Heart Full

Long before I discovered yoga I thought I had mastered tension and stress, usually with a dose of caffiene and niccotine. I’ve since found ways to combat it without resorting to poison — at least most of the time. But I still believed that I knew how to deal with stress better than most people. Sure, I had tightness, and certainly yoga helped me deal with stress EVEN BETTER then before, but I started off in pretty good condition. I got a glimmer that something was wrong with this belief about 5 years ago when my then (expensive) dentist said some kind of trauma had happened to my tooth that caused a chip. I told her that I didn’t recall a trauma. She stared at me as if I had to be joking. I wasn’t.

Then my finance started to worry about my teeth grinding at night , it was so severe he was certain there was damage. I started to worry too. When my (current) dentist confirmed that my teeth grinding had caused another chip in my molar and further wear in other molars, I got that raspy panicky feeling. I don’t even know how to grind my teeth when I’m awake, HOW could I be grinding in my sleep? And then I remembered my dreams, dreams of me actually EATING teeth, obviously it wasn’t a dream. I was chipping my own teeth in my sleep, but even that failed to wake me. Heavy sleeper.

In one of those fateful made-for-TV-moments in my next class my yoga instructor reminded us class, that people generally keep tension in their body. For women its often the hips, tightness, and clenching. I’ve witnessed several times when people discover their bodies “opening”, and burst into sudden tears, as if years of frustration was finally released. I’ve heard of similar cases in massage sessions. Toxins release, and a sense of liberation overtakes the client. I secretly envied this. Where was my tension? I thought perhaps I didn’t have any tension pent up, that I had somehow through my own brilliance managed to dispel of all the tension in my body. I was just that good.
(more…)

Having finally made the decision to not pursue a 300hr certification, I’ve set about this year to take more workshops and expand my education on a more buffet style basis. I’ve long considered taking classes at New York’s Open Center, once in awhile I even scope out a catalog and highlighted some interesting classes, that I never managed to make. Not so this year. I pro-actively marked in my calendar all of the workshops and certifications I was interested in pursuing. The first one was “Introduction to Swedish Massage”, a real winner for me since I am the worlds most avid connoisseur.

I couldn’t wait to start. I registered early, and had all of my materials packed and ready. I arrived a couple minutes late to class – and so was forced to do the scooby-doo entrance. I found a seat, and began to take notes, in that breathless, and bothered having run there kind of way. The teacher was demoing the basic strokes. I noticed how she had a remarkably soothing voice, and how well she described the motions, it reminded a lot of yoga. And then she uttered the most unexpectedly dreaded words, “find yourself a partner”. The floor fell, and I panicked. So that was why we were instructed to bring a bed sheet, massage oil, and a towel. OF COURSE ! How did I not connect the dots?
(more…)

Starting off the new year, with my unfortunate gym membership debacle I was on the look-out in a big way for the best value yoga studio. Enter Laughing Lotus. I couldn’t get enough of the classes there during my one-week unlimited try out, it was conveniently located to home and office, and it could very well be the most friendly yoga studio in Manhattan, even the its’ incense infused scent lingering in the hall is friendly. When they posted their special $128 / mo of unlimited classes (mats, filtered water and cookies included), I couldn’t turn it down.

Nearly three weeks later, I’m still loving my classes here. The vibe, the larger than life colors, and the unbelievably friendly students have placed their mark permanently in my comfort zone. But what I have missed, are adjustments. I haven’t quite put my finger on it yet, but the teachers here seem adjustment disinclined. Not to say, they never touch you, they just hardly do. On the rare occasion that they do, I find myself wishing that they wouldn’t, for example in savasana I can hear the instructor roving doing a half-massage half reiki assist, and she made her way ALMOST to me, but not quite. Leaving me, deliciously disappointed.
(more…)