What does your asana say about you?

On the surface, our asanas can look like nothing more than a physical posture we somehow wiggled ourselves into. But if you dig a little deeper you’ll find that each pose reveals a little bit about you, maybe even telling you things you didn’t know. This morning I came across a beautiful quote - “Every asana holds the potency to give us the deep recognition of who we really are at our essential nature.” ~ Bernadette Birney, certified Anusara teacher. I instantly fell in love with this. I feel like it perfectly sums up exactly what I have been thinking about myself lately. I have been noticing things about myself when I am on my mat that have helped me to understand myself a little bit better when I am off the mat.

When I dig a little deeper I notice that the way I think, feel and respond to my asanas are very similar to my reactions in every day activities and situations. Here are a few poses that have helped me learn a little bit more about who I am.

• Downward Facing Dog has reinforced for me how much I love organization. Down Dog was always a bit of a sloppy pose for me. I could hang out there forever allowing myself to sink deeper and deeper due to flexibility in my shoulders without any thought to alignment or form. It was ok, but it never felt … right. It wasn’t until I discovered Anusara yoga that I learned how important alignment is in each and every pose, and for me that lesson began in down dog. Once I was taught the proper alignment for the pose I felt things begin to fall in line inside my body. My bones were lined up they way they were meant to be, my muscles were doing the jobs they were meant to do and everything felt like it had fallen to place. I felt organized. Finally, the pose began to feel good. That is exactly the feeling I like to emulate in my day to day activities. Of course I can be messy from time to time (my husband can attest to that!) But I love when things are lined up and neat, I enjoy making lists, I’m a huge fan of organizing with bullet points and numbers. Organization is definitely my friend and on the mat, that comes out in the form of alignment. When my body is aligned properly my poses feel neat and organized, and that is when I feel the best!
• Extended side angle has shown me that when things get tough I have the urge to quit! There are times that I have found myself facing some challenging tasks that I enjoy and want to exceed at, and then there are times I have faced challenging situations that scared me, annoyed me or just seemed too hard, and thats when I want to run in the other direction. On the mat the poses that make me want to give up, roll up my mat or lay down in childn’s pose are hip openers like extended side angle. I find myself struggling there, trying to keep my alignment right, my breath steady and my mind from wandering, while my muscles are screaming, let me out of this already!!! Similar to my on-mat experience, off the mat I find that while facing tough decisions, having a difficult discussion with someone, or attempting a challenging task that doesn’t appeal to me, as soon as it becomes a little bit too hard or pushes me past my comfort zone, I want to bail. On the mat I try to remind myself to just take it one breath at a time. I make an effort to stop looking for a way out of it, and start looking for a comfortable place to be in it. This is the lesson I need to remember in my day to day activities. One breath at a time. When faced with a difficult situation I cant start looking for the exit sign. I need to start looking inside of myself for the strength and courage to face what I am dealing with.
• Crow pose has shown me that when I put my mind to something, no matter how difficult a task it may be, I can succeed. This definitely goes hand in hand with my lessons learned from extended side angle. From my very first arm balance, crow pose, I was hooked. At first I saw crow pose as a challenge I needed to conquer. It was a difficult pose for me and I wanted it bad. It took me a lot of practice (and a few more lessons on awareness and alignment) before I could finally get up and hold it, but once I did the feeling was amazing. In the beginning it had been all about the physical challenge, but once I could actually do it, I felt so strong and capable. There is something about being able to support your own body weight that is very empowering! And despite the fact I know I have the urge to run from difficult situations, arm balances like crow pose have shown me that if I stick around and give it a good shot, I most definitely can conquer anything I am faced with.

Next time you roll out your mat set an intention to listen to the story your asana practice is telling you. Listen to your body, check in with your breath, notice where your mind has gone. Try to find that connection between your asana and your life.

My Love Affair with Yoga

Last week a fellow yogi asked me, “what brought you to yoga?”, and you know me, I just had to write about it :) It is interesting actually that I haven’t blogged about this one before as it is something I think about often.

Sometimes I wonder about other yogis and what their first experience with yoga was like. Was it mind blowing, or just so-so? I often hear stories about people whose first yoga class was a life changing experience, that they knew in the first few moments of class that they were destined to be yogis. They felt an immediate change in their mind and in their bodies. For many, it took only the first few breaths in down dog to know they were hooked for life. I didn't have an experience like that. For me, it was much more of a gradual relationship that I took my time getting into. The more stories I read about that “love-at-first-sight” experience with Yoga made me feel like I had missed out on something. I mean, sure I thought yoga was nice and all, but we were definitely friends first!

I was always very interested in fitness, nutrition and even holistic health, but yoga was not up there on the list for me when I first started. I attended my very first yoga class when I was around 18 years old. It was at a local YMCA and I was tagging along with my older sister. While I'm sure I thought it was nice and all, there were no sparks flying. I never thought to myself, this is what I have been looking for all my life. It was something to do that felt good and fit nice, but that’s about where it stopped. I took a few classes here and there when I could, but I definitely didn’t go out of my way to fit in into my schedule. I guess you could say yoga & I were causally dating.

 My relationship with yoga deepened over the next few years as I bounced around from studio to studio, trying out different teachers and different styles, deepening my knowledge of the practice. I became more and more invested, and what had once been mostly a physical routine for me started to become more spiritual. I had begun practicing yoga for one reason, and then it turned into something else completely. (Sound familiar?) I became more interested in the other aspects of a yogic lifestyle, not just the asanas. The yamas and the niyamas were of particular interest to me as I began to apply these social and moral codes to my every day life and not just to my mat practice. Throughout the years, yoga and I became closer and closer, and eventually evolved into the wonderful relationship we have today. I am happy to say that after many years of practice and study I now make my living as a full time yoga instructor. But I still consider myself to be first and foremost a student of yoga.
 
Sometimes I do wish that I had had that incredible feeling of love and attachment for yoga when we first met. Sometimes I don’t completely understand why I didn’t have that while others do. But I remind myself  that it doesn’t matter how we started out, what matters is where we are at now. I trust that it all happened the way it was meant to happen. Isn’t it true that the relationships we enter into slowly and take our time with are the ones that last? Maybe at 18, 19 and 20 years old I was not ready to invite yoga into my life the way I now have 12 years later. Maybe at that time, I was only meant to have a taste of what was yet to come. Now, I do feel that addiction to yoga. I get a rush from a great class or a really awesome inversion. I enjoy diving into yoga philosophy and learning how to apply the principals to my daily life. I crave the knowledge that I get from workshops and trainings, and I enjoy more than anything sharing that knowledge with the students who grace me with their presence during my weekly classes.

What, then, is your great love story with yoga? What brought you to the mat, and what keeps you coming back?

Lighten Up!....It's Just Yoga!

When was the last time you smiled during your yoga practice?

Can't remember, can you? At some point it used to be fun, right? Think back to your first yoga class. Something about the class, the environment, or the teacher drew you in. Look at you; you have been practicing for so long now! It must have been fun at some point! And then somewhere along the way things changed. It turned into something you had to schedule and stick to, something rigid and serious. You feel guilty when you skip a practice (been there, done that! read here: guilty yogi link), you tighten the muscles in your face and grind your teeth when your in Warrior II and you become frustrated when you can't balance in tree pose for a full minute, and angry at your neighbor who can. The voices outside the yoga room stress you out because you can't concentrate and the sound of your neighboring yogis ujjayi breathing is so annoying! Rather then feeling calm and relaxed you walk out of class with a scowl and raised blood pressure. Where did it all go wrong, and how can we get that lighthearted, easy going fun feeling back in our practice?

Maybe we can take a cue from children. When do they get upset? When do they frown or cry? When do they tighten up all the muscles in their face, get annoyed or angry or mad at each other? When they aren't having fun! Kids are all about fun and they don't take things so seriously! Yesterday in my children's yoga class we were practicing pranayama, or breathing activities called blowing scarves. The children use lightweight colored scarves to see what they can do with their breath. They separated into pairs, and one of them would blow their scarf across their mat and the other would catch and blow it back. Somewhere during this activity two little girls realized just how much fun it was to see how fast they could blow the scarves to each other and it became a race to see who could blow it over faster. Their breath became short and shallow, their postures went to mush and they slowly went from using their breath to throwing the scarves to each other. They broke out into fits of hysterical laughter. My first instinct was to redirect them back to the original purpose of the game but then I stopped myself. Their little faces were lit up with enjoyment, their smiles were contagious and their laughter was adorable to hear. Where, I thought, is the harm in letting them have a few more moments of enjoyment from this new game they created? So I let them laugh it out for a few more minutes and then I collected the scarves and we moved on. Throughout the remainder of the class I took note of how often the kids smiled, to themselves, to each other and to me. I noticed how often they laughed, or started humming or singing out loud. I noticed how they made comments to each other during their poses like "look what I can do" and "wow that looks so cool!" I was much more aware of their energy and their enthusiasm for each and every pose or activity we started. It was honest, it was refreshing, and it was beautiful. And there is no reason why we cannot approach our practice with the same amount of vigor and umph! There is no reason why we shouldn’t be smiling during our vinyasa, or sharing a secret with our neighbor about a trick we use in side plank pose. We can laugh at ourselves when we fall out of tree pose and take the opportunity to tell our friend that their chaturanga rocked!

Next time you hit the mat, start with a smile. Take a moment to breath, be thankful that you can and are practicing, and let your enthusiasm for the practice fill the room. Let the joy of the practice replace any of the fear, concern, seriousness or rigidness we have attached to yoga. Move through your asanas with a sense of joy and happiness. Approach each pose as if it were something new and exciting and allow your child-like spirit to shine through! Of course, it is completely up to you how you proceed from this point forward. If you prefer you can continue to practice with a closed off heart and a scowl on your face, counting the minutes until you can roll up your mat and get out of there! Even though I sometimes forget myself, I do prefer to recognize that time spent on our mat all about having fun, and we should enjoy it as much as we can!

Need some help adding that umph to your practice? Check out these helpful tips: 

• Smile: Next time you catch yourself frowning during class, do something about it! Turn it into a smile and try your best to keep it on your face for the rest of your practice. You will notice a difference in your attitude and in your practice, I promise!
• Laugh: Feel free to laugh during class. Laugh at yourself, laugh at your neighbors, and laugh at your teacher (all in good spirit of course!) As soon as you release a little burst of joy the rest of the class will seem a lot more easy going! Next time you find yourself wobbling during tree pose or even falling right out of it, let out a good hearty laugh. Show yourself and others that you don't take it so seriously! If there is a teacher out there who discourages you from laughing in class, maybe he or she isn’t the right teacher for you anyway!
• Lead with the heart: Let the love and joy in your heart be the reason you practice. Allow yourself to find meaning in each practice and each asana. Dedicate your practice to someone you love. With every inhale and exhale think about all the things you have to be thankful for. When you put your heart into your practice it takes on a whole new meaning.
• Switch it up: Try a new style or a new class. Check out something that sounds interesting and exciting like acroyoga, ariel yoga or circus yoga. Try a class at a new studio or if you have the time and funds take a yoga retreat, near or far. If your short on time or funds, check out a new yoga dvd from the video store, library or look at your TV on demand! Make sure you’re looking for something that seems fun and appealing to you, something out of the norm. I suggest Shiva Rea fluid power or trans dance. This free flowing yoga dance is sure to open up your heart, bring a smile to your face and leave you feeling invigorated!