Morning Class with Wayne Belles

I am one happy lady. I just got back from taking lovely Anusara certified teacher Wayne Belles at The Yoga Center (4689 S. Holladay Blvd). This is a new weekly class he will be offering! I have a lot of papers to write but I want to quickly share what I learned today.

Wayne started class by talking about transformation. He said if we even look at how our poses have transformed since our first Anusara class. I really enjoyed it when he said that it takes a long time to transform some of our poses but that is what is so great. If we learned the poses and the refinements quickly we wouldn’t learn as much. He also said toward the end of the class that it is when we plateau in our practice, when the fireworks stop and the honeymoon stage is over. That is when the real practice begins. How inspiring. When we sat in the beginning he said notice the breath and I loved this. He said when all those wonderful thoughts come into our mind about our life simply bring your awareness back to the breath. When I first started practicing I thought the thoughts and the chatter in the mind that needed to be overcome and dominated in order for us to experience the stillness (a classical yoga view) now I know that I don’t need to overpower then and shut them off but I can just be with them. But I loved Wayne’s description that they are good. Just like we are intrinsically good. But we can still shift our attention back to the pauses in the breath.

Highlights that are helping me transform my practice and life:

• Uttanasana: we worked on knowing when we are hyper extending and when we are not. I always thought I hyper extended in uttanasana so I kept a slight bend in my knees. Today we learned a trick where if we feel the behind our knees, the eye of the knee. It should feel soft, if we hyper extend the back of the knee becomes very hard.
• AMS: I have been feeling like my arms are wonky in down dog. Remember the base of the arm has an inner rotation to it and the upper arm has an outer rotation and the eyes of the elbows should gaze “softly” at each other.
• AMK: handstand work. How fun, thanks to Leslie mentioning she wants to hope up. I have been working alot on handstand but I have been feeling a little blocked with my feet. I had been flexing them really working the pinky toe edges back. Wayne reminded me that I want to floint them. Floint = Barbie feet. Not pointed but not flexed, pinky toes still pulling back.
• Urdhva Danurasana: the first urdhva we did Wayne yelled Kim arm bones back. I tried I thought I was doing it. When I came down Leslie (The Yoga Center owner, and soon to be certified) mentioned that I need to extend my heart more to the front of the room. I went up again and Leslie applied resistance to my legs so I could actively reach my heart forward and she pulled my shins in the other direction. How amazing. I tried to pull my arm bones back and my heart forward. It definitely felt different more open. Then Wayne came over and pulled my more into shoulder loop. How amazing I was working with two lovely teachers and I felt so wonderful in urdhva. Then I got to try it again on my own. Not the same bliss is being supported by two others but feeling better.

Wonderful class , looking forward to my Tuesday mornings. Come join me J

Papers to write

Kim

my notes and thoughts from saturday morning int/adv. with John Friend

Here are some of my notes and thoughts from the inter/adv. workshop with John Friend at The Shop in Park City (I am very greatful to Leslie S. who recommened me transcribing my notes so I dont end up with another notebook of messy handwritting)
John Started the class by asking for questions...
Someone asked the question:
“How would you teach abdominals without interrupting the apana vayu (downward moving energy)?"

John responded by saying that most people (especially in the west) consider the core to be the rectus abdominis “six pack”. But really the core is the vertical channel that runs through the core of our body. It is from this subtle vertical channel that our physical body is building upon. This subtle body can be thought of as an etheric double. The core of our body, this energetic channel isn’t just vertical and straight has spanda (pulsation of prana).

We talked about how we don’t have anything in our body that is perfectly straight. Everything has a curve like our spine. Our spine can hold tons of weight if you use good alignment which holds the natural curvature of the spine for example in sirsasana. But if you were to straighten out the spine and then make it weight bearing that would be very unsuccessful. So cool. When John was talking about this I was thinking about how straight is similar to perfect. If you have a curve and you want to make it straight, you want it to move in a way toward perfection. However, john was pointing out that perfection isn’t straight. I feel like in my life I strive for perfection but this reminded me that perfect is never straight we become not perfect but more fully our self when we align with our uniqueness, our curves and the curvature of our spine.

Back to the original question. Most people (especially in the west) think of the core as the rectus abdominis, so they really work that area which makes the front of the belly tight. This tightness will pull the tailbone under. But people also tuck there tailbone under so their booty doesn’t look as bad. When you tuck the tail bone under like this you make your back flat which hurts the ligaments between the discs which can make you more prone to disc problems. Fun Fact: L5 SI is the most commonly injured dist for this reason. This tucked action and flattening of the back causes prevents the energy to go down and ground toward the earth (apana vayu). This disturbs the downward flow of energy and causes energetic and physical constipation, agitates the nervous system, feeling unsure, unconnected, anxious, nervous, ungrounded…

(I was so immpressed that this question guided the whole asana practice. We worked strongly on open to grace and inner spiral and outer spiral so we could feel the grounding quality and the flow of apana vayu while created dimond strength of the core)

“when we line up with life the beauty happiness”

We then talked about where the soul is located body?
How some philosophers say it is in the head, but when you take that view the head becomes superior and everything bellow the head becomes inferior (reminds me of how a lot of people think and act)
John said the soul is located in our pelvic area and that in fact the word sacrum comes from the word sacred. John didn’t say this but I think it is very interesting that the sacrum (5 fused vertebra) resemble a downward facing triangle, a symbol that shows from the divine to the embodied.

We are:

Divinely manifested

Embodiment of the supreme

Breath Awareness:
Focus of the floor of the pelvis. As you inhale notice what happens do you feel an expansion or do you feel a contraction? As you exhale notice what happens, do you feel an expansion or do you feel a contraction?

If the energy is moving “correctly” the inhalation should case the pelvis to expand and the exhalation should cause the pelvis to contract.

The Anusara Invocation, and working the legs

We chant this wonderful mantra at the beginning of every Anusara class, but do you know what it means? I absolutely love this mantra. I love the way it vibrates through my body and the way it sounds. I love the way I feel during and after I chant the mantra. I love the energy it invokes.
When I first started practicing Anusara and learning the mantra, I just chanted because everyone else did and it made me feel good. As I got deeper into the practice I started learning more and more about what the mantra means. Over the past few months I have been journaling about this wonderful mantra looking at each Sanskrit word and looking at each line. I really feel that the more I know what the words and the lines mean the better and more powerfully charged the mantra becomes. Here is a summary of what the Anusara invocation means to ME (and in my opinion):
Om Namah Shivaya Gurave: The sound of the universe (Om), I bow down, I honor and I offer myself to (Namah) to the Highest, the Auspicious one (Shivah), who is the weighty teacher leading us from the dark to the light, that resides within my own heart and outside of me (Gurava).
Satchidananda Murtaye: Who assumes the forms of Truth, Reality, Consciousness, and Bliss (Satchidananda), this is the essence (Murtaye) of this Teacher that is within our own heart and that surrounds us every where.
Nishprapanchaya Shantaya: This essence is never absent (Nishprapanchaya) and is full of peace (Shantaya).
Niralambaya Tejase: This one energy is completely free and does not depend on anything to exist (Niralambaya), and this essence is a radiant luminosity, and is sparkles from the heart (Tejase).

Here is the translation of the Anusara invocation from John Friend:
Om Namah Shivaya Gurave: I honor the essence of Being, The Auspicious Once, the luminous Teacher within and without.
Satchidananda Murtaye: Who assumes the forms of Truth, Consciousness, and Bliss.
Nishprapanchaya Shantaya: Is never absent, full of peace,
Niralambaya Tejase: Ultimately free and sparkles with a divine luster.
Our practice on the mat is an act to help us remember this. To help us remember that this higher teacher (whatever that higher teacher is to you: mother nature, science, god…) who is full of Truth, Reality, Consciousness, and Bliss. This essence pulsates with bliss (ananda) and sparkles (tejase). This one energy doesn’t need any set of circumstances to exist and is always present within us and around us.

I love when I am practicing on my mat whether I am in a public class, a workshop, or at home. When I really tune into my heart and move with grace I can feel this inner pulsation of peace. I feel alive and vital yet at ease and calm. When I am in this state, I feel like my heart is sparkling (tejase).

Lately as I have been working on this I have been working the legs. I feel like if I don’t have a good base, a good foundation I can’t begin to connect to this inner radiance. From the four corners of the feet (mound under the big toe, to the inner heal, over the top of the foot diagonally to the mound under the pinky toe, and them back to the outer heel). From this strong active foundation in the feet draw in energy up the legs toward the core of the pelvis.

In standing poses, the back leg will naturally have more outer spiral so you again balance it by applying more inner spiral. As you work the inner spiral also focus on the femur bones back. My new trick for femur bones back is by putting my back hand on my back hamstring high on the thigh and then pushing my femur bones back until I can feel pressure on my hand (I take that pressure as a sign that I am doing enough femur bones back). The front leg will naturally have more inner spiral so you want to focus on balancing that by apply more outer spiral. In other words, scope the from sit bone under like you are trying to push your front heel into the ground and forward. When you do this you should feel space being created around the front psoas muscle.

In Anusara we have a saying “root down to rise up”. I also think if you root down or have good foundation, muscular energy, inner spiral and outer spiral in the legs will allow you to experience your own inner radiance, experiencing your own inner sparkle, experience the pulsation of bliss.

I think it is important to practice on our mat so we may connect to what it feels like to pulse with peace and feel our heart sparkle. It is also important to remember that we don’t need to be on our mat to have this experience because this experience and essence is always available to us…we just need to remember. A great way to do that is through chanting the Anusara invocation and practicing asana.

Sources:
The Anusara Teacher Training Manual, By John Friend
Douglas Brooks
Sanskrit Dictionary
Adam Ballenger

about the two classes I taught today, and the bilboard add I saw on the way home

I taught two classes today:
My first class at flow EMC 9:15-10:30 we worked on cultivating qualities of perseverance, acceptance, and patience. We did lots of forward folds (remember forward folds are any pose in which the hip is flexed forward, so we did lots of deep standing poses), and some fun arm balances including playing with linking different bakasana poses.

My afternoon class at Kula 12-1 we talked about how the studio is going through some shifts, and how this shift provides an opportunity for us to look for the good. I used a pretty funny metaphor about a TV antenna and how we can use our asana practice as a way to adjust our antenna so the goodness/bliss “channel” comes in really clear. Haha we did some hip opening and back bends. I kept encouraging the students to soften their eyes and become sensitive to the way they feel inside. Becoming so sensitive that they can be aware of the inner goodness that is within them.

As I was driving home I saw a billboard Coke add, that read “open happiness” (I couldnt find the same billboard add I saw but here are two that provide the same message):


The society we live in which is based off of corporations and consumerism tells us over and over, that we are missing something. We are lacking something (their product)., and until we get it (their product) we cant be happy. This leaves us to think that we always need to be seeking something external from our self in order to feel full, and feel happy.

Here are just some of the things society is trying to sell us with the promise that it will make us happy:
•Beer
•Weigh loss
•Make up
•Cigarettes
•Soda
•Candy
•Plastic surgery
•Tampons
•clothes
•…….
Those anti-smoking commercials are correct when they say “You are a target for Big Tobacco”. But it isn’t just big tobacco, we are a target everywhere because we are surrounded by signs, commercials, magazines….that are telling us that we are not ENOUGH.
This is one thing I love about yoga. When we practice yoga asana, when we step onto our mat it is us saying that instead of seeking happiness from outside, I am going to go within and REMEMBER that inside of me is all the happiness, bliss, and peace I could ever want. Our society and the way many people live their lives has caused us to forget. And yoga is a process of remembering our goodness, and our worth.
So the next time you see an add, that is in some way saying buy my product and you will be happy, laugh and know that you already have everything you need to make you happy inside your own heart.

new mantra: Experience

I just got back from enjoying 5 long lovely days in the desert of Moab Utah. It was wonderful. When I first got there I was so happy to be in the desert (the desert is one of my favorite places ever), however I couldn’t stop thinking. I kept thinking and worrying about yoga, family, and all this other stuff. I thought “why I am on a vacation? I want to submerge myself in the essence of nature. Why can’t I let go of this attachment to my thoughts?” I then thought of the word experience. This word became my mantra for the rest of my trip.

When I was busy worrying, thinking, obsessing over these thoughts in my mind I wasn’t experiencing the moment, the moment that was unfolding right then and there. I wasn’t aware of my breath, the posture of my body, or the feelings of my life force energy (prana) pulsating inside me. When my mind was racing around like a ball bouncing around in a pin ball machine, I felt distracted, empty, not full, and not super happy. So I would pause and experience the precious moment that was unfolding. I would feel the breath moving in and out. I would notice the way I was holding my body, I would notice how the energy (the prana) was moving through my body. I would then adjust my body, enhance the quality of my breathe so I could fell full of vibrant energy. I did this my whole trip. As I sat and meditated, ate, hiked, talked, danced…anything and everything. I kept thinking and saying “experience”. Experience the touch of sun and breeze on my skin. Experience the sounds and smells. When I shifted my focus it doesn’t mean that all that other stuff that was preoccupying my mind no longer existed, it just meant that I wasn’t hooked to the thoughts.

My husband plays lots of video games and in some of his games he has to train. For example he takes his advatar to this training area and he practices shooting his bow and arrow. There is a little monitor in the side of the screen that displays his skill level and the more he practices these skills the better he gets. Then when he leaves the training area his bow and arrow skills are more finely tuned and he does better in the real game situation. When I saw this I thought this is yoga!

We train on our yoga mat to practice experiencing the essence of ourselves. We start by sitting down on our mat. We experience our breath, posture, prana, and mind. From there we move through some warm ups. Can we keep experiencing what is happening within every pose and within ever transition? Can we notice when we get hooked by inappropriate thoughts and bring our awareness back to what is actually happening? We then move into more challenging poses. Can we stay with the experience as we use more strength and endurance. The more we practice experiencing what is happening in each moment on the mat, the more we increase our ability to be able to experience the present moment off the mat and to the real obstacles we encounter on our path.
I have a lot of people say to me “I can’t do yoga, I can’t mediate I just can’t stop thinking.” Yoga is not the stopping of thinking, but it is the learning not to get overly hooked by your inappropriate thoughts. I say inappropriate because thoughts are helpful, and allow us to express our freedom, but when we worrying, stress and picking at inappropriate thoughts is when we get hooked. Instead of getting hooked by every thought that comes into your mind can you just be aware. Can you think to youself “I am thinking but at the same time I can feel my breath, my body, and my spirit?” Can you be so aware that you can distinguish between an appropriate thought that allows you to connect to life and handle the challenges more fully, and can you choose to let go of the inappropriate thoughts that don’t serve you? When you are thinking, can you keep a connection to your heart, body, and energy?

I love this “experience” mantra so much. I used it so much in the desert. I hiked to this beautiful river that was secluded and peaceful and I started thinking for probably 30 minutes about other things, I was just distracting myself by overly thinking and planning. I then realized what I was doing and I paused. I thought experience. Experience what is happening right now. Hear the water, the birds, feel the sun and the breeze, feel the breath and the body. I kept laying there for over an hour and it was wonderful. I felt so full of energy so vibrant yet a sense of calmness. This is the feeling tone I am trying to create through the practice of yoga, a sense of alertness and vibrancy and at the same time a sense of peace and ease.

One of the classes I taught we focused on the theme experience. For the UPA (universal principles of alignment) we focused on experiencing the inner (expanding) spiral of the back leg and the outer (contracting) spiral of the front leg, here is the sequence:
*AMShigh runners lung
Tadanasana, urdhva hastasana, uttanasana, ardha uttanasana, Lunge, AMS, vinyasa, uttanasana, tadanasana
Tadanasana, urdhva hastasana, uttanasana, ardha uttanasana, Lunge, virabhadrasana 2, AMS, vinyasa, uttanasana, tadanasana
Tadanasana, urdhva hastasana, uttanasana, ardha uttanasana, Lunge, virabhadrasana 2, reverse virabhadrasana, AMS, vinyasa, uttanasana, tadanasana
Tadanasana, urdhva hastasana, uttanasana, ardha uttanasana, Lunge, virabhadrasana 2, reverse virabhadrasana, modified utthita parsvakonasana, utthita parsvakonasana, virabhadrasana 2, AMS, vinyasa, uttanasana, tadanasana
Virasana (eyes closed experence)
Ams, ardha chandrasana, virabhadrasana 3 prep, **urdhva prasarita eka padasana, virabhadrasana 3, virabhadrasana 1, AMS
Malasana, bakasana 3X
Tadasana, garudasana legs, hands in anjali, arms reach up, full garudasana, virabhadrasana 3 with garudasana arms, virabhadrasana 1 with eagle arms, virabhadrasana 1, uttanasana, tadansana
Malasana, bakasana
***Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (active legs squeeze toward midline, reach up)
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (with quad stretch, mermaid style)
Janushirasana
****Matsyasana (with knees bent soles of feet on floor)
Supta twist
Shavasana

Sanskrit words translation
*AMS (Adho Mukha Svanasana, Downward Facing Dog Pose)
** urdhva prasarita eka padasana (standing splits)
*** Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (pigeon)
**** Matsyasana (fish)