Aim True - Day 17

Monday, January 30, 2012

Get Grounded Amid Chaos Yoga
Vinyasa Flow
Level 2
Kathryn Budig


Get grounded and create roots regardless of the chaos around you. Find your roots through strong standing poses such as Tree, Half Moon and standing Warriors and Side Angle. Feel safe, strong and stable after this strong, classic flow. 

• Posted on YogaGlo on November 18, 2010, I took the class for the first time on December 23, 2010.
• 17/87 classes complete.
• 10/17 I had taken at least once before.
• Favorite Aim True practices so far: 
• Calm Your Monkey Mind and Master Hanumanasana
• Find the Connection to Your Core
• Morning Yoga Flow with Kathryn Budig
• Yoga to Change Your Perspective with Kathryn Budig
• Get Grounded Amid Chaos Yoga

This one. This is the one. This is one of the very first Kathryn Budig classes that I took and why I fell in love with her teaching style. This is DEFINITELY going on the FAVORITES list.

(As an aside, does anyone else remember the wine tasting episode on Absolutely Fabulous, where Patsy and Edina keep drinking wine saying "THIS one! THIS ONE! This is the one! Wait, did we like this one? Let's try it again. Wait! No! THIS ONE. This is the one!" and so on and so forth... I'm starting to feel like that about how many practices are ending up on my Favorite list!)

Aim True - Day 15

Friday, January 27, 2012

Yoga to Change Your Perspective with Kathryn Budig
Vinyasa Flow
Level 2
Kathryn Budig


Shift your attitude and perspective along with your hamstrings and hip flexors. We explore the potential for growth, length, space and change in our minds and lower bodies leading up to Uttitha Hasta Padangustasana (Standing Hand to Big Toe) and Vashistasana II (Side Plank II).

• Posted on YogaGlo on September 28, 2010, I took the class for the first time today. (But I actually don't believe that. I think YogaGlo is WRONG! I am pretty sure I had taken this class. But YogaGlo says I didn't, and they have the final say. =)
• 15/86 classes complete.
• 8/15 I had taken at least once before. (or so YogaGlo says.)
• Favorite Aim True practices so far: 

• Calm Your Monkey Mind and Master Hanumanasana
• Find the Connection to Your Core
• Morning Yoga Flow with Kathryn Budig
• Yoga to Change Your Perspective with Kathryn Budig

Yep - it's going on the favorites list! This was a really great practice for me today. In fact, I feel like I'm starting to have some serious Yogalations (you know, yoga inspired revelations) so maybe any practice would have made it to the favorites list. I'll have to watch out for that.

I've modified my approach to my Aim True challenge just a wee bit. I'm still going chronologically through the classes, but I've decided I'm going to also go by level, so I'll complete all of the level 2s before moving onto the 2/3s and 3s. It's a little bit of a change for me; usually I just take any Kathryn class and modify it on my own, which in a lot of the 2/3s and 3s means mostly ignoring the handstand kick-ups during the flow and skipping the INSANE arm balances and inversions, instead practicing dolphin. But I'm trying to do a better job of honoring my body and getting stronger and not just letting my practice plateau, and I think sticking with classes that really challenge me where I am actually makes it harder - in a GOOD way.

My Yogalation for today was more of a question. Kripalu Yoga is the inquiry of optimal living. Am I living optimally? It's scary to think about. But how can I approach the answer to this from a place of non-judgmental, compassionate self-awareness?

I need to get back to Kripalu for my 500-hr training. I'm feeling the call. I have to make it happen. =)

In other news, I want these Hot Booties. Has anyone seen this late-night TV product? They are slippers that you microwave! Those would go GREAT with my Snuggie... if it ever actually feels like winter here in Kentucky!

Aim True - Day 14

Morning Yoga Flow with Kathryn Budig
Vinyasa Flow
Level 2
Kathryn Budig


Wake up and smell the yoga! This flow is oriented towards opening the heart and hips to get you going. A 45 minute AM flow focusing on space with heat building sun salutations and warriors. 

• Posted on YogaGlo on September 8, 2010, I took the class for the first time on December 26, 2010.
• 14/86 classes complete.
• 8/14 I had taken at least once before.
• Favorite Aim True practices so far: 
• Calm Your Monkey Mind and Master Hanumanasana
• Find the Connection to Your Core
• Morning Yoga Flow with Kathryn Budig

Oh! This is a GOOD one. I want to do this EVERY MORNING for the rest of my life. It starts off very slow and gentle, and Kathryn makes a point of saying, repeatedly, not to go as deep as you can first thing in the morning, giving lots of opportunity for everything to warm up. And then all of the sudden it's a sweaty, juicy flow that happens naturally - there was never that painful moment where things get hard all of the sudden - which I guess is a testament to being warmed up and following Kathryn's advice to tune into what your body is asking for, which changes every single day.

I'm doing so much Vinyasa Flow these days. I've been skipping some chaturangas, or at least modifying by coming onto my knees, because I'm feeling some pain in my elbows. I'm also skipping yoga mudra arms, or at least using a strap when I do them. When I interlace my fingers behind my back, I sort of have to force my elbows to go straight, and it doesn't feel very good, especially when I release. I feel like I'm going to pull my elbow joint the wrong way and break my lower arm off. Ouch! I constantly tell my students to listen to and honor their body and yet there are places in my practice where I absolutely don't take my own advice - yoga mudra arms being the first thing that comes to mind. I don't know if my shoulders are just tight, if my anatomical structure makes it difficult, or if my right elbow, with its penchant to hyper-extend, gets in the way, but I'm all about the strap these days.

Namaste!

Aim True - Day 10

Click and play yoga with me.

Find the Connection to Your Core
Vinyasa Flow
Level 2
Kathryn Budig

Learn how to move fluidly through your practice by finding the connection to your core. Sun salutation work lead up to crow, side plank and headstand. 

• Originally posted on YogaGlo on May 25, 2010, I took it for the first time today.
• 10/85 classes DONE!
• 5/10 classes I had taken at least once before.
• Favorites so far:  
• Calm Your Monkey Mind and Master Hanumanasana
• Find the Connection to Your Core 

Yep, in a shocking turn of events, this one is going on the favorites list. Why is it shocking? Because I loathe core work. But this wasn't a core work class, exactly. It was using the core to find stability in other poses, not just 200 Ardha Navasana to Navasana repetitions. And I dug it. I dug the work in Crescent (Kripalu Warrior I), Warrior I (traditional), Warrior 2 and Lateral Angle. I actually appreciated the forearm plank to side plank work. There was a very ample cool down and Savasana. It was a really well-rounded, balanced class that would be a solid practice any day. 

I've noticed that the moment we step to the front of the mat for Surya Namaskara A after the warm-up has become REALLY sacred for me, as have the first few sun salutations. The ritualistic aspect of it is like returning to something comfortable and understood. It's one of the reasons that, despite the fact that they really didn't stress sun salutations as part of my Kripalu training, I really like making them a part of the classes that I teach. I would love for my students to start having that feeling I have - that sense of familiarity and ritual - when we practice Surya Namaskara A. I always (always!) teach some variation of a six motions of the spine warm up, though, which may be what is most familiar to my students. Or maybe they really don't pay much attention, I'm not 100% sure. =)

So here's the other shocker: I shouldn't even be writing this right now because I didn't mean to practice today. That's right, I had given myself the day off after two days of intense practice on Saturday and Sunday. But I got home tonight after teaching two classes and working all day, and I HAD to practice yoga. I guess this is one of those revelations I've had countless times before and will have countless times in the future: when I'm feeling sort of yucky or off-kilter, YOGA MAKES ME FEEL BETTER. And my body has caught on (again) after two weeks of a lot of personal yoga practice, and now when I'm feel yucky and off-kilter, I CRAVE YOGA. My body CRAVES yoga. This is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

The very first day of this challenge (the day I was fairly sure my body was made of cement) feels like a million years ago in terms of how I'm feeling physically these days. Every single day I feel a little bit stronger - in my legs, in my arms, in my shoulders and everywhere else. I feel a little more open, I find myself a little bit deeper in postures, I'm able to maintain dirgha/ujjayi breath throughout more of my practice...and guess what? I'm also feeling HAPPIER off the mat. See? All of the stuff I almost preach day in and day out when I teach is ACTUALLY TRUE. Yoga makes everything better, on and off the mat. You just have to get through the initial learning curve of understanding the practice, the postures and the breath. (Or you have to come back to your practice after a bit of time off and reconnect with it, which is what's happened for me.) And then it turns into this refuge, this place of comfort and solace that is always available. Outside of my family, my friends, my health, my freedom and my education, there is little I am more thankful for than my yoga practice. It really is a foundation for me, and after ten days of intense Vinyasa practice (and two restorative classes) I'm remembering that again.

The Sanskrit word JAI means VICTORY. Reconnecting and remembering why yoga is so wonderful via my own practice, in my own body, as my own experience certainly deserves a big, loud JAI, right?!?

JAI!!!!!!!

Aim True - Day 9

This was the day I remembered the importance of strength in yoga. And the the way in which true surrender only comes from a place of strength. Ahh, thank you, Kathryn. Thank you, YogaGlo.

Want to play along? Go here.

Calm Your Monkey Mind and Master Hanumanasana 
Vinyasa Flow
Level 2
Kathryn Budig

Learn the proper rotation of the thighs and pelvis to properly protect the lower back and use your hamstrings and hip flexors to their fullest and most playful potential. Calm your monkey mind by mastering the monkey himself -- Hanumanasana or Splits.

• Originally posted on YogaGlo on May 14, 2010, I originally took this class on January 26, 2011.
• 9/85 classes complete.
• 5/9 classes I had taken at least once before.
• Favorites so far: Calm Your Monkey Mind and Master Hanumanasana. 

As you can see, I'm starting to also keep track of my favorite practices as part of this challenge - and this is definitely the first class going on that list. This class is BLISS, and it's also a serious ASS-KICKER. But in a way that feels completely controlled and SAFE. Love, love, love, love, LOVE.

The sun salutations at the beginning go quickly, and I've remembered why I so love the Ashtanga influence on Kathryn's teaching of always warming up with Surya Namaskara A, after a sort of pre-warm up (that I associate with Yoga Works for some reason) that uses the core of the vinyasa flow sequence: downdog, plank, chaturanga, a backbend (cobra or updog) back to downdog, with some good forward folding and usually some shoulder openers.

We transitioned from Surya Namaskara A to B, with some interesting variations thrown in, including standing splits in dolphin. The transition from dog to my forearms is a transition I really need to work on, I remembered.

After some really intense work in Warrior 2, Ardha Chandrasana and Standing Splits (whoa, that part was INTENSE strength training) we landed in one of my very favorite sequences, after building up a really solid sweat: forearm dragon pose with variations, and Ardha Hanumanasana, working toward Hanumanasana.

BLISS, BLISS, BLISS, BLISS. Hard-working, sweaty, strength + surrender BLISS.

I can do full Hanumanasana. I am physically capable of it and have practiced it on many occasions. But today it just wasn't there for me, and as Kathryn was SO good about reminding the class, THAT'S OKAY. It was going to where I could from a place of ease and non-judgemental awareness. What a profound reconnection to the spiritual growth I feel from practicing yoga. So I stayed with a block on the medium level underneath the top of my hamstring, and I dealt with it. My ego had to take a vacation.

Cooling down in single pigeon (she actually offered double pigeon or thread the needle, but I followed my instincts, the innate wisdom of my body, and took single pigeon instead) was BLISSFUL.

And I held dolphin for a LONG time during the inversions. I feel such a dramatic difference in the strength of my shoulders - and I think that massage yesterday REALLY helped, too. =)

Savasna was truly blissful. I always remember Devarshi saying, during my teacher training, that the most rewarding Savasanas come from strength-based practices. It's true. It's not so much about the posture of Savasana itself, it's more the way a really strong, sweaty class just magically releases so much tension from your body that it allows you to sink so much deeper into the support below you. I felt like I was in a hammock, whereas I was actually laying flat on the hard floor. Nice.

So I'm inspired by this practice to teach STRENGTH + SURRENDER themed classes this week. Last week I was inspired by the NYT article to really focus on safety in practice, being sensitively tuned-in to the body, paying attention to every moment of the practice, even in transitions. After this week of practice, though, I feel like I need to turn the focus onto the vast and scientifically proven BENEFITS of yoga, and learning to find balance between being strong, finding the edge, while using that strength to find a place of surrender and acceptance.

And so I wrap up the second week of my Aim True challenge feeling invigorated and mostly back on track with my practice, noticing that I'm more open and stronger than I was on New Year's Day, which was two weeks ago today. I'm one class behind my goal of five classes a week, but I've done two additional non-Kathryn Budig classes so just in terms of practice, I'm one ahead. =)

Off the mat I've felt re-inspired in the kitchen, playing with my Le Creuset grill pan (both Ahi Tuna and strip steaks) and doing a lot of roasted vegetables to have on hand (I made roasted beets on Thursday night that fed me until today!) - the reverberations of which I can feel physically - just feeling a tiny bit leaner than I was, something I noticed just today. It motivates me to keep on keepin' on. 

JAI!

ps - much love to my dear friend Devin for practicing this class with me this morning, after a phenominal girl's night last night!

Bonus Yoga: Kripalu Restorative Class

Maybe it's because I only did a 20 minute practice with Kathryn today, or because I didn't teach today, and normally Sunday is my only day off from teaching, but I needed a little bit more yoga tonight. I do have my Reality Yogi type evening practices almost every night, usually some time in pigeon or Legs Up The Wall while I catch up on my reality TV guilty pleasures. Tonight, though, I gave myself a really delicious treat, and actually did a free online Kripalu restorative class. SWOON.

Click this link and at least bookmark it - you'll thank me later. 

I don't want to over-hype it, but really, try to carve out an hour for yourself sometime this week to do this practice. I had the great honor of being trained in restorative yoga (as part of my 200 hour YTT at Kripalu in August, 2010) by Sudha Carolyn Lundeen and then take a 90-minute restorative class with her, complete with every possible, perfect yoga prop courtesy of Kripalu. They quite literally brought in huge, huge carts of blankets for the 57 of us to practice with her. Heaven. Sudha is one of the most brilliant, seamless, calming and patient restorative yoga teachers I've EVER practiced with.



Don't let the need for props scare you. You don't need to go out and buy things labeled "Official Yoga Prop" or have anything special. You can do this practice with two couch throw pillows in replace of a bolster, or even a couple of folded blankets, and other various pillows, blankets and cushions you have around your house. A scented eye bag is LOVELY, but I used a (clean) fuzzy sock tonight because it was nearby. It's worth the time to grab a few blankets and fold them up or figure out ways to re-purpose something you already have. Trust me.

THIS is a true Kripalu yoga class. Kripalu RESTORATIVE yoga, at that. The benefits of restorative yoga are outrageous and man, it feels GOOD.

It sort of reminds me of how I feel about berries - the fact that they are healthy is almost too good to be true, because they are so damn delicious, and anything that delicious can't possible be good for you, too. (I also feel this way about avocados, pomegranates and salmon.) Restorative yoga is as delicious as the richest chocolate cake, with NONE of the guilt. =)

As much as I tried to really experience this practice as a PRACTITIONER, and not a yoga TEACHER, the part of me that is always eager to soak up more techniques from all of the amazing yoga teachers in the universe was still present. And these are the things the yoga TEACHER in me noticed:

• There was a pretty vigorous joint warm-up. It was very thorough, including the ankles and the wrists, knees, hips, shoulders, neck and the six motions of the spine.
• Sudha took her time demonstrating the set-up, entry, hold, release, and breath cues for each posture, having clearly asked the class to WATCH the first time through and not try to start setting up (which is the natural impulse) and then went though it a second time with the students actually setting up and taking the posture. 
• She gave students ample opportunity to adjust to honor their bodies, even long into the holds.
• The transitions were as mindfully and clearly cued as the postures themselves. 

But the yoga PRACTITIONER in me was just melting. =)

I couldn't believe how much tension and stress I was holding on to that I didn't even know was there. It was intense. It reminded me somewhat of my very first experience with restorative yoga in southern California with a teacher named LB Iddings. Bliss.

So that's TWO bonus yoga practices in nine days, which means that this challenge is REALLY working to give my practice a boost. Wow. In nine days I've practiced eight times!

JAI!!

photo credit: aprilhelen