Things That Pop

Just returned from tonight's class.  So, time for a quick critique.  As per usual, I gave my instructions on pushing into stretches and never pulling.  I do this, usually, by placing a strap around my feet and pulling myself into Paschimottanasana.  NEVER PULL INTO A STRETCH!  Pulling is the single best way to injure yourself.  Tonight I discovered the second best way to injure yourself:  Forget that you are demonstrating a motion that WILL CAUSE INJURY.  Case in point:  I had the class move into a wide stance preparing for Prasarita Padottanasana then I said, Now move your feet to a comfortable distance so you get a good stretch but don't over do it, I don't want anyone stretching too far like this.  POP.  My left adductor longus gave an unpleasant pop and I realized I had just done exactly what I had instructed the class to NOT do.  Thankfully, it was more a warning pop than a WHAT HAVE YOU DONE! screaming pop.  Of course, the only reason it wasn't a sreaming meanie pop is that I practice regularly and so my muscles are a bit more forgiving.  Still, I'm sure I'll feel a good twinge from it come morning time.

We went through a full Surya Namaskar followed by Vrksasana, Natarajasana, Virabhadrasana III and Garudasana.  Then the aforementioned Prasarita Padottanasana, Parsvottanasana.  From there we went into a basic introduction to Kapalabhati, Kakasana, Utkatasana, Simhasana (of course!) and ended up with a simple seated back twist and Savasana.  We had some chuckles as people found that they just couldn't quite hit a posture (Vrksanana and Kakasana) or they found the pose was just very funny to be doing . . . Simhasana as always!

The class time kept slipping through my fingers tonight and before I knew it, I only had two minutes of class left and we were just finishing the simple back twist!  I hated to do it but I did, I stole a few more minutes of my students' time and we spent about nine minutes in Savasana.  I know why I couldn't keep track of time:  It's my oldest daughter's birthday and I spent most of the day at the church helping with the funeral of a neighbor.  Still, I need to be able to keep a better focuse during the class so I don't end up rushing the ends.

As I was leaving class, fall set in with a vengence.  Many people have hay fever with the attendant sneezing, runny noses, stuffy noses, watery eyes and the like but not me.  No, I suffer from seasonal nose bleeds.  The change in relative humidity leaves my sinuses parched so that even the slightest brush on my schnoz will result in a gusher.  Thankfully, I can usually stem the tide by guzzling water but guzzling and a good asana practice don't go well together.  Teaching makes the dry sinus issue even worse; so, my question to you my dear readers is this:  What can I do to help prevent or at least minimize my nose bleeds, especially after a class as the talking just dries my throat and nose right out?  Before anyone mentions vaseline or something similar in each nostril, that's just more than I can handle so that's not an option.

Namasté

Quick Notes

I went to Megan's—she is the other instructor at the Community Center—class last Saturday.  Good class, focused mainly on postures and vinyasa.  She also kept the room dark and used background music, two things I've never experienced during a class.  While in savasana she offered to place a scented, dry wash cloth over our eyes; as I was there for the full experience of her class, I went for it and that made three completely new experiences for me.  I had difficulty in all the usual places, I love my hips! (and knees and hams and ... well ... all of me!)  The main thing I came away with was that, as a student, I wanted more.  I wanted to understand what the postures were doing and why this posture followed the first one.  With that in mind, I reworked my own teaching direction.  We'll move through a core set of poses and then focus on related poses for the balance of the time.  At least, that was my goal going into tonight's class.

Tonight's class had seven students.  Three were new to Yoga or relatively new.  The other four were clearly long time yogi.  After talking for a moment or two after class with one of them, I am having to rethink my rethinking.  I will definitely still keep a staid pace in the Monday class but perhaps Wednesday should be less instruction and more practice?  You long time readers already know that I must be facing a great struggle within me over this.  I am quite opposed to gym yoga which is basically aerobics disguised as Yoga.  There is so much more to Yoga than simply the postures and so little time to even touch on it in an hour class!  Worse, the Asana should be meditation in motion and bouncing from posture to posture is anything but meditative.  I can tell though, that many of the students are looking for a yoga workout rather than Yoga and my brief conversation this evening comfirmed that.

It appears that I will have to meditate on this tonight and tomorrow.

Quick note about the class links on the left, I just discovered tonight that the link was broken from the blog but not from the home page.  Take a quick guess where I checked the link?  Anyway, the link is fixed but as I'm reworking my notes and materials, it leads nowhere.  I will have my basic notes and instructions on standing postures available sometime tomorrow.  I will make a note here when I post them.

Namasté

Ping

Pong

Just a quick note to say I'm still kicking and I really will get the notes for the basic sequence finished soon...right after fixing the tires, mowing the lawn, registering my son, working in the yard, and such.

Namasté

A Funny Thing Happened

Well, let's just claim that it was funny, OK?  I had my thoughts and notes for the Core Sequence completed and they looked nice and neat.  I promptly synchronized my server with my backup copy and noticed a very odd thing:  All of my changes were gone.  I had been working on my backup copy—I knew that too—as I didn't have access to the live copy at the time but instead of copying the updated backup to the server, I pulled the live copy to my backup location and poof! I am right back where I was six days ago.

Namasté

Cleaning House

I am working to clean up/tie up all the loose ends here at Everyday Yoga and in my life in general.  I have far too many distractioins, too many things that allow me to escape from daily activities and fritter my time—my life!—away.  One aspect of pratyahara is that we withdraw the tendrils of our mind from the concerns around us.  Clearly the more clutter and distraction in our lives, the harder this will be.

The key, I believe, to avoiding distraction and clutter is to avoid procrastination.  As my wife and parents can tell you, I am the procrastination king.  I can find a good reason to put something off without even thinking twice about it.  This is such an automatic response for me at times that actually forcing myself to not procrastinate leads to mild anxiety attacks—my heart is racing even as I type this!  How do I deal with this?  Usually, I have a depressive episode.  Unfortunately, I tend to focus more on cleaning up during the Fall, Winter and Spring.  Those of you who know me or have followed my blogs for any length of time, know that SAD plays a rather . . . entertaining . . . role in my life and that it is more of an issue from September through about April.  Does anyone else see an unfortunate correlation there?

Allow me to ask the question again:  How do I deal with the anxiety on top of the SAD?  Today I have found a great mitigator for my anxiety.  Palms pressed together, a deep inhalation and simple mantra of Stay Focused.  So far so good, heart is racing, the pink steamroller is running at full tilt but I am still cruising along clearing up this and that and the other.

So, how does this tie back into my topic of Yogic Philosophy?  Clearing the clutter from life leaves the mind free and at ease.  Think for a moment about the thoughts and ideas that raced through your mind the last time you sat for meditation.  What was your monkey mind chattering about while you tried to find quiet and peace in your own head?  Now, put all those thoughts down on paper as a todo list and start clearing out those distractions.  Even if you only clean up one item from that list, your monkey mind will have one less thing to entertain it and you will find yourself moving more quickly into pratyahara and toward dharana.

With all of that in mind, if you have sent me an email since May and have not received a reply, you are on my list of things that need cleaning; so, expect an email from me by week's end at the latest!

Namasté

Mystical Island or Just a Floor?

As I've been cleaning house, I found an email from Amy saying that she had finished her floor!  Of course, she told me this in June and I'm only now saying something about it.  I did mention my former title as Procrastination King, didn't I?

As some of you will remember, I was having issues with practicing on shag carpet—don't do it—and decided to build myself a portable practice floor.  As I mentioned in Space and Time, I had seen instructors practicing on sandy beaches using plywood planks, why not hinge the plywood for easier transport and have an easily portable yoga practice floor?  A portable practice floor is available for purchase at around $250 but for much less than that I could make my own, which I did.  It turns out that Amy went on the same searching journey that I did and when she saw my own portable yoga floor, she decided to make her own as well!  Here's what she had to say:

19 Feb 2008
A warm hello, I have been searching around on the internet for a way to practice yoga on carpet. Of course I came across a site selling portable yoga floors for $250. So, I said to myself, "$250?? Whaaaattt?? I don't think so." Shortly thereafter, I came across your site and read about how you built your own yoga floor. It is very beautiful. Nice work! I am inspired to build my own portable yoga floor. My brother has agreed to help me and we are wondering what sort of hinge you used. Could you tell us about it or even send a picture? Your input would be so appreciated. Thanks in advance for your time....and thank you for your site!

Namaste,
Amy

3 Jun 2008
Tyran,
I've been meaning to take these pictures and send them to you....but I'm easily distracted and forgetful. Finally, I'm getting them to you and I'm excited for you to see them because you were such an inspiration and such a help!!

So, here it is- my completed Yoga floor! Not as lovely as yours....I had a hard time cutting out the handles so they are a kind of rough shape, but I'm really happy with it. And in the process I spent quality time with my brother and learned how to use power tools!!....a power drill, band saw, and a sander. All in all, quite the learning experience. You'll see I added a simple feminine touch in the corners. At any rate, I'm quite content with it and I thank you once again for all of your help!

23 Sep 2008
The yoga floor is working out wonderfully.....it's like my own tiny island...a simple sanctuary for just myself and my yoga! Thanks again for all of your help! Hope you are well.
namaste

-amy

Amy, thank you for sharing your pictures and experience!  I love the flowing shapes the grain makes and the rough shaped hand holds only help to make it a truly personal space.  Congratulations on finishing your floor!  I still remember the time I spent making my own with great fondness.

The yoga floor is working out wonderfully.....it's like my own tiny island...a simple sanctuary for just myself and my yoga!  I love that sentence!  A simple sanctuary for just myself and my yoga, I have talked about sacred spaces before but allow me to touch on them again.  I truly believe that places, spaces, take on a certain quality based upon the nature of the events that happen in those spaces.  While living as a missionary in East Germany in 1990, I went to one of Buchenwald's under-camps:  Langenstein-Zwieberge.  Three fourths of the people sent to this camp died there, the life expectancy of the prisoners being about six weeks.  It was a beautiful October day, cool but not cold with a soft autumn sun rising to warm the morning and bathe the green fields, dark pine trees and the rolling tops of the Zwieberge in its cheery glow.  We had been through the little museum, visited the memorials and were walking through the trees when it hit us—there were four of us together—we were miles from anywhere and yet were in the middle of silence, not the peaceful silence of a nature walk but absolute silence:  No birds, no squirrels, no bugs even.  Had we been out in the large flats there, I wouldn't have thought twice about it but we were among dense pine trees.  It was as if all of nature continued to mourn the horrors that had been wrought there.  I am sure that anyone having visited such a site will recognize the feeling.

Other spaces evoke more pleasant feelings.  When I enter a chapel or temple, I feel peace and a loving connection to the Savior and to Heavenly Father.  Unlike Zwieberge, chapels and temples are consecrated and dedicated to the Lord and yet, for very different reasons, they are all very sacred places.  What about my Yoga practice space or, even more transitory, a portable yoga floor?  On a personal level, I believe that such spaces can become just as sacred depending upon our own practice.  If my asana practice is more like a martial arts practice or aerobics workout, then my practice space will take on those qualities and when I enter that space, my body and spirit will react accordingly.  If my practice is more meditative then my practice space will reflect that and, again, my body and spirit will react accordingly when I enter that space.  This is true of any space we enter.  The nature of the activities that thake place in that space linger after we leave, even if only in our minds, and will return when we do.  Amy's experience is sure evidence of it.  Is it all just in our minds though?  Possibly, the mind is a marvelous thing.  My own experiences at Langenstein-Zwieberge, in chapels and temples, and other more personal experiences tell me that while some of it may indeed be just in my head, most of it is not.

Namasté

Changes

I forgot to publish yesterday's entry but it's up now; so, make sure you scroll down and read it!

Those of you reading via RSS will find that you need to actually visit my blog to read the full entry.  The reason for this change is two fold:  First, sending out the full blog entry in my RSS feed eating into my bandwidth as even feed search engines were showing the last seven posts in their entirety.  Second, I discovered that some sites with which I've become affiliated appear to be claiming ownership over my blog entries.  I say appear to be as I have not yet received a clarification on their TOS yet.  Regardless, the way my entries are displayed does not make it clear that those entries are coming in via a news feed rather than actually being authored at the site.  The changes I've made to my feed will permanently eliminate that.

Namasté

Wellbloggers Beware

This is something of a follow-up to my entry from last week.  Last Wednesday, I found a need to review the Terms of Use at Wellsphere.com.  As I was allowing Wellsphere to publish my blog entries—I was a designated Wellblogger—on their site, I decided that I should read through the section on user submitted content.  This is what I found:

Ownership
All Website Materials, including any intellectual property rights in such Website Materials, are the property of Wellsphere, its affiliates, licensors, or the designated owners, and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. You should assume that everything you see on this Website is copyrighted unless otherwise noted, and may not be used without our written permission except as provided in these Terms.

Wellsphere Terms of Use

That's fair enough, but that last sentence had me a bit concerned as blog entries from here are also located on Wellsphere.  Were they claiming that these entries were copyrighted by them?

Content You Submit to or Post on the Website
Except as specified in our Privacy Policy, all communications from you to this Website will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. You agree that any and all comments, information, photos, videos, feedback and ideas that you communicate to Wellsphere or submit or post to the Website or give Wellsphere permission to post to the Website (“User Materials”) will be deemed, at the time of communication to Wellsphere or submission or posting to the Website, to be the property of Wellsphere, and Wellsphere shall be entitled to full rights of ownership, including without limitation, the unrestricted right to use or disclose such User Materials in any form, medium or technology now known or later developed, and for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without compensation to you. In the event that you have any rights in the User Materials that cannot be assigned or waived you hereby grant to Wellsphere a royalty-free, paid-up, exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual license to (i) use, make, sell, offer to sell, have made, and further sublicense any such User Materials, and (ii) reproduce, distribute, create derivative works of, publicly perform and publicly display the User Materials in any medium or format, whether now known or later developed.

Wellsphere Terms of Use
[emphasis mine]

Now, I am no lawyer but the section I highlighted—especially the section in red—says to me that Wellsphere is saying when one of my blog entries is communicated to Wellsphere via my RSS feed, that entry becomes the property of Wellsphere and that they are now entitled to full rights of ownership.  I requested clarification of the matter from Geoffrey Rutledge last Wednesday but I have not heard anything back since then.  That being the case, I have sent Wellsphere a notice that I am no longer participating in their Wellblogger program and that they are no longer authorized to display any of my copyrighted work.  I am also making sure that this portion of today's entry is included in its entirety in my RSS feed.  Don't get me wrong, Wellsphere has every right to claim ownership of anything that is directly posted to their site the same as any other web site; however, for them to even think of claiming those same rights for content they gather via news feeds is ludicrous.