asana-vrksasana

Is hate too strong a word? I'm actually just bored with it. When the yoga teacher says we are going to do tree pose, I groan inwardly and sometimes actually roll my eyes (not so she can see).

It's been an easy pose for me from the start. I like just about any other balance pose than this one. I'd like to modify it...bend down, work on balancing on my toes...but then I'm worried others might think I'm showing off.

ugh.

yoga nidra

So I've been adding yoga nidra into my life more and more and I'm really liking it. It gives me a lot more energy and emotional balance.

In the morning I've been doing shorter ones...around 20-25 minutes. This gives me time to do some asana first. And doing it in the morning is great for my brain because I don't fall asleep. One morning, however, I picked one that was 17 minutes when I actually had about 30 minutes of time. I felt ripped off when it was over and I still had 10 minutes to relax before taking the dog for his morning constitutional. My friend Sara Duke of Do Restorative Yoga mentioned that those short ones might really come in handy at one point.

And she was right. I slipped in the 17 minute one today before leaving for my Jazzercise class after work.

But I like the really long ones for days when I come from from work and don't have someplace to be that evening...like Mondays and Fridays. I usually nap, which leaves me all warm and cozy and lazy and not wanting to cook supper. But YN leaves me relaxed and awake.

I'll mention some of the recordings I'm using in another post later.

asana & yoga nidra

So I could tell I was starting to feel well enough to go back to getting up early again. But whenever I set the alarm to get up at 4:30, I'd wake up, advance it an hour, and then go back to sleep.

I refuse to feel guilty about this. What makes early morning yoga, or any commitment like that work is that I won't feel guilty if I break the commitment. Or tweak it. I'm a pretty disciplined person. If my body or mind wants to change something I've previously decided on, I figure there is a reason. And I allow myself to go with it. If it's important enough, I'll go back to it. Or some form of it, anyway.

But I wanted to get up at 4:30 again. I wanted to wake refreshed, do some asana, some meditation, walk my dog and start my day clear-headed and content. So I just lay in my bed Tuesday night and said, "God, I'd really like to wake up refreshed at 4:30 in the morning. But I'd like to just wake up without an alarm. I'm going to let you and my body tell me when it's time to get up."


And so I did. 4:22 a.m. And the next day too. And the next day. And I've had some really nice, calming mornings.

I've been doing some Yoga Nidra in the morning to cap off the practice instead of meditation or svasana. I'm rotating through several practices I have on my ipod. And I'm getting ideas from Do Restorative Yoga, a blog by a yoga teacher in Duluth, Minnesota. She's on a 40-day Relaxation quest. Read about it. It's good.

New Year, New Kriya

Happy 2011! It'll be a great year, I'm sure. I liked 2010, though. I really didn't have any  major complaints.

I've taken on a meditation mentor to bounce ideas off of, and to give me ideas for meditation strategies. She is my kundalini teacher. I only get to see her a few times a year, as her class is during the day when I'm working. The studio has three other teachers who actually lead meditation sits, but something pulled me to this teacher instead. We have one of those funny, unspoken spiritual connections.

So she's give me the Smiling Buddha Kriya to do for the next 40 days. To cultivate Christ Consciousness. You sit in easy pose, hold your hands up at 30 degree angles, bend down your ring and pinky fingers, holding them with your thumb. You then inhale Sa-Ta-Na-Ma and exhale Sa-Ta-Na-Ma. 11 minutes. The meanings are infinity, life, death and rebirth. It is said that Jesus practiced this meditation. I don't know how that would be verifiable, but it adds meaning to me.

Think about it. Who other than Jesus would truly understand this life cycle? Jesus is the only person who actually experienced this in its' entirety. And if he did this while on earth, it would have been a constant reminder of his mission here.

So my primary goal this year is to meditate and do some asana 365 days in a row. My mentor also gave me a 15 minute morning set to do, so this is definitely something that can be in my schedule. I just need to be sure I keep it up on weekends and breaks!

All that said, I must add that this 15 minute set has some killer moments! I mean, do we really need to pull the root lock THAT many times? And on the exhale? I'll see if I can find it online and link to it. The worst part is the shoulder stand bit. You hold shoulder stand for 3 minutes, which isn't a problem, but you pull the root lock on the exhale, and kick your legs at the same time. I get quite out of breath doing that upside-down.

asana-Lotus/Bound Lotus

Here is a cool diary written by someone else that is participating in the 40-day Bound Lotus Global Sadhana Circle. She writes about how each day has gone for her. Only the first few days are up, but there is promise of more. Here's the link.

My own experience is coming along nicely. I do full lotus (with a towel under my bottom ankle to keep it from bending painfully) a couple of times a week, depending upon how warmed up I am. I have not done the binding at all with my arms. I'm okay with that. I have some weirdness going on with my shoulders and have no desire to even try to do something like that. Instead I grasp my opposite elbows. The 11 minutes is quite doable, as well. About the time it starts getting hard the timer goes off. Wednesday I was in an hour-long meditation class, so did my lotus during part of that. Yesterday I had Centering Prayer & Meditation so I set an interval bell for that and started in lotus. So it's been easy enough to incorporate it into my daily life.

I still do not do the chant or even listen to it. It seems distracting. It's been more meaningful for me to just think of myself as bowing before the God's feet.

I am aware that I have not posted the last meditation from the dhyana group. I wrote it at work and have technical difficulties getting it emailed to my laptop so I can post it. There is only one from last week. I did not do a meditation last night.

asana

I've had trouble with a little muscle above the back of my left hip. It's been going on and on for months and I keep trying to stretch it out and strengthen it.

My massage therapist observed that my body sometimes is twisted. Not up one side but more twisted on its' axis. The right side seems to want to be further forward than the left. She suggested I see my chiropractor. He confirmed. He said that the left hip is hurting because the right side is weaker and it puts more work on the left. "Strengthen that right side more," was his advice.

If I lay off asana for a bit, the hip hurts less. The more asana I do, the more it hurts and ends up not just hurting for a while and fading, but it will then start just hurting all the time. And so I keep doing poses and stretches designed to bring more right/left balance to my body.

Then suddenly last night, as we lay in svasana, I had an SBI (scathingly brilliant idea)! I realized that, in asana, I tend to allow the left-ward stretching to go further because that side is stronger! I need to push more on the right but also to back off a little more on the left.

I can be so slow sometimes.

The Great Svasana

A couple of weeks ago, a yoga friend's mother passed away. She was 101 and my friend was her caregiver for something like 15 years. My friend said she'd gone on a "great svasana."

Then this past Tuesday my Mother-in-Law passed. She was found around 9 or 9:30 p.m, so she must have stopped breathing pretty quickly after falling asleep.

My Mother-in-Law never liked being old. She started saying 25 years ago that she was ready to die. She didn't like being tired. Being achy, having all the gastro-intestinal issues that she did. She was tired of people, food, and going places. She used to say regularly that she just wanted to die. Not in a whiny sort of way. Just that it was time to check out. We actually had to ask her to stop saying it in front of the children. When they were little they would hear her say it and wonder about it. No little kid wants to hear their beloved grandparent say she doesn't want to live anymore.

So I think passing away was truly a great svasana for her. She is finally at complete rest.

asana-Lotus/Bound Lotus

Spirit Voyage announced on their Facebook Page that they are going to do a 40-day Bound Lotus Kriya starting November 9. That seemed fun, so I thought I'd do some checking into what it all entails.

First, be able to do Lotus (Padmasana). Oops! The last few times I've tried it I haven't made it anywhere near close! That could be a big problem. (And actually, I have to say I was perplexed because I'm generally pretty flexible) So I started googling around and found this kind of cool video:

aha! See that bit near the beginning about how he talks about HIP ROTATION? I never knew that! What do you know? When I pay attention to rotating my hips, making use of that good ball & socket joint, I'm able to get to a reasonably good beginning lotus. Here are shots of my attempts this afternoon:

Not bad. At first I was doing it sitting flat on the floor. But this made one knee hover a bit off the ground. I don't have a zafu, so I just grabbed what was handy...a United Methodist Hymnal! It actually was just the right size and height to make the lotus look fairly good. I see from these two shots that left over right seems a little bit better, but right over left isn't terrible.

So I've decided to start working consistently on the lotus for a while. I'd like it to be smaller and tighter and eventually maybe I'll be able to go into it without picking up my feet and hauling them around. My plan for working on it will be to do more yin. I've been a big fan of yin since I was introduced to it more than a year ago. I really like Paul Grilley's DVD "Yin Yoga: The Foundations of a Quiet Practice." On this disc you can listen to him lecture as you go through the postures, or you can play the same sequences again without all the extra commentary. I've ripped the audio from this and put it on my ipod so that I can work in peace and not be tethered to a television. Yesterday I did the hips series and this afternoon I did part of the spine series (before the number of interruptions I experienced from the household got to be just too much). I feel if I do a few yin postures each day and then do lotus, I should see some improvement quite steadily.

Erich Schiffmann's book "Moving into Stillness," also has a nice prep for Lotus. I can't recommend "Light on Yoga" for prep because Iyengar essentially says, "By perseverance and continued practice the pain will gradually subside and [people] can then stay in the pose comfortably for a long time." Yiiiikes!

So there you have it. Oh! The Bound Lotus Kriya. So essentially what you do is cross your arms behind you while you are in lotus and grab the toes of your feet. Then you lean forward until your forehead touches the floor. It looks likes this:

From thesecretsofyoga.com (read the cool story on this page)

Stay there for 31 minutes. If you skip a day, you have to start all over. mmm...hmmm....You actually can just build up to 31 minutes. And since I can in no way come even remotely close to grabbing my toes, I'll just cross my hands behind my back. If I can't lean all the way forward (though I should, I do it in easy pose all the time), then I'll prop up on a block.

Oh, and there's a chant, too:

Ray Man Shabad
Ray man eh bidh jog kamaa-o
Oh my mind, practice Yoga in this way:

Singee saach akapat kanthalaa
Let Truth be your horn, sincerity your necklace,

Dhi-aan Bibhoot charaa-o
and meditation the ashes you apply on your body.

Taatee geho aatam bas kar kee
Catch your burning soul (self) and stop the flames.

Bhicchhaa naam adhaarang
Let the soul (self) be the alms bowl in which you collect the sweet Naam and this will be the only support you will ever need.

Baajay param taar tat har ko
The Universe plays its divine music. The sound of reality is shrill, but this is where God is.

Upajai raag rasaarang
When you listen to the reality from this place of awareness the sweet essence of Raag arises.

Ughatai taan tarang rang
Waves of melodies, emotions, and passions arise and flow through you.

Gi-aan geet bandhaanang
Bind yourself with the song of God.

Chak chak rehay dayv daanav mun
The Universe spins like a potter’s wheel and from it fly demons and angels.

Chhak chhak bayom bivaanang
The sage listens to this and instead of getting caught in either one, the sage drinks the nectar of the heavens and is carried to the heavens in a divine chariot.

Aatam upadays bhays sanjam ko
Instruct and clothe yourself with self control. Meditate unto infinity

Jaap so ajapaa jaapai
until you are meditating without meditating.

Sadaa rehai kanchan see kaayaa
In this way, your body shall remain forever golden,

Kaal na kabahoo bayaapai
and death shall never approach you.

I pretty much suck at chants, so I'm going to do some accommodating on that, too. I'll listen to Snatam Kaur sing it.


That's my plan.

asana

8 days ago my yogabuddy and I went to a 2-hour vinyasa class taught by renowned teacher and author Rolf Gates.

I was scared. First of all because it was a vinyasa class, a type of yoga I've only done once or twice. Secondly because it was Rolf Gates. Would the dude work us to exhaustion? Would I be able to keep up?

Sweet. That's what it was. Exhausting, yes. Dripping, yes. I was very glad I'd bought a hot yoga towel the day before.

I was touched by Gates's down-to-earth style. His encouragement. The way he thanked us for being yogis. For being part of a yogic revolution of sorts...a far cry from when he had to drive 3 hours each way to take a class back in the 70s.

Gates encouraged us to not fret about the mechanics of the poses, but to just find them and settle in. To let our minds just float out into enjoyment with each move. And, while I hear my yogabuddy say that same thing in our classes, I truly can say that I experienced that in Gates's class.

It was also special to have my yogabuddy next to me on the floor. Moving in concert as fellow students. Each of us experiencing our own asana. Each of us dripping sweat and smiling.

asana & dhyana makes your arms fall off

or maybe you just wish they would.
Yesterday was Summer Solstice so I thought it might be fun to give a try at 108 Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar A. Without the lunges. Plank instead.)

Uh. 108 chataurangas can really do in the shoulders. Hmph.

But I've also embarked on a 40 day journey with a kundalini meditation. Today was day 4 and my upper arms were quivering as I struggled through the 9 minutes. Here is what I'm doing:

Sit in easy pose.
Raise the right hand up in an angle to the right.
Lower the left hand down in an angle to the left.

For the first three minutes, point your index fingers.
For the second three minutes, point your index and pinky fingers.
For the third three minutes, open the hands with the palms facing down, fingers together.

Slowly breathe in 'sat,'
Slowly breathe out 'nam.'

asana

Last night was a testy asana practice. I went to class, which is essentially a beginning class taught by my girlfriend. I went even though my body was screaming to lay down. I'm inflamed from head to toe right now, so my mobility is rather limited. Rest and gentle stretching are really what's called for.

Anyway. Asana. This is the part of the 8 Limb Path that most people think is "YOGA." They don't realize when they get into it that it is just a small part of what yoga is. Once they get started, however, they realize (if they have good teachers) that there is so much yoga beyond it.

Asana is what I struggle with the most. It's the part where I do the most inner arguing. I tend to be a "Black Knight" when it comes to asana. I want to go all the way to the end of the pose. Right away. I want my alignment to be perfect. I want to be able to pretzel up on command. I want my downward dog to be perfect and I don't want to do no stinkin' resting between poses! (I should clarify, however, that I do like svasana) But there are times, like last night, when my body says "Dispense with the Black Knight. Let's be a Panda for a while." A warm, fuzzy panda. Gentle, lumbering, slow and easy.

Last night as I stepped on my mat, I told myself. "Easy now. Panda. Use props (which I despise), rest a lot." And so I did back off. But I beat myself up internally the entire time. I know what my body is capable of and it's hard for me to back off and give it a rest.

So I ruined the practice for myself by not living in the present and just enjoying what I could. That's my asana struggle.