Category: Yoga

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Healthy Living Yoga

Flowing through Yin & Yang

“Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos — the trees, the clouds, everything.”
― Thich Nhat Hahn  

I love Vinyasa Flow practice. But I also LOVE yin practices.  And Restorative – It’s blended and fused …  why be limited – our body deserves a well rounded practice customized and personalized for that day’s condition.  It’s a therapy.  Always trauma informed … I would call it more Yin Yang or Slow Juicy Flow to Restore kind of practice rather than power yoga… it’s nourishing.  My schedule has prevented me from going to my favorite local practices (always nice to be a student, right?) by excellent teachers … so … I have a home or on the go- yoga anywhere – practice.  20 minutes here and there and like mala beads, beaded on fine silk thread, string them together for a complete practice – sometimes it’s not 108; just an increment at a time and that’s … okay. First 20 min. for standing poses; next for sitting and supine; next 20 min. for inversions or Pranayama practice; then next 20 min. for meditation or if too depleted restorative or Savasana.  Total of 90 min. sprinkled throughout the day – Sometimes, it may be just one segment but my Yoga Therapy Teacher knowledge has helped me to distill the key poses for managing my energy level free of tightness and tension while benefiting from other “exercise” moderate in nature.

Trying out some seamless flow to trace back my own yoga history.  I was reminded Vinyasa Flow was the initial practice that first drew me into be curious about yoga and later further reach out for this deeper practice of Yin and Restorative –  the quieter, the softer, contemplative, and in my opinion, a tougher, more sophisticated, true to original intent, thus, authentic practices that only came with some maturity and depth … an understanding about what’s essential.  That.  That interconnection of our breath to our mental state, our emotional state, while being fully present in the physical body. What’s weaved in is also that jewel of meditation practice – the ultimate goal of Yoga and why? Why is yoga a “means” to an end?  And what is that “end” look like?  Modern science and medicine has evidenced that meditation practice appears to increase the grey matter in our brain and staves off dementia.  Here’s the link:)   And you ask what is grey matter?  Here you go …

Then, there’s also many so called “anti-aging”* physical benefits we gain from stretching, lengthening the shortened muscles and relieving tight knots and hardening prior to any exercise.  The quiet practice brings about Clarity and the … Calm.  At first, though, there was always that exuberant flow practice – the endorphin rush to counter that annoyance, irritations, indignation … anxieties or call it stress that masks the fear … The Yang for those with irritations, annoyances, angst, frustrations, limited and limited thinking and so … slush that out of the system before or after the journey into the better versions of ourSELVES.  To be reminded that underneath all that layers and layers of stories and talks, there lies a true shimmering luminous … Self.

Embracing both … the Yin and the Yang for better balance where your core is strengthened after your connective tissues and bone structure and alignment is tuned up for the strengthening practice.  Let’s have a well-rounded practice – if there’s no time, we make time when we tune up our insides.  Remembering – it’s inside out.    

Yin sequence for kidney care … sharing:) Fascinating organs – our kidneys!

Our system is interconnected and well-wired when we breathe in harmony …to integrate mind, body and spirit:)  Yoga works when the practice itself is well-rounded.

 

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Healthy Living Yoga

Yoga as Complementary Holistic Therapy

Kamakura Buddha cast in 1252 – This Buddha sits open air but learned for the first time that he/she was once housed indoors under a temple roof … but the building, that temple had been destroyed by disasters and this Buddha remained. Apparently there’s a much bigger one under a temple roof in Nara – that, I have yet to visit… but this, this Kamakura Daibutsu is enough.  To me, it shows the resilience, the strength, whatever the elements and the weather, it has withstood them all, over 700 years. Sitting in repose.

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Lady Gaga – Not her fan but ended up watching her documentary on Netflix and … taken to see “Star is Born” on the big screen.  Okay, so I cried my eyes out watching the film, and yet, I am still not her “fan”.   I do admit she’s got guts and she is talented like so many who just does not reach the stardom she has achieved. If anything, it’s probably her outlandish outrageous b.a. style and strong tough substance – that power and over-the-top fashion, we are repelled and attracted to at the same time. She is bold and fearless – and – that power, we are energized by. So when she shows her vulnerability, we are all the more floored by her.

Lady Gaga’s love for yoga is well publicized … so I was wondering why she appeared to be in so much chronic pain on the documentary  – did she practice too much of the extreme yoga so she tore her ligaments or strained her muscles?  did she over-do it? is it that sprint, jump or the spin or the split she did without a warm up in the dance routine?  Is it due to those high heels? Then I realized she suffers from “Fibromyalgia” and yoga may be one of many ways she copes.  How yoga practice helps her with her stage performance is a no-brainer but with Fibromyalgia?  It did not take very long for me to realize that she may also be practicing yoga not to up her stage presence but more for its therapeutic power to alleviate the symptoms of this mysterious disease, presently with no cure.

From Niroga – when we each thought about our “strengths” …

This is part excerpt from United Nations NY Yoga Club in addition to material from my Niroga Yoga Therapy training:

“Fibromyalgia is a debilitating health condition characterized by widespread pain in muscles, tendons and ligaments; it also associated to fatigue and multiple tender points. Those affected also experience restless legs syndrome, bowel or bladder problems, numbness and tingling in the extremities, and strong sensitivity to noise, light and temperature; many sufferers also have sleep and memory problems, as well as symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).”

Did you know sufferers are estimated to be between five and ten million Americans older than 18 years.  It is also interesting to note that for no particular known reasons, and, women are more affected than men at 80% to 90% rate.

►Fibromyalgia’s  “precipitating conditions,” including stress, anxiety, and PTSD.  New research has identified the role of abnormalities in the functioning of the autonomous nervous system. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) and Massachusetts General Hospital found a connection between brain inflammation and fibromyalgia using modern positron-emission tomography (PET scans).

►Yoga has been found a promising complementary therapy for fibromyalgia.  Yoga brings on the positive benefits of the parasympathetic nervous system and the “hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.”  So it’s been evidenced that  even a very basic regime of Asanas that include hand and hamstring stretches and mild spinal twists can alleviate pain in the tender points.   An routine and unwavering, steady practice is strongly recommended according to the findings.

► See a summary of the research article: https://medicalxpress.com/…/2018-09-people-fibromyalgia-inf… For general information about fibromyalgia, see “Questions and Answers about Fibromyalgia” from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (Washington, DC: NIH, July 2014): https://web.archive.org/…/www.niam…/health_info/fibromyalgia

►For the benefits of yoga, there are numerous sources of information, but UN Club highlighted this one: S. L. Crotzer: “Yoga for Fibromyalgia:” https://books.google.com/books… R. Nall: “Is Yoga useful…?:”https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/315142.php

This is very interesting – Something to think about if you or know someone affected by this autoimmune disease.  See HERE.

Hope you find this helpful if you are a sufferer or know of someone who is at lost as to what to do to care for oneself affected by this debilitating disease.  Chronic pain, caused by this disease or any other cause is tough to bear – but – keeping in mind that mind-body-spirit practice such as yoga can help  – at least give it a try as there’s no … side-affects.  No side affects.  Repeat – no side affects.  No side affects. It is also empowering as you are invoking the healer within you.  It is important to find the right kind of yoga as yoga can mean so many things – it need not be intense nor Ashtanga Primary Series for one to reap the benefits of this practice.  Be kind; be gentle – allow oneself to sigh deeply into the layers of inner depths and find ease in the tenderness of self-care; self-love; self-compassion.  It’s a way of self-actualization into the best version of ourselves.

Looked up to find these in a hole in a wall kind of Indian restaurant in Tokyo …

Not all of us can do great things but we can do small things with great love.

– Mother Teresa

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“Dream is not that which you see while sleeping it is something that does not let you sleep.”

― A P J Abdul Kalam, Wings of Fire

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The words are not lost in translation – just need a good translator who understands the spirit of both languages to bridge the two languages, cultures, intentions, …separate and divergent worlds into Oneness.

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Yoga Teacher Training – What to look for depends on

what your intentions are. In the following posts, I will bring up some points to consider as you do your due-diligence of various yoga teacher training offerings locally and in distant-learning.

First and foremost – most important question to ask oneself is, again and again:  What is the intention.  What motivates one to pursue this course of action.  My intentions were clear when I embarked on my journey so I will have to ask what about yours?

As for my own training beyond the 200 hrs. well spent with Sri Teacher Training (locally headed by Jean Mezzei and Brenna Geehan, advanced committed yogis whose lineage traces to Himalayan Institute, publisher of Yoga International), to go deeper meant more investments in opportunity costs and real out of pocket costs.  Was that worth it ? (YES!) Unless you had a very mature practice and many years of that (or have a background such as gymnastics, dance or theater), many who obtain 200 hrs. of training are not well equo[[ed to face room full of students beyond the scripts and blueprints.  So, I was also fortunate to be invited to attend a pilot program, an internship at Nandi studio, a lovely studio, now an affiliate studio of NYC’s Jivamukti yoga school.

Then … I taught for awhile at a community center, then a premier gym, and a local boutique yoga studio, then, took on some privates so that those who were intimidated in group classes can once again regain the confidence to get back to the group classes which I highly recommend – us humans want to be in a “tribe” however transient or long lasting – our lives are more enriched, more connected we are to each other, that is, after we learn to connect with Self.  All these experience basically fueled my passion to learn more.  Stoked, it seemed that desire for further learning sparked each time I led a class or attended a class.  So, I evaluated various offerings near and far and decided to attend an Open House put on by Niroga.  Impressed by the vibe of the place,  I embarked on Yoga Therapy 800 hrs. training at Niroga Institute in Oakland, CA, a non-profit yoga education center.

This is the simplified version of their curriculum I completed  – HERE. 

While there were areas of overlap with the 200 hrs. TT, it’s interesting how a shift in perspective and clearer intentions make all the difference in how a student absorbs the material.

800 hrs. certificate from Niroga and certification with International Association of Yoga Therapists, gave me many things but most importantly the advance training gave me more … confidence.  Yes,  … CONFIDENCE and ability to observe and discern and design a protocol, based on solid updated knowledge (I use the word UPDATED as some classical? yoga is not in line with medical discoveries and advances in science made since) , practical techniques and … practice.  Of course, it’s never enough and that’s the fun of yoga.  So deep and so big, there’s always more to learn – Yoga is COSMIC and as much as it has answers, there are always more questions.  I am in reviewing state (anatomy is fun!) but once the materials are regurgitated and digested, I am sure I will embark on even more learning to connect more dots and find a community of like minded.  Yoga draws beautiful souls.

Please look over the curriculum I linked to get an idea of the expanse of this program.  Honestly, the learning that transpired there was very special – we had recent college grads, grad students, doctors both MDs and PhDs, therapists, former-Broadway actress, LGBT activists, former Ivy league grad Wall Street MBA, yoga studio owners and moms, retirees … I mean, students from all walks of life, each with unique stories, life & work experiences and intentions. Imagine what happens in a yoga classroom when all these people come together under the guidance of BK, Rosalind and Heidi in addition to that months’ visiting faculty.  It was an amazing mind altering and body conscious time of connections – Connections with each other, connections within ourselves, connecting the dots … from inside to outside… connections to the waves of vibrations … the energy, our communal PRANA, the common thread being our love and gratitude for this sacred practice of …yoga.

The faculty was stellar and I really don’t know if there ever will be a training where they can assemble this kind of master faculty members, each an expert in their field.  Here we were able to consider certain niches in the area of yoga education and therapy.  During the 2-3 years I spent there, the Director and Founder, BK Bose, co-wrote and published a book on Dynamic Mindfulness targeting school teachers and students, where he saw the most optimal ways to make a difference in changing the lives of many at the most formative stage in our lives.  In order to focus on this renewed mission, Niroga has taken a break from offering Yoga Therapy training, consequently, 50 or so of us were the last of the 2-year program as Niroga’s mission has shifted.  It’s sad but … schools are founded and their offerings will shift and evolve based on the leadership’s intention and vision.

Hope as we start out this new year of 2019, we set our intentions with clear vision so that our dreams do not remain dreams but become a reality.  We each have the power to realize our dreams if not today, tomorrow:)  May your yoga practice on the mat, serve you off the mat.

Serving Judith H Lasater’s TT as one of her assistants – a great learning experience.

Gratitude for the opportunity to serve in small ways to receive the gift of inspirations she exudes with her thoughtful words and profound presence.

She is witty, sharp and yet soft and always … knowledgeable.

Read her book, “Living Your Yoga”, a little gem found in the ordinary everyday living. An easy read written by a committed and dedicated yoga teacher much respected.

Pelvic Floor workshop in Berkeley with Leslie Howard – personally I think this is a topic to take up for women, as there’s so much need.  Kegal exercise is not enough …Walked away thinking … for the goddesses, how about “core” and … add on the “floor” !? Yes, it’s “Core & Floor” 🙂 I just thought it up – can we coin this as a title for a workshop?  The floor is the “container” of our vessel, the body with all the internal organs served up.

At Niroga …another inspiring master teacher, Saraswathi Devi.

Trained in India, she’s that powerful and graceful yogini who has been teaching for over 40 years – she has that incredible VOICE fit to be an opera singer.  Nothing but respect for this karma yogini, helping so many bound in various limitations to break free of physical shackles to regain freedom and ease  – she’s truly the light lit in the shadows and darkness of some in despair – she is a personification of what hope and strength looks like..

My Triangle after Judith’s adjustments … sand bag works:)

Yoga in Tokyo … learning that a class need not be “intense” to be of great value in vastly lifting one’s mood, energy level and promoting overall health. Strengthening some muscles by methodically (vs. mindlessly) weaving in small challenges progressively to achieve the … state of bliss:)