Smart yoga vs. Dangerous yoga

There’s been a huge amount of buzz lately about William J. Broad’s Science of Yoga because of its “revelations” about the dangers of yoga. Sadly, news outlets have been covering it like it’s actual NEWS, with an emphasis on scary graphics and theme music so anyone who knows me will not be surprised to read the following mini-rant.

Yoga is no different from any other exercise in that it can be good for you, if you do it CORRECTLY. Let’s be clear that CORRECTLY – IN ANY SPORT – involves NO PAIN. Pain is a sign from your body that something is VERY WRONG. Corollary: DISCOMFORT is not the same as PAIN and only YOU can tell the difference.

Your teacher should have training and experience. You should feel comfortable asking about both.

All of the aforementioned SHOULD go without saying but it doesn’t, as evidenced by the fact that it’s pretty much the way I start EVERY class I teach.

Here’s something your yoga teacher – if they are good – will tell you: not everyone will be able to do every pose. Period. We have physical limitations that no amount of breathing into your thighs will overcome. There’s NOTHING wrong with that. You cannot change the length of your ligaments.

There are inversions which are safer to do than others. Contrary to yoga speak that I hear all the time, inversions do NOT “get the blood running back to your head”. Your heart is a pump and your arteries and veins form a circle. They run in a single direction – either toward the heart or away. No amount of standing on your head or neck will change that.

Something your yoga teacher will probably not tell you:

You should never, ever be doing a backbend or shoulderstand or headstand in a beginning yoga class.  Probably you shouldn’t do them in MOST classes regardless of skill level.

1. Many, if not most, beginning students lack the core strength required to hold your body in position while protecting your neck/shoulders/wrists.

2) There are regularly TOO MANY students in a class to be able to spot the students who need help correctly. This is why, when you go to an inversion workshop, students spot EACH OTHER after having been taught to do so correctly. There isn’t time for this in a given beginner class.

3. People lie. People will not tell an instructor when they’re injured. They will claim they have more experience than they do. They will choose pushing hard versus listening to their body. As a teacher, you can’t tell which of these is happening until it’s typically too late.

Additionally, there are a whole bunch of backbends and inversions which require a lot less pressure on a lot fewer joints, which de facto reduces risk of injury. Why risk a serious injury when you can get the benefit another way?

Competition. Americans are notoriously competitive and the point of yoga is to STOP competing. It’s hard to do. Go to a class and try NOT to check out what your neighbor is doing. Try not to compare yourself. THAT’s the goal – recognizing your limitations and then working within them. Notice and let it go, then do what your BODY needs, not your head or your ego.

So yeah. Yoga isn’t more dangerous than any other exercise, it’s just that people talk so much less about proper form and so much more about breathing through the backs of their legs that people FORGET.

How to have a Home Practice

When you hear people talk about their HOME PRACTICE it always sounds like it’s in all caps, a hushed and reverent tone as though you’re speaking about the Golden Fleece. We know it’s out there, it can be found, but it will require an epic journey and potentially lost lives. There are articles about starting a home practice in virtually every yoga magazine every single month. A lot of them talk about making a space, allowing yourself to fail, blah blah woo woo.

We’re spoiled by yoga studios and photos of them. Large clean, empty rooms with shining floors and mirrored walls. Clearly if you could have a dance studio in your home you TOO could have a home practice.

Most of us have smaller spaces. One of my favorite teachers always said, “You don’t need a space bigger than your mat. You can do this in a closet.” Yeah right. You haven’t SEEN my closets.

So those are the extremes – a dedicated space or anywhere you can. No one really talks about how, in  order to have a home practice, you might need to LEAVE home.

People who work from home or who (like me) are procrastinators understand that home is an obstacle ground of distraction. “I can practice, but if I move these shelves I’ll have more ROOM.” And then two hours have gone by, the shelves have been moved and you’re doing something that doesn’t involve yoga at all. Or you get a phone call and you have to take it because it’s work and then three hours have passed and you’re tired.

I’ve got all the same issues. I can’t really work out in the morning because Spouse is asleep and I don’t want to wake him. When I get home from work I have to cook dinner or I’m tired, or I’ve cooked dinner and I’m tired. There are times when even remembering how much better I’ll feel when I’ve done it can’t prompt me to get to the mat.

So what does it really take to have a home practice? 15 minutes. If you can start doing yoga for 15 minutes on a regular basis, that’s a home practice. In my experience, that 15 minutes will bleed into a half an hour or 40 minutes pretty quickly, but 15 minutes is what it takes. Find a spot where you’re comfortable or have enough room (a chair will do) and spend 15 minutes doing yoga. It might be breathing or stretching or any combination of the two.

My goal for this year is to get in a regular half hour each day. I started today by having to move some shelves but I got on the mat and worked through some sun salutations. I added in tree, twisting chair and Warrior I and II because it felt right. I started out feeling kind of anxious, knowing I was going to have to get ready for work soon, thinking about what I was going to eat. I put James Blake on my 2G Sansa Clip and let him override my worry mantra. I stretched my neck a little and got on the mat and worked it out. There are some muscles I haven’t used that way in a while because I’m the first to admit when I let my practice slack. It was good, though, because the balance poses brought me back to my body HARD and reminded me to be aware of how I’m moving.

Going to classes serves to give you a knowledge base, so that you can do your asanas at home. Classes can also serve as a tune-up or kick in the ass to get you back on the wagon.  But the only thing you REALLY need to start a home practice is 15 minutes.

What is making me happy

1. I’m about to cut two hours of commute out of every workday. I get to wake up when it’s not dark. I’ll have time to WORK OUT before I leave for my job and a whole extra hour after work. I’m giddy with the potential in those two hours.

2. Books. I’m almost done with my 55 books I’m willing to talk about (my best estimate is that I’ve read about 100 books so far this year total) and I’ve found some that I thoroughly enjoyed and have recommended to others.

3. Yoga! I’ve got fun new yoga stuff around the corner.

4. Guitar! My class is almost over and I’ve learned A TON. I also picked up the free tabs app from Amazon the other day so I’ve got guitar notes for some of my all time favorite songs.

5. Google Plus. With the change away from Reader’s share function and the addition of business pages, I’ve got a lot more activity in my stream that is exactly the kind of stuff I want to read.

6. @ellenbarkin on twitter

7. The Walking Dead continues to kick ass, but I’m practically jumping OUT OF MY SKIN about tonight’s Sons of Anarchy.

8. Last night’s Castle was as Castle ever is – cheeky, clever fun. I can’t wait until I start my new job so that I can watch all of prime time TV during, you know, PRIME TIME.

9. Homeland is epic. Not only are Damien Lewis and Claire Danes amazing, the writing is tight and the storytelling is intense. I am loving this show.

10. Fairy tale TV. I was a huge fan of Grimm’s and Hans Christian Andersen growing up so both Grimm and Once Upon a Time are hitting all the right notes, albeit in very different ways. I found myself *looking forward* to OUaT this week. That hasn’t happened with a network show in a while.

Enlighten Up, Yoga Bitch

I’m sick and my husband is going out of town so I’m writing a post for your Friday enjoyment.

Earlier this week I wrote a post about the book Yoga Bitch and a friend commented to ask if I’d watched the film Enlighten Up. I have and there are some striking similarities between the two. They aren’t the same story by any means but I think they both begin with a flawed premise.

In life, if you go looking for A Thing to give your existence meaning I suspect you will inevitably be let down. It’s too much pressure, both on the Thing and on yourself. You’re attaching expectations to an Unknown Thing and it’s also putting pressure on yourself to 1) identify with and 2) attach oneself to that Thing. It’s a bit like hearing from everyone you know that The Alchemist is an amazing and lifechanging book and then reading it and finding it only mildly interesting and/or a little pedantic and thinking that maybe there’s something you’re missing out on. Why no, I’m not speaking from personal experience at all.

I got to yoga by being lazy. It’s a story I tell with some regularity, especially as almost everyone says “I can’t do yoga.” I don’t enjoy running. While I have been known to engage in running as a form of exercise, it’s not fun. In point of fact, I think running should be reserved almost exclusively for eluding a weapon-wielding psychopath although that rather undercuts my argument since without practice you wouldn’t get all that far but I digress.

So I don’t enjoy running. I also don’t enjoy aerobics classes. That’s why, in 2001, I picked up a yoga book on the clearance shelf at the local Barnes and Noble. I was 26,  married just over a year, had settled into our house after moving twice within 12 months and working a stressful job in outside sales. The odd hours of my job were not conducive to taking regular classes and I thought I’d see what this yoga thing was all about. I took the book home, tried some of the stretches and thought ‘Hey, this isn’t so hard.’ Some of the stretches were familiar from when I played sports in school. When I looked at the suggested routines at the end of the book, I thought perhaps I’d benefit from some live instruction.

Let me be clear: I was not looking for salvation. I wasn’t looking for enlightenment. I wasn’t looking for inner peace. Mostly I was looking for a way to work out that didn’t involve a gym (I’d tried that unsuccessfully) or rollerblading with my dog (epic disaster). I’d heard yoga was good for you and helped with relaxation. I’ve always had issues with quieting my brain and figured this couldn’t hurt, right? I was nervous though because I’ve always been a fidgeter. Ask anyone who ever sat in a meeting next to me or watch any of my sales videos. FIDGETER. I was not hopeful about my ability to fit into a zen environment.

My first class was at the only yoga studio in my city. It was the basement of a dentist’s office, complete with industrial carpeting  and cleaning crew noises overhead. The class was taught by the woman I found out later owned the studio and it was like a reintroduction to my body. It was stringing together movements and muscle actions that I’d never used before and I loved it. It was physical and I could see how it could be made more aerobic if I practiced on my own. WIN.

As I practiced more often and took more classes, yoga seemed more logical. My studio didn’t partake in chanting, which suited me just fine – not even an Om. Then I had the magical class – the class which, once having had it, means you never look back. During the class I was so focused on every single thing that I was doing – each muscle motion and the depth of each breath – that I literally didn’t notice the passage of time. I came out of savasana not just refreshed but energized and motivated. NOW I understood why people do this. It’s moving meditation.

I, who was never able to sit and meditate, suddenly understood the point of TRYING. That’s not to say I started a meditation practice – I didn’t – but I got the idea of focusing inward with practice. Truthfully, in all these years I’ve never been in a class where people are looking around at their classmates (though I guess it probably happens) because virtually everyone is trying so hard to be balanced and graceful that they can’t spare a glance for the person who is UTTERLY CONVINCED that they are the most clumsy yogi ever and replete with the knowledge that they will somehow knock down the entire room domino-style. That said, I now fully understood the concept of using yoga to still the mind – its primary purpose according to Patanjali.

So the more I practiced, the stronger I got and while not every class was in that zen brainspace I still enjoyed it. I didn’t get enlightened, I didn’t find god but I got what I needed. In fact I loved it so much that I wanted to be able to share it with people and I got certified to teach.

Yoga helped me get through a hellacious year where my dad was ill with terminal cancer. It helped me get through the year after his death which turned out to be almost worse than the year he was sick. Most importantly, it’s a space I can always go back to – in a hotel room, in a park, in my house and virtually anywhere I can stretch my legs. With music (I’m a fan) or without. Props or not. Decidedly not in matching designer yoga clothing. Because yoga isn’t about what it looks like or what you THINK it’s going to be, it’s only about what you do.

That old adage from schoolteachers about ‘getting out of it what you put in’ is entirely true of yoga. If you put in more muscle work, you will get more muscle strength. If you put in more concentration, your concentration will improve. In classes geared for 80 year olds, I manage to work up a sweat because yoga taught me how to change the way my body works and how I utilize my muscles. Through yoga, I was able to help 80 year old ladies better understand the geography of their muscles and how to use them.

That is what I love about yoga. No one can tell how much or how little you’re working just by looking at you. You can adjust your workout in mid-workout or in mid-pose. No one is looking at you. We all have our own shit to sort out and work through and sometimes it happens in Warrior II. Sometimes it happens in a class where you infuse your breath with intention.

I once took a Tibetan Yoga class and while much of it was forgettable, the thing which was transformative was the breath. We were to breathe in imagining we were taking in something that we needed. Our exhale was to think of someone we knew who needed something and send the exhale of that thing out to that person. Chock full of woo woo? Hell yeah. But I left that class FEELING like I did something. I was lighter and felt brighter. Do I know that it’s woo woo? Hell yeah. Was some of my euphoria probably from increased oxygen intake? Hell yeah. But in that class I did not cheat on a single breath. I didn’t shorten an inhale or exhale by trying too hard or reaching too far. And sometimes, imagery is what gets it done. Look at sports psychology, for fuck’s sake. It’s SCIENCE. It works.

Some people bring their religious practice into yoga. It can absolutely be done and pretty much any yoga instructor can help you do it. I’ve had students dedicate their practice to Christ or use a prayer mantra to maintain their breath. Yoga is a tool that can be used in a multitude of ways.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you’re looking for a global panacea, you are destined to fail. This may be a newsflash but we’re more complicated than that. I can’t say that this works for me so it will DEFINITELY work for you. The problem of Yoga Bitch was that she was looking for something that no one thing could give her. The protag in Enlighten Up got sold a bill of goods that ‘yoga will do X, Y, Z for you.” We’re individuals. We’re thinking individuals. What thinking individuals should instinctively know is shit’s not that easy.

I’m not trying to convert you to the cult of yoga because there isn’t ONE yoga. I push back EVERY time I hear an instructor say “this is the right way to do x.” We are all different structurally and there are things that my body will never be able to do. I embrace that and don’t stop trying, I just stop expecting a magical yoga fairy to loosen my ligaments or change the shape of my pelvic girdle. For me, yoga is about accepting where you are and just trying to be better. At what is up to each individual.

Ideally everyone picks and chooses the things that the want or need or like to use and everyone has a different result – with one caveat. I’ve never seen anyone leave a yoga class that wasn’t smiling. The key is not to expect a revelation, otherwise you’ll always be disappointed. I felt bad for the narrators of the book and the film because they had this idea that yoga could change their lives. The only thing that can change your life is you. Yoga is just a tool that can help you do it.

Yoga, Bitch

This weekend I plowed through Suzanne Morrison’s Yoga Bitch and I’m stuck in a mixed response. First, the back cover logline: “What happens when a coffee-drinking, cigarette-smoking, steak-eating twenty-five-year-old atheist decides it is time to get in touch with her spiritual side? Not what you’d expect…”

Anyone who knows me is not going to be surprised that I picked this up. That said, I can’t put my finger on exactly what I was expecting but this wasn’t it. Don’t get me wrong, I think she nailed some of the yoga “pesonalities” but on the whole it just rang a bit false with me. How can it be false when it’s a memoir, you ask? I think that given enough time and space it’s pretty easy to armchair quarterback any of our decisions- especially those made when we’re young, hopeful and more than a little naive. The novel was a bit of that and while it seems to have been written as a response to Eat, Pray, Love it still has a fair amount of that thing where, hey, wouldn’t it be great if EVERYONE could spend two months in Indonesia doing yoga?

I suppose a chunk of my response is also prompted by the vast difference of my yoga experience to Morrison’s. While I got to yoga at around the same time, I came from an utterly different point of view which makes me think I should maybe write about THAT experience. While there’s plenty about yoga to prompt cynicism (you can ask @melissarocks, I’m not immune) there’s also a side that prompts no expectations and therefore no disappointment.

Looking at that paragraph makes me think I could write an entire SERIES of yoga posts about this.

Yoga for Warriors

Last night there was a substitute in our class and it got me thinking about 1. why I take classes 2. what kind of teachers I enjoy and 3. what kind of classes I’m looking for.

Living in a rural area, you can imagine there’s not a plethora of yoga options. Despite surrounding resorts, there’s little I find attractive (either because of the class time or substance) and it’s been frustrating. The class I’ve been taking through the college has had me thinking a lot about what I’m missing – what I came up with was my awesome Baptiste-inspired class in the ‘Naw.

I hadn’t gotten into Baptiste per se, but my instructor was great: challenging, understanding and encouraging. As a sweater, I generally avoid hot yoga classes but I braved the additional heat for these classes because they were just that good.

Fast forward to a trip to Target where I find a bunch of yoga DVDs and weigh the pros/cons. 1. Yoga classes are surprisingly expensive. Given that I’m a teacher, I tend to balk at classes over $10/class (hour or hour and half). If we’re going to profess that yoga is something everyone should do and everyone benefits from, it’s ridiculous to price yourself out of the ‘everyone’ market. It’s something that annoys me pretty intensely as a community doublespeak issue.

I found a bunch of discs that were $9. I gambled on two. The first is Bob Harper: Yoga for the Warrior.

I get up at 4 am. I go to work, which often involves a fair amount of manual labor (I’d say it’s equally divided between that and paperwork) and by the time i get home at 3:30/4pm I’m pretty whipped. Working out provides an energy boost that helps me maintain a more ‘normal’ schedule of activities. Today I got home and popped this DVD into my laptop to see how it went.

My cardinal rule of yoga instructional videos is that you should watch them before you do them. This isn’t advertised as a straightahead yoga vid, so I wasn’t overly concerned. It is not for beginners – if you have never been to a yoga class, you’ll want to watch the workout before you try it. If you’ve been to yoga classes and done Half-Moon and are comfortable with Up Dog (or a comparable modification) than you’ll be fine.

I don’t watch The Biggest Loser. I am not motivated by people who yell at me or by watching other people yelled at and guilt-tripped. It’s just not my thing. That said, when I read the video description I was intrigued and for less than the cost of 1 class, I get innumerable classes from the DVD -right?

Harper is good. Not shouty and not too hand-holding. While he could do more with modifications, his verbal cues are good – provided you know Half Moon pose. The only part that was confusing for me was his ‘shoulder press’ in Down Dog which I discovered was Down Dog but lowering your head to the ground like a pushup.That was the only time I had to stop and actually watch to see what he was talking about.

It is a SOLID workout. You will sweat. You will feel great when you’re done. I got through the entire workout and, per great yoga class usual, after savasana had all the benefits of having worked my ass off but without feeling tired. Instead I felt pumped and ready to go out. I liked that the ‘models’ in the class came out of asanas/did modifications/joked about needing them and generally made the video feel like a class I was attending. While Harper could do more with offering mods, there are several throughout the routine and, at the end of the class, I feel like he completely delivers what the video purports.

Caveat: did not do (and am not likely to do) the 15 minute ab routine. I get enough ab work from regular practice, so this review is based on the one-hour workout ONLY.

Random things and yoga whining

1. My hair is long enough in the front for barrettes.

2. Banana chips are my latest favorite thing.

3. Banana chips are especially delicious with a chocolate Slim Fast. Just sayin’.

My yoga class tonight was a bit louder than usual, which can make the class more challenging. The teacher has to speak over the background noise (in this case a couple of instances of loud conversation) and the students have to work a little harder to concentrate. To put this in perspective, our class is held in a gym at the local college. It’s never going to be silent. Ever. In point of fact, our teacher also has classes elsewhere in town (as well as some other teachers) so it’s not like THIS class is the ONLY option. At the end of this class, after a particularly loud savasana, a few of the students complained about the noise.

Someone suggested that the college have the class elsewhere, the teacher began to agree and as I was leaving I tossed in my two cents. “If meditation was easy, everyone would do it.” The teacher’s eyes widened and she said, “That’s a good point! This is good practice for blocking out distraction.”

There is no perfect place for a yoga class. That’s right, there isn’t. Because YOUR perfect place is not EVERYONE’s perfect place. There are no completely silent classes – even if a teacher isn’t speaking (Mysore style) there is the sound of other people breathing and working out. Real life has challenges. If a mild amount of ambient noise in your yoga class is a big one, you’re BLESSED. Suck it up.

Great things about the internet

1. Netflix

2. wikipedia, for when a movie is so boring that you aren’t convinced you want to watch the whole thing you can look up the entire plot and make an informed decision

3. Tiramisu pancakes – The only thing better than a breakfast food is one that doubles as a dessert

4. Finding good fanfiction that you first read YEARS AGO and discovering that it’s still good. ahem.

Related:

2011 films

The Fighter – Dude. So good. Christian Bale is creepy fucking talented and if he doesn’t get the Oscar he’s being ripped off – not just for this role but because his entire body of work (except maybe Batman) is just incredible. He INHABITS these people. 5 of 5 stars

Centurion – I liked this far more than I’d expected. Bonus appearance of McNulty as Roman general (how much do I still miss The Wire?). Fairly typical, minus the stirring Gladiator-wannabe speech with a nice surprise of female badass badguys. Just a generally entertaining and solid watch. 4 out of 5

The End of the Affair – Dude. Great plot. SUCH A LONG AND DRAWN OUT PRODUCTION. They could have chopped a half an hour out of this flick and it wouldn’t have suffered a minute. This is the movie I referred to in my wikipedia shout out. Yes, I watched the whole thing. 3 of 5

Conversations with Other Women – I honestly can’t tell you why I watched the entire film. Soft spot for Aaron Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter, maybe? Interesting (if familiar) Before Sunrise type plot with a few unexpected twists. Enjoyable but not great. 3 of 5

Dear John – So much less god than the usual Nicholas Sparks film and not his ‘typical’ plot. In other words, I actually liked it. 3 of 5

Unrelated:

Sexy Valentine’s moment #12 – My left big toe, which I ran over with heavy equipment a while ago, shed its toenail. Less gross than anticipated but it turns out I’m probably lucky that I didn’t break the damn toe (having seen the damage).

Further unrelated:

After having a break from Yoga Journal for a while, I subscribed during their crazy $1.99 for 1 year deal and got my first issue today. It is surprisingly… light. Perhaps they’re shifting more content online? Guess I’ll have to check out their website.

In reading notes, I’m currently in the middle of Catherynne M. Valente’s Palimpsest.

I hate yoga classes

Okay, we all know that’s not ENTIRELY true but I went to a new class this week and that’s always a crapshoot.

Let’s start with the fact that I teach. Rather, I have taught (it’s been about a year since I taught a yoga class) and did so for several years. That makes it hard to go to a lot of classes anyhow, just because I have to get my own head out of the way in order to focus. This was easier, by the way, BEFORE I taught.

So when we accept that, there’s the fact that I’m attending a beginning class. No big – just that the system requires it before I can take a different class. I can get something out of ANY class (benefits of having been a teacher) but beginning classes can be… twitchy.

Last but not least, a teacher with whom I have no experience. No word of mouth, just going in cold. Not the best way to start a new class, that’s all I’m saying.

We start Threading The Needle. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say – even though I’m not “supposed” to say it – that Threading the Needle is the worst fucking yoga move ever. Lots of people teach it. Hell, my TRAINING CENTER taught it. But if you look at it – if you watch someone DOING it – you will see what I mean. There’s no good safe way to explain this position without having your hands on someone (a physical impossibility in a decent sized class), it puts pressure on the neck, shoulders and back which could EASILY cause damage and – speaking ONLY for myself – it doesn’t do a damn thing for me. Nothing.

So yeah. Inauspicious start. Followed by standing and swinging arms as though it’s a stretch. Ugh. I was managing to let this go, honest, getting out of my head and focusing on my form. This is an instructor who does the class while teaching so I kind of shuddered when I saw some truly uncomfortable looking down dogs but HEY. NOT MY CLASS. I even mostly ignored the “breathe into your inner thighs” nonsense (albeit with a truly juvenile internal monologue that went something like “If I could do THAT I’d never leave the house! Heh! Heh! It’s the fuckin Catalina Wine Mixer!”).

I did my usual thing, modifying to what I needed and got decent muscle burn all the way through to savasana. I lay down, pulled my sweatshirt hood up, got comfortable and started to relax. And then I hear the instructor telling us to relax various parts of our bodies. “Relax your shins.”

I’M SORRY. WHAT? It’s a fucking BONE. It’s a SOLID STATE. It is IMPOSSIBLE TO RELAX A BONE. So that tweaked me. Then she continued through some other soft tissue and then back to cheekbones and TEETH. RELAX YOUR TEETH? WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN?

I do not know if she’s a new teacher or not. I didn’t ask and I’m kind of ascribing that status because it makes me want to grit my teeth less. This is the thing I think is wrong with yoga. Not that people do it in different ways or have different styles – I think that’s great – but this embracing idiotic woo-woo talk that doesn’t MAKE SENSE to the people you’re ostensibly TEACHING. Woo-woo, by the way, has NOTHING to do with spirituality and everything to do with new age bullshit. You can’t breathe into your inner thighs unless you a) have lungs in your legs or 2) are Cirque de Soliel flexible and if that’s the case I think we can all agree you ain’t BREATHING down there.

Talk about muscle movement and for CRIPE’S SAKE please talk about the CORRECT muscle (sorry lady, that wasn’t the I. T. band). Talk about using your breath to concentrate. Talk about ways to change the movements and change how the pose feels. Leave your woo-woo at home.

An actual yoga post- sort of!

I frequently get asked if there are DVDs and/or books that I’d recommend for new students (or even experienced students). I just got an email from Yoga Journal offering a discount on the DVDs I like best.

The Step By Step series is a great introduction to yoga or even as a way to fine-tune your asana and breath practice. The coupon is 20% an individual DVD or something like 45% off for all three.  Enter coupon code SBS2 at checkout and click “Redeem Coupon” to receive your discount or call 1-800-I-DO-YOGA (436-9642).

I don’t plug a lot of yoga ‘stuff’ here, just the things I use and love myself. I highly recommend getting all three discs.

In related news, my recommendating for practicing with a DVD (whether you’ve practiced yoga previously or not) is to watch the DVD at LEAST once to make sure you’re familiar with the positions. If there’s anything that sounds confusing, make notes on a sheet of paper that you can keep next to your mat during practice. You should NOT be looking up at the DVD while you’re practicing – it’s bad for your body and negates all the good work you’re trying to do!

I know you won’t believe this

But there’s an actual yoga post coming soon. Shocking, right?

Mom’s home from the hospital and feeling well. She’s on pain meds, so no driving for her. I head north on Thursday for about a half day and then fly back home on Friday morning.

Also, I totally have to post about Medium, Chuck, and Heroes.

Michigan’s State of the State was tonight and it is pretty much what you’d expect – not good. The good news is that at least the pay of elected officials is being cut (although I noticed the applause was decidedly not widespread). I’m glad that we’ve moved but worried that we still have a house here.

The New Year begins with a BANG

I’ve got some temporary part-time employment, as of today. Even though it’s not permanent, I’m feeling pretty good about starting the new year with a job.

In yoga news, this is how I teach yoga. A friend sent me the article because I’m always talking about how yoga doesn’t have to be serious and how I love to hear people laugh in my classes. Part of the reason I use pop music is because it relaxes people – lets them know I’m not going to be going all Bhaghavad Gita on them – and they sing along. Singing along is my next favorite thing to laughter. I’m not sure what the yoga community is like in this area, which is why I’m not pursuing teaching immediately. My style may or may not mesh with the locale.

A lot of folks I know are doing the 365 meme, where you take a photo of yourself every day. My friend told me about another variation: 52 weeks with a self-portrait each week. I’m going to give it a shot, but my real meme this year is going to be the Daily Leadville photos. Each day I’ll post a photo from the area – not necessarily Leadville, but I’m going to try.  I’m going to use it as my way of documenting my new surroundings.

52 weeks - week one

Post-Christmas lack of ambition

Today we accomplished important task #1: putting me on  Spouse’s local bank account. That is pretty much all we did. We rented some movies, but have only watched one. Burn After Reading is an interesting and slightly bizarre film and totally worth watching just for Brad Pitt. I never thought I’d say that, but he’s just hilarious.

Up next: Hancock and Baby Mama.

Tomorrow: drive to Frisco and get my new driver’s license, as well as change over registration on vehicles and obtain Colorado plates.

When Mom and A left, they took the cold weather with them. Today was sunny and warm – 35 degrees. The snow on the roads has all melted, though it wasn’t enough to thaw all the rest of it. If you’ve looked at any of the photos, you’ll understand. Tomorrow is supposed to be just as sunny, though less warm. I’m very glad that I invested in good sunglasses.

I sent Mom home with an eclectic mix of music for her iPod. I’m interested to see how she’ll like it. Highlights included John Legend, Fergie, Adele, Rare Earth, The Eagles, The Beatles, Vampire Weekend, Gnarls Barkley, Sarah Harmer, and the Indigo Girls. There was a lot more, but I don’t recall everything.

My dad’s been on my mind a lot lately and it’s entirely possible that I’ll write about it tomorrow, but no promises.

I am looking forward to the house finally reaching ORDER and life returning to some semblance of a routine. As predicted, I’m a bit at a loss without my teaching schedule. Not only that, I’ve slacked on my own yoga practice for the last couple of weeks because of the acclimation. Someone sent me a yoga kick in the ass for Christmas, though, so I’m about to get back on the horse.

Nearing the end

I taught my last class at the gym yesterday and my last class in Michigan tonight. It’s a little sad and totally strange. My life has kind of been dicatated by my teaching schedule for the last three years and I’m going to be a little lost without it. I also had really, really great students here and I’m going to miss them. On days when I didn’t feel motivated to teach (yes, it happens) they motivated me. Watching them grow and get stronger was awesome.

I’m getting ready to close up the house – little last minute things to get it in order. Paint the bathroom, empty the cupboards and fridge, take out the trash, get the canoe down and load it up, get the chimes off the effing tree (I keep forgetting). Possibly the most challenging will be packing the car.

Given my list, I won’t be doing much blogging today and then tomorrow I’m on the road. I’ll be giving road updates on twitter because I love the text to tweet function.

All of my belongings are arriving at my house in Leadville RIGHT THIS SECOND.

Nobody cares

That I’m officially done with school for the semester, but I am. My joke of a paper (more like a 5 page book report) is finished and now I just have to turn it in.

I also have to get the oil changed in my car, pick up some paint supplies, prime the bathroom, paint the bathroom, (hopefully) get the online billpay for our new bank set up, wire money to the new bank, close the old bank account, cancel satellite and internet services, throw away/donate food items, sweep the house, bag up and put out the trash, collect the windchimes, sort and pack all the things that have to be packed in my car, and lower and tie on the canoe.

Probably there are some things I’m forgetting. Like teach yoga tomorrow.

I woke up this morning a little sleep-drunk, so I’m headed to bed now. You don’t ever really catch up on sleep so I’m going to try and stave off the deprivation, at least. I also uploaded some (but not all) of the holiday music.