July 2007 Archives

So often yoga seems like a middle-class, white-female, grown-up thing, especially here. But perhaps no one needs a good yoga class more than the kids and teens packed into overcrowded New York City public schools that may not have recess or a gym. This week my colleague, the lovely Ashtanga teacher and studio owner Eddie Stern, dropped me a line about Bent on Learning, a non-profit run by friends of his (he's on the board) that teaches yoga to nearly 1,600 kids, grades K through 12, in Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan schools and youth centers. And it's been at it for the last seven years.

This fall the group is starting its most ambitious project yet at the Lyons Community School in Brooklyn—classes in every grade for an entire school including teachers, who will have separate morning sessions. That’s 30 classes a week and an integral part of the curriculum.

A typical class varies, said Bent co-founder, director, and yoga teacher Anne Desmond in a phone chat, but in general they take place in a classroom, desks pushed aside, mats unfurled (recently Gaiam started donating mats to the program). The littlest kids imitate animals and the teens keep a yoga journal, tracking their thoughts and progress over 10 to 15 weeks.

“The transformation is amazing,” Anne said. Classes emphasize loving-kindness and respect for self and others. Students have told her the yoga has helped with everything from calming down for the SATs to believing in themselves.

The organization, run on donations, has a fundraiser gala in spring (Moby, Beastie Boy Mike D., and members of Cirque Du Soleil have performed at past functions) and a letter-based fund-drive in the fall. Seems like a worthy cause, indeed. To find out more or donate: Bentonlearning.org

With all this talk of sustainable materials, bamboo has moved out of the realm of tiki and into flooring, furniture, house wares and now, yoga clothing. Los Angeles-based Sworn Virgins just launched a line of bamboo-jersey yoga clothes and the fabric is soft-as-silk, breathable as cotton, wicks moisture and they even claim the anti-microbial and anti-bacterial properties of this woody grass (the same quality that allows it to be grown without pesticides) also prevents odor.

But not all bamboo fabric is created equal. According to Sworn Virgins owner Alex Amini, Bamboo textiles are made by breaking down the wood with caustic chemicals until what’s left are the cellulose fibers which are then turned into yarn and later knitted into fabric. Sworn Virgins sources their bamboo yarn from vendors who guarantee their manufacturing process is as low-impact as possible. Almost all bamboo comes from China but once they get the yarn, Sworn Virgins knits, designs and manufactures locally in Los Angeles.

The fall line includes camisoles and racer back tops which come in rich colors like Chianti, nickel, midnight and cafe and they offer a variety of yoga pants—from tight ballet leggings, to more relaxed, bootleg bottoms. Then there are their flirty dresses—all with 5 percent spandex, which gives the fabric a bit of support. Like bamboo, spandex is 100 percent biodegradable. What more could you ask for?

There comes a time for most of us when we realize that all of this jumping around, backbending, and toe-touching is part of something bigger. The question is: what? If you are starting to get curious about what's beyond asana, you may want to take a class or workshop with Sean Feit.

A Buddhist meditation and yoga practitioner, Sean teaches a pranayama and meditation class at The Mindful Body on Tuesday nights, and also leads occasional workshops and kirtans. He often starts class with a short asana practice first, but it is in preparation for a deeper meditation practice during which he introduces the other limbs of yoga, including pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) and dharana (concentration). This past Sunday, in a workshop called All Eight Limbs, Sean talked about everything from modern day spirituality to brahmacharya—the, um, touchy subject of celibacy.

I first learned about these concepts five years back when a teacher recommended The Heart of Yoga by TKV Desikachar (a great book, by the way), but I always wondered why no one was talking about it in my classes. I love the jumping around and the toe-touching as much as the next person, but it's also nice to be reminded where our Hatha practice could be leading us—if we want it to. Sean's intimate classes are the place to go to ask personal questions about your pranayama or meditation practice; he always has time to talk on and off the mat.

We've got so many amazing asana teachers demonstrating the perfect Urdhva Dhanurasana, but very few talking about samadahi. Of course, it's not like we can reach samadahi just by taking a class that addresses it (wouldn't that be nice?) but we can at least get a better idea of what's possible. "My hope in presenting these practices," says Sean, "is just to plant a seed."

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Coming Up: Lululemon yoga benefit for the Healing Yoga Foundation of San Francisco on Saturday, July 28, 8:30am, at 1981 Union Street (Go, if you can!)

After ages of dating vegan yogis, four years ago I started up with a man, I'll call him T, who's lovely and smart and kind, but more prone to meditating on politics and Roman history than his inhale and exhale. Which is fine, really. But lately he’s gotten stiff, achy, and curious. He actually wants to try a class, for reals.

Which is great, but the thought of him going to a basic session in this "my-mat-was-here-first" city makes me fear for his hamstring safety. And selfishly, I want improve the chances of him liking yoga: I've actually taken a few "basic" classes lately, and they were anything but beginner ("Trikonasana!" "Lock mulabanda!").

It turns out the city abounds with mini-series for beginners. Herewith, a sampling of those that sound good to me. I'll let you know what he picks—and how it goes. Also, please, suggestions on classes or tips for T welcome.

Laughing Lotus
This sounds promising and I like that it’s taught by a man, Paul, for my man. Shouldn't make a difference, but it might. The four-session course includes philosophy, breathing, and meditation, and asana. Saturdays: September 8th, 15th, 29th & October 6th. 3:00 to 4:30 pm. $60 for all four.

Levitate Yoga
This series promises poses, terminology, and "etiquette." Agatha teaches it. You need to book ahead. Tuesdays: August 7 and August 14. $25.

Om Yoga
The ever-popular and vibrant Om has a six-week series that pledges to teach alignment, breathing, stretches, and a variety of poses. $120 for the six-week series. Pre-registration required. The next round runs Tuesdays, Aug 14 - Sep 18, 7:15-8:30am.

Integral Institute
Love this relaxed, authentic studio. A 4-week course for beginners is $65 and taught by Nirupama Vedaprakash. It offers all the basic poses plus pranayama and meditation. Wednesdays, August 1–22, 6:30–8:30 pm.

Yoga Works
Though I can't track down an intensive newbie series at this chain, it offers a special beginner package that includes two weeks of unlimited classes, a personal consultation, and a one-year subscription to Yoga Journal (I swear they didn't make me put this in here!). Plus, their "Just Beginners" classes are free.

Quiksilver skateboarder and yogi Reese Forbes.

I’m a southern California girl, which means I grew up skateboarding and body surfing. I didn’t pick up a surfboard until later in life but when I rode my first wave in Hanalei Bay on Kauai, I quickly realized all those years of Chataranga Dandasana (Four-Limb Staff Pose) and Virabhadrasana (Warrior Pose) prepared me for that sweet moment.

The folks at Quiksilver and Yoga Works have also figured out the connection between board sports and yoga. That’s why they're hosting a free “Yoga for Surfers” class every Saturday at 10 a.m. until August 25th at the Quiksilver Edition Mission on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice.

Last weekend, skateboarder Reese Forbes joined the group for a well-balanced hour class led by Yoga Works program director Julie Kleinman. Kleinman, who always braves the chilly Los Angeles swells in a wet suit says, “I really believe I was able to pick up surfing faster because yoga gave me the upper body strength, endurance and balance I needed.”

To prepare for board sports, Kleinman recommends balance poses, like Vrksasana (Tree Pose) or Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose) and core strength builders like Navasana (Boat Pose). When it comes to upper-body boosters like Chataranga, Kleinman says, “If you don’t use your core, you’ll never be able to stay standing.” Also crucial are shoulder openers like Dolphin Pose and passive backbends.

For Forbes, Bikram yoga gave him the ability to trust his body again after he blew out his knee. He also realized there was much more to the practice than the poses. “In skating a lot of the stuff we do requires that we constantly challenge ourselves. It’s kind of the same in yoga. You may not think you can do it but eventually you come to a place where you’re not over-thinking, you're just doing." And that's when you can really enjoy the ride.

Yogacharya, a week-long festival dedicated to BKS Iyengar, did not rake in the numbers the management was expecting this past week. But for students that was a real blessing, as we got to take intimate classes with some of the country's best teachers.

I went down to Santa Clara for the festival on Sunday. My first class, in which I was one of 12 students, was Mystics on the Mat with Seane Corn. I found Seane to be a complete tour de force—both petite and powerful, spiritual, yet highly pragmatic. Well-known for the charitable work she does around the world, Seane spent the majority of class leading a discussion about spirit, service, empowerment, and what she calls the three levels of yoga: the physical/mental, the energetic/emotional, and the psychic/spiritual.

What I dig most about Seane, other than her hybrid of straight-talking New Yorker and soft yogi heart, are her views on spirituality. She doesn’t speak of intangible, spiritual goals. She says she is on a personal quest for empowerment, not enlightenment, and views ego as something to be dealt with, rather than destroyed. "In order to reach the light," she says, "you must understand the shadow."

My next class was with Glenn Black. In traditional Iyengar style, Glenn will hold you in a pose . . . forever. The asanas we practiced—like Baddha Konasana, Upavistha Konasana, or Eka Pada Rajakapotasana—didn’t seem difficult at first. But after a few minutes, agitation set in. People started to groan. Thankfully, Glenn calls upon a dry sense of humor to keep his students at it. "If you can stick your toe in your nose," he said, during one particularly difficult stretch, "you’ll find samadhi."

The last class of the day (and week) was with Viniyoga founder Gary Kraftsow, who focused on pranayama in the tradition of Krishnamacharya. Gary’s just a cool guy—he led a large class that felt more like an intimate family reunion. He talked about various techniques and ratios, and got me to personally connect with my breath more than I ever had before.

The conference was both inspiring and uplifting—good energy, great teachers, and lots of shoes abandoned in the halls by happy naked yoga feet.

"Know that your true nature is bliss." — Amma

If you're a yogi in NYC and you're drawn to practice for even remotely spiritual reasons, you've probably heard about Ammachi, or Amma, or Sri Mata Amritanandamayi's visit to the Manhattan Center last week. For the uninitiated, she’s a Hindu guru and humanitarian known as the "hugging saint" who has raised kajillions in funds for the myriad hospitals, schools, and charities she's helped create. Many say Amma is the human incarnation of the Divine Mother; she may be the ultimate living karma yogi.

She's done most of this work by hugging people, which she does by the thousand. Her basic message is: help others. And many who have felt her embrace are filled with the compassion necessary to do so. Call it shakti (energy), call it magic, call it wishful thinking, but even from the fat program from last week’s events, it's clear she’s touched many in the NYC yoga community and beyond. Ads fill the program from companies as diverse as the DMV ("Not all journeys take us down the road to enlightenment. Sometimes we just need to renew our driver’s license.") and Integral Yoga Institute—and many of them thank "mother" in moving testimony.

I waited six hours for my hug, surrounded by fellow yogis, business people, hipsters. When she finally pressed my head to her billowy, sari'd bosom and whispered "ma, ma, ma" into my ear, I felt something soft and sweet in me, and it wasn't just her spittle. It was a tiny sip of an ocean of love we could all use a little more of here. It's something I'll try and remember the next time I hit a rush hour yoga class with more mats than space.

If you missed her this time, you can take classes in her meditation technique: AmmaNY.org.

For years, I read the arresting, yet charming rants on bottles of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps and wondered, who is this guy? I never found out. Instead, I continued to use the lavender pure castile soap to clean my yoga mats, the almond in the shower to smell like fresh marzipan, the eucalyptus cleaned the dogs, and my husband favored the original peppermint scented bar soap.

Now the mystery of Dr. Bronner is unveiled in a new documentary that opens today in Los Angeles (and San Francisco). It’s called Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox and it tells the tale of eccentric Jewish émigré Emanuel Bronner, a master soap maker from Germany, who literally escaped a mental institution and came to Los Angeles to make soap. He also had a bigger charge—to preach "The Moral ABCs" to "unite all mankind free."

Dr. Bronner had the zeal of a prophet, which didn't make him the best father, and the documentary takes a honest look at this flawed man. In the end, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap company stayed in the family and today, a third generation of Bronners still produce their vegan product in Southern California eschewing petroleum, using fair trade, organic ingredients, bottles made out of post-consumer recycled materials, paying their employees fair wages—all in the spirit of Dr. Bronner's motto: "For we're ALL ONE OR NONE!"

The weekend after July 4th, the city is always a little less wall-to-wall people—and this includes yoga classes. So, being a rare soul in town (I’m saving those precious vacation days for August), I decided to start exploring my new-ish neighborhood—Prospect Heights, Brooklyn—and found a great new Saturday yoga-shop-snack route. To follow along:

Stop 1: Park Slope Yoga Center, 792 Union St.
I'd heard that this studio was good, but usually crowded. So this morning I walked over to Park Slope, a few minutes and about 8,000 tax brackets away. A guy setting out new schedules said they’d added six new sessions and were "back up to 70 classes" a week—ranging from open vinyasa to prenatal. The registration experience upstairs left some friendliness to be desired and the people in the waiting room looked cheery as a Monday morning subway ride, but once we filtered into the spacious, sky-lit studio, things immediately felt better.

The teacher, Beth, had us chant "hari om," and talked about the importance of all the paths of yoga, bhakti included. The class was a basic hatha flow that left me balanced and light—if a tad sticky, the fans remained still.

Stop 2: Brooklyn Industries, 206 5th Ave.
It seems like every hip yogini and yogi in the city has a cute, affordable canvas bag from here—if not a great winter jacket or comfy fleece dress. Still sweaty, I perused the "mega sale" racks and almost bought a purple down coat for $59. But there’s a reason people don’t buy down in July.

Stop 3: Heaven. I mean Oko, 152 5th Ave.
If you live anywhere near Brooklyn—like Ohio, say—you need to come to Oko. It's a new frozen yogurt and tea shop that's redunkulously delicious and all-natural. It's also incredibly eco—from the floors to the "eco-tainers" made of corn that your divine, refreshing "Greek-style" fro-yo comes in. Order the original flavor. Top with mango. Merge into oneness. Yum.

Stop 4: Home
Nap.

What's your favorite weekend yoga/relax route in da city?

As hard as it can be to select the right midweek yoga class, it's even harder to select a teacher training course. I've been looking at various programs for the last two months and am considering a well-reputed Sivananda training in Southern India. To further investigate, I decided to check out the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in San Francisco this past Sunday. They hold a monthly open house (it's free!) that includes a class and a yummy Indian home-cooked meal.

The center, now celebrating its 50th year, was first opened by one of the pioneers of yoga in the West, Swami Vishnu-devananda—a disciple of the Indian sage Swami Sivananda. The classes at the center are really small and ashram living is available. If you're serious about your practice, you can live in community with other yogis, meditating and practicing together, all while keeping a day job.

The basic class I took teaches the Sivananda-inspired series of 12 basic postures, all a variation of fundamental hatha postures. Designed to balance the chakras, the series starts with Sirsasana (Headstand) and works its way down in the body.

Sivananda yoga is the opposite of trendy: The series is always done in the same order, the students dress modestly, and the friendly teachers (mine was Shambhu) don't try to put their own stamp on the practice. To some San Francisco yogi-hipsters, this repetitive and lineage-based style may not feel stimulating. But for students who gravitate toward more devotional aspects of yoga, the dedication to tradition will be appreciated. And any student is sure to notice how many local teachers have been influenced by the principles of this practice.

Even if you're more concerned with your Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand) (not practiced much at the center) than your spiritual awareness, the center is worth visiting, at least once. If it speaks to you and you decide to become an ashram resident, be prepared to do your karma yoga and help with the center upkeep, and to take a spiritual name—everyone I met there has one.

Anyone have experiences with Sivananda yoga, either here or in India? Please share!

What better way to celebrate my first post than to feature a local act of Seva?

This past weekend, 57 yogis participated in City Yoga’s second 24 hour Yogathon and raised over $47,000 for the Los Angeles chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The studio was packed and spirits soared from 8 a.m. June 20th until 8 a.m. July 1st as participants started off the day with an opening invocation and standing poses with City Yoga co-owner Rebecca Benenati. Then they did arm balances, backbends, pranayama, restoratives and partner massage. At midnight, it was time for inversions, dancing, and chanting until 4 a.m. when Anthony Benenati, City Yoga founder and Anusara teacher extraordinaire, led the group in a sun salutation practice as they watched a brilliant southern California sun rise.

In case you're not familiar with the organization founded by former President Jimmy Carter, Habitat for Humanity has 2,100 affiliates around the world and builds homes in 100 countries for those in need or in crisis. The Los Angeles chapter provides one of the few options for low income housing in the city and City Yoga's contribution will cover half the cost of one house. "This is really special," said Margo Thomas, the corporate development manager for Habitat Los Angeles who stopped by during the Yogathon lunch break to check out the scene. "Talk about putting your soul, body and mind into raising money for us."

Even though the Yogathon is over, you can still contribute. If you'd like to join a group of yogis who plan to help a Habitat construction crew build a house in September, contact City Yoga or you can make a donation. And if you know of other ways local Yogis are making a difference please, let us know.

Namaste!

You may be a pretty seasoned practitioner. But have you ever tried AcroYoga? What about viniyoga? Jivamukti, kundalini, or bare-all-stripped-down-totally-naked yoga? Every week, it seems, a new yoga trend takes root here in the Bay Area. It's incredible. Back in the day, if you were a yogi or yogini in San Francisco, you knew all the studios and the teachers. Now the amount of yoga available has become so overwhelming that people often find a single teacher or studio and practice there—and no where else.

Which is fine. I mean, routine is good, right?

But maybe you're just a little curious about what else is going on. You'd like to poke around a bit more, try out new yoga styles, check out new studios, learn more about kirtan, and perhaps even get a translation of what you've been chanting in your Thursday night class. Or maybe you simply want to know more about the local scene—without having to skip dinner with your spouse repeatedly or risk getting fired due to excessive yoga-hopping on lunch breaks.

Samadhi in the City is a place for us to share information about all of the rich, inspiring, and, occasionally, bizarre yogic offerings in San Francisco. I'll be blogging each Wednesday about cool classes and workshops around town, community events, yoga fashion, studios, retreats, visiting luminaries, and local gatherings. I'll also highlight innovative local teachers, share my experience with their classes, and ask you to share your own.

Barring India, the Bay Area really is the yoga capital of the world (or at least we'd like to think so) and even if you practice regularly, you know that it can be impossible to keep up with all of what’s going on. Of course, a blog is not a substitute for practice—unless you promise to read it while practicing Sirsasana. But whether you're a newbie or a seasoned practitioner, it's a great way to stay connected. Have specific things you'd like to see here? Let us know what you think!

As a native New Yorker, I've always been a little miffed at being presumed to loathe nature. In movies and on TV, we kvetch about mud on our Manolos and bugs on the screen door.

In truth, though, we crave the outdoors more than any Portland-dweller. Trees are my best friends. Grass is my long lost luvah. And doing yoga outside feels like it was meant to be—expansive, free, intimate—like skinny-dipping in a lake. Which is why it's so delicious that it's finally outdoor-yoga-class season. And it seems like there are more places than ever offering a patch of grass (or roof) in the great, dirty, balmy outdoors.

Last month there was Times Square yoga during the solstice—an amazing way to literally experience calm within the chaos. And as summer trots on, there are plenty other quieter (relatively speaking) options.

I'm guessing there are zillions more—do you have a favorite place to practice outdoors in our sweaty jungle?