Richard Freeman: Yoga Chants Richard Freeman Chants - its a 2 cd set. The first CD is instructional, he explains some of the history and technique, and you sing along by repeating first a word, then a line, of each chant. I think there are 3-4 chants he teaches in this way -including the ashtanga invocation, which I've always liked. He explains things very clearly. The second cd is him chanting and playing the harmonium. He has a good voice, not a great voice, but there is something incredibly soothing about listening to him. -Jane
Cindy Dollar: Yoga Your Way : Customizing Your Home Practice This is a great book for home practice. It's spiral bound and the pages are split so that on the left the pages are practice sequences and on the right each page is one of 44 asanas. The 31 practice sequences range from 10 to 90 minutes. On the back of each asana page are several modifications with various props. The author is an Iyengar teacher and the instructions are very detailed. What I like most about it is that the variety of sequences will prevent me from doing the same practice all the time which is what usually happens when I do yoga on my own.
-Danielle
I love that sometimes one of us knows just what we all need. We have been doing sadhana's together for years, but usually in January - an intentional way to enter a new year. (Sadhana is just a sanskrit term for practice - we usually think of it as 40 days of yoga every day)
A few weeks ago, Sophie reached out saying she felt like she needed a September Sadhana this year. She was not alone - many of the yogalilans were feeling the same way. Maybe you're feeling it, too?
I was a little hit and miss at first, but gave myself a fresh start today with the first day of autumn. I love fall, and I am looking forward to welcoming it with a commitment to my yoga practice.
We'd love to have you join us. And if you'd like some support, I'd love to introduce you to a new friend, Marianne Elliott. I was so happy to meet her on her recent visit to Vancouver. Marianne is the real deal - a genuine and caring soul. She has a very cool offering right now - 30 days of Yoga, Karma Edition (all money goes to HIV work in Africa). If you want some guidance in your practice and a chance to contribute to some good work in the world, you must go check it out.
Leave a comment if you would like to join us and one lucky commenter will also win Marianne's 30 Days of Yoga.
UPDATE: SHERRON is the winner of Marianne's 30 Days of Yoga!
A few weeks ago, I blithely put up a shiny purple badge on my sidebar then promptly fell silent without an explanatory word. This is because it only took me a few days to realize that this wonderful project, which I think everyone ought to take the opportunity to consider, is in some ways unsuited for me right now, which is not to say it won't be suitable for other people right now, or for myself, a few weeks down the road.
It came to my attention via our own yogalilan and life coach Lianne Raymond, who has been sharing her practices here over the last few days.
It's been great to drop in on the writing and shared practices on the twitter feed, and most of all, the daily musings of originator Bindu Wiles. Most of all, in provided me with the inspiration and momentum to get out of my yoga slump - I seem to have one every late spring, to the unhappiness of my lower back, especially. So, just by virtue of putting a badge on my sidebar and reading what others are doing, I'm slowly coming back to a habit of consistent practice.
I tend to use my own sequences, tried and true poses that my body needs for regular maintenance, so I infrequently use media. But when I do, right now Jill Miller does what my body needs; I love the approach she takes in YogaTuneup, either with rolling on balls in the form of self-massage or movements that break me out of my habitual patterns - because even in my yoga practice, I tend to have habitual patterns.
My newest interest is a blogger I ran across through Jill's links: Katy Says. Her approaches often defy conventional wisdom, but she makes persuasive arguments, and I love her article You Don't Know Squat, with a terrific biomechanical breakdown of an exercise that hardly any one thinks about, but I'm convinced is essential to our health - even independence - as we age.
However....while the yoga part of 215800 is going great, the 800 part - writing 800 words a day, just doesn't fit with what I need to do in my life right now. This part of the challenge was designed for writers, though with considerable flexibility - Bindu points out that it can be anything that involves words. Participants have shared wonderful blogs posts, memoirs, prose and poetry. And, I do write, all the time - in the form of my personal journal entries, and academic writing. Up until the time 215800 began, ironically, I was also doing morning pages a la The Artist's Way. But right now, due to abstract deadlines, funding submissions, and other academic responsibilities, all my writing is technical; what often seems like the same 800 words in variants and revisions, distilled into the required formats. I write and draw mind maps, outlines, schematics. I write notes to myself to be used in my thesis. I actually like this kind of writing, and enjoy it. Bindu suggests:
THE WRITING: The writing can be ANYTHING. Memoir, blogs, business plans, essays, fiction, free-writing, letters,……..ANYTHING. The point is to get writing again daily and to have the boundaries and challenge of a daily word count to reach.
Boundaries and word counts I certainly do have - but determined largely by academic constraints.
I notice that Bindu is extending 215800 by 10 days - fantastic! I plan to keep up my practice regardless - it's for life, after all. But perhaps after getting a few more academic chores behind me, I can spend some time writing a little more freely, and personally, and come more into the original spirit and intention of the project.
Meantime, a little video love for Jill here - her shoulder routines have done wonders for a chronic injury in this area, and are now part of my regular maintenance.
The 5 in 21.5.2008 stands for 5 days of yoga - so if you're wondering where day 6 and 7 are - they were non-yoga days. Though I did do an extra long hammock-savasana both days.
Today's practice comes from one of my favourite yoga teachers - Jill Miller. This is a 15 minute routine that she did for Breathe magazine (gawd, I miss that magazine!).
I had a little more time today so I did a practice that's a little longer than what I've been posting the last few days. This one is about 45 minutes - a video practice led by Sara Ivanhoe.
Bindu Wiles has issued an invitation to join her and a whole caravan of other peeps in a 21 day focus on yoga and writing.
My writing will be in my journal and I will share my daily yoga practice here. Each day I plan to do a practice that is freely available on the internet or share one of my favourite practice routines. If you are looking for something to guide your own practice feel free to join me.
Today I started with a short but lovely simple vinyasa routine from Kira Ryder:
Even
a brief practice
of yoga everyday is better than no practice at all. Very gradually, the
body
(and the mind, we hope) will begin to strengthen and open. But,
possessing
intellectual knowledge and proof of the benefits of behavior change
doesn’t always change behavior; example: smoking cigarettes. No matter
how many times our teachers, or our
inner teachers, advise us to step onto the mat on a regular basis,
somehow we find
ourselves missing, skipping, procrastinating or imagining our practice.
Certainly, plenty of
wonderful books, articles, audio, and video resources are available to provide
guidance should you happen to be at a loss as to how to focus your
micro-practice. For example, one of my brilliant teachers, Jill Miller, has
developed a plethora of 5 or 10 minute QuickFix videos
. Jill's practices will help you focus very specifically and
efficiently on body areas such as neck, shoulders and back. The Yoga
Journal
website contains pose and sequence guidance as well.
Naturally, the omnipresentadvice to remember to breathe is not
to be underestimated.
A group of us
Yogalilans began discussing resourceful ways that we integrate yoga into our
busy days. I put together a slideshow (starring Yogalians and families) for employees in the workplace, hoping to
inspire them to start their asana practices in bits and pieces. As you will
see, these super-efficient moves can be practiced quite creatively-mostly without
a sticky mat. Check out this A Yoga Day slide show to see how yoga of integration can work for you.
Two yoginis discuss their voyage to Adho Mukha Vrksasana.
Bonnie Golden and Sharon Frost, a conversation.
There is plenty of advice available about the physical preparation about getting into handstand, let's talk about the self-talk issues, the mind and handstand.
Can you explain the mind journey?
Sharon: The mental part
is complicated, especially since not all of the relevant content is available
to the conscious mind. My teacher, Jonathan Fitzgordon, has referred
to handstand as the most aggressive/violent pose in yoga. The
change in orientation is so sudden and complete. There's no real transition time. I often seem
to have a total mental/physical disconnect when it comes to that inversion transition.
Everything is fine until it's time to make that switch from feet-on-floor.
And some of this has got to be primitive nervous system fight-or-flight.
Bonnie: Yes, I agree
it is truly a fast moving pose. Other inversions allow us to have
forearm (pincha mayarasana) or head and forearm (sirsasana) contact
with the floor, and somehow the upside down piece isn't so mentally
daunting. If you set aside the physical readiness aspects of handstand
(arm and core strength, etc.), the mind journey is absolutely my greatest
challenge. For several years my teacher, Chris Coniaris has said
to me “it's all there Bonnie!”. Meaning physically, all of the
pieces of the pose are in place and ready to be integrated. I
know that intellectually and it gives me some confidence, but then…!
What mind “games” have stifled
your pose?
Bonnie:
…Then when it comes to execute the pose, some old samskaras are often
highlighted. In my case they are fear based. Partly from
a couple of specific incidents of an unsafe assist, head bumping on
the wall, falling, etc. My mind games have included negative messages
such as “you can get there, but you'll pay a price! It takes
time, but those messages are definitely fading.
Sharon:
Feeling your failure before you start doesn't help either.
I think that's what I often do. Definitely there is a self-sabotage
that's going on - some part of me is saying “no way are we going to
get there” - the “what the hell do you think you're doing” response.
Quiet panic. Is that a mind game? Or is that a mind serious.
On the other hand, I'm a bit of a
contrarian and positive self-talk isn't very effective for me.
I have to be careful to maintain my credibility with myself.:D
It's a balance (sorry).
What have you done mentally, to
help yourself, encourage yourself with this pose?
Sharon:
I have a photo my husband took of me in handstand on a balcony in Barcelona
during the time I was just beginning to get handstand. In those
days I would give myself 10 kick-ups and if I wasn't upside down, so
okay, I wasn't upside down.
That Barcelona handstand (in the midst of a lot of kicking) was my first
on foreign soil and it was delicious. I have another photo of
the ecstatic me just after that moment. I keep some scanner prints
of those photos near my mat.
I guess staying in touch with the
joy of being in that position and the joy of just having done it is
something that's important to stay in touch with.
And a physical manifestation of a
mental intention always helps: a “hoowah” on the exhale can be
very beneficial.
Bonnie:
I employ internal coach-y self-talk. Reminding myself of my strength,
hearing the encouraging words of my teacher whether or not he is physically
present, and mental images of admirable yoginis from my classes and
their smooth moves. Recently, my most effective teaching strategy
has been videotaping myself. I sometimes tell myself that I'm
making a tape for my students and I need to show them how it's done!
I have a dated video collection of my progress that I regularly review
to inspire, see my errors, and view evidence that I still have it in
me to achieve this pose. Yes, the visuals are very powerful for
both of us Sharon!
How old were you when you realized that the yoga handstand pose was available to you?
Bonnie:
I was 50 when I realized that it wasn't out of the question for me to
practice this pose. I did headstands and cartwheels as a child and was
fairly athletic, but I didn't do handstands.
Sharon: I was 59.
I was giving myself until 61 (as I recall) and I turned out to be precocious.
As a kid I could never do headstand, handstand or even cartwheels.
And I've always had a fear of high places.
How many years of trying before
you succeeded?
Sharon:
About 3 years of trying every day.
Bonnie:
I haven't been as consistent with my home handstand practice.
It's been on and off. In March of '09 I restarted the quest in
earnest and made handstand my svadyaya project. I've made a great
deal of progress since then; but the pose will always be in the journey
stage.
What physical practices and what
media or articles have helped you in your journey?
Bonnie: I recall that
doing the L-shaped practice at the wall, and then the next step of raising
one leg at a time was very exhilarating the first time I gingerly elevated
that leg. The Yoga Journal DVD with Natasha Rizopolous was great as
I began my practice. I've viewed various videos on YouTube.
Also the Yoga Journal article about the writers handstand journey was
quite inspiring. The author worked with different teachers and
in particular Judith Lasater's (whom I've trained with) words hit home
about practicing everyday if you really want this pose. In addition,
the encouragement of Yogalila friends and my Tucson teacher Chris, as
well as work with Tias Little in Santa Fe during my teacher training
have all been significant in the journey.
As a counselor and teacher of adults,
I'm applying behavior modification techniques with myself. I started
with a bolster against the wall, then a pillow, next a smaller pillow, a flat pillow; and finally a piece of cardboard all to help
my head feel safe going up. And now I kick up sans pillow pretty regularly, and
even did so twice in class. That's the ultimate goal, to kick up
without any props, everytime.
Sharon:
Although most of the work I've done on handstand has been on my home
mat, the most important instruction I've gotten has been from my teachers:
Jonathan Fitzgordon and Marissa Nielsen-Pincus and, before them, Jackie
Prete. (Marissa has such a lovely floaty handstand. Sometimes
I pretend to be her. And sometimes it works!) I do like
Betsey Downings new handstand practice, available for download at hanumanasana.
What do you think happens to you
when you lose handstand now? And how do you work toward getting
it back? Is that a different process from getting up into the
pose for the first time?
Sharon:
This is the cycle I'm on: I have it, start to lose it, start to
get it back, etc. etc. I almost never lose it completely but that's
happened as well. When my handstand starts failing I look for
other ways of doing the pose and ways of taking the pressure off.
It doesn't work to give handstand a break. I've tried that and
that approachallows the fear and lack of confidence to build.
A note of puzzlement: We've been spending
July/August in Buenos Aires and my handstands here, this year, have
been among the lightest and most effortless of my life. I have no idea
why. These things are very mysterious after all.
Bonnie:
You are right on the money about the risk of giving handstand a break
and thus losing steam. The thing is, life happens. My children
are home from school, I'm working and writing quite a bit as well as
traveling. Those are the facts of life! But it is also a
fact that when I start up again it's not back to square one anymore.
That is quite encouraging.
In fact the other night, I achieved
my second in-class handstand (I call it “public handstand”) without
a physical assist, although Chris was verbally supportive, which means
a lot.
How do you know each other-how
have you helped each other?
Sharon: We've known each
other online through some yoga forums for quite a while and we've been
lucky enough to have a couple of face-to-face get-togethers. I
think we've built up some trust over that time and that's allowed our
conversation to turn on explorations of our fear, frustration and various
blocks. I know some people don't like to investigate this area,
feeling perhaps that it may just enable the fear, frustrations, blocks
to take root even more. I think we've learned to have the conversation
without magical thinking and/or self-indulgence. There's some
power in that.
Bonnie:
I agree, trust has been positively key in sharing our handstand journeys.
It really helps me to know you're out there, working the handstand path
I'm working.
Sharon: And a sad note for
me: by the time I return from Buenos Aires, in September, my
home yoga studio will have closed its doors - I'll never do another
handstand there. My handstand will have to move on -- again.
