Today in class: scorpion again!

Today, Mirabelle, Sivananda teacher from Bermuda, did a walk-in, and attempted the scorpion! Great... And she got the Dwipada bhujapidasana on first attempt, so well, what more can u ask on a Monday morning!!

And we had a new comer, Sarah, whose poses are very good and I hope to be able to get her into the headstand by next week...

And oh, btw, to all my other students.. the post on Mayank is not to suggest the rest of you have not won the yoga lottery!!!!  I may mention one student, and wax eloquent here in my blog, only to show how a gesture or a particular pose or attitude touches me. All of u with me, still practising with me, u all rock and yes, u all have  won that yoga lottery too!  Because all of u display that same caring that gets transferred to your practice... Yes, when Jit and Rima do walk-ins, they also do what  M does... So, too Rujuta,  who often does only two classes a month, but will pay up for the entire month, yes, yes,  so do all the rest of u the list of whose names runs  looong...


Happy sadhana!

Upavista konasana: Leg spread wide angle pose

Nobody believes me when I say that I started out as a very stiff yoga practitioner. They think I have been practising for long this way:) I think, part of the reason I can teach tough poses to my students is that I started badly, started late and was stiff, very stiff and very stupid also... Kinesthetically:)   All this gives me a lot of patience with my students, plus I can see their mistakes clearly, anticipate the problems they are facing and give solutions that has been experimented thoroughly on my own body. I see a lot of great yoga practitioners who can slip in and out of poses easily, but do not seem to be  intuitive about the  pain, the limitations, anxieties of a beginner that  way. I keep hearing of teachers who can do great stunts and also have seen teachers that way, while training: but I never hear of their students getting anywhere close to it!  Of course, the majority of teachers are satisified teaching a watered-down, aunty-ji yoga meant for the very sick .. Everybody gets the yoga they deserve:)

So, though some great yogis can make rather a display of their practice, they don't reach their students to that great, `secret' place. So  here, in Mumbai, u have largely bad and mediocre teachers on one side, who don't know much and for whom the self-styled halo and money is a good draw. Then you have great `yogis' , most who prefer to travel abroad and rather not stay in this city with its power yoga fixation -- and who are unable to lift their students to their level. So, between the devil and the deep sea:) 

About this pose: my dream is a comfortable Hanuman pose. Though I can slip into a split, I still cannot let go off my hands for a namaste, overhead. So, am working on that from vaious angles... This, upavista konasana,  is one way to get there. After my warm-ups, staying close to the wall, sliding down, into a wide side split... Mmm, somedays, my feet reach back to the wall and I stay there.Some days I am grinning and just bearing it:) Working on it, working on it .. So, yes Upavista Konasasana helps somewhat to start me closer to that, no doubt. So soon, the full glory of the Hanuman-leaping-the-ocean-pose:)

About this pose and the split:
Pain in this pose: It is intense in the saddle region and the back of the knees. So do not split too wide, but keep within the range where your knees won't feel that tearing pain.  In such poses being gentle with yourself will take u much faster to the final pose...

Preparing: The wide-legged plough, plus the lunge will help get you started.

Conclude with:  with the butterfly always. That is important to relieve the extreme stretch in this sensitive spot. Titali is soothing...

Happy sadhana!

Today's yogic tip

The butterfly pose, humble as it is, is one of the best preparatory poses for the forward bend and even the lotus....

Today's query, yesterday's answer

ANSWER: Yes, it is an exhalation!

QUERY:  Why are advanced pranayamas not taught casually or must not be practiced for long periods of time -- meaning several hours a day? Choose from the following...

a) They have lots of contraindications, including aggravating physical ailments.
b) Can make you more withdrawn, preparing u for brahmacharya state of mind, from society.
c) Can cause excessive heat in the body if the preparation is not adequate, in terms of sattvic diet, keeping the mind pure (from distractions, like media exposure, gossip).


Let's hear it from u:)

Daily Health Gyan: Diet tricks

Blue kitchen ware -- plates, soup bowls, spoons -- is said to depress appetite. Make us eat moderately. Same thing, apparently, with bright lights.....
Is that what they do when they serve buffet in restaurants -- to muzzle us guzzlers and gourmands?

Today in class: Mayank pays me Rs 200, wins a yoga lottery:)

Mayank:)   He was amongst the first of my students, and without even me asking him for it, who used to pay me Rs 200 for a walk-in. Though he pays for the thrice weekly class for the entire month, even if he misses two/three weeks in a row, he will, whenever he does a walk-in, pay this Rs 200. Never has it been suggested, from his side, that this walk-in may rather be considered as a compensatory class. There are three reasons why this gesture of his touches me.

One, it takes care to protect the feelings of other students. If I gave him a compensatory class and denied my other students this same benefit, this will hurt each of them. So, though this may not seem apparent, immediately, the gesture is not about just paying the teacher as much as seeing that other students don't feel left out of the teacher's favor!

The second reason , why I like it,  is that more than a reflection of me(that money-demanding, grasping yoga teacher, what?:), it is a reflection of him, as a person. I am sure, this has nothing to do with the fact he can afford it. I have a strong feeling that even if he is strapped for cash, he will extend the gesture because that is how people function and express themselves, their bigness in their little gestures. God is, indeed, in the small things. 

I mean, he has never taken off without informing me. Will always sms me. This a lot of my students never do, the Indians mostly for some reason :( Why,  I don't know...

 I believe it is a courtesy to inform.. One reason, this courtesy extends to include other students, and not just the teacher is, that if u are not coming and if everybody is in, we could start the class early and finish early! One time, my Monday  early morning class informed me (they all do, including Jatin who may forget only if his alarm clock fails him!) on Sunday itself. All six had taken off, individually, for some reason. And I had been informed by each on Sunday itself. So that Monday morning -- knowing the class was cancelled -- I went for an exhilirating run , something I sorely miss doing otherwise. I could do  that because all six, in their individual capacity, had bothered to do that little gesture. It gave me a lot of joy... that sort of caring... It is a caring, na? Is it a wonder that that class remains one of my best practising groups?

Similarly, keeping the teacher informed, for the evening class, could mean a lot of things: if we start and finish early, it could mean the students could go back to their family sooner(some travel quite a distance to come for this class and in Mumbai commuting is always hell); or for the morning class, it could mean that extra cup of tea before commuting, if we start and finish early... So your sms is not just about informing the teacher, it is about caring for the rest of your batchmates too...

The gesture or the lack of it is not a reflection on me,   but rather on you, and I am curious that u -- those of u who are slack in this department -- do not quite see it that way! The structure of who u are...

And sometimes, if I insist or request many times that u inform me, not because I care either way -- but because I foresee with concern that those who do not bother about these little gestures also have a slack  yoga practice... So, seeing that connection I worry when I don't get that sms--or if students deliberately keep delaying paying (some will go on delaying till 20th of the month, strange, even rich kids!!)  because, it also means more work for me, to prop u up in your poses!! I really see this happening -- delayed payment, bargaining for little favors, slackness in certain gestures --- seems to somehow affect a student's performance on the mat.. weird,  it continues to amaze me that this happens. It is like one slack behavior births slackness elsewhere, in one's practice!! It is THE MAIN REASON why I insist on a semblance of discipline ...

Because yes, definitely,  god is in the small things... and it is that same god, power or whatever to which all students  are trying to connect, I hope, while practising on that mat!

So, yes, when Mayank pays me that Rs 200, I don't see the money. I foresee clearly that his practice is going to be strong... That is the third, and the most important reason, why that gesture touches me:)

Today's yogic tip

In jalandhara bandha people normally hold their shoulders up instead of dropping the chin. It is a very subtle, but big difference. Either action has the opposite effect, in fact. The chin-down way draws and lengthens the upper back muscles. Drawing the shoulders up to reach the chin -- that tenses the shoulders. Exact opp of what u want to do!

Yesterday's answer, today's query

ANSWER: Oh, wow,so many answers:) And Thin Air, was that an answer or a rhetorical question?
But, yes, all you smart people, the answer is the  mmmmm sound... U will find that u can start off strongly with the Ah, but taper off without strength in the Mmmmm.. and so, it is a good sound to invest in, if u want to make your lungs strong.
Somewhat related to this subject, is the following query...

QUERY:  In Bhramari pranayama -- the mmm, or humming bee pranayama -- the sound u make, mmmmmm  - is that an  exhalation or an inhalation? Think about it, the sequence of instructions will give u a good clue:)

Yes, Watsons, I await!

Today in class: meditative class is the flavor of the season:)

Today again I did a meditative class in the morning. But this batch -- my mon-wed-fri morning  batch is naturally meditative(thank the lord:), so that was no big effort for me. However, I could carry that forward to the other batches also , succeeding to pull it off more completely with the evening batch, which today had Jit and Rima doing walk-ins. Jit managed to crack the halasana finally and held it for 15 seconds. Rima's headstand is getting to be light and graceful these days. It is awesome, her duration in it extending naturally:)  And Anuya, had till now  been mostly practising alone, or with others who have not been able to match her progress in yoga. So today, finally, she had a great group to do it with, Murthy, making up the fourth student is also a  calm person(except when he falls frin the headstand. But even then, he falls very gently, almost having made it an art form:), being a Sivananda TTC graduate:) Today his headstand was very good and he managed a light landing:)

And yes, it was awesome to do a meditative class. I love it, when I can do that... so if you students of mine are reading it, out there, u want to be mentally prepared that these days I am going to be more oriented to that flow of the mind, centered in each pose, calm, extending itself naturally through the body:)

Ommmmm

Today's yogic tip

Using the jalandhara bandha, gives a nice traction to the spine along the neck, it  can open up your upper back, make it more flexible, and help you with certain poses -- like the plough. It can also improve your breathing by releasing the stress from the upper back region. Remember, it is stress that causes the muscles in that part to constrict... Oh, btw most people don't hold the jalandhara bandha right... will blog on that, as a tip, tomorrow

Daily Health Gyan:brinjal, anybody?

I always wondered what they mean, avoid nightshades, in certain ailments. Nightshades include our good old brinjal... eggplant -- possibly because it can aggravate loose motions and inflame the joints in arthritis. Or, so I found out today. It seems to aggravate those with the pitta dosha..

Today in class: from rowdy to dhyana

This morning's class was raucous. We laughed a lot, and at each other and oneself. And from start to finish it was very rowdy. But that is a beginner's class and is allowed this madness and fun:)

Today's evening class was deeply and intensely meditative.  Petros, a doctor by profession,  is leaving India shortly (to return by summer he assures), so he requested a meditative class. We did the 12 Sivananda poses. Held the poses long. We rested for long between poses in the shavasana.  I marked the entry and exit into the poses with an Om. It was, for me, very lovely. A meditative class is deeply challenging, and intensely satisfying. For me, it is the ultimate to be allowed to do that as an instructor:)

 For me, however, both types of classes are equal, and to be able to either is the thing. Rowdy or meditative. I myself prefer a meditative class. Though I keep poking fun at my Mon-Wed-Fri class as a `grim' and `serious' class I also try not to mix up groups of different temperaments...  So, if one day I am doing a serious class, the next day I am called upon to do a `rowdy' one.


 The real challenge, however, for me, has been to take rowdiness to a meditative class or seriousness to a rowdy one.  That...

Yesterday's query, today's answer

Answer: Lord!! At least if u do yoga, and with me, u know which pose it is. Am shocked nobody's has answered. It is the fifth pose!! The plank pose...
 I should give up, altogether, na, hoping from you guys ??!!
No one last attempt...

Question:
Which of these three sounds in Om makes it difficult for you to extend its duration.. Ah - Oh -- Mmmm (Om has these three sounds:).

To be an instructor: more than the bizness angle

When u teach a pose like this one, u always worry, which angle to take it from if you are woman! Is your T-shirt going to hold up, or wat?!! I always wear a T-back inside, so I don't have to agonise about all this. And my dreadlocks also come nicely handy:)  However, if u take the side angle demo and there, the muscles poop out, ho! Then u worry the audience is more intrigued by all that and not the elbow tilt, so crucial to the peacock pose.. :)

And if there are women students, some who worry, when they see my muscles that they are going to get `over-toned' that way:) I cannot assure them enough,  while doing the pose (obviously) or after that, that tone will never happen unless they are maniacal about yoga, the way I am:) And when will I spot someone as maaadd  about yoga the way I feel for it..:(  That is the reason I cannot think of running a center...

When I started yoga, and thought to become instructor, I used to do over five hours of yoga because I was a stiff person, constantly sick and recovering, very anxiety-prone, self-conscious, loudly extroverted, and adrenaline-junkie etc. But I never missed a day's practice. Even the aunty-type yoga I started on, I used to never miss the class, even during monsoons when the drain water would have flooded the roads and I would wade wet, to the class in Borivli.  I never spent a moment away from yoga. If I was not doing yoga, I was thinking, reading, breathing yoga. I used to simultaneously attend two yoga instructors' courses (before I decided to do the Sivananda one) because I did not find either of the courses complete. That same time my kid decided to learn swimming. So, I used to go to the swimming class with her, and was doing so much physical activity that could have prepared me for the long haul marathon:) And some guinness record, no doubt. I was imperfect, of course, since I started late in life. But I made up for it with my dedication...

Even while training, I  often seemed to know more about the poses than  my instructors or teachers in those early institutes. I am not saying this as a matter of arrogance but merely as a matter of observation. I recall one lady, daughter of a famous yoga institute in Chennai and studying for medicine, who had no clue about the biology of yoga. And when I taught some poses, as a trainee with them, she was very annoyed that I could discuss the pose from the spiritual, psychic and biological angle. She used to, from then on, bitch openly about me in her large class:) Or giggle in Tamil (which I understood very well, it being my native language), making personal comments about me etc.. And she was my teacher!! Seeing such people I had decided that I was not going to be a negative teacher, ever. Imagine, a yoga teacher, headed that way!!! What are these people thinking of when they teach this beautiful science... ???

Then I used to read up every book I could on yoga. I had thousands, all of which burnt down in a fire at my old home, but I bought every one back (but some are still unavailable)  I would read books on yoga every moment between the practice and my kid.  It all just fell in place for me, why this was working on my body and mind. Why I could freelance late into the night, working till two or three am, and then, wake up for a 6 am  class, having hardly slept at all. . And cycle my way to the training centers, because it was so far off and Chennai autos are looters. (I was earning quite a neat amount then as a net writer for foreign publications and some magazines and that sustained my madness.)   I used to take on yoga from every angle I could -- the biology, the psychic, the spiritual, the anecdotal, the mythological angle.. everything. I was yoga-intoxicated. It was such a high. It released me..

What gripped me was the spiritual aspect of yoga. The mind thing. The mano nasha in yoga, the destruction of the mind. It was Oh, Wow, Aha moments, simultaneously hitting me from various angles. It was such a high. Yoga Vashishtha, Vivekachudamani, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Aparokhshanubhuti, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Sutras -- Yoga was falling place. Even so, and even now, I feel inadequate as an instructor, and am often appalled at the quality of some other instructors, and the attitude, behind the show of humility, that they wear. When I wanted to become an instructor, it was very low-brow stuff to do that.. Now it is glamorous. Both the low-brow attitude, and the sham-glam, has spawned such ridiculous breeds of instructors. And this seems to be a peculiarly Indian problem.

Now I `teach' the physical aspect of yoga, and occasionally blabber about the mind aspect. And know I have not communicated...

And when people say they want to become instructors, I am glad for them, and the direction their life will take.

What I cannot tell them is that there is an exhilirating madness in yoga where u stop being everything, including an instructor!

Anything, else, it is just any other job.

More of Claudia's poses

Here are some more of Claudia's poses -- I am horrendous with the camera, often clicking my big toe (unmanicured, which is even worse:) than the subject... So trying to rectify the damage I did by posting a rather unclear pic of her in the earlier blog... So   posting some more of her doing headstand, butterfly in headstand, unsupported shoulder stand...

Today's query, yesterday's answer

Answer: Hey, somebody called me Watson. So, ok, all you Sherlock Holmes, the answer is the TWIST!!
An inversion: A standing forward bend is practically a headstand, with the head down:) The uttanasana and the parvatasana do the job of inversions.
A forward bend, again the uttanasana (standing forward bend is a good one) and u do it twice in a sun salute..

Query: Which is the only pose in the Sun salute where you hold the pose? If u don't know the name, you can tell us the number, as per its sequence, within a sun salute...

Waiting,  again:)

Today in Class: Scorpion attempted, with success

Some days of the week even I need an energy boost from my students: Prajakta Potnis (she is a well-respected artist,  exhibiting internationally) a student of mine did two wonderful things that gave that to me!  Mansi Salvi , television actress and Prajakta's v.close buddy, added her own `charge' to it. So, it was a double wow-feeling! U have no clue how good it feels when  students go for a difficult pose and hang on there!

 Prajakta attempted a perfect scorpion, holding the upper arm strongly so the face was well-lifted up -- this is the second most difficult thing to do in the scorpion. The first, of course, to lift your head up boldly from the headstand-- exhilaratingly terrifying -- an adrenaline move.  She completed the pose by holding it well, plus landing rightly on her feet as I dropped her legs, one at a time. That is marvellous. She said she could do it by visualising strongly of the pose. Mmm, when my students translate theory to practice, that is a yoga for me:)

Mansi, of course, was the first woman student of mine who actually lifted her head off the headstand, to attempt the scorpion... Sonia has since followed. Now almost six students are simultaneously trying the scorpion, in different batches. Most of them, not surprisingly, are women:)  I have tried it with earlier batches, but with most students, even when they do a good or strong headstand, they will be fearful about lifting their head up. Their heads will hang down, and I will end up running along their mat, holding their feet, to drop their body gently,  stomach down, on the mat! A hugely nervewracking experience for me.  U feel hugely ridiculous and of course, hugely nervous, doing that. This awkwardness happens when the student is completely disoriented, as the scorpion is capable of making u feel. Prahlada, when I was at the attc camp last year, showed us how to drop the student's legs from nervous scorpion.  However, even when u do that, some students could land on their knees. It is that sort of confusing, disorienting pose unless u learn it as a child.   So, this head-lift of Mansi, the first time she tried it, was perfect. Then she had taken a sabbatical from it. But now she is back at it, it that  sort of moment when u feel it is not so bad being an instructor, after all!!

So, now both seem to be keen on getting the scorpion... by month-end, Mansi said!!!

Then Prajakta cleaned up her kakasana today... a particular error she wanted to correct for a long while. She did it today! Plus, she repeated the crow, without that error, a second time.. So we all know now the correction is no fluke:) I am excited about that...

Oh, btw. these two come all the way from Borivli (Prajakta) and Malad (Mansi), for a 7 am class with me.  That sort of humbles me.

Daily Health Gyan: Sunshine helps u lose weight

Yes, Vitamin D, they have found out, not only helps to make your bones dense, but also helps u lose weight. Some chemical thing there, dealing with fat metabolism, I won't get into in detail : but if you are house-bound or wear sunscreens, or avoid sunlight too much u could end up becoming unexpectedly fat.

Yesterday's answer, today's query

ANSWER: Most who tried it got it right. But the reasoning was -- for some --  all wrong. Won't mention names. It is great that u should try. So don't want to intimidate u:) Or put you off answering with my scathing tongue.
The answer is Bhramari -- humming bee. All three pranayamas are heating. But only Bhramari is calming, centering and healing. The other two are stimulating, heating. More heating. Bhastrika can cause burn-out in those suffering from nervous tensions. It also wracks the body more, and hikes blood pressure up. The same true for kapalabhati, though in a milder form. It can also overstimulate an hyperactive mind. Both can also affect sleep. Bhramari is the opposite, invites sleep.

--
QUERY:

What is missing in the surya namaskar? It is a complete package, but one type of move is missing. This is very simple, and just needs u to think a bit:)
Missing?
a) An inversion (blood in head, upside down head move)
b) Twist (body twisting to right-left sides for transverse traction)
c) Forward bend (like the seated forward bend, head to thigh move)

Waiting, waiting, waiting, for all you Sherlock Holmes out there to crack this one:)

My student Claudia, getting side-crow in first attempt!

That is Claudia, doing the side crow. If there is one phrase to describe her yoga practice it would be `tres yogic'. U may wonder  why I am allocating that phrase to her and not to other students? After all, if I am a yoga teacher then all my students would be doing yogic yoga, na?  Yes, I do have a good clutch of students who align with that phrase. But there are also others who do `entertaining yoga', some do  `time-pass' yoga. Some for weight loss, some for health. Some instructors from other institutes come to me for `money yoga':) (They can earn more money if they learn what I teach, possibly more than I:) A lot start out because they think, mistakenly, I am  teaching power yoga! Heavens! Luckily that sort of student falls along the way side:)  Some do yoga because the rest of the world is doing it.  I have had even some (mercifully only in the distant past) doing behenji yoga, one full gang which would not budge from that attitude!!  So you get the drift?

With her it is a pure yoga zone. Every pose is felt that way for her, a complete experience of yoga, a Zen space. Meditation. If she is in town she will never bunk for casual reasons, which a lot of my students do... That in itself deserves a medal.  For her, yoga is  life-transformative, and hence an inevitable part of daily life.  The way I also see yoga.  So U can see why this attitude of hers is very special for me.

When I started on the headstand, in the second/third class she told me she did not want my support and would do it on her own, with me standing just so off so that I was there, behind her, but not close. Just a psychological prop, but never used:)  Then by 4th session, she was on her own, without even my presence behind, but just a few cushions about around her mat, as emotional  props:) Then sixth session, she stands up on her own:) And for long.  Well, if all my students were like that ... She also does the headstand closing her eyes:)  In the headstand, her own zone.

Her crow is steady and held for long, very long, though she is only  a few weeks into the pose. She tells me, that this pose (like the headstand) for her means a mind in a state of absolute focus. It is centering and calming. I theorise about this a lot with some of my students, but she is amongst the few who gets it in practice. Though she often may shy off from trying a new pose, when she does it, she will invariably get it right, first attempt. That comes from that focus, that yogic yoga attitude.

There is more I can say of her: her attempt to get the Sanskrit mantra/prayer right and learn it; her craving for meditation, easy flexibility of body that comes definitely from the mind.

What I learn from her: to speak more slowly. I, a south-Indian, with a super-fast tongue that runs off the rails of my mouth like an rampaging Express train.. I have had to  modify my tempo so that she can,  in her mind, translate from English to French whatever I was saying in class:)  The other thing I am learning, that comes  from her insistence, and which I believe tempers my own out-of-kilter enthusiasm, that she will not move into an advanced variation until she learns the basic pose right, and holds it for long. Tres yogic yoga, u all agree?