Bikram does it again

Bikram in Tiptoe pose (which
isn't even part of his 26 asana!)

If THIS doesn't raise the ire of many-a-Bikram-critic, I don't know what will!

Bikram Chowdhury is the founder of Bikram, or "hot", yoga, a form of asana that I've blogged about before, not favorably.  Bikram yoga is a series of 26 postures that are put in a systematic sequence which supposedly re-oxygenates the blood.  The series is typically practiced in a heated room (mimicing temperatures in India - the motherland of yoga) and the practice claims that if practiced properly and regularly, you'll lose weight, develop muscle tone, and improve your health.

There are a lot of reasons I don't care for Bikram yoga.  I feel the temperature of the room brings a "false heat" (from the outside in) to your muscles so that you can get into some of the more acrobatic postures sooner than you might have otherwise with a true, purposeful practice that slowly builds genuine fire and heat from the inside out. There's also the sense of robust athleticism that Bikram style is going for - it's almost like Yoga for Sport (lose weight?  Build muscle tone?) rather than yoga for practicing patience and discipline.  Let's just say that I'm more Patanjali's speed rather than Bikram Chowdhury's.

Over the years, other yogis (some teachers, others just people who take yoga classes) have criticized Chowdhury for being "too commercial".  He created this intense, yet very specific method which requires intensive training - available only at one of his facilities - and licensed the name Bikram Yoga, so that if you want to open true Bikram studio, you must pay him franchise royalties.  He also is credited with putting his name to a variety of fitness drinks and meal supplements which people love to indulge in, based on his endorsement.  So basically, he's capitalizing on Yoga.  This is something that traditional yogic texts do NOT condone.

Chowdhury's latest venture, USA Yoga, is a foundation that seeks to promote asana as a bona-fide Olympic sport.  Read: competition - yet another thing that traditional yogic texts do NOT condone.  A National Yoga Competition?  One where the audience is at least respectfully quiet so as to not interrupt one's concentration...causing Chowdhury's wife to spout off something along the lines of: "Well, this still is nothing compared to what I had to go through growing up back home.  People would purposely make noises to try and throw off my concentration!"  WHAT?

I'll admit, I'm well impressed when I can see someone achieve a challenging posture.  Getting yourself into crow or wheel is pretty darn awesome.  It took me many, many years to be able to do some of those things (like about 7!), and when I see someone who can do those postures, I give them a lot of credit for having the patience to practice and the diligence to stick with something long enough to progress in practice.  Asana & postures are not Girl Scout Badges.  It should not be "Oh, look, I've done that now, look how awesome I am."

It comes back to WHY you do yoga.  Are you doing it to show how awesome you are?  You're going to become bored once you can do all the postures and move on to something else, that I can assure you.  If you're doing yoga to impress people in a competition I guess that provides some sort of motivation, but the Yogic texts explain that your motivation should come from within.  They teach that asana are a form of moving mediation, preparing your mind for enlightenment.  When you focus on your postures, you can quiet the "chatter", the outside distractions that are keeping you from nirvana.  So very few people have reached this state, and that's what keeps their practice going.  Those who have reached it, are so inspired that they continue their practice to reach it again and again.

So, forget about USA Yoga, forget about competition, forget about the notches on your yoga posture belt.  Get on the mat and enjoy the path to enlightenment.  Yoga is all about the path.  You probably won't get to the end today, but I can guarantee you won't ever regret trying!

DVD Review: Shiva Rea Daily Energy

Okay, this chica rocks.  Shiva Rea hits another home run for me with her DVD: Daily Energy.  I bought this DVD from Acacia catalog (online), and paid $14.95 for it.  It's not a new DVD, and I'm certainly not the first one to write a positive review.  Daily Energy is simply a great home practice DVD for an advanced-beginner or intermediate yoga student.  I think it might be intimidating for someone who is just starting out, but if you're familiar with asanas and enjoy a practice that lets you focus and concentrate, building as you go, this is the DVD for you!
Daily Energy once again features the "Yoga Matrix", which may well be my favorite feature on Shiva's DVDs.  There are 7 20-minute segments on this DVD, and the Matrix allows you to select the segments you like - there's an "Earth flow", "Fire flow", "Water flow", etc.  There are also pre-set practices that vary in length (from 37 to 55 minutes), selected by Shiva to incorporate a "flow" with the asana.  What this means for the home practitioner is that you'll never get bored.
I got myself familiar with the DVD by trying to do each of the 20 minute segments over the course of a week.  Each day I tried a new segment.  Some are more challenging, some are more relaxing, and I was able to make a mental note of which ones would work nicely together for another time when I had more than 20 minutes to practice.  What I like about each segment is that they slowly build up to ONE posture which you finish with.  For example, the "Heart-Air" segment focuses on backbends, and you go through a series of postures that gradually build up to Wheel.  If your practice doesn't include wheel just yet, that's okay, and Shiva instructs you to take it to YOUR level (be it supported bridge, bridge, wheel, or wheel with a leg extension! woo hoo!) 
I like the option for modification with every posture throughout the entire DVD.  She instructs you to do "your chaturanga" when you're in the Fire segment (which sneaks in more than a few pushups to build arm strength). Some segments are better for the morning, some are better for the evening.  As I get to know the DVD better, I'll be able to select segments and make a really nice custom home practice depending on my energy levels and time.  I didn't like the 7 minute "core" segment, simply because it requires more floor space than I actually have.  If an instructor did this in a yoga studio at the end of a vinyasa class, it would rock. 
I bought another Shiva DVD along with this one, and once I'm done playing with Daily Energy, I will give it a whirl and write a review.  It might be a while, though, because Daily Energy is just that good!

Always be pure, simple, and honest.

Thanks, Yoga Journal. Really...Thanks!

I'm not making excuses, but another reason I haven't blogged much lately is because Yoga Journal already does the work for me...AND delivers it straight to my inbox each day.  There are countless yoga teachers out there who write daily blogs far more knowledgeable (they have the 200+hour training to back it up!) and, dare I say it, just as entertaining as mine, and Yoga Journal culls them all, sending the best entries via email to anyone who signs up to subscribe to the posts.  They really are insightful, and many times they mention things that are worth sharing.  But, many times I also get too lazy to re-craft what the message is so I'm not a plagiarist, and I leave it.
One recent blog post however, read about it here, IS worthwhile mentioning.  It talks about our national obsession with 6-pack abs.   A recent perusal of the offerings in Target's fitness section had no fewer than 3 media offerings promising "fab abs" or "6-pack in 6-minutes" or "Flat abs diet".  It's enough to make any gal feel like a hopeless underachiever. 
My abs are not fab.  I don't spend 6 minutes a day on them, and my diet certainly isn't helping the matter.  While I miraculously have few stretch marks, the skin is less-than-taut, thanks to carrying 2 babies full-term (healthy, chubby 8 pounders, each!).  I never, even way back when, was skinny or "slim" (in fact, I think I weigh less now than I did when I was a Senior in HS), so I've always had a tummy, and I've ALWAYS been self-conscious about it.  The article gave me some hope.

This article explains that a 6-pack of abs might not be "healthy" (say WHAT?).   Sure it looks good, but all of that muscle bulk gets in the way of flexibility.  Hey, that's good news!  What we should be after is "strength" - a strong core that helps support your spine, shoulders, and head - and that is not necessarily what you get with 3 rows and 2 columns of perfectly chiseled muscle.  Sounds contradictory, right?  Not so.  The article explains that chronically tight abdominal muscles are not any healthier than chronically tight hamstrings or back muscles.  Ouch.  Furthermore, women can suffer estrogen loss and bone weakness if they lose enough fat to give that chiseled abdominal look.  Huh.  Turns out it's actually normal and better for women to have a little extra padding in the middle.
Instead, aim for a strong core that permits flexibility and movement.  Practice yoga poses that engage all of your abdominal muscles to help you gain this flexibility - and there are a host of postures that will do this!  The author is not saying (and I agree) that we should all give up and resort to a doughy middle - doing so can increase the risk of maladies such as heart disease and diabetes - but we should have different priorities when it comes to the appearance of our bodies.  Basically, it's not about appreciating how it looks.  It's about appreciating what it can do.
So, thanks, YJ (actually blogger Fernando Ruiz), for doing the work for me about this insecurity-inducing issue, but most of all, THANKS for helping me feel better about the lack of tone going on in my own mid-section.

Be accepting.  Accept your faults, accept your weaknesses - they are just as important as your strengths.

Fall DeTox

This Fall, "cleansing" and "detox" seem to be all the rage.  As an avid reader of Yoga Journal, I have been interested in their 7-day Fall DeTox, but I also know of no fewer than 3 other people who have been doing some sort of Green Tea or DeTox cleanse in as many weeks. 

The reasons for doing a cleanse are as varied as the number of people doing them.  Some do it to recharge their batteries, some do it for weight loss (which will be fleeting unless you radically change your eating and exercise habits following the cleanse!) , and some do it to literally cleanse the body of toxins.  When I thought about it, I was surprised to consider that toxins come from anywhere: from medications, environmental pollutants, additives to cosmetics and beauty products, unhealthy foods, bottles of champagne and wine at your friend's house on Tuesdays, etc. After reading up on some of the benefits of the program from Yoga Journal and considering the summer I had, I decided that this is something I should do. 

Yoga Journal's 7-Day Detox is based on the principles of Ayurveda.  In order to properly reap the benefits of this cleanse, you start by taking a short quiz to determine which Dosha is dominant with you right now.  We are all a combination of Vata, Pitta, or Kapha, but one or two of these may be stronger in you than others.  Weeks ago, I already determined that I was strongly Pitta with slight tendencies toward Kapha.  What this means is that I will be adding Pitta-balancing nutrients and foods to the Detox recipes.  What I like about this Detox is the fact that you are instructed to eat real live food.  Delicious food, full of flavors, exotic though they may be.  Food that I would normally eat at an Indian Buffet on any given Sunday.  Other cleanses severely limit your food intake (The Green Tea cleanse has you ingesting nothing more than green tea for 5 days.  Sure, you'll lose a bunch of weight, but when you go out to eat a nice meal on the 6th day, you'll put most of it back on and likely suffer indigestion as your body goes into shock from processing actual food).

I checked out the recipes, and despite an abundance of local Indian grocers where I could root around and find some of the more exotic spices and ingredients, I took the shortcut and ordered an Ayurvedic Cleanse kit from Banyan Botanicals.  It was a little pricey, but it saved me a lot of time and I can be sure that I have all the right herbs and supplements needed for the 7 day detox.

The main dish I'll be eating for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner is a rice-based stew called Kitchari.  It's made with ghee, a clarified butter, that I've heard about but never actually tried.  It also includes Mung Beans, which are oval-shaped beans similar in texture to a lentil.  I started by warming the ghee and adding some of the spice from a pouch that came with the Ayurvedic kit.  Then I added the Mung beans, Basmati rice and several cups of water.  This simmered on the stove until tender (about 30 minutes because I had pre-soaked the beans and rice).  My Pitta tendencies dictated that I should add some carrots, green beans, and zucchini to the recipe to DELICIOUS results.  Yes, it's going to be hard to choke the same meal down for 21 meals straight, but at least it tastes good!  I can vary things a little by adding a spoonful of coriander "chutney" now and then and drink some vegetable broth, but for the most part this Kitchari is it. 

So, I'm in the middle of my 3rd day, and I have been less than perfect.  My kids asked for candy corn at the store yesterday, and I indulged them...and proceeded to indulge myself throughout the afternoon!  I'm annoyed with my lack of willpower, but nothing unpleasant has happened to me.  The scale isn't doing anything spectacular, but I'm not necessarily doing this to lose weight.  I mean, don't get me wrong - a pound or two less would be welcome, but the increase in energy, the introspection, the clearer skin, and general improvement in self esteem are what I'm after.  I already feel like I'm doing something great for myself, and that in and of itself gives a great boost.

Well, I'm off to give my kids some RedMango and do everything in my power NOT to give in to temptation.  This will be the ultimate test!

What he had yearned to embrace was not the flesh but a downy spirit, a spark, the impalpable angel that inhabits the flesh - Antoine deSaint-Exupery

Challenging poses!

tittibhasana
(are you kidding me with that name?)

It seems that everyone has a yoga posture that presents them with challenges.  It could be a simple pose that you visit every week or it could be something as challenging as the posture you see to the left.  What the heck is that gal doing?!?  It's a rather challenging advanced posture called "Firefly Pose", or Tittibhasana.  It was featured in this month's Yoga Journal along with a step-by-step on how to prepare yourself for entering what I think looks like a rather impressive pose.

This step-by-step approach is essential to mastering any tough postures!  Begin with babysteps, mastering your "foundation", and you can build your practice to include even the most challenging poses.  You can't start building a skyscraper without building a first floor.

For Firefly, it turns out that the "first step" is just a more intense forward lunge with the shoulder under the forward knee, instead of tucking the knee into your armpit.  For now, I think I can work on taking my lunge deeper and becoming familiar with the new feeling of having my shoulder under instead of over.  This is what yoga has always been about - shifting your comfort levels, testing your limits, and once you're comfortable, shift them again.  It's the only way to let your practice grow.

This is purely "the physical" - you can certainly apply this yogic philosophy of pushing the limits of your comfort levels with your mind and attitude.  Perhaps it will help you in a tough new relationship or one that has been troubling you for years.  Take baby steps with your postures, take baby steps with your relationships and be surprised at how much you can grow and feel better about your place in the world!

So, will it take me weeks or months to get that shoulder under the forward knee?  I'll have to start opening up my hips if I want to get there...

Mind, body, and spirit are all one; they cannot be separated.  To make progress in one, you must make progress in all.

ps - for those of you with an advanced practice, Kathryn Budig has a weekly blog where she posts "Yoga Challenge Poses" with step-by-step instructions to build your practice to include these extreme pretzel postures ;) Click here to read more!