our-yoga

A few days ago, I said I was going to repost sections of the Ashtanga Yoga Ann Arbor House Recommendations on this blog, and maybe write a review about it. Well, I'm going to do it now. But it's been a long day, so I might be a little less-than-coherent. Please bear with me.

Before I start, there are a few important details you need to know. This wonderful resource, which has been crowd-sourced and curated by Angela Jamison of Ashtanga Yoga Ann Arbor, has recently been published into a pamphlet by Laura Shaw of Small Blue Pearls and Laura Shaw Design. The pdf version is downloadable here for free (you just need to sign up for a MagCloud account); in addition, a print copy can be obtained in exchange for parting with USD 3.84 of your precious monies.

As I have already intimated, this thing is good stuff. Whether you practice at a shala or by yourself at home, this resource provides a wealth of insight that will help you to develop a most efficient and effective practice for your personal--and, by extension, the world's--self-transformation. There is, frankly, not much else I can say here that wouldn't be redundant and add to your discursive mind (if you don't know what this is, read the pamphlet). But since this is a blog post (and what are blogs, really, if not discursive extensions of our already very discursive everyday being-in-the-world selves?), I should probably say a few things anyway.

To begin, there are a few things that Angela says about mental hygiene that really resonates with me. One of the things that will inevitably arise in the practice when you do it regularly is difficult emotions. There is just something about the nature of the practice and the mind-body atmosphere it generates that brings difficult emotions to the surface. Some of these may be repressed feelings or memories from long ago, others may consist in rather mundane stuff (something somebody said to you or about you the other day, etc.) that it didn't occur to you to be bothered by until you stepped onto the mat. Whatever the case may be, the fact remains that they are difficult to have to confront and be with. Mental hygiene, briefly, is the art of managing and holding the space for these emotions to be as they are, without letting them bend you out of shape (because you already are bent out of shape on a physical level :-)). Angela has this to say about this easy yet difficult art: "Let difficult emotions and thoughts arise and move on... Do not repress your experience. This deepens emotional blocks and increases unconsciousness." At the same time, however, one should also "Be cautious about repeating negative thoughts or verbal talk... It is possible to cultivate positive emotions and thoughts while accepting and studying any negativity that arises."

Angela also has some valuable things to say to folks like me who practice mostly at home without the benefit of a regular shala to attend. In the "Relationship" section of the pamphlet, she writes:

"If you are doing mostly self-practicing and are wishing for support, you are not alone. Many people practice mostly at home... The most nourishing way to receive this sort of inspiration [from a true master teacher of this method] is to keep your eyes open for a teacher who excites you and who knows something you don't. Go to them at their home base, not a workshop. Spend time practicing in, and being in, that setting. Just be yourself there. Deliver your whole mind-body to the experience. Do honest practice. Pay attention. Hang out with the teacher's other students. Prioritize listening over performing, and over trying to get approval or quick answers. Then the following year, do it again." 

There is a whole lot more in the pamphlet (yes, go read it!), and I hope this has been enough of a teaser-trailer to get you motivated on getting started. I could probably ramble on a lot more if I want to, but why ramble more than you have to? So I'll leave things here. Have fun reading and exploring!

Speaking of teaser-trailers and movies, I think I'm going to go see the recently-released World War Z, after all. I had originally decided not to go see it, because the screenplay differs so much from the novel that it may as well be an entirely different story. That, plus the fact that the preview trailer gave me the impression that it's basically a Brad Pitt vehicle, featuring Mr. Pitt running around and looking like, well, Brad Pitt.

All of which is true. But the reviews I have read thus far have been quite positive. It seems that many critics have concluded that although the movie departs greatly from the novel (which is a necessity, because the original novel did not have a linear narrative, but was, rather, a collection of oral history accounts of people who survived the zombie apocalypse; hardly the sort of narrative structure you can easily translate into a Hollywood blockbuster), the director (Marc Foster) has done a good job of crafting an original story with its own character. So I'll think I'll give the movie a chance, and go see it. If any of you out there have already seen it, feel free to let me know what you think (I already know the ending from reading the synopsis on Wikipedia, so you can't spoil anything for me).  


Update/Addendum: There is something else I want to say here that I forgot to talk about in the earlier (as in, twenty minutes ago) version of this post. I just read this very brilliant and insightful post by Patrick over at Ashtanga Yoga and Stuff about the ambiguous relationship between yoga and mainstream American culture. As with all of Patrick's posts, Patrick writes in a ranting, insightful and no-bullshit incisive way that I can never hope to imitate (although I think some wise guy once said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...). Anyway, I thought I'll mention this post, as it's really worth a read. Check it out.

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I'm now in Bozeman, Montana, attending Randa Chehab's workshop at Down to Earth Yoga. Randa has recently returned from her annual studies with Lino Miele in Kovalam, and is sharing what she learned with us in this workshop. Randa is a person who is real, full of zest for life, and also full of stories. I won't share any of her stories here, not because they cannot be shared, but because I don't feel like relating them now :-)

This morning, we did led primary to her count. Unlike Sharath's vinyasa count, which is very brisk, her count is very deliberate, measured, and almost melodic. I'm not sure if this is how Lino himself counts, or if it's just her. Although the substance of the count is the same, there are nevertheless a few interesting differences between Lino's count and Sharath's. For instance, in Baddha Konasana, Sharath counts you into Baddha A, then Baddha B, then you lift up and jump back into the vinyasa. With Lino, however, there is an additional five breaths (Baddha C?) where you just sit upright in Baddha Konasana, before you lift up and jump back. I actually like this way of doing the posture. Gives you an extra five breaths to open the hips some more. Besides, when in Rome (and Lino, incidentally, is Italian), one should do as the Romans do.

Another interesting difference is that Lino incorporates pranayama into the finishing padmasana (just before Utplutih). What this means is that the ten breaths in padmasana are long breaths: Five to eight seconds inhale, five to eight seconds exhale, with a brief breath retention in the space between inhale and exhale, and between exhale and inhale. I have a feeling that Grimmly would have liked to be at this morning's session :-)

And actually, I think I got a high from doing this pranayama. After the session, I went to the local co-op to get something to eat. After I had finished my food (roasted potatoes with rosemary, assorted fall vegetables, and kale), I suddenly felt very, very calm. It kind of felt like I was sitting at the bottom of the ocean floor, and everything and everybody around me seemed to be moving just a little slower than usual. I just sat there for a few minutes, looking into space, not feeling like getting up. Eventually, I made myself get up, because I had this feeling that people around were starting to think I was a little... out of it. I think this "deep ocean" sensation may have been induced with that pranayama thing we did in padmasana, because that is the one biggest thing we did that was different from my usual practice, which actually does not include pranayama at all. Well, actually, come to think of it, maybe it could also have been induced by that unusual drink (some kind of infusion made from the flower of the Hawaiian kona coffee plant) I had with my food. Well, who knows? ;-)

In addition to the workshop, I have also been spending my time here at Bozeman reading zombie literature. Yes, you heard it right. I'm not usually a fan of horror novels, but I picked up this book, World War Z, at a bookstore in Pocatello the other day, and haven't been able to put it down since. It's about a mysterious infection that originated in China (seriously... I think China is becoming the new boogeyman of American pop fiction) which quickly kills off its victims, and then reanimates them into flesh-eating beings with primitive brains carried around in what was once their bodies (i.e. zombies). The Chinese government, as usual, tries to hush up and contain the infection. However, thanks to modern wonders like international travel and illegal organ trade (be careful: You may unwittingly become the recipient of a zombie heart or a zombie kidney), and thanks to American complacence (most middle class Americans are too preoccupied with more immediate worries like paying the mortgage and having enough funds for retirement to worry about some distant infection from China, until it's too late...), the infection quickly spreads around the world, and soon becomes uncontainable. Before we know it, mankind finds itself finding a new world war (World War Z) against zombies.

A very compelling read this is. I highly recommend it. Oh, and here's a fun fact about zombies (you may already know this, anyway): Since zombies are basically dead people with (minimally functioning) brains, they cannot be killed by most conventional methods: Trying to destroy their hearts and other vital organs is useless, since they really don't need those organs to survive (they're dead, remember?). The only way to "kill" a zombie is to destroy its brain, either by blowing it out with firearms (come to think of it, if there really are zombies, wouldn't the NRA have a really good case?) or by smashing it to a pulp (there are many ways to do this; I shall leave this to your imagination). And this fun fact about zombies also lends itself to some interesting philosophical/existential musing. Consider this little speech by one of the characters in the novel:

"...why wouldn't destruction of the brain be the only way to annihilate these creatures [i.e. zombies]? Isn't it the only way to annihilate us as well?... Isn't that all we are? Just a brain kept alive by a complex and vulnerable machine we call the body? The brain cannot survive if just one part of the machine is destroyed or even deprived of such necessities as food or oxygen. That is the only measurable difference between us and "The Undead." Their brains do not require a support system to survive, so it is necessary to attack the organ itself."

Hmm... are we really just brains "kept alive by a complex and vulnerable machine"? If this were true, why do we spend so much time doing things to the body that are not, strictly speaking, necessary for its functioning to keep the brain alive (putting on makeup, wearing nice clothes, "looking presentable", etc., etc.)? And, by the way, do we do yoga only in order to keep the body functioning to keep the brain alive? I doubt it...

Anyway... I don't suppose you were expecting to hear this long-drawn-out treatise about zombies and the human condition. So I guess I'll stop here. Oh, and by the way, if there were ever a zombie invasion, Montana and Idaho are probably very good places to hide out. Zombies, as you know, move very slowly and have limited mobility compared to humans (which kind of makes me wonder why more humans aren't more successful in running away from them). Which means they can't climb. Which means mountains are good barriers against them. Another fun zombie fact :-)               

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