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6月3日 Yoga: Gazing at Overachieving WobblersA lot of yoga poses require balance. This balance can be achieved through a combination of mental concentration and muscular engagement. The real concept, at least the way I understand it, is that the mind will lead the body. It starts with mental focus and the body shall follow. Hence, although a balancing pose appears to easy -- the stillness is merely superficial since a tremendous amount of effort is at work to maintain that stillness.
Mental focus can be accomplished by focusing the gaze on a still object such as the wall or a non-moving object. Sometimes, as the mind wanders during the pose, the gaze falls on fellow classmates who wobble. (Wobbling is most certainly part of the process. No one is perfect and even the instructor loses his/her balance from time to time.) As the temporary object of the wandering gaze is on the verge of losing balance, it immediately affects students within the 1-mat radius. It becomes particularly troubling when classmates, who clearly cannot balance yet, choose to over-extend themselves, thereby earning the title of "Overachieving Wobblers."
Besides endangering themselves by over stretching muscles that lack flexibility, overachieving wobblers also cause noticeable disturbances to their immediate neighbors. Try as we may, if someone next to you is losing their balance, you mind needs to seriously be on a different planet, or better yet a different universe, to ignore them. If that sounds selfish, well, what if the wobbler falls on the floor close to you? Now, that has not happened to me yet, but it's not entirely impossible.
One of the best ways of avoiding wobbling is to simply back off, or modify the pose to something more manageable by the body. Wobbling is a signal that the body may not be quite ready for the difficulty of the pose. When the time and set up is right, I always believe that the body will open and extend itself naturally. What's the big rush? You're supposed to be relaxing in yoga class, right? 5月27日 Yoga Student Profile: Darth Vader the Heavy BreatherIn all fairness, students are just as important as instructors in any teaching environment. In yoga classes, having very solid peers standing across the room helps with the balance poses. For example, if our wandering eyes fall on a wobbly classmate, our balance evaporates just as quickly.
Today's post is a tribute to "Darth Vader" in my class. No, he is neither garbed in an interesting outfit nor does he have an interesting headgear. He has earned the nickname of "Darth Vader" because of his heavy breathing. Don't get me wrong, deep rhythmic breathing is crucial in yoga to keep the blood flowing and calming the mind while doing challenging poses. However, all that pranayama breathing should not (at least to me) be disruptive to your neighboring classmates. Darth Vader has rendered that breathing exercise distracting, excessive, and just downright annoying. Let me give credit where credit is due because Darth Vader is actually a pretty good yogi. But, given that he's been doing yoga for a while, why is he breathing louder than the instructor?
Since yoga is picking up in popularity and becoming more mainstream, classes are getting more packed. Getting to class on time has proven to be an ongoing challenge, especially having to fight traffic on the freeway. Arriving late has its downside because I'm sometimes unable to secure a spot as far away as possible from Darth Vader. Fortunately, Darth Vader is easy to spot as he has his own designated spots, you see. At any rate, arriving at a cramped room and then having to stand anywhere close to the heavy breather is really the last thing on my wishlist. If I'm forced to set my mat right across from him, I just turn around so that the distance between my ears and the source of excessively deep breathing is increased. That's all I can handle. 5月19日 Yoga Instructor Profile: The Customer Service OrientedPart of the process of practicing yoga regularly is learning different teaching styles and approaches of instructors. Over the course of almost 2 years at the same gym, I've definitely found some both amusing and also insightful instructors. Inserted between all of them are occasional substitute instructors, who also add their own twists and turns to this interesting learning experience. I've personally decided that the profiles of these different yoga instructors deserve a brief moment under the spotlight. Let me start the series with the friendliest of them all, the "Customer Service Oriented."
A teacher who knows your name or at least tries to remember who you are, is always much more approachable and personable. Any questions you are itching to ask are easier to pose in a friendlier learning environment. As always, this instructor ends classes with a feel-good, warm and fuzzy, "It was great to have you in class, please come again!" Post-class chatting is also highly encouraged between the instructors and among students. This all contributes to a very positive outcome, after the class.
Unfortunately, my service-oriented teacher is a little weak on the teaching technique. A lot about yoga instruction is hinged on giving good and explicit verbal prompts to guide the student to the pose. Like giving a business presentation, rhythm and transition are both very important aspects to the listening audience. My instructor also gets somewhat fixated on the music to play for different series of poses. I agree that the music can serve to increase the intensity of a series and help wind down towards the end. But, it's just an add-on or better yet, a low priority accessory and not a centerpiece of a showcase. Finally, due to this distraction and other possible reasons, the teacher occasionally forgets what the next pose is. I don't really think this is a huge faux pas because I've seen it happen when an instructor is so intent on one single pose, that it's very possible to lose their own train of thoughts. This is particularly common when the instructor is doing the pose with you and the class is very full.
All in all, I think the "Customer Service Oriented" instructor has much to offer and are particularly good for students new to yoga. I appreciate the genuine feel-good vibes in the classroom. However, I think that being able to delivery good verbal prompts and work on the rhythm of the class are quite important for students to profit from the benefits of yoga. Otherwise, students just end up getting confused during the course of the class. Being confused in yoga is rarely a good thing because it may end in injury. 3月14日 Knowing When to Back OffOftentimes in yoga class, I meet people who have been practicing other sports for a number of years and sought yoga as means of recovering from a sports related injury. Coupled with its ability to increase flexibility and tone the body, yoga offers another frequently underestimated benefit -- meditation. The meditative aspect of yoga helps the healing process by increasing awareness of the mind and body. So, with such wonderful benefits to speak of, is it ever possible to get injured doing yoga? My answer to that is a resounding yes.
Although confidence and fearlessness helps in exploring yoga within the bounds of your own personal flexibility, the confidence and fearlessness must be used with caution. A large part of a beneficial yoga practice is awareness of your own body's flexibility. Once you honestly accept your own personal limits, then you can comfortably determine how to increase flexibility without causing injury. Yoga actually gives you the opportunity to make that conscious decision. Active sports usually do not offer that decision as some injuries are caused by uncontrollable events in a game. In yoga, there are no stretch goals imposed and no unpredictable external events. There is only one person who calls the shots and it's you. I also believe it's a personal responsibility to learn when to slow down.
At this point in time, let's not ignore the other major influencer on your decision and that is the yoga instructor. Having to deal with a roomful of students with varying degrees of flexibility, the instructor has to actively engage seasoned yogis and also provide careful guidance to new students. It's no easy task and the honest truth is some instructors do a better job than others. As a student, it's important to be cognizant of the shortcomings of the instructor and always err on the side of caution. All caution aside though, instructors are a rich resource about the different yoga poses -- learning about the right and wrong way to do them, how to enter and get out of them, the full potential of the poses and the goal of the poses.
As you practice more frequently, your yoga practice becomes a blend of different progressions of strengths and weaknesses, applied tips from various teachers, and a continuous learning experience. Put simply, the key to yoga really is yourself. 3月10日 Managing in a Crowded Yoga ClassAt the beginning of every year, gyms and yoga studios witness a jump in membership and/or attendance. To encourage the folks sitting on the fence about joining, gyms shamelessly throw in the temptation of waived registration fees and reduced rates. (I am slightly bitter about this because I'm stuck at a higher monthly rate...) I, myself, have been part of that flood of eager yet undisciplined and starry eyed crowd of new year's resolution makers. This year, with my somewhat regular attendance to yoga classes, I'm glad to say I'm merely a spectator of this phenomenon. As I rush my tardy self to my yoga class, I look around and see the busier workout machines and wonder to myself how long these new members will last. That thought occupies my mind even more as I step into a very crowded yoga class, which used to be severely underattended. Yoga classes do get crowded and its popularity usually depends on the timing of the class and the instructors. Some instructors are more popular than others where as some classes occur too early or late for office workers. As I mentally adjust to the presence of a distractingly large number of wobbly beginners, I also put together a mental list of things yoga students should keep in mind when space is limited. This list serves as a guideline but all points really boil down to enforcing the very basic concept of respecting another person's space.
Any pet peeves on behavioural guidelines in a crowded yoga class are welcome! 9月11日 Focus and Concentration: Toe Stand (Padangustasana)There are always some poses in yoga where seasoned yogis extend themselves beyond what appears to be humanly possible. The intense amount of focus and concentration that enables a balance or the superb flexibility boggles the mind. Over time, one of the most rewarding aspects of yoga is the ability to reach this personal edge during the course of developing a practice. At all times, the key point to remember is that yoga is about exceeding personal limits. It is rarely about the other people in class and always about advancing to a new level of self-awareness. Although that may sound rather trite, once the focus is outbound, the mind loses touch with what the body is or is not capable of. The externally driven competition becomes a distraction from the goal of independently striving for reaching the personal edge. Toe Stand (Padangustasana) is one of the poses I enjoy immensely because of its ability to encourage me to exceed myself. It challenges and rewards me at the same time. It is challenging because the pose keeps reinforcing the importance of quiet concentration and inward focus. Transitions into and out of the pose require mindfulness of my body so the joints are not strained. This mindfulness also demonstrates kindness and respect for my own body to acknowledge its limitations and prevent injury. It feels rewarding because when I started practicing yoga, I never would have imagined being able to come close to doing the pose. This pose starts with the traditional tree stand and a careful transition to the toe stand. Then, the balance starts when the entire body is balanced on the toes, as hands are lifted from the mat and in front of the heart. The finish is equally challenging as it requires a careful transition back to standing. The knees and ankles can get into very awkward positions, so slow and careful alignment is important. Mostly, it is the mental challenge of focus and concentration in this pose that I always look forward to. It certainly keeps me on my toes! What poses keep you on your toes? 9月9日 Restorative YogaI get a snicker or two when I tell some people about my regular yoga practice. The question that stirs this mild contempt is very simple. It's usually, "Do you even break a sweat in yoga??? How can you call that a workout?" If one measures a workout based on the quantity of sweat, Bikram yoga classes which are conducted with a room temperature of over 100 degrees fahrenheit will cast no doubt in anyone's mind about the intensity of a yoga workout. Sweating bullets is the norm.
Restorative yoga, on the other hand, caters to a more relaxing aspect of yoga which leaves you feeling renewed and energized at the end of the session. Poses usually make use of more props, including my personal favorite -- the bolster. The bolster is a firm pillow that supports the body in the poses. This support enables the body to engage in active relaxation as the muscles don't have to work as hard. This is the yoga where you would likely not break a sweat.
Poses typical in restorative yoga inlcude the supported inversion (legs propped against the wall and the bolster at the lower back) and a supported back bend (bolster supporting the mid-back as you lie down.) Poses tend to be held for a longer duration, so that the body can actively relax into the pose.
As always, the breath is important and aids in self-awareness. One of the problems with restorative yoga may be the wandering mind that refuses to focus on the deep relaxation. This is when the breath plays a role at drawing the focus inward to make the restorative yoga complete and successful. I always leave these classes restored, refreshed, and stress-free. 9月6日 No Yoga Due to Forgetfullness...Showing up at 8am for work when you live 40 minutes away from work can cause some forgetfulness that impacts a much needed yoga workout. This forgetfulness makes one feel extremely foolish, especially upon discovering that all yoga accoutrements is missing from the gym bag when in the locker room. Here's how it all unravelled:
I excitedly left work, looking forward to the one-hour yoga workout in a packed room. I actually dislike the packed room and the short 1-hour workout, but that's all my schedule currently allowed. I pulled into a vacant spot of the busy underground parking lot, analyzing the trade-offs of parking further away from the gym. I arrived at the lobby of the gym, narrowly missing the elevator that takes 5-minutes round trips to the third floor. I signed in, strolled to the locker room, secretly rejoicing in being 10 minutes early for class. I planted my gym bag down, peered into its dark depths, and discovered that I didn't bring my yoga clothes...
I was a fool. No yoga for me. 8月25日 When Work Interferes with YogaAs with any workout schedule, doing yoga 3 times a week after work becomes challenging when work competes for precious time. This week's work schedule forced me to sacrifice a yoga class. Skipping yoga and continuing to work at home late into the evening made me wonder about practicing yoga at home for an hour. Desperate time calls for desperate measures. I could basically modify routine in class and do the following: 1. Warm up for 5 minutes with breathing and some stretches Equipped with a spare yoga mat at home, that goal is definitely within reach. The yoga room in the gym doesn't have mirrors, so my body has slowly learned the alignment of each pose in class on its own. That makes practicing yoga at home without a mirror even easier. Bikram classes, on the other hand, usually have mirrors to assist with the balancing and alignment. In the end, I didn't go through with my imaginary make-up yoga routine because I thought it would feel too weird. There wasn't a spare bedroom/den with sparse furnishings and the least amount of visual distractions in which to practice yoga. If this work schedule persists, I may have to take action. I would consider practicing with minimal vocal prompts but still without a video. I start checking out yoga podcasts that someone mentioned to me. In the meantime, if anyone has practiced yoga at home without the guidance of a video, please let me know! 8月17日 In an Overflowing Yoga ClassWith some recent changes in my post-work activities, I had to modify my yoga schedule a bit. What that left me was an occasional attendance to a one-hour yoga class known to be packed to the rafters. My primary hesitation about attending that class was the duration. I personally doubt it's possible to have a comprehensive yoga workout within an hour, with the expectation of getting deep relaxation followed by a thorough muscle toning workout. Coupled with that doubt is the dismal teacher-to-student ratio tpyical of an overflowing classroom.
As a more advanced student, I could easily still lead my own practice with minimal guidance. But I couldn't help but question the quality of attention the teacher could spare the beginners. Maybe that's one of the reasons why the poses in the class were rather simple, mostly focusing on the Sun Salutations.
To pack a powerful workout within such a short duration, I suspect the teacher cranked up the heat a bit. Doing flows with a slightly elevated room temperature intensifies the workout noticeably. Or, maybe a roomful of sweating bodies increases the room temperature. For beginners, a challenging workout with a less than ideal guidance can easily result in injury. Although yoga seems slow moving and still, it requires poses to be maintained for half a minute or more. If the body's alignment is incorrect, it won't be difficult to pull a muscle the wrong way while transitioning into/out of a pose or even while holding the pose.
Given that I don't have a choice (short of just not showing up for this class, ) learning how to manage my practice in a crowded yoga class is going to be inevitable. Here's a few things I'm working on to make the one-hour class as fruitful as possible:
1. Focus on Breathing: Once again, coming back to the breath and its rhythm forces the mind to turn inward and ignore the environment.
2. Visual Focus: Focusing the vision on a fixed spot during and in between poses helps in ignoring the other closeby classmates. I usually make sure my mat is staggered with the person across from me, so the line of vision does not intersect.
3. Minimize Fidgeting: After completing each pose, always try to minimize any extraneous movements so that the mind's focus does not get distracted by the body's movements. 8月8日 Leading with Your Breath in YogaEach yoga class always starts out with a good 5 to 10 minute breathing exercise to warm up the body from the inside. Oftentimes, I'm told by the teacher that solid breathing exercises are the foundation of a good practice. This concept has been consistent with the two types of yoga classes, bikram and vinyasa, both of which I have religiously attended.
Breathing exercises appeal to the meditative aspects of yoga, where the mind attempts to tune in with the body. Focusing on the breath serves as a useful mechanism to force awareness away from the external environment and into the mind and body. Learning how to breath properly is also part of a yoga practice. Breathing exercises are typically accompanied with a visualization, described by the instructor. An example of such a visual is to inhale so deeply for six counts that one feels each little airsac in the four corners of the lungs flush with oxygen. The lung capacity builds up over the duration of the class and is noticeable towards the end of the breathing exercise. Posture while breathing is also very important as a straight and supported spine enhances the lung capacity.
The breath also seems particularly important for Ashtanga yoga because the poses are almost always initiated and completed based on the rhythm of the breath. In a flow, where one pose is immediately followed by another, a complete inhale/exhale represents the completion of one pose. A good instructor will always begin the verbal prompts with "inhale/exhale to...<pose name>." Below is an example of part of a typical flow starting from Downward Facing Dog:
--> Inhale to Plank
--> Exhale to Chaturanga Dandasana (Yoga Push-up) --> Inhale to Bhujangasana (Cobra) --> Exhale to Downward Facing Dog In the example above, you would inhale as you assume the Plank position. Once you are ready to exhale, you exhale to Chaturanga Dandasana. There is no lengthy holding of breath to wait for the next pose. The rhythm of your breath tells you when to execute the next pose. That is why the control of the breath and the duration of each inhale and exhale is so critical. If you focus on the breathing rhythm properly, there is no break between poses. This underlines how integral the breath is with each pose as the mind and body has to work in synchrony. If the breath-pose coordination is closely followed, it will become apparent that yoga does not give much opportunity to the mind to wander since mental focus is crucial. The most interesting thing about yoga is that the seemingly simple mind-body-breath coordination can really make you sweat and be out of breath.
Not all poses necessarily involve movement from one pose to another. Some poses focus on intense balancing or back bends. They also require initiation through breath but their maintenance is sustained by controlled breathing. Teachers usually remind students to breathe through the pose, to gain mental focus and balance. As my Bikram teacher would often say for challenging balance poses, "Energizing inhales and calm and soothing exhales..."
As a student, I notice that teachers who pay equal attention to the breath during pose transitions and pose maintenance, tend to be more seasoned yogis. 6月29日 Letting Your Body "Remember" a Yoga PoseIn general, yoga poses are foreign to our body as these are not positions which our body naturally falls into. Hence, yoga forces our body to go through some learning curve of allowing our body to "remember" a pose. This learning process actively engages the mind because we need to maintain balance and activate muscles that we're not accustomed to using. Even after some initial success with a pose, there are different levels within the pose that allows plenty of room for advancement, by adding little details to the pose such as holding a pose for a longer time, lining up joints, and so on.
One of my favorite poses that best describes this experience of is Ardha Chandrasana, or Half Moon Pose. This pose focuses mostly on balance rather than strength. When I learned this pose for the first time last September, I recall feeling completely disoriented when "dismounting" from the pose. I couldn't tell how far away my feet was from the ground when I kept thinking about toppling over. As I acquired more comfort with the pose, the next challenging level of the pose is being able to look up at the ceiling. That simple detail required my body to "remember" how it felt to achieve that balance, using the proper muscles to get there and proper hand placement. This detail took a good 3 months to accomplish.
Now, I can do the full pose without as much effort and the next level is to bend the horizontal leg backwards and hook it backwards using the hand in the air. It's basically doing a backbend sideways. I'm still spatially disoriented in this pose and do not know how far back my leg is and how far back my arm should be reaching to find the bending leg. Once again, I will be teaching my body to slowly "remember" this new pose and see if I'm able to reach this new level. I guess this is the meaning of having an active yoga practice and I'm far from bored. 6月12日 Locker Room EtiquetteAfter getting whipped into shape in my yoga class on Monday by a substitute teacher, who was super tough compared to the regular teacher, I dragged my tired out body into the locker room. The gym I go to has a pretty nice facilities but it seems like its members are not quite as nice, which leads me to this discourse on proper locker room etiquette.
The gym's locker room is spacious, offering lockers with self-set combination locks, generous counters dedicated to post-workout grooming fully equipped with clean mirrors, functioning hairdryers, moisturizing body lotion, deodorant, cotton swabs, and cotton balls. Apparently, women seem to need more assistance cleaning themselves up than men. Oh, the primping we do! There are also shower stalls and a sauna that I've never bothered visiting but have heard great things about. At any rate, I shall limit my discussion to the grooming area with which I am quite well acquainted.
No matter how wide and spacious the locker room, there will inevitably be some space-sharing required. The locker room is not dedicated to anyone's personal use. Given the sharing component of the common area, it seems too much to expect from people to be considerate of the limited counter space. I experienced this a number of times already, when people just assume that the makeup counter has their name stamped all over it, allowing their unseemly belongings to sprawl themselves all over. Even upon seeing someone else approaching the counter (i.e. me) to share the mirror, scooting over seems to be an alien concept. Yesterday, a lady blow drying her hair at the makeup counter did not move an inch upon seeing me share the mirror to brush my disheveled hair due to downward facing dog. Not only that, my face got blow dried twice in the process too. I gave her the evil eye, but these subtle attacks are wasted on rude people, who probably respond better to more outward displays of rudeness. Maybe I should have returned the favor and blow dried her face for her too. On another occasion, a lady took up half of the mirror with her overflowing beauty case hanging off the top of the mirror. The beauty case, you see, had a built-in hanger. Of course, the other half of the mirror was dedicated to her own beautification process.
I am no model of the world's greatest manners and I wonder if Emily Post would have something to say about all this. However, I will make an attempt at composing a list of Do's for those severely etiquette challenged individuals.
1. Do throw away used items (cotton balls, swabs, tissue paper) and towels.
2. Do apologize to others when some of your personal belongings invade other people's spaces.
3. Do share the mirror and/or any makeup counter space whenever possible.
4. Do clean up the locker and shut it after using it.
5. Do place the lotion/deodorant/hair dryer where they were found.
6. Do be aware of where the hair dryer is pointing when using it.
Can you think of anything else to add to my list? 3月17日 Opaque Lingerie for Yoga??With the growing popularity of yoga, there is an increased need for chic yoga clothing. No longer will the general workout clothing for runners and bikers suffice functionally. Different clothings for different yoga classes are now required -- Bikram yoga will require more airy clothing due to the 100+ temps whereas Vinyasa wouldn't have those requirements. Something nice and loose to allow for room to stretch those tight muscles would be good. Of course, it's also important to provide much needed coverage for the seperate leg stretches (ie. splits.) We're not in class to flash our classmates. This has resulted in the mushrooming of all sorts of brands and stores to cater to the yoga following public and the yoga posers. Yes, yoga posers are equally welcome to try on these chic outfits. You don't need to be practicing yoga to be able to wear a whole yoga ensemble. Some people in my yoga class have the full fledged yoga outfit. Others just use the standard workout clothing, which in a lot of cases, would be good enough. Once in a while, I spot some rather interesting get-up making its rare appearance in class. I usually do a double take, following up with a raised eyebrow and finishing with a "whatever" shrug. An outfit that did catch my eye this past week was an opaque lingerie-ish outfit doubling up as a yoga outfit. This is one of the moments where a picture is worth a thousand words. At any rate, what struck me was the black baggy cotton knee high capri with a slit that ended somewhere on the upper thigh. The top was a black frilly deep v cotton tank top. Rather than flip flops/runners to class, black slingback heels were worn. Of course, footwear is irrelevant because yoga is done barefoot anyways. I couldn't help but wonder how on earth my black lingerie clad classmate was going to be able to downward facing dog without having to deal with the clothing situation while upside-down. I was baffled and thought maybe I've been a little behind the times with regard to yoga clothing. Maybe there's an exclusive line out there catering to the yogis with more provocative clothing needs? Well, until all my classmates are clad in that opaque lingerie-ish ensemble, I'll be sticking with the Bikram-like yoga clothes I own. 3月15日 Unnecessary Yogic Moaning...Before I get started, let me assure you that no part of this blog entry will include any yoga related erotica, in case the title has led you to think otherwise. This entry has a G-rating and will have zero sexual references beyond the realms of my complaint about a fellow yoga classmate. I'm sorry to disappoint the expectant reader but let me get started here... Every once in a while, there are new students who decide to give yoga a try. Some may just be curious about the yoga hype, whereas others want to find out if we actually break a sweat in class. As an aside, the answer to that query is that we certainly do sweat in class. Anyways, I arrived late for class which happened to be quite full. My usual spot was taken so I had to take the spot right by the entrance. All was fine until my neighbor, whom I've never seen in other classes, decided to exhale with a moan. Now, if you're doing a difficult pose and going deeper, a rare breathy exhale can escape. What pose were we doing to warrant that groan, you ask? Hamstring stretches...that's when I heard that lousy noise. As the class progressed, the breathy exhales were more frequent than rare. The teacher even made a comment, "Can you stop with that moaning?" Of course, that didn't happen. Needless to say, I was quite annoyed because I think it's unnecessary and inappropriate. If you have to flatulate, that's more OK because yoga works the digestive system. If you're exerting yourself, a controlled exhale through the nose/mouth would suffice and no sound effects are required. The poses are challenging enough that we don't really need more distractions. If moaning is part of her routine, then maybe she should be moaning in the privacy of her own home as she follows some "yoga" video titled "Debbie Does Yoga in Dallas." Yes -- you can tell I'm just completely offended. I will make sure to avoid being next to her in my next yoga class!!! 2月24日 Another Day with YogaMy favorite Friday evening yoga teacher is no longer teaching our class anymore, so we were supposed to have a new yoga teacher, Mark, today. Unfortunately, Mark was sick today so we had a substitute teacher. I had a class lead by the substitute teacher, when he was sub-ing for another teacher. Anyways, it was kind of interesting because he's one of those teachers who instruct yoga as an exercise rather than a state of mind. Of course, it is a pet peeve of mine because I disagree with that. But, heck, since I'm already paying the silly monthly gym fee, I might as well just take the class and get on with life, if I'm in a realistic state of mind. Needless to say, I wasn't too enthused at the beginning of the class. First of all, after each sun salutation, he does not "close" the pose but moves on quickly to the next repetition. I think it's important to "end" the pose because it mentally relieves your mind of the good/bad of the pose you just did, making it easier to repeat the same pose. The objective is that you go into your next pose as if you never did the prior pose -- so that previous experience does not better/worsen the current experience. I guess it speaks to the mindfulness of the present, regardless of the experience of the past and the expectation for the future. Secondly, he referred to these sequence of poses as exercises rather than poses. To some, it may just be semantics, but word choice does speak to the approach one has. Finally, rather than referring to these poses in its Indian names, he always uses the English names. The English names he uses are not even the common ones used by other instructors. He uses "Mountain" instead of "Downward Facing Dog." I admit that the names of some poses are quite a mouthful and a painful tongue twister for non-native speakers. However, yoga is Indian and if you want to practice it, you should at least try to absorb the cultural meanings it carries. That would mean that you give these lovely syllables an awkward roll off your tongue. I mean, I am not expecting the instructor to quote the Bhagavad Gita fluently here. Based on all my complaints, you'd think I had a rotten time in class -- well, not quite! I would attribute that to the fact that because this teacher truly believes that yoga is an excellent form of exercise, he was good in teaching this class as an exercise. We had to hold very simple poses for a longer period of time, like the spinal twists. By the time we were ready to unwind, we really felt the twisting in our muscles. He was also good a highlighting some details about some poses which I never paid too much attention to, so I learned plenty of new things too. Overall, I would certainly take his class again. However, knowing his no-nonsense approach to yoga, I would devote more of my own attention to the meditative aspect during class. It's all about making adjustments... 2月17日 3 Profiles of the Yoga InstructorsAfter having taken yoga classes at yoga studios and currently at a gym, I am confident enough to profile some of my instructors. This is not meant to criticize/ridicule (maybe just for some good laughs...) but I think it could be a somewhat superficial but accurate assessment of these wonderful instructors. 1. The Yoga Master: These instructors actively practice yoga and its concepts of "letting go" in their daily lives. Their inner yogi is best revealed by the calm tone of their voice. They soothingly describe how your hips need to be facing forward when you're doing Warrior 1 and they like to focus on the unison of the rhythm of your breath with various poses. They advocate "surrendering" to the pose. I enjoy their classes the most because you leave class feeling their very contagious inner peace. Their gentle presence reinforces the idea that if you practice often enough, you might one day attain their level of a rage-free life! Someone just cut you off on the freeway? Don't you worry because you can always go home and do a few Sun Salutations and let it all go... 3. The Competitive Yogi: These instructors are akin to a poser in the yogi world. They practice yoga regularly but when they teach yoga, they approach it like a step-aerobics class. They throw in key words during the class such as the breathing sequences, inner focus, and the betterment of your own practice. However, don't be fooled because every once in a while, the competitive edge is slipped in and you don't sense the geniune inner meditative peace that we're all supposed to be thriving for. Where the mind goes, the body follows... 2. The Moonlighter/Last Minute Substitute: They don't have the typical physique of the yogi because they have way too much muscle bulk. Yoga helps tone your body but is by no means a super protein-driven muscles building workout. These instructors teach other cardio-like/weight class regularly but have done yoga before and are equally competent with the poses. In their classes, you can't help but feel like you're attending a just another class rather than developing a yoga practice for yourself. Classes are satisfying because the cardio instructor in them has made sure you worked out, but the meditational aspect may not be as rewarding. 2月6日 Music during Yoga ClassesAs regular yogi at a Bikram studio close to where I live, we practiced yoga in silence facing a mirror. The mirror served the purpose of making sure we could see how our joints were/should be aligned in certain poses. It also helped fine tune our focus and concentration by looking back at our own reflection. Since I've joined a health club and started attending the yoga classes, which are primarily Vinyasa "Flow" yoga, I noticed that they always play soothing new age-y music. In fact, the teacher yesterday had to go off for a few minutes explaining her choice of music selections during class. I have no problems about her choice of music but I wonder whether it's really necessary for yoga. I understand using music for step classes because the students need to get pumped up. But, I'm not too sure I'm a proponent for music in yoga classes because they end up distracting one's focus and concentration on the poses. Maybe silence allows the mind to wander a bit but the lyrics in the music can also trigger distracting thoughts as well. Another thing to note is that no mirrors are present in the classroom. At first, I found it annoying because you have no visual of how your body is aligned. However, I slowly realized that the advantage to this approach is that I can feel how the bodily alignment rather than having to see it. That way, I can practice my poses wherever I go, including while I wait in line at the grocery store, if I felt like it. Some interesting new age mixes of the music in class: 1. Sara McLaughlin 2. Madonna 3. Some song where they repeat "Om" 5 million times 4. Soothing Middle Eastern music that I cannot understand at all 5. Wonderful music with ocean waves sounds in the background, could trigger thoughts about washroom trips during shavasana (corpse pose) |
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