I'll be off-blog for a little while

Hi, gentle readers. Just wanted to let the 10 wonderful people who read my blog know that I'll be on vacation from Feb 27-Mar 14. I'm going to Bali and South Africa (I know. It's a long story).

Normally I would be quite excited about going away. God knows what a cold winter we've had, but on Saturday, I came down with a cold, which was combined with an asthma reaction to the pollen dump that weekend.

Fuck. :( I'll be careful not to spread my germs. I always wonder why people travel when they're sick, but now I sympathize.

Is Arturo a mentalist?

I can't believe this incredible coincidence.

I've been reading Arturo's wonderful and interesting blog for some time, and today we started emailing each other offblog about non-bloggy things. In the back of my mind, there was a nagging feeling that he was so familiar to me, that I had known him before, in a previous life or something, but I dismissed it thinking that I was just enjoying what he was writing in his blog.

But where would I have known this very thoughtful architect who practices yoga and follows a CRON diet in San Francisco? I live in Seattle, but I have visited SF many times. (Don't think I knew him there) I work in a field that is not related to architecture. (So that's unlikely) We're both gay. (But so what?) He's on an austere diet; I'm on this asian food diet (Eat anything with two wings except a plane, anything with four legs except a table, etc.) No dice there.

So to follow this funny feeling, I posed this in my email:

"Did you by chance visit Paris a number of years ago? There was a student from
Miami who went to the same mysore class I attended at the shala in Paris. He had
a similar background as you, but he was a pretty new student, so I'm guessing it
wasn't you, but thought I'd ask anyway."

Turns out Arturo with his amazing memory recalled specific details of a conversation we had that I had kinda forgotten. He could not have just made up this stuff:

He remembered that:

- I was visiting Paris for a few days on my way to a wedding in France (Close, but it was Spain)

- I had been to this shala before when the entrance was through the patio and had been changed. (True)

- On my previous visit, I was swept into the room where a special workshop was taking place (True)

- The instructor was from New Zealand and demo'd a pose by putting her palms on the floor and floated up into a handstand (Pretty amazing recall, that was Louisa Sear from Byron Bay, Australia)

- I practiced one day, he returned for the rest of the week (I remember us talking about our intentions)

I don't think the Amazing Kreskin could do any better, folks.

So being the detailed oriented person that Arturo is, he looked up the date of his trip in his picture book--June 16 2003. When I got home tonight, I also looked up my trip notes which confirmed that date. I wrote that I went to 9:30 am mysore class at Samasthiti Yoga.

Now how would both of us remember so much of this seemingly casual encounter? Well, the schedule on the web indicated that class was supposed to start at 7:15 am. Both of us showed up around that time, but no one else did (I remember thinking, those flaky asthangis!). So we sat down on the steps and had a long chat until teacher Fabrize showed up.

Arturo also recalled teacher saying that I practiced well, but rather fast. Yup, that was me blitzing through my practice and trying to get back to the hotel so I could meet my partner and resume our visit in that great city.

Amazing, non?

Tick, tick, tick...

I hate having a rushed practice, but today was actually not bad. I had an 8 o'clock meeting to get to and I needed to make a pit stop at my office to make some color copies beforehand. When I arrived at the shala just after 6, I launched right into sun sals and managed to finish by 7:20 a.m. Not ideal, but decent.

I was bit surprised to bump into Mr A going to the restroom as I was heading out. The usually indefatigable Mr. A cut short his practice and didn't finish all of 2s. He said he was tired.

Wow, it makes him seem more human to me now.

My little good deed for the day

Yesterday, on the last day of my long weekend in Vancouver, I distributed postcards promoting The Diver's workshop. I knew it would be a bit unrealistic to expect Vancouverites to drive 3 hours to Seattle to attend the month-long series, but hey, you never know. Mostly, I wanted to use the opportunity to promote The Diver's shala and encourage Vancouverites who might come down for a bit of cross-border shopping to take in a class or two as well.

On my last visit (see previous post), I went to Ashtanga Yoga Vancouver for mysore and dropped off a few cards. They were great. Emboldened by my success, I went to visit two Lululemon stores. Now, before you go hating on them, I have to say that they are very cool about putting up info on their community boards. I remember the founder, Chip Wilson, who made a zillion dollars when Lulu went public, used to go to ashtanga classes when I was just starting out. I even remember visiting his first "store" which wasn't much except for racks and racks of athletic wear made specifically for yoga. He's a canny business guy, that's for sure.

The other place I stopped by was Half Moon Yoga, which makes a lot of yoga blocks and props for wholesale and under their own label. They sell a lot of yoga shit, even the black rolling ball that I use in my pre-practice. They have a small little store on Granville Island, which is a popular tourist destination. A bit scary to visit on a long weekend, amid the cars and hordes of tourists, but it was worth it. Thanks, guys!

While I was doing all of this, it occured to me that it is much easier for me, the student, to do this kind of promotion, than to expect my teacher to do it. I had to do a little bit of selling, especially to people who didn't know him from Richard Simmons.

I'm not into cult worship, but I think we could all add a few grace notes of respect to our teachers. I'm guilty of not doing this enough, just like anyone else. You pay your money, you attend the class, end of business transaction. But it's something more I think. Kind of like the martial arts students who sweep the floor before practice and pour tea for Si-Fu (Teacher). They acknowledge and honor him, his years of experience and expertise, and realize how fucking lucky they are to be in his presence.

I actually like that my teacher is an expert in yoga, not marketing. He didn't even put his website on the postcard.

Practice Notes: Embody Your Yoga

A reminder that yoga is different than aerobics and is not just a physical practice.

The Diver caught me 'sleeping at the switch' the other morning when I was going through the prasarita padottanasana series. It was simple, straightforward stuff. It's what I do almost every practice when I do standing poses. But he noticed that I had messed up the arms-breath combo getting into C, which led to a general comment about taking my practice beyond the mechanical pose details. Legs, arms where they should be, yes. Breath, yes. I'm doing the pose, so I think. And I have done the transitions. 'But can move your body and breath with your prana?' He says he sees all this energy in my hands and lots going on in my head. 'But can you put it all together and flow from pose to pose?'

He asked me if I had heard his Popeye and spinach talk. Well, I hadn't but I knew exactly what he was saying. Here's one vid that I found. Check it out. The magic starts at 5:50.

Later in the day, his observation made me think about all the led classes I took when I first started doing yoga and I was repeating bits of instructions of my instructor's voice (not the Diver) stuck in my head like a broken record. I hope by now I've internalized the important technical details and have started to focus on my breath and intention.

Practice Notes: A word about driste

Focus.

Meowth, roar, roar, right back at ya, Annabella!

If You Were a Pepper...

It was weird and wonderful at this morning's practice.

Weird because the Diver or an assigned sub didn't show up, so the 5 of us motored through our practices alone, which is what we should be totally comfortable doing anyway.

The wonderful thing that happened this morning is that Ms. M (will have to think of a more interesting name) showed for the first time in a long time since getting knocked up and having a baby sometime around the summer. Ms. M looks great! She was a refugee from the other shala who tried us after suffering a yoga injury that wouldn't heal.

My practice? I was first in the shop and set up the space. After a half-hour or so, I let go of my expectations of the Diver showing up and settled into a cool practice without my clingy attachment issues.

Loss and Letting Go

It's pretty sad knowing that Laksmi can't come to weekday mysore for a while. I miss her already.

Practice Notes: Revisiting Golden Oldies

Warning: Crim pose ahead.

Sunday's led class with the Diver was chill, beginning with a 1/2 hour of sitting. Thankfully, the rest of the class was just as groovy; it was low on lunges (that's cuz Lax, Pi'ikea and Carl weren't there. Missed ya guys!). We basically ran through most of the standing poses, then second up to ardha matsyendrasana. He threw a little nauli somewhere early on.

I have to say that I had one incredible adjustment that peeled my hips and back open like a sardine can. We were in one-legged downward dog with hips squared and one leg up, just like Elsie here with her awesome leg warmers. Then when we opened our hips and reached the raised leg even higher, the Diver came by, helped open my outer hip and rolled out my thigh, thereby creating a higher lift. Cool!

The second part of the pose involved bending the raised knee, which opened me up even more. This reminds me of a similar pose that a former non-ashtanga yoga instructor (the most difficult yoga class you'll ever take, guaranteed) called, "boy dog." But hey, I digress.

I had totally forgotten about this adjustment since the pose isn't in The Syllabus and I don't do it a lot. I suppose I could also do this against the wall as I'm working on my much-dreaded hamunasana, but today's assist was wonderful! I could actually relax into the pose and feel where it's supposed to go.

MTMA: How to Roll Your Mat, or WWMD?

After you've finished your practice, flip your mat over so you have the underside facing up. Start the tightest roll you can get with your big Manduka.






Use your foot as another stablizing point as you continue to roll that fat spliff of a mat. (Note that I'm also multi-tasking by doing a foot drill of lifting my arch, grounding my toe mounds and lifting my toes. Very Iyengar-esque. Missed the shot with my big toe lifting too.)




Now that you've got the front edge completely tucked under your mat, you can release your foot. Continue to roll and watch the ends of the mat to make sure you stay on track.






You're past the most difficult part of the job. It's smooth sailing from here.







Before you know it, you're done! Fini!

Your mat should be able to stand upright on its own.

Close-up shot of perfection.







Special thanks go to Lax for photography, the Diver for the idea and Martha for making anal compulsiveness part of everyday living.

Modern Tips for Modern Ashtangis: Hot Tip #1

Don't roll up your mat like a snow cone when you're done with your practice.

It's a bitch if you're just borrowing that mat at the shala and you toss it into the container. Everyone else will have to squeeze to make space to fit their own mat in the tub.

Who's not being mindful now, huh? Besides it's really untidy.

It also makes the Diver crazy, even though there aren't a lot of things that bug him.

Next post: How to properly roll your pig-heavy Manduka into a perfect scroll.

Happy Year of the Rat!

Good to know that Disney is pimping this primo marketing opportunity. I mean, they do have the cutest rats.

Work is busy and I'm trying to keep my daily practice, hence a brief post.

Attended the festivities last weekend in Vancouver. Officially, the new year starts tomorrow.

So remember, if you want to follow some of these tried and true Chinese customs (not comprehensive or in any rigid order):
1) Don't clean your house on the first day in case you sweep away your good luck. EASY PEASY.
2) Eat a shitload of candy to start a "sweet" new year. CHECK.
3) Wear a new pair of slippers so you will be "stomping" on the gossipy villagers who have nothing better to do with their idle time. REMEMBER TO TELL LAKSMI.
4) Decorate your home freely with loud reds (luck) and garish golds (wealth). WELL, ARMANI DOES HAVE HIS STANDARDS.
5) Don't wash your hair in case you wash out your good luck. HM, KINDA HARD TO RESIST.
6) Don't bitch out your kids or loved ones. NOW, THAT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE.

Oh, and go vegetarian on the first day of the new year to ensure longevity. You can order Buddha's Delight at even the most carnivore-oriented Chinese restaurants. (This lotus bud's for you, Arturo! Cheers!)

Shout out to my peeps in Lululand!

It was my first visit to AYV since they moved to their new digs in January. They've been a bit nomadic too, sort of like The Diver (see my previous post).

The space has two smallish rooms for practice and finishing poses. It also has a lot of natural light and nice, toasty heat! Cool vibe too. About 17 students cycled through this morning, doing mostly primary and some second.

The students here are pretty serious about their practice and generally follow The Method. We were even doing the opening chant in semi-monotone, which seemed a little unadorned compared with the groovy version we do on Sundays. And I used to dislike the groovy version. My driste, which is not good when I'm in an unfamiliar location, wandered all over the place. I did notice a fair number of Luon wearers, black Mandukas and only a few props. And when I'm here, I do follow the crowd and don't veer off doing crazy mods or "bonus" poses since that would likely raise an eyebrow or two. But I'm just as happy to skip poses like pavirtta utthita hasta padangusthasana, and go through the series. Today I did second right up to laghu vajrasana.

The lovely Karen was adjusting, whom I hadn't met before. There was also another guy (didn't recognize him either) helping her out. Sharon, who usually covered the Sunday class, has changed her schedule for a much deserved break. I was rather thankful that Karen and the other fellow doing adjustments didn't use brute force to crank my body.

All in all, a nice place to practice. They were also very kind to post flyers for The Diver's workshop.

Hey, if you guys have your new "enhanced" driver's licences or passports, please come down for some fun!

Be mindful and fit!

This is what Stuart Smalley would do if he did yoga.