In a world that frequently challenges us to PUSH our limits, Jason Crandell offered a different perspective in this morning's asana workshop. As we began the practice, Crandell asked us to consider that "Integrity and stability are more important than range."

Throughout the energizing sequence, he focused on the idea that your edge is that balance between effort and relaxation. Crandell made his way around the room, instructing and guiding the practice, while offering up sage insights that were worth stopping and making a note of (and I did more than a few times in the two hour class).

We want to learn to work with conscious effort and not hurl ourselves in (and out) of poses. How many of us can relate to that style of "practice"?? We muscle (and force) our way into some pose exerting maximum effort and then come out of it with equal abandon. Slow down, Crandell advises, and see that the balance of effort and relaxation is more important than achieving any particular form.

The pose is not the goal. (Say "what?!) Instead we use poses to FREE the body. The work of the pose is there to unveil who we really are. In basic poses, we want to learn how to work; in the more challenging ones, we want to learn how to relax. As Crandell reminded us, "Anything that is difficult for you will work better when you relax." This is true in life as well as our asana practice.

Funny, that's how most things are.

Posted by Pamela Walsh on January 17, 2009 05:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I love AcroYoga. Today was my second time doing it formally, in a class setting, and my first time practicing with AcroYoga gurus Jenny Sauer-Klein and Jason Nemer. If you've never done AcroYoga, you might think it's all about contortion and Cirque du Soleil-esque feats of gravity defiance. While there is an undeniable element of acrobatics involved (thus the name), AcroYoga is, at its heart, about trust and letting go.

We started in groups of two doing small exercises of leaning on each other in shapes of back and forward bends, eventually moving into groups of three, in which we "flew" each other in the air. (Jenny and Jason above, and Jason and SF AcroYoga teacher Jeremy Simon below.) See the pix here.) Allowing someone you don't know at all to support all of your weight is a huge practice in trust, but when you can let go, it's really liberating.
We ended in configurations of 12, with four people being bases (they were called the Rams), four other people "flying" in extended back bends (the Sitas), and four other people spotting the fliers (the Hanumans). The configuration was beautiful, if not just for the shapes we made together, but for the communal effort involved in making the yoga pyramids work. If you're interested in checking it out, there are free lunchtime sessions with the AcroYogis both today and tomorrow.

Posted by Karen Macklin on January 17, 2009 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)