Wandering around in a fog

After consulting with the physician and nurses, the family decided to discontinue meds and mechanical life support of Dad. He wasn't making any improvement since being admitted, and as time passed, his chances of getting better were diminishing. My main concern was that he be in as little pain as possible and that we should not prolong his suffering needlessly. We all took our turns to say our goodbyes. I was feeling so many different emotions, but mostly, I was numb with shock.

Sometime before 4:30 pm, the nurses started "the process" of giving him morphine and taking him off the IVs and ventilator. His heart continued beating faintly and irregularly for about an hour, then his breathing completely stopped.

I think he was ready to go. His friends noticed that he was a little down during the last couple of weeks. His angiogram did not have great news and it was clear that he needed to have bypass surgery. He was likely thinking about how much he could tolerate the surgery itself and whether he was going to be really out of the danger zone afterwards. Little things he said lately made me think that he was preparing us for what might happen.

It's been good for the family to distract ourselves from the grief and focus the arrangements for the funeral service. I'm going to say a few things and get some help from a friend to work up a segment in formal Chinese (similar to what I did for my mom two and a half years ago).

It's going to be challenging to summarize this remarkable man's life. He was a hardworking entrepreneur who lived and pursued his dreams with intensity.

Life Passages: Another door to enter

Checking in to say hi to my dear friends in the cyber-shala. I know it's been a while since I last posted, but forgive me for this brief update.

Had to rush over to Vancouver yesterday. My Dad, with his heart problems, had a major attack and suffered some serious damage. The paramedics arrived promptly, but there were prolonged attempts at resuscitation before getting him to the hospital. His vitals are stabilized with lots of medical support, but since his admission there are no real improvements to his condition.

I'm going over to the hospital now. The whole family is in town, and we'll have a meeting with the interventionist this afternoon. We'll have some tough decisions to make. I'll be okay, but I do worry for my eldest sister, who's been having the hardest time dealing with all of this.

Dad, we'll try to do the right thing for you.

Our new home?

It appears that we'll be finally moving away from Oddfellows Hall and over to the vacated Capitol Hill Arts Center. I'm hoping this will happen relatively soon, but I'm not holding my breath. Velocity (and the Diver) will need to raise a bit of money ($500,000) and do a little reno to make the new space fit their needs.

This could not happen quickly enough. Today and in past days, we've been practicing with partial electricty and louder than usual noises.

Here's the scoop from the Seattle Times story today.

Burning Man 2008: A couple of quick pics

We had another bad windy dust storm that started in the afternoon. It almost canceled the burn, but it died down after 9 pm and word spread that it would start at 10 pm. We waited patiently until 11 and then fireworks kicked things off. When that was finished, the Man was lit with an explosion with fire. Even the veterans said it was a great burn. The Man blazed and crumpled in dramatic fashion. It reawakened the childhood fascination I've had with fire and pyrotechnomania.



After the Man and the tower fell, the crowd rushed towards the fire. We were all cold and sought out the warmth of the flames. Some guy in the crowd shouted, "All newbies run around the Man!" and soon we were all running along the perimeter of the fire. Crazed by the intensity of the moment.

Burning Man 2008: Simple pleasures, simple truths

Is this utopia? A place where we all live in peace and as equals? It is so beautiful in the morning as the sun comes out. People are so joyful and friendly.

I had my first hot cup of tea this morning. Ahhh. There is a Coffee Camp with industrial-strength La Marzoccos and Seattle baristas (yay!), which is the only place you can buy anything with cash (besides Ice Camp) in this “gift economy.” Nothing else can purchased. You can give someone something, preferably something that reflects something personally, but you can't necessarily expect something back. I lent my lapptop to someone who was writing an email to his boss to say that he wasn't going to make it to work. I wasn't expecting anything but afterwards he let me pick a page from a stack of papers, which turned out to be a novel he had written himself. In another instance, a very handsome guy who walked by me slapped a sticker of my chest that said, “YOU.” “That way, if you forget who you are, look down!” he laughed with the purest sense of joy on his face. Of course, there's the usual SWAG (shit we all get) of glowsticks, flags, and condoms.

When I went to the temple two days ago, I was totally overcome by the serenity there. This is where people leave messages and tributes to lost loved ones, which are later burned on Sunday, the night after the Man flames out. Anyway, I don't usually get weepy over this kind of stuff, but I started to think about the loss of my mother and my wish for good health of my Dad, my family and friends. I also thought about my place in the world and how I might choose to live my life from here on in.

Yea, this is the place to think about big themes and simple truths.

Burning Man 2008: It has a beat (Thursday)

The most common question being asked at Center Camp is, “Can anyone get on the internet ?” It sucks here, but you have to understand that this is one connection for the 20+ users in the Playa Info tent at the moment. I'm told that other folks nearby are also pirating the line, booting us off, and slowing it down further. So I'm told by an IT geek next to me.

Yesterday was spent exploring the art installations on the main plaza, visiting the Man and the Basara Segura temple, which will be a lower-key burn that takes place the evening after the more wild and aggressive burning of the man. The quality of the art is surprisingly good. At least comparable to many things I've seen at municipal art museum.

The most interesting interactive piece I saw so far is a large sealed glass booth that produces soap bubbles filled with helium and other gas mixes, I'm told. The particpant outside the booth is uses a lighted stick inside to pop the bubbles as they float up the booth, and the bubbles explode is a fiery pop. Cool!

Yesterday was also a real test of loss and letting go. Mostly things like one glove, a little cap on my battery-operated blingy that is needed to make it work. This stuff usually drives me crazy. I also had bolts holding down my bike rack that I searched for ½ hour at Home Depot.

The EL wire fur coat is a HIT! Strangers, and people in my camp, make a point of shouting out compliments. I'll try to load a pic, but the connection is brutally slow and intermittant. Besides looking fabulous, there's a practical reason for being lit up at night. It's so you don't get hit by a mutant vehicle cupcake or some stoner dude on a bike wiping out on a mini-sand dune.

The parties last night were quite fun. I have to say that this music is totally foreign to me, but i think i'm hearing the difference between house and techno. One has melody and sometimes voice. The other music seems to focus on the beat or a groovy sound to create a vibe like mellow and chillaxin'!

Burning Man 2008: Princess Diaries (Tues & Wed)

The highlight yesterday was meeting this mobile pedi-massager. My bare feet were thrashed from the very alkaline soil on the Playa. I was wearing flip-flops and I left my boots and sneakers in the gear boxes that were being transported down for me. Duh. So, at center camp, this nice guy (who says he doesn't have a foot fetish), was offering to wash my feet, exfoliate, and massage mosturizer into my parched tootsies. Heavenly. A gay boy's dream...even if he was straight and talking about "chicks."

I ate another cold but divine lentil pouch thingie from Trader Joe's. Divine. It powered me for the rest of the evening to go out and check the sights.

This morning, my next-tent campmate was talking about taking a shower at the camp shower. He was also three days without a shower. I asked him how to use the solar shower bag. He assured me it was simple. So I went for it after he finished. I've never looked more forward to getting clean than today. The used wash water was surprisingly clean. Hm.

I might ask him how to use the propane stove tonight, so I can heat up hot water for a cup of tea. Ah, simple luxeries!

Burning Man: Coming through the dust storm

Wow! Talk about a trial by fire...or dust. I hitched a ride with a lovely couple from Brooklyn. They weren't freaks, and I chatted them up when I was at Whole Foods.

We arrived in a total white out. The winds were fierce and were whipping up all the dust. They stopped all vehicle entry after us, in order to minimize the number of vehicles on the Playa.

So I'm no longer a Burning Man Virgin. I'm also no longer a camping virgin. I popped my cherry twice so to speak. People back home will be laughing their heads off. I didn't even know how to set up my tent. I have to depend on the kindness of my Toronto and New York friends. I ate some cold Trader Joe's Indian Rice thingy in a vacuum pouch. It was elegant.

I am getting in touch with my inner filthiness. I have not bathed since Sunday and I have not shaved since Friday. Eeek.

Burning Man: Reno

Landed in Reno late Saturday afternoon. At this time, only the organizers and a few members of each camp are allowed admission to the playa, which is more than 100 miles north of Reno. They officially open on Monday after midnight. That's fine with me. I've been spending most of my time running around gathering food and other supplies to take up with me.

As expected, everyone else is doing the same thing. They're all scouring the shelves at Trader Joes, Whole Foods and the drug stores.

Had to make a last minute change to my plans. Hertz will not allow anyone to drive their rental cars off paved roads, which means I can't drive up to Burning Man in one of their cars. People do it, but I don't want to take the risk. Besides, I won't need the car once I'm there. If Hertz suspects that you've visited Burning Man, they will also add a $175 cleaning fee to get rid of the pervasive fine dust that will coat the insides of the car. Early reports are that it is very windy and dusty.

So I'm returning the car and hitching a ride from the rideshare location at Whole Foods tomorrow.

Wish me luck in flagging down a nice, roomy RV with air-conditioning and interesting people.

Carl is Craft-y

Well, in a previous post, you saw the amazing eye-pillows that Carl made with his own two hands and a wicked sewing machine. Now, I had to call on him in for a craft emergency. I had a feeling that the costume I had planned for Burning Man was going to be challenging, but soon I realized that I bit off more than I could chew. Thank goodness, we have a number of super heroes who practice at the shala and perform equally amazing feats outside of the yoga world.

My previous post touched on Pi'ikea who stopped the noisy construction workers from turning on the buzz saws before 7 am (give or take). On Laksmi's blog, she recreated real-life drama from our shala with her puppetry, and granted students expertise in problem poses. Now, Carl steps up and saves my lame ass from being more lame than it already is. A clarification though, he didn't do any magical sewing. I had to enlist a friend who specialized in sewing with EL wire. But Carl took it to its final conclusion.

I'm not quite ready to show this costume masterpiece yet. But I will, in due time.

Thanks, Carl! You get bonus karma points!

Pi'eacable Kingdom

Thank you, Pi' for serving a cease and desist order this morning to the construction crew and making them stop the noise that intrudes on our delicate and very important morning practice. We all appreciate your magical legal powers!

Adjustments galore, new sounds!

It was an embarrassment of riches this morning. The Diver was running over to me a number of time with his fab adjustments. It wasn't too busy. Ahh, just like the good ole' days. It was nice and warm so I was able to work up a big sweat.

I felt a bit weird telling the Diver about what I was doing with Fiona yesterday. It felt a bit, well, unfaithful. Anyway, he did try to help me recreate the backbends that cranked open my upper chest, but I couldn't duplicate the magic. The Diver did help me do a tighter backbend, but I'll have to ask Fiona next time what I'm missing.

Thoughout the morning, noises filled the room. We had new sounds of a piledriver pounding something into the ground and lots of hallway chitchat of the construction workers.

Way too much energy for this time of the morning!

Over at Ashtanga Yoga Vancouver

I wanted to get a quick post in before I got to bed.

This morning, the lovely Fiona Stang was teaching the mysore class. She usually teaches during the week, so I miss her, but it was good to have her help.

She gave me a few reminders/pointers that were super helpful:

1.) Ustrasana: Keep pushing those hips forward while lifting the chest up. Get the thighs parallel so they do the work and help open up the hip flexors. Having the knees wide works other muscles and is not as prodcutive.

Do the pendulum swing of going back more and more with each successive try. The Diver recommended this too. Time to re-incorporate it into my routine.


2.) Urdhva Dhanurasana (Backbends):
The neck: In prep, lie flat on your back, lift your legs straight up with toes upward. Get your neck in state of flexion by raising your head vertebrae by vertabrae. It's like an ab crunch.

The arms: Placing the hands in prep for backbends, keep the arms tight in the shoulder sockets. Fiona said you can do it yourself, but it's better if someone helps you.

The feet: Then place your feet on the ground. You can raise your heels as you come up on your toes and roll up to your backbend.

These tips were really great in helping me open the mid-upper chest. These pose felt totally different and it seemed to take a lot of the weight/strain off my legs when I did my backbends.

Can't wait to try it again tomorrow! Before I left, Fiona gave me a bunch of flyers for John Scott's workshop. Please join me! It will be fun!

I am not at the dentist's office

The construction guys are really closing in on us. Even before I rolled out my mat at 6:00 am, there was much hammering and sawing going on. It's not hard to imagine how jumpy I all got when the wailing of a saw was piercing through my head. It reminded me of a dentist's drill. Our former studio on the second floor is totally enveloped in plastic sheeting. The little studio on the third floor that we currently occupy has had a couple of beams and reinforcement put in.

So much for driste. My mind was chewing over all sorts of little details: what was going to be happening at work, how I was going to make my little outfit for Burning Man with glow wire, what I was going to do in Vancouver this weekend...

Sure enough, I had just one adjustment this morning where the diver stomps on my thighs like he's crushing grapes while I'm doing supta varasana (yes, a totally criminal pose that I do after laghu vajrasana). I can totally relax into it so it's not totally challenging.

So before my final pose, I ask the Diver to do a little forward bending acroyoga. He lies on my mat and balances me with my hips resting on the soles of his feet. He holds my hands as I bend forward. He stretches out my midsection and twists me around like I'm a piece of chewing gum. It feels great. I have to keep my eyes closed though, because it feels so intimate. But it totally makes up for the lack of adjustments that morning.

When we're done, I see that he goes over to Mr. A and helps him with an adjustment in raja kapotasana. The Diver pins Mr. A's shoulders back with his knees and Mr. A's head is bending back to reach his toes. It's an awesome post. But I can't help but wonder what would happen if Mr. A's head snapped forward like a loaded spring. Yikes.

Not that it would ever happen.

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

This morning, the Diver dismantled my attachment to a certain spot in the studio where I ALWAYS practice and suggested that I find another spot, other than the one I usually take. Apparently, he had to clean up some dust and crumbs that were falling from the ceiling. Knowing how old that building is, I could see the possibility of larger chunks of the floor above come tumbling down on me. I trusted that the Diver was not just messing with me.

I chose a lovely corner spot away from the dust, and next to a mirror to my right and another one behind me. The Diver is not big on mirrors, but he did suggest on occasion that I do a few poses in front on a mirror to check my hand placement in utthita parsvakonasa, for example, and the angle of my knees in Parivritta Parsvakonasana.

Don't know why I hadn't done that sooner. It was very informative and helped me to do a bit of self-adjustment.

BTW, today I got one adjustment. Woo-hoo! If only I could remember what it was. Oh well. The Diver did say in his adjustment workshop that you want to be unobtrusive as little as possible when working with a student.

I know I can get more attention if I ask for it. Yesterday I asked him to do some backbending acro-yoga, which was awesome. He does all the work balancing and stretching you. The less you do, the better it is.

The purpose of your life

One of the more interesting characters I hope to meet at Burning Man this year is Halcyon. He's a 10-year veteran burner with a very colorful alter ego. (He happens to like the color pink!) He's also been very productive in producing numerous blogs and videos.

I like the one above that he put together on his LifeStudent blog. It has a very simple message that draws on inspiration from familiar sources.

If you're intrigued, check out this video as well. At last year's event, Halcyon decided to honor the memory of his late grandfather Caleb with a moving tribute.

Dodged the adjustment bullet today

Actually went through practice without any adjustments today. It was actually okay, even though initially I was feeling a little neglected. I don't usually get a lot of feedback from the Diver but it felt good today just going through the groove without a break in my practice.

In a previous post, I noted that Matthew Sweeney gives his students one day of an adjustment-free practice. It makes a lot of sense and I might just mention this to the Diver to see what he has to say about this.

This morning was a busy session for him. There was a relatively new student doing a very creative version of primary. The Diver handed him a cheat sheet of the poses, which he seems to study quite closely. Hope he doesn't get discouraged. We all had to start somewhere.

Yoga injuries: Healing a tweaky right knee

As any primary series practitioner will tell you, there are a lot of poses that involve bent and possibly torqued knees. I won't list of them here, but you know what I mean.

Anyway, in June of last year, the inside of my right knee started to complain in lotus and ardha baddha padmottanasa. I hadn't had problems with my knees before and have been happily going through my routine. I thought it was just a nagging tightness that I needed to relax into, but the pain started to increase each time I did these particular poses. Oddly enough, my knee felt free of pain otherwise.

I decided to cut out the particularly problematic poses and spend a lot of time babying my knee, doing lots of hamstring and hip-opening warm-ups. I also got some good advice from the Diver, as well as regular acupuncture and massage treatments. Sparkle Pony was particularly helpful in working her magic to zero in on my adductors and other weird little attachment points along my shin.

It's been getting better gradually. I took the Diver's advice about approaching the healing very slowly and to not overwork the shit of my knee. Patience and aparigraha (abstaining from greed of wanting to make my knee better) were keys to success.

I also consciously didn't want to blog about it and get all sorts of advice that might or might not have worked. Thanks, but too distracting. At one point, I pulled out a particularly painful Iyengar exercise that involves a dowel stick and wedging it in the crease of my knees and sitting in virasana. It's supposed to create space in your kneeds. Talk about excruciating! When I mentioned this to the Diver, his eyes just about popped out. After that reaction, I stopped doing it.

So finally, just over a year, I can comfortably work these poses without fearing I'm going to shred my knee. I still approach them with a bit of caution and try to make sure that area is warmed up. But what a lesson. It's not only working on the poses that are to come, but to revisit the old ones with a new sense of respect and perspective.

Sukha Sthira Asanam.

John Scott: Check. Burning Man: Check.

This morning's class was great with the master. The Diver was on top of his game. He paid attention to all of the 20+ students, which is no small feat, especially when there were a few newbs amongst a number of advanced practitioners.

We started off with his deconstructed Surya Namaskar A: Beginning with the synchronization of breath and the raising of the arms and adding the next element one by one before doing the full blown version. He reminded us that the practice is just about two elements, even though your body is moving and twisting in all sorts of directions and positions: feet grounded and breathing throughout practice.

He was also giving out the love on "frog pose" or adhvo mukha bekasana (knees bent heels up, grounding toe mounds), sprinkled at the end of each Surya B, and after each second series pose. Relatively new in this class, he had us lower the heels SLOWLY, SLOWLY while we tried to keep the deep crease in our hips.

Later, he worked in a super-wide-leg utkatasana and a "table-top" version, where the back is flat, arms are reaching straight out and the upper body is parallel with the floor. He called this the "shameless pose" because you are sticking your sitting bones out. You do that too for the previously mentioned poses too. Give them a try. They add a little zing as well as help you to remember the natural curves in your spine.
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Diver announcements: Some scheduled changes coming up. It's TBC, but he wants Sunday's class to be held in the afternoons so that he can "reclaim his Saturday nights." He also plans to add a Thurs night class at 7:30 pm. (Just be there Fri mornings, dude!) Velocity Dance (and ergo, the Diver) are still in the Oddfellows space for the time being (they're tearing up the 2nd floor bathrooms and there's construction shit going on in the main space). Apparently the builder is coming to a realization that he cannot find as good a tenant as Velocity AND also charge 3.5 times the rent. So, it sounds like we'll continue to practice yoga among the sawing and hammering. Good for focusing the driste.
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And from the Lame Department: I've not been blogging for the past couple of weeks. Got sick again with a cold and for an added bonus, caught pneumonia. I'm pretty well clearing out the last of it now (Azithromycin rocks!). Practice was a little congested last week and this morning, but doing it is very healing.
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Oh yeah, and I'm trying a new tactic of blogging without getting too involved with the pics. I'll still post pics, but I want to see if this helps me blog more entries. The next few might be catch-up posts from events past.

Now, looking forward, I'm doing prep for Burning Man, which takes place on the last week of August. I'm stoked. John Scott's workshop in Vancouver will take place shortly after that. He gives a great class. It'll be awesome, for sure.

Lunge City or Serving a Can of Whoop Ass

We had another substitute teacher this morning. The Diver took a day off and had to let his legs heal after cycling in the Seattle-to-Portland bike ride yesterday. About 300 miles roundtrip, I reckon. What a herculean feat!

Molly was our sub. She owns the Samarya Center and is a very creative and dynamic teacher who teaches a kick-ass, ashtanga-flavored form of yoga. Recommended if you can't get to the Diver's studio. She used to be a strict ashtangi, but like some of us, she has evolved her practice in another direction for further exploration. Her studio also offers a big yoga therapy program for children and other folks.

Anyway, the Diver must have left instructions for her to teach a class focused on every possible pose related to lunges with loooong holds. Lots of fun poses from the 3rd series (vasisthasana, visvamitrasana, koundinyasana) and the wild Andrey Lappa Universal Yoga tradition.











Totally wrung out after class, I knew I was going to crash with a long nap and miss the great weather, so I had a quad shot of espresso to get me through the day's activities. Yeah, I know, very rajasic.

Here are a few flashback visuals of what we did. I love featuring my favorite yoga models, the incomparable Arjuna and Elsie with her rocking leg warmers. Laks and Pi'ikea, you missed a great class.

Live from Tacoma! The American Idol Tour!

Here are some quick pictures from tonight's concert. Yes, I got hooked on American Idol this year. Yes, I admit I'm an Archie Angel. The show made it really hard to get to early morning mysore.



David Archuleta







Michael Johns








Kristy Lee Cook

Didn't she pop yet?

I can't stand it! She's been pregnant forever.

This must be the second most anticipated pregnancy after the gene-blending creation of Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt. This artist wondered how things might have looked if she didn't take after the most beautiful parents on earth. (No worries, she's gorgeous.)

But what about the twins?? That's what we all want to know.

Oh, yeah, Brangelina bumps off Canada Day as today's lead post. Sorry. (I'm just bitter that I wasn't adopted by them.)

Painting done by the brilliant Gallery of the Absurd.

Let's get cozy, shall we?

I'm happy for the Diver. Really.

So starting at 6 am this morning, there was a steady trickle of refugees showing up from The Other Shala, which shuttered it doors for good yesterday. Sad, indeed. Its presence will be sorely missed.

But I think we set a record of 19 students at the only remaining morning mysore class in the city.

It's great for the Diver. He gets more students who will benefit from his good teaching. I wasn't expecting any adjustments at all, what with all these newbies doing funky moves, but he was fixing wayward hand placements, wispy ujayi breathing and thunking jumpbacks for starters.

I did get a big squish in paschi. It felt great, like I was reaching a yard past my feet. But I selfishly wondered how much attention I'll get in the coming days.

Okay, so I'll practice agarigraha.

Happy Pride Day, Everyone!

Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavantu.








May all beings be happy and free.







(Taken today at the International Fountain, Seattle Center, site of the 1962 World's Fair, Century 21 Exposition.)

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

Wanna reinspire your practice?

Hey, cyber-shala mates! Grab your little black shorts and come to Vancouver for John Scott's workshop from Sept. 6-9th.

It takes place over the weekend and just two work-days. John, who is one of the senior Ashtangi rock stars, lives now in New Zealand and does not come to North America very often. In fact, this is his second workshop on the West Coast in recent years. A few years ago, he was supposed to do a workshop in New York, but he encountered some last-minute difficulties with US immigration.

John's workshop last year was very informative and inspiring. He also has a wicked sense of humor that keeps the chat portions interesting. If you can't make it to see him in person, at least get his video or book. He has a beautiful practice that's mesmerizing to watch.

Drop me a line and let me know if you do plan to attend. It will undoubtedly sell out in advance, just like last year. If no other bloggers are interested, I just might have to change things and go to Burning Man instead. (Caroline, I'm so tempted!)

Carl rocks!

Carl surprised folks at practice this morning with a little prezzie for a bunch of us.

As you can see, the stitching of my eyebag is meticulous (I'm showing the underside). Equally impressive is that he made a whole bag of them in different colors.

Thanks, Carl!

Life in the fast lane

Practice for the past few days has been rather interesting.

Usually I rush through the last part of my practice or abbreviate in order to get to work on time at 8:00 am. Sometimes I defiantly work through my finishing poses, past 8 am and stroll my yogacized ass late into the office. Not that there's anything really wrong with that. No one really cares, but people in my office tend to arrive early and start firing emails and voice messages while pile up before I even start my day.

Anyway, my recent practices have been been (dare I say?) crisp and efficient. Wednesday, I was doing standing and half second, but I blasted through those poses so quickly, I thought I skipped a bunch of them, which has been known to happen occasionally, but actually I didn't. It's been this way the past few days.

It definitely helped that the construction workers get in before 6 am, so if I get there early enough I have enough time for a very thorough practice, finish after 7:30am, do my ablutions and carry on to work. I'd like to get through all of second one of these days, but I find I do need to do all of standing before feeling warmed up enough. Ideally, I would do a 2 hour practice, which is preferred.

There are also the acroyoga partnering poses/fireside chats with the Diver that occur during or after my practice, which have been minimal of late. Always welcome, but without them, my practice does move faster.

More adjustments, longer practice. Less attention, faster practice.*

* See note from Matthew Sweeney's core adjustments about holding off on doing adjustments for one day of the week.

And so it goes.

Required reading & listening for all astangis

Talk about a fierce pose.

I landed on Matthew Sweeney's website today (he's the one on the left). It's filled with fascinating insights and a very contemporary take on Ashtanga yoga. Purists might have think he is being heretical, but he has studied extensively in Mysore (he's rocking Advanced B currently) and he is respectful of the traditional approach while being clear and sensible about the challenges many students face today.

Here are a few abbreviated points that interested me which you can read further on his site and in the Musings section:
* He has developed five vinyasa sequences that emphasize different parts of the practice (Moon, Lion, Bound, Flying and Fifth) and offers alternatives to the standard series
* Astanga as we practice it today is about 35 years old
* Mysore instructors should have an active practice and at a minimum, should be doing full intermediate currently (or in the past)
* As a teacher and practitioner, he likes having an adjustment-free day once a week to help encourage practitioners to figure out the difficult poses themselves
* Self-practice is very important
* Regretting a missed practice is a form of ahimsa

The Yoga Peeps interview is also recommended listening for all ashtangis. It's a bit long and the interviewer is not very polished, but it's worth hearing. It's even provided new inspiration for my practice.

Weight-loss surgeon quits job to become yoga instructor

At age 59, Dr. James Weber gave up his career of being a weight-loss surgeon to become a yoga instructor. He feels he can help more people this way. Click on his name to read the interesting story from the Seattle Times.

See? Yoga can cure anything!

Finding beauty in destruction

After yoga class yesterday morning, a bunch of us ventured up to the fourth floor to see what all the banging, drilling and stomping around the past week had produced.




It was a bit spooky to see the trashed walls, drywall dust and lunch remnants on the floor. But since Laksmi (Velma), Pi'ikea (Daphne), Mr. Hands (Shaggy) were with me (Freddie), we could explore the space together and be ready to take down anyone with our Warrior I's if they questioned why we were there. Aigo, in absentia, was Scooby.





Basically, the construction workers had been gutting the whole floor, getting ready to convert it into some fancy work spaces and studios with 15-foot ceilings. I had heard that high-end condos were also planned, but the official website of the builder doesn't seem to state this.



This picture is a close-up of the kind of structural supports they built in 1908. Looks like it could withstand an earthquake. There's also a cute little radiator that Pi'ikea/Daphne wanted to take home. (Pi': They unhooked them today. Help yourself quick!)







Nearby we found what remained of the Chamber Theater, which served as a performance venue for many a ballroom dance in its day, I'm sure. We joked how the stage would make an awesome kitchen and dining room.




This is all a bit tragic to see. (More drama, Rick!) Seattle is a relatively young city that doesn't have a lot of historical buildings. The new owner seems to be committed to preserving its historical quality and bringing up to current standards. But it's still sad to know that many arts and community organizations (and one particular yoga shala!) will be losing a great space in the heart of Capitol Hill.

Bitter doesn't seem to describe a lot of comments locals have been making in the Alternative Weekly. And check out this heartfelt letter from one of the major tenants who is successful enough to be able to afford the new rents, but still very concerned about what they're doing. On her webpage, you'll also see an archival photo that shows some lawn and a few park benches in front of the building. Suffice to say, it ain't there anymore.

Yoga golden oldie

OK, what a tough crowd this is to please.

To address the mature readers of this blog, here's Sting doing a funky version of primary in his undies for a pre-show warmup in 1993. He still has a lot of his hair! I'm impressed with how well he does. Well, I suppose his arms in chat could be a little closer to his body.

But I'll just leave it up to the rest of you to offer your thoughts, fan notes, etc.

Yoga babe discovery

As Arturo noted, we're all taking up the slack to make our blogs funnier and raunchier.

So this is a shameless post to sex up my blog with pics of some random yoga pr0n. If you click on his website, you'll see an NSFW photo of him doing a nice eka pada bakasana. His knee could be much farther up to his armpit and his butt checks don't appear to be totally level, but hey, who's complaining?

The End is Near

We don't usually get too heavy around here, but as the old saying goes, the only constant is change.

For the past few days, the building we're in has been abuzz with activity. There's draped plastic in the hallways. As early as 6 am, construction workers are tromping around, dropping things and starting in on their hammering and sawing two floors above our little yoga space. Somewhere outside our window, it sounds like there is a mini-excavator at work hauling dirt around. I suppose we've had it good up until now, but geez, it truly is a supreme test of focus and patience. I don't how long much longer we'll be in here. In my previous post in January, I had already lamented the fact that we will become yoga vagabonds soon, because the new owner has converted the building, which housed a vibrant collection of dance and arts organizations, into condos and more profitable renters. As far as I know, nothing is firmed up after July. The Diver is still deciding.

You'll also recall that I noted that the Other Yoga studio in town is up for sale.

Earlier this week, Laksmi announced that she has quit blogging. WTF?

Today, I saw Carl in savasavana with a sandbag draped over his face. WTF?

I was annoyed by this morning's New York Times article. People crying about moving to a new city and not being able to find an advanced yoga class. Hello? Self-practice ashtanga, anyone? Have you finished all SIX series at home already?

I swear the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

All we need now is an earthquake in Seattle to make the Apocalypse totally complete.

When the going gets tough, the tough get a box of Theo's chocolates. The instore chocolate confections are the best and freshest ever. Right up there with La Maison du Chocolat, Recchiuti Confections and Thomas Haas Fine Chocolates. Really. Trust.

Oh, and in keeping with the theme, photo credit goes to yogafortheconstructionworker.com. It's yoga "with your boots on" and emphasizes "job site awareness and wisdom."

I'm done.

Sparklepony, Heeyyyyy!

A lot of people have been asking about Sparklepony, so I thought I'd give you a little more background.

Sparklepony has many talents, but she has one that any ashtangi would kill for. She is a smart and sparkling TV producer, photographer (currently snapping with a holga)and powder skier. I first met her when a colleague recommended her as a massage therapist. (I trusted her opinion because she had been one as well.) But Sparklepony is not just any ol' LMT that you find next to your neighborhood corner Starbuck's. She has magical, healing powers. Years ago, she helped put me back together after my body was abused and ripped apart by sadistic Iyengar teachers. She continues to work on my body now that I have made the switch.

Sparklepony comes from Planet Unicorn where she lives and plays with her unicorn friends. If you are nice and fun, she might consider taking you on a client. But my appointments always take precedence. Just so you know. And her name is not Jennifer, either.

Here is a video of her life and friends. Enjoy!

Omakase, OMG!

I took my partner to a cool place in town for his birthday.

Kappo is a small, hidden away gem of a restaurant in the Fremont neighborhood. It's located upstairs from the owner's earlier and very popular sushi bar called Chiso. Kappo basically has a small sushi counter for eight people and a couple of private dining rooms. Taichi Kitamura is the talented, young chef who serves a prix-fixe dinner omakase-style, which basically means the chef decides to prepare whatever he chooses. No menu. You give him a heads up of any allergies and food preferences. Usually the chef prepares what's fresh from the boat and whatever seasonal ingredients inspire him. Chef Taichi is also a fisherman who knows his fish and puts together each dish with a lot of careful attention. We had a great meal that I would consider more casual and spontaneous than the formal and fancy kaiseki meals you get in Kyoto. But still a lovely experience to have right at home.

Of course the pictures don't do it justice, but here's a small sample. This is a plate of super fresh, sliced Alaskan red snapper and some vegetables that you dunk and poach in the bowl of boiling water, just like a Mongolian hotpot.

Here is a chicken dish with fresh shitake mushrooms and asparagus.






All in all, it was a special evening, and my partner who is a super demanding eater was happy with the meal. We even got a chance to chat with Taichi a bit while we were feasting on his creations.

Oh, and Sparklepony told me to take a picture of the bathroom wall which has a photo mural of Taichi fishing.

Kleenex: The spring collection

This is a belated post, but I needed to blog this and thank Laksmi for this darling, little gift from her recent trip to Canadia. It's Princess Hello Kitty. "How fitting!", she says.

You see, I have this approach-avoidance conflict with Ms. Hello Kitty. There are others who do too. Check out this guy who blogs about One Man's Life with Cute Overload.

I think it all started for me with an arts exhibition I saw at the Japan Society in New York called, "Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture." It helped me understand this Japanese obsession with cute cartoon characters, connecting them back to post-war corporate mascots (e.g., Sony Boy) and to the ornately costumed Japanese geisha dolls that previous generations collected. At this show, I was particularly struck by a Po-Mo commentary that deconstructed Hello Kitty in a psychosexual context. The New York Magazine also talked about this theme: "It has no mouth and no developed limbs--an image of powerlessness, and (guest curator and artist, Takashi) Murakami suggests, sublimated hysteria."

Yeah, man, that's it...

So, people who have heard me talk about this seem to want to bring me Hello Kitty gifts. A hint to folks reading this blog: they have to have a bit of IRONY to them, folks! Usefulness is also good. So to give you an example, a former employee gave me a HK plastic drinking glass that looked like a tall beer stein. Ironic and useful! Cute for cuteness sake isn't enough. If you want to give me a Hello Kitty coloring book, it's nice and cute as shit, but really, it's not fucked up enough for me. To wit, another example: Lax made me a homemade HK eye pillow filled with lavender. That was wacky enough, it warmed my stone-cold heart. Then when I visited my friend, Caroline, in Vancouver, I saw her VERY PINK HK umbrella. I had to get one for Laksmi. Very useful and very ironic, especially for Lax when she was going through a dark patch with long stretches of no sun in Seattle and she was swearing a lot. Well, a lot more than usual.

Back to the Kleenex. Here's another pack with the Hello Kitty theme. Isn't that cute enough to rip your heart out?









And this one, not related to HK but is part of the collection. It has this schoolboy doing samasthiti. (There's your yoga content.) I got this from Sparklepony.








Onward, Hello Kitty, worldwide domination!

Random practice notes for criminals

The Diver was out this weekend, so he announced a sub in advance.

Just like in high school, attendance for class was lower than usual this morning. It was a shame because our sub had a nice, graceful style and stuck with the Diver's approach for most of the class. My feeling is that anyone who is asked by Diver to teach is going to be okay by me.

Some might have thought it was Diver Lite, since she dialed things back and broke down advanced poses into easier-to-approach parts. She skipped a few of poses from primary and I don't think we did anything that took anyone over the edge. She did however add a few poses that mixed things up a bit and kept it interesting. For us criminals, she threw in parvritta janu sirsasna inbetween the janu's, a pose which I haven't done in ages. There was also a familiar hip flexor sequence beginning with a forward lunge, then straight arms over the head and lifting the hands that go over and keep reaching back. That's a Diver favorite.

One of my faves was a mini-set around eka pada raja kapotasana with some nice variations. After folding and laying your torso over the shin of your bent right leg with hands and arms straight in front of you, you then bend your straight left leg, reach behind and across your back with your right hand taking the left foot. After working the hip flexors, glutes, back thigh and piriformis, it's a bonus pose that stretches your quads.

And as a final random practice note, I liked how she intro'd navasana and said to roll your shoulders back, keeping your chest lifted before you straighten your legs and extend your arms. It's easy to cave your chest in while you're trying hold the pose with your abs.

Photo credit to houseoflucas.com. Thanks, Rob!

Yoga all-stars moving forward

This morning's class was smaller in number than its usual packed-to-the-rafters Sunday crowd. The Diver said this was perfect, and with the "yoga all-stars" in attendance (the inner core of regulars, I'm guessing), he didn't need to give as much instruction, meaning he wasn't going to have his voice intrude and break our inward focus. There were a few disbelieving giggles, but he did pretty well actually. He also made an interesting comparison about not playing music during classes because it adds to your practice with "sentiment," distracting you away from what's going on inside. Makes sense to me.

So we went through half-primary with an emphasis on vinyasa transitions between poses and navasana-handstand combos (he loves this!). Specifically he wanted everyone to jump back by "crossing the legs, lifting in lolasana and bringing the legs through to chat." I've found the trick to this is to cross high up on the shins, make a tight ball and tilt my weight forward as I uncross my legs.

He continued this theme of tilting forward when we were working on the navasana-handstand combo by the wall. Same deal with crossing legs and lolasana after 5 breaths of boat.

Specifically for me, when I've been in morning mysore, he's wanted me to lift it all the way to handstand. Of course, he does this so effortlessly. Flotation Device and another dude can do this as well, but I've put it on my list of long-term projects.

Anyway, getting back to the tilt forward, when we're done hanging out for 5 breaths in handstand, we're supposed to come down as slowly as possible ("slowly, slowly") and land back into navasana.

To help us get the feeling of having our shoulders over and past our hands, he had us partner up for a little exercise. Partner One goes into plank pose and Partner Two stands over P1's feet while lifting their feet about a foot off the ground. Then P2 gently moves P1's upper body forward and past the shoulder-hand plumbline.

For part two, P1 goes into a half pike hand-stand and P2 moves P1's upper body forward and past their shoulders. The shoulders don't have to move as far forward as the previous exercice in order to get this feeling.

Then we go back to the wall to apply what we've just learned.

I don't remember doing this particular exercise with the Diver before, but it was helpful to reinforce the concept of shoulders forward and shifting my weight while upside down. Must recreate the feeling in tomorrow's class.

Oh, and see my previous posts on handstands in January 21 and 23, 2008.

Photo credit to bitsandpieces1.blogspot.com

Crowded house

There were about 14 students in mysore this morning, the most I've witnessed in a long time.

Now that there is light early in the morning, I think people are starting to return to their practices. At first I thought it was the beginning of an exodus of students from The Other Studio that is currently on the selling block, but there were only two possible refugees that I noticed (Carl being one of them). The rest of the gang were regulars and semi-regulars.

I'm really hoping that the Diver will have more students making the switch and coming to our shala, but as Pi'ikea mentioned, there's a part of me that is selfish and wants to keep the class sizes small enough for focused attention on ME, ME, ME!

It's funny that I used to fear being the only one in class when I first started going to his classes. I wasn't used to getting so many intense adjustments. Now, I want as much instruction as I can get. Often, it's just one or two adjustments he does on any given day.

This video above is kinda cool. I know, models doing yoga. Try not to hate them for being so twisty and beautiful. Agustin's not too much like a mannequin though and his accent makes him seem so sweet.

This morning the Diver did a similar backbending partner yoga pose with me that opened up my chest and upper back tremendously. He didn't twirl me around and it wasn't so intimate, but it was good.

Angry Fruit

Our friends Karim and Laura, who stayed with us in Bali, are adventurous travelers. One of the things that Karim likes to search for is unusual, tropical fruit.

Salak, or snake fruit, was a great find of his. Indigenous to Indonesia and Malaysia, it has reddish-brown scales that make it look like snake skin. Pretty scary looking. But when you peel off the skin, you'll find three white lobes resembling large garlic cloves and a round, black pit. The taste is actually pretty good--crisp and juicy with a sweet-tart taste, sort of like a lime.












Now here is the durian, one of the angriest looking fruits around. Also, the most controversial. Considered the king of all fruits in SE Asia, you either love or hate them. Karim, who loves them, was on the hunt for the Indonesian version. It has bigger and longer spikes than the one in this picture.

I had forgotten that my partner had not tried this fruit before. After dinner, we all gathered around to marvel and open this thing, but my partner had to flee the table, because its smell, similar to rotting socks, had overwhelmed him. It's too bad he didn't notice that the Indonesian durian actually has some additional fruity notes to it. With a bit of coaxing and much taunting, he did come back to try the sweet, custardy insides. He wasn't completely sold on it, but hey, Karim and I loved it.

Photo credits to giftrap.com and mission-base.com

Memories of Bali

After our big safari adventure in South Africa, we relaxed for six glorious days in the seaside town of Amed on the east side of Bali. It's a 2.5 hour drive from the big city of Denpasar, where tourists and surfers flock to their famous white sandy beaches.

Here's a backview of the villa we rented for our friends and family. You can see part of the pool in the lower right hand corner.

A view of the verdant rice fields next door.











Our guide who took us out fishing for mackerel at 5:00 am.















A Balinese dancer whose dramatic eye, hand and foot movements signify different meanings and emotions, and are tightly synchronized with ethereal bell-like gamelan music.

Just in case yoga isn't hard enough for you

How about doing yoga on a inch-wide slackline? Looks like a great way to practice a singular focus.

Where I've been

Can't believe that I'm sick again.

I was fine last week, but then my allergies hit me big. Runny nose, sneezing, scratchy eyes. I wasn't feeling great, but I got through work. Yesterday, the congestion traveled down my chest and stayed there when I got up this morning. No yoga.

I'll spare you all the details, but basically I've been sleeping all day. I feel too weak even to do some restorative yin poses.

I need to drain my nose now.

One of the hardest poses ever

I think it was one of my old, sadistic Iyengar teachers who said that savasana was the hardest pose EVAH.

I have to admit it is pretty difficult for me too, because I hover so closely between sleep and consciousness during the day anyway. And when I get to savasana after an exhausting practice, I just conk out.

At the end of this morning's practice I decided to go for it. I was so tired from the weekend of activities; I didn't even have a catch-up nap on Saturday to get me through the coming week. So after doing my half 2s, I pulled out my Hello Kitty lucky eye pillow (made by ever craft-y Laksmi) and immediately flaked out for 15 minutes. Just what I needed.

Lax came for her first mysore in a long time (Yay!). She even noticed that I took this unusual rest and mentioned that I snored. Not too loud, but loud enough. Yeah, I'm a snorer. Sorry! I apologize to everyone who's ever been in a class with me and had to endure it, past, present and future.

At least I didn't pop a boner like the dude in the pic. Photo credits go to Bindu Magazine.

Oh yes, where did we last leave off?

I got distracted with other posts and forgot to continue posting pics from my trip.

Well, this is a nice one (not mine, from http://www.tallestbuildingoftheworld.com/). From the safari near Johannesburg, S.A. we flew 10 hours to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for an overnight stop before going to Bali. We had a chance to walk around and check out these 88-storey twin towers. The observation deck which joins the two is on the 41st floor. This sky bridge does feel like a bit of a sky walk as you take in the near 360 view degree view. On ground level there is a high-end shopping mall (that made me happy even though I didn't buy anything) and also a symphony hall (which made my partner very happy but we ended up not going).

OK, so people there seem to very proud of this building, but I know there will be comments by architectual critics from Lax's blog. Have at it!

I have to mention that the KL airport has got to be one of the best in the world. Has anyone else been there? It's so smartly laid out and the service is unbelievably amazing and efficient. When we arrived, we took a half-hour train ride that takes you into central area. When we got out at the train station, there were young porters who enthusiastically offer to help you to get a cab or whatever. We were prepared to schlep our bags and stumble our way over to Le Meridien Hotel, thinking we would have to grab a cab. But instead he said it was just next door to the station and walked over with us right up to the registation desk with our luggage cart. Boy, it's this kind of attention and service that is so welcoming after a long plane ride.

Here's a view of the water park below:















Here are some other quick pics:


The main drag in Chinatown where you can get fake watches, "Louis Vuitton" handbags and other fun things.

Some random graffiti on the wall of a train station.

_________________________________________

Back to yoga. I was practising this Sunday morning at Ashtanga Yoga Vancouver. It got pretty crowded in that little space, but it was nice and warm which opened up my body considerably. There were two fellows adjusting. I didn't get anything heavy duty, which is what I would have preferred anyway. They don't know me; I don't know them. That last thing I need is someone to sit on me in supta kurmasana and shred the piriformis muscle in the right hip area (which is what someone did to me in NY a few years ago). But I'm okay now, since I've been able to relearn how to walk. ;)