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.