For Haiti

This post is a departure from my usual blog posts. At this time, the people of Haiti are trying to literally dig themselves out of what is one of the most devastating natural disasters to occur in the past 200 years.

Sitting in my cushy office, I am grateful for all I have: my home, my family, my health, my life. The idea of non-attachment in yoga philosophy comes to mind at a time like this. I shouldn't be too attached to these things because they are in fact finite. I will lose them eventually. But most of us have warning, time to come to grasp with this idea. Most of us have a lifetime. The people of Haiti weren't so lucky. For many, they were slammed with this fact in one fell swoop.

We can't all jump on a plane to go help. That job is set aside for the brave men and woman who are being deployed to Haiti as we speak. What we can do is help them do their jobs. In Canada, the federal government has pledged to match our donations dollar for dollar up to $50 million.

There's no excuse not to help. To make it easier, here's a link to the Red Cross

If you don't live in Canada, the American Chapter of the Red Cross will surely take your money too.

Help the people of Haiti.



UPDATE: Since writting this post, the people of Calgary have started planning their own fundrasing event for the people of Haiti. All proceeds go to the Red Cross. Say what you will about social media, including Twitter where the event took off, but it gives people the opportunity to connect and do great things. For more information on YYC4Haiti, go to the event website. I'll be there and I am donating an in-home yoga class for the silent auction.

If you can't make it to YYC4Haiti and like to watch, click the streaming video link here.

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New Year, New Perspective

Here's a taste of my YogaTheory Ezine sent out bi-monthly. Have a read of my first for 2010. If you're interested in reading more, sign up here.


I hate resolutions.

For a brief time I fell into the trap of setting resolutions every year. Needless to say, I experienced what most people do when they fall off the wagon: discouragement, frustration, a sense of failure, a desire to give up completely and take up wine drinking for the rest of the year to ease the pain.

Then I got wise.

My mistake was I confused resolutions with how I viewed myself. My resolution may have been to stay away from chocolate but what I really wanted was to improve myself, feed my soul, and be a better person. This doesn't happen overnight and it definitely doesn't come without some major hick-ups along the way.

Let me use yoga as an example by telling you WHY I love yoga. There is no such thing as perfection in yoga. There is no real ultimate end goal.* Every time I go to the mat to practice or take time to meditate, the situation is different. My body reacts differently (no matter how I fight it some days), my state of mind is different, even the environment I'm in is different. It's how I deal with these differences and the challenges they represent that is the reward. It's the doing that matters.

Allow me to use another yogic example, the Bhagavad Gita. Dating back to as early as fifth century B.C.E., the Bhagavad Gita is Book Six of the much larger sacred Indian text, the Mahabharata. This text plays a strong role in yogic philosophy and one line that always stuck with me is the following:

“Thou hast power only to act not over the result thereof. Act thou therefore without prospect of the result and without succumbing to inaction”

In other words, get off your butt, work towards your goals, but don't worry about setbacks or immediate results because you can't control them anyways. You may disagree with the last part but what I want you to focus on is the inaction part. Just do. Act to achieve your goals day by day, step by step, and the rewards will co me. Like a lifelong yoga practice, reaching your goals doesn't need to happen without setbacks. In fact, that's completely unrealistic.

But when the setbacks happen, keep moving, don't get discouraged, and before you know it, you will be the person you want to be, drinking wine to boot.

Namaste...and Happy New Year,

Kim

* There is an ultimate goal to the practice of yoga but as it can't be measured in months or even years, I chose leave it out here.

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Happy 91st Birthday Guruji

BKS Iyengar turns 91 today.

Thank you Guruji for inspiring my practice and my love of teaching.

He made The 2004 Time 100 list of most influencial people for his profound gift of bringing yoga to the West and his teachings continue to inspire yoga instructors all around the world.

Have a peak below at footage of BKS Iyengar in his 20’s from a classic 1938 newsreel and then demonstrating pranayama and Sarvangasana variations 45 years later in 1987:

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All I want for Christmas..

I'm an Ambassador.

Not for the UN. I'm an Ambassador for the Power of Movement, the world's largest yoga fundraising campaign in support of arthritis and autoimmune research. Check out me and my fellow ambassadors here.

My role is to help spread the word for the cause and increase involvement in my community. This is the second year I'm linked to the event and hope to help make this fundraising year the most successfull yet.

Why do I care? I have several young family members, friends, and yoga students who have been disgnosed with various forms of arthristis, too many to name here. I see the way this disease negatively impacts their quality of life. Arthritis is a disease misunderstood by many and whose research is grossly underfunded. My hope is Power of Movement can both educate and increase funding for arthritis research.


So where does Christmas come in? All I want for Christmas is your support. Help me fundraise.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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Nov. 15th: Day 3 of the Margot Kitchen Workshop

Focus: Fun with ropes* and backbends. Today we prepped for and worked on poses "at the back of the book", referring to advanced poses towards the end of Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar.

* If you don't know what a yoga rope wall is, check below for a pic of my home studio wall. I'll post more photos soon showing the wall in action.

Supta Konasana (Reclining Bound Angle) - two straps around legs
Supta Virasana (Reclining Hero)
Uttanasana - feet hip width apart, heels out slightly, toes in
Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) - variation
Urdhva Prasarita Ekapadasana (One Foot Extended Upwards Pose)
Urdhva Muhka Svanasana into Halasana (Upward-facing Dog into Plough) - on the ropes x 20
Udhva Muhka Svanasana (Upward-facing Dog) - with ropes, partner using a slant board pressing in and up on lower tips of shoulder blades
Purvottanasana (Intense East Stretch Pose) - alternate between on the ropes and on the mat (from "table top" to the full pose), feet flat on the floor
Urdhva Danurasana (Upward Bow) - on the ropes: rope placed high on your tailbone, toes at wall, arching over to the floor
Urdhva Danurasana II (Drop-back Upward Bow) - on the mat, with a partner or not, arching over to the floor; some participants worked on coming back up to standing
Halasana (Plough Pose) - on a bolster
Savasana

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Nov. 14th: Day 2 of the Margot Kitchen Workshop

Focus: Twists.

Virasana (Hero Pose)
Parsva Virasana
Parvattasana in Virasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-facing Dog)
Uttanasana
Salamba Sirsasana (Supported Headstand) - Practiced at the wall and in the middle of thw room. The focus was for us to move away from doing a "Canadian Headstand", one where you are always leaning forward slightly. I admit I do this. Fear of falling back is always a culprit but even more so is having a solid foundation in the wrists, arms, and shoulders. Moveover, when my legs work properly there is more ease in the pose. Key points to remember: outter thighs draw in, internally rotate the legs, contract the inner thighs
Utthita Trikonasana - Place one hand in the hip crease of the leading leg and the other hand on the tailbone. The idea with a hand on the hip crease is to draw the hip in while still externally rotate the leg. The hand on the tailbone is there to bring awarenes to tucking the tailbone while moving into the full pose
Utthita Parsvakonasana
Prasarita Padottanasana
Parsvottanasana
Virabhadrasana I - same as UT with keeping the hand on the tailbone and maintaining the tucked tailbone
Virabhadrasana III
Parivrtta Parsvakonasana - from kneeling in lunge on the floor. Lunge, twist, then lift knee off the floor
Upavista Konasana
Parsva Upavista Konasana
Triang Muhaikapada Paschimottanasana
Marichyasana I
Krounchasana
Parsva Krounchasana
Adho Muhka Svanasana
Janu Sirsasana
Salamba Sarvangasana I
Eka Pada Sarvangasana
Parsvaika Pada Sarvangasana
Halasana
Karnapidasana
Parsva Halasana
Parsva Karnapidasana - this was a new one to me. Margot was smart for having included it. I nice deep twist while mainatining the Sarvangasana-zen feel
Savasana

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Nov. 13th: Day 1 of the Margot Kitchen Workshop

As with all her workshops, Margot began by giving some words of wisdom. She choose this time to share insights from her latest trip to India. Margot mentioned how Geeta Iyengar emphasized how practitioners must "find out for themselves" about the asanas and how their bodies relate to them. Geetaji spoke of the need for a commitment to independent practice to nurture and deepen and understanding of their practice. Only then can the yogi move beyond the superficial gains made by going to classes and workshops and become fully emmersed in their practice.

My thoughts: I completely agree. I have had many "ah-ha!" moments while attending classes taught by the best, but the greatest stuff has come about when practicing solo. I've had the best breakthroughs about my mental limitations through my home practice, not to mention my physical challenges.

Good advice from the best of the best..

Focus: Pranayama. Think poses to open the chest, collar bones, rib cage, and shoulders all in prepration for breath work. Here is the sequence with some notes on points that stood out for me.

Adho Muhka Virasana (Downward-facing Hero): Emphasis on lengthening the front of the body, not only the back. The back also needs to elongate in two directions: backwards and down towards the heels and forwards towards the shoulders. The shoullders and upper arms externally rotate towards the floor. The hands can be placed at the outter edges of the mat to help maintain this action and broaden the upper back. Elbows are kept off the floor for a more active pose.
Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-facing Dog): Same points as in AMV. Keep the feet widder than hip width with the heels out slightly to broaden the buttocks. Keep the upper arms in the shoulder sockets
Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend): Same action in the feet as in AMS, broaden the buttocks; grabbing the backs of the calves or hands on the floor
Salamba Sirsasana (Headstand)
Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana - through a chair, crown of the head on a bolster

Here is what we use for a "yoga" chair:

Bharadvajasana - seated normally on a chair
Salamba Sarvangasana I and II (Supported Shoulderstand) - using a chair, bolster under the shoulders. This is an active version of the pose where you come completely off the chair with the body, i.e., no "sitting" on the seat of the chair nor are the legs supported by the back of the chair. By grabbing the back run of the chair with my palms turned up, I could externally rotate my arms more resulting in a more open chest and fronts of the shoulders.
Niralamba Sarvangasana I (Unsupported Shoulderstand) - on a chair, bolster under the shoulders, arms over the head along the floor

Lower back release - laying on the floor, shins resting on the seat of the chair, lower back supported by a bolster
Bharadvajasana - seated sideways on a chair twisting towards the back of the chair
Bhastrika Pranayama (Bellowing Breathing) - seated backwards in a chair, feet flat on the floor and pointed forward. The idea was to hold onto the back of the chair to once again open the chest, broaden through the collar bones, sit up straigh, and open the groins and hips. Use an alternate nostril fingertip placement. This type of breathing is used to clear the nasal passages without the use of say, a neti pot. It works!
Ujjayi Pranayama (Conquering Breathing) - seated backwards in a chair. Same alignment points as for Bhastrika Pranayama

* Personal note: After sitting in a chair backwards for the previous two types of pranayama, I developed knee pain. I had to work on not allowing myself to be distracted by the pain. Eventually I corrected this for myself by turning my feet ourwards so they matched the direction of my knees (pointed out from the abduction of the thighs).

Viloma Pranayama (Interrupted Breathing) - in Savasana II supported on a bolster, folded blanket under the head
Savasana (Corpse Pose) - bolster placed on thighs

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