Reflections on Practice

If you're a student of mine, you've heard me repeatedly encourage you all to practice yoga in between classes.   You've heard how important your own practice is for you to benefit more fully from the effects of the poses on your body, mind, and spirit.   Also when you practice, the poses become easier, and you probably enjoy your classes even more (and maybe you'll decide to step up to the next level if your class starts to feel too easy!).

You know that it's good to practice.   I know it.   But....still....I know it's difficult for many of you to find time to practice.   And the same poses continue to be difficult for you, and more difficult poses are out of the question.

............

One of my joys each week is to sing with the Women's Chamber Chorus in Ann Arbor.   This is a community choir for women -- there are no tryouts, and any woman who can carry a tune and can learn the music is invited to join.   Our director is patient with us -- he's a good director and a good teacher, especially for those of us who never had much vocal music experience (besides singing in the shower, or in the car with the windows rolled up, or campfire songs....but I digress).

AND he strongly encourages us to practice in between our rehearsals.  

BUT...do I practice???    Well.... occasionally.   Occasionally.   I'm not going to tell you how little I practice.   Of course when I do practice, the music that is difficult for me really is easier next time we all get together, and I remember it better than if I just sing it during rehearsals.     And I enjoy the music and it feels so good when I do get it right!   So why don't I practice regularly???   Same reasons as everyone else.    I procrastinate,  I get involved with other activities, some necessary, and some not-as-necessary.    It's hard to get started, especially on a more difficult piece.   It's also more fun to do with a group (a few of you are in that group -- it's a great group to sing with).   But practice does make a huge difference in my level of competency and enjoyment in that group. 

Our concert is coming up quickly, and we don't have all of the pieces pulled together yet.   I don't want to be a part of the problem if certain pieces don't come together well, so.....maybe it's time to create my own "30 Day Challenge" for this music, such as I offered to you all earlier this winter.   If I set a goal, just for the next few weeks, of only 15 minutes a day, I will have this music under control for the concert.   And it'll feel GOOD!   Wish me luck!

Yoga reduces inflammation, improves heart health -- two more reasons for a regular practice!

Today (Friday, February 5) is the 22nd day of the 30 Day Yoga Challenge.  You're almost there!   Read below for more reasons to practice yoga regularly.

Thanks to L.A. for forwarding this article to me!

An article in NaturalNews.com, Yoga Reduces Inflammation and Improves Heart Health cites evidence of more reasons to practice yoga on a regular basis.

Besides the usual reasons people have for practicing yoga -- to develop greater flexibility, strength, balance,  and to reduce stress -- there are also physiological benefits to the regular practice of yoga.

From the article, "People who regularly practice yoga reduce compounds in the blood that contribute to inflammation. Yoga has also been shown to increase heart rate variability (HRV) which is a sign of good heart health."

Two studies were cited:
In the first study, blood samples were drawn from woman who were either "yoga novices" (less than 12 classes), or "yoga experts" (those who had practiced twice a week for 2 years).   The "yoga novices" had higher levels of cytokine IL-6 in their blood than the "yoga experts".   Cytokine IL-6 increases inflammation in the body, which contributes to heart disease and diabetes, as well as other age-related diseases.   Lower levels of this substance help to keep us healthier as we age, and the practice of yoga is one method of lowering these levels.  For more info read Yoga Reduces Cytokine Levels

The next study measured the heart rate variability (HRV) in men who were either "yoga novices" or "yoga experts".   The "yoga experts" had a higher HRV, which indicates greater heart health.   The heart rate of a healthy person is steady, but ready to respond to other stimuli that require a higher heart rate.   For more info on this study, read Yoga Boosts Heart Health

The author of this article concludes that practicing yoga just twice a week gives us many physical benefits.   NOTE that this is a regular yoga practice, not just the occasional class.  The benefits come from steady, sustained practice.

Day 15 of the "30 Day Yoga Challenge"

We're half-way through the "Challenge"!  I've been hearing from a number of you who've been doing the "30 Day Yoga Challenge" and it sounds like it's going reasonably well!   Don't worry if you miss a day or two here and there -- just pick up where you left off.    You don't have to "make-up" the days that you missed,  but do try not to miss too many -- that just makes it too easy to quit altogether.

I was thinking back to when I played classical guitar 30 years ago.  I loved it and was pretty good at it for awhile, but ended up putting off my practice too often for too long, and finally gave up -- kind of sad considering how much satisfaction and enjoyment I got out of it when I DID practice!

If you feel now that the original goals you set for the "Yoga Challenge" are unrealistically high, re-evaluate and change them to something you can stick with, but don't give up entirely!  Just do less for now.   Find a practice pattern that works for you.  

If you start to feel stressed about the whole idea of practice -- quickly do 3 or 4 of your favorite poses -- maybe it will take you just 5 minutes -- and don't worry at all about if you're getting them "right".   Just do them because you enjoy them.   I assure you that you'll feel better for it! And maybe the 5 minutes will turn into 10 or 15 or 20 minutes...and maybe not, but you've done those 5 minutes and your favorite poses!   That's a good thing!

On the other hand, if this has been a fairly easy process for you and you're really enjoying your practice, consider occasionally adding in a longer practice.    Think of it as a treat for yourself!

I do a longer practice once or twice a week on quieter days when I'm not teaching as much, and don't have many other obligations.    On these days I can really settle into the poses, turn them around in my head and experience them more fully when I feel I'm not rushed.     It's during these practices that I see more rapid growth in my understanding of the poses.

You may not have time to devote to long practices -- I understand how busy you all are -- but even commiting 10 - 15 minutes a day 3 times a week solely for your own practice, for your own self, is a great gift to yourself, and will leave you feeling more centered and refreshed both physically and mentally.

Genius in Action: B.K.S. Iyengar (Day 11 of 30 Day Yoga Challenge)

We're over 1/3 of the way through our 30 Day Yoga Challenge!   How are you doing with your practice?  What's difficult about your practice?  What's easy?

This YouTube video is an excerpt from a film tribute shown in Boston in 2005 during B.K.S. Iyengar's "Light On Life" tour of the U.S.    The video quality isn't great in some parts (it's okay) but I hope it inspires you!  

 The video is narrated by Patricia Walden, one of the top two Iyengar Yoga teachers of the U.S.  (The other is Manouso Manos, most recently in Ann Arbor this past November.)

 I won't review the whole video -- I'll let it speak mostly for itself.   But I do want to share some of my thoughts about the references to the practice of yoga.






Patricia narrates that in the 1970's, those who took classes from B.K.S. Iyengar did many, many poses in each class, while he "rained instructions on [them] with a torrent of intensity".  His focus was on movement and action to fuse the body and mind, and to bring about "freedom" in the body and mind.

(BTW, the first set of public classes taught by B.K.S. Iyengar in the U.S. was in Ann Arbor, sponsored by our YMCA in 1973!)

Patricia then says that as the years passed, Guruji (B.K.S. Iyengar) added new dimensions to his teaching.   He taught fewer poses per class, but took the students deeper within each pose.

There's a phrase of his that's mentioned in this video which I've heard before, and which reflects the growth of his teaching and his practice of yoga asanas (poses), "When I was young, I played.  Now, I stay."

When we're new to yoga, it makes more sense (in my mind) to do a lot of poses;  to play in them, to bring about better range of motion in the body, and to wake up the intelligence of the body.   We don't hold them long to begin with -- but we get a taste of the poses and how our bodies and minds react to them.   As we begin to understand the poses better, and begin to develop the stability and alignment to hold them longer with more ease, then we can begin to explore them more deeply.     Even if we are not beginners, when we try a new pose or a new set of poses it's best to just touch on them, to playfully explore them, and as we become more proficient then we can explore them more fully.  (How about those arm balances, for example?   Hard to explore them very deeply when we fall out of them after a second or two!  Or can't quite lift off yet!   So I'm still continuing to work on them, along with the more familiar poses.)

Or if we're feeling sluggish, our minds can't really attend to the more profound elements of the poses, so we move quickly from pose to pose to invigorate the body and mind.  Then maybe we can work more deeply in the poses.    We need both the physical and mental conditioning to do this.

When we are more alert, and when our minds and bodies are attentive, then Guruji asks us to "explore to find out where we are dull or overworking, and to adjust, so consciousness can grace the body evenly throughout."   We don't practice just for the sake of the physical practice, but we practice with with an attentive, discerning mind to explore:   What part of the pose is coming along, what part is not?   Why is it coming along, or not?   How do I change what I need to change?

Patricia comments that Guruji  has "taught us to face difficulty with wide open eyse, and to awaken the boundless intelligence of the heart."

Yoga and New Year's resolutions

I started my practice of yoga as a result of my New Year's resolution in 1993.   It was a simple resolution -- just to "regularly take a yoga class at the YMCA", since we had just become members of the Ann Arbor YMCA, and I knew that there was a well-respected Iyengar Yoga program there.    I didn't really know what "Iyengar yoga" was, but I had read in the (now defunct) Ann Arbor News that B.K.S. Iyengar had visited Ann Arbor a few times, and that he presented the practice of yoga as a precise way to bring the body to good  health.  At that time, I was very intrigued with different "alternative" or "complementary" self-care modalities (herbal remedies, homeopathy, massage, etc.), and it appealed to me that Iyengar yoga could be a way for me to take charge of my own health.

I tell people that it was one of the easiest resolutions I've kept.    BUT, thinking back, that's not exactly true.   It took me about a year of taking classes before I realized that I wasn't going to quit.   A number of times during that first year, I remember that I really didn't want to go to class -- I had other things that I wanted to do or felt I needed to do.   But I made myself go, and always was glad I went.    After that first year, I didn't have to "make" myself go -- I eagerly looked forward to my classes and was disappointed when I couldn't attend.    It took me that long to become fully and strongly "hooked".   

I hear from students that they sometimes have to "make themselves" come to class too, but that they are so glad they did because they feel so much better afterward.   At some point, they may realize that they don't have to make themselves come anymore -- they want to attend and are disappointed it when they can't, just as I experienced.    It becomes a habit.

The next step for me, after establishing the habit of regularly attending classes, was to establish my own home practice.   That took a long time!    I'd start and stop over and over again.   I still felt I was progressing fairly well in class as long as I attended regularly.    But I noticed during the times I also practiced in between classes, my poses became much better.   I could go into them more deeply with better alignment, I could hold them for longer with ease, I could feel different parts of my body working in concert with other parts in a way I hadn't noticed before, and I felt great!    Then I'd "fall of the wagon" again, and sometimes it would take weeks or months to "get back on" again.

It took time and discipline to keep coming back to my own practice, but of course it's been well worth the effort!

New Year's resolutions are used to help us create a stronger intention of creating good habits.   Casual intentions don't work out too well.   It takes dedication to continue with these good intentions, especially when we lapse, but then hopefully we re-commit.   It's human nature to lapse.  The trick is not to get discouraged but to re-commit again and again and again until it becomes an ingrained habit.

Somewhere I read that it takes a minimum of 21 - 30 days of doing something to make it a habit.      But if we give in to the "don't want to do it today" impulses, THAT becomes a habit too, and that particular habit is a hard one to break!

For those of you who are attending my yoga classes, and who are interested in developing your own home practice, I'll be putting together an informal "30 Day Yoga Challenge" program to help you with that.    I'll have "intention sheets" that you can fill out, handouts for practice ideas, probably some tips on this blog, and I'll be available at different times before and after classes if you want extra help.   The "30 Day Yoga Challenge" will start on January 15.     

I'll be posting more info about this in a few days.   Stay tuned!

In the meantime, sign up for the Winter session!    And if you have friends who you think would enjoy a class at Harmony Yoga,  have them check out our website, www.harmonyyogaannarbor.com

A Happy, Healthy New Year to you all!

Home Yoga Practice ideas

Practicing between your weekly yoga classes will help you improve your poses (asanas) more quickly, and will give you greater health benefits.   Students have told me that part of the reason they don't practice is that they don't know what to practice, or they think they'll do the poses wrong.

If you're a beginner, a good way to start your home yoga practice is to try to remember three asanas that you did in your most recent class, and do those 2 or 3 times that week.  You don't have to do them perfectly!   Just the process of doing what you can remember will help you learn them more quickly than if you only do them in class.   As a beginner, first focus on how to place your arms and legs, hands and feet, and head in the yoga asanas.    Practice straightening the arms and legs in poses that require straightening, and practice lifting and opening your chest in the poses that require that (which are most poses for beginners!).  As you become more experienced, you'll start to remember more of the details that you were taught in class, and then can incorporate them into your own practice.     And, as a beginner, if you really just don't get around to practicing much, don't worry!  Let it develop over time!

Practicing between your yoga classes becomes more essential as you become more experienced and take higher level classes.   You'll find it much harder to progress in the more difficult, complicated yoga asanas unless you put in your own work between classes.   If you're having trouble in certain asanas and just can't figure them out withing your own practice, you're welcome to come in early before classes to get help.  I'm usually at the studio 1/2 hour before class starts.   Some students are finding it's helpful to take more than one class a week. I'm also available for private lessons if you'd like more focused attention on some aspect of your yoga practice.  But my guidance is only worth a little if you don't follow up with your own work.  

Here's a link to a series of practice sequences on the IYNAUS (Iyengar Yoga National Association of the U.S.) website.     Sequences for practice
I've posted this link before in newsletters, but it's always good to check again!   There are 4 general sequences for Level 1 students, and 4 sequences for Level 2 and higher students.

Yoga and Aging -- Growing older with grace

I've noticed that I've gotten stiffer over the last few years, despite my yoga practice.   I've seen this in some of my long-term students as well.    Our hips, ankles, shoulders, and back just don't move or stretch as freely as they used to, or at least not as quickly.     Our strength and sense of balance eventually start to decrease as well.

Apparently this is an inevitable parting of growing older.   This doesn't mean we give up on our yoga practice -- on the contrary, our yoga practice will keep us stronger, more limber, and overall healthier and happier than if we didn't practice.

I did mention that I am stiffer than I used to be -- this stiffness goes away during practice, although it takes me a little longer to get there.   I can't imagine what my body would be like without this practice, let alone my state of mind!    I'd probably be a hunched-over crank with bad knees and back, and a perpetual scowl on my face if it weren't for my yoga practice!    (Well, hopefully not, but I'm not going to test it!)

We have to practice differently as we get older than when we were younger.    Perhaps we can't throw ourselves into poses with the joy and abandon of younger practitioners, but our body awareness develops so that we can more intelligently and more skillfully work to increase our physical and mental health, or at least to maintain for longer our current level of health.

This photo of B.K.S. Iyengar is from the Vanity Fair article link, below.  This was taken when he was 88.
The Yoga Portfolio Outtakes Entertainment & Culture: vanityfair.com
Of course this photo is meant to inspire-- most of us won't have such a beautiful back arch at any age perhaps, but it shows that the human body is capable of more than we think it is.    B.K.S. Iyengar doesn't "hit the perfect pose" right off the bat, however.   He moves his body with intelligence during his practice, skillfully moving deeper and deeper into his poses, with the aid of props and keen mental awareness.   This is how we all need to work as we get older -- mindfully and intelligently.

The photo of the woman doing paschimottanasana ( seated forward bend) is also inspiring, and more accessible to more of us.   But it's still a pose that needs intelligent and mindful work if we want to deepen the pose without injury.

In the Denver Post article, Turning Age on it's Head , one of the teachers that is interviewed says, " Iyengar is the safest yoga for older practitioners because of Iyengar's focus on proper alignment and the use of props — blankets, blocks, straps, chairs and ropes — to assist poses.
"Mr. Iyengar's genius engineering in the use of props and sequencing makes the essence and benefit of each pose available to any student, regardless of ability, strength, flexibility, experience or age,"

If you're new to yoga, and are starting to feel the effects of age, you may prefer to find a "Gentle" yoga class or a "Yoga for Seniors" class as your introduction into this practice, so that you're with other like-minded, and like-bodied people.    Yoga IS for everyone, but not every beginning yoga class will be suitable for all beginners.   Some will prefer an active, vigorous class (I think many younger people need this activity), while some need a slower-paced, more supported class that gently strengthens and stretches and opens the body.  

Again, from the Denver Post article, one of the interviewed teachers says,
"For those who practice yoga regularly, stiffness turns to suppleness. Closed joint spaces open so the life-force energy known as 'prana' can flow to bring vitality," Frechette says. "And the oxygenated flow of blood brings youth-promoting nutrients to all the nooks and crannies of our aging bodies."