Wag-a-Yoga: Healing & Revitalization with Kay T Ananda Yoga Therapy

in fact, it can be very very muddy harvesting this root for our gastronomical consumption…

Okay, so here too, it’s mud, mud, mud, no lotus (flower) up North in Vancouver this season.
Where is the blossom? When does it flower?

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Returned from Japan via Taipei (just a stopover during typhoon weather – would love to explore this city next time), then to Vancouver (stayed awhile – a very cosmopolitan city with lots of yoga – after all, isn’t this place the birthplace of Lululemon?) and now home. What a relief… “there’s no place like home” cried Dorothy and savoring that similar sentiment – if only I could have just clicked the heels of ruby red shoes to get home. Or have that Doraemon-like private helicopter to go from one place to another with no time zone diff. Rather, a head-spin… Suffering from the worst jet lag ever…

Feeling unprepared as I stress over coming back to reality where TO DO LIST awaits stealth like … Probably not having been able to practice the kind of yoga that’s suitable for last couple weeks have brought on this sense of … discomfort. Serious discomfort in my own skin. It’s a bitter medicine to learn from the consequence of not listening to my own body and mind – I should know how to take care of them – I should know better – all studied – yes, that art of self-care – and yet, somehow all went out the window as I let myself languish in the hot heat and humidity of 95% … somehow made myself a prisoner to an air conditioned indoor environment … as news constantly reported alarming temperatures of near or over 100F and dangers of sun strokes… Take one step outside, and immediately, I would be dripping with sweat – so muggy – sweltering suffocating heat. If you like Bikram yoga, I suppose, it’s just ideal … but it’s not just 90 minutes – it’s 24/7. How is that for hell for a pitta dosha like me? I used to love summer in Japan as a child but … it’s either global warming or my body has changed – it’s so much hotter than how I remember my childhood summers – even college years summers in Japan. I Love Japan but only in Spring, Autumn and Winter …30F degrees cooler upon landing to Vancouver… (95 degrees cooled to about 60… I would call this a drastic change…)

While in Vancouver, feeling the need to “restore” myself into balance, did seek out a Restorative yoga class and a Yin – always fascinating to see how others teach them – at a sparkly posh downtown studio, the 90 minutes class taught by a father of a two-year old, rather buffed young instructor, very talkative with an interesting playlist, first; an interesting sequence of many squats, second; an interesting ‘take’ on “restorative yoga”, third. Guess ALL yoga should be “restorative” in one way or another so his departure from the expected can be appreciated. Let’s just say, it was a playground … with props. Packed to the brim with 50+ diverse students and counting – a bit surprised on Sunday morning at 9:45 … while not exactly what I had expected nor wanted, it worked to bring about some sense of ease and comfort in my own body tight, stiff and sore from hours of sitting and waiting in different time zones. So in need of relief … (will cover this class at another post)So in need of comfort, support and sense of security. A Balance.

As I tried to restore myself, I found myself chanting to self … “no mud, no lotus, no mud, no lotus… ” My trip to Japan was not a vacation – visiting my aunt dying at a hospice was grating to my nerves and exhausting … Why do good people have to leave this world to go to another? Why does our body have to wither away ? Why do we suffer? If we can’t live forever, we have to live in the moment – that eternal moment. That eternity we pin our hopes to – that life is meaningful and precious.

Tried to find peace as I took in the group energy…all looking for some relief from the daily grind – the struggles… Sunday is a day God (or Higher Power) bestowed on us to REST, DIGEST, INTEGRATE so that we may PREPARE for Monday.

AND lotus roots are so tasty… love RENKON – a very popular common root veggie in Japan is lotus roots… it’s super yummy:)

I realize I am getting away from the Buddhist teaching significance …celebrating this root vegetable. It’s crunchy and yet a little bit chewy …a must for Chirashi sushi my mother used to make:)

and here’s renkon edamame …

and renkon chips:)

So…

No mud, No lotus. No dark, No light. No sadness, No happiness. No Yang, No Yin. No Grief … No Joy then. Repeat – No Mud, No Lotus.
Both spiritual and gastronomical – Amen.

It’s New Moon tonight – the dark moon – the hidden moon often signifies not so much setting of goals but making the intentions or dedications – so thought about the seeds that some of these master yoga teachers gave us … they sowed the seeds:

If you hear the whole interview … Maty refers to it as a “gift” from BKS Iyengar – i.e., “Restorative Yoga” is a gift from the guru. I love Maty’s wisdom and humanity:

* The point is to give you more peace of mind…
* I like to have totality of humanity in my class …

why limit?

* how many people beat themselves up?
* They feel bad… they think they are less of a yogi because they can’t bind … THEN you missed the whole point of yoga … LOVE; YESSS, MORE LOVE!

Yoga is being flexible and pliable … block? Okay! hand? Okay! I try it this way? Okay ! THAT’S YOGA !

Yoga is supposed to be therapeutic.

As parents, we cultivate our children; we want them to blossom into what’s good for them …

Why push a child to be a doctor if the child wants to be an artist – why not artist?

I think students who study Ashtanga should know what’s restorative practice is about.
They should know it.
It’s so magical; it’s such a bridge to pranayama; it’s a bridge to meditation.

YES !

Then I have a student who is VERY capable in the MIND-WISE; they understand that a restorative practice is good; when they understand that a prop can be helpful; when they have that kind of mind; their physical body understands what to do; THEN I WILL teach them the Ashtanga. I will. Why not?

In the West a lot of us are broken. We are really hard on ourselves.

Many people in the West feel feel unworthy and hate themselves …it took him half an hour (to understand and) when he did, he started weeping – “this is wrong thinking” … (the Dali Lama story)

(Iyengar) He was a magician …

This is my way; do it my way or you are no good – I don’t buy that.
This is just one way. It’s a good way. But it has limitations. Why not see what else is possible?

As long as it’s benefit of the student. True benefit to the student – it’s a BENEFIT to your knee; your hip; your ability to nicer to yourself; sweeter to yourself; benefit to the student you have the privilege to teach yoga to.

At some point, it has to feel GOOD!

He was scientifically brilliant.

A-types; triple A-types … ha, ha, ha.

Dali Lama can’t hold his ankles! But he’s the most spiritual creature I’ve ever met!!

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For all yoga teachers and practitioners – one is not better than the other – it’s not a contest, competition or a boot camp**. It’s ALL yoga. Love her intelligence, dedication, humanness. She’s in the league with Judith – like no other. Sheer Respect for these dedicated souls having taught for decades.

** Having said that, she’s one tough teacher – the intensive session with Maty was … tough. BUT there’s this sense of security knowing that she will not harm your body nor mind. She will not place pressure on a body that is less capable or build structurally different. There’s already so much pressure off the mat – why create more on the mat? “At some point, it has to feel GOOD” – YES. It has to feel good. I am tired of gritting teeth, pounding, intense, hard workout. I mean … why? What is there to gain?