A Case for a Hot Practice, exploring a yoga trend.

I was speaking with one of the new teacher trainees at the studio recently, asking how her first day of teacher training went.  Her reply deeply resonated with me, bringing me back to my first days encountering the sheer size of the yoga tradition.  She said, "I have just realized how very little I know about yoga".

Oh yes, the realization of how vast yoga really is.  How very little, especially as westerners whose exposure to practice has been primarily asana practice in a studio setting, we know about the tradition of yoga can be overwhelming, exciting, terrifying all at once.  Especially if you've just decided to undertake the role of teaching  this ancient tradition.  How can one possibly learn to teach all of THIS?

And even to this day, I'm struck with the occasional yogic existential crisis. "Am I teaching yoga? Can you even teach yoga?  Am I teaching a fitness class? Am I offering authenticity? Am I being driven by ego to fill this darn space with bodies? Am I even a yogi?"

The classes I have found myself most driven to teach are classes that encourage students to meet their edges, to practice on the periphery of comfort.  One could say I teach fitness or stretching, because,  I do.  I primarily teach vinyasa, hot yoga & yin.  These styles of yoga are currently filling classes, they are trendy, and offer the students a "brand".  Something that allows the student a pretty good idea of what they are getting into before they head to class.

And hot yoga is the trendiest of them all.  Something about a ridiculously hot room, lots of skin, lots of sweat, a challenging vinyasa practice, and a dimly lit room is vastly appealing to yoga practitioners.

But, is this yoga?  Is this "real" authentic yoga?

Well, according to this website - no, it isn't.  I'm willing to admit, in the most traditional sense of the practice,  hot yoga is not real yoga.  Modern consumer culture likes to co-opt traditional spiritual practice.  We dumb it down, and take out bits and pieces that resonate to make something that is marketable, and then sell it as something authentic.  Hot yoga is very much the result of this practice.

One of my favorite quotes from Sharon Gannon, co-founder of the Jivamukti School of yoga has become part of the foundation of my own practice as well as my teaching.  Allowing me to find authenticity amidst the "brand" we currently teach as yoga.

"You cannot do yoga.  Yoga is your natural state.  What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state."

And this is how I reconcile teaching trendy/marketable yoga classes.  I teach my students to look for moments of presence, moments of connection, moments on the edge, moments of humility, and moments of pure joy and then to look at where they are limiting or resisting those moments as well.

Those moments certainly exist within a hot class.  Hot yoga connects the yogi with a profound experience of the senses.  It is difficult to ignore how you feel when you are practising postures in +38 degrees C.  And that connection with the sensory world may be what draws people back to hot yoga classes again & again.   For, it's that very connection that is missing in our modern lives.  We have disconnected with the natural world, and we are becoming fatter, sicker, and depressed because of it.

In a recent  post, "A plea for the body", the Exuberant Animal blog explores the modern human body and how we have disconnected with our natural state, with the sensory world, and have begun to use devices to participate in the world around us.  This is one of those must read blog posts for anyone interested in health & wellness.

Just as cars and chairs cripple our bodies through muscular disuse and atrophy, so too do electronic devices cripple our senses. So-called “smart phones” act as prosthetic devices for the healthy nervous system, leading to sensory atrophy. Just as muscles degenerate with disuse, so too do our primal powers of observation, sight, hearing and touch. Only a couple of generations ago, almost every human on the planet was physically engaged. Today, only athletes, dancers and blue-collar workers experience the world with their bodies. In the space of a few decades, we have gone from being robust, physical animals to disembodied observers, digital voyeurs and data miners.

 Our minds & our bodies are still primal.  We crave the experiences of the sensory world, we crave being on the edge, we crave experiences that unite us with our bodies & the world around us.  Hot yoga provides us with this very real experience but in a safe, controlled & fun way.  It is not a replacement for being in nature and connecting with the earth.  But, it can be a little oasis in our technologically enhanced lives that brings us back into our body & mind in a very obvious way.

It seems that humans have long recognized the value of heat & sweating.  Ritualized ceremonial practices involving sweating are practised cross culturally in Native North American, Baltic, Eastern European and Scandinavian cultures.  The extremity of the sweat is a spiritual practice.  I certainly would never be so bold as to equate my hot yoga class to a ceremonial practice of sweating, but I think that there is clearly precedence in our history of intentionally seeking this experience.  It feels good, it feels cleansing, and in the end we feel rejuvinated.

One thing worth mentioning is the claim that hot yoga detoxifies the body.  After researching the topic a little bit, I've concluded that there is little proof of this claim.  Yes, the skin is an organ and we do remove toxins from our bloodstream through the skin.  There is little evidence that this process is accelerated by increased sweating.  However, yoga in general, can improve lymphatic flow which assists the liver & kidneys in removing toxins from the body through urine & feces.

Given the above reasons why we are drawn to, or may find value in practising yoga in the heat - one might say that the "cleanse" we gain from our practice could be more of an emotional or spiritual nature.  As practitioners, we innately feel this and continue to be drawn back to that sweaty mat, over and over again.  Because, at some point during our hot practice we might find ourselves profoundly in the experience.  Where we are fully immersed in the sensory world, where the everyday chatter of the mind stills, and it's just the breath, the body and our experience of those things.  Perhaps, that moment, is yoga.

And if that moment is yoga (union), then one would have to reason that even the trendiest of yoga classes offers the potential of providing students with an experience of oneness.  In the end, knowing very little about the tradition of yoga is okay if you come to the mat to explore, to practice, and to learn where you are resisting your natural state of oneness. Maybe every once in a while, you'll get a peek at the yoga you hold within.

Doesn't seem quite so overwhelming after all.

A few thoughts on practising yoga.....

If I were to say anything about my yoga practice, I would say that it has been entirely transformative.  It has taken me from being a shy, introverted, socially awkward housemom to an outgoing, expressive, extroverted [fill in the blank - mom, yogi, daughter, friend... etc].  I remember walking into teacher training at Bodhi Tree Yoga on my first day, feeling just a bit out of place and quite nervous about the undertaking I was about to embark upon.

As we sat in the studio, each student was asked to introduce themselves.  Panic.  I was terrified about talking in front of a group of people.  As each trainee introduced themselves, I quietly freaked out and planned my introduction nervously in my head.  At my turn, I managed to fumble my way through the introduction thinking, "How on earth will I ever get up in front of a group of students and teach them yoga?".

Well, sometime between that first day of teacher training and my first class at the YMCA six months later - I found myself able to feel comfortable in a teaching setting.  My ease with the training group became apparent and I was able to participate and express my thoughts and ask questions.

What changed?  Did yoga transform me into something I wasn't?  or did I begin to express who I REALLY am?

It is Patanjoli's (Yoga Sutras) view that yoga is a project that we take on to better ourselves.  The aim of yoga being to make one's thoughts and behaviour reflect their true nature (not harmful, covetous or deceitful)(Raganathan, 2008).  We all come to the mat for a variety of reasons, but it seems that most people undertake the project of yoga in the pursuit of some type of transformation.

That transformation can be anything from stilling the mind, to improving flexibility, getting stronger, losing weight, improving mood, to rehabilitation after injury or illness.  Whenever I start a new session, I ask the class to tell me why they've decided to start practising.  Almost every student is looking to change or improve something in their life.

When I talk to new students about yoga as being something transformative, I often explain my own story of transformation.  Moving from being introverted and shy to being able to teach yoga with ease and comfort.  I also talk about the transformations in my own body, particularly the dramatic changes in posture I've experienced.  That the practice of yoga, has indeed been a tool for change & growth.

After explaining my story, I like to explain my personal approach to practising yoga.  I have several considerations that all play a role in my approach to practice.

1. Know your body.  Know your body's limitations & it's capabilities.  Understand that this is never set in stone, it's fluid and changing.  Take time before every practice to feel where you are on that day, and then practise with that in mind.  Not becoming attached to strength or weakness, pleasure or plain.  Just allow for communication with your body.
2. Know your mind.  Know that your mind cannot always be trusted.  Know if you tend toward self defeating thoughts, or risk taking behaviours.  If you know what your habitual tendencies are, you can begin to challenge them in your practice.
3. Work your edges.  Find edges in your body, edges in your mind.  And be there.  Practice on the edge, that's where all the really cool stuff happens.  Then, step beyond the edge every once in a while.  See where that takes you.
4. Invite adversity and ride it.  Sometimes yoga is hard.  Invite that into your practice, and explore how you react to challenges.
5. Breathe.  Just do it.  Just keep breathing.
6. Have a sense of humour.  I think this is vital.  Don't take yourself so bloody seriously!  Sometimes I look out over my class and everyone is so serious.  I do it myself.  I often forget to smile and have fun while I practice.  Do this.  Do this mindfully.  Express joy in the movement of your body.  Be expressive and full of life, and when you fall over or when you reach your edge and tumble over it into an abyss - just laugh.  So much easier than being self critical or judgemental.
7. Be humble.  If you nail a kick ass pose.  Cool, but keep it in perspective.  I like to keep in mind that no matter where I go with my practice, there is always a vast sea beyond that.  Mastery is not the goal, it's all about the journey and being exactly where you are.  And being content with that.  Not complacent, because it is vital to remember that you are not stuck where you are.
8. Because, of course, yoga is a practice.  Just keep returning to your mat, returning to your body, returning to your breath and returning to the stillness.

Practice
Nadi Shodana - alternate nostril breathing
Balasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana
Tadasana
Vrksasana
Parsvottanasana
Virabhadrasana 1
Parivrtta Parsvakonasana
Virabhadrasana 2
Parsvakonasana
Prasarita Padottanasana
Bakasana
Ardha Matseyendrasana
Savasana

Goal Setting & Honouring the Process.

I'm pretty sure I've sat at this very space, several times over, several New Year's Days over - blogging.  Resolving to blog.  This year - I did resolve to blog.  Again.  Not daily, not even weekly.  But, to just make sure that I regularly write and share.  Writing is something I enjoy doing, but rarely take the time to do it.  Exception being the numerous hours a day I spend text messaging.

Goals - Resolutions.  January 1 is the time of year for change or the movement to change for many people.  Most often we strive to change something about ourselves that isn't serving us well, that makes us feel dissatisfied or is something that we feel is holding us back from true happiness.  

This morning, I read a wonderful post from Michael Moore on Facebook.  Last year Michael Moore started walking daily, and posted about it on social media.  Many of his fans joined him, virtually, on his nightly walks.  He wasn't walking to lose weight, to get fit or for any other purpose than to simply, walk.  He also wrote about the diet industry and how it is designed to make people feel less whole because they have a few extra pounds on them.  He summed up his post with this:

So, you can see from the photo of me up in the box that something has changed. I have no idea how much weight I've lost and I don't care. I don't care about that or diets or home gym equipment or rules about what I can or cannot eat or anything other than making sure I go on my walk today. That's it. That's the big secret. It costs nothing. I feel great. I can see my feet! There they are! Hello, feet! Wanna go for a walk? The feet say YES! Ask yours right now. And if you want, join me. But do NOT go on that walk with me if you are doing so to "get fit", "be healthy", or "lose weight". You are fine just the way you are. Only walk outside with me right now because you know it might just feel good, because it's a beautiful day, or someone is joining in with you, the fresh air is invigorating, you have to drive down to the drug store but you realize you can walk there, or simply because it's just nice to be alive for one more day. Walk to walk and nothing else -- and the other stuff will take care of itself.

Wow.  He's talking yoga.  "Walk because it might just feel good, because it's a beautiful day, or someone is joining you, the fresh air is invigorating... walk to walk and nothing else".   Experiencing the moment, as it is.  For what it is.  And be fully mindful that that is your purpose - to just experience.  To just BE walking.

Many of us are pondering the year that just passed, and many of us have our sights set on the upcoming year.  Our goals or resolutions might be dancing around in our minds as we embark on 2013.  Maybe we have fitness goals, or lifestyle goals, career goals in mind.  I happen to have plenty.

I have career goals - I look forward to a year of growth as a teacher.  I look forward to working with new & old students as we explore yoga together.  I also have very specific goals on where I would like to be a year from now.  Continue learning & continue sharing, find more people to share with & learn from!  Pretty simple.

I have personal goals - I need to get organized.  Period.

I have financial goals - I need to get organized. Period.

I have health & wellness goals - Be more intuitive in my approach to food. Continue learning & reading & sharing in this field.

I have spiritual goals - Be more present.  With my kids, with my friends.  Get outside more. Meditate. Breathe.

I have fitness goals - One legged Urdva Dhanurasana, you will no longer evade me in 2013.

I think we all want to improve where we are.  Goal setting is vital, in my opinion.  It's not something I've ever really committed to fully.  I have a general idea of what I want to do, where I want to be.  But, for the most part I've just allowed myself to meander down the path that is placed before me.  Diversions and all.

So - one would think that I come to this process of goal setting from a place of discontent.  I think many of us do.  I think about people who are wanting to lose a large amount of fat.  There is an obvious sense of discontent with their body as it is.

But - I think this approach to goal setting is misguided, and is a recipe for unhappiness.  The idea of setting goals because you envision a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  "If I can just do this, then I will be happy" takes your awareness away from your life as it is, now, in this moment.  Like Moore says, if you go on the walk because you want to lose weight, or get fit.  You miss the enjoyment of the walk.

When we set a goal, we need to set it from a place of contentment with where we are now.  We also need to honour the process of achieving the goal - and be fully present in the process.

If we beat ourselves up because we are not on the path we want to be, it's a hell of a lot harder to get to that path.  For example: meditating.  It drives me crazy that I'm a yoga teacher who has an abysmal meditation practice.  Heck, I've got an abysmal home practice.  I can beat myself up about this quite easily, "how can I encourage others to do something I don't practice? how can I even call myself a yogi? I need to start now, today"  etc etc.  Or I can recognize that the path to practice is not cut & dry.  Sometimes it'll be easy to find moments to sit down, or move around a bit.  Other times it'll be difficult.  I can decide to schedule time, I can plan how to achieve this goal.  But a dialogue of discontent will not a meditation practice make.

Instead - I need to decide that this is important to me.  It will be a beneficial thing in my life.  Then, I need to decide how I will achieve this goal.  Perhaps it'll mean setting a reminder on my phone, or prioritizing differently.  Once I decide on how - I need to honour that and just fricking do it!

Weight loss.  If you get caught up in a dialogue of , "I am fat, I am ugly because I am fat, I am not happy because I am fat, others dislike me because of this fat - but they would like me if I was thin - I can't go to yoga because I'm fat - I cant go to the gym because I'm fat" -   You will always be fat.  You are discontent with life, the fat is a symptom of that.

So - you are fat.  You want to be thin.  Why?  Really be honest with yourself.  Then throw out all of the reasons that are dictated by our culture, by others.  What is left?  Probably,  just that you want to be able to move easily and be in your body with ease.

Work on that - start moving your body.  As it is.  Walk! Go to a yoga class.  Go to a Zumba class!
Put on some music and dance in your kitchen!

Then work on being content as you are.  Stop seeing happiness as a thin body.  Or a clean house.  Or a balanced bank statement.  Or a $0 balance on your credit card bill.   Or a one armed pull up.

Then plan your path.  And BE on that path.  If you want to eat healthy - then ENJOY your food.  Learn about food, learn how to cook.  If you want to exercise - then find exercise you LOVE and do it - don't go to the gym and walk on the treadmill because you "should" do it, only do that if it is something that fills your cup as you do it.  If you want to be more present in life - then just be more present.  Find things to do, that you love to do.  If you want to balance your bank account - then make a commitment to yourself to make that a priority, and follow through on it.

And if there are hiccups along the way, understand that it is okay.  Don't beat yourself up.  Know that happiness does not lie in the achievement of your goal - happiness is RIGHT NOW!  Eating an entire box of cookies - doesn't mean you will not achieve your goal.  It just means you were diverted from your path, all you need to do is find your path again.  Don't dwell on the diversion.

"The secret of happiness is to open the crack between the past and the future, and live life in the moment we're in"  - Jinny Ditzler 

Of course, we all need tools to help us achieve our goals.

1. Good friends & family being number one.  People who love you for who you are,  right in this very moment.   Invaluable.
2. Apps - there are apps for everything!  Some of my favourite goal setting apps are "Lift" and "Bloom*" from the apple store.  I also love "The Now" app on my iphone, which sends push notifications reminding me to be present.
3. Yoga  - just get yourself to a class.  Trust me.
4. Books - I cannot suggest "Four Hour Cook" enough as my book of 2013.  Tim Ferriss has goal setting & achieving down to an art.
5. Journaling, Blogging - accountability.  Honour the process by sharing it with others, or recording it for yourself.  See your progress in black and white.

Wishing everyone a stellar 2013 filled with genuine happiness, lots of love, and yoga.!  Post to comments with your thoughts!

Namaste.

Practice.  
Take a bath, go for a walk or run, or just sit and find yourself fully present and aware of who you are.  Take some time to feel "you" - the you that has always been there, that part of you that has been the same since you were a child (since before you were born!), since your earliest memory.  Just be with yourself, as you are.  Recognize that this part of you is unchanged, it never changes.  It is who you REALLY are.  Make a commitment to get to know that part of yourself better, and express it to the world.