Dearest readers,
It's now been 5 years since I stopped blogging regularly. Am I about to return? It's something I'm strongly considering, having gotten to a place where I have a bit more room in my life again. Writing this blog for all those years was such a labour of love, and I have definitely missed it!
In the meantime, something serious has come to my attention that I want to address, and it's regarding the name of the blog. When I named the blog "Yoga Gypsy", I intended it to be a light-hearted reflection of my life as an international traveler. I didn't at the time realize that the word "gypsy" is considered by the Romani people as an offensive slur. I have now been made aware of this, and I'd like to formally apologize for perpetuating the type of romanticized stereotype that appropriates the culture of the Roma people and glosses over the discrimination they face. It's my intent to rename the blog, although I have not yet been able to determine whether I'll be able to change the URL of past articles.
So, there you have it. I am humbly grateful to the anonymous commenter who made me aware of this - thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn and to do better. Part of yoga is a lifelong commitment to learning and educating yourself, in order to combat avidya, or self-ignorance. Any form of prejudice, discrimination or racism is by definition in contradiction of the yogic principle of ahimsa, non-harming. One of the most important ways that we can fight against such ignorance is to recognize it in ourselves, and correct it. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do just that.
Yours sincerely,
A yogini in search of a new name ;)
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
A little update
Dearest readers,
It's been a long time since I posted, and sadly, I am not writing this post to announce my return. Let's just say it's been a busy year - I've moved (again!!), and started a new day-job that is consuming all my spare time.
For my long-term readers, I'm afraid that there will be no new content any time soon, but I hope you'll continue to enjoy the posts here.
For new readers, welcome and take a tour around by visiting the Poses & Sequences page or searching the word cloud. And don't forget to check out some of the great blogs listed on the lower right-hand of the page!
And no, I am not planning on hanging up my yoga towel just yet... just taking a blogging sabbatical.
Namaste and keep practising!
It's been a long time since I posted, and sadly, I am not writing this post to announce my return. Let's just say it's been a busy year - I've moved (again!!), and started a new day-job that is consuming all my spare time.
For my long-term readers, I'm afraid that there will be no new content any time soon, but I hope you'll continue to enjoy the posts here.
For new readers, welcome and take a tour around by visiting the Poses & Sequences page or searching the word cloud. And don't forget to check out some of the great blogs listed on the lower right-hand of the page!
And no, I am not planning on hanging up my yoga towel just yet... just taking a blogging sabbatical.
Namaste and keep practising!
Friday, July 4, 2014
6 great exercises to build core strength
It took me years of practicing yoga to realise just how important core strength is in maintaining a healthy, injury free practice.
In fact, core strength is important for maintaining a healthy, injury-free life. However, building true core strength in the transverse abdominis (the deep core muscles) can be tricky, and a lot of modern core work focuses on the superficial abs, the rectus abdominis, which look pretty but are too superficial to, say, be much help in preventing you from putting out your back.
Thankfully, it gets easier thanks to a simple anatomical reality: that when you breathe in your belly, the movement of your breath also moves the deep core muscles. So, you can use the simple act of breathing to help you begin to engage and strengthen these critical core muscles.
With this in mind, try the first exercise below. Lie on your back on the floor, with your legs bent. As you breathe in, notice how your lower back lifts gently off the floor. As you breathe out, gently flatten your lower back against the floor. As you do this, try to pull your belly button down towards your body, and at the same time engage your pelvic floor by trying to draw the skin above your pubic bone upwards (there's lots written about pelvic floor, so if you're not sure, go on and google it and then come back here!!). This is basically mulha bandha, the "root lock" your yoga teacher may have told you about.
It's a subtle feeling, so it might take you a few times to get the hang of it. Try it about 10 times, slowly. The more you practice, the more strongly you will be able to press your lower back into the floor.
Once you've got that, try the rest of the exercises below. If you are just getting started, it's really important to get the breathing right, so that you can take advantage of the natural way the breath and the deep abdominal muscles work together.
NB: All of these exercises are safe to do postpartum (after 8 weeks or with doctor's permission). If you are trying to build your core strength back after having a baby, I would recommend doing the exercises below as a 10-week programme, doing the exercises every day or every other day and adding one new exercise per week. If you had a c-section or experienced abdominal splitting, consult your doctor and/or physiotherapist before beginning any core work.
If you are recovering from a lower back injury, some of these exercises may not be appropriate for you. Please consult your doctor first!
When you are done, don't forget to counter pose! Try a gentle bridge pose or sphinx pose to stretch out the abs, and then hug your knees to your chest to stretch out the lower back.
Once you're feeling comfortable with the exercises above, you can start to challenge yourself a bit more! Here are 3 more exercises that will add a nice core focus to any yoga practice or workout.
In fact, core strength is important for maintaining a healthy, injury-free life. However, building true core strength in the transverse abdominis (the deep core muscles) can be tricky, and a lot of modern core work focuses on the superficial abs, the rectus abdominis, which look pretty but are too superficial to, say, be much help in preventing you from putting out your back.
Thankfully, it gets easier thanks to a simple anatomical reality: that when you breathe in your belly, the movement of your breath also moves the deep core muscles. So, you can use the simple act of breathing to help you begin to engage and strengthen these critical core muscles.
With this in mind, try the first exercise below. Lie on your back on the floor, with your legs bent. As you breathe in, notice how your lower back lifts gently off the floor. As you breathe out, gently flatten your lower back against the floor. As you do this, try to pull your belly button down towards your body, and at the same time engage your pelvic floor by trying to draw the skin above your pubic bone upwards (there's lots written about pelvic floor, so if you're not sure, go on and google it and then come back here!!). This is basically mulha bandha, the "root lock" your yoga teacher may have told you about.
It's a subtle feeling, so it might take you a few times to get the hang of it. Try it about 10 times, slowly. The more you practice, the more strongly you will be able to press your lower back into the floor.
Once you've got that, try the rest of the exercises below. If you are just getting started, it's really important to get the breathing right, so that you can take advantage of the natural way the breath and the deep abdominal muscles work together.
NB: All of these exercises are safe to do postpartum (after 8 weeks or with doctor's permission). If you are trying to build your core strength back after having a baby, I would recommend doing the exercises below as a 10-week programme, doing the exercises every day or every other day and adding one new exercise per week. If you had a c-section or experienced abdominal splitting, consult your doctor and/or physiotherapist before beginning any core work.
If you are recovering from a lower back injury, some of these exercises may not be appropriate for you. Please consult your doctor first!
When you are done, don't forget to counter pose! Try a gentle bridge pose or sphinx pose to stretch out the abs, and then hug your knees to your chest to stretch out the lower back.
Once you're feeling comfortable with the exercises above, you can start to challenge yourself a bit more! Here are 3 more exercises that will add a nice core focus to any yoga practice or workout.
Questions? Comments? Requests? Leave them below!!
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Yoga Tip Tuesdays: the 'other' shoulderstand
When you think of shoulderstand, you probably think of the popular images of someone upside down with their legs ramrod-straight in the air, their body folded nearly in half at the neck, their chin pressed to their chest. Yet let's face it - the modern, "gymnastic" version of shoulderstand that we are used to seeing is simply not practical - or safe - for everyone. It requires a high degree of backwards flexibility of the shoulders, for starters. It also requires nearly 90 degrees of forward flexion at the cervical spine and places a lot of the body's weight on the delicate vertebrae at the back of the neck. Not to mention that if you are a woman with anything over a C-cup, you may feel like you're at risk of smothering yourself!
Thankfully, there is an alternative variation of shoulderstand that gives you exactly the same benefits as the "gymnastic" shoulderstand. In sanskrit this pose is often referred to as "viparita karani asana." It's basically a slightly modified version of shoulderstand, where instead of trying to get your body straight up and down, you allow your body to settle in a 'pike' pose, with a comfortable angle between the torso and legs. This allows you to take more of the weight of the body in the hands, elbows and arms, which decreases the weight and pressure on the cervical spine. It also creates more 'breathing' space between the chin and the torso - ideal for bodybuilders with tight pecs and shoulders and for busty women. The pose has a beautiful, mudra-like feel to it and allows you to breathe deeply into the belly. Drishti is either straight up, or at the belly if you can do this while still keeping the chin lifted high.
I can not say enough how much I love and prefer this pose!! Personally, I now only practice this asana instead of shoulderstand and I always teach it in classes (I call the two versions "classical" shoulderstand and "gymnastic" shoulderstand) - yet it took me years to come across it simply because it isn't taught in our modern asana classes. So without further ado, here you have it: viparita karani asana.
(NB: The usual counter-indications for this pose apply: you shouldn't be practicing inversions if you have untreated high blood pressure, angina, glaucoma, or osteoporosis of the spine, wrists or shoulders.)
Readers, what poses would you like to see modifications for on the blog??
Thankfully, there is an alternative variation of shoulderstand that gives you exactly the same benefits as the "gymnastic" shoulderstand. In sanskrit this pose is often referred to as "viparita karani asana." It's basically a slightly modified version of shoulderstand, where instead of trying to get your body straight up and down, you allow your body to settle in a 'pike' pose, with a comfortable angle between the torso and legs. This allows you to take more of the weight of the body in the hands, elbows and arms, which decreases the weight and pressure on the cervical spine. It also creates more 'breathing' space between the chin and the torso - ideal for bodybuilders with tight pecs and shoulders and for busty women. The pose has a beautiful, mudra-like feel to it and allows you to breathe deeply into the belly. Drishti is either straight up, or at the belly if you can do this while still keeping the chin lifted high.
I can not say enough how much I love and prefer this pose!! Personally, I now only practice this asana instead of shoulderstand and I always teach it in classes (I call the two versions "classical" shoulderstand and "gymnastic" shoulderstand) - yet it took me years to come across it simply because it isn't taught in our modern asana classes. So without further ado, here you have it: viparita karani asana.
(NB: The usual counter-indications for this pose apply: you shouldn't be practicing inversions if you have untreated high blood pressure, angina, glaucoma, or osteoporosis of the spine, wrists or shoulders.)
Thursday, June 12, 2014
7 stretches for neck and shoulders you can do at your desk
Dearest readers,
Well, I've been absent from the blog for much longer than I intended! Life has been busy these past few months, both personally and professionally. But in any case, I'm back and have some reader-requested posts lined up for you!
Thanks to all of you who have continued to visit and comment on the blog while I've been away - I especially appreciate those of you who have reached out by email or on Facebook to ask your questions! Keep them coming.
So without further-ado, a long-awaited reader request: 7 simple stretches for tight shoulders that you can do right at your desk! It's a simple sequence that takes about five minutes - enjoy!
Well, I've been absent from the blog for much longer than I intended! Life has been busy these past few months, both personally and professionally. But in any case, I'm back and have some reader-requested posts lined up for you!
Thanks to all of you who have continued to visit and comment on the blog while I've been away - I especially appreciate those of you who have reached out by email or on Facebook to ask your questions! Keep them coming.
So without further-ado, a long-awaited reader request: 7 simple stretches for tight shoulders that you can do right at your desk! It's a simple sequence that takes about five minutes - enjoy!
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Wednesday, February 12, 2014
3 simple, awesome hamstring stretches
I have been meaning to write this post for ages, and was reminded of that intention by a reader comment the other day requesting some stretches for the back of the knee. As you might know, that big old hamstring muscle attaches at the back of the knee, so here are a few stretches to help you get into that tight area.
There are lots of ways to do this, but I like these ones because they are simple, straightforward, and safe on the back, which many hamstring stretches are not. I don't think any additional descriptions are required, but if you have any questions, just ask in the comments! And don't forget to let me know if there are any things that YOU'd like to see covered on the blog. Enjoy!
[NB: Knee pain, especially from bent knees, can be a symptom of wear to the knees' precious, protective cartilage. If you experience joint pain in your knees - and especially if you are high risk for cartilage damage, e.g. you are a runner or have a history of being overweight - you should definitely see your doctor! These stretches will ease muscular tension only.]
[For the anatomy geeks: These stretches are based on the principle of isometric muscle activation. Essentially, in the body's everyday movement, muscles work in pairs: when the quadriceps (thigh muscles) contract, the hamstrings lengthen. So, by strongly contracting the thigh muscles in short bursts, we encourage the hamstrings to lengthen. It's a great, no-pressure way of stretching.]
There are lots of ways to do this, but I like these ones because they are simple, straightforward, and safe on the back, which many hamstring stretches are not. I don't think any additional descriptions are required, but if you have any questions, just ask in the comments! And don't forget to let me know if there are any things that YOU'd like to see covered on the blog. Enjoy!
[NB: Knee pain, especially from bent knees, can be a symptom of wear to the knees' precious, protective cartilage. If you experience joint pain in your knees - and especially if you are high risk for cartilage damage, e.g. you are a runner or have a history of being overweight - you should definitely see your doctor! These stretches will ease muscular tension only.]
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[For the anatomy geeks: These stretches are based on the principle of isometric muscle activation. Essentially, in the body's everyday movement, muscles work in pairs: when the quadriceps (thigh muscles) contract, the hamstrings lengthen. So, by strongly contracting the thigh muscles in short bursts, we encourage the hamstrings to lengthen. It's a great, no-pressure way of stretching.]
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Yoga Tip Tuesdays: Sage Balance II (Eka Pada Koundinyasana 2)
This week's yoga tip is a about a challenging arm-balancing posture, eka pada koundinyasana 2 (one-legged sage pose 2), EPK2 for short! This pose often follows Lizard Pose in more challenging vinyasa classes, and for those of you who are comfortable in Lizard and want to challenge yourselves a bit more, the preparatory steps towards EPK2 are a great way to explore your boundaries and push out of your comfort zone a little.
Before you start working on this pose, make sure that you have warmed up the hips, hamstrings and upper body. You'll need a nice strong chaturanga to take the full balance, but if you are still working on that, the preparatory postures are good at building strength, too!
Remember if you are just starting to work on this pose to take it easy! There's no rush. You may play with each step in the process for weeks or even months at a time. Take each challenge as it comes, be patient with yourself, and be consistent, and you will see results in time. As a guideline, you should aim to be able to hold each step comfortably for up to a minute before progressing to the next step.
Start by taking a long, deep Lizard Pose on each side to warm up. Then come back into Lizard pose on the first side.
I hope this was helpful! Readers, are there any poses that you'd like to see on this blog?
Before you start working on this pose, make sure that you have warmed up the hips, hamstrings and upper body. You'll need a nice strong chaturanga to take the full balance, but if you are still working on that, the preparatory postures are good at building strength, too!
Remember if you are just starting to work on this pose to take it easy! There's no rush. You may play with each step in the process for weeks or even months at a time. Take each challenge as it comes, be patient with yourself, and be consistent, and you will see results in time. As a guideline, you should aim to be able to hold each step comfortably for up to a minute before progressing to the next step.
Start by taking a long, deep Lizard Pose on each side to warm up. Then come back into Lizard pose on the first side.
- If you can get your elbows to the floor in Lizard, begin by walking your elbows back as far as you can. If you can't get your elbows quite there, then walk your hands back. Either way, you should end up with your arms in chaturanga.
- As you bring your arms into chaturanga, one arm will come into contact with the back of your leg (in the photos below, the left arm and left leg) and the weight of the leg will start to transfer to your upper arm. This contact point is really important so play around with it until it feels comfortable. As a general rule, you can't to get the contact point as high on your upper arm as you can. (2nd picture, below)
- Once you feel comfortable, begin to walk your front toes forward and out on a diagonal. You'll feel more of the weight of the leg transferring onto your upper arm. At this point stop and make sure your body is properly supported: squeeze your upper arms towards the midline and press strongly through the pads of the fingers, lift from the core (like in plank pose), and strongly engaging the back leg and heel.
- Now we're going to try and straighten the front leg. To support yourself in this half-balance, you'll need to drop into a strong chaturanga. At this point I find it helpful to turn my head and look towards my toes: this helps me focus my efforts on what I'm doing!
- Next, extend strongly through the front thigh and begin to straightening the front leg. Really think about lengthening, not about lifting: by virtue of extending, your toes will eventually lift off the ground.
- Once you can get the toes off, refine the posture: flex or "floint" the front toes, keep the back leg super-engaged, and see if you can come up onto tiptoes on the back foot. When you can get the back foot high, high on tiptoes, then you're ready to try the next stage.
- Think of the body as a seesaw, with your elbows as the centre. The easiest way to get the back toes up, is for the weight of your front body to move forward and down. So this critical stage is mostly about pivoting your weight forward until your back toes can't help but lift off. Keeping the front leg strongly engaged and extending will help you bring your weight forward without collapsing onto the mat.
- When you're just getting started with this pose, it can help to take tiny 'hops' to lift the toes off the ground. Keep in mind though that these hops should be really tiny and that the main "work" of this stage is shifting your weight forward enough so that the back leg becomes light. I also find that it really helps to turn your head to the side here. This eliminates any risk of nose-squash if something goes wrong and helps keep your focus on your front leg, which needs to stay really strongly extending through this step.
- Once you have a bit of lift-off, keep the forward leg strongly engaged, keep squeezing in through the upper arms, and keep lifting from the core. It's hard work!!
- Over time, refine the pose by trying to find a more even distribution of weight, lifting the chest away from the floor, extending from the breastbone, and bringing your gaze forward.
- PS: I've included a picture of the other side here, because when I was first starting out with this pose I couldn't figure out what to do with my other arm. In fact when I first played with this pose, I used to cheat by sneaking that free elbow underneath my hip. I don't discourage this little 'cheat' if you are just trying to get a feel for the pose, but in the full pose the elbow is free and hugging strongly into your side. Squeeze as if your life depended on it!! (Note how you can really see that this is my weaker shoulder from the photos!)
I hope this was helpful! Readers, are there any poses that you'd like to see on this blog?
Friday, January 31, 2014
How soon after eating can I can do yoga?
As a teacher and a blogger, I hear this question a lot, so here is a quick post on the food & drink before (and after) yoga question!
You have probably heard that yoga is ideally practiced on an 'empty stomach.' Anyone who has accidentally tried to do a vigorous yoga class after a big lunch can relate to the truth in that! But that is more or less where the advice begins to diverge.
When considering this question, remember above all that in the yogic worldview, everyone is different. While yoga teachers often try to give simple and straightforward answers, because we think that is what people are looking for, the truth is that every individual has a unique ayurvedic constitution, meaning that there are no 'hard and fast rules.' Rather, think of these as guidelines that you then need to explore to see which is the most appropriate for you.
There are so many variables here (ayurvedic type, climate, season, diet, lifestyle, what else is going on in your life…) that I think the 'ideal' answer requires a solution that is tailored to your unique needs. One way to think about it is to keep a journal detailing what you ate before practice, when you ate it, and how you felt. Over time that may help you to hit upon the right solution for YOU.
Remember also that your needs are going to change throughout your life, depending on what else is going on - so just when you think you've got it figured out, you may have to change it up again!
If you practice in the morning:
Many schools of thought teach that yoga should be done first thing in the morning, before you eat or drink anything (other than room temperature water). Some people find this pretty comfortable, but I know others who feel light-headed or even faint if they so much as attempt a sun salutation on a completely empty stomach.
If you wake up hungry (which in ayurvedic terms is a good thing!), if the length and intensity of your practice requires a bit of fuel, or if you struggle with low blood sugar in the mornings, try the following:
If you practice in the middle of the day:
If your favourite class is in the middle of the day, it's going to be a bit of a balancing act to figure out the right times to eat before and after practice. In the middle of the day, your energy is high and your digestive fire is at its peak. You might find that this means you are able to eat a light snack before practice and burn right through it, or you might find that you do better eating a big meal after practice. Try some of the following and see what works best for you:
If you practice in the evening:
Personally, I find evening practices the most difficult to schedule healthy eating around. Eating too late is bad for my digestion and sleep, but so is a vigorous practice late in the evening. If you have similar issues, try the following:
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You have probably heard that yoga is ideally practiced on an 'empty stomach.' Anyone who has accidentally tried to do a vigorous yoga class after a big lunch can relate to the truth in that! But that is more or less where the advice begins to diverge.
When considering this question, remember above all that in the yogic worldview, everyone is different. While yoga teachers often try to give simple and straightforward answers, because we think that is what people are looking for, the truth is that every individual has a unique ayurvedic constitution, meaning that there are no 'hard and fast rules.' Rather, think of these as guidelines that you then need to explore to see which is the most appropriate for you.
There are so many variables here (ayurvedic type, climate, season, diet, lifestyle, what else is going on in your life…) that I think the 'ideal' answer requires a solution that is tailored to your unique needs. One way to think about it is to keep a journal detailing what you ate before practice, when you ate it, and how you felt. Over time that may help you to hit upon the right solution for YOU.
Remember also that your needs are going to change throughout your life, depending on what else is going on - so just when you think you've got it figured out, you may have to change it up again!
If you practice in the morning:
Many schools of thought teach that yoga should be done first thing in the morning, before you eat or drink anything (other than room temperature water). Some people find this pretty comfortable, but I know others who feel light-headed or even faint if they so much as attempt a sun salutation on a completely empty stomach.
If you wake up hungry (which in ayurvedic terms is a good thing!), if the length and intensity of your practice requires a bit of fuel, or if you struggle with low blood sugar in the mornings, try the following:
- Have a glass of room-temperature or warm milk 15-30 minutes before practice. Milk temporarily buffers stomach acid, so it can be good to tide you through your practice. However, once the milk is digested your stomach will produce even more acid, so if you are in the habit of drinking milk, make sure you eat a nice alkaline breakfast after your yoga.
- Have a (small) cup of milky coffee or tea 15-30 minutes before practice. Yoga guru BKS Iyengar began all of his days like this, and, well, he's going on 96 so it must work for him! Coffee also helps to empty your bowels which is another (less often quoted in a public yoga class!) recommendation for before you start practicing asana or pranayama.
- Have a small piece of fruit about 15 to 30 minutes before practice. It should be something light, like a peach or an orange, not a banana, and if possible, something fresh, not tinned. I prefer solid fruit to fruit juice because with solid fruit you get fibre as well as just liquid and sugar, but then, that's just me!
- You don't have to wait too long after practice, even an intense practice, to head straight to a nice big breakfast. Wait about 15 or 20 minutes (just time for a shower and to get dressed) and then tuck in!
If you practice in the middle of the day:
If your favourite class is in the middle of the day, it's going to be a bit of a balancing act to figure out the right times to eat before and after practice. In the middle of the day, your energy is high and your digestive fire is at its peak. You might find that this means you are able to eat a light snack before practice and burn right through it, or you might find that you do better eating a big meal after practice. Try some of the following and see what works best for you:
- Have a light or normal breakfast followed by a high-energy mid-morning snack. The usual advice would be not to snack on anything within an hour of practicing.
- Have a big breakfast and don't eat again until after your practice.
- If you are hungry right before your class, try having a piece of light fruit about 15-30 minutes before class.
- You may find that you need to leave a bit of time after practice in order to be able to digest a big meal. If you are hungry right after practice but when you eat, you feel like it doesn't digest well, try having a light snack (fruit or a granola bar) right after practice and waiting about an hour before having a meal.
If you practice in the evening:
Personally, I find evening practices the most difficult to schedule healthy eating around. Eating too late is bad for my digestion and sleep, but so is a vigorous practice late in the evening. If you have similar issues, try the following:
- Try swapping your biggest meal of the day to lunchtime. Make sure it is a balanced meal that will give you enough 'fuel' to make it through the rest of your day and through your yoga practice. Then, have a light meal for dinner after practice (a soup or a salad for example). Remember that if you usually eat with your family you might have to warn them in advance on those days, too!
- If your class is too late for you to have dinner afterwards, try mixing and matching your breakfast and lunch quantities and timings (e.g. big breakfast, medium lunch, or small breakfast, big early lunch) so that you can eat an early dinner of something small and light. Try to leave at least 2-3 hours between dinner and your class for ideal digestion.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Quick Tip: How to check your knee alignment in Warrior II and similar poses
Knees are delicate joints, which is why yoga teachers tend to go on (and on!) about correctly aligning the knee in yoga poses. Unlike hips, which can move in many directions, knees are designed only to move in one direction. So when we do yoga poses, it's important to respect the way that knees are designed to move, otherwise we risk injuring this relatively delicate joint. Knees are hinge joints, designed to move on a single axis, just like the hinge of a door. And just like a hinge, they are especially vulnerable if you twist them away from that axis.
In standing poses where the knee is bent, correctly aligning the knee is especially important because the knee joint is bearing weight. In poses where the hips are facing forward, the body finds a safe alignment fairly naturally, just as it does every day when we walk or run. However, in poses such as Warrior II and extended angle pose (and Warrior I to a lesser extent), we put the body in an un-natural stance, with the pelvis facing sideways and the front foot facing forwards. When we then bend the knee, our body often comes out of its safe alignment, for a number of different reasons (stiffness in the hips, short adductor muscles, distraction…).
You'll often hear teachers cue "bring your knee over your ankle" to try and correct for this. But we all know that bringing the knee directly over the ankle in these poses can take years of practice! Instead, don't worry about how far forward your knee is: check the alignment of your knee by thinking about lining up two straight lines. The first (in pink) is a line that goes through the middle of your foot: approximately from the base of the second toe to the middle of the heel. The second (in blue) goes from your hip socket in the middle of the upper thigh to the middle of the kneecap. When those two axes are in line, you are good to go!
The pictures below hopefully makes it pretty clear. In 1) and 2) I've shown two common mis-alignments that I often see in class, just to help illustrate the point. 3) shows what it should look like.
(PS: You usually can't see your foot from standing in Warrior II, so lean forward to check your alignment, and then straighten up again).
In standing poses where the knee is bent, correctly aligning the knee is especially important because the knee joint is bearing weight. In poses where the hips are facing forward, the body finds a safe alignment fairly naturally, just as it does every day when we walk or run. However, in poses such as Warrior II and extended angle pose (and Warrior I to a lesser extent), we put the body in an un-natural stance, with the pelvis facing sideways and the front foot facing forwards. When we then bend the knee, our body often comes out of its safe alignment, for a number of different reasons (stiffness in the hips, short adductor muscles, distraction…).
You'll often hear teachers cue "bring your knee over your ankle" to try and correct for this. But we all know that bringing the knee directly over the ankle in these poses can take years of practice! Instead, don't worry about how far forward your knee is: check the alignment of your knee by thinking about lining up two straight lines. The first (in pink) is a line that goes through the middle of your foot: approximately from the base of the second toe to the middle of the heel. The second (in blue) goes from your hip socket in the middle of the upper thigh to the middle of the kneecap. When those two axes are in line, you are good to go!
The pictures below hopefully makes it pretty clear. In 1) and 2) I've shown two common mis-alignments that I often see in class, just to help illustrate the point. 3) shows what it should look like.
(PS: You usually can't see your foot from standing in Warrior II, so lean forward to check your alignment, and then straighten up again).
My cat has recently been taking a renewed interest in disdainfully watching me do yoga, so you also get a bonus of some cute little cat feet off to the side!!
Friday, January 10, 2014
Yoga Tip Tuesdays: Lizard Pose
Happy new year! Yes, readers, I'm back at the blog. The final 3 months of last year for me were very intense work-wise, and blogging just didn't fit in. But now all that is behind me and I have lots of time for all things yoga - hurrah!
Now, we bloggers tend to start the new year with deep, reflective posts, but I'm going to skip that step and launch straight into a post requested by a reader a little while ago, on a lovely but challenging hip opener called Lizard Pose. Also, stay tuned for the sequel on how to use Lizard Pose as a starting point to work towards a challenging arm-balance: eka pada koundinyasana (sage pose) II.
Now, we bloggers tend to start the new year with deep, reflective posts, but I'm going to skip that step and launch straight into a post requested by a reader a little while ago, on a lovely but challenging hip opener called Lizard Pose. Also, stay tuned for the sequel on how to use Lizard Pose as a starting point to work towards a challenging arm-balance: eka pada koundinyasana (sage pose) II.
-----------------------------------
A little while ago, a reader contacted me through Facebook and asked for advice on modifying Lizard Pose. She commented: "My thigh can't seem to stay straight - it wants to poke out to the
side. Then I am having problems with my shoulders. Even getting to where my shoulder is by my knee is troublesome."
First of all, from my perspective, it's totally OK for your front thigh to be angled outwards. After all, your femur sits side-on and forward of your hip joint, as shown in the picture below. As you can also see, this is more exaggerated in women than with men.
The way that the femur and the hip are aligned means that in forward-facing hip-openers (like Warrior I, lunge and lizard), you should always set up for the pose with the feet at least hip width apart on your mat. For women, aim for shoulder distance. This means that the right foot is to the right side of the midline, and the left foot is to the left side. This alone might alleviate any discomfort you're feeling by creating more space for the hip joint to move through.
Next, you can create even more space for the hips with one simple movement: turn your forward toes outward, towards the front corner of your mat. This reflects the natural alignment of the femur, so when you come deeper into the pose, bringing your hands to the mat, you should feel more spaciousness in the hip joint. You can walk your foot further out to the side to get even more room.
When you can comfortably hold the pose for 5 breaths with your palms flat on the mat, you can play with coming a bit deeper into the pose by bending your elbows. Another way to explore this pose is with the back knee on the ground. This takes some of the weight off the hip joint and can be a great variation for those with especially tight hamstrings.
Eventually you might place your elbows on a bolster, block, or on the floor. However remember that this pose is not about how far down you go. It's totally fine if your shoulders never go lower than your knee - as long as you are feeling a good stretch in your hips, glutes and hamstrings. Be respectful of your body: since hips are joints, there is no joy to be had in straining to push your limits. Rather, let go of your ego, breathe deeply and work on holding the pose longer while staying relaxed through the breath, allowing your body to slowly change old patterns of movement.
Lizard Pose is a big hip opener, so before coming into this pose, do some warm ups like hip circles, supine pigeon, and lunges. Enjoy!!
Readers, what are some poses you'd like to see featured on Yoga Tip Tuesdays? And yes, I know it's not Tuesday today, but whatever! ;) The name is catchy.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Arjuna and December (in which I manage to bring Jesus, Arjuna and Harry Potter into the same blog post)
Well, yogis, it's December, which means a lot of things. Firstly, I will be returning to regular blogging soon since my assignment in East Timor is nearly done! Secondly (and a bit more universal), it's hard for most of us not to notice that Christmas is coming.
Which makes me think about Arjuna. (Oh yes, it's one of those posts).
'Uhhhhhh, what?' I hear you asking. Well, let me explain. It all started last year when my partner and I had Christmas with our five-year old niece. By the end of the holiday, after a week or so of "brush your teeth or you'll be on the naughty list" culminating in a paper-shredding-present-opening-crazy-fest, we felt pretty spiritually disenfranchised. The pop-culture-materialistic version of Christmas, as you may have noticed, is pretty hard to avoid these days, whether you are a Christian (my partner is) or not (I am not). So we reflected a bit on what the deeper meaning of the season is for us, and how we could create new traditions for ourselves that possibly wouldn't involve quite so many plastic toys discarded moments after being torn out of the wrapping paper. We reflected on the transition to a new year, marked by the solstice and the calendar. The commemoration of another year of life on this planet shared with people that we love. The commemoration of the birth of a man who tried to teach those around him the values of love, generosity and a moral life.
Which, ironically, every time I come to the christmas season, feels like more of a battle than usual.
Which is what brings me to Arjuna. For those of you who haven't read the Bhagavad Gita (on which I am no expert), Arjuna is a prince who, on the eve of a terrible battle, has a crisis of faith. Paralysed by the realisation that he must fight against his own uncles and cousins to win back his rightful share of the kingdom, he freezes, confused, and his bow slips from his hand. He calls upon Krishna (who happens to be his charioteer, sweet!) for guidance. Krishna responds by introducing Arjuna to Yoga, a practice for self-realisation. Krishna goes on to say that through Yoga he can gain control of his mind and liberate himself from the 'false reality' of the senses. In this state, the yogi can perform actions without any mental or emotional attachment to their consequences. So he can fight because it's the right thing to do, and not be distraught by the result of his actions.
Now, wait, says Arjuna, surely if I become all enlightened, there is no need to perform action at all? Shouldn't I just withdraw from the world and contemplate it all from a cave somewhere? But Krishna points out that abstaining from action is an action in itself, but not a very constructive one. Better to continue consciously performing actions, because as an enlightened person you can do actions for the good of the world. Krishna tells Arjuna that each person should do his duty according to his nature, performing actions without attachment. This is the Yoga of Action.
There's more to the story, but we've come to my essential point. I remember reading the BG for the first time and struggling immensely, as Arjuna did, with this concept. How could it be right to go to war, to kill his kin for a kingdom? What kind of spiritual teaching is that? And how did this text become an inspiration to Ghandi, the man who led India's peaceful revolution?
But I was missing the key point, which is that it's a story, a metaphor, not to be taken quite so literally. In the story, Arjuna is a warrior. It is what he is born to, it is his destiny, and therefore it is his duty to fight. It is the right thing to do, and nobody else can do it. He's basically your ancient Indian version of Harry Potter (who after all, could have just hopped on a Thestral and flown off to Australia, right?).
What the BG is saying, then, is that yoga is really about is doing what's right, according to our own individual nature. Now I am not a warrior (maybe some of you are, readers, or wizards!). But I am many other things: a friend, a daughter, a sister, a partner, an employee, a teacher. And with each of those 'destinies' comes a set of 'rights,' a set of choices about how I live my life (horcruxes or hallows?). The path of yoga is the path that leads me to choose my actions wisely, to do the right thing in each set of circumstances not because I am seeking personal gain or seeking to please others, but because it is the right thing to do. Not to put off doing something because it is hard or because I am afraid, but doing it because it is the right thing to do. The right thing according to me, to my true self, to my true nature, not to what others tell me to do or want me to do.
And the practice of yoga, the practice of inquiry in order to gain self-knowledge, of course, is there to help me to make those choices based in true wisdom, free of attachment or ego or self-deception.
So, readers, if you are still with me, that is what I will be reflecting on this December. On who I am, and on doing Right Things For Me because they are Right Things For Me, and not for any other reason. On what my battles (choices) are and how to 'fight' them with wisdom and integrity.
Happy new year everyone!
La Gitane
Which makes me think about Arjuna. (Oh yes, it's one of those posts).
'Uhhhhhh, what?' I hear you asking. Well, let me explain. It all started last year when my partner and I had Christmas with our five-year old niece. By the end of the holiday, after a week or so of "brush your teeth or you'll be on the naughty list" culminating in a paper-shredding-present-opening-crazy-fest, we felt pretty spiritually disenfranchised. The pop-culture-materialistic version of Christmas, as you may have noticed, is pretty hard to avoid these days, whether you are a Christian (my partner is) or not (I am not). So we reflected a bit on what the deeper meaning of the season is for us, and how we could create new traditions for ourselves that possibly wouldn't involve quite so many plastic toys discarded moments after being torn out of the wrapping paper. We reflected on the transition to a new year, marked by the solstice and the calendar. The commemoration of another year of life on this planet shared with people that we love. The commemoration of the birth of a man who tried to teach those around him the values of love, generosity and a moral life.
Which, ironically, every time I come to the christmas season, feels like more of a battle than usual.
Which is what brings me to Arjuna. For those of you who haven't read the Bhagavad Gita (on which I am no expert), Arjuna is a prince who, on the eve of a terrible battle, has a crisis of faith. Paralysed by the realisation that he must fight against his own uncles and cousins to win back his rightful share of the kingdom, he freezes, confused, and his bow slips from his hand. He calls upon Krishna (who happens to be his charioteer, sweet!) for guidance. Krishna responds by introducing Arjuna to Yoga, a practice for self-realisation. Krishna goes on to say that through Yoga he can gain control of his mind and liberate himself from the 'false reality' of the senses. In this state, the yogi can perform actions without any mental or emotional attachment to their consequences. So he can fight because it's the right thing to do, and not be distraught by the result of his actions.
Now, wait, says Arjuna, surely if I become all enlightened, there is no need to perform action at all? Shouldn't I just withdraw from the world and contemplate it all from a cave somewhere? But Krishna points out that abstaining from action is an action in itself, but not a very constructive one. Better to continue consciously performing actions, because as an enlightened person you can do actions for the good of the world. Krishna tells Arjuna that each person should do his duty according to his nature, performing actions without attachment. This is the Yoga of Action.
There's more to the story, but we've come to my essential point. I remember reading the BG for the first time and struggling immensely, as Arjuna did, with this concept. How could it be right to go to war, to kill his kin for a kingdom? What kind of spiritual teaching is that? And how did this text become an inspiration to Ghandi, the man who led India's peaceful revolution?
But I was missing the key point, which is that it's a story, a metaphor, not to be taken quite so literally. In the story, Arjuna is a warrior. It is what he is born to, it is his destiny, and therefore it is his duty to fight. It is the right thing to do, and nobody else can do it. He's basically your ancient Indian version of Harry Potter (who after all, could have just hopped on a Thestral and flown off to Australia, right?).
What the BG is saying, then, is that yoga is really about is doing what's right, according to our own individual nature. Now I am not a warrior (maybe some of you are, readers, or wizards!). But I am many other things: a friend, a daughter, a sister, a partner, an employee, a teacher. And with each of those 'destinies' comes a set of 'rights,' a set of choices about how I live my life (horcruxes or hallows?). The path of yoga is the path that leads me to choose my actions wisely, to do the right thing in each set of circumstances not because I am seeking personal gain or seeking to please others, but because it is the right thing to do. Not to put off doing something because it is hard or because I am afraid, but doing it because it is the right thing to do. The right thing according to me, to my true self, to my true nature, not to what others tell me to do or want me to do.
And the practice of yoga, the practice of inquiry in order to gain self-knowledge, of course, is there to help me to make those choices based in true wisdom, free of attachment or ego or self-deception.
So, readers, if you are still with me, that is what I will be reflecting on this December. On who I am, and on doing Right Things For Me because they are Right Things For Me, and not for any other reason. On what my battles (choices) are and how to 'fight' them with wisdom and integrity.
Happy new year everyone!
La Gitane
Thursday, November 14, 2013
On remembrance, action and typhoon Haiyan
Yes, I am still out here in the universe, and very much alive. Although you wouldn't know it from reading the blog of late, I have been soaking up life like a sponge, and I can promise you that many new posts and other things are in the pipeline. Patience, and all is coming! As you may remember, I am currently back in East Timor, which I called 'home' for many years and apparently is not finished with me yet.
On Remembrance
Yesterday was a big day here: the 22nd anniversary of the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre, when occupying Indonesian troops opened fire on a crowd of several thousand unarmed civilians. The people, mostly young, had come to demonstrate at the grave of a young man who was shot in cold blood by Indonesian soldiers. It was an act of resistance for which many paid dearly: when the crowd reached the large cemetery in the centre of town, the troops opened fire. At least 250 people were killed in under an hour.
This horrifying event also marked a turning point in East Timor's fight for independence, as it was witnessed by several foreign journalists including one who managed to capture the massacre on film and smuggle the footage out. When the footage was released to the world, it sparked an international solidarity movement for East Timor's self-determination, and brought the governments who were supporting the Indonesian militarily under strong criticism - including the US which had trained the Indonesian military and sold them the weapons they used to invade and force the country into submission. Many regard it as the first step on East Timor's path to independence, which they would finally achieve 8 years later.
Each year the massacre is marked by a national holiday, and the day closes beautiful tradition: after sunset, every household goes out into the street and lights candles in memory of those who died. Children play in the streets and adults sit and remember the past as they watch the future generations frolic with a lighter spirit than in the days of occupation or colonisation. Wherever you are in East Timor on 12 November, the streets will be lined with row upon row of lit candles. In the years before independence, it was a brave thing to do, a sign that the spirit of the East Timorese could not be quashed by intimidation and violence. Now it is a holiday of particular, poignant beauty, all the more so when the post-independence road is rocky, and national unity feels fickle and evasive.
As a foreigner, I can't help observing the contrast with the traditions of my own country, which by contrast feel trite and commercialistic. Tinny christmas carols in shopping malls and chocolate Easter bunnies feel pretty empty compared to such a powerful, simple thing as an entire nation lighting candles to remember. It makes me realise how much my heart cries out for more meaningful traditions, how much I hope to create those for my present and future family.
What does this have to do with yoga?
Well, nothing and everything honestly. When I reflect back on the Santra Cruz massacre and the thousands of other, un-rembered acts of resistance (whether noble or stupid), I am reminded of Arjuna in the Baghavad Gita gearing up to fight. Knowing that the consequences would be terrible, but acting anyway because it was for the greater good.
Yoga is action - and this, we must not forget. It is showing compassion to those in need, it is speaking for those who cannot, it is a thousand nameless acts of kindness or one single act of bravery. Each of us is called to act in different ways, each day we are presented with dozens of opportunities to do something good, something right, something that challenges our apathy. Something that stills the vicious tongue of our ego-self, the voice that fills us with scepticism and doubt, the voice that says "I can't make a difference, why bother, someone else will take care of that, it's not my problem."
Through action we change our karma and purge our samskaras. Through action we put our fundamental beliefs to the test. Through action we open up to our true natures.
A post-script: Typhoon Haiyan
This post was not intended as a call to action on Typhoon Haiyan. But it is in the news, and as someone who has worked on humanitarian issues and responses, I shouldn't be surprised to have found myself here.
If you are distressed by what you see, if you wish you could help but your ego-voice is telling you that you can't make a difference, why bother, other people will take care of that, it's not your problem, please know that your donations, however small they may seem to you, really do help. Forgo your weekly coffee and donate $5, or your weekly lunch date and donate $25. It's not about how much you give - it's about taking action if your soul is calling for it. Because it's the right thing to do.
Marianne Elliot has put together a wonderful post with some advice on what kind of help is most useful - I encourage you to read it, but don't stop there. Take action, however small. If you are called to help, listen to your true, compassionate nature.
On Remembrance
Yesterday was a big day here: the 22nd anniversary of the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre, when occupying Indonesian troops opened fire on a crowd of several thousand unarmed civilians. The people, mostly young, had come to demonstrate at the grave of a young man who was shot in cold blood by Indonesian soldiers. It was an act of resistance for which many paid dearly: when the crowd reached the large cemetery in the centre of town, the troops opened fire. At least 250 people were killed in under an hour.
This horrifying event also marked a turning point in East Timor's fight for independence, as it was witnessed by several foreign journalists including one who managed to capture the massacre on film and smuggle the footage out. When the footage was released to the world, it sparked an international solidarity movement for East Timor's self-determination, and brought the governments who were supporting the Indonesian militarily under strong criticism - including the US which had trained the Indonesian military and sold them the weapons they used to invade and force the country into submission. Many regard it as the first step on East Timor's path to independence, which they would finally achieve 8 years later.
Each year the massacre is marked by a national holiday, and the day closes beautiful tradition: after sunset, every household goes out into the street and lights candles in memory of those who died. Children play in the streets and adults sit and remember the past as they watch the future generations frolic with a lighter spirit than in the days of occupation or colonisation. Wherever you are in East Timor on 12 November, the streets will be lined with row upon row of lit candles. In the years before independence, it was a brave thing to do, a sign that the spirit of the East Timorese could not be quashed by intimidation and violence. Now it is a holiday of particular, poignant beauty, all the more so when the post-independence road is rocky, and national unity feels fickle and evasive.
As a foreigner, I can't help observing the contrast with the traditions of my own country, which by contrast feel trite and commercialistic. Tinny christmas carols in shopping malls and chocolate Easter bunnies feel pretty empty compared to such a powerful, simple thing as an entire nation lighting candles to remember. It makes me realise how much my heart cries out for more meaningful traditions, how much I hope to create those for my present and future family.
 |
| A father and his children light candles in remembrance, Baucau, East Timor, 12 November 2013 |
What does this have to do with yoga?
Well, nothing and everything honestly. When I reflect back on the Santra Cruz massacre and the thousands of other, un-rembered acts of resistance (whether noble or stupid), I am reminded of Arjuna in the Baghavad Gita gearing up to fight. Knowing that the consequences would be terrible, but acting anyway because it was for the greater good.
Yoga is action - and this, we must not forget. It is showing compassion to those in need, it is speaking for those who cannot, it is a thousand nameless acts of kindness or one single act of bravery. Each of us is called to act in different ways, each day we are presented with dozens of opportunities to do something good, something right, something that challenges our apathy. Something that stills the vicious tongue of our ego-self, the voice that fills us with scepticism and doubt, the voice that says "I can't make a difference, why bother, someone else will take care of that, it's not my problem."
Through action we change our karma and purge our samskaras. Through action we put our fundamental beliefs to the test. Through action we open up to our true natures.
A post-script: Typhoon Haiyan
This post was not intended as a call to action on Typhoon Haiyan. But it is in the news, and as someone who has worked on humanitarian issues and responses, I shouldn't be surprised to have found myself here.
If you are distressed by what you see, if you wish you could help but your ego-voice is telling you that you can't make a difference, why bother, other people will take care of that, it's not your problem, please know that your donations, however small they may seem to you, really do help. Forgo your weekly coffee and donate $5, or your weekly lunch date and donate $25. It's not about how much you give - it's about taking action if your soul is calling for it. Because it's the right thing to do.
Marianne Elliot has put together a wonderful post with some advice on what kind of help is most useful - I encourage you to read it, but don't stop there. Take action, however small. If you are called to help, listen to your true, compassionate nature.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Finding relaxation in a busy life: a guest post
A few weeks back, Alisa won the Barefoot Yoga silk eye pillow in a giveaway here on this blog! I asked her to review it for us so you all can hear about it, and I love what she has written: an honest story of a mom, student and yogini trying to find relaxation in a busy, multi-tasking life. Thanks for sharing your story Alisa, and keep remembering to relax!
----------------------------------------------
Hi, my name is Alisa. I am a wanna be yogini. I have been doing
yoga for 2 years, and am in love with not only practicing yoga but reading
about yoga! I am a new mom and wife,
and a full time student in a demanding program. I am really so lucky I won the silk eye pillow
give away, because my life can be very stressful (as I’m sure most of yours
are) and this eye pillow has given me the desire to meditate and relax more!
The day after I received my new amazing
silk eye pillow I was walking and slipped on some liquid and fell right on my
tailbone. It HURT really bad for a couple of weeks. I couldn’t practice yoga like I wanted to,
and I knew my body needed lots of REST!
Sometimes these bad things happen for a reason, to remind us to slow
down and rest, something I am working on!!!!
The silk eye pillow is the perfect
accessory for my resting! After I hurt my tailbone, I would lay down in bed
with lots of pillows and support for my poor tail bone, and put the eye pillow
over my eyes. Breathing in deeply, I
immediately loved the light lavender scent (which is not too strong, but strong
enough to enrich my nostrils with calming lavender with each inhale) I continued to breathe deeply and relax my
stressed, sore, tight body...
After a few minutes I realized that I LOVE
the slight pressure the silk eye pillow puts on my eyes and surrounding area.
It wasn’t too light or too heavy, but the perfect amount of pressure to help
remind me to relax my face and all of the tension I hold there. I feel like sometimes we are so used to
relaxing the rest of our body in savasana and meditation but we forget to relax
our face!!
Some
other things I love about the silk eye pillow are: the silk case it comes in –
perfect for storing it, and the beautiful pattern and silkiness/softness of the
fabric that feels almost cool on your eyes.
After having the silk eye pillow for a
couple weeks, and testing it at least a few times a week, I realized that
consciously relaxing my face really helps me a lot with relaxing my racing
mind! Which in turn helps me relax my
whole body too.
This being the first eye pillow I’ve ever
used. I was surprised by how much I love
it. The silk eye pillow has definitely took my savasavas and lying down
meditations to a whole new level J
I also have a little advice with using the
silk eye pillow: Make sure you have some
time to ease back into reality after using your eye pillow. The eye pillow
blocks out light completely! So I found
it rewarding to take a couple of minutes to keep my eyes closed after I took
off the eye pillow ……slowly easing back into the bright world eased the
transition!
I think the Barefoot Co.’s silk eye pillow
would make a good gift for anyone really, but especially for those women in
your life! I feel like a lot of women
these days worry too much, or stress about everything, trying to carry the
world on their shoulders. I know that
ALL women have those days, and life is busy!!! But our lives would really improve
if we took the time to settle down and relax our bodies and minds! The silk eye pillow could benefit both those
who are already familiar with savasana and meditation, and those who have never
done it before! I ordered my mom and
mother in law a silk eye pillow for Christmas, and I’m going to include with my
gift instructions on how to do a full body scan, relaxation meditation. I’m hoping it will help them!
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
The yoga of connecting; simple is enough
Hello dear readers,
Technically a blog has no obligation, but every time my life gets away from me and keeps me away from my blog, I always feel the need to apologise! So readers, I'm sorry for the long absence from this space, and I'll do my best to keep the posts coming for the next little while.
True to my gypsy name, I am traveling at the moment, this time a long work trip that will keep me away from home for 3 months. I'm once again visiting the half-island nation of East Timor - long time readers will remember that I used to live here. It seems that my fate is entwined with this place, for life keeps drawing me back. With a whole world out there, incredibly I am sitting in an office that is only a few doors away from the very first office I sat in 9 years ago when I first came here. Perhaps some places are truly magnetic to our souls, or there is some karma that I have with this place that I have yet to work through.
This time I have the wonderful opportunity to be spending most of my working hours traveling around the country and talking to local people. I will be on the road a lot and my yoga physical yoga practice will most certainly suffer from it, but there are other kinds of yoga. The yoga of connecting to people is one that we so often neglect. The yoga of getting to know other human beings, of asking for their perspectives and listening to what they have to say. We get so engrossed in our personal practice that we forget that the real practice is how we live our lives, minute by minute, day-by day.
Being back at a desk job is also a shift for me. Gone are the long, leisurely morning practices that I have had over the past few months. Now, I am rising in the hot, humid darkness, stepping on my mat still half asleep, swatting mosquitoes. Every step between bed and the mat is a struggle with myself, trying to keep the fire of tapas, discipline, burning long enough to get me to the first breath. But once I am there, everything flows. One breath turns into another and before long a thin sheen of sweat has sprung to my skin, and my body moves into life.
These mornings feel like a homecoming, an echo of years worth of morning practices. To do them (and still be at the office by 8am!), I have stripped back my practice to the basics, trying to get the most out of my limited time on the mat, and it has surprised me how well this simplified practice "fits." It's as if I have stripped away everything that was not serving me, and am left with a practice where every breath, every asana, meets a need. Nothing is extra, no energy is wasted, no thoughts or emotions flung into attachment to "goal poses" or the length of my practice. The reward: I am calm, focused, and (I think!) pleasant to be around. I can go about my day of listening to people with ease and relaxation. I notice a huge increase in my productivity at work on the mornings I do yoga, and a huge loss of focus on the mornings when I trade my practice for an extra hour of sleep. It's nice to be reminded of the transformative power of a simple practice and to remember, in the midst of our complicated lives, that simple is enough.
Dear readers, I promise shortly a return to our regular programming, with some highlights from trips around East Timor thrown in as a bonus.
For now, go on, get on your mats - or get off them - and see what happens. :)
Technically a blog has no obligation, but every time my life gets away from me and keeps me away from my blog, I always feel the need to apologise! So readers, I'm sorry for the long absence from this space, and I'll do my best to keep the posts coming for the next little while.
True to my gypsy name, I am traveling at the moment, this time a long work trip that will keep me away from home for 3 months. I'm once again visiting the half-island nation of East Timor - long time readers will remember that I used to live here. It seems that my fate is entwined with this place, for life keeps drawing me back. With a whole world out there, incredibly I am sitting in an office that is only a few doors away from the very first office I sat in 9 years ago when I first came here. Perhaps some places are truly magnetic to our souls, or there is some karma that I have with this place that I have yet to work through.
 |
| Morning commute ;) |
This time I have the wonderful opportunity to be spending most of my working hours traveling around the country and talking to local people. I will be on the road a lot and my yoga physical yoga practice will most certainly suffer from it, but there are other kinds of yoga. The yoga of connecting to people is one that we so often neglect. The yoga of getting to know other human beings, of asking for their perspectives and listening to what they have to say. We get so engrossed in our personal practice that we forget that the real practice is how we live our lives, minute by minute, day-by day.
Being back at a desk job is also a shift for me. Gone are the long, leisurely morning practices that I have had over the past few months. Now, I am rising in the hot, humid darkness, stepping on my mat still half asleep, swatting mosquitoes. Every step between bed and the mat is a struggle with myself, trying to keep the fire of tapas, discipline, burning long enough to get me to the first breath. But once I am there, everything flows. One breath turns into another and before long a thin sheen of sweat has sprung to my skin, and my body moves into life.
These mornings feel like a homecoming, an echo of years worth of morning practices. To do them (and still be at the office by 8am!), I have stripped back my practice to the basics, trying to get the most out of my limited time on the mat, and it has surprised me how well this simplified practice "fits." It's as if I have stripped away everything that was not serving me, and am left with a practice where every breath, every asana, meets a need. Nothing is extra, no energy is wasted, no thoughts or emotions flung into attachment to "goal poses" or the length of my practice. The reward: I am calm, focused, and (I think!) pleasant to be around. I can go about my day of listening to people with ease and relaxation. I notice a huge increase in my productivity at work on the mornings I do yoga, and a huge loss of focus on the mornings when I trade my practice for an extra hour of sleep. It's nice to be reminded of the transformative power of a simple practice and to remember, in the midst of our complicated lives, that simple is enough.
Dear readers, I promise shortly a return to our regular programming, with some highlights from trips around East Timor thrown in as a bonus.
For now, go on, get on your mats - or get off them - and see what happens. :)
Friday, August 23, 2013
How to create a yoga habit
Hello readers! First of all, apologies for the long silence - things in the non-virtual world have been super busy lately, chiefly because my partner and I have been moving house - an exhausting task now complete! Yes, as I type this I'm sitting in our new apartment that will be our home for at least the next 12 months. For a gypsy like me, that's pretty darn exciting... Too bad I'm off on a 3-month work trip in a few weeks!!
Anyway, as part of last week's giveaway, I asked readers to leave questions or suggestions for posts on the blog, and this post is in answer to one of those comments (don't worry, the rest will be coming along!). The request was for a post on how to make a daily commitment to yoga as part of a healthy lifestyle.
SUCH a good question! We all know that we feel better when we do some yoga - but many of us get to a point where we are going to as many classes as we can - a few times a week, or maybe only a few times a month - but we want to get more out of our yoga! Yet making the transition from practicing in class to a daily practice can be daunting and many of us don't know where to start.
First of all, many of us might ask: is it worth it? Well, if you are feeling the urge to bring more yoga into your life, then of course it is worth it! Everytime you follow your instincts, you come closer to living a lifestyle that allows you to express who you really are. I have had a regular home practice since about 2005. Now, I can hardly live without my yoga - and those who live with me would agree! My regular practice (usually 5 days a week) helps me stay happy, healthy, balanced, and be generally a nice person to be around.
How to create a yoga habit
Building a home practice is like creating a new habit. The good news here is that people are creatures of habit. Just try depriving us of our morning cup of coffee or our 2pm cookie-break and it becomes clear: we gravitate towards our habits, in fact, we crave them. So the secret to creating a home practice is to let yoga become a new habit. Thankfully this is something that people have been researching for years! Read some fascinating insights from a Zen perspective, here.
Step 1: Make it so easy you can't say no
The most critical part of creating a new habit is to make it easy for yourself. For most of us, the idea of taking 90 minutes every day to practice yoga is not easy. So while a 90-minute home practice might be your eventual goal, you won't be doing any favours by trying to make it a habit right away. In fact, trying to do your full goal straight away is one of the top reasons that people fail to make the changes in their lives that they dream of.
So instead of picking something difficult that you will then have a hundred excuses not to do, pick something that is SO EASY YOU CAN'T NOT DO IT. And once you've picked that, REALLY COMMIT to it. The easier you make it, the more certain you will be that you can fulfill your commitment.
My recommendation? 7 minutes. 7 minutes is a perfect amount of time to start out with. It's more satisfying than 5 but not as long as 10. Even the busiest among us can carve out 7 minutes (say, the time we spend staring at Facebook) in our day. Now, you might not be busy - you might be able to immediately commit to 10, 15, or even 20 minutes. But remember that when you're starting out, keep your minimum commitment to something that you can really do. If you do more, great, but make sure you can always do that minimum.
Then, decide what you're going to practice. Again, the key at this stage is not what you do, it's simply doing it. So start with something familiar and easy - perhaps cat and cow, followed by a few sun salutations. Or, choose a short online class and follow along.
Whatever you do, don't give in to negative thoughts! Acknowledge them, let them go, and stick with your plan.
Step 2: Pick a reminder from your daily routine
One of the hardest things about creating a new habit is to remember just to do it! And the best way to do this is not to rely on our fickle human memories, but to make sure that we are reminded.
A good reminder is not the same as a beeping noise from your smartphone. To be really effective, it should be connected to something that you already do in your everyday life, so that your new habit becomes a part of your daily routine.
First, think of the time of day when you would like to practice. For the purpose of forming a habit, it's really helpful if this can be the same time everyday, or at least a scheduled time if your daily routine varies too much. Then, think of other things that you regularly do around that time of day and make a list of the things that you do without fail.
For example, my morning list (without yoga) might look something like this:
- Get up
- Shower
- Make coffee
- Drink coffee
- Check my email
- Have breakfast
Next, decide where you want to insert your yoga practice. For me, it comes after I check my email. If you are able to pick the right spot for your practice and regularise the sequence of events around it, your yoga habit will form MUCH more easily.
Second, when you are starting out, use a strong visual cue that can't be ignored.
For example, when I used to practice in the mornings before going to the office (now I work from home), just setting an early alarm clock was not enough, so I would do 2 things to remind myself to get up for yoga in the morning. First, I would get out my yoga clothes and set them by my bed. Second, I would move my furniture and unroll my yoga mat. Setting the alarm wasn't a good enough reminder for me - I had to a) make it easy for myself and b) give myself a visual reminder that made sure I got on my mat in the mornings.
So, if you want to practice in the morning, you could unroll your mat the night before and set up your yoga space. Or, if you want to practice in the evening, unroll your mat before you leave the house, to remind you to do yoga when you get home.
Step 3: Reward yourself when you stick to it!
Getting a reward is a critical part of habit formation. Your subconscious will be much more likely to stick to your new habit if it knows that a reward is coming. For example, my reward after my morning practice is a nice hot shower and a good, big breakfast. Your reward can be as simple as just saying to yourself: "I did it! I'm awesome!"
Step 4: Take your practice with you, everywhere
The wonderful thing about yoga is that it's so much more than just a few postures or meditation. The practices that underpin yoga are things that you can take with you everywhere. I like to call these things "tiny yogas" - breath and body awareness, being present, taking a few deep breaths, and practicing the yamas and niyamas - things you can do anytime, anywhere.
Anyway, as part of last week's giveaway, I asked readers to leave questions or suggestions for posts on the blog, and this post is in answer to one of those comments (don't worry, the rest will be coming along!). The request was for a post on how to make a daily commitment to yoga as part of a healthy lifestyle.
SUCH a good question! We all know that we feel better when we do some yoga - but many of us get to a point where we are going to as many classes as we can - a few times a week, or maybe only a few times a month - but we want to get more out of our yoga! Yet making the transition from practicing in class to a daily practice can be daunting and many of us don't know where to start.
First of all, many of us might ask: is it worth it? Well, if you are feeling the urge to bring more yoga into your life, then of course it is worth it! Everytime you follow your instincts, you come closer to living a lifestyle that allows you to express who you really are. I have had a regular home practice since about 2005. Now, I can hardly live without my yoga - and those who live with me would agree! My regular practice (usually 5 days a week) helps me stay happy, healthy, balanced, and be generally a nice person to be around.
How to create a yoga habit
Building a home practice is like creating a new habit. The good news here is that people are creatures of habit. Just try depriving us of our morning cup of coffee or our 2pm cookie-break and it becomes clear: we gravitate towards our habits, in fact, we crave them. So the secret to creating a home practice is to let yoga become a new habit. Thankfully this is something that people have been researching for years! Read some fascinating insights from a Zen perspective, here.
Step 1: Make it so easy you can't say no
The most critical part of creating a new habit is to make it easy for yourself. For most of us, the idea of taking 90 minutes every day to practice yoga is not easy. So while a 90-minute home practice might be your eventual goal, you won't be doing any favours by trying to make it a habit right away. In fact, trying to do your full goal straight away is one of the top reasons that people fail to make the changes in their lives that they dream of.
So instead of picking something difficult that you will then have a hundred excuses not to do, pick something that is SO EASY YOU CAN'T NOT DO IT. And once you've picked that, REALLY COMMIT to it. The easier you make it, the more certain you will be that you can fulfill your commitment.
My recommendation? 7 minutes. 7 minutes is a perfect amount of time to start out with. It's more satisfying than 5 but not as long as 10. Even the busiest among us can carve out 7 minutes (say, the time we spend staring at Facebook) in our day. Now, you might not be busy - you might be able to immediately commit to 10, 15, or even 20 minutes. But remember that when you're starting out, keep your minimum commitment to something that you can really do. If you do more, great, but make sure you can always do that minimum.
Then, decide what you're going to practice. Again, the key at this stage is not what you do, it's simply doing it. So start with something familiar and easy - perhaps cat and cow, followed by a few sun salutations. Or, choose a short online class and follow along.
Whatever you do, don't give in to negative thoughts! Acknowledge them, let them go, and stick with your plan.
Step 2: Pick a reminder from your daily routine
One of the hardest things about creating a new habit is to remember just to do it! And the best way to do this is not to rely on our fickle human memories, but to make sure that we are reminded.
A good reminder is not the same as a beeping noise from your smartphone. To be really effective, it should be connected to something that you already do in your everyday life, so that your new habit becomes a part of your daily routine.
First, think of the time of day when you would like to practice. For the purpose of forming a habit, it's really helpful if this can be the same time everyday, or at least a scheduled time if your daily routine varies too much. Then, think of other things that you regularly do around that time of day and make a list of the things that you do without fail.
For example, my morning list (without yoga) might look something like this:
- Get up
- Shower
- Make coffee
- Drink coffee
- Check my email
- Have breakfast
Next, decide where you want to insert your yoga practice. For me, it comes after I check my email. If you are able to pick the right spot for your practice and regularise the sequence of events around it, your yoga habit will form MUCH more easily.
Second, when you are starting out, use a strong visual cue that can't be ignored.
For example, when I used to practice in the mornings before going to the office (now I work from home), just setting an early alarm clock was not enough, so I would do 2 things to remind myself to get up for yoga in the morning. First, I would get out my yoga clothes and set them by my bed. Second, I would move my furniture and unroll my yoga mat. Setting the alarm wasn't a good enough reminder for me - I had to a) make it easy for myself and b) give myself a visual reminder that made sure I got on my mat in the mornings.
So, if you want to practice in the morning, you could unroll your mat the night before and set up your yoga space. Or, if you want to practice in the evening, unroll your mat before you leave the house, to remind you to do yoga when you get home.
Step 3: Reward yourself when you stick to it!
Getting a reward is a critical part of habit formation. Your subconscious will be much more likely to stick to your new habit if it knows that a reward is coming. For example, my reward after my morning practice is a nice hot shower and a good, big breakfast. Your reward can be as simple as just saying to yourself: "I did it! I'm awesome!"
Step 4: Take your practice with you, everywhere
The wonderful thing about yoga is that it's so much more than just a few postures or meditation. The practices that underpin yoga are things that you can take with you everywhere. I like to call these things "tiny yogas" - breath and body awareness, being present, taking a few deep breaths, and practicing the yamas and niyamas - things you can do anytime, anywhere.
Monday, August 12, 2013
And the silk eye pillow giveaway winner is...
Hey everyone, apologies for the delay in announcing this, but we have a winner!
The winner was chosen by assigning all the entrants with a random number, and then choosing a number using a random number generator. So, without further delay, the winner is...
Congratulations Alisa! If you send me an email to: lagitane (at) mac (dot) com with your postal address, Barefoot Yoga will mail your gift to you.
Once you get it, enjoy it for about 2 weeks and then send back your review and I'll post it on the blog.
Hopefully, dear readers, I'll have some other goodies for you soon. :)
Namaste!
The winner was chosen by assigning all the entrants with a random number, and then choosing a number using a random number generator. So, without further delay, the winner is...
Alisa Rosenkrance
Congratulations Alisa! If you send me an email to: lagitane (at) mac (dot) com with your postal address, Barefoot Yoga will mail your gift to you.
Once you get it, enjoy it for about 2 weeks and then send back your review and I'll post it on the blog.
Hopefully, dear readers, I'll have some other goodies for you soon. :)
Namaste!
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Yoga Tip Tuesdays - Triangle Pose: Choosing what's right for you, with 5 awesome variations
Ah, triangle pose (tri-kon-asana - three-angle-pose). It's one of the foundational postures of modern yoga (ancient yoga didn't involve any standing postures) and you will probably find it in nearly every yoga class you go to. Because of that, you'll probably find that different yoga styles approach this pose differently, and you may have seen different teachers doing quite different variations of this pose. So all that might leave the yoga student wondering: "which one is right?" Which is totally understandable, but it's not the right question.
The real question is: "which one is right for me?" Now that question, we can work with!
When exploring a yoga pose, whether it's a new one or one you've done a hundred times, there are three simple steps that I have found really helpful over the years.
1) Start with the foundation, and work your way up and out.
2) Remember: function over form!
3) Try different variations
Triangle: The foundation
The foundation of triangle pose is, of course, the feet, which form the base of the pose. The classic alignment cue for the feet is to turn your front foot forward 90 degrees, turn your back toes forward between 30 and 45 degrees, and align the heel of the front foot with the inner arch of the back foot. This is picture b), above.
However, triangle pose requires a fair degree flexibility and range of motion in the hip joint (not to mention flexibility in the hamstrings and groin), so if you are just starting out, if your hips are stiff, if you have trouble balancing (for example because you're pregnant!) or if you're recovering from, say, hip replacement surgery, you can make the base of the pose more stable by having your feet hip-width apart, as shown in a), above. Some teachers cue this by asking people to imagine that their feet are on "railroad tracks," so if you stand with your feet hip width apart, you can move the feet forward or backwards but not wider apart or closer together than hip width. This (a) is the most stable, safest placement for the feet.
Finally, a note on what not to do: don't let the back heel stray backwards of the mid-line of your body! This really destabilises the pose and puts unnecessary strain on the hip joint.
[There is actually a third option which is to keep the feet parallel - we'll talk more about that in the Variations section, below.]
Function over form
Ok, let's be honest. We have ALL seen the photos in the yoga magazines with people doing triangle pose with one palm resting flat on the ground. And even though we are trying to be all "one with where we are," we just can't help it: we WANT that hand to touch the ground. So we creep a bit lower, and a bit lower, and a bit lower, and even though we have kind of lost the stretch a bit, we finally arrive, triumphant, with our palm flat on the mat. Victory! Or not?
Well, have a look at the first picture, above, for an idea of what this kind of thinking actually looks like on the mat. It's a pretty typical illustration of how the mind plays tricks on us and gets in our way (what Patanjali called "false perception," (1.30))! We are confusing the form of the pose, a form that we have seen in a picture, with the actual function of the pose. Our ego drives us to achieve the form, and suddenly we are out of our bodies and our breaths and catapulted into a mentality of hand-to-floor-OR-DIE!, when in fact the function of the pose has absolutely nothing to do with where your hands are.
The actual functions of triangle pose are to stretch the front hamstring and psoas, and the upper side and back muscles (with a secondary stretch in the back hamstring and groin muscles).
So keeping that in mind, if we look at the first picture above, in my desire to get my palm to the floor, I have lost the lengthening stretch in the upper side and back. The photo shows just how far off my alignment I have come, all because of that pesky fixation on the floor! In order to get the stretch that I am supposed to be getting, I want my hips and shoulders to be more or less in line with back foot, creating a big lengthening stretch in the upper side-body. Depending on the day, the temperature, the time, and of course, on my body, I may want to explore a number of different variations to get that wonderful, therapeutic stretch from this pose.
Variations
Triangle pose probably has the most variations of any pose I know! ALL of the poses shown below achieve the function of the form. Once you've understood what the function of the pose is, try them all to see how the different variations feel, and which one gives YOU the best stretch.
PS - the "ticks" and "xs" below are definitely not a comprehensive list of recommendations or contra-indications for these poses... Just suggestions. We are all different! If you are recovering from an injury or have a condition like osteoporosis, work with an experienced teacher to find out what's right for you!
- Hand-to-shin variation: This variation is definitely the most versatile and accessible (no props required!). Simply place your hand on your shin, below the knee, as you extend sideways. To get a deeper stretch, bring the hand lower on the shin, towards the ankle. I don't recommend this variation if: you tend to hyper-extend the knee backwards (because the weight of the hand can make this worse), or if you have weak joints or osteoporosis (same reason).
- With a block: This variation closely resembles the previous one, but using the block is safer for the knee joint because you can put weight on the block, instead of on your knee! For that reason, this variation is excellent if you are very heavy set or if you are pregnant. Depending on the person and the height of the block, this variation might be suitable if you have osteopenia or osteoporosis, but because yoga blocks are generally quite low to the ground it does still require a fair range of motion in the hips, which is not suited to everyone. I would not recommend this variation if: you have a lower back injury, or if you have severe osteoporosis. If you have had hip replacement surgery and have recovered your normal range of motion, this would be a good variation, but not during the recovery phase.
- With a chair: This variation is, in a word, awesome. Using the chair creates a safe support for the stretch that makes it accessible to almost anyone. For extra stability and support (helpful if you are heavily pregnant or for older people who are afraid of falling) you can also do this stretch with your back against a wall to make it safe, supported, and truly sweet.
- Viniyoga triangle: This is a fantastic variation if you have a more limited range of motion in your hips. This might apply if you are still recovering from a hip replacement, if you have osteoporosis, or for any other reason. In this variation, your feet remain parallel and you simply stretch to the side. You lose the hamstring stretch, but there are other ways to get that. The side stretch is spot-on!
- Open chain triangle: This is a good option if you have strong joints and are generally injury-free, and want to add a strengthening aspect to your triangle pose. Doing triangle pose "open-chain" (without the support of the hand) means that the side-stretch also becomes load-bearing, so you are strengthening and stretching at the same time. This also creates a greater risk of injury, so I would not recommend this variation if: you have lower back injuries, if you have weak/injured joints or osteoporosis, if you are still recovering from a joint replacement. If you have hypermobile hips, I would not recommend this posture until you have some yoga experience and have built up the strength in your lower back and core, because otherwise you are likely to "hang" into your hips and put extra pressure on the joints. However once you have built up your strength and know how to support your joints, this is an excellent variation for you.
- Fully extended triangle: These versions are the ones you are most likely to see in books and magazines, and they are wonderful if you have a strong, flexible and healthy body, and no injuries or issues with your lower back, knees or hips. Just make sure that you are retaining the function of the posture as you work towards the form! Note that if you have hypermobility, generally the most extended versions of postures aren't recommended.
Yoga is about self-inquiry - so be curious!
Don't forget that yoga, fundamentally, is about self-inquiry. Use the poses as a chance to express your curiosity ("what happens if....") and try as many variations as you can. With each variation ask yourself: "how does this feel?" "what feels different?" "what feels good or not good?" And when you find the one that feels best for you in that moment (because everything changes, always!), be bold, and express yourself, no matter what everyone else around you is doing. Because at the end of the day, it's YOUR yoga.
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