Ever since the cyclone hit Burma last week, I have felt an uneasiness that I just can't shake. I have never been to Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar), but I met Burmese refugees when I was in Thailand, and I have friends who have lived there, or are there still. It is a militaristic state in which the residents live in fear of the junta, or armed forces, and suffer violations of their human rights on a daily basis. The cyclone that hit the poor country only served to make a very bad situation a whole lot worse.
As yogis who have ties both to the Buddhist community and to humanitarian causes in general, many of us have been asking the question: What can we do to help? I spoke to my friend Gregg Butensky, who is a long-time activist for the Burmese cause, a board member of the Burmese American Democratic Alliance, and a foster dad to a young woman whom he helped relocate to Thailand. He told me of the formation of a new coalition of local Burmese organizations (that includes member organizations as varied as the International Burmese Monks Organization and the Myanmar Taxi Driver Association) to assist those in need. While the coalition does not have a website yet, Gregg and some others did put up an emergency website this past week to help point people to places where they can offer donations.
There are also three local events happening this weekend that are focused on bringing awareness to the crisis. The biggest one is a Global Day of Action For Burma rally at the UN Plaza (Market Street between 7th & 8th Streets) in San Francisco on Saturday from 3-6pm, to urge the UN to protect the cyclone victims. Also, there is an American Jewish World Service event on Saturday evening in SF called Celebrating Voices for Change in Burma and a BADA fund-raiser this Sunday in Fremont.
I hope you will join me in sending blessings and much-needed funds to our brothers and sisters in Burma. Please let us know if you have found other ways to help.
I first went to India when I was 22. I knew nothing about yoga, but I had a transformative experience nonetheless, complete with my first contact with saddhus, a visit to the temple where Buddha sat under the Boddhi tree, and a visit to the Ganges to see the bodies burning on the ghats. My trip felt deeply spiritual ... but, as a recent college grad in a tumultuous love affair with a guy I met while traveling, it also felt completely confusing, raw, and, at times, ridiculous.
So, when I heard about local writer and former Yoga Journal editor Anne Cushman's new book, Enlightenment For Idiots, I was excited to pick up a copy. The book, which she calls a cross between a spiritual journey and a dysfunctional romance, is about a San Franciscan writer and yogi who can't seem to practice in life what she practices on the mat. Her relationships are a mess, and she's financially broke and emotionally ungrounded. Finally, she gets an assignment to go to India and write a book called Enlightenment for Idiots, for which she must hit all the big and small ashrams throughout the country. Like the trip I took at 22, hers is a wild journey during which she tries to find deeper meaning while simultaneously dealing with a completely unenlightened romantic situation and uncertain future.
While there is satire in Anne's story, there is also insight—and a lot of research. She actually visited all of these places in 1998 when researching a prior nonfiction book on spiritual sites and centers in India, From Here To Nirvana, and used these experiences as the basis for her main character's travels.
Anne's main interest lies not in some arbitrary idea of enlightenment but rather in how modern day life (specifically romantic life) and yogic ideals intersect. Or how they don't. She says that many yogic practices were designed for Eastern celibate men—not single, Western women. She also says that our love lives are the most challenging places for us to act with mindfulness and employ yogic principles. As a Western yogini slowly navigating my way through a new relationship, I can relate!
After practicing yoga for a while, people often get the urge to bring their practice to others. But not everyone wants to become a certified yoga instructor, or even charge for classes. Some just want to teach others who need yoga, but don't have access to it in one way or another.
Mark Lilly, a Portland writer and software engineer, started to feel this way when he started practicing yoga in 2001, and shortly afterward began volunteer-teaching yoga to homeless youth. He liked it so much that he founded Street Yoga, a program dedicated to bringing yoga classes to kids who live on the streets, in shelters, and in foster care.
The Portland-based nonprofit program has a mostly volunteer staff that goes around to places like homeless youth resource centers, drug treatment programs, runaway centers, and juvenile detention halls and teaches yoga to help kids keep warm, take care of their bodies, deal with the stress of being homeless, and feel a sense of community.
The program has been so successful, that the organization now does Street Yoga teacher trainings around the country. There is one happening in San Francisco next weekend, from May 9-11, at It's Yoga Kids Studio on Ruger Street. At the training you'll learn how to teach yoga to homeless youth. The program includes regular teacher training as well as role-playing, interpersonal exercises, talks about service, and training around boundaries. You don't need to be a yoga teacher to do this program—anyone can do it. At the moment, there are only a few slots left, so if you are interested in doing it, sign up right away.
And check out this awesome video Street Yoga has on You Tube!
Because of its spiritual nature, yoga doesn't seem a natural match for the fast-paced and electronic world of the web—at least not upon first glance. But the invent of the Internet has brought with it a million and one new ways to form community among people far and wide. When looked at that way, yoga and the Internet have a lot more in common than one might have thought.
In San Francisco, lots of yoga teachers are using the Internet not only to advertise, but to further develop community or sangha. For instance, Jamie Lindsay has a regular blog in which he details the sequences that he taught in class that week and shares other local yoga info; Deborah Burkman sends out weekly emails that discuss what anatomical or yogic principle she intends to focus in her Hatha class that coming week; and Bill McCully often sends inquisitive emails out to his students to gather their impressions of a previous class.
And local websites are also getting hip to yoga. On both Yelp and Citysearch, you can find a plethora of San Francisco and Bay Area yoga studio listings, complete with ratings and reader reviews. If you are looking to connect with other local yogis, Tribe.net has several great yoga groups you can join including SFYoga. And then, of course, there is Yoga Journal's website, which, by the way, was just nominated for a Webby! (You can vote for us here!)
Do you know of any other San Francisco online communities or listings you'd like to share? If so, please post a comment below and let us know about them!
Confession: When I was in high school, I was on a sort of cheer squad. We weren't very sophisticated but we did know how to move (Brooklyn in the house!). One summer, we scored some acrobatics training and learned to climb on each other and make pyramids and stuff. I weighed in at about 97 pounds (still do . . . ) and was always the one being thrown around.
I knew nothing about yoga or Eastern philosophy, but I did love the gymnastics we mixed in with hip-hop moves during our half-time dances, and I think learning ease and lightness in my body really helped when I got into yoga. I hung up my pom-poms ages ago (thankfully), but lately I have been having the urge to again be thrown around.
So, I got really excited when I found out that there is a weekly beginner's AcroYoga class at the Mission Yoga Sun Room (held Fridays until April 23, when it changes to Wednesdays). I went last week and had so much fun. We started with some warm-up asana, simple partner poses, and assisted handstands. But the real fun was when we got to take each other into Folded Leaf and Front Bird. Folded Leaf is when you drape your body over your partner's legs and hang there to establish balance (me, above); Front Bird is when you push against each other's hands and fly like Superman (another student, left). In the midst of all this, we all gave each other some nice shoulder rubs.
I am one of those students who takes my yoga very seriously (and I think that's important in terms of dedication and proper practice), but to feel this kind of playful freedom with asana was exciting and empowering. The teacher, Jeremy Simon, gave great instruction and kept things specific, safe, and also really fun. I only got to fly once, and I am definitely going back for more.
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Whenever I see modern dance, I can always spot the yoga inside the dance. I'll nudge the friend sitting next to me and say, "Did you see that? That was scorpion pose!" Or dolphin pose. Or some variation of downward facing dog. Depending on the friend, they'll either say, "Yeah! Sweet!" or "Shhhh!" Still, I can't help but get excited when I see yoga on stage.
Enter: Tripsichore. I have only seen this London-based yoga dance company perform once before, when they came, in 2002, to the Cowell Theatre at Fort Mason. Led by choreographer Edward Clark, Tripsichore's sequences and movements are not just yoga-influenced, they are yoga-based. It's amazing to watch the intersection of the dancers' bodies as they tell a non-traditional story with the shapes of traditional asana.
Tripsichore is performing its show Merely Total Risk at Yoga Tree Castro on Saturday night, at 8pm. The show is about the creation of the universe, and also about one's personal experience with mortality.
Want a taste? The above is a clip from the other show that Tripsichore is currently touring, Insects.
Want to learn from the yogacrobats, themselves? Take one of the company's workshops this weekend: "Tripsichore Sun Salutations & Beyond" (on Saturday) or The Tripsichore 12-year Course Condensed Into One Workshop" (on Sunday) at Yoga Tree Stanyan. Or, if you can't make the training, check out the company's DVD.
With the change of seasons, I have been feeling a little under the weather lately. So last Sunday night, I went on a search for that perfect relaxing restorative class. I fell upon this tiny tucked away yoga studio in the inner Richmond called Bend. Located in one room on the second floor of what seems like an office building, Bend is a tiny little peaceful studio with a warm local feeling. There were about 8 of us taking the class and we were at a cozy maximum.
The class I went to is called Candlelight Yoga and the room has lit candles all along the sides. The blinds were drawn but, due to the longer hours these days, light sneaked in anyway to our 6pm class. (I think that the candlelight effect, as pretty as it was, would be stronger in the 9pm classes).
With soft tunes in the background varying from Iron and Wine to Indian chanting songs, David led us through a deeply restorative practice, really allowing us to sink into the four or five postures that we practiced, which included supported child's pose, one armed frog pose, and a supported back bend. Because there were so few students, a lot of individual attention was given. The teacher was able to give us all adjustments, put sand bags on us, and adjust our props. We hardly did anything ourselves: talk about relaxation!
I found the class to be a great and gentle class for anyone feeling like their body or mind needs a rest; it's also a good way to end the night or weekend, especially with all the amazing Clement Street restaurants nearby for a light post-yoga dinner.
When I was in Thailand a couple of years ago, I discovered the Thai Massage. If you've never had one, it's a type of massage during which you get stretched and bended into bliss—kind of like doing yoga asana, but you don't actually have to do anything. Since I've come home, I've been wanting to find a place to get Thai massage but it seems to be one of the rarer forms of massage practiced at most yoga studios. International Orange, however, offers a few variations of Thai massage and they also do something called a Thai Fusion massage, which incorporates the best of all worlds: the stretching motions of Thai massage, the smooth rubbing motions of Swedish, and the pressure point techniques of Shiatsu. I went for one last week with massage therapist and yoga teacher Christy Swenson.
Christy used Shiatsu compression and Swedish sweeping motions (along with signature aromatherapy oils) on my back and did Thai on my legs. While I was being massaged, I was positioned in various yoga poses, like Dhanurasana, Vrksasana, and half of Gomukhasana. She also did yoga while massaging me, literally climbing up onto the table and working on my back while she was in down dog! The massage was an hour and then she sent me home with a card that had a special mantra she wrote down for me, along with a couple of recommended yoga poses.
The benefits lasted well into the following week. I didn't only feel looser, but I actually felt my circulation working better than it normally does. International Orange also offers a 90-minute straight-up floor Thai massage, if you're more of a traditionalist. And the sauna there is also pretty sweet.
The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the roof on my building has stopped leaking rain into my living room. All of that can mean only one thing: It's springtime! And, according to the yogic tradition, that's the best time to clean up one's act. So I decided to do a cleanse.
The only other time I've "cleansed" was last year when I did the master cleanse (you know—10 days of nothing but lemonade, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper). It was cool in a meditative way, but my body didn't really enjoy the starvation aspect. When I learned that Scott Blossom was doing a one-week ayurvedic cleanse at Yoga Tree Hayes that involved food, I was eager to take part.
I am now on day five of the cleanse, which is intended to balance our doshas, or vital energies. Everyone is eating a dish called Khichari, which is basically mung beans and a whole grain (rice, barley, millet, or quinoa, depending on your dominant dosha) mixed with various vegetables and Indian spices.
Don't know what a dosha is? Ayurveda is a huge health science, but in short it tells us that there are three doshas in every body which can be identified by both positive qualities (when they are in the right proportion) and negative qualities (when they dominate). For instance, vata brings creativity and nervousness, pitta can be identified by motivation and temper, and kapha suggests both steadiness and sluggishness. The idea of this cleanse is to bring your doshas into greater balance. (To determine your own dosha, you can fill out Yoga Journal's dosha questionnaire.)
Scott is a yoga teacher and a doctor in ayurveda (as well as Chinese medicine), so he has vast knowledge about cleansing the body. By midweek, many of us were not feeling so great because of all of the toxins or ama that's been stirred up, but Scott's been great about helping us to understand what's going on and how to work through it. We have also been meeting in the mornings to chant, do a digestion-based practice, and ask questions.
The cleanse ends this weekend with a "purgative" dose of castor oil (whoa!) followed by a day of fasting and meditation. It has been such a great experience to cook fresh food all week, limit my Internet browsing (required for the cleanse), and increase my knowledge tenfold of the Rainbow Grocery herb aisle. I am, however, starting to salivate just a little at the thought of Thai food, raisin bread … and chocolate.
Anyone else doing a spring cleanse? Let us know how it's going!
The Piedmont Yoga Studio (which was founded, in part, by Rodney Yee and has birthed some of the Bay Area's best teachers) turned 21 this past weekend and celebrated its anniversary with a number of events to benefit the studio, including a very interesting lecture called Why Yoga Works. The panelists were local teachers Judith Lasater, Tony Briggs, and Yoko Yoshikawa and the talk was moderated by another PYS founder, Richard Rosen.
So, why does yoga work? The articulate guest speakers spoke a bit about how yoga focuses the mind, relieves the body of stress, and digs below the surface emotionally. But, in general, they also seemed to struggle somewhat with the question. And upon reflection, so did I. After all, this is a question we all get asked from time to time by people who don't practice: Why does yoga work? But how can we answer that question without defining what exactly we're talking about. Asana? Pranayama? Yamas and niyamas? Kriyas? Mantra? Sure, all of these things "work," but they work differently.
The discussion meandered somewhat until Richard asked a great question: What exactly does it mean for yoga to "work"? What is the goal we are trying to accomplish with our practices? How do we know when we are "successful"?
We could ask 100 practitioners why yoga works and get 100 different answers. One person might say, "I feel calmer after a yoga class, so it works"; another person might say, "My injury doesn't hurt anymore, so it works!"; and yet a third person might say, "Yoga helps me feel closer to God, so it works." See the problem? Perhaps the question really is: "Why does yoga work for you?"
All of this difficulty speaking about yoga's ultimate benefits got me thinking of my own troubles defining yoga to friends and relatives who don't practice.
So, it's exercise, they say?
Well, not exactly. It's breathing?
Well, yes, but there's more. Is it praying?
Well, in a way, but … (Sigh.)
If only they just tried it, they could tell ME why it works!
In the end, even the panelists agreed that there was a certain mystery to yoga, that its powers couldn't be completely explained by simple terms and definitions. I wonder if anyone out there, teachers or students, have thoughts about the question of "why yoga works"? Or maybe just share with us why yoga works for you?
Ever feel guilty when you practice yoga? Sometimes I do. Like everyone else, I enjoy having my special yoga clothes and practicing at the beautiful yoga studios in my safe and beautiful city. But deep inside I am always acutely aware of the disparity between my life and the lives of those who are less fortunate—those who live in impoverished countries and are unable to even get food on the table or feel safe in their homes, let alone have a guided asana practice. I often wish there were more opportunities to combine my yoga practice with doing seva (service) abroad. If this is something you've thought about, too, you might want to consider Metta Journeys.
Founded by three local Bay Area yoga teachers—Sarah Powers, Chandra Easton, and Janice Gates—and two yogis (financially savvy Jo Ousterhout and travel expert Deepak Patel), Metta Journeys is a new program that brings yoga practitioners to less fortunate parts of the world in the name of global awareness and humanitarian service. It's holding its inaugural trip from May 3-10, when its teachers will take a maximum of 20 students to Rwanda in partnership with Women for Women International (an organization that I am a proud member of!), which helps women in war-torn regions rebuild their lives (especially important work in Rwanda because so many women were left widows after the massacres of the early '90s).
The trip costs about $5800 (plus the plane ticket), so it's not an easy getaway for those who are strapped. But for those who are short on time, not too short on funds, and really wanting to make a difference, it's a luxury yoga vacation, international adventure, and major charitable endeavor all rolled into one. The price includes intimate yoga instruction, accommodations at Kigali's only 5-star hotel, personal translators, gorilla trekking, and, of course, the opportunity to connect with Rwandan women and hear about their struggles. Each person who attends will not only be paired up with a "sister" who they will sponsor for one year (like I was when I joined Women for Women International), but they will actually get to meet their sister, which I think is just really cool.
The teachers (who are not getting any financial renumeration for this trip) are also planning to go about a week early to give yoga and mindful meditation instruction to the brave Rwandan women involved in the program.
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.
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?
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.
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?
I have been to enough kirtan events to know what to expect: beautiful, ecstatic Indian chants that propel me into joyful meditative states and celebrate Hanuman, Kali, and Ganesh. But there is something about David Newman's music that feels just a bit different. Though David, who is also known by his spiritual name Durga Das, has a deep sense of tradition in his music, there is also something thoughtful, poetic, personal, and almost romantic about his songs. The music feels like a combination of prayer and soft, percussive modern rock. David is young, but his spirit feels older, and he comes from the same lineage as Ram Das, Bhagavan Das, and Krishna Das, all of whom followed the great Indian guru, Neem Karoli Baba. During his kirtan here in San Francisco this past weekend, he gave out chant sheets (which was great because it prevented me from making up words to songs I didn't know!) and, along with his two amazing co-musicians, led the group in chants like Gung Ganapataye Namo Namah and Hare Krishna. He also talked a little bit about the universality of yoga and chanting. "There's a transmission that happens through kirtan that doesn't belong to Hindus or Indians," he said. "It belongs to the human heart."
The real icing on the cake was David's amazing rendition of the Hanuman Chalisa, which is just a masterful piece of music. To hear more of David's music, check out his website. You won't be able to get it out of your head.
San Francisco: YJ Conference Recap and Decompression
Wow. The YJ conference ended a few days ago and I am still recovering. It's been good to catch up on some sleep, but I do miss the good energy and yogic comradery that felt so palpable during those four days. Interestingly enough, the things I most took away from the conference had to do with healing and therapeutics, specifically Saul David Raye's Thai massage techniques and Gary Kraftsow's Viniyoga prescription for lower back injury. I think these things spoke to me the most because, at this point in my practice, I am less interested in being taught new traditions and techniques of asana as I am in learning how to move through injury. Maybe it has to do with finally having a more established personal practice; or maybe it has to do with getting older!
But I loved the conference, and could never help but marvel at all of the superstar power gliding from floor to floor and classroom to classroom. And what a testament to the yoga scene here in the Bay Area that so many of the presenters were locally based: Jason Crandell, Scott Blossom, Timothy McCall, Charu Rachlis—the list goes on and on.
If you didn't have a chance to read my blogs during the conference (and really, who had time to read anything?), you can click on any of the links below to see where I spent my days.
And please send in your own thoughts about the conference. We'd love to hear what you loved, what you learned, and what you'd love to learn in the future.
San Francisco: YJ Conference (Gary Kraftsow and Dean Ornish)
If you're reading this, you likely already know that yoga is medicine: for the body, the mind, and the soul. You know it, your teachers know it, the ancient sages definitely knew it (that's why they invented it in the first place!) But the Western medical industry at large has been slow to warm up to the idea. So yogis have started realizing that, if we want the rest of the world to believe how good this stuff really is for you, we better find some Western ways of proving it.
That's what a lot of today's offerings, at the final day of the YJ conference, were about. The theme of the day was Yoga as Medicine, and I took Gary Kraftsow's day-long workshop entitled Viniyoga Therapy: Back Care. Gary (pictured above), who founded the American Viniyoga Institute, is an important figure in the yoga-as-medicine world. Over the last several years, he has conducted studies in conjunction with the National Institute of Health that have proven, through scientific method, that yoga is beneficial in healing the body. This is a big deal because it means that the Western world is starting to take seriously the practice we cherish so much.
Gary talked a lot about basic principles of therapeutics, which is his area of expertise, and offered us three different therapeutic series' for lower back and sacrum, hips, and upper back and neck. He stressed the importance of dynamic, repetitive movement as a treatment for muscular injuries as opposed to long holds in a pose because: 1) contracting and releasing a muscle helps bring circulation to the area, which is essential in its healing and 2) repetitive movement helps train the body to create new patterns. Gary also strongly stressed that poses are meant to be adapted in different ways for different purposes for different people. If you've been trying to access a pose a particular way for years and it's just not happening, he said, you might want to try another approach.
In the middle of my day with Gary, there was a lunchtime talk being given by Dr. Dean Ornish (pictured left) who is, among other things, the director of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito and Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF. A huge proponent of natural health, Ornish has also taken on the task of getting natural healing modalities, like yoga and diet changes, to be taken more seriously by the Western medical world. (He says Medicaid will soon be covering yoga as a result of his efforts!) Ornish's speech was short but captivating, and his message was clear: No matter what genetic condition we have been handed down, we can change the way it is expressed by watching our diet, and doing yoga and meditation. Ornish also did a book signing today, as did Dr. Timothy McCall, the author of the best-selling book for which the conference was named: Yoga as Medicine.
It's so great that the wider world is finally recognizing what we know to be true. I like to imagine a day where people of all walks of life are doing asana and eating ayurvedically after being diagnosed with diabetes or heart disease—as opposed to downing a bunch of pills with a Coke and a Big Mac. (Hey, I can dream, right?)
San Francisco: YJ Conference (Ana Forrest, Saul David Raye, and Dr. Manoj Chalam)
Today was my best day at the YJ conference so far. I was immersed in three of my favorite components of yoga: inversions, massage, and philosophical discussion.
The first two hours of the day were spent sweating my butt off. I have always wanted to take a class with the famed Ana Forrest, and she is a force to be reckoned with. She's so strong and powerful, it's hard not to get inspired. The practice was built around what Ana calls "gravity surfing." It's a fierce, yang practice filled with numerous handstands, forearm balances, and arm balances. We partnered up a great deal and Ana's entourage of assistants (all equally buff) were awesome in performing demonstrations and helping the students get deeper into poses.
Next stop: partner Thai massage with Saul David Raye. I find partner classes to be a little strange at first. We had to select massage mates, which is always a weird thing when you don't know anyone in the room. My partner and I talked for just a moment before I realized who he was—the former publisher of Yoga Journal, John Abbott! I was a little nervous at first, but you kind of have to let that go when a stranger is standing on your butt with their knees. John and I gave each other approximately 45-minute massages, and we had a great time, and Saul was an effective and compassionate teacher, giving specific instructions in a grounded, loving way.
I finished off my day with Dr. Manoj Chalam's lecture on Hindu deities. A sacred art dealer, Manoj (pictured left) talked to us about who the different Hindu gods are, and the meanings behind their poses in various statues. He covered both maha deities (great deities like Shiva) and upa deities (deities who are closer to the people, like Hanuman and Ganesh). I learned some interesting things. My favorite was this: Ganesh uses a mouse as transportation because the mouse (and its scurrying) symbolizes the mind; when Ganesh sits on it, he quiets it. So, when we meditate on Ganesh, it's like he is sitting on our mind's fluctuations and bringing them to a stop.
San Francisco: YJ Conference (Seane Corn, Tias Little, and Michael Franti)
I started off day two of the YJ conference with Seane Corn and 200 other women in one of the grand ballrooms at the Hyatt Regency. This is the second time I have taken a class with Seane and she always gives me something to think about. The class, which was called Yogini, was about how women can be better connected to our power.
Seane began by talking about how her perspective as a woman keeps changing as she ages. Now 41, she talked about how, despite the bodily and emotional discomforts she sometimes feels with the aging process, she cares a lot less about what other people think than she used to. I can relate to what she is putting out there; I think younger women tend to be so affected (and hindered) by what they perceive the world's view of them to be. I am 32 and can finally say that I have moments where I let the outside world's criticisms roll over me—but I still give outside voices too much attention. Here's to maturity!
Seane says that one of the biggest problems we face as a society is personal self-doubt and insecurity, with which I completely concur. When we, specifically women, don't have faith in ourselves, we don't act. And when we don't act, things don't get done. So, how to engage with our own power? She suggests these starting points: Forgiveness of others. Radical self-acceptance. A commitment to self-examination.
If Seane's class opened my mind, Tias Little's backbending workshop, Freeing the Bird of Prana, opened my body. Whew! Backbending is not my forte and we moved through it pretty intensely. We worked the hamstrings and opened the shoulders first so that tightness in those areas would not affect our backbends, and then we moved into the back. Tias gives meticulous and precise anatomical instruction, and through his teaching made clear all of the impediments to backbending, such as tight quads and lack of space between the sacral and lumbar vertebrae.
Tias taught with two assistants (one of whom is his wife, Surya) and I received lots of great adjustments—I appreciated that, as sometimes the classes at conferences can feel impersonal. I also liked Tias' sense of humor. For instance, he admitted great enjoyment in saying "Now, bring your fingers to the top of the crack of your buttocks." A little comic relief when you're backbending for two hours (and near collapsing) is always welcome.
I finished my day by listening to Michael Franti's lunchtime talk about Power to the Peaceful, in which he made clear the connection, for him, between yoga and social action. During his talk, Michael told a story about a butterfly. On my walk home, I came into contact with this beautiful creature. Coincidence? I think not.
San Francisco: YJ Conference (Rod Stryker and Michael Franti)
I just got home from the first day of my first Yoga Journal conference. Whew! If you attended any of the events today, you know the buzz of excitement in the air. I'll be posting a blog every night about the conference—PLEASE write in and share your own stories!
So, this morning I scraped in just 10 minutes before my first class (yeah, I admit, I couldn't find the hotel at first—a little embarrassing!). Despite the crowds, registration went pretty quickly and I arrived at Rod Stryker's day-long course, Tantra Yoga: Asana, Bandha, and Beyond, only a few minutes late. Rod's practice, which is also known as ParaYoga, is a combination of three aspects of yogic tradition: ayurveda, classical yoga, and Tantra. We focused mostly on Tantra, but Rod was great at pointing out the places where Tantra and classical yoga (derived from Patanjali's sutras and that sort of thing) differed. For instance, in Tantra, moksha (spiritual liberation) and bhoga (delight from worldly pleasures) are not seen as mutually exclusive, whereas in classical yoga, it is generally deemed that you must limit bhoga (like, say, sex and chocolate) to reach moksha.
I love philosophical discussions about yoga and we had a lot of them aboutthe different tantric paths, the use of bandhas, and the acceptance of desire. We also practiced some asana, and Rod held us in some poses—like dhanurasana—for long periods of time to generate heat and prana. We closed meditatively with a mantra called Maya Mitron Jaya, which Rod said was good for eradicating fear.
After a long day spent with the brilliant Mr. Stryker (and also socializing with all of the familiar faces at the conference), I was truly beat. I had a ticket to see Michael Franti's benefit concert for YouthAIDS, but I had to drag myself there. I am so glad I did. I'd never seen him play live before. Wow. That someone can sing about peace and war and love and justice with such gentle passion and strength moved me to shake my tired booty—and, at times, shed a few tears. Michael's guitarist was equally talented, and Jenny Sauer-Klein and Jason Nemer did AcroYoga for the crowd. It was such a phenomenal show. Did anyone else attend?
Off to rest in preparation for day two. Please let us know how your time at YJSF 2008 is going!
If you practice yoga in the city, chances are that you have been to one of the Yoga Tree locations. But did you know that there is another Yoga Tree location outside the city ... in Glen Ellen, Sonoma? It's actually not a studio but a beautiful country home (complete with a yoga room with hard wood floors, amazing views, and a hot tub!) that belongs to Yoga Tree owners Tim and Tara Dale. Aptly called Tara Bella Villa, it's become a prime spot for retreats with Yoga Tree teachers. Last weekend, I went up there for one of Chrisandra Fox's monthly one-day retreats.
I have been practicing with Chrisandra since about 2002 and she has always been one of my favorite teachers. It's clear that she has a beautiful asana practice (she's often modeled for Yoga Journal spreads), but what I truly love about her is her unwavering encouragement for her students (each of whom she always give loads of personal attention) and her unique way of transforming complex philosophical concepts into succinct and unforgettable phrases, some of which have stayed with me for years.
Tara Bella Villa is about an hour and 15 minutes away from the city, but the drive is easy and so worth it. We practiced yoga for a few hours in the morning and then had a divine lunch (prepared by chef extraordinaire Meredith Klein) that included lemon mousse-infused Israeli cous cous, a sweet beet and kale salad, gingerbread blondies (see bottom right pic), and homemade chai to die for. We intended to hot tub, as well, but we got so busy eating and chatting that ... we just never got around to it.
At the retreat, we focused on our sankalpas, which are sort of the yogic version of resolutions. Sankalpa roughly translates to "intention" or "affirmation" and Chrisandra talked about the
Ever since the cyclone hit Burma last week, I have felt an uneasiness that I just can't shake. I have never been to Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar), but I met Burmese refugees when I was in Thailand, and I have friends who have lived there, or are there still. It is a militaristic state in which the residents live in fear of the junta, or armed forces, and suffer violations of their human rights on a daily basis. The cyclone that hit the poor country only served to make a very bad situation a whole lot worse.
I first went to India when I was 22. I knew nothing about yoga, but I had a transformative experience nonetheless, complete with my first contact with saddhus, a visit to the temple where Buddha sat under the Boddhi tree, and a visit to the Ganges to see the bodies burning on the ghats. My trip felt deeply spiritual ... but, as a recent college grad in a tumultuous love affair with a guy I met while traveling, it also felt completely confusing, raw, and, at times, ridiculous.
After practicing yoga for a while, people often get the urge to bring their practice to others. But not everyone wants to become a certified yoga instructor, or even charge for classes. Some just want to teach others who need yoga, but don't have access to it in one way or another. 
The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the roof on my building has stopped leaking rain into my living room. All of that can mean only one thing: It's springtime! And, according to the yogic tradition, that's the best time to clean up one's act. So I decided to do a cleanse.
Ever feel guilty when you practice yoga? Sometimes I do. Like everyone else, I enjoy having my special yoga clothes and practicing at the beautiful yoga studios in my safe and beautiful city. But deep inside I am always acutely aware of the disparity between my life and the lives of those who are less fortunate—those who live in impoverished countries and are unable to even get food on the table or feel safe in their homes, let alone have a guided asana practice. I often wish there were more opportunities to combine my yoga practice with doing seva (service) abroad. If this is something you've thought about, too, you might want to consider 
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?
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?
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? 
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 
I have been to enough 
David is young, but his spirit feels older, and he comes from the same lineage as Ram Das, Bhagavan Das, and Krishna Das, all of whom followed the great Indian guru, Neem Karoli Baba. During his kirtan here in San Francisco this past weekend, he gave out chant sheets (which was great because it prevented me from making up words to songs I didn't know!) and, along with his two amazing co-musicians, led the group in chants like Gung Ganapataye Namo Namah and Hare Krishna. He also talked a little bit about the universality of yoga and chanting. "There's a transmission that happens through kirtan that doesn't belong to Hindus or Indians," he said. "It belongs to the human heart."
