Taking the Inward Road

The more years I practice, the more INTERNAL my experience of yoga becomes. While I still value strong alignment cues, the shapes of the asanas + the mechanics of the body, the real MEAT + POTATOES for me is going inside.

To value QUIETUDE and STILLNESS is not something inherent in our fast-paced world. It's not flashy. It doesn't sell well. That's actually one of the things that draws me to it. There are so many other factors pulling us away in a hundred other directions. Well, I'll show them! I'm just going to sit here quietly and watch my breath.

We can't really truly know ourselves without some contemplative experiences. My self-awareness grows by leaps and bounds though my practice; not strictly though yoga postures (though they're a great gateway in!), but through the INTERNAL arts of meditation, pranayama and quiet contemplation.

Forward folding postures can invoke the experience of moving inward. They quite literally move us into ourselves.  With the onset of the cold + dark take this opportunity to move INSIDE.

MULADHARA //// SVADHISTHANA

As I (quite) regularly discuss in my yoga postings, yogic practices are all about finding the middle ground. We are generally looking to BALANCE all aspects of our practice in body, breath + mind. For all the strengthening work that we do, it's equally important that we stay flexible and open too.

Practice for the PELVIS can (and should!) incorporate both releasing + engaging work. HIPS are usually super tight from excess sitting, but also can be weak potentially contributing to lower back and knee pain. Like most structures in the body, we want the pelvis to be STRONG + FLEXIBLE.

There are 2 CHAKRAS in the pelvic region. The MULADHARA chakra is our ROOT chakra -- related to our sense of stability and groundedness. The SVADHISTHANA is the SACRAL chakra correlating with fluidity and our ability to adapt. Both spaces have the potential for practices which create opening and those which create toning.

Our MULADHARA work can hone in on GATHERING + ENGAGING, while our SVADHISTANA focus can involve SPREADING + LIBERATING. Balanced work feels best in the end.

yoga sutra 2.47

Yoga Sutra 2.47 says that by relaxing EFFORT in yoga postures, the yogi merges with their focal point.

There are 2 points here worth considering.

1. Relaxation of strain/effort is an ability that comes with time and regular practice. There is not a complete lack of muscular tone, working with breath, moving deeper into the posture. Rather there can be a relinquishing of OVER-TRYING. I like to think of non-efforting as EASING, finding the space within the engagement, ACCEPTANCE of the pose as it is.

2. Through this relaxation, the YOGI can merge with the intended focus. What is our point of concentration? To where are we directing our moment-to-moment awareness? The more we seek out qualities of EASE, LIGHTNESS and GRATITUDE, the more likely it is that we'll be absorbed in those experiences when we release grasping. This state of being implies a CALM + SETTLED heart-mind, which is undisturbed by the whirlings of the external realm.

poses as lessons, not goals

Initially in my yoga practice, I was very strong driven by the desire to "achieve" poses. As though a pose was something I could conquer and move on to the next thing. After several years of practicing in this way, I came to realize that you never actually "own" a pose. You might be able to do it for years and then something changes in your body or your practice and it no longer belongs to you.

Also, I must say that I find commercialized yoga practice to overly emphasize achievement and posture. I don't think you can separate your bodily practice from your mind/breath/moral practices and have them make the same impact on your life. If yoga is truly going to work for us, we have to be willing to put in work in all the areas or "limbs" of practice.

In other words, there is no instant gratification here. We can work on postures without them being the end goal. There are many lessons to be learned along the way. Patience, detachment and kindness toward your body, to name a few.

SUPTA VIRASANA is one of those poses that requires a whole lot of practice and much cultivation of patience. This is not an instantly gratifying pose. But through our continued effort and the generous use of PROPS and BREATH, it might just be worth the wait.

Knowledge is Power

I am working on completing my final requirements for my 500-hour certification. One of the requirements is a fairly lengthy and comprehensive written test which I have been dreading and putting off for months. Okay, half a year.

Last week I finally got down to business and dove into the test. Turns out it wasn't so bad-- challenging, sure, but actually quite enjoyable. It gave me the opportunity to really look at and consider how much I've learned and integrated in my path of yoga. There are so many components to the journey of practicing + teaching -- anatomy, breathing, alignment, flow of energy, philosophy, mythology, chanting, meditation -- and every part of it is equally fascinating and important.

When you consider your own progress on the path, what do you see? Sometimes it doesn't seem like we are moving forward or improving until we actually look at where we started. The acquisition of knowledge is ongoing and without end. I expect to look back in five/ten/twenty more years with even more appreciation for the time + effort that I've put into living as a yogi.

The Mystery of Yoga

From the late Michael Stone:
"Yoga teachings are not a response to life that stand apart from its movement. Yoga is a living question that continually points its practitioner back toward his or her own life, back into the body, straight into community. An ongoing practice recognizes that there is a transcendent mystery beyond the techniques that a practice employs."

Time and time again as I come back to my mat, to my cushion, my practice, I accept the mystery of yoga. What is it that keeps drawing me back in? There are so many components to this practice, creating a framework for understanding the complexity of life, of humanity, of ourselves.

Working at postures is a lot of fun. It is a holistic system for keeping the body functioning optimally. Daily practice allows us to dive into what we NEED in the moment, in the current climate of our lives. The diversity of available yogic practices makes for endless exploration and creativity.

Meditative work is often removed from the classroom setting, but should really be as important as our asana practice. Coming in to the stillness of meditation is a constant challenge requiring daily discipline and effort. And it sometimes creates more frustration than inner peace. But the experience of sitting with WHAT IS, whatever that may be, teaches us so many lessons, this work is invaluable.

Living as a yogi in the modern world requires non-stop engagement with life, with people, with your own habit patterns. Not always the most desirous of affairs. Taking on yoga philosophy as a guideline to living my best self has been my TRUEST practice of living the life of a yogi. It isn't usually easy, but it certainly feels rooted in REALITY + MYSTERY in equal measure.

So why do you practice? What motivates you to show up and do the daily work?

sahasrara chakra

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The CROWN JEWEL

This is the final week of my in-depth exploration of teaching CHAKRAS in the classroom setting. It has been extremely useful for me to grow my understanding and internalize physical, meditative and subtle body practices for each. I am so grateful to Tias Little for sharing his boundless knowledge with me. And grateful that I took the time to dive in to a personal understanding that I could then share with YOU.

In the CROWN chakra practices, the spine is KING. Axial extension of the spine encourages an open central line of the body (the SUSHUMNA). When the central channel is WIDE OPEN then breath, neural firings and energetic movement can flow unimpeded.

PHYSICAL practices for SAHASRARA move toward TADASANA. Aligning the crown with the tail and lengthening -- no matter the pose you're in. Poses on the MIDLINE are particularly useful to study this work.

PSYCHICALLY, the CROWN chakra supports connectivity with PRANA (life force). As we open the central channel, the winds of prana can disperse from the center to the periphery, encouraging a connection to SPACE and EXPANSION. By moving into this expansive awareness, we can begin to see ourselves as INTERCONNECTED and INTERDEPENDENT with everything.

What an AMAZING practice this is!

ajna chakra

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THIRD EYE CENTER

The 6th chakra in our upward moving journey is the AJNA chakra which sits directly in the center of the brain. In yogic practices, the 3rd Eye center is the seat of wisdom, knowledge and understanding. It is connected to the FUNCTION of the PITUITARY gland, which manages many bodily systems including appetite, metabolic function and temperature control.

As with the THROAT chakra, the THIRD EYE center is prone to tension and holding patterns. Tension is rife in the head and neck and as a result, the skull experiences strain and stress. How common is it for you to harden your jaw, clamp your teeth and furrow your brow? I have spent years working on undoing those patterns in my own head/neck.

PHYSICAL poses for the 6th chakras support the head and neck to increase the capacity for RELEASE + REST. With the head + neck easy and light, it's much easier to do the CONTEMPLATIVE practices of MEDITATION, MUDRA + PRANAYAMA. All roads lead to meditation this week.

vishuddha chakra

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The 5th CHAKRA center is seated in the THROAT and marks the beginning of the UPPER CHAKRAS. The top 3 chakras are related to qualities of AIR + SPACE as they relate to the NECK + HEAD.

The throat chakra is connected to the experience of HEARING and SPEAKING. In particular, it's connected to being able to ASSIMILATE information that you hear + to speak your AUTHENTIC truth and EXPRESS yourself well. The traditional of yoga is an ORAL tradition, which is passed down teacher to student. In that context, the ear + listening are the sacred instruments through which the knowledge is gained.

TENSION + HOLDING patterns in the head, neck, jaw, tongue and throat are super common and can lead to a lower functioning in the VISHUDDHA. Yogic practices address these commonly held points of tension, supporting release.

When we do PHYSICAL practice for the 5th chakra, we seek to open up the channels of energy in the neck, throat, + shoulders so that the NEURAL system can fire optimally. JALANDHARA bandha work helps to stimulate the ENDOCRINE system, thus regulating the subtle body. Additionally, open channels allow for maximal BLOOD + LYMPH to flow, supporting a healthy system.

Yogic PSYCHIC practices for the throat are chanting and listening, particularly to yourself in meditation.

To work with the THROAT chakra, you can address the delicate area of the head and neck through physical practice, pranayama, bandhas, chanting and meditation.

anahata chakra

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The ANAHATA chakra is the meeting point of the wisdom mind to the feeling body. In the MIDDLE place, we seek to cultivate compassion, understanding and capacity to feel.

Chest, shoulder + heart opening practices offer us the chance to practice all three of those notions. Additionally, the heart place is an excellent platform to explore the upward rising of joyful energy with the downward movement of settling, grounding energies.

manipura chakra

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POWER PLACE // FIRE CENTER // CITY OF JEWELS

The 3rd chakra sits at the SOLAR PLEXUS and spans the space of respiratory diaphragm to the sacro-lumbar junction. Do I have your attention? The ORGANS of the fire center include (but are not limited to) diaphragm, kidneys/adrenals/ liver, gallbladder, stomach and the colon.

The element of the manipura is AGNI or fire. Physical practices for the MANIPURA chakra include core strengthening and organ toning, especially for organs that relate to digestion. These practices bring FIRE to the digestive capacity as they churn the belly and allow for freedom of movement between the organs. Just as you want your muscles to be spacious and loose, so it goes for the organs as well.

PSYCHICALLY, the manipura is the seat of POWER. When we work with the power center, we try to strike the appropriate balance between HUMILITY + PRIDE. Because of its connections to our sense of SELF, it can be strongly driven by the passions of SUCCESS and DESIRE. We can turn that fire into TAPAS to help drive us again and again to our personal practice.

svadhisthana chakra

As we move our way up the spine from the MULADHARA chakra, our next stop is the SVADHISTANA or the seat of the sacrum. The incredible SACRAL complex is the meeting point of the spine and the pelvis. The decompression of the sacral-lumbar confluence is one of the primary aims of HATHA yoga for our sitting culture.

The SVADHISTHANA chakra is a place of FLUIDITY. In the sacral zone of the pelvis, we have organs of reproduction and elimination, all of which need fluidity of movement for optimal functioning.

PHYSICALLY, as we COMPRESS + STABILIZE the sacrum, the inner leg opens and extends. As we BROADEN + SPREAD the sacrum, the inner leg FIRES + ENGAGES. This week we will work both scenarios to bring OPTIMAL health to this sacred bone structure and its corresponding organs.

PSYCHICALLY, the ability to have FLOW keeps us from rigidity of thoughts, feelings, opinions. But the flip side is that we must learn to HARNESS the constant flow of thoughts to CALM the CHURNING waters of the heart-mind.

muladhara chakra

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I just spent last week studying the Anatomy of the Chakras with my teacher Tias. With my new understanding and connections, I am planning to offer an exploration of the chakras over the next several weeks. The CHAKRAS are theoretical and esoteric but can also have very PRACTICAL implications for our personal practice and the way we move through the world.

One of the ways that our yoga practice can be an antidote to modern life is that it provides us the opportunity to ROOT and SETTLE. I don't know about you, but I find modernity fast, chaotic and sometimes unsettling. My yoga practice helps me to find the quality of STABILITY and GROUND when my energy gets upended.

The MULADHARA chakra is about creating the sense of STABILITY and SUPPORT for our basic human needs. The ASANA practices that correspond to the ROOT chakra will create support + stability around the pelvic floor, legs and core. Also, staying relatively low to the ground will help to connect with EARTH element. To really root, try strong standing postures and grounded forward folds!

What is Progress?

There are a few "big" peak poses that I repeat several times a year. But most of the other poses come around about once or twice a year. For me, this provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on my progress. How is my body different from last year? How does this type of practice feel in my current body? How attached am I to the outcome of practicing this pose?

This year, my poses look a lot different than last year. Often times, we expect PROGRESS to be linear. To be clear and obvious and visible. But, that's just not the case with my yoga work these days. My FLEXIBILITY has actually decreased. I have tightness in new areas which make my poses look "less good."

HOWEVER.....most of my asana work has been geared toward strengthening. And I feel WAY more strong, supported and stable. Which means that I actually AM making progress in my ASANA work, even if it isn't outwardly apparent. And, truly, how FLEXIBLE do I actually need to be? I'm never going to be in Cirque de Soleil, so I'm probably all set right where I'm at.

The splits?--nah. Let behind my head? --probs not.

But, an equal balance of suppleness and strength? YES PLEASE.

Seeking Support

I always think it's nice when your yoga teacher expresses their humanity. So, here we go.

One thing that I regularly struggle with is the willingness to accept help or support from anyone. My strong sense of independence and need to "get things done" means that I often just do the thing, rather than accepting help when it's offered. This can lead to unnecessary stress, resentment and burnout--all of which are total yuck. I am vowing to work on this --it's my new project.

In the yoga realm, the support of the community is called the SANGHA. The people in your SANGHA should hold you, encourage you, inspire you. Ideally, in a class setting, in the studio where you practice, you can feel at ease and supported. In fact, this is true of people in your life. You should surround yourself with people who help you to BE YOUR BEST SELF.

In terms of ASANA, the word SALAMBA in sanskrit refers to the idea of support. There are several poses -- salamba sarvangasana, salamba sirsasana which imply that some part of your body is supporting another part of your body. In the style of yoga that I teach, PROPS are utterly integral to create the SALAMBA experience. I want students to feel completely supported in order to better facilitate SHTIRAM/SUKHAM.

Another way in which your body can provide support in a yoga posture is through MUSCULAR ENGAGEMENT. You can be your own salamba! Supporting your postures through correct alignment and muscular action is the best way to be safe and secures as you go deep.

Bending not Breaking

My teacher recently said that being in uncertainty is what it means to be human. We quite literally NEVER know what's going to happen next. No matter how much we PLAN, organize and try to orchestrate our destiny, we must move with the current of whatever life offers.

Yoga makes us more PLIABLE. Clearly this applies in a physical sense--yoga ASANA is about making SPACE. But hopefully, it's true of our mental capacity too. FLUIDITY over RIGIDITY in our thoughts, feelings, reactions is preferred. So that we "will not break, but will bend, like the graceful willow, as inevitable change occurs." (Swami Ma)

INVERSIONS practices teach us to reframe our perspective. Going upside down can flip our understanding of what we are capable of, what we can accomplish.

Paying Attention

I love my practice on the mat, because it's TRAINING for paying attention. Because I spend so much time quietly exploring and investigating, it makes my interactions with the world that much more interesting. The SUBTLE aspects of life, the quiet things, the small things are fascinating and I find, totally worth my while.

I also think that this ability to PAY ATTENTION and openly investigate makes me a better friend, sister, partner, and person in life. The more I pay attention to my habitual patterns and frequent reactions on-the-mat, the more I can begin to tune in when they're happening in my off-the-mat life. And hopefully, through continued EFFORT, change my reactions as necessary. Perhaps even react with better integrity or more thoughtfulness next time.

Deborah Adele says, "When we open our eyes and see everything as an opportunity to explore and to learn, nothing becomes insignificant in its ability to teach us and to grow us."

How about that?

Postures Should be Grounded + Light

In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, sutra 2.46 reads: sthira sukham asanam

STHIRA: steadiness, firmness, settling, grounding

SUKHAM: ease, lightness, contentment

ASANAM: seat, posture

Postures should have the quality of steadiness + ease.

Simply that. Take your seat. Be settled but easy.

We make a great big deal out of putting our leg behind our head or standing on our hands. But YOGA practice is ultimately training for sitting. ASANAS (postures) are for cultivating an equal balance of settling and softening. The more often we practice that when we're in challenging shapes, the easier it will be when we take the SEAT.

Asana is the gateway to MEDITATION. Asana is not the means to flexibility or joy or a complete self. It is designed to improve your ability to SIT. Happy practice!

Transformation through Tapas

Sutra 2.43 says, SELF-DISCIPLINE in practice leads to the destruction of impurities and to the perfection of the body and senses.

Hm. Lofty goals.

The 3rd NIYAMA (practices for self-care) is TAPAS. Tapas can be translated in many ways -- regularity of practice, heat, fire, discipline, continued effort, transformation -- but the message is pretty much universal. The MORE you come to your mat with regularity, the more you will create positive change, leading to the likelihood that you'll keep coming to the mat. FUN!

In tapas practices, we build heat or INNER FIRE which is said to burn off impurities. These impurities may be due to what we eat, how we act, how much screen time we take in and/or environmental factors. And when we experience the transformational potential of our practice, it creates a positive neural groove to encourage us to come back again and again.

Seek out Inspiration!

There is nothing quite like a week with my TEACHER to reignite my passion for practice + teaching. Luckily, I generally operate at a pretty consistent level of commitment and discipline in my practice. But when I get to spend a week absorbing, learning and filling my own cup, I feel so clear about my journey on this PATH. I offer a deep bow of gratitude to Tias and the Prajna sangha.

We need teachers to guide us into deeper experience. I have had so many teachers on this yogic path and many others in my off-the-mat life. My hope for you is that in several aspects of your life, you have guidance from someone who is a master of their craft. I encourage you to seek out people who INSPIRE you, who move you to greater awareness, who encourage you to dig deep.

What I offer to you in class is simply the opportunity for exploration. My aim is to inspire you to go INWARD and SENSE. And then to continue your own investigation of YOURSELF as you move off the mat.