our-yoga

In one of my yoga classes this week, my teacher said, "Don't stop breathing." It's a perfectly normal thing to say in a yoga class, and I'm sure I've heard it a bazillion times. But for some reason, on this occasion, instead of helping me to focus on my breath and internal heat a song popped into my head. It wasn't Krishna Das.

It was this.

But instead of "Don't Stop Believin'" my head was filled with "Don't Stop Bre-eath-ing." It has been in my head ever since. It's driving me nuts, but at least it reminds me to take a full, deep inhale when I get to the made up chorus.

Does a pop song ever, ummm, pop into your head during yoga? What's the most common culprit?

"Hold on to the feeeeeeling..."

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6. You would NEVER attend a yoga class at the YMCA or a [insert name of a type of yoga you have an aversion to here] studio.

7. When you're tired of doing a particular pose, you stop the entire class to shout out, "Could I have another pose to work on, please?" (Unless, of course, you have an injury or are physically incapable, then it makes you smart not spoiled.)

8. You judge people based on their diet, yoga clothes, and how accurately they pronounce Sanskrit words.

9. You have more than two yoga mats (I have five!), more yoga clothes than work or weekend wear, or more than 50 percent of your book and magazine collection (and blog feed) are about yoga--but you never really look at it any of it.

10. You write more than one yoga blog ...

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On Fridays I teach a gentle flow class. It's my favourite class of the week - calm music, breath-focused flow - it even leaves me, the teacher, feeling refreshed!

This evening we had a bit of a 'special' class. First of all, we practice in a small conference room annexed to the back of a local NGO. For the past few weeks the air conditioners haven't been working properly and it has been HOT. Like, hot-yoga-hot, but the heat and humidity are 100% natural and you can't just turn them down or open a window! Said NGO office is adjacent to a local football (soccer) field, and today just before yoga class the inevitable happened: yes, you got it, ball through the window. Glass everywhere, chaos, and, yep, gaping hole for noise, mosquitoes and yet more humidity to come in through.

As we started our practice, the game next door continued, seeming louder than ever through the broken window. When the game finished, the guys decided to string up a net between the field and the NGO building. Great idea! Also, loud, chaotic and complicated idea which meant that we had 15 young guys standing on the wall in between the NGO and the field, shouting to each other, holding a net, trucking ladders back and forth, and yes, staring in at whatever-on-earth-the-wacky-foreigners-are-up-to-now: our Yoga class.

So there we are in our 100% humidity, mats sliding on tiled floor, mozzies buzzing, footballs flying, ladders clanging, boys shouting, and I am turning up the music and practically shouting
"stay with your breath"... And somehow, we manage to stick with it, somehow, we manage to stay in the flow. As we hit Savasana night falls, I turn off the lights, turn up the music, and finally find that teeny bit of stillness.

And then, after the class, one of the students comes up to me and says: "I think that was the best yoga class I've ever been to in my 60 plus years."

So this post is dedicated to my students. As I said to them tonight, they never cease to amaze and inspire me. There we are in our far-from-perfect conditions, and yet they keep coming, week in and week out, to practice Yoga. Here they are, far from home and family, from country and loved ones, living in the crazy uncertainty of this chaotic town and yet, they practice. They practice through sticky heat, power-outages, mosquito bites, broken glass, football games, and shouting youth. They come to practice through the dust and the heat, or wade through the muddy, flooded parking lot in torrential rain. Despite all the obstacles this place can throw at them, they practice. And THAT, I was reminded tonight, and reminded them, is Yoga.

Because life is unexpected. You never know what it's going to throw your way. It's not a smooth, easy road - it's a 4x4 obstacle course and the ride is going to be bumpy! Yoga is about self-discovery, and it is in facing adversity that we really learn about ourselves, it is how we deal with the challenges and the potholes that teaches us who we are and helps us to grow. And if we can keep a soft breath and a steady gaze amidst all the chaos - then truly, what can we not do?

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Hi all, I have been offline a lot this week due to overwork, and no connectivity on my internet. When my life runs away with me, I often turn to restorative Yoga to help me bring back the balance into my mind, my body and my day.

So here is a gentle restorative sequence that should leave you refreshed and, well, restored.

Before You Start:
Turn down the lights, light your favourite incense or essential oil, and put on some mellow music... I highly recommend Jai Uttal and Ben Leinbach's "Loveland" for smooth, entrancing listening.

Props:
This sequence works best with the help of a few props, especially: one or more blankets, rolled up; one or more yoga blocks or big books; a yoga strap or any exercise strap or bit of fabric; and some large pillows.

The Sequence:

Begin this sequence by lying on your back, hug your knees to your chest, and gently rock side-to-side on your sacrum (the hard part on your lower back). Hold each pose for as long as you like - I recommend at least 5-10 long, slow breaths in each pose.
• Happy baby pose (Keeping your feet close together, let your knees come apart and gently pull your knees towards your shoulders. Then, keep your knees bent and raise your feet up towards the ceiling. Either keep holding the thighs orgrasp the bottom of your feet from inside, and gently pull the feet towards you)
• Supta padangusthasana I (Bring your left foot to the ground. Loop your yoga strap around your right foot and gently lift the right leg towards you.)
• Supta padangusthasana II (Grasp both ends of the strap with your right hand and slowly let your right hip open up, lowering your right leg to the right hand side. Place a block or pillow under the right foot, and look back out over your left shoulder.)
• Repeat on the left-hand side, then come to sitting.
• Seated Twist (Bring your right hand to the left knee and twist gently to the left side, then do the other side)
• Cat and Cow, 5-10 rounds (Come to all fours. On an inhalation, let the lower back curve downwards and look up, on an exhalation curl your back upwards and bring your chin to your chest).
• Downward Facing Dog (optional. Can also be done with your head resting on a block, OR your hands resting on a chair for a more restorative version).
• Supta kapotasana (reclining pigeon - from Down Dog, inhale, stretch the right leg behind you, and then exhale and bring the right knee forward between your hands. Exhale, and slowly lower yourself forward and down. After 10-25 breaths, inhale up to centre, step back to Down Dog, and repeat on the left-hand side).
• Paschimottanasana, supported (Come to sitting, with your legs together. Place a rolled-up blanket under your sitting bones, and another under your knees. Place one or more pillows on your legs. Inhale and stretch gently forward, exhale and rest your head and torso on the pillows for 10-25 breaths).
• Baddha Konasana, supported (Inhale back up to sitting. Bend the knees, bringing the soles of the feet together. You can loop a yoga strap around your feet and then back around your sacrum, tightening it to ease the stretch. You can also place pillows or yoga blocks under your knees).
• Upavista Konasana, supported (Bring the legs wide, and bring a yoga block or a bolster/pillow in between the legs. Inhale and reach forward, exhale and rest your torso and head on the pillows.)
• Janu Sirsasana (From upavista konasana, bring your right foot to the inside of the left thigh. Place the rolled-up blanket under your left knee, and a pillow over your left leg, and then gently stretch forward over the extended leg, resting on the pillow. Repeat on the other side.)
• Supported Bridge Pose (Lie on the mat with your knees bent. Inhale and gently lift up your hips, placing a yoga block underneath your sacrum for support. Keep your spine lengthening, and breathe deeply and evenly into the belly.)
• Half Shoulderstand (Before you begin, lie in the middle of your mat and place a chair or yoga block at the head end of the mat. Place a folded blanket under your shoulders. Inhale, lifting your hips up and supporting your hips with your hands. Let your legs stretch behind you, leaving you balanced and light in this pose. See my previous restorative sequence post for more details!)
• Plough Pose (From shoulderstand, bend the knees slightly and let your legs come down behind your head. Rest your feet on the chair or yoga block.)
• Fish Pose (Gently roll back to the mat and come to sitting. Place a yoga block or small pillow in a way that it will support your upper back. Gently lean back onto the block so your back and shoulders are supported but your head can hang back.)
• Supta Baddha Konasana (Lying down, bring the soles of your feet together. You can prop your head up on a pillow and support yourself with pillows or blocks under the knees. Close your eyes and turn up the music!)
• Savasana (Indulge in a long, restorative savasana for best results).

Enjoy!

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I love mantras. Being a generally musical being, they move me deeply. When I get a mantra in my head, listen to a chant, or join in one, I feel it resonating to every fiber of my being.

I'm not religious (not to be confused with "I am an athiest" - because I'm not!), and when I first encountered mantras I felt extremely uncomfortable, almost afraid of them. They seemed "cult-y" and foreign to me, and I disliked that they named deities I was unfamiliar with or didn't believe in. A while later down the yoga path, now I love the joining of voices that mantras and kirtan give us. It is such a blessing to sit in a room full of people and all sing along - no more culty to me than a campfire or a kindergarten round of "row row row your boat"!

One mantra in particular I love: the Om Tara mantra. It is a mantra dedicated to the female incarnation of the Bodhisattva (one who follows the path of compassion), Tara. Tara's name means "star" or "she who ferries across", and she symbolizes Compassion in Action. Her mantra goes like this:

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