Return of the Killer Shoulderstand

In the last week, two of my students have got sore necks from practicing shoulderstand. This means I have been remiss in my teacherly duties. It shouldn't have happened. As I was apologizing profusely to one of them this morning, she said to me,
"But I don't blame you: I wanted to do it even though I knew I could just do legs up the wall. And it felt good while I was doing it."
But. I am the teacher and I should have know better.

Which got me to thinking:

Kris over at Total Health Yoga recently posted this entry:

My friend currently attends a class with a very knowledgeable woman. We'll call her Mary. Mary has studied Iyengar Yoga with Iyengar and many of his senior teachers for 30 years. She leads a well-structured class and has a firm understanding of how to guide students. My friend feels safe in this class and appreciates how Mary is able to watch and ensure folks don't overextend themselves. Sounds great, right? The catch is that after class, Mary is a judgemental and mean person. This really bothers my friend and she's questioning whether-or-not to continue attending a class given by someone that she can't respect or like as a person. There is another teacher, in the Anusara style, that she can go to. This gal is very sweet and nice, but she keeps stressing the class to go a little further--take it deeper. I have heard this frequently in Anusara--constant encouragement to "take it to the next level." (A blog topic for another day.) My friend is concerned that she could easily get hurt in such a class.

And I posted this reply:

I wonder, does your friend not have other options by way of teachers? Because it sounds like neither is REALLY kind - pushing too hard in class is almost as bad as being mean outside of it.

I think, on balance, kindness is the most important quality for a yoga teacher. Even if you don't know what you are doing, as I feel I frequently don't, harm doesn't tend to arise with a kind, present teacher.

In spite of which, it appears that I have been the bubbly bully this week. I am sorry. Shoulderstand will not be making an appearance for a while. Nor will any other joint-threatening poses. Let's just hope I have learnt my lesson...

Puppetji. Really

This is a great blog I found via the link at Paper or Dysplastic?

If you have a few minutes to kill and want some light entertainment with your wisdom, Puppetji is you man. Erm, guru. Erm, puppet.
Ahh, just have a look!

Yoga Anyhow

My last post was about how I have managed to do asana in odd places - and thank you guys for reading and commenting!

I ran across this post at Daily Cup of Yoga, about how any exercise can get you to the same place as yoga. Read it. I don't need to add anything!

Another borrowed post

I saw this clip on Linda's Yoga Journey just now, and thought you might enjoy it if you haven't seen it yet!

Back - and breathing easy!

Hello everyone!

Thank you for your comments while I was away - they have now been posted and read (at least by me.)

I really enjoyed my break, and now I am just about ready to rejoin the world. The most interesting thing about this week was how my breath started to to stretch and ease as I relaxed. More about that in a moment, but first I want to let you know, if you don't already, that Mark Whitwell has started a blog. Both he and his assistant, Juliana Monin, are adding posts. I have not yet been fortunate enough to meet Mark Whitwell in person, but his book, Yoga of Heart, had a profound effect on me because it is one of the only that has validated how I experience yoga and how I feel it should be taught. Lucky us to have him adding his voice to the blog-o-sphere!

Now, back to the breathing. If you have time, play with this idea:

As you inhale, allow the breath to enter, rather than pulling it in. As you exhale, release the breath, rather than using force.

Small shift in awareness, big change in effect!

And since this post is all about breathing easy (inspired by Regina at Yoga Spark), here is and interesting piece from Yoga Journal's online 'Ask our Expert' section:

Peaceful Breathing

I have a student who says that practicing the Ujjayi pranayama during the asanas actually creates tension for her. She feels anxious doing the belly breathing and can't wait to come out of the poses. Since this is having the opposite effect than intended on her nervous system, I suggested she just leave this practice aside for now. Do you have any explanations and/or suggestions?
— Gautam

By Aadil Palkhivala

Read Aadil Palkhivala's reply:

Dear Gautam,

Ujjayi pranayama is not belly breathing. Belly breathing is not yogic breathing, but a variation used for people who have excessively shallow and high breathing in the upper thoracic cavity, so that they may learn to move their breath lower into their lungs. (Remember that there are no lungs in the abdomen, so to refer to "breathing" there makes no sense technically, although such phrases are common.)

In martial arts, "belly" breathing is done because the aim is the cultivation of the lower vital force for combat. Yoga does not promulgate combat; hence we breathe in the chest cavity, where the Soul and the wisdom of the heart dwell. Our aim is to expand the potential for access to the Divinity within.

Ujjayi pranayama is the smooth, deep breath with the "S" sound on the inhalation and the "H" sound on the exhalation. For this reason, it is also called "So Hum" breathing. This breathing, if done peacefully and NOT forcefully, will soothe the nerves of your students.

Have your student breathe in her lungs in a smooth and gentle manner (without lifting her collarbones or shoulder blades), making a gentle “S” sound on the inhalation and the "H" sound on the exhalation, and she will feel peaceful again.

Recognized as one of the world's top yoga teachers, Aadil Palkhivala began studying yoga at the age of seven with B.K.S. Iyengar and was introduced to Sri Aurobindo's yoga three years later. He received the Advanced Yoga Teacher's Certificate at the age of 22 and is the founder-director of internationally-renowned Yoga Centers™ in Bellevue, Washington. Aadil is the director of the College of Purna Yoga, a 1,700 hour Washington-state licensed and certified teacher training program. He is also a federally certified naturopath, a certified Ayurvedic health science practitioner, a clinical hypnotherapist, a certified shiatsu and Swedish bodywork therapist, a lawyer, and an internationally sponsored public speaker on the mind-body-energy connection.

My (not so) secret journal

When I was little, I had one of those diaries with a teensie little lock to keep prying eyes out. I lost the key after about two entries. I tried my hand at journal keeping again in my early twenties, when I was living in London. I wrote sporadically in a black notebook for a few months, then gave up. When I re-read the entries later, they reeked of despair; probably because I was in a strange city, an unhappy relationship, and dealing with the grief of a close friend's suicide. Not a great combo for upbeat writing.

A few years ago, as part of my preparation to become a yoga teacher, I undertook a year-long vibrational healing course. There was journaling. I sucked at it. I know all the stuff about how healing the practice can be, but I just can't seem to sustain the momentum.

The truth of the matter is this: I have always felt a little silly writing for an audience of one. This blog represents my longest-standing record of my thoughts ever. And it continues because someone else reads it (I hope!)

I would love to know how you feel on this topic!

All Roads Lead to Yoga

I was reading Fortune Elkins' post about bad poses on yoga blogs, and it got me to thinking. My first thought was that I am responsible for some of those bad bad pics - they are on my blog. I must admit that I had to think (more than) twice before I posted them, because they are spectacular. In the bad way. The problems with my alignment are too many and humiliating to mention. But then I got to thinking some more, and what I came up with was this: my dodgy practice makes me feel better. Therefore, it is good enough.

The main goals of my asana practice are to keep me healthy enough to teach, and to feel my connection to that which moves me, to Life (although as Mark Whitwell says, we are always connected, no need to get connected.) If my goal was to achieve physically difficult poses, then alignment would necessarily be far more important. Poor alignment, especially in the more challenging poses, does lead to injury. But I suspect there is a larger range of acceptable 'bad' alignment than we tend to think.

If you have practiced yoga in India, you may have noticed that alignment seems almost a foreign concept to many Indian yogis - yet you don't hear of widespread yoga injuries in India - interesting. Perhaps because there, it is practiced for more than just physical gains; I agree with what Yoga Station has to say on this topic. Really, it depends on why you are practicing, and in the end, as my sister-in-law says, the yoga does its work - whether you realize it or not. All roads lead to yoga.