Everyday Yogini

Shannon at the Cole Mine posted this question earlier this week in regards to practice for beginners…

I have a question for you Yogini…In beginning yoga, how often do you recommend one practice? I am really wanting to get back into it again, but struggle to find the time. I want to take a class to learn to do the poses correctly (then maybe I can practice on my own at home) but really only have time for class once or twice a week. Any suggestions?

I am so glad that you are finding the time to take a class! Going to a class once or twice a week is a fabulous beginning and will give you a great basis for starting a home practice. After you come home from class, try to take a few minutes to jot down how you feel after your practice and also your favorite poses and key notes about those postures (this will help you develop your home practice).

As far as finding time at home, it’s hard. Just like anything else we choose to spend our time doing, we have to make time (especially when you have small children!). In this instance, though, it is easier than you might think. Once you have gone to even one class, you will have at least one or two asana (poses) that you remember and enjoy. Just do those. Whenever you have a moment, just drop into a pose, with all the attention you can bring to bear in the moment. Even better would be to choose a specific time each day that you will do your chosen asana. Do that everyday and now, you have a home practice! As time marches on, you will find more time on some days, and that will be a wonderful addition to your days!

If you have fifteen minutes, I have a simple sequence that you can download in Word stress-busting-sequence.doc. (I am working on technology to offer sequences on YouTube or by Mp3 files…) If you have an hour, there is a terrific site that you can go to for free Yoga classes that are offered daily (these are better if you are already familiar with the basic poses).

Let me know how it goes with your practice!

In the comments yesterday, both Mamalissa, a new reader, and Lilalia asked for a list of books and/or resources that I read in my early years of practice. Today, I will give a rundown of my favorite teachers and books that have shaped my practice and what I consequently teach.

My perspective on a brief formal practice is entirely my own, born of my own experience as a busy Mama and my sense that other busy, modern, women often choose to not do anything because they can’t devote an hour to it! (Type A+) But I believe that if you devote 100% of your attention to a formal home practice for even 10 minutes a day, you can change your life. I also believe that additional time will start to magically appear for practice… at least on some days!

On to the modern Yogini’s must-read resources!

Yoga Resources
The first books I ever bought about the practice of Yoga were, naturally, all of the books by BKS and Geeta Iyengar. Dog eared and well-worn copies of the following books have been next to my bed for fifteen years. (Not quick and easy reading, but essential for the Yoga geek.)

-Light on Yoga
-Light on Pranayama
-Light on the Yoga Sutras
-The Tree of Yoga

BKS Iyengar’s daughter, Geeta, wrote the seminal book of Yoga for women, Yoga: A Gem for Women.

More accessible, with a more modern feel, my two favorite female teachers, Donna Farhi and Judith Hanson Lasater have written many great books about Yoga. My favorite books by these two ladies are the ones related to bringing Yoga into daily life (go figure).

Those titles are:
-Living Your Yoga
-Bringing Yoga to Life
-Yoga Mind, Body, and Spirit: A return to Wholeness

Yoga Mind, Body and Spirit is a great all-around Yoga book, with asana and philosophy. I loaned my copy to someone along the way and don’t have it any longer, but it is a terrific book to get started.

Georg Feuerstein has written countless books and articles on the Yoga tradition. I am most familiar with his writing through the articles he used to write for Yoga Journal many years ago when it was still a little hippie magazine. Amid all the high gloss advertising that YJ boasts today, you can still find some good articles. Speaking of magazines, my absolute number one favorite Yoga magazine is Ascent. Published quarterly out of Canada, it is associated with the Yasodhara Ashram. Attending a retreat there is on my long-term list of things to do…

The Buddhist teachers who have most influenced me and occupy space on my bedside table (bookshelf) are: Pema Chodron, Sylvia Boorstein, and Jon Kabat-Zinn. EVERY book in the above links is worth reading. The only one I don’t have is the Kabat-Zinn book on depression. Choose one, buy all, there is great stuff in all of them….

Last, my list would be incomplete without mentioning a little book that I read passages from every day for probably a year at one time in my life. The Still Point Dhammapada: Living the Buddha’s Essential Teachings is still among my favorite books. Geri Larkin, like Pema Chodron, evokes such a sense of being just a simple human being striving to live a spiritual path. I cannot possibly express the impact both of these women’s teachings have had on my life. I am so grateful they share their wisdom with the world.

So there you have my list of resources and books. Pick one or two that appeal to you and see what you think. If you have specific information or a style you are looking for, I would be happy to make a recommendation!

Lilalia, who I am getting to know through WoYoPracMo, is a lovely lady. Her art is spectacular and her insights make me smile.

Last week, she sent me the following question:

Who were the people that inspired you to become a teacher? When did you change from pupil to teacher?

I love this question, because it really gave me pause. It’s been a long time since I started practicing Yoga and a long time since I decided I was going to become a teacher (and I’ve had a baby to fry my memory completely)!

The fact is, the very first class that I took, I went home and taught my roommate everything I could remember about the class I had taken! I started buying books and delving in to postures and would teach it to anyone who would listen to me!

And although I loved my first Yoga teacher (and many of the subsequent ones), I was inspired primarily by the art of Yoga itself. By the way I felt after practice. I knew I would teach Yoga the first class I took, because it was a homecoming for me.

Interestingly enough, somewhere along the line, I decided that I didn’t know enough to be showing anyone anything, and clammed up. I decided I had to be properly certified to teach, so I could know everything (hi, perfectionism). But, the longer Yoga and I travel together, the more I humbly acknowledge that my student days will never be over. The day I decide I know everything is the day I should be required to stop teaching.

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I *puffy heart* your questions! If you have a burning question related to Yoga or life, contact me here.

Well thank goodness for Kelcey over at Mama Bird Diaries! I’ve been meaning to start an offering of “Ask the Everyday Yogini” and yesterday, Kelcey asked a great question, not even knowing I was planning to start this!

Kelcey asked the following question:

“On another note… today in my ashtanga yoga class, my teacher was counting maddeningly slow in one of the poses. I was so annoyed. Afterwards he told me it was my choice whether to be miserable in that moment. What on earth does that mean? And how do you get through difficult, uncomfortable, tooo long yoga poses? If you ever feel like addressing this… I’d love it Nona!”

Before we dive in to Kelcey’s question, I want to first address a question that relates to this. Why do we do Yoga in the first place? Many of us come to Yoga for a lithe body and stress relief, but the real and true gift that we get through our practice on the mat is the ability to practice being present to whatever arises. Yoga, and life, is not always about getting what we want or being comfortable. There is pain and discomfort- our edge is often pushed. Equanimity, otherwise known as being-at-peace-no-matter-what-is-thrown-at-you, is what you get when you can be present and aware without reacting.

So, generally, what happens for us on the mat is just an echo of what happens in our lives. So, do you have control issues? Are you sad? Are you totally Type-A? Are you meek and timid? It will be there, because, as one of my favorite teachers, Cheri Huber, points out, how we do anything is how we do everything. We make choices in any given moment to respond in our habitual way (irritation, getting tense, complaining, etc.). And our practice, and our lives, give us lots of opportunity to really see how we create pain for ourselves through our responses. Then, we have the amazing opportunity to change our mind about how we respond!

All that being said, there are many “tricks” available to develop a gentle and kind curiosity about how we respond to things that make us “itch”, especially on the mat, but these techniques can also be used in daily life.

-Focus fully and completely on the breath. Pretend like you don’t even have a body, you are just breath. If that is too vague, you can count your breaths or label them, “in and out”.

-Go directly to the heart of the discomfort and explore it. See how it changes. Become a scientist watching an experiment. Develop unceasing curiosity about how your body changes in each moment. Become enthralled with the sensations of the body or how your mind gyrates around certain poses.

-Systematically, from your feet to your head, relax every muscle that is not needed to keep you in the asana. In particular note whether your belly, shoulders, jaw and other facial muscles are tightening up. Let them be loose and easy. Notice if that changes the sensation of discomfort.

-As a last resort, be silly. Stick your tongue out at your neighbor or the teacher.

A shift of perspective is all it takes. Sometimes it doesn’t feel at all possible, but it’s always available to us. And no matter what, it’s all a learning experience, so be gentle with yourself.

If you have a question you would like to Ask the Everyday Yogini, ask it here. And please indicate if you would rather remain anonymous.