What does it mean to practice yoga?

I usually prefer not to get involved in the yoga wars, either praising the latest article celebrating the practice or decrying the ones which cast the practice in a less-than-flattering light. My opinion is as valid as anyone's but, yoga is understood through direct experience only and nothing I say or write on the subject can change what someone has already experienced or the opinions formed by that. There have been many responses to William J. Broad's NY Times How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body from January 5, 2012 but I think this offering is pretty spot on: Yoga Can’t Hurt You: If You Can Find It. ~ Godfrey Devereux. Enjoy.

cult of personality

When Yoga Journal published it's 35th Anniversary issue in 2010, the online gallery of covers provided a unique view of modern, popular yoga in America dating back to 1975. It was cool to see those early issues with their varied and sometimes esoteric articles, but I was struck by a marked change in YJ's look and approach in 1999 when the new normal for their cover art became photos of pretty people in striking asanas (February), and when the subhead of "For Health and Conscious Living" began to disappear (November). I'm not here to critique Yoga Journal or publishing. However I'm troubled by this shift, primarily because I think yoga's benefits are for all people, and this prettying up and cookie-cuttering acts as a barrier (unintentionally so, I'm sure) to someone who may not fit into this published ideal. But more than this, I fear this is one of the things leading to the birth of the yoga superstar, and the beginning of an industry that has fame and money as its driving forces.

in and out: getting closer to kapotasana

I've had another aha! on my journey to kapotasana (see my summer poses and unexpected detour)! Vinyasa is loosely translated as flow. Though there is a fluidity inherent in the vinyasa practice, the term vinyasa comes from nyasa meaning to place, and vi meaning in a special way. Vinyasa is the conscious, progressive placement of asana that supports a healthy opening of the physical body. Simpler movements and shapes will naturally produce more advanced poses.

challenge

Your feet can make a huge difference is your asanas, and a little expression in and awareness of your toes can change everything. This caught my eye. It seems simple until you try it. You might want to turn down the sound first...

Padey, Padey...

As spring creeps along I find myself still working on shapes from last year's summer sadhana. And I'm cool with that. This clip provided some helpful clues. Enjoy.

empty cup

In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika it says, Uddiyana bandha is called the rising or flying bandha because through its practice, the great bird (shakti) flies upward with ease (III.56), and Pulling the abdomen back in and making the navel rise is uddiyana bandha. It is the lion which conquers the elephant, death (III.57). Of the three major bandhas (the others being jalandhara bandha and moola bandha), it's the one that often feels the most accessible. The inward lift of the belly seems to focus the fiery strength of the agni, and unleashes a usually untapped storehouse of power. Because it can only be practiced on the exhale it also seems to create space – space to be still, space to feel uncertain, space to embrace emptiness.

This controlled emptiness is called bahya kumbhaka. As BKS Iyengar writes in Light on Pranayama, Bahya kumbhaka is the state in which the yogi surrenders his very self, in the form of his breath, to the Lord and merges with the Universal Breath. It is the noblest form of surrender, as the yogi's identity is totally merged with the Lord.

laughter spoken here

Recently a student told me she appreciates that she can laugh in my classes. And another said that she liked that she gets to feel very "natural" with me. There are days when I struggle, still feeling like the new guy in town. In those moments I remind myself to show up, shut up, and SERVE so that I can hold the kind of space where yoga can become the vehicle for this laughter and naturalness. Some days it is so hard and I wish that was easier. Then I remember that evolution and change are never easy. On the other side of this struggle is the still point. The only way to get there is to go through the rough places – the trenches of doubt, ego, and attachment. I'd rather get there bloodied and beaten than not get there at all.

the sweet satisfaction of surya namaskara

In the wee hours of the morning, I often pray for the day to delay its start. I light the candles and unroll my mat before the alter. After a little time on the floor, after my breath has begun to really breathe, after a few adho mukha svanasanas and an extended uttanasana, I stand and embark on Surya Namaskar. When I start, it often feels like these salutations to the still-sleeping-sun are the beginning of my practice. But as the repetitions increase, they become my practice. That's when I start to wish that there were more hours in the day.

Surya Namaskar is pretty perfect. It's a complete practice that fully incorporates pranayama, asana, mantra and devotion. With each bow and lunge my breath gets fuller and more expansive, and these asanas begin to free my body and mind from their dark slumber.

With this familiar set of movements as the beginning of my day, my entire practice becomes exactly what I need every time. What a terrific gift.

unexpected detour

The greatest part of having a personal practice is the fact that sometimes I end up someplace I didn't plan to explore. In my efforts to embrace dwipadarajakapotasana I experienced some challenges contracting my hamstrings while moving into a deep back-bend. As a result I started practicing Hanumanasana more often, figuring it would change my relationship to my hamstrings and to my psoas. And that's exactly what happened.

my summer poses

I used to create a sadhana every summer around a shape that was eluding me. I haven't done that in a while, mainly because my practice during the rest of the year has taken on that kind of focus. But as summer winds on this year, I'm feeling the need to get close to a few shapes that are almost there.

The first is this lovely Dhanurasana variation by David Gellineau. The second is Raja Kapotasana as shown here by Ron Reid. The third is Dwi Pada Sirsasana, also shown by Ron. I'll report on my progress and my discoveries in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.