:: YogiSutras: Yoga Blog - Journeys into Yoga ::

I am about to embark on a yoga retreat to Amansala, in Tulum, Mexico. This week long retreat comes after a 3-day business trip to Palo Alto, California. Starting yesterday (Monday) morning, I took off for DIA at 6:30am with my boss, Dean. We traveled the usual route, and arrived a good hour and 1/2 before my plane left. But, I did not plan on the long lines at the airport. Long story short, I made my plane with 30 seconds to go, running down concourse A, while they were calling my name for last boarding. I’ve never been the last one to board a plane. It took a while to come back to my yoga breath after that event.

We arrived in Santa Clara, and were blessed with a car that smelled like dead fish. I mean, DEAD FISH. Sasha, our agile team leader, said it smelled like he was riding on the wrong end of a camel. He asked me what camel was in sanskrit , and I replied Ustrasana. He enjoyed knowing the sanskrit name that appropriately represented the smell of our car.

Tomorrow, (Wed), I head back to Denver, where I can rest for 8 hours before my plane to Cancun, Mexico. I’m not taking my computer, so I apologize for not blogging next week, but I did pack my journal, so I will come back and blog my yoga retreat details when I return. Check back in one week!

Namaste,

–ifer

In case you ever wanted to know, it is hard to overcook a hard-boiled egg. Every other day, I boil four or five eggs to eat as my ever-so-hurried breakfast. Yesterday, I put four on the stove, and FORGOT ABOUT THEM. I left them on for at least 40 minutes, until I went down stairs and found 4 eggs, almost bone-dry, sizzling in the bottom of the pot. My immediate reaction was to throw them out, but then my curiosity got the best of me. Why don’t I try one? So, I did. The egg white was not much harder then a regular hard-boiled egg, and the yoke was nice and yellow. The only odd thing I noticed was that there was a slight greenish tint surrounding the yoke. Between yesterday and today, I actually ate all four, and my stomach is fine.

In case you ever wanted to know.

~Namaste

In my little studio (Kenyon Yoga), I often have the honor of guiding students who are completely new to Yoga as a practice. They come because their wives ask them to, or because they are a runner, golfer, neighbor, or just because they have heard of yoga and wanted to try it in a small, unintimidating environment.

After the initial conversations and introductions (”don’t laugh at me!”, “I’m not flexible at all!”, “She made me come to this”), the class begins in Child’s Pose. This is where the transformation begins, where they all come to their breath, center themselves, calm their minds, and retreat inward. Somewhere in Sun A, they realize, that they can do Yoga, and that no one is looking at them other than themselves. The giggling stops, and all you hear is their beautiful, synchronized breath. As they continue through class, there’s often a time or two where you lose one or two students, their gaze pops up, their eyes bug out, and their lips turn down, and in those instances, some positive, kind words, bringing them back to the breath and guiding them slightly out of an asana into perhaps a more comfortable modification works wonders.

Somewhere along the way, time gets lost. I have a watch, but the vinyasas and breathing really guide the tempo and timing of the class. I can feel when their bodies are ready to release into their surrender poses. This part of class is very much the reward, the goal, or the physical and mental release for students. They realize they did it, and that no one but themselves had any critical reaction to them being there, and that the love and light was present the entire class. It’s this moment, as an instructor, that my heart just glows, and I watch them melt into Shavasana with a special joy.

Here is a beginner’s class that even advanced students enjoy. I’ve omitted Bakasana (crow pose), Ustrasana (camel pose), Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (bridge pose), and other perhaps challenging asanas, and rather focus on gentle vinyasas and the breath.

Balasana (Childs Pose)
Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward facing dog)
Rag Doll

Surya-Namaskara A (Sun A)
Uttanasana - Flat Back
Uttanasana (forward fold)
Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
Uttanasana (forward fold)
(repeat 3 times)

Chaturanga Dandasana (high plank to low plank)
Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (upward facing dog)
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Jump or walk forward
Tadasana
Samasthitih (standing hands at heart center)
Tadasana
Uttanasana
Uttanasana - Flat Back
(Chaturanga Dadasana, repeat 3 times, end in Adho Mukha Svanasana)

Surya-Namaskara B (Sun B)
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Utkatasana
Uttanasana
Uttanasana - Flat Back
Chaturanga Dadasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Lift Right Leg High
Low Lunge
Crescent Lunge
Spine twist towards the right (open up both arms, right arm reaches towards the back, left arm toward the front)
Virabhadrasana II (Warrier II) Lead with left arm, circle it up and over the head, spin left heal to mat, right arm reaches forward.
Extended Side Angle
Reverse Warrier
Chaturanga Dadasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
(repeat left side, flow through Utkatasana, Chaturanga Dadasana, one mor time, and repeat basic flow 3 times)

Utkatasana
Prayer twist right side
Gorilla Pose
Prayer twist left side
Forward fold
Halfway Lift
Chaturanga Dadasana
Walk or jump feet through and roll onto back

ABS! (take a little breather, and flow into abdominal sequence of your choice…bicycles are a nice choice, ending with Boat Pose)

Chaturanga Dadasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana

Lunge and Trikonasana series
Lift Right Leg High
Low Lunge
Crescent Lunge
Virabhadrasana II (warrier II)
Reverse Trikonasana
Trikonasana
Prasarita Padottanasana (using variations, bending knee, walking hands from side to side)
Virabhadrasana II
Chaturanga Dadasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
(Left side, and integrate hands clasped behind back for Prasarita Padottanasana )

Standing Series
Garudasana (eagle pose, 2 times both sides)
Natarajasana (dancer, both sides)
Vrksasana (tree pose, both sides)

Chaturanga Dadasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
(High Plank, slowly lower to belly for low back series)

Bhujangasana (low cobra, 2 times)
Airplane Pose, arms to side, lift heart, chest and legs
Superman Pose, arms to front, lift heart, chest and legs
(modification, if low back pain, separate legs)

Adho Mukha Svanasana (modify with embryo pose, bringing legs together)

Ardha Kapotasana (half pigeon, both sides)
—alternative, Runners Lunge, both sides

Walk feet forward and come on to a seated position, legs in front

Paschimotanasana (seated forward fold)

Roll onto back

Ananda Balasana - Happy Baby Pose

Spinal Twist

Shavasana

End with what ever mantra you feel!

With honor,

Jennifer