The practice of yoga is one of the best things you could do for yourself. I love it. And, now that I have a practice, the use of certain props have become mandatory. Props include a mat, towel, bolsters, straps and blocks. I am partial to my Manduka Mat but have discovered certain issues with it- namely slippage or dirt, neither of which is conducive to a yoga practice. Yes, the Manduka mat is a “non slip” mat, but with the heat cranked up and me working extra hard, I slip. And, with the slippage there is the problem that my mat has been used for other things (when I wasn’t home) that included eating bluberries while watching TV. When it’s time for the seated poses, having my sweaty body lie on a dirty mat doesn’t feel all that good.
So, let me introduce you to a wonderful company, called yogitoes. They were kind enough to send me their solution to the slippery mat situation. “The original super absorbent tool that prevents slipping and puts a hygienic layer between you and your mat.”
They have come up with a way to help you stay on your mat throughout your practice. You can use it in a variety of ways depending on your sweat level. If you are one of those who sweat from the first Sun Salutation, then, you are going to want to put your yogitoes down on top of your mat immediately. If you are a non-sweater, you might wait to use your mat till you are doing the seated poses and you don’t feel like having your body stick to a dirty mat. Or, if it takes you a while to get sweaty, you would gradually add it on to your mat and into your practice.
The way I used it was this; I kept it folded in a rectangle just above my mat and at first drip, I mopped up. Then, when my hands start to slip, I would unfold it by 1/3 for just my hands. Then, as the practice got deeper, I’d extend it the length of the mat. It was always fully extended by the time we’d get to seated poses.
Loved it! I loved how nice and clean the towel feels when it’s time to lay down. Love the fact that I can wash it after every class. I absolutely do not slip when I used this SKIDLESS towel. Although, it takes a certain amount of flexibility and skill to lift your foot when going from Down Dog to a Lunge. It took me several classes before I was able to move through vinyasas without causing wrinkling of the towel.
Would I recommend it? YES. For sure. I don’t practice without it now. You can purchase one on yogitoes website or elsewhere on the net for between $40-$65.
When I started this training, I thought I knew what yoga was. What I knew was nothing! Completing DVD’s or going to an occasional mediocre yoga class does not compare to a 200 hour teacher training course offered by Yoga Works. It probably would have been appropriate for me to at least attend a Yoga Works class before I took the TT, but, that still could not compare to what my teachers taught me in the last 12 weeks. For your reference, my teachers were Thomas and Carmen and they seriouslyseriously KNEW THEIR BUSINESS. Carmen and Thomas both train with teachers who trained under Mr. Iyengar and Carmen’s teachers were Chuck Miller, Maty Ezraty, and Lisa Walford (founders of Yoga Works). The lineage is really short from the founders of modern day yoga to me now. I am incredibly blessed to have had this opportunity.
Every single one of the students in the class are now my close friends. Even though maybe we didn’t connect on any other level as yoga, they are still going to be thought of as my best friends and I already miss seeing them 4 days a week!
What’s next for me now?
I’d really like to have some opportunities to teach adults yoga in my town. The last two weeks, I taught yoga to my teachers at school and got a lot of satisfaction out of it. The more I teach, the less I feel I know. And teaching yoga is more about presentation than it is about the alignment points. It is an ART.
Practice. In order to be an excellent teacher, I need to have a practice- under a teacher’s supervision. And a daily practice.
Continue my studies in yoga. It’s like with everything else, one training isn’t going to make me a good teacher or student. My husband didn’t earn a black belt in one year, it took twenty years!! So, here I am making a commitment to always seek out opportunities to learn more.
Running and Cycling? Who the heck knows!! Yoga will need to be the main dish and the cardiovascular training will be the side dish for now.
When I get home from yoga, we all practice yoga. And, when you have two, one or the other tends to get jealous of the other. So, we invent. “Triple Lizard” is what they called it. It falls apart really quick. Big kid likes to shoot out of the rock super fast.
Knees. We must be able to see our knees in teacher training! At the beginning of the training, I had one pair of appropriate pants- then, I wore my running shorts! Now, with the introduction of Apparel by the Girls, I can say I have 3 pairs of thigh hugging apparel. You all are going to love these yoga pants. They are a blend of cotton spandex that have kept their shape through several washings. There has been no fading, sagging or other unsightly things happen to apparel upon washing.
The best part is the price! Totally affordable at $24.99. Love. I promptly tried these out in a hot yoga class and loved the lightness and freedom they gave me. Was able to flip up into a handstand, stretch out in a forward fold or lay back in Savasana completely comfortable and not fidgeting. Running, errands, or yoga, these pants worked great.
If I had a “Fit Mommy Stamp of Approval” these pants would get it!
My training is coming to a close. And, although it is hard to express how wonderfully hard it’s been, the actual yoga practice has been the best part for me. Many days, I come out of the yoga practice supremely happy. Could jump for joy. Sing at the top of my lungs. Can we do it again? I love love love it. Even the ridiculously hard stuff.
In the midst of a yoga practice, I am thinking, “I can’t do that” but I still try it. It’s fun to me. And, today we learned a crazy one, called Mayurasana. Basically, stick your elbows in your gut and lift your body off the ground. Whew! Talk about a boob smashing experience! Or Pincha Mayurasana. It’s a forearm balance. Yesterday, my teacher said, “if you have to ask for a spot, then you better not be going up.” Well, I wanted a spot, but, didn’t ask for it. Just up and tried it and I got up. And, here I am, balancing on my forearms using a strap and the wall, but, I can GET UP. And, Bakasna. Again, a really hard pose, but for a brief moment in time (the time is getting longer than a second) I can get my feet off the floor. Check out those arms!! I DID NOT get those from one armed push-ups on medicine balls, I got those bad babies from Chaturanga! Finally, a Tripod Headstand. I usually see it taught going into it from Prasarita Padottanasana- but today the emphasis was on arm balancing so we were instructed to get into it from Bakasana. I can’t do that yet, but, it looks incredibly graceful when you can, and I will some day. Massive core strength.
My teachers teach in such a way that it is difficult to think about anything else. The sequencing of the practice flows like water from one pose to the next. Each pose leading up to the next hardest pose. There are days like this weekend where from the beginning pose- we are focusing on one thing- then in every pose the same things are emphasized so that by the end- or the peak pose, our bodies and minds are totally ready for it. And, he has prepped us with words like courage, consistancy and patience in the opening sequence. Yoga asana is just one small part of what yoga really is about. This blog has been following my journey and I am just barely cracking the surface of what yoga really is to me.
Contentment. Peace. Happiness. Love. All I can add at the moment, is that when I walk out of a yoga class, I am content. I don’t overanalyze my poses- just happy with where I am right then. I’ve not found or had this feeling in any other sport. In running and cycling, it’s always been about performance with the consecutive disappointment feelings when the event doesn’t go as planned…
If nothing else, maybe you will go out and try a yoga class again!
My brain is shifting, or I am on OVERLOAD, not sure which!! The teacher training is allowing me to spend 4 days a week in an intense yoga sessions. But, what that isn’t leaving much time or energy for is running or riding! So little energy, in fact, that I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck. It’s been brought up in the training that yoga is not a cardio workout. I had thought that on the “power yoga” days or on the Ashtanga day or on days when we are doing lots of “flow” yoga, that I would be benefiting my body with a cardio workout as well. Not true, and I’m okay with that. In all honesty, I don’t really think of yoga as a workout! It’s not. It’s yoga.
{Off on a tangent} What is Ayurveda?
It’s the Science of Life. There are five elements that make up Ayurveda including earth, fire, water, air, and space. And there are three dosha’s that make up human nature (and you could be a combination of them) Vata = wind, Pitta = steam, and Kapha = mud.
In Ayurvedic terms, I am a Pitta. {Take the quiz here to find out what type you are} To balance the body in ayurvedic terms, for me, means I need to lighten up, a lot! If you are a regular here, you know I have a tendency to push all the time!! Goal oriented, driven, have the “gotta do” attitude all the time…I need yoga more than most, however, according to the Ayruvedec terms, I should be attending restorative yoga or gentle yoga- not the Level 2/3 yoga classes that I enjoy! Basically, one of the key elements of this type of medicine is that opposites cure. A walk in nature (or a run) is supposedly going to help balance the Pitta individual.
So, some benefits of running without a goal:
No Garmin. No focus on mileage or pace.
Running for Enjoyment. California is beautiful at times especially when in the hills.
There is NO STRESS. Just run. That’s it. It’s a cardio workout that I enjoy. It is low intensity but beneficial to mind and body.
Relaxing.
It can feel this good!
What benefits do you get from running/cycling/endurance activities that I forgot to mention?
Last week, I attended my first ever Iyengar yoga class. There were only about 8 students and the teacher knew them all except me. No, I have never practiced Iyengar yoga. The Iyengar students are completely different than the ones you’d find in a flow class. Iyengar yoga will have a specific theme of the day and you will go from one pose to the next with no flow. You will also spend a LOT of time in each pose utilizing props. This can be both good and bad, which I will go into more detail later…Just wanted to share this experience because it was SO FREAKIN CRAZY.
First pose of the day, Supta Virasana.
{Fastest way to make me cry. No, I can’t do that!!!! The Iyengar method will utilize blocks, blankets, straps and chairs to help a person get into the pose. For your reference, I need 5 blankets behind my back to get me into this pose. And, I can’t stay here for longer than 5 breaths. Which is why I can’t model it for you! I must have the tightest hip flexors AROUND. We cyclists and runners spend all our time FLEXING our hips and ZERO time working backwards to open them up}.
My thoughts included, “HOLY CRAP” and a few other CHOICE words. My weaknesses were so blatantly obvious to the teacher and the class that it’s kind of embarrassing. Teacher’s commentary to the class, “that was terrible!!”
2nd pose: One Legged King on the Wall pose. This is an extreme version of the pose we did. Basically, it’s designed to OPEN your HIP FLEXORS.
3rd-6th poses: Hanging over chairs in various positions. They were back bends/hip openers in extreme positions (for me) designed to open areas of my body that didn’t want to be opened. The teacher came over to me after one particularly difficult pose- one in which— I came out of—almost as soon as I got in it, and she told me that my quads were IN MY WAY!!
Ha ha ha… Too much muscle in the front of the body and the back of the body is weak. Cyclists and runners, this might be YOU. We can run and ride all day long but if asked to get in to a position that requires strength of the back of the body and flexibility in the front, you are going to be challenged.
Yoga is vital for the health of your joints and muscles. A lot of the time it won’t be comfortable or fun. I’ve even cried a few times cause I just get frustrated with my body. Not everyone will be as STIFF as me, but, you all need to find a yoga practice even if it’s only once a week. It will benefit your current endurance endeavors in a positive way.
I have posted about it in the past, but, I thought I’d just drop another note about it. The teachers are excellent. It’s filmed in beautiful Jackson Hole, WY. The lessons are wonderful. From my perspective, it awesome to be able to be plugged in to high quality yoga teaching without my instructor in the room. For those of you who can’t get to a yoga class, this is one really good alternative! I’m also realizing that with the completion of any yoga practice, I can feel a noticeable difference in energy levels and mood.
My only caution for you would be that you should still attend a yoga class regularly! I have been doing MANY poses WRONG for years and only with my Yoga Works training, the teachers have been able to address my issues. Particularly in poses that you do multiple times over the course of even one practice- such as Down Dog.
Have a great weekend and let me know about your experience with Yoga Today! It’s worth it!
No, I can’t do it yet!! But, we are being taught to build the strength with the use of two blocks. Just try to lift your body off the floor using your core muscles! The Pick up and Jump Back is a great article.
This weekend’s focus was on twists and forward bends. Doesn’t sound too hard, right? I can do a forward bend all day long- just can’t do a back bend to save my life, ha ha ha!! So, first, I want to start off with some KEY POINTS that are really imperative to twisting. You won’t believe it, but, really the most important part of a standing twist is the upper back and shoulder girdle. Below, I am demonstrating a reasonable Extended Side Angle Pose {left hip should come down and my shoulders need to rotate outward more, and create more space in the torso}. But, it’s ok.
From here to the wrap is where it things go really forward (and not in a good way)..
From the extended side angle pose you can add a “wrap” to it. This is where the top arm wraps around my back and my bottom arm reaches under for a wrist hold. When you can recognize the signs of “oh crap my alignment is completely OFF” then you are not ready for this pose. The athlete in me, says, if the goal is to wrap it, then I can wrap it. But, it looks like hell. Totally collapsing forward. There should be some ROTATION starting from the navel and going upward through the crown of the head. Little Miss Stiff needs to go back the above pose and work the rotation more before coming into this advanced version.
One ragged looking mommy. But a couple of important points here. BOTH HIPS should ground down into the floor. The lever shoulder (my left) should be pointing back and the other shoulder should point back as well. See how they are rounding forward? The rotation should start from the pelvis and go all the way up. Do I look relaxed? No. This is an incredibly hard pose!
Moving on to Handstand. It’s official, I can get in handstand! Yeah for me. Again, it isn’t pretty, but, at least, I can feel in my body now how to get up. Feet should come together vigorously with the balls of the feet pointing towards the ceiling. Chin can relax and come parallel to the floor. Would also be important to breath here (not pant like a dog).
Finally, a pose you could all do with your partner, buddy or kid. One is in child’s pose with arms extended. The other one gets to lay on your back and extend their arms over head. (Not sure I’d want my husband on my back, but, I was on his, and he liked it.) The person on top can reach for your wrists and get a get stretch through the side body.
My weekend. Know of any other partner poses? Things I forgot? Remember, I am just learning here! Thanks for reading.
