Helping women overcome issues like poverty and abuse leads to education and leadership. And this can transform the world. This is the idea behind the annual Care Conference, where artists, politicians, and thought leaders come together to talk about why helping women heals the world. For the first time this year, the Care Conference will kick off with a yoga class with Off the Mat, Into the World’ s Seane Corn, Hala Khouri, and Suzanne Sterling. With both groups focusing on grassroots social change, they are perfectly aligned. “It’s going to be a great way to get participants energized and ready to take action on issues affecting girls and women around the world,” says CARE’s Sarah Moser. The conference takes place on March 8-11th — in conjunction with International Women’s Day — and features appearances by Melinda Gates, Laura Bush, Judy Woodruff, India.Arie, Michael Franti, and others. After their conference class, the dynamic Off The Mat trio will then teach an intensive called Yoga, Purpose & Action, at Washington D.C.’s Flow Yoga Center . We want to know: Do you think yoga has the potential to transform the world?

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Help Women, Heal the World

Ever since Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, spoke out against Christians doing yoga , the blogosphere has gone wild. If you haven’t heard about it yet, the story revolves around an article on Mohler’s website, where he wrote: “When Christians practice yoga, they must either deny the reality of what yoga represents or fail to see the contradictions between their Christian commitments and their embrace of yoga.” Here’s an update: Since that story broke, the Wall Street Journal followed up with a poll that posed the question: Should Christians Practice Yoga? The result: 71.8% said yes, and 28.2% said no. And in a December 30th article by highly-regarded scholar Wendy Doniger, I s Yoga a Form of Hinduism? Is Hinduism a Form of Yoga? she highlights the issues this debate has brought to the forefront, especially that some American Hindus think American yoga isn’t Hindu enough, while others like Mohler think that yoga is too Hindu. We want to know: Do you think of yoga more as exercise, or as a spiritual practice?

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WSJ: Should Christians Practice Yoga?

As yogis, we aspire to work toward a deeper acceptance and understanding of ourselves, and to live healthy lifestyles. That’s why starting out the New Year with yoga can be a powerful and soulful way to bring in the year. You set the intention to be a bit more loving and accepting yourself, imperfections and quirks and all, while gifting your mind and body with a practice that helps you in every way. There are New Year’s classes happening at studios across the country to help you set this powerful intention. Or maybe even gather a few yogi friends for a powerful New Year’s day practice in your home. There are many ways to honor what is passing while welcoming the possibilities to come. Here are a few happenings in some major cities: San Francisco: Yoga Tree (shown above) is offering five workshops before, during, and after the New Year that include live music, kirtan, and a range of yoga classes. Cleveland: At Evolution Yoga , choose from Pilates, Jivamukti or restorative yoga classes on New Year’s day. New York Jivamukti Yoga has its 22nd annual New Year’s Eve celebration with Sharon Gannon and David Life, that includes a class, vegan dinner, kirtan dance party, and ending with silence to bring in the New Year. Los Angeles Start 20111 with Siddha Yoga ’s audio satsang, featuring founder Gurumayi Chidvilasananda teachings. We want to know: How can you love yourself just a little bit more this coming year?  

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New Year, Honor You

The folks at the Australian-based YogaAid have dreamed up a large-scale nationwide yoga event on September 18th and 19th to coincide with National Yoga Month. The two-hour yoga classes around the country will be taught by 12 local yoga teachers to benefit charity. While the biggest events are being held in Chicago, New York, Miami, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco, organizers say that more than 20 others will happen around the country. Participating in a Yoga Aid Challenge is easy: Log on to www.yogaaid.com and click the red button for the United States Yoga Challenge. Here, you can register to create a profile page.Then people can visit your page and donate–all online. The idea is that students raise money for charity in advance of the free class. (Many well-meaning charity events actually lose money, because the cost of putting on an event eats into the profits.) YogaAid’s model is funding the event so that all of the money raised goes directly to the chosen charities: Off the Mat, Into the World, Africa Yoga Project, 4OneWorld, and Yoga for Youth. Beyond raising money, the organizers hope that the event will have a ripple effect, sparking the desire in each student to serve in their community. Karma Yoga (the yoga of service) is one of yoga’s eight limbs. How do you find ways to serve in your family or community? Let us know. And to get you in the giving mood, Yoga Aid and MC Yogi have paired up to create the tune, “Give Love.” Download the MP3 for free by going to yogaaid.com and clicking on the blue box at the bottom right hand corner. Nora Isaacs is a Bay Area-based health writer and editor.

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Give Love! Join a Nationwide Yoga Aid Challenge

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Samin Nosrat

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Stephanie Bernstein

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Stacey Rosenberg

I was honored when my friend Benjamin Finnerty who is living and teaching yoga in Shanghai, China invited me to come teach the Anusara Immersion at Fine Yoga in Beijing. I must admit a feeling of unease came over me because this would be my first time teaching to students of another language and culture and working with a translator, but I knew it was a great opportunity for me to grow as a teacher.   Over the next several months, as we made the plans the idea became more comfortable. During that time a friend said that “life begins at the edge of your comfort zone”!  This is so true; it is the experiences where we have to dig deep inside our self and find the courage that expands us the most. My yoga practice and years of teaching had prepared me for this endeavor. On my first day, though I was quite jet-lagged from the journey, I was taken on a whirlwind tour of Beijing. First we visited the Temple of Heaven, which is located behind one of the biggest and most famous parks in Beijing.  Like most Chinese parks in the morning, it was full of people practicing Tai Chi, dancing, playing games, stretching and enjoying themselves.  This particular park had a section with equipment like a gym in the USA!  At 9:30 on a Wednesday morning people were playing together, both men and women young and old, were getting exercise, socializing and enjoying life. It was beautiful. Thursday was the first day of the immersion. Though I felt at ease about teaching and comfortable with the material there was still this question in my mind about how to connect to the students.  We spent the whole first day on the First Principle of Anusara Yoga, which is opening to grace. Though the students wanted to learn the alignment very much we kept our focus on cultivating sensitivity, connecting to their breath and their hearts and taking a more expansive view.  In Chinese, just like Sanskrit, the word for heart and mind is the same, and both cultures are very connected to the idea of living from their hearts.  There is a Taoist expression that says, “See every thing from the light of heaven,” so the concept of first principle was not new. As the day went on they were beginning to soften their effort and embody it in their poses on the mat. Though we began worlds apart, by the end of the first day each member of the group shared their experiences, and the boundaries between us dissolved with their shyness. I saw the reflection of my own trust that we would connect reflected back through them, and it was more apparent to me than ever that our hearts’ know no boundary of language and culture.  We connected on the most fundamental level, and I will be forever transformed. When have you had to find courage to do something out of your norm?  How are you better for the experience? Stacey Rosenberg is a Certified Anusara Yoga teacher in San Francisco and around the globe.  Her classes are dynamic and playful and provide a fun, safe, and nurturing environment that invites students to move deeply into their own hearts and transform their lives.  www.namastacey.com

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Boundless Hearts in Beijing

The other day, my sister’s friend invited her to a different yoga studio for a class.  “I can’t do it”, said my sister. “I’d love to, but I’m not good enough. I suck.”   Fear shows up in funny ways. Tory pictures an entire class pointing at her and sneering.   This made me laugh for about four seconds. Then I realized that whenever a new challenge comes my way – going back to class after weeks away, trying a new kind of yoga, going to a different studio – my immediate, insane response is, “I can’t, I’m too fat.” This is obviously absurd. There is no sign posted anywhere in yoga that says Stay Out If You Think You Are Pudgy .  Nor have I met a yoga mat that hasn’t welcomed my solid thighs. (Oh my god, the mats are too small for my lardy bum! I’ll have to put four of them together!)  Nor, come to think of it, have I ever encountered a yoga teacher who raises one eyebrow and says, “Oh, you think so, do you? If you were enlightened enough to be in my class, you’d be thin.  Now stop crying. You can come to my Class For The Fat and Unenlightened .”    Absurd, excessive, twisted, completely un-constructive, I know. But these are the trolls that leap up from under my bridge when I’m facing something new and scary. Or old and scary for that matter. I like stating my fear out loud. It looks more ridiculous than ever that way. Gives it a loving kick in the head. I suck. I’m too this, too that. Do you have a fear that yoga brings to light? Would you like to kick it in the head? Thanks to yoga for showing me where and how I’d like to be more fearless, and thanks to you for the conversation. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (about All Things Wonderful) from North Bay, Ontario.  Join her on Facebook at Dr. Kristin Shepherd or on Twitter at kristinwonders.

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Yoga Trolls

This woman is 68. What’s her secret? Yoga, of course! One of the things I love about yoga is practicing with inspiring women who are older than me. It’s always the 50 or 60 year old in class who has the twenty minute headstand with variations.  After all, she’s been practicing for decades. At my recent yoga retreat with Marla Apt, I was surrounded by wise and graceful women in their 50s and 60s, women with children my age, and, in some cases, grandchildren. One of Marla’s students-a yoga teacher named Marsha with a lovely practice-is a great grandmother, 68 years old, beautiful and knowing and filled with light.  She teaches yoga to women living in prison (not that she’d ever mention this herself, she’s way too modest.) She’s calm, gracious, and ageless. Marsha is the kind of woman I want to grow up to be like. Patricia Walden, whom I studied with in Massachusetts before moving to Vancouver, is my all time favorite role model of an older and oh so much better yogi; she’s wiser–and more beautiful–than any woman I know in her 30’s. It’s women like these who remind me that getting older means learning more, going deeper– into my practice, into my self, becoming more of a woman, a mom, a yogi, a seeker, with each birthday.  This is only the beginning.   What scares you about the aging process?  What do you look forward to most?  Who are your role models?   Jessica Berger Gross is the author of enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer (Skyhorse), she lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband and two-year-old son.

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Enlightened Grandmothers

Remember when Ogden took over at Yoga Journal ? So-Cal yogis with a light sense of humor still have time to  catch the internet sensation series, The Inappropriate Yoga Guy on the big screen tonight! Here’s the details: Tuesday, August 3rd at 5pm Laemmle Sunset 5  8000 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90046 Head over there tonight and check out the five short episodes from when Ogden visited Yoga Journal here .

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Inappropriate Yoga Guy Heads for the Big Screen!

We’ve all had days like Alexander’s in the children’s book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. In case you haven’t read it (you should) one thing after another happens from the moment he wakes up: from finding gum in his hair, missing out on the cereal box prize to fighting with his big brother, a trip to the dentist, and having a broken nightlight, Alexander wishes he could forget this mess and simply run off to Australia (me too!)–they don’t have bad days there. As adults, and as yogis, we hopefully have outgrown some of these limited belief systems–but somehow it seems like this “bad day” allowance issue still comes up. We wake up and know this day is going to be off, so it is written off as such. What does science, and yoga have to say about that? Steve Schwartz of LifeHacker checks it out: The brain’s facility to simplify, in most contexts, is very useful and beneficial. Our brains develop symbols, or abstract representations of complex ideas, that allow us to connect the represented ideas with other ideas, and to build upon them, without having to keep the full details of every complex idea at the forefront of our minds. In other words, simplification clears our minds, freeing our brains to draw additional connections and conclusions from complex ideas, data, and experiences. But what happens when we simplify experiences with the wrong symbolic conclusion? This is precisely what happens when we conclude that we are having a bad day. We blame our misfortune on factors outside of our own control, in order to avoid analyzing the real reasons things happened as they did (or perhaps even to eschew our own responsibility). Hence, it is easy for us to believe we’re having a bad day. The obvious downside is that once you accept the convenient conclusion that the entire day is for naught, it will actually cause the rest of your day to go horribly awry. Experiencing the world with negative expectations is like viewing reality through a muddy water glass. Your view will be distorted and you won’t like what you see. Schwartz offers a four-step program on how to not have a bad day any day, most of which sound pretty much like yoga to us. In summary: 1.Reflect on the negative feeling you have right now. (Presence) 2.Re-evaluate the situation or events that lead to this stress. (Perspective) 3. Remember that the outcome of the previous minute is not indicative of the outcome of the next minute. (Avoid Samskaras) 4. There is no number four…get on with your life already! (Yoga is now!) Next time you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, try being present and changing your expectation–just like we do in yoga–and see if you have a wonderful, awesome, not bad, very fantastic day. Because some days are still going to seem like that, even in Australia.

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Got a Bad Case of the Mondays?

As an urban yogi I often day dream about coming to a bustling, messy street square and seeing–instead of garbage and taxi cabs– hundreds of yogis. Wouldn’t that be a sight? Well, Bay Area yogis are in luck because you are all invited to yoga it up in Union Square on August 7. Stephanie Snyder and Darren Main have signed on as volunteers to lead the masses, and just to add a little agave-flavored icing to this holy granola treat; registration fees benefit City of Hope . Here’s the spiel: Yoga for Hope is an event for yoga beginners and experts alike to bring awareness to the benefits of yoga practice for patients with life-threatening illnesses. Join City of Hope’s efforts to expand awareness of the importance of the mind-body-spirit connection is when battling cancer, diabetes or HIV/AIDS. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for Yoga Journal’ s sponsor booth to get a goody bag and magazine. There are also prizes and incentives to raise donations above the registration fee, for more information visit Yoga for Hope. Who says New York yogis get to have all the fun?

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Yoga in Union Square

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This morning, I talked with my lovely man about all of your comments on home practice vs. yoga classes. We love both, but he feels pretty strongly about his class last night. He’s been working like a Tasmanian Devil this week and found it beautiful to go to his yin yoga class, during which they are now holding some of their poses for 15 minutes. (Holy moly! Might as well ask me to fly across the Atlantic. Without a plane, I mean.) “What about my face?” he asks. “How could I remember to relax my jaw without prompting?  And my eyes, how do I let those go? Oh, and my throat, I love it when she reminds me to relax my throat. And Savasana is so good when someone else is in charge.” This is the reason I’m going to class at lunch today. There is something wonderful and easy about receiving the practice. Yes, I’m doing the work, and making all the personal choices about how much, how far, how strenuous or not. But, oh, how lovely it is, sometimes, to have my mind settled into each moment of each asana, rather than wondering what I’ll do next, jeez, there’s the dog at the door wanting a walk, woops, that’s my dad on the phone, and all of that. It’s as though, in class, they take me by the hand and just walk me down a path through the woods. I don’t have to choose the path or check my directions or wonder what’s ahead.   Just hold the hand and walk. That sounds good to me today. How about you? Thanks to yoga for being so many things to so many people, and thanks to you for the conversation. Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, speaker, and workshop wonderwoman in North Bay, Ontario.  Join her at kristinshepherd.ca or on Facebook at Dr. Kristin Shepherd.

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Home Practice or Studio?

In May 1975, the first issue of Yoga Journal –all 10 pages and 300 copies of it–was born. YJ is 35 years old this year, and we thought it only fitting to celebrate with yoga, of course! Our Facebook fans submitted their daring arm balances from all over the world, which you can view in our Arm Balance Extravaganza slideshow . Founded in 1975 by members of the California Yoga Teachers Association (Rama Vernon, Ike and Judith Lasater, Rose Garfinkle, Jean Girardot, Janis Paulsen, and William Staniger), Yoga Journal was created to unite the growing yoga community and provide “material that combines the essence of classical yoga with the latest understanding of modern science.” Read the full story of YJ’s beginnings here. Keep an eye out for more on our Special 35th Anniversary Edition hitting newsstand this fall. Be the first to get sneak previews and other special offers by becoming a fan at www.facebook.com/yogajournal

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Happy Birthday Yoga Journal!

Sting just started out for a summer tour, and, unfortunately, the only buzz we keep hearing is about this mysterious scandalous tantra stuff. Allow Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, to explain themselves in Yoga Journal ’s exclusive interview . Stephanie Syman, author of The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America , also plans to set the tantric-yoga record straight once and for all in her Wall Street Journal blog: “Traditionally, Tantra refers to a loose and varied collection of practices detailed in the Tantras (Indic texts). Some of its most salient features are secrecy and worship of the female principle. The feature that has most intrigued and shocked observers–both Indian and Western–is that Tantra enjoins the aspirant to either visualize sex or engage in acts of ritual intercourse. The purpose of this conjugation, often depicted as the union of Siva and Shakti, is to reach Samadhi, a blissful state of consciousness devoid of any sense of personal identity. Succeed, and not only do you turn your mind into a “point of awareness,” as Ram Dass once put it, you obtain special powers (siddhis). You could say that we’re all Tantrics now since the most popular form of yoga today, Hatha Yoga, has been a central feature of Tantric practice, and its creators were affiliated with Tantric sects. But as with most cultural imports, our assimilation of Tantra has involved equal parts interpretation and invention. No wonder. Tantric practice is no quick route to sexual gratification. It’s traditionally demanding, complicated, highly formalized, and at times, tedious. And only some types of Tantrics (known as “left-handed”) engage in ritual sex at all. Tantra then presents a paradox: it can involve sex and yet its prerequisites mitigate the pleasure. And while you may enhance sexual performance via Tantric practices, the goal is not to get good at sex, the goal is to alter your consciousness so radically that embodied existence is no longer relevant.” Still curious? Read Todd Jones’ The Truth About Tantra. Erin Chalfant is a writer, yoga teacher and the Web Editor at Yoga Journal.

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Truly Tantric

You’ve probably heard at least something about the record breaking three-day tennis math between the United States’ John Isner and France’s Nicolas Mahut, but you may not have heard about the interview with Isner where he clearly qualifies himself as a yogi–immersed in willful intention without concern for results. “Especially once the match got past, you know, 25-all, I wasn’t really thinking,” said Isner. “Hitting a serve and trying to hit a forehand winner is the only thing I was doing.” When it did conclude, Isner dropped down to the court, rolled on his back and kicked his legs in the air–sounds like Ananda Balasana (Happy Baby Pose) to us. And we aren’t the only ones feeling inspired by Isner’s presence; Matt Harvey has put out all call for people to tweet tennis inspired haikus to his account @wimbledonpoet. To watch highlights: ESPN Sports And to write a haiku about it: @wimbledonpoet

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John Isner: Yoga Champion

What’s with the naked theme? I write a blog about loving home practice, and you, some of you, write in that you love naked yoga. I write a blog about favorite poses, and you write in about naked yoga. I write a blog about meditation or chanting or acting, for goodness sake, and some of you (is it the same people? The Naked Yoga Alliance? I don’t know!) write back that you love naked yoga. Billy Connolly, the marvelous Scottish comedian, writes that he loves an ordinary love life with his wife. A meat-and-potatoes kind of lover, he is.  He’s all about comfort. It takes some self-assuredness to admit that. I feel that way about yoga. I love yoga in my flannel pajama bottoms. I start with two t-shirts and peel one off as I warm up. Sometimes I start in socks. This naked thing? I don’t know. It’d be like grocery shopping while naked, or bowling while naked, neither of which is ever going to happen, so don’t feel you should write in about those. Besides, where I live, anyone in a canoe can see me unless I downward dog in the dark.   All right, all right! I’ll try it. I’ll try it in the dark (by the park, for a lark, with a shark. I’m going all Dr. Seuss in my nervousness.). I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks for the conversation, I think. Kristin Shepherd lives in North Bay, Ontario. She is a chiropractor, workshop facilitator, actor, writer, and parent of two grown children and a perpetually infantile dog.  Check her out, fully clothed, at kristinshepherd.ca or on Facebook at Dr. Kristin Shepherd. 

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Why Naked Yoga?

New York Yogis are truly the toughest, most dedicated yogis around. Thousands of mats covered the streets in Times Square and shut down the city center in order to salute the sun  and share a concrete-penetrating AUM! Check it out: Images courtesy of Lem Lattimer.

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Solstice Celebration!

Hundreds of fellow yogis celebrated the Solstice in Times Square , and Yoga Journal was on the scene. Dana Flynn from Laughing Lotus and Alanna Kaivalya taught to hundreds of eager yogis in the heart of the city that never sleeps. If one can yoga here, one can yoga anywhere. Here’s a preview of some blissful yogis…stay tuned for more updates in the coming days. Did you go to this event? Share your thoughts below and post your images to our Facebook page.

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Solstice Yoga in Times Square

Last night in New York City, I met my manager and a few others for a business meeting and afterward we went to visit a friend whose band was playing in Tribeca. It was a French bistro and they were playing Latin music.   When we arrived, no one was dancing, a contrast to every other place in the city where they pack the dance floors. The music was good enough to make a meditating monk get up and boogie. Yet still, according to the band, it’s dead like this every week despite their efforts. So my girlfriends and I, yogis all, did what we had to do. We put our purses down and created a dance floor of our own. Within 10 minutes, 20 other people came out there with us–the same ones who supposedly never dance–filling the space, and having a great time. It stayed like this for the next 2 hours until a grateful and sweaty band was packing up to go. Where as the restaurant manager was telling them to keep it down earlier in the evening, he was clapping and supporting the party by the end. He was even up there with us at one point, shaking it like a Polaroid picture. One of the band members approached us afterward and said, “It’s so much better for us to have an energy exchange we can draw from. Thank you for being in such a state of perpetual celebration!” That beautiful phrase struck me, and I realized that in order to create fun, adventure and magic wherever we go, we can each cultivate our lives into becoming constant expressions of our vitality and gratitude. The yogi understands that their innermost state is one of perpetual celebration, and then sets about doing the work it takes to keep themselves readily available to that source of love and light. If we are always dancing on the inside, then why is it so incredibly challenging to access that feeling? After all, life doesn’t always provide us with a bistro and a great band. We are sometimes asked to seek our vibrant center in the midst of heartache, grief and the stress of uncertainty. How can we find the beat when there doesn’t seem to be music at all? We can look to the yoga asanas for a clue. Our teachers ask us to enter into intense situations–like holding Warrior Two for what seems like an eternity. Then we are directed to channel the big energy of those sensations into something that lights us up, and moves us towards sparking more transformation instead of less. We do this in part by learning to understand our satya , or truth, at its most distilled essence. A more superficial reaction might tell you that your burning quads are uncomfortable, and that could be true. But it’s not your ultimate Truth, which, upon reflection, might help you see that besides being uncomfortable, that Warrior Pose is also giving you the opportunity to be powerful. Yogis don’t run away from the fire of our existence. We walk straight through. And sometimes, if we lack outer support, like that night on the empty dance floor–we simply have to go first. I remind my students that they are more than exercisers. They are conduits, channeling the heat of their inherent life force, prana, toward their most passionate expressions of who they are. This results in a strong, supple body, a mind able to focus on what matters, stories that we re-write to be empowering, and engaging in one of the  foundational practices of yoga–dissolving resistance to our greatness wherever we find it. In this way, yogis face down any fear, any difficulty and endure the sensations of suffering until they find a way to use it to their advantage. Even if no one else is on the dance floor with you and you feel alone, your heart is breaking or people are disappointing your expectations, you can dive into that perpetual celebration inside, and even through your tears, bow to your next doorway to wisdom, integrity and living out loud. Say “thank you” first–then, get to dancing! Core Pose: Dancing Fan Pose This is a favorite variation on Fan Pose, one I use whenever I want to loosen up my legs, and access my creative source energy that can too often become constricted by tight hips. Come into Fan, feet parallel, and spaced wide enough apart so you can bring your palms to the floor or onto a block. Begin to bend one knee, and stretch into the inner thigh of the straighter leg even as you build heat in the bent one. Make sure to maintain healthy alignment with your knees always facing the same direction as your toes. You can get more wild and free with this movement, swaying from side to side as one leg bands, then the other, or try a longer hold if you’re loving the stretch. This will help you remove obstacles to your inherent sense of play, freedom and ability to dance  anywhere, any time. Do Dancing Fan for one minute or more.  

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Perpetual Celebration

I’m sitting at the Indianapolis airport after an enjoyable weekend presenting workshops at CityYoga, Nikki Myers’ fantastic studio. I know of Nikki through her program, Yoga of Recovery, which gives addicts holistic tools for navigating the intense waters of their addiction and preventing relapse. She’s a living example of using the power of awareness and yoga to change a life from destructive to constructive, from suffering to happiness and even joy.   We had many conversations throughout the weekend, and it struck me how the yogic process of transformation that Patanjali outlined parallels the foundations of a 12-step program. Both Nikki and my mentor, Leslie Kaminoff, are fond of pointing to the Serenity Prayer popularized by Alcoholic’s Anonymous:   Grant me the courage to change the things I can, The serenity to accept the things I cannot change, And the wisdom to know the difference.   Whether we struggle with substance addiction, eating disorders, or perhaps less obvious dysfunctions like giving over our power in relationships, thriving on stress and anxiety, or stubbornly muscling our way into every pose, we can all learn something from this deceptively simple concept.   Translated into yoga philosophy, we can align the idea of changing the things we can with tapas , or heat, the first part of the three-fold practice of kriya yoga. When we engage in tapas, we invoke our yang nature by taking actions that shine the light of awareness on our issues and work to dissolve the obstacles we find in the body, mind, and heart.   Then we practice Ishvara pranidhana (devotion), surrendering to the bigger perspective. Here we release our desire for the realities we don’t like to change. For example, the weather here is horrendous. My flight is going to be delayed for two hours and I’m going to miss a fun gathering back in New York City that I was really hoping to make. But I can’t force my plane to be magically un-delayed. So I have a choice. I can get upset and suffer or I can get a hot chocolate and enjoy this unplanned time to catch up on some writing. This step is actually one of not of acting. Instead, it’s knowing when to stop, step back from the struggle, and turn your attention to something that you are able to shift.   Finally, we travel deep inside along the clear path created by the first two actions, and enter into an inner contract called svadhyaya , the practice of self-study. In this place, we gain the wisdom to know which road to choose in any given moment.   As someone who once struggled with an eating disorder and extreme co-dependence in relationships, I can tell you that it takes a mountain of fortitude to be able to say no to the seductive pull of instant gratification and a false sense of security. Yoga doesn’t actually give us this strength, but it does offer the opportunity to discover where it’s been hiding within us, like stumbling across ancient cave paintings while hiking. Asana and meditation help us to remember that we have the ability to remain in full integrity when confronted with our addictive tendencies. They also illuminate the darkness when our hands are about to reach out for some external–and false–sense of security. Above all, through the yogic journey we discover that we are truly everything we’re seeking when we reach for that drink or smoke, or are tempted to cling to that person: absolutely alive, confident, soothed, loved, and in mastery of our own happiness.   So next time you feel like indulging your craving or addiction with something that’s not going to serve you, get to the mat. And, baby, start a revolution.     Core Pose : Low Lunge From Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), step your right foot forward and place your back knee on the floor. Your front knee should be stacked directly over the right heel. Draw your low belly in and transition up to rest your hands on your front thigh. In this pose, it is easy to be passive and sink so far toward the floor that you’re in danger of overstretching your connective tissue, which can cause inflammation and de-stabilize the joints. You can also pull so far out of the pose that you don’t allow the muscles to hit that sweet spot of increased flexibility. Use your awareness to find the middle path of engaging your muscles, sending your hips back, and backing off to go deeper, as a light stretching sensation arises in the belly, or center, of the muscles (not within the joints). Remember to keep your tailbone long and spine lifting to maintain space in your low back. Take 10 to 20 breaths here then return to Down Dog. Switch sides.

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Healing Addictions–of all Kinds

I used to think asana practice required a yoga mat, sweats-or maybe even “yoga clothes”-a quiet indoor space, and time. (Lots of it.) Lately, Lucien has been teaching me that none of these are necessary. Thanks to my two year old, I’m starting to realize-after more than ten years of consistent practice-that yoga can be practiced in spurts, a pose here and a pose there.  Yesterday we were in the backyard gathering vegetables from our garden for dinner. I noticed that both Lucien and I were in Malasana pose as we clipped and gathered the kale and spinach. Later that evening during Lucien’s bath, my husband Neil and I were amazed to see Lucien sitting in Virasana for twenty minutes straight while he played with his rubber duck and wooden boat.  This morning, when Neil and Lucien came to wake me up, Lucien put one hand on a laundry hamper temporarily stashed in the bedroom, and stretched the opposite side leg onto the bed, inadvertently coming into a beautiful Utthita Hasta Padangustasana. (He’s a natural.)  I’ve decided to take a lesson from Lucien and add a pose here or there into my daily activities-a shoulder stretch while I’m at my desk working, a triangle pose while hanging out with Lucien in the kitchen. The other day Lucien skipped his nap-a bummer for me since I’d been going all day. He wasn’t sleepy, but I needed a break. While Lucien played on the floor in the living room with his trains, I laid down next to him in a bare-bones Savasana.  It was just a minute or two or three, and I was in my jeans, but you know what? It was bliss. What poses do you mix into your day?  What has your child taught you about yoga lately? Jessica Berger Gross is the author of enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer (Skyhorse), she lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband and two-year-old son.

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Malasana in the Garden

Hi guys, I hope you haven’t been feeling left out of my outfit picks, because this week is all about the men! I know many of us, ladies included, often fall back on the standard black and white palette, but don’t be afraid of a little color. It radiates such great energy. I also know you certainly don’t need a hat in yoga class, but this one by Prana was so cool I couldn’t resist. Overall I was impressed with Prana’s men’s collection. Nice basic pieces with a few suprises thrown in. I also adore Toms shoes for men and the ladies, great style and a great cause. the details: Impact Sleeveless shirt by Prana $32.00 Ultra Shorts by Patagonia $55.00 Straw Fedora by Prana $32.00 Paper Tote Bag by Peasants and Travelers $88.00 Grey Heezen/Burlap Men’s Stitchouts shoes by Toms $58.00 Revolution Natural Sticky Mat $90.00

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Wish I was Wearing: Dude Duds

My lovely man is in the shower. He’s got yoga class in an hour. He’s pretty excited. Me too.   I do Vinyasa and Ashtanga classes at the moment. He takes Yin Yoga. You probably know more about that than I do.  What I do know is that ten years ago I might have spent time and energy trying to convince him that my form of yoga is so fantastic that he’d be better off in my class. With my teacher.  My chanting. At my favorite hour of the day. On my kind of yoga mat. In my corner in the back row.  And on and on into ridiculousness. I was a little bit inflexible, which defeats the purpose, don’t you think? I was also chronically bored, which is what happens when I only listen to what I’ve already said 47 times before. I’m happy to say that at the age of 48 I’m just now learning to let the hostages go.  To let others choose for themselves and to be happy with what that brings me. What does it bring me? Hours of discussion about Yin Yoga, for one. It sounds fantastic. I’ll try it in the fall. The second thing it brings me is the idea that although yoga is about union, it is also an enormous and varied collection of beautiful ways to explore and take care of ourselves. I can hardly wait to hear what yoga you love and why. Thanks to yoga for helping me release the hostages, and thanks to you for the conversation.

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Release the Hostages

I’ve had a really busy week. It involved cramming four days of work into one day–today. I ran around this morning not very like a Buddhist monk with her head cut off. By the time I got to yoga class at noon, I was disappointed with myself and my roller coaster relationship with the world. This is no time for me to be social. But. But it is my only chance to get to class this week, unless I can find one while traveling over the next few days. And it’s a drag chanting om by myself. So I climb the stairs, get changed, and put a mat down. I don’t look at anyone. Class starts, I hang over my feet, and I breathe.  I can’t tell you how this saves me on a day like this. Before too long I look at my teacher, I begin to smile at the way his count of 5 is far more like 39, and I hear the breathing all around me. Toward the end of class, we’re in a sitting spinal twist. I’m enjoying it. It’s easier than it was last week. I glance up and meet the eyes of the woman on the next mat. “Turn the other way,” she says. “What?” “You’re turned the wrong way,” she whispers. She has no idea how right she is. I turn the other way and find the twist exactly as difficult as it was last week. Then I take a second to glance around the room at these people who are kind enough to share a room with strangers in the pursuit of something kinder, stronger, and more flexible than the rest of the day. And I belt out om like my life depends on it when class ends. Thanks to my neighbor for turning me around and thanks to you for the conversation.

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Turning me Around

I was at a meditation retreat last week. Do you know what they’re like? Grainy, leafy food in portions your pet fish couldn’t survive on, no talking, no reading, no car keys, no wallet, no calling home. It isn’t Club Med. Just meditating, dawn ’till after dusk. It can be lonely. But some fantastic things happen.    Here is one very cool thing.  Picture this: 5am, maybe.  (No watches.)  Still dark out, anyway. I come out of my room each morning, slowly and silently, and head toward the meditation hall, dressed in pajamas. As I walk down the hall, every third or fourth door opens, and another person in pajamas comes out, quietly closing a door behind her.  We look like something from a zombie movie, except that some of the zombies have mats under their arms. We walk in bare feet to the hall where we each pick a spot on the floor. We begin our practice. All you can hear is breathing and the soft thuds of feet jumping forward and back. It’s impromptu Mysore.  No one organized or announced it. It goes on for perhaps forty minutes, people drifting in and out of the hall.  All of this happens before we begin meditating for the day. And, holy mackerel, even though we don’t speak, don’t even look at each other for the most part, even though we’re about to begin another grueling day of seated meditation, I am deliriously happy. I don’t want to leave the impression that meditating is awful from start to finish. Other very cool things that happen on these retreats are an empty, quiet head and a sense of peace that will knock you over if you let it.  I love it. Days later I can still feel it. I feel a need to express some thanks to these zombie yogis. They were my family away from home.  We showed up for each other first thing in the morning on days when it mattered. So to these men and women I don’t know, and to the ones I do know but didn’t say a word to: thank you, thank you, thank you.You made meditating a little easier, and you made me fall in love with yoga all over again. Thanks to yoga zombies for making me fall in love with yoga, and thanks to you for the conversation.

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Yoga Zombies

Photo: Trying to be productive at the University of British Columbia library. I’m sitting in the library on campus with a thermometer in my mouth and a stack of tissues on my desk, feeling entirely unenlightened.   My husband Neil is out of town for work, and I’m sick–can hardly get out of bed sick–for the second time this month, and the sixth or seventh time (at least) since September.   Before having a baby, I’d heard from friends about the dreaded string of colds and flu that a little one can bring home from preschool or daycare.   But Neil and I thought that wouldn’t be us, not with our good eating habits, early to bed early-to-rise schedules, and healthy lifestyles.   Hah!   Lucien goes to a wonderful morning daycare program on campus four mornings a week where his teachers are not only loving and caring, but diligent about washing hands.   Yet no amount of hand washing or hand sanitizing has stopped Lucien from coming home with minor nose drips–which, when we adults get them, turn into raging fevers and coughs and congestion.   Neil had walking pneumonia earlier this year, and I had H1N1 back in the fall, and then the regular flu a couple months ago.   Even a run of the mill fever and sore throat like I have now makes my normal life seem all of a sudden unmanageable–especially with Neil away.   What’s a yogi to do?   I’ve tried vitamins, immune-system building asana sequences, but nothing seems to be enough to fend off the viruses.   What’s strange, too, is that I feel great in between illnesses. Then all of a sudden I feel the tell-tale scratchy throat, sneezes, and the shivers that come with fever.   Sleeping fitfully last night, it was all I could do to make breakfast, pack a lunch, and get Lucien ready for the drive to campus this morning.   Thank goodness our babysitter can come over this afternoon so I can sleep off my fever, b ut I’m determined to figure out how we can get and stay healthy–or at least healthier–from now on.   How do you stay healthy with young children in the house? Ideas and suggestions, please? Jessica Berger Gross is the author of enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer   (Skyhorse), she lives in Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband and two-year-old son.

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Sick of Being Sick

Though I sometimes wish I could splurge on the many outfits I put together for my blog and here at Yoga Journal , the reality is that it is not always possible. In these tough economic times I like to be a serious bargain hunter. I challenged myself this week to see what I could come up with on a budget. This entire outfit, shoes, bag, and yoga mat are just a little over $100.00 combined. the details: Funnel-neck Active Zip Jacket   oldnavy.com $15.00 Sports Bra   forever21.com $11.80 Fold-Over Yoga Capris  oldnavy.com   $16.50 Washed Small Cross Body Bag  topshop.com $36.00 Damask Gaiam Yoga Mat   target.com   $19.99 Silver Metallic Gladiator Sandals   oldnavy.com $17.99

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Wish I was Wearing: Bargain Hunters

I’d love to thank a couple of Yoga Journal readers who commented on a blog I posted about morning practice. Both Ty and Kelly said things about wishing they could summon the discipline or the inspiration to do morning practice.  I found myself shouting back to them when I read their lovely comments.  Turns out they can’t hear me when I’m shouting. So I’ll say this in writing. First, there are experts to listen to.  So don’t listen to me unless it inspires you. I’m a yoga weenie.  So new I squeak. But here’s one weenie’s thought on the subject of building a home practice. I started my home practice in three minutes one night on my living room carpet. I did it because I found Friday tough.  I loved my Tuesday class but I was doing drive-bys on Fridays. Do you know about those? You drive to class and your car goes right by.  You drive by again and you end up at home, eating S&V chips and wishing you had some willpower. I was up to it on Tuesday but not at the end of the week. So I did two Sun Salutations one night. I liked it. It grew slowly, slowly from there. Three Sun Salutations. Four Sun Salutations and a quickie Warrior II. Five Sun Salutations, Warrior II, and Savasana. And so it went.   One of the huge reasons I’m so into yoga is that it is DELICIOUS. In my home practice, I follow delicious as it gets bigger and longer.  It’s like following a trail of chocolate brownies, but better. To Ty and Kelly, I hope this is helpful in some way.  If not, keep looking and you’ll find the answer that inspires you.  In the meantime: thanks to all who comment for your thoughts, and thanks to you for continuing the conversation.

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Following Delicious: Build Your Home Practice One Bite at a Time

We love Donna De Lory . The former pop princess–sidekick to Madonna, no less–has refashioned herself as a cooing, crooning kirtan chanteuse. Her sweet, ethereal renditions of “Om Namah Shivaya,” “Hare Krishna,” and “Aham Prema” leave you feeling that’s she’s an instrument through which flows the very breath of god. Tune into her good vibes on albums “The Lover and the Beloved” and “Sanctuary” . Better yet, catch her in person this summer at Lilith Fair , Wanderlust , or Bhakti Fest. Until then, tide yourself over with a music download, just for YJ Buzz Blogistas.

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Sonic Sanctuary

Purple is a powerful color–it’s also associated with royalty, mystery, and even magic. Maybe the next time I need an extra boost to my own magical powers I’ll try wearing something purple. I think my favorite part of this outfit is the top. I love how it creates the layered look all by itself–like magic! the details: Breathe Easy Yoga Tank Top, Nike Bliss Cover Up, Nike Mynah Crop pants, Lululemon Yoga mat, Lululemon Flip-Flops, Old Navy Earthlust Water Bottle, Vickery Lotus Garden Body Butter, Pacifica Perfume

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Wish I was Wearing: Power Purple

This week I’m in Los Angeles for meetings with two TV networks to discuss a show idea. We’ll see what comes out of it–could be something or nothing. This is my week of practicing no expectations, and it’s hard not to “what-if” the situation to death, let me tell you! In the midst of preparing my show proposal, I got an email from a Facebook friend, Scott. He asked if I could reach out to someone he knew who had been following my videos online and might need a word of support. I told him it would be my pleasure, and started a sweet and rewarding correspondence with his friend. In gratitude for my help, Scott asked if I needed any graphic design work done–a logo, something for my website, whatever. I realized that my dowdy Word document proposal could use a little makeover to get ready for these meetings. So I asked Scott if he could take a look and add some flair. He not only designed an amazing logo, he added touches all over the proposal, including a front and back cover. Basically, he took my pumpkin and turned it into a chariot, something I never could have done on my own. The amazing thing is, he asked for nothing in return. When I asked what I could do to repay him, he said, “No way. I just know how it is, to want to chase a dream–a destiny–and to be able to get assistance makes the experience even more transforming.” Then he said one of the most noble things I’ve ever heard: “It would go against my beliefs if I was able to help you and did not.” Wow. Double wow.  Of course, this selflessness made me want to give back to him even more strongly. We each have something to give: a skill, assistance, a door that only we can open for another. When we do this without thought of reward, it becomes seva , or selfless service, according to the yogic path. Now, some people believe that if they help one person, they’ll have to help everyone. That’s only true if you’re not willing to set boundaries or are not sensitive to when your help is truly moving someone forward. It’s responsible to say no when doing so would be a drain to you or not a healthy support mechanism for the person. But none of us can do it all alone–and there are times when to refuse help is just plain energetically greedy. This ends up manifesting more lack for everyone involved, and the karmic wheel continues to turn.  The yogi learns to know the difference. If we consciously and freely offer seva at pivotal moments, we not only gain the energy of awareness and freedom in our own lives, we do one better. We help to change the world by letting in more goodness and more light. If we would all remove roadblocks for one other, while still focusing on our own life’s work, think of how much farther and faster we could go. Core Action: What could you do to make a clear road ahead for someone you know?  Core Pose: Malasana Twist This is a fantastic posture that gives you the benefits of a twist, low-back releaser, and hip opener all in one. It will free more energy for you to give–out, or in, as you wish!  Enjoy. Come into Malasana (Garland Pose) with feet wide and toes turned out the same direction as your knees.  Place your right elbow inside the right knee, and revolve your chest to the left as you stretch your left arm into the air. Lengthen through your spine as you breathe to release out your side and back body.  Hold for 5-10 breaths then switch to the other side. End with a forward fold in Malasana. Reach your arms in front of you, resting palms on the floor, and relax for a few breaths in this neutral posture.  

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Paying it Forward

Are you a Kundalini chant lover? Think you might be? You can find out for sure if you sign up for this year’s Spirit Fest Kundalini Yoga & Music Festival, September 17 to 19 in High View, WV. The festival promises three days of “blissing out” to the best of Kundalini chant, and has the line-up to back up the claim. Snatam, Gurmukh, GuruGanesh Singh, Mirbai Ceiba, Nirinjan Kaur, Sada Sat Kaur, Sat Kartar, Gurunam Singh, and Satkirin Kaur Khalsa–Kundalini chant superstars, each and every one–are on the bill. You can expect lots of singing, sunrise Sadhana, group meditation, and exquisite vegetarian fare; you can hope to be thoroughly uplifted and transported by the experience. Why are we telling you about this now? So you can sign up early and save some money, of course. Since the event is happening at the Timber Ridge Camp a range of accommodations (and prices) is available–you can camp in a tent, sleep in a dorm, or reserve a private room with a private bath. Children are welcome (so plan accordingly). –Hillari Dowdle

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Sat Nam Sing-a-Long

I stare at my feet at the beginning of each class. We hang for a bit before we chant ohmm and get peaceful. It’s while we’re hanging that I look at them. I love my body. After ohmm, we spend a few minutes contemplating how we’re standing on our feet. Our teacher tells us to put our first toe down, then our fifth toe, and then try to lift the middle toes. I can’t do this. My middle toes head off toward the big toe–gripping the floor like drowning swimmers hanging to the side of a lifeboat for their lives.  So far, I am unable to convince them that we’re on dry land. Relax, I say to them. Ohmm, for God’s sake. I love my body. My right foot is in a brace. It’s a long story, but I’ll be in that brace for a while longer. It means I don’t hop anywhere on my mat. I shuffle. Underneath the brace my right lateral malleolus (the outside ankle bump) looks like Mr. Potato Head. I’ll paint eyes on it for Halloween. I love my body. The truth is that there are perhaps ten things about my feet that aren’t gorgeous and that don’t behave in the manner in which I’d prefer. And here’s the thing. I could easily say the same about my hips (What do you mean, open? Open my hips?), my arms (My elbows won’t turn that way unless I break them.), my hamstrings, which are shorter than short, even my face, which has completely relaxed about four times in my life. And on and on. Today, hanging over my feet, it occurred to me that love is a decision. Things are beautiful or not, loose or not, strong or not, potato-heady or not. So what. Love is a decision. I love my body. Thanks to yoga for helping me love me, and thanks to you for the conversation. –Kristin Shepherd

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I am a Beauty

New York yogi alert: If you like the idea of helping at-risk city kids get access to the practice, check out the Yoga at School program at the Integral Yoga Institute .  Yoga teacher Erin Wilson works with the kids at James Baldwin High School , an end-of-the-line transfer school for kids from all over the city–kids who’ve had it tough or been in trouble but still want a chance at a brighter future.  “For a lot of these students, violence is a way of life–they’ve been involved in gangs, they have friends and family in prison, they come from tough economic situations,” says Wilson.  “Yoga empowers them to exercise self-control. It teaches them compassion for themselves and for others. It shows them how to deal with the stress of being a teen and to live a life of peace.” See the concept in action Friday, May 7, at the Integral Yoga Institute (227 W. 13th Street; 212-929-0586). Join Wilson for a special Yoga class at 7:30 p.m., followed by a presentation from the student participants. There will be free vegetarian cuisine, music, and a silent auction to benefit the program. It’s a fundraiser–if you want to pay it forward, your donation will be most welcome. (There isn’t a suggested minimum, but Wilson says something in the neighborhood of $25 would be helpful.)  Who knows? Perhaps your participation will lead to a future of perfectly peaceful rides on the D train.

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Benefit the Future

Kristin Shepherd is one of our newest bloggers. Join her as she takes on the challenges of yoga from the perspective of a newcomer in her new blog Beginner’s Mind : — I don’t know a hootkatassana from a pranayama. Yet. Although I have done bits of yoga over my lifetime, I only jumped in the deep end seven months ago, with regular classes and then my daily practice at home. What I do know is the deliciousness of yoga for a beginner (I can breathe! I can turn my neck in the car!), its frustrations (the clothes! the inflexibility!), and the way yoga becomes a part of everything else that happens during a day.  The way you drive your friends and family mad with yoga talk, the way half of them join yoga because of your ecstatic ranting. It feels as though i have come home after 48 years. I’ll bet some of you can identify.  I hope you’ll join me. — Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, a self-proclaimed theater freak and a yogi.  She’s a relative newcomer, and says she really, really knows how it feels to be 48, a bit tight, and a little wobbly. Kristin finds herself happiest, so far, in the back row of every yoga class.

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Introducing Kristin Shepherd

Forget yoga class, this is the perfect outfit for the entire weekend. I love that these pants are called the “Tool Around Pant” because I need to do a little more tooling around. It definitely sounds better than rushing around, which is what I do most of the time. I also need a new yoga mat, and the tree graphic on this one makes me happy. the details:  Rivera Bra Top, Athleta   Organic Cotton Tool Around Pant, Athleta  Sonata Sweater Cover-up, Athleta Tree of Life Yoga Mat, Gaiam  Om Yoga Bag, Asraistyle  Brass Stone and Leaf Bracelet, Asos Life is but a Dream photograph, Alicia Bock 

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Fabulous Fern

All the news over the last two weeks has been that exercise doesn’t work for weight loss. Really? Don’t tell that to Detroit resident Larry Sherman, who credits yoga for his incredible 365 pound weight loss. Rather than trying out for the Biggest Loser or signing himself up for gastric-bypass surgery, CNN reports ,Sherman checked out a class at the Yoga Shelter in West Bloomfield. There, he was moved by the connection he made with instructor Lisa Paskel–who, he says, was able to look past the fat man and see the beautiful internal soul within him. Feeling accepted–loved, even–Sherman kept on coming to class, and as he did, the weight began to drop away. Was it a simple matter of burn away fat? Of course not. Yoga works on levels that transcend the mechanical calories-in/calories-out model. As he practiced more, Sherman’s self image began to change–and as it did, so did his relationship with food. He began to make better choices, to feel encouraged by his increasing energy, to grow out of his emotional and psychological need for the fat suit. “I had to change my mind!” he says now. “It wasn’t about my body.” His transformation took about three and a half years–and he looks great. (See for yourself, and read more about Sherman’s story at yogafixes.com . ) Yoga works for weight loss. Believe it.

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Yoga Works for Weight Loss

Photo by David Lauridsen for The New York Times Did you see the story about Demi Moore in Sunday’s New York Times Arts & Leisure section? It was a stylish, if perfunctory, update on her career. (She’s back! She’s better than ever! But now she’s playing the mother!) But what drew our eye was this aside, in which writer Jennifer Steinhauer explains a fallow period in Moore’s career, a time in which the actress disappeared from the Hollywood radar to focus solely on family: “It was not that she retired, as was widely reported, she was just resting, a career Savasana.” End of sentence. No long-winded explanation–or short-winded one, for that matter–was offered. This surely is a cultural turning point–we have reached such a level of yoga saturation that Savasana has become a common-usage term, in need of no definition, no parenthetical aside, no translation–even in a mass-market newspaper of record. Will the moment be memorialized by Ben Zimmer in an upcoming On Language column? We can only hope so!

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Corpse Bride

I’ll admit it: I’m an Ayurveda geek. I think you should be, too. Ayurveda is the healing wisdom of yoga, a profound technology for carrying the balance you’re achieving on the mat out into the rest of your life. And even if you never get into the super-detailed nitty gritty (it is a science after all), even the most cursory of explorations is likely to expand your self-knowledge, and may even lead to an AH-HA! Now’s a good time to delve into Ayurveda, especially if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area: The seventh annual meeting of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (or NAMA) takes place in San Mateo this week. If you’re nearby, consider nabbing a day pass–there will be yoga (of course), meditation, panel discussions, seminars, and even shopping. And there will be the chance to hear from and hobnob with the greats of American Ayurveda: Robert Svoboda, David Frawley, Vasant Lad, Yogini Shambhavi, Mark Halpern, and David Simon, M.D., among others. Even if you can’t get to the physical space, taking a virtual tour of the conference schedule can give you a good feel for what Ayurveda is, and how it might be useful to you as you work to deepen your practice, heal your body, and expand your spiritual vistas. (At the very least, it will give you plenty of fodder for further Google exploration of the subject.) In many ways, this “science of life” is life–completely relevant to you whether you choose to use it or not. But then, an Ayurveda geek would say that.

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NAMArama

Whenever yoga makes it into the mainstream media, it tends to look like one of the following: 1. A daffy trend story, the main thrust of which is, “Gee, this yoga thing is really catching on!” 2. Overt mockery. Or 3. A prescription for an awesome workout! So we were surprised last week to see–on CNN Headline News–a beautiful little story about Sue Jones and the YogaHOPE foundation. Part of the channel’s “Breakthrough Women” series, the focus was on how Jones used yoga to overcome her own severe depression and suicidal thoughts–then founded a nonprofit organization aimed at extending a lifeline to other women grappling with mental health issue. Boston-based YogaHOPE brings yoga into drug and alcohol treatment centers, halfway houses, homeless shelters, and other places where “at risk” women tend to congregate. As Jones told CNN’s Robin Meade, “It was a desire of mine to teach yoga to women who I felt might be at a crisis point in their lives, and might be on the verge of making a very self-destructive or dangerous decision.” We know, of course, that practicing yoga leads to self transformation–but that’s news to women lost in the woods of addiction. Good news, a Jones says. Learn more about the program–including how to participate or donate–at YogaHOPE.org .

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There’s Always Hope

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, soccer, 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!  

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Posing at the White House

We just love hearing news about schools introducing kids to yoga. And it seems that Canadian schools really understand the many benefits that yoga practice can offer students and are leading the way in making time on the mat an accepted part of a curriculum. Now, thanks to  Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Board of Education,  Vancouver’s  school district 41 in is approving yoga  for school credit. Other  Canadian schools  also offer high school credit. We want to know: Do schools in your area offer school credit for yoga? 

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Yoga Earns School Credits

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.

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You Better Work!

California Pacific Medical Center is honoring one of our beloved yoga teachers. CPMC’s Institute for Health & Healing  has selected Matthew Sanford as the recipient of its Pioneer in Integrative Medicine Yoga Journal conference in Boston this April. Congrats, Matthew!

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Congrats to Matt!

I can barely feel my hands.  Today I helped birth a baby girl. I feel a very deep vibration. The image of 5 women holding one as she was going through the process of bringing a life into the world is one that is going to stay with me forever. The following is an excerpt of an email I wrote to my mom…I hope she doesn’t mind but its probably the most real reaction I am going to get down… I helped birth a baby today.  It made me want to talk to you. and when I say I helped birth a baby I mean I saw everything and was holding her leg when the baby came out.  It was the most intense thing ever.  I cried. It was so weird – there was no baby and then there she was all slimy and gross and crying and being manhandled and held upside down by her feet. The mom who was 17 years old and named Myriam was 8 centimeters when we arrived at the birthing center (um, I thought we were just going to be getting a tour) and she was in labour and we helped.  Sarah who is on the trip with us is an actual doula and there was a lady getting a c-section so she went in to help in that room and we (me heather and amanda) worked with our mom.  We held her hands and helped her walk around outside, tried to get her to stretch and squat, drink water. She was scared. Sarah had a wicked bag full of tricks…lotion and oils and stuff that really seemed to help but when it was time, well, right before the time time, she was on the floor and I had her head in my lap and my hands under her shoulders and there were 2 women on either side of her and we were all basically holding her.  She didn’t know us and we didn’t know her but I felt so connected to everyone…and everything.   It wasn’t pretty or easy but then there was a baby…I feel like my soul is vibrating a little. When we left mama was doing okay – she asked for a coke The whole thing made me think of you and I hope that you felt supported and safe when you were going through and that someone was holding your hand.  And that someone gave you a coke afterwards. So, I can’t seem to stop crying.  The reality of giving birth in Africa has many shocking things but I am going to leave this one here…

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There was no baby and then there was a baby by Davian Den Otter

A few weeks ago, the YJ staff got a special treat when MC Yogi and Amanda Giacomini stopped by our offices to teach our daily staff yoga class. We don’t usually practice with music here in the offices–mostly because our yoga room is also our conference room and isn’t really set up with a sound system–so I’m always grateful when we have a teacher come in with her own iPod docking station. Of course, we would expect no less from the infamous, self procraimed yoga “unrapper” . . . who came with a big, shiny boom box in tow. Sure, I was skeptical of the whole yoga hip-hop thing at first, but now, I’ll admit it. I’m a fan. So I was thrilled to see his newest video posted to Huffington Post today. “It’s about being generous with ourselves with our hearts, with our time and with our energy,” he writes. “It affirms the universal principle of attraction. What we give is what we get.” Where do I sign up? MC Yogi – Give Love (Giving4Living Mix) from MC Yogi on Vimeo . So, that’s my yoga video pick of the day. I’d love to see some of your favorites in the comments section below!

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Give Love!

“Souls don’t have races or sexes or religions. They are beyond artificial divisions.”  Beliefs separate, loving thoughts unite us.  Today started off with intrigue, curiosity, excitement and ended with joy, yet sorrow.  The orphanage was built first with a vision, then came the passion, then it took strength to reach out and New Hope School and Orphanage was born.  The man who started it was Godfrey in 1997.  He started New Hope on his own.  The kids are street kids with no mothers or fathers and all have HIV.  New Hope provides a safe environment to educate, learn and thrive.  In order to do so it takes visitors like us, OTM, to raise money and support these children so they have clean water, food, shelter, and education.  OTM has helped this year by creating a water filtration system, supplying mattresses, school supplies and left a mural so dreams and the magic will and can continue. Leaving the school was hard for most of us. A feeling of sadness loomed when asked when will we return? The children of New Hope are thriving for love, support and just a hug. I hope I can go back and give each of them a hug.  I hope that other volunteers continue to build on this wonderful foundation. I am so humbled and honored to be part of these children’s lives.

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New Hope School by Carrie Herscovic

If you missed last year’s Wanderlust Festival, this year you’ll have a second opportunity to enjoy a weekend of yoga and music in Squaw Valley in Lake Tahoe, CA from July 29 – August 1, 2010. This year’s yoga line-up includes Shiva Rea, Seane Corn, Baron Baptiste, Doug Swenson, Duncan Wong, Elena Brower, and Schuyler Grant, according to a press release. Musicians will be Moby, Bassnectar, Brazilian Girls, and Pretty Lights. Tickets go on sale today at wanderlustfestival.com . This mini-documentary about last year’s Wanderlust Festival explores the interaction between yoga and music. Sometimes it’s a magical combination! Does it make you want to go to this year’s festival?

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Wanderlust Festival Line-Up Annouced

Birth: raw, rich, emotional, sensual, intense, calm, powerful, and hopefully supported . As a doula (birth assistant), in Minneapolis, my main goal is to make sure that the mothers I am working with are fully supported in every aspect of birth. And that was my motivation for joining the 2009 SEVA challenge; to support the woman of Uganda in birth. 30 women die every day in Uganda due to childbirth complications . . . I knew this country was in need, but what struck me most was the loneliness the woman here face during birth. Expectant mothers come to this local birthing clinic, typically solo and bring with them their own birth supplies: a plastic sheet to birth on, 2 pairs of gloves for the midwives, and a baby blanket. Where as a typical birth in the U.S. uses a dozen pairs of gloves, half a dozen sheets, handfuls of washcloths and most importantly their partner, possibly a doula, friend or family member. I was blessed to be at the clinic for two days and support 4 women through their births (1 cesarean) . . . without the help of Off the Mat Into the World, and the team of us that where there that day, these women would have been unsupported. There was an incredible transformation for all of us in the bare room. New life was given and women on both sides were empowered. We ALL were supported and full of spirit . . . but to know that there will be unsupported births, at this clinic and hundreds of other places around the world today, is hard one for me wrap my head around. It is our birthright to be loved and held up, especially in times of transformation.

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Birthing by Sarah Longacre

Some people thought it was a stretch that yogis have started including their dogs in some classes. But now animal lovers have even found a way to share the practice with their barn-dwelling four legged friends. That’s right! Yoga for horses! Tucson yogi Gloria Hester uses her expertise in yoga, horses, and Hanna Somatics to help heal injured horses, reports the Tucson Citizen . While the yoga Hester teaches to horses is not the same kind of asana-focused yoga you’d see in a yoga studio, it has helped at least a few horses deal with pain. “If yoga is a practice of consciousness, (and I believe it is), then in that sense, the horse is definitely practicing ‘yoga’ in the truest sense of the word,” Hester told The Citizen . The article doesn’t really explain the method and how it works, but it does sound like a neat idea. Do you think horses are really capable of practicing consciousness? Have you ever tried yoga or alternative healing methods with any of your pets?

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Horse Stance?

If you’ve ever flipped through an issue of Yoga Journal , and thought, “I wish someone would read this to me so I could get on my mat and practice along,” you’re going to be really excited about our newest feature. LiveMag will be your destination for multimedia versions of your favorite magazine columns and features. In the first edition (which corresponds to the March 2010 issue of the magazine), you can practice along with the video versions of the popular Home Practice and Master Class columns and watch a demo of a few of the Sun Salutation variations highlighted in the feature story “Shine on Me.” Give it a try, and make sure to comment below and let us know what you think! By the way, the new issue of Yoga Journal will be out on newsstands February 16.

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Yoga Journal: It’s Alive!

I was so exhausted from all the inspiration this weekend that I almost skipped the group savasana led by David Swenson.  For some reason, just as I was turning to exit the revolving door of the Hyatt onto the San Francisco streets, my feet veered right and I made my way to one last class. I am glad I slithered down the stairs to the giant ballroom and wearily let my mat unroll one last time.  David’s southern accent and light humor soothed a room packed with tired yogis one last time, allowing us to share in a communal renewing of shared breath, soaking in the bombardment of knowledge, subtly rearranging our bodies, and finally reawakening us to a deep sense of peace.  My body is tired, but my spirit is renewed. 

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Ah, savasana

Saul David Raye was one of my favorite teachers of the conference.  He has a glowing, calm presence and an ease in teaching that is without entirely without ego.  We spent the first hour discussing as an introduction to the Life Bliss meditation and then went deeper into the five sheaths (body, mind, emotions, intuition and soul) and the transformation we would work on in five techniques for each area (chaotic breathing, humming, chakra awareness, un-clutching and chanting). It’s difficult to explain a meditation without experiencing it, but the techniques truly worked to turn off the logical mind and create that nice “blue sky” spaciousness of the vipassana traditions.  He also touched on ways the meditation has been used for somatic therapy and specifically in the treatment of depression.  He said, above all it is not so much about what you do, but it is how you do it that matters. We ran out of time at the end, but he gave us a brief overview of the chakras and the key to unlocking each one. 1. fantasy…learn to be here now 2. fear…learn to trust your creative flow 3. worry/negativity…learn to have faith and trust yourself 4. need for approval…learn to cultivate self-love 5. jealousy…remind yourself of the scientific fact of your distinct uniqueness 6. ego/seriousness…teach yourself simplicity and sincerity 7. discontent…learn to be grateful for small miracles such as breath and sunrises

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Life Bliss

Much like the members of the panel, I don’t know where to start with this one.  Each member of the panel (Sianna Sherman, Rod Stryker and Sally Kempton) was packed with valuable knowledge and adept at sharing this information.  Below are a few highlights, paraphrased because the good quotes were coming in such rapid timing. Briefly, what is Tantra? Any moment of awe, wonder, embrace.–Rod Also: tapestry, weaving of spiritual experience into the fabric of everyday life, scientific system or method, freedom and the thread that unites all the aspects of yoga in one. How does one become initiated or find a teacher? Only he who becomes mad with the idea will truly see the light.–Rod Wet log or dry log?  The wet one cannot be lit, but the dry one is ready to be ignited.–Sianna A teacher’s role is to guide transformation, creating space for this kindling.–Sally How does one do the work of tantra? You can overcome any obstacle. You can achieve almost anything, if you can only learn to harness your power. –Rod Dissolve the elements that restrict freedom…emotional indulgence, etc.–Sally (As a follow up)  Where is the best place to start? Find a powerful mantra, and believe in it whole-heartedly.  Mantras are very transformational.–Sally

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Panel Discussion-Tantra

“It takes a long time to play like yourself.”–Miles Davis Dana Flynn’s super fun flow sequence was loosely based around this quote.  She expertly weaved in philosophy and the symbolism of Shiva dancing on the dwarf, encouraging students to remember to embrace their bigger selves and flow with the play of the universe.  Dana taught a flow with warrior variations and Kali posed linked fluidly with Shakti and Shiva expressions and also gave students a chance to freestyle to her upbeat playlist.  This class definitely got every one of us out of our minds and woke us up first thing on a Sunday morning. Great class!

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Shiva’s Dance

Like lots of people, I have a history of lower back ickiness. Sometimes, because I did something too intense in a yoga class, or even just bent down or slept the wrong way, I wind up with back pain that makes me feel like a granny, holding my lower back as I achingly rise up from or sit down into a chair, and unable to touch my toes (or do much of anything, really) in a yoga class. But in recent years, I have found some great ways of unwinding that injury faster than than was formerly possible, particularly through Shadow Yoga practices and Gary Kraftsow’s therapeutic teachings. Today, I learned more low back healing techniques in Tias Little’s class, which was entirely about unwinding the lumbar spine and releasing compression from the sacrum. Tias talked about how most of us have an imbalance in the sacrum, where one side is higher than the other because of muscular and fascial constriction. He showed us a number of variations of reclining, rolling twists done with the back to the floor, as well as some new techniques for downward dog in which we bring the sacrum close toward the legs to elongate the spine. It was quite useful. On another note, I liked the first slide he showed (which I think was by accident) of him doing a headstand out on a very hard, rocky, high cliff. He admitted that he may have done a bit of spinal compression with the pose that he was still working out of his neck–but, all in all, he felt that it was worth it. It did look pretty awesome.

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Unwinding With Tias Little

Today did not go quite as planned for me. I slept late, missed my train, forgot my notebook. Heck, I didn’t even have time to wash my hair. By the time I got to the Hyatt, I was beyond flustered. Let’s just say, I wasn’t exactly in a peace, love, and yoga kind of mood. When David Life came in to lead the class, I didn’t know what the topic was. (I had been so rushed this morning, I didn’t have time to review the schedule.) You know how people say the universe gives you exactly what you need when you need it? The class was appropriately called Time Warp. When you really think about it.. time doesn’t matter so much. It’s all relative, David said. You know how some classes yoga that aren’t going so well seem to drag on forever? And others that you’re enjoying seem to finish up really quickly? Well, this one flew by for me and really brought me out of my funk. I had so much fun practicing a playful sequence that felt more like a dance (I just loved clapping along to the music in Warrior 1 and snapping in Warrior 2!)  Peace, love, and music are as relevant today as they were in the 60s; yoga is thousands of years old but it’s wisdom lives on; and it doesn’t really matter if I get to the conference at 8 or 10 am. Amazing.

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What is Time, Anyway?

Master teacher Aadil Palkhivala opened his class on twists and backbends by saying “they have nothing to do with yoga.” What he means is that asana, which he says is “not important but utterly necessary,” is the first step in the path towards greater freedom. Because the body is the vehicle for the spirit, we must take good care of it. This is why we do asana. What can I say about Aadil? I love him as a teacher and human being. He is meticulous, hilarious, kind, and precise. He is a big, burly laughing redwood tree of a Buddha, so grounded in his practice that his spirit can fly big and free. We did some intense twisting, including variations of matsyangasana (hello quads!), and explored how to keep the vertebrae between S1 and T5 safe in backbends. Here are some tidbits from the Master himself, in no particular order: “Our practice must serve our individual dharma.” “Through the consequences of my past actions, I can make decisions about my present.” “There is great comfort in mediocrity. I urge you to rise above that to find your potential.” “You are creating your body of tomorrow now.”

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Twists & Backbends with Aadil Palkhivala

What a blissful treat to spend two hours with Saul David Raye and his band today! As a teacher, Saul embodies the qualities of being both rooted and otherworldly, and he led the class through two hours of meditation, chanting, and mellow asana, with his 5-piece bhakti band playing guitar, flute, and percussion throughout. The theme that Saul kept returning to was that of the circular, which he talks about as being the feminine energy (as opposed to the linear, male energy), and he invited us to delve deeply into the circular, moving our bodies in freeform to the music and singing from our hearts to chants like Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavanthu. We also engaged in belly laughing. For a moment, I felt it difficult to force laughter, but then he told us to laugh at the absurdity of our problems, and the room broke into giggles. The class ended with a beautiful rendition of the Gayatri mantra, and a deep savasana. Something about Saul’s way of teaching inspired a deep sense of gratitude in my heart for all of the amazing people who have touched my life. Om! 

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The Divinity of Saul David Raye

While bopping around the marketplace today at the conference, I noticed the usual assortment of goodies: yoga mats, essential oils, cool new yoga garb, Luna Bar samples (I admit to scarfing down a few in between classes), and handmade jewelry. (Though I realize this has nothing to do with yoga, I did buy a pair of earrings by a lovely Californian designer named Baroni Designs). It was all good stuff, but one cool thing I noticed was this sign, which says “yoga gives back to Haiti” on a number of the vendors’ tables. The sign indicates that the vendor will make a donation of his or her own discretion,  depending on how well he or she does with business at the conference. Great way to bring money–and awareness–to the devastation in Haiti, and what better place for it than a yoga conference.

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YJ Marketplace: Food, Jewelry, and Donations for Haiti

I dutifully read every article Sally Kempton writes for Yoga Journal because I love her clear logic and practical application for problems of the mind, so I was very excited to find that her succinct class was just as accessible and useful.  Sally focused on defining emotions that create deep grooves in our consciousness (dubbed samskaras by yogis and neural grooves by scientists) or the “mind dragons”:  Anger, grief, desire and fear.  They are called dragons because of the historical symbolism this flying reptile ignites: dragons are powerful, misunderstood creatures that some traditions want to slay in order to win the treasure and other traditions want to befriend as a protector and spiritual boon.  Taking either interpretation into account, dragons are powerful as they can drag us into mental entanglement.  This power can be dangerous and incite fear, but if handled correctly, as Sally explains through Tantric tradition, they can be used for growth.  First, we were told to pick an event that ignited the emotion in question.  I chose anger, but others chose grief.  Then, we were to write a brief story recalling the events leading to that emotion. Next, we circled the emotional words: angry, afraid, frustrated, rejected, etc. and wrote them on a separate page.  We then wrote the opposite of each word next to the troublesome emotion so we could start to feel the difference even in thinking these words.  Finally, Sally instructed us through a meditation where we felt the emotion, brought it back up and noticed were it physically lodged.  Mine was in the throat, but others mentioned the heart or solar plexus.  After sitting with it, we dissolved that feeling; physically imagining it breaking apart with hands or as a galaxy–whatever worked.  We then repeated this step, and I was surprised to find that it was already much easier to dissolve the second time.  Pretty neat. The class flew by, but we also had a chance to do a meditation on desire; the main idea of Tantra being that desires are natural and not to be suppressed.  Rather, we focused on the feeling of fulfillment and came to many different, though all profound realizations.  Oftentimes we seek that feeling of fulfillment, and we then have a chance to realize we already have everything we could ever desire;  I left this class with a new sense of peace.

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Dissolving Dragons

Manoj Chalam is a rarely brilliant and balanced person.  A researcher and scientist, he also fluidly navigates spirituality and ancient texts, backing up tradition with evidence.  The hour-long talk was a brief introduction to the gods and goddesses of the vedantic tradition with a focus on their important role as archetypes and spiritual guides. Manoj also outlined the four basic paths of yoga and explained the need for all of them in a balance unique to each individual’s karmic weight.  The stories and symbolism of different deities encourage different openings along one’s unique path.  This is definitely something I want to spend some time with: discovering an archetype that resonates with me and then learning its lessons through sitting in meditation with the symbols. If you haven’t gotten much into the metaphor of ganasha–a giant elephant headed god–riding on a mouse–a symbol for the racing mind–to squash it into clarity or the story of Patanjali (author of the foundational Yoga Sutra ) falling from heaven as a snake to experience life’s lessons, then it is time to pick up Manoj’s book and enjoy the history of enlightenment.

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Getting into the Gita

8:03 on Friday night and I am winding down with rose tea.  Setting out my yoga bag and getting ready for an early morning, I am first-day-of-school excited about the conference tomorrow.  Will the other yogis like me?  Where will I eat lunch?  Is there a “cool” table among the spiritual seekers? Hope I don’t miss the bus…. I know yogis are supposed to have risen above, but I feel like I’m reverting faster by the minute.  Sharing my neurosis got me through my primary education, so I thought I’d give it a try here.   1.  I got a pedicure.   This may seem anti-yogic on the premise that no one cares about outside appearances, but it is actually essential to my success in the classes. Clean feet will help me to focus, nothing brings me out of a good stretch in uttanasana like noticing my middle toe nail is askew.  It’s about alignment and awareness, really. 2.  This is my first time.   I’ve never been to a yoga conference before, let alone one in a major yoga city such as San Francisco.  I can’t wait to be inspired by all of the dedicated yogis out there, and I hope I can keep up…almost twelve hours of yoga a day tops my previous record of eight hours during my intensives. 3.  I set out my clothes the night before.   I picked my favorite black yoga pants and my most comfortable bamboo top for day one, and they’re lying right next to my well-worn sandals and yoga bag.  Again, less about appearances than about feeling comfortable and letting go.  Can’t get into a flow if you’re bunched up shirt is cutting off vital energy, and your mind is off wondering about whether your new grey boots are walking off, right? 4.  After six years of yoga and two years teaching, I am still terrified of handstands.   My first class on Saturday(tomorrow!) is with Desiree Rumbaugh, conquering the fear of handstands with heart openers.  While I am most excited about this of all my classes, I have been known to actually sqeak in fear when I surprise myself and get into this pose.   I also fall awkwardly and sometimes kick and kick to no avail–especially without the safety net of a wall.  No expectations, but I would love to get a little closer to conquering this obstacle tomorrow. 5. I’ve been name dropping this event all week.   Selfishly inciting jealously in my fellow yogis, I’ve gloated about my luck of not one but two Sally Kempton classes, a morning session with Scott Blossom and Shiva’s gospel asana series all topped off with a gloriously titled “Life Bliss Meditation.”  I can think of nothing better than spending the weekend breathing and moving, challenging myself and being inspired by wise teachers and serious yogis, and it is my sincere hope that I can soak up as much as possible not only to share here but to take back to my own students and apply to my personal practice as well. I’ll let you know how it goes. Namaste. 

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Five Pre-conference Confessions

It’s easy to come to a big yoga conference like this and focus on the external parts of yoga: the asana, the yoga clothes and gear, the community. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that. But Anusara Yoga, particularly, always makes me realize that yoga is so much more than that because the focus is on building from the inside out–which is why I decided to spend my first day of the San Francisco Yoga Journal Conference with two of the most seasoned Anusara teachers–Desiree Rumbaugh and Sianna Sherman. Anusara Yoga is based in Tantric philosophy, Desiree Rumbaugh explained to the group at the beginning of class. That means that it operates with the assumption that at our essence we are all the Divine. I could easily see that foundational belief mirrored throughout the teachings, today. The teachers and assistants approached adjustments by first pointing out the good, then seeing how much more the students were capable of. “We just want to see if you could enjoy this more,” said Desiree. There were so many nuggets of wisdom in this class, I think I’ll just share a few of my favorite quotes I jotted down in my notes. Here goes: “Tantra is a philosophy that moves people out of their heads and into their hearts.” — Desiree “In Utkatasana you can’t start from your hands, you have to start from the ground. Then, work it!” –Desiree “Feel how the breath is breathing you all along.” — Sianna “Say ‘Yes’ to being you.” — Sianna “The art of yoga is effort and surrender.” — Desiree “What do you do with your head in Ustrasana? You use it!” — Desiree  

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Say Yes to Being You

Possibly the biggest debate in the yoga community is around food, ahimsa (non-harming), and health. Today’s New York Times includes an in-depth article on the wide range of ideas and philosophies surrounding yoga and food. Can you be a yogi who also appreciates a burger every now and then? What about wine? Chocolate ? Some say yes, some say no… The debate continues. No matter where you stand on the issue, it’s hard to argue with this quote by Dave Romanelli:  “What yoga teachers do and what chefs do is not so different. We take everyday actions like moving and eating, and slow you down so you can appreciate them.” Achieving stillness and peace amid the distractions of life, he said, has always been the higher goal of yoga. How does yoga inspire your diet? See also: Are You in the Closet? Exotic Chocolates + Fine Wine = Meditation   Do Plants Have Feelings, Too?

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Can Foodies be Yogis, Too?

This weekend, there is no reason not to get your asana to a yoga class! Saturday, January 23rd is Yoga Day USA , which means there will be lots of opportunities to practice yoga for free or at reduced prices.Yoga Day gives people new to the practice an incentive to give it a try, but we can all take advantage of a free class. Find a participating studio or teacher near you . Try a new studio or a new teacher. Bring a friend who wouldn’t join you for a class otherwise. Then, please remember to come back here and share your experience with the rest of us. 

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It’s (Almost) Yoga Day! How Will You Celebrate?

In the aftermath of Tuesday’s 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, many yoga studios, teachers, and practitioners have forces to send aid and help soften the blow of the tragedy. We encourage you to lend your support–monetary contributions, participation in relief events, raise awareness, or simply dedicate a yoga practice–to the people of Haiti. Below is a list of just a few yoga events that aim to help with the relief effort in Haiti. I know there are many more all over the country. I need your help to publicize other opportunities to get involved! Please add the list by commenting below with local events or efforts in your community– please include dates, times, and URLs. Laughing Lotus Clothing Drive in San Francisco, California — through Sunday, January 17 Bernal Yoga Haitian Relief Benefit Class in San Francisco, California — January 18, 12 pm Yoga Tree Benefit Class in San Francisco, California — January 17, 4:30pm; Studio will match donations. Piedmont Yoga Studio Clothing Drive in Oakland, California — through January 17 Haitian Relief Class with Spiritual Gansters 305 in Aventura, Florida — January 17, 10:30am River’s Edge Yoga Classes for Haitian Relief in Alexandria, Virginia — January 18, 11am, 12:30pm, and 6:30pm Blue Lotus Yoga Studio in Raleigh, North Carolina set up a fundraiser page with Mercy Corps

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Yogis Help Haiti Relief Efforts