Happy holiday weekend! Special thanks to everyone who practiced with me yesterday at The Yoga Room in Astoria. It was great seeing many familiar faces and some new friends. Breathing, moving, sweating and smiling… it was a great Saturday. On Tuesday, May 27th, I'll be at Earth Yoga, leading a Hot Power Vinyasa class from 8-9 pm. Ohh... they have this: Not bad, huh? Seven days... $39 for unlimited classes, which includes free mat/towel rental during that week. If you missed me this Saturday at The Yoga Room, I'll be there next weekend, May 31st, at 3:30 PM, leading their 75-minute Community Class. Yup... only $10. It's sunny out... enjoy the weather and the rest of your Holiday weekend. -Vic
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It is while practicing yoga asanas that you learn the art of adjustment. When do I use a Yoga block? First of all… I pick-up a block or two before the start of every class and sit them next to my mat. That's just protocol with me. I've always felt that the use of a block or any other prop only enhances your asana practice. The use of props have nothing to do with how much experience you have, nor does it minimize your asana practice. On the contrary, it shows mindfulness and a willingness to cultivate awareness. For newer students, a block or two can make what appears a daunting pose an accessible one. It provides comfort, enhances alignment and support, while giving you a sense of adaptability in your own life. Some poses I love using blocks in:
What are some other ways you use a yoga block? I'll post more ways to use props during your asana practice in upcoming posts. Until then, see you on the mat. -Vic Hope is not a prediction of the future, it's a declaration of what is possible. Arm balancing… YIKES. The dreaded point in the class where many of us just sit around and watch and get down on ourselves, or don't stay within our own practice for whatever the reason. Listen, sometimes… bakasana (crow pose) just isn't for me. And that's part of our daily practice. So you know what? Just stay in malasana and enjoy the benefits of that asana. We are not in class to show-off, nor to get down on ourselves for not being able to do whatever our neighbor is doing. I truly feel that the fear of getting into an arm-balance or the perception that you "can't do it" is the biggest hindrance to someone actually working their way to a particular pose. Here are some tips that will hopefully help you in your journey:
I invite you to post any prior experiences and approaches in hopes of empowering others. We are all students and one way we attain knowledge is via other people's journeys. See you soon… -- Vic We're talking hands today and the importance of our palm, fingers and wrist in many asanas (postures). Very similar to our feet, both of our hands provide the stability needed for many of our poses. But unlike our feet, the muscles and bones that comprise both of our hands are not necessarily built for the same rigors of weight bearing, as we do on our footsies. Without getting too technical; the bones that exist in our feet are thicker, stronger and don't have the similar dynamic range of movements as those in our hands. They can withstand impact a lot more and sustain our body for most of the day during ambulation. We are used to writing, typing and being crafty with our hands, actions that do need a specific skill-set and different levels of dexterity, but how often are we really balancing on our hands and trying to weight bear, unless we're in a yoga class practicing arm-balances? Which is important to recognize how we can use our hands during these poses and come into an understanding of how to practice safely and confidently without worries of injuring our phalanges and wrist. Awareness about hand-placement on our mats should begin in downward facing dog (adho mukha svanasana). Are we bearing too much at the heel section of our hands? Maybe use a wedge or place a towel at the heel to help increase the range and lessen the severity of the angle. Are we leaning towards the thumb or pinky side more? Spreading your fingers apart, palms flat onto the mat and pressing evenly from the thumb all the way across the pinky side of your hand will take the weight off your wrist and transfer it up your arms and into your upper back where you have muscles better equipped to handle the load. Not having a steady flat surface with your upper extremities in down-dog could lead to tightness in the neck-area, a site of tension for many of us. Placing your hands wider than shoulder width distance apart, closer to the edge of your mat, could also alleviate the uneven-bearing on your hands while providing more area up the arm and into the shoulder for lessened tightness and more space to find stability into your hands. Beginning in table-top, shoulders above the wrist and hips over knees is a good initial position to find all your starting points mentioned above before tucking your toes under and lifting your hips into down-dog. In other poses, such hand-stand, how we use our hands, fingers and their engagement are imperative in building a steady foundation. You want the top part of your palms and your first set of knuckles to engage, which will help you activate the muscles of your forearm and upper arm. Your finger pads planted onto the mat will illicit a "tenting" action on the middle joints of your fingers. Good… because that will mean that your hands will work, instead of just collapsing onto your wrist when you go upside-down onto your handstand. Those finger-pads pressing down into the mat will help get those muscles in your hands that are used to mobility, get stronger for stability. This is a good starting for alleviating pressure from the wrist and finding awareness in our fingers during arm balances. Maybe try some of the tips mentioned and we'll continue to explore arm balances such as crow (bakasana), and maybe figure out together what things have served your body, or haven't. Any questions, comments, suggestions, complaints or observations are welcomed. I'll continue with a series of posts to follow-up and to expand on some of the things I've mentioned today based on your feedback and my own exploration. No one is wise by birth, for wisdom results from one own’s efforts. Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. Two things I love in life… yoga and art. The above quote by Thomas Merton rings very true to me. When I'm completely immersed in a sequence, a flow, a progression of poses and just feeling the rhythm of my own breath… I always likened it to losing myself in a beautiful painting or just being alive and gazing mesmerized at a mural. At the same time, my asana practice just brings me back to who I am. Clarity… being in a lucid state of profound consciousness. Art in that same way is an ultimate form of expression and applying who you are in a creative way to facilitate emotional power. When you're in an asana and breathing… you become art. When you see your body and the life you live as a conscious way of bringing forth beauty into your life and those of others… you are yoga. At 90-years young, B.K.S. Iyengar still practices asana and pranayama for hours daily. Swami Yogananda Maharaj Ji is 105 and not only engaging in daily practice, but teaching as well. Tao Porchon-Lynch is still instructing too! Others well into their 80s and 90s have a regular regimen of asana. Makes me wonder, where I will be 40-years from now. I'll take my chances and practice some sort of asana, pranayama and meditation daily and hope to be as functional as some of these inspirations. Join the club -- it's open to everyone! Nearly 20-students in savasana in a meditative state, feeling and cultivating awareness... it was quite a sight.
Thanks to the City Year organization, I was able to lead another round of meditation at I.S. 204 (Long Island City, NY), which led to bliss and students of varying ages finding some tranquility and arming themselves with techniques for relaxation and coping. After participating in a few sets of Sun Salutations and engaging their breath in tree-pose (Vrksasana)... closing with meditation on their backs, the students turned the auditorium stage into a place of serenity. The importance of after-school programs, presenting students with outlets for growth and disseminating all the knowledge we have, giving them tools like these, can only lead to productive scholars and fruitful development. Many, many thanks to everyone involved. NAMASTE! A morning practice… That's something that I truly need to develop more of. Many of us avoid it like the plague. Just when we made plans to wake-up early and meditate or practice asana, the alarm goes off … and we hit the snooze button. Maybe we stay up late and that will be our excuse the next morning. Here's another one… we wash our mat, so it's too wet or put it somewhere we can't find to avoid going to a studio for practice. Excuses, excuses. So what do you?
Makes your morning more efficient and you'll be primed to get going.
LOL… seriously, give yourself time to marinate. Yeah… marinate. To enjoy your morning, savor your departure from bed and allow your body to get acclimated to a new day instead of rushing out.
Yes… they'll get you up really early whether you want to or not.
You don't have to go to your local studio to get your meditation or asana practice in. Roll out a mat in the living room or any available space in your home and a few sun salutations later, you got yourself an effective morning routine.
Energizing poses; cat-cow to warm up the spine, sun salutations to build heat, back-bends to invigorate and finish with savasana to collect yourself and cultivate awareness for the day. Extra, extra: April is Occupational Therapy month! As a practitioner, I've worked in hospitals with babies and in adult-rehabilitation, pre-schools, nursing homes and psychiatric clinics. Nothing is more satisfying than seeing a client reach their capacity and meet their goals - to function at their most independent and highest potential. The same feelings apply when teaching and practicing Yoga. Breaking through real or perceived barriers. Want to know what OTs do and how we do it? The 'American Occupational Therapy Association' states, "As an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant, you are part of a vitally important profession that helps people across the lifespan participate in the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities. Your holistic and customized approach to evaluations, interventions, and outcomes help a child with disabilities participate in school and in social situations, assist a person recovering from injuries to regain skills, aid an older adult to stay as independent as possible, and offer the specialized support and services to people of all ages and in all circumstances that only occupational therapy can provide." Occupational Therapy Month started in 1980 to correspond with AOTA's Annual Conference & Expo. Want to know more about Occupational Therapy? Click here! Adho much vrksasana (handstand) on a busy New York City sidewalk…
Bakasana (crow) on an edge of a cliff… Forget that! How about savasana (corpse pose) anywhere and everywhere? Now that's the prime photo-op for every aspiring yogi and asana junkie! Arguably the most vital of poses, savasana, is the final gateway to bliss and complete absorption. After a rigorous practice, many times the benefits aren't truly realized because the practitioner deprives themselves of a enriching pause. Even during a hectic day, finding time to just lay down and feel your inhalations and exhalations in this pose can be valuable. Besides all the impactful benefits; decreasing of the heart-rate, relaxation of the skeletal and visceral muscles, lowering of tension and anxiety along with increasing energy levels and stimulating the ability to concentrate… why wouldn't anyone want to deepen their awareness with a corpse pose anytime or anywhere? At work. At home. Getting to your yoga class early and easing into it and ending your asana practice with a prolonged savasana. Alright… lets do it. Anytime… anywhere. Get your savasana on! |
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