The Big Squish

Wandering around in a fog

2008-10-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-09-17T22:12:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-02T21:45:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

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)

2008-08-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

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)

2008-08-27T13:11:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-21T22:21:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-14T22:24:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-11T22:36:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-08T22:34:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-08-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-06T22:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-04T20:59:00.001-07:00

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.

2008-08-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-12T23:51:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-07-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-06-30T19:12:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-06-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-16T22:22:00.001-07:00

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

2008-06-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-04T21:41:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-03T21:43:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-01T16:02:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-12T23:34:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

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

Where I've been

2008-04-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-07T22:45:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-04-06T23:00:00.000-07:00

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.

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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. ;)

Dude, where's my true self?

2008-04-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

OK, so here's another lazybones check-it-out post. Sorry. Hope you'll feel it was worth watching nonetheless. (And no, I'm not refunding 3 minutes of your life back!) It's a movie trailer by a filmmaker who thinks anyone who does yoga will become "transformed." So she gets this somewhat sceptical guy from NY as the subject of her film to try different kinds of yoga around the country and finally to Mysore with the Man, all in the hopes that he will become "enlightened." According to the summary, things don't quite go as expected. But hijinks and much introspection do ensue.

Bet you thought I was going to post about The Love Guru with Mike Myers, eh? Well, you can find that yourself on Youtube. It's okay. This other movie has a considerably smaller budget, so I don't mind plugging it. Let me know what you think. I can't really tell if it's going to be good or bad.

Yoga Fight Club

2008-03-31T21:08:00.001-07:00

Following up on my earlier post about yoga poses at work, check this site out (Go to Portfolio, Yoga). Martin Prihoda is a professional photographer based in Vancouver. His urban, gritty pics of yogis in different settings are a perfect antidote to the squeaky clean photos you find in YJ.

Oh, and if you don't need Edith playing on the speakers, be sure to turn it off.

Mr. Resistance Man

2008-03-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

This morning's class was kick-ass but good.

It was a full house of more than 20 students. We had Megin subbing in for the Diver, who was away for the weekend teaching somewhere in Canada. We had a bit of a shaky, low-baritone opening chat that had people scraping their lungs down on the floor in order to reach the notes, but she did make it up to us by taking us through a hybrid vinyasa class of many asymmetrical poses and lots of lunging that were even more taxing than what the Diver does (Lax, you missed all the fun!). She focused on a lot of hip openers or the kind of poses that would benefited from having a crowbar or can-opener nearby. Some of the highlights:

1) A set of variations on the one-legged downward dog including one lifted leg straight in a 45 degree angle, bent lifted leg, side plank, vasistasana and a raja-type back bend ("look behind you and try to touch your head with your right toe" Mmm-kay).

2) Lunge-y warmups before going into the "crowd pleasing" hanumansana: virabadrasanas with variations, twisty prasarita padatonasanas. Then an eka pada rajakapotasana series that was capped off with a one-legged pigeon and other leg in bhekasana-foot bind and finished off with our free arm pointing at the sky in a lovely gyan mudra.

3) We even did a series of handstand variations with the wall that incorporated some backbending: "At the wall, do your headstand and sit your butt on the wall as your lower back extends and bends. Don't collapse into it. Also, don't forget to expand your chest outward."

Great stuff for my non-slutty guy hips. Some of the words from my old iyengar teacher were even echoing in my head: "This is where your body doesn't like to move." Fer sures.

Pi' ikea, who had her mat next to me, loved the class, even though she whispered, "this is hard" and Zen Rolling Ball commented afterwards that we did a lot of poses that we don't usually do in ashtanga. Laks was MIA. As was Carl.

In the crowd while we were doing handstands, I recognized an older student, Mr. Resistance Man, who used to practice with me at another studio. He wore his trademark grey headband. I know it's totally bitchy of me to say, but I remember him totally frustrating my teacher. He seemed never to absorb any suggestions from her and insisted on doing all of second even though she said that he wasn't ready. I mean, what do you get out of doing the 7 headstands at the wall? Anyway, she tried valiantly to give him notes in different ways before caving in and letting them do his whatevers.

P.S. The photo above is not of Mr. Resistance Man. It is from Mr. Speedcat Hollydale's blog page. Thanks. Rock on, sir!

Show-off yoga

2008-03-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

Yikes, I regret doing it already.

But a number of people at work know that I go in and do yoga at the "ass-crack" of dawn (thank you, Boodi) most workdays. So one of them tells me that she's been doing yoga off and on for two years and wanted to show me her poses. She complains that her heels don't go down in downward dog and asks me why. I tell her to lay off the high heels and show her a calf stretch against the wall. She can barely do it, but I tell her that she should do this every day so that her calves will lengthen and she'll be able to rest her heels on the floor.

She shows me some of her other poses and before you know it though, we're both doing a yoga show-down in the office. She's in black pants and a sensible top, but I'm in a suit about to leave the office for an appointment. She encourages me further by saying that I should teach yoga. Cringe. I'm surprised I didn't rip my pants as I did garudasana and eka pada bakasana. Luckily, no one else walked by to see what the hell was going on.

Yoga is a contact sport

2008-03-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

Today I received more than the usual set of adjustments from the Diver. He may deliberately done this so that it would reinforce the points he covered in his workshop last week. Indeed, it was very helpful to understand how and why he does what he does. Sometimes, there are as many as five points of contact. One of the things i love about his approach is that he talked about guiding or leading students through contact so that they can understand why they're being adjusted, as opposed to just being shaped into the way a pose should look.

He even showed a couple of "intimate" adjustments that he does only to students he knows really well and would not be freaked out that they didn't even have "dinner and a movie" beforehand. He's certainly not a lech, but as a yoga instructor sometimes you do what you have to do.

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Some final pics of the african safari: the movie set for "I Dreamed of Africa", the range rover we drove around in (minus the machete that's usually on the grille), and a shot of a kudo with horns (not as cute as the nyala, but equally yummy).

Nyala, it's "what's for dinner"

2008-03-20T21:46:00.000-07:00

The nyala is one of the most adorable animals we saw on our safari. Like Bambi, its coat is a beautiful toffee color, but the nyala also has white vertical stripes that look like paint spots dripping down their bodies.

One evening, it was also in our curry dish for dinner. Kinda sad, but delish, I have to say. Better him/her than me. Either you are the hunter or become the hunted.
______________________

Today was the last day of the Diver's adjustment workshop. I really wish I had the chance to attend the whole series. It was fantastic! He turns your perspective of these asanas outside in and inside out. Interestingly enough, most attendees were NOT astangis, but yoga teachers from various styles (vinyasa, power, that sort of thing). A few were regular students who come to his mysore or led classes.

Adjustments for the poses we covered were: pigeon, double pigeon, ustrasana, urdhva dhanurasana, and sarvangasana. There was a special request to cover the adjustment of reverse namaste hands in parsvottansana. Very carefully, as you can imagine, or not at all if the student is not quite there yet.

I wish I had the time to describe thoroughly the adjustments, but a picture tells a thousand words. Maybe we can get pics of Lax demo-ing pose and me trying the adjustments, if she trusts me. Heh.

My Little Zebra

2008-03-19T23:09:00.001-07:00

Adorable, but not very useful. Apparently they can not be domesticated and you cannot ride them because their backs are so weak. Still, they are striking animals to look at.

Forgot to set up my alarm this morning and I missed practice. That hasn't happened in a long time, but I was glad to sleep in. I actually felt like I had a full night of sleep. I was able to make my 8:00 o'clock meeting and had enough energy to deal with the some of the pompous people in attendance. Hee. Oh well. I did have 3.5 hours of yoga yesterday and tomorrow I'll have practice and the Diver's last adjusting workshop to attend. Yippee!

Vacation Pics, Yoga Workshop

2008-03-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more safari pics, which took place on a 4,000 acre private game reserve near Richards Bay, located on the SE coast of S. Africa.

Twice a day, 8:30 am and 4:30 pm,we would jump into the Range Rover with our Ranger Host, Ken and drive around in search of any animals. Sometimes it felt like we were driving ourselves into harms way, not knowing what we would come across and feeling somewhat vulnerable in an open but covered jeep.

There were lots of animals to see, nyalas, kudu, hippos, wart hogs, zebras and elephants, but there were also some animals that were hard to find, such as the leopard and black rhino.

I'm not a big animal or zoo fan, but I did find it rather interesting to observe animals in a "natural habitat" interacting with each other and with the funny humans who would be sitting in this noisy and stinky vehicle.

In the giraffe picture, you'll notice that the one on the left, George, has dark spots compared to the shorter and younger one. George is 29 years old and about 18 feet tall. Because their spots darken as they age, George is a senior citizen in giraffe years. He seems to be doing well though. George and his buddies lumber through the park looking for leaves and water and when they spot you from a distance they track your movements closely since they can see from so high up. I should also mention that they often have these blank, somewhat dopey looking expressions on their faces as they're chewing away on their breakfast, similar to way I look when I get up in the morning.

In yoga news, I was able to slide into the final week of adjusting workshops that the Diver was teaching. It was fantastic! He's so knowledgeable and creative in his adjustments. I was particularly interested in seeing what the hell he was doing when he adjusts me in class. He started off by splitting the group of about 14 in two. Half of us would be "doing" the practice and the other half would be doing the adjustment. We would rotate adjusters while the practitioners stayed put. It was really helpful to try the same pose on different bodies and also be more confident in our adjustments. Feedback from adjusters and practitioners were encouraged after exercise so that we were forced to observe and feel how the students were responding without an exchange of words.

A few key points in my own words (some may sound obvious, but he expanded on them): Observe and listen. Start with the stance and look at their feet and work your way up. Adjust decisively and firmly while being sensitive and compassionate. Choose your battles and decide on the one thing you're going to focus on. Be aware of the student's edge. Get close to the student. Use your legs, arms, elbows, sternum before you adjust with your hands. In Vira 2, he showed us how to hook the elbow under the student's bent knee before placing the fleshy part of the thumb and "slicing" the crease of the hip and rolling it out. Your free hand can roll out the other thigh. (Ugh, it's probably easier to show you with pictures. I'll have to grab Laks from home confinement and get her to demo this.) Anyway, it all takes experience and intuition which I'm still developing. The two-hour class went very quickly. I'm looking forward to seeing what we do on the last class.

More later!

Back from Vacation

2008-03-16T18:47:00.001-07:00

I missed all of you cyber-shalamates! Hope you've all been doing well.

I just got back from my safari in South Africa and week in Bali. I feel very relaxed and rejuvenated from the big adventure, but just a little tired at the moment from the 17+ hour flight home from Singapore.

I'm still organizing my digital pics and need to develop some film rolls, but here's a starter picture of some rhinos we bumped into on this game reserve.
One thought that occurred to me while on the hunt for rhinos and other wild animals...

Vegetarians can get just as piss-angry as meat eaters.

I'll post more photos and stories as I get settled. Take care!

I'll be off-blog for a little while

2008-02-25T20:09:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-02-22T20:09:00.001-08:00

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...

2008-02-20T21:39:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-19T21:37:00.002-08:00

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

2008-02-16T11:00:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-16T09:11:00.000-08:00

Focus.

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

If You Were a Pepper...

2008-02-13T22:21:00.001-08:00

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

2008-02-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-10T11:22:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-02-09T08:10:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-07T21:03:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-02-06T20:03:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-02-03T10:27:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-02-01T23:37:00.000-08:00

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

Snow Day! Well, sort of...

2008-01-29T07:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was another yin day.

Got up my usual time, saw snow outside the window, then went back to sleep. You see, I live on a hill in a park, which makes it nearly impossible for me to get out of the driveway in conditions like this. Usually what I have to do is park my car at the top of the hill the night before. But I was too lazy to do it this time.

Now just a note about snow in Seattle. It doesn't snow here very often. It usually melts in few hours, but when there's snow in the forecast, people freak. Seriously. Schools close. People stay home and call in sick. Those who do venture out in their cars, see a snowflake, wig out and drive into the nearest light post. Check out this crazy video. It's not from Snow Storm 2008, but you'll get the gist.

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to have everyone in our little plat of homes shoveling and sanding the driveway. It was a lovely community effort. My nice neighbors and dear partner (recovering from a cold) were huffing and puffing their little lungs out. They needed a good cardiovascular workout actually. I helped too, but I had to tough it myself, y'know. I had to go back to the bedroom looking for something appropriate to wear for the inclement weather. Big dilemma. I ended up having to forsake fashion for function by putting on this fugly, beige down jacket from another fashion decade. Armani was not happy, especiallly when he was looking like a overstuffed pillow.

It looks better today. It's supposed to snow again but I'll wearing my fugly down jacket, just in case.

Name this pose to impress your friends.

2008-01-28T07:06:00.000-08:00

I know everyone's been losing sleep over the Sanskrit name of the pose I've blogblabbing about, but it is called Agnistambhasana, according to the yoga fashion bible, Yoga Journal.

I don't think I've ever heard an instructor call out this pose by that name before. Usually people call it Fire Log Pose, Box, Square or as I think I heard the Diver murmur yesterday morning when I asked him, Hips on Fire. That's a good one. As far as I'm concerned, any name containing the word, "fire", describes this charming little pose rather aptly.

It's perfect for a winter's morning practice.

Furniture Yoga (Take Two)

2008-01-26T23:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Day 26. It's the home stretch, people!

In the morning I did my usual Saturday yin practice, adding to my repertoire gomukasana, a not-so-favorite pose. Later that evening, my partner and I went to see the closing night of Pagliacci at Seattle Opera (Gordon Hawkins playing the murderous clown was great!). Usually these gigs are 3 hours plus, but luckily this one clocked in only a touch over 2 hours.

Before the show we went to Crow nearby. I had the manila clams with chorizo sausage and sun dried tomatoes. He had the duck confit and lentils. This place is not bad, even though it's usually crowded and the food is a little oversalted for my taste.

When you think about these situations, there are lots of long stretches of time when you're just sitting and not doing a whole lot. Plane rides, movies that never seem to end, opera. Shit, if only I could sit on the floor of my office in baddha konansa while I work through my emails. I would be so uberflexy by now. I know it's all that damn sitting at work that tightens my hip flexors and hamstrings.

So to make the best of the situation last night, I tried to squeeze in a pose or two. Hey, it's dark and no one notices. Doing half padmasana works. So does half-square or half-box pose with one bent knee resting over the other (what's the Sanskrit name for this?). I've also done it at the movie theater which is particularly good for boddha konasana if I can hook my knees under the arm rest and not bug my neighbor. I'd like to work up to full padmasana on a plane if I can.

But let's turn our attention to Lax for a moment. She has a lovely figure and mad-sexy hips. You know that she's pure as the driven snow (as reported in HER BLOG), but she has these envious "whoring" hips. I mean, if I had open, slutty hips like her, I could hang out all day in uptavishta konasana while reading a book.

I can't even begin to imagine how productive and flexible I'd be.

Here we go again!

2008-01-24T20:40:00.000-08:00

Cripes, I don't want to move again!

I've been following The Diver since he moved here to Seattle from Colorado about five or so years ago. First, he subbed at the Practice Space (a lovely boutique space), then when it folded he moved a few students to his Loft/Studio in Ballard. In honor of his guru Richard Freeman, he called it the Yoga Workshop. Hardly anyone came cuz no one knew his brilliance and since this town is filled to the gills with yoga studios, anyone who was practicing already had a plethora of choices at the nearest street corner. Then he went to Belltown Yoga, where they were teaching hot yoga classes. Not much activity there. So he relocated to Eight Limbs in Capitol Hill. It's one of the largest and busiest studios in Seattle. Nice and stable. The Diver stayed there for a year, if I recall, then decided it was time to make a break. Hence the move to Velocity Dance where we're at now in the very cool Odd Fellows Hall. A huge, beautiful space but with great potential for high-end condos.

We have until July before the lease runs out. The new landlord is reportedly tripling the rent, but he wants people not to hate on him. He is supposed to be very supportive of dance and the arts. At triple the rent.

Oy! I don't know where we'll be next. Apparently there are discussions to finalize a place nearby in the neighborhood, but nothing's firm yet.

I know myself well enough that if I don't go to a studio, I don't do my practice other than maybe a few lazy-bones yin poses. It's too hard to motivate myself to do anything more serious at home. :(

Do you believe?

2008-01-23T21:00:00.000-08:00

Perhaps I was beating myself up too much over the handstand issue, or that after I purged all of my fears in my previous blog, things started to click for me. Thank you, gentle readers, for the kind support and validation.

This morning I got up to my navasana/handstand combo, and as I was getting ready to do the first one, I could feel The Diver's attention zeroing in on me as he was about to help someone across the room. So I made sure I was away from the wall, pressed down on the front palm mounds and went up. Hm, felt much different than usual. I even had a moment or two to RELAX into the handstand which helps a lot. Duh, when my body tenses up like a wood plank of course it's going to timber, but this time, I'm actually hanging out in the pose.

The sound of The Diver's feet comes padding towards me. "Exactly," he says. Then I did four more with my navasana and miracles of miracles, I didn't touch the wall on any of them.

I'm HEAL-YALLD!

Praise Jim and Tammy Faye. People That Love.

I missed practice or oh yeah, it's a moon day!

2008-01-22T19:13:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm going to make it up tonight by doing some jazzy yin poses.

Actually, I skipped this morning because of a tweak in my right shoulder doing a mod version of dwipada viparita dandasana. Mine doesn't look anywhere as beautiful as Tias Little's. At a workshop some time ago, he recommended that we work up to holding that pose for half an hour. Mmn, sure thing!

Knowing my wrecked body the way I do, I called my friendly neighborhood chiropractor for an appointment and got him to salvage the wreckage before it gets even worse. "C7 (or something like that)," he says. "Gee, that's kind of uncommon. Are you feeling any elbow pain or tingling radiating through your fingers?" "Uh, no." It is a new tweak, but I don't even talk about yoga with him anymore. He's totally old school and thinks yoga is the devil. But he knows why the bodies continue to pile up in his waiting room. Yeah, he's told me to quit a few times when I've shown up with some pretty spectacular injuries, but now, we both know the drill. When I'm wrecked; he fixes me. I know this doesn't healthy. It's probably even more puzzling for people who don't get chiropractors and their Watchtower-like magazines that they have in the treatment rooms.

But I LOVE him. And my massage therapist, acupuncturist, my back-up massage therapist...

Tomorrow, I'm back in the saddle.

Adho mukha svanasana or the Hat and Ha of it all

2008-01-21T20:20:00.000-08:00

Talk about frustrating. I can't tell you how many years I've been working on doing handstands away from the wall. I find them so elusive. The progress I make is so seemingly incremental. Some days are better than others. The Diver sees how close I am yet so far away from nailing this pose.
It's interesting to observe that this pose is a deal breaker for a lot of students. I see people take their bathroom break when the teacher says, "Let's go to the wall." A colleague at work who is a serious marathon runner expressed an interest in doing more yoga, but has bailed out on the teacher she likes because they've started to do lots of handstands.

I do like how The Diver introduces them to his students early on. Hee. It humbles you really fast.

I have to also say that in his mysore classes The Diver is relentlessly patient and encouraging to keep me and other folks working on them when most of the time, I just want to race through my 5 lame attempts very quickly when he's out of the room or while he's helping another student.

What I've learned about myself and handstands is this:

1) It doesn't come naturally to me. Apparently I have oodles of strength in my shoulders (so he says), but I have a mental block about possible falling and cracking open my head or knocking the wind out of myself when I flop down on my back. This is very rational fear though, don't you think?

2) There are many elements to this pose. The kick-up, the breathing, the balancing, the exit. Just to make things even harder, the Diver likes to make handstand part of a whole sequence: navasana, pull it up into adho mukha svanasana, hang there for an eternity or so, then slowly squeeze your body down into navasana again. Easy! Yah.

3) It's possible to think too much while trying to do it. Feel the pose! Do this! Don't do that! So much inner talk for my little brain to process. Usually thinking less or not thinking comes so easily for me, especially at work. All of a sudden my mind is now filled with terrifying thoughts.

So today I got a clue. The Diver has been trying to wean me off the wall, while I've been secretly inching my way back towards it. This morning, he moved me so far away from the wall, I knew that if it I went overboard, it wasn't going to help me much at all. Then he reminded me about my hands. Shift the weight, spread your fingers, work your hands. All of my weight is on the back part of my hand. Not stable at all. And when I feel that I'm going to lose it, my fingers go into a death grip and the fingertips go white. So he talks me through an similar pose that I know--bakasana. Shift your weight forward like you're almost going to plant your face into the floor.

Ahh, ok. Then I try handstand.

Ding.

I feel it. All this time, I've been hearing him say this repeatedly and I understood the theory of what he was saying. I thought I was doing it but I wasn't really. Now he's given me a new idea to work with. Press down on the front mounds of my palm. Now when I'm in downward dog and other similar poses, I notice how I'm doing the death grip all over the place. Need to rewire. But now at least, I have that awareness, which is very informative.

Chitta vritti nirodha or meditate on this

2008-01-20T17:30:00.000-08:00

Sorry, this post starts off with a pic of raw meat.

Yesterday my practice consisted of yin poses. It's a great complement for an ashtanga practice, which Paul Grilly says is yang or has "rhythmic movement" and works the muscles.

However, holding still in a pose like eka pada rajakapotasana, double kapotasana (Box?) or boddha konasa with a set of crim sandbags is a real test. It can certainly make me scream and release before the prescribed 3-5 minutes. While sitting yesterday and trying to cease the fluctuations of my monkey mind, my thoughts turned to food. Raw chicken wings, to be precise. I couldn't get the image out of my head and thinking how my thighs were just like the little chicken wings I like to chomp down and snap into pieces. As gruesome as that might sound to my vegan friends, it's not going to turn me off meat. I'm definitely eating a lot less of it these days, but I do love food too much to cut myself off. Hats off to Arturo for being so disciplined and doing the CRON diet. I will have to ask him more about that sometime.

Back to the chicken wings. So my mouth is pooling with saliva and I'm trying to breathe through these poses. I continue to imagine the chicken wings and my thighs with all this "gristle" and similar connective tissue. More saliva, more breathing. And my legs are going to snap off any second.

Furniture Yoga

2008-01-18T19:37:00.000-08:00

Today's practice was pretty good. If I get in around 6:00 am, then I know that I'll have enough time to do a decent practice, clean up and get to work by 8:00 am. Crazy, isn't it? And this is coming from someone who is not a morning person. At all.

Two hours is ideal. I know. Crazy, but those days are gone, now that I have a less flexible job and more early morning meetings (try putting together a coherent thought at 7 am). Shit, I hate it when work interferes with my yoga schedule.

When I got my first 9-5 job after graduation, I was terrified and worried about how I was going to be able to get up every morning. How do people do it? Prior to entering the work force, I was living the high life of a carefree student. Late nights hanging out (on weeknights no less) and sleeping in until 10 or so, thanks to a carefully selected class schedule. I even missed a class or two (or a bunch, can't remember) if I was feeling a little sleep deprived. Geez, you school-age kiddies don't know what a life you have. Just so you know how good you have it, listen to this brilliant riff by Ernie Cline: When I was a Kid. (Word up, it's got some profanity in it, which should actually appeal to some of you out there.)

Nowadays, I'm liable to start making my way to bed by 10. Woo! Life as such for a yoga nut. I live for the weekends just so I can sleep in, work in a nap or go to bed EARLY.

Oh, getting back to today. I found it rather amusing how everyone was doing their own thing in morning mysore, but in such an unconventional way. I LOVE IT. Other than Mr. A, we're all being crim, doing mods and using (dig this...) props. Balls, blocks, slant board, straps, and even a ballet barre. I liked watching Lax squeezing a handstand over the big black cube with The Diver spotting. (I still can't believe what I'm seeing when he does it.) You'd think that we were in Iyengar-land or something.

Hey, I'm just as respectful as the next person about the method and SKIPPY J, and I will do the classical practice if I'm visiting another shala. But that's the beauty of what The Diver teaches. After 10+ years of practice, I've concluded that it's an intense, hard-core practice where you can quickly accelerate your progress in gaining strength and flexibility, but it can also contribute repetitive stress to your body and you can hurt yourself if you don't clue in to your limits, what your body is telling you and practice ahimsa. That's a huge part of the practice. Mr. A is definitely the exception to the rule, although he says it's tough for him too. He really does have an amazing practice, on and off the mat. For me, kapotasana is going to be lifelong effort. I'm not in any hurry to get it cuz I know there's going to be another freaking impossible pose around the corner that I won't be able to do. It just doesn't end.

Mea Culpa.

2008-01-17T19:25:00.000-08:00

I missed practice this morning. *gasp!* I don't have any excuse really. Uhm, the male version of Lady's Holiday, perhaps? I know if you asked my partner he'd say that I'm bitchy and cranky everyday. Shit, now I've blown my record for YaMoYoYo or whatever it's called. Although if someone gives me a hall pass, I could still finish the month.

I could never know what it's like to be on the rag like my unfortunate sisters, so I won't even try. But I did feel a little bloated, a little more moody than my normal sunshiney self.

Lax calls it her "pyramid." What would you call it, gentle reader? Male stroppyness, manstruating, Lady Boy's Holiday?

I do like to feel fresh everyday.

We've only just begun...

2008-01-15T19:58:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my new, shiny blog, gentle reader.

I haven't figured out yet what the theme of this blog will be, but it might be related to ashtanga yoga, food, mobile technology, photography (things that happen to interest me) or perhaps, it might be a shout out for self validation, a call to action or just something I want to get off my chest.

I know it will be a challenge to come up with something interesting every time you visit. I know you have only a limited amount of free time during your workday to cruise the interwebs on the company computer, but I want you to know, dear reader, how much I appreciate the gracious donation of time you give up every time you find your way here to read this little ole' blog.

I'll try to do my best to post a pretty picture or two, my deepest thoughts, a beautiful insight I've gained while The Diver squats on top of me in Marichiasana A until I grind my nose into my shin, or something that just cracks me up.

I'll also do my best to maintain civility, demonstrate kindness, ahimsa and all that stuff, but once in a while, I might just need to take someone down for some dumb shit they post, or because I've had a bad day and I'm in a bad mood. You know, keeping things in order, and making me happy.

It's all good, right? Many paths, one truth.

Next post: More about me....