Heart Full

I’ve always been a big fan of journaling, I feel it gives you some much needed time for introspection. I find that writing things down helps me add clarity to some otherwise very muddy thoughts. So it makes sense that journaling is part of our training, but with that special Lotus twist. We’re encouraged to POUR out our thoughts, “don’t lift the pen from the paper if you can help it“. So for 2-5 furious minutes some yogis are frantically writing, while others like myself are drawing blanks. But the questions resonated with me, so even if we’re not in class, I took them home and thought about them. Each one is deserving of pages and pages of journaling but one haunted my mind, because I couldn’t answer it, “why do you teach?”. Such a simple question that you would think I’d have answered by now seeing as I am IN the 300 hour teacher training program.

The answer for the 200 hour program was so clear, I wanted to learn how to teach my friends and family, so that maybe they could experience the healing powers of yoga the way I did. I wanted them to feel the ecstatic liberation of a pain free body, the deliciousness of a sweet svasana, or the beauty in the movement. Were these still my reasons? Yes, my friends in family are in fact my best students, I love waking up and teaching them. But do I really need to be in a studio to teach them? Probably not.

The easiest answer for me is because I want to share what I’ve learned with others. I don’t know if that’s totally true. If I truly wanted to share there are probably better ways to do it, for example I’m probably reaching more people with this blog than I am in my still not-very-populated classes. I think I’m teaching for myself, because by learning how to teach I’m able to offer something more, more of myself, more of a service. And that has been making me feel whole.

Vrksasana is one of those deceptively difficult poses. Almost everyone thinks they can do it with the sole up to the top thigh. It doesn’t seem like it requires much flexibility and yet somehow it does. When people discover it’s not so easy to put the sole of their foot to the top part of their thigh, they let it slip to just at or slightly above the knee. A dangerous mis-alignment driven soley by the ego. Tree pose is a difficult asana, it requires open hips, chest as well as developed calves and thighs.  Not to mention an intense sense of concentration. This is one pose you don’t want to cheat but rather grow into. With my tight hips, I struggle with it every time, and half the time my ego wins. I think to myself “but i JUST DID IT yesterday, and jam my heel straight up to the danger zones. But learning to breathe in it, balance and encourage the opening is what will bring the practice further. Easier said than done.

I had featured sonic yoga back in 2008. Back then I had thought it was a little too focussed on the asana, and not enough on the mediative qualities of yoga. Recently, I went back for an inversion workshop with Lori, and noticed they’ve been busy. First are the obvious changes, they’ve added a whole new floor to their studio. This means not only another studio but also another changing area. They’ve also updated their decor, the eastern (primarily Buddhist) influence is prominent. But don’t worry, they still have the cushy couches. And still, no first timers special, just discounts on membership if you do sign up.

The new space is well done, it looks pretty similar to the original space in terms of flooring, size, and layout, in fact had I not known I would have thought I was in the same studio. Second, and the most important part, the practice. Last time I had come, I was not expecting as many inversions as I got, as I recall it was a bit overwhelming for me. Practically two years later here I was, LOOKING for inversions, figuring this was possibly the best place to learn. And it was. This time around the class was not overwhelming, it was equal parts asana, bandha and inversion. Instead we explored our internal energies and how to engage them, and how their engagement is essential to finding the plumb line. The delicious equilibrium you feel when everything is aligned the way it should be, and it happens rare enough for me that I still get fearfully ecstatic every time I accidentally stumble upon it.

The workshop added a whole new dimension to my practice. And it seems like every class since then has built off of its foundation. And no while I did not master the handstand, forearm stand, or my wobbly headstand, I feel like both my mind and body got just that little bit better.

NYC Yogini: How long have you been practicing yoga?

Rob: 1 month

NYC Yogini: Do you have a studio you usually practice at?

Rob: New York Sports Club — Mercer St and Madison

NYC Yogini: How did you get started in yoga?

Rob: I was going through a stressful period, and it helped me deal with it.

NYC Yogini: How did it help you deal?

Rob: It helped me not think about it. The class is BRUTAL (insert bulging eyes), I sweat more in it than any cardio! Afterwards my mind just goes blank and I can relax.

NYC Yogini: Do you have a pose you’re working on now?

Rob: Handstand! And I’m so close! I just got the tripod head stand … that was pretty cool.

It certainly is pretty cool.