Yoga in interesting places...

So while spending some time with my bestie Liz this Summer, my hubbs was introduced to Liz's husband's newest "toy": the SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard). It's quite an interesting device, and I was a bit surprised that my husband took such a liking to it. It is basically a raft that looks very much like a surfboard, but instead of riding the waves, you stand upright and use a carbon-fiber paddle to float it down a river, on a lake, or for the daring, out in open water. Think Huckleberry Finn on a surfboard.

Ever since trying this equipment, it's been all he can talk about. He's been extensively researching the styles, sizes, colors, etc. It's been borderlining on obsessive. I've just listened with a patient ear, and not been terribly enthusiastic. I don't find anything wrong with the SUP, but I just can't envision myself getting psyched about being on it. In an effort to get me "on board" (ha ha), good ole' hubbs shared with me some photos he came across while doing his research.


Did I mention this research was extensive? It has been so extensive, he actually found a club who does YOGA on these paddleboards. Yes, readers, yoga. While balancing on a surfboard. Some of these moves are hard enough to accomplish on land, let alone balancing on a SUP in the middle of a body of water. Take a gander: (these photos are ripped off the web - credit seems to belong to the Black Swan Yoga club).


Okay - Photo one: You can get an idea of what the SUP looks like. The chick in the black bikini and the dude in the back seem to be using their paddles to maneuver through the water. (They're just getting into position for their awesome stunts later.) In the foreground, Boat pose seems cheekily appropriate, but I can imagine this is giving her abs quite a workout. The girl in Thunderbolt pose would be about as adventurous as I envision myself getting.







Photo 2: Wow. Check out the ink. Check out that perfect side angle. Check out the bind. Check out the ABS. Just incredible. Again, a challenging pose on land...I can't even think about trying this while balancing on a paddleboard.

Photo 3: This one is my favorite. Partner Yoga on an paddleboard. There are many, many more pics, but there is a limit even to my plagiarism of photos. Plus, they would just put us all to shame. Supported headstands, fish, crow, and only 1 (one!) photo of someone falling off the board.

So, I'll have to keep you abreast of this situation. The SUP apparently has been ordered; surely more is to come. Will this be the impetus to get my husband to practice yoga? Will you eventually find photos of me on the internet, precariously taking posture on one of these boards? How am I ever going to find a class in this? You'll just have to keep reading...

In the meantime, I'm off to a Saturday class at the gym! Perfect way to enjoy the gorgeous day!

Home Practice from tape

I'm sure I've mentioned before that I'm not a big fan of home practice, but I know that's it's not something I should shy away from nor should I discourage. While I maintain that a practice with an instructor is my mode of choice, these classes are not always held at practical times or at practical places, so sometimes you just have to go with a home practice!

Home practice presents it challenges for me: it's very easy to put off until later (and then never get around to it!), sometimes there are young children about who like to play jungle gym with my limbs while practicing asana, sometimes I do a DVD so often that I memorize what's coming next and end up not holding the pose long enough, and there's always the dilemma of never knowing if I'm properly positioned in the pose. It is oh so helpful to have an instructor there to encourage you to put your muscles and limbs into proper placement.

Anyway, there wasn't a yoga class offered at an amenable time for me today, so I had to go with a quick home practice. The kids spent the morning at day camp, so I eliminated my biggest issue (the "mommy as jungle gym" issue), and I picked a tape that I hadn't done in quite some time. Yes, readers, not a DVD, but a TAPE. VHS. I'm actually surprised that it worked.

My practice of choice today was "Upper Body Yoga for Beginners" with Rodney Yee. This was actually the first yoga DVD I ever purchased, and I remember how it kicked my butt way back when. I figured, as I popped it into the VCR, that it would be interesting to see what was so intimidating about the practice now that I have a few years of experience under my belt. And you know what? It STILL kicked my butt!

It is laughable that ole' Rodney thinks that a beginner can handle being in Chaturanga (which he calls push-up pose) for 30+ seconds. I was dying, and I'll admit here and now that I couldn't do it. He also gives the instruction to move into Upward Facing Dog, and has you hold THAT for 30+ seconds. After that, we were in Down Dog for a while, and even that is a challenge. Later on, he moves the viewer into the Wheel, which I also consider to be an advanced pose. Maybe I'm a wimp, maybe I'm a push over. Maybe I'm not as good as I think I am given 3 years of practicing, but this tape still gave a challenging workout! And yes, it totally worked my Upper Body - all in less than 30 minutes! I can envision myself giving this one a go again soon.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to do a home practice today, and despite all my grumblings about it, and obstacles to overcome, I feel like I accomplished something.

I have a good shot at my week of yoga! I had a nice, gentle Thursday class yesterday, and if I fit in another home practice on Tuesday, there are enough classes that I just might be able to pull it off. Stay tuned as I post my progress...

...And we're back!

Hello Dearest Readers! I'm back, sadly without a pose of the week, but I was away on Vay-cay, and took a breather from electronic communication. I *was* in civilization, but was at a resort and didn't feel like jumping through hoops (and paying ridiculous fees) just to hook up to the internet or receive texts. Don't worry, I'll be sure to make up for it with a great pose of the week next week...

So, the boys and I went to beautiful Puerto Vallarta (spoken in my best "Love Boat" voice impersonation) for our vacation. We stayed at the Barcelo resort, and it was fantastic. We had a few mishaps getting there (flight rerouted on the way to Mexico City and delayed us for our connection to PV), so we ended up arriving past midnight - without luggage. Sheesh. What a way to start a vacation! Luckily, the resort had a swim shop, and we hooked up the boys with some cute swim clothes and the first full day went a bit more smoothly. The luggage arrived shortly after noon, and we started taking advantage of the many, many things to do! Because it was a resort, there was a daily schedule of activities. Of course, the first thing I checked for was whether they offered Yoga, and to my delight, they did!

Several years ago, we did an "all inclusive" Club Med vacation, and yoga was offered every morning. The instructor was a little (he was my height), old (about 90! I swear!) retired military officer (although if he said he wasn't retired, I'd believe him!) who was about the most flexible man I've ever seen! No, that's not him in my picture today...but I bet he could do that! He wore a mic, and narrated what he was doing, and that was it. We had to follow along. Or not. He didn't really care. But his narration was interesting, and I gave it a shot, and I enjoyed the challenge. The Barcelo's yoga offerings were not so extensive. They were offering yoga at 10 am on Mondays and Wednesdays, with some sort of "stretching" class on Sundays.

I decided to make the most of what I had, so pencilled in the Stretching on Sunday and the yoga on Monday. The stretching class was pretty satisfying; offered on the beach, so you could listen to the gentle sound of the waves, and it incorporated a few yoga moves along with some recognizable techniques from pilates and general PE stretching exercises you may have done in middle school. The guy who instructed the stretching class also instructed the kayak lessons and the water aerobics. It was funny to see where he would turn up next!

When I walked over to the "spa" for my yoga class on Monday morning, I was curious to see if the instructor would be the same guy again. I was also a tiny bit nervous about being able to follow along if the practice was in Spanish...but I realized this would be a rare opportunity, and my apprehension melted away as I got to the place where the practice was scheduled. The spa was in a lovely suite with a wrap-around balcony overlooking the beach, and I was really excited about the chance to practice yoga in such a different environment from my usual spot (on my bright yellow mat in a closed, windowless studio at the gym). I had no mat, and so had to use a cushy pool towel, but I was game for it.

The instructor was not my friend from the stretching class, but rather someone they hired in specially for the yoga class. I took this as a good sign; this was no job for the jack-of-all-trades resort guy...they were willing to hire someone in, which must mean they take yoga seriously and wanted someone with certification or at least some serious experience. In fact, one of my fellow classmates said she takes Tai Chi with him in his studio elsewhere. Again, a good sign.

Wrong. Now, I'm usually pretty easygoing when it comes to yoga class, and even when I find myself in a less than fantastic class, I make the best of it and try to do what the teacher asks. I'm not an expert, but I've been practicing for at least 3 years now, so I sort of have the gist of what's going on, and can make respectful modifications so the practice is fruitful and worthwhile for me. I am never, ever obnoxious or "show off-y". I have been in classes where some of the students overstep their bounds and try to show off or act like they know more than the instructor, and I find this plain rude and obnoxious. My opinion is that if these people know so much about yoga, they would know about the need to respect the instructor's years of training and method of practice.

I approached my makeshift mat in Mexico with this tenet in mind. In whatever this instructor chose to lead us, HE was the one with training, HE was the one who came up with the flow, and I was a participant in his practice. Even having had the experience of practicing with this guy, I still maintain that I was there to follow his lead...however, his lead turned out to be a massive FAIL. '

It's not my job or place to criticize an instructor's practice and methodology - leading and effectively instructing a practice is NOT an easy job. However, this may have been the worst YOGA practice I've ever participated in. We barely held any poses, so it wasn't Hatha. We had no flow, so it wasn't Vinyasa. It was hot out on that wrap around patio, so maybe it was some variation on Bikram, but overall, we were doing poses that were in direct conflict with every other instruction I've received.

We did bridge pose, and he kept asking us to look at what he was doing. I've always been instructed to never turn my head in bridge pose, so I didn't look. And he got mad. He insisted I look! I started to think this guy had some sort of military experience himself. In bridge pose, I've always been instructed to keep my knees perpendicular to the foot and not to extend them forward past my ankles and certainly not past my toes. Yeah, he had us bend our knees toward our toes. When I didn't, he waited for me to do it. It didn't feel good at all! We did a few planks, chaturangas, up dogs, down dogs, and walks to the top. I felt like hopping to the top, and boy was that a mistake. This instructor said walk, so I should have walked.

This could go on and on - the conflict of his instruction with all of my prior experiences on the mat. The plus side is that my husband booked us on a scuba/snorkelling boat that was leaving promptly at 11, so I had a less offensive reason for leaving the class than "You have no idea what you're doing, and I'm going to injure my knees if I keep going at this rate!" I wasn't able to stick around for the whole practice, and I was able to leave with a bit of dignity. In hindsight, I should have left feedback about the class with the program director...but again, I'm not an instructor and I'm always wary of coming across as a "know it all".

So, it was a less than productive session. But I am still thrilled that I had this opportunity, because now I have something to blog about! With jetlag, I wasn't quite up to a Wednesday practice, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a Thursday afternoon. I'll keep you posted ;)

Namaste.

Savasanaaaaaah!

Well, readers, Josh made us work for it today. By the end of class, I felt like we earned and deserved that Savasana (final resting pose, aka "Corpse pose" - nice name for a pose, isn't it? Lying dead on the floor...). You always appreciate Savasana at the end of practice, but sometimes it's just so much more "aaaaaahhhh...." than others. Today's practice was one of those times!

For starters, Josh put us through such an intense vinyasa today that I really worked up a true sweat. I mean, there were drips down the spine, people. Yeah, I know, TMI, and I shouldn't be surprised because it is a summer practice and it gets hot and all, but I sweat a little more than usual (by the way, just to clarify, that is NOT me in the picture today. I could see how you might be confused because I'm buff and all, but no. Not me). The real kicker, though, is that we had to do no fewer than 10 chair poses. Do you see the irony in this? Can you see how I would be more than a little annoyed by such a practice and therefore feel I earned my Savasana at the end?!?

I do have to say that my 10 rounds with Utkatasana didn't make me grimace too much today. On the other hand, in fact, I actually wanted to laugh out loud with a crazy mental image. Now, my blog isn't well advertised, and even when I do a Google search, it doesn't appear, and I've never mentioned my blog to any of my instructors (except one), so I doubt Josh is reading here. But after the 3rd Utkatasana or so, my mind began to wander, and I thought, "Is he doing this to spite me?"

I rationalized: How could he possibly know my feelings about this pose? Of course, during my mind wanderings, a hilarious visual popped to the front of my mind: Josh sitting at home, checking out my blog, reading my Pose of the Week, saying in his best Dr. Doofenshmirtz impression: "Soooooo... The girl with the yellow mat doesn't like Chair Pose... We'll just see about that....I'll show her a chair pose (or 10!)"

So yes, this mental image made my time in Utkatasana a little more humorous than usual. And then Josh redeemed himself by finishing the practice with one of my favorite poses of all time: Pigeon. After today's intense Vinyasa, Chair pose included, Pigeon was a nice way to find myself at the end of the practice.

Finally, Savasanaaaaah. After all that, you can't really hold it against him, can you? Plus, at the end of the day, I am really not supposed to be disliking any poses, but rather working through my difficulties with them. Don't worry, even after so many of them in my practice today, I still have a waaaaays to go.

Get your Savasanas where you can!

POW! (Pose of the Week)

Pose of the Week: Utkatasana - because I hate this pose. Okay, okay, you're right. Hate has no place on a yoga blog. But I intensely dislike this pose, and we're going to work through this together.

Hi everyone (and I say *everyone* with confidence, because I've had a few friends stop by and I've even gained two new followers! WELCOME, Read on, invite your friends to stop by! Often!) I'm back with a new Pose of the Week, and with this pose, there is an interesting conflict. There are multiple benefits to the "Powerful Chair" pose: opening your chest, building focus and reducing stress, stimulating circulatory and digestive systems, as well as lengthening the spine and strengthening the feet, calves, ankles, and thighs. Wow! This pose almost does it all. The conflict is that it's such a shame that I hate intensely dislike this pose...

I haven't quite pinpointed my intense dislike for this pose...but I do know that whenever an instructor gets us into Powerful Chair, I am less than joyful to be there. I never quite feel like I have nailed it. The internal conversation begins: I don't know if my thighs are parallel enough to the ground. Are my arms high enough? Aligned enough with my ears? How much longer am I going to be in this pose? Is my lower spine curving too much? Is my tailbone pointing towards the ground? Are we done yet?

Maybe I'm not being patient enough in this pose...but at the same time, I don't feel like I have anywhere to "go" with this pose, and my presence in this pose is far from ideal. I know there are some poses that I feel like I am really making progress with, and some that I have a good mastery of. Don't get me wrong: there's always room for improvement in yoga. There's always another step to take to deepen a pose, and I know that there's somewhere to go. I'm just not anywhere close to feeling that with my Utkatasana. I'm stuck there, in awkward limbo, not quite in the pose, and definitely NOT comfortable, and the worst part is that I know my body has no clue how to get past this. There's no where TO go for me. At least it feels that way.

So for now, I'm not quite ready to give up on my Powerful Chair...but I'll be brutally honest: I'm not going to let it ruin my practice and I'm not going to stop groaning (internally) whenever my instructor brings us to this pose. I'll breathe deeply and dutifully follow along, but I'll tell you now, I'm not going to like it. Are there any poses that you're not "loving"?

Conflict may happen in your practice, but yoga's little conversations can help you work through it!

Under the Weather!

Hello, dear reader(s) - you never know, I may have picked up another reader...aaahhh, who am I kidding?!?

Anyway, it's raining, it's pouring, and I'm not even talking about outside! I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. My nose is dripping away, my muscles are achey, and my eyes are a bit "burn-y".

Yep, I have a summer cold, and that means once again, my "week of yoga" plans have been foiled! I did get in a decent practice for several days in a row, but there was no way I was getting out from under my covers this morning, let alone onto my yoga mat, even if it meant missing a Wednesday with Josh. :( *I'm sure he's unknowingly thankful...who wants a nasal drippy student in class who has shaky balance??

In the meantime, I can take a day off, pick up the pieces, and try again tomorrow! There's a class at 4:30 on Thursdays, so maybe I'll be more motivated to get there...

Today, breathe deeply; maybe one day my stuffy nose will give way and I'll be able to join you...

POW! (Pose of the Week)

This week's pose: Chaturanga Dandasana - because sometimes a girl wants to rock a strapless dress!

"Crocodile" pose, despite its simplicity, is a hard pose to master. It has a number of physical benefits, like improving circulation and digestion and building core strength, but the #1 reason for a girl to perfect this pose is the opportunity to get amazing shoulders for your strapless summer dresses!

The most common way an instructor will get you into Chaturanga is to lower yourself down from a plank (top of a push-up) pose. But you could raise yourself from the floor - I've had an instructor or two try this. I've also had an instructor encourage us to "scoop forward" from Down Dog to get there.

No matter how you get there, if you look at the photo of the model I've included this week (from Yoga Journal's website, btw - does this count as giving credit?), there are a lot of subtleties in this pose. You'll notice that her fingers are grounded and the digits face forward - to quote one of my fave's Diann: "...like the number 11". Her upper arm bones are at right angles to her lower arm bones, which are at right angles to the hands. The thighs are NOT resting on the ground, but hovering, directly in line with the rest of the torso. Finally, the foot bones are at right angles to the lower leg bones.

If you for some reason fail to keep these perpendicularities with the joints, you run the risk of aggravating Carpal and/or Tarsal tunnel syndromes or placing stress and strain on the shoulder. These mis-alignments, at worst, can cause injury to the joints in question, and at best, prevent you from developing the results you're looking for (awesome shoulders for that strapless dress!)

Just because this pose has it's difficulties doesn't mean that you shouldn't devote time and attention to mastering it. Time and attention are just what it will take to get it right! Spend the time, reap the rewards!

Namaste!

Ahimsa...

It's Sunday, and another satisfying practice with my gal Heidi! Boy did she challenge me today...and I don't know if it is because it was a true challenge, or because I wasn't quite up to many challenges today.

My three boys (hubbs included) and I spent a lovely weekend in the mountains with my bestie and HER three boys (hubbs included). We indulged a bit in yummy food and bevi, took a bit of a hike, and carrying my 3 year old much of the way did my old bones no favors. I woke up this morning quite a bit more stiff than usual, so I wasn't sure I could make it through yoga, but I soldiered on, and I'm glad I did!

We did LOTS of hip-opening poses, and many of them were new variations on old favorites. The class was not big today, but there were many "seasoned" yogis there. Several of us were struggling on some of the "advanced" variation options she gave us. At some point, she simply said "Ahimsa". My ears pricked up, because I have heard that phrase before, and I wanted to see if she would elaborate and jog my memory.

"Ahimsa" is the yogic philosophy of "do no harm" - to others OR to yourself. Isn't this a wonderful philosophy? It's basic logic to do no harm to others. This is something my husband and I reinforce even with our children. And of course, you shouldn't bring harm to yourself...that would be painful! So why, when we're exercising, do we feel the need to "feel the burn"? Where does that 80's cliche "No pain, no gain" come from? There's no need for pain or harm to your body when you're doing something that's supposed to be as beneficial as exercise!

It's common sense that a yogic philosophy such as Ahimsa should be very important when praciticing yoga...but it doesn't hurt (ha! punny!) to be reminded from time to time. Yoga is not something that's "all at once". You're not going to take your first class and be able to master every single pose. Some of the poses look downright painful...but if the yogi is following Ahimsa, then you know the pose is not painful to them. They have spent hours over the course of years slowly perfecting the pose, training their muscles to give into the pose. A little respect is in order! They put their time in, and with the same amount of patience and "non pain" you, too, someday, will find yourself there!

So, next time you find yourself in a challenging situation (it could be in yoga class, or it could be in Target when you'd like to strangle your uncooperative children), remember:

Ahimsa!

Well, that didn't work out...

My plan of "doing yoga everyday" didn't quite work out this week. I do realize that today isn't over yet, and I *could* do a home practice and all, but I really don't envision this happening. We are coming off of an epic heatwave (albeit briefly, because we're headed right back into the 90s before weekend's close), and I just feel so drained. Home practice, for me, seems to require SO much more energy than being a participant in an instructor's class. I'll muse on this in a later post, because it's something I don't get.

So, why was my plan a "Fail"? Truthfully, it was due to a variety of factors, and one of the main factors is the aforementioned heat wave. I LOVE yoga. I love practicing, I love the calm, I love what "yoga" stands for, I love the challenge it offers my body, I love the possibility it opens for me (in posture and in philosophy). But when a practice is in the afternoon, and I'll have to rouse a 3 year old from his nap in order to drag him along with his brother to the gym's childcare room, and we're faced with 90 degree weather, you have to admit that the prospect of getting to that practice is a bit daunting.

I tried psyching myself up for the class, saying "You'll feel sooooo much better once you're there in the middle of practice". But the class was with Josh, and his Wednesday class was pretty challenging: full of Chaturangas and Planks and "hops to the top" of the mat, so I knew what was in store for me in this afternoon practice. I know each class is different, but I just couldn't forget the hard work I did on Wednesday, and I wasn't quite sure I was up for it on Thursday, especially with all of the obstacles I'd have to conquer just to get there. Waking my 3 year old from his nap is never the easiest of tasks. Besides, I never know which 3 year old I'll be getting after the nap: the well-rested, chipper little fellow, full of willing conversation...or the hot, punky, sweaty guy who wants to be held for 20 minutes afternap...or the tyrant who screams at everyone and everything for the next hour. I only had a 30% chance of getting a cooperative result, and I wasn't taking those odds.

I let him sleep. I had a cup of chai. I read a few pages of my summer novel (it has nothing to do with yoga and everything to do with Sweden and dragon tattoos). I ate way too many tortilla chips. And now, I'm trying to not feel guilty about skipping practice today. Maybe I'll hit a home practice tomorrow morning, before my boys (all 3 of 'em) wake up to start their day. Maybe I won't. But I will make sure I try not to beat myself up over missing a practice. There's always another opportunity awaiting me around the bend. And I can always aim for my "week of yoga" next week!

Don't let the FAILs in life get you down. Yoga allows us to look forward to the next possibility.

POW! (pose of the week)

This week's pose: Adho Mukha Svanasana - because the dog days of summer are here!

Down Dog pose is easily one of the most recognizable poses, and you'll likely do several throughout any practice, no matter who the instructor. First of all, it is very easy to maneuver into a variety of poses from Down Dog. It strengthens your arms, legs, and torso, stretches hamstrings, back, calves, and feet, and ironically improves digestion! I say ironically, because your torso is inverted, and logic would tell you the food moves down your tract, not up. Anyway, it's a pose full of benefits, and that must be why all instructors love it!

So, with a 99 degree day with a fair amount of humidity and no rain in sight, I don't see myself working up a sweat on the mat today. In fact, my practice today was isolated to a quiet 25 minute home practice on a mat at the foot of the bed in my air-conditioned bedroom this morning. I did a more lengthy Monday practice at the gym yesterday, and I have plans to do a session with one of my "faves" Josh tomorrow. If I'm lucky, and all goes as planned, I'll hit Josh again on Thursday afternoon!

I love summertime when I have more time to practice and really set goals for myself. This week, I would love to do some yoga everyday. For more accomplished yogis and most instructors, this is not such a big deal: daily practice is a necessity. But as a working mom with 2 small boys who LUUURVE to treat my home practice as a private jungle gym session (hey, let's climb on mommy's back while she's in downward facing dog! Let's get a horsey ride while she's trying to do cat/cow! Wait, she's doing the wheel...let's hang from her waist! Triangle? Let's see if we can knock her over...), practicing every day is a real luxury.

So, fingers crossed that my week of yoga works out. I have intention...now let's hope that the Dog Days of Summer let me enjoy some Down Dog a few dozen times this week!

Set goals of your own today. With intention, you can attain them!