Oldie, but look damn goodie Sunday - Ashtanga

Get motivated to start an Ashtanga yoga practice: http://damn-ilookgood.blogspot.com/2009/11/ashtanga-yoga.html

Full Moon Rest Day

Today is a full moon day.

It is traditional in Ashtanga yoga to rest on new and full moons. I have always relished these opportunities as a day off to regenerate from my hard work outs and yoga practice.
If I have to teach class on full or new moon days, I often make it a restorative practice.
But, why do we take the full and new moons off??

There is a great explanation at http://www.ashtangayogacenter.com/moon.html which I have paraphrased below:

The human body is about 70% water and water is affected by the gravitational pull exerted by the relative position of the sun and moon.

During the full moon, our energy is at it's strongest point. Conversely, during new moon our energy is more mellow and not suited for vigorous activity.

Yoga practitioners are very tuned into to the energetic forces of the universe, making both full and new moons undesirable practice days.

So, indulge in the tradition of taking rest on these days. The regenerative effect on your body will be noticed immediately. Even just the discipline of being able to step back from routine and take rest is good practice of unattachment. Get a massage, take a hot bath and take the time to cook a nourishing meal.

Enjoy the full moon day today!

(photo from: freedigitalphotos.net)

Ashtanga Yoga

I figured since I mentioned my daily Ashtanga habit, I better expound on that a bit.
It was back around 2000 that Madonna brought this athletic style of yoga to the forefront. Naturally, anything Madonna is doing physically, I have an interest in. She is the grand mama jama of unbelievably athletic, sinewy bodies.
I started researching yoga in general, as this former total gym rat who couldn't touch her toes had never even considered a mat as a piece of exercise equipment.
I bought several DVD's and books on Ashtanga yoga.
Some great ones to start with are:
Yoga Mala by Sri K Patthabi Jois (This is the Ashtanga "bible" by the recently deceased "father" of Ashtanga who brought it to the West)
Ashtanga Yoga A Practice Manual by David Swenson
Melanie Fawer's Mysore Ashtanga Yoga DVD
I started learning the Primary Series on my own and haven't stopped since.
Ashtanga is a set series of poses divided into six series. (If you click on and expand the image above you can see the postures.) The primary series keeps most students occupied for quite a while.
Ashtanga is traditionally practiced six days a week Sunday - Friday with days off on Full and New moons and during the first one to three days of a woman's menstrual cycle.
It is traditionally imparted to the student pose by pose by an authorized or certified teacher in "Mysore" style class. A few notes about this:

1. Authorized and Certified teachers do not pay for a teacher training and then walk away with a certificate. They must travel to Mysore, India to the Ashtanga Yoga Reasearch Institute at least three times to study under the Jois family and be given the authorization or certification.

2. You can find authorized/certified teachers listed here: www.ashtanga.com

3. "Mysore" style class consists of students practicing the Ashtanga yoga series of postures that they have been given on their own - there is no teacher leading class. Instead, the teacher goes student to student assisting and adjusting.

4. If you cannot learn from an authorized/certified teacher - learn from books and
videos and if you decide to stick with it, eventually seek out a teacher.
My day cannot truly begin until I've done my Ashtanga yoga. The breathing, the systematic repetition of postures and the physical challenge have kept me challenged for over eight years. I am still working on 1/2 primary series - up to boat pose and then the finishing sequence. Even though I repeat the same series of poses, I find something new each day.
My wonderful teacher - PJ Heffernan (www.heffernanwellness.com) told me this:
"The key is do a little something everyday 5 or 6 days a week but don't push too hard. Only push hard like once or twice a week. Sometimes my practice is light, sometimes its heavy. Sometimes it hurts sometimes it feels better than good sex. Most of the time I feel tired and lazy in the morning ,but no matter what I am going through, sadness, pain, injury, anger, frustration or contentment.......I practice. That is what it's all about. Exercise daily control and influence over yourself. Do this for 5 years and you will be a new human without many vulnerabilities and most definitely without much fear. This practice ultimately is about destroying your fear and making you clear."

Wow, right?
Post your questions or email me on how to get started in this wonderful style of yoga.

(photo from: yoga-gainsville.com)

Sweat Lodge Deaths

The tragic sweat lodge deaths and injuries at a retreat led by self help author, James Arthur Ray have me thinking a lot about the risks of subjecting the human body to those types of conditions. The workshop participants were in the sweat lodge to challenge themselves spiritually, physically and mentally. It appears the sweat lodge was improperly constructed and overcrowded.
I can't help but correlate this to Bikram yoga. I am a dedicated six day a week Ashtanga yoga practitioner. Ashtanga is a very powerful, sweaty form of yoga that uses breath and "vinyasas" (a series of movements that includes a push up, an up dog and a down dog) in between almost every posture to build heat in the body.
Bikram yoga utilizes an outside source of heat to warm the room the 26 posture series will be practiced in to 105 degrees at 40% humidity.
People are either very drawn to this style or repulsed by it.
Bikram teachers are very strict and discourage resting or straying from the set series at all.
I find this extremely problematic considering the extreme heat.
I understand yoga practitioners wanting to sweat, especially those who come from a gym background, but safety must come first no matter what the desired outcome is.
A strong yoga practice will produce just as much sweat as the Bikram series, without the danger of practicing in the heat.
If you choose to practice Bikram yoga, be sure to go to a certified Bikram studio with well trained, experienced teachers, be aware of your own personal health risks and how they are affected by heat, hydrate well before and after class and above all listen to your body. If at any time you feel dizzy, nauseous or unsafe - rest, hydrate and move to a cooler place - regardless of what the teacher says.
It is better to be admonished momentarily by a "strict" teacher, than to lose your life or risk injury.