Monday Ballerinas

All photos from The Ballerina Project.

Mondays are a good day for beautiful ballerinas, wouldn't you say?

Hope you're feeling balanced, flexible, and light as you read this post. :)

For more ballerinas, go here or here. 

Parkour: Art in Movement

Parkour Visions: Meditation In Movement from Prana Living on Vimeo.

Yoga is an art of movement. So is parkour. Loving this video from PrAna's blog. So effortless!

Practice, Not Perfect Execution

Photos via Brandy Lyn Winfield, an incredible yogini who won the 2010 Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup and who teaches at Bikram Yoga Summerlin in Las Vegas, NV.

How many times does a Yoga Asana Championship-winning yogi practice a posture before taking home that trophy?

You'll never know. They lost count.

Or better yet, they never counted to begin with. Because it wasn't about the number of times they got it right. It was about trying again. Doing the best they could. Letting go of the rest.

Taking flight.

I recently read a lovely blog post by Bikram yogi Hannah over at Hannah Just Breathe about how there is always something we can learn from our practice. Even if we mess up and eat right before class, sitting in savasana can teach us to prepare better next time. Even if we've been to Teacher Training and back, we have more to learn from our instructors and the yogis around us about how to focus, how to let go, how to have fun.

Whether it's our first class or our 100th in a challenge, we are practicing strength and getting better by letting go of expectations instead of demanding perfection of ourselves.

As Hannah's teacher said, "Each time you come, each time you practice, you learn something new, about your body or yourself or the yoga.  It is the practice that’s important, not the perfect execution.”

Next time you get overwhelmed by your own mistakes, or frustrated by your yoga performance, I challenge you to reconsider the way you define your practice. Are you at the studio to experience the yoga and to detox your body and mind, or to impress your fellow yogis by executing the posture perfectly?

Will you fix your hair and shorts and wipe sweat so you look OK, or let it go and get down to business?

Who are you making eye contact with in the mirror -- your neighbor or your own steady gaze?

Do you bring home pride, or humility after class?

I was so proud of Joanna over at Lock the Knee when I read her recent post about how well she took disappointment when competing in regional yoga championships did not go exactly as planned. Basically, she didn't hit her Standing Bow the way she had been hoping to, and practicing for, but that didn't mean she was about to give up. And in case you were wondering, she's got a killer Standing Bow:

A true Bikram yogi and teacher. I mean, this lady's got it goin' on.

Instead of slinking off-stage, Juliana took her time completing the rest of the postures she had been practicing (as she says, "because at this point I didn't really care about the clock and I was still on stage in front of a whole ton of people.  I might as well do something nice before hanging up my leotard until next year!").

Sarcasm aside, instead of freaking out or getting upset, J was able to laugh off what didn't go as well as she hoped it would -- and she even posted about it on her blog in one of the most hilarious throwbacks to the awesome web comic Hyperbole and a Half I've ever read. She had fun, she did some great yoga, and she took home no regrets -- she practiced being calm and carrying on! -- and for that, The Dancing J should be super proud.

As should Hannah, her wise instructor, and the novice yogi who he counseled about coming to class on and empty stomach.

With these inspiring Bikram yogis in mind, I challenge you to reconsider your habits at the studio, and your true motives for engaging in this practice called yoga.

Next time you find yourself whining at yourself in the mirror about how you didn't achieve that last inch of depth in Half Moon, or how you didn't get your chin to shoulder in Standing Bow before falling out, shut your brain up.

Relax.

Bikram yoga is about practice, not perfect execution.

I love how delicate her toes are in this picture. So beautiful! You can believe it took some practice to get to this perfect execution.

Focus Forward Friday: Take Your Yoga with You!

Lindsay on top of a west-coast mountain doing Triangle. She is mighty!

Focus Forward Friday: A weekly ritual for deepening your Bikram practice.

Today's focus: travel! It's time to celebrate the upcoming trips that Hubs and I have coming up: Thanksgiving in Minneapolis, first week of December in Puerto Rico (for work), and Christmastime in California. I'm so excited!

I'm also thrilled to try some postures in exotic locations: maybe on the beach, in the woods, or even by a lake. Perhaps I can fit in a few classes at new studios.

Do you take your yoga with you when you travel?

Bailey at the beach. Love that Balancing Stick!

A graceful backbend.

My CA friend Lauren does a playful headstand overlooking San Francisco.

I love enjoying nature in an urban setting. Nice Standing Bow, lady!

Change Brings New Light

Sometimes change hits us in the heart like a windstorm. We are struck by the unexpected, the abrupt, the weight of the words as we utter them, turning toward a new path.

I sold the house.

I'm closing the store.

I'm leaving, and I won't be back.

How do we survive? How do we move on?

In yoga, there are postures that make us feel as though we're ready to pass out, puke, die. Often in the standing balancing series, toward the end of a long pose, we want to come out. To give up.

We make a choice: do I surrender, or do I breathe right through it? One more breath, one more moment. And then, the posture is over.

At the beginning of class, during deep breathing, a new flow of oxygenated blood to our brains may make us feel lightheaded, dizzy, even euphoric. This signals that we are experiencing a change -- a movement into a new state, a shift into meditation, a conscious and deliberate decision to rest in the present moment. During the breathing, we feel ourselves fully within the room and within our own bodies. Centered, whole, ready.

We become the breath.

We become the change, without panic, fear or hesitation.

In yoga, it is the breath that carries us through.

In his book The Wisdom of Yoga, Stephen Cope describes the transformational inner process which yoga guides us through. He highlights a passage from the Yoga Sutras to explain the changes that take place:

Being absorbed in the play of the mind's luminosity yields insight about the subtle, hidden, and distant.

Focusing with perfect discipline on the sun yields insight about the universe.

Focusing with perfect discipline on the moon yields insight about the stars' positions. 

(3.26-28)

Yoga brings the mind into focus by using the body, by placing it in space. When we can contextualize ourselves in a physical universe, we can then begin to explore the inner world of our mind, leading to greater self-understanding. Our understanding is likened to light, and has been described by various religions as "the light within" or "the divine light." Cope goes on to describe it beautifully:

"The compelling luminosity of 'deep mind' draws the seeker's awareness increasingly inward. In the yoga tradition, this increasing interiority is seen as a developmental imperative. All adult development moves from the external to the internal. That is to say, our experience of each stage of our 'waking up' process is inevitably one of deepening interiority...Introversion draws us into an exploration of the compelling inner structures of the mind."

Change can be hard. Change can hurt or heal, it can confuse us, it can leave us gasping for breath.

But at the moment when we become fearful, bewildered, distraught -- at our greatest moment of weakness -- we must remember that this change also brings new light.

Illinois Yoga Asana Championships @ Whole Foods Lincoln Park on Saturday

My friend Lindsay and I are going to be checking out the Illinois Yoga Championships this weekend. Hope to see you there! I'm excited to watch the talented yogis perform! They will be doing these poses:

• Standing Forehead to Knee
• Standing Bow
• Bow
• Rabbit
• Stretching
• Two other postures based on personal preference

Judges will be looking for posture alignment, grace, movement, stability, confidence, balance, general appearance and stage presence. Whew! It's going to be intense! And, um, awesome. For more info about the event, see here.

The event is sponsored by Bikram Yoga Andersonville.

Poetry in the Posture: Toe Stand

Photo Via LifeInterstitial's Flickr Photostream.

So I've recently fallen in love with the last posture of the standing series: Toe Stand. A posture that will test your patience, develop your focus, and seriously work out the muscles in your feet, Toe Stand is a great one for yogis who have been attending Bikram awhile and really want to get deep into the meditation. Don't be worried if it takes you awhile -- it's a difficult posture to do -- but if you stick with it, the thrill of floating right above the floor will pay off. Plus, you free your knees and ankles of rheumatism, arthritis and gout, and you strengthen your stomach. Go, toe standers!


Also, a little poem dedicated to the posture. Enjoy, my yogis!

Balance Alone

We support ourselves

on point, on perfect

balance, both sides equal,

mind and body made even.

Steady eyes level

the mind. A gaze

goes a thousand miles,

a clear empty cloud –

being without thoughts the ideal –

goes farther.

Implausibility achieved:

what would appear to be

floating.

Our bodies made clear,

empty, like clouds

floating, hovering, we linger.

Our bodies made into birds,

small perched perfection

grown from a tree,

held closer to the ground

as if we were sparrows

who have been calmed,

no longer the flitting, stir-crazy

creatures they generally seem to be.

Here, we sit on our own energy.

We need not flit

from corner to corner

of a sidewalk, hopping,

making our own flittering

dance of jumps and nerves…

We are not sparrows.

We are still. We get here

by trust in our own bodies,

we carry this moment

motionless harmony of thoughtlessness –

the mind filled only by equilibrium,

balance alone –

what we bring to the beach,

the busy street,

the tallest woods,

prideful in their soaring limbs,

steady trunks…

the balanced bodies

we take home after class.

The Teaching Matters: Thoughts on the McYoga Myth and Tasty Classes

Bikram yoga is the tastiest, but every class has its own flavor.

Recently I had one of the most uplifting, empowering Bikram classes I’ve ever experienced. And it had nothing to do with me.

Well, nothing to do with my ability to execute 26 solid postures, anyway.

That’s right – the 90-minute meditation was inspiring, exhilarating and forgiving because the teacher teaching freaking rocked it.

You may have heard the phrase “McYoga” used to describe Bikram – which implies that because the dialogue drives the yoga so fully in each class, it makes the style predictable, able to be repeated, and therefore somewhat terrible. In the contexts I’ve read, “McYoga” seems to refer to the downsides of marketability, regularity and subsequent monotony.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a super-vegan McDonald’s protestor or anything, but I completely disagree with the suggestion inherent in this so-called “definition” of Bikram yoga that it sucks just because you can predict the order and techniques in class.
If you’ve actually done Bikram a number of times, you know: every class is totally different.

The teachers vary immensely in their style, strictness, and delivery tone with the dialogue. Some are more positive than others; some are more calming and soothing. Some hold postures a little longer. Some tell funny stories; some let the silence fill the room.

And teachers aren’t robots, either. In the same way that your body and mind feel different during every class you attend, a teacher also experiences variability in his or her mood, focus, and energy depending on the day and depending on the time of day of class. When you think about it, this is a good thing! It keeps us open-minded and open-hearted about approaching the yoga from wherever we are in the moment.
We don't have to struggle to transform the yoga to fit our needs; instead, we do our best to let the yoga work in us.

As my super-compassionate teacher always says, "Quit the Monkey Mind!" This means: give up your own resistance, your stronghold on controlling all of your thoughts and movements all the time. Let it go.

The other day as we began the first set of standing bow, my teacher said, "What if I told you I'd give you a million bucks not to fall out of this set? Would you set your mind to it? See, that changes the game...alright, let's go! Right hand to the right..."

She caught my attention with this statement. Oh, I realized. That's true: I could be a little more determined if I just found a way to let go of all the distractions, all of the no you can'ts going on in my head, all of that madness and drama that's supposed to be anywhere but inside these walls.

And then, in second set, she literally brought a smile to my face. As I stood motionless staring into my face in the mirror, desperately trying to slow my heart rate, finally escaping the Monkey Mind's blabber, she simply said:

"You are all worth more than a million bucks. Here we go: second set!"

So, my dear readers and yogis, make no mistake. Just like Starbucks (the epitome of corporate uniformity between stores) can blend your frappucino with the wrong mixture of ice and flavored syrup and leave you sucking oversweet sips or annoying chips through your green straw, Bikram teachers can stumble in the Torture Chamber. They can mispronounce words, forget postures, fall behind schedule.

But if you're anything like me, you've come to notice how more often than not, they nail it. They get it right, all 90 minutes long. The teachers kill it, and somehow motivate you to absolutely kill yourself for all of class and use 100% exertion all the way through.

And then both of you stroll out of the studio, all smiles, ready to enjoy your well-deserved 100% relaxation and newly-found confidence. Or -- what the heck -- a McFlurry every now and then! Some sorbet, at least? Hey, it's hot out this summer :)

Double Down: The Night in Which I Become The Flower Petal Blooming

It happened.

(Read: I did it I did it I did it!)

Last night, I completed my first back-to-back Bikram yoga double. Cue triumphant trance music and wild hands-in-the-air dancing! (Go on; you know you want to.)

I must say, it was pretty extreme… but also surprisingly doable. I made it through the first class no problem, focusing on it in my mind as an extended warm-up. My favorite teacher helped make the 90 minutes a chance to feel empowered, strong and totally resilient. She always does a lovely job of reminding all of us yogis that there’s “a great group energy in the room” and she pumps us up and pushes us hard all the way until we’ve twisted our spines like pearl necklaces, and blown out every birthday candle that’s 60 feet in front of us.

Anyway, as I lay in final savasana and joyfully relaxed every muscle and listened to the instructor announce, “You did it! You made it. Now let it go,” I quickly thought to myself Not so fast! Only halfway there. And you got this.

And as it turns out, I did. After a quick freshening up – a costume change, downing a VitaCoco and protein-charged granola bar, refilling the water bottle, grabbing a soft and clean towel, and sending a “one down, one to go! I feel great” text to the beau – I was back on the mat, ready to go.

It was awesome: as I stood there on my mat, re-engaging in my usual pre-Bikram warm-up, I could feel this bright, pure sense of relaxation wash over me. The heat of the room felt so comforting, like being wrapped up in a cozy blanket and fuzzy slippers in front of a fireplace and watching the snow fall outside, the whole earth held in a supple, perfect hush.

Here I was in class #2, my body in a perfect calm. No nerves. No pre-class fear or anticipation. No stress.

No nothing, just me and the mirror. All of a sudden I am nowhere except right here:

It was the best feeling in the hot room I’ve ever experienced. And then it got better.

So another of my favorite teachers comes striding in to start class (Special bonus: two teachers in one night! Usually they’ll teach back-to-back classes, but I lucked out and got a mix. Yoga gods on my side for sure!).

“So this is Bikram’s beginning yoga class. Hands and feet at the center of your mats and towels. Stay in the room for 90 minutes…”

Here I am, standing at the center of the universe, and I’m not even hearing these words. I just am them.

Ah, thiiiis is that increased focus I’ve been reading out, I realize as we launch into pranayama.

And my body’s not the same, either: the lungs move open and close like deep, soft, elastic balloons. The belly swells and falls with the lightness of a butterfly’s wings touching. There is no usual tension or stiffness, no cumbersome battle to overcome the breath, only a body that floats – simple, wholesome, like velvety steam rising from water.

The spine is brand new.

I descend into half moon like it’s a deep, cool body of water. Each fiber and system is blurred beneath the hazy surface. I drift and flow. I am my own breath. Padahastasana comes and goes like a quiet wave.

“Alright, time for the first back bend. Don’t be scared, drop your head back, let it go, let it hang, look for the wall behind you…”

Generally at this point in the practice I am resisting the dialogue, holding something back. I am busy thinking about the outside world or shaking off the sweat. I am elsewhere.

Not here, not today. In this second class of wonder and delight, I am in the backbend.

I have let go of my resistance and this allows the posture to take hold of me. The lower half of my back becomes a flower petal blooming.

I am the flower petal blooming!

And I descend down farther toward the floor than I ever have – my dive smooth and effortless, like I’ve always been meant to be here. I can feel my spine lengthening, stretching wonder of wonders, and I see my mat coming into focus before my eyes.

I feel so good. I am on top of the world. I am a Bikram warrior, one step closer to my dreams of extreme flexibility held within pure relaxation.

The rest of class flies by as I rock standing series, chill through the floor sequence, and finish out strong. It’s all downhill after that initial backbend, although all along the way I keep wondering if there will be any other significant breakthroughs. The rest of the meditation is pretty standard as far as form goes, but my concentration and motivation are off the charts!

I walk out of the studio feeling pretty proud of myself and actually shiver a little bit at the icy blast of air conditioning. After all that time in the heat, I was beginning to enjoy the cozy atmosphere. And as weird as it sounds, when I finished the second class I actually experienced a sensation along the lines of: I could keep doing this yoga all night long and it would feel great! How true that is, no one actually knows (I mean, I was also pooped and perfectly ready to head home for a shower and bite to eat!), but it was a pretty inspiring moment.

Oh, and perhaps the most inspiring moment followed soon after:

I pack up and start to stroll out the studio door, basking in my toxin-free yoga glow, little shy grins eeking out the corners of my mouth. And expert yogi teacher of class #2 who got me through the beautiful hot mess that was my double turns to me with a big, fat smile, two thumbs up, and loudly proclaims:

“That was hard-core! Two classes back to back, nice. You’re lookin’ good in there!”

My eyebrows go up in surprise, my cheeks flush, and I make small talk as a feeling of satisfaction fills my belly. I mutter joyfully about the backbend release, tripping over my words a bit as I try to concentrate on anything but the fact that one of the most bad-ass yoga teachers at my studio just called me hard-core.

He wishes me a restful night, and I buzz my way out into the night air, little hop-skips entering my steps.

I’m beaming.

Bringing Out Your "Best" In the Heat: How to Battle Anger and Disappointment While Trying to Hold a Solid Standing Balancing Series

Photo Via Jana Cruder Photography.

Sometimes I walk into the hot room and experience immediate bliss: a warm blend of relief by the slackening of tight muscles, joy in the softness of the sultry air as it surrounds me, and comfort within the stillness, silence and tranquil dimness of the space.

And then sometimes I walk into the hot room and just think, “FML… it’s hot in here!” and start to wonder how I’m going to survive the next 90 minutes.

Sometimes I hear people walk in that door and directly announce their surprise at the boiling temperature, too: “Whoa, it’s hot!” They then proceed to glance around with a look of surprise, both at the heat and the fact that they’ve audibly disrupted the peaceful hush of the room. My favorite part of this routine is the “No sh**, dummy!” looks all of the regular Bikram yogis give the loud person as they scowl and send disapproving vibes in their general direction. 

This is Bikram. Simon says IN HELL, the room seems to be saying in one silent, furious whisper. Did you not get that you were signing up for yoga in a 105-degree room? Hellooooo?

Hey, at least I don’t verbally proclaim my dismay at the heat I willingly enter a few minutes before class begins.

On the other hand, it never ceases to astound me how often the heat can bring out the worst in me – those emotions I generally tend to hide from or simply pretend just aren’t even real.

Anger. Resentment. Frustration. Self-loathing. Insecurity. Regret. Discontent.

Anywhere from mild annoyance to downright rage and full-fledged letdown, sometimes the heat puts me face-to-face with the frenzied side of me I wish wasn’t seething beneath the surface.

I’m not generally an angry or confrontational person in everyday life, so having these sensations and excesses all up in my face all of a sudden can be a bit devastating. Especially when I generally intend to use yoga as a time to detox, let go, and get out of my own head.

Sometimes, too, it’s a matter of seeing reflected back at me all of the drama and madness of real-life that needs to get left outside the glass doors but somehow managed to sneak in with me and my mat… like the feeling of my heart dropping out of my chest as I read an email from a long-time friend who says she won’t be joining me at my upcoming wedding in August. Talk about a sucker punch to the stomach: now that makes me feel loved and special.

Or how about my livid reaction to every poke and prod from parents or friends about what tiny retarded details need to get done today today today for said wedding. What color napkins? Did you call the florist? Are you sure your friends will show up to help set up chairs?! Garrrr, people. I know all the party planning is supposed to be gosh-darn hootin-hollerin’ fun, but sometimes a girl just wants to work, do the yoga, and get home for some dinner and snuggles and a couple episodes of Prison Break, not another 8-foot-long To Do List.

Or take these timely favorites: my ultimate dissatisfaction with waking up in the morning feeling like I’ve been hit by a two-ton truck. And not because I’m hung over or under-slept, but because I’ve been having these freaky, depressing, and downright terrifying dreams from the moment my head hits the pillow to the second the alarm sounds. Exhaustion sucks, man.

And of course, there’s the lovely sense of entrapment and longing for the outside summer world just beyond my reach that surrounds me from 9am to 5pm every day, just taunting me out the crystal-clear windows in the office. I can SEE you, Lake Michigan, sparkling your sparkly blue just right along the horizon there! I can see you, scantily clad Evanston residents, out there sauntering around enjoying the sunshine in your tank tops and flip flops! Gaawwwsh. Go ahead, be more taunting, won’t you?

Alright this is the point in the blog post when I admit to myself and to my readers how I really shouldn’t be whining so. You’ve probably stopped reading anyway, what with all this self-indulgent wallowing mucking up the page, but just in case you’re still with me, I’ll try and bring back a relevant point that relates to the yoga.

I was recently reminded over at Bikram Yoga NYC’s blog how “Bikram yoga can teach you that anger is as pointless as fatigue – natural, maybe, but only an inconvenience somewhat like rain: an obstacle to surmount. Doing Bikram teaches you that agitation of any type fades, and after it does, seeing the next right move is not so hard. All that heat lets cool reason prevail.”

Now this is a pretty slick idea, when you stop and think about it. The concept that by doing Bikram you can actually overcome your anger and fear – and flush it out your system just like all the other junk the postures help get rid of – is such a relief! What freedom there is in that.

It’s like any challenge, really: the longer you wait to face it head on, the harder it becomes and the more of a mountain you’ll have to climb over in the end. But if you make straight up facing it your priority, and incorporate it into your daily routine and your weekly yoga practice, the fury fades faster.

Letting go of exasperation and other inhibiting emotions during your 90-minute meditations at Bikram can also help you deepen your practice. How else do you expect to find the intense focus and balance needed for the standing balancing series? I speak from personal experience when I say that it’s pretty darn hard to hit your personal edge for Standing Head to Knee and not wobble all over the place if all you can think about is something offensive you heard at work, or a past hurt you can’t get over.

Practice being in your practice only in the room – a blank slate with no emotions, no distractions, no irritations. And hey, after a while, even the heat will start to feel good.

Photo Via CortexForce's Flickr Photostream.