Annual Winster Solstice 108 Sun Salutations

About two  years ago,  I wrote about my upcoming first attempt at 108 Sun Salutations with a group of people to celebrate the Winter Solstice.     Last year I wrote a second post about  doing 108 Sun Salutations.

First Post

 Last Year's Post


Today was my third time doing this.  

For each Sun Salutation I did  a Chaturanga and an Upward  Dog (or Cobra) without using my knees.   This basically meant 108 slow  push ups  in addition to the 108 down dogs,  216 forward , folds, 108 half lifts,  216 lunges  (I did 108 low and 108 high ) and 108 prayer positions.       I,  along with everyone else,  finished in about 1.5 hours.     As usual hard part was more mental,  as doing something that many times  and knowing how many were left was more of a challenge than actually doing the flows.    


It was great to see 30 plus people from 16 to 60 caring enough about themselves to take on this endeavor.    The energy is so positive and so great. That  is the best thing about doing these Salutations.

I am sure that my hamstrings will be pretty sore and I may skip my Sunday morning class to do a long Yin sequence at home to stretch my hamstrings,  hips and back.    I may do both depending on how I feel.

Thanks to Take Yoga Studios for doing this every year..   Take Yoga


 Namaste..

 

Back to the Travel Mat

I am on the road this week in a nondescript middle American city.    This is the first trip in over a year where I could not bring my regular mat with me so its back to the skinny easy to pack travel mat again.   Practicing in a cramped hotel is not optimal but the option not to practice is not there.   Even though the mat may be thin and lacking real grip,  I know that I still must practice and this is my best option.    A commitment to a regular practice means that practicing at home and on the road is just as if not  more important than going to the studio.      After 4+ years of regular practice,  it is a part of me. Continuing my practice will be the only way I will have  a chance to do headstand when I am  100 years old.



Namaste.

Mixing Things Up

Now that Summer is gone and Autumn is waning,  my ability to walk many miles in my local park after work  is pretty limited.   Darkness is coming early again and even though the park is generally safe,  there is traffic on it and it really is no fun walking in the dark in an almost empty park.     When it was light out,  I would take 3 nights after work and walk anywhere between 4 and 6 miles.   The distance pretty much depended on how much my dog lasted  (she is 8+ years old now and determines when it is time to turn around) .  Now that it is cooler,  she can easily do the 6 mile loop but in the Summer,  she lags a bit.  

It is my humble opinion that you need to do more than Yoga because Yoga has limited cardio impact unless you are really doing a fast flow.     Most of the classes that I take barely make me breath heavy so I always need to supplement.   This is why I have always done a ton of walking.  

Since September, I have added what I call the "Series from Hell" to my exercise routine.   This is a half hour routine that really gets the heart pumping and the breath flowing.    I start with as many wide armed pushups as possible  (generally about 40 ) and then when that is done,  I set a timer for 3 minutes,  do 100 crunches with lower back flat on floor and just lifting shoulders and chest that usually takes about 2 minutes).   I then relax (almost die actually)  for the last minute on the timer.      I then do the cycle again except that I do a set of only 20 pushups and 100 crunches.   This is repeated four times with the one minute break between the crunches and the next pushup series.   I finish with 50  regular situps  (bringing the body up) with my dog barking at me   (something about situps gets her pretty riled up) .  I usually follow this series with an hour long Yin Yoga session to get my body relaxed and stretched.   The Yang/Yin combination makes this my favorite time to do Yoga.    



 I chose to do the wide armed pushups  (my hands are outside the edges of my Yoga mat) because I do many Chaturangas  during my Yoga practice and because wider armed pushups put less stress on the shoulders and more on the chest muscles.      I cannot say that I look forward to starting but once the first series is done,  the follow up ones are not too bad.    My goal is to hit 50 pushups in one session and I think that I may be able to make it. 

When I first started doing pushups again,  I think I was able to do about 12  (I had started doing the pushup series about a year ago and then stopped after a few months).    Progress was pretty smooth but I have plateaued for certain and now I know I have to work to get to 50.   Getting to the point where I am pushing 40  (42 is my record) pushups most of the time  gives me a great sense of accomplishment.  It also makes me realize that our bodies are still able to work hard and get stronger and have more endurance even when we are past 50 years of age.   That is a good feeling.  

Namaste...

Studio Instructor Turnover/What I look for in Instructors.

There has been a big turn over of teachers in my home studio over the last few months.     Some of my favorite teachers have left to go on to bigger or better or both or neither things.  It is not a happy occasion but one must be flexible in this world.   Change is a constant and adaptation is really the only strategy that works. Impermanence is an undeniable truth of our lives and existence. 

This changeover  has made me think about what I like in instructors. Instruction is the main reason we do go to a class and the teacher is the most important facet of that class.      I have had instructors who I love to take classes with.   I have had others where I'll take a class because they are a warm body and I wanted to take a class. Finally,  I have had others from whom, after one class,  I would never take again. 

Here are some observations I have made over the years about what I like in a good Yoga instructor.


Learn their students names  -  Two classes in the past weeks have had new teachers who barely introduced themselves.    Neither bothered to ask who anyone was. 

Ask if anyone is nursing an injury or is pregnant.  -  This is important.  

Help people who are struggling physically immediately. 

Ask people before you adjust them.    Just moving their feet or arms may cause injury.


Do not hold people in poses while explaining to someone else who is learning it. 

Suggest corrections to the whole class.   Many  people do very basic poses wrong  (like Chaturanga).  In the four years that I have practiced, only three times was Sun Salutation A broken down in a class.  This is a key flow that is done in most classes .    Good observant teachers stop classes when they see more than one person doing something wrong and explain how to do it correctly.

Plan their classes  - Many instructors just dial it in.  They lead the class and do not instruct it.    Some instructors come with sheets of paper (or IPad)  with their class plan while others just roll out their mat.

Pick up on the tenor of their class and adjust appropriately.    The "Lunge of Death" may have been good last week but not this week.  

Do not show off their latest cool pose that no one in the class will ever be able do.     To me,  this is a disincentive and wastes class time. 

Make the class enjoyable.   

Namaste..

My General Standing Series

I do several different base flows during my home practice.     This allows me to practice in about one hour including stretches ,  Sun Salutations  (A and B) ,  Lying Series and Savasana.    The  core of this practice is my standing series.  I pretty much do the same thing every time.  I do have some experimentation days and classes always mix things up but I feel the repetition is good.

Here is my standing series.  I hold each pose for 10 long breaths (about 45 seconds).    After Warrior 2,  it can be a struggle to keep your leg bent so a quick straighten and then re-bending works.     My general flow is stretch,  5 Sun A and Sun B Salutations,  then the standing series and then a mat series for my hips followed by Savasana.  

A block is most likely necessary for the balancing series at the end. 


I  first  do this group on each side;
Warrior 1
Warrior 2
Humble Warrior or Reverse Warrior
Side Angle (5 breaths)
Extended Side Angle (5 breaths)
Bound Side Angle (5 Breaths)
Warrior 2
Triangle
Warrior 2

Then I do this on each side;
 Pyramid

Then I do this on each side;

Crescent Lunge
Crescent Lunge Twist

Finally I  do this on each side  (balancing series) ;
Warrior 1 (to step into Warrior 3)
Warrior 3
Standing Split
Half Moon. 



This series has some challenges  (especially in the balancing series) and when done without a break is a good exercise flow.  Remember to keep your focus on breathing and to count your breaths. 

Namaste.

Adding 10 Good Years to Your Life.

I recently read a book called "The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest" by Dan Buettner.    In this book,  the author discussed the lifestyles, diet and exercise patterns of certain locations around the world where there is a high preponderance of people living past 100 years of age and in many cases,  having an active, independent lifestyle at the same time.   He refers to these areas as Blue Zones.    One of the areas that he researched and discussed was a town about 60 miles east of  Los Angeles called Loma Linda,  California.

Loma Linda has one of the the largest concentrations of Seventh Day Adventist  (a Christian Religion founded in 1863 in the United States) in the world .   One of the major tenets of the religion is its focus on health.    Adventists are required to keep a kosher diet and are encouraged  not drink alcohol or smoke and to keep a vegetarian diet.  In Loma Linda,  many restaurants have a large vegetarian menu and the largest supermarket in the city is completely  vegetarian.     Regular exercise is also encouraged.   Quoting the official Adventist website.

"Part of that example includes taking care of our health—we believe God calls us to care for our bodies, treating them with the respect a divine creation deserves. Gluttony and excess, even of something good, can be detrimental to our health.

Exercise and avoidance of harmful substances such as tobacco, alcohol and mind-altering substances lead to clear minds and wise choices. A well-balanced vegetarian diet that avoids the consumption of meat coupled with intake of legumes, whole grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables, along with a source of vitamin B12, will promote vigorous health. 

Such health is a gift from a loving God who wants us to live life in its abundance. When we benefit from such love, we feel a sense of gratitude and appreciation toward our creator. Because of this, Adventists choose to praise God with joyful living."

In 1974,  the School of Public Health in Loma Linda University started a study of the health of all Seventh Day Adventists in California.   The study  was " designed to find out which components of the Adventist lifestyle give protection against disease".   Over 34,000 white, non-Hispanic Adventists had their health tracked for 12 years and were continually updating the study with their health , diet and exercise information.    The results of the study showed that the Adventist diet and lifestyle (including < 1% smokers) contributed to a longer life than the average life span of a Californian in the same demographic group.     To quote a Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) article on the study;

" California Adventists have higher life expectancies at the age of 30 years than other white Californians by 7.28 years (95% confidence interval, 6.59-7.97 years) in men and by 4.42 years (95% confidence interval, 3.96-4.88 years) in women, giving them perhaps the highest life expectancy of any formally described population. Commonly observed combinations of diet, exercise, body mass index, past smoking habits, and hormone replacement therapy (in women) can account for differences of up to 10 years of life expectancy among Adventists.,"

The chart below is very interesting because it shows that at age 80,   over 60% of Adventists versus less than 40% of the non-Adventist population were still alive.    What is also significant is that more than 25% of Adventists were still alive at 90 versus less than 10% of the non-Adventist population.

   
While cigarette smoking is a major contributor to the decreased life expectancy amongst non-Adventists,  other factors contributed to variations of longevity within the Adventist population itself.    The study also analyzed the impact of diet choices on the Adventist longevity.   Additionally, the study  looked at patterns of exercise.  The  7.28 years for men included both vegetarian, vegan and non-vegetarians, sedentary and active.   Just looking at the impact of diet on longevity,  the article concluded "Adventist vegetarian men and women have expected ages at death of 83.3 and 85.7 years, respectively. "  This compares to 73 for men and 79.7 in the general US equivalent population.   While this does not conclusively point to just vegetarianism,   it does indicate an increased life span for those who take care about what they eat.     The JAMA article does say "

Non-Adventists are usually non-vegetarian, eat nuts much less frequently, exercise vigorously less frequently,and are more likely to be current (or past) cigarette smokers than Adventists who for practical purposes do not smoke.  Vegetarians also have lower body mass index values.The magnitude of the longevity contrasts between California Adventists and non-Adventists can be readily accounted for by the combined effects of commonly seen differences in these behavioral variables. The analyses comparing Adventists with others, and those within the Adventist population, are broadly consistent. This suggests that we have been able to identify many of the important variables accounting for their higher expected age at death."

Adding in the impact of exercise,  we find a range of 2 to 5 added years on studies done.

"It was estimated that higher physical activity may extend life by at least 2.1 years in a Finnish study. The College Alumni Study group estimated an extra 2.51 years for more active 35- to 39-year-old men, before the age of 80 years. The Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly found that nonsmokers with high physical activity had more than 5 years greater life expectancy at the age of 65 years when compared with those with low physical activity.   "

On top of the additional years that a healthy diet and exercise focused lifestyle can give us,  we must also be aware of the impact of this diet  and exercise focus on your general health and at an advanced age.   It would be no joy to live a long life to not be able to enjoy these later years.   Studies have shown that that the vegetarians take less medication and have fewer overnight hospital stays, surgical procedures, and x-ray examinations than non-vegetarians. Vegetarians also have a reduced prevalence of such diseases as hypertension and diabetes.     Regular exercise keeps your body stronger,  more balanced and less prone to injury.  

So in  a nutshell,   who would not want ten more years of a healthy active life.   While it is not guaranteed and there are many contributing factors to our mortality,  moving toward a vegetarian diet (at least reducing meat and dairy consumption) and exercising more will give us a chance.  It is really in your own hands.

Below is the link to the JAMA Article.   It is a really good read. 

Journal of the AMA Article



Namaste.

Tennessee Adventures and Misadventures

I have been spending long stretches of time near Chattanooga Tennessee for work so my Yoga, diet and exercise lifestyle has been adjusted somewhat to account for long work hours ,  missing my kitchen, having a tiny hotel to practice in and not having my well loved home Yoga studio nearby.

My big misadventure is my inability to keep water bottles.   In two classes that I took in the past week,   I have left water bottles both times.   I assume that  I'll get them back but it has been most annoying.  That is what I get for chatting with the instructor after class.   One I had for a total of two days.   And what is with $12 water bottles.  Someone is making a huge profit somewhere.

One good thing about the town I'm in  (Cleveland, Tennessee) is that there is a Greenway that runs through town and goes almost 6 mile.  Most evenings (if the temperature is below 100) I try to do at least 5 or 6 miles walking there if  my work schedule allows it.   It has been brutally hot here, but parts are shaded so it has been bearable.  I try to do this as much as possible even if I do practice Yoga that day. 

Nearby is a great amount of Hiking.   Smokey Mt National Park is an hour away and the Cherokee National Forest is only 1/2 an hour away.    Two coworkers and I did a great 13 mile hike through pretty rugged terrain.   The heat has made it dicey to hike unless you start early in the morning because of the continual threat of thunder storms and because the temperature has been hitting the mid 90's  (35c) .

I found a second Yoga studio to supplement the one here in Cleveland.    I really only like the Yin class here (really great well prepared instructor) as the floor is tile and it is not good for a flow class.   The second one is in Chattanooga (about 20 miles away) but it is mostly interstate so the drive it not too bad.   I have taken a few classes at the further studio and the facility is much better and they have a rubber like floor.  In addition,  they have some good hot classes  including something called Barkan Yoga which is a flow based style in a heated room.   In one class we did head stands, hand stands, and shoulder stands.  It was more than fun.   I'm really liking Yoga East in Chattanooga Tennessee.

http://www.yoga-east.net/

Food is always a challenge but with a refrigerator in my room there is always fresh vegetables and beer.   Each is necessary for life.  

Namaste..

Calmness

When I do a yin yoga practice session and added on meditation afterwards,  I am spending upwards of an hour and a half on my mat.    Most of the poses I do are 3 minutes long and at a minimum and,  while not painful, are not exactly comfortable either.    This requires me to just sit and think  (or not think) and stare into my mat , my head or space for quite a long time.  This goes against my general nature and has required me to adjust myself to be able to do this practice.

I am by nature an unsettled person.   My attention span is pretty short and like a normal child of the 60's,  I need something to entertain me at all times.   My grade school report cards always said things like "Eugene likes to speak out to much" and "Eugene needs to settle down".    I am thankful that Ritalin came after my early school years or I would have joined the doped masses. 

Yoga has allowed me to find a sense of calm and to be comfortable with just my thoughts and to shut down my thoughts at certain times.    I am a much  calmer person than I was before I started my practice.   I have learned to take a few breaths and calm down when stressed (even when driving).    This has been a real plus for my mental health.     I am a very mellow for a long time after my practice and meditation.   The sense of peacefulness that I have is something that I very rarely if ever have had outside of my Yoga practice.  This has gone a long way for my general health and well being to be able to control stress.

In a Yin class I took today,  we had a very long (five minute) side twist to hold.   It was not very comfortable but I was able after a time to almost shut down my mind and my feeling of discomfort. I was able enter a zone where I could have probably done 10 minutes without realizing how long I had been there.   It was a great feeling and it will continue to feel great.


Namaste.

Perfect Practice..

I am working remotely this week and walked over to a local studio to take what was called an "All Levels" class.    When I got there, the instructor said there was an "invite only" level 2/3 going on at the same time.  She suggested I talk to the person leading the class to see if I could join but I demurred and said I was fine with taking her class.

There were five people besides myself in the class and it was by far the most basic class I have taken.     There was no flow but rather a detailed breakdown of about 10 individual Asanas.     For three or four of the poses we used folding metal chairs to control the range of movement.    On one hand, I was hoping for a flow class as I wanted to get somewhat of a workout but on the other,  the breakdown of each pose made me realize a fundamental truth about any Yoga practice.   No matter how long you have been practicing,  you can always improve even the most basic of postures.  Your practice will never be perfect but rather will continue to get better and better.     Even something as basic as Warrior 1 has many things to concentrate on.

It is always good to go back to  the basics of Yoga.  While advanced poses are challenging and fun,  the real core of  my  practice are the basic poses that I  do every day.   Continual practice on them will make my  overall practice that much better.

Namaste..

My diet guidelines..

I am not saying that the way I eat is perfect but  I do believe that how I eat is healthy.   There is always, however, room for improvement.   Here are the guidelines I try to follow in my diet.   My biggest mantra is that I think about everything that I eat, every time I eat.    If I eat a cookie,  I think about the fat and sugar that I am ingesting.     99% of the time I walk away from the pile of baked products and candy at work.  My biggest weakness is my fondness for regular pasta and white rice. 

I read every label of everything that I buy to eat that is packaged.   I look at salt,  sugar,  fats and preservatives.    You learn very quickly that many thing that are prepared are full of the first three.    This unholy triumvirate is designed by food manufacturers to entice you to become addicted to their product.      I put down and do not buy much more than I ever do buy.  Check peanut butter,  how much sugar is in that would surprise you.  That is pretty typical..

I get as much of my nutrition as possible from completely unprocessed foods.   A major source of my food intake is raw or lightly prepared vegetables,   beans and lentils,    fruits, and nuts.    A big salad every night filled with lots of vegetables and nuts and  that does not include iceberg lettuce. 
I replaced lettuce with Spinach for every salad.  Spinach provides much more nutrition than any lettuce.   Fruit with every breakfast is a good idea that I follow. 


I keep my animal fat and protein intake to a minimum.   I do not eat any meat, fish or eggs and five days out of seven I am fully vegan.     Protein intake is important but there are more healthy ways to get it than meat and dairy. 

I avoid soda.    This means diet or regular.    It is either chemicals or chemicals with too much sugar.   This cannot be good for you.   (I worked for a soda company once so watching 2000 pounds sacks of Potassium Sorbate and Citric Acid being turned into a drink product can turn anyone off of sodas).

I switched to black coffee without sugar.  The first month away from sugar in my coffee was not easy.  Now I cannot ever have coffee any other way.    Yummy and dark and bitter..  Ah coffee.  


I try to eat as much whole wheat breads and brown rice as possible but to be honest,  I love regular pasta and Basmati rice so I could be much better here.     There is a lot of information about white flour and its impact on insulin levels in your body.  Same with white rice.  I do exercise every day, so I do use those carbohydrates that I eat.  I do look at the ingredients of the whole wheat breads that I buy and while sugar is in a vast majority of them,  if it is way down on the ingredient list,  I will buy it.     

I say no to mass produced baked dessert products.   No donuts from any of the chains,  no supermarket cakes, no packaged baked cakes or cookies like Entenmann's or Freihofer's.  These are full of hydrogenated oils, preservatives, and are overly sweet.    If someone bakes a cake , pie or cookies,  I only eat a small piece or just one.   Even a small piece satiates the natural desire for sweet foods.     Moderation (not deprivation), is my key here

I keep chips (crisps  for the English), and fries to a minimum.    I love both of these.   There are never  Potato Chips in my house and if I have fries,  I usually make them myself using olive oil.     The big thing is not to have these available and never to buy a big bag if I give in to the temptation.. 

I stay away from the vending machine.    No 3PM candy bar..

Namaste..

Will I ever be able to do Side Crow?

In life,  we all have our nemesis..    The black spy had the white spy.     Sherlock Holmes had Professor Moriarty.      I have Side Crow.

Side Crow requires you to balance your body lengthwise across  your bent arms.  It requires arm strength,  balance and a good degree of flexibility in both your shoulders and hips.    I had never been able to do it and thus avoided it in my regular practice and never gave it much of a chance.  

After a discussion with my Yogi friend Larry about my struggles with this pose,  I decided to spend concerted time working on it to see if I could really do it.    After watching a few videos and taking a few head plants  (you can't catch the gnarly air without taking a few face plants dude) and spending a few weeks working on the pose ,  I was able to finally succeed in holding for a few seconds and now can hold for 5 to 10 breaths (with some difficulty).  It is not easy. 

What is important about this success to me, is that fact that I have again gone back to focusing on working on challenge poses.    For a long time, my home practice has consisted of following pretty much the same two or three sequences and was as much of a workout as a yoga practice.   I now take one practice day a week,  shorten the flow part and then work on something that I struggle with.    In this way I am improving my general crow pose,  working on firefly  (now that would be a miracle) and finally got to do a successful  (though with much room for improvement) side crow.  

Little gains happen every day in a Yoga practice and sometimes big ones happen with some perseverance and a lot of effort.

Namaste.

Post 100. A vegetarian lost in the land of Waffle House and Cracker Barrel

Post 100.  It sure is hard to write these. 

So..  Here I am in a hotel in SE Tennessee..   Across the street is a Cracker Barrel and a Waffle House and neither excites me with their culinary offerings (in fact I have never stepped any of their ubiquitous locations) as a perusal of both of their menus shows a cross section of the unhealthy food choices that many chain restaurants offer Americans.  Their menus feature the factory produced meat focused diet that our nation is famous for.   Even some of the  vegetables at Cracker Barrel have "meat flavoring" on them that one has to be careful to avoid  (but since I have never eaten there,  I have had no need to avoid them) 

So, how is a vegetarian to survive in the midst of all of this dead animal product offering?   This is always the challenge when I travel for work.   Unless I am in a place where their are enough vegetarians to warrant either dedicated vegetarian restaurants (like New Jersey and surprisingly Kansas City) or restaurants which feature a dedicated vegan/vegetarian menu in addition to their meat oriented one,  then eating becomes a game of picking and choosing what to eat.     The biggest challenge is to find a good source of protein without having to resort to too much cheese (or no cheese at all).    

On my current trip,  I have been here for  four weeks so I have to been both creative or restricted.  Every morning at breakfast,  I am pretty much forced eat the same exact thing  (the hotel offers breakfast).   Black coffee, whole wheat toast,  my own peanut butter (the Smuckers offered has unneeded sugar) a banana and a pile of grapefruit and pineapples that the nice lady who takes care of us every morning makes.    There is some cereal and instant oatmeal but neither excites me.     There is also the magic waffle maker, but who knows what is in that batter.  My guess is the souls of dead puppies. 

The factory that I have been working at has been  actually a good source of vegetables  (though usually overcooked) and they have a decent salad bar with beans and such and, to my surprise,  they mark some items as vegan and the cook tells me what is in everything so my big fear of having nothing to eat at lunch  (factories are not known for their culinary variety) was allayed. 

Dinner is pretty limited.  Many restaurants have nothing but salad and fries and my best real options are an Indian restaurant 25 miles away and one local Asian restaurant with a small vegetarian menu.  The Indian place is really excellent  but going there is a bit of a hike.   Most nights I give up and just get the best frozen option at Publix  (watch out for the salt on these) and make a big salad.   I really do not mind that because I can then work my meals around my Yoga schedule.  Thank Shiva my room has a fridge and a microwave.     I tried Olive Garden (desperate times mean desperate measures) and boy did that suck.   I mean really really bad.   Pizza places are  pretty ubiquitous (and the one I tried was very good)  but I only want that much cheese on a rare occasion.   

I am more than looking forward to returning to being able to cook my own food and controlling my intake but I am surviving.   I just wish I could get a good plate of pasta and fresh lightly cooked veggies with beans and garlic for dinner tonight.    Oh well. 

Namaste.

There is always something to learn in your Yoga Practice..

I took a Yin class a few days ago in my home away from home studio in Cleveland, Tennessee.   The class was small and very intimate. The best thing was that  the teacher had the right demeanor for a Yin class and was very knowledgeable.   The fact that she was passionate about Yin was a big plus.

Yin is designed for long holds of poses (3 to 5 minutes is the norm).    The  poses apply moderate stress to the connective tissues ( tendons, fascia, and ligaments) in order to increase flexibility.    The practice is very slow and deliberate and generally is only done with seated and lying down poses. It is a great counterpoint to a rigorous practice.

In addition to introducing a pose that I was not familiar with, the instructor stressed  that we should go into our poses until we meet initial resistance.   After that, we stop and breath ,  and then slowly fold into the pose until we reach a level of discomfort  that we can withstand for the balance of the hold time.   I really had not thought  about how to best get into a pose (except that one should not force yourself down)  and this way really hit home with me.   It is something that I have added to my Yoga toolbox.

Every time I practice,  I learn something new.   A new pose,  something new about a pose that I have done a thousand times,  something new about myself.  Even standing in something as familiar as Warrior 2,  I still learn something   How to better hold my arms, keep my shoulders relaxed,  remembering to go deeper,   understanding my limits.     

This constant learning is why I love going to foundation classes.    Many teachers break down poses to their component parts,  and thus I understand how I can better do that pose.    A few weeks ago,  the instructor focused on the being cognizant of where your hands and feet were and making sure that they were actively engaged in the pose.    Because of this ,  I concentrate about making sure that my hands remain open and my feet are where they should be.    Additionally,  I also constantly do an up and down scan of my body making sure that everything is where I think it should be.     That little tip really has allowed me to increase my focus while in a pose.  

Namaste..

Second Anniversary Post - Drishti.

Two years and nearly 100 posts later.   The muse is still with me though thinking about what to write is the hardest part of keeping this blog.


In yoga, Drishti is a point of focus where the gaze rests during a posture and meditation practice--gazing outward while bringing awareness inward.  Drishti is especially useful in leg and arm balances but is important in all asanas.  For balances, focusing  your gaze on a spot on the floor or wall or ceiling helps  you keep your balance as you are not looking at your feet  or other Yogis and you are not distracted by outside influences. Additionally,  the gaze aligns your head to the best position it needs to be for the balance.  For example,  in Warrior 3  (a one legged balance pose) ,  I used to look at my feet and would struggle to keep my balance.   When  I moved my gaze out to the floor about 3 / 4  feet in front of my feet,  my balance improved greatly.   

Drishti also has the added benefit of helping focus during all the asanas your practice.  In Ashtanga Yoga,  each asana has a prescribed Drishti.     This allows the mind to focus not on the surroundings but on the pose and on what is going on with your body during that pose  (are my legs correct,  are my shoulders straight,  is my back too bent etc.) .  When your mind and body are working together,  your practice is so much stronger. 

Constant application of drishti develops single-pointed focus not just on the mat. When you restrict your visual focus to one point, your attention isn’t dragged from object to object. Without these distractions, it’s much easier to notice the internal wanderings of your attention and maintain balance in mind as well as body.    This can be important both in life as well as Yoga.   And that is what our practice is really all about.



“You are not able to behold me with your own eyes; I give thee the divine eye, behold my Lordly yoga”: Bhagavad Gita

Namaste

Joining an "On the Road" Studio

Over the next four or five months,  I will be spending a good amount time in Tennessee so I checked out the local   (and there is only one in town) Yoga studio because weeks of practicing in my hotel room did not excite me too much..     They offered a $5 "Night Owl" class that lasted almost 2 hours  (what a bargain) that really taxed me physically and Yogally.    The class itself was very physical and the instructor had us do some poses that I had never done before.    Seeing that I was trapped in town and seeing that it was the only Yoga studio in town and seeing that it fit my needs,  I bought a 10 pack pass (which gave me 11 classes) for $100.    

So here I am,  a wayward Yogi in a new land.  When you go to a different studio,  you immediately notice differences from where you practice normally.   Some are small and some can be big. Do they provide towels?  (no),  is there chanting?  (thank God no),  are there blocks?  (yes but I bring my own).     One thing that was very different is that Shavasana  (final relaxation),  lasted at least 10 minutes.   In the first class I took,  the instructor went from person to person rubbing our forehead with scented oil and then placing what I thought was an ice cube but later discovered to be a very cold stone in the middle of my forehead.   It did a good job of making sure I did not drift off to sleep.   In the second class,  he had us lay on your stomach and he then placed a cool sand bag along our lower back.   This actually felt real good  but it was unexpected as we just finished a really hard balancing sequence.

Classes seem to be well timed  (and are longer than my studio's) so I can make 2 or 3 a week if I want to and if I can drag myself out of work..    





So a second Yoga home:  5ive Points Yoga in Cleveland Tennessee..

Namaste..

Back Pain / Injury

A few weeks ago,  I came down with a cold that knocked me out for a week. I had no energy to practice so I took the week off.  After I recovered,  I went to a foundation class at my studio and felt really good.   The evening of the class, however,   I started having  pain in my lower left back.  I am not sure if it was the class or just something that I did at home,  but for 4  or 5 days,  I had to watch what I did and in the morning for two of them,  it took me a while to straighten out and to be able to stand up. 

It appears that I slightly injured my left Quadratus Lumborum (QL).  The QL  a pair of small muscles at the base of your spine.  These muscles attach the  the lower spine, ribcage and pelvis. The QL are involved in lateral spine flexion -- when you bend at your waist to either the left or right side -- and in waist rotation, when you're twisting your waist from side to side. They also stabilize your pelvis and lumbar spine.  In reading about them (there are two) , I discovered that this muscle is one of the major sources of back pain.   For myself,  it was making it very hard to bend backwards when I woke up and it always felt good to do a reverse back bend once I warmed up.   I also made sure that I was sitting where I was not leaning over as this exacerbated whatever I did to myself. 

QL in Red

What was very interesting with this back pain episode versus prior to practicing Yoga was the fact that while I had discomfort much of the time and some stiffness in the morning,  I generally was not debilitated.  I was able to walk pretty well and even stretch and twist.   Some movements were painful but the fact that I have general body flexibility allowed me to compensate for the pain and stiffness.   It could have been much worse as I remember having back spasms and back pain on a regular basis.    This was the first time in 3.5 years of practice where I had more than muscle soreness in my back.

Because I practice yoga and this injury could have impacted my practice,   I decided to figure out what my problem was and how to correct it in the future.    Based upon what I have read,  it seems that I need to work on strengthening my QL.  I do a few exercises prior to my normal practice where I do stretch these muscles so my focus has to be on working on  QL strength.     This is something that I will have to incorporate in my general core practice. 

What I also think about is the fact that I am not immune to injury.   I am getting older and I need to worry about overdoing things.   I still do not know what caused this problem,  and it may have just been sitting at the computer too long.   

Namaste. 


 

Poses in our least favorite category...

At a Sunday morning class a few weeks ago,   we had to do a series of three Locust poses.   Locust requires you to lie on your stomach and to lift your legs and chest off of the ground.     It can be intense to hold because it really stresses your lower back muscles.

Locust

Our instructor had us hold the pose for 5 longish breaths each time.   For each pose,  she had us change our arm positions.      When we were done,  my neighbor said to me "I hate this pose".   My feelings are a bit less hateful,  but I cannot say that it is a pleasant pose to hold. 

This got me to thinking about poses that we like more than others and those that we do not like as much as others.     Locust is never a pleasant pose because, for most of us,  we have weak lower backs and the pose focuses on those muscles along with other core muscles.   What I believe , however,  is that many of our "least favorite" poses are the ones that we do not do as well as others and many of our "favorite poses" are the ones that we do well. 

My thougths on this subject is that if you struggle with a pose,  then that pose needs more focus.   The reason we struggle with poses are mostly lack of strength,  lack of flexibility,  or lack of balance.  By working on those poses where we have issues,  we work on those weaknesses that are the basic cause of the dislike.

For myself,  I really had issues with Seated Wide Legged Forward Fold during the early part of my practice.    This pose requires you to sit with your legs wide and fold forward. 

Seated Wide Angle Forward Fold

It was very frustrating to find myself barely being able to fold at all.    I dreaded when an instructor had us do this pose because I felt  I was getting nothing out of it.    It took a ton of effort  (doing a wide fold with my legs on the wall for example) to be able to start being able fold forward.    Now I am able to move forward enough to put my elbows on the ground with a goal of eventually having my whole upper body on the floor  (with about 1% change of success for that) .   It will never be in the favorite pose category,  but at least it is out of the least favorite pose category.

Lately , one of my instructors has had us do a core exercise where we lie on our backs with our legs pointing up and then having us drop one leg down about 30 degrees toward the ground (with the other leg pointing up to the ceiling).  It is most challenging and I just do not like doing it as the pose really stresses my lower back muscles.    Instead of just dreading the pose, however,   I have incorporated it into my general core routine.   It may never move out of the least favorite pose category,  but at least I am trying..

Namaste..