guruji pays me a visit

Posted on February 9, 2010 - Filed Under mayalife, yoga | 3 Comments

Listen to this. I dreamed last night that I went…somewhere, I don’t know, this sunny room with big, square, terra-cotta tiles on the floor and a peaceful breeze. I was doing some yoga. There were some other people doing the same. And then, Lo, Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois came over to help me! I was [...]

in which i pop my meditation cherry

Posted on February 8, 2010 - Filed Under mayalife, yoga | 1 Comment

I know, right? What am I thinking? I’m Ms. “I like my fantasy life, thank you very much,” what am I going to do with being mindful of the present moment? I mean, reality can be so disappointing. But I’ve been reading a stack of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and its all dhyana (meditation) this and [...]

state of the yoga practice: six months

Posted on February 4, 2010 - Filed Under yoga | Leave a Comment

That’s right. It’s been six months since I started doing a near-daily (more on that in a moment) ashtanga yoga practice. How time flies! When I started I could barely limp through the surys—that’s the 10 sun salutation at the beginning, 5 surya namaskar A and 5 surya namaskar B. It took me three months [...]

lino miele dvd double feature

Posted on January 22, 2010 - Filed Under reviews, yoga | 2 Comments

Since I started this ashtanga kick, every month or so, I need an inspiration to keep going. I’ve found piles of this in the generous outpouring of blogs from other ashtangis. And every now and then I get a dvd. My last dvd purchase was Anne Nuotio, which I loved. This time, I decided to [...]

how to make a heartblock

Posted on January 17, 2010 - Filed Under yoga | 2 Comments

Last week I decided I wanted a heartblock, that is, a wooden yoga prop that you lie across to unbend and open your thoracic spine.

It’s an antidote to puzzle back, and fairy-doll making, and writing, and just about any stooping-over activity, of which I do many. I get scared I’m going to become one of [...]

three things in ashtanga yoga I just can’t seem to get

Posted on January 11, 2010 - Filed Under yoga | 2 Comments

Have I mentioned lately how much I adore my yoga practice? I do.
But there are a few things that continue to elude me. I don’t mean certain asana. And I don’t mean samadhi. I mean three seemingly simple things that have remained annoyingly mysterious thus far. Here we go.
1- rolling over the toes
How in the [...]

lovasana

Posted on December 22, 2009 - Filed Under kiddo life, yoga | 1 Comment

…also called love-mommy-asana. Luc named it. He says, “Is it time for loveasana yet?” It’s my all-time favorite pose. It happens at the end of my practice, when the kids have been waiting to get close for over an hour (don’t get too close to an ashtangi or you’re liable to get kicked by a [...]

the trigger point therapy workbook

Posted on December 10, 2009 - Filed Under reviews, yoga | Leave a Comment

This book can change your life. I am NOT kidding. If you have any pain, especially chronic, nagging pain, ranging from annoying to disabling, the information in this book, applied by you, can seriously diminish your pain, and probably get rid of it entirely. As a yoga person, trying to avoid injuries, this book is [...]

asana envy and injury

Posted on December 3, 2009 - Filed Under yoga | 5 Comments

I had two yoga teachers back in my twenties, one eclectic, one Iyengar-based, both of whom got me into a lot of trouble with my poor joints. The first, the eclectic gal, was into pushing. And yeah, she got us into some poses we wouldn’t have tried out of fear, and that was good. It [...]

anne nuotio’s awesomeness

Posted on November 20, 2009 - Filed Under reviews, yoga | 8 Comments

I spent this week on-and-off watching Anne Nuotio’s ashtanga yoga dvd. What a revelation!
First off, it’s long. There is a beginners sequence (surys minus chatarunga, standing up to ardha baddha, shortened finishing, no lotus), Primary, Intermediate, and Advanced A, plus a 30 min interview, I dunno, I’m going to say maybe five hours of stuff. [...]