Yoga Diary

Yoga Under a Big Blue Sky

2011-09-23T15:33:18Z

Photo: J.T. Liss (Photography for Social Change)

Sun Salutations in the late-afternoon sun. Hawks soaring high above. A light breeze cooling down the day while gentle drumming keeps the tempo. Around me, 60 yogis, woman and men, arch into Up Dog, faces radiant as they gaze skyward.

Such was the idyllic scene at the recent Mind, Body, Spirit and Wine event at Wente Vineyards in Livermore, California. Leading us through the practice was the lovely Suzanna Spring from Cosmic Dog Yoga studios. And co-teaching on this perfect autumn day was Yogadork, the delightful and prolific New York yoga blogger and teacher.

The event marked the confluence of passions for yogin-winemaker Karl Wente, whose love of the practice is something of local legend. Around the winery, Wente is known for his spontaneous expressions of asana, busting out an arm balance to make a point or kicking into headstand when too-long tasting sessions start to dull his senses. Yoga, he says, makes him a better winemaker, helping to cultivate the Beginner's Mind that allows him to approach each wine anew, fully experiencing every nuance. Watch Wente discuss his yoga-and-winemaking philosophy here.

Pairing yoga with wine is a relatively new trend that stirs some debate in yoga circles. But on this day, yogis flush from fresh air and asana happily sampled the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah Wente had chosen for a post-class tasting.

Whether or not you agree with mixing your yoga with wine, it's hard not to like outdoor yoga. Your inhalations feel deeper; the exhales extend further. Reach for the sky; bow to the earth. No walls, no boundaries. Practicing under an autumn-blue sky, surrounded by grapevines? A votre sante!

Where Yoga and Zen Meet

2011-06-17T16:26:23Z

Yoga and Buddhism stem from the same Indian lineage yet remain distinct spiritual paths. Still, there's natural crossover between the two disciplines, and mutual respect among practitioners of each. This relationship is beautifully celebrated at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center--an oasis of mindfulness nestled some 20 miles inland from California's Big Sur coastline in the Ventana Wilderness.

Photo of Tassajara's yoga studio courtesy of Margo Moritz margomoritz.com

While Tassajara primarily serves as a Zen teaching monastery, from April through September, its doors open to the public to enjoy the site's natural hot springs, abundant hiking trails, meditation instruction, and some seriously delicious vegetarian food (mealtime is a much-anticipated event here). Guests attend workshops that explore mindfulness as it relates to relationship-building, cooking, art, writing--and yoga, which has become one of the most popular workshop themes. The folks behind Tassajara, a branch of the San Francisco Zen Center, have made such a commitment to its yoga program that they just built a gorgeous eco-friendly studio, complete with cork flooring heated by piped hot-spring water, solar electricity, tons of natural light--it's even stocked with Manduka Eko-Lite mats.

On a recent visit, I had the good fortune to test-drive the just-opened studio in a class with San Francisco's Diego del Sol, who was teaching a three-day yoga and Zen retreat with Tassajara's head of practice, Greg Fain. The class was great, and pretty intense. I'll admit, somewhere during our umpteenth Sun Salutation variation, my mindfulness strayed into a daydream about a post-class soak in the hot springs. But then, Savasana. Pure sensation. Nothing but idle awareness of the sound of Tassajara Creek rolling by and dappled sunlight playing across my closed eyelids. I think I reached a Zen state!

Combined with endless surprises from the world-famous kitchen (what 1970s vegetarian didn't own the Tassajara Bread Book, not to mention the center's gorgeous contemporary cookbooks), stunning natural beauty, and absolute serenity, this is a destination yoga retreat center well worth the drive. And what a drive it is. Tassajara is located in a canyon, 14 miles down a winding, unpaved mountain road. (There's a shuttle for those without 4-wheel drive or who are squeamish about off-road adventures.)

Three years ago, the center was threatened by a summer wildfire that swept through Big Sur, eventually taking out 162,818 acres. The fascinating story of a heroic band of Tassajara residents who stayed behind to defend the property is chronicled in a new book, Fire Monks, out in July. Lucky for all of us, Tassajara still stands, ready to share its bounty with anyone willing to venture deep into the forest--and into their own hearts.

Naked Truths

2010-08-11T17:34:44Z

Opinions run hot about nudity in advertising and Yoga Journal's role in contemporary yoga culture.

In the September issue, we published a letter written by the esteemed yoga teacher and Yoga Journal co-founder Judith Hanson Lasater, which expressed her disapproval of advertisements featuring naked women. It's been a hot topic ever since, and it seems appropriate to offer a few thoughts.

First, I greatly respect Judith and her concerns. Over the years, we've had conversations about the magazine, the business, the community. More than once, she has called me to share an opinion, in her trademark direct style, and we talked about her September letter before I published it. I appreciate her frankness.

I interpreted Judith's formal note about ads that she feels "exploit the sexuality of young women in order to sell products" to be a message both to the folks at Yoga Journal who make advertising decisions, (I am responsible for editorial direction only, I have no authority over advertising)--and to the larger community, including the creators of the ads.

Clearly Judith's letter struck a chord, and I've read the opinions of many people who agree with her views. Others have written specifically in support of what they see as the artistic beauty of the ToeSox ads, in particular, which feature the talented yoga teacher and frequent Yoga Journal contributor Kathryn Budig demonstrating poses in the buff.

The diversity of reader opinion isn't surprising, given the diversity of the yoga community today and the highly subjective nature of the matter at hand. But somewhere in all the heated blog posts about whether nudity equals exploitation and about what Yoga Journal's advertising policies should be, I've seen a fair bit of frustration and misunderstanding about Yoga Journal's role in the community.

Over the past 35 years, Yoga Journal has evolved from a nonprofit publication aimed at yoga teachers to a popular magazine read by more than 2 million Americans and supported by national advertising. Perhaps the biggest difference between the magazine Judith founded and the one I edit today is that while Yoga Journal continues to be a source of instruction and insight on yogic practices, it is now also a chronicle of the ever-evolving yoga scene--a scene that didn't exist 35 years ago and one that some old-time practitioners would, quite frankly, find un-yogic.

Yoga Journal doesn't intend to be a textbook of ancient practices, nor an arbiter of yogic morality. It's a magazine that introduces people to a world of ideas--sometimes profound, life-changing ideas that they might not otherwise be exposed to.

It's a messy time to be in the business of covering yoga. Some yoga publications that offered a purist's view of the practice are no longer in print, while "workout yoga" is popular on the newsstand. Yoga Journal remains devoted to bringing a full spectrum of teachings to a wide audience, and it does so while walking the age-old line of art and commerce.

Spiritual teachers often say that while monkhood requires practicing austerities, it is actually easier to live in a cave than to practice yoga while living in the world; it's tough to maintain a quiet mind when deadlines loom, when the kids meltdown, when all kinds of distractions beg for your attention. Yoga Journal lives out in that world--tackling real-life issues of finances, politics (yes, politics in the world of yoga!), and the sometimes-clashing ideals of the yoga community. I'm proud that amid all the chaos, the magazine continues to focus on delivering wise teachings and practical tools for bringing the essence of yoga into our daily lives.

We are grateful to have the support of the teaching community, including Judith and the many other dedicated teachers who share the depth of their knowledge through our pages, and the support of our advertisers, which enables us to continue offering world-class instruction, insight, and inspiration for practice. As always, we hope that the magazine we work so hard to bring to you, serves you well.

--Kaitlin Quistgaard
Editor in Chief, Yoga Journal

Hugging in--and saying No

2010-07-01T22:16:51Z

I was out at lunch with a friend in Brooklyn the other day. She's Israeli, and she enjoys teaching me Yiddish words that seem random. (Like the word for suspenders, or shleykes.)

I was telling her about my decision to spend the rest of 2010 engaged in a hugging practice. For the first half of the year, I toured like crazy, a rewarding yet hectic experience of meeting students and studio owners across the country. For the next few months, and into 2011, I'm going to hug in, or streamline and focus as much as possible, on what positively serves my goals of teaching Core Strength principles to people. And I intend to limit the things that drain my energy unnecessarily so that I have more quality instruction to share when I do teach.

"Gurnisht!" my friend interjected.

"What?" I replied.

She explained that in Yiddish, this word means "done" or "a decision made." That's it, that's all, that's all she wrote.

Gurnisht is what we do whenever we choose not to participate in something in favor of doing something else. Yogis go a step further, We aim to bring a consciousness and compassion to our choices, so the decisions we make end up helping us to stay healthy and balanced, with energy to give to the important projects and relationships that nourish us in return.

I know that, for me at least, it's much easier to say yes than to say no. It's uncomfortable to disappoint people. It's also intense to keep energy inside that could have gone out to something or someone else, as anyone knows who has ever held Chair Pose for what seems like an eternity instead of running screaming out if the room.

The key to balance is to know when a yes or a no will best serve your highest good. Often, my students express anxiety about saying no, because it feels like a negative thing. Well, it inherently is, and yet when we realize that a boundary can be as positive as an offering, our perspective of saying gurnisht might also shift.

After all, without banks, a river becomes a stagnant swamp. If we truly want to move anything forward in our lives, it's important to first identify the areas to which we want to give our commitments. Then, the borders we build with the solidity of our focus around those agreements encourage our energy to flow forward into action. Over time, these positive habits carve a path toward our preferred creations, careers, loves, and life choices.

This sounds great, but it is supremely challenging to do, whether you're saying yes to a wonderful opportunity or no to participating in relationships or responsibilities that take you off track of what you wish to cultivate. Understanding when to employ agreement or denial is a skill we use each time we step onto the mat. In our asanas, in any given moment, we get chances to hug in or expand in infinite ways: Do you want to express outward into Full Wheel or back off in Bridge Pose to protect an injured shoulder or to save energy? Through refining our choices based on what we think will empower our ultimate harmony of sthira-sukha, or steadiness and ease, we learn how to more easily navigate the constant stream of requests coming from within and, once we move off the mat, from the outside world.

One could even say that sthira is our no, and sukha is the freedom and joy of our big yes that sthira helps to make possible. After all, there can hardly be one without the other.

In our poses and in our lives, we employ not only conscious yeses, but conscious nos. Yoga teaches us that when you choose your dharma, and step into the current of your highest expression of health and happiness, freedom and delight, you undeniably serve the highest good of everyone else around you.

Think about that for a moment.

We yogis know that even though good is served doesn't mean it will feel good to say no to drama and yes to our dharma. At times, moving toward our own truth can cause anger, fear, insecurity, and pain--for others and for ourselves.

When your heart and your core tell you that it's time to hug in, and say "no more" to leaking your attention and prana (life force)--instead making room for freedom from suffering and freedom to be yourself--remember the principle of gurnisht and don't do it!

Core Pose: Half Chaturanga Dandasana

Just because this is half a Chaturanga doesn't mean it's not fully challenging. I see so many students rushing or collapsing through full Chaturanga, and they flirt with shoulder, elbow and wrist strain, instead of reaping the core and arm-strengthening benefits of the pose. This variation will help you back off to go deeper. Coming into effective alignment and generating the freedom of more power and safety means you have to create boundaries all around the pose.

Begin in Plank Pose, fingers wide, palms and fingertips grounding. Place your knees down on the mat, not under the hips, but farther back. Remain lifted at the navel with a long tailbone and spine. Reach your chest forward between the upper arms without sinking toward the floor and winging the shoulder blades; they stay firmly on your back. Hug your elbows in, not squeezing the ribs but also not leaking energy by opening too wide. Keep the elbows directly over your wrists.

On an exhalation, float your heart forward to maintain the vertical line of your forearms, push the floor with your hands, pull up the side waists and lower belly, and begin to lower, by about 2 to 4 inches. Resist the urge to go to as far as full Chaturanga. Staying higher will keep you working from the belly, or center, of your muscles, so you gain tone instead of stressing connective tissue and joints.

Try 3-5 repetitions, holding each Half Chaturanga for 1-3 breaths. Press back into Child's Pose and rest for 1 minute after your last pose.

Saying Yes

2010-06-29T22:14:05Z

Yesterday morning, sitting at my desk, hard at work, I would have never predicted that by late afternoon I'd be sitting on a boat with Yogic Arts creator Duncan Wong, eating watermelon and floating down the Hudson River. But that's exactly what happened.

That morning, my manager, Ava, called, inviting me to hop aboard the meditation and reiki cruise that Captain Ike and his Spirit Seeker Journeys crew does weekly. "Get to the boat basin at 79th Street," she said. "Life awaits!"

At first I said no. I had far too much business to attend to, I was comfortably at home with my tea, my computer, and Google, and it seemed unfathomable to peel myself out of the chair and make such a big trek. Not to mention that getting from Brooklyn to some uptown Manhattan dock during rush hour is an almost impossibly long journey.

When I hung up the phone, though, I began to reconsider. I could always work, but a boat, a willing captain, and an available body of water is not always as easy to find. I took a deep breath, got up, and went to find my sunblock.

When I got to the boat, I was pleased to see Duncan and Ava there, along with some new friends and yoga teachers I looked forward to getting to know. And bond we did. The day was gorgeous, our ravenous yogi appetites cleared out Captain Ike's cupboards, and we had so much fun that a scheduled 7:30pm return became 11:30pm! It was a special day, magical even, and lying on the deck watching the moon hide and reappear between skyscrapers, I was so thankful I'd chosen sailing over Googling.

I realized that as yoga practitioners, we have more choices than we might think about the quality with which we live our lives. It's so easy to fall into our samskaras, mental and emotional patterns that can drive the habitual actions and default settings we've been doing for so long. Sometimes it's like we're on we're on autopilot, and that the way we're living is the only reality there is.

But once in a while, we get the opportunity to choose again, to broaden our perspective of what our day could be like, or how our lifestyles, our relationships, careers and ways of perceiving the world could be brighter, more abundant, and could serve us in the absolute best ways possible. Sometimes I hear myself saying "no" to the unknown adventures that might be found on a different track, because I think, "I can't possibly do that." My rational mind then proceeds to tell me why.

Well, what if, just once in a while, we let our spirits answer with the big "Yes" born of the question: "Why not?" Doing exactly that yesterday, instead of returning phone calls a little faster or making my deadlines a little earlier, manifested a memory I will cherish for a lifetime. After all, life isn't always going to give us the peace and happiness we want. Sometimes we have to create it from the inside out by doing something revolutionary.

So, next time you find yourself deep in a samskara that might be comfortable but not pushing you to be as powerful and vital as you'd like to be, see if you can jump out and say "Yes!" to something radical, exciting, and new. After all, life awaits.

Core Pose: Shakti Kicks

I call these Shakti Kicks in honor of the creative fire they spark at your center. If you want to bust out of a rut, this energetic pose is a fast-track to transformation! I use it to help students strengthen the upper body for arm balances and inversions as they practice courage and the hugging into center it takes to re-track towards power and grace.

Note: You don't have to kick this high. I encourage you to start very mindfully, going slower and lower than you might think you can. All my asanas are built from the ground up, specifically to give you the best chance to remain in the integrity of your body's healthy structure and respect your individual process, even as you're moving and growing in the pose. So try little hops, and chip away at this pose until you are going farther but still in full alignment.

From Down Dog, firm your fingertips into the floor and walk your feet together. Press your big toe mounds into a bandha, or lock. This activates your inner thighs and keeps your legs hugging in for more control as you hop.

Bend your knees on an inhalation and look forward between your hands. Draw up through your lower belly as you take small or larger hops. If you're building strength, or if your wrists or shoulders won't support hopping, then pretend to hop, grounding the hands down and lifting your hips higher with the low and mid abdominals on each exhale. Otherwise, aim your heels for the sitting bones and land with bent knees. As you hop, exhale strongly for more core support, and keep your shoulder blades naturally down the back even as your hands press into the floor.

Eventually, your hips may hover over your arms and you'll be able to tuck your tailbone and lift your belly as you root down through your hands and set your feet down lightly. However, even if you're kicking low, you can still find the dynamic earth-to-core connection that allows you to lighten your landings as you float between the hands.

Try 5-10 kicks then fold forward for a few back-body stretching breaths in Uttanasana.

It's a Small World

2010-05-10T16:55:40Z

Last week while on a trip to Japan with my husband, yoga teacher Jason Crandell, I got to witness the true meaning of yoga, or union: On a sunny Saturday morning, more than 700 yogis gathered together in a grassy park outside of the sleek Roppongi Hills mall in Tokyo to take part in the Yoga Aid Challenge. Now in its fifth year (and with events throughout the year in seven countries), the Tokyo Yoga Aid participants raised more than 1.2 million yen

for local charities. The reward for participating? Practicing together in the park while 12 well-known teachers led a two-hour class.

As each teacher took 10 minutes to share their teachings with the crowd, I was struck by how beautifully diverse yoga is: Ms. Michiko Minegishi took to the stage with dramatic music and her inspiring students behind her, Duncan Wong got his groove on while sharing his Yogic Arts style, former San Francisco Bay Area resident and Anusara Yoga teacher Mark Shveima (he now resides in Kyoto) showed his hard-won skills by leading the crowd in Japanese. "Lunge-en-a-pose-u!" said Shveima and the students obliged him with a High Lunge, arms extending skyward. American teachers (like my hubby) and Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa shared their portion of the practice via translators.

Despite the teachers' stylistic differences, the mixed class came together seamlessly. As the practice ended and all 700 of us put our arms around each other and sang with Gurmukh "We are the people, the people of love. Let us people, love today" I was not only feeling the love, I was feeling blessed to have experienced such a sense of union even though I was so far from home.

The video I put together above shows just a few highlights from the day.

--Andrea Ferretti

Embrace the Unexpected

2010-04-27T22:57:41Z

I'm back from Sedona after shooting my new DVDs, resting up from the wild ride that was last week. And when I say "wild," I mean it. To be transplanted from the concrete jungle that is Manhattan--where the closest I get to flora are the bouquets sold in front of every deli, and my fauna sightings consist of dogs on leashes and the occasional subway rat--was quite the experience.

When I arrived at the location, a plateau in Red Rock State Park overlooking a basin and surrounded by rust-red mountains, it took my breath away. I took a big chance and decided to film the whole thing using a live microphone instead of adding in the sound later from a studio recording.

Alas, the wind, sun, and occasional rain didn't care that we were shooting a yoga video. Viewers will hear and see it all, just as it naturally happened. The light shifts, the dust swirls, and at one point I felt like I was in the middle of a Harry Potter-esque duel of elements. At one point, I was blown right off the mat in a Warrior Two--something you might usually only see on a video outtake.

I came to the location thinking everything would be peaceful, leaving us to our Zen creation. Once I'd been there for 5 minutes, however, I knew I'd have to shift my expectations and transform how I would approach the experience.

Yoga teaches us that the inability to go with the flow, instead trying mold the outer environment to suit your inner needs, is the greatest cause of suffering. This week I want to return to the idea of aparigraha, or nongrasping, and show you how to use it to your benefit when situations arise that you don't expect.

There are two choices whenever you find yourself in a state of duhkha, or suffering, because something's not going the way you'd hoped. You can hang onto your expectation in a state of stress and strain, or you can shrug your shoulders, turn towards the new information, and say, simply, How can I turn this to my advantage? The great thing about aparigraha is that if you're holding on too tightly to one perspective, you're just as capable of picking up another, more empowering one, and holding it instead.

The transition from "this cannot be happening" to "this is my teaching" is a hard at first. But like anything, with practice, it gets easier. Just as every yoga pose that challenges you and feels uncomfortable is another call to learn to move from a state of resisting intensity to using it to serve your ultimate goals.

For me, it all comes down to not needing to control everything and thinking I know what needs to happen for me to be content. Instead, when I stepped on that mountain and things started getting crazy, I didn't. I looked around, took a deep breath, and thought, "Here we are. Now, what are we going to do with it?"

I heard from the directors that the footage we shot looks incredible, and that the wind adds to the teaching instead of detracting from it. But I still made sure to mention at the beginning of the video that we were in for quite a ride, and used it as a way to show that I was practicing what I teach.

Even if it hadn't turned out so well, I would have embraced that, taken it inside, and turned it into a learning experience to help me become wiser, stronger, and more prepared for the next time. We can all do this, no matter how easy or challenging the teaching that shows up may be. Remain watchful, open, and resilient. And when the opportunity arises for you to alchemize a disappointment or fear into something wild and free, grab onto it with both hands.

Core Pose: Poet's Pose (also known as a variation of Half Moon Pose, or Ardha Chandrasana, variation)

This pose presents a wonderful way to experience the ebbs and flows of balance while striving to remain inwardly centered even when you topple over from the strong winds of change. As you approach it, remember to keep your breathing even and your drishti, or gaze, on the ground beneath you.

Stand toward the front of your mat, feet sitting-bone-distance apart. Bend your knees and place the fingertips of both hands a little wider than shoulder distance in front of you.

On an exhalation, bring your left knee into your chest and activate your lower abdominals and natural low back curve in and up towards the ribs. Maintain a long tailbone and open heart as you begin to open your left hip to stack over the right.

With your core engaged, begin to lengthen your left leg out behind you at hip height, and unfurl your chest and left arm to the sky. Keep looking down as you play with bending your right standing leg and lifting your right fingertips off the floor and into your chest. Contract your topside waist as you press firmly and evenly into the floor with the right foot. Straighten your standing leg in time.

Hold for 3-5 breaths. Return to Standing Forward Bend and give a sweet exhale through the mouth, releasing any tension you were holding inside. Repeat on the other side.

 

The Animal Within

2010-04-22T22:00:00Z

I'm in Sedona this week filming my next two DVDs. I'd heard that this area is ideal for spiritual quests and uniting with your source energy, which is why I wanted to shoot here. In addition to completing the videos, I have a goal: To find my spirit animal.

On my time off, I've kept my eye out for the symbol of my spirit in animal form, something that the indigenous North American cultures hold sacred. The first two days, all I saw were ants and flies. I began to wonder if it was possible to have a spirit insect instead. Then today, while I was out walking, two jet-black ravens suddenly appeared and stood in my path. One was tearing apart someone's old sandwich and the other stood silently looking at me. We studied each other for a long moment, and then the sandwich-free Raven flew away, gorgeous and free, and the other remained to finish its dinner.

I was both disgusted and awed by these creatures, and though I'd been hoping for something cool like a wolf or a scorpion, I realized how perfect these spirit guides were for me. Ravens are believed to be keepers of wisdom and secrets, and one of their jobs is to help those they are linked with become better teachers. Plus, since my take on yoga is that it's found everywhere, both in the ugliness and the beauty of life, these two ravens taught me to remember to not only seek my lessons in comfort and ease, but also in times of discomfort and even when I don't make myself proud.

Like anything, spirit guides may or may not be "real," but anything that leads us into a deeper awareness of ourselves is a tradition I can get behind. In yoga, we say that self-recognition in seemingly external sources is another way to practice svadhyaya, or study of the sacred and of the Self. Whatever leads you to directly contemplate your highest inner nature and use your actions to create a lifestyle of integrity is sacred study. Your svadhyaya might be a rock song, a Pablo Neruda poem, the Yoga Sutra, or a quiet walk in the woods. My ravens are only me, introducing myself to who I really am.

Today, I invite you to keep your eyes open for your animal spirit and your ears tuned for voices of wisdom that may come from any and all directions. Maybe you've already got one speaking to you or maybe your guide will meet you along your path in an unexpected way. When we walk with presence and an open ear, we'll receive our teachings that much more easily.

So, who's whispering to you--from you--right now?

Core Pose: Eka Pada Galavasana (also known as Flying Crow)

It's as close as I could get to the raven, and it's a great pose for teaching svadhyaya in action: moving from Earth to sky using your deep core connection.

At any step along the way, if you find yourself losing integrity, back off, check in, find the pose variation that brings you to your personal edge of transformation, and play there. In time, you might go farther physically. But either way, you'll be accessing your source of presence and wisdom right where you are.

1. Come into Utkatasana (Chair Pose) and cross one ankle over the opposite knee. Bring your palms together at your chest. Stay evenly grounded on your standing foot and begin to hinge forward from the hips. If possible, place your elbows in front of your standing leg's shin, lift your belly in and up to lengthen the spine, and breathe.

2. Bend forward and plant your hands on the floor shoulder-distance apart. Spread your fingers wide and parallel your wrist creases to the front of the mat. Dig deep to hook your top foot snugly around the opposite arm, and press your knee into the same arm. Lean from your heart and gaze forward as you align your elbows over your wrists. Root down through your hands, press your arms into your shin, and lift through your belly as you raise the standing foot off the floor.

3. When you can hover in step 2, float the heart forward and simultaneously lengthen the back leg for a full flying variation.

A Better Balance

2010-04-20T22:30:00Z

This weekend, I'm leading a three-day Core Strength Immersion in New York City. After writing my post about respecting limitations while still seeking transformation, I decided to make a public statement, not only to the 60 students in the room, but all the future yogis who will watch the Immersion (it's being filmed): Let your poses be imperfect.

That's right; I've hit a tipping point in my teaching where I am becoming much more interested in what a student can do to be more honestly themself in a pose, and I care much less how straight they can get their front leg in Triangle.

For an instructor who doubles as an anatomy geek, it may seem unusual to hear me say this, yet nothing could be more my style. Symmetry, or perfection as we sometimes think of it (the "perfect" body, relationship, or handstand), is what you get in a office building, with its level surfaces and, straight lines.

Balance, on the other hand, is what nature does, and it's wild and free, yet comes to find its own equilibrium after all. Think of a river, which meanders here and there but ultimately reaches its source.

In your yoga poses, and your life--have you been remaining sensitive to your state of balance, or straining for symmetry? If it's the latter, this may help give you perspective:

There is not one thing in the human body that runs in a straight line. Our bones, blood, and breath all move in a spiral motion. Our nerves, spine, brain, joints, GItract? Not linear either.

Yet so often, we strive to attain linear poses that our bodies are not made to reach. We want to be in alignment in a way that's healthy and balanced, but it's easy to let symmetry-seeking creep into the process. The end result can be a hardening of the outer body, layering on more and more tension as we try to grip and force ourselves into pre-conceived geometry.

Instead, there is a way of balancing this sthira (strength) with sukha (ease). A way to allow our spinning, waving, spiraling selves to soften enough to find the true edge, dissolve areas of tension, and still move forward into what is our unique optimal alignment.

I speak from experience, because I used to be militant about doing every pose "right." In my quest for the perfect body on and off the mat, I developed an eating disorder as well as a ton of yoga-related repetitive stress injuries. Along the way, I did reach my goal of handstand without the wall. What I did not attain, however, was any sort of happiness or joy. Therefore, in my opinion, I wasn't practicing yoga at all, but dukha, or suffering. A focus on perfection will always circle back to the big D.

Later in life and yoga, I got so sick (literally) of forcing myself into a box, that I began to seek out studios and teachers who advocated mindful, individual adaptation over form. I noticed that most of these teachers were over 40, many of them much older. Their physical asanas were very different than mine, yet the message is so freeing: Take this practice, poses, lessons and all, and make it yours, without apology or regret.

Approaching 40 myself, I can tell you that a relaxation occurs after a certain amount of time struggling and failing to reach absolute symmetry. You see it in the attitudes of certain grandparents, and it shows up in the practices of longtime yogis. The amazing thing is, once I let go of my quest for the unattainable, many of the poses, like the hovering jump-forward that I could never before master, became available to me.

Yoga, ultimately is a path of personal transformation, not perfection. Reclaiming this aspect of your practice gets you into direct connection with your core, and asks that you express your truth to the world in the way that's best for you. When we remember that our growth and spiritual awakening happens only to the extent we can get present, get close to our inner nature, and take actions from integrity--none of which have a thing to do with a false ideal of perfection--life becomes wildly, strangely, perfect after all.

Core Pose: CAT/COW VARIATIONS

Sometimes, I feel like anything not on the the mat is forbidden territory--or "hot lava," as we called it in my childhood. Yet venturing outside the rectangle can be just what you need to find pockets of tension, and then move and breathe to release them.

Come onto your hands and knees. Take a few arches and curls of the spine, then begin to move creatively as you listen to the cues of your body. Move your head, your arms, and even legs to serve your goals of equalizing support and freedom.

Spend a few minutes in this pose, adventuring in your own way!

Thanking All Your Teachers

2010-04-16T21:43:10Z

Last weekend at the Yoga Journal Conference was a whirlwind, and a whole lot of fun. Since I wasn't teaching until Sunday, I had the opportunity to take some classes. I studied with Gary Kraftsow, Desirée Rumbaugh, Seane Corn, and Leslie Kaminoff. I was in the audience for Deepak Chopra's evening talk, and I listened in for bits of talks from Matthew Sanford, Beryl Bender Birch, and Rodney Yee. I narrowly missed Julie Gudmestad and Bo Forbes, but I'm hot on their trails, too.

Over the years, I've studied with just about every well-known yoga teacher there is, and many others. What strikes me is that although we share the same title--yoga instructor--we can be so different in just about every way: personality, poses, focus, knowledge, opinions, and communication style. Yet this weekend, the core message was the same from everyone: Find balance, live in balance, and take actions from balance. I heard it again and again, in every conceivable way.

I was fortunate to have conversations with the people who put on the conference, and this parity was also part of their vision of creating a community offering where people could be equally exposed to the healing benefits of yoga, no matter what teacher they resonated with the most.

It did my heart good to hear this. I've seen pockets of separation in the yoga world, stemming from a "my style, your style" mentality. It's the reason why I specifically didn't want to create a style of yoga, but rather a "take" on yoga that anyone could use, whether they're an Ashtanga yogi or a Kundalini practitioner.

The thing is, there are many doorways into your true nature, all that lead to your inner teacher in the lifelong process yogis know as svadhyaya, or self-study. If you can honor that the guru you seek is so often the Self, then you are less likely to dismiss teachers that don't work for you or revere the ones who do. (You also won't hang on to blame, anger, and resentment in relationships of any kind.)

You can thank your teachers for the fact that, whether you choose to embrace their ideals or not, they have helped you remember who you are--and who you aren't. In this way, they have all been instrumental to your growth and transformation. This view can bring more sukha, or ease and freedom in everything you do.

Yoga can be frustrating, because the lessons from different teachers are sometimes contradictory, and there can seem to be no clear "right" way to do it. But that's also the wonderful thing about this path. It's yours alone. The practice asks you to gather information and listen to your instructors, but then ultimately to turn inward and claim the personal style of yoga that you need at that moment, and to keep the channels of inner communication open for a lifetime.

Yoga is a journey that always, and unerringly, leads back to you. That is both its greatest challenge and its most fabulous gift.

Core Question: Are you able to thank your teachers; ones you liked, and ones, well, not so much, for helping you realize who you will and won't be? Tell us about your experience!

Core Pose: Utkatasana Twist (Chair Pose), variation

This twist will help you turn inward as you remain grounded, centered and balanced--all good tools for your inner teacher practice.

Stand with knees bent and feet and knees pressing together. Inhale your arms up, keeping your spine long. Spin your chest to the left as you place your right elbow onto your left knee. Roll your left shoulder back and engage your obliques to help balance the work of the arms with core strength. This twist has a twist: Look down instead of up for a sweet stretch of the neck and shoulder.

Remain here for 5-10 breaths then move into a gentle forward fold. Return to Chair Pose and repeat on the other side.

No More Grasping

2010-04-13T23:55:49Z

I was leading a Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga practice for a group of yoga teachers the other day, and one of them asked me afterwards why I prefer to cartwheel out of an overzealous handstand rather than drop over into a backbend. Poses that require lumbar movement are a real challenge for me, not because of a lack of flexibility or strength--my lumbar spine has hardly any curve. It's a bone compression thing, one I won't be able to change no matter how hard I try. And, believe me, I tried WAY too hard for years.

I'm more than slightly competitive by nature, so naturally when I began my yoga practice, I coveted all the stately, arching poses I couldn't do. From the first Sun Salutation, I rushed past Cobra in favor of Up Dog. To me, Bridge wasn't a pose, just an impatient pit-stop on my express lane into Wheel.

I held a death grip on my ideal pose: Forearm Stand Scorpion ... and I wouldn't let it go, until it became the straw that (literally) almost broke my back. One day, spine be damned, I forced myself past my healthy edge. The result was a herniated disc that pressed right into my sciatic nerve, and for 6 months, I was regressed to prenatal Cobra Pose.

One day, while grumbling through the tiniest seed of low Bridge Pose while the rest of the class was in full Wheel, I realized something amazing: This backbend actually felt good! It was well-supported and my heart was able to expand from the strong root underneath.

My newfound awareness of how backing off had actually helped me find the equilibrium I'd sought, opened my eyes to the fact that grasping for external success at the expense of internal balance wasn't just my tendency in the yoga pose, but also in my life. I looked around me and saw jealousy showing up everywhere. My inability to be confident in my own skin was causing all my relationships--and me--to suffer.

If my partner spoke to someone I thought was better looking than me, I would feel immensely insecure. I had a hard time feeling truly happy for my friend who got a sudden financial windfall because I didn't have as much. Whether on or off the mat, I wanted more, to be better than everyone, to have nothing left to want or attain before I would be satisfied.

Yogis call this parigraha, the yogic term for "grasping at externals," or being unable to let go of the ego's desires and access your own inherent satisfaction. It's one of the biggest causes of dukha, or living in pain. As I progressed in my yoga studies, it became crystal clear that I was wasting a lot of energy looking outside of myself for my center.

Getting conscious meant I had to surrender my grasp on the fantasy and step into the reality. I began to let go of my idea of what I "should" be able to do, and started owning who I was and be where I needed to be. The happy result of this practice of owning my truth is that I relaxed at a deep core level, and chronic jealousy disappeared from my life. I can honor my friends and students for their accomplishments, because I'm just as fully at work rocking who I am.

When we practice aparigraha, or releasing the death grip on externals as our only source of happiness, we actually create another kind of hold--this time a powerful merging with our own core connection. We unite with our natural wellspring of self-created joy and can truly become a positive part of our community.

My body may not backbend beyond a cranky full wheel, but it is made for poses that require core strength like handstand and arm balances. Since we teach what we know, I've made this strength into my style. I'm so glad I finally saw that who I was would serve me better than who I wasn't.

I encourage you to do the same, in any aspect of your life where you perceive something (or someone) outside of you as the thing that controls your confidence, empowerment, and peace. The power of yoga, or unity with one's truth, is that coping and co-dependence dissolve in the light of your self-generated OK-ness. It's an old cliché, but to do this, you have to decide to believe that you're enough, just as you are--and then take actions that mirror that view. In time, this shift from parigraha to aparigraha will become your new truth.

Now, when I teach, I make sure to give multiple variations, and encourage the students to find and play their own unique edges. "No matter what your level or ability, your poses are all equally valuable as your personal vehicle of transformation," I say. And I notice that if I don't grasp at their practices, or enforce attainment of the more advanced poses, it tames the green-eyed monsters in the room to hear it.

Do I still covet the effortless rainbow spines of my fellow yogis? Sometimes. But now I know it doesn't define me. I listen to my body in any given moment, let my ego take a backseat, and say with an inner smile, "This is my pose ... and I'm sticking to it."

Core Question: Where in your yoga practice have you been letting something external define your happiness? How about in your life? What will you do differently to practice aparigraha in these situations?

Core Pose: Heart-opening Sukhasana variation into Crossed Boat.

This is one of the poses I do to prepare for backbends. It gives all the chest-opening and upper back and core strength needed without diving too far, too fast into the lumbar curve.

Come into Sukhasana (Easy Pose). Inhale and stretch the chest and arms up as the shoulders and tailbone lengthen down.

Exhale, rock back onto the sitting bones, firm the lower abdominals, and bring fists to the outer hips for a core strength mudra I call Fists of Fire. If possible, lift your knees and/or crossed ankles off the floor.

Whatever variation you choose, make sure it's one where you can maintain the natural curve of your lumber spine. It must draw in as you lift the legs to counteract the movement of the front body. Repeat 5 times.

Make the Shift

2010-04-08T22:42:50Z

I'm traveling to the Yoga Journal Conference today. Yesterday, I knew I had to pack and gather my workshop materials, but strangely perhaps, instead I went to school!

I have what I like to call Yoga University every Wednesday afternoon. I gather with other teachers at The Breathing Project in Manhattan to sit with Leslie Kaminoff, author of Yoga Anatomy. For two hours, we learn as he leads us to experience how the wild world of anatomy links together with breath, yoga poses, and the philosophies of our practice.

Even though I had to prepare for this trip to Boston, I couldn't miss class. Every time I attend, I learn something new--something that totally shifts my perspective on one level and that applies to other areas of my teaching and my life. For a yoga teacher who relies on new ideas and offerings, this is so precious. Continuing my education helps me keep it fresh each time I appear in a workshop setting.

Yogis might call this shift to a new layer of consciousnessvijnanamaya kosha, or wisdom sheath--a new awareness that transforms all other aspects of how you relate to yourself, the world, and Spirit. Oprah would call it an Aha! Moment.

Not only am I a complete anatomy geek, I love finding new parallels between yoga and the body. And these insights completely shift my understanding. Like how the deep front line of muscles running through the body that Tom Myers discovered (his book Anatomy Trains is a must-read), represents a more stable core connection with ourselves. If we tend to use the outer body instead of sourcing our strength from deep inside, we can actually cause more tension in our poses instead of less. Or how the psoas is actually a sensory organ that can help draw us into a more subtle yet more powerful inner inquiry (thanks, Leslie!), which Patanjali said was a necessary step for transformation.

And, if a student over-grips their poses from the outer body, I'll bet you $1 million that she also has that same habit of reaching outside of herself before looking inside to her own wisdom, capability, and self-esteem in all her other relationships, too.

Sometimes, shift happens when you least expect it, and when you didn't know anything needed changing. Today, how can you expand your horizons and spend time broadening your perspective? To do this, seek out someone who knows more about something than you do. Learning from a master in their field, even if it's not your area of expertise, can give you insights into so many other things. My favorite? Sitting with much older people who are masters of life experience. Your gurus are everywhere waiting to lead you farther into a more expansive vision of who you are.

Yes, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. But it's my firm belief that sometimes for the teacher to appear, the student has to go out, sign up for a class, or otherwise make the effort to find the teacher. Creating transformation is not a spectator sport.

Lord knows I've been out of actual college for a while, but the excitement I have, and the vitality that my weekly Yoga U brings me, is immense. Now, I have to go grab my pens and notebook, and head out for my aha! afternoon.

More next week from the conference!

Core Question: Have you had experiences that caused you to learn more on all levels? How did you find them or did they come to you?

Core Pose: Uttanasana to Tadasana Transition with Exhale

Here's a whole-body/mind shift you can try during your next practice to help support the low back more effectively as you move through a common transition that can place undue stress on the spine.

When you exhale, your abdominal muscles contract, hugging the abdominal cavity and cushioning the spine from the front. This stops the lumbar curve from over-compressing during the fulcrum of movement from forward bends up to standing, which is when a lot of yoga-related injuries occur. You can avoid this by adding an extra breath into your Sun Salutations or whenever you come up into Mountain Pose.

From Uttanasana, inhale and look forward with a long spine. Now exhale, pull in the low belly, and begin to rise, sweeping the arms out to the sides. When you are three-quarters of the way up, begin an inhalation, filling the pose as you reach Tadasana with your arms extended.

Exhale your palms to your heart or fold forward again to continue your flow.

Posing at the White House

2010-04-07T02:01:01Z

Yoga on the White House lawn? Yes! For the second year in a row, First Lady Michelle Obama turned the once prim and proper White House Easter Egg Roll (now in its 132^nd year) into a fitness party for kids, with dancing, hula-hooping, tennis, basketball, football--and yoga.

Under the flowering trees of the stately White House gardens--downplayed as Mrs. Obama into "our back yard"--families from all over the country rocked their best Tree Poses on Monday. I even talked the Cat in the Hat into giving it a try with me!

In flouncy, floral print Easter dresses and tights, stiff trousers and ties, as well as jeans and shorts, eager Down Doggers lined up on their mats. And yes, all day, there were gentle choruses of "Om" drifting up from the White House Lawn!

It was a pretty powerful moment--some 30,000 families, from all 50 states, got a chance to learn about yoga, with a presidential seal of approval. It seems evident that yoga is a perfect match for the First Lady's Let's Move! Initiative, which aims to curtail our childhood obesity epidemic by inspiring Americans to live healthy, active lives.

Hats off to the organizers and the small crew of yoga teachers who came in from distant states (Ohio, Texas, California, New York, to name a few) to lead 10-minute mini-classes and even conduct "privates" for kids who wanted a taste of yoga as they passed by the White House "Yoga Garden." I heard more than one parent try to lure their child off to other activities--Easter Egg Roll anyone?!--only to learn that Camel Pose was the priority of the moment.

With endless entertainment options-- President Obama reading Green Eggs and Ham; teen pop star Justin Beber, the cast of Glee, and Yo Gabba Gabba performing; famous chefs helping kids learn to cook--it's a wonder anyone had time for yoga. But yoga they did!

Breaking Through Resistance

2010-04-07T00:07:47Z

This week, I'm preparing to teach at the Yoga Journal Conference in Boston. (I'll share my experiences with you next week!) This is the first time I'll be presenting during the main conference, and I'm thrilled by the new direction my teaching is taking. But I didn't always feel this way.

I spent the majority of my career telling people (and myself) that I had absolutely no desire to become "one of those touring yogis." I don't know if this attitude came out of my belief that it would never happen, and so I thought, why pursue it? Or that I was daunted by the work it would take, so figured, why begin it? Perhaps it's that I'm a Scorpio and like to hide out under my self-created rocks and write. Who knows?

Regardless of the reason, I was 100 percent sure that the way my life looks now would never be my reality. Then one day, I got the call. Or, rather, I made the call.

I was speaking to someone at Yoga Journal about an unrelated matter, and we began discussing my interest in leading a Friday evening, pre-main conference class at the New York City event. As soon as I was asked to do it, my heart and mind leapt at the chance.

Now, I had no idea I would want to do this, much less really, really want to do it. I was as surprised by my reaction as I was by the 98 beautiful people who showed up to my workshop on the appointed night. But at the moment of invitation, I clearly saw that my highest satya, or truth, was not that I wanted to live a quiet, hermetic life and never be inconvenienced by travel. It's that I want to serve and share the healing modality of yoga with as many people as possible. And so my lesser resistance was broken by the simple power of my Dharma uprising.

In the year that followed, I was nearly inundated with offers to present at other conferences and at healing centers and studios. Before I was open to accepting this aspect of my teaching life, very few opportunities appeared. Yet the moment I said yes, they opened to me in the most rewarding and exciting ways. I have now become "one of those touring yogis"-- and I've never been happier.

As I take this next step along my teaching path, I'm struck by what the simple removal of resistance can do. It also occurs to me that in order to break through the walls we erect that block our life's path, we can't just stand by passively and do nothing. We have to meet resistance with Resistance.

I capitalize the word "Resistance" to distinguish between the constructive actions that serve us and that push back against the destructive resistances that don't serve us. Another name for this is satyagraha, or way of truth. Gandhi made satyagraha the focal point in his life through positive, or nonviolent, Resistance.

In your own life, both on and off the mat, I invite you to look at where you're hitting up against resistance to what might actually serve you. Kids do this when they refuse to try broccoli. Adults do it when we choose an unhealthy meal over a yoga class or self-criticism over confidence.

Don't think for a minute that I'm free of the push and pull of limiting behaviors and beliefs. Every one of us experiences the drag of resistance. But as yogis, it's what we do from there that can either transform us or keep us stuck in the mud.

So the next time you stumble upon a personal roadblock, take an action from satyagraha: Instead of turning to old habits, use your spiritual stubbornness to break through.

I'll see you on the road!

Core Questions: Where are you meeting resistance? Are you afraid to release your old stories, to adopt healthy habits, or to form nourishing relationships? Most of all, do you exist in a consciousness of lack or thrive in a mindset of abundance? Share your struggles and victories with us.

Core Pose: Lakshmi Kick

I designed this pose to release old, stagnant energies; tone the lower body; unlock the hips; and literally kick down the doors of inner resistance. It's named for Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity, abundance, wisdom, and beauty--attributes that can only be achieved through the practice of satyagraha.

Come to the front of your mat, feet slightly apart. Fold forward and plant your fingertips a few inches in front of your toes. On an inhalation, draw one knee into your chest. Exhale the sound "Ha!" as you mindfully and strongly kick your leg up behind you. The sound not only firms your abdominals to support the kick, it's a mantra to the Sun as well as to your individual brightness and your possibilities.

Repeat 5-10 times; then switch to the other side. Rest in Child's Pose when finished.

History in the Being

2010-04-04T17:39:29Z

Salutations to the Washington Monument and 1,700 people enjoying the freedom of yoga.

Rising up into Warrior I, my eyes took in the tip of the Washington Monument piercing a cloudy sky, and I offered my Sun Salutations to independence, freedom, and all that makes me proud to be American. After a couple of days in Washington DC brushing up on our national history at the American History Museum (seeing an Edison lightbulb, the flag that inspired "The Star Spangled Banner" and President Lincoln's top hat), it's hard not to feel a little patriotic.

And after seeing the sea of yogis stretched across the National Mall on Saturday morning, it's hard not to feel ecstatic about how our nation is embracing yoga. The event, organized by Lululemon Athletica as part of Washington's National Cherry Blossom Festival, drew a great crowd--the unofficial count was 1,700 people. It was a site to behold! And so cool to be a part of this moment in history, when yoga is becoming as American as apple pie.

In an hour-plus class led by Peggy Mulqueen, we breathed together through everything from Hanumanasana (Full Splits) to Bakasana (Crane Pose) to partner Navasana (Boat Pose). Onstage, local teachers, including Yoga Journal's May cover model Faith Hunter, and a few guests like Ashtanga yoga teacher David Kyle treated the crowd to an impressive display of power and grace. Beneath giant American flags, and on top of a rainbow of sticky mats, there was a spirit of freedom--and a lot of free spirits!--in the air.

Rocking your true core strength

2010-04-01T21:46:13Z

When I meet people outside the context of a yoga workshop or training, and they hear that I'm starting to travel nationally to teach and receiving other major opportunities to share my message on a larger scale, they often have the same question: "Why you?"

I usually say something like, "I think that people are attracted to the process of finding, then living from, their center, all while getting a great whole body transformation." And I do think that's true. But it's not the whole truth, and I'd like to share with you the part I usually leave out.

I think some of my success in the yoga world is happening not just because of my style, but also because of me. It's difficult for me to say this, as I tend to keep myself out of the equation lest it seem like I'm tooting my own horn. After all, when I'm in front of a class, my words and inspirations seem to come not from me but through me, and I spend most of my classes just trying to keep up with my Inner Teacher's voice. I always say my main job is as a translator of Spirit, not of Sadie.

But there's more to it than that. A crucial aspect of expressing my universal energy and wisdom--and doing so in a way that resonates with my students resonate--is to make them my own. My personal backstory, woven with its challenges and victories along with a guiding focus of accessing and expressing core strength in its many forms, helps me do that strongly.

I don't know about you, but I find it much more interesting when a teacher, or anyone, shares their unique voice with me, based on their experiences, beliefs, and perspectives. These personal elements are what make each of us special. They also impact the way we filter yoga philosophies and poses and their meaning, which will differ depending on our worldview.

When I began teaching, I would sound like whoever was my favorite teacher at the time. I'd read the texts I thought I was supposed to, and I'd talk in the language I heard other teachers use. My own voice was so lost in the sauce that it took me years to find it and then claim it.

What I learned is that sharing who we are--our struggles, our fears, our stories of personal growth--doesn't diminish our yoga. It's a magnifying glass we hold up to the expanse of pure consciousness. The realities of our lives focus the all-pervasive prana and make it something those around us can relate to and empathize with. This creates its own yoga, the union of likeminded individuals who understand and support one another as we seek a common way toward the light.

Furthermore, when we make the universal personal, we not only step into our dharma (the path of most life force) but into svadharma--our very own translation of universal energy that, like a snowflake, has no exact match. This is otherwise known as Being Real.

You'll notice that those who are successful in their fields bring their own dynamic, clearly "them-ness" to the table. They use their intuition, inventiveness, and insights to create a message from their core. And then they stand by their satya, or truth, no matter who agrees or disagrees or who comes or goes because of it.

I think it's important that in our quest to find union with our universal nature, we should allow and, in fact, we should rock who we are as individuals, so we can give the world something unique. By sharing who I am--the self within the Self--in these pages, in the media, or in a classroom, I don't expect my students or supporters to become clones of me. I want to show them how freeing it is to be unapologetically oneself, and therefore, encourage them to become even more of who they are ... both wonderfully human and essentially divine in equal measure.

To me, that's core strength at its finest.

Core Question: Have you ever chosen to be like someone else instead of being yourself? How? And how did you finally decide to take action and claim your own path?

Core Pose: Charlie's Angel's Pose

This is one of my signature poses and one that helps students strengthen their foundation and root down, two things that lead to a stronger core connection on all levels.

Come into Malasana with feet wide and turned out slightly in the direction of your knees. Lower your hips to squat as low as is comfortable, or rest your forearms on your thighs and begin in a higher stance.

Interlace your fingers, point your index fingers straight ahead in the "Charlie's Angel's" mudra, and draw your shoulder blades naturally onto your back.

Inhale while in the lowered position. Then, exhale, grounding your feet and lifting your hips a few inches while engaging the pelvic floor and lower belly both in and up. Inhale, lower a bit more. Exhale, engage, and lift a little higher. Do this 3 to 4 times.

Return to Malasana, release your hands and head towards the floor, and slowly rock from side to side. Repeat the entire sequence 1 to 3 times.

Coming Into Balance

2010-04-01T01:20:19Z

I arrived home from the Toronto Yoga Conference yesterday minus one important thing: my voice! Fortunately it didn't happen until the very last minute of my last class. The students had to do the OM on their own, leading to a rousing rainbow of notes, but they got all the information I needed to offer.

The key for next time I accept a conference position, is not to talk less. I'm a very verbal instructor, and what I hear from my inner teacher, I translate in its entirety for my students. The solution is to do slightly fewer classes.

This is hard for me to admit. I'm the type of person who will stagger into my house carrying eight grocery bags to avoid two trips. I would rather power through my day than take a nap, and I'm more likely to give a massage than to get one. Whether I'm doing a six-hour Core Strength immersion or a one-hour private, I tend to give everything I have to help steer people toward their Source. Sometimes, in my quest to open them to center, I neglect to hold my own.

No matter who you are, there is a particular shiny object in your life that tends, like a bluebird decorating her nest and seeing only the glint of silver on the ground--but not the wolf waiting in the bushes--to draw one's attention away from the predatory dangers of misalignment, depletion, and suffering. For me, the shine, my utter passion, is helping others to remember themselves, to contain their prana, and then send it out into the world in ways that reflects their deepest truth. To do this, I share my personal path: the realizations, actions, and type of yoga practice that helped me to empower, self-nourish, and stop a vicious cycle of chronic fatigue and dysfunctional relationships that were causing me a world of hurt.

I know that this important message is a positive way to use my energy. However, even a positive can become a negative if it begins to drain the offerer in favor of the offering. In yoga circles, we refer to this process of striking personal balance as the daily see-saw between sukha and dukha. The words translate to mean "good space" and "bad space." We can also interpret them to mean ease and suffering.

In fact, we tend to invite experiences into our lives that appear as repetitive drama cycles, like getting into the same struggle in your romantic relationships over and over ('Haven't I dated you before?"), or running into the same problems with different business partners. These seemingly external experiences don't have to be seen as random. They can be our teachers, illuminating the lessons of how not to take the road of craving and instant gratification, but rather to make the more intense, rewarding choices that help us come back into our natural state of equilibrium, self-respect, and peace.

Today, as I rest, cuddle with the cats, and let my voice return, I'm aware of my own responsibility to myself and my students not to be a hypocrite--I have to both talk the talk and walk the walk. Now that I've received my teaching, I will use it to tip my balance back in favor of giving in enough, rather than giving out too much. From here on, I'll set better boundaries and let workshop organizers know what I can offer (12 hours or so should be win-win for us both), and make sure that I don't let my zest for teaching override my personal nourishment. After all, if I'm to lead by example, then what better way to do it than by sharing my own learning curve?

And, even for teachers, it's sometimes steep.

Core Question: What's your biggest energy drain or repeating drama, and how can you come back into balance around it?

Core Pose: Anahata Twist
Your mid-back is the first place twists can freely occur, so sometimes we get stuck in our more hyper-mobile spots. This pose will bring your twist higher--into the upper spine, shoulders, and neck in a variation designed to nourish the area around the heart and throat.

Lie on your side in a fetal position, place both hands on the mat, and spin just your heart to the floor--legs stay like they were. Place your arms on the floor, elbows bent, forearms, and palms down in a cactus shape.

Turn your head away from the direction your knees are pointing for the most spinal rotation, or to the same side for less.

Breathe into the back of your heart and higher for one minute or more, then repeat on the other side.

My Super Adventure

2010-03-26T01:47:20Z

I had every intention of writing my blog first thing this morning, after running out for a quick breakfast. Three hours later, I'm back at my computer after a super adventure I never could have predicted. I'm in Toronto, preparing to present at a yoga conference this weekend, but today I'm completely free.

After a healing hot chocolate, I wandered the streets for a while. I stumbled across St. Andrew's Church, a gorgeous structure that's also home to the 48th Highlander's Museum, Toronto's first and only Canadian Highland Regiment.

Yep, kilts and all.

Lucky for me, it was open and I was greeted by a lifelong member of the regiment, W.O. Ron Denham, C.d. (Ret'd). Ron was pleased to show me around, and brought the uniforms, flags, and pieces of history alive with his profound knowledge and storytelling flair.

I heard about his meeting with two queens, a king, his love of tartan, single-malt, his country, his heritage and his respect for Lieutenant General Arthur Currie, who bucked convention by refusing to grow a moustache, being less-than-stellar on horseback, and developing a reputation for expending ammunition before his men's lives. He wasn't popular with the other by-the-book officers, but he was a leader among his men, and went on to become the Commander of the Canadian Corps.

Now, war and its aftermath makes me sad. But I couldn't but feel reverence for the men and women who bravely went off to fight for something they believed in. I felt enveloped in the weighty cloak of their choices. My time at the museum brought up so many yogic themes and questions that I will offer up to my classes and students over time.

What struck me most today was how life's surprises are waiting for us around every corner, where we might not think to look. Today I invite you to make space for what you might not know. If you're in your millionth Downward Dog, and you think you "get" this pose, the very next time you do it, you might be surprised with a revelation. One of the defining characteristics of a yogi is the willingness to let go of the preconceived plan or judgment and allow new experiences or perceptions come to you.

Prana, or life energy, doesn't like to be controlled. In fact, the secret of life and yoga is that life energy cannot be made to do anything. We can only remove obstacles like stress, tension, and clouded ways of seeing, thereby creating the space necessary for life force and insight to flood into us. And it will.

As Robert Frost says in his poem The Road Not Taken:

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

Sometimes, when we stop micro-managing every step, and instead allow prana-invoking moments of sweet surrender, we begin to nourish the sthira (spaciousness) side of our poses and ourselves.

Only when we can release our grand illusion of control, step off our beaten paths, be still and ask,"What's next?" will the most thought-provoking moments of inner inquiry appear, and rise to meet us.

Core Question: How will you make space for your next Super Adventure? What happened when you did?

Core Pose: Five-Minute Yogi's Choice

During your next home practice, your teaching, or perhaps even right now in your chair, take five minutes for an unplanned pose or flow to arise from within.

How does your body need to move? What is your breath teaching you? Instead of doing the pose from your mind, try being the pose more, listening to your inner cues, and letting your energy and breath dictate the movement. Even if it looks nothing like a classical yoga asana, go with the flow anyway. It's your Super Adventure moment!

The Loving Cup

2010-03-24T01:26:00Z

I taught an eight hour Core Strength Immersion in Vancouver this weekend, and two day worth of workshops before that. Suffice it to say, becoming a student again and taking a yoga class this morning was a sweet relief. Today I get to relax and recharge before heading to The Yoga Conference in Toronto tomorrow. Then it's 18 more hours of teaching in four days for good old Sadie. And I will rise to the challenge.

But today: hot chocolate, yoga, lunch, a stroll by the water, and then whatever the heck I feel like for the rest of the day. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do. But I give everything I have while I'm leading my intensives. So after that, I need to simply be.

After a strong, sweaty Anusara class with my friend and fabulous instructor Christine Price Clark, she blessed me with a foot massage in Savasana. Tears came to my eyes--a total surprise to me, since I wasn't emotional before that at all. I realized that I wasn't sad, but rather, my cup of happiness had runneth over and begun to come out of my eyes. I was full.

As I walked home from class, gingerly, as if to keep the cup from sloshing around and spilling my bliss, I thought of you, the community I adore. I wanted to remind you, as I was reminded by the humble gesture from my teacher, that the practice of ahimsa, or nonviolence, also applies directly to the relationship between you and your Self.

If you don't regularly pause along the cycle of giving to nourish yourself properly, it begins another cycle: one of fatigue, resentment and an existence characterized by just barely getting by, instead of living large from your inner reservoir of prana.

Yes, ahimsa is a yama, which means that we're encouraged to participate with the world around us in a loving way. But one thing we must not forget is that each of us is also part of the world to which we're supposed to be offering!

As a yogi, you can absolutely include yourself in the relationships you have to navigate every day and practice brightening. In addition to filling other people's cups through respectful actions, it's perfectly appropriate, and in fact crucial, that you take the time to regularly pour goodness into your own.

If I was dating someone who said to me ,"Wow--you're so fat! I can't believe you're eating more of that birthday cake. Make room for Queen Cellulite!

I'd break up with them.

However, on a more regular basis than I'd care to admit, that same old critical voice creeps in again, trying to tip my hand and dump my self-esteem down the drain. Often as yogis, we seek the light, striving to offer positivity towards those around us, but we neglect and hurt the longest-term partner we'll ever have: ourselves.

Today, look within yourself. How is your Core Connection? Is it a love match, or so dysfunctional you'd be perfect for the Jerry Springer Show? In this moment, I invite you to become your own soul mate again, and start acting, thinking, speaking and acting in ways that reflect your newfound love affair.

Namaste,

Sadie

Core Question: Is your cup full or empty? Have hurtful inner voices and outer actions caused you to exist in a state of depletion? If so, what actions will you take to pour the energy, life and self-love back inside?

Core Pose -- Waterfall Pigeon: This pose lets you experience the fluid balance between giving out, and giving in.

From Down Dog, come into Pigeon with your right knee behind the right wrist, and foot forward somewhere between the left hip crease and left wrist where your knee is comfortable. Stretch your back leg out long behind you.

Maintain the level sit bones and hips centered in space.

Walk your hands back beside your hips as you ground the legs down for support. Inhale, move your spine, shoulders and head back and up as you offer your heart higher.

Exhale, cascade your spine forward as you lower your forehead towards the earth.

Support the low back with your low abdominals as you inhale and wave back up again. Repeat the flow 5-10 times, then rest in Low Pigeon with head on your hands or a block for one minute. Breathe and receive the new energy you're unlocking!

Move to Down Dog and repeat Waterfall and Low Pigeon on the left.

You Better Work!

2010-03-18T20:56:37Z

I left Brooklyn and arrived in Vancouver yesterday, to teach a weekend Core Strength Immersion. In five days, I'll fly to Toronto for the Yoga Conference.

I'm not a fan of being away from home for long periods of time, but the smell of freshly cut grass (lawns! How quaint!), the view of the Vancouver mountains, the cherry blossoms,and the fireplace in my hotel room have almost made up for it.

No matter where I travel, the students meeting me on the mat all have one thing in common: they're trying to make a change. Whether it's learning something new, improving their strength and flexibility, accessing more of their inherent centeredness or a combination of these, no one I've met shows up to a yoga intensive with a burning desire to stay exactly the same.

After all--shift happens. We're all in constant state of flux, from our cells and thoughts, to our outer environments and relationships. Your experience is as transient as a hobo on a country railcar. The question is--in what direction do you want that train to roll?

If you allow life, and the external opinions, requests, and demands of others take you where it wants to go, you'll spend a lifetime getting steamrolled from the outside. Enough of that, and your heart will feel as flat as a pancake. If you want to fill your mind, body and spirit with the goodness of inspiration and transformation, you've got to do one thing for certain:

Get to work. Remember: intention without action is just a beautiful pipe dream.

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali offers clue about how to change things according to your intentions. It begins with ishvara pranidhana. This word literally means "love of God," but like so many other concepts in the yoga teachings, it has alternate meanings. Ishvara pranidhana can also mean "to take your highest action." Have you noticed that in any moment when you're called to make a choice --Do I go to yoga class or skip it? Should I yell at my partner or take a time out? Should I take the job I hate for more money or the one I love for less?--there is usually one that will serve your highest good, and one that will, well...not so much?

When you take action that helps you express who you most want to be in the present, it will keep you on the road toward goals you want to reach later. I'm certain of this, because it's taken me from a dysfunctional practice and stressful life to inner strength and outer abundance. It will work for you too--but you have to work it.

Yoga is not a spectator sport. It asks for your full and unflinching participation. It can be scary, constantly facing down the unknown, but if you can go there--whether by hugging your thighs more in that Crow Pose, taking a deep breath when you want to say something hurtful, or choosing the high road in a situation where your habits and fears conspire to make the low one an attractive option--all your hard work will absolutely pay off.

In fact, the beauty of yoga is that it pays its dividends instantly, with a rush of prana, or empowerment, and the personal satisfaction of becoming more of yourself in the moments that you focus, intend...and try. This is the offer of Kriya Yoga, the yoga of action, and it's something that we can practice both on and off our mats.

After some ginger-green tea (instead of my old nemesis: coffee!), I'm off to teach this afternoon with a group of teachers, most of whom I've never met. I will take my own advice, and instead of holding back, I'll fully share from my spirit, which is always a vulnerable process. I'll let you know what happened in my next post!

Namaste,
Sadie

Core Question: What actions can you take, this week, to start making your intentions a reality? What has held you back before this?

Core Pose: Earth to Sky Triangle

Here's a pose I use to teach my students the power of conscious action as they build Trikonasana (Triangle Pose). It can help you access deeper core strength and maintain a safe stretching point by building the posture from the ground up:

Step 1: Come into a Utthita Parsvakonasana (Side Angle Pose) and place your bottom fingertips beside the outer foot. (Beginners: Bring your forearm on your knee.) Draw your navel in and up towards your chest as you lengthen the tailbone. Now lift your free arm to the sky.

Wrap your top arm around your back in a half bind, and press the hand into your back ribs or palm into the thigh. Roll your top shoulder open, then look down to stretch the neck and shoulder.

Step 2: Keep everything you've created, but begin to move your front hip crease back and ground into the big toe mound to straighten your leg (Beginners: Place the bottom hand on the thigh, shin, or ankle). If you lose your core connection, bend the knee slightly and play the edge of integration and expression here.

Step 3: Unfurl your top, bound arm into full Triangle Pose. Now you've removed the obstacles (tight shoulders, compressed hip joints, a stiff neck) to your pose, let the freedom of your energy move through your entire body with each breath.