He’s funny too! Just delightful!

www.yogajournal.com/video/112?utm_source=MyYogaJournal&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=myj_361

The amazing thing, the class is over 800 people!

PS. I gotta transcribe this!

1. The Anusara invocation.
I sing that every single day. Well, almost… when I walked to take a bus or train. It is sort of to myself but it is calming and beautiful. I remembered how all of us used to sing that 3 times in class together with Bo at the start of every class. Two times, call and response ( Bo sang one verse and all of us followed… ) One time together and finally an om ( or was it 3 oms?… memory fades… ) It was wonderful and lifting. The harmonious sound of all of us together.

2. Pigeon.
Always… which is why I love doing pigeon. It reminded me that it was Bo and Desiree, both my favorite Anusara teachers who made it possible for me. The importance of squaring the hips, the opening of the heart, shoulders back, hugging to the centre, elongating the spine in the pose. Whenever I do this pose, I remembered all these wonderful Anusara teachers.

3. Handstand.
Yes, handstand. I remembered long time ago, I cannot kick up to a handstand against the wall at all. And I feared it. And yes, we have to do it in every class by Bo. For the life of me, I can never kick up. Well, because of me doing the handstand everyday in Bo’s classes, finally I got it. Once I could kick up to handstand against the wall, it was fantastic! And from then onwards, I love handstand. It really gives you a high and I always feel pretty good after a handstand.

4. Hugging to the centre, softening the skin
This was used by Bo a lot in class previously. For the longest time, I did not get what he was trying to say. But when I finally did, I think it made a difference in my practice. Now I always tell myself this in most of the poses.

I really think I need to go back to Anusara…

But luckily, I have a good yoga friend who gave me a wake up call.

Patrick started the class by asking us what is the meaning of “namaste”. This was our homework for today. I remembered during my very first “crush” on yoga, I devoured all the literature I had on yoga and that was when I dug around for meanings on terms used by teachers. There are several explanation of what “namaste” means :

From Wikipedia :

Taken literally, it means “I bow to you”. The word is derived from Sanskrit (namas): to bow, obeisance, reverential salutation, and (te): “to you”.

From Yoga Journal, answer by Aadil Palkhivala :

The gesture Namaste represents the belief that there is a Divine spark within each of us that is located in the heart chakra. The gesture is an acknowledgment of the soul in one by the soul in another.

Ah, Divine spark. So what is the meaning of divine?

From Wiktionary :

divine (comparative more divine, superlative most divine)

1. of or pertaining to a god
2. eternal, holy, or otherwise supernatural.
3. of superhuman or surpassing excellence
4. beautiful, heavenly

I like the explanation of “4. beautiful, heavenly”. This can refer to anyone and anything. How you feel can be divine, your best friend looks divine in her wedding dress, the tiramisu taste divine, the skin cream feels divine on your skin, you feel divine in a heart opening backbends!

For the rest of the class, the emphasis was on rotating the thighs back (always bending the knees first to roll thighs out and then straighten the knees after ) and shoulders back in every pose that we do. Patrick wanted us to do a “Utkatasana” ( chair pose) in every pose including trikonasana, half moon,….

brighter connection within, outer body soft, inner body bright

I managed to wake up at 5am! On Monday, no less! Just because this week, I am attending Patrick’s Progression Sessions ( Brahma Track aka Awakening Sessions ) for five consecutive 6:30am morning sessions.

I was excited perhaps by the fact that finally we have proper Anusara classes again. Even if it’s only for 1 week.

It felt very good indeed. To be back practicing with a Anusara teacher teaching proper Anusara principles and alignment.

First class was already pretty intense I must say, and I wonder what he will built on each day. As he said, he will be adding more and more and hopefully on the last day, Saturday, we would be able to do everything. Wow… we gotta go with the flow, man!

What he did today :
1. Pranayama – Kapalabhati and Uddiyana Bandha ( deep exhale out before sucking the stomach in strong to the spine and release by moving the stomach out before breathing out )

2. Handstand – today was partnering and helping each other to kick into handstand by holding to each other’s hips. Just one today!

3. Warriors 1 and 2 ( Virabhadrasana )

4. Cresent moon, Camel

5. Urdhva Dhanurasana ( wheel + variations of lifting one leg up towards the sky )

6. Tree, Utthita hasta padangusthasana

7. Wild Thing – Three legged dog into wheel

8. Side planks ( Vasisthasana ) – plenty of those, not the full pose yet but just the tree leg and the opening up to wheel

and of course, plenty of vinyasas.

Going with the flow. Lead with your breath. Opening to something bigger.

OM~

Ok, I was offended when I read this : imperfectyogi.blogspot.com/2007/11/anus-tribe.html

The way he wrote about Anusara was downright insulting. I can understand if he said that Anusara yoga did nothing for him (most likely he don’t understand *&#%^ about the anusara principle ) but to insult? Downright un-yoga like in my opinion…. yes, I am feeling pissed and most sad that such a person is teaching yoga and that I have attended his classes before which (- note I have never criticized before ) I never seemed to learn anything from him even though it was a level 2 class. ( i think I learnt much much more from Bo’s Hatha 1 class… )

Well then, all I have to say is that when I go for his class, I don’t feel the “I am part of the Ashtangis, Iyengar, Vinyasa Flow, Sivananda…” flow from this so called yoga teacher… bleh…. I felt that it is never right to say anything bad about any teacher or any yoga for that matter ( but not now )… as I feel that yoga is really such a personal experience. I may feel more connected on one type of yoga or a yoga teacher but not to another yoga type… but am I given the right to insult that yoga? Or that yoga teacher?

Definitely not!

And to say he is discriminated by a yoga style? funny, aint it? I say he just lacks self confident. Choosing to put down a yoga discipline he cannot understand. I am not very good at yoga and do I feel discriminated during Anusara workshops? no…. ask the rest…. And he talks of being part of an accepting and open system… “I am part of the yoga people who don’t subscribe to the Anus Tribe, because it does not work for them, and because they want to remain in an accepting and open system”…. Haha…and he hides behind putting Anusara ==> Anus(ara) in his blog post — hiding or insulting? … talking about being open….

As to how he hurt his back, well, it shows how much he understands Anusara and his body… the real anusara way is never to go beyond what you capable of. Instead it emphasised on how you express the pose… NOT HOW DEEP you go into the pose…

That is what happen when you are new and you go for an immersion workshop with no experience… it’s like you are new to ashtanga and you go for a Mysore class… let me count the ways you can hurt yourself….

SIGH… Ok.. I gotta to stop writing… I need to move on to a more positive note!

One great news…. Patrick is coming to Singapore!!! Yesh! ( thanks to Kelvin who brought this to my attention in my facebook… all of us love facebook… great to have a group of yoga friends to hang around with ) I love Patrick’s Anusara’s classes, totally fun and most “chest opening” and handstands! I really missed Anusara yoga… sigh….

Gotta find more time to write down more of what I learnt during Ellen Heed’s workshop.

PS. Now 15min later… I regret reducing myself to his level of name calling… it’s not me…. but it feels good to say something about things that you felt unjust. But seriously, Desiree Rumbaugh is a great Anusara teacher who I am indebted to for her help (she stayed back and went all out after a long day in workshop to help me, a beginner yoga student then, she probably wont remember ) in discovering the reason as to why my knee hurts 1 year plus ago. More recently a yogi friend who just attended her recent two days workshop in Singapore ( same session as the poor soul above attended of which he felt discriminated ) told me how wonderful the workshop is (my friend has no idea who Desiree was before the workshop) and how Desiree helped her in her back problem ( I saw this pure light up in my yogi friend’s eyes when she talked about Desiree ).

P.P.S. I feel blessed that I came to learn Anusara yoga from Bo, Patrick and Desiree. And how welcoming they made all their students felt in each and every practice and also how each individual is special and unique in their practice and how these Anusara teachers accept everyone ( fat ones, skinny ones, unflexible ones, fearful ones, spiteful ones, jealous ones… ) into the practice.

Everyone, handstands!

Technorati Tags: Anusara

John Friend – my dream to go US to attend his immersion and teachers’ training one day :

Desiree Rumbaugh – I am forever indebted to her for finding out what’s wrong with my knee during pigeon

She is showing how to do forearm balance; using the block really helps one keep your arms active and hug in; notice how she rolls the shoulders of the student… good point to take note :

Wooo… look at that.. she is just floating up into handstand! I can never get tired of watching Bo or Heng Sing doing their float up to handstand either :

This one is using a yoga block to lift up into handstand :

Wow… great way to learn inner spiral of the leg… have someone spiral for you. This has been stressed by Bo again and again to hug in and spiral in when going up in inversions like handstand or headstand or forearm balancing :

BTW, I am pretty hyped about my very first marathon run of 10km tomorrow! The best part is that I never trained for it… oh well, perhaps just daily yoga classes… that’s it. I think it will be interesting to see how yoga can help someone who has no training in marathon running complete for the very first time a 10km run.

Hmm….seriously I do think I just have to be calm and run slowly and keep consistent speed and I’ll be ok! Wish me luck everyone!

Actually the only worry I have is to wake up at 5am!!!!

OM~

Technorati Tags: Anusara teachers, John Friend, Desiree Rumbaugh, forearm balance

Bo says that *correction* –> not his spiritual teacher, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda ( see Siddha Yoga meditation ) but Tony Briggs; thanks for the correction, Bo! *end* said that. What it means or from what I gather is that in each and every yoga pose we do, we observe and do not make any unnecessary commentary in your mind. You know, like if you are doing a long 2 minutes handstand for instance, do not think “my shoulders are hurting”, “pain pain pain”, “so long?”, “how come that girl can do better?”… instead we become more aware of our own body… be in.

I am a good girl today… I went for 2 classes… to make up for missing yesterday’s and today’s morning classes… neck and body is not very cooperative yesterday. Glad to be back in class even though the neck is still a tad painful when I am looking up. So poses that may hurt the neck, like headstand and shoulder stands are out.

It’s good to be back in Bo’s classes.

I love having yoga as a fun, lighted hearted session that everyone can come together as a community to play. So today’s power yoga theme is about “Play”. Yoga should be a practice to connect people and to allow everyone to come together to enjoy each other company and to play and have fun. Like children, without cares and worries from our own adult life outside the studio. This is a great way to break our minds from the daily stresses of LIFE.

Well today we had a “platform” made up of all the yoga mats in the studio. We stacked all the mats into a platform with pillows to boot – for our wall less handstands and forearm balances. Just head on to the center of the thick mats and kick up into handstand and fall.

Yee haaa…!

Well not quite. Most of us in the studio were comprehensive and frightened. The thought of falling backwards without a wall is not particularly something that most of us look forward to.

We went… one by one… like sheeps to be slaughtered… haha… with much hesitation in the beginning ( me too… I thought maybe my neck is a great excuse to skip this one out… HAH… but it looks too fun to miss it ).

However, with everyone’s encouragement ( I love the fact that everyone knows everyone in the room ), support and rooting for each other, everyone in the room tried at least once in the end ( except a new girl who is first time in the class ). It was great to see everyone trying something scary out… trying something out of the box and coming out “fallen” but however, I suspect having fun in the process. ( hey… Bo’s there to “help” us fall so there’s really nothing to be afraid of anyway ) Falling onto soft pillows helps too in softening the “frightful” thud on the mats…

All of you gals and guys in the class ROCK!

Technorati Tags: Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, headstand, shoulder stands, Yoga, handstands, forearm balances

I used to be so passionate about yoga that I go for 3 classes a day and crave for knowledge, reading through magazines, books and more books. But now, life took over and I had forgotten the joy of yoga, finding myself in yoga.

I was suddenly aware of this fact while talking to Shirley yesterday. Somehow excuses always came and yoga was put on “back burners”, although luckily, I still go for practice everyday or at least 5 days minimum per week. The physical aspect of yoga, as in the asanas I know I am improving and practicing… but I had forgo the real important part of yoga – the mind. ( breath too but at least in some classes I still do some pranayama )

So, yesterday night, I made myself read about Anusara yoga. And a light shone somewhere in me. What I read really bring out what I think yoga should be and how yoga was meant to help people :

To re-inspire people in their life, to make people connect to their goodness inside and know that they are beautiful as they are, to help people find personal empowerment ( much like Tony Robbin‘s teachings on Personal Power – great book! ) and to help people in finding relief in their physical health problems.

This is what yoga should be about. Or rather teaching yoga is about…as I perceived. Focusing on helping the students. Or what a yoga teacher should be focusing on (disclaimer : I am not a teacher…. what I feel…). And not focusing on petty self centered issues like who is most popular in the studio, who is best in yoga, jealous of others, who teaches the best students, saying which students is terrible, discouraging, or think that they are superior to the students etc. That said, a good yoga teacher should always improve themselves too, not for themselves, but for the fact that by improving themselves, they can better help and nurture their students. Thus being a yoga teacher is certainly no easy task! ( kudos to all the yoga teachers who gave sincerely their all to their students! )

But I believe in this mantra : if you give with your goodness and sincerity of heart, what you receive without asking is tenfold what you gave out ( probably in some other form ).

This works pretty much in very situation. This is how the universe works, in a mysterious but wonderous way.

I am so glad I took the time to read. That paragraph really touched me, like a warm comforting hand that calm my soul ( with a sigh and a nod ). ==> getting a bit literary, am I? The very next day seems brighter and I feel lighter. I wonder why.

Thus I am going to read every night on yoga, it may be just a short paragraph every night but I am sure this is the sort of inspiration that I need!

OM~

Thoughts? Comments? What are the qualities that make a good yoga teacher?

Technorati Tags: yoga practice, yoga, pranayama, Anusara yoga, Tony Robbin, Personal Power

We did various inversions each holding for 2 minutes! It was tough and tiring… First we started with the normal vinyasas and then we started with a handstand against the wall. I tried my best to “hang” upside down… the first minute was easy but the shoulders start to get heavy and the ache starts to creep in… the second minute halfway, my arms and shoulders were burning… like Bo says… keep the flame alive… er… both arms and shoulders on FIRE!!!! I just had to get down.

Next pose, again another 2 minutes on forearm balance(Pincha Mayurasana)… this is even more diffcult for me. Barely half a minute gone by and I find my head down on the floor… the next second before I knew it, I was on all fours… haha…

Then headstand (Sirsasana). Ya, my current fav…

This was the longest headstand ever. Bo wanted us to last 10 minutes… or try to with variations. Of course, I had to concentrate to get the balance right in the headstand.

Shirley had given me some great tips after she observed how I went up (I was eager to try out what she recommend). One of the problem she noticed was that I was engaging the legs too hard (true… that’s why I sometimes get cramp… she suggested that I organically extend *takes mental note- need this awareness for all the poses). And she also observed that my tail bone was not tucked in when the leg lifted up. So this time round, I tried to engage less and focused more on using my core. The feedback on the tail bone really helped me to be more aware of the tail bone as I go up and I learn to lift the leg up and when the leg is almost straight, I gently tucked the tail bone in.

I tried pressing my elbows down to the floor a lot ( especially the outer edges ) and use the cupped hands to adjust. Another good tip by Bo is to press the top of the head down, almost like you are drinking water ( without actually doing of course! ). I do feel more stable and able to balance better by engaging my core to control the balance. I think I lasted for an amazing 10 seconds ( near the wall of course… still need to overcome this fear of falling…) Shirley also suggested to keep the legs together (thighs rolled in) and press out from the inner edges of the feet. This I must try the next round…

When I think about it, it’s really a lot of things to remember to do. Really a lot of subtle adjustments.

But I love and enjoy this process of learning and continually improving. Even if it is a tiny improvement.

But that’s not the end yet… hehehe… we continued with a 2 minute Wheel pose (Urdhva Dhanurasana), 2 minute Hanumasana and a 2 minute Niralamba.

The wheel pose was ok for the first minute. However, the beginning of the second minute, I had to shift my weight around my 4 limbs. ( sort of like keeping the mind off the agoooneee… ) then the last 30 seconds, I moved my wrists against the wall for some support ( it did help a bit ). In the end, I managed to stay and last for 2 minutes.

At the end of the class, I was very tired… I think I have not worked this hard for a very long time!

Technorati Tags: Anusara yoga, Pincha Mayurasana, Sirsasana, Urdhva Dhanurasana, Hanumasana

Today Bo did a very basic class. But I really learnt a number of new things from the class. Very insightful for me. He was revisiting the basic anusara yoga’s principles of spiraling and the different loops ( me still quite confused about the loops ( kidney loop,skull loop,ankle loop,pelvic loop? but the spiraling of muscles are now more clear ).

Things I picked up :

- How to feel the ground. Hmmm… now I realized that we work the pose from bottom up in the standing poses like Warrior 1. First, know that where is the heart of the pose. Then feel the ground, acknowledge and connect to the ground. This is the base, the root.

- Hug in a lot and then softened a bit. Then hug in again. Pulsing in the pose. Hug in to protect by engaging the muscles and soften enough ( I think, more of like slightly surrendering to the pose and enjoying the pose, go deeper – my personal take )

- How to lift the inner arch of the feet. I heard Bo talk about this quite a bit but I never did manage to lift them up before ( I tried but could not… my feet is quite flat ) But today, I tried by pushing my little toe’s side of the foot really hard down and then lifting the arch. I could see it lifting up quite obviously and my stance was much stronger.

- finally balancing for 4-5 seconds in forearm balance… I followed Bo’s instructions to a T on the softening and keeping the “loop” ( or I think I did ) at the kidney before kicking up. Somehow that helps! Hmm… have to reproduce that again…

I really appreciate classes like this which is simple and yet it explores much deeper and require much more understanding of your body . Maybe that’s why I sometimes I enjoy those level 1 sessions as it is the only time I get to do the pose slowly. Exquisite savoring of the nuances in the pose.

Oh, the best part was that while I was struggling in the class with the blocked nose… and a nasty cough that came on at the last part of the practice, I love the class. And I got through it ok!

PS. Just looked at John Friend‘s Anusara yoga site… he is coming to Asia, Tokyo in Nov… I wished I could go for all his Anusara yoga classes!

Technorati Tags: Anusara yoga, spiraling, kidney loop, skull loop, ankle loop, pelvic loop, John Friend