engaging your quads.  Feel the strength of the connection with the ground while remaining flexible up on top as you stretch on each side.

4.- A twist:  The video shows a very simple twist.  It helps if you breath in and lengthen the spine and then twist on the excel.  Keep on repeating the inhalation/lengthening and exhalation/twisting.  Some days I would go further and borrow from Tai Chi, I would swing my arms around my body and twist as in a dance, being careful of course not to hit the walls of the confined bathroom space, you get the idea.

5.- A modified version of Utitta Hasta Padangustasana: Raising the bend leg and making it turn releases the hips.  I have found a link between emotional tension and the area where the legs meet the torso.  The hips store tension, as we slowly turn the legs the they begin to loosen up, and as we open the leg towards the sides (which you should do on both sides), they open.

Centering: Always return to a pose of centering before leaving a practice.  Savasana or resting would be ideal and if you can do it by all means relax and enjoy a few minutes of laying down.

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Ooops! Not what I thought - Poll results

So here is the graph with results from the poll:  Did you drop back before or after starting second series.  All in all 38 of you took the time to vote, thank you! 

I though, and I did not want to reveal that in order not to skew things, that most people would have dropped after they started second, but the evidence suggests oterhwise:

Food for thought here.  Guess I will eventually fall into the "after", not quite sure about the Kapo part yet, we shall see. I do the practice, then all is coming as some of you very wisely pointed out.

By the way, I am not so obsessed with drop back as it may seem.  Yes I am curious but it does not stop me from sleeping, I quite enjoy my 9 hours of rest.

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Things to ponder on before buying a yoga mat

My first mat was from the Beth Bath and Beyond, I bought it as an afterthought while browsing for bath salts.  It was the usual, most generic purple mat you can imagine, not even a brand name on it. You can see her here (right) in all its 10 year old glory. Almost intact.


Later on my mind convinced me that I needed a "manduka".  I suppose what did me in was seeing all the Mandukas ventilating outside the windows in every Mysore street near the shala when I visited in '08.  It seemed cool to me, and I wanted to join the club. Why? because "it's fun and it leads to a better life", like Jesse Eisenberg says in the facebook movie.


Before seeing the parade of mat curtains I was very content with my good old purple one, but not afterwards.  So I searched, read posts, and consulted others.  Many people seemed to swear by the black manduka, a favorite among Ashtangis,.


Frankly I find that mat very heavy.  I believe the traction to be OK, as long as you are not sweating buckets, but not that much better than the old purple one. I ended up settling for one anyway, a green one because I wanted to be different.  It smelled like some sort of plastic for weeks in spite of plenty of ventilation and even a wash, but finally the smell went away, and off I went in my cool new mat.


I love the mat for my home practice. The only thing that did not go according to plan was that I thought it would last forever, as I had been promised by word of mouth from countless sources.  For example: my mat already has the beginning of a hole in the back (right where the down dog feet go) and there are threads coming apart on the side.  Nevertheless of course I still use it and do not plan on buying another one, because for me having less is, these days, a lot more.  I prefer de-clutering and few possessions, or rather, to own just what is needed.


A few months after I bought the brand new mat it came time to go to Thailand for a 5 week Teacher Training. The idea of carrying the Manduka through airports made me cringe, and the thought of buying another one (a lighter version) just for travelling did not make sense on my new minimalistic yogi frame of mind.  And so the good old purple one came along, and she was plenty enough, although, I wonder if it made me look less cool.


Another interesting thing that happened along the lines of my relationship with mats is Pure Yoga. They actually provide mats, orange ones, the "Jade" brand I believe although half the time I do not even see a brand in them.  The Ashtanga room has marroon ones, all other styles get orange. I am sure there is a code message there.

Once I also bought one of those Gaiam travel mats, but those are so thin that they really hurt my back as I roll back and forth mercilessly in garba pindasana.  That (right) is Iyengar by the way about to roll into garba, picture comes from this site. So even though the travel mat is light and easy to carry I just browse the websites of hotels where I will be staying and if there are mats available then the traveling mat stays where it always has been: the closet.


I do not regret any of the mats I bought, but I have to say that if I was starting and did not have one, I would probably go for a light yoga mat that has the durability and the unpretentiousness of my very first one.


I have a hunch that detaching from the mat is one of the practices we go through in yoga. 


These days I will practice anywhere and with whatever mat I can get a hold of, or not...  Matter of fact, about a year ago I practiced on the cement surface by the pool in a Miami hotel, no kidding, I am serious about going through that practice, mat or no mat!


If you are very concerned about he environment, and who isn't these days, the Eco Yogini wrote an excellent post with mat recommendations considering Mother Earth, you can read it here.


For an excellent in-depth review of the mythological Manduka, read Grimmly here.


And yes I know, Mysore practice does not end at one mat, there are is also a second mat, a sort of towel which helps on the sited poses whenever we are sweating lots. I use the equa towel and here is why. And I have to say, I have seen women with really cool "Mysore rugs" as these are called sometimes but I can never find them online, perhaps I will never be cool!




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Earthyogi's Poll: did you drop back BEFORE or AFTER starting 2nd series

I am curious about people who are able to drop back, specifically weather they achieved such a feast BEFORE or AFTER 2nd series,  and decided to turn it into a poll.  Why? well, mostly to have some fun, and hopefully learn something along the way.  Sorry for those of you out there who do not practice Ashtanga,

I have to admit my curiosity may be a bit bias, I have a "feeling" or hunch about it, but of course saying what my feeling is would slant the result, I believe that is even a physics law these days saying that the eye of the observer has a say on the outcome, so I am keeping quiet... at least for now.

The poll results ended up being NOT what I had expected, follow the link to read about it.
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Prasaritas Video: "Turn on the lights of the pose"

A few things I have discovered about the Prasaritas:  At 0:14' - 0:17' in the video below you can clearly see the moment where, each time, I remember what Richard Freeman says in one of his videos "Turn on the light of the pose".  This imagery works well on Prasaritas: it reminds me to engage bandhas and get the abs in, focus the dristi (eye sight point) engage the quads and lengthen the tail bone.  Just 7 words make me do all that.

When zoning in on the prasaritas I can clearly feel that my body is just a suit, a coat of sorts, that needs to be stretched to contain the flesh and bones into the shape that the asanas demand.  It is one of those poses that completely makes me aware that I am within the confines of a body, and that the body can be re-aligned, re-streched. I don't know why, but this pose just brings out the "workability" of the flesh and bones.

Recently I read a very illuminating post by Grimmly on his own experience on the touchdown of the hands during Prasarita C. I have been working every since I read that on the shoulders and playing with the energy alongside the arms.  May not happen soon but I am having some fun trying.

The legs can never get straight enough.  At least not for me. I seem to be having a conversation or a dialog with the legs straightening, or not.  I feel pain in the back of the legs and so I bend, then I remember to engage the quadriceps and that is when they straighten again. And on and on we dance.

What is your experience with them?



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5 page turners to read for the Fall, on yoga of course

I am fascinated by "Confession of a Buddhist Atheist", mostly by the author's honesty. Wrote a whole post on the relationship between it and my upcoming possible Vipassana meditation retreat.

I found his telling about what he "wanted" to believe (reincarnation is true) as opposed to what he really believed (it is not), fascinating.  Made me wonder right off the start about the things I want to believe vs. what I really know in my heart.  This is pretty much at the heart of my practice as I have gone through a mental which I realized was nothing more than a deep state of yoga so intense I had to blog about it.

Listening to a hard core Buddhist who also challenges every belief is a treat, the book is a page turner, I find I can't put it down.

I had a chance to visit Karme Choling up in Vermont a few weeks ago during a very light introductory program and we had an opportunity to see a video of the Sakyong Mipham, the spiritual leader of the Shambhala tradition these days.  He is also the son of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the founder of Naropa University in Boulder and very controvertial and fascinating Tibetan Buddhist teacher of last century.

I was surprised by the message of the Sakyong, in the video he talked about how he teaches meditation very often, and lately he is giving people to advise to "prioritize" how they use their mind. Food for thought.   His book "Turning the Mind into an Alley" is very down to earth, it has such simplicity in the exposition on how to meditate that is appealing even as a subway/airplane read.

 

I loved "A New Earth" so much that I watched all of the video episodes he did, chapter by chapter together with Oprah.  I just saw her website and they have even done a better job than when I first watched it, they have workbooks, and downloadable versions.  

This book helped me enormously to cope with the "pain body", or that part of us that takes over when we get very angry and turn into something akin to the Incredible Hulk, you know what I mean? As in when we get so mad we see black.

That chapter in itself is worth the price of the book and then some.   He gives wise advise, for example, if you see someone who is having a pain body attack, dont try to reason with them, the pain body is like a monster, needs to calm down, better to give them the space, of course always exercising fierce discrimination.

 
Gregor Maehle "Ashtanga Yoga: Practice and Philosophy" is a book I refer to often.  It is very complete as it has a whole philosophical approach to yoga before he launches into very deep and complete descriptions of the Primary Series of Ashtanga with beautiful black and white pictures of his wife and himself going through the chikitsa (primary series).

It also has his own commentary on the yoga sutras which is always worth re-reading. 

The pictures are beautiful and the little boxes inside the book are filled with anatomy explanations and very interesting mythological stories of the Indian tradition. 

All in all I find this book to be a page turner.

This is a very different kind of book.

It contains sutras or short sentences rather than long parapgraphs.  

Rather than being a self help informative, how-to reference is more a pointer towards a feeling or a state of mind, or should I say no mind.

Very much a work of art.

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Utitta Hasta Padangusthasana, the whistle blower...Video

Utitta Hasta is like a whistle blower, meaning that it "tells" on students, it tells weather they will be able to drop back or not for example, among other things.

Being able to hold the leg at a 45 degree or higher for the full five breaths (in the end form see 0:48" in the video) talks very fondly of the strength of the psoas because it is this muscle that needs to be strong and flexible to allow for the slow, controlled back drop.   (Picture of psoas from here).

Sharath is known for telling students "no dancing" when leading UHP, so much so that there is a t-shirt that reads so.  And no dancing is no easy feast for me as seen at 0:45". I have my days in which I actually get totally focused and do not dance, but they are rare.

I have actually noticed a relation between how I hold my balance in UH and how I hold my equanimity throughout the day later on, so much so that I have began to pay very close attention to the quality of the pose, and to be real present for it, least it breaks my peace when it counts the most, out of the mat.


I started practicing UH almost 6 years ago when I was building up to practicing the whole primary series and I just remember that I used to do it by a fire place in my old house in New Jersey, and holding on to it.  It is amazing to me to see the progress, how the fire place becomes background, a pretty one indeed, after a while, and how practicing UH in the middle of the room is an every day assumption.  Oh the wonders of daily practice! I am so ever grateful.

Mysore teachers out there, what can you tell just by looking at a practitioners do U.H.P?
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A Buddhist atheist attends a Vipassana course

I have been reading Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist, and have been completely taken by it.

Although I am in the early stages of the book I find myself shocked by the author's level of honesty. For example, he is recounting his early youth as he wanted to become a Buddhist monk and his internal battle between what he wanted to believe (reincarnation is a reality) and what he actually did believe (it is not).

I find myself grasping for air on this as it is very much at the core of my "state of yoga" these days, where I came into a halt, a moment of questioning everything or rather re-questioning what is it that I practice yoga for.

But the point of this post is Vipassana. As you know I am a believer in the effectiveness of these free meditation courses, and, lucky me, it seems like the stars might be aligning for me to participate in an old-student 3 day course soon, so when I read that the author participated in a course my internal ears perked up.

His description of what happens at a Vipassana is that of a person who has obviously spent a lot of time meditating, I mean, you don't get that level of clarity in the words unless you have been there. After describing the technique (3 days of concentrating on the breathing (upper lip), 7 next days sweeping the body for sensation and focusing on how impermanent they are, he recalls:

"The mindfulness sharpened my attention to everything that was going on within and around me. My body became a tingling, pulsing mass of sensations. At times when I sat outside I felt as though the breeze were blowing through me. The sheen of the grass was more brilliant, the rustling leaves were like a chorus in an endlessly unfolding symphony. At the same time there was a deep stillness and poise at the core of this vital awareness."

If rushing around did not allow you to read that quote, maybe you are going too fast.

Understanding the body like this, merging, "dissolving" as I heard other practitioners describe it, has sent me into the cushion, as an inner-naut on a mission, with a renewed sense of purpose.

What sends you to the cushion?
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