Playin’ The Edge

I had the opportunity to get to a Bikram class last week in Montreal while I was in town to see The Police.  I loved the teacher and I’m sorry to say I didn’t get her name. 

The last time I had a Bikram opportunity, the teacher was like a drill sargeant, I felt sorry for the newbie that she yelled at.  But the Montreal teacher managed to challenge us but also be gentle.  She was respectful of the newbies in the class saying for Standing Head to Knee Pose, “if this is your first time you’re going to hold the posture right here” with foot in hand above the floor. 

I find Bikram teachers talk non-stop which means I inevitably zone, but because this woman was teaching in English and French I had to really focus when it was in English to make sure I got the instruction I needed.  Then I zoned when she switched to French because I understand about zero of it.  I never did learn the words for ‘rabbit’ and ‘camel’ let alone anything useful to yoga instruction.

But what I liked best about her teaching is that she encouraged us to enjoy the spaces between the standing postures.  She told us to avoid the urge to wipe sweat, scratch and fidget.  She asked us to just pause and breath.

It was a great way to deal with being overheated, which I find makes me feel edgey and fidgety and then clausterphobic.  It’s like my body thinks it can wiggle away from the heat.  But that’s just resistance talking right?  It was so much better to just stand and breath.  Just suck in the heat.  I felt calmer and cooler. 

We get can get so busy between poses.  It’s like we want to avoid the subtlety of what’s really going on inside.  I love how there are times between Sun Salutations in my own classes where it seems like the whole class finds something to get busy with.  They adjust clothing, blow their nose, play with their hair, line up their mat more perfectly with their neighbour.  Not that any of those things are inherently bad.  It *is* best to avoid having the snot flow when you’re doing Sun Salutations.  And in my Bikram class I did wipe the brow sweat every so often because I knew salt in the eyes was *really* going to harsh my buzz.  It’s just another thing to be aware of.

It reminded me of how they do it in Kripalu too.  The languaging is different, but same effect.  In Kripalu you pause after a strenuous standing pose and literally soak up the effects.  Notice where the energy moving.  Feel the flow of prana.  Soak up the bliss. 

And in Bikram they take it a step further so that you actually enjoy a 20 second Savasana between each of the mat poses.  I originally thought it was to keep you from passing out after an hour of that heat.  Now I’m seeing it probably helps the energy flow and kickstarts the detox process between the twists and sit-ups.  But whatever the reason is, it was delicious and calming. 

It reminds me of how little we focus inward and how powerful it is when we do.

I went to a Sarah Powers’ workshop once and she said, “what we think of as aging is really just neglect”. Sarah is big into long slow stretches. She does Yin Yoga. In that style they stay in poses for a long time to really juice the joints. See Paul Grilley’s article on it here and check out his book here.

Ever held Pigeon pose for 5 whole minutes? It’s really tough. All kinds of things come up and that seems to be the point. Sarah says that it’s about learning to be flexible about our flexibility. You spend the time just being in the pose, softening, learning to accept what comes up.

She talked about coming face-to-face with what you cling to, and what you have aversions to. An aversion is *anytime* you wait for something different instead of just accepting what is. Wow, sometimes I spend the whole day in aversion. And you definitely experience aversion to the way your hip aches from holding Pigeon for so long. But you get to practice accepting that. In Yin Yoga you’ve got the time and have the focus because you’re not about to jump to the next pose. Our own yoga mat is such an ideal place to practice that kind of thing. It’s safe. It’s a practice ground for the rest of our life.

Someone sent me a great link - it’s excerpts from a 1938 video showing Iyengar and Krishnamacharya doing yoga. It’s amazing to see their practice back in the day.

I’m actually a certified Kripalu yoga teacher and while you wouldn’t know it from my teaching - thanks to my training I really value the importance of breathing. Next time you’re bored in front of the PC (hopefully *after* reading this blog post ) do some googling on the benefits of breathing, it’s amazing what you find out.

I’ve found that the simplest forms of breathing (pranayama) are the most powerful. And this is a boon for teachers - because they’re simple, it means you can stop yacking sooner and just do it. Here are my faves:

- 3 part or Complete Breath (Dirga Pranayama) - gets you centered before practice. A stress response requires shallow chest breathing, so the best way to start relaxing your body is to breath into your belly. Here’s how to start - get into a comfortable seated position, close your eyes, pull your spine straight and relax your shoulders and knees. Put your hands against your belly and completely relax it. Feel it soften into your hands. We normally suck in our belies to look svelte, but now it’s break-time. Fill that nice soft belly full of breath. When your belly has expanded into your hands, let your breath fill your ribs and then your chest. When you’ve completed a deep inhale, let the air go in one long smooth exhale. Take 10 more breaths like this focusing on the sensations that come with each breath. Allow your exhales to becomes longer and slower as your body becomes relaxed and filled with oxygen.

- Breath with Retention (kumbhaka) - this is a good one for centering, Savasana or those nights in bed when you just can’t quiet your mind enough to fall asleep. Here’s how it works - take 3 deep breaths, then hold the next inhale pause before letting the breath go. Do this 3 three times. In the next round move the pause to the end of your exhale. Do this 3 times. For the next round pause in both spots - when you’re full of breath and when you’re empty of breath. Start again. You may find your pauses naturally get longer as you go. Allow yourself to enjoy the gaps - known as a ‘perfectly peaceful pause’.

Bonus points - add rention to 3-part breathing.

- Ujjayi or Ocean breath - if you’re new to this one, one of the best ways to get the hang of Ocean breath is to breath onto your hand like you’re fogging up a mirror. Ujjayi breath uses the same throat position and produces the same sound. Then maintain that position with mouth closed and you’ve got it. The key is finding the right amount of relaxation in the throat. It’s like you’re getting so relaxed that you’re going to start snoring, but don’t quite get there. If you’re not sure, it helps to listen to someone else. Ujjayi breathing relaxes the body and the reason we do it during asana practice is to help keep us focused on the body. The sound and sensation of the breath helps keep us grounded in what’s happening on the mat so it’s harder for the mind to drift off.

Bonus points - add retention to a 3-part Ujjayi breath.

There are a plenty of forms of pranayama - heck there are a bjillion versions of the retention breath alone, where you add bandas and all kinds of fun things. These are just simple starters. CDs can be useful for your home practice. I have
Kripalu’s PRANAYAMA: Beginner Level Practice and it’s a good one (I don’t have experience buying from this vendor). But the bottom line is that you can get pretty relaxed and go pretty deep even with these simple breathing techniques. And they’re guaranteed to get you to sleep every time.

The word ‘pasteurize’ jumped off the page at me from June’s Yoga Journal. The sidebar of the Tree Pose article talked about ‘tapas’ or creating heat. It said that we create heat in yoga to ‘pasteurize’ the body. We burn off impurities and imbalances so that the prana or energy can move freely. And so that we can feel clear and calm.

What a great way to describe it. Sometimes people come into class tired and want to head right to Savasana but there’s a reason that yoga class isn’t just naptime - it wouldn’t be half as effective. Your mind would still be churning about your day and your body would be tense and stiff. We do Sun Salutations and standing poses to pasteurize our bodies and take care of all that. More active styles like Power Yoga, Vinyasa and Ashtanga classes build the heat really well. But even when I teach more gentle classes I keep it active with 1/2 Sun Salutations, or swingy stuff borrowed from Kundalini or Breath of Joy type moves from Kripalu. Or even simple poses done on repeat with the breath, like cobra, can work well. You’ve gotta get your yah-yahs out before you can relax.

I find that when I’ve had a really intense workday and I’m exhausted, it’s really my head that’s exhausted and my spirit that’s depleted. My body isn’t tired as much as it is tense and leaden from sitting absorbing all the adrenalin of the day. I may have been in Fight or Flight mode but I didn’t actually do either. So all that stress and tension settles in the body (always the same places right?) making it stiff and tight or dead feeling. Not to mention that without taking a deep breath all day, it’s no wonder my toes feel like they’re attached to someone else’s body.

When I get home from a day like that I *think* that I need to camp out on the couch, but that’s the worst thing to do.

And this is where yoga comes in - we move, breathe and oxygenate, use the muscles, heat up, then stretch deeply and *then* we’re ready for Savasana. And a good sleep.

There are plenty of yoga styles but there are exponentially more yoga teaching styles. I’ve been perusing podcasts on iTunes again and found Amy Jin Schmelzer who does Power Yoga with Amy. She’s recorded while teaching an hour-long moderate level class.

Amy is a talker. Like a New York kinda talker. And it’s not necessarily about the yoga pose you’re doing but about life and yoga and all kinds of good stuff. She admits herself that she gets talking so much that she forgets what’s up next. So it just depends what kind of yoga class you like. I found I just relaxed into the pose and listened. Thanks to the talking it’s not a super fast paced class, which makes it easier when you’re following via audio-only. But it warmed me up good because she works through alot of Sun Salutations, probably a good 1/2 hour.

Amy is funny and doesn’t take herself too seriously and yet doesn’t take the yoga lightly either. I’ll definitely ‘go’ to her class again.

I wrote about JivaDiva and how her podcasts are great for at-home yoga. Sometimes though, Jivamukti yoga, which is the style she does, is pretty speedy. It can be tough to keep up to audio-only instructions. Alanna, that’s her name, commented back with a tip that she’s now offering video podcasts! My iTunes is set up to automatically download her podcasts, so I found one and I tried one out this a.m.. It was a 30 minute Twisting session and it was great. Nice to be able to peek up and see what the next move is.

She did a wicked sequence (I won’t give it all away ) where she went from a Revolved Prayer Lunge to a Revolved 1/2 Moon Pose. So if you’re lunging with your right leg forward, your hands come into prayer and you twist right. Then to transition, your left hand comes onto the fl0or a foot ahead of your right foot and you open up to the right stretching your left leg straight/back and your right hand up to the ceiling. Yummy! This is one you should try at home. If you’re not an iTunes person, no problem, you can also find them on her website. Thanks for your comment Alanna!

A few people in my life are pregnant and having been there recently (little Gussie is 18 months now) I’m encouraging all that will listen to go to Prenatal Yoga classes. Here’s why:

1. Hip openers (and shoulders too). Your body does crazy things when you’re pregnant, growing your little peanut into a person is just the beginning. When your muscles get tight and your joints start loosening yoga gives you the tools to do something about it. Pigeon pose becomes your savor. Eagle Arms are the only thing that tackle those tight muscles in your back. You have tools you can use instead of suffering and feeling powerless about it.

2. Being around other pregnant people. Lots have people have been there and god help me if I heard one more unrequested gory birthing story. It’s a relief to be around other women going through it now. Watching their bodies change from week to week, cheering on the woman who makes it to class when it’s past her due date, sharing coping strategies - it’s all good stuff that helps you feel this is normal and safe and OK.

3. Squatting. Hopefully your teacher will have you squat. If not, do it at home. It’s a good stretch and a great strengthener for your legs which can be handy on the big day. To practice - get into a squat, spread those knees with your elbows, put your hands in prayer position at your chest and relax your hips. If you’re not sure about holding your weight, rest your bottom on a foam block or two. Then breath. Work up to 10 minutes. It’s a great way to practice zoning out and relaxing while you feel uncomfortable, get it?

4. Take time for yourself. You need to practice this skill while you can and yoga class is a great opportunity. And while we’re at it, here’s an aside about ‘Sleep When the Baby Sleeps’. Alot of people say it and it probably doesn’t make sense to you yet so here’s an explanation.

‘Sleep‘ in this context means taking time for yourself - if it’s not napping it can be drinking tea, bathing, calling a friend, staring out the window. But the thing is, you need to take the time because there’s two realities at work here - “the Murphy’s Law of Babies” and Hormones. The Hormones coursing through your body make you feel like you need to make everything ‘perfect’. This seems to be a crazy evolutionary thing and I’m sure it’s good for babies but it’s a little nuts for Mom (and Dad). I consider myself a pretty laid back person - but after I gave birth? I thought someone had injected me with a good dose of OCD. The fact is, you need to take a break from rearranging baby’s sleepers by color.

The other factor goes like this. Just when you think ‘yeah i’m exhausted but i’m going to do 9 loads of laundry instead of rest cause that’s really important and it’s no biggie, i’ll rest during the baby’s next nap’ - there won’t be a next nap.

That will be the day that your little bundle of Sunshine will decide that napping sucks and being awake is cool and it’s going to take every ounce of your patience, creativity and general positiveness to see that kid through til his/her next nap. *That’s* why you take time for yourself when the baby sleeps. Face it, if you were working at a “Job” you’d take a break so what’s the problem? And even if you were on the “Job” working flat out on a deadline you could tell everyone around you to bugger off and you just can’t say that to your baby. You’re too busy color coding her sleepers - so take a break.

5. Breathing, Savasana and Impermanence. Yoga is perfectly designed for training to give birth. You learn how to breath and relax even when you’re having 1,000 sometimes scary thoughts. You do Mula Bandha, which is just a Kegel exercise. And best yet, you learn that regardless of what’s going on - this too shall pass. It’s the mantra of motherhood.

So get to a Prenatal Yoga class - your baby will thank you.

I’ve been reading bits here and there about nude yoga. I don’t know if it is a real trend or if a couple of classes out there are just getting some great press. Mostly it’s written from a sensational, unbelieving, voyeuristic point of view but I like this article from a guy who goes to a gay nude men’s class and writes about the experience of sticking his bare ass in the air in Downward Facing Dog. I can relate to that. Man, focusing in yoga can be challenging enough clothed in Lululemon ‘armor’. I can’t imagine the vulnerability of doing it nude.

And I think most people that read about nude yoga just think it’s a euphemism for group sex or something. I don’t. When I lived in Vancouver I went to Wreck Beach , the nude beach there. It’s the only beach I’ve been to where people wander over to sell you chocolate covered Rice Krispie bars and umbrella drinks And it didn’t take me long there to realize just how unsexy bodies are. I mean, they’re just bodies. It’s really the stories you make up about them, or what you do with them that brings on the sexy. OK, tell that to the fully clothed tourist standing on the beach getting a good look, yeah I hear ya’. I hated those guys.

Anyways, I think nude yoga would be the same way. You’d probably get past the naked thing pretty quickly and move on to “yup, we’re all just bodies in Triangle”. I don’t know if I’ll get there, I think I’ll keep my armor on just a little longer.

I don’t always have freedom to get to a class whenever my little ol’ heart desires, so I check out at-home options whenever I can. I did a second session from Jivadiva and she’s worth checking out. Her name is Alanna and she is part of the Jivamukti bunch from New York. I notice she also has a podcast on iTunes - that’ll be handy if she keeps it up.

Audio-only is always a little tricky because you can’t peek and see what you’re supposed to be doing when the words have stopped making sense. So this is best for experienced yogis who know the poses by name and can fill in any little spots without feeling lost. This is also a pretty physical practice, the Sun Salutations are not slow and dreamy - so you need to be used to that style.

I like how Alanna offers a few practices with different times so you can pick and choose based on your schedule. Even the shorter ones are great, she packs alot of good stuff in. Did I mention they’re free? It gets better and better, right?

Also, check out the two chanting mp3s she makes available. Great for mixing onto a yoga CD for your home practice sessions. I notice she also has some short talks you can download and she makes jewelry! What a woman - check it out!