A lil extra in my stocking

Tags

caffeine mala, competition, give away, Headstand, mala, malas, Mantra, Om Namah Shivaya, Tiny Devotions, w00t w00t, Y is for Yogini

Holy Shiva! Can I hear a w00t w00t??

Somehow this very lucky yogini is the winner of Y is for Yogini’s mala give-away.

Check. It. Out!

Stunning, isn’t it? For those who aren’t aware, the beads are rudraksha seeds (they grow on a tree like that!) and this is a very traditional seed to use for a mala. They are specifically associated with Shiva, the head honcho dude of the Hindu pantheon. And the two stones at the end are coffee jasper poppy jasper – which I don’t know much about, but it all sounds good!

It’s made by Tiny Devotions – they create marvellous works of beauty over there!! I’m so excited about this I could jump into a headstand right here at work!

Thank you YIFY and TD, I’m super-thrilled. You can be sure it’ll be highly treasured, and get lots of wear and mantra repetition (can I hear an Om Namah Shivaya anyone?). And I’ll let you know when it arrives. 😀

~Svasti

Teacher training update

Tags

Asana, Headstand, inverted asana, Pigeon ethereal whisperspose, Yoga, yoga teacher training

Haven’t been talking much about my yoga teacher training here. Which surprises me; thought I’d be writing about it a lot more than I have! And here we are, a month from the end and I’m almost qualified (hooray!).

Yet, I feel a little remiss. I could have shared more here. In some ways I’ve wanted to. But much of it has felt so very personal. So interior. Like my body has been drip feeding secrets to my mind. So I haven’t been in a place to share, because I’m still getting it myself.

Huge day today though.

Including a MASSIVE session on inversions. So we can learn how to teach them, as well as checking our progress.

And yeah. We did Every. Inversion. Going.

Or tried to. Couldn’t quite cut it with Scorpion/forearm balance. But it was right at the end, by which time I was pretty zonked.

*Yawns!*

Excitingly, we learned a new way to teach headstand that allows for a free-standing pose, but with support so it doesn’t seem so freaky. Well, it’s a new teaching method to me, anyway!

The following is a description of what I learned.

But please: if you aren’t familiar with headstand, please don’t try this without a yoga teacher around!

Sit in dandasana with your feet flat against wall. Place a blanket where your knees are, so that its a lower leg distance away. Which means your starting position is near, but not right next to the wall.

Come onto your hands and knees. Elbows are one forearm distance apart (cross your arms to check the distance). Hands are clasped, forming a triangle with your elbows. Both wrists and elbows press firmly into the floor. The crown of the head is cupped by the hands. Walk your feet towards your head, making sure you are balancing on the crown of the head, not too far forward or back.

When you’re ready, kick or raise the feet up to touch the wall. The knees are bent (behind your body). Then practice lifting one leg off the wall at a time, so the leg is vertical and aligned with your body. Keep pressing into the elbows, the head and forearms must bear the weight evenly. Eventually work up to both legs off the wall and above the head, which requires core stability, strength and balance. The good thing is, the wall is always there to keep you safe! Which helps people overcome fear of falling, a limiting factor when attempting headstand.

Cool! And today, using this method I achieved the best headstand I’ve done to date!

Then… my turn to teach a practice class and receive constructive feedback. I’d invited a friend to join us, someone who isn’t as familiar with asana as my fellow students. Gotta make sure I can teach real beginners!

Putting the class program together was kinda dream-like. Actually, part of it did come together in my waking dream! I’ve written a few programs already, and it seems to get easier every time. So at 6am this morning (it’s been a busy week!) I woke, and in my demi-somnambulant state arrived a few visuals. Or perhaps they were thoughts? It’s a little hard to say.

Anyway. Class time. My fellow students and I were pretty exhausted from the inversions so I decided to mellow it up a little. Slow it down. And out it flowed.

Somewhere in there, about three quarters through, maybe in Pigeon pose, ethereal whispers wafted into the room. Like a just out of earshot conversation, but really, addressed to me. No one in the class was talking, that’s not what I mean…

Snippets of comprehension flowed into my body, but not my mind. The gist being something like: THIS is why you’re doing it!

As in, why I’m becoming a yoga teacher. Can’t say I’ve got a handle on that just yet. I didn’t quite plan it this way, yet here I am. And why? I’ve asked myself, but don’t have any honest answers.

I mean, why does the world need yet another yoga teacher? And why me? I was happy enough being a long term student of yoga in all its facets. I’ve never felt a desire to teach before, not really.

My body knows more than I do, though. It’s become the great furnace to process and reduce the dross, outputting refined and gleaming metal. So… guess I’ll find out when my body sees fit to release its secrets.

Its okay, I can wait…

Til then, it’s enough to know my class was enjoyed. That I guided people to a deep state of relaxation. That my friend felt “great” afterwards, compared to how she felt before. It’s a start, right?

And despite my lack of self-confidence for a good three quarters of this year, despite the heavy events that have threatened to sink me to the bottom of the ocean, somehow I am becoming a yoga teacher.

Even if I’m not quite sure how that came to be!

~Svasti

Today, I’m seven (again)

Tags

Asana, Balance, Foundations, Handstand, Headstand, Inversion poses, Seven years old, Sirshasana, Upside down, Yoga

Been seeing things upside down of late and not surprisingly, that provides an excellent, if completely opposite point of view.

Turn everything on its head, think of your usual foundations as being lighter, more sensitive and gentle. Conversely, consider that which you usually rely on for agility, detailed and technical operations, and how that can become your foundation.

School’s back – hooray – term two of my yoga studies course. Can’t tell you what a relief that is, in fact, term break is one of half a dozen or so things (all at once) that have really, really sucked about the last two weeks. I’ve really missed my yoga classes and five hour Saturday study sessions!

Right now in our asana intensives, we’re looking at inversions. First we studied standing poses (to build a strong foundation), then balancing poses (can’t balance til you have a good foundation) and now upside down poses (testing your foundations and balance, but totally in reverse).

Asana practice is big on developing your strengths equally… which makes much more sense studying it all slowly and methodically than it ever has in the ten or so years since I took my first yoga class.

Not to mention… inversions are actually very good for combating depression and anxiety. You could say I’ve been doing them a lot lately!

Excitingly, my sirshasana (headstand) is starting to develop very nicely. For years I wouldn’t try it, thinking it was beyond me. Then I did try, but couldn’t do it, so I stopped trying for ages. Then suddenly I could!!

It’s still something I do against the wall (not quite free-standing), and until today, I’ve been getting there by kicking up my legs instead of slowly raising them in a controlled way.

Now, using the wall as a ‘safety net’ only, I find myself able to play with the pose… test the balance point between my head and forearms… noticing exactly how I need to engage my core muscles… considering the extension of my arms and shoulders into the floor while my feet stretch skywards.

So exhilarating!

We also played around with handstands (against the wall), and more than anything else, this is something that instantly transports me back to being seven years old.

Specifically, doing handstands against the wall conjures up memories of being a small girl in a tiny asphalted courtyard at school… a group of us girls would relentlessly practice doing handstands, days, weeks and months on end.

It was a time when turning my world upside down was one of the best things in life!

Yet here I was, a grown woman of thirty-seven, with two other students and our teacher, contemplating throwing our legs up in the air while being supported by our arms.

As children, we trust our own abilities, and the solidity of a wall. But as an adult there’s such fear associated with flinging your head south and your feet northwards – can we support ourselves when the world is upside down? As grownups, our first reaction is to assume we’ll hurt ourselves, that we won’t be able to handle it.

I felt that fear in the pit of my stomach. I watched as our teacher demonstrated and I remembered what it was like to be that small child (showing off her knickers with her dress around her ears), who, even when she had a broken arm (with an old-style heavy plaster case) still managed to do handstands (don’t ask how!!).

Invoking that mini-me, I did it, left shoulder still slightly painful from my pushbike fall, but… there I was. Strong, upside down and having wiped thirty years of worry and fear away in a single fluid move!

Inversions are excellent for your digestive system and give your organs a break from the demands of gravity. They generate a sense of well-being, strength, confidence and aliveness.

More, I find they help increase my sensitivity and trust… in myself. Can I rely on my feet to find the wall (if needed)? If I fall, can I do so in a controlled and safe manner? Can I find my way to a balance point that makes me feel strong instead of fragile and vulnerable?

Yeah, apparently I can…

~Svasti