New Website

I have a new website, Scott Lamps Yoga.com. It has the most up to date blog entries, plus biographical info, class schedule and pictues.

Ida Teaches The Core 40/All The Good Parts Of Bikram

Last night Ida taught her first class of the Core 40 series. She had to squeeze as much as possible into 60 minutes. Gladly the class was small and populated with friendly faces.

Upon entering, the owner of Puja (where the class was held) made a joke about being ready to do "a great ab workout. This is 40 minutes of core work, right?" He was making fun of the name of the series. Obviously, the name is meant to refer the the fundamental nature of the 40 postures in the series. But he certainly pointed out a weakness in the name. It does seem like it could be a class about the abs and core. I think we need to put some more thought into the clarity of the name.

After the class we were all discussing the series. "All the good parts of Bikram with none of the crap," was one comment. "The great postures and sequencing without the intense heat and a teacher yelling at you to push harder than you should."

It is exciting that there seems to be demand for this yoga. In the past few decades, the only place to get these postures and sequencing has been through Bikram's class which comes with a whole lot of other baggage. 

Objectives Of Hatha Yoga

This is from a post by my teacher Tony Sanchez.

OBJECTIVES OF HATHA YOGA 

The trajectory and understanding of the objectives in Hatha Yoga developed in Sivananda’s and Ghosh’s systems are the same. These objectives included, maintaining a youthful body, developing physical and psychic powers (siddhis), awakening the potential energy (Kundalini-Shakti) and finally attaining enlightenment. To my understanding the Kundalini and the Vagus nerve are one of the same. It also goes by the name “the happy nerve”. Good standing or sitting postures extends this nerve. Become aware of it and it’s connection to all the different internal organs. Metal attitude plays a very important role at this level of practice. 

Ashtanga and Ghosh: Firefly, Crane and Guillotine

Another amazing similarity between Ashtanga and Ghosh. In the Ashtanga 2nd Series, there is a little sequence of postures that starts in Firefly, an arm balance with the legs on top of the arms and pointed forward, which is similar to the Ghosh postures Crane and Heron, except that Crane is done on the fingertips. Then, in Ashtanga, the feet come down to the ground and the hands immediately bind behind the back, what we call Guillotine in Ghosh. I think it is just a Firefly variation in the Ashtanga tradition. After a few Guillotine variations, Ashtanga goes back to the arm balancing Firefly/Crane before moving on. 

I am finding more and more of these similarities between Ashtanga and Ghosh. So many of the postures are identical or variations of each other. But the two traditions have slightly different ways of combining the postures, of sequencing them. This is very interesting.

I love the idea of doing Guillotine right before the Savasana in the Ghosh series. It is an inversion and a compression of the Carotid Artery, a similar heart-slowing technique to Shoulderstand which is done near the end of the complete series to slow the heart. Placed at the end of the first half, Guillotine could act as a sort of Half-Shoulderstand.

Practice: Tree, Toe Stand, Short Man

The "Practice" posts are about progress and learning. The pictures and analysis of my own practice help me find areas that need improvement. 

Here is the progression I usually follow as I do the hip opening at the end of the standing series.

Upward Tree

First I do one set of Upward Tree with my foot plugged into the inside of my standing leg and my arms stretched overhead. This pose is a lovely way to start the Tree series with its power, its centered nature, and its balanced, upward energy.

Half Lotus Tree

Next I switch to Half Lotus Tree with my foot turned forward and held in front of my standing hip. I always hold my foot, I don't bring my second hand to my chest. I find that holding my foot and pulling up on it enables my hip to open and my alignment to develop. If I let my foot go, it will slip down a bit when I start pulling my leg down and back with the muscles on the back of my leg. Notice the tight grip I have on my foot and the engaged arm pulling up. Also, as I pull my leg back, my abs and pelvis engage to keep my hips from going along for the ride. This is how I get the stretch in the hip. I do several sets of Half Lotus Tree. Usually 5 or 6 on each side, never fewer than 3. 

Toe Stand, right leg up

Toe Stand, left leg up

Finally I move on to Toe Stand. This pose reveals tightness and imbalance quickly. With my right leg up, my hip is more open so my alignment is much better. Knees even, spine straight, shoulders square. But I struggle with the balance on this side. I think it is weakness in my left foot.

Left leg up. My left hip isn't as open, and the chain reaction of wonky alignment is apparent. Left knee is significantly higher than the right, spine is curved a bit as my hips sway back to avoid the stretch, and right shoulder comes way forward for balance. Even though I can balance on this side, the alignment is not as good as the other side. 

Short Man, right knee down

Short Man, left knee down

Then comes Short Man. My right hip is much more open, so the alignment with right knee down is pretty good. I could still push my hips forward more, but generally good. Left hip is tight, so when my left knee is down you can see my hip backing away from the rotation much like in Toe Stand. It causes my whole upper body to hunch forward. You can even see it in my head and shoulders as they hunch forward. This side needs to open up a lot. 

All in all, I can easily spend 30 minutes or more on these 4 poses. They are so instrumental in opening the rotation of the hips. 

A Little Ashtanga For the Splits

I watched some videos today by an Ashtanga yogi of Splits preparations, and one of the postures is a cross between the Vinyasa Low Lunge and the Ghosh Bow Legged Posture. It consists of doing a low lunge, with back knee on the floor, bending the back knee, grabbing back foot and stretching it toward the buttocks. This opens the front of the hip in preparation for Splits. In the Ghosh complete series Bow Legged comes way after the Splits, but it would be very helpful to do this Bow Legged prep as warm up for the Splits.

Also in Ashtanga (in the 3rd Series), there is a Standing Splits Pose that is kind of the compliment of the Ghosh Standing Splits. In Ghosh (and Vinyasa) we bend forward and hug the standing leg while the back leg kicks straight up making the splits. The Ashtanga version is done standing upright, bringing the leg up and hugging it next to the body. This is very similar to the posture we do in Ghosh, Upward Stretching (One-Sided), except that in Ghosh we do it seated. The Ashtanga Standing Split will be a great compliment to the Ghosh Standing Split.

Taking these two new additions into consideration, a new little section of the series might go like this:
- Splits Prep (Bow Legged Low Lunge)
- Splits
- Pigeon
- Standing Splits (Ghosh)
- Standing Splits (Ashtanga)
- Dancer

I also want to work more toward the Straddle Splits, which isn't really in the Ghosh series. But Ashtanga has a few postures and preparations. It could fit into the Stretching Series, somewhere around Separate Legs Stretching and Frog. More on that later.

Upward Energy

In the past few weeks I have been noticing a powerful upward energy in some of my postures. The tension of the posture seems to want to uncoil and propel my body upward.

I have felt it in Eagle pose. The twisting of the lower body and the driving of the pelvis forward make it easy for me to understand the energy in this posture. No matter how low I bend my legs, the potential energy in my legs and pelvis only builds, giving me the feeling that my body just wants to explode upward.

As my alignment improves in Triangle (bent leg), the upward energy is there too. Once my hips are sufficiently down and forward on the line between my feet, I pull my upper hip open (This is different than some people teach it. Some say to bring the back hip forward, bringing a twist into the spine. In the Ghosh lineage the hip should be completely open with no twist in the spine except for a small cervical twist). My back foot rotates open a little bit, and I feel a strong upward energy through my spine.

The other pose where I have noticed it is Crow pose. I have been holding Crow for 10 breaths. The first 3 feel normal with my mind on my alignment and balance. But as I hold the pose for longer, my heels come together, my feet want to rise, my hips want to rise, my back wants to rise. I straighten my arms as much as possible without straining and I feel that, if I had a bit more strength, my body would unfold into handstand.

Tony talked a lot about grounding energy (Chi) and upward energy (Prana). For the past month I have focused a lot on the Chi, trying to stabilize my balance. I was so busy trying to find the Chi that I didn't much consider the Prana. But now I am feeling it strongly. Very exciting!

Picture of Tony Sanchez Training

Here is a picture of our class from December's training with Tony Sanchez. Tony is in the second row, middle. I am in the back row near the middle in the white shirt. Ida is in the back row, fourth from the right in the grey long sleeve shirt. The photo was taken by Alan, a trainee who is also a photographer. His website is here.

The Heat: Pros and Cons

The heat used in Bikram's class (105 degrees F) is the subject of a lot of passionate discourse both for and against. I practiced regularly in the heat for 3 years. For the past 6 months I have also been practicing at room temperature, usually between 60-80 degrees F. Based on my experience in both situations and what I have learned from listening and reading, here are my thoughts about the heat. It has pros and cons. But the strange part is that many of what people consider to be benefits of the heat are either untrue or actually detrimental.

PRO - Burn more calories and lose more weight

I have been in Bikram classes where the teacher claims that you can burn up to 800 calories in a 90 minute class. Luckily, the Bikram Yoga College of India recently sponsored a study where they hooked up a bunch of yogis to monitors while they practiced. They measured metabolic rate, heart rate and core temperature over the course of the class, so we have a pretty clear idea of what is happening to the body. According to the study, women burn about 330 calories during a Bikram class. Men burn about 460. The difference between men and women is mostly due to body size. 

The other issue, weight loss, is a tricky one. As I just mentioned, a class in the heat doesn't burn nearly the calories that some claim it does. The main way to lose weight in the heat is through water loss. Water is very heavy, and we can sweat out 2-4 pounds of water throughout a class. Sadly this loss is very bad for you because it is dehydration. Also, the weight goes right back in when you drink enough water to hydrate your body, which I hope you do. 

PRO - Reduced warm up time
In a super heated room, the warm up gets cut down all the way to the Half Moon Series. Even the Triangle series (Triangle and Standing Separate Legs Forehead to Knee) gets moved later in the class to act more as therapeutic and less as a warm up. The warm up postures take only 55 minutes to do two sets of each. That is incredible. It practically eliminates the need to do postures to warm the body. In 90 minutes we can do a reasonable amount of therapeutic postures, from Wind Removing all the way to the end. When I practice at room temperature it takes 60-90 minutes to get my body sufficiently warm. As far as I can tell, this is the greatest advantage of the hot room.

PRO/CON - Warm muscles are more flexible
Yes, it's true that we can stretch farther in the hot room. Our muscles loosen significantly, but this is as bad as it is good. The hyper loose muscles allow us to overstretch and strain our muscles. We can't feel the usual neurological feedback from the muscles when they are tight or at the edge of their comfort zone, so we push them farther than we would in normal circumstances. We can strain the muscles and, even worse, we can strain the connective tissue. Our tendons and ligaments. Tiny tears in our connective tissues don't heal nearly as fast as our muscles, so if we practice in the hot room on a regular basis we can generate real damage in the tissues. This can lead to torn ligaments and loose joints, both things that take a very long time to heal if ever. 

PRO/CON - Lots of sweat
When we practice asana in a hot room we sweat like crazy. The supposed benefits are twofold. 1)Your body sweats out toxins, making the extreme sweat a purifying process for your entire body. 2)Your skin gets clean and exfoliated from all the sweat. All the gunk and grime and dead skin washes right off, like scrubbing every inch of your skin from the inside out.

The problem with perceived benefit #1, that we sweat out toxins, is that it has no foundation in biology. Our sweat is made up of water and electrolytes for the singular purpose of cooling the body. There is a fraction of a percent of anything that might be considered a toxin in our sweat. Medically speaking, our body eliminates toxins through excretion (urine and feces) and to a lesser extent exhalation. So we don't actually sweat out any toxins, just water. And that raises a significant Con with practicing in the heat - dehydration. 

The hot and humid room actually short circuits our body's natural cooling mechanism, so we hemorrhage water. It flows out of us in vast quantities as our bodies try to regulate their temperature. So at the end of a practice in a hot room, we are likely to be severely dehydrated even if we started the practice at optimal hydration. 

CON - Heat Stroke
Heat stroke and heat exhaustion are so common in the hot room that teachers act like it is normal behavior. "We are ridding ourselves of toxins," they say. "Stay in the room no matter what." Cramping, lightheadedness, headache, nausea and vomiting are all signs of heat exhaustion. And it gets worse when a person is dehydrated. I have seen all of these symptoms and experienced most of them myself while practicing in the hot room. The recommended treatment for heat exhaustion is immediate cooling through air, ice packs or cold water, which goes directly against the usual refrain of "stay in the room." If we are feeling lightheaded or nauseous we should leave immediately and cool our bodies.


In conclusion, I think the heat does more potential harm than good. The greatest advantage I see to the heat is that it saves time by warming the muscles externally. The possible dangers include strained connective tissue, loose joints, dehydration and heat stroke (which causes brain damage).

Tree As Preparation For Lotus

A lot of intermediate and advanced postures seem inaccessible. A great example is Lotus. Once we can do Lotus there are loads of advanced postures that become available: Spider, Fish, Cock. Not to mention Lotus inversions like Headstand, Tiger and Handstand. 

But how does one approach Lotus? It seems like one of those postures that you've either got it or you don't. And it is very easy to force yourself into Lotus before you're ready and injure your knees. There are several Lotus preparation postures in the Ghosh series. I will save those for another post. The most effective and safest Lotus prep posture is Tree Pose.

There are a few important aspects of Tree to focus on to improve your progress toward Lotus. Hopefully you balance is sufficient that you don't have to spend much energy to keep from falling over. When you put you foot on your upper thigh (in Half Lotus Tree), bring it as high as you comfortably can. Then, as you use your leg muscles to push your bent leg down and back don't let your foot slip down your thigh at all! It is very important to create a stretch on your inner hip and leg. It will feel cranky and tight in your hip and inner thigh, so go to a point that is stretching but not painful. Stay here and let your body open. Keep your hips even and your back upright. 

As you progress with this, pull your foot up higher on your thigh as you set up the pose. This will increase the rotation in your hip and the stretch on your inner leg. Then start to pull your foot closer to your midline, heel closer to your belly button. Again, when your leg pushes down and back, don't let your foot slip down! It will want to but you have to pull up on it with your hand to prevent it from moving. 

Eventually your foot should be in the crease between your leg and pelvis, so when you bend into Toe Stand or Short Man your foot and bent leg don't move at all. 

Practice Tree pose a lot. Do several sets, not just the one or two that are common in Bikram's class. I usually do 5 sets of Tree before moving on. This way your hip rotation will open and the Lotus will become available. And once you can do the Lotus, many advanced postures become accessible. 

Surprising Flexibility

With the strength training I have been doing, I have been worried that my flexibility will decrease. And I have no desire to be stiff, no matter how strong may get. 

But surprisingly I have found my flexibility improved. I have some soreness from the strength exercises, but it is muscle soreness that still stretches easily. And oddly, I feel I can stretch even further and with greater relaxation, possibly from improved balance in my joints or more strength on the complimentary side of the stretch. Maybe it is as simple as progress. I hope it continues. 

Strength Training and Meditation

Today has been a day of strength training and meditation. I haven't done any asana practice, even though some of the strength exercises are either similar or identical to certain postures. 

I have been doing exercises to improve the strength of my shoulders and upper back and hips and hamstrings. It is remarkable to me how few asanas focus on the strength of the hamstrings. My exercises include squats, crawls, walking while carrying weights, foam rolling and a dynamic one-legged sort of bridge pose. I can already feel the improved strength in my joints. I didn't realize how unstable they were, but they feel so much stronger now after only a few sessions. 

The other part of today was meditation. I focused on the pure and fearless part of myself, the part that is unshakable and still. I am trying to be with that part of myself, quieting my mental ideas of who I am and who I want to be. Hoping that with stillness and quiet that I will eventually be able to hear the voice of my true self. It feels strange to write that down, but there is certainly a discrepancy between who I think I am and who I am. Trying to find the latter, a complicated prospect. 

Practice: Dancer

The "Practice" posts are about progress and learning. The pictures and analysis of my own practice help me find areas that need improvement. 

The toughest part of Dancer Pose is not the pose itself but the hand grip that enables the proper shoulder rotation. Perhaps I will do an entry about that in the future. Once I figured out how to do the grip properly (this is the same as in Floor Pigeon with the foot on the head), the pose was suddenly accessible. 

 RIGHT LEG UP

I have to use a towel for grip because I have had issues with my foot slipping out of my hand, and that's not good. With such an extreme backbend, to lose the foot and fling out of the pose is dangerous for the back. So a solid grip is really important.

LEFT LEG UP

After seeing these pictures, it is clear that I need to pull my upper leg closer to the splits. My upper body should come down more to allow for the leg to go up. When my Right Leg is up (top set of pictures), the leg is a little higher, my torso a little lower, and my back bent more. This is something I need to improve on my Left Leg Up side. Actually I need to improve it on both sides.

Practice: Full Camel

In order to help my practice, I took some pictures of my Full Camel (also called Kapotasana or King Pigeon) so I can see my alignment, progression and depth. Anyone who has practiced some of these poses knows it can be tough to assess your own progress while trying to bend your body and turn your face to the floor. 

The first thing that is different from regular Camel is that Full Camel is unsupported, so no hands on the lower back or hips. Quite the contrary really. Hands come in front of the legs, eventually the knees like a bowstring.

Once I can see my toes behind me, I stretch my arms over my head to grab onto them. I lower my head until it touches the floor. My elbows come to the floor, weight on the elbows not the head. Then I slowly walk my hands toward my ankles and my head into the bowl of my feet.

Once my head is on my feet and my hands gripping my ankles, I stay here and breathe. It is an intense front side stretch, especially in the upper torso for me. I have to improve the arch in my upper thoracic spine. You can see in the pictures that the area between my sternum and throat is not bending much. The same goes for Dancer Pose.