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Reverse Vinyasa
This is a follow-up to my variations on vinyasa post, as well as the story of a lightbulb moment. During my fantastically fun intensive on teaching yoga to athletes (there’s still room for a few more in New York next month), I was bemoaning the monotony of the standard vinyasa from plank through chaturanga to…
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Variations on Vinyasa
In my class this week (join me for a repeat Thursday night at 5:45), there are a lot of opportunities for the vinyasa from plank through chaturanga to cobra or upward-facing dog to downward-facing dog. This opportunity happens about forty times in the sequence, which begins with warm-up moves, builds to standing poses, and segues…
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A Thought
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. —Mark Twain
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Our Current Whereabouts
My parents enjoy a month in France each summer. Now that wifi is largely available, we get periodic updates from them, and photos that my mother has taken. Very twenty-first century. Today’s e-mail, however, suggests that they are in a place beyond time.
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Samskaras and Safari 4
In my classes this week, we’ve been discussing the concept of samskaras, our habitual actions, and experimenting first with becoming aware of them and second with the idea of moving out of them, to live more mindfully. (If you’d like to read more about samskaras, check out this lovely Yoga Journal piece by Bo Forbes.)…
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Wall Folds and Twists
I’ve just put up a new episode of Sage Yoga Training—my podcast of short yoga routines for athletes and everyone—this one with some very relaxing, gentle folds and twists using a wall for support. You can download it in iTunes, watch it on YouTube, or simply play it from here (though the quality of the…
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Hip Openers
Today I was asked why we call hip stretches “hip openers.” I don’t have a good answer! Are we opening something that’s locked? Is “openness” of the hips even desirable, given the stiffness that’s required for good running? I decided that a better term might be “hip balancers,” since there’s so much going on anatomically…
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Packing Up
All summer, I’ve been avoiding the work of cleaning up my office. It’s not a horrible mess, but the shelves have books wedged in sideways, and it’s growing harder to find what I’m looking for. It got bad enough that I was more interested in analyzing why I felt so resistant to the work than…
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Donation-Based Yoga
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending class at cambio., a donation-based studio in Colorado Springs. The class was billed as “Crosstraining Yoga,” appropriate for runners and cyclists, so I brought a copy of The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga, although I felt unsure whether that would be an appropriate donation in exchange for class. Was…
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The Internal Made External, Part 4
As I sat in meditation today by an open window, a dog visiting my neighbors barked and barked. The barking was regular but not at rhythmic, predictable intervals. Yap . . . yap . . . nothing . . . yap, yap . . . Instead of finding this distracting, I discovered it was a…
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Your First Class
In the last 36 hours, I’ve spoken with four athletes who profess interest in yoga but who feel intimidated by going to their first class. Once or twice a week, I get an e-mail from a potential student who worries about coming to yoga for the first time. So I’ve pulled up an old draft…
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The Internal Made External, Part 3
As I sat down for meditation today (day 9 of the Big Sit, and it’s going well), I glanced out the window to see a bunch of red-breasted nuthatches perched in our backyard trees. At first they looked like pine cones as they sat, then a school of fish as they flew away, splitting into…