Ecstasy in age

Bear with me for this one.

Shakespeare wasn't the first to make the connection between old age and being an infant, but his seven ages of man monologue is a good intro for those who aren't familiar with the concept:

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms;
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. (As You Like It)

I have often thought about what goes on in the minds of those without a developed form of communication (i.e. infants and very young children). Is it a meditative state? Is it Ishvara Pranidhana? Is it Samadhi? Is thought just a random succession of images? What is going on in there? 

I don't pretend to know and I'm not sure of folks who do. But, to go back to Shakespeare, I wonder if that same state of total reception is again present in very old age. For those who again lose the abilities of language, of word formation (I see this happening in me sometimes, on a much more minor level), do they again enter a mindset similar to infants? In the most advanced stages of aging, the return to the "second childishness," is there a chance to once again be totally present in the moment? There isn't the same sense of acquisition as the first childhood; instead, it is a revisitation and a letting go.

I've thought that in a stage of infancy, we are closer to the "universal consciousness." Maybe, again in old age, we again close in on it.

I like to think so, at least. 

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Yoga in Your Parent's Living Room

My guess is that I'm not the only one currently experiencing extra people. Extra people in your home, or you are the extra people in the home of someone else. The extra people experience, so emblematic of the holidays.

It can be a stressful time. Having more people in your space can result in a feeling of claustrophobia and being in someone's space can create less agency. It's like being in a romantic relationship; suddenly, you're not just making decisions for yourself anymore. You might wake up, be totally ravenous for a strawberry-banana smoothie... only to find that Pops, in his infinite love for you, has made a gigantic batch of french toast. Just for you.

Or, like me, you're a bit addicted to the asana side of your yoga practice. You. Need. To. Move! But your parents have a teeny little living room, and it is filled with presents. Yesterday, I practiced to Live.Love.Yoga's podcasts (go to iTunes and enter "Power Yoga with Nikki Wong" for FREE downloadable podcasts of sheer yoga brilliance) while I worried about knocking over things and staring at Christmas wrapping. Did I mention that I'm Jewish? And am really anti-consumer?

I think I need to accept the fact that this week, this one week out of the year, my yoga practice needs to move off of the mat. I need to eat the french toast and detach myself from smoothie cravings. I can take a looooooooong walk in the Shawangunk Mountains to get some air and do Mountain Pose on the real thing. Mostly, I can make space for the needs of other people while being aware of my own. Especially whether my needs are just attachments and routines that, while they may be "healthy," are still attachments.

However, just in case your parent's living room, or your living room crowded with guests, is a little less packed than my own, here is a yin practice that requires a bit less space to move around in.

1. Sukhasana (Easy Pose)
2. Dirgha and Ujjayi Pranayama (Three Part Breath and Ocean Sounding Breath). Come back to this breath often throughout this practice.
   
3. Baddha Konasana (Cobbler's Pose). Hold for 2-3 minutes.
4. Bhujangasana on forearms, forearms shoulder width apart (Cobra). Hold for 1 minute.
5. Gomukhasana (Face of Light Pose) with arms resting in a comfortable place. Hold for 2 minutes on each side.
6. Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend Pose). Hold for 2-3 minutes. (Note: avoid or be careful is you have sciatica or chronic lower back issues)
   
7. Supta Matsyendrasana (Reclined Twist Pose). Hold for 2-3 minutes each side.
8. Ananda Balasana (Happy Baby Pose). Hold for 2 minutes.
9. Viparita Karani (Legs up the Wall Pose). Hold for 5-10 minutes.
10. Savasana (Corpse Pose). Hold for twice your usual length.

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JANUARY 2011... old school ashtanga in the new year

led primary

new year's day with leslie g! 9am

faulkner

returns to yogaclub january 6th

cosmic images painted by my aunt suzanne ruth faulkner

adjustments start about one hour after doors open for the mysore classes. (so faulkner gets her practice in)

Sunday Mysore 8:30-11 AM (adjustments begin around 9:15 AM)

Monday & Thursday Mysore 5-8 PM (adjustments begin around 6 PM)

Wednesday Level 1 5:45-7:15 PM

Saturday Guided Primary 9-10:45 AM

Classes Are By Donation

Please do not let $$$ keep you from practicing at yogaclub

IOUs and chocolate/baked goods/ideas/crystals etc... gladly accepted

Park in back on left side oralong side porch in driveway if possible

(trying to keep off street parking for my neighbors)

Class Description

Mysore: All levels welcome,

including complete beginners

Level 1: Fundamentals of Ashtanga Yoga: suryanams &standing poses

Guided Primary Series: Instruction on postures will be limited

If you are not familiar with the entire series, you are welcome to attendand practice as is appropriate,then sit and observe. This is a hard class.

New to Ashtanga?

New to Durham?

Visiting?

email any questions to: ashtangayogaclubdurham@gmail.com

yoga related emergency? call/text suzy’s cell 919-475-9579

thanks for checking out our little blog!

http://ashtangayogaclubdurham.blogspot.com/

The new year's day led primary! Happy New Year to all.

namaste

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Clutter

Close your eyes. In your mind's eye, take a moment and envision five pairs of shoes you own. See the colors, shapes, where they are currently. Think about where you got them from. Think about how much they cost and the story behind acquiring them.

You may be thinking... shoes? But here's the point: if you can close your eyes and imagine five pairs of shoes (mighty, I can see a whole lot more than five, even in my mind) that means that in addition to taking up space in your closet, the shoes are also taking up space in your consciousness. (To link this up with a Niyama, check out Katherine's post on Saucha, or purity)

Chris cleaned the heck out of the house today. He removed every single piece of furniture from the living room and spent hours cleaning it. Things I couldn't have imagined were dirty... well, that's not even for polite company. It was scary where all those dust bunnies and caked on griminess hid. I sweep/vacuum usually on a weekly basis. There's no stuff strewn about the floors. Dirt, however, gets in there. It just does.

Same with our minds. The more stuff we acquire on a physical basis, the more space it takes up in our mind. The shoe experiment can be repeated on coats, bags, silverware, coffee mugs. All of this stuff is just lying in our minds, gathering dust. What can be more productive in your mental space than physical objects?

Of course, this is a holiday post. I'm trying to give presents that are either needed or useful with the hope that I will receive the same. Stocking stuffers have been known to make me angry at the giver (I'm working on it). Give a gift to yourself, too, by cleaning out what you can. By making space. In the end, there will be more space in your mind and breath. And, this time of year, couldn't we all breathe a little easier?

Sequence

1. Warm up for 10-15 minutes
2. Samasthiti (Equal standing)
3. Take your right leg and bend it, bringing the right calf to cross above the left knee (while balancing on left foot)
4. Hands to heart center, "sit" hips lower and back, opening the right hip
5. Open out and back to Virabhadrasana III (Warrior III)
6. Exhale to step back to high lunge
7. Take right hand to inside of left foot, left hand to hair for low lunge twist
8. Spin open to Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II)
9. Reverse warrior, taking hand to back leg
10. Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)
11. Bending front knee slightly to take left hand to floor, step back into Vasisthasana (Side Plank)
12. Plank
13. Vinyasa
14. Repeat steps 2-13 on other leg
15. Cool down
16. Savasana 

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Let it be.

I am a worrier. As much as I try not to be - I am. So is my mom. And seemingly my grandmother. To some extent, I honor that at least I can recognize where it comes from. At the same time, I constantly need this reminder of the last niyama: Isvara Pranidhana. Most often translated as "surrender to God," I like to think of it as surrendering to the flow that is my life. To simply do and be the best I can without unneeded concern over the outcome. To trust that the decisions I make and the actions I take are genuine to the person I am and the outcome will simply be a result of self expression. And no matter whether it will be seen from the outside as "good" or "bad," in my book all will be good because I have let it go and am choosing actions that resonate with my true self at that given moment. Releasing concern about what may or may not happen in the future allows us to live more presently in this moment. It's not easy.

As far as teaching this niyama, I have had many students come to me looking for specific results. It is ever so challenging to instill that it is truly the journey - the effort and the experience - that need the focus and attention rather than the end results. Surrendering to the flow of the journey rather than over thinking the outcome is Isvara Pranidhana. Also creating a link between all students that pass through the doorway to your class can help shift the attention from the individual to this unique universal life/journey which we are all a part. Inviting an awareness of what we all share rather than focusing on our differences can bring a sense of surrender of that universal self.

What ways do you see or bring "surrendering to the flow" to your life or in your yoga classes?

**I've spent the past several months writing weekly about the yamas and niyamas here on the Joy of Yoga! I hope you all enjoyed! Your feedback has been greatly appreciated. Any suggestions on what you'd like to chat more about in the future?

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Honoring the Class

It's coming to the end of the semester here at Cornell. I pretty much have the same schedule next semester, which means it's likely I'll be seeing a lot of similar faces, but the schedules of other students will surely shift, and I'll have to say bye to others.

I'd like to do something at the end of this semester to honor those who came with such amazing dedication and shared their practice. This isn't exactly a woo-woo friendly place and I don't want to make any assumptions or turn anyone off (when they are ready, the woo-woo will come). I tend to not talk about "spirit" and the "light within" all that much. Right now, I'm trying to think of a good way to end the class showing how grateful I am in movement and asana. Tricky, tricky, tricky.

If one pose, to you, was a symbol of gratitude, what pose would that be?

Sequence from this morning's class:

1. Begin on back, centering, breathing
2. Extend legs up to sky
3. Using core, bring extending legs out to right, and, moving like a pendulum, through center to the left. Keep the shoulders grounded on the mat
4. Repeat for about 1 minute, breathe smoothly
5. Extend legs to sky
6. Crisscrossing the legs move them to hover over the floor, and back up the sky. Continuing to crisscross lower and lift
7. Repeat for about 1 minute, breathe smoothly
8. Extend legs to sky
9. Eagle crunch (arms and legs bound in eagle while on back, bringing elbows towards knees and away). 12x each side
10. Release and roll to table
11. Cat/cow in table
12. "Thread the needle" in table, both sides
13. Uttanasana (Forward Fold)
14. Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Hand)
15. 5 Sun As
16. 3 Sun Bs. In the Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I), interlace fingers behind lower back. Inhale, open heart to sky, exhale take shoulder to inside of knee (hip stretch). In each Sun B, repeat this Warrior stretch.
17. Uttana Pristhasana (Lizard Pose). Hold, using props as needed, for 1 minute
18. Ardha Supta Kapotanasana (Half Reclined Pigeon). Moving foot across and knee down, come into reclined pigeon. Hold 1 minute.
19. Three Legged Downward Facing Dog, open hip by bending knee
20. Downward Dog
21. Repeat steps 17-20 on other side
22. Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand)
23. Halasna (Plow Pose)
24. Matsyasana (Fish Pose)
25. Supta Matysendrasana (Reclined Twist). Repeat other side
26. Savasana

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Quickie Sequence

Saw this shout-out on Suburban Yogini and thought... crap!, when's the last time I posted a sequence?

So here's a quickie that I used in a recent class. Enjoy!

1. 12 Sun Salutations to warm up (or warm up of choice)
2. Natarajasana (Dancer's Pose), opening to
3. Virabhadrasana III (Warrrior III), revolving to
4. Ardha Chandrasana (Balancing Half Moon)
5. Taking leg back to Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II)
6. Taking arm to back leg, for revolved or opened Warrior II
7. Straighten front leg for revolved triangle (Trikonasana)
8. Parsvottanasana (Pyramid Pose)
9. Step front leg back and into the air for 3-legged Downward Facing Dog
10. Vinyasa and repeat steps 1-9 on other side

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30 Day Yoga Challenge// Part Two!

Back here I posted about one of the great loves of my life's 30 Day Yoga Challenge.  Curious how it turned out? Me too! So, from sweet Kelly, the wrap up:

Take That 30 Day Challenge!

My 30 days are up and quite honestly, I am not sure what all my fuss was about.

Week 1: I was all pumped and ready to go! Time flew by and I was feeling good.
Week 2: Started to get tired, dragged a little bit, but pushed through.
Week 3: Back in the saddle and loving it!
Week 4: In the home stretch, started to feel a bit stiff and sore for a few days but knew that was normal.

The secret was to take it day by day and not think "Oh, 23 days to go, 22 days to go..." Not that I didn't do  little mental checks now and again but for the most part thinking of it one day at a time worked well. The studio owner asked me how I felt about the time commitment, and I was forced to be honest with myself. For me, the time commitment wasn't an issue. I don't have children taking up my life so I chose to attend 4pm classes on weekdays and the 8am classes on the weekends. This truly wasn't the challenging part.  What was more difficult was dragging myself when I just didn't feel like going! But I sucked it up because I knew it was best for me, and I really reaped some significant benefits.

What benefits, you ask? Well, I've really broadened my horizons regarding different yoga styles. Before the challenge I was primarily taking Bikram and Hot yoga classes. I tend to need variety in my life so I began to ease into Power and Vinyasa, which was really such an awesome thing for my practice. I felt like a whole new world was opening up to me and I began to work on my upper body strength, or lack thereof. I am actually starting to prefer these new classes to my original choices! I think this demonstrates the need for balance, variety and new challenges in one's practice. Another benefit of making yoga class part of my daily routine was seeing progress. At first I thought my body would be transformed, but once reality set in I knew it was going to take a lot more then a month to get to my ideal. Instead, I see a slower, more gradual progression in balance, strength and flexibility, which really makes a lot more sense. I also started making some connections with other people at the studio. I know my teachers better and I went from not speaking to anyone in the classes to having some friendly faces to talk to. Yoga is such an individual practice that I didn't see how I could make friends doing it, but now I realized that the more involved I get, the more opportunities I have to possibly get to know some new people with similar interests.

I think I am at the tip of the iceberg as far as yoga practice and meditation but this challenge has demonstrated to me that it's something I really want to keep as an important part of my life. In fact, I am starting to think it's something I really want to focus on, possibly even becoming a teacher of some sort. (Although the thought is terrifying!) And guess what? The next 30 Day Challenge begins in January and the owner already wanted to know if I'd sign up! I decided not to, however, because I am confident enough in myself now that I don't need to be held accountable in that way anymore. I'm going to keep this up on my own terms and in my own way. Hooray! Readmore »»

DECEMBER: celebrate with ashtanga yoga club!

all classes are WAY ON

this week at yogaclub!!!

saturday 18th= led primary

sunday 19th = mysore AM

monday 20th =mysore PM

wednesday 22nd = level 1 PM

thursday 23rd= mysore PM

saturday 25th self practice 9AM-noon

adjustments start about one hour after doors open for the mysore classes.

(so faulkner gets her practice in)

Sunday Mysore 8:30-11 AM (adjustments begin around 9:15 AM)

Monday & Thursday Mysore 5-8 PM (adjustments begin around 6 PM)

Wednesday Level 1 5:45-7:15 PM

Saturday Guided Primary 9-10:45 AM

Classes Are By Donation

Please do not let $$$ keep you from practicing at yogaclub

IOUs and chocolate/baked goods/ideas/crystals etc... gladly accepted

Park in back on left side or along side porch in driveway if possible

(trying to keep off street parking for my neighbors)

Class Description

Mysore: All levels welcome, including complete beginners

Level 1: Fundamentals of Ashtanga Yoga: suryanams & standing poses

Guided Primary Series: Instruction on postures will be limited

If you are not familiar with the entire series, you are welcome to attend

and practice as is appropriate, then sit and observe. This is a hard class.

New to Ashtanga? New to Durham? Visiting?

email any questions to: suzyruth2@yahoo.com

yoga related emergency? call/text suzy’s cell 919-475-9579

thanks for checking out our cute little blog!

http://ashtangayogaclubdurham.blogspot.com/

December is holiday ridden.... and suzy is going to Isreal to check-in with her Alexander Technique teachers from December 25- January 4th.

Yogaclub will be open as much as possible while suzy is away. There will be substitutes (karina, laury, the leslies, nancy) and/or self-practices. Checkout our super cute scroll down g-mail calendar gadget to see if there is a sub or a self practice while suzy is on the other side of the ocean missing her yoga peeps big time.

The G-man abides... namaste

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