Full Circle - Anusara Yoga

When I first started taking yoga classes in 2005 I was hooked almost immediately. From the first class I just wanted to learn more, do more, discover more about this practice that was very different than anything I'd ever experienced. The physical poses felt amazing but more than that it was the attitude of my teachers - comments like "be kind to yourself" and "use the energy of your practice to better your life and the lives of those around you" were so unusual but yet, so intriguing. Not at all like the sports coaches and aerobics teachers I'd had in the past! (although, those people do wonderful work in the practices they've chosen as well - it's just very different)

So once I started taking classes I also began to look for books and dvds and just about any resource I could find that would teach me something about yoga. One of the very first books I bought and read and actively used was Hatha Yoga by Martin Kirk and Brook Boone.



At the time I had no idea who these people were. To me they were just regular people in (kind of funny looking) yoga poses. I studied this book, and from it began to develop a personal practice. I'd do the poses I remembered from class and then I'd look through Hatha Yoga for something new to try.

6 years later and here I am studying Anusara Yoga, a style of yoga developed by renowned teacher John Friend. As it turns out, Martin Kirk, author of Hatha Yoga, is a well-known Anusara Yoga teacher who is highly respected for his teaching and especially his anatomy and therapeutics courses. I opened the book this morning and read through some of the instructions for the poses and sure enough, it sounds like the cues that have become so familiar to me from taking Anusara Yoga classes and studying to teach this style.

So here I am having a little wow moment. In the last year I've become completely infatuated with Anusara Yoga - the style and its teachers speak to me in a way that is perfect for my practice right now, at this time in my life. But in reality it's not completely new to me after all. The alignment I first learned, the sequences I first practiced, all of it came from Martin Kirk and ultimately John Friend, his teacher. So my practice has come full circle and this realization has reinforced that which I was already intrinsically feeling - maybe after many years of trying new styles, learning from a smorgasbord of teachers, and ultimately teaching Hatha Yoga inspired by all of this exploration, maybe Anusara is the practice that will be IT for me. It sort of feels like coming home...

And since I'm feeling inspired by all things Anusara today (and in deep reverence for my teachers past, present and future) I'd like to share the Anusara Invocation - a chant that is sung before most Anusara Yoga classes. It is one of the unique components of an Anusara Yoga class and it's meaning really shows the heart of the practice. In this video John Friend and Krishna Das lead the invocation and are joined by a group of students.



And here's the translation:

Om.
I honor the essence of Being, the Auspicious One, the luminous Teacher within and without,
Who assumes the form of Truth, Consciousness, and Bliss,
Is never absent, full of peace,
Ultimately free and sparkles with a divine luster.
Om

Breakfast in India

Here is a photo of the sprouted mung bean and mukti bean breakfast I described in the post below. This is just one of the many wonderful meals prepared with loving hands here at the ashram. The evenings are filled with meals of freshly harvested fruits, vegetables and grains made into delicious curries or raw salads. All meals are served with chapatis or some other kind of freshly made bread. Yoga philosophy says that food only has prana (life force) for 3 hours after it has been prepared so all meals are cooked from scratch immediately before they are served to us. I am indeed very blessed to be able to partake of such wonderful food.

Hari Om From India

After a long flight and the usual harrowing taxi ride from Mumbai to Nashik, I sit here at an internet cafe on the first of the only two days off I will get from my yoga studies this month. After a week of practice my knees are so far surviving the long periods sitting cross-legged for meditation and chanting, as is my neck from the ever increasing periods of time in shoulder stand. However the minor aches and pains from the physical part of my yoga journey are more than made up for by the beautiful views of the countryside from the windows of our asana practice space. We are in the midst of the last half of rainy season so there is a regular refreshing morning downpour that hits the roof as we do our daily sun salutations. I am feeling particularly calm and centered today, possibly due to having just completed the first of several days of silence. Life at the ashram is starting to sink into my bones. It has been a wonderful week of morning and evening asana and pranayama classes with lectures, cleansing practices and karma yoga littered in between. As the advanced students at the ashram, in addition to our regular studies and practices, we are expected to do two hours of karma yoga daily. While I do enjoy the gardening and window washing I am less enamored of the floor scrubbing assignments. Once done though we are fortunate to be fed the most beautiful, natural and nutritious food made by the local ladies in long flowing saris. It is so nourishing and tasty that I almost feel bad enjoying it so much. Imagine waking at 5:00am for chanting, two hours of asana and an hour of karma yoga before finally arriving at the dining hall for sprouted mung and mukti beans mixed with dates, tomatoes and nuts, served with a side of papaya and lemon grass tea. It is heavenly and all, of course, eaten in silence so that you genuinely taste the flavour, experience the texture and feel gratitude to the source as you listen to the chirping sound of the birds and the crickets. This alone is worth a 30 hour transit.
Written by Bobby Bessey, B.Sc. , RYT, Doula

Making time for your practice

Yoga helps to calm, revitalize and energize our minds and bodies. Strangely, just at the times when we need these benefits the most, we convince ourselves we couldn't possibly take time out for yoga! We all do it; put ourselves at the bottom of the to-do list. But thankfully there are a number of ways to integrate yoga into your life without neglecting your other responsibilities.

1. Ask your teacher or studio for the times that suit you best. At our Studio we really appreciate when students tell us what they want - and when they do, we do our best to offer it. Recently a group of yogis requested a 6am class - early mornings meant they could get out for their practice without disrupting the family morning routine or their ability to get to work on time. They asked and we were able to deliver.

2. Commit to a certain number of practices each week. Be flexible with the days and times you attend, coming when your life allows, but know how many times you'd like to practice and encourage yourself to make it happen. When you nourish your mind and body with yoga you're really nourishing the other people in your life too. The benefits of a steady yoga practice travel far and wide.

3. Practice yoga whenever and wherever you can. For a long time I was worried that if I didn't practice for at least an hour it really didn't count. Now I realize that any yoga is good, even just 10 minutes here and there. When I need a break from typing I stand up and do a few minutes of breathing and stretching. When I need a little pick-me-up in the afternoon I jump into some fun inversions. A longer practice has its benefits, but short spurts of yoga can help you feel good and make the practice a more ubiquitous part of your life.

4. Use your teachers as resources. At Shakti Yoga Studio we're always tossing around ideas for sequencing or for interesting asana variations. Want to know how to work towards a more challenging pose? Ask us! Want some suggestions for a simple sequence to do at home? We probably have a great photocopy to pass along. All our teachers are happy to help you along your yoga journey in whatever way they can.

During the summer we thought long and hard about how to help you get more yoga in your life. In the end we added an extra evening time slot at 8:30pm so you could get home from work, get supper on the table and maybe even put the kids to bed before indulging in a little "you time". We also put more options for both gentle and dynamic classes on the schedule. Now you can take Yin Yoga, Detox Flow, Gentle Yoga, Ashtanga, Hatha or Power Yoga depending on your mood! There are lots of options to keep you interested in your practice.

In the end, any yoga is better than no yoga, so if you miss a few days (or a few weeks) don't feel bad. Just remember how great yoga makes you feel and then roll out your mat for a practice.

Happy Yoga-ing!
Namaste
Meaghan

September

Well it's been a beautiful and busy summer at the studio and for me personally. I've neglected this poor blog in the face of workshops, trainings, vacations, weddings and puppies. But here I am, ready to write again!

On this first day of September I'm feeling like there's a new beginning ahead. But before we get to that, I'd like to recap some of the events and points of interest from this summer. Sort of like those September school projects we all remember; "What I did this summer".

1. Our big project this summer was finding great new teachers and planning a rocking Fall Schedule. With that new schedule starting next Tuesday (Sept. 7) I think we've accomplished our goal. Shakti Yoga Studio now has eight amazing yoga teachers and two reception rockstars on staff to serve you and teach you and help you along your yoga journey. Along with these great new teachers comes exciting new class offerings like Yin Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Power Flow Yoga, Detox Flow Yoga and more. Plus a full schedule of Hatha Yoga classes. To see Teacher Bios click here. And to find out more about the Fall Schedule read the Class Descriptions or view the Schedule (use the arrows above the schedule to get to the correct dates - new schedule starts Sept. 7)

2. Bobby and I took a little time for a fun photo shoot with the amazing Maurice Fitzgerald. You'll see these photos in our ads this Fall and who knows where else! We just love them.





3. Training, training, training, a yogis work is never done! In July I spent a week in Toronto with Robin Golt, training in the Anusara method. I'll be back again in October to finish up the "immersion" and get ready for the "teacher training" portion after which, I'll be able to bring Anusara-Inspired Yoga to our Studio. In October, Bobby is embarking on a 500-hour, professional level teacher training in India, returning to the ashram where she originally studied. We'll miss her while she's gone, but we know that when she gets back she'll have so much to share!

4. During the last weekend of August Mike Munro from Therapeutic Approach Yoga Studio in Halifax taught a Yoga Anatomy and Assists workshop here in St. John's. Twelve yoga teachers from across the province gathered at our studio to study and practice with Mike. It was an enlightening experience of bones and muscles and hands on adjusting. Thanks so much to Mike and his awesome skeleton!

Gratitude and Watermelons

Life is full of experiences that compel us to pause for thought. They can be a pleasure to embrace or a challenge to bear, however sometimes it is hard to decide which category they fall into. Last night at the end of a sticky 35 degree day I stumbled into one of the latter moments and discovered that this classification is not so very important as there is wisdom to be found in both kinds of experiences.

After a day spent in the heat of the sun I opened up the refrigerator and was reminded of the huge watermelon I had bought the day before. I gleefully hoisted it out of the refrigerator and commenced making the most wonderful mess of watermelon bits and juice all over the kitchen table. After chopping out a huge pile of half circle slices I sat down in the midst of it all and bit into the middle of one of them. As I was enjoying the sweet, cool, juicy fruit my brother walked into the room and saw me happily crunching, juice running down my chin and smiled at the scene. I suddenly felt bad because my little brother is recovering from a stroke in his brain stem that leaves him unable to swallow. While he is very fortunate that every other part of him is still functioning he is no longer able to eat food.

Watching me eat he was met once again with the constant craving for real food taste and texture. After a few moments of watching he decided to sit and “eat” with me. He placed small pieces of the fruit in his mouth and just enjoyed the flavour and texture, unable to let the fruit go any farther than his taste buds. What ensued was a watermelon experience of taste and texture exploration. Covered in the fruit’s sticky juice we laughed and discussed in great detail the taste, texture and all of the other glorious aspects encompassed in the eating of a watermelon at the end of that hot summer day. We talked about the smell, the crunching sound it makes when you bite in, the way it seems to cool your body and mind by taking over every single sense whether or not you swallow.

As I sat enjoying my watermelon I realized that until this moment in time I had no idea how to really enjoy a watermelon, no idea how to appropriately appreciate the gift of being able to eat a watermelon, and I was simultaneously awed and humbled by the courage and strength of my little brother’s spirit .

The next morning, with this memory fresh in my mind, I took the rest of that watermelon out of the refrigerator with the respect and reverence it deserved. I did not boil the kettle or look for a newspaper to read. Instead I simply prepared my watermelon to be eaten. I listened carefully as the watermelon crisply parted under my knife, smelled the aroma that was released, felt the juice drip on my hands, and looked carefully at the deep red fruit before biting in. I proceeded to experience the moment as it deserved to be experienced with awareness and gratitude to all of those in the long line of planting, nourishing, harvesting, and transporting this fruit to me and most of all to my brave and inspiring little brother who taught me how a watermelon should be eaten.

Written by Bobby Bessey, B.Sc.,RYT, Doula CD (DONA)

Yin Yoga @ Shakti Yoga Studio

This weekend we're welcoming yoga teacher Stephanie Guitar to our Studio and to St. John's for the first time! Stephanie is a teacher and studio owner in Fredericton who has trained with Paul Grilley, the instructor that brought much of the Yin Yoga method to the United States. From Friday to Sunday Stephanie will be facilitating a Yin Yoga immersion that will help students learn a new method and deepen their practice and will enable yoga teachers to incorporate Yin Yoga classes in their teaching.

Yin Yoga is quite a departure from the more "yang" styles of yoga many of us are used to. Yoga Journal describes the difference:

Yin can be described as stable, immobile, feminine, passive, cold, and downward moving. Yang is depicted as changing, mobile, masculine, active, hot, and upward moving. In nature, a mountain could be described as yin; the ocean, as yang. Within the body, the relatively stiff connective tissue (tendons, ligaments, fascia) is yin, while the pliant and mobile muscles and blood are yang. Applied to yoga, a passive practice is yin, whereas most of today's hatha yoga practices are yang: They actively engage the muscles and build heat in the body.

Long holds in passive postures can be quite a challenge for people used to a more yang approach. The slowness and the quietness makes the mind race, while the lack of aesthetic importance in the postures make our egos a little bored. But if you can move through these feelings rather than fight against them Yin Yoga could offer great rewards. Again, from Yoga Journal:

"'Landing in this practice helps you take up residence in the body without a need for it to perform' ... When you stop striving and tune in to what's happening, you begin to truly feel the sensations in your body and mind as they arise. Once you accept that you will feel many things during a Yin practice—discomfort, boredom, anxiety—and learn to stay with the chorus of thoughts and feelings, your relationship to them will begin to change. You will learn that you have the inner strength to stay in situations you previously thought you couldn't handle. You will see the impermanent nature of thoughts and feelings as you watch them arise and then pass on their own. And when you stop resisting what's happening around you, you'll gain a sense of liberation and trust in life."

Once this immersion is complete, you can look forward to Yin Yoga at Shakti Yoga Studio. We'll likely offer this style in the Fall. Until then, you can explore the series of postures Yoga Journal presents in their article Soothe Yourself.

Namaste
Meaghan