41 posts tagged “yoga”

i have to come up with a focus of study for yoga training. we can pick whatever we want, which is the problem. i'm never good when i have too many options. i like things to be narrowed down for me. this will end up being our final project.

so i've been struggling with this. i have to come up with one soon-ish and have to set up a phone appointment with shelly, our program director, and discuss it. they push that it should be something that we're personally interested in. so the thing that keeps coming to mind is MMA (mixed martial arts?)...anyone? *crickets*.

i'm a big fan of watching mixed martial arts on tv - UFC, WEC, Affliction, Pride, etc. - and i really think that yoga could be beneficial for them. it could help in their flexibility, balance, focus, breathing techiniques to help with endurance...so the idea is that i would have to go to a local MMA gym (there are three around here) and maybe interview one of the trainers, i might have to see if they'd let me teach a class there, do some research on martial arts...that sort of thing.

i really have no other ideas in mind...i'm interested in the philosophy and history of yoga and that could be an area of focus, but that seems like a cop-out. i think i'm just afraid to commit to having MMA be my focus. i want to make sure it's the right focus for me...should my focus be a style of yoga instead? i almost think so...but wouldn't having a focus in MMA be specialized and make me more unique? equally as unique as someone who specialized in Iyengar yoga? or Kundalini? or Ashtanga? if i teach at one MMA gym that feels that yoga is beneficial to their fighters, wouldn't the others want to jump on that bandwagon? and being the only yoga teacher in the area that has experience in MMA would make me more in demand. right? ugh.

decisions. decisions.

i bought my "textbooks" for yoga teacher school today. i haven't boughten textbooks in like 5 years. the cool thing was that this time, they weren't $100 a piece and i'll actually want to read them again at some point in time.

they are:

Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar

Anatomy of Movement by Blandine Calais-Germain (this one must be thick based on the price tag)

Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness by Erich Schiffmann

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Sri Swami Satchidananda

Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn

The Living Gita by Sri Swami Satchidananda

i kept a journal while i was there...here are some exerpts:

• friday, march 27th, 2009. i nearly had a breakdown leaving the house. i gave matt a hug and all kinds of feelings emerged...anxiety about traveling alone, sadness for leaving matt, uncertainty about how this weekend would go, curiosity/anxiety/insecurity/excitement about this new chapter in my life.
• when i got here, i looked around and everyone looked as confused and lost as i did.
• march 28th, saturday. scott blossom: what you repeat is what you cultivate in yoga, prana is triggered by the legs. the waist controls. the arms express [the prana]. cultivating prana provides intuitive way of knowing and sensitivity. prana gives you a global sense of the body. feeling and viewing the body as an entity. [a main point that i got from scott blossom's session was that instead of concentrating on holding a pose with your muscles, you should concentrate on balancing equally on your bones and they will let you brain know how to use your muscles more effectively].
• cyndi lee: it's ok to be bored with yoga practice and meditation. that pushes your practice even further. you can always begin again. [this was the only thing i really found worthwhile from cyndi lee's session - i was pretty disappointed in the lack of focus in her class].
• keynote: james gordon, m.d., unstuck: mind-body approach to treating anxiety and depression: no failures in the journey to becoming well, just experiments. step #3: surrender to change. 220 million prescriptions written for anti-depressants every year. shaking and dancing. [i found him to be one of the most amazing points of my little yoga journey. he inspired to me want to bring yoga to the depressed and anxious...in all seriousness].
• seane corn - detox flow. [this is exactly what it says in my journal:] KICKED MY ASS however, i left with a sense of accomplishment and humbleness.
• sunday, march 29th, 2009. wade morissette - sun salutations. this is also my church, my prayer, my confessional. om nadayana shanti om.
• panel discussion: seane corn, aadil palkhivala, matthew sanford, david swenson: [david swenson] yoga is not a cure all. it's a tool for life. some amount of fear is required. some [fears] keep us alive, some keep us from living. [aadil pakhivala] yoga cultivates a connection with your soul. [matthew sanford] loss itself is a sensation. [i could've listened to this panel discussion go on for hours. a single hour certainly wasn't satisfying].
• palie zink - yin yoga: [this was probably the most uncomfortable, ridiculous thing i have been a part of...not to talk crap about the style of yoga this man founded, but i had a difficult time taking it seriously. i don't want to be disrespectful, so that's all i'm going to say about that].

all in all - i'm proud of myself for going there alone. it was a little lonely at times - like when all the classes were done and it's only 5:30 and you have nothing else to do but eat dinner alone and go back to your room. it was a little bit of a bummer on that end - but it was a totally amazing experience during the sessions and definitely recommend going to one of these conferences.

i've been a little absent from voxing - not much worth talking about, i suppose. here's a little update:

• i've been busy getting ready for mexico. we leave this saturday morning. so i've been trying to get in some tanning so i don't look like a pale american northerner, i have a hair and nail appointment on thursday and i have to get around to packing my suitcase one of these days. i'm hoping to have some awesome pictures to post when i get back.
• matt finally shaved off that silly beard, but kept this ridiculous 70's 'stache for a day. he looked like he should be on a 70's police drama. i couldn't even look him in the face without cringing. it was relatively thick and it curved a little over the side and he left some huge sideburns. ew. good riddance to that. i'm not sure if he looked like a 70's cop or an 80's pedophile.
• i haven't really had a chance to get excited about the yoga journal conference at the end of the month because i've been so stoked about mexico.

you guys - i'm totally proud of myself. we practice an advanced pose every class and it was crane (or crow) pose last night. we've done this one before, but it was the first time i could actually hold it for more than a fraction of a second. i actually held it for a breath or three.

go. me.

Crane

my arms weren't as straight as her's, but whatever. i did it.

i set my alarm twenty minutes early this morning and got up to practice some yoga.

i am pretty proud of myself - i didn't sleep well last night so passing up yoga this morning sounded pretty good. but was that extra 20 minutes of sleep really going to make any difference? probably not. 

i still woke up at 5:50 and practiced for almost a half hour before i got in the shower. i didn't want to mess it up on the first attempt. my idea is to incorporate this into my morning routine from now on and see what kind of a difference it makes. as of this morning, i'm not really seeing a difference, but it takes time and it could be because i only got about 3 hours of sleep. 

day one - [check!]

now i need a nap though.

there is a yoga studio in my area that holds a free candlelight yoga session every new year's day. i've never been to it before, but it sounds amazing. here's the description:

As another year comes to a close, we have the opportunity to reflect on the past, open ourselves to the future, and share the precious moments of the present. YogAsylum is pleased to announce the Fifth Annual Candlelight Yoga gathering led by Jenny Dean. This class is offered as a time of mutual support. A time to honor past losses and lessons learned. A time to celebrate and hold all of life's experiences, with quiet awareness and compassion. Join us in this beautiful experience of light, love, and joy. Immerse yourself in deep relaxation and deep contemplation, centered around mindful awareness and light. Together we'll create a sacred space of peace, joy, and community that can be carried forward into our lives in the months to come.

i'm pretty excited to check it out. it's free, but donations are encouraged. all proceeds go to the green yoga association. this is the studio that holds to teacher training classes i want to go to, so it's a good opportunity for me to check the place out. i've also been feeling a little yoga deprived since class ended and my instructor is on maternity leave. i really feel that class is essential to my practice in general and i lose focus and ambition when we're between sessions. this is a particularly long break which is making it difficult for me to stay on track.

i'm actually going to hit the gym tonight. it's hard for me to get there when the weather sucks. i don't want to drive in snow any more than i have to and if it's not snowing, it's 20 degrees outside and i just want to go home and curl up with my blanket.

i need to get on top of that though. i like going and i always feel good afterwards. i'm also trying to find a balance with yoga. if i was just on an elliptical for a half hour, i'm not really up for half hour of yoga when i get home so i don't practice at all.

i know i've said it a billion times, but i think it'd be best for me to practice yoga in the morning before work, i just cringe at the thought of getting up before 6. i do feel as though i'm neglecting my yoga practice sometimes. i think it's just one of those things where i just need to start getting up early and it'll become second nature after a while.

my yoga session at the studio is on a hiatus until my instructor somes back in february from maternity leave and it's screwing me all up. i didn't really realize how much i counted on that mid-week yoga break.

SO - goals for the winter...

1. make an actual effort to start practicing yoga in the morning - not just think about how nice it would be.
2. make an effort to go to the gym after work regardless of how cold it is.
3. i want to learn how to knit this winter
4. start a new sewing project after the holidays
5. i want to stop drinking soda completely...i'm a little dependant on caffeine. i quit drinking non-diet soda about a year ago which was hard because i hated diet soda...so if i can do that, i can get off of soda completely. i do need a little energy boost sometimes at work, so if anyone has any suggestions on healthy, tasty energy beverages, i'd love to hear them.

these are all totally do-able. i think the hardest one would be the morning yoga thing, but i just have to make up my mind...it would be like when i decided to quit smoking.

Show us your favorite piece of athletic equipment.

Yoga mat

i was practicing yoga last night and i had a thought...

i find that i'm unnecessarily difficult with myself when it comes to how my practice should "look." i get discouraged that i'm not practicing correctly when i don't have a sequence planned or when i'm not listening to audio instruction or a dvd or something.

i forget sometimes that it's not necessarily about what's pretty or what's graceful. my goal for my practice tonight is to go into it without a sequence planned and without dvd or mp3 instruction and just do what feels right. i'm not going to care if my transitions between poses are the "right" ones. if i'm doing tree pose and feel inclined to practice cobra next, i'm not going to care if I should've done a standing forward bend, downward dog and plank beforehand. 

i think i get so caught up in thinking about those things when i practice that i lose some of the personal benefits of just going with the flow and being present at that moment, on my mat.

a note about meditation - i've been giving this a shot here and there and it's sometimes really difficult for me. i'm fidgety and my mind goes 100 miles a minute. to the same point as the rest of this post - i'm going to meditate for a bit after my yoga tonight and not worry about all the thoughts that are running through my head. i tend to think i should be completely devoid of thoughts and that's not the point. i need to have those thoughts and then let them go. i need to not have emotional reactions from them or dwell on them. they show up - and then they pass.

i've also found it helpful to listen to meditative music on my mp3 player while i meditate. it seems to help me focus inward and it drowns out everything else that's going on around me.