this weekend we are focusing on externally rotated standing poses. after another quite strong 3 hour long practice, we went ahead and did some sanskrit pronunciation (which i am quite grateful for, now i can at least recognize the 8-10 names we went over in class and even say them if i think about it long enough). after that, back we were to the mat working on some common externally rotated poses. the ones we focused on were virabhadrasana 2 (warrior 2), utthita trikonasana (extended triangle), utthita parvakonasana (extended side-angle) and vrksasana (tree pose).
now i should preface this next story with a disclaimer we were given by natasha last weekend. every class we will be doing what she calls "looking at bodies" if while we practice she sees someone in the class doing something she thinks could be corrected, and everyone will benefit from experiencing that adjustment, she will during a practice ask all but one person to get out of the pose and come over to see what she is talking about. this is not meant to embarrass anyone but rather to help us correct an action in your own yoga and to help us learn how to effectively correct someone else in their own practice.
needless to say, yesterday was my first experience being "looked at." we were practicing virabhadrasana 2 (which i also have to preface by saying: i have very tight hips, hamstrings, etc. etc. this makes externally rotated poses a challenge for me since mainly what you are working in them are your hip flexors and your hamstrings). so 41 people are gathered around my mat while i hold virabhadrasana 2 . (not the easiest or most comfy of poses to start with). after a few slight adjustments with my heel alignment and then natasha directing me to lengthen my stance (which of course makes it harder and a more productive stretch) i had a beautiful vira 2 pose. while usually something like that would give me anxiety and make me feel bad for her even seeing something off in my pose in the first place, instead i felt so empowered and happy to be in that room at that time.
later in the day, while talking about the philosophy and history of yoga we touched on the thought of everyone having a dharma, a life's purpose, which they must figure out and fulfill. in order to explain this better natasha talked about the bhagavad gita (and while i haven't read it, i will give a general play by play) - the gita is a conversation between lord krishna and arjuna taking place on the battlefield at the start of the kurukshetra war where arjuna is supposed to lead his troops into battle, but has some doubts. krishna explains to him in this moment frozen in time - that this is his destiny. he must take this action and let go of the possible results. there is no way to know what will actually happen so all that you can do, is take the action in the moment. while this is an extremely elementary breaking down of the story, i found that it really moved me. everyone in this society is always worried with the possible outcomes and "what ifs" of every situation (myself included) but in the end, whatever is going to happen is going to happen - you need to take the actions meant for you to take and not worry about what might or might not come of it. i hope this speaks to some of you out there as well.
"little by little, all is coming"
xxx
9/20/2009
9/16/2009
week one.
i have been needing and wanting to write an update about the first weekend of the teacher training program ever since saturday. sadly between lack of time and pure exhaustion - it has been delayed... until now.
today is the first day i woke up and didn't feel a majority of my muscles giving me feedback in response to this weekend's practice. i have done yoga for a while now, but never for more than 1-2 hours at a time. day one (a seven hour day in total) we spent two doing a fairly strong practice. our teacher, natasha rizopoulos, is from the ashtanga school of yoga, which is an intensive branch that focuses on practicing a flow in order to generate heat within the body and sweat toxins out of your body. and boy did i. i think i sweat as much as i do when i go to a power prana class which is in a room heated to 98 degrees. then after this practice we break and then do some talking then back to our mats/the wall to breakdown a few asanas that we are focusing on that particular day. this translates to standing, spending about 40 minutes to an hour on any given asana. such as tadasana (mountain pose). this is the basis for all other neutrally rotated standing positions and is usually one that all beginner yogis practice. (feet together, hips centered, shoulders spread and relaxed with your hands hanging down at your sides). this pose took up about an hour of time with us finding the absolute correct posturing. it was intense, and amazing.
there are some things that still worry me.
first off, the class consists of 40 other people. usually these classes have around 25. that brings me a bit of anxiety, not only because we have to stretch quite carefully so as to not smack our neighbor in the face; but also i generally do better with smaller groups. i also had hoped that i would be able to get a bit more one on one time with the teacher. though i suppose you get what you put into a course like this, so it's on me to get the experience i want out of this course regardless of the class size.
secondly, it seems like everyone else in the class knows a good majority of the sanskrit names for the asanas. i know maybe two. while i am taking this class to learn... it's a bit daunting to seemingly be so far behind already. i have some flashcards in my future, methinks...
there's more i want to write but sadly it's already wednesday and i still have homework that must be finished for saturday's class so off i go to educate myself!
xxx
today is the first day i woke up and didn't feel a majority of my muscles giving me feedback in response to this weekend's practice. i have done yoga for a while now, but never for more than 1-2 hours at a time. day one (a seven hour day in total) we spent two doing a fairly strong practice. our teacher, natasha rizopoulos, is from the ashtanga school of yoga, which is an intensive branch that focuses on practicing a flow in order to generate heat within the body and sweat toxins out of your body. and boy did i. i think i sweat as much as i do when i go to a power prana class which is in a room heated to 98 degrees. then after this practice we break and then do some talking then back to our mats/the wall to breakdown a few asanas that we are focusing on that particular day. this translates to standing, spending about 40 minutes to an hour on any given asana. such as tadasana (mountain pose). this is the basis for all other neutrally rotated standing positions and is usually one that all beginner yogis practice. (feet together, hips centered, shoulders spread and relaxed with your hands hanging down at your sides). this pose took up about an hour of time with us finding the absolute correct posturing. it was intense, and amazing.
there are some things that still worry me.
first off, the class consists of 40 other people. usually these classes have around 25. that brings me a bit of anxiety, not only because we have to stretch quite carefully so as to not smack our neighbor in the face; but also i generally do better with smaller groups. i also had hoped that i would be able to get a bit more one on one time with the teacher. though i suppose you get what you put into a course like this, so it's on me to get the experience i want out of this course regardless of the class size.
secondly, it seems like everyone else in the class knows a good majority of the sanskrit names for the asanas. i know maybe two. while i am taking this class to learn... it's a bit daunting to seemingly be so far behind already. i have some flashcards in my future, methinks...
there's more i want to write but sadly it's already wednesday and i still have homework that must be finished for saturday's class so off i go to educate myself!
xxx
9/07/2009
what is yoga?
first of all i would like to share that september is national yoga awareness month. and to celebrate many studios around the country are giving away a free week of yoga classes. you can request your coupon up until 09/30/09 by going to: http://www.yogamonth.org/
now on to the question that has been plaguing my mind for the last two months:
what is yoga?
it also happens to be the first question that yoga works has asked me to answer and hand in on the first day of training on saturday.
i find myself torn on how to approach this question. my first instinct is to answer as simply as the question was asked: yoga is the practice of unifying the body, mind and spirit which is done through practicing a series of postures, along with breathing, and meditation.
on the other, i feel the urge to expound on what yoga means as a philosophy or what it means to me as an individual.
on this same note i have been thinking more and more about yoga as a subculture and what is expected of you once you begin practicing yoga. i have been inundated with questions/assumptions about what it means to be a yogi. such thoughts i've run into for example: all yogis are vegetarians (which i currently am not), or needing to buy my yoga clothes from an expensive store (which let's face it, while their stuff is nice - how does spending $80 on a yoga top bring you any closer to enlightenment? i am perfectly happy practicing in my $12 champion top from target, thank you very much!), or the ever popular assessment that all yogis are contortionists just waiting to show off their skills the moment someone asks.
after being presented time and time again with assumptions on what it means to be a yogi, i found myself taking comfort in something written in the yoga sutras of patanjali - sri swami satchidananda writes "if there is something useful for you in his words, take it and make use of it. if there is anything not useful, leave it." yoga is not meant to be limiting, but rather freeing. while, there are a lot of preconceived notions regarding the practicing of yoga - the only one that matters is the student who comes to their mat sincerely ready to practice.
xxx
now on to the question that has been plaguing my mind for the last two months:
what is yoga?
it also happens to be the first question that yoga works has asked me to answer and hand in on the first day of training on saturday.
i find myself torn on how to approach this question. my first instinct is to answer as simply as the question was asked: yoga is the practice of unifying the body, mind and spirit which is done through practicing a series of postures, along with breathing, and meditation.
on the other, i feel the urge to expound on what yoga means as a philosophy or what it means to me as an individual.
on this same note i have been thinking more and more about yoga as a subculture and what is expected of you once you begin practicing yoga. i have been inundated with questions/assumptions about what it means to be a yogi. such thoughts i've run into for example: all yogis are vegetarians (which i currently am not), or needing to buy my yoga clothes from an expensive store (which let's face it, while their stuff is nice - how does spending $80 on a yoga top bring you any closer to enlightenment? i am perfectly happy practicing in my $12 champion top from target, thank you very much!), or the ever popular assessment that all yogis are contortionists just waiting to show off their skills the moment someone asks.
after being presented time and time again with assumptions on what it means to be a yogi, i found myself taking comfort in something written in the yoga sutras of patanjali - sri swami satchidananda writes "if there is something useful for you in his words, take it and make use of it. if there is anything not useful, leave it." yoga is not meant to be limiting, but rather freeing. while, there are a lot of preconceived notions regarding the practicing of yoga - the only one that matters is the student who comes to their mat sincerely ready to practice.
xxx
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