BLISS-IN 90: Week 4 - Trifecta

Last week Laurin and I recapped Surya Namaskar and covered some new hip-stretches to help heal the pain in her left hip – and Firelog pose was so transformative for Laurin that she no longer needs to take Aleve to sleep comfortably! I wonder how her practice went this week?

Don't forget to check out the Question of the Week at the end of the blog to share your experiences on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, too!

LAURIN'S WEEK 3 HOMEWORK EXPERIENCES

This week was a little tough for Laurin to practice consistently as she was helping a friend move for a few days and was sore from all the lifting and carrying things up and down many flights of stairs. So, she wasn't really able to practice meditation for more than 10 minutes, two times this week (but she said she did get to meditate for a longer period of time than last time so that's an improvement).


Laurin is now confident practicing Surya Namaskar, despite only having the opportunity to practice twice during her busy week. She now even practices Chatturanga with her knees up, and if her arms and wrists feel strained she just puts her knees down, so this means her arm and core strength is slowly improving the more she practices.

After our first week Laurin saw immediate results when she experimented with a Pitta-friendly diet, so she has continued to be mindful of what foods she eats since then. In keeping with her Pitta/Kapha Dosha, she's mostly cut out red meat and has begun using soy instead of almonds in her salads (as almonds are aggravating to Pitta) and has been feeling better over-all in terms of digestion. Laurin has a gluten-intolerance and avoids all sources of gluten, which is a good practice for pacifying Pitta and has come easily for Laurin – avoiding cheese, however, has not been a natural thing, and in Laurin's words "is uh, not happening". I wholeheartedly agree...I think if I found out I was lactose intolerant I would still eat a Lactaid, say a prayer and tough it out. Cheese is so delicious I'm surprised it's not illegal. Cheese does contain very small amounts of morphine, and milk contains casein which also has opiate-like effects; so cheese truly is a trifecta of pleasure. It's true, Google it. 


WEEK 4 ONE-ON-ONE PRACTICE

Now that Suyra Namaskar is second-nature to Laurin, practicing Moon Salutations together was a breeze. 

With Laurin's hip flexibility being a bit stiff, I showed her different variations of low lunge to practice depending on how she was feeling. You can practice with the arms straight up over head, hands can be in prayer at your heart, you can bind the hands behind the back (either clasping hands or grabbing opposite elbows or taking reverse Namaste hands on the back), you can place the hands on the knee for a deep hip stretch and more stability, or you can place the hands on the floor inside the front foot – whatever your body is into, low lunge has a variation that will work for you.

LAURIN'S HOMEWORK

1) Practice Surya Namaskar A and Moon Salutations throughout the week.

2) Continue practicing Lizard, Firelog and Pigeon nightly to open up hips.

3) Meditate once per day for at least 10 minutes.

4) Read Yoga Sutras 17-30.


MY HOMEWORK


1) Write up a simple hip-and-shoulder-opening sequence for Laurin to
take home next week and build on her practice.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Which variation of the Moon Salutations do you practice? Do you practice according to The Bihar School of Yoga's method? Or do you practice that fun, new-fangled sequence created by who-knows-whom? Personally, I like to play with both versions depending on my mood, what about you? Share photos of you practicing your Moon Salutations on Instagram and Facebook and tag with #blissin90 to share the love!

Check out our Bliss-in 90 progress again in 2 weeks! Going to be taking a brief hiatus from blogging due to scheduling conflicts between us, but I'm planning on filling in the space with some fun lil nuggets for ya'll so stay tuned :)

BLISS-IN 90: Week 3 - "Cobra-thingy"

So last week Laurin began practicing Surya Namaskar A and some hip-opening stretches at home – Let's see how she's doing this week!

Don't forget to check out the Question of the Week at the end of the blog to share your experiences on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, too!

LAURIN'S WEEK 2 HOMEWORK EXPERIENCES

It was really exciting to hear that Laurin has been practicing Firelog to open up her left hip--and only has been practicing about 1-5 minutes, at the most 3 or 4 times this week--and she no longer needs to take Aleve to sleep comfortably before bed. How's that for progress?! Pretty amazing what just one pose can do for you! 

Laurin felt like she forgot a lot of Surya Namaskar A, and really wanted to re-cap this week and practice it some more together. (I let her know that for next week she shouldn't hesitate to text or call, I'd be happy to walk her through it so she can continue to practice on her own between our sessions.) She said she kept forgetting the "cobra thingy" (haha I love the way Laurin refers to poses) and couldn't recall where "baby-stance" (or Child's Pose, as Laurin refers to it ;) ) should go in the sequence. I understand why she was a bit lost. The way we practiced Surya Namaskar was modified for her body, and the videos she found online to attempt to practice along with were slightly different than what I was advising she do to protect her low back; so, I'd be confused, too! 

She's been practicing mostly at night since mornings are kind of hectic for her--as a fellow night-owl, I like to practice at night too, but we both love the way it feels to practice in the morning. I encouraged her to try to practice meditation in the mornings to clear her head and if she has time to throw in a few rounds of Surya Namaskar A. She's still only getting up to 8 or 9 minutes of breathing/meditation in because of her living situation. She says despite the short amount of time she's feeling a difference in her mood, feeling more patient, so that's good!

I completely forgot to ask Laurin about her experience beginning to read The Yoga Sutras, so, we'll have to get her thoughts on that next week.

Laurin's notes

WEEK 3 ONE-ON-ONE PRACTICE

Instead of hopping into a hip-opening sequence as I originally planned for this session, we recapped Suyra Namaskar A and practiced rounds of it together to make sure Laurin would feel more confident practicing on her own. 

We both felt the "cobra roll" from Budokon (which I explain in last week's blog) was a little too much to think about at the moment. Instead of the roll from Knees-chest-chin into Baby Cobra, we just lowered the knees in Plank and kept the knees down for Chaturanga, then lowered the torso all the way down to the ground and gently lifted the chest into Upward Dog (despite Laurin's low back issues, she doesn't feel much of a stretch in Baby Cobra and feels fine in Upward Dog. I just let her know if she ever feels more tension there to practice Baby Cobra instead.), then pressed back to "Baby-Stance"/Child's Pose, then pressed the hips up and back into Down Dog. (I will post a video soon of our modified Surya A so you can see it in action and try it for yourself! To be really real, I have little experience with editing video and I've been procrastinating on making this and any other demo videos because I fear a road-block in the production process. Ridiculous, I know-- when we all know there's no such thing as "no fear", just feeling the fear and then facing the challenge, so, face the challenge, I shall!)

After our Surya-recap we practiced Pigeon and a new hip-opener for Laurin, Lizard, for her to start doing at home. Lizard is a deep hip-stretch but there are baby steps to take along the way before you can go all-out in this pose. Lizard can be practiced with hands on the ground with the arms straight, wrists under shoulders, or with forearms on the floor. Additionally, the back knee may be off the ground for a more active version of the pose, or the knee can be down on the floor for a more restorative stretch. The stretch wasn't deep enough for Laurin with her hands on the floor, but her forearms wouldn't touch the ground all the way, so we modified with a block under her forearms to get a deeper stretch.

I asked Laurin if she wanted stick figures with explanations to take home with her and she said, laughing, "No, that's the problem you keep trying to push stick figures on me, I'm not a visual person, I need it explained and/or I need to watch you and have you there to spot me" haha, well, that's less work for me so I don't mind!

LAURIN'S HOMEWORK

1) Practice Surya Namaskar without the "cobra roll", just lowering down all the way from plank to the floor then lifting to Upward Dog 

2) Practice Lizard, Firelog and/or Pidgeon nightly. 

MY HOMEWORK

1) Write out Moon Salutations (the sequence as I learned it in my Teacher Training. Even the YouTube video I linked to is slightly different than how I learned it– you'll find that just like with Surya Namaskar A, there are variations, this variation is according to the Bihar School of Yoga.) for Laurin to take home and follow after we practice the poses together next week.

  

QUESTION OF THE WEEK 

Which Yoga pose (or poses) have helped to heal or ease pain in your body? How often did you practice and how long before you could feel a difference in your body?

Please share your healing poses on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and tag 'em with #blissin90 so we can all check them out :)

See you next week!

BLISS-IN 90: Week 2 - "Baby-Stance"

Let's check in with Laurin and see how she did with this the first week of homework! Don't forget to check out the Question of the Week at the end of the blog for your chance to share the love, too! Share your photos with us on Instragram, Facebook and Twitter, and tag 'em with #blissin90!

My "flow" notes. And yes, I am aware I spelled "Ujayi" incorrectly 
for some strange reason! :)

LAURIN'S WEEK 1 HOMEWORK EXPERIENCES

We left off last week with leaving Laurin with some breathing and meditation exercises to practice for the week, as well as a breakdown of Surya Namaskar A to study, and also left her with some resources on Ayurveda to check out if she so pleased. Laurin was going to begin reading The Yoga Sutras this week but her copy of the book didn't arrive until the day of our second session, so, that'll have to be done next week!

Laurin can't really meditate in solitude due to close-quarters living situation but she valiantly makes an effort as much as possible on subways and other quiet moments she can find. She's been using the 2:1 breath to relax before bed every night, and feels the difference and falls asleep faster (not that she had sleep trouble before but she noticed that happened). Aside from bedtime practice, when she's attempted to meditate she's only gotten up to 8 or 9 minutes due to distractions from her living situation. (The beauty is that over time it gets easier to tune out external stimuli the more you practice concentrating on the sound of your breath.)

Laurin read up on Ayurvedic diet recommendations for her Pitta/Kapha-ness and did some experimenting this week already: She tried a baked potato (okay for Pitta to eat) with sour cream (not great for Pitta to eat) and felt very sick afterwards.The next day she tried potato w/ butter (close to ghee which is good for pitta) instead, and was totally fine. With those results she said she's going to continue exploring Ayurvedic recommendations, but, instead of going crazy monitoring every morsel that goes into her mouth she's just going to increase Pitta-pacifying foods (Excellent approach, dietary changes that stress you out aren't going to do any good for you anyway).


WEEK 2 ONE-ON-ONE PRACTICE

We spent this second session breaking down the poses and transitions of Surya Namaskar A. We modified the sequence without Chaturanga/Half-Push-Up due to Laurin's cervical spine and shoulder issues. Instead we practiced Surya Namaskar while employing and modifying a movement from the Budokon system where you move in a "rolling wave" from Astangasana (8-limbed pose, colloquially known as "Knees-Chest-Chin") into a Bhujangasana (Cobra) or Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Dog).

 
To protect Laurin's sensitive low back, instead of moving into Upward Facing Dog from Knees-Chest-Chin we moved into a "baby" Bhujangasana (Baby Cobra) with a less intense backbend, more bend in the elbows than in the back. And instead of moving from Baby Cobra back to Downward Dog, we moved into Balasana (Child's pose, or as Laurin referred to it in a moment where she forgot the name: "Baby-stance", which is now what I shall use to refer to Child's pose, now and forever) and then straightened the legs and lifted the hips into Down Dog from Baby-stance (I said "now and forever." I'm a lady of my word.)

For Downward Dog we modified the pose to widen the feet further than hips distance to protect her low back, and also practiced feeling the difference being both in- and out-of-alignment in Down Dog. When one has upper-back issues the tendency is to hang out in the shoulders and put too much weight in the wrists and shoulders, the remedy is to pull the heels down toward the floor, even if the heels aren't touching the floor, actively reach them toward the ground -- this helps take weight out of the shoulders. Since Laurin is building flexibility in the hips and hamstrings, I had her bend her knees super deeply when walking from Down Dog into forward fold. 

Laurin exploring Down Dog in Union Square.

 


No Savasana this time as we didn't really flow and I could tell she hadn't moved enough to feel the sweet release of Savasana. Her and I both being Pitta's, I know she needs to exhaust herself a little in order to feel good being still for a while.

Instead of Savasana, I thought it would be good to practice some hip-opening stretches. As Laurin has undiagnosed pain in her left hip, Pigeon and Firelog (with blanket under left hip when it's on top due to tightness) are some poses that could help her open up her hip pretty quickly. When practicing Pigeon, her left hip was so tight she was falling over to her right, I had her pull her right hip back and left hip over to the left to balance it out and she felt the stretch even more (with no pain). She said already she felt a difference (in a good way), can't wait to see how she feels next week!


LAURIN'S HOMEWORK

1- Read Yoga Sutras (as translated by Satchidananda) Sutras 1-16.

2 - Practice Surya Namaskar A at least 3x/week and at least 5 rounds to start, reccomend she go as long as she can/feels like then practice Pidgeon and Firelog (with a blanket) for 1-5 minutes each, as often as she would like to stretch/open up her left hip.

3 - Continue practicing Meditation and breathing exercises at least 3x/week

MY HOMEWORK

1 - Create a simple hip-opening sequence for Laurin to practice and take home the following week.

2 - Explore more restorative hip-stretches for Laurin to practice.

3 - Research hands-on adjustments in restorative poses to help open up her left hip, and relieve lower- and upper-back pain.


QUESTION OF THE WEEK!
We'd like to know: What's your dosha and how do you keep your dosha in balance? (If you don't know you can take a test here to find out! And, in a pinch, you can use Google to find more info on the doshas and Ayurveda). Share pictures of your Ayurvedic practices on Instragram and tag 'em with #blissin90!

Have you ever tried any dietary changes or changed your Asana practice to balance your dosha? If you made changes, did you notice a difference? Do you think Ayurveda is a buncha bologna? Tell us in the comments below!

BLISS-IN 90: Week 1 - "Darth Vader on Morphine"

It's the first week of Bliss-in 90! If you missed the explanation of this project, you can check it out here. 

Bliss-in 90 is not just meant to be a documentation of private sessions in the spirit of sharing experience and knowledge. It's a call to action to get curious, be creative, and be your own teacher; look inward instead of reaching out for external sources of happiness; explore and educate yourself; seek actions you can take right now to invite more bliss into your life--and we want you to participate!


So, don't forget to check out the Question of the Week at the end so you can share your photos with us @missbernklau on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. (and tag your pictures with #blissin90 so we can all share the inspiration and positivity!) 

Let's jump right in, shall we?

To get to know students better before our first session, I created a little "New Student Kit" with a basic health questionnaire and dosha quiz (which I adapted from David Frawley's Yoga & Ayurveda: Self-Healing and Self-Realization) and a little bit of information about Yoga practices and other Yoga-inspired movement systems (Restorative Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Budokon® etc) students can choose to try during our sessions together. Laurin filled it out before our meeting and we spent our first session discussing Laurin's history with Yoga and her goals in starting a regular practice.


QUESTIONNAIRE

Part of the "New Student Kit" includes a few questions I always ask new students. Here were Laurin's answers:

DO YOU HAVE ANY INJURIES/CHRONIC PAIN OR HEALTH CONCERNS AND/OR DO YOU HAVE ANY PHYSICAL RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED BY YOUR DOCTOR? No doctor restrictions -- Chronic hip pain (left side) and back pain (lumbar, cervical)

HAVE YOU PRACTICED YOGA BEFORE? IF SO, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN PRACTICING/HOW OFTEN DO YOU PRACTICE? I've been to maybe 3 beginner classes about a decade ago.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS OR WHAT ARE YOU HOPING TO ACHIEVE, IF ANYTHING, BY ATTENDING PRIVATE YOGA CLASSES? Strength, concentration, endurance, flexibility.

HOW WERE YOU INTRODUCED TO YOGA AND WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO KEEP PRACTICING? Don't know yet [love the use of "yet" it implies Laurin is open to possibility!]

LIST A FEW OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS OR THE TYPES OF MUSIC YOU'D LIKE TO HEAR (WE CAN PRACTICE IN SILENCE AS WELL) WHILE PRACTICING. 

Surprise me. I trust you. [Music to my ears!]

DOSHA QUIZ RESULTS

Laurin's Ayurvedic constitution, according to the questionnaire in David Frawley's book, is Pitta 23, Kapha 15 and Vata 12. So there's a Pitta dominance with a slight Kapha imbalance as well. (Disclaimer: I'm not "certified" as an Ayurvedic doctor, I do not purport to heal or cure any illness, injury or disease, the results are just used as a guide to help make a more personalized practice. However, I will be a Certified Health Coach within the year and will be studying over 100 dietary theories, including Ayurveda, so, that'll be cool to share what I learn!)

I asked Laurin what type of exercise she preferred, and in keeping with her Pitta nature, she likes running, despite knowing it wreaks havoc on her joints. Good thing she likes to sweat, because that's what movement systems like Asthanga and Vinyasa Yoga and Budokon will make you do! Since she has a slight Kapha imbalance, having a heated practice can help balance Kapha energy. But, too much of a heated practice can aggravate Pitta (Pitta imbalances can manifest emotionally as feeling agitated, and quick-to-anger). 

Ultimately, after we cover the basics of Asana and alignment, we'll have put together a practice catered specifically to Laurin's physical needs and her Pitta/Kapha dosha (this personalized practice will be shared when completed, of course!) Using cooling Pranayama (breath work) exercises and poses to keep Pitta in check, we'll also include some heating twists, core work and some Budokon-inspired movements to keep things interesting for Laurin since we know she likes to move and sweat.

If you'd like to read more on Ayurveda, I recommend checking out Frawley's book to start, as well as simply going down the Google and Wikipedia wormhole on Ayurveda. Since it's an extremely old practice, just like Yoga, there are a ton of resources and approaches on the practice, it's up to you to explore and find what works and makes sense to you.


WEEK 1 HOMEWORK


When Laurin described her first Yoga experience a little more in-depth, she said had taken a few classes with a former classmate that "probably had no formal training" and she said she "didn't feel anything and we laid there for 10 or 20 minutes at the end." Hahaha, well, I'm glad Laurin is open to trying again despite her less-than-stellar introduction to Yoga.

Considering Laurin's minimal experience with Asana, we're going to go back to basics when we start next week and practice Surya Namaskar A (Sun Salutation A). Just really spend time feeling what it feels like to be in or out of alignment in each pose. I gave her a little handout I made with some stick figure guys and alignment/breath cues to study for the week. Since we were in a soup and sandwich shop for our consultation, we couldn't practice Surya Namaskar A together, but it still helps to study on paper! Laurin said she would prefer to practice with me the first time so she doesn't hurt herself instead of attempting it and doing it wrong to the point of injuring herself (good call--already adept at practicing Ahimsa toward herself!) 

Since the breath is the most important part of practicing Asana with integrity, I thought it'd be great for Laurin to practice some basic Pranayama her own this week to prepare for Surya Namaskar.

To help soothe Pitta energy, I taught Laurin the basic 2:1 breath (exhales are twice as long as inhales, breathing from the diaphragm.) as well as Ujjayi  (oo-jah-ee) Breath. You may have heard your Yoga teacher explain it this way: closing off the back of your throat on the exhale, as if making the sound to fog up a window but your mouth is closed and you exhale out the nose. I've heard teachers liken the sound to Darth Vader--that's a little too intense to me, maybe it should sound like Darth Vader on morphine, that seems more accurate to me. As Wailana explains in the video, "like a soft sleeping baby, almost a soft snoring sound"...I like to think of Darth Vader on morphine, too, just 'cause why not?

In any case, Ujjayi is great to practice focusing on the breath, staying present and linking breath to movement on the mat. In addition, practicing Ujjayi helps increase oxygenation throughout the body, balances blood pressure and calms the nerves. It's also a warming breath that helps keep you energized throughout the physical practice.

LAURIN'S HOMEWORK:
1 - Pick up The Yoga Sutras as translated by Swami Satchidananda and read Sutras 1-16 in Book 1.

2 - Practice 2:1 and Ujjayi breath 10-30 mins at least 3x/week

3 - Study Surya Namaskar printout


MY HOMEWORK:
1 - Read up on Laurin's hip and back issues and be prepared to adjust for injuries/pain in those areas.

2 - Find poses to open up her hip and lower back that she can practice safely at home.

***

That's all for now, check out our Sun Salutation adventures next week! But before you go...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK!

What are you reading, studying, practicing, writing, drawing, eating, drinking, or doing to invite bliss into your life every day? Please share your pictures with us @missbernklau on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Don't forget to tag 'em with #blissin90 and share the love. 
 
Peace, Love, & Positivity,
Heather

04.22.13

So it's been a long, long while, I know!

I've got LOTS of new stuff going on to share with you soon! But this right here, is the most important! It's a new 90-day "project" I've conjured and I'm really excited to share it with all of you, starting... NOW! Be excited!

It's called "Bliss-in 90", I thought it would be cool to share the experiences (through words, pictures, video and illustrations!) of myself and a private student, from how we develop a personal Yoga practice together, to how to modify poses for their specific injuries or body type, to how some of the more subtle practices can enhance mental and physical health, concentration, endurance and flexibility (of mind, body and spirit...and who doesn't want all that?) I also will be starting training to become a Certified Health Coach at Institute for Integrative Nutrition beginning in May! I'll be sharing what I learn on the way about holistic nutrition and lifestyle theories and practices in the coming weeks as well!

In exchange for weekly "free" private yoga classes, Laurin (our lovely volunteer student), has kindly allowed me to share our experiences weekly on my blog with all of you over the next 13-or-so weeks.

The format is a bit nebulous at the moment, but, I thought to do this project and being so excited to get started I just wanted to get it out there no matter what it would look like at first -- imperfect action is better than no action, My hope is that it serves as a resource of sorts for students and teachers (we're all students and teachers simultaneously, eh?). I'm super stoked because I know myself and Laurin will learn a lot from and thoroughly enjoy this experience, so, winning all around!

This Wednesday I'll be sharing what happened during our consultation, and keep your eyes peeled every Wednesday for the weekly Bliss-in 90 updates!

In closing, I leave you with a photo-quote in the spirit of learning and expanding the horizons of our consciousness (feel free to spread the love-wisdom on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook!): "Study is all right, but not for mere logic, quoting or fighting. Actually, it is only when you 'quote' from your own experience that your words have weight. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to say, 'Forget all you have learned; become a child again. Then it will be easy to realize that wisdom.'"

Om.