I’ve touched 100 naked people

Posted on January 29, 2012 by

I realized today after carefully counting that I’ve touched 100 naked people in the last 7 months. That probably makes you wonder if I’m a sex worker.

I’m not. I’ve been a student of massage therapy since June 2011, and I’ve worked on my fellow students and teachers, many of my friends and family, and clients at the student clinic.

I’ve worked on many of these people several times. When I complete just 10 more massages in the intern clinic, I’ll have completed the requirements for graduation and will have given about 150 massages.

Every person I’ve touched has gotten my full attention, presence, and skill. Even that one person who happened to be my fourth recipient in one day, when it crossed my mind that I felt tired and cranky — I pulled myself out of that mindset, got a second wind, and gave them my best.

A naked and vulnerable human on the table in front of me is a divine gift with whom I hold a sacred contract to give my best.

Every person I’ve massaged has contributed immensely to the intelligence in my hands, heart, instincts, and awareness.

Most people are fairly silent when receiving massage, their attention on their bodies or breath or my hands, I presume, or perhaps their grocery list. I don’t read minds, so I don’t really know.

Silence helps me work.

Some people stay mentally alert and present the entire time. Some sink quickly or slowly into a state of deep relaxation, that state of no effort where the body is being breathed, the mind is loose and free, and images bubble up out of darkness. Some fall asleep, their breathing tells me.

Sometimes I go into a trance with you, and those are the best massages.

I watch and listen to you breathing. I feel your pulses. I see your scars — the ones on your skin and the emotional ones like the chronically rounded shoulders, that one tight hip, the rigidity in your torso. Sometimes your bodies tell me stories, of weight gained, weight lost, an old injury with a long recovery, a recent injury complete with road rash, surgery, playing a sport, working out regularly, working at a computer.

No one so far has had a perfect body. I belief that’s probably a myth created by airbrushing.

I’ve learned that nearly everyone has some tension in their shoulders — the upper trapezius muscle, to be specific.

The low back is also a popular place for tension and pain to hang out. It’s amazing that by working on your rectus abdominis (the stomach’s six-pack), the front and back of your body become balanced and your low back pain goes away.

I’ve learned that due to handedness, no one’s upper trapezius muscles are exactly symmetrical.

Some people think they’re relaxed, but when I pick up their arm or leg, they have a hard time letting go of control, letting me take the full weight.

Some people want more pressure, some less. I wonder about people who want a lot of pressure all over. Do they need that to feel anything?

I’ve worked on fat people, skinny people, people with chronic health problems, healthy people, a lot of people (too many!) stressed out from work, an age range from 11 to 76, males and females, people with tight skin and loose skin, and one pregnant woman.

All precious.

When I worked on my grown daughter, memories of her infancy arose, and I realized that everyone who gets naked on my table is just this:

an old baby
no longer tiny or quite so helpless
nonetheless innocent and vulnerable like a newborn

I’ve learned that some people are not very knowledgeable about their own bodies, misnaming their body parts, unaware of tensions, oblivious to the postural or movement habits that cause them pain — that they’ve unconsciously created for themselves.

Your body tells the truth. It can’t lie.

Why aren’t body awareness and anatomy taught at home and in schools? I loved teaching yoga to 5th graders and having that silence at the end of each session. They loved it too.

There are certain moves that tend to get sighs of relief and moans of pleasure. I’ve developed an opening routine that people seem to love.

Giving massage is all about you becoming more alive and your nervous system waking up, your body shedding tension and moving into relaxation and pleasure, not to mention improving your circulation, breath, brainwaves, mood, self-compassion, immunity, energy flow, digestion, posture, alignment, balance, movement, and presence.

In many ways, allowing me to massage you is like letting me to take your armor off — the armor you probably weren’t aware of putting on until you started feeling tense or in pain.

Everyone can benefit from taking their time getting up afterwards, not rushing off in their cars to get somewhere else, not re-engaging their left brains too quickly.

Yes, leave your armor off for a while and stay for a cup of tea with me.

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6 experienced yoga teachers talk about the anatomy connection

Posted on January 29, 2012 by

This group interview was originally published in YogaCityNYC Yoga Weekly. Because I couldn’t directly link to the article, I’m including it in its entirety below, because yoga and anatomy are two loves of mine that should go together like a hand in a glove.

Six Experts on their Favorite Topic

Quick Question: Where is your calcaneus?*

Anatomy is a complicated subject. Many yoga teachers and students are intrigued by the names of the bones yet studying it in detail gets passed over in most yoga classes – if it is discussed at all. YogaCity NYC’s Margie Suvalle sat down with six experts to find out how they learned more about their muscles and joints, why it is necessary, and where to learn more about anatomy.

Why did you get interested in anatomy?

Paula Lynch: My parents’ heart disease.  I had to learn a lot fast, so I studied the heart and cardiovascular system.  From there, I started to study physiology and then the muscular system.

Jonathan FitzGordon: When I started doing yoga I had a lot of flexibility, but no strength.  I got hurt and ended up having knee surgery. If I didn’t know how my body worked, then how could it heal?

Genny Kapuler: I took a class at NYU with Andre Bernard, Anatomy for Dancers, and I wanted a greater understanding of the body, so I continued to study for the next ten years with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen.

Jason Brown: I got injured a few times early on in my yoga practice, either because of a teacher’s instruction or my own fault. As a teacher, I felt ill prepared to answer questions.

Amy Matthews: I was a dancer and we had a weekend on anatomy and I realized how much I didn’t know.  I wanted to know how I use my body, the movement, the muscles and the anatomy.

Joe Miller: My interest started with artistic anatomy when I was painting and drawing skeleton positions and continued to expand when I started teaching yoga.  I did several trainings that focused on anatomy and I ended up getting my masters in applied physiology.

Do you think the average yoga teacher knows enough about anatomy and how long does it take to learn the basics?

PL: People are more interested these days. The average training is just a starting point. But people need to pursue it on their own, really understand it. Are they interested? What are their students asking of them?  How much do you need to learn? The process of learning is ongoing.

JF: No. You don’t need to know anything about anatomy to lead a class, but you do if you want to teach. How long does it take – everyone is different.

GK: Without knowing too much you can lead students and give them direction and guidance. But Iyengar, where I studied, teaches a certain amount.

JB: Absolutely not! There just isn’t enough time spent on anatomy during teacher training. It takes a year.  I created a nine-month program where students meet for three hours a week and then can apply the knowledge to their teaching.

AM: No, because people come out of a 200 hour training with 20 hours of anatomy, which is only a taste. For each person, learning is individual.  You can be a great teacher and not know a lot about anatomy.  However, if you don’t know something, don’t say anything.

JM: You don’t need an anatomical background to be an effective teacher.  You do need to pay attention and know the basics of human movement, the alignment of asana.  The more you know the more it will enrich your teaching and give you more depth. The Yoga Alliance says a minimum of twenty hours gets you started, but you need continuing education and to study on your own.

Do you think that more anatomy should be taught in teacher trainings?

PL: During the 200 hour training there should be more integration of the information.

JF: It takes a lot of time to learn anatomy, so you need to be taught well.

AM: Yes, there should be more taught.

GK: The teacher trainer decides.  Different people are drawn towards certain knowledge.

JB: Yes, that is why I started my program Anatomy Studies for Yoga Teachers.

What part of the body fascinates you the most?

PL: The respiratory and cardiovascular systems and the physiology mechanism and muscular housing of it all.  Sensing more clearly, breathing.

JF: I am obsessed with the psoas.

GK: There is not one part that fascinates me because it is always changing.  I guess right now it would be my sense of smell.

JB:  The knee.  It is my favorite joint to teach.  It is weight-bearing and takes a lot of force, it is intricate, delicate and important.

AM: Embryology and the origin of tissue.  It starts one place and ends up elsewhere.  The muscles and the skin are closer than the muscles and the bones, so exploring movement from that place.

JM: The nervous system and relaxation.

What is the most vulnerable part of the body during asana practice?

PL: The lumbar spine is already compromised and vulnerable.  We ask a lot of that area and weaken it and then add the stress of asana.

JF: The psoas.

GK: It’s individual.

JB: The knee is very delicate.  The bones don’t support it, the muscles and ligaments support the soft tissue.

AM: It depends on the person and the asana. Where there is a lot of movement is the most vulnerable.

JM:  There is not one part.  However, the most common ones are the knee, the shoulders, the wrists, the lumbar and the cervical spine.

People constantly complain about lower back issues.  What should a yoga teacher do when someone comes into class complaining of back pain?

PL: Ask a lot of questions and listen.  The more information you have, the more you are able to help your student.  From the information, figure out which poses to avoid and which ones will stretch and strengthen.

JF: Instruct them to stop tucking their pelvis because it is compromising the ligaments and IT joint.

GK: If the SI joint is thrown out, then sync the hips in and keep the lumbar spine vertical.

JB: It is usually caused by tight glutes and hamstrings.  Show modifications.

AM: Back pain can be caused by many things.  Ask question about what kind of pain the student is experiencing.  Knowing the sensations can help them identify what it is and how weight travel in the spine.

JM: Think about long-term health, how are your movements creating the problem.  Is it extension or flexion?  Don’t push through the pain, find modifications and ask for help.

What role does anatomy play in the classes you teach?

PL: Anatomy is integrated into the whole class.  It is the environment, not the backdrop.  It is unavoidable because the body is the classroom.

JF: It is everything.  My classes are hard because I pound it to the ground, how it all works and more.

GK: It is the main idea that I use.

JB: Anatomy informs the sequencing and alignment cues in my classes.  It is under the surface.

AM:  Anatomy is the jumping off point.  It is something physical to check in with in all of my classes.

JM: It enriches my teaching and creates an understanding of alignment and instruction.  It is always clear and accurate.

What three books do you most recommend?

PL: The books by Dr. Ray Long, an orthopedic surgeon and long time Hatha Yoga practitioner. “Yogabody: Anatomy, Kinesiology and Asana,” by Judith Hanson Lasater. It is digestible and specific.  Lastly, “Light on Pranayama,” by BKS Iyengar because it is poetic and really explains the respiratory system.

JF: “Taking Root to Fly”, by Irene Dowd, “Human Movement Potential” by Lulu Sweigard and “Rolfing”, by Ida Rolf

GK: “Atlas of Human Anatomy”, by Frank Netter, “The Thinking Body”, by Mabel Elsworth Todd and “Primary Anatomy” by John V. Basmajain.

JB:“Kinesiology: The Skeletal System and Muscle Function“, by Joseph Muscolino.

AM:  Netter,“The Body Moveable”, by David Gorman and of course “Yoga Anatomy,” which I co-wrote with Leslie Kaminoff.

JM: Netter, Judith Lasater’s “Yogabody”,  “Yoga Anatomy” and “Anatomy Trains”, by Thomas W. Myers.

Bios:

Paula Lynch is a YogaWorks Certified Instructor and is affiliated with the YogaWorks Teacher Training programs. Her teaching style is influenced by the meditative flow and heat of Ashtanga yoga and the precision and playfulness of Iyengar yoga.  www.yogapaula.com

Jonathan FitzGordon has been teaching yoga since 2000.  He is a Level II Reiki practitioner and the creator of the FitzGordon Method, a core walking program.

Genny Kapular has been teaching yoga for over 30 years.  She is a Intermediate Junior III IyengarTeacher. As well as a practitioner of Body-Mind Centering.  Before teaching yoga, she was a modern dancer for many years.

Jason Brown is the creator of Zenyasa Yoga, which synthesizes Zen Buddhism, vinyasa yoga and mindfulness-based conditioning exercises.
He teaches classes at the Zenyasa Yoga Studio on the Upper West Side, as well as Anatomy Studies for Yoga Teachers & Movement Professionals.

Amy Matthews is a certified Laban Movement Analyst, a Body-Mind Centering Teacher an Infant Development Movement Educator and a yoga therapist and yoga teacher.  She teaches an Embodied Anatomy & Kinesiology course at The Breathing Project.

Joe Miller has been teaching at OM Yoga since 2000.  He is on the OM Yoga Teacher Training faculty and is the Dean of OM Yoga anatomy studies. He has his Masters in Applied Physiology from Columbia University.  Joe recently started an anatomy-related blog: Yoga Physiology.

*Calcaneus is your heel bone.

-Margie Suvalle

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Leslie Kaminoff reviews “The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards”

Posted on January 28, 2012 by

This book, The Science of Yoga, written by a New York Times science writer, was at the heart of the recent controversy about yoga injuring people as posited in a New York Times article.

Leslie Kaminoff has posted two video responses to the article. (See my previous post to view them.)

This third video is his response to the book, which he recommends that all yogis read — and then gives a mixed review.

Correlation is not causation, as Kaminoff says. If you cite how many people are injured doing yoga, but fail to compare it to injuries from any other physical activity, there’s no perspective — and that’s a journalistic failure. Broad apparently does not come across as a credible science writer because of this in Kaminoff’s eyes, which is disillusioning considering the NY Times’ “gray lady” status among newspapers, but putting forth questionable data supports his agenda — and sells books.

Of course, journalism has been in the fire for years. Maybe Fox News is the equivalent of Bikram.

Watch the video to find out what Broad’s agenda is. You might be surprised that he picks on individuals (especially one whose Ph.D. came from an institution that ironically Broad finds not credible, and a small organization, the International Association of Yoga Therapists).

Yoga helps by magnitudes more people than it injures. Just make sure you get a good teacher who knows anatomy, and keep in mind that it’s your responsibility to be aware of your body and to set your limits to protect yourself.

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30,000 views! Thanks, readers!

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

Today my blog passed a major milestone. It’s received over 30,000 views! That’s since late December 2009, so it’s taken a little more than two years.

When I started blogging, I did not know where I would go with it. I just knew I liked writing and sharing useful information that helped people live better, healthier lives, and blogging was a way to do it.

Persistence pays off. A lot of people start blogs and then abandon them. I don’t believe more than a week has passed since I started it without me posting something, and I usually make several posts each week. I hope I’ve gotten better.

I really want to thank you for reading it. Not every post will be everyone’s cup of tea, of course, but as I can see from the stats and subscriptions, more people are finding it to be of value.

I like that. Thanks, y’all!

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How yoga changes the brain’s stress response

Posted on January 26, 2012 by

Ha ha! Psychology Today includes a column called PreFrontal Nudity: The Brain Exposed. Love it!

This column, Yoga: Changing the Brain’s Stressful Habits, by Alex Korb, Ph.D. in neuroscience, is about the stress of yoga.

Yoga is controlled stress, as Leslie Kaminoff says.

Yes, that’s right. Yoga is stressful. If you don’t believe me, then get down on all fours with your hands shoulder width apart and your feet hip width apart. Push your hands and toes into the floor and lift your butt high. Stick your sacrum up as high as it will go.

Let your head drop.

Oh, and be sure your fingers are spread as wide as they can spread, middle fingers pointing forward, and without moving your hands, rotate your arms so your inner elbows are pointing more forward than toward each other.

Straighten your back. Don’t let it collapse! Let your shoulder blades flatten into your back but keep your kidney area full. Imagine you’re making one long line from wrist to tailbone.

Pedal your feet up and down if you need to, but really, try to get your heels to the floor with your legs straight. Feel that hamstring stretch! Feel those calf muscles and Achilles tendons!

Now push your hands and feet into your mat and away from each other!

Are you feeling relaxed yet?

So don’t forget to breathe. Keep your breathing calm and steady. Breathe through your nose while constricting the back of your throat to make a sound like the ocean.

Now how are you doing? Congrats on your downward facing dog, by the way.

Korb accompanied his dad to a yoga class and learned first-hand how yoga retrains the brain. He thought it was going to be all pretzel twists and enlightenment, until his dad explained ujjayi breathing to him.

This next statement may sound to you either profound or extremely obvious, but it comes down to this: the things you do and the thoughts you have change the firing patterns and chemical composition of your brain.  Even actions as simple as changing your posture, relaxing the muscles on your face, or slowing your breathing rate, can affect the activity in your brain….  These changes are often transient, but can be long-lasting, particularly if they entail changing a habit.

As a neuroscientist, despite my initial incredulity, I came to realize that yoga works not because the poses are relaxing, but because they are stressful.  It is your attempts to remain calm during this stress that create yoga’s greatest neurobiological benefit.

 The fascinating thing about the mind-body interaction is that it works both ways.  For example, if you’re stressed, your muscles will tense (preparing to run away from a lion), and this will lead to more negative thinking.  Relaxing those muscles, particularly the facial muscles, will push the brain in the other direction, away from stress, and toward more relaxed thoughts.  Similarly, under stress, your breathing rate increases.  Slowing down your breathing pushes the brain away from the stress response, and again toward more relaxed thinking.
It [the physiological stress response] is, in fact, just a habit of the brain.  One of the main purposes of yoga is to retrain this habit so that your brain stops automatically invoking the stress response.

Here’s the real kicker in my opinion, where a Ph.D. western scientist new to yoga really gets what it’s all about:

The good news is that you don’t actually have to go to a class to practice yoga.  The poses most people associate with yoga are just a particular way of practicing yoga called the asana practice (“asana” translates to “pose”).  The asana practice challenges you in a specific way, but life itself offers plenty of challenges on its own.  Under any stressful circumstance you can attempt the same calming techniques: breathing deeply and slowly, relaxing your facial muscles, clearing your head of anxious thoughts, focusing on the present.  In fact, applying these techniques to real life is what yoga is all about. Yoga is simply the process of paying attention to the present moment and calming the mind.  

Yogis, does that not warm your hearts?

Nonyogis, does this not inspire you to practice yoga?

Couldn’t we all use a little more attention in the present moment and a calmer mind?

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How yoga is connected to Rolfing

Posted on January 23, 2012 by

Tom Myers on The Century of the Body: Fascia, Yoga and the Medicine of the Future.

Loved this interview with Tom Myers, author of Anatomy Trains (which I hope to be studying in March at the Lauterstein-Conway School of Massage).

Until I read it, I had no idea that Ida Rolf was an early (1920s) practitioner of yoga, and that she developed Structural Integration (aka Rolfing (TM)) as a way to bring the benefits of yoga to people without the actual practice of yoga, since yoga wasn’t readily available.

Boy, would she be surprised at how popular yoga has become! And, the rise of yoga in America doesn’t seem to have put a dent in the Rolfing business either, perhaps because yoga helps people become more aware that their bodies are bound up, and they seek Rolfing.

My Rolfer, Mary Kimberlin in Dallas, told me that being Rolfed was the equivalent of doing yoga for five years in terms of the freedom of movement. I believe that. I was practicing yoga before I got Rolfed, and it definitely accelerated my flexibility in asana practice.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

Fascia—or connective tissue—is what glues us together. So, it’s a broad use of the word fascia. What we’re really talking about is the body-wide extracellular net that holds us together.

So, again, people have been paying a lot of attention to the chemistry and neurology of conditions like depression, and not much attention to shape. But shape is hugely important, and that’s where yoga and bodywork really shine.

We’re really just looking at the very beginning of the potential offered by body work, yoga, Rolfing, osteopathy, and so on—all these body therapies contributing to this realm.. This next century is going to be the century of the body, because this is the century in which we need to learn to change behavior.

We need to learn how to get people to change behavior, because so many of the big diseases are all lifestyle-related. At the heart of big, epidemic conditions like heart disease and diabetes really are behavioral, lifestyle issues. These are conditions where people need to change their habits more than they need to take the medicine.

Yoga was very small until quite recently. Pilates was very small until quite recently. And bodywork was quite limited until very recently. Going forward, I think we will see these unite into a very powerful combination of manual therapy and movement, where everybody is speaking one language.

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Four constructive things to do with your anger

Posted on January 23, 2012 by

A recent Tricycle Daily Dharma quotation is timely, and I’m sharing. It’s worth exploring anger for what it actually is.

Because we imagine anger is never a good thing, it is easy to think we should practice simply not being angry. But that approach is too general and abstract. It’s important for each of us to be precise, to be real, to be personal and honest, to find out exactly what my anger is. To do that we need to ask ourselves lots of questions about its actual nature.

It is quite a fabulous skill in life to handle anger well — to feel it and not suppress it, and to use it constructively. I’m definitely not saying I’m the most skilled at handling my anger, but I have come to recognize some of its complexity and discovered a key that helps me manage it constructively.

Watch some angry cartoon characters display anger in this video. You may never see anger in humans in the same way again!

First, anger is a body sensation. You can see it in the cartoons. For me, there’s a stiffening, a rigidity that I experience, often in my neck or back. My spine lengthens as I draw myself up to my full height. When it’s more intense, I feel prickly sensations and sometimes heat.

Only rarely have I experienced what Elmer and Daffy do so well, the red face, the steam coming out of ears, the grimace, the fists, the in-your-face stalk, the growl.

I dream about being Bugs Bunny, but when I wake up, I’m Daffy Duck. ~ Chuck Jones

  • Next time you’re angry, if you can, take a moment and notice what you’re feeling in your body, how your state has changed, what your mind is telling you to do. Just notice.

Anger has degrees of intensity. Anger includes a family of emotions that range from annoyance to rage. There’s a huge difference between asserting oneself when annoyed and abusively vomiting one’s rage on someone.

  • How angry are you on a scale of 1 to 10?
  • Can you describe it explicitly — outraged, irritated, mad, hostile, slow burn, furious, exasperated, chagrined, huffy, miffed, pissed, petulant, sullen, piqued?

Anger needs release. Anger builds toward action. This is where I think most of the problem lies. It’s not the anger itself, it’s what people do to release it that can be so destructive. People can emotionally and physically abuse others because they know no other way of releasing their anger. They finger-point and blame — and most of the time, other people are just doing the best they can, unable to read your mind.

When you’re angry, a different part of your brain is operating than the part that is able to have a dialogue, listen respectfully, and negotiate a solution. Respect that. Allow it. Just remember that.

What you do depends on the degree of your anger. If you feel annoyed, irritated, or dismayed, a few concise words can convey that with minimal damage. If you’re feeling really angry, like at least a 4, it’s more about you, not them.

Also, sometimes people feel their anger and recognize its intensity, but then they swallow it because they don’t want to be destructive but don’t know what else to do. That feels really miserable and isn’t a good solution to “the anger problem”.

  • So…here’s a new skill. When you feel so angry that you might say something you’ll regret, don’t even try to converse. Instead, move your body and make noise. Pace, stalk, make fists, punch a pillow, grimace, wave your arms. Dance with your anger. Growl and howl. You can even let loose a nice juicy string of curse words (or fake or foreign curse words) not aimed at anyone.

The other person witnessing your nonverbal anger may find your anger beautiful, or at least entertaining to watch (if they stay out of your way, right?).

Examine your anger later, when you’re calm. What triggered it? I’m guessing it was probably something you didn’t like, an injustice or injury, or a sense of invasion.

  • Ask yourself and the other party (if they’re willing) some good questions. Did someone violate one of your rules? Did they fail to read your mind? Could you have contributed to it? Did you communicate your preferences with clarity? Or could your rule conflict with their rule? Did they assume something about you that wasn’t true? How do you move forward? There’s a lot of room for understanding when you get to this stage of anger.
  • Also, was there another emotion behind the anger, like fear or hurt?

This is the best thing about anger, in my opinion. You learn more about yourself and the other person, and you’ll improve your communication skills. Sounds like a gift, doesn’t it?

~~~

As long as I’m posting about an emotion, I want to recommend a book that I found very helpful for understanding the emotions and the purpose each serves. It’s The Emotional Hostage, by Leslie Cameron-Bandler. It will help you decode your own emotions and those of others, understand the clear messages that each emotion conveys, and resolve your relationship problems more easily.

~~~

1/30/2012. Just encountered this quote from the Dalai Lama about anger:

When we are angry we are blind to reality. Anger may bring us a temporary burst of energy, but that energy is blind and it blocks the part of our brain that distinguishes right from wrong. To deal with our problems, we need to be practical and realistic. If we are to be realistic, we need to use our human intelligence properly, which means we need a calm mind.

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Yogadork’s guide to yoga community response to NY Times article

Posted on January 21, 2012 by

From the great Yogadork, here’s the complete and exhaustive guide to the yoga community’s response to the New York Times article about how yoga can wreck your body.

Thanks, Yogadork, for compiling this and for promising to add more as new responses surface.

I’m glad the conversation is happening. The original article seemed to deliberately fan some flames in order to promote a book by New York Times science reporter William J. Broad. A lot of egos are on the line — yoga in America has become an industry, a far cry from one of six schools of Indian philosophy.

The guide includes Part 2 of Leslie Kaminoff’s response to the controversy. He said in his workshop that he was about halfway through reading The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards (available for preorder, publication date is Feb. 7) and thinks it’s worth the read (even if possibly not entirely fair or accurate, still, good enough).

And with that, I’m bowing out of continuing to post about this controversy. After I read the book (and it’s not at the top of my reading list — gotta study for the massage licensing exam first), I’ll post a review.

Yoga (asana) has been part of my life since 1982. I feel fortunate to have discovered and made this practice part of my life. It’s transformed my being in all its koshas, brought me good health and spiritual gifts, and there’s still learning to be done. It’s blessed me.

My advice for preventing injuries is to work with good teachers who understand anatomy far beyond what’s required to become an RYT-200, teachers who teach small enough classes that they can really keep an eye on each student and keep them out of trouble.

Also, pay a lot of attention to what you’re doing. Use and cultivate your awareness.

Now that’s yoga.

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Sadie Nardini Responds to “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body”

Posted on January 20, 2012 by

Sadie Nardini Responds to “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body”. | elephant journal.

Here’s yet another response from a well-known yoga teacher to the controversial recent New York Times article. Sadie Nardini recommends that students concerned about the possibility of injuries choose instructors based on how much anatomy training they’ve had. Very little is required for the RYT-200 credential. I think it’s about 20 hours.

She mentions Leslie Kaminoff as being an expert on anatomy. I took a workshop with him today. Nearly half the class of 70 were yoga teachers. He showed us some of the Anatomy Trains cadaver video and a couple of Gil Hedley’s cadaver videos (I posted his video on “fuzz” previously).

Leslie and Amy Matthews have updated their book, Yoga Anatomy, which Sadie recommends.

She makes some good points, especially noting the contradictions in what Glenn Black said to the New York Times and what he said to the Huffington Post about his own yoga injuries and whether yogis should do headstand.

It’s your body–don’t trust it to just anyone. Ask any prospective yoga teacher what, if any yoga injuries they’ve had, and if, for example, they’re about to go into spinal surgery from years of severely over-expressing themselves in yoga posture, then move on.

In addition, each student has a responsibility to check themselves before they wreck themselves in class. You might not know everything about yoga poses or anatomy, but you do know the feeling when you’re pushing too hard.  So when the urge to go all agro on a pose arises, whether it’s to strain toward strength or flexibility, it’s ultimately up to you to resist the ego’s siren song–something that leads even more experienced yogis to push their limits, then act mystified at the fact that this supposedly ‘healing’ practice hurt them instead.

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My feel-good hack using yoga, spine aligner, breathing, TRE, and more yoga

Posted on January 17, 2012 by

I’m sharing a little feel-good hack I discovered today.

I used to hang upside down by my knees daily to lengthen my back and let gravity work the other direction. It’s a great way to put space between the vertebrae, lengthen the back muscles, and give the spinal nerves more space.

Well, I don’t have a way to hang in my trailer (until I get a yoga swing and hang it outside from a tree, maybe in the spring).

I’ve been experiencing some little kinks in my back, the kind of thing a chiropractor could easily adjust, but I don’t see mine until tomorrow.

Here’s what I did to release the kinks and energize myself for the day:

  1. To wake up and limber up, I did one very deep, very slow, very mindful round of surya namaskar/sun salutation, dropping deep into lunge and integrating a heart-opening variation of utthita parsvakonasana/extended side angle pose, vir 1/warrior 1, and later adho mukha svanasana/downdog with variations into the sequence. This is my true yoga love, sun salutation with infinite variations, my own custom every-day-is-different vinyasa tailored for my needs.
  2. I laid down on my yoga mat, picked up the spine aligner/ma roller (photo below), and placed the two middle knobs between two vertebrae between my shoulder blades, mid-way up. I breathed 10 breaths, then rolled it down one vertebrae. Repeated this all the way down to L5/sacrum. (If you are new to using this tool, start using it on a bed; otherwise, the discomfort will stop you.) It 
  3. Removed the spine aligner, placed my soles on the floor, and let my legs shake shake shake until all the tension was released, like in the Trauma Releasing Exercises. I hadn’t planned to do that. It just came up that I needed to release.
  4. I returned to yoga and did a reclining spinal twist with knees together that I learned from Eleanor Harris, my long-time yoga teacher. Sorry, not sure of the Sanskrit.

My back feels much better, and my energy is flowing well. This relaxation business is seriously fun and creative!

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