yogalila

July Blog Focus: What is a Guru to Me? (Does a Guru have a place in my yoga practice?)

I believe I am just plain too westernized to have a guru.  The thought of a guru makes me cringe…even after practicing yoga thirty years now. 

When I think of guru I think of some dazed out student with glassy eyes blindly believing everything The Guru says.  Of course I would, I’m American. 

I also think of some famously guru-student relationships gone bad – these very painful-to-this-day experiences just supported my thinking.  Guru is widely revered and trusted by the community.  Guru then embezzles, has sex with minors in the community, or some other untrustworthy action. 

Hey – what did these people expect?  You put your blind faith in someone and sometimes, they will take advantage of it. 

And yet, recently, I’ve made some observations to break my guru-disdaining armor.  One of my teachers, while not expecting to be called a guru, is shaman, a healer.  My relationship with her is part teacher, part friend, part parental-like.  I have another teacher that has had a long term guru- and again the way she describes the relationship is in part a deep friendship, mutual respect, student-teacher, parent-child. 

And finally, I just reread Biography of a Yogi which describes in detail the authors relationship with his guru.  Again I see the mutual respect and symbiotic relationship this can be. 

So will I ever have a guru?  Maybe I do already with my yoga teachers but my western mind just can’t acknowledge it…yet!

2.9 svarasavahi vidusah api tatha arudhah abhinivesah

Iyengar:  Self-preservation or attachment to life is the subtlest of all afflictions.  It is found even in wise men. 

Taimni:  Abhinivesa is the strong desire for life which dominates even the learned (or the wise). 

Carrera: Clinging to life, flowing by its own potency (due to past experience), exists even in the wise. 

At a sutra retreat this past summer, we discussed this sutra with Edwin Bryant.  Edwin believes that this attachment to life comes from the fact that all of us in past lives have experienced death.  And sometimes, it’s scary and painful.  This leaves a samskara or as Iyengar says “This imprint is the seed of fear”.   Iyengar also says that through the practice of yoga, the student can “perceive that there is no difference between life and death, that they are simply two sides of the same coin.” 

Taimni points out the universality of abhinivesa, and what a powerful force it is in maintaining life and evolution.  He also points out how the klesas are related to one another like a tree with Raja and Dvesa fueling this attachment to life. 

Carrera points out that our bodies have built in instincts to cling to life:  our bodies heal, we shut our eyes to protect them in sand, etc.  However this does not constitute “clinging”.  He points out this clinging attachment in four ways:  (1) the fear of annihilation, (2) the habit of depending on self-effort to sustain our lives (3) relying on sense experience for happiness (4) past-life recollections of dying. 

This sutra brings to mind famous people who died recently.  In Farrah’s Story we see Farrah Fawcett desperately fighting for her life against cancer.  The misery and devastation bad news brings is a stark contrast from another person I knew who had cancer.  Although she fought the disease initially, she accepted that she was going to die and did so with … well, less misery and sadness.  (I’m not saying someone shouldn’t fight cancer, I’m just contrasting the reactions). 

I read several accounts once of what it feels like to drown.  The writers started thinking thoughts like “oh darn I have tickets to that play Tuesday night” – rather mundane things and not their lives flashing back.  The attachment to the world at such a time seems to be a funny joke our minds play on us at such a juncture.

2.8 duhka anusayi dvesah

Iyengar:  Unhappiness leads to hatred

Taimni:  That repulsion which accompanies pain is Dvesa.

Carrera: Aversion is that which follows identification with painful experiences.

Iyengar explanation discussions the “chain of hate or aversion” triggered by pain.  Iyengar says that a discriminating person finds balance between happiness and sorrow so not to live at the mercy of either. 

Taimni goes into the translation of Dvesa. Dvesa is the negative of Raga (repulsion versus attraction) and these form two of the klesas or human miseries. Taimni goes into depth about how these attractions and repulsions work in our life on a deep level and to rid our lives of misery we must understand and trace the causes.  He says we must systematically attenuate the klesas with yoga otherwise we will not have peace of mind. 

Carrera says that since we are motivated to be happy, we “run after that which feels good and avoid that which is unpleasant”. But he points out – is this such a bad strategy? 

The problem, he points out by quoting the Upanishads 2.1, is that if something feels good or bad, that doesn’t mean it is good or bad –“ it could be harmful to us or others now or later”. 

I’ve personally been applying these last two Sutras in my own life with my expectations with my teenagers and it is working wonders in my relationships with them.  I’m dropping what I want them to accomplish, and trying to think things through when I think they have done something “wrong”. 

2.7 sukha anusayi ragah

Iyengar:  Pleasure leads to desire and emotional attachment

Taimni:  That attraction, which accompanies pleasure, is Raga.

Carrera: Attachments is that which follows identifications with pleasurable experiences

At first glance this sutra appears to say we shouldn’t experience pleasure.  Iyengar says “Pleasurable experiences greed and lust, which strengthen attachment and stimulate a greater craving, as one always wants more and more.”  But what this sutra says to me is the  attachment to the pleasure is the problem.  Addiction is a form of this attachment.  Taimni says we can have this attachment to food, to a person – if we derive physical or emotional pleasure from that person, or to a “particular pursuit because it gives us intellectual satisfaction.”

Carrera says that this attachment or “craving” always results in deepening or maintaining ignorance (avidya). These cravings “deny the peace and joy of our Self by insisting that outside experiences are the root of happiness.” 

Tias Little Workshop

9/22/07
Back Bay Yoga Studio, Boston, MA (www.backbayyoga.com)

Today I attended two workshop taught by Tias Little (www.tiaslittle.com).  The morning workshop ( 9AM -12 PM) was about grounding and was titled “The Heart of the Legs”.  The second workshop in the afternoon, (2-5 PM) was titled “Kidney Chi”.

Tias told us he practiced Ashtanga for over 10 years and still teachers Ashtanga but from my practice of Iyengar, he seemed more Iyengar based – lots of detailed alignment instructions, long holds, each pose practiced 2-3 times.  But he also added vinyasa (sun salutations) although not very many.  The morning practice was more rigorous and heat building and the afternoon session was remunerative.  However, his bio doesn’t mention anything about Iyengar training. 

The morning practice was very focused on the alignment of the legs and feet.  We’d often execute the alignment instructions then come out again, then re-execute them again.  There was a lot of hip opening. 

The afternoon workshop started with a lecture about the kidneys.  Tias said we should monitor our fatigue level and do a practice around that.  He said our kidneys hold the chi of our body and we should never give all that chi away – and when it runs low, we should do poses that rejuvenate the kidneys, which is the practice we then proceeded to do.  There were a lot of twists – not a lot of standing poses, but some twisting standing poses.  It was delicious. 

Each workshop started and ended with chanting and ended with a long mediation with Tias quoting poetry.  His language used in teaching was unique and very artistic. For example, he talking about “quadrating” the thighs and talked about discipline in the pose but being lighthearted about it. 

He had a very skilled assistant and they both constantly wandered the class giving adjustments that felt very good and related to what we are doing.  They were both very attentive. 

Tias seems to have the skill to bridge a gap between more alignment oriented practices and more vinyasa/ power type practices.  He says that you should have strong alignment and flow – that you need both in a practice. 

Hopefully I’ll get a change to study with him again but for now but hips and outer thighs and kidneys are buzzing with joy! 

Forrest Advanced Teacher Training

Intense.
Transformative.
Mind-turning.
Intense.

That’s the words I use to describe the nine day Advanced Teacher Training I attended last week in Boston’s Back Bay Yoga Studio (www.backbayyoga.com).  It was an amazing experience and one that I would like to do yearly (but not right away – I need to process this past week –whew!).

We started daily at 7 AM sharp with chanting and meditation led by Jonathan Bowra.  We started an almost four hour yoga class with Ana Forrest immediately after.  A lot of partner work helped us learn adjustments. 

After a two hour break, we came back for a four hours in the afternoon to do some soul-searching, teaching with critiques from Ana and Jonathan and our peers, more adjustments, and seeing and injuring circle – where we try to correct an injury or posture issue with a yoga pose.  We also did a few private classes on each other. 

The group was mostly experienced yoga instructors, the majority being Forrest trained.  There were a lot of talented teachers and it was great to be working with such a dynamic group. 

The morning classes were incredible – we did a lot of gravity surfing (flowing from one arm balance to another) and a lot of inversions.  I was looking at Ana’s demo video recently and we attempted at least some variation of what Ana does in the video.  I think I built a whole layer of strength in my body. 

I tried a lot of the new adjustments with my students this week and they loved it!  Ana and Jonathan also gave me useful comments on my teaching. One time when I was doing a private yoga class with one of the other participants, I told her to activate her feet and I turned away.  Ana was right behind me and say “Chris, what did you just tell her?”.  I look at my student’s feet and they were not activated!  Ana and Jonathan always tell us when you ask or make a change in a posture, wait to look that it was done. 

The Energized Teen

When I took my yoga teacher training, we were taught to look at people’s energy.  This takes skill and attention – you need to really look at a person.  These days most of us don’t look at anybody for too long so it takes some adjustment to do this as teacher. 

However, if you work with teens, there is very little skill needed to feel the energy they exude – it knocks you over! That’s exactly what happened to me when I first walked into the Lawrence Boys and Girls Club (http://www.lawrencebgc.com/ ).  I was almost knocked over by the energy! 

I had the privilege of teaching the teens and pre-teens here for twelve weeks.  The facility is beautiful and I taught in the brand new dance studio with wood floors.  The staff even purchased mats for the class. 

The first class, I walked in, and the room was loaded with about forty teenagers – over half boys – interested in trying yoga.  The chatter was non-stop and while I tried to get them to focus within, I kept getting knocked over by that amazing energy!  OK – warm-ups, they won’t be quiet.  Abs – they might quiet down – nope – lots of “This hurts”.  Finally sun salutations – they close their mouths.  That amazing energy is finally channeled. 

Working with young people is very different than the older people I typically teach.  First, there’s that fidgety energy. Second, their bodies are typically more malleable than adults.  Third, they are ready to try anything.  Fourth, they don’t watch you do a pose, they only do the pose.  Fifth, they are not afraid to say what they want (“will you do that adjustment to me?”). 

On the fourth class, I taught wheel or upward bow.  This is pretty deep backbend and most of my students can’t do this.  I asked them to watch and then I did the pose.  I couldn’t see them while doing it and when I looked up, all thirty or so students were in wheel.  I wish I had a camera! 

They asked me to teach them how to change “Om”.  Once I could get them to stop laughing, they felt the power of the chant. 

Savasana was always a problem.  Lots of giggles and talking filled the air.  I tried various techniques to get them settle but nothing completely worked.  On the last class, I told them that since this is the last class, for me, could they please be quiet.  Silence!  They felt the power of looking within themselves and this was a very rewarding moment. 

Ana Forrest Teacher Training Boston 2006

a I have just completed the Ana Forrest Foundation Teacher Training Course (http://www.forrestyoga.com/page.cfm?name=levels).  The course ran 24 days straight and was an amazing experience. 

Our typical schedule was to arrive by 6 AM sharp to a beautiful space in Boston that was rented especially for the training morning intensives (http://www.algonquinclub.com/index.htm).   There were huge windows and wood flooring – and lots of space. 

We did about one hour of chanting and mediation, had a quick break, and then did two hours of yoga with Ana and Jonathan teaching.  The yoga was very similar to the workshops but we experienced a lot more variations given that we did yoga for 22 days (we had 2 days off for a business class in the middle of the training). 

Jonathan led the chanting and mediation for the most part and talk us how to mediate.  Jonathan has studied Zen mediation for many years and is a monk.  He has done very long mediation retreats where he sits and meditates all day for 90 or 100 days.  I learned a lot about meditation and plan to start a daily practice (starting now!). 

Unmani (http://www.yoginiunmani.com/) was the assistant and she was amazing.  We trainees adored her.  I remember her from the 2nd Boston workshop I did with Ana.  She is very striking in looks but also from the inside.  She has huge blue-green eyes and moves like water through the class.  She gave me some adjustments that will stick with me through my yoga practice.  Her gentle style will be something I want to emulate in my class. 

After class we typically had a 2 ½ hour break and then had another 6 hours or so of teacher training.  This included teaching from 1 in various situations: to a large part of our group, one-one-one, one-to-four, and doing it in lots of different ways.  We also ran and taught two workshops over the weekend “Intro to Forrest Yoga” and they filled up with real beginners.  It was such a learning experience to see what effect the yoga had on the people we taught. 

We worked a lot on adjustments every day.  Forrest Yoga has a strong focus on hands on adjustments and we practice many hours every day.  We practiced on each other and we built up our skills. 

We also worked on ourselves and there were many exercises to develop what we wanted in life.  This was one of the more powerful aspects of the course.

The last week we worked a lot on sequencing and we did a lot of yoga all day long.  I thoroughly enjoyed my fellow trainees teaching and voice development (we also did a lot of work with Ana on developing our voices for teaching).

The manual we got reminds me of Light on Yoga because of the richness of information in it.  It has details on poses, adjustments, breathing, sequencing, and many other areas.  I’ll have it by my side forever as I teach.

I’m now a Forrest Associate and won’t be certified until I complete a lot of reading and writing, community service.  It will be a 500 hour certification when I’m done.  I plan to follow through. 

My fellow trainees were an amazing cast of characters ranging from 19 years old to 62 years old.  The majority was in their 20s and 30s but we had a few 40 year olds (my age range).  I loved every one of them – they were so instrumental in my learning process.  We have started a forum to stay in touch. 

Ana herself was of course, the yoga genius that she always is.  She (and Jonathan and Unmani) were at every single second of our training, fiercely focused on what we were doing and she expected the same from us.  She invented two new poses while we were there and we practiced them in the morning intensives.  I’ve noticed since the 5 Day CD set came out, that she has added a lot of new poses to Forrest Yoga. 

During the second half of the course, Ana opened up their own morning practice to us – from 3-5 AM at the studio.  I was able to practice four times and it was interesting to watch how they practiced on their own.  I created several classes for myself with poses that target certain areas I’m interested in (like hips for example).  One day, I followed along Ana for a great backbend class (needed the wall to do the inversions).  Unmani helped me do a walking backbend!  The other days, which were before the intensives, Ana worked on the class she was teaching, tweaking the class as needed. 

The big difference I see between Forrest and other styles is the emphasis on feeling and intuition.  I love this and it awakened my own intuitive skills which have been long hiding.

So, it was an intense but richly rewarding experience.  I’m off to teach my first Forrest Yoga class this Wednesday!  Wish me luck. 

Much thanks to the staff at Back Bay Yoga - if you are ever in Boston, you must go.  www.backbayyoga.com - they have so many great classes and workshops!

Ana Forrest Workshop May 5-7 2006 Part 2

Today was another wonderful day.  I couldn’t sleep well last night – I can’t say I was sore in the traditional sense. I was a bit (in the abs darn it all – no matter how much training I do – those Ana abs still get me!) but it was more that I was so alive!  This happened to me at the first workshop I took with her as well. 

My yogini friend Laura and I were right up front but Ana moves around the room so adeptly – sometimes she is the middle of the room, either of the sides.  It’s a great way to teach.  Laura was such an inspiration to me this weekend.  She continued to do handstands today. 

The morning class was a backbend class.  It started with buzz the chakras with a buzz breath and then the usual suspects – side bends in badhakonasana, elbow to knee, abs with a mat, bridge, dolphin, and the B-series with a series of poses to get ready for back bends.  There were a lot of lunges.  The backbends were camel, bow with a strap (which I practice with a longer strap then usual – Ana was trying to get us to keep our lower back as flat as possible in backbends), dancer with a strap, then a sequence of bridge, wheel with alternating legs up, viparita with alternating legs up, then bridge.  Some of us then went to the wall to do scorpion handstand under Ana’s watchful eye. 

Then we did a series of back unwinds starting with cobra push-ups with a rolled up mat and elbow to knee.  We ended in savasana with legs up the wall which is so great after backbends. 

The afternoon class was another delicious hip opening class.  The seated beginning poses, abs, bridge, and dolphin were all geared to opening up the hips.  We went to the wall for inversions and did handstand with lotus (I got into lotus – it was an ugly lotus but it was there!), shoulder opener at the wall, and then twisted root in elbow balance.  We then did a series of standing poses to open the hips which culminated in head to ankle.  If you could do head to ankle then she had you lie down in “road kill”.  It’s one of those poses where you were all twisted up but it felt fantastic on the hips.  We then did a series of pigeon poses culminating in twisted pigeon – one arm around back grabbing pigeon leg and the other leg bending up at knee while you grab it with the other hand (if you can – I could not!). 

Ana answered some Q&A in the afternoon. I asked her about a problem I’m having with my neck.  When I release my neck, sometimes the other side cramps.  She gave me some alternatives and then watched me in the afternoon and caught me with my opposite shoulder sliding up to my head.  Once I released that shoulder blade down my back – like magic – no more cramps. 

Once again I got many new details on the asanas.  When opening my toes I need to reach through the balls of my feet through the inner leg.  In certain twisting poses, I was collapsing my ribs on my legs or the floor and I needed to lift up.  I’ve learned a lot of new things to work on in my own practice. 

Ana talked about how to ride the waves of intensity of the poses as waves of energy and I really felt myself doing that this weekend.  The holds were very long and sometimes caused my legs or arms to burn but I brought in other parts of my body to support my self. 

Another point – Ana and Jonathan (her partner) showed many variations of the poses.  There was usually a beginner, intermediate, and advanced option.  There were definitely some beginners in the workshop and several advanced.  Ana knows how to run a workshop and had material for all levels. 

I am so buzzed about doing the teacher training with Ana this summer now after this workshop.  It’s an exciting time for Forrest Yoga in this area and it is expanding.  Ana hadn’t been in this area in years and Back Bay Yoga sponsored her workshop last year.  This is third time in about a year and a half that she has been back and she will be spending much of the next six months in the new england area.  This bodes well for us new teachers and the word of her style of yoga will spread. 

She is doing an interesting weeklong workshop on eating disorders this summer while Jonathon will be doing a men’s yoga workshop.  I want to send a friend of mine who has had a lifelong eating disorder (since she was a teenager) to Ana’s workshop as a gift. 

I’ll be posting more on my teacher training so stay tuned….

Ana Forrest Workshop May 5-7 2006, Boston MA Part 1

This weekend I attended a workshop with Ana Forrest.  Friday night was an intensive 3 hour class, Saturday and all of Sunday sessions were titled “Romancing your Spirit” and Saturday afternoon was dedicated to “Inversions and Arm Balances”.  I’m going to attend Ana’s teacher training this summer and I was very much looking forward to this weekend to study with her before that training.  This is my third Ana Forrest workshop.  It’s great that she is in beantown again on a regular basis – two times last year and one time so far this year.  She is sponsored by Back Bay Yoga Studio– a great studio that has many workshops and classes to fill up the yogini’s time.  I’ve recently begged then to stop having so many great workshops as I am going broke!

Friday night was another hellish drive.  Luckily I left early enough to get through traffic and find parking.  There was a Red Sox game and when that happens, there’s not room anywhere to park or drive.  The class was held at Back Bay Yoga studios in a super heated space.  The class started with pranayama – uddiyana breathing than some bhadakonasana poses, abs (of course – this is Forrest Yoga), bridge with alternating legs up, dolphin with alternating legs up.  Then we went into B-series with various standing poses to get ready for backbends – with a few balance sequences in there.  Backbends included camel, dancer with a strap, bow with a strap, wheel with alternating legs up, walking wheel, than some back traction thank goodness, and then some backbend lunges.  To unwind the back we did a series of standing poses:   Warrior 2, Reverse warrior, extended warrior variation, bound warrior, than warrior 1 and into twisted warrior and bound twisted warrior.  I may not have the exact sequence as I was busted by Ana taking notes.  She does not like people taking notes in her workshops – she wants people to experience it instead.  After class it was one of the best savasanas I’ve ever had in my life. 

This class was very similar in sequence to the intensive she had when she was last here in December but there were some new poses (like boat with shoulder shrugs).  We did queen pigeon – an amazing hip opener. 

Saturday morning was held at the Sheraton.  The room was not as super heated as the studio, but still very warm, and there was way more space.  In the morning we did a terrific hip opening class. We didn’t do a lot of standing poses – we did a Forrest opening sequence – bhaddakonasa, buzz-breath, abs, bridge, and dolphin – and then we went to the wall for various inversions.  We then did classic sun salutations and the rest of the class was on the floor focused on hips.  We did do an interesting variation in shoulder stands which involved helicoptering the legs.  Advanced students moved into “blown cypress” – a side bend in shoulder stand that get a stretch into the psoas like nothing else I’ve done. 

I should mention that I have a problem hip joint on my right side.  Nothing – and I mean nothing – has healed it like these hip workshops that I’ve done at Ana’s workshops.  This was reminded me of the hip workshop she did in December of last year but it was a totally different sequence.  Same effect – the pain in my hip joint is gone.  Of course, it comes back from daily living but I have hope that I can work on it. 

Saturday afternoon was the inversions and arm balancing class.  Before I started practice Forrest Yoga two years ago, I could just about do crow and no other balances.  In the last two years, I have progressed to do at least the intermediate variations that Ana shows in her workshops and once a while more.  Ana pushes us at workshops to go beyond our limits of what we think we are able to do.  She teaches us to do that in a safe way.  And when we achieve it – it’s exhilarating.  This class was again a whole new sequence and many new poses than the gravity surfing workshop I took in December of last year.  We experienced gravity in a whole new light.  My yogini friend Laura and I partnered up and she was able to get into headstand and elbow stand for the first time.  It truly was exhilarating!   And I was able to gravity surf from side crow, into twisted scissors, into scissors. Okay – not perfectly – but I have something to work it and I went farther in those poses than I ever have!  Again – Laura and I floated out of the class excited about our accomplishments. 

To get an idea of how Ana helped us move beyond our fears, she had us in down dog at one point and we jumped up – even just 6 inches – as if we were going to go into hand stand.  She said – “This is how it starts”. 

Now you might be thinking – “This isn’t what yoga is about – it’s not about achieving poses”.  That’s OK if you think that.  Yoga is personal.  But for me, yoga is about moving beyond my current mind patterns which affect my entire life.  My yoga practice helps me do that.  If I can jump just 6 inches off the floor to start into hand stand in the middle of room, than I could a similar think in other aspects of my life. 

This yoga has a profound effect on my body.  I spent the week weight lifting and was as tight as a rock.  The yoga on Friday night removed all the soreness.  But the strength is still there (believe you me –these classes are strenuous – especially for the core of the body).

More on tomorrow’s workshops later…