Vinyasa Yoga workshop

Yesterday Juliana taught a three hour Vinyasa Yoga workshop at The Yoga Source. Vinyasa Yoga is a form of "flow" yoga where you are in almost constant motion. Each asana flows into the next one. It is definitely a challenging form of yoga not to be done by beginners.

I have been practicing for 10 years so when I asked Juliana if I was ready for this class she said "absolutely". I met up with my yoga friend Ruthie before class started and at 12:30 we were sitting on our mats waiting for the class to begin. I was a little apprehensive knowing that this was going to be a very difficult class.

We started with breath of fire and pranayama which are forms of controlled breathing. It helps to warm you up and also quiet the mind. Once we were all warmed up the "flow" started. We flowed for about two and a half hours doing sun salutations, down dogs, cobras, planks, pigeons, wheels, backbends and all the other poses that were required. I was glad I had brought my towel. I was so sweaty that my hands were slipping all over my mat. It was a hard workout.

Triangle pose

Wheel pose

Downward Facing Dog

We were in the last half hour of the three hour class when we started doing inverted postures. I find inversions very difficult. I have a hard time relaxing in inverted poses but Juliana puts them in every class. She says they help the whole body including the central nervous system. Usually we do plow pose into shoulder stands. In plow pose you roll on your back and put your feet behind your head with your legs as straight as possible. From there you tuck your shoulders under your body, put your hands on your back for support and kick your legs up so that your are balancing on your shoulders with your feet up in the air. Well, yesterday Juliana wanted to kick it up a notch so we started doing forearm stands which led to head stands which led to hand stands and scorpion pose. It's all very involved but suffice it to say it was hard. Really hard. I have done head stands before but forearm stands, hand stands and scorpion pose were new to my practice. I had seen them done before but always thought that they were beyond my abilities. I guess I was wrong because before I knew it there I was standing on my hands with my feet up against the wall. From there I bend my legs and lowered them into scorpion pose. OMG!!

We ended the class with a nice long meditation and chanting session. I was completely whipped. I told Ruthie that I felt like a quivering ball of sweat but I was a very happy quivering ball of sweat. I did things that I never thought I could do. It sure feels good when you can accomplish something that before you could only dream of doing. I guess my yoga practice is a work in progress. I am progressing and that is a good thing.

Harmony And Balance In My Living Room

I'm a yoga freak. I love the quiet surroundings and joyfulness that I feel when I finish practicing yoga. This morning I decided to practice in my living room. It's not the same as a private with Juliana at her yoga studio but it's certainly a wonderful thing.

First I lit my Beatles candles. Not only does it give off a beautiful light it allows me to see Paul which is my favorite way to start the day. Then I lit some jasmine incense and turned on a new CD that I bought called "Feng Shui Music For Balanced Living". These things help quiet my mind so that I can focus on my breathing.

After a few minutes of listening and feeling the breath I started my practice of pranayama. This is the practice of controlling the breath. You feel yourself expand with the in breath and release with the out breath. After a few rounds of this you hold the in breath for a few seconds and then add a pause at the end of the out breath. It is really harder than it sounds. It was especially hard when Rigby came over to see what I was doing and started sniffing me and licking my face. That can really mess up someone's mindfulness. Sniff, sniff, sniff, lick, lick, lick.

After the pranayama I started doing the yoga asanas also known as postures. Knees to chest. Sniff, sniff, sniff, Spinal twist. Lick, lick, lick, Fish pose. Sniff, sniff, sniff. Bridge pose. Lick, lick, lick. "Rigby, cut it out"!! "Rigby, go away"!! "RRRiiigggbbbyyy, cut it out!!!

I knew I was in real trouble when it came time in my practice to do downward facing down dog position. In down dog you are in a sort of triangle and in the perfect position to have an upward facing real dog wreck havoc with your yoga practice. See below.




It seemed like the more I pushed him away the more he had to investigate. I realized that there wasn't much I could do to rescue my practice from the whim of my Lhasa Apso . I decided to give him a treat. I did a head stand against the wall. Oh, wow!! That was really cool. Rigby was completely enthralled. He came over to sniff and lick as I was standing with my hands underneath my head and unable to push him away. I laughed and laughed. I think he did too in his own doggie way. I think next time I decide to practice yoga in my living room I'll let my "Sweetpea" out in the back yard.