I know sounds like an oxymoron but yes it is possible to get injured doing yoga. Especially the kind you find being practiced at most gyms and advanced yoga studios in the US.

I consider myself a pretty advanced asana practioner, but for the past 4 months or so have maintained a consistent 6-7 day a week practice. Many of my classes are very physically challenging (Baptiste Power Yoga is the style).

Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue as my body would have time to heal, but I started developing a bit of aching in my wrists. Instead of doing the smart thing and modifying poses (which you are told to do in case of soreness or injury) or taking a few days off, I just decided to power through.

Using a laptop computer 12 hours a day didn’t help matters.

In the end, one class was especially challenging, and I my right wrist was super-sore afterwards.

I continued to going to class for a week or so, modifying poses whenever arm balances were in order. The pain was not and is not that bad, in fact, I could practice through it without a problem, but I fear it getting worse.

Therefore, I took 3 days totally off, and did an Iyengar practice that  was much easier on my wrists. Iyengar practices focus on alignment, and I figure it would be a good thing for me to really delve deeply into to prevent any further injuries.

I figured out that my injury was caused by improper hand position and pressure. My position was just a few degrees off, but after hundreds of Sun A and B’s. this eventually wears you down.

Moral of this story is to never stop focusing on the basics, even if you are advanced. Really nail technique and you’ll go much farther over the long run and be more likely to avoid any injuries.

(me doing Natarajasana “dancer pose” at Badlands National Park in South Dakota) 

I’ve been practicing for almost 7 years. The past 6 months my practice has been very consistent, making it to a studio 6 days a week on average. For yoga, I have found that practicing more frequently really does yield superior results. I’d go so far as to say it is better to practice 20 minutes every day than for 90 minutes 2-3 times a week.

Yoga is infinitely challenging though. My studio, Shakti Vinyasa, recently switched up a few of their classes, substituting a couple of my the normally “advanced” level II/III classes with “beginner” level I/II classes.

(me doing Trigonasana “triangle pose” in the Grand Tetons)

From my perspective, the levels don’t mean much. I sweat about the same in any class. I also come out of any class feeling worked about the same amount. In a level I class I might go deeper into poses or be able to make some more advanced modifications. With a level III class I might take some modifications to make certain poses easier (e.g. dropping a knee in “twisted crescent lunge”). Either way I get the same “workout” physically, mentally (focus) and emotionally (dealing with ego and expectations).

It’s funny because on many occasions I’ve had people comment about how hard a level III class is or why I am going to a level I “intro” class (meant for people new to yoga). For me, it is all the same. Yoga is yoga. You get out what you put in.

As I wrote in my last post, The Simple Life is going very well. The original enjoyment I got from giving things away to those in need has not drifted away. I still feel the same joy. The momentum is only building.

Let me be clear, this is real joy, not pleasure. There is a difference. Joy is something lasting. It is innate and not based on contrast between you and anyone else, any thing or any situation. That would be pleasure. Joy is happiness and doesn’t cost a darn thing. There is no withdrawal symptoms. It’s the best drug money can’t buy. Anyway….let me get back to the points of this post….

I’ve now gotten rid of 80% of the “loose” things that I am willing to give away. This includes clothes I don’t use, books I don’t read, kitchen stuff I never touch and non-perishable food stuff (unopened) I haven’t looked at in a while. Boxes full of random doo-dads that been dropped off at Goodwill. I’ve got two paper bags full of Tupperware to give to my sister.

For the past month I’ve also not touched my credit card once (I used to have several, canceled them all but one for emergency use). I have a debit card and use that for all my purchases. In fact, since I don’t need to carry around all those cards, I’ve ditched my wallet and started using a very simple money clip.

Life is good.

The act of getting rid of “things” is not the true object of what I am doing. It is all about changing my relationship to things. I appreciate things I get much more. I also am not as attached to them.

This Simple Life mentality has also helped me keep a keen eye out for opportunities to give. I’d rather give things I don’t need directly to someone who would benefit from them. Books that I can give to someone. Clothes that could better serve someone else. It’s about giving not accumulating. Getting rid of things creates space in your life for other great stuff to flow in.

Life is great.

The Simple Life is also not about getting rid of everything to feel significant. It is not about being ultra-contemporary-minimalist just to be unique. It is about redefining what you are about. That is, not identifying your own self-image based on your things.

Once you stop hiding behind all the things you think you need, you are are able to look at yourself with greater objectivity. It’s in this observation that real change can take place.

Life is awesome.

The Dalai Lama is visiting Seattle for a few days, as part of the Seeds of Compassion talks. Just now, they closed down several intersections outside my home (a very busy city road) to make way for his motorcade!

I was able to catch a glance of his ochre colored robe as his car sped by.

You can catch the talks on demand at the Seeds of Compassion website.

This morning I had my first official class as a teacher! I had a whopping two students participate, but I had a ton of fun…and am looking forward to growing the class as word spreads (it isn’t easy to get up for a 6:30am class!).

If you live in North Seattle, near Mountlake Terrace, stop by the Rec Center Tues/Thursday mornings (6:30-7:30) for a great hour-of-power yoga class!

I start teaching in a few weeks (power yoga, asana practice). Pretty excited about that.

I’m curious. Is anyone who reads this blog into Yoga? Could be an asana practice, or any other form. If you are, leave a comment and let me know what you are into and up to!

The more exposed I get to Tony’s teaching, the more I like it.

I really appreciate the fact that he never stops learning, growing and expanding his perspective. While many of his detractors claim that he too often “changes his tune,” I see this as his greatest strength.

He is not afraid to change his approach as he learns more effective ways doing things. I know 20 years ago, he never would have been into meditation or chanting, but times change….and here he is supporting the release of a new collection of spiritual songs!

When I attended Date With Destiny, we did an incredibly profound guided meditation. This was very different from what most people expected (Tony has been known to stay away from things like meditation in the past, favoring other methods to create lasting change)….but the results were there and that was what mattered.

Below is a little blurb from Tony’s newsletter…I have seen Deva Premal and Miten in concert, and they are truly wonderful singer/songwriters. This will be a great CD.
—-

Tony’s New CD in Stores March 11

Sacred Blessings, a new collection of spiritual songs personally selected by Tony and Sage Robbins, will be released March 11, it was announced by Kosmic Music. This music, inspired by the great faiths and traditions from around the world, has been chosen to create a sense of peace and harmony within you and around you.

Featuring best-selling mantra singer Deva Premal and well-known songwriters Miten and Craig Pruess, the CD features songs such as “I Love You Lord,” “Devi Prayer,” “So Much Magnificence,” “Gayatri Mantra,” “Moola Mantra” and much more.
—–

I just got done meditating. I’ve had a fairly consistent meditation practice for the past 4 years or so and I’ve written about my experience at length in previous posts. Meditation is nothing if not infinitely challenging. Today was no exception.

People use different methods for their meditation. Some just focus on their breath. For me, I’ve been consistently using the same mantra, or symbolic phrase, to help guide me. I’ve found that using this consistent mantra, one that has a deep meaning for me, has been a great help. I’m able to get focused more quickly and easily.

At the same time, I’ve often wondered why it would even be necessary to use any mantra at all. This was the topic of my mind’s endless chatter today. After all, if the goal of meditation (if you could even say there is one) is ultimately just to”be,” completely aware to the present moment, than concentration on a mantra or one’s breath seems like the opposite of this goal

I had a realization during my mediation experience today. I flashed back to high school, and then to our cafeteria (yes, I was hungry before I started) where we used to get milk served to us in bags.

These bags were pretty much indestructible. You could sit on them, put your chair on them, throw them….but they wouldn’t bust. Occasionally someone would manage to get one to explode (who knows how….) but that took some serious effort.

Despite the resilience, you could easily puncture it with the sharp end of a small straw and suck the thing dry. There is my answer!

The purpose of an object of concentration (provided through a mantra, breath, etc.) is just to serve as a tool (and a necessary one at that) to help you pierce through your mind’s endless chatter so you can arrive at your ultimate goal (absolute present moment awareness, happiness, whatever you get out of meditation). Without this tool, you’d just keep pressing up against massive resistance.

OK, now that I’ve learned something for the day, I can go eat :) .

My yoga practice has been progressing very well the past few weeks. I’ve recently rediscovered my breath. This might sound odd since we can’t go more than a minute or so without breathing…but I’ve gotten into this funk during my practice for many months where I just haven’t been concentrating on it.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been making a conscious effort to make a very strong Ujayi breath…it is loud enough where I am certain than those practicing around me can hear it, and they are probably a little disturbed by it!
Ujayi is a breathing technique where you inhale and exhale through the nose, while focusing on channeling the air down the back of your throat in a manner that creates an audible “haaaa” sound. You can learn the technique by imagining that you are fogging up a mirror by exhaling through your mouth, and then close you mouth. Maintain this same sensation on the inhale and exhale.

I’ve noticed that the more I do this, the more I start noticing others doing the same. Breathing loudly and deeply.

Anyway, the more I do this, the better my yoga practice has become. My balance is much better, and I’m able to go much deeper into my poses. I’ve not chanced my practice in any other significant way (same frequency, effort, etc.) so breathing must be the trick!

Related Posts:

• Increase Your Endurance and Reduce Stress With One Simple Technique
• The Cleansing Power of Breath
  
• Meditation and Fasting Retreat Experience
• My Date With Destiny Experience

Think about your five closest friends. These are the people you spend the most time with, either in person or via e-mail, Facebook, MySpace and phone conversations. According to popular wisdom (and it proves to be correct in my life), these five people will define, over the long term:

• The level of your bank account and your salary
• Your overall health and fitness
• Your willingness to take risks and go on adventures
• Your career level and aspirations
• Your overall level of happiness and well-being
• Your attitude and demeanour while relating to other people
• etc.

This is a very unscientific, but highly demonstrable truth. Think about it. Your peer group defines not just who you are, but who you become. Choose your friends wisely.

The first step in my goal to start teaching yoga is complete. Today was the last day in the Teacher Assistant Program (TAP) that I have been go through at my studio. It was 4 weekends of training (24 hours in total). The focus of the program was how to deliver hands-on adjustments to the 50+ postures in Baptiste Vinyasa Power Yoga. We learned how to align, correct and deepen.

Next, I’ll have to continue practicing what I learned and start assisting during classes. For the style of yoga I am practicing, there are actual Teacher Training programs that I will need to go to before I can start teaching at my studio. These are 1-2 week residential programs. It will be a year or two before I will be able to complete those.

In the meantime, my plan is to first start assisting at my studio to deepen my own knowledge, and then, start teaching at a smaller studio or gym (that might not require me to have gone through a formal teacher training).

I’ve heard to no end that listening skills are one of the most important, yet underdeveloped skills we have.

I consider myself a decent listener, but find it to be a pretty active thing. When I “listen,” I tend to be thinking a lot….processing things, trying to summarize things in my mind, paraphrasing, etc.

During my yoga class today, my teacher made a pretty profound statement….

“Listening occurs in the absence of thought.”

I guess I am not so good at it after all!

I woke up with 30 minutes to spare before yoga started this morning. At first I figured that there was no way I could make it to class in time….decided to try anyway. I’ve gotten in a funk recently where I over-think things….and figured this was one of those times. There is a lot to be said for doing instead of thinking.

Turns out I arrived at class about 20 minutes early! My superhuman memory had failed once again. Class started at 9:30 not 9:15 :)

I was pretty dehydrated going into class, having had a late night with friends, but figured it wouldn’t be that challenging anyway. It was noted as a “Level 2″ class….which caters to intermediate students. Level 3 classes tend to really knock your socks off.

I was terribly mistaken.

This was definitely among the top 5 hardest classes I’ve ever taken. Our awesome teacher, Peter, has a knack for holding poses a bit <ok…a LOT> longer than usual, to let us really appreciate them! He also throws in some unique poses here and there to deepen out practice.

I took child’s pose several times throughout the class (basically, laying on the ground with my head between my knees praying for class to end) and could barely stand by the end. I was totally knocked out.
In retrospect, the class shouldn’t have been that hard, but I was definitely not ready for it. Or at least, I was ready for something different, and this one threw me for a loop. Yet another lesson that sometimes it’s best not to have any expectations.

I’ve been doing yoga for over 5 years fairly consistently. I began after injuring myself while training for a marathon back in 2002. In 2003, I injured myself again training for an Ironman Triathlon (fell while running and hurt my knee pretty badly). I reverted back to yoga again and saw that my fitness was not only maintained, but I was actually running faster after a month of daily yoga sessions than before my injury.

Since then I have explored different styles of yoga. Including Bikram, Vinyasa, Jivakumti and Ashtanga. My practice is a Vinyasa (”flow”) style and it never stops to challenge. Yoga should be part of any training or fitness plan. Here are a few reasons why:

1. It’s all about you. Once you’ve learned the basics, it’s just you and the ground. You don’t need any fancy equipment, clothing or other accoutrement’s. You don’t need to go to a studio (though it helps at first). You don’t need to have good weather. You don’t need a lot of space. There are no excuses. It’s the most convenient form of exercise available.
2. It integrates your mind & body. It forces the body and mind to be completely present. You can go trail running while thinking about what you are going to do over the weekend or what to make for dinner, but try doing Natarajasana aka “Dancer” (poorly illustrated by me in the pic…your hips should be flat, leg higher and body parallel to the ground) without complete awareness and you will be on the ground.
3. It’s about balance. It creates a supreme balance in the body. Since you are using your own body, you develop muscles in the proper manner with perfect symmetry and balance. Unlike weight lifting, you are less likely to develop muscle imbalances that will result in injury or poor posture. Yoga also exploits your weaknesses. If your lower back has been neglected, you will feel it. If your core is not strong, you will find out! Yoga is a total body workout, and helps you discover your problem areas before they start causing you problems!
4. It’s infinitely challenging and full of variety. There are poses and variations that will challenge even the most advanced practitioner. The variety is limitless. You can do a relaxing restorative practice, inversions, fast-paced Vinyasa routines, Pranayama, meditation or hold certain poses for long periods of time to get a deeper sense of awareness.
5. It makes you feel good. Out of all the sports I’ve done, yoga makes me feel the best after I am done. Totally relaxed yet alert.

this is the home of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s School of Management, and adjacent to his organization’s Vedic City. This place is supposedly entirely vegetarian, the whole town stops to meditate twice daily and practice yogic flying (really) and the streets are laid out according to Vastu (ancient Indian principles….akin to fueng shui in Oriental traditions).

We are making good time driving….and will probably stay in Fairfield for the night…depending on how interesting this place is.

I’ve had an on-again off-again relationship with Yoga.  You don’t have to do convince me about how valuable it is for getting super-fit inside and out, but it seems that after about 3 months of steady practice, some other form of exercise catches my eye.

Last weekend, after a helping to lead great yoga workout on the Oregon Coast, I got motivation to get my practice rolling again.

This time, I’m committed to not just doing my own practice, but also getting on track to actually lead my own classes. I’ve found that I actually enjoy teaching, and figure it would be a good way to deepen my own practice as well.

First step will be a one-day intensive class later in September. After regular practice on my own, and a few other “teacher training” workshops, I should be ready to start assisting with classes <location TBD> and eventually progress to leading my own classes.

If you are a yoga teacher and have any tips on how to best make the leap from student to teacher, drop me a line.

Went back to Yoga class for the first time in a few months. Lately, I’ve just practiced at home…..Yoga Today is awesome! Free hour-long video podcasts delivered daily. You can’t beat it….except for actually going to a real class.

You see, there is just something about having other people around that makes me work harder.

On Friday, I managed to reinjure my neck in the weight room. I think the source of the injury is bad ergonomics at work. Spending more than a few hours hunched over a laptop is a recipe for disaster.  Following this up with a heavy day of lifting; focusing on shoulders, was enough to tweak my neck.

I am going to take it easy on the weights for the next couple days. I will train legs tomorrow and keep up with the yoga for a few days to see if that helps.

I finally got some pictures posted from my India Adventure!

This photo is from beach at the southernmost tip of India, where the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean all converge. The sand is in fact three colors, having swept ashore from three distant lands. A very special place.

Peter has a great exercise. Don’t even try to say you don’t have time for it either. It takes all of 5 seconds.

Stop.
Breathe slowly.
Let go of your past – just for this breath.
Try to feel the air as it moves across your nose or your lips.
Breathe.
Don’t worry about the future – just for this breath.
Breathe again.

That’s it. You were in the moment. It’s really simple. Not easy, but simple. Repeat that simple exercise a couple of times per day for a week, and watch what happens.

I have many teachers. I’ve encountered them through many different means. Through travels. Through sports. Through retreats with my family. Through chance encounters. Through blogging. Through friends. Through seminars. Sometimes even through school :).

Your teachers shape who you are. They are quite possibly the most important external factor in determining the quality of your life.

Teachers push you when you think you can go no further.

Teachers expand the scope of what you think is possible.

Teachers explain the most complex of subjects in the simplest of terms.

Teachers hold you to a higher standard than you hold yourself to.

Teachers don’t take no for an answer.

Teachers walk their talk.

Teachers don’t make assumptions.

Teachers are your friends, even when they are teaching you a “tough lesson.”

Teachers smile and laugh more than they yell and scream.

Teachers are more worried about contribution and growth than significance.

You can tell that by teachers, I don’t necessarily mean the schoolhouse-variety. They can come from all walks of life, and be any age. Teachers are many things.

Who are your teachers? How have they helped you get where you are today? Are there new teachers you would like to bring into your life? What steps will you take to find these people, and bring them into your life?