Roxtar Yoga

why am i such a hard ass August 25, 2009

I recently attended a yummy yoga workshop with Jason Crandell at Smiling Dog Yoga in SLO, CA.  It was 3 hours a day over the course of 3 days.  He was very knowledgeable, had a dry sense of humor which was just my style, and had such a patient and honest demeanor. He told us why he practices poses a certain way and emphasized that he doesn’t necessarily think that other methods/styles are bad, he’s just not drawn to them.
This was one of the first times that I didn’t push myself too hard in a workshop or training. I admit I am a lover of eyeballs sweating, physically challenging yoga. At my first teacher training with Baron Baptiste, I was faced with my tendency to wear myself out and push just a little too hard. I will never forget how sore I was after my first day of training with Baron, I almost cried getting back on the mat on the 2nd and 3rd days. I almost drowned trying to swim in the ocean after being so physically exhausted. I don’t blame Baron for this at all and really enjoyed my training with him and will probably continue to train with him. I just realized how much I can push myself past my healthy edge without realizing it until it’s too late and I’m injured, physically or emotionally. I suppose I am lucky and young enough that my body heals itself relatively quickly…so far. In my regular practice I have better learned what that healthy edge feels like, but give me the opportunity to practice 3+ hours a day, I lose touch with my limits.  I’m not sure if it was Jason’s teaching, or me having more yoga experience, probably a little of both, that really let me enjoy practicing and learning during his workshop, without extreme fatigue or pain.  Probably having a little more physical strength didn’t hurt either. I really appreciate the opportunity he and Lisa provided for me to be physically challenged in such a nourishing space.

This workshop coincided with life in such a way that I noticed just how little patience I have in general.  I noticed my mind reeling about telling me I needed to take control of my life right this second and I noticed my heart telling me to take space and not worry about labels or outcomes.  I noticed my mind being frustrated.  My impatience isn’t an obvious one, but it definitely encourages lots of subtle mindless chatter and negativity.  It encourages me to make rash changes and run from life in the quest for control.  At least I noticed it this time.  I smile at my impatience. I have started meditating more, 30 minutes every morning and am trying to in the evenings as well.  Every time it comes up, I smile, and it has helped. Interesting to say the least.

So, I will try to be more patient with myself and my life situations   May you as well…

Oh, I am thinking about doing a meditation retreat sometime next year. It sounds scary and liberating.

kick your own arse May 26, 2009

I do yoga so that I can stay flexible enough to kick my own arse if necessary.  ~Betsy Cañas Garmon

Ha!  I love it!  I found this website with some fun little inspirational yoga tidbits.

I participated in yet another awesome yoga workshop at Smiling Dog Yoga with Kira Ryder who has a studio in Ojai, California called Lulu Bhanda’s.  I had just returned from traveling and was super sleepy and lethargic and it was THE MOST PERFECT solution to my travel woes.  My favorite tidbits…

• She said that people who are cronic teeth clenchers should do lots of lunges.  A great one is known as “thigh torture.”  My students definitely know and love it, it’s great for runners and cyclists, but she did a new variation I really liked.  I will try to come back and document with photos, but it’s when you take your shin up a wall, with your knee on the floor or a blanket and your shin going up so your foot is near your hip.  She had us sink into a deep lunge while in this position which hurt oh so good.  Usually I do this trying to get my hips to the wall, then my shoulders.
• Kira has a lovely soul.  You can tell she has spent a lot of time just being on her yoga mat and learning about herself.  She is one of those teachers who teaches from her heart and experience.  The more yoga I do the more I realize that these are the best teachers.
• She spotted me into a drop back backbend (where you go from standing back into the backbend with no wall or laying on the floor)!  She made it so I felt it in my body for the first time which was so exciting.  I have been playing with walking down the wall for a while and it was fun to try something a little scary.  There is just a point where you have to let go of your legs and just fall onto your hands.
• I also loved doing big toe hold after intense backbending.
• She challenged me, yet didn’t kick my ass.  It was nice to be reminded that yoga (and probably all things in life) can be challenging in a slower, loving way.  I wonder where the concept of challenge became intermingled with painful, ass kicking, dramatic in my brain.  I think it is my practice in life to learn learn that less is more and that I am still taking good care of myself even if I don’t hurt myself in yoga class and can walk the next day.  I don’t have to do 50 poses to have a solid yoga class, nor do I have to make my classes so ass kicking power yoga like, flinging our bodies through so many sun salutations but never really feeling the energy the way I did in her class.  I don’t have to cry or hurt to have breakthroughs.  I have been reminded that there is a reason the tortoise beat the hare.

slo yogafest May 16, 2009

Today I’m teaching a hip opener class at the SLO Yogafest.  I thought I would document what I do here in case someone needs a reminder later.  Yummy hip openers indeed.  Hip openers are some of the most challenging stretches you can do because the hips aren’t stretched in any of our day to day activities.  Yet, they are the most rewarding by releasing low back pain, knee discomfort, sciatica, and improving blood flow to the lumbar spine, intestines, and reproductive organs.  The hips are also the emotional storehouse of the body.  They house a good portion of your tension and stress and as you start releasing the pelvis and softening that tissue the rest of your body effortlessly shifts into natural alignment.  It’s amazing how opening the hips will help resolve old aches and pains everywhere else in your body, from your neck, back, to your knees and ankles.  If you need details on any of these poses check out this Tight Hip Anonymous sequence.  It links to detailed photos and descriptions of each pose.

Childs pose with knees wide
Downward facing dog
Rag doll
Chair to 1 legged chair with hands to floor
Other side
Take it to the floor
1/2 pigeon
1/2 pigeon with back leg pulsation
Double pigeon
One legged forward stretch
One legged forward stretch with side opener
Wide legged forward fold
Other side
If time and mojo is right, do wide legged forward fold second time with friend
Paschimotanasana forward fold
Frog?

Oh, I almost forgot to include notes from Amy Swanson’s class on Funamentals of Vinyasa Yoga.  I loved it.

• Vinyasa actually means breath, although we refer to the middle sequence in Sun Salutations the “high push up, low push up, upward facing dog, downward facing dog” as a connecting Vinyasa.  The Connecting Vinyasa is like wiping the slate clean, giving your body a fresh start for moving forward to the next postures.
• Halfway lift should be onto fingertips if in uttasana you can align your fingertips with your toes.  Otherwise your hands should be on your shins.  You should also have  a bit of a back bend in your halfway lift to help the shoulder blades get into place and set up your chaturanga correctly.
• Balls of feet.  You should be on the balls of your feet when you step back into high pushup not just on your toes.
• Quads. They should be engaged, lifted, and strong in high push up, with the inner thighs spinning inward and up.
• Shoulder Blades.  Should be moving down your back toward your buttocks as they were in halfway lift.
• Tops of Shoulders should not drop as you lower.  You should only go so low that your biceps are parallel with the ground and your elbows at right angles and pause.  You have to make a conscious effort not to let the top of the shoulders drop even if you can keep the rest of your arms in alignment.
• Your hands should be gripping the mat and pulling you forward.

sweatin’ with wade March 28, 2009

I am writing this from the MINDBODY booth at Yoga Journal Grand Geneva in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  After a successful Business of Yoga part of the conference where I taught about Online Marketing I am now holding down the MINDBODY fort in the Yoga Marketplace with other yoga related vendors (soy chai latte in hand).  I have been blessed to attend quite a few of these conferences and although the travel aspect gets me down sometimes, I am always thankful once I’m here. I have included some photos of my Yoga Journal friends, Be Present & Autumn Tenyl Designs.

This morning I took a class with Wade Imre Morissette called Dynamic Sweat Vinyasa.  The class was described as “a vigorous flow based on intelligent sequencing principles.”  It was a small class, only 20 people, and I definitely sweated and enjoyed myself.  He based his class on the Arch Progression Model as taught by Desikachar, Krishnamacharya, and Mount Madonna Yoga Center.

My intention for the class was to stay connected to my breath, to remember the goal of vinyasa yoga is connecting each breath with movement and not just moving and challenging the body. One of the biggest challenges for me is to keep breathing during a challenging class.  I get out of breath like I’m jogging and power through like I’m at the gym with a personal trainer.  At the end of a class where I lose my breath I feel exhausted rather than energized.  The goal is to feel grounded and alert, not to need a nap!  I really enjoyed his class and the Arch Progression Model of teaching a vinyasa class and it was very similar to the Wave Shiva teaches.  Both models go through warming up the body, connecting to the breath, practicing warm up poses to get you ready for the apex pose, doing the apex pose, and gradually taking the class down to the floor for Savasana.

There was a yogi next to me who was breathing like they were in labor!  It was distracting at some moments, but it actually made me better focus on my own practice and breath.  As I said, I have been there before: huffing and puffing and not even noticing what I’m doing to my body or breath.  I hope that I shared the space well for my fellow yogi.  Many of us come to the yoga mat for different reasons, often it’s the physical benefits we seek.  And we usually feel better physically after a class, no matter how we breathe or how deep we can stretch, and we feel even better the more yoga we do.  Eventually we start to feel mental benefits though and maybe even later this leads us to be interested in the spiritual aspect.  I can’t forget the small beginnings because that’s what makes the end so sweet.  It almost made me appreciate my practice and yoga more to be reminded what it’s like at the beginning and to feel the rewards I’ve been able to reap.

Funny Story!  The first day of the conference we were finishing setting up the booth, doing the final touches, putting containers away, and chatting with our neighbors. While chatting with my neighbor I noticed her eyes get big as she was looking at something behind me.  She couldn’t speak exactly, but her and two others who were facing us were making this “ahhhhh” face.  All of the sudden the booth crashed on my back and I look to my left to see our enormous, expensive MAC falling face first to the floor!  It was very slow motion as my colleague happened to be right there and barely caught the beast before it very scarily smacked into the floor. Apparently this crash was caused by our neighbors from behind, Lululemon.  A rogue box escaped their grasp and must have hit our booth from behind in the perfect spot to cause an avalanche.  I can’t believe they fit the amount of retail in their tiny booth, it’s no wonder the box jumped for it’s life.

patricia sullivan workshop March 3, 2009

Last weekend I attended a workshop with Patricia Sullivan at Smiling Dog Yoga.  If you are a beginner or seasoned yogi, I highly recommend doing a weekend workshop if one comes up in your area.  It’s like a mini vacation without having to travel.  After a stressful couple weeks at work I really needed some down time and taking yoga is better than my typical alternative of watching tv all weekend.

I could tell she had spent a lot of time training & practicing Iyengar yoga, which is very focused on alignment using props.  Vinyasa yoga usually uses minimal props and matches each movement with a breath.  The slower pace, focus on alignment, and support of the props felt like a good change of pace.  It is good to remember to do things which we aren’t exactly drawn to, that take us outside of our box of life.  Even in yoga, I end up in my ass kicking, Vinyasa box time and time again.  I was thankful for the chance to be nice to myself.  I’m not really good at that sometimes.

I really enjoyed the mantra we sang each day, and I hope to post it here for future reference.  I also really enjoyed doing shoulder stand on a chair.  I’ve been in a bit of an inversion rut lately.  Inversions are great yoga poses, taking your hips above your heart, getting your blood flowing the opposite way of gravity, moving your lymphatic fluid, regulating your endocrine system, getting your metabolism flowing and so much more.  I like to teach an all encompasing class that challenges and stretches the whole body, head to toes, bones to skin.  When it comes time for the inversion though, I feel like there are so few accessible choices. Viparitta Karani (Legs up the wall) doesn’t feel like enough to me.  In Shoulderstand and Headstand it is so easy to hurt your neck.  Handstand is a little too challenging for most yogis.  I have been trying to teach Shoulderstand with support, but it is a challenging pose for me and my sore neck and I appreciated the relaxing feeling the chair brought to a difficult pose.