Yoga Journal Talent Search - Vote! Vote! Vote!

Yoga Journal is holding a Reader's Choice Talent Search. To quote their website: "The top five finalists will win new stylish yoga gear from Athleta and the winner will be flown to San Francisco for a photo and video shoot to be featured in our September 2011 issue."

You know I'm no stranger to Yoga Journal or to taking piles of yoga pics, so I entered! If you like my blog, or my photos or my yoga advice... or just my hair... anything... Please take the time to give me your vote! Remind your friends to vote, help the technologically challenged vote - whatever. Just Vote for Me!

Here's a link to my page/submission:

http://talentsearch.yogajournal.com/view/1891

Simply choose 5 red stars and then click "Rate" to submit your vote!
You can vote once a day, every day until April 15th

What's Up with Getting Grounded?

This post is Part 2 of my Q & A with Leah!

Leah says: "I was also wondering if you could tell me what exactly is grounding...I heard it in class a few times but I'm still not sure what or why we need to do it or what poses qualify as grounding and why."

Grounding is an interesting and surprisingly complex topic. I'm glad you asked because it's something I struggle with in my own practice. I even did my Final in teacher training on it. (Teach a short class of 4 poses with a theme integrated throughout) Technically my theme was "In the face of chaos seek steadiness/reliability" and grounding poses were how I taught it, but I digress. This post was going to be really long, so I chopped it up into incomplete sentences and whatnot.

Grounding is rooting = becoming one with the ground to become more stable. Like a tree - with all those roots digging deep into the ground they are super-grounded. When you "ground" you root your energy down, which helps you feel physically strong and mentally clear.

Grounding helps stabilize your energy and emotions. It keeps you steady and calm.
Rooting down in a pose allows you greater height/length to reach Up.

Synonyms to help you find more grounding things: Support, strength, solid, firm, pressing.

Examples: Warrior poses, chair pose, bridge, hero pose, child's pose, squats like garland pose, staff pose, seated forward bends. Just about any standing pose with both feet on the earth, hip openers, seated poses, just about anything keeping you close to the ground.

Things that are NOT grounding: balancing poses (especially if you're standing on one leg), inversions (you have to root down, but then down is up), being a flyer in Acroyoga, too much flow - if you don't spend enough time being still the energy is too frenetic to ground you, flying in planes - even the floor isn't stable, being carried.

This is the final section of Leah's questions from the weekend, but don't forget that I am always accepting questions. I do loooove getting them.

Backbend Work - In Pictures

Yesterday's post was really chatty, so here's the Show part of all that Tell. Poses to work on if you want to improve your backbends. Almost every pose I mentioned yesterday is here.

 

Great Backbends in Unexpected Places

Reader Leah wrote in this weekend asking me some great questions that I think everyone should hear the answers to. Leah says: "I have to say that you have great back flexibility!! I was hoping you could tell me some poses that I could practice to help me with mine."

Absolutely!

First, some tips: Bring "heart opening" to just about every pose you do. Make sure your shoulder blades are back and together so they "support your heart from the back". This will allow a greater lift in your chest that is supported into a safe even expansion. Do this all the time and every pose will be a backbend. If you do nothing else - your backbends will already be better. And no matter what backbend you're doing - focus on more length in your torso to keep from compressing vertebrae.

Everyone's lower spine is generally hyper-mobile (weak and flexible like a baby) which can lead to injury without stabilization. Upper spines are usually more stiff so you have to focus on softening it and getting some movement there. Remember that your spine isn't alone in a backbend... the front of your body must be opened up and the back of your body must get strong. More specifically - stretch your hips, quads and chest to open them up for backbends. Work on strengthening your hamstrings, feet, and back to prepare them for the work that must be done to safely engage in backbends. These are some key things to choosing what poses work best for addressing any issues that might be holding you back.

Obvious backbends: cobra, locust, bow, bridge, camel, dancer, pigeon pose, and upward bow.

Less obvious: lunges, mountain pose, and half frog pose. Explained Below.

Lunges: I took a workshop on deep backbends last year that was almost 3 solid hours of lunges. Stretch and open the quads/hips of the back leg. They allow you to practice tucking your tailbone, puffing your kidneys (drawing the lower ribs back so they don't poke out in front) and lifting your heart. Take a little backbend and you've got the whole package. Want to step it up even more? Do an arm variation that opens the shoulders like eagle arms or cowface arms. You can even bring the back knee to the floor and draw the back foot toward that same side hip. YIKES! It will take quad/hip opening to a whole new level. It may make you want to cry, but it will improve your backbends exponentially if practiced regularly.

Mountain Pose: Really. Mountain pose is the mother of all poses. You can work on anything in mountain pose. Rooting through your legs? check. Tailbone tucking? check. Puffing kidneys? check. Shoulders back? check. Lifting your chest and doing a small standing backbend while extending your neck instead of collapsing it? check check and check.

Half Frog Pose (variation on Sphinx Pose): Chest forward, sides long, shoulders back, quad stretch, and asymmetrical work - it's a big ol' funky backbend. Asymmetrical work teaches you which side is stronger or tighter and where you can work on balancing your body.

More Q & A later this week, and a more photo-oriented post about backbends tomorrow.
If you need further information on any poses mentioned here: (I think) you can find them all Here.
Today's pics were taken at the Noah Maze workshop in Boise by one of the Boise Kula members. Check them out on Facebook.

Downward Facing Devereux

I'm feeling a little blah, so here's a lazy Friday post of me doing a sacral massage and my Devereux showing off his Downward Facing Dog aka Adho Mukha Svanasana on my old yoga mat (in an old picture).

Tread Lightly

If you do any form of vinyasa yoga there's a good chance you're going to be asked to "hop forward" or "hop back" into our out of some pose eventually. Sometimes it's a hop back into chaturanga, or hopping forward into a forward bend (standing or seated). Maybe your practice is crazy cool and you hop forward into eyeball defying arm balances. Either way - there's a reason people often use the word "hop" rather than bound, leap, or explode.

Hopefully with everything you do in a yoga practice, but especially in these transitional bouncy actions, you should ideally be seeking some level of grace or lightness of being. This is not happening at all when you throw yourself haphazardly forward with a loud "BOOM" that shakes the floor. It's harder on your bones (it might even break a couple if you're truly unlucky) and it sets up all the wrong tones for your practice. It also might scare the bejeezus out of your neighboring practitioners and that's not very nice.

How do you step lightly in yoga? Draw in toward your midline... pull inward and upward with your core. If everything is moving in and up, it's unlikely to fly apart at the seams and come crashing down. At first this might be hard. At first you might fail miserably - but that's why it's called practice.










Just so you know... I don't hop into arm balances. I wish I could, but it's not in my bag of tricks. Yet.

The GURU Principle

GU = Darkness, RU = Light

Therefore your Guru leads you "Out of the Darkness & Into the Light"

Just a little food for thought.

Close Your Eyes

Have you ever done yoga with your eyes closed? I've only done it a couple of times, but it is amazing. During teacher training we did it once, but I kept cheating and looking because I was paranoid of being the one that finished way before anyone else did. Silly, but true. On Sunday I did my morning practice (about 4 sun salutations) with my eyes closed and it was crazy. Warrior 1 in a flow was surprisingly hard, but I made it go anyway. I learned that I tend towards my right... as in I did have to open my eyes once when I noticed that part of me had wandered off my mat. I was apparently rotating in a circle with my surya namaskars. Interesting.

Yoga-ing with my eyes closed made me intensely mindful of details I usually get to gloss over. It made me work about 1000 times harder... and apparently made me breathe with much more intensity as well. When I was done with a measly 4 sun salutations (about 15-20 minutes of work) I was huffing and puffing. I also felt more alive somehow. It was pretty cool... you should totally try it. Just make sure you have a good open space in case you too wander off your mat.

Vernal Equinox

Yesterday was officially the first day of Spring! Many of you live in locations where you actually experience spring. I don't. I awoke yesterday to a veritable blizzard. Ick. I guess we could say it is spring weather that we have also been getting lots of rain. I don't mind rain, but wind and snow I'm not too keen on. Our weather won't be nice for a while still.

Nonetheless, in some parts of the world everything is in bloom and it's a brilliant time of rebirth. Many yoga groups and studios have been celebrating with 108 sun salutations. I've never actually been lucky enough to join one of these gatherings, but as soon as I get the chance to - I'll be there. Then I'll blog about it. It'll be great! If that's not really your thing - do my Tree Meditation and become one with nature even if the weather just makes you want to go back to bed.

Either way - leave me a comment letting me know what you're doing to celebrate the arrival of spring ♥

The Sky is Falling

I don't know a whole lot about dreams and whether or not their content actually means anything. I like to think that they do mean something, but I sure don't know what on earth it is. Friday seems like a good day to randomly post meaningless stuff, yeah?

This week I've dreamed about cars falling out of the sky onto me, taking a bath full of butterflies and socks, doing a dropback and falling sideways into a bunch of people, having tea with John Friend, and swimming with baby whales while watching nameless creatures glow in the dark of the sea. Yep, it's all over the place... but it's always interesting.  Kinda like life.

Today I did a 3 hour morning practice all about balancing poses. I also realized I need to write up some new class plans. It's been like 9 months since I last did that. I've learned lots of new things since then that I need to integrate into my practice - for reals.

PS:  If you know anything about dreams or just want to throw a wild fiction story my way - let me know what you think some of those crazy dreams could be saying. Also - if you want to share a strange dream you had... please do.

Tree Climbing Fish

Blood, Bruises, and Scars

You may have noticed... we take a lot of yoga pictures around here. I swear they're not all for vanity's sake. Sometimes I get pictures so I can assess my poses and my progress with an objective eye. I don't practice around mirrors or teachers and I need to see where things really are in relation to what's going on in my mind's eye. Sometimes I have Adam snap pics of new breakthroughs. When something new and impressive happens... I like a picture to celebrate it... and to look at later when I'm doubting my abilities. Some of them are just for the sake of it. I don't know.

I have pics in houses, at parks, on University sidewalks, on the ledges of art pieces, riversides, forest clearings, beaches... I have them all over. I'd like to keep this up and get pics in more unconventional locations. However, sometimes it means braving something uncomfortable or weird. Like the fact that there's always someone around looking at you thinking you're weird. On top of that are sun in your eyes, wind ruining your hair, and trying not to get things like footprints and boots in the pics. It's a whole thing.



My knees looking better than the initial damage.

To get pics like this, sometimes I just suck it up and try to make it quick. From that I have a variety of battle marks... like these knee bruises I got recently on that big rock, matching scars on my elbows from doing forearm stands on ridiculously hard and scratchy surfaces, and a scar on my ankle that looks like I got it from shaving - but really it's from accidentally dragging that ankle across a concrete patio during an asana transition. I don't do a whole lot of injurious activities, but I have scars from all sorts of silly yoga stuff. Somehow, every single time I learn a new advanced pose - I shed blood. Not from anything exciting... usually from fingernails. Crazy. Just another reason to keep them short.

Then There Were Two

Usually while Adam is at work I do my thing. I tend to do yoga with a lot less depth if he's around. This makes me pay less attention to the details, get less involved, and I'm just horribly distracted which sucks and can lead to injury. Now though, he's around all the time... so we're just working him into my practice. For the most part, if I'm practicing he's practicing. It's a lot of work for someone that generally sits at a desk for a living. It's helping him with a lot of work related ailments though. He's done yoga for years - when he has time. You know how that goes (it almost never happens). So now he's doing yoga around 2 hours a day and it's already starting to opening his back, heal a shoulder injury, and restore health to his aching hips. I'm also making him meditate every morning which should help with stress levels. I'm hoping to keep him sane and healthy in spite of the whole situation.

He does not, however, do yoga sans mat on rocks. That's just for me. Maybe I'll post some pics soon of the effects of doing such ridiculous things. I have bruises and scars from doing crazy things like that too much.

Special Skills

So I mentioned that Adam got laid off and I was looking for a "day job". I was trying to fill out applications in a way that applies yoga teaching to other things. Then I came across this section on an application that asks about my "Special Skills". What does that even mean? Like in job search terms. All I could think was... does this count?

I Doubt It.

This is Piss, Isn't it?

Everytime I think I don't like something - the Universe brings in a massive change that makes me think that perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps it wasn't so bad... what if everything really changes? What if nothing is ever the same? Not just the bad, but the good too. What if the bad stuff gets worse and the good stuff just goes away? "What if" is a really ugly game to play. Don't let yourself wander down that road... and if you find that you're already on it... feel free to just head off into the weeds. Certainly there will be something better in there. Like a lion.

My husband was laid off from his job this week. It's been a couple days and we're trying to "deal" and really wrap our heads around it. If anyone knows of a great job opportunity for a mid-level Software Engineer... don't keep that tasty nugget to yourself. In response to all this - I'm actually looking for a job. A regular day job kind of thing. I haven't had one of those in like 6 years. I don't know if you know this about me, but outside of yoga I'm not actually qualified to do anything. Eeep! Yoga is a splendid tool - not only for joy but for pain, worry, frustration, and downright terror. I learned that ages ago, and now I just need to remain calm long enough to dip into my little yoga toolbox and use what's in there.

Reflecting on Reflection

As the week goes by I've been going over my notes from the Noah Maze workshop and trying to gently unpack the lessons and tips I received and find them a home in my regular practice. A lot of what was covered were the themes of love, commitment, and reflection. The notes on love and commitment come very readily to me... I just 'get' those... but the reflection stuff is apparently a little harder. Amusing that I have to consciously sit and reflect on these things... to really gather and soak in the lessons on reflection. I have always been a rather internal person, but actual reflection... maybe I've shied away from that recently because it's taking some real work. I'll have to settle in a bit more and look inside for that.

Here's something from my notes that we can all afford to consider a little more deeply today:

The Universe went through an extraordinary amount of effort to make you. Be Grateful.

Just Be Yourself

Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you. - Dr. Seuss

Noah Maze Workshop Challenge

I spent all weekend in Boise, ID attending a 3-day workshop with Noah Maze. He's a super amazing Anusara yoga instructor if you didn't know that. You can find his classes on Yogaglo (at the top of the page) if you wanna check it out.

We worked hard and I learned that 3 minutes is kind of a long time for me to be in Downward Dog. I practice long holds on my asanas, but Noah literally made me whimper once (in utkatasana). Just once... I'm tough. I was truly challenged in every session and I actually DID finally do a drop back in the middle of the room by myself. It wasn't 100% successful, but I did finally punch fear in the face and make it happen... and even though it wasn't perfect, the world didn't end. Yay!

I learned some new poses and just generally had a great time. I just hope Noah didn't mind my incessant note-taking. It was awesome and I am happy. I'll shut up and leave it at that. You may recall that when I went to a workshop in Portland a couple months ago - that I did not have a good experience with the locals. They were really awful. The Boise Kula, however, was soooo welcoming and nice. They were really lovely people and I didn't meet a single asshole. Much thanks and gratitude to the Boise Kula and to Noah Maze for this grand weekend of reflection and hard work.

Elena Brower Wanderlust 2010 (Video)

OMG more video! I know... it's like a theme... and I keep meaning to stop putting up video after video, but they just keep coming out and being so splendid.

I felt so overly compelled to share this video of Elena Brower speaking about the Freedom of Discipleship at Wanderlust 2010... that I knew if I didn't share this (preferably right away) that I would just explode. To me, this talk resonates on such a personal level it's like Elena's heart is speaking directly to mine. As she speaks on becoming soft - she is soft and it just comes out so heartfelt and honest. I love it and if you don't watch this video then you are crazy.



Readers via email - Click Here for the video.

John Friend Interview via Bay Shakti Part 2 (Video)

As promised, here is Part 2 of the Bay Shakti interview with John Friend as he kicks off his 2011 Dancing with the Divine Tour. This interview features an interesting discussion on Anusara's Shiva-Shakti Tantra philosophy and whether it's supposed to be dogmatic.

Spoiler: *Anusara supports thinking for yourself.*



Readers via email - Click Here for the video.

John Friend Interview via Bay Shakti (Video)

Anusara and John Friend have been everywhere I look this week, so I might as well finish off the week with more great videos. These two Bay Shakti videos are a little long for those with a short attention span, so I'll post Part 1 today... and tomorrow Part 2.



Readers via email - Click Here for the video.

Grounded & Happy

I wrote a couple days ago about listening to upbeat music to balance out the winter blues. Balance kinda feels like a theme I've got going this week at home. I usually do a really vigorous athletic practice, but since I reinjured myself last week and I have a Noah Maze workshop coming up this weekend I wanted to take things slow. This is not an easy task for me. I am not a restorative yoga person or a savasana fanatic. I'm very active. Vata could've been my middle name.

My practice is still very challenging, but I'm taking a slower pace and focusing more on the lower body than the upper body. Putting less intensity into quantity of handstands and more intention into the quality of them. I feel like it's really grounding my energy. This could potentially be seen as a bad thing when I'm battling the gray day sads (because it draws the energy down instead of lifting up), but I feel like it's making me feel very stable in body and mind. That is a very good thing.

♥ These Feet Are Grounded AND Happy ♥

Today take some time to assess your usual mode of existence. Take a balanced approach by trying to do something a little different or the opposite of that. Slow down or speed up, stay in or go out, dress up or grunge down... check out the grass on the other side. It may not be any greener, but it will likely even out your inner workings a bit.

John Friend Wanderlust 2010 (Video)

I know there've been a lot of videos on here lately. I'm not sure if you guys love or hate that. Maybe you're indifferent... but it makes me feel like i'm being a lazy ass. So I apologize for that alone. However, this video just got released and I think saying it's "worth watching" is a massive understatement.

At Wanderlust Festival 2010 John Friend gave a talk... which I didn't manage to attend. Now that it's available I think I was really missing out, but I'm thrilled they've made these available to the public. Listen as he speaks about living a full and wild life... I love it. ♥



Readers via email - Click Here for the video.