“It’s about that sharing of the love.” ~Brad Brockbank
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I have been practicing flow yoga for about a month and the level 1 classes seem easy for me. When do I know if I’m ready to try an all levels class and then a level 2-3 class? We recommend that you attend at least 10 vinyasa flow classes before moving on to an All Levels class. This will just allow you ample opportunity to become familiar with the practice and will help you to feel more comfortable before stepping into an All Levels class where the pace tends to be quicker and the flow more vigorous. We do ask that you have at least one year of vinyasa flow experience before attending a Level 2/3 class. For these classes, you should be familiar with ujjayi pranayam, the concept of ahimsa and the basics of a vinyasa flow, which includes adho mukha svanasana, chaturanga dandasana, and urdhva mukha svanasana. If you still feel uncertain about whether or not you are ready to go to an All Levels or a Level 2/3 class, please, by all means, check in with the teachers whose classes you have been attending. We are here to help you and to offer our support as you move and evolve throughout this journey. With love, Jennifer One of the constants in these vinyasa classes is downward facing dog. I notice that many people love this pose, but I find it to be really challenging and strenuous on my arms and shoulders. Is there anything I can do to take some of the struggle out of this pose? I love that the sanskrit term for downward facing dog is Adho Mukha Svanasana because, for me, when I enter this posture pretty much all I want to do is go “aaaaahhhhhhh.” Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhdho Mukha Svanasana. But, it hasn’t always been that way. I vividly remember feeling an incredible intensity in my shoulders, my arms, my back and my legs as I desperately tried to hold this posture for five breaths. It seemed like an eternity. The teacher guided us to bring the weight back into our legs and press our heels into the earth. There was no chance of that happening: my heels were so high off the ground it was like I was wearing stilettos. Then she said that this pose would eventually become a resting pose! I laughed a bit at the absurdity of it all because I couldn’t even fathom how the word “resting” and this grueling posture could ever be used in the same sentence. If you are all too familiar with this feeling of discomfort…of feeling like you are being asked to hold a ridiculously challenging push-up…try this….slightly bend your knees. The effect is amazing. It allows the pelvis to move up and back, lifting some of the weight out of the shoulders and allowing the arms to straighten and lengthen. This length gets carried along the spine and, over time, as the hamstrings and calf muscles softly release the legs can begin to straighten. Although at first I didn’t believe it would, downward facing dog has, indeed, evolved into a posture of relief, of rest. It has become a place to easily welcome calm and spaciousness, to return to a rhythmic, smooth, and steady breath, especially after a more vigorous vinyasa sequence. It allows for an opening, lengthening and expansion of the entire backside of the body while feeling completely grounded and supported by the earth. Be patient in your practice. Watch with wonder as your body begins to change and open in ways that you never could have imagined. It is all about the journey. I hope that you too will soon feel the “aaaaahhhhhh” in Adho Mukha Svanasana. With love, Jennifer
Urban Flow Yoga: How This Came To Be from Urban Flow Yoga on Vimeo. “If you really believe in what you’re doing and something may be missing, there is your duty right there, to provide for what may be lacking,” Rusty Wells on how Urban Flow came to be. It started with the belief that yoga should be accessible to everyone. The essence of yoga, after all, is unifying, not divisive. This belief led to an idea: to create a donation based studio in the heart of San Francisco where ALL people could come to practice yoga. To provide a place where everyone felt welcome, where no one would be turned away, regardless of any financial constraints. The vision was simple. Since opening the doors to Urban Flow, the result has been beyond profound. A community, a family, has grown. And, this family continues to grow as this beautiful ripple of service, of devotion, of connection touches more and more lives. Urban Flow, also fondly referred to as the “living room”, is a place of refuge, a sanctuary even, where every single person who walks through the door is treated with kindness, dignity, respect and, most of all, love. The notion of Bhakti Yoga is love for love’s sake. Without greed or ambition. Without selfish motivation. This is the foundation of Urban Flow. To love for love’s sake and to encourage the question, “how can my life be of greater service to others?” When we allow our lives to become a life of service, then our lives become truly full. Thank you to all of you who have blessed Urban Flow with your presence. A very special thank you to Daniel Jarvis for creating such a beautiful video! Please check out these awesome articles about Urban Flow on 7×7.com by Laura Mason and on Elephant Journal by Joslyn Hamilton. 7×7.com \"Rusty Wells\' Urban Flow and Donation Based Yoga Studios elephantjournal.com \"Yoga for the Peeps\" With love, I often hear teachers say that my front heel should line up with my back heel in Triangle and Revolved Triangle Pose, but this makes me feel like I am on a tightrope. I feel very unbalanced and I find myself putting everything I have into just trying not to fall over. Does my alignment have to be this way to really be in these poses? Consider this…within every posture there should be the possibility of spaciousness, expansion, stability and evenness. Chances are, if you are “putting everything you have into just trying not to fall over” you are probably gripping and holding on very tightly, closing off, collapsing to some degree and, most likely, losing the connection to a deep, rhythmic and stable breath. There should be no constriction, no closing off. For Trikonasna, instead of imagining that you are between two panes of glass, Rusty likes to encourage us to grow and open, to create space and a deeper connection to the breath. The poses are tools that allow us the opportunity to expand, to open and to feel a sense of spaciousness. If creating this exact alignment of heel to heel is preventing these things from happening, then, yes, definitely, modify. You can modify by simply widening your stance slightly and bringing your front foot just a few inches closer to the edge of the mat. Feel for what is right for you. This will eliminate that “tightrope” feeling and will, hopefully, allow you to feel more stable, more grounded and more expansive. Notice the difference and continue to modify as you need. It might change over time and perhaps one day you may find it much more accessible to establish that heel to heel alignment. Perhaps not. But, that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you are breathing while maintaining stability, evenness and expansion. Much Love, Jennifer
Reverse warrior (standing hero) is one of the most challenging poses for me, yet it seems like such a small movement. I just don’t understand how everything is supposed to be lined up in this pose. Help? You’re not alone. It seems that we have a tendency to make things a little more complicated than they need to be in this posture (and maybe in life too, but that’s a whole other conversation). I could definitely be wrong about that, but if we approach the posture with some basic alignment ideas in mind, it might begin to feel more accessible. And, for those that tend to go “ugh” and tense up at the mention of it, perhaps you will begin to experience some moments of deliciousness within your Reverse Standing Hero. From yoga teacher to yoga teacher, the approach for this posture may differ. The two most likely approaches are from a Virabhadrasana I foundation and a Virabhadrasana II foundation. The alignment of the hips determines whether or not this becomes a back bend or a side-body stretch. You may be guided to move into Reverse Standing Hero from other postures, but the foundation of the pose will either be the same as Vira I or Vira II. Let’s begin with Virabhadrasana II, or Standing Hero B, as we like to call it. I find that this approach can be much friendlier to the low back. If you think of this Reverse Standing Hero as a side body stretch, any crunchiness that you might have experienced in the lumbar portion of the spine can be avoided. When moving into Reverse from Virabhadrasana II, the essential action is to lengthen both sides of the body as you slide your back hand down your back leg. You don’t have to go far at all. In fact, the moment you sense that there is a collapse or crunchiness in the low back or the side body, lift up out of it and reclaim the experience of spaciousness throughout the torso. In Virabhadrasana II, the hips are open, with the back foot turned in slightly and the front knee stacked directly over the front ankle. This foundation does not change. To move into Reverse, turn your front palm up towards the sky, slide the back hand down the back leg and reach the front palm up and back, feeling for the stretch along the side of the body, while maintaining the length in the spine. Keep the hips open. Maintain strong legs with the front knee bent at a 90° angle. There is a tendency to straighten the front leg as we reach back, so be sure to keep a solid foundation by committing to a bent front knee and a very straight and very strong back leg. Moving into the reverse of Virabhadrasana I, or Standing Hero A, is a very different movement. Because this posture is more of a back bend, it is important that you have a strong awareness of the lumbar spine. Consider allowing this to be a heart-opener that occurs more in the upper and middle part of the spine to reduce any unwelcome pressure and crunching in the low spine. In Virabhadrasana A, the hips are more closed as they move towards being square with front of the mat. The front knee is stacked directly over the front ankle with the outer edge of the foot parallel to the outer edge of the mat, the front knee is bending at a 90° angle, and the back foot is turned in at a 45° angle. To reverse from here, keep the foundation exactly as it is, making sure that the core is very engaged while you slide the corresponding hand down the back leg while reaching up and back with the arm that corresponds to the front leg. I hope this helps and that you can reverse happily from now on! Why do we practice yoga in a heated room? It just makes sense. Consider how your body feels when you are on the colder side of things. Maybe a little tighter? More restricted? More rigid? When I am cold, I tend to clench my fists, bring my arms tight alongside my torso and almost round over, trying to squeeze everything closer together in an attempt to generate heat. This makes my muscles feel very tight and constricted. Now imagine how your body feels when it is warmer. Perhaps a little more supple? More relaxed and spacious? More fluid and open? This heat allows the muscles to release tension and invites us to enter the postures more deeply with greater ease and openness. With the heat, the muscles and connective tissues become more elastic. This increased elasticity creates greater range of movement and allows your body the opportunity to stretch more easily. Perhaps more important is the fact that this more fluid-like stretch can actually prevent injuries such as pulled muscles. Another very significant benefit to practicing in a heated room is the release of toxins that occurs through sweating. The generation of heat from within the body promotes detoxification through the skin, which is the body’s largest eliminating organ. This helps to cleanse both the body and the mind. It is important to prepare yourself, though, before moving through a vigorous and heated vinyasa practice. Be sure to drink plenty of water, both before and after class. Coconut water, which has been named “nature’s Gatorade,” is another really wonderful way to rehydrate and replenish your body’s fluids after sweating. It is so important to stay hydrated. But, try not to eat within two-three hours of practicing. If you do need to nourish yourself, consider a light snack like juice, soymilk or a handful of nuts at least 30 minutes before class. Because the likelihood of sweating is really high, bring a towel to place at the front and back of your mat to help prevent slipping. Much Love, Jennifer The guy next to me smells really really bad. I think it’s his mat or his clothes or maybe his body. I’ve practiced next to him several times and it drives me crazy. I know the teacher is aware of the stench because she never gets near him. What can we do? So…what to do??? There seem to be a few ways to graciously and gracefully address this scenario. First, I suggest that you talk to the teacher and express your concerns about your neighbor’s lack of cleanliness, maybe encouraging him or her to say something to the entire class about the importance of cleanliness of our bodies, our clothes, our mats and our minds. After all, saucha, which translates to purity of the body, mind and spirit, is the first Niyama, or code of individual disciplines, in the Eight Limbs of Yoga. It would be very appropriate for the teacher to speak to this before and even during class, perhaps even advocating for pre-class bathing. However, because many people go to yoga after a long day of work, a shower before class might be an impossibility. Although, there are other options to doing a pre-class cleanse that might help (i.e. a little under-arm wash in sink or using disinfecting wipes). Either way, the teacher could refer to Patanjali and even quote Iyengar from Light on Yoga in saying that “One does not enter a temple with a dirty body or mind. Before entering the temple of his own body, the yogi observes the rules of cleanliness.” It might take a while, but hopefully if this message is repeated with enough consistency, you’re neighbor will eventually receive the message. If that doesn’t work, you have the option of speaking to the individual directly by simply expressing your concerns in a non-accusatory way. It doesn’t sound like a very fun conversation to have, but if you do so with great respect and consideration for your fellow yogi, it might prove to be effective. Just remember to act and speak with compassion, kindness and sensitivity, and, without a doubt, have this conversation in private and outside of the yoga studio, so as to not further escalate any discomfort or embarrassment. Another option is to simply enter the studio just before class starts and to find a spot on the other side of the room. Much Love, Jennifer The person next to me breathes really loud and its bothers my practice, how can I tell him to shush up? Often, when we prepare for our practice, we tend to the details and attempt to compose a perfect scenario for everything we are about to do. We find the perfect spot in the room to lay down our mats, lining up the edges of the mat with the floor-boards, carefully placing our yogi-toes towel down with the orange circle right in the front and center of our mats, and with our water bottle to the side and our wardrobe appropriately fluffed, we are then ready to begin our journey into the world of spontaneous meditation. We step into downward facing dog, maybe pedal our legs a few times, start to connect to our own breath and then just like that we are pulled right out of the moment by the sound of our neighbor’s breath. And in a matter of moments, that breath, the breath of our neighbor, becomes the object of our complete and undivided attention. We disconnect from ourselves and our own practice and allow the sound of another’s breath carry us away into perhaps frustration, irritation and distraction. Perception is reality. The way we perceive things is the way that they exist for us. So, what if, instead of perceiving this as an annoyance or distraction, you shift your perception of it and identify it as an opportunity to truly focus your awareness and attention inside yourself? When we empower our senses to control our thoughts and our minds, we often disengage from the present moment. We get carried away and we lose the opportunity to fully embrace the now. Can you begin to draw your senses inward and allow the mind to control the senses instead of enabling the senses to control the mind? By focusing more profoundly on your breath and your own deep inner experience instead of allowing your awareness to be pulled outside of yourself, you can liberate yourself bit by bit from the control of external stimuli. In this context, the breath reminds me of the conductor in an orchestra. When the attention of the musicians is thoroughly and utterly focused on the conductor, a magical, melodious harmony is created. There is cohesion and peace and unanimous purpose. This is similar to what happens when we practice Pratyahara and enable our minds to control our senses. Now imagine if there were ten different conductors for one orchestra and they each were doing their own thing and conducting according to their own preferences. There would be chaos and discord and cacophony. Attention would be scattered all over the place. This is similar to what can happen when we allow the senses to control the mind. Our thoughts jump all over the place, from one external stimulation to the next, and we miss the opportunity to be fully connected and fully present. Peace doesn’t mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, hard work or distraction. It means to be in the midst of all of those, to dwell in the middle of confusion and imperfection, and still be calm in your heart, gentle in your mind and connected to your breath. Much Love, Jennifer My husband says it hurts his penis to do some of the poses…Could this be true or is he a baby? I had to consult one of the “experts” for this question and he assured me that this indeed can be very true, especially in postures which ask you to lie on your belly. It seems that the positioning of the male anatomy directly correlates to the level of discomfort. In poses such as Salabasana and Dhanurasana, a simple “readjustment” can help to alleviate pain. Remember, no pain. Of course, if this pain continues, increases in frequencey, or worsens, we recommend that he consult his health care provider. Much Love, Jennifer |
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