Getting your mind away from it all via Yoga -

My preferred practice is a continuous Ashtanga flow that gets my heart rate up and really works on all parts of my body.    While I cannot do all of the poses  (I will never get my knees behind my head, ever)  I find that the combination of continual movement and breathing concentration both physically and mentally satisfies me.    Concentrating on the movements, poses and breathing takes me to a place away from my daily cares.    Sometimes in the middle of my practice,  I realize myself that my mind has been totally focused on what I am doing and that my  worries and other thoughts have melted away.    It is during those times that I end the practice with a glow of both physical and emotional levels.   It is a really great feeling.

The breathing is really the key to everything.    For me,  the pose or asana has to be done in conjunction with the "Ujjayi Breath",  which is a deep continuous in and out breathing through your nose that is accompanied by the ocean sound of your breathing.   Each movement has either an inward or outward breath or is held for a certain number of counted breaths  (for me five deep and slow breaths).   Like a surfer who rides the waves of a real ocean, your inner surf carries you from movement to movement. Your breath directs each movement.  Once you get the flow of the breath and the movement together,  it is like magic.

For example,  the Sun Salutation (A)  starts up with a breath,  touches ground with an exhale,  flatten back with a breath,  Chaturanga  with an exhale ,  upward dog with an inhale,  downward dog with an exhale,  hold 5 breaths,  up to flat back with an inhale,  touch ground with an exhale and then up to prayer position with an inhale.    Each pose has its associated breath  and with the Ujjayi breathing (and doing this five times during a normal Ashtanga primary series),  you  get into a combination of breath and movement that is really great.

Sometimes I think to myself that we are happy going  to Yoga class and happy right after it but somewhere in the middle,  we want it to end.    With the flow that I practice at home,  I don't have that feeling very much.  It is probably because the focus on the practice at that time is on me,  with my pace and it is my flowing.  There are no stops for instruction and water breaks.   It is movement and breathing for an hour or so.

 

That post practice exhaustion

Sometimes after an 1.5 hour practice all I want to do is stare into space..   It is a good feeling but you know you are not 25 anymore. 

Cardio and Yoga

I personally prefer very rigorous Yoga practice that includes at least a half hour non-stop flow prior to any holding positions.     This allows my heartbeat to raise to the point where I believe that I am getting the continued aerobic exercise that I need.   It also allows me fully warm up prior to moving to complex binds  (well semi-complex to be honest),  twists,  stretches and strength holds.   Some difficult positions do raise your heart beat  but then you generally stop and move on to another position after letting your body relax.

One of the things I figured out pretty quickly is that many public classes are not very cardio taxing.    The teacher may do a few minutes of sun salutations but if not done in a quick manner and, if not done for a significant period of time,  I walk away from the class feeling less than taxed.    A few of the classes at my studio are a real physical challenge from the aerobic perspective, but a majority of them are not.     Thus this again stresses the need for a home practice as the primary part of your practice and the use of the classes as teaching aids and fill ins  (and the social part of Yoga as well) and thus the secondary part of your practice.

Getting a Yoga Rhythm.

One of the interesting and startling things that I learned about Yoga is the number of poses that are available for your use.      Since I started practicing,  I have probably done at least 100 different poses in either classes or at home using videos and a few books that I have bought.   The sheer number of poses and styles is almost overwhelming.    In addition,  classes are sometimes not what they are called and are really dependent on the teacher.     There can be a vast difference between two teachers for the same class in both the poses and the flow of the class.  


A long time ago, I used to lift weights on a regular basis.   Over time,  I was able to create a schedule where I would do certain muscle groups on certain days and allow my body time to recover from a weight lifting session before I would work on that muscle group again.    This is something that I think should be brought to your Yoga practice.

The public Yoga classes make it difficult to get the same type of rhythm.   This is for two reasons.  The first is that most people probably only go to one or two classes a week and so do not demand a "program" for themselves.   The second reason is that there is such a variety of teachers teaching the classes and therefore there is no logic to the classes.   In the studio I practice in,   there are Yin,  Vinyasa , Forrest and foundation classes.  Only one instructor follows pretty much the same class from week to week. It is up to the student then to work on a program for themselves. This is where the home practice comes in.     It is in your home practice  (unless you go to a Bikram or Ashtanga only studio) where you make that rhythm that will make your overall practice successful.


I generally go to my studio  only two or three nights a week.    On the off days (with the general exception of Friday ),  I  generally practice the Ashtanga Primary Series with a back and core warm up before hand.   What I try to do,is to use the  Primary Series as the core of my Yoga Rhythm.  It is a full body workout (you are really exhausted at the end) and I know what to expect.   I try to mix up some new poses to add more variety but the flow is the core of my practice and it is done in my living room and not in the studio.  

So, a home practice allows me to get to the rhythm that I need.    When you go to public classes,  you sometimes don't know if you are going to get the workout of your life or 60 minutes of chanting..     Building that home practice is what is important. 

Raw Foods

I recently read a book about a raw diet.  The author made case for only eating raw organic produce and to eliminate any processed foods and cooked foods from your diet.  While I think that this is an extreme way to live, and almost impossible for me since I travel much for work, I think that there is some merit for the argument.    Reducing  processed foods  like cakes and cookies and other sweet items from your diet along with salty snacks like potato chips and tortilla chips can eliminate a large source of empty calories and bad fats from your diet.    Giving up pasta and cooked rice and cooked potatoes and other carbohydrate and protein sources would be hard for most people and the authors argument to replace processed wheat with sprouted wheat works only if you really really have time to commit to such a life style and are prepared to have a life of eating salads when ever you eat out.  Overall though,  I think she is in the right vein and I have adopted some of her thinking when it comes to vegetables.

I do feel better now that  I eat many of my vegetables raw instead of cooking them.    A big salad with spinach,  tomatoes, cucumbers,  peppers,  raw broccoli  and raw zucchini as your vegetable serving(s) is really great and you know it is low calorie, low fat and contains Iron, Vitamin C, and in some cases is a good source of protein.    I do cook some  vegetables  (I make a lot of Indian food) but at least once a day there is a large raw salad in my diet.    As long as I do not cover it with high calorie and fat dressings  it is really great for me.   A majority of my salads have vinegar only, though sometimes I do add oil depending on the type of vinegar.    I very rarely use bottled dressings as they are sources of sugar (for the low fat varieties) and bad fats. 

Try to be on a schedule

Practice cannot be 1x a week.    In my opinion, you need to practice at least 5x a week in order to make progress and to gain the physical benefits of a practice.    This means at least one weekend practice and preferably two plus 3x during the week.   I have my regular classes (Monday and Wednesday with an occasional Sunday) and I have to find the time and energy to block out 1 to 1.5 hours a 3 days a week in order to do home practice.    While I love practicing,  my mind has to say get the mat,  get changed,  turn up the heat,  start Pandora and go to the Yoga station.   It takes discipline. 

It's 5PM.  Time to practice...  Except I'm procrastinating with this.. 

Warming Up / Getting to class early.

I like to get to class at least 20 - 25 minutes before it starts.     I do this for two reasons,  the first is that I get "my spot" in the room.    I am a creature of habit so this is good for me.   You notice a lot of people taking the same spot each time so I am not alone with this.   Woe is the new comer who grabs my corner of the room.  :)

The second reason is that I warm up prior to class starting.  Even though the teacher goes through 5 or 10 minutes of warming up before hand and then usually does anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes of Sun Salutations or other flows to start the class,   I have a general sequence of warm ups that I do before hand.   Much of what I do focuses on the Psoas muscle getting warmed up.   I have a set 10 minute series that I do before hand that just focuses on stretching my lower back.  I also do a 10 to 15  minute core workout as well.  This focuses on strengthening my lower back and abdominal muscles.   Both warming (and stretching ) the back and then working on strengthening what with weakness causes back injuries,  I am working on the physical weaknesses that I have.    I do this both at a home practice and in the studio.   As we get older our bodies take longer to stretch and prepare for vigorous exercise.   By coming earlier I know I start the class warmed up already.   Also,  the core workout,while short, is really beneficial. 

There is a great book called  "Back RX"  that I got from the library.     One of my instructors mentioned it to me and the flow that it provides is really great and pretty simple (though some exercises were very tough when I started).


http://www.amazon.com/Back-RX-15-Minute-Day-Pilates-Based/dp/1592400450







 I highly recommend reading the book.   I tend to supplement this with some additional positions  (mainly Navasana or Boat and some additional crunches) as part of my warm up. Navasana is below.  I get no where near this high.  It really taxes your full body and it is very hard to hold for more than 5 long breaths.