February 1, 2010 by Karen Macklin
 There was a great panel discussion today on tantra moderated by Yoga Journal editor-in-chief Kaitlin Quistgaard, and featuring scholar Sally Kempton, Parayoga founder Rod Stryker, and Anusara teacher Sianna Sherman. In the discussion, Rod identified Tantra as literally translating to mean the word "weave", and he spoke of it as "weaving spiritual awareness into every day life". (Sianna followed that up by saying that shortly after she discovered tantra, she signed up for a weaving class to learn to understand the tradition better!) The three teachers talked about their yogic paths, the importance of shaktipat (or spiritual transmission), and how asana relates to tantra. Rod spoke, in particular, about the body being "the altar" of your worldly experience, and asana being a good tool to clean that altar up. Erin blogged more below about the talk, so check out what she had to say. I thought it was lovely and informative.
January 31, 2010 by
I was so exhausted from all the inspiration this weekend that I almost skipped the group savasana led by David Swenson. For some reason, just as I was turning to exit the revolving door of the Hyatt onto the San Francisco streets, my feet veered right and I made my way to one last class.
I am glad I slithered down the stairs to the giant ballroom and wearily let my mat unroll one last time. David's southern accent and light humor soothed a room packed with tired yogis one last time, allowing us to share in a communal renewing of shared breath, soaking in the bombardment of knowledge, subtly rearranging our bodies, and finally reawakening us to a deep sense of peace.
My body is tired, but my spirit is renewed.
January 31, 2010 by
Saul David Raye was one of my favorite teachers of the conference. He has a glowing, calm presence and an ease in teaching that is without entirely without ego. We spent the first hour discussing as an introduction to the Life Bliss meditation and then went deeper into the five sheaths (body, mind, emotions, intuition and soul) and the transformation we would work on in five techniques for each area (chaotic breathing, humming, chakra awareness, un-clutching and chanting). It's difficult to explain a meditation without experiencing it, but the techniques truly worked to turn off the logical mind and create that nice "blue sky" spaciousness of the vipassana traditions. He also touched on ways the meditation has been used for somatic therapy and specifically in the treatment of depression. He said, above all it is not so much about what you do, but it is how you do it that matters. We ran out of time at the end, but he gave us a brief overview of the chakras and the key to unlocking each one. 1. fantasy...learn to be here now 2. fear...learn to trust your creative flow 3. worry/negativity...learn to have faith and trust yourself 4. need for approval...learn to cultivate self-love 5. jealousy...remind yourself of the scientific fact of your distinct uniqueness 6. ego/seriousness...teach yourself simplicity and sincerity 7. discontent...learn to be grateful for small miracles such as breath and sunrises
January 31, 2010 by
Much like the members of the panel, I don't know where to start with this one. Each member of the panel (Sianna Sherman, Rod Stryker and Sally Kempton) was packed with valuable knowledge and adept at sharing this information. Below are a few highlights, paraphrased because the good quotes were coming in such rapid timing.
Briefly, what is Tantra?
Any moment of awe, wonder, embrace.--Rod
Also: tapestry, weaving of spiritual experience into the fabric of everyday life, scientific system or method, freedom and the thread that unites all the aspects of yoga in one.
How does one become initiated or find a teacher?
Only he who becomes mad with the idea will truly see the light.--Rod
Wet log or dry log? The wet one cannot be lit, but the dry one is ready to be ignited.--Sianna
A teacher's role is to guide transformation, creating space for this kindling.--Sally
How does one do the work of tantra?
You can overcome any obstacle. You can achieve almost anything, if you can only learn to harness your power. --Rod
Dissolve the elements that restrict freedom...emotional indulgence, etc.--Sally
(As a follow up) Where is the best place to start?
Find a powerful mantra, and believe in it whole-heartedly. Mantras are very transformational.--Sally
January 31, 2010 by
This was my first class with Seane Corn, and it is easy to see why she is such a yoga superstar. Her sequencing is scientific and her personality is magnetic. Seane, with her distinctive east-coast accent, has a way of conveying large amounts of information in digestible segments: at the end of two hours I knew she grew up in and idyllic town in Jersey, why she was passionate about the environment (dumping in a local stream and high cancer rates in her town), all the causes she supports (Haiti, Aids, Africa and urban areas in the U.S.), that a whiff of styrofoam makes her homesick(her family owns a styrofoam plant), emotional eating patterns (sugar addiction and lonely cravings for perogies), religious background (Jewish mother and catholic father) and even a little about her digestion (lets just say traveling screws it up). I also know how to sequence a strong detox flow class (open, compress and twist), why I need to detox in the first place (chemicals, pollution, processed food), and I have a new diet plan to improve every realm of my life (more energy, less headaches, emotional stability). Also, after she explained some of the places she visits, I am curious to learn more about the Seva Challenge and Off the Mat, Into the World.
I was breathless after this one. Her passion and efficiency was inspiring.
January 31, 2010 by
"It takes a long time to play like yourself."--Miles Davis
Dana Flynn's super fun flow sequence was loosely based around this quote. She expertly weaved in philosophy and the symbolism of Shiva dancing on the dwarf, encouraging students to remember to embrace their bigger selves and flow with the play of the universe.
Dana taught a flow with warrior variations and Kali posed linked fluidly with Shakti and Shiva expressions and also gave students a chance to freestyle to her upbeat playlist. This class definitely got every one of us out of our minds and woke us up first thing on a Sunday morning.
Great class!
January 31, 2010 by Karen Macklin
Like lots of people, I have a history of lower back ickiness. Sometimes, because I did something too intense in a yoga class, or even just bent down or slept the wrong way, I wind up with back pain that makes me feel like a granny, holding my lower back as I achingly rise up from or sit down into a chair, and unable to touch my toes (or do much of anything, really) in a yoga class.
But in recent years, I have found some great ways of unwinding that injury faster than than was formerly possible, particularly through Shadow Yoga practices and Gary Kraftsow's therapeutic teachings. Today, I learned more low back healing techniques in Tias Little's class, which was entirely about unwinding the lumbar spine and releasing compression from the sacrum.
Tias talked about how most of us have an imbalance in the sacrum, where one side is higher than the other because of muscular and fascial constriction. He showed us a number of variations of reclining, rolling twists done with the back to the floor, as well as some new techniques for downward dog in which we bring the sacrum close toward the legs to elongate the spine.
It was quite useful. On another note, I liked the first slide he showed (which I think was by accident) of him doing a headstand out on a very hard, rocky, high cliff. He admitted that he may have done a bit of spinal compression with the pose that he was still working out of his neck--but, all in all, he felt that it was worth it. It did look pretty awesome.
January 31, 2010 by Erica Rodefer
Today did not go quite as planned for me. I slept late, missed my train, forgot my notebook. Heck, I didn't even have time to wash my hair. By the time I got to the Hyatt, I was beyond flustered. Let's just say, I wasn't exactly in a peace, love, and yoga kind of mood.
When David Life came in to lead the class, I didn't know what the topic was. (I had been so rushed this morning, I didn't have time to review the schedule.) You know how people say the universe gives you exactly what you need when you need it? The class was appropriately called Time Warp. When you really think about it.. time doesn't matter so much. It's all relative, David said.
You know how some classes yoga that aren't going so well seem to drag on forever? And others that you're enjoying seem to finish up really quickly? Well, this one flew by for me and really brought me out of my funk. I had so much fun practicing a playful sequence that felt more like a dance (I just loved clapping along to the music in Warrior 1 and snapping in Warrior 2!)
Peace, love, and music are as relevant today as they were in the 60s; yoga is thousands of years old but it's wisdom lives on; and it doesn't really matter if I get to the conference at 8 or 10 am.
Amazing.
January 31, 2010 by Karen Macklin
 This year, Yoga Journal worked in collaboration with the Green Yoga Association to greenify the conference. One of the biggest initiatives was making sure that there was less paper waste from all of the fliers and brochures people sprinkle around the halls of the Hyatt. To address this problem, the Green Yoga Association set up a wonderful wall (see left)of organized flier holders that you've all probably seen when you enter (it's right on the first floor).  If teachers or businesses want to flier, they pay the GYA a $20 deposit and secure one of the flier slots for their business. Then, at the end of the conference, they get the $20 deposit back when they collect all of their left over printed materials. (If they don't, the GYA ships it back to them using their deposit.) What this means is that nothing gets thrown away! It also means a way better organization of materials, and an improved promotional presence for all involved. In all: a win-win. Learn more about the GYA at its Website: www.greenyoga.org.
January 31, 2010 by Karen Macklin
As I was sitting in Sally Kempton's class today, which focused on karmic relationships, I overheard two women talking behind me about how this year's conference felt more introspective than those of years past. They were excited about all of the philosophical and meditative offerings, which I also really appreciated this year, from Sally Kempton to Kate Holcombe to Christopher Tompkins. And they were also talking about the general tone of the conference feeling more spiritual. Anyone else feel some extra special spiritual ju-ju going on?
January 31, 2010 by Dayna Macy
Master teacher Aadil Palkhivala opened his class on twists and backbends by saying "they have nothing to do with yoga." What he means is that asana, which he says is "not important but utterly necessary," is the first step in the yogic path towards freedom and enlightenment. We do asana because the body is the vehicle for the spirit.
What can I say about Aadil? I love him as a teacher and human being. He is meticulous, hilarious, kind, and precise. He is a big, burly, laughing redwood tree of a Buddha, so grounded in his practice that his spirit can fly big and free.
We did some intense twisting, including a supine variation of Matsyendrasana (hello quads!), and explored how to keep the vertebrae between S1 and T5 safe in backbends.
Here are some tidbits from the Master himself, in no particular order:
"Our practice must serve our individual dharma."
"Through the consequences of our past actions, we can make decisions about our present."
"There is great comfort in mediocrity. I urge you to rise above that to find your potential."
"You are creating your body of tomorrow now."
January 31, 2010 by Dayna Macy
Take an Iyengar gal and throw her into a Shadow Yoga class and what do you get? Lots of sweat and joy!
Scott Blossom taught an hour and a half intro on Shadow Yoga -- a form of yoga that mixes asana, martial arts and dance. All of Shadow Yoga's movements originate from the hips -- deep squats, lunges, twisting spirals, as well as hand mudras combined with attention to the breath. It is a beautiful form and inspiring to do and watch.
January 30, 2010 by Karen Macklin
 If you're anything like me, you might find traipsing around the Hyatt all day to be a bit draining--even if you're riding the prana wave from all of the great yoga classes being offered at the conference. That's why I was happy to see that Yoga Tree, one of the premier yoga studios in San Francisco, has a new addition to the conference this year: They've created a lovely little meditation room on the top floor of the hotel.  It's filled with spiritual art, meditation cushions, rugs, and a quiet, contemplative energy. Today, there were two events held there--an afternoon meditation by Chris Tompkins (who also provided the art on view) and an evening chanting with Elizabeth Rosser. I think there is more stuff going on tomorrow, so check the schedule outside of the room. Or just pop in to see the paintings and sculptures,and sit in some quietude before jetting back out into the happy busy yoga frenzy.
January 30, 2010 by Karen Macklin
 What a blissful treat to spend two hours with Saul David Raye and his band today! As a teacher, Saul embodies the qualities of being both rooted and otherworldly, and he led the class through two hours of meditation, chanting, and mellow asana, with his 5-piece bhakti band playing guitar, flute, and percussion throughout. The theme that Saul kept returning to was that of the circular, which he talks about as being the feminine energy (as opposed to the linear, male energy), and he invited us to delve deeply into the circular, moving our bodies in freeform to the music and singing from our hearts to chants like Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavanthu.  We also engaged in belly laughing. For a moment, I felt it difficult to force laughter, but then he told us to laugh at the absurdity of our problems, and the room broke into giggles. The class ended with a beautiful rendition of the Gayatri mantra, and a deep savasana. Something about Saul's way of teaching inspired a deep sense of gratitude in my heart for all of the amazing people who have touched my life. Om!
January 30, 2010 by Karen Macklin
While bopping around the marketplace today at the conference, I noticed the usual assortment of goodies: yoga mats, essential oils, cool new yoga garb, Luna Bar samples (I admit to scarfing down a few in between classes), and handmade jewelry. (Though I realize this has nothing to do with yoga, I did buy a pair of earrings by a lovely Californian designer named Baroni Designs). 
It was all good stuff, but one cool thing I noticed was this sign, which says "yoga gives back to Haiti" on a number of the vendors' tables. The sign indicates that the vendor will make a donation of his or her own discretion, depending on how well he or she does with business at the conference. Great way to bring money--and awareness--to the devastation in Haiti, and what better place for it than a yoga conference.
January 30, 2010 by Karen Macklin
 There's not much I love more than getting nerdy with yoga. Moving my body in asana is great, but digging into the richness of ancient texts excites me to no end. Chris Tompkins, who is a Tantrik Scholar in the Bay Area, is someone I have heard give numerous talks and they never disappoint. This morning, at a lecture, he gave a brief history of the Tantrik tradition, comparing it to other schools of yoga, specifically Patanjali's (the classical yoga path based on the Yoga Sutras). The way Tompkins breaks it down is that Tantra, which came after classical yoga, had two new revolutionary offerings: 1 - it offered the possibility of liberation in this lifetime (as opposed to having to wait many lifetimes to become enlightened) and 2 - it offered practices that were life and body affirming (meaning that the Tantra practitioners saw things of daily life - eating, dancing, reading, etc.- as paths to liberation as opposed to obstacles). Tompkins also gave some sanskrit lessons, and showed some pictures of Tantrik art images. I have been studying this path for the last two years or so and I love the messages it conveys - that we can move toward a higher state of consciousness and unity with the universe, while still living in the world as householders and human beings. Here's a quote Tompkins provided about the Tantrik vision of samadhi, which is speculated to be taken from around the 12th Century: "The sages say that samadhi is the perpetual realization of the sameness of the individual soul and the supreme soul." In other words, we are not only in the universe, but the universe exists in each and every one of us. Yes!
January 30, 2010 by Erica Rodefer
Today, I learned why Lilias Folan captured the hearts of a nation as the host of her own yoga show on PBS in the 1970s. (I admit this was a few years before I was even born, so I hadn't had much exposure to her before.) The woman has personality--I mean, real star power! And she has an amazing knack for explaining complex things in such simple language that anyone can understand. I guess she learned to be really clear from her time on TV. Can you imagine trying to teach yoga to people you can't see? "I had to use my imagination," she explained with a smile. I found the class to be incredibly entertaining and fun. But one of the most inspiring parts of the class was how Lilias actually showed us how yoga is for every body (the name of the workshop). She helped people who were brand new to yoga, those with recent surgeries, and injuries. Not strong enough to lift your whole body up with your arm strength from Dandasana (Staff Pose)? Try it in the bathtub, she said. (I'm totally trying that later!) Are your hamstrings tight? Create a little resistance first, then see how much further you can stretch. Whatever your limitation, Lilias can show you how yoga is still accessible and beneficial. And that, my friends, is what yoga conferences are really all about.
January 30, 2010 by
I dutifully read every article Sally Kempton writes for Yoga Journal because I love her clear logic and practical application for problems of the mind, so I was very excited to find that her succinct class was just as accessible and useful. Sally focused on defining emotions that create deep grooves in our consciousness (dubbed samskaras by yogis and neural grooves by scientists) or the "mind dragons": Anger, grief, desire and fear.
They are called dragons because of the historical symbolism this flying reptile ignites: dragons are powerful, misunderstood creatures that some traditions want to slay in order to win the treasure and other traditions want to befriend as a protector and spiritual boon. Taking either interpretation into account, dragons are powerful as they can drag us into mental entanglement. This power can be dangerous and incite fear, but if handled correctly, as Sally explains through Tantric tradition, they can be used for growth.
First, we were told to pick an event that ignited the emotion in question. I chose anger, but others chose grief. Then, we were to write a brief story recalling the events leading to that emotion.
Next, we circled the emotional words: angry, afraid, frustrated, rejected, etc. and wrote them on a separate page. We then wrote the opposite of each word next to the troublesome emotion so we could start to feel the difference even in thinking these words.
Finally, Sally instructed us through a meditation where we felt the emotion, brought it back up and noticed were it physically lodged. Mine was in the throat, but others mentioned the heart or solar plexus. After sitting with it, we dissolved that feeling; physically imagining it breaking apart with hands or as a galaxy--whatever worked. We then repeated this step, and I was surprised to find that it was already much easier to dissolve the second time. Pretty neat.
The class flew by, but we also had a chance to do a meditation on desire; the main idea of Tantra being that desires are natural and not to be suppressed. Rather, we focused on the feeling of fulfillment and came to many different, though all profound realizations. Oftentimes we seek that feeling of fulfillment, and we then have a chance to realize we already have everything we could ever desire; I left this class with a new sense of peace.
January 30, 2010 by
Manoj Chalam is a rarely brilliant and balanced person. A researcher and scientist, he also fluidly navigates spirituality and ancient texts, backing up tradition with evidence. The hour-long talk was a brief introduction to the gods and goddesses of the vedantic tradition with a focus on their important role as archetypes and spiritual guides.
Manoj also outlined the four basic paths of yoga and explained the need for all of them in a balance unique to each individual's karmic weight. The stories and symbolism of different deities encourage different openings along one's unique path. This is definitely something I want to spend some time with: discovering an archetype that resonates with me and then learning its lessons through sitting in meditation with the symbols.
If you haven't gotten much into the metaphor of ganasha--a giant elephant headed god--riding on a mouse--a symbol for the racing mind--to squash it into clarity or the story of Patanjali (author of the foundational Yoga Sutra) falling from heaven as a snake to experience life's lessons, then it is time to pick up Manoj's book and enjoy the history of enlightenment.
January 30, 2010 by
Shadow yoga was the most difficult practice I have attempted for awhile. While Scott Blossom was fascinating in his theory and fluid in his form demonstration, I had trouble accessing any deep "ah ha!" moments in this class.
I felt something similar to how I felt after my first yoga class: I was totally lost and unsure if I was doing any of the movements "right," I didn't feel release or deep stretches, I was off on the breath, and my undisciplined mind was critical of this inability.
The movements reminded me a lot of qi gong practices I've done, and the discussion on marma points in ayurveda was also interesting and right up my alley with my studies in Chinese medicine. I especially liked the running metaphor of the mind as moon and the body as the sun. I agree that my yoga practice is sometimes too "yang" and asana focused, and it was also an eye opener to notice how undisciplined my mind remains.
All of this evidence points toward me perhaps needing to do more of
this kind of yoga, since a beginner's mind is something both humbling
and necessary for growth, but I am not sure I feel karmically called to work on my imbalances through shadow yoga. Who knows, something made me give yoga another chance all those years back; maybe one day I will be ready for the depths shadow yoga has to offer.
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