Yoga Goals

By bopyt on 2010/07/26

Today is, literally, the first day of the rest of my yoga life. I have just returned from the Living Yoga Program teacher training intensive. (I’m now 100 hours closer to a 200-hour Yoga Alliance/Yoga Registry teaching certificate!) These 10 days were the greatest gift I have ever given myself. The intensive was a powerful, informative, and transformative event. We had 90 minutes of yoga every morning, studied teaching the asanas in afternoon sessions and listened to yoga history, philosophy, business, and lifestyle lectures in evening sessions.

One of the big themes of the training was goal setting and how to set goals appropriately so that you can stay in flow. Goals that are too big result in fear. Goals that are too small result in boredom.

My goal today is: for the first 24 hours after returning home, to be aware of, and follow, my inner-most desire. My true desire. Yes, going to bed early last night was exactly what I wanted to do. Yes, taking 20 minutes for yoga this morning was exactly what I wanted to do. Yes, taking time to read some of the 200 emails that piled up is something that I want to do. Yes, writing a blog article is what I want to do. Yes, making notes of tasks that I want to take care of later (pay bills, contact my customers, laundry, grocery shopping) is what I want to do now.

The key skills I am exercising in selecting these goals are to listen to my inner-most voice, not second guess it, and then move into that desire. This is not the voice that wants to slouch and watch TV. This is the voice that wants to watch the birds flitting about in my front yard (What a pretty cardinal!). I may want to slouch in front of the TV later. But at this moment, right here, right now, I desire exactly what I am doing. Feeling my way through this first day is my only goal.

Moment by moment, hour by hour, I make goals that keep me in flow. Who knows, perhaps in one of these moments I will choose to think about goals for the next 24 hours, the next week, the next year, the rest of my yoga life. And when I do, I will choose goals that keep me in flow. In order to remain above boredom, I will choose goals big enough to challenge me and increase my skills. In order to remain out of fear, I will choose goals that are small enough that I will feel the joy of success. Staying in flow… and flowing in the direction set by that inner-most voice.

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Doubling up

By bopyt on 2009/09/26

I’m laid off, over 50, depressed and eating too much. I know that I need to be gentle with myself, as well as taking some proactive measures. I want to start taking 2 yoga classes per week, and asked my yoga teacher, Beth, for a recommendation. She recommeneded Devon at ClearSprings Studios. Checking their website, I see “Yoga for Happiness, a restorative class in the Iyengar tradition” on Mondays at 4:15. Perfecto!! The Key To Happiness!!
Regular restorative classes make sense for everyone. Comforting yourself being kind and nurturing to your self. You don’t always have to strive. A restorative class allows you to just be. Gentle stretching. It’s not that you won’t “work” in a restorative class, but the pace is slower, the mood is quieter, there are more supported poses. It’s nearly the opposite of Power Yoga.

We start out with Easy Pose. Devon walks us through the process of really doing Sukhasana (Easy Pose). First lifting the lower back, then the mid back, the side body, checking the shoulders down the back, lifting the cervical spine, pulling up on the crown of the head. Have you ever taken three minutes to properly sit? It’s amazing. My body feels taller and lighter.

Uttanasa, Forward Bend

Uttanasa, Forward Bend

Then, a series of uttanasana (forward fold) and adho mucha svanasana (down dog), each held for about 3 minutes get us warmed up and the blood flowing.

Supported backbends, supported shoulderstand, headstand,and three types of shivasana complete the class. more about this later…. I love exercise that ends with a nap.

We did a cool thing combining sarvangasana (shoulder stand) and halasana (plow) like this:
Set up two chairs facing each other, one near the wall, with a bolster horizontal between the two. On the chair near the wall (facing outward), place a rolled up sticky mat inside of a folded sticky mat. This is the shoulder stand chair. On the other chair place two or three blankets folded lengthwise, or a bolster. This is the halasana chair. Start with shoulder stand. Sit on the chair facing the wall and lower your shoulders and head to the bolster. Your feet can start out on the back of the chair while you get your head situated. Your shoulders, neck, and head should be on the bolster with your head about two inches from the ground. Your butt is on the chair still. Then you can put your heels on the wall behind the chair. Stay here for 2 – 3 minutes. When it’s time to go to halasana, bring the other chair close to the bolster, lower your head until it is just touching the floor. Hold on to the shoulder stand chair for stability while you move one leg at a time up over your head and on to the halasana chair. If your back feels compressed, there’s not enough height on the chair. Once you are in the pose, stay here for 2 – 3 minutes as well. Then slink yourself off of the plow pose, slide your butt down on to the bolster, and lower your legs to the shoulder stand chair for a nice rest.

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Inversions

By bopyt on 2009/09/26

I am now doing headstands and handstands. Who woulda thought.

I like to keep my eyes open during inversions. You get a different perspective down there. It’s not just that everything is upside down, but the floor is so much closer to your head than it is to your feet. My body senses that and knows that this is something new. My mind is free to think new thoughts in a new position.

Handstands are hard. I’m doing them against a wall still, and I don’t think my arms are getting straight enough yet, and I can only hold myself up for about 15 seconds. But I’m doing it and that in itself is cool.

Headstands are easier. The important thing is to work on arm strength and shoulder strength, pushing down strongly with your forearms and keeping the shoulders wide and down the back. This is intended to protect your neck, and keep as much weight off of the head as possible. I can get in to the position easily, and hold it for a minute or two before I start to feel some of the weight creeping back on to my head and neck. Then it’s time to come down. But meanwhile, I can begin to get comfortable in the pose, look around at the world upside down, and think new thoughts.

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Yoga Slacker

By bopyt on 2008/07/31

I’ve missed two weeks of yoga class. Last week I was out of town. Pretty good excuse.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

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The Hardest Pose

By bopyt on 2008/07/17

This morning during my yoga practice, it came time to do the bridge post. Oh! How I can’t do a bridge pose! I was tempted to just skip it. It’s just too hard. I can only lift my hips inches off the floor. It sometimes feels impossible. My back doesn’t seem to do backbends. Not voluntarily, and certainly not against gravity.When I do this pose in class, Beth always trys to adjust me by putting me more up on the tops of my shoulders and bending me and expanding me at the upper chest. My body doesn’t understand this….

So, I try the bridge. I lay on my back, raise my knees, and plant my feet as close to my butt as possible. I place my hands along my side with my hands coming close to touching my feet. I raise my hips up a little and try to scooch myself up on to my shoulders. I stay up only for a moment and then lower my hips back down. Now, my hands are closer to my feet. My chest is more expanded. I rest for a moment here and then raise my hips again and move myself a bit more onto my shoulders. This is mere fractions of a shift! Then try to lift those hips another millimeter! Every little bit counts!!

I’ll work on this pose for just a few minutes. They are looooonnnnggg minutes. When I’m done, I rest. I feel accomplished. I moved my hips!

The hardest poses are likely the ones that are most important to do. Even if you only do them assisted, for just a few moments, or just by millimeters. Doing them is what is important.

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I am a beginner

By bopyt on 2008/07/10

I am a beginner.  I always have been and always will be.
 
I have been a beginning yoga student since 1975.
 
I have taken beginning yoga classes many times.  Occasionally I take a "Beginner Plus" or even "Intermediate" class, but usually go back to the beginner level courses eventually.
 
I enjoy being a beginner.
 
I like doing my yoga from a beginner's perspective. 
 
Iyengar tradition encourages my beginner's tendancies… being conscious and aware of every little action.
 
For me, doing yoga is not about getting "better" or graduating to higher levels.  For me, yoga is in the doing. Yes, my downward-facing-dog is likely straighter now than five years ago. But that's not the point. The point is just doing downward-facing-dog over and over and over again. For as long as I can stand it (which still isn't all that long).  
 
I have occasional breakthroughs.  Like recently, when I learned that my raised knee in Tree pose shouldn't really be at a 90-degree angle from the straight leg… it should be more like 45 degrees. It is SO much easier to balance that way!  The beginners mind encourages me to learn… I never "assume" that I know how to do the asanas in class.
 
My current beginner class challenges me each week. It has the mark of a good yoga class …. That is, when shivasana comes around I am ready for it!  We do nearly the same poses each week… downward hero, dog, triangle, warrier, a twist and an inversion. Each time it's a little differnt. One week focusing on the shoulders, next on the hips, then the knees and feet.  We learn the subtle nuances of each pose and perfect them within a beginners ability.
 
When, and if, I become a yoga instructor, I will be a teacher of beginners… for beginners from beginners of beginning!
 
Cheers,
b

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