Q: Can you recommend some alignment cues for Warrior I? I have a hard time finding the right positioning for my hips—I feel awkward trying to square off and face forward while also being slightly twisted in my stance. 


A: The beauty of yoga is its intention to focus on the body as a whole unit while drawing your attention into the present moment. There’s permission and space to explore what’s right for your specific anatomy. As a teacher, I’ve seen many thousands of bodies practicing, and not everyone’s body is designed to be in the same alignment. 

Warrior I can be practiced with the heel down or up (with the heel up, it’s called High Lunge in some traditions). In Kripalu Yoga, Warrior I is practiced with the heel up, so the feet are parallel and hip-width apart, allowing the hips to square forward more easily. The hips, pelvis, ribs, and shoulder girdle are all aligned, facing forward. Warrior I with the heel up is a bit more of a balancing posture, so you can put a rolled blanket under the heel to help with stability and balance. 

If you practice Warrior I with the heel down, keeping your hips facing front, be aware of the torque in the back knee and ankle. Be careful not to force the back hip forward at the expense of an unhealthy torque in the knee. The ribs and thoracic cavity can rotate gently forward, even if the hips are not facing entirely square to the front of the mat. 

Q: Can you recommend postures to improve flexibility in the hip joints? 

A: In the hips, as opposed to the shoulder girdle, for example, the range of motion is less, because we need stability in order to walk, run, and bear weight. There are a myriad of ligaments and muscles surrounding the pelvic girdle, and these all need to be intelligently relaxed and opened in order to create flexibility in the hips. Think of the hips in all dimensions: anterior, posterior, lateral (front, back, sides), as well as all the surrounding areas: superior (above) and inferior (below) the pelvic region. 

When we’re tight in the hips, it’s important to not only address that specific musculature by assessing weakness and imbalances in the hip flexors and hip rotator muscles, but also to examine the low-back muscles, abductors, and hamstrings. All areas affect the range of motion and flexibility in the hip joints. Sometimes one area is tight and another area is weak, so it’s important to strengthen as well as stretch the muscles in various postures to address specific issues. 

You can explore Pigeon along with its modifications (supine and double) to open the hip flexors and hip rotator muscles. The Butterfly helps open the inner thighs and groin, and Low Warrior I stretches the hip flexors by gently pressing the top front thigh of the back extended leg forward. Postures that explore internal rotation can be helpful as well. Ultimately, exploring the full range of motion in your practice and addressing the body as a whole unit is the most effective way to address tightness in the hips, or any area of imbalance. 

Q: When heading into Savasana, I have a hard time relaxing all my muscles. Any tips for the best alignment in what some call the hardest posture? 

A: It’s good to understand that Savasana is a posture, not just an act of relaxation, so there are specific alignment cues that are used to support the body to begin to let go and relax. Classically, the legs are about 12 inches apart, with the hips naturally rolled open. The shoulder blades are relaxed down the back body, the shoulders relaxed down away from the ears, and the back ribs relax and broaden. The arms are about 10 inches away from the torso and turned outward to create a soft lateral rotation and opening of the chest and shoulders. The back of your neck is elongated and the weight of the head is released. You can use props to support your body—for example, a low, folded blanket under your head or a support under your neck, or a rolled blanket or pillow under the knees to soften the low back. You can place eye bags gently over your eyes to block out light and help you fully surrender. 

The level of activity in class may determine how easy it is to relax into Savasana. A vigorous class lends itself to ending with a deeper rest for the physical body. When the physical body is relaxed, the breath and the mind will follow. In a gentle or moderate class, the teacher may need to guide relaxation a bit more. It’s also important that the teacher create an environment that lends itself to letting go, with comfortable room temperature, low lighting, and perhaps neutral relaxing music. You can do this for yourself if you’re practicing at home. 

There are many relaxation techniques that can be guided to help you surrender into Savasana. A full body scan encourages each body part to become heavy and relaxed into the earth; in a progressive relaxation, you tense and release your muscles one by one. Or send your breath awareness throughout your body—inhale into your heart, then exhale down your arms and out your fingertips. Inhale into your belly, then exhale down your legs and out through your toes, letting your whole body sink into the floor with each exhalation as you let go with a soft sigh...feeling relaxed yet? 

(Reprinted from Ask the Expert. Kripalu/Thrive: Explore Yoga, Health and Wellness, February 12, 2014.http://kripalu.org/blog/thrive/2014/02/12/ask-the-expert-alignment-and-surrender/ Accessed April 18, 2015.)

For Priti's blog post about the koshas, click here.

Learn more about Priti at LifeAsYoga.com. 

Dear All, 

I think the month of May is portentous because it gives permission. We may enjoy more of nature; we may be more likely to energize with increased outdoor activities; we may lighten our spirits as we lighten our outerwear; and we may experience the burgeoning of mood and joy as we observe our landscapes, inside and out, burgeon with new life and growth, blossoming and blooming.

Our yoga practice gives us an added ability to experience and appreciate these life-enhancing subtleties. As our awareness deepens, we grow more astute to the feelings we encounter in the deepest places of our being, courtesy of the breath. We may also become aware of how our sincere practice can help us transition through the feelings, moods, and negative energies foisted on us by outside conditions, whether it be by the weather, work, or relatives. With this practice we can center ourselves, stand on our own two feet, take our space, stand our ground, and plant ourselves firmly in our own truth and light—just as we do when we introduce new growth into our gardens, whether they be in a pot on the windowsill or in the yard.

Yoga recognizes, as does every creative endeavor, the important need for grounding as the first step toward reaching any goal and the sense of fulfillment made possible from the strength of this support. It is critical if we are to extend our safe boundaries and expand to open ourselves to the unknown beyond our safe borders, to face fear with trust and courage. Yoga offers us a MAP (Mindfulness, Authenticity, Purposefulness) that we can use on this journey through transitions toward transformation.

May we all stand together and take to heart the permission May encourages for our greater good and attend YTA on the second Saturday of each month, through all seasons and regardless of any conditions. You may benefit from the investment made in those three hours.

Yours In Yoga,
Paula Renuka Heitzner

We are looking forward to welcoming back Priti Robyn Ross, who will take us on a magical mystery tour of yoga through the koshas. Here is some information about the koshas from Priti to whet your appetite.

On May 12th, I have the sacred opportunity to share my passion about the Ancient Prana Kosha system, an in-depth exploration of yoga as the holistic system it was designed to be. Using this approach provides a practical yet profound map to navigate the odyssey of yoga.

The powerful Koshas provide a multidimensional tool for teachers to craft a comprehensive class design to guide their students though a universal journey of yoga as well as a potent map for students to find their way into the soul of their practice.

By utilizing the Koshas, the teacher and student can create a transformational experience that brings the practitioner into a dynamic equilibrium that results in vital health and awakening on all levels of their being.

Each layer becomes a doorway to support and direct the student to enter into a dialogue and communion with each layer of the Self. The teacher can then make a conscious choice as to which Kosha to emphasize during any stage of the class and provide an engaging awareness, focus, and language into a selected dimension to provide an experience that is needed to support wholeness in the moment.

For example, in Annamaya Kosha, the direction of attention is physical sensations. In Pranamaya Kosha, we begin to harmonize breath and movement, and in Manomaya we direct the thoughts. When when the first three layers syncopate, the spirit of the pose begins to emerge within Vijnanamaya, the witness consciousness. As we evolve, through deep self-observation we can begin to experience our practice through the lens of Anandamaya, where the posture dissolves into the experience of the moment, into pure soul presence.

Using the Koshas as a framework can be a practical and profound teaching tool. With this method, the teacher has a powerful system to direct the attention of the student by utilizing these five lenses. Then by designing a yoga practice with the Koshas as an approach, it becomes a powerful laboratory in which to discover, awaken, and transform habitual patterns and bring light and awareness that can lead to freedom, liberation, and self-mastery.

It’s important to note that the Koshas are not a linear system, but occur simultaneously, interweaving, feeding, and informing each layer of the  the multidimensional Self.

True alignment happens when all Koshas are in communion, unity, and harmony. 

When all our Koshas, or layers of the multidimensional self, are present and in communication with each other, we experience true inner alignment, union, yoga. Then we are in pure presence, listening to all layers of our being—body, breath, mind, witness, and soul—the Koshas.

Adapted from the Pranotthan Yoga Teacher Training Manual
Cofounders: Priti Robyn Ross and Devarshi Steven Hartman
© 2014; edited 2018 by Priti for the YTA newsletter. All rights reserved.
LifeAsYoga.com

The Question of the Month:

What Is Your Response to the Controversy 

Over Proper Yoga Attire and Appropriate
 Age Guidelines for Yoga Pants?

These are 2 questions, relating to the same issue: 

1. Do yoga pants and tops create an immodest or a sexually suggestive climate, or are they comfortable for the practitioner and helpful to the teacher?

2. Are they only appropriate for the younger student? 

A yoga practice is a sensual experience, bringing the practitioner closer to full sensory (all 5) awareness, a gift of yoga. Hopefully, one knows the difference between sensual and sexual. Sorting that out, our yoga apparel design has been refined to provide comfort and freedom to move in every way the asanas command—reaching, bending, twisting, and lengthening in every direction as in splits on the floor and with inversions in the air. The materials used offer light, smooth, stretching textures that embrace the body, eliminating the need to fuss and fidget with extraneous fabric that clumps and bunches up during the practice. And yes, it makes viewing the kinetics and the dynamics of the body in motion more visible to the teacher, so muscular overuse and abuse can be more readily detected and corrected.

Pertaining to the propriety guidelines for the older and perhaps heavier practitioner, only our own aesthetics and comfort should be considered. People are well into their golden years and doing yoga, and if yoga pants are providing the necessary freedom of movement and comfort to practice, go for it! The secular population, regardless of age, rely on tights, stretch jeans, and stretch pants to complete their wardrobe, and I'm sure they don't wear them as well as a fit, toned, flexible yoga body, of any age.

Every month we answer your questions about yoga, as a student or as a teacher. Share your thoughts about this month's question in the comments or on our Facebook page. Send your questions to ytaeditor@gmail.com.

Dear All, 

As we evolve through our yoga practice, we heighten awareness of and appreciation for all aspects of life, within and without. Our seasons, by their very nature, help us to understand what this means, and how we become more attuned, not only to the self, but to all things universal.

The summer season radiates the full power of regeneration that is engendered by increased daylight and hospitable weather conditions, both of which encourage expansion within the body as well as in the garden, where we can clearly see the outer effects of this expansion and light. We can safely assume our yoga practice gives us these internal benefits with our breathing, stretching, and meditating, diffusing us with expansive light.  

Fall follows and recognizes the zeal and energy expended by summer and realizes the need to create a universal balance. Fall slows down this frenetic flow of luxurious growth, and as the climate cools everything and everyone, the Earth prepares to rest, repair, and reclaim its expended energy, much as we do in savasana, the asana of rest and closure in our yoga practice.

Winter brings in the “big sleep," a time to go within, much like our vegetation and certain species of wildlife that hibernate. This time is used to deepen the rest and repair process.

Although these 3 seasons mirror their diverse attributes and can be astutely understood within the yogic concept, I think spring epitomizes yoga's greatest gifts. Sensory awareness is promoted by the coming-to-life activities, both in the body and the garden. The gift of surrender is so obvious as the winter energy weakens and the senses begin to strengthen, encouraging the gift of unfoldment. Slowly, but surely and strongly, the sap of life, in our trees and in our beings begins to flow, returning us to full sensory awareness of the cycles of all life on the planet.

Our yoga practice offers us a way to better identify, understand, and appreciate our moods, seasons, and cycles. The awareness awakened by our practice goes a long way to make our lives more fruitful, abundant, and purposeful. This month of April, the beginning of spring, reminds us of the importance of the senses and their impact on our well-being. We too unfold, strengthen, and develop as we respond to the increasing light. The gift of surrender slows us down, resulting in greater appreciation of the hum of our inner voice of consciousness, the flow of the sap of life, and to take the time "to smell the roses."

Our YTA workshop, held monthly on the second Saturday, offers presentations by awesome presenters to add energy and light to our work, be it teaching or seriously practicing. Spring into action and join us. 

Yours In Yoga,
Paula Renuka Heitzner

YTA is looking forward to welcoming Vandita Kate Marchesiello on April 14, for Transform, Relax, and Rejuvenate: A Brief Retreat with Lasting Results.

Long before there were yoga mats, my mother knitted me a white woolen blanket to use for my yoga practice. As described in the Indian tradition, this or a tiger skin rug was what one used to sit upon for meditation. It was 1974, and I had just discovered the ancient traditions of yoga. Now, the way this discovery came about and the years that followed still put a smile on my face …

Marty, who owned a bar and had a great interest in sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll, turned me on to a book by Jess Stern titled, Yoga, Youth, and Reincarnation (after all it was the 70s …). I read the book, attended a free yoga class at a Catholic church in Schenectady, New York, and the rest is history.

Signing up for a series of ten classes after the freebie was a no brainer. I loved how I felt (without drugs) during a slow yoga flow, deep yogic breathing, and the icing on the cake … yoga nidra. I faithfully attended all ten classes and signed up again for another series with my teacher, Rupa, a devotee of Amrit Desai. Each week I entered the little house that also served as a yoga center and mini ashram and was soothed by the nag champa incense that burned on the alter next to photos of Paramahansa Yogananda, Gurudev (Amrit) and a variety of saints and sages from many traditions. Fresh flowers brightened the clean room as lovely music played and invited me in to sit quietly before class began. Dressed in all white, Rupa was the epitome of a yoga teacher:  knowledgeable, kind, and open-hearted. After a year of study with her, she suggested I do a yoga teacher training with her and help her at the little studio and teach in the community. I was so flattered and humbled by her invitation that I accepted immediately. The training lasted about nine months and was an amazing experience. With such an emphasis on character development and the health benefits of yoga, I gained more than imaginable that impacted my daily life.

During this time Rupa took me to Sumneytown, Pennsylvania, to meet Yogi Desai. We attended an Inner Quest Intensive and spent ten hours a day for three days sitting with the question: “Tell me who you are.” Like peeling the layers of skin from an onion, this experience revealed some deep-seated resentments, feelings of abandonment, and ecstatic bliss. Over the years I participated in approximately seven of these intensives. Meeting Amrit at the end of this long weekend experience was joyful. He entered the room as if floating on air and had such a compassionate perspective for all the suffering we had experienced that weekend (imagine 20+ people crying, weeping, screaming, and punching pillows). He spoke eloquently about karma, dharma, and human nature and the power of love and left us all feeling good about our exhausting yet exhilarating weekend.

Returning home I started teaching at the yoga center and a variety of community centers. I also began contemplating a yoga teacher training with Amrit in Pennsylvania. In 1977 I took a leave of absence from my clerical job at General Electric to attend the month-long training. The property at the Summit Station location where the training would be held was nestled among cornfields and farmlands of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Long walks on country roads and hills revealed a patchwork of colors from the various crops that were planted on this ideal land. This city girl was in her glory, as I had longed for a place like this to call home.

Just a short time after I arrived for training I was busily preparing to welcome Swami Kripalu from India. This was a major and long anticipated event. Swami Kripalu was Amrit’s guru, and Amrit had been pleading with him for a few years to come to America and witness the interest in hatha yoga and the love and hunger hundreds of us had for these particular practices. The day of Bapuji’s (Swami Kripalu) arrival was unforgettable. A couple hundred of us all dressed in white with little marigolds in our hands and hair welcomed Swami with song and music that we chanted in Indian tradition. Bapuji, who spoke briefly after his long journey, said he felt so welcomed and loved and looked forward to spending time in satsanga with us soon. He spoke in Gujarati and Amrit translated. After being at the ashram for the month of training, I decided I wanted to stay longer and so quit my job and moved into the community that became my yoga family.

Well, here we are now and I’m still serving at Kripalu Center. The years from 1979 to 2018 have been full of teaching, training, presenting, coaching, directing, mothering, and now grandmothering!

I hope you will join me on April 14th for more stories and heartfelt experiences. See you soon!

Learn more about Vandita at yoganowandthen.com.

     

    

We are thrilled to be bringing Shari Friedrichsen back to the YTA community. Here are her thoughts about the Yoga and the Heart workshop she will be leading for us on March 10. Hope to see you there!

The practice of Yoga is based on Sankhya philosophy, which is a top-down philosophy stating that we evolve from the Light of Pure Consciousness. It further says that the cause (consciousness) is always in the effect (us). And yoga is a practice that is bottom-up, meaning we start with where we are in the body/mind and practice to experience and perceive our true inner nature, which is that light of pure consciousness.

This means that within this body/mind that light exists, not just anywhere but everywhere. The body cannot exist without it. Furthermore, through the continued study of yogis and yoginis before us and the sharing of their experiences, we understand that the most concentrated area of that light is in the heart space. This concentrated light is the essence of pure wisdom, pure love, pure compassion, unalloyed joy, and abiding intelligence. Yet we often don’t get to experience that in our life, or it comes and goes, seeming quite random. The haze or cloudiness is too thick. What the Yoga Sutras tell us is that there are ways to capture that experience and to maintain that level of joy and light within and at the same time live in the world with our work, our relationships, our desires, and our intelligence.

The key is to keep our bodies strong and resilient and our minds free from anxiety, worry, anger, angst, and doubt. As yoga practitioners we have had some success in maintaining or increasing the health of our bodies. Yoga has given us many tools and practices to support us in this. We have been able to reduce back pain, alleviate some of the aches in our joints, decrease our anxiety, lower our blood pressure, combat heart disease, and in many other substantial ways we have strengthened the functioning of our bodies. This is a necessary and foundational step in helping us relieve mental and emotional pain and enhancing the quality of our life.

To go further, we need to understand a bit more about the relationship between our body, heart, and mind. The body supports the healthy functioning of the organs, including the brain and heart, the locus for concentrated areas of prana and light. If the physical functioning is compromised, the movement of prana can also be compromised, or even decreased. And we may not even be aware of it, but slowly over time it drains us of our will, our determination, our body’s intelligence, our joy, and our vitality. To keep a healthy body, the foundational step is asana practice.

From here we can look at the mind. As we know from our practice, the body and mind are intimately connected. We do our practice and our mind is more at peace. We don’t, and we’re more apt to be reactive and doubtful about our lives, our experience of ourselves.  After establishing a stable and comfortable body, relatively free of discomfort or disease, yoga gives us the tools and practices to further calm the mind. This is vital to the connection of the deeper regions in our heart. If the mind is wandering here and there, worried about this and that, the light and joy of the heart are quite difficult to access. We are stuck with our senses moving outward, catching hold of any thread of entertainment or relief or external habit we’ve cultivated. This kind of mind does not have the ability to experience the sublime aspects of the vishoka, joy untouched by sorrow or angst, or jyotishmati, supreme light of the heart, both of which are the subtle building blocks supporting the creation of the heart itself and concentrated in the heart area. Without a quiet mind, guided by inward moving prana, we miss out on this grace that is, always exists, and flows within.

The YTA workshop on March 10 will focus on practices that strengthen, stabilize, and turn us inward to this heart center. Through specific postures and breathing we will increase access to the four gifts that come with a body: rupa—beauty; lavanya—tastefulness; bala—vitality; and vajra samharanatva—the inherent healing power. Once we have ease and stability in the body, we will use specific pranayama practices to turn the mind peacefully inward. With a calm mind, we will be able to access the deeper stillness of the heart, where we can touch upon and rest in our true nature of unobstructed joy and light.

Participants of Saturday's Ayurveda and Yoga workshop with Deirdre Breen were treated to a taste of this delicious elixir at the close of the day. Here is Deirdre's recipe.

Ojas Nightly Tonic Recipe
1. Add small amounts of these to one cup of milk as you slowly bring it to a boil:

Chopped dates (1 tbsp)

Chopped almonds (2 tsp)

Coconut meat or flakes (1 tbsp)

Saffron (1/2 tsp)

Ghee (1–2 tsp)

Cardamom (1/8 tsp)

2. Add ojas-building herbs to the milk (1/8 tsp or one 500mg capsule of each):

Shatavari (Strength of 100 Husbands, sometimes spelled Shatawari)

Ashwagandha (Strength of Ten Horses, sometimes spelled Ashwaganda)

3. Optional: Once the milk, herbs, foods and spices are cooked and off the flame, add 1 tsp of raw honey.

Drink one cup each night for 3 months to rebuild ojas levels to support sleep, immunity, and overall well-being.

Enjoy!