KonaYoga.com

Teachers, Teaching

John Leebold sent this picture of himself seated next to Guruji, a couple of months ago and I was reminded of it while reading The Lion of Pune, Rumi and I this morning. I've heard many stories about  B.K.S. Iyengar from his students, who became my teachers and it's so inspiring to hear that he still maintains a strong practice, well into his 90s.

Now doesn't that make you want to expand your yoga knowledge and experience? There are some highly qualified teachers about to hold workshops in Hawaii that you might like to consider:

 

• Steve Salkin at Big Island Yoga Center, February 10. (Update 2/8/13, 7:48 p.m. I just called to check and there's still space available for Sunday). 
• Aadil Palkhivala at Big Island Yoga Center, February 22 to 25.
• Kofi Busia at East Honolulu Yoga Center, March 13 to 17.
• Jehangir Palkhivala at East Honolulu Yoga Center, April 11 to 14.

 

Image: Courtesy of John Leebold 

 

The best is always yet to come...

Whatever with the past has gone, the best is always yet to come.

-Lucy Larcom

I scored another birthday a few Sundays ago and I'd have to call it the best one yet. The songs and happy wishes began at midnight and continued all day so I decided to end the day by making some very special wishes as I blew out the cake-less candles. At this point in my life, many things that I lightly considered "nice to have", have been gift wrapped and presented to me in such profusion that I wondered what effect a ritual, huff-and-puff-and-blow birthday wish would have.

 

I brought all the candle holders I have into my living room and lit them, as you see in the photo. One candle held the wish for each person who has ever come into contact with Kona Yoga: may you find the most ideal replacement to suit your needs. It would be nice if everyone held the space open for a new yoga teacher or studio and found their next, best thing. That was my wish. That is my wish and I would love to hear from you when you settle in with a new teacher, a new class, and a new perspective. Namaste.

 

The End of the Beginning

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

-Winston Churchill

Those of you who have been attending classes this past month, already know that I've decided to close Kona Yoga at the end of August. While it may come as a surprise to some of you, it's been in the back of my mind for a long time.

 

The lease contract for the studio ended in November and it's been on a month-to-month basis ever since. The intention to close has been there for several years, the final decision, arrived a few months ago.

 

In a 2008 newsletter article, I wrote:

 

The more that I'm willing to accept and allow into my life and the wider I open my arms...the more life rushes in to fill the space.

 

Teaching weekly yoga classes for the past nine years, in one special spot, allowed me to define, and then refine, a joy-filled existence. The open-heart-centered yoga that I practiced and taught, has permeated my life and I now feel the need for more space and expression. It's time for the next best step.

   

But it's not time for "goodbyes", yet. Wouldn't it be nice to celebrate what yoga has brought into our lives during the next eight weeks and to create ways to keep allowing those gifts to flow?

 

 

 

Photo: Om and Mo, are faces on the studio floor that have been with me through every class.

Love What You Do?

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.-Rumi

 

Several weeks ago reader and friend John Hall, reminded me of my particular situation:

I hope you realize how lucky you are to be making a living out of your Passion. And look where you are!!!

I responded:

Thanks, John. Every morning when I open
my eyes, I give thanks for where I am (a beautiful
space near the ocean in Hawaii) and for all of the
people in my life. <sigh>

I'm not sure I'd be living this reality if it weren't
for yoga.

Since then, I'm more aware of people whose passions are their occupations or seem to just exude a sense of joy in what they do. Musician Scott Dunbar (above) leaves me with the impression that he has to play and sing, just as much as he has to breathe. Watch him sing Billie Jean (You Tube 03:02) while I keep looking for more like him. Do let me know if you're doing what you love.




Photo: 123People.com

Seeking Contentment

We may pass violets looking for roses. We may pass contentment looking for victory.-Anonymous

Sunlight falling onto the studio floor this time of the year creates big, broad rectangles of warmth. This past Saturday, when I looked out over the bodies at rest in Savasana, these three hands appeared to be reaching for the light. I reached for my iPhone to capture the scene.

As I was cropping the photo and noticed the different hand positions, I recalled how happy I felt as I noticed the sense of calm and release in each person. There was no need for me to adjust arms and flatten out hands that day because, although the poses weren't all physically perfect, the energy in the room was clear and apparent. My job was done and I was content. I'm going to print this photo as a reminder to allow for more contentment along the way.

I think it's programmed in our cellular structure, the fact that we are goal-seeking, action-oriented physical beings. We have a limited number of days to go from point A to Z, from birth to death. We have to get There, that's our trip. But the never-ending part of us, our Spirit, keeps urging us to pause, to rest, reflect and enjoy.

The physical part of us thinks we have to get There in order to be content, while the spiritual part of us is content, no matter what we do.

Now for the question: Which part of me has the leading role?

Another Reason to Go Forward with Yoga

A study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has determined that people who eat mindfully tend to weigh less than those who eat mindlessly (eat when not hungry and/or in response to anxiety or depression). They also found a regular yoga practice to be highly associated with mindful eating (1)  because of an increased sense of body awareness.

True, even someone new to the discipline might find themselves quickly aware of how they smell, digest, sound or move, as my old  "How to Prepare for Class" suggestions cover:

The ideal way to prepare for a yoga class would be to shower and dress in tights or bike shorts and a t-shirt. Your teacher should be able to see the position of your knees, so no baggy pants. You may be bending forward, raising your arms over head and twisting, so wear something that will stretch along with you.

Conscious breathing through the nose is always encouraged in class, so please refrain from using perfumes or after shaves. Heavy or clanging jewelry may inhibit your joint movements so use your best judgment.

  If you're hungry, eat something light and easily digestible. Remember, you'll be bending forward, raising your arms, etc. Always let your instructor know if you're experiencing any back, neck or knee problems or if you're recovering from an illness. There may be alternate poses to help your condition.

  Most of us come to class after a full day at work and so it's important to spend the first part of class with a routine sequence of sitting, connecting with the breath, closing your eyes and releasing the sounds of the outside. If you are late, please know that you are still welcome but try your best not to disturb the quiet and calm of the rest of the class. Please wait at the door until the instructor waves you in. Generally, it is okay to enter after everyone has opened their eyes and arms are stretched overhead. While you're waiting, take a few deep breaths, forget the fact that you are late and leave your cares under your shoes, at the door. 

We learn to be self-referential yet respectful of group energy. In time, the non-competitive nature of yoga must send a message throughout our bodies, "take what you need, and leave the rest". If there's no need to hoard, then, why weight?

Sources:

(1) Regular Yoga Practice is Associated with Mindful Eating. Science Daily (8-16-09).

(2) Regular Yoga Practice May Help Prevent Middle-age Spread. Science Daily (7-21-05).

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"Loved the class, hated the teacher"

A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.-Patricia Neal




I got this remark one day from a man I follow on Twitter:

"Did I tell you I had my 1st yoga class? Loved the class, hated the teacher."

As it often occurs with written words, I was left to shade in the possible emotions within the lines formed by his sentences. Was he being funny? Could someone actually hate a yoga teacher? I decided to simply reply:

I think that was a good outcome: love class/hate teacher. The teacher sounds interesting to me. :)

I truly was interested in the teacher. How did he/she manage to deliver the message while being rejected as the messenger? When I brought it up in one of my classes, there was general agreement. Despite the unkind and impatient teachers they may have encountered, folks said they loved the yoga that filtered through. They may not go back to a particular teacher, but they will continue to go back to yoga.

It sounds a lot like life. Although our teachers may be disguised as children, bag ladies or terrorists and the lessons sweet or vile. We love the class and Life can be our master and teacher, unless we decide to take on those roles for ourselves.

Photo: RafNap

Making Joy & Peace a Conditioned Response

It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters."-Epictetus


If you have a debilitating phobia or anxiety, psychologists have an effective way to systematically desensitize the triggers, by first teaching you a relaxation skill. Then you'd be taught to use that relaxation technique in response to graduated amounts of stimuli from the annoying object or activity. Overtime, you would be able to defuse reactions of fear or dread and respond in a more normal manner.

That same "response to graduated amounts of stimuli" is how I view my current yoga practice. Over the years, the Mother Sequence has slowly taught me to react with a feeling of joy as I inhale and a sense of pervading peace when I exhale. It has become, meditation in motion.

There were days when I focused more on the physical, the postures. On other days I paid attention to lengthening my breath or reciting the 12 mantras during sun salutations to steady my mind. Slowly, so slowly, my body has found ease and my left and right brains have learned to enjoy their syncopation. All of that activity, now allows me to react, by choice, with joy and peace when merely breathing.

I'm now exploring the benefits of teaching these qualities at the introductory level of yoga and also taking those lessons with me as I learn new skills outside of yoga. The body and mind don't have to be conquered like some phobia, in order for the spirit to emerge in joy and peace. When we start with a happy ending in mind, our choices and reactions along the way will play along as well.

Next Week: How to practice while seated at your computer.

Photo: TricycledTeenager

Fertilizer for a Yoga Class

Do not say,"it is morning," and dismiss it with a name of yesterday. See it for the first time as a newborn child that has no name.
-Rabindranath Tagore

Shortly before my yoga class on Saturday my Twitter entry was:

Latest: I have 30 minutes to create the best yoga class I've ever held. I think it'll come from my Twitter friends. So I read...

Sure enough, the word fertilizer caught my eye and it was linked to a blog post and author Richard Reeve's admission: "I'm intrigued at exploring how in my own practice, wrong attitudes miss many opportunities that are rich for cultivation."

That was all I needed to formulate a two hour class based on attitudes and how we might be doing ourselves a disservice by placing yoga postures into the "Poses I Like" or "Poses I Don't Like" columns. Just a slight change in attitude is all we need to change the status of something as humble as manure, to fertilizer and then to nutrient status. Imagine what could happen if you altered your self-talk about a yoga pose or any other practice, habit or action.

I asked everyone in class to name or describe a pose that was currently in their "least favored" column and those were all the poses we did for the next hour. We experiment with a lot of body-mind-feeling connections in my classes, sometimes to the discomfort of those who just want to move their bodies. But for those of us who seek a constant balance, we enjoy working on themes that we can take along with our lives outside the studio.

Vrksasana (tree pose) as an example, may be challenging for a number of reasons. A person may have difficulty standing on one leg because there may be a weakness or imbalance in the foot, ankle, knee, hip, etc. of the standing leg or the one that's bent, or both. Another person may feel dizzy just lifting one foot in the air. The pose itself though, is simply, Vrksasana. What we think and feel about it is due to our own physical body and/or beliefs.

This week, take a look at the things that you immediately dismiss or pre-judge through a different lens. As though you are taking a picture of that person, place or thing, focus and then re-focus. Make-up heartwarming stories in your mind rather than dishing out quick labels for the driver tailgating you. You're being generous to a stranger and lightening your load at the same time.

If we could see each day as Tagore suggests, "for the first time as a newborn child that has no name" and speak of things as we would like them to be, maybe we would view our lives as growing toward something greater as opposed to diminishing to an end. What do you think?

Photo:The Techno-Impressionist Journal

The Three Things You Truly Appreciate

There is nothing more productive for any of you, than to get on a rampage of appreciation relative to any subject of your desire. Because you cannot be in the state of appreciation and at the same time hold yourself vibrationally apart from something you desire. They are two opposite vibrations.  -Abraham-Hicks

 

 

 

At the end of class, when I ask everyone to sit with their hands in Namaste and think of the things that they most appreciate, I do the same. It's become a ritual part of my own practice and I recently noticed that my list varies with location and focus.

When I am teaching, these are my top three (notice how I try to cram as many as I can into one):

1. Yoga, and all of the blessings that it has brought into my life.
2. Family. My parents, Fred and Clara, especially on Wednesdays when they sit so sweetly in front of me. My son and my brothers, their wives and families, my dear friends...all of my loved ones.
3. All of the people in class who entrust me with their bodies and lives.

When I practice at home, right after my three oms, I give thanks for:

1. Source Energy. The light and spirit that no religion (so far) has been able to describe or embellish for me.
2. My body. No matter what I have dragged it through, it keeps on ticking and actually improving.
3. My selfish focus to be Happy. I wouldn't be here without me. :D

On Tuesday mornings, I join the class as we go through the entire Mother Sequence. At the end, my total sense of appreciation goes to:

1. Jehangir Palkhivala, for conceiving and bringing the sequence into my life.
2. Aadil Palkhivala, for the love of yoga he has instilled within me and for bringing his brother Jehangir into my life.
3. The peaceful spaces in which I live and work.

My lists are different when I say my thanks as I look up at Hualalai on my drive to the studio, while grocery shopping and especially when I open my eyes in the morning. Did all this goodness just appear in my life and give cause for my appreciation? Or did my appreciation attract or transform all that is in my life? The boundaries are blurred.

Try it, you don't have to wait to join a yoga class. Think of just three things that you truly appreciate just before eating a meal, while driving to work, while watching your partner sleep, as you pay your bills or take a shower. Your lists will vary and range from mundane to profound, but life will consistently grow into the ONE thing that you truly appreciate.

Original Photo: Jerrie Stafford
Switched to Night Vision via: Picnik.com