Embracing the Flow :: Takeaways from the YJ Conference

I'm in no hurry to come home: if it weren't for my fantastic husband and adorable children, oh yes and of course the studio . . . I could have hid out up here for at least 3 more days. It was such a grounding and restorative weekend, with lots of Flow, a little hiking, lots of restorative Yoga, amazing energy, nature, the mountains and spaciousness for the mind. The energy up at the Conference was so replenishing that even heading into the relative chaos of downtown Estes Park, just 3 miles away, was jarring (it was a Fall festival in town this weekend, so every RV and Midwestern festival seeker was out in full force). I did have to go though because in spite of my efforts to break my worst habits, I cannot (nor do I really want to) break from my addiction to REAL coffee: the watered down, luke warm brown fluid that they served up at the Y simply wasn't cutting it. Now I'm sitting in the Denver Airport evaluating the weekend and I want to share my takeaways.

• Everyone should give themselves the gift of time alone. I was around a lot of other people, but I was totally on my own agenda and I could check-in our out of other people's energy. Make sense? It's not really a choice we have when we are surrounded by friends and family: their energy, their agendas are a just a part of the deal.
  
• We need to stay in balance: many of us with a regular vigorous Yoga practice also do a lot of other physical exercise; unless we incorporate a regular restorative or Nidra practice (or are very heavy and lethargic by nature) our regular intense Vinyasa practice may have us a little out of balance. Those of us who are drawn to this type of Yoga may be a little out of balance anyway, so it's so important to ground and to restore as well. As insomnia is a part of my deal and my excessive Vatta energy, I've been inspired to practice restorative Yoga. I spent a lot of time doing Yin and restorative this summer to deal with insomnia and I plan to continue to grow this practice, I'll always Flow, that's my DNA, but balancing the Flow w/the grounding (not my DNA) is bringing me into balance. Now with my introduction to Rod Stryker's Nidra, I'm really hooked (if Nidra interests you, I highly recommend Rod's guided Nidra CD, www.parayoga.com/store "Relax into Greatness," also available on amazon.com).
  
• For the Vinyasa practice to really be a practice it must be grounded in breath and intention: we generate the heat, we build the fire, fire is the element for transformation, right? Throw anything into the fire it will transform, but this doesn't happen without actually throwing it into the fire . . .
  
• For it to be a practice, we must practice.
  
• I'm a far better student now that I'm a teacher, and I'm a far better teacher as a student . . .
  
• It's really an amazing time to be alive: the world of Western science is finally catching up to what the Yogi's have told us for thousands of years. The study of energy and quantum physics is affirming what used to seem like wacky new-age, metaphysical thinking. We are all pure energy, we are all breathing the same air, we are all coursing with the same Prana, and we are all just electrons and neutrons at our purest from: the separation of form that we perceive is limited thinking, which leads the belief that we are separate. It's the sense of separation that leads to fear and suffering: "I'm this, you're that, we don't agree . . . let's go to war." Though we can't see it, the energy of everything merges together seamlessly: there are no physical boundaries beyond the ones we perceive. We really are all one in this field of energy.
  
• With this practice, we really can transform our lives: if someone had told me 7 years ago that I would be where I am now, really truly on my way to transcending the fear and greed cycle that spins the world, I would not have believed them (nor known I was caught up in it) . . . I also would have been a little bit scared of the change. I would have feared that changing would have forced me to surrender my love for the physical/material world. I would have been afraid that it would have transformed me too much and that a rub down with patchouli oil would constitute a shower . . . you get my drift. There are plenty of Yogi's that have really detached from the material world, but I'm quite sure that's not my Dharma, I like being anchored here (and I can't make myself feel guilty for liking nice purses). While these detached ascetic's are inspiring, it's really great to be reminded that there are just as many amazing Yogi's and teachers that do remain anchored here while seriously pursuing their spiritual growth. Spiritual growth and pleasure in the material world do not have to be mutually exclusive.
  

Good thing it's time to board or I could keep this list going forever . . . I do think I hit the points that really spoke to me, of course if I missed something, you'll hear about it in the next blog.

Namaste

Messages from The Masters :: Yoga Journal Conference, Estes Park, CO II

HOLY FLOW! Today was my day. You know, it's amazing, there are about 30 teachers here representing at least 15 different practices: Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Anusara, Therapeutic, Kundalini, Restorative, Iyengar, Power, Flow etc…. no one is right but everyone is right. Right? Here's the thing: different practices speak to different people, how awesome is it that there are so many choices? So FLOW is my practice. I can't help it, take me into the groove, turn on some music and I'm all the way in and all the way out. Detached, engaged, flowing, mindless, mindful. Blissed.

I started my day w/the matriarch of Flow yoga, Shiva Rea (and I use the word matriarch reluctantly b/c she's not that old and looks ½ her age, but she did initiate the creation of all this). We warmed up, we Om'd, we practiced Mandala Namaskars (Sun Salutations that flow circularly around the mat) and we connected to Prana. Shiva's whole philosophy is simply one that I get: flow with Prana. Put me in Warrior II for 5 minutes and have me set a steady gaze over my front hand and I'm out of my freakin' mind as I focus on the suffering of the hold, but put me in Warrior II for 5 minutes and let me flow my arms, have me pulse and connect me into the flow of Prana? I'm in! That's the whole point—the flow of Prana, the movement of energy. Tap me into the source of flow, and I could stay there for 20 minutes. Shiva shared so many nuggets it's hard to choose, but my favorite is one I actually talk about often when I teach. We must move stagnant energy. As Shiva said, "Our recent ancestors spent 80% of their time outside: foraging, farming, working. Releasing stagnant energy." We now spend 80% of our time inside, sitting. It's not healthy. We really need to move our bodies and release all that stale build -up to get anywhere. In the Yoga world, sometimes the athletic practices of Ashtanga/Vinyasa/Power/Flow Yoga get a bad rap. Some people believe these active practices are simply a part of our "do more" society and our fitness obsessed way of being. I couldn't disagree more: how good of a job are we doing when 60% of our population is obese, 15% of our population is addicted, 10% of our population suffers from mental illness… we suffer from un-diagnosable pain, insomnia and FEAR. Are we doing a good job of releasing all the build up? Probably not. When we really do Vinyasa Yoga, with the breath, with the flow of Prana, the way it's intended to be done, it's an incredibly effective practice. Shiva has mastered the art and balance of Prana Flow Yoga.

I carried the energy from Shiva's class right into Janet Stone's class. While a seasoned vet on the Yoga scene, Janet was a new teacher to me. She rocked my world. It was a true flow class, full fire, vigor, athleticism, and FLOW. But most importantly it was full of humor, energy and connection. One of the most profound comments of the weekend came from Janet when we came into Bird of Paradise (a very awkward, bind one leg, balance on the other pose). She said, "If we do not do this from a place of connection, dedication and intention it makes no sense, it's just contortion, it's actually really weird." I laughed hard enough to almost fall out of my Bird, but she's totally right. Sometimes teaching Asana can get rote, we move the body and we forget to move the spirit. She also reminded me of the importance of satya (truthfulness) and ahmisa (non-violence) in a vigorous asana practice. Are we advancing because it's honestly where the body is ready to effortlessly go (satya)? Or is our ego telling us to strive? Are we moving deeper than we should to validate our own story (I'm a Yogi) and risking injury? It's so important to move from that place of connection and intention, to offer it up—otherwise we can become very ego driven in our quest to advance and therefore become dangerous to ourselves.

I spend my afternoon in a two hour Svasana class with Tias Little. Yep, two hours in Svasana. Who knew there was so much to explore in corpse pose? It was actually an amazingly informative exploration of the restorative pose; but I won't bore you with the details.

I finished my evening in Snatam Kaur's concert: long story short, do not spend two days opening your mind, opening your body, opening your heart, releasing bad energy, connecting to source and then go listen to the most beautiful, crystalline voice sing about truth and love unless you're ready for a major emotional release . . . I was supposed to be chanting, and I wanted to, I love Kirtan. But I was too overwhelmed by the sheer perfection and beauty of it all.

Here's my takeaway, the world is FULL of amazing asana teachers, so what is it that makes these people the "Master Teachers?" First of all it's their knowledge, I think they're all fluent in Sanskrit, can name every Hindu god, recite the Bhagavad Gita and list every muscle, vertebrae, nerve etc… in the body. But with time, anyone can learn that, what makes these teachers the masters is their mastery of their own energy, their connection to source and the way that transmute this connection to world. It's their ability to connect with people, to teach truth and love. It's the intangible quality . . . . the quality of charisma, the success of stepping into their own Dharma, embracing their own flow and leading with truth and love.

I'm revisiting Rod Stryker tomorrow and then coming home. I'm not quite ready . . . .

Namaste

Messages from The Masters :: Yoga Journal Conference, Estes Park, CO

What an unbelievable gift to be here at the Yoga Journal Conference in Estes Park. My adoration of arid mountainous regions and altitude has been discussed in a previous blog, so I couldn't help but smile at the sheer perfection of it as I climbed from Denver to Estes Park last night—on my way into the mountains to think about Yoga, health, wellness, elevated consciousness and spirituality for 3 days without my husband, kids or even a friend. No one else's' energy, no one else's' agenda—just me nurturing my practice.

Today I was gifted with 4 incredible classes. I took two energetic Vinyasa classes and two completely restorative classes. Practicing with the masters is always inspiring. I'll share a little nugget from each class that stuck.

I started my morning at 8:00 a.m. with Seane Corne. At one point in class Seane said, "When half of the world's population is quite literally struggling for food, shelter, peace and safety, it seems like a pretty indulgent life to be on vacation practicing Yoga, but it's important to remember that we're not responsible for anyone else's' karmic journey." I've heard Seane say this before and I love it, I think some times we can feel a lot of guilt and responsibility for the woes of the world simply because we were born lucky. It's important to remember that we're here, at this time in this body to maximize our potential and live at our highest level of consciousness: who knows why so many of us were so lucky to be born free, safe, with plenty of resources, health and energy. Rather than worrying about survival, we get to practice Yoga and elevate our lives. But since our karmic circumstances have provided relative abundance, it's certainly our job to discover our dharma and live as consciously as we can.

I went directly from Sean's class to Baron Baptiste. First of all this was really great for me to practice with Baraon, I've studied and practiced Baptiste Yoga ad-nasuem and Shakti Vinyasa in Seattle. I know his foundational sequence like the back of my hand and I taught it for years, since I had never practiced with Baron himself, I always felt like a bit of a pilferer! It was great to finally stand in his presence and feel his energy come through the sequence I know so well, and his energy is amazing. I no longer teach nor practice much Baptiste Yoga, but I think it's an amazing foundational practice and the cornerstone for Vinaysa. It's a brilliant sequence that Baron's created, it's safe, it's stabilizing, it's strengthening, it doesn't require over-stretching and it's very hard! It's the perfect practice to prepare the body for "the flow." My favorite line from Baron today was, "The most important thing about your practice is that you actually have a practice." Right? To really be effective and to cultivate the ability to practice Yoga mindfully, with breath and presence, it's something that should be done often . . . otherwise we lose the breath, we get distracted by the rigor and it's just fancy and effective calisthenics!

This afternoon, I headed to Rod Stryker for Yoga Nidra. Yoga is Yoga (not just Asana, the 8 Limbs of elevating consciousness and cultivating Union) and Nidra means sleep. So a Yoga Nidra class effectively takes students into an almost trance like state that somewhere between asleep and awake. Nidra is the arena of the subconscious mind, the mind that creates, manifests and is always connected to source. He laughed, as he said "Here's the secret about The Secret . . . . it doesn't work." The reason so many of us are unable to manifest (in spite of the fact that it's entirely possible) is that we are unable to drop the monkey mind, the clutter of the thinking mind, the consciousness we know so well, relate to, live with and are attached to: the state that most of us perceive of as real. When we totally relax the body and surrender the thinking mind, we enter Nidra and create the space to dissolve fears, attachments, clutter. Rod is participating in a lot of leading edge and clinical studies about Nidra, it's now being used to effectively treat PTSD in cadets coming home from battle, insomnia and fibromyalgia. He summed it up when he said, "Most people live in a state of fight or flight. The Yogi gets to transcend it all." The state of relaxation that I achieved in this class, the buzz of the Vega nerve in my forehead and the high that lasted post class convinced me he's right, this class was the absolute highlight of my day and Rod will now be a teacher I seek out.

I finished my evening with a restorative class taught by Bo Forbes (Alice Harper did her teacher training with Bo in Boston). Bo is the most revered teacher of Therapeutic and Restorative Yoga in the country. She's a psychologist, and like Rod she's participating in a lot of leading edge research with the Beth Israel hospital in Boston and working with professional sports teams. We are so inundated with information; it's truly sensory over load. She's teaching people how to ground in, to reconnect with the senses and how to calm the parasympathetic nervous system. Bo's class was very similar to Rod's but Rod's class was a bit more hypnotic, he dialoged as we rested and his message took us into a trance like state. While equally restorative, Bo's class was more about complete surrender into the earth and into the body, no dialog. It's such an amazing and important practice, but one that many of us don't cultivate on a regular basis because "it feels like we're doing nothing." In
this hyper world, it's nice to be reminded of how important it is to do nothing other than restore. It was a completely divine and restorative practice, the perfect way to end the day.

So now I'm back in my institutional room at the Estes Park YMCA (wondering why in this state of relative abundance I didn't stay in one of the beautiful hotels I saw along the river on my way up . . . whatever, detaching). Preparing for restful sleep and another beautiful day tomorrow. I'll post about my classes with Shiva Rea, Janet Stone and Tias Little tomorrow night!

Namaste

Embracing the Flow :: Laugh out Loud

This is a totally different kind of post, but I can't resist. I love to laugh. So this week, I had one of our most awesome clients complain about the "extreme heat" in the studio (the studio is 85, sometimes it's it more like 92, it's definitely warm, but not Bikram hot).  I've had another very awesome client tell me that he avoids the crowded classes because of the carbon dioxide off-gassing.  So I love the heat, I love the studio, but in light of these recent conversations, this made me laugh:  this was a  posting on Craig's List that a friend just sent me and I laughed out loud as I read it, so I thought it was worth sharing . . .

 

Yoga mat for sale. Used once. - $1 (Bellevue)

 

Date: 2011-09-13, 10:32PM PDT
Reply to: sale-cbz7z-2597736393@craigslist.org
^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

 

 

Yoga mat for sale. Used once at lunch hour class in December 2009. Usage timeline as follows:

11:45a
Register for hot yoga class. Infinite wisdom tells me to commit to 5 class package and purchase a yoga mat. I pay $89.74. Money well spent, I smugly confirm to myself.

11:55a
Open door to yoga room. A gush of hot dry air rushes through and past me. It smells of breath, sweat and hot. Take spot on floor in back of room next to cute blonde. We will date.

11:57a
I feel the need to be as near to naked as possible. This is a problem because of the hot blonde to my left and our pending courtship. She will not be pleased to learn that I need to lose 30 pounds before I propose to her.

11:58a
The shirt and sweats have to come off. I throw caution to the wind and decide to rely on my wit and conditioning to overcome any weight issues my fiancée may take issue with. This will take a lot of wit and conditioning.

11:59a
Begin small talk with my bride to be. She pretends to ignore me but I know how she can be. I allow her to concentrate and stare straight ahead and continue to pretend that I don't exist. As we finish sharing our special moment, I am suddenly aware of a sweat moustache that has formed below my nose. This must be from the all the whispering between us.

12:00p
Instructor enters the room and ascends her special podium at the front of the room. She is a slight, agitated Chinese woman. She introduces me to the class and everyone turns around to greet me just as I decide to aggressively adjust my penis and testes packed in my Under Armor. My bride is notably unfazed.

12:02p
Since I do have experience with Hot Yoga (4 sessions just 5 short years ago) I fully consider that I may be so outstanding and skilled that my instructor may call me out and ask me to guide the class. My wife will look on with a sparkle in her eye. We will make love after class.

12:10p
It is now up to 95 degrees in the room. We have been practicing deep breathing exercises for the last 8 minutes. This would not be a problem if we were all breathing actual, you know, oxygen. Instead, we are breathing each other's body odor, expelled carbon dioxide and other unmentionables. (Don't worry, I'll mention them later.)

12:26p
It is now 100 degrees and I take notice of the humidity, which is hovering at about 90%. I feel the familiar adorning stare of my bride and decide to look back at her. She appears to be nauseated. I then realize that I forgot to brush my teeth prior to attending this class. We bond.

12:33p
It is now 110 degrees and 95% humidity. I am now balancing on one leg with the other leg crossed over the other. My arms are intertwined and I am squatting. The last time I was in this position was 44 years ago in the womb, but I'm in this for the long haul. My wife looks slightly weathered dripping sweat and her eyeliner is streaming down her face. Well, "for better or worse" is what we committed to so we press on.

12:40p
The overweight Hispanic man two spots over has sweat running down his legs. At least I think its sweat. He is holding every position and has not had a sip of water since we walked in. He is making me look bad and I hate him.

12:44p
I consider that if anyone in this room farted that we would all certainly perish.

12:52p
It is now 140 degrees and 100% humidity. I am covered from head to toe in sweat. There is not a square millimeter on my body that is not slippery and sweaty. I am so slimy that I feel like a sea lion or a maybe sea eel. Not even a bear trap could hold me. The sweat is stinging my eyeballs and I can no longer see.

12:55p
This room stinks of asparagus, cloves, tuna and tacos. There is no food in the room. I realize that this is an amalgamation of the body odors of 30 people in a 140 degree room for the last 55 minutes. Seriously, enough with the asparagus, ok?

1:01p
140 degrees and 130% humidity. Look, bitch, I need my space here so don't get all pissy with me if I accidentally sprayed you with sweat as I flipped over. Seriously, is that where this relationship is going? Get over yourself. We need counseling and she needs to be medicated. Stat!

1:09p
150 degrees and cloudy. And hot. I can no longer move my limbs on my own. I have given up on attempting any of the commands this Chinese chick is yelling out at us. I will lay sedentary until the aid unit arrives. I will buy this building and then have it destroyed.
I lose consciousness.

1:15p
I have a headache and my wife is being a selfish bitch. I can't really breathe. All I can think about is holding a cup worth of hot sand in my mouth. I cannot remember what an ice cube is and cannot remember what snow looks like. I consider that my only escape might be a crab walk across 15 bodies and then out of the room. I am paralyzed, and may never walk again so the whole crab walk thing is pretty much out.

1:17p
I cannot move at all and cannot reach my water. Is breathing voluntary or involuntary? If it's voluntary, I am screwed. I stopped participating in the class 20 minutes ago. Hey, lady! I paid for this frickin class, ok?! You work for me! Stop yelling at everyone and just tell us a story or something. It's like juice and cracker time, ok?

1:20p
It is now 165 degrees and moisture is dripping from the ceiling. The towel that I am laying on is no longer providing any wicking or drying properties. It is actually placing additional sweat on me as I touch it. My towel reeks. I cannot identify the smell but no way can it be from me. Did someone spray some stank on my towel or something?

1:30p
Torture session is over. I wish hateful things upon the instructor. She graciously allows us to stay and 'cool down' in the room. It is 175 degrees. Who cools down in 175 degrees? A Komodo Dragon? My wife has left the room. Probably to throw up.

1:34p
My opportunity to escape has arrived. I roll over to my stomach and press up to my knees. It is warmer as I rise up from ground level - probably by 15 degrees. So let's conservatively say it's 190. I muster my final energy and slowly rise. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other. Towards the door. Towards the door.

1:37p
The temperature in the lobby is 72 degrees. Both nipples stiffen to diamond strength and my penis begins to retract into my abdomen from the 100 degree temp swing. I can once again breathe though so I am pleased. I spot my future ex wife in the lobby. We had such a good thing going but I know that no measure of counseling will be able to unravel the day's turmoil and mental scaring.

1:47p
Arrive at Emerald City Smoothie and proceed to order a 32 oz beverage. 402 calories, 0 fat and 14 grams of protein -- effectively negating any caloric burn or benefit from the last 90 minutes. I finish it in 3 minutes and spend the next 2 hours writing this memoir.

3:47p
Create Craigslist ad while burning final 2 grams of protein from Smoothie and before the "shakes" consume my body.

4:29p
Note to self - check car for missing wet yoga towel in am.

• Location: Bellevue
  
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
  

  PostingID: 2597736393
  

Embracing the Flow :: Living Your Dharma

So I share this at the risk of sounding slightly crazy (for those who know me I think it goes without saying that I'm pretty open to the metaphysical world), but I recently consulted an "Intuitive Counselor" (i.e. psychic) who came highly recommended to me from two trusted and totally normal friends. She knew only two things about me: my first name and my cell phone number. She doesn't want to know anything else, because she doesn't want to be accused of researching her clients.

At 11:00 a.m. I called her for our appointment, after a brief introduction she asked me not to say anything because she didn't want me to muddle or confuse any images that came to her. Then for about 7 minutes there was silence. When she finally spoke she said to me, "You help people find their way and get unstuck, you show them new ways of seeing and you are on the leading edge of life." OK, pretty generic, I agree, but also pretty spot on. Then she said, "In a past life you were a famous dancer. This is the symbol for the teacher; perhaps you use movement or dance to help people get unstuck." Now we're talking. How the heck did she do that?!?!?!!?

She told me very many more interesting things about myself which resonated as true, but I remain totally baffled by that that statement because of its overwhelming truth: being a Yogini, a Yoga teacher and a studio owner—someone who uses movement to help people get unstuck—is my Dharma (living in order with the cosmos and one's pre-determined life's path).

The need to move has been pervasive throughout my life. My mother has told me that I spent my entire childhood dancing, she said that my need to move as a child was so overwhelming that I couldn't make it through dinner without performing a dance in front of the kitchen table: I remember it. I also remember coming home from elementary school and tumbling around the living room for hours in some sort of dance/gymnastics hybrid that probably looked a lot like Yoga and coming to dinner a red-faced, sweaty mess. As I grew older and more self-conscious, I transferred the energy from perpetual motion into athletics as they were a socially acceptable arena for movement and I learned to sit through dinner. Even so, throughout high school and college, anytime you put an open field in front of me, I was guaranteed to start cartwheeling and handspringing my way down the field, much to my friends' dismay. All I can say is I really couldn't help it . . . I really had to move.

So this of course makes Yoga such a natural fit for me. I did Yoga for a long time before I really found the flow. Both Ashtanga and Baptiste Yoga are flow based, so they both opened the door to flow, but when I found the intuitive sequencing and dancelike flow of teachers like Shiva Rae and Sarah Thompson Beyer, I knew I was home. A while back I blogged about my love for the Idaho Mountains and how the first time I visited them I had this overwhelming sense of knowing that I was home, I had the same overwhelming sense of knowing that somehow I was on my path the first time I practiced Yoga in this free and dancelike way. I was not doing the Yoga, I was not straining in the poses, the flow was simply moving through me in this totally liberated and authentic way, I was totally out of my head—released from repetitive thought patterns—and pure life source moved through me. It was, and still is, total bliss for me to move in this way.

And it's also so easy for me to teach this way. I never plan a class, I never plan a sequence. I simply get on my mat and the sequences flow through me. I've had other teachers ask me to create workshops on creating flow based sequences and I honestly have no clue how I could share this information: it simply arrives. It's an unstudied, intuitive and totally authentic experience. So I send them to Shiva and Sarah!

Every day I wake up overwhelmed with gratitude that I found my Dharma and I actually get to live it. I can't believe that I get to spend every day using movement to help people get unstuck. I can't believe I get to spend my whole life moving! Mostly I'm beyond grateful for the AMAZING group of people for whom this style of Yoga resonates. It's only because of their willingness and openness to move freely that I get to teach, that I get to live my Dharma. This week I got an email from a client that said, [When you teach you] "make jokes, expressions etc ... it makes the class more fun and energetic instead of just sort of routine.  You're the 'master' at that and it makes all the difference!" To which I replied, "Thanks for the compliment, I LOVE teaching so much, it's easy to be light and fun b/c I'm having so much fun!" I'm in my flow, I'm living my Dharma . . . . I could not be luckier, happier or more fulfilled.

Namaste