Who: Curvy yogis
What: Photo shoot for Yoga Journal Talent Search and Curvy Yoga’s Gallery of Curves
When: Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! {Said in your best announcer voice}
Time: Noon
Place: It’s All Yoga
Photographer: VVVanessa
Bring your lovely smile, two or three form-fitting yoga outfits, pose ideas and your confidence.
A flash drive and/or CD to deliver your photos will be greatly appreciated too.
Please contact me at TGBTSblog at gmail (dot) com with questions.
See you there!
Tip #1 – Yoga Can Help Teach You Patience
School teachers need an abundance of patience. Dealing with classroom disruptions, endless meetings, the bureaucratic nature of our jobs. And let’s not forget the endless repetition of hearing your own name thousands of times a day.
Since most of us need much more patience than we naturally have, I would venture to say one would make an absolute fortune should one find a way to bottle and sell patience.
Yoga can teach you patience.
Let me rephrase that: yoga has taught me to have much more patience and I think it can help you too.
Here’s an example of how yoga has let me practice learning patience: learning a new yoga pose gives me lots of opportunities to practice patience.
First, I have to come to grips with the physical and mental limitations of my body at the time.
My arms seem to suddenly be shorter than necessary.
My legs seem impossibly long (not in the good way).
My wrists are delicate little things when what is required is strength and flexibility.
My personal favorite: I’m tired.
Face it, some poses are just out of my reach right now.
I could get all caught up in the striving – must.do.it.now – or I can relax and understand with practice and yes, patience, I may find that pose becomes easier over time.
Tip #2 – Yoga Can Heighten Your Sense of Patterns and Deepen Your Awareness
In my first few years of teaching, I pretty much abandoned all activities that weren’t directly related to school.
Big mistake.
I thought by creating a laser-like focus on my job, I’d somehow skip over the learning process of becoming a teacher. Mostly, I just burnt myself out.
Since I started practicing yoga on a regular basis, my teaching has dramatically improved.
By stepping away from the classroom, I’ve been able to notice patterns of behavior – mine and theirs.
The time away has given me insights into how my mood, stress level and attitude is reflected in my students. I was able to see that I get back what I put out there.
Time on the mat has also freed up space in my brain to see behavior triggers and stop them before they become an issue.
It’s not that I’m spending all this time on my mat thinking about work either.
It’s like when you are working, working, working on a problem and then you get up to take a walk. You clear your mind and suddenly the answer comes to you while you’re walking. That happens all the time on my mat.
One last lesson I’ve learned from yoga about patterns:
Everything changes.
The good things are temporary.
The impossible-to-stand-for-even-a-second-longers are also temporary.
Tip #3 – Breathing Is A Good Thing
One of the many things I’ve been reminded of over and over during my Fred Jones Classroom Management training this year is the importance of two relaxing breaths.
Pausing to take two relaxing breaths before you take on any teaching situation can help everything (including you!) stay calmer.
According to Fred Jones, “Calm is strength.”
How has yoga or another activity helped you at work?
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If you enjoyed this post, get email updates (it’s FREE).
Teachers.
Don’t you just love them?
I know I do.
There are those that inspire me and those that make me laugh. Some help me solve problems in my classroom and others that help me solve problems in my life.
I’d like to introduce you to some of my favorite teachers here.
Teachers in studios, classrooms and in the world at large. These are the folks you will see featured in my new series of interviews here at Teacher Goes Back to School.
I hope you enjoy these teachers as much as I do!
In case you missed PART ONE with Ryan Fong.
When did you start practicing yoga?
My first yoga class was probably 8-10 years ago now, when I took an intro series at the now-closed Free Spirit Studio. In the years since, I have wandered on and off the mat at various points. But in this last round, I’ve been practicing at It’s All Yoga since June of 2009.
Why did you start practicing yoga?
I initially started coming to yoga in search of an exercise program that would work for me. I wanted something that would help cultivate both flexibility and strength, and I was also looking for a form of exercise that didn’t feel like punishment.
As a very overweight person, traditional gyms have been an incredibly toxic environment for me because I find their overall philosophy to be about beating your body in to submission in order to achieve a supposed physical ideal. Whenever I walked into one, I always felt incredibly self-conscious about my body and weight, and always felt like I didn’t belong.
As I became more familiar with yoga, I was intrigued by the way that it encouraged you to inhabit and honor your body–and the importance of attending to your mind and spirit as a crucial part of self-care.
For me, yoga brings the right balance: a strength building discipline that is also about getting your body, mind and soul all in better “shape.”
Where did you practice?
I’ve practiced at Free Spirit Studio and Shanti Studio, both of which are now closed. My yoga home is now It’s All Yoga.
How has your practice evolved over time?
In reading over my answer to question six, I’m realizing that I probably wouldn’t have even been able to think of yoga in those terms when I first started, or more accurately, to really believe them.
Throughout my practice, I’ve struggled with feelings of competitiveness and with releasing the negative thoughts of “You need to sweat and work harder and hold this pose because you’re a bad person for eating those cookies and getting so fat.”
There was a time when I couldn’t practice in the same room as my partner because I would get so steaming mad when he could do a pose that I had mentally deemed “impossible” and “only for the super bendy.”
Much of shifting away from that mindset has been in learning about the facets of yoga that go beyond the poses. It has also been about finding a yoga home where I’ve learned how to not necessarily silence the committee of howling negativity monkeys in my head, but at least to not give them so much power. I’m slowly getting more comfortable in my own skin (which probably has a lot to do with being 30 instead of 20!), and I’ve come to see the place of yoga in my life as less of an activity and more as a way of being.
Do you have a home practice? What is it like? How often? Where? How’d you start and how do you keep at it?
I wish I had a regular home practice. I’m still struggling with that.
Right now, I’m focusing on a regular home meditation practice that I do every morning. I got a Zafu for my birthday, and I think it’s really going to help facilitate that. Finding a good space has been a bit of a challenge, as the living room is the only place in the house that works but at the same time, it doesn’t feel quite right. I’m trying to just let it be and not wait for things to be “perfect” to start on it thought.
My intention right now and for the near future is to just sit my butt on my Zafu and meditate for 10-15 minutes each morning. That, in and of itself, is a challenging edge for me to work with.
What’s your favorite pose? Why?
Because I’ve really come to see Nataraja as a personal icon and spiritual avatar, I love Lord of the Dance. {You can read more about that on my blog}
I also have really tight hips, so going into Figure 4 at the wall and pigeon are some of the most opening poses for me. A prop laden Savasana after a more active practice is heaven.
Pretty much anything involving props is a good thing. {I couldn’t agree more!}
What’s your least favorite pose?
I hate Happy Baby. In my head, I call it Angry Baby.
My ample stomach doesn’t allow me to grip my feet or even my shins, and so the howler monkey committee can really get going when everyone else is blissing out. (Of course, that in itself a big fat story of negative self-talk: thinking I am the only one in the whole room who is experiencing challenge in a pose.)
Plus, holding my legs up like that just fatigues my ab muscles and puts a lot of tension and strain into my upper shoulders.
How do you bring your yoga practice into your teaching practice?
How does your teaching practice influence your yoga practice?
Both of these questions are a little difficult to answer, because I’ve tended not to think of them together. I’ve thought a lot about the relationship between my yoga practice and the process of writing my dissertation. They truly represent the yin and the yang in my life and my quest for balance. A lot of my stuff shows up when I’m on the mat and when I’m writing at my computer, and so there’s a lot of interplay between both spaces of work.
In graduate school, we are encouraged to think of teaching a the compartmentalized thing we do to get paid. It’s the thing that we have to do in order to do the thing that’s actually valuable (meaning, our research, which will allegedly be the thing were most judged on in the academy).
I’ve tried to cultivate a greater sense of investment in my teaching than that–by teaching things that I’m interested in and pieces of literature I’m passionate about–but it’s hard to think about teaching being as central to my life as either writing or yoga. That’s more than a little ironic given that I’m in this to eventually get a teaching position at a college or university.
I hadn’t realized how much I had absorbed the research-centric focus of the university until just now. It’s a bit embarrassing to be honest. I can say though that this answer certainly has cultivated a greater awareness of the way I categorize and create boundaries around different parts of my life and work.
Please leave any questions or comment love below:
If you want to learn more about Ryan – Deep Homework and Two of Us Riding Somewhere.
INTERVIEW ARCHIVES:
September 2010: Michelle Marlahan– Proprietress/Fairy Queen of It’s All Yoga in Sacramento, California.
Teachers.
Don’t you just love them?
I know I do.
There are those that inspire me and those that make me laugh. Some help me solve problems in my classroom and others that help me solve problems in my life.
I’d like to introduce you to some of my favorite teachers here.
Teachers in studios, classrooms and in the world at large. These are the folks you will see featured in my new series of interviews here at Teacher Goes Back to School.
I hope you enjoy these teachers as much as I do!
Ryan Fong is October’s Featured Teacher. I met Ryan at the studio and we went on a yoga retreat together this summer.
What and where do you teach?
I teach English literature and composition at UC Davis.
This quarter, though, I’m a teaching assistant for a Women and Gender Studies course, which is a bit of a change. It’s the introductory level course, so it’s a big 200 person lecture, but I have two 25-student discussion sections were we get to work through the history of feminism and think about the role of gender in our daily lives, especially as it intersects with other facets of our identity.
What is your teaching history?
I still feel relatively new to teaching, even though I’ve been doing it for quite a while now. My first “official” teaching happened when I was a TA as an undergrad, where I assisted in both English and Sociology classes.
As a graduate student at UC Davis, they start us out at TAs for literature classes for majors and then let us teach our own courses for the remainder of our time there. That’s where I’ve taught both Introduction to Literature and freshman writing.
What brought you to teaching?
One of my big mentors growing up was my aunt, who was a high school English teacher and is now the Executive Director of the California Writing Project. She was the one who would always buy me books for Christmas and birthdays growing up, and she really instilled a love of language and learning in me.
My family is generally filled with teachers, so when I decided a long time ago in about 7th or 8th grade that I wanted to be a teacher, I got a lot of support. My parents are both pretty avid readers, and would read to me when I was a kid.
When I went to college, I decided I wanted to be an English professor, because I loved the freedom and intellectual rigor of the university classroom. I went to a small liberal arts school where teacher-student interaction was and is really prized, and I decided that creating the kind of rich classroom environments I found there was what I wanted to do.
Now that I am reaching the end of my graduate student career, I’m facing the realization that being a professor will ultimately not be up to me, based on how the economy is looking and the realities of an incredibly competitive academic job market. Nevertheless, I know in one way or another, teaching (in the largest sense) is my calling.
Tell us about your blog
I actually have two blogs.
The first—Two Of Us Riding Somewhere – – is a blog that I started recently to record my 30th birthday roadtrip to the Pacific Northwest with my partner. It’s been so much fun, and I think it will be a regularly maintained blog that will record our experiences traveling, eating, and seeing natural and urban wonders!
My second blog Deep Homework.
This is a much more personal blog that is focused on issues of spiritual growth and my quest for balance and well-being.
About a year ago now, I had a tarot reading with my uncle’s partner, Greg — a reading that was prompted by the changing of the seasons and the shift from fall into winter. It was a cold day out in San Francisco, and I was feeling like I was on the cusp of a big change. At the same time, I felt like I was incredibly stuck.
What came out in the reading was that I could either slip into the quietude of sameness and continue to be stuck in my old patterns or I could embrace the process of engaging in what Greg called “deep homework.”
The result of that homework, the reading portended, was nothing short of a radical rebirth and transformation. I started the blog as one part of my effort to do that “deep homework.”
Being a classic extrovert, I need to write and talk to actually know what I’m thinking and to give the endless circles of conversation in my head some direction and shape. The blog has thus become a place to really work through my stuff in writing, while also exploring my new discoveries in yoga, meditation and Eastern spirituality.
What other blogs do your read? Why?
I read your blog {awww…} and Michelle’s blog with regularity and occasionally I drift on to other people’s blogs from the studio. {see the TGBTS Yoga Story links} Since my blog is so yoga based, I like reading other blogs that are using the sphere to explore those particular issues.
As a foodie, I’ll also come in and out of browsing food blogs like Bakerella, Pioneer Woman Cooks and Prudence Pennywise. My two favorite local food blogs are Sac Food In the Hood and one by my cousin-in-law, Out of the Kitchen.
Who and what inspires you?
I have many people who inspire me.
Please leave any questions or comment love below:
If you want to learn more about Ryan – Deep Homework and Two of Us Riding Somewhere.
Stay tuned for Part 2 – Ryan is a Yogi!
INTERVIEW ARCHIVES:
September 2010: Michelle Marlahan– Proprietress/Fairy Queen of It’s All Yoga in Sacramento, California.
One of my absolute favorite poems.
I share it in my yoga classes and now with you here.
Don’t Expect Applause
And yet, wouldn’t it be welcome
At the end of the each ordinary day?
The audience could be small, the theater modest,
Folding chairs in the church basement would do,
Just a short, earnest burst of applause
That you got up that morning
And one way or another you made it through the day
You soaked up in the steaming shower
Drank your Starbucks in the car
And let the guy with the windex wipe your windshield
At the long red light at broad street.
Or maybe you were that guy, not daring to light up as you stood there because everyone’s so down on smoking these days.
Or you kissed your wife as she hurried out the door,
Even though you were pretty sure she was meeting her lover
At the flamingo motel,
Even though you wanted to grab her by a hank of her sleek hair.
Maybe your son’s in jail, your daughter’s stopped eating
And your husband’s still dead this morning,
Just like he was yesterday and the day before that.
And yet you put on your shoes and go for a walk
And when a neighbor says good morning
You say good morning back.
Would a round of applause be amiss?
Even if you weren’t good, if you yelled at your kid
Poisoned the ants, drank too much,
And said that really stupid thing you promised yourself you wouldn’t say.
Even if you don’t deserve it.
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What are your thoughts? Wouldn’t it be nice at the end of an ordinary day?
photo credit: ashlee gadd
Who: You
What: YogaNap – a little restorative yoga class taught by me.
When: The resting is Friday, September 17th
The class begins at 4:30 {register online to reserve your place – space is limited}
Please come early to start the resting before class.
Where: It’s All Yoga – Sacramento, CA
Why: Wouldn’t it be nice to just rest?
What are you doing to take care of yourself this week?
Don’t you just love them?
I know I do.
There are those that inspire me and those that make me laugh. Some help me solve problems in my classroom and others that help me solve problems in my life.
I’d like to introduce you to some of my favorite teachers here.
Teachers in studios, classrooms and in the world at large. These are the folks you will see featured in my new series of interviews here at Teacher Goes Back to School.
I hope you enjoy these teachers as much as I do!
First up, my primary yoga teacher, Michelle Marlahan– Proprietress/Fairy Queen of It’s All Yoga in Sacramento, California.
In case you missed it, here is Part One – Yoga Basics.
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photo credit: ashlee gadd
Your studio called It’s All Yoga.
What does that mean?
It means pretty much what it sounds like. Everything can be seen as yoga (with the big y). It isn’t the shapes we make on our mats. It isn’t taking your cute mat bag and new pants to class because it’s hip right now. It isn’t using the lingo and om-ing and having a “namaste” sticker on your car.
I would say the less obvious it is, the more authentic it is… The idea that “holiness is a mysterious thing: the greater it is, the less it is noticed” (unknown author).
“it’s all yoga” is:
To consider and live from the idea of non-harming, for example, would probably mean a pretty big shift in most of our lives: gossip, environmental impact, actual violence.
It can seem overwhelming or unrealistic, and while changes like that take an incredible amount of awareness, I think it’s actually quite possible to live in this modern world by these principles.
Middle path, baby.
Do you have a meditation practice?
Yes, and… It too changes. Sometimes it’s more reflective, as in the process of journaling. Sometimes it’s just 5 minutes of sitting.
I would say, though, that this is the single most important and powerful thing we can do: to sit with the ever-changing flow of ourselves… Thought, feeling, sensation… Without being swept away and impressed/depressed by it all. Just to be with.
You’ve said yoga will “ruin” your life as you know it… What did you mean by that? And how has it ruined yours?
It’s completely ruined mine! I think you’re never off the hook. Once you know about the philosophy and “the path,” you know when you’re off it.
Recently I went to a party and some friends were talking about another person who was not there. The talk was not kind (*not* ahimsa) and probably not entirely true (*not* satya).
I didn’t get up and leave the conversation and it’s really heavy on me this morning. My body told me to get up—I felt a little nauseas (another way you’re *ruined*—you’re more aware of your physical and emotional feelings). I even had dreams about it last night.
But I didn’t say anything or excuse myself, and I can’t change it, and there’s no sense in berating myself (back to ahimsa). So I take this experience and set the intention to do it differently next time.
{Click here to read about MM’s No-Talking-About-People-Experiment}
What is your blog – Blogasana: Daring Self-Care Through Yoga and Other Wacky Practices – about?
Life.
Self care.
My struggles.
What other blogs do your read? Why do you read what you read?
I read the blogs of friends, mostly to stay in touch and relate to their lives.
I’ve stopped reading people I don’t have some kind of connection with. It can get so overwhelming. I was having the feeling of constantly “catching up” and feeling like I would miss the secret of my life if I didn’t read them all!
Who and what inspires you?
Nature.
Animals.
My hubby.
My friends and family.
Little things. When we leave a restaurant, Ron will take our leftovers to a homeless person. When he hands it to them, he calls them “brother.” it gets me every time.
Please leave any questions or comment love below:
If you want to learn more about Michelle or 13 Things We Believe at It’s All Yoga:
She’s on Twitter at @michelmarlahan
Subscribe to her blog and all the goodness comes directly to your email – Blogasana: Daring Self Care Through Yoga (and Other Wacky Practices)
{Michelle’s photo credit: Ashlee Gadd}
{click images for source}
I feel it is my duty to clear up a common misconception about people who “do yoga.”
We (yoga peeps) are not somehow exempt from the negative feelings of everyday life.
We experience real feelings of jealousy, rage, pettiness and my personal favorite – defensiveness. Call it the dark side, the unpopular, the stuffed down deep – however you think of the “negative” feelings – we feel them too.
Over the last year as my yoga and non-yoga lives have come together and as more and more people think of me as someone who “does yoga” — I have been on the receiving end more than once of someone telling me that something I’ve said or done isn’t very “yogic.”
Say what?
Not very yogic?
What the f*ck does that mean?
Maybe I was mad and talked some sh*t about someone. Maybe I dropped an F-bomb (or 12), or maybe I bit someone’s head off after they said something stupid… (for example when someone pointed out what I just did or said was wasn’t very “yogic”).
Seriously.
Real life (and real yoga) is messy.
Both are full of challenges and frustrations. Sometimes resentment and anger and pettiness come up and bite you in the ass leaving you wondering where the hell that came from. On my mat (and off) I’ve experienced fear, pain and crying.
It’s not pretty. But it is what it is.
It’s all yoga, people.
The good, the bad and the ugly.
Real yoga isn’t about sitting in lotus with your head in the clouds with a smile on your face all the time. Or about saving face and keeping it all even keeled.
I’m calling bullsh*t on that, people.
The true aim is to find self-acceptance in what is happening right now, in this moment. And being ok with it. Even if it is an unpleasant or unpopular feeling like jealousy or envy.
Knowing that both the good and the bad feelings will come and go and to let things be as they are. No judgement, just noticing.
Michelle shared a poem in class this morning all about looking into the face of your fears and into the darkness.
That is what yoga really is, facing the unflattering parts of yourself and cutting yourself some slack. And maybe even finding some compassion and acceptance for the less popular parts of yourself.
Don’t let people (or yourself) try to stuff you into their limited view about what is “yogic” – remember whatever rises is what is real.
Does someone you know try to deny the unpretty parts of you? Do you do it to yourself?
Image: esty
Teachers.
Don’t you just love them?
I know I do.
There are those that inspire me and those that make me laugh. Some help me solve problems in my classroom and others that help me solve problems in my life.
I’d like to introduce you to some of my favorite teachers here.
Teachers in studios, classrooms and in the world at large. These are the folks you will see featured in my new series of interviews here at Teacher Goes Back to School.
I hope you enjoy these teachers as much as I do!
First up, my primary yoga teacher, Michelle Marlahan– Proprietress/Fairy Queen of It’s All Yoga in Sacramento, California.
When did you start practicing yoga?
I started practicing yoga in the mid 90s. There was a wellness program at my job (UC Davis Medical Center) and they started offering yoga.
This really sweet woman, who, I now know, did mostly calisthenics, taught the classes for about a year. It was easy lovely stretching. Then she left and a new teacher came in who took it up a notch. It was more physical. In one class she did a modified side plank on the knee, which I’d done before, and she added the “if you want to make this more challenging…” and took her bottom leg back into full side plank.
In that moment, for some reason, it clicked for me that there was a lot more to this “yoga” than I’d been experiencing. I set out to discover what that was.
Why did you start practicing yoga?
Honestly, I started because it was there. It was convenient, someone else in my department was going, it was easy. And then, of course, I got hooked.
It also brought part of myself that had been separated or compartmentalized together. I grew up going to church and had continued here in Sacramento through college. I loved the ritual, the reverence and the discipline of going every week. But over time I stopped participating in all the responses (I was catholic) because they didn’t feel right. I didn’t believe it, so I sectioned off what was useful.
When I started learning about the philosophy of yoga, it brought that separated part back into the whole, back into me. It, or I, felt like a complete, vibrant, living thing.
Where did you practice back when you started?
After the classes at the Med Center I started going to Healthy Habits, which offered yoga as well as other fitness-y things. I supplemented that with reading and study.
How has your yoga practice evolved over time?
Oh my gosh, how hasn’t it changed? I started soft and stretchy (even though I was neither — at that time I was a runner), then became interested in the physical aspects (I was in my mid 20s, after all…) And liked doing challenging classes, then I got more “serious” and started going to a bona fide yoga studio (the only one in town).
It was heated practice (85 degrees). I got a little addicted to the heat — it was definitely an ego rush to be so much more flexible. I injured myself several times by over-stretching and being over stimulated by the heat (not able to feel my appropriate boundaries).
Thankfully my practice evolved from that phase and subsequently became a lot more grounded, less adrenalized.
In just the last few years I’ve softened and matured — in my own practice and in my teaching. I’m a completely different teacher than I was even 3 years ago… And 3 years before that. If you’re not changing and evolving as a teacher (or person/mother/partner/friend/etc), you’re not paying attention.
How long have you been a yoga teacher?
I took my first teacher training in 2001
Why did you open your studio – It’s All Yoga?
I had a full-time job, taught for the people I worked with during lunch twice a week, and taught at another studio once a week. It was *fine*.
Even though financially I had a “great job,” I didn’t like it and there was a disparity between how I was living and how I wanted to live.
The dream of the studio probably came from seeing a gap in what was available. I longed for a space and community where *I* would want to practice.
My husband is actually the reason It’s All Yoga opened. He went into the business that was closing (at our first location) and got the landlord’s info… Called him and inquired… And nudged me. He’s been incredibly supportive and encouraging.
You do a lot of readings in class. What’s the deal with the poetry?
I’ve loved poetry since childhood and, particularly at certain times in my life, reading/writing poetry has been an outlet, a touchstone, a place to ground and grow and explore new ideas.
Pretty early on in my teaching I would read a passage of some kind — maybe a yoga-related thing. Eventually I started reading poems that I loved. About 5 years ago I met my teacher Mary (Paffard) who also reads poetry, which was wonderful because I was able to enjoy it as a student. It adds so much to the practice for me. As a teacher, poems and writings support the theme of the class so much more effectively and beautifully than I could with my own words.
{For more of Michelle’s thought on poetry, check out her post}
A multipart question!
Do you have a home practice? What is it like? How often? Where? How did you start and how do you keep at it?
You can’t teach yoga if you don’t have a home practice (in my opinion=). You also have to have practice time that is separate from your prep time, which is often the hardest part.
My home practice varies day-to-day, week to week and is dependent on so many things: my energy level, how I’ve slept, if I teach that day, time of the month, season of the year, how my body is, and what I’m interested in. My time on my mat has always been very instinctively guided — I don’t like to follow sequences or DVDs. Admittedly, I don’t work as hard as I used to!
Currently, I practice in the living room or outside on my yoga deck (my favorite). At times I’ve had a designated room and it’s been lovely… But when it comes down to it, so little is needed to practice, let alone take a stretch or a mindful breath. We can get caught in the endless story of “I’ll do it when everything is just so… Just right… “
As for the “what,” often I’ll do some breath practice and stretching after a morning walk, and then have a more formal practice in the afternoon. Sometimes it’s nothing more than a few poses in bed in the morning {FREE VIDEO ALERT!} Or before I go to sleep. And some days I don’t do any formal asana at all {gasp!}.
What’s your favorite pose? Why?
Don’t make me pick just one! It changes by the day. Right now I’m really into shoulders (FREE VIDEO ALERT!) and there’s a hip sequence I do almost everyday.
What’s your least favorite pose?
I’ve made friends with so many poses that at one time were my least favorite. I used to dread Virabhadrasana I (Warrior 1) and now I love, love, love it.
We usually don’t like things we aren’t good at. I have really tight hamstrings, so forward folds are challenging on lots of levels. I can’t stand frog pose. But actually, constructive rest is the worst (crazy, I know) because it presses on a nerve issue in my sacrum.
Stay tuned for PART 2 with Michelle!
Please leave any questions or comment love below:
If you want to learn more about Michelle or 13 Things that We Believe at It’s All Yoga:
She’s on Twitter at @michelmarlahan
Blogasana: Daring Self Care Through Yoga (and Other Wacky Practices
{Michelle’s photo credit: Ashlee Gadd}
{click images for source}
I returned to my mat today.
It’s been a month of some stretches here and there and an occasional legs-up-the-wall, but no formal “yoga” and no class.
We practiced outside this unseasonably cool morning.
Here’s the view from my mat.
Ahhh, blue skies.
I spent some time just laying on my back enjoying the story Michelle told about the airplanes, bald eagles and a little green plastic purse.
While I was on my mat this morning, I remembered why I practice:
-to be in the moment
– to connect with myself and those around me
– to quiet my mind.
I wish I’d remembered all this while I was jet-lagged this week.
Maybe I’ll remember next time.
It sure is nice to be home.
Why do you practice?
What helps you feel at home?
1. The clean break
Taking time away from the piles of laundry, unfinished work and miles long to-do lists can be just what the doctor ordered so you can recharge your batteries.
2. The food
Fresh fruits and vegetables in all the colors of the rainbow and you don’t have to do any of the shopping, chopping or cooking. Plus no dishes!
3. The connections
When you aren’t laying out next to someone’s mat, you may find yourself lounging by the swimming pool next to them – sharing sunscreen, magazines and favorite book titles.
4. The yoga
Two to two and a half hour-long practice sessions twice a day. Long luxurious warm ups and deliciously extended Savasanas.
5. The quiet
No phone. No television. No newspaper. No internet.
What are your reasons for going on retreat?
I spent most of last week freaking out about singing in public and about stepping outside my comfort zone.
Truth be told, being on stage was nerve-racking.
The stage was a corner of a room I spend a lot of time in, but not with everyone looking at me. My voice wasn’t as strong as in our practice sessions and I’d never sung into a microphone before {note to self: go to sound check}.
Even though I’ve sung along to this song a million times, for a moment, the words totally escaped me. Good thing I know this about myself and brought them along. I glanced down occasionally to make sure I remembered where we were going.
As I looked out into the faces of my fellow yogis and friends, I really felt the love in the room. People couldn’t have been more supportive – lots of smiles and even a new friend singing along with us.
Plus I was up there with my best guy.
I got over my serious case of nerves pretty quickly.
How could I not?
Many people have told me they are already looking forward to honing their talents for the next big show.
And there is talk about starting the It’s All Yoga Family Band!
If you’d like to see the The Big Performance, click it.
{While you’re there, please also check out all the other amazing performances by our staff and students}
What’s your secret talent?
How do you share your talent with the world?
{click image for source}
Oh, I forgot to tell you the best part of the retreat!
In addition to all the yoga, breathing, meditating and pool-sitting –
we are breaking up with the Internets!
Does that strike fear in your heart like mine? ***
No blogs
No Twitter {what if there is breaking Rhett Miller news?!?!}
No Facebook
No email
No news or even weather.
To ensure I don’t cheat, I’m not even bringing my computer and I do not possess one of those new fangled phones.
I know I need a break and that I’ll feel refreshed and new when I return, but… I’m scared.
If you haven’t figured this out already, I spend a lot of time online.
I know I can do this.
Are you still in?
Have you ever broken up with the Internets? What was your experience?
Let me a comment to tell me I’m not alone in my online “problem” – please.
***{Don’t worry, it’s just for the weekend and then we are totally getting back together!}
{click image for source}
I’ve never been on a “real” yoga retreat before, but that is all about to change.
A little history…. For my birthday this year I went away with some amazing yoga friends to a workshop on balance. In my head I kept referring to it as a retreat because we traveled to get there.
HA!
Not so much.
I did learn the difference between a workshop and a retreat though.
At a workshop you work: learn, practice, meditate.
At a retreat you retreat: you practice, but there is built-in downtime.
I’m definitely in need of some serious downtime and since I’m still celebrating my birthday 3 months later, I wanted a real retreat – damn it.
The retreat this weekend is with my favorite teacher Michelle and a bunch of lovelies from It’s All Yoga. For the next few days we’ll be calling this place home.
Why am I telling you all this?
It certainly isn’t to rub it in that I’m on retreat and you aren’t.
I’d like to invite you to join us for all or part of the retreat from home.
I’ll post the schedule below. Feel free to follow any or all parts of it.
So are you in?
The schedule will allow for individual or group activities with plenty of time to rest or play . {music to my ears!}
Here’s the schedule
Thursday:
3:30pm Arrive
4:30-6pm Opening Circle and Practice {if you want to practice with others, feel free to stop by the studio – it’s free at 4:30!}
6:30pm Dinner
Friday:
6:30am Optional Meditation
7-8:30am Breakfast
9-11:30am Pranayama (breathing), Asana (poses), Meditation (sitting)
12pm Lunch
4-6pm Pranayama (breathing), Asana (poses), Meditation (sitting)
6:30pm Dinner
Saturday
6:30am Optional Meditation
7-8:30am Breakfast
9-11:30am Pranayama (breathing), Asana (poses), Meditation (sitting)
12pm Lunch
4-6pm Pranayama (breathing), Asana (poses), Meditation (sitting)
6:30pm Dinner
8:30 pm Campfire
Sunday
6:30am Optional Meditation
7-8am Breakfast
8:30-10:30am Pranayama (breathing), Asana (poses), Meditation (sitting)
12pm Lunch
Please leave me a comment to tell me what part you decided to do and how it is going. Or tell me about your retreat experience. I’d love to hear from you!
When was the last time you really left your comfort zone?
I’m not sure why, but I’ve found myself outside my comfort zone quite a lot this year and next weekend I will find myself there again.
This time with a microphone in my hand, standing in the spotlight.
Holy crap!
The studio where I work is celebrating its 5th Anniversary of being in business with a huge party and a talent show. It’s being billed as It’s All Yoga‘s Got Talent!
Staff and students are coming together for one night to showcase their hidden-until-now talents.
I laugh because in my case, “talent” may be a bit of a stretch. I’ll be singing along to a song with my sweetheart while he plays guitar. He’s the real musician in our house and I’m totally riding on his coattails.
I chose the song {if you want to know you’ll have to come to the show!} and I’ll just say sometimes doing something outside your comfort zone can help expand the boundries of your comfort zone.
What scares you?
Do you typically face your fears or avoid them?
How do you feel when faced with a fear?
What do you do with those feelings?
{click on the images for source}
PS – You are all invited to the party {and to showcase your talent too}. If you’d like to come by, please RSVP so we know how much bubbly we need. I’m putting in my order for a bottle now!
Saturday I had the distinct pleasure in welcoming 16 school teachers – ranging from Kindergarten to college – to the wonderful world of restorative yoga.
What’s restorative yoga you ask?
The long answer: fully supported yoga positions using props so that every muscle in your body can relax.
The short answer: a yoga nap.
Why teachers?
There are so many reasons….
1. This week begins National Teacher Appreciation Week.
2. Teachers work really, really hard taking care of people. I should know, I am one!
3. The studio where I work (It’s All Yoga) truly appreciates the hard work and dedication of school teachers so we decided to celebrate by having a FREE class to say thank you.
4. Plus restorative yoga is a little slice of DELICIOUSNESS (well, if you can turn off your teacher talk brain)
Most teacher I know don’t do yoga, so I decided I needed a hook.
I invited them to my special yoga den and lured them there with the promise of a nap and milk and cookies.
Here are some of my lovely teachers post-practice (oh, and some cookies brought by Erin and Amanda!)
who is that joker?
happy teachers all the way from loomis
post practice lounge
representing galt and west sacramento!
west sacramento again!
mmmm, cookies....
What’s my evil plan?
Stay tuned to find out…
Do you ever find yourself really excited about something new? Do you find yourself sleeping less and yet functioning just fine because you are hyper-focused on your new thing?
That’s me.
A lot of the time.
I find something I’m interested in and I dive in head first.
I try to find out as much as I can about whatever I’m interested in as quickly as possible.
All that being said, I’ve got lots of projects I’m working on – both on and off-line that are taking up loads of time.
In a good way.
Here are some of the highlights of studio projects I’m working on that are taking place in real life in the near future:
Swap-Asana! A women’s clothing swap being held at It’s All Yoga – 21st and X in Midtown Sacramento – April 24th.
o.m.g! I went to my first swap this weekend and let’s just say this may be one of the most exciting events EVER. I’ll dedicate a whole post to it later.
Yoga Nap + Milk and Cookies! A free yoga class in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week – May 1st.
Book Worms! – LovingKindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness – May 23rd.
If you live in Sacramento and any of those strike your fancy, come join me!
What in-real-life projects are you working on? What’s keeping you busy these days? How are you spending your time?
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The other projects I’m working on are more behind the scenes type of things.
Some highlights:
Reading some of Seth Godin’s marketing books.
Tribes is totally speaking to my inner cheerleader right now.
The Unconventional Guide to the Web – Using Social Media As A Force for Good with Gwen Bell and Chris Guillebeau. So much good stuff to take in and use.
Making some connections with more yogis through Twitter and Facebook.
Through all of this, learning social media is about having a conversation. – which sounds a lot like teaching….
How do you use social media to help your projects reach your right people? How do you connect and converse with the people who would love your product, project or service if they just knew about it?
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Yoga+Music(notquite)365 (day95)
Today’s yoga brought to me by ME at It’s All Yoga in Sacramento. I’m subbing for Michelle tonight.
Today’s music is Consolers of the Lonely by The Raconteurs.
If you love guitar-based music, you also may want to check out the documentary on the electric guitar called It Might Get LOUD – featuring Jack White (The White Stripes and The Raconteurs), The Edge (U2) and Jimmy Paige (Led Zeppelin).
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Yoga Teaching Update:
FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up online www.itsallyoga.com.
I’m sub-teaching TODAY– for Michelle at 5:45. Level 1-2, so every body is welcome.
Free class for School Teachers in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week – May 1st. Yoga Nap+Milk and Cookies.
I’ve recently discovered the wonderful world of blogs, Twitter and the idea of creating community online. I am aware I am late to the party, however it’s better to be late than never arrive.
Who knew the Internet was full of such wonderful, caring, compassionate people?
Occasionally, I’ll post my favorite posts from other people here.
The In Case You Missed It Edition!
Impermanence — My father has Alzheimer’s disease. Last night, during a family conference call, we decided it is time to move him into the dementia unit of the retirement community where my parents live…..
Bob has a way of cutting right to the important parts. See if you can read this without feeling deeply.
Good Enough is the New Perfect is the title of the upcoming book by my Twitter friends @holleeinbalance and @beckyinbalance. Their blog is a treasure box full of gems about issues around work and family. A must read! Plus Hollee is a fellow yogi!
This week’s guest post is by a woman who has 30 HOURS of LEISURE time a WEEK. If that doesn’t grab your attention, I don’t know what will. It sure got mine.
Social Change Through Simple Living pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it? That’s what @RowdyKittens is all about. Tammy S is a former Sacramentan, now Portlander (hello, opposite of me!) explores the notion of living a fuller, richer life with less stuff. I think she may be on to something.
The Beet Goes On is my friend V3’s chronicling of her life in NYC. Filled with food photos that make you want to bite your monitor. This girl rocks.
Last but not least, the woman with so many ideas I want to steal.
Office Hours at Gwen Bell, Big Love in a Small World. – LOVE HER. I wish I was in Boulder. I just may have to copy this. Who wants to meet for office hours?
If you have a favorite blog that you’d want everyone to read if you were in charge of the universe, please let me know about it here. Leave me a comment about your favorites and maybe I’ll start reading them too.
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Yoga+Music(notquite)365 (day94)
Today’s yoga brought to you by Michelle at It’s All Yoga in Sacramento.
Today’s music is Away We Go Movie Soundtrack. I’ve been loving the movie soundtracks recently, even those movies that didn’t make me love them. Go figure.
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Yoga Teaching Update:
FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up online www.itsallyoga.com.
I’m sub-teaching 4/5/10 – for Michelle at 5:45. Level 1-2, so every body is welcome.
Free class for School Teachers in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week – May 1st. Yoga Nap+Milk and Cookies.
Welcome New Teachers and anyone else looking for a relaxing easy-to-do-at-work yoga sequence!
Inspired by: Office Yoga: Simple Stretches for Busy People
Constructive rest – laying on your back, feet hip width, knees bent, feet flat on the floor, knees leaning toward each other.
Breathe.
{From now on, know that I’m only reminding you to EXHALE. That’s the part we all seem to have trouble with!}
Knees to chest.
Roll to one side, use your arm as a pillow and pause before you use the strength of your arms to come to a seat.
Breathe.
Foot massage!
Leg massage!
Supta P (Supta Padangusthasana) with strap – both legs.
Come to stand in Mountain. Close your eyes and breathe.
Downward dog with hands on the desk.
Come back to stand in Mountain pose. Close your eyes and breathe.
Come down to the floor by the wall for Legs Up the Wall Pose.
Stay put for a few breath cycles.
Release by bending the knees, rolling to one side and pausing on your side using your arm as a pillow.
Pause.
Breathe.
Come to lie flat on your back, soles of feet together – Reclining Bound Angle Pose tucking rolled towels under the knees for support.
Breathe.
Bring the hands to the outside of the legs and help them together. Pausing for a moment with your feet on the floor.
Final relaxation!
Yoga+Music(not quite365) UPDATE:
Daily yoga is still a work in progress.
I am practicing yoga more frequently than ever and am to the point of feeling the effects more when I don’t practice than when I do. Must mean it’s really becoming a part of my life.
It reminds me of a story a neighbor of mine told me about running. She said used to run for the high, then something happened. She no longer felt that runner’s euphoria. Instead she felt grumpy, sore and unlike herself when she didn’t.
Yoga is kinda like that for me now.
Daily music check in.
Yes, I am listening to music everyday. Remember, now I’m listening to a couple new albums per week, instead of the insane new record a day craziness.
My listens this week includes:
Quasi – American Gong – Total thumbs up! Glad to be loving Quasi again. The last couple of albums didn’t speak to me. Although if you are looking for vintage toe tapping booty shaking goodness, I’d still reach for Birds and R&B.
american gong by quasi
The New Pornographers Challengers – ANOTHER HIT! (a b-day gift from my lovely friend, Madeleine)
Crazy Heart Movie Soundtrack – Love it. Jeff Bridges and Collin Farrell can really sing. Ryan Bigham’s songs are some of my favorites.
De Nova by The Redwalls – Thank You – on repeat – LOVE THIS SONG! Seriously, it’s like potato chips, you can’t just have one.
American Idiot by Green Day – What can I say? Excellent workout music. Makes those laps around the park more fun. Or at least go faster.
What’s the Story Morning Glory – Oasis – Visiting my youth.
Blame it on Gravity by Old97s – No Baby I, Here’s to the Halcyon, and The One – hits I tell you!
Chutes Too Narrow by The Shins – My favorite Shins – by far.
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Teaching Update:
I’m subbing for Michelle at It’s All Yoga at 5:45 Monday 4/5. It’s a Level 1-2, so every body is welcome.
I’m teaching a FREE class for school teachers 5/1 – I’m calling it Yoga Nap+ Milk and Cookies.
Dear School Teacher,
I’m going to go out on a limb here.
It’s been a really hard school year.
I know, I’m a public school teacher too.
Are you tired and looking forward to the end of the school year?
Do you work really hard taking care of your students?
Wouldn’t it be nice for someone to take care of you?
Maybe rub your shoulders and temples while you rest in a warm little nest.
And serve you cookies and milk when you finish.
In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week and in thanks for all that you do:
A FREE class just for you!
No yoga experience needed.
We (meaning me, Amanda from Urban Almanac and Erin from The Search Begins) will pamper and support you.
You will leave refreshed.
Think Yoga Nap.
With milk and cookies.
(No, really.)
May 1st, 3-4:30 pm.
www.itsallyoga.com to register (under workshops)
Lately I feel like I’ve been wearing my feelings on the outside of my body. That heightened sense of vulnerability has left me feeling uneasy.
During yoga yesterday, Michelle read an excerpt from poet David Whyte where he uses the image of walking down a country dirt road: A huge storm comes. You take shelter in the barn until the storm passes. Sometimes the warmth and protection of the barn feel so good, so easy and safe, you never leave. But you have to get back on the road. You have to keep going.
She spoke briefly about resilience and how it’s easy for some people to bounce back from events while others take more time. She used the barn analogy to illustrate how some have sought protection in the barn and maybe gotten stuck.
It’s funny because she wrote about getting stuck in the comforting place while I wondered where I find comfort.
In a way, yoga has become that comforting place.
So struck by this idea of resilience, I got up from my mat. I grabbed a pen and piece of paper to capture what came up for me during class.
I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say I was left with the feeling that I’ve somehow lost some of my former resilience, or the ability to “bounce back” from difficult experiences.
When I shared this with Michelle, she offered a different perspective.
She asked if maybe I hadn’t really lost my resilience, but rather shed some of the armour I’d built around my heart.
The tears that briefly came up in that moment were indicator that something is brewing in there.
What are your thoughts on resilience? How do you cope with the hard parts of life? Has it gotten easier or harder over the years?
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Teaching Update!
Saturday, May 1st from 3-4:30 I’m teaching a FREE class for school teachers to celebrate the beginning of National Teacher Appreciation Week.
Think of it as a yoga nap – plus milk and cookies!
If you or someone you know teaches school for a living, please save the date.
21st and X – Sacramento, CA
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Fridays 4:30 are still FREE at @itsallyoga!
Welcome New Teachers and anyone else looking for a relaxing easy to do at work yoga sequence!
Constructive rest – laying on your back, feet hip width, knees bent, feet flat on the floor, knees leaning toward each other.
Ideas for this class are from Office Yoga: Simple Stretches for Busy People 
Come up slowly and find your chair.
Sit up tall, feet flat on the floor, pelvis slightly tipped forward, spine tall – head floating up like a helium balloon.
Neck stretches:
Moving with the breath.
Ear to shoulder – both sides
Ear to shoulder – both sides – gentle press on shoulder – making space in the neck.
Nose pointing toward shoulder and gently looking down – both sides. Gently moving the head to find the tender spots to breathe into. Moving the jaw around to loosen the grip.
Breathing through all movement.
Shoulder rolls: up to ears, back and bring the blades down to rest in the back pockets. 3 times.
Easy seated twists: come sit toward the front of the chair. Left hand, right knee – right hand tucked into seatback. Inhale – sit up tall and gentle twist – like your spine is a barber pole — breathing. Full breath cycle 2 or 3 times. Release on exhale and slowly return to neutral.
Breathe.
Right hand, left knee – left hand tucked into seatback. Inhale – sit up tall and gentle twist. Full breath cycle 2 or 3 times. Release on exhale and slowly return to neutral.
Breathe.
Come to all 4s on the floor, blanket under the knees – Cat/Cow.
Sit in Easy seat, Hero or stand.
Raise arms straight above head in preparation for Cow Face Pose arms with a strap. Both sides. Creating space in the neck and shoulders.
Come to stand in Mountain pose. Close your eyes and breathe.
Big bear hug in preparation for Eagle arms. Spread arms wide, right arm on top, big bear hug, trying to reach fingers around to touch. Breathing. Release on exhale and do other side.
Big bear hug and wrapping arms into Eagle. Release on exhale. Other side.
Shake it out.
Come down to the floor by the wall for Legs Up the Wall Pose.
Release by bending the knees, rolling to one side and pausing on your side using your arm as a pillow.
Final relaxation!
What would Tami do?
The “old” Tami would scrap the whole Yoga+Music365 project completely because it’s been a couple weeks since she’s posted anything and because she’s having a really hard time keeping up with the overly ambitious music schedule.
Good thing the “old” Tami has been quietly noticing her patterns and has come up with a new “plan”.
The daily music was INSANE. However, I’ve enjoyed finding new music. I’m still going to post about music, just not every day or every week. I’ll do it when the mood strikes me.
The “old” Tami would cry in her beer because she failed to keep up with even a one-pose-a-day yoga home practice when she was sick knowing legs up the wall can pretty much cure anything.
The daily yoga really does feel good. It also keeps me thinking about self-care on a daily basis. I’m going to get back to it.
The “old” Tami would wish that she would have never gone public with her blog and would have felt like a failure because she didn’t realize her goals.
As it turns out, a daily blog project is pretty ambitious. Probably too ambitious for someone with a full-time teaching job and bonus yoga teaching job etc.
The “old” Tami would feel bad about herself because she got sick despite taking really good care of herself.
What can I say? I don’t mess around when I get sick. I don’t know why I seem to get sicker and stay sick longer than others, but I do. I’m going to try to stop freaking out about getting sick and maybe I won’t so often. Who knows? I’m exhausted by it all.
The “old” Tami would be embarrassed that she isn’t going to do the half-marathon after all.
Getting sick made me reevaluate my purpose for the half-marathon training: to do cardio exercise on a regular basis. Check! Plus I met some truly wonderful women in the process that have expressed an interest in continuing to walk together. Bonus.
The “old” Tami would have brushed off the epic hormonal meltdown last month and not called her doctor – AGAIN.
My hormones make me feel like an angry teenager sometimes. Did I mention the ANGER? Yeah, so I called my doctor and I’m going to try some pills to make my hormones behave more civilly.
The “old” Tami would have not reached out to friends, but turned inward until she felt better.
I have really, really amazing friends. Thanks for all the support and love.
Just a little something I learned at yoga teacher school.
Photo credit: Allie Hall
I have a confession.
I never understood why yoga teachers thank their students for sharing their practice with them. I honestly just thought it was something that they say to end a class. Or they wanted to be polite or whatever. In any case, I just didn’t get it.
Then at the end of my first class, with everyone smiling at me, I felt it.
Gratitude.
Like that welling up, spilling over, where the hell did this come from – gratitude.
They (gulp! WE) truly are humbled and grateful for you sharing your practice.
I thought you’d like to know… we aren’t faking it.
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Today’s yoga brought to you by Madeleine at It’s All Yoga.
Today’s music is Live A Little by Pernice Brothers.
Don’t forget FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up online www.itsallyoga.com.
I’m teaching 3/5/10 – so mark your calendar.
For the month of February, I’m teaching a Level 1/2 on Mondays at 5:45. Come join me.
Monday night I taught my very first solo yoga class.
Despite all my hand wringing nervousness before the class, I absolutely loved it!
It finally clicked why I wanted to do this in the first place: to share something I love with people.
The following is from Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living by Pema Chodron:
We already have everything we need. There is no need for self-improvement.
These words sum up why I love yoga.
Oh yeah, I also really like the laying down with your eyes closed part too!
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Don’t forget FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up online www.itsallyoga.com.
I’m teaching 3/5/10 – so mark your calendar.
For the month of February, I’m teaching a Level 1/2 on Mondays at 5:45. Come join me.
Blindfolded yoga?
I so didn’t make this up.
That would be Michelle.
She’s a fancy yoga teacher who is taking a month off from teaching. She’s been doing this for years, so she can get away with that wackiness. She knows what she’s doing and people trust her. They know she’s driving and so they follow her lead.
She’s pretty much a genius.
And she’s trusting me to sub for her during her time off.
DUDE!
That’s a lot of pressure.
I’ve talked to my Monsters and we’ve come to an agreement.
I’ve practiced my class at home, taught it to my wonderfully patient dude, and I promise to remember to breathe during the class.
I’ll also keep in mind that everyone there isn’t expecting Michelle because they all read her blog about her February Recess.
But back to the Blindfolded Yoga…
As soon as I put the blindfold on, I was filled with a sense of peaceful euphoria. All the striving and ego I fight against in the higher level classes just disappeared. I was free to practice with all my focus internally. I was able to really let go of the anxiety I had been feeling about teaching and settle into concentrating on being in the moment. Of course all those moments included trying not to fall over myself or my props.
For a few minutes I was able to really live in the moment and that’s what yoga is all about.
Today’s yoga brought to you by the home practice! I’ve got to contain my nervous energy somehow.
Today’s music is Blame It on Gravity by Old97s.
Don’t forget FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up online www.itsallyoga.com.
I’m teaching 3/5/10 – so mark your calendar.
For the month of February, I’m teaching a Level 1/2 on Mondays at 5:45. Come join me.
At 4:30 am I woke up from an awful dream. I was scheduled to teach a yoga class and it was at the house where I grew up. The room where I was to be teaching was longer and more narrow than I remembered, so I switched to another room only to find it stuffed full of furniture and people waiting.
There were couches and coffee table after coffee table after coffee table, and dining room tables. A bar had been set up and needed to be moved and even coffee and Danish.
And did I mention all the people?
Even my dad was there. He said he wanted to try yoga. He’d heard from someone it’s really good for you and since I’m teaching now, he was there for my class.
Are you effing kidding me?
My dad?
The people just kept coming. They didn’t have their mats or their clothes or any of their yoga stuff. There was a sense of anticipation.The time kept ticking and the furniture moving was going at a snail’s pace.
When would we start? How would we ever begin with all the talking, milling about, furniture moving? How would we fit everyone there?
Everyone kept asking me questions…. thinking I was in charge. Like I knew what to do in these strange circumstances. Like I WAS IN CHARGE….
I kept reminding myself to breathe and that it would be ok.
Except I didn’t even believe myself.
I guess my Monsters are trying to tell me something.
It’s now 5am, I’m blogging and I’ve got heartburn.
I guess you could say I’m losing my freaking marbles about subbing for Michelle (my badass, seemingly perfect, rock star teacher) .
I guess you could say that I’m feeling like I need to plan the perfect class and prepare for everything that may happen.
I need to find the perfect story/poem to start the class.
I need to come up with the perfect sequence for every single person in the class.
I need to know every modification and prop to support every person in every pose.
I need to say the perfect words for every pose and have witty, but not too witty banter between poses.
Simply put, I need ME to be perfect.
Can someone talk to my MONSTERS for me?
I am having trouble getting through.
Michelle said she felt better after she let hers rant and rave for a while.
Me?
I’ve just got heartburn.
In the interest of self-care, today I’m sharing with you my first ever post.
Many of you haven’t seen this yet. It’s where the story began.
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Yoga is like falling in love. It’s hard to explain to people who haven’t experienced it themselves.
Today was the first day of my 200 hour yoga teacher training. My first thoughts are that I’m so glad I’m doing this now and with these people. I have been working the front desk and practicing regularly at the studio for more than a year now. Looking around the room I saw mostly familiar people I’ve practiced with many times. I’m looking forward to practicing and learning from everyone – not just Michelle and the IAY gals.
Why here?
It’s All Yoga is the closest slice of yoga heaven I’ve ever experienced. The teachers, without exception, exhibit kindness, generosity of spirit, humor and wisdom beyond their years. The space itself is an inspiration in green living and the studio’s commitment to the environment is evident. I spend all my spare time trying to drag everyone I know into the studio to share in the goodness.
Why now?
I’ve been flirting with a regular yoga practice for years. I took my first class more than 10 years ago and thought I’d never experience anything so amazing. Fast forward to summer 2006 when I did my first “summer school” (3 unlimited months of yoga) at IAY and I discovered that amazing feeling only compounded with regularity. School years take an obscene amount of energy the first few years of a teacher’s career and so my regular practice suffered when “real life” returned after the summer break.
Last summer I started “Desk Diva-ing” and the rest is history. Instead of exclusively focusing on my teaching job this last school year, I devoted several days a week to my yoga practice. Working the desk committed me to two days a week and sometimes that is all I could do. Other weeks I found myself on my mat many more – sometimes even at home!
Over this past year, my mat became my friend and sometimes my enemy. I spent a lot of time crying on my mat – frustration at my body’s limitations, envious of other people’s strength and flexibility, sadness because of some fertility issues, grief because of past trauma, family illnesses and deaths.
It wasn’t all tears (although sometimes it felt that way). Connection, joy, self acceptance, love, dare I say – divinity have also been present on my mat. Had those been there all along? Had I missed them always living in the past and the future? Would I keep experiencing them if I continue to practice?
This new regular practice helped me take my yoga (non-competitiveness, loving-kindness, openheartedness) into my classroom as well. I am looking forward to seeing what this deeper self exploration means for me and my students over the next few months as I delve deeper into a practice I’m falling in love with.
My left shoulder is hurting again.
And by again, I mean still.
I initially injured my shoulder falling on it on pavement back in 2000.
Falling?
Yep.
In the dark.
In front of a busy hotel.
Over a crack in the sidewalk.
Totally completely and utterly jet-lagged as I had just returned from London the night before.
In other words, I had absolutely zero warning that I was about to kill my shoulder.
The day after I fell I went to the doctor and had it x-rayed because I thought I broke my shoulder (ha – It’s only 9 years later that I know there is NO shoulder bone!) and the doctor told me it was just deeply bruised. I needed to rest it and eventually it would be fine.
I did my best to rest it while still taking twice a week yoga classes. Every time we went into Downward Facing Dog I would suffer through the discomfort in my shoulder and wonder why people kept claiming this was a resting pose. I thought everyone felt the same discomfort and pressure in their shoulder that I did.
I thought that I was just doing the pose wrong. If I only practiced it more, I’d get better and my shoulder would stop hurting.
The only relief I found was coming out of the dreaded dog and putting myself in Child’s Pose with my arms wrapped around my feet.
It wasn’t long and something else caught my attention and I quit yoga.
Eventually my shoulder felt better. Or at least I didn’t notice it.
When I started practicing yoga regularly and the shoulder discomfort came back with a vengeance. Oddly, instead of listening to my inner voice screaming to stop doing what hurts, I just kept doing what the teacher asked.
And that was a lot of dog.
It wasn’t until we started talking about developing a home practice during teacher training that I started to think about what would help me feel better. Not doing every pose the class because someone went through a lot of planning and because I didn’t want anyone to think I couldn’t keep up.
If for nothing else, I’m so glad I decided to do the teacher training because it really deepened my own practice. Not so much the physical practice, but the practice of listening to my body and asking it what it needs to feel best.
So in order to really listen to what my body needs, until further notice – NO MORE DOG.
My fellow YTT, Bob, killed his pigeon and now I’m killing the dog.
If you set your mat up next to mine, please remind me to kill the dog.
Today’s yoga brought to you by Amanda, at It’s All Yoga in Sacramento.
Today’s music is Volume One by She and Him
Don’t forget FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up online www.itsallyoga.com. — I’m teaching 3/5/10!
A couple days ago at work someone asked me about how to use blocks in yoga. I quickly rattled off a some answers and then went back to eating my lunch.
Days later I was still thinking about all the ways I’ve used blocks in yoga. Check out the HuggerMugger (yes, I still love that name!) chart above for some ideas.
WAYS TO USE A BLOCK:
What are ways you use blocks to help you in yoga? What are your favorite yoga props? Please leave me a comment and I’ll give your prop ideas a try.
Remember Saturday is the MUSIC ROUNDUP! I’ll share my thoughts on the music of the week.
Today’s music is Emotionalism by The Avett Brothers
Don’t forget FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up online www.itsallyoga.com.
Pajama Day!
Recently I took a yoga workshop with Mary Paffard about living with a serene heart. The basic message is that as a culture we’re too ambitious with our time and we need to make conscious choices about slowing down in order to care for ourselves properly.
She advocated staying home and staying in bed all day when you aren’t sick.
I couldn’t agree more.
After my excellent massage, I checked my calendar and saw that every single Saturday for the forseeable future was booked.
Except this one.
It was now or never. I had to take my chance at Pajama Day before all my weekend days got away from me.
Pajama Day!
Saturday I spent all day in my pajamas. At midday I took a shower and put on clean pajamas.
No, I wasn’t sick. Remember this project is to help me not get sick.
What did I do all day?
By bedtime on Saturday I was sleepy enough to go to bed at regular bedtime. I slept like a baby until morning and by Sunday evening I actually felt rested and ready for work.
I hope to have another Pajama Day soon. I look forward to hearing about yours.
Today’s yoga brought to by Laura (one of my teacher training classmates!) at It’s All Yoga in Sacramento.
Today’s music is Stay Positive by The Hold Steady.
Remember to come back each Tuesday I’ll share an easy, nutritious recipe so you can join me in the home-cooked self-care.
Also don’t forget FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up online www.itsallyoga.com.
Dear Downward Facing Dog and your evil twin Reverse Plank,
I hate you.
Love,
Tams
PS – I can’t see why anyone else likes you either. That’s how much I hate you.
Today’s yoga brought to you by Althea at It’s All Yoga, Sacramento. – A rare weekend treat!
Today’s music is Noble Beast by Andrew Bird.
Don’t forget FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) – you’ve got to sign up online www.itsallyoga.com.
Manifesto: a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives, as one issued by a government, sovereign, or organization (or in this case, yoga teacher).
I believe all people can do yoga.
Yes, even you.
Some folks may be put off by yoga because they may think it’s about twisting their bodies into impossible poses usually found in a bag of pretzels.
Some people may be put off yoga because they think they are too ( chubby, old, young, busy, injured, poor, sad, happy, stressed out, tired, cool…)
Other may be put off yoga because they think they aren’t (flexible, strong, rich, fashionable, knowledgable…) enough.
Still others don’t do yoga because they think yoga is too (weird, out there, religious, trendy, bendy, slow, foreign).
I’m positive people that can find 1,001 reasons not to practice yoga.
I’d like to change all that.
You’ve just got to find the right teacher for your kind of yoga. The right teacher for you.
The right kind of teacher for you, right now, in the body you live in.
The right teacher for you will give modifications, work with the body you have, not have expectations of you, not judge you, not push you, not laugh at you. Generally not make you feel bad about yourself.
The right kind of teacher for you will explain what you are doing, help you move in and out of poses safely, show you how to use props to help you go places you can’t go on your own and maybe even make you giggle on occasion.
The right kind of teacher for you will help you see that yoga isn’t about perfecting poses, but about living in the body you have right now.
The right kind of teacher for you will help you find some stillness in the over-scheduled life we all seem to be living these days.
The right kind of teacher for you will help you see the beauty in the world.
The right kind of teacher for you will help you see the beauty in you.
If any of this sounds good to you, come take a class with me. Right now, I’m on the rotating new teacher schedule at It’s All Yoga in Sacramento. We’ve got a free class on Friday afternoons.
FREE Fridays at 4:30 with the new It’s All Yoga teachers (21st and X in Sacramento) – sign up online www.itsallyoga.com.
If you are looking for a restorative class in Sacramento, we’ve got one of those too.
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What do you think makes a teacher right for you?
Teacher Goes Back to School 
