Jealous

Ida is at Kripalu playing with Rolf Gates. I am a little jealous.

Yoga For Men - Strength, Determination, Power, Balance

I am determined to develop a series of exercises for men that is a complete and specialized workout. Postures for muscle development and strength. Postures for determination and will power. And postures for balance. Perhaps also exercises for stress relief and healing of injuries, and men generally have tight hips and hamstrings. 

Am I overlooking anything significant that I should incorporate to make a complete workout for men? Men, what are you looking for in an exercise program? Have you tried yoga? What is missing in the classes? If you haven't tried it, is there a reason why you avoid it?

Foam Roller

I had a session with a trainer this morning. He identified some weakness in my left leg, probably the result of many ankle sprains from my soccer playing days. 

The most significant discovery of the session was foam rolling. I have never used a foam roller before to massage and put pressure on my muscles and tissues. He showed me how to roll my IT Band, where I have been having soreness and tightness. It was excruciatingly painful, but I felt immediate progress with the release of the tissue. Less tightness, less soreness, and better knee mobility. I am very excited about the potential of this technique!

Yoga for Triathletes With Tight Lower Back and Bad Knees

I am putting together a series for the quirks of Triathletes with a focus on freeing the lower back and also avoiding extreme knee flexion. The repetitive muscular actions of running and cycling create quad heavy strength, tightness in the hamstrings, hips and low back. Also cycling is a hunched activity so the front side of the body becomes tight, including the abdomen, chest and throat. Swimming gets good range of motion in the shoulders, but the repetitive twisting motion and the limited range of motion in the hips and legs creates more tightness in the hips and lower back. Also since all the triathlon activities are so full of forward motion, I want to create a little stillness and balance. 

Here is the series as it stands right now:

1. Cat - Cow

2. High Lunge Backbend, Kneeling Forward Bend

3. Salute to Sun with Dolphin

4. Half Moon Series (with Triangle, Revolving Triangle and Forehead to Knee)

5. Eagle

6. Standing Bow

7. Balancing Stick

8. Balancing Half Moon

9. Standing Separate Legs Stretching with Shoulder Stretch

10. Squat

11. Crow

12. Abdominals

13. Happy Baby

14. Pigeon on Back

15. Bridge/Wheel

16. Cobra

17. Locust

18. Full Locust

19. Bow

20. Half Tortoise

21. Camel

22. Forehead to Knee

23. Stretching

24. Separate Legs Stretching

25. Cobbler

26. Cow Face

27. Seated Spinal Twist

28. Straight Legs Twist

29. Lateral Twist (separate legs)

30. Eagle Legs Twist

Heat/Hands To Feet/IT Band

In the past two weeks I have practiced in the heat twice. They were my least satisfying practices since I returned from training. Following the sequencing and cueing of a teacher instead of my own body is growing more and more difficult. And the heat makes my body feel loose in a bad way. Flexible without the requisite strength for stability. 

I have been surprised at how open my body can be even without the extreme heat. It takes a little longer to warm up, maybe an hour or 90 minutes instead of 20-30 minutes in a hot room. But after a longer warm up my muscles are supple without being loose. I can stretch them but they still feel strong. Also there is so much strength, balance and awareness that builds through the warm up postures. This is where I get to know my body, my mood of the day, my response to adversity. 

Today I practiced the half moon series a lot. I did three sets of lateral half moon against a wall to assure good alignment. Then I did two sets each of the backbend and forward bend. I can't figure out why Hands To Feet Pose is a spinal extension and not a rounding of the spine. After bending the spine to the right, left and back, wouldn't we want to bend it forward? But Hands To Feet straightens the spine. Today I experimented with a different Hands To Feet pose, one where I tuck my chin and put my forehead on my knees to round my spine. It felt more ease-ful and complimentary to the other bends. 

Also I did three sets of Tree pose before doing Toe Stand and Short Man. I have been babying my left knee because of soreness. It is feeling better, so today I added Short Man to see how things went. It was too stressful on my knee, which is sore again now. I don't think I have any ligament damage because there isn't instability in the knee. My best guess is that it is IT Band Tendonitis, a problem commonly associated with weak hips which I think I have. I need to try to heal the tendonitis while maintaining my flexibility and strengthening my hips. 

The Arch Of the Hips

I have been reading a lot about the hips, how they move and what types of movements tend to cause instability (including this article by Michaelle Edwards).

It is well known that the legs and hips from an arch, a stable way to transfer the weight of our torsos down through our legs into the ground. The sacrum acts as the keystone to the arch. It is the point where the force is the greatest and where it splits down the legs. 

This has me wondering why we encourage people to do any yoga postures with their feet together. Does this compromise the strength and integrity of the arch? Isn't it important for the feet of an arch (and therefore the feet of a human) to be sufficiently wide to make the transfer of weight most effective? Or does standing with feet together only make balance more challenging with no effect on the sacrum? 

I am going to keep these questions in my mind as I practice for the next few weeks. 

NYTimes: Is It Good To Sweat?

"There’s this entrenched idea that it’s good to ‘sweat things out,’ but sweating, per se, provides no health benefits.” 

"You aren’t gaining extra health benefits from drenching your clothing with perspiration; you’re only ensuring that you’ll need to sip from your water bottle more often to avoid losing too much fluid."

"The benefits derive from the exercise itself, and the more intense, generally, the greater the health benefits."

Read the whole article here.

Elephant Journal - When Flexibility Becomes a Liability

Excerpt from When Flexibility Becomes a Liability by Michaelle Edwards

Last year, approximately 400,000 people had their hips replaced in the United States—and most of them were women.

Why do women’s hips wear out more than men?

Excessive flexibility and weak stabilizing muscles are often the key factors leading to hip joint deterioration.

Women have looser ligaments to allow the pelvis to open for the act of childbirth. Beyond birthing, flexibility can be a liability because the lumbar and hip joints must have strong and tight ligaments to keep the parts stable for proper joint function, and shock absorption during movement.

All women should consider practicing strengthening exercises to stabilize the hip, and be cautious when doing hip ‘opener’ poses practiced in yoga and stretching classes that may be giving you more flexibility than you need, compromising the longevity of your joints.

Longer is not better for your ligaments.

Read the whole article here.

NYTimes: Common Knee Surgery Does Very Little for Some, Study Suggests

A new study suggests that thousands of people with a torn meniscus may be undergoing unnecessary arthroscopic surgery and that for many, options like physical therapy may be as good.

Read the whole article here.

Right Brain, Left Side First

Studies show that practicing yoga increases blood flow to the right brain (intuition and creativity) and the frontal lobe (the seat of higher consciousness). The tests haven't been specific enough to determine which postures make the biggest difference and why. 

The right brain governs intuition, creativity, instincts, aesthetics, spatial reasoning, and the sensing and expressing of emotions. It is connected to the left side of the body. But in yoga practice we almost always start with the right side of the body. When we do the 2nd side, we mirror our left side as best as possible to the effort and depth of the right side. As we try to match our experience on the second side to the first, this must also cause us to mirror our right brains to our left brains making us a little more analytical and meticulous. What would happen if we began with our left side of the body (right brain) and then, when switching sides, mirrored our experience to the right brain which is more intuitive and connected. I can only assume that this will make our bodies, minds and practices more compassionate, fluid and effortless. I am going to try this for a while. 

The only explanation I have ever found for exercising the right side of the body first is that the ascending colon is on the right. So when we move an exercise from right to left we are assisting our bodies digestion and excretion which also moves from right to left through the ascending, transverse and descending colons. Does anyone know other reasons to exercise one side of the body. Encore the other?

Yoga Is Stillness, Stillness Is Balance

On the first day of our training, Tony asked us to write down what yoga means to us. He clarified that it was an open ended question. It could be history, facts, emotions, postures, mental, physical, anything. Just write about what yoga means to us. Throughout the training we all shared our answers in front of the whole group. Here is what I wrote.

"To me yoga is balance. It is not stationary but always in motion, always needing little adjustments. A little more, a little less, harder, softer, focus, relax. With patience these adjustments become more and more subtle, approaching stillness. This stillness applies to the physical exercises, the focus of the mind, meditation, even my sense of self."

The Science of Yoga - Yoga Slows Metabolism

A 2006 study showed that regular yoga practice decreased metabolism by an average of 13%. 8% for males and 18% for females. "Individuals who took up the discipline would reduce their basal metabolic rate to such an extent that they required less food and fewer calories..."

"The secret of weight loss [has] nothing to do with a fast metabolism and everything to do with the psychological repercussions of undoing stress."

Information and quotations taken from The Science of Yoga by William Broad.

The Science of Yoga - Is Kapalbhati Valuable?

Contrary to popular yogic belief and teaching, the level of oxygen in the bloodstream does not change based on our breathing techniques. The atmosphere is 21% oxygen and our hemoglobin works at tremendous efficiency to deliver oxygen to our muscles and organs. There is more than enough oxygen. Oxygen is not the issue. 

What does change, according to many respiratory studies including ones by the US Navy, is the level of carbon dioxide in the lungs and blood. But here is the strange part: when we do rapid exhalations like in Kapalbhati, the decrease in carbon dioxide causes the blood vessels of the body and the brain to constrict, actually decreasing the amount of oxygen moving throughout the body. If we want to oxygenate the body and brain we should slow our respiration. This increases the ratio of carbon dioxide and dilates blood vessels, bringing more oxygen. Remember, our oxygen levels don't change regardless of our breathing. 

This information makes me wonder if the practice of Kapalbhati after yoga postures and before rest isn't counterproductive. Shouldn't we slow the breath, dilate the blood vessels and increase oxygen flow to the body?

Information cited is taken from The Science of Yoga by William Broad. 

The Science of Yoga - Cardiovascular Fitness

I am reading The Science of Yoga by William Broad. So far it is meticulously researched, comprehensive and impartial. Notably, it cites several studies that measured oxygen intake and cardiovascular work during yoga. Even when doing vigorous, flowing yoga (like Sun Salutations) the cardiovascular workout doesn't approach the nature of running or swimming. Yoga does not offer a sufficient cardio workout to create "fitness" benefits. It offers many other benefits like balance, stress relief, strength, lower blood pressure and endurance, but we should do more rigorous exercise also if we want heart fitness. 

Adding Postures

I've practiced the Ghosh series at home yesterday and today. With a little heater and a closed door, I can get the temperature up near 80 in one room so I am comfortably warm without needing to wear too many clothes. I am growing to appreciate the long warm-up with the lunges, the sun salute, half moon series before even getting to awkward and the rest of the powerful standing postures. The heat builds gradually in my body but deeply and sustainably. 

Today I experimented with adding two postures to the sequence. Straight Legged Triangle before Bent Legged Triangle to open the hips in another way and lengthen the spine. And Balancing Half Moon after Separate Arms Balancing Stick to add a different rotation to the hips. I will keep experimenting with different postures and different placements in the series. It is fun and interesting and creative. 

First Class Back, Heated Vinyasa

I just took my first class since returning from training with Tony Sanchez. It was not my first time practicing since training, but my first time in a yoga studio with a teacher and other students. It was a heated class that uses vinyasa postures and roughly follows the Ghosh sequencing. 

I have had trouble with this class in the past. The heat usually gets to me, way more than it does in Bikram. But today the class had only 10 students, so the heat wasn't a problem. 

The biggest challenge was a mental one. How much do I follow the teacher's cueing versus how much do I follow the cues of my own body and practice? There were a lot of cues to lock the knee, engage the muscles and push harder, and I tried my best to let those go. I tried to stay relaxed, to listen to my body and breathe calmly. 

It was interesting too to be in the heat after 2 full weeks without it. My muscles were WAY more flexible. In postures where I usually come up against muscle tightness, there was none. Many aches and sorenesses were gone too. After becoming so familiar with what my body feels like and working into it gradually at room temperature, the heat scared me a little bit. I could stretch significantly further if I were to push myself, and I can see how I could strain a muscle or connective tissue. So I used as much restraint as I could to not push into the postures too hard, to come into the posture, engage properly and breathe.  

Yoga At O'Hare

Our trip home took almost 24 hours to cover the same distance that took us about 10 on the way there. A delay getting out of Mexico plus a crazy 8 hour layover in Chicago. So Ida and I slept as well as we could on the floor in the airport until about 4:30am when the crowds start bustling again. All night the lights were on full blast and the Christmas music was on repeat. A great place to practice patience.

This morning while I was getting coffee, I ran across this sign:

A yoga room in the airport?! I have read about these but never seen one. Since we still had 3 hours to kill before our flight, we went to find it. 

It is a small but nice room right next to an indoor garden, so the air is wonderfully fresh, especially compared to the jet exhaust of the rest of the airport. Ida and I practiced lightly for an hour. What a relief after a day of sitting motionless on airplanes! My hips sure were tight. But after practicing I felt more awake, more comfortable and more energetic. What a great idea! Thank you to whoever came up with the airport yoga room!

Last Morning In Cabo/Implosion

We leave at noon today. So this morning I went out to the beach for one last sunrise. Most of our fellow students have gone, but there are a few stragglers that leave today or tomorrow. What has been a breakfast table of 20 yogis was only 4 this morning.

When we return to our real lives, the true challenge will begin. How will we integrate the yoga into our lives and ourselves? How will we bring it to our peers and our community? How will we practice? How will we teach? How will we make the time with all our other commitments? 

When we signed up for this training last spring, I was ignorant of what to expect. Tony seemed to share a lot of my values regarding the yoga and the practice, but I had no idea what the experience would be like, what Tony would be like, or what we would actually learn. 

Now I am so happy to have studied with Tony. His emphasis on common sense and nutrition; his demand of personal commitment, practice and fundamentals (like alignment); his attention to energy that reminds me so much of my martial arts training. These are all beliefs that I share with him that I did not know about going into the training. 

Tony mentioned many times that we must create implosions instead of explosions. We must first come to understanding within ourselves before we try to guide others. 

So my plan (as of right now) is to go home and practice. I will inevitably end up teaching a few classes here and there to family and friends, but my focus will be on gaining personal understanding and integration. I have a lot of familiarity, struggle and intimacy to build with these postures, this practice, before I can teach with any integrity or individuality.

Day 13 - Looking Back/Funny Moments

 At dinner tonight, Ida and I were laughing about some of the hilarious things that Tony said and did over the course of the last two weeks.

6. When reviewing the steps of a standing posture with Tony demonstrating, it was usually "Step 1, adjust your shorts." Then came "Bend your knees" or whatever the actual first step was.

5. When asked what happens in Toe Stand if you don't turn your standing foot far enough, Tony replied, "If I don't turn my foot far enough, it goes in my asshole and disappears."

4. He told us the story of buying his first car. It broke in the first few days he had it, so he took it back to the dealership. The car salesman head butted him and broke his nose. Bikram heard this and was furious, suggesting some sort of revenge. A week later the car dealership burned down. (He told this entire story while we were in Eagle Pose.)

3. "Jerome, is there a reason why your left leg is on top of your right leg when everyone else has their right leg on top?" Tony is always so polite when telling us that we are screwing something up. Runners up in this category: "Ben, bring your upper body down. Down more. More. Down more. More. More. More. More." "Scott, why are your knees outside of your arms? We talked about this."

2. Mixing up the inhale/exhale cues in a Pranayama exercises. "Exhale, come up. Hold. Inhale, come down. Hold. Inhale, come up." After a few of these the entire class was breaking up laughing, including Tony. It is tough to be serious and focused when the cues are backwards. Luckily everyone was a good sport about it. 

1. Leaving us in chair pose while stepping out of the room to make a phone call. He instructed us to stay in the pose, went into the hall where we could hear him calling the front desk and asking for more towels. Then he came back in the room, saying "Wow, you guys are strong. Come up."

Day 13 - The Final Day

This morning was our final session of the training. We started by playing the song we wrote for Paul's poem about yoga. Then Ida and I played Who You Are. Tony was nice enough to offer his guitar for us to play. Then we practiced the Master's Core System. Afterward, while we rested in Savasana, Tony played some guitar for us. He calls it "playing his scales." It was lovely. He briefly talked about taking the yoga out into the world, about dealing with trouble students, and about being humble.

Here is Paul's poem and the little xylophone I picked up at a roadside shop. 

Tony played his scales and improvised a few melodies for us. 

Ida, Tony and me. 

After the final class was dismissed, we all congregated, socialized 

and made plans for the rest of the day. A light and friendly atmosphere. 

We have all become so close over these two weeks. 

Day 12 - Everything We've Done So Far

This afternoon was our final PM session. We started practicing immediately upon arriving and went all the way to the end. No lecture, discussion or clinic. Just practice. Tony put us through everything we have done so far, all in one session (after doing the full series this morning). We did about 10 Qigong exercises, 8 Buddhist standing meditations, the 40 asanas of the Master's Core System, an extra series of abdominal exercises, extensive pranayama exercises (which broke down in laughter because Tony kept switching the inhales and exhales), eye and neck exercises, and a seated meditation.

It was a powerful, exhausting and moving class.

None of us are sure what to expect from tomorrow morning's session. Ida, Paul and I will play the song we wrote. I am going to miss Tony and all my fellow students. There are some beautiful people here from all over the world.

Day 12 - Advanced Postures

Both yesterday afternoon and this morning we practiced the complete 104 Asana sequence. It is so enlightening to go through the advanced postures with Tony's oversight, and I realize how fortunate I am that this is my first real exposure to them. Many of the other trainees have expressed that they have been learning the postures wrong for years, and when Tony teaches them they make sense. Especially in the Bow Legged (Leg Breaking) Series.

Some slight differences in my body and postures between yesterday and today, partially because my muscles were cold this morning, but also I was a little more familiar with the postures. The Full Series was much more accessible today. Full Bow and Full Camel get more comfortable every time. I am not sure how close I am in Full Cobra, but the backbend feels so good and prepares me for the rest of the series. King Pigeon, ever since Tony's adjustment to my posture several days ago, has felt gradually stronger and more aligned. 

I still have a lot of hip opening to do to access the Lotus Series without so much tension, and a lot of strengthening to do to access Tiger and Handstand. I am close in Peacock, but I need more back strength. 

I am continually surprised by how balanced I feel after doing the complete series. I feel open but not over stretched, strong but not exhausted. It makes me want to practice these postures more to see what they will unlock within me. 

The Tropicana

At the end of every training, Tony goes out to dinner with all the students. Even though we have a day and a half left, we went out tonight because some people are leaving tomorrow. We went to The Tropicana, a Mexican restaurant in downtown San Jose del Cabo. The food and drinks were excellent, and we finally met Tony's wife who has put so much of this together. 

I am not much of a drinker nor a late nighter, so I am glad to finally get back to the hotel to rest. I don't want to waste tomorrow's training. 

Tai Chi On the Beach

This morning we did Tai Chi on the beach as the sun was coming up. The waves were large, crashing in front of us and the water coming all the way up and wetting our toes every once in a while. Magical.

Ida, Jerome and Ben doing Tai Chi at sunrise.

The Crescent Lunge has become one of my favorite postures, even at 6am.

Ben, Jerome and me. Taking it in.

Day 11 - Double Sided Series

This morning we covered the final series of the System, the Double Sided Series. It incorporates the twisting motion and a lot of pelvic floor strengthening.

Tony demonstrating Archer Pose (left) and Four Angle Pose (right).

I am feeling tired and run down today. So much information, so much to remember, so much to incorporate when I return home, so much practicing here. I am tired. I am starting to long for my regular routine, my musical work, my normal foods and, dare I say it, the snow. There are only so many sunny 80 degree days a person can take.

My left shoulder blade is starting to give me trouble. There is a painful tightness when I push my shoulder blades together and when I lift my arms overhead. It doesn't feel like any injury, just a tightness I haven't had before. I wonder if it is from the weight lifting or all the arm balances we are doing. As I develop new muscles I expect to have new sensations.

Also my left knee has been sore for several days now. It especially gets inflamed from sitting for long periods of time during the posture clinics and from Toe Stand and Short Man. I have been very careful to use good alignment so that I don't injure it. Yesterday I did only Tree for three sets instead of progressing through the subsequent postures. That was a good decision. The soreness diminished. So what did I do today? I went ahead with Toe Stand and Short Man, and it is sore again. I need to back off and really work on my hips in Tree. I will try again before too long, but a little restraint is in order.

On a more exciting note, I have been inspired for the last few days to make a system for elderly people and people with injuries. A system that takes into account limited flexibility, strength and balance, but still improves the health of the spine, organs, circulation, muscles and balance. I have made two different systems so far, and I am changing them as I get new ideas. I am excited about this possibility. 

Day 10 - The Heat

This afternoon we discussed practicing in extreme heat.

When the body warms, as it does during exercise, the skin sweats. Because the air outside has a low moisture content, our sweat evaporates and in the process removes vast quantities of heat from us. 

When we are in hot surroundings, we sweat more to increase the cooling. When we add humidity to the room as we do in Bikram, the sweat is unable to evaporate from our skin. So we are stuck with a hot body from the exercise, a room that is hotter than our internal core temperature, and moisture in the air that prevents our body from cooling itself. What we end up with is warm muscles, yes, but also a rising body temperature and excessive sweating that dehydrates the body. We get a body that is in full cooling mode while we engage in a practice (Hatha Yoga) that is designed partially to generate heat. Have you ever noticed how animals deal with heat? They lay perfectly still for long periods of time, avoiding any motion that will generate internal heat.

Heat stroke and its precursors are very common in the Bikram room. Nausea, headache, cramping, light headedness, numbness, twitching lips and eyes. I have experienced all of these symptoms personally, including passing out in Camel Pose. I have been told that it is normal, it is fine. 

As I learn more about the body, the yoga and the asana practice, I am disillusioned with the extreme heat. I do not need a hot room to stretch my muscles or warm my body. 

Day 10 - Nauli Kriya

After this morning's practice, Tony taught us a little about Nauli Kriya. These are breathing and abdominal contractions where your gut sucks way in and up. It separates the abdominal muscles, and one can learn to activate each abdominal section individually. It compresses and stimulates the organs.

Tony demonstrating Nauli (left) and helping a student with it (right).

We also went through the stretching series, 8 postures that range from the basic Forehead to Knee that is part of the 26, to Frog, Upward Stretching, Splits, King Pigeon and Splits In the Air. I love the stretching series. It is both challenging and rewarding. 

Tony demonstrating Upward Stretching

I remember the first time I put my foot on my head in King Pigeon. A tremendous feeling of accomplishment, but also a revelation in calmness. The sensation of connecting the sole of the foot to the top of the head is extremely soothing. I am finding a similar energy in many of the more advanced postures that bind and cycle the body's energy. With all the strength and struggle it takes to achieve them, in execution they are actually quite serene. 

The carpet in the conference room where we have been practicing has become so familiar and friendly. It is covered in repetitive dots and shapes, the yogi's dream. It is perfect for picking a spot and focusing on it. Especially in Toe Stand, Short Man and Separate Arms Balancing Stick. 

Too Much Information, Part 2

As if he could read my mind, Tony addressed the issue that has been nagging at me. Namely, how do we incorporate and integrate all of this information into our own practices and the classes we teach.

Tony says:
No two groups of people will have the same needs. But the Ghosh system is very flexible and comprehensive. So we simply need to identify the needs of the particular group that we are serving and fulfill them. The needs of young are different than old, men different from women, beginners from advanced, and so on. But we are learning the inner workings of a vast system, and we should be able to serve any group of people.

Day 9 - Too Much Information

Tony has expressed concern that he will overwhelm us with too much information. The Asanas themselves take 3-4 hours to practice even if you only do one set of each. Then there are the Pranayama exercises which can take 30-60 minutes. Not to mention the meditation that we are beginning to explore. (And I am still hoping we talk about bandhas, mudras and kriya.) So a complete practice could easily take 5 hours. This raises the issue of how to incorporate the practice into a life.

I don't think I can spare 5+ hours per day to my yoga practice, though I may try. Tony has mentioned that he breaks up the Asanas into 3 parts that he practices in a 3 day rotation. That seems like a good idea. We will all have to figure out how to incorporate this knowledge into ourselves and our lives. The way we approach it, break it down and digest it will be vital to our progress and our individuality.

It also raises the question of teaching. How to teach and what to teach. There are obviously too many postures, too much information to teach in a single class. But how does one break it down? Where does one begin? What postures and exercises does one choose when leading a 60-90 minute practice with students of varying levels. This question is not a simple one, and I assume it is one that I will spend many years exploring.

Day 8 - Pranayama and the Spine

I got up extra early this morning. I wanted to lift weights and walk on the beach, so I arose at 5am. I think the weight lifting is making a difference, especially when combined with the strength postures that we are doing every day. I just have to be careful to maintain my flexibility. 

At the end of both practice sessions today, we did extensive Pranayama exercises. 11 exercises that took about 30 minutes. They generate heat, build breath control and connect the body, mind and breath. Some of them are incredibly challenging. I can feel my internal strength growing, but some of the exercises challenge my willpower and my sense of calm. Sometimes a panic will creep in and I have to relax my body and breath for a second before rejoining the class.

Tony's focus is on the spine, and I can feel the shift in intention in my own body. I feel more centered, more grounded. And the muscles in my torso are developing quickly as I transfer the effort out of my extremities and into my spine. But my back muscles are very sore now too, especially my erectors. 

Practice teaching is going better. Today Tony called on several people to teach the first 3/4 of the series. Nobody made any big errors. Everything went pretty smoothly and pretty clearly. Though you can spot the Bikram teachers from a mile away. Their tone is more militant, they talk constantly without stopping, and they demand more, harder, deeper. I prefer Tony's tone. Lots of space, simple cues, meditative demeanor. So my teaching has a lot more quiet than I expected. 

Day 7 - Day Off

Today was our first and only day off of the training. A group went out drinking and dancing last night (I was not one of them), and this morning at breakfast I heard stories of handstands by the pool at 1am.

Ida and I walked into the city center of San Jose del Cabo to check out the shops and look for musical instruments. One of the trainees, Paul, wrote a lovely poem about yoga and Tony asked if I could write a melody for it. Since I don't have any instruments here, I figured I'd try to find a ukulele or something. There was one nice little music shop that had a charango in the window, but it was closed. I have wanted a charango for some time now. I ended up getting a color coded little xylophone, like the ones you give a two year old.

A big group of trainees practiced the series outside this morning, but I didn't practice with them. I made a point not to practice asana today. It was difficult to abstain, but I needed to rest my body for the week ahead. All in all a pretty uneventful day.

Some Pictures of Today's Practice

Here are a few pictures from the 104 Asanas. Mostly of Tony demonstrating the postures, because the rest of the time I was twisting myself into them. 

Goodbye Pose

Tiger Pose

Mountain Pose

Free Standing Shoulder Stand Pose

Here is the class in Headstand. I think that's my butt on the far right.

Day 6 - 104 Asanas

Today is just a half day. We have this afternoon and all day tomorrow off. So this morning Tony took us through the complete Asana series again. Today he added all the bells and whistles, all the modifications and extra postures. It comes out to 104 total postures. Three and a half hours.

I had much better luck with Full Cobra and Full Camel today than I did last night. Same with Goodbye and Spider. The picture is me working into Dancer Pose. The Peacock series still gives me a lot of trouble as do the Handstands. I think my psoas is weak.

Doing the full series is a wonderful experience. The mood in the room is determined and meditative but also light and friendly. Lots of stopping to watch other practitioners or Tony. Lots of helping of neighbors (or getting help) if they need it. A wonderful community feeling.

I thought I would want to practice this afternoon and tomorrow, but now I feel like my body needs the rest. I will try not to practice at all tomorrow. Let my body heal.

Day 5 - The 84 Asanas

During this morning's practice Tony included 5 extra Pranayama exercises throughout the series. One in Gas Removing, one in Cobra, one in Full Locust, one in Tortoise, and one in the Seated Spinal Twist. These Pranayama are meant to generate heat, and they fully live up to it. I had a moderate sweat going from the practice in general, but whenever we began a Pranayama exercise sweat began pouring from my body. These exercises are related to the Niyama Tapas, which can mean generating heat. Tony has said that generating heat is a profound and important power of the yogi, and this was my first real encounter with it. (It is strange to think of this heat generation in relationship to something like a hot room.)

Apparently we are a little ahead of schedule, so during the afternoon session, we did a brief review of the postures we've learned so far and then Tony led us through the 84 Asanas (also known as the Bikram advanced series). It was quite an exciting treat and an honor. A lot of the more advanced students are here because "Tony IS the advanced series." He can still do every one of the postures, so he demonstrated as he instructed us. Here is a picture of him demonstrating Lotus Peacock.

After class, a handful of us stayed behind and did some wall walking backbends. Intense. 

Headstand

Ida Standing Bow

Here is Ida demonstrating standing bow and being adjusted by Tony. He is a big advocate of what he calls "Furniture Yoga," using props to help improve the alignment and therefor the therapeutic benefits of the postures. Notice the soft knee in the standing leg, the squared hip, the upper shoulder that is rolled down instead of back (to improve the quality of the backbend), and the soft shoulders (the posture is about the spine, not the arms). It won't win any competitions, but the physical integrity is far superior as are the therapeutic benefits. 

Day 5 - Imbalances/Sowing Seeds

As the training continues and gets deeper and more advanced, I am noticing a conflict in myself. An area of imbalance. It is one of humility and individuality. Being here in the presence of Tony, humility is easy. His knowledge of the yoga, his personal practice, his energy, his wisdom. It is easy to keep my mouth shut, listen to him and try to incorporate as much as possible. 

But as we get deeper into the experience, I am learning so much from my fellow students. Everyone has a different area of expertise, different obstacles they've had to overcome, different insights and experiences. I find myself enriched by their questions, comments and stories. So I feel like I can and should offer myself to them too. My experience and perspective might help someone else. 

I feel as though I should embrace my own perspective and individuality while also subordinating to Tony's expertise. This is a challenging concept for me.

I must also find a balance between my own practice and the teaching skills that we are here to learn, especially during the twice daily practice sessions when Tony pulls people out to teach different postures. At the end of each posture, I run my mind over what comes next and the steps involved, just in case he comes to my mat. It prepares my teaching mind, but pulls me out of my practicing mind. 

More and more I feel like we are farmers. Here Tony is supplying us with more seeds that we can keep track of. Then we must return to our lives, sow the seeds within ourselves and our community, and grow what we have learned through our own work.

Tony Sanchez Training - Day 4

When practicing this frequently and intensively at the hands of a master, I can feel the healing and energetic powers of the yoga. My muscles are tired and a little sore, but my energy is stronger, brighter, more focused. My intention is pure and my body is opening up with relief. Sleep and food are no longer the most powerful forces. 

Tony talks constantly about the intent of the postures and the energies that are flowing through us. And the energies that are us. I am beginning to feel them. 

As if to make the point even clearer, Tony led us through a brief series of Qigong exercises this afternoon. The movement of energy was palpable as we slowly swung our arms and twisted our bodies. At one point we held the same position for 5 minutes. Incredibly powerful. 

Tony Sanchez Training - Day 3

We were up relatively late last night doing homework: reviewing the teaching cues of the first few postures of the class and also analyzing the structure of a couple different sequences of postures. I find the analysis very rewarding, like seeing the inner workings of the system.

So 6am came very early this morning.

Our morning session begins with a discussion of the Niyamas. One of the trainees, Ben, is a Rabbi, so he offers some incredible insight into spiritual and devotional aspects. Another trainee, Paul, is a PhD student of Sanskrit, so his translations and explanations of the histories and meanings of some of the ancient terms are revealing, especially in conversation with Tony.

Tony also mentions that the postures which are the most difficult for us are the ones that we need the most. We should enter them slowly to let the body adjust, strengthen and stabilize.

When we start the morning practice, Tony picks students to lead the first few sections. When we reach the Half Moon Backbend, he comes to my mat and tells me to take over. My mind goes completely blank. I am standing there with my arms over my head like a deer in headlights. After a few seconds Tony says "Put your arms down," so I do. I spend the next few seconds trying to figure out where we are in the series, what posture comes next, and what on earth I should say to the class to initiate it. I have come to know these postures in my body, but I have never spoken them, and the divide is apparently very wide. I verbally stumbled through the Back Bend and Hands to Feet before scurrying back to the safety of my mat and my own silent practice. Humbling.

After the practice, we discuss the Awkward Pose, Eagle and Standing Head to Knee. Tony demonstrates all the postures and then has a student do it. The discussion about Standing Head to Knee is very long, involved and occasionally heated. There is much discussion about the detriment of a "locked" knee in either the standing or kicking leg. Even aside from the potential for hyperextension of the knee, locking the knee via the quadricep deactivates the inside and back of the leg and buttocks, leading to muscular imbalance and a whole host of potential injuries in the knee, hip and lower back. We must engage all the muscles evenly to create proper alignment and support.

Day 2, Part 2

This afternoon we talked about Bikram a lot. So many of the trainees here are Bikram teachers or studio owners. And most if not all of us are regular practitioners of Bikram's class. There were lots of questions about the differences between Tony's philosophies, alignments, engagements and those in Bikram's dialogue.

For example, in the standing backbend, Tony encourages soft knees. In all the standing balancing postures he encourages strong and straight but not locked or hyper extended legs.

Also Tony's series, supposedly directly from the Ghosh lineage, puts Triangle, Rotating Triangle and Standing Separate Legs Head to Knee as part of the Half Moon series. So they go before the Awkward series and Eagle instead of after the standing balancing series the way they are in Bikram's class.

So there were lots of questions and lots of discussions about the development of Tony's teachings. He says his practice is always evolving, always changing. And that is necessary to keep the yoga alive and to keep it individual. Here are a couple of things Tony said:

"Don't be afraid to say 'I changed.'"

"Be open enough to say 'I found a better way.'"

"If it works, use it. If it doesn't work, don't use it."

"No more gurus."

"I am not saying that everything I say is right. A lot of what I'm saying needs help."

"I utilize my extremities to focus my efforts into my spine."

Tony Sanchez Training - Day 2

I am feeling much better today, almost back to my normal self after spending the second half of yesterday sick as a dog. Ida and I started this morning with a walk on the beach with fellow trainees Paul (UK) and Alan (California). It is dark when we start and the sky gradually lightens until the sun rises at about 6:45. 

Alan is a photographer, and he has an idea to take pictures doing yoga postures silhouetted against the rising sun. It seems a bit early to be doing standing bow, but I am game.

With Tony, we start the morning talking about the sequence and the purpose of the postures. There are 6 movements that the spine can make - bend right, bend left, bend back, bend forward, twist right, twist left. These are the most important elements of the practice. If we can only do a few postures, these are the elements we should try to accomplish. The health of the spine. The other stuff - the strength and flexibility of the joints and extremities - is important too, but they are secondary to the spine.

During the morning practice, Tony adjusts my Splits In the Air (also known as Standing Splits or Needle). He brings my kicking hip WAY up and tells me to pull harder against my standing leg. Whoa, that is different. Most teachers say to lower the kicking hip because so many people raise it too high, so apparently I have been overcompensating and bringing my hip too low. I am excited to have the individual attention and progress.

Also his cue in Rabbit changes the posture for me. He says squeeze your arms into your legs and push down with your feet. My posture shifts forward, giving me more stretch in my neck. Lovely.

After doing the series, we do a little posture and teaching clinic for the Salute To the Sun. Tony demonstrates while we write down all the individual movements and cues that will make for effective teaching of this sequence.

Here is Tony demonstrating the backbend. We discuss the difference between bending forward with straight or curved back. We discuss the intent of each posture, so that when the time comes to make modifications we know what to preserve and what to change.

Tony Sanchez Training - Day 1

Tony asks us to start the day at 6am with a non-yoga activity. Some people walk or jog on the beach, some do tai chi or meditate. This morning I chose to lift weights. Bishnu Ghosh was a weight lifter, and the yoga often went hand in hand with weight lifting, so I have decided to give it a try. Often yoga and weight lifting are kept separate. I know a lot of yogis who look down upon weight lifting, but Tony is an advocate of it, so I thought I should at least try it.

I focused on doing exercises that the yoga postures don't do, like pull-ups and rows. Don, a yogi here from Winnipeg, Canada, was also in the weight room. He is very strong and he showed me some exercises to do with the free weights. We will see how my body responds.

We started with Tony at 8am. We began with a roll call of sorts. One at a time, we all got up in front of the room and told who we are, where we're from and a little about ourselves. It was beautiful to hear all the different voices, the different accents, the different backstories, how people have come to be together in this place. There are people here from Switzerland and Austria, the UK, New Zealand, Canada and all over the US.

Then we did the class that we are here to learn, what Tony calls the Master's Core System. It has 40 postures, give or take. He is very passionate about making the yoga our own, not following a prescribed system or necessarily doing it exactly the same every day.

He speaks freely about any number of topics ranging from the origins of Ganesh to Zarathustra to geometry to drinking a shot of tequila to kill a stomach bug. There are two things that I recall vividly from this first session.

First, the best yoga is nutrition. If we want our bodies to be healthy, we must give them what they need nutritionally. Simple as that. The second has more to do with the asana practice. He said to treat the two halves of the body, right and left, as identical twins. In every posture, feel the right and left side, even them out. Even the effort, the compression, the stretch, the relaxation. This will create symmetry in the body and the postures will become more therapeutic.

During the lunch break I started feeling sick to my stomach. I don't know if it was something I ate, but I spent the rest of the afternoon shuttling back and forth between my bed and the bathroom. So I missed the afternoon session. Luckily I am feeling better as the day draws to a close.

Can't Sleep

Of course, I can't sleep. Whether it's because I'm too excited for the training to begin in a few hours or because I went to sleep earlier than I'm used to (9pm) or for some other unknown reason, here I am at 4 in the morning in the pitch dark wide awake. 

Also, my hamstrings and butt are sore. Apparently I was pushing myself harder than I thought when I practiced yesterday. I will stretch lightly and hope they loosen up a bit. 

The good news about being awake so early is that I can meditate. And trim my fingernails. 

Night Before Training

We packed it in early tonight in preparation for the start of training tomorrow. 6 am will come early. At dinner tonight it was fun to see all the yogis amongst the vacationers here. They are thin and fit, carrying water bottles, eating vegetables. Probably wearing a shirt from a yoga studio where they live. So out of place among the heavy drinking and over eating of the other vacationers. 

Ida Headstand

At the end of our practice in our hotel room this morning, Ida finished with a headstand. She looks so peaceful and so strong.

Day Before Training

Today we have a free day before training starts tomorrow. I woke up early, before 7, and sat on the balcony to meditate for awhile. Trying to calm my mind and body and get in the right frame of mind for the training. When Ida got up, about 7:30, we practiced in our room for a few hours. We did Tony's Master's Core System, a series with about 50 postures that also incorporates the 26 postures from Bikram's beginning class. It took about 2 and a half hours. Felt awesome to be in the warm air. My body stayed warm and was much easier to work with than in the cold Wisconsin winter.

The other day I stumbled across Tony's blog from November 2012 (his up to date blog is here). Funny that I have been going to his website for months, practicing his series and studying his teachings, and I have never seen this blog. He writes briefly, simply and poetically about his own practice and experience. He talks about his day to day struggles, his desire for purity, and some more general yoga things. In one of his posts he writes about the power of the yoga postures. If we do them with full intention and presence, they will teach us about ourselves.

So this morning while practicing I kept this in mind. I listened intently to my body and to the postures. I felt things I haven't felt before; muscles and tightness I haven't felt before. Also, since I was practicing without a mirror or an instructor, the practice was very inwardly focused and meditative. Very rewarding. I have high hopes that the training will continue in the way, with mindfulness and meditativeness. Already I have learned so much from Tony's postures and teachings. And I haven't even met him yet.

Arriving In Cabo

We arose at 3:30 in the cold November morning. About 11 hours later, we arrived at our hotel in San Jose del Cabo, just up the coast from Cabo San Lucas. Needless to say, Ida and I are exhausted.

The food here at the hotel is very good. Fresh fruit and vegetables. Also beans and rice. We briefly wandered around the hotel complex to find the weight room and stuff. We ate more than we should have from being so tired, then to bed at about 7:30. An early night, but a long day.