“You’re starving yourself in your yoga practice. I want you to feast!” These words were whispered in my ear as I stood in Warrior 2, legs tremoring, breath number fifth-teen, sweat pouring. This was in August of 2005 during my first yoga teacher training. My teacher, Ana Forrest, knew exactly how to wake her students up. In my mind, these words could only mean one thing. I wasn’t breathing. Years later, somehow when I need it most, this exact phrase makes its way into my thoughts.

Yoga is now mainstream and with that, come more teachers, more students, more yoga styles, and crazier poses. It’s easy to get sucked into the competition (often with oneself) of nailing handstand in the center of the room or soaring into Bakasana.

Meanwhile, something incredibly accessible and free is waiting for us…all of us! No matter if it’s your first class or your 150th class, your breath is what counts. Without breath, the poses feel empty and moving feels like autopilot. When we breathe fully our poses come alive, movement feels dynamic, and our experience becomes sensory.

Learning to breathe deeply and learning to actually feel your breath is an acquired skill and in my book- advanced yoga. Because the breath is involuntary (without it we would be dead), it’s easy to “get by” in our poses with shallow breath. But who wants to just get by? Utilizing your fullest lung capacity takes yoga to a new level. It’s like diving deep into the bottom of the ocean compared to just skimming the surface.

To feel your breath, place your hands on your ribcage. Take in a long, slow inhale and feel your ribs spreading into your hands. If you’re not feeling this, you are most likely breathing into your belly. Deep breathing, involves so much more. Go for stretching the muscles in between each rib. Exhale, slow and steady. Pull your belly in as you exhale. What you’re going for is completing your inhale and finishing your exhale. Start by inhaling for 5 seconds and exhaling for 5 seconds. Eventually work up to 10 seconds or more for both inhale and exhale. It takes practice!

Denise Hopkins teaches Forrest Yoga in New York City and Brooklyn. For more info on classes and private yoga, visit www.purespaceyoga.com.

Yoga Wisdom for Spring

As we move into April, we transition from the end of winter into the beginning of spring. Myself, I am much better with starting than completing a project, better with “hellos” than “goodbyes.” Sometimes endings are seen as a death and therefore hard to accept. According to Swiss psychiatrist/writer Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, there are five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. The Kübler-Ross Model can be used for multiple situations where people experience a significant loss, such as the death of a loved one, major rejection, end of a relationship or divorce, drug addiction, incarceration, change in office environment, the onset of a disease or chronic illness, an infertility diagnosis, as well many tragedies and disasters.

Denial can be a conscious or unconscious refusal to accept facts, information, or the reality of the situation. It is a defense mechanism, so some people can become locked in this stage. Next, anger can manifest itself in different ways. People can be angry with themselves, or with others, and especially those who are close to them. Bargaining, the third stage, rarely provides a sustainable solution. It involves the hope of somehow postponing an end or negotiating a compromise. Depression could then be referred to as the dress rehearsal for the inevitable, as a kind of acceptance with emotional attachment. It’s natural to feel sadness, regret, fear, and uncertainty when going through this stage. Feeling those emotions shows that a person has begun to accept the situation. This leads to the final stage of acceptance. If you cannot accept something, then you cannot move forward. It’s hard to endure an ending when you don’t see how it feeds into the next creative venture. It’s through acceptance that you can take action and continue to evolve, rather than avoiding change or wallowing in a holding pattern. By finishing what you start, you can begin anew.

This is the perfect time of year to act, whether spring cleaning at home, shifting energy in your office, or ending a personal relationship to make space for the unknown next. However, if you are in the midst of change (which ironically is the constant) and wish to be in different stage of grief, I invite you to accept where you are, not where you want or ought to be. Not always the most palatable, it is the quickest way to process and move forward. And ending of any kind sets the foundation for the next natural beginning. Conclusion of a cycle is the starting point of the next succession.

The fertility of spring offers the germination of previously planted seeds of intention as well as blossoming of potential. When both the inner and outer environs are conducive for growth, then it’s easier to accept being at every stage of grief fully. So what climate can you cultivate inside to foster compassion? And what are the outer conditions that you choose to support your fullest potential to sprout inside? Perhaps when you accept where you are, you might inspire others to do the same, while accepting where they are. This is not a passive endeavor. It takes active receptivity to be accountable. Yoga provides this practice of skillful action and clarity, within and without.

Jump into your seedling self and encourage your seasonal intentions to take root and flourish. There are lots of ways to take action for yourself and amidst your communities. With acceptance this spring, bloom where you are and thrive!

Cat McCarthy
NOLA YOGA, April 2012
www.nolayoga.com

Mark Trippetti teaches meditation at Kula Williamsburg

Only that’s not entirely true.

Once I established a perimeter for my retreat – setting up literal boundary markers not to cross for the duration of my stay – I realized that I wasn’t alone.

There were two of us (I should have been charged double!).

With all of my heart and soul, with every fiber of my gross and subtle body I was ready for this month. I love being in retreat. Yet every step of the way, from my alarm chiming at 3:00am until that grateful moment when my head hit the pillow at 10:00pm each evening, my cabin-mate attempted to convince me that I needed to be doing something, anything, other than my intended practices.

Wake up, get out of bed, and meditate?

“No.”

Yoga?

“No.”

Journal entry?

“No.”

How about nibbling on the cookies I’d brought as offerings for my meditation altar?

“That’s a good idea”.

It was relentless. It was beautiful.

All day long, both in and out of retreat, we distract ourselves from our own genuine intentions. We may set out on retreat (or even our daily practice outside of retreat) with the wish to conquer our afflicted states of mind to become a kinder, more loving version of ourselves, but in the next moment, our own mind sabotages our efforts, convincing us that a few more moments of sleep or a few more bites of cookie are what we really need. As practitioners, we do the best we can, we try to stay on point, but unless we’ve reached a state of ultimate realization in our minds, we’re still battling the voice that advocates against the very purpose of our practice.
The beauty of retreat, however, whether it’s a weekend, a week, a month, or a year, is that we’re forced onto this battlefield. There’s nowhere else to go.

It’s just you and your cabin-mate: that pesky little voice inside your head that won’t leave you alone. And frankly, the naughtier the voice, the better… if you’re prepared.

Without this competing influence, you wouldn’t see your progress. The pain, the despair, the grasping, the resentments you’ve held onto since kindergarten. Our minds will do anything to keep us in suffering, and in retreat it has a captive audience.

The key for me is perspective. Objectively watching the actions of my body, my speech, and my mind. If I am able to consistently create a little separation between my mind and my actions, I am better able to discern good and bad behavior. To be my own cop. I’ve spent a good amount of time over the last few years trying to tease out the distinction between who I am and who I seem to be. During my daily activities and in my meditation sessions, when I take a long hard look at the “me” that I see myself as, I start to see myself as an animated caricature, a cartoon. It’s great! When I’m alone with “Mark,” I realize that “Mark” is not me. That I am not limited to a life as “Mark” and in fact, I am free to evolve into whatever identity I choose to create.

That’s the process that takes some work… work that requires a teacher. And willingness to surrender to your teacher’s vision of who you could become, rather than keep on clinging to your stubborn old sense that you know best. For me it has taken practices of meditation, asana, scriptural study and generosity. Which are basically the opposite of how I had been lived the first 40 years of my life! Not listening to anyone, looking for answers outside of myself, competitive activities, and the nonstop obsession with I/me/mine.

I shudder just thinking about it.

So here’s to retreat! That sacred gift of time and space that invites you to discover who you are and who you are not. And to remembering that you can’t change anything without first changing your understanding of yourself.

Mark Trippetti is the Director of Fundraising for the Asian Classics Input Project, a nonprofit preserving ancient wisdom texts (www.asianclassics.org), and teaches meditation on Mondays at 5.45pm at Kula Williamsburg (www.kulayoga.com).

What turns you on? – by Amanda Manzagol

Recall a time in your life when you felt so totally alive that your skin tingled with a heightened level of sensation, your heart swelled with an unbridled passion for life and you were consumed with an overpowering sense that anything was possible. In that moment in time, you were completely present and reveling in your unique authenticity. Savor the luscious possibility held in that energy, close your eyes and breathe into that space for a moment.

Some people might call it nirvana, bliss, or even a runner’s high. Regardless of the name, the feeling is intense and alluring. If you are like most of the population and it has been a while since you felt that profoundly alive, you might be wondering how to get back to such a wonderfully intoxicating state of being. Or maybe you have found ways to access this magnificent feeling on a regular basis through some form of meditation or physical activity. Yoga anyone…?

Even if you have discovered a reliable hyperlink to your own personal nirvana, most of us do not live in a yoga studio or on a mountain running trail where we can slip into a moving meditation whenever we want. When we go out into the “real” world to work and live our lives, we often times start to conform to what we think is expected of us, getting caught up in the old story that seems to keep playing on repeat, and we don’t always speak our truth. Especially during times of stress, the lines start to blur, we stifle our authentic self, and our flame of inner trust and knowing starts to flicker and dim. Not quite the deeply authentic and present state we long to connect with…

So how do we reconnect with our authenticity and become truly present in all facets of our lives? For me, it comes down to allowing space, to slow down and listen for my own truth. Amidst the chaos of kids, school, animals, family and clients, I pause for a few moments to breathe and my inquiries start to take shape… Who am I being right now? How do I want to show up to my life? What is the reality I want to create?

When I slow down long enough to reconnect with the place in my soul that whispers those answers to me, the doubts, the stories and the expectations begin to fall away. Like a stormy night’s darkness clearing to reveal a new morning sunrise, I am left with new sense of clarity. I return to a deep knowing that radiates out into the world, allowing me to be my authentic self, without any explanation or excuses.

Without fail, tapping into my authenticity and divine feminine energy is like pressing my “on” button. I stand tall, drop the old story that no longer serves me, and move forward to live a life of purpose and meaning. From this place of clarity, resonance and delight, I marvel at the freedom I feel and the permission it gives other people to be their authentic selves as well.

As the process repeats, the inquiry builds. How do I want to hold this moment? From this place of truth, what is possible? The process is endless and an entire world of opportunity and adventure unfolds before me when I am courageous enough to be truly present and show up to my life as the real me.

Amanda Manzagol is a professional Co-Active life and business coach, coaching clients across the nation from her home base in the San Francisco Bay Area.

https://www.facebook.com/AmandaTheresaCC

Amanda@amandatheresa.com
408-410-5686

Recall a time in your life when you felt so totally alive that your skin tingled with a heightened level of sensation, your heart swelled with an unbridled passion for life and you were consumed with an overpowering sense that anything was possible. In that moment in time, you were completely present and reveling in your unique authenticity. Savor the luscious possibility held in that energy, close your eyes and breathe into that space for a moment.
Some people might call it nirvana, bliss, or even a runner’s high. Regardless of the name, the feeling is intense and alluring. If you are like most of the population and it has been a while since you felt that profoundly alive, you might be wondering how to get back to such a wonderfully intoxicating state of being. Or maybe you have found ways to access this magnificent feeling on a regular basis through some form of meditation or physical activity. Yoga anyone…?
Even if you have discovered a reliable hyperlink to your own personal nirvana, most of us do not live in a yoga studio or on a mountain running trail where we can slip into a moving meditation whenever we want. When we go out into the “real” world to work and live our lives, we often times start to conform to what we think is expected of us, getting caught up in the old story that seems to keep playing on repeat, and we don’t always speak our truth. Especially during times of stress, the lines start to blur, we stifle our authentic self, and our flame of inner trust and knowing starts to flicker and dim. Not quite the deeply authentic and present state we long to connect with…
So how do we reconnect with our authenticity and become truly present in all facets of our lives? For me, it comes down to allowing space, to slow down and listen for my own truth. Amidst the chaos of kids, school, animals, family and clients, I pause for a few moments to breathe and my inquiries start to take shape… Who am I being right now? How do I want to show up to my life? What is the reality I want to create?
When I slow down long enough to reconnect with the place in my soul that whispers those answers to me, the doubts, the stories and the expectations begin to fall away. Like a stormy night’s darkness clearing to reveal a new morning sunrise, I am left with new sense of clarity. I return to a deep knowing that radiates out into the world, allowing me to be my authentic self, without any explanation or excuses.
Without fail, tapping into my authenticity and divine feminine energy is like pressing my “on” button. I stand tall, drop the old story that no longer serves me, and more forward to live a life of purpose and meaning. From this place of clarity, resonance and delight, I marvel at the freedom I feel and the permission it gives other people to be their authentic selves as well.
As the process repeats, the inquiry builds. How do I want to hold this moment? From this place of truth, what is possible? The process is endless and an entire world of opportunity and adventure unfolds before me when I am courageous enough to be truly present and show up to my life as the real me.

Amanda Manzagol is a professional Co-Active life and business coach, coaching clients across the nation from her home base in the San Francisco Bay Area.

https://www.facebook.com/AmandaTheresaCC

Amanda@amandatheresa.com
408-410-5686

As a person working in the healing arts I have seen all sorts of things – students showing up drunk, smoking crack in parking lots, teachers dating students, teachers and their husbands dating the same student, people taking final relaxation in the middle of class, students doing random Kudalini while I’m teaching inversions, throwing blocks, taking phone calls, texting.  I have also been privileged to witness incredible things – a pregnant woman (with twins) in down dog on the wall, students going through and recovering from cancer, students getting off meds of all sorts.

Like any physical practice, yoga has its benefits and pitfalls for both the teacher and the student.  And as in ALL professions, there are both wonderful and hideous people involved.

I start each class by taking injuries.  Sometimes I demonstrate the modifications for injured students and sometimes I help them modify as we go along.  I take responsibility for the knowledge that students give me.  But it is also true that the student is ultimately responsible for practicing in a healing way and for doing the modifications.

For example, what I say to the students who lay down in the middle of class is that it’s dangerous. If you lower your core temperature and then pop up into a pose, you risk injury.  So then we come up with a modification that is heat building but also possible for the student.  This is often very liberating for the student and an interesting teaching moment.

But William Broad’s article addresses something else: the overzealous student.  For example, I had a student come to class with a bruised rib.  I checked in with him pose by pose, asking him if the poses we were doing were causing pain.  The practice was feeling good until he pushed up into down-dog.  He said, ‘That hurt.’  To which I responded, ‘Don’t do that anymore.’  And as I turned to help another student, I watched him press up again into downward dog.

I bring this particular example up because it is very common. I call these students the Struggle Junkies.  They tend to be in constant pain both on and off the mat, they look very healthy in the superficial sense (in that they have athletic bodies) and they harbor a lot of repressed rage.  Often there is addiction attached.  They injure themselves both in their exercise regime and in their day-to-day with regularity.

It seems I’ve got two choices with the Junkies: I can become a teacher who addresses that kind of self-destructive behavior, or I can ask that student to leave.  The interim step – to ignore the students who seem determined to injure themselves – is not what I want for myself or those students.

This kind of student does not need to be told what to do; they are busy ordering themselves around 24/7.  What I find works, especially in the first few classes, is kindness, compassion, clarity and firm boundaries.  I look for ways to let them know I see them and that I’m not going anywhere.  I look for ways to let them know they can push back, but that it has no impact on what’s going to go down in my classroom.

So I’m grateful to this unfortunately-titled article for reminding me what’s at stake (and reminding me that sometimes students feel so betrayed and ignored they just may act out very publicly and write a piece for the New York Times.)  As a teacher it’s time for me to write a new teaching oath and get really clear about the kind of students I’m prepared to take on and recommitting to teaching them well.

To my regular students who are reading this, I encourage you to get honest with yourself about the way that you practice and the way that you move through the world.  It’s the same thing.  Observe yourself in class and notice if you are doing what is being asked or if you are doing a practice you learned from someone else.  Get really curious about how you operate and disobey the parts of you that want to stay stuck in boring/destructive behaviors.  Know that you will learn a deeply healing sequence of poses in my classes.

Yoga, like all fundamentalist movements has to evolve and we must learn how to take really good care of ourselves on the mat.  And the next time you are in a blind rage in my class, consider it a gift. Don’t waste your time projecting it onto me. Instead use your breath and the pose to move that through you and out.  Take advantage of what the practice has brought to light.  It’s not all pretty.  And that’s OK.

Be your best advocate and rock on wich-ya-bad-self.

Megan is a regular contributor to the hyde blog and can be found at lalitahealingcollevtive.com

The universe provided me with a clear ‘hit’.  In this case, ‘Go to Rwanda’.  And then a year went by and I still didn’t go but I asked the girls at Ubushobozi to make yoga mat bags for my studio.  That has been fun but I still didn’t go.  And then this year, the girls started doing yoga and are totally hooked.  The voice then got louder and turned into, ‘Go to Rwanda and lead a teacher training so that the girls can teach themselves.’  And now I’m going.

Sometimes I think we get trapped into thinking that the practice of yoga means that we must get to classes all the time and stay committed and repeat our commitments week after week to be good yogis.  And yes, all that is necessary but it’s not the whole story. In my experience, yoga shakes the very foundation of our lives and transforms us.  It creates constant change. For me, if I stay here and be a responsible studio owner and teacher, I will be ignoring the information that is being revealed to me as a result of a regular practice. And in doing so, totally wasting the gifts that have come to me as a result of my time on the mat.  This is a inconvenient time for me to go to far away lands…my studio is very busy, my one teacher is on vacation the same weeks and I am leading a training here 2 days after I return.  Authentic decision making means that we may ruffle some feathers and not always be able to explain our lives.  It is part of growing up and putting ourselves and our answered prayers/gut feelings into the equation.  I call it spiritual maturity.

So I thank my practice of prayer, of meditation and of yoga for revealing the next step.  I do wish sometimes that I got more than one clue on the map at a time, but I am so very grateful for the one clear feeling. I will keep you posted as I prepare to leave and while I’m there.  Thank you Hyde for sponsoring the clothing!

Megan Leigh
http://lalitahealingcollective.com/
845.688.9769

 It was once believed that the earth was the center of the universe.  Once Copernicus proved his heliocentric theory that our planet actually revolved around the sun, just like any other in our galaxy, our collective attitude shifted as to how we fit into the larger picture.  The sun’s weight in the fabric of the universe is what keeps the planets spinning in their gravitational evolution.  Since you are the center of your universe (not to be confused with THE universe), what is your gravitas keeping in orbit? 

Scientifically, everything on this planet is made up of energy.   You are vibrating at a higher frequency, which is why you can walk on “solid” ground, when in reality, you are being supported by a lower and denser frequency.   Even New Orleans was built upon liquid land…the swamp.  If you perceive the world to be more flexible than rigid, then you can see how we make a mark on the world, like a wake of a pirogue through water.  So as you move throughout your day, your thoughts leave an impression in the ether through which you travel.   Like concentric circles that ripple out from the center, your consciousness affects the behavior of subatomic particles.   Therefore, you are always making an imprint.  So what impression are you leaving?      

As we set sail into into the last month of the year, I invite you to spread holiday cheer through an infectious positive attitude…with your friends and family, your neighbors, the store clerk, sitting in traffic, on the subway,  in yoga class, or interacting with the flight attendant.  The list goes on.  There are plenty opportunities to shift the fabric of the cosmos and magnetize affirmation back to nourish your sunny disposition.  How you speak to yourself is part of this game.    That too makes an impact.  It is one way to alter and author your self-woven tapestry.  Whether on trains, planes, automobiles, or your own rent-a-car of embodiment, imagine radiating gratitude as you travel fluidly throughout the month of December.  It might make for a very impressive holiday! 

Cheers,

Cat 

You can find Cat at: www.nolayoga.com