February 2008 Archives

I'm not a vegan but I'm always happy to try new restaurants (and flavors). And Native Foods is the kind of ethnic, vegan diner that should sate a variety of palettes.

I went this week for lunch at the suggestion of power yoga teacher Vytas Baskauskas, who met me there so I could interview him for a Yoga Journal article I'm writing about addiction. We shared Moby burgers (think filet-o-fish sandwich) and because it's not on the menu, you'll have to ask for it.

For those seeking something a little more "healthy", there are hot bowls filled with steamed brown rice, veggies as well as tofu or tempeh toppings. Fans of veggie burgers won't be disappointed (with a side of chili cheese fries please) and there are a whole slew of snacks and apps -- fried treats like nachos, "save the chicken" wings and Indonesian Tempeh chips.

There are four Native Foods locations in So Cal (we went to the one in Westwood) and I'm hankering for a road trip to the desert where I can check-out Chef Tanya's original locale in Palm Springs.

Got back problems? Join the club. The cause might be the way you sit or stand or sleep. Or it could even be your yoga practice. But what if you learned that it's not the muscles in your back that are responsible for your pain, but the underlying connective tissue? And why does it even make a difference?

Last weekend I had the opportunity to meet the brilliant yoga anatomist Paul Grilley while taking his class on connective tissue at the YOGASTUDIO in Larkspur (he also did a class on bones, but it sold out before I could get in). At the workshop, I learned that the majority of the stiffness we feel in our bodies comes not from these "tight muscles" that we always talk about, but from tight underlying connective tissue, which results not only from natural things like aging, but also from contraction that happens when there are emotional and energetic blocks.

Active asana (or Yang Yoga) is helpful in building muscle, but when you want that tightness in your connective tissue to release (think: lower back and IT bands), you have to hold poses for longer periods of time. This is why Paul is such a big proponent of the more restorative Yin Yoga.

The info-filled workshop was not my first experience with Paul's teachings on anatomy and yoga. I was first introduced to Paul through his yoga DVD (with local company Pranamaya) called Anatomy for Yoga, which I highly recommend. In it, he explains why your bone structure makes a huge difference in regard to what your practice looks like. For instance, people literally have differently shaped hip sockets, which either permit or limit external rotation at the hip joint. (See the bone slide show on Paul's website for more on this.) And you thought you were just "stiff"!

Getting our muscles confused with our connective tissue, and our so-called "stiffness" confused with our actual structural limitations is not only hard on our ego ("Why can't I just do this already?") but also hard on our bodies (injury—ouch!) I think these teachings should be mandatory for anyone practicing yoga—and, even more so, for those teaching it.

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PS: FREE YOGA FOR LEAP YEAR! Thanks to a partnership with Lululemon, yoga classes are free all day on 2/29 at any Yoga Tree location.

If you're into crafty projects that are functional, not to mention spiritual, then you'll definitely want to check out the mala-making workshop at Satya Jewelry on Saturday, March 8.

Kundalini yoga teacher Hari Kaur will guide attendees through the process of beading a Japa Mala, those pretty Indian necklaces with 108 beads that inspired the Catholic rosary. They're part meditation tool, part beautiful accessory.

The day-long event is scheduled to start with some Kundalini Yoga at Golden Bridge Yoga (the Nolita Satya and GG are attached) and then mingle meditation and mala creation. It'll wrap with a moment to meditate with your finished mala.

The idea is that if you're in a meditative space while stringing the beads--semi-precious stones said to hold energy and intention--you'll create a powerful personal talisman to remind you of the sacred everywhere you go.

When you sign up for the workshop, you'll need to select the beads for your mala. There's rose quartz (for unconditional love); carnelian (to ward off fear); fancy jasper (about interconnectedness); and jade (the "stone of dreams").

The workshop is $130 (includes all materials). Go here to sign up and learn more.

"I hope this center becomes a Buddha Factory," said Noah Levine during the inaugural sitting at the new Against The Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. In his inimitable straight-talk manner he also told the 100-plus who had gathered, "Let's all wake the Fuck-up, clean the dust out of our eyes and see the world clearly...Let's respond to suffering engaged, with lovingkindness and compassion."

Best known for his recovery memoir Dharma Punx, Levine moved to Los Angeles a couple years ago (via New York and San Francisco) and has definitely impacted our sangha with his personal blend of 12-step wisdom, psychotherapy and, of course, Buddhism. Now with his own space in a classic Hollywood landmark building, he's sure to continue to spread his message of personal empowerment, not devotional worship.

I'm pleased to report that Levine's group will meet every Wednesday at 7:30. But please keep checking the website because I've also been told the programming will expand to include other meditation sittings, a cafe/bookstore and maybe even Yoga and Tai Chi. There are opportunities for anyone who wants to get involved. "This is our center, not my center," Levine said. "If you want something done, come and do it." Buddha.

We spend a lot of time during our Hatha yoga practice quieting our minds, but the tradition of yoga is actually quite steeped in academia: The creators of yoga were intellects and scientists who dedicated their lives to investigating the human body, brain, and connection to the spiritual realm. That tradition continues today—some of the top yoga teachers are some of the brightest minds around. So, why is it that there are four- to fourteen-year study programs in the US to earn degrees for everything under the sun, but only 200- and 500-hour certifications in yoga?

This is a question that has been posed by local practitioner and yoga teacher Eric Shaw, who is currently completing a PhD in Humanities (with emphasis on Asian Studies, Hindu Philosphy, and Religion) at CIIS. Shaw teaches asana to make a living but, like many asana teachers, he is also a scholar at heart. And while he calls his degree-in-progress at CIIS a "de facto PhD in Yoga" (because of where the academic emphasis is placed), he dreams of seeing a bona fide PhD program in Yoga at CIIS in the future.

Shaw's idea for the program would include courses in everything from Sanskrit to scriptural studies to asana, yoga therapy, and even marketing and graphic design (as practical skills for starting yoga teachers). He sees this degree not only as a way to deepen one's understanding of the subject, but also as an advanced professional degree for yoga teachers—"an MBA in yoga" that would lend "a certain legitimacy to yoga and bring it up to a higher professional level."

Shaw has already approached the director of public programs at CIIS with his idea, and has been communicating with prominent yoga scholars about it, including Ian Whicher and Paul Muller-Ortega, both of whom he thinks would be perfect as starting faculty.

Currently, says Shaw, the only other American degree program in Yoga is at the small International Vedic Hindu University in Orlando. He says that San Francisco (and more specifically CIIS) would be the perfect place to do a Yoga PhD, and I agree. Shaw admits his idea is just a seed at the moment, and much is needed (support, funding, etc.) to make it grow. But I think we certainly have the interest and the minds here to make it happen here in San Francisco.

What do you think of a degree program in yoga? Would you attend?

It's about this time of year that the subways seem more crowded, the skies more bleak, the people as warm as my icy fingertips. In other words, it's the perfect moment for a winter escape. Take a vacation day or two, meld them on to a weekend and voila, sanity mostly restored. Some ideas to get you started:

Woodstock, NY
This is my favorite insta-getaway. Hop on a bus and two-and-a-half hours later you're in the midst of tie-dyed storefronts and nearby trees. If you stay at the sweet Woodstock Inn on the Millstream, you'll be walking distance from Bliss Yoga, an often jam-packed studio with great teachers. Not to mention Pegasus, my fave cute-yet-comfy show shop. And if you stay at Dharma House, you can bake in the sauna after a soak in the massive tub.

Kripalu Center, Lenox, MA
A little more of a trek (I always pop an anti-motion sickness pill), this is also a bus-able destination. There's not much like standing on that back porch and looking over the snow-dusted landscape. Except maybe taking a fantastic morning yoga class, eating a yummy veggie lunch, and soaking in a 10-person hot-tub for as long as you can stand. Kripalu.org

American Yogini, Jamesport, NY
Can't vouch for this one personally, but I'm on the mailing list and am quite tempted. It's a spot out in the Hamptons that offers yoga, raw juice fasting, and other options. The photos look lovely and Alison Shore Gaines, who leads the fast is a respected long-time Kripaluite.
AmericanYogini.com

A few other options....

Yoga retreats at New Age Health Spa in Neversink, NY

Uber-swank Emerson Resort & Spa in the Catskills sometimes hosts yoga retreats, always has a spa.

Somewhat austere, but oft-raved about Ananda Ashram in Monroe, NY. It hosts all sorts of spiritual and yogic retreats plus regular weekend escapes.

Where 's your escape?

Photo by poetweather

Southern California is certainly the land of the nip and the tuck, so it's not that surprising to see this local newscast about a group of Laguna Beach women who are trying to stave off the signs of aging with Facelift Yoga.

Doesn't seem like the most relaxing way to pass an hour, with repetitive instructions like "blink, blink, blink, blink, blink" or "hold it, hold it, hold it...oh that lactic acid burn is just murder here." Facial aerobics anyone?

The classes are based on a technique that aesthetician Marie Veronique Nadeau outlined in her book, The Yoga Facelift but I do wonder about the efficacy of exercising facial muscles to keep the face firm and youthful. From what I understand about facial aging, it's mostly due to loss of volume (fat) and diminishing skin elasticity -- not sagging muscles. That said, ladies and gentlemen, if it makes you feel good, go for it. Because if you feel better, you're bound to look better too.

Now, hold it, hold it...

Have you been attending the same studio, or class, for a long time? Starting to get to know the people there? Even starting to feel part of a sort of community?

Yogis call communities sanghas , which tend to take form particularly when a much loved and respected teacher is at the helm. So, it's not surprising to see the sangha that has been showing up for longtime Mindful Body teacher Yolanda Bain, who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

I took classes with Yolanda, who is also know by her friends and students as "Yo," in the early 2000s when my practice was fairly new. She always had such a graceful and assured presence, and was a pleasure to be around. When I found out about her diagnosis, I felt a big lump in my throat. It's so hard to hear about things like cancer happening to beautiful people, especially healthy and strong yogis. About two weeks ago, I heard that Yolanda was teaching a sort of "last class for now" as a send-off into her surgery and recovery, and I went to take the class.

I knew Yolanda had been teaching at Mindful Body for a while, but it was still amazing to witness the overflow of students who came to show support and love. The feeling of community was palpable, and the event was a testament to the timelessness of the sangha, a much needed structure of life even (or especially!) here and now, where we often lead very fragmented and individual lives.

Yolanda is now home from the hospital and, according to her husband Matt, recovering well! She started a blog (see the bottom of her webpage for the link) so that her students and friends can know how she is doing. In addition, Mindful Body is having a benefit for her Saturday (Feb. 16) that consists of a 6:30pm yoga class led by Maile Sivert and a party that starts at about 7:45pm with live music, chair massage, and a silent auction. The benefit (donations will be accepted) is to raise money for Yolanda's medical expenses and time away from teaching, though Maile says it's also "intended to be a spirit gathering of our extended yoga sangha". It's still too soon for Yolanda to be out and partying, but she and Matt say they'll be there in spirit.

When I first heard about CityStretch, a new guidebook to NYC yoga, I had a total V8, I-should-have-thought-of-that moment. We have guides to just about every possible niche here--from restaurants to nightlife to erotica shops. And now, there's yoga.

Though I haven't gotten my paws on one yet, one of the authors is a friend of a friend. Just released by a pair of New York yoginis, the book includes a comprehensive array of yoga studios. Each description has price of classes, style, level, rating, and a chatty review. There's also a handy icon guide to amenities like showers, bottled water, secure storage and towels. Some reviews have a sketch of a hand in gyan mudra to denote "top picks" that are "worth the schlep." (You can see sample pages here.)

It definitely appears that this is a very "scalable" (oy, one too many marketing conversations this week) concept that could spread to any city. The real "value-add" (aak, I can't stop!) here is that the guide includes coupons to classes worth more than $450 at studios that include: Yoga Works Westside, Yoga Center of Brooklyn, Golden Bridge, The Breathing Project and the Chopra Spa.

All seemingly worth the $15 cost of the book, which you can only pick up at the CityStretch website right now.

I'm planning to order one. Will you let me know if you do? Would love to have reviews of the reviews.

“Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants,” is how Michael Pollan opens his latest book “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto”. It’s a simple message but a poignant one especially for those of us who are interested in eating well and eating mindfully.

Lucky for us in Los Angeles, Pollan, a New York Times journalist who lives in Berkeley and authored the best-selling “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, is speaking Monday night, February 11th, at the Central Library.

I profiled Pollan for the Los Angeles Times and he’s an engaging, funny guy who won’t fail to entertain and educate. I just read the preface of the new book and already I’m hooked by his musing about what he calls the “nutritional industrial complex” – i.e.: our willingness to abide by whatever nutrition trend is boosted by science and food marketers – and the resulting affliction of “orthorexia”. The latter a condition marked by an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy.

It’s fascinating stuff and as always a good read. And as he points out, when it comes to eating, making food selections based on ethics and the environment tend to be the healthiest choices after all.

Most people love to get adjusted in yoga class. It feels so good to be able to access a space in your body that you couldn't before, and sometimes that just can't happen until a teacher touches you with his or her knowing hands. It seems so simple—a small twist here or turn there—but there is actually a lot behind the art of adjusting, from deciding who to adjust to when and how. As part of the teacher training program at Yoga Loft, Iyengar-based teacher Anne Saliou gave a workshop last weekend that was all about adjusting, and I went to check it out.

While we tend to think about adjustments as being hands-on gestures, Anne says there are actually three types of touch—physical, psychological, and spiritual. And when a teacher does use physical touch, there is a specific process that comes along with it. Physical adjustments, says Anne, should start with observation, then vocal direction, and then the application of a teacher's hands.

I am intrigued, both as a student and a recent grad of a teacher training program, about this process of adjusting. I have often wondered why teachers adjust the people they do, and don't adjust others. Anne says the first students to adjust are the ones who might injure themselves. After that, it's whomever it will help the most. That's not necessarily new students, who can easily get overwhelmed by too much adjusting.

In the workshop, we practiced a lot of deeper adjustments to do in standing poses like Parivrtta Trikonasana and Parsvottanasana, using straps to pull the hips back to align them. We also used our hands and knees to help other students open their shoulders in Urdhva Dhanurasana. We even practiced some adjustments on our own to see how they felt in our bodies before we tried them on others.

I sometimes take classes with teachers who will use soft touch—like using their fingers to show where lines of prana should be running down the spine—but, according to Anne, who gave me some great adjustments on Saturday, touch in yoga should always be fairly firm, directed, and about alignment. Anything else, she says, is not appropriate for the classroom.

Does anyone have any thoughts about adjustments in the classroom and what kinds of adjustments are your favorite (or least favorite) to receive as a student?

Maybe I'm late to the party, but I recently discovered Reality Sandwich, a nifty online magazine with the tagline, "Evolving consciousness, bite by bite."

Though they're not NYC-centric, right now there's a spicy little conversation going on about the first offline "Evolver" event, "Wake Up and Dream," an all-night mini-fest at our own Jivamukti last weekend.

Apparently, in one session, "Asanas and Ayahuasca," Sharon Gannon and the site's Editorial Director, author Daniel Pinchbeck, had quite the debate, inflaming some attendees, who later took their feelings to RS's comments sections. Said one: "I was disgusted at the evolver event... by the toxic, ego-driven double talk of Sharon Gannon."

As only an anonymous web-poster can, "WNB" went on to spew some toxins of his/her own. The next person jumped in with "You've got to wonder, when your own buttons get pushed, why those buttons were so itchy to get triggered." And others expressed more judicious or "libra" thoughts about the evening.

I have to say, it's kind of refreshing to see New York yogis talking about issues of ego and judgement, veganism and McDonald's, all sparked by what sounds like a lovely, trippy, Burning Man-esque evening. Hopefully next time I'll be able to give you a heads-up beforehand.

It looks like the site launched nearly a year ago, getting its name from an Allen Ginsberg poem. They've got all kinds of funky, spiritual, eco, artsy features including "Ayahuasca and Kabbalah," "The Ancient Future of Food," and "How to Save the World By Pooping in a Bucket." The site notes that it has plans for a social network, meaning the convos will only get juicier and the connections broader.

Did anyone out there make it to the event or know much about Reality Sandwich? Would love to hear your thoughts.

According to VH1's new reality show "Celebrity Rehab", celebrities love to party but they just don't know when to stop. Enter Dr. Drew Pinsky who thinks the solution is to plunk a group of b-list stars into a Pasadena, California facility and give them all the support, therapy and yoga they need to stay sober.

It's the typical watch-a-train-wreck form of entertainment but Pinsky seems like a decent guy. And who can resist seeing a couple of porn stars thrown together with Brigitte Nielson, Daniel Baldwin and Jeff Conaway as they share group therapy, reveal their sad childhood tales and deal with the struggles of addiction?

Here's a clip from this week's episode featuring Los Angeles-yoga teacher Sara Ivanhoe as she helps Grease and Taxi star Jeff Conaway get relief from the debilitating back pain that has put him in a wheel chair.

For her part, Ivanhoe told me she's passionate about working with addicts and originally found her path to yoga while dealing with the substance abuse of her ex-fiance. A big part of her yoga and addiction plan involves breathing and working with apana vayu because she says, "coming off of any substance is not just a matter of will power. Drugs and alcohol are in your body....(and yoga) is an effective tool to cleanse and detoxify the body of addictive substances."

If you miss the show, no worries, it runs all time. Or set your digital recorder and see the first four episodes back to back.