Om Hop Yoga

Yoga Therapy: Going back to the basics to improve the quality of our lives

Ganesh Mohan's Module 3 culminated in applying what we've learned the last 4 days to real-life case studies and developing appropriate programs for each, as well as, a brief overview of heart disease and how yoga can be a tool to help manage it.  

The most powerful piece of knowledge I came away with from this module is that while the practice of yoga may not be able to fix problems, it may help manage them and help us in improving the quality of our lives if we do suffer from certain afflictions....and let's be honest, so many of us do.  

I once took an Iyengar yoga class with Kevin Gardner, who said that for the most part, when we reach 30 years old our bodies slowly begin to break down, so to prevent injuries, pain or other physical ailments and to maintain our physical vigor we need to put in more effort and place more emphasis on alignment and process.  This proved to be very true for me.  This year, for the first time in my life, I developed an injury.  In the process of pushing my body slightly beyond its edge, without proper engagement of certain muscles I should have been paying more attention to, I pulled my hamstring.  I began the healing process a few months ago and it still continuing.  Sitting in a chair most of the day isn't helping, but I do what I can to keep moving and engaging in exercises that help break up the connective tissue and scar tissue, strengthen both hamstrings and bring back proper movement.  In a crazy way I feel blessed to have had this injury happen because I'm learning so much about my body, where my weaknesses are, and what my body needs to be health and prevent injury.  

What does this have to do with breathing?  The process of learning how to tune into our breaths and understanding the dynamics of the breath trains us to tune into other aspects of our physicals selves.  We develop an inner intuition that permeates into our everyday lives and not only helps us catch small issues before they become bigger, but if we don't catch them in time, gives us the tools to manage them properly so as to maintain a certain balance and peace within.  

The beauty of yoga is that it can be applied and practiced at various levels of rigor.  Yoga is breathing, it's meditation, it's the asana practice, it's how we nourish ourselves, it's a lifestyle.  Yoga is also a process and not an end in itself.  So if something does happen that prevents us from diving right into a rigorous asana practice and we need to give our bodies a break, we always have our breath and we can always start there, just as we did when we were first born.  And everything else is just another step in this beautiful process.  

I will leave you with this incredibly precious and completely thought-provoking video: Baby Liv 

(This video presents a snapshot of the practical applications and principles of the Feldenkrais method, developed by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, developed for anyone who wants to reconnect with their natural abilities to move, think, and feel. For more info: www.TheNExt25Years.com)

Moments of Love

I'm taking a "distance learning" Love Course with Harshada Wagner, an amazing meditation teacher and in his last webcast he asked us to notice moments of love as well as create moments of love in our everyday lives.  Love can take myriad shapes.  It can be love toward our partner, motherly or fatherly love, and it can even take the form of a Thank you or a smile between strangers.  Anyone who has lived in NYC for a period of time understands that the city can feel distant, unfriendly, and rigid.  Yet, when we truly look and are proactive about sending love to others, we find it is all around us.  I know that sounds like a line from the move Love Actually, but it's true!  

So I came back from Brazil with a renewed sense of self.  A wider vision.  A fresh perspective. I came back relaxed, though by Friday afternoon I started feeling like the frenetic energy of the city is consuming me again.  And then I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a while and something shifted.  I saw myself rushing to catch a train to Connecticut for the weekend, my excessively heavy suitcase in hand, my mind on how quickly I want to get to that train, when I paused to take a moment and enjoy our quick yet uplifiting catch-up!  Once we said good-bye, I walked to the subway more mindfully and with a little more grace.  I caught myself and that uncomfortable feeling of rushing and realized how futile it is.  I began to notice the moment and myself more.  I was present.  As a result, more little moments of love ensued and paved my path to the train:  First, a man asked me if I needed help as I struggled to get my suitcase - and myself - through a turnstyle to enter the subway station at Times Square.  Then as I was coming down a ramp approaching an elevator that I wasn't planning on taking, a woman noticed me and asked me with a smile if I want her to hold it.  Then after getting off my subway train, I saw a set of stairs towering in front of me and as I braced to pick up my heavy suitcase, a guy offered to bring it up for me! I breathed a sigh of relief!  I felt light and completely connected.  I wanted to keep smiling and ride this wave.  It was moment after moment of love.

Imagine what life would be like if it was just an endless string of love moments.  I'm going to try to create more of them. Are you in?

 

Love, affection and the brain

The NYTimes recently published a beautiful article entitled The Brain on Love by Diane Ackerman.  It's about how our interpersonal relationships, and love especially, can influence our mental and physical well-being.  It presents a new field called interpersonal neurobiology, which "draws its vigor from one of the great discoveries of our era: that the brain is constantly rewiring itself based on daily life. In the end, what we pay the most attention to defines us. How you choose to spend the irreplaceable hours of your life literally transforms you."  I think this is deeply true.  Our relationships, the types of people we choose to surround ourselves with, the activities we perform, and all the choices we make every moment of the day, shape our brains, our personalities, and how we respond to everything around us whether positive or negative.  

Ackerman also addresses the mother-child bond that is created even before the child is born and how when we're older we search for it in our relationships.  In fact, she gleans, being in a supportive, loving relationship with someone who you trust and love wholeheartedly and who reciprocates those same feelings can shape our neurological conditions and well-being.  She writes, "Dr. Siegel, a neuropsychiatrist, refers to the indelible sense of “feeling felt” that we learn as infants and seek in romantic love, a reciprocity that remodels the brain’s architecture and functions.... Scientific studies of longevity, medical and mental health, happiness and even wisdom, point to supportive relationships as the most robust predictor of these positive attributes in our lives across the life span.”

The intuitive psychiatrist, Dr. Judith Orloff, in her book Intuitive Healing reflects on the idea that our bodies respond to people around us all the time if only we paid attention.  Love can hurt when it ends abruptly or it's not reciprocated, but if we can be attuned to how our bodies respond to someone, we could possibly learn more quickly whether this person is contributing to our well-being or not.  For example, that sinking heavy feeling or those uncomfortable butterflies in our stomach can reveal so much if we only pay attention.  I'm not talking about how we feel around someone during intimate moments, but rather consistently on a moment to moment basis.  It is such a blessing being around someone who puts you at ease, who you trust with your whole being, who you know supports you in every choice and decision you make, and whose touch and embrace your body responds to positively, always.   Ackerman says, "If you’re in a healthy relationship, holding your partner’s hand is enough to subdue your blood pressure, ease your response to stress, improve your health and soften physical pain. We alter one another’s physiology and neural functions."  How many times do we allow ourselves to maintain toxic relationships whether it's with a friend or significant other without paying attention to the body's signs. Our mind typically gets in the way.  If we listened, perhaps we'd be able to address whatever underlying issues existed in that connection.  Think about a time when something felt intuitively right.  You know the feeling when it's there, though it may be difficult to tell when it's not.  When it truly feels right, you know it, but when it doesn't your rational mind interferes and you keep weighing the pros and cons.  

I wanted to share this article because I've learned how important interpersonal relationships are to my own well-being.  The sense of touch can do wonders for us, which is a reason I love those big cozy hugs.  We are affectionate beings.  And yoga, while it is inherently an individual practice, gets us connected to our bodies in such a way that enables us to become more compassionate and loving toward ourselves.  In turn, realizing how incredibly important that love, compassion and affection is, we want to share it with others.  This support that we can give each other, whether to a friend, family member, significant other or even a stranger, can reduce our fears, anxieties, and stresses and program our brains to better deal with adversity.  The proof is in the science, but we can only fathom if we truly observe.  "During idylls of safety, when your brain knows you’re with someone you can trust, it needn’t waste precious resources coping with stressors or menace. Instead it may spend its lifeblood learning new things or fine-tuning the process of healing. Its doors of perception swing wide open."  Isn't that so liberating.  It's all within our control, if we're only mindful and observant of our bodily intuition. 

 

 

Commitment + Perseverance = Progress

I am elated.  It's been almost 7 months since I've begun my Mysore Ashtanga Yoga practice and I've noticed an immense amount of progress.  My hamstrings and calves are more flexible.  My core is stronger.  My arms can carry me through my ten warm-up Surya Namaskaras with ease. And I have an better connection with my body.  All because I've committed to something and am set on perservering through the challenges to reach my goals.  

The formula is so simple, yet there are many reasons we lack the willpower to embrace it.  As I saw most recently in my Ashtanga practice, it’s not until we begin seeing the benefits or having little victories, do we fathom that the combination of commitment and perseverance means reward.  

Mysore Ashtanga differs from other styles of yoga in the sense that 1) the student goes at their own pace with the guidance of a teacher/guru, 2) the student performs the same sequence each time and is advanced by the teacher in accordance with his/ her progress, and 3) there is more accountability since if you keep practicing on a regular basis you see how much you're progressing and it makes you want to keep going and cross the hurdles.  As I’ve stated in previous posts, I practice with Guy Donahaye at the Ashtanga Yoga Shala in East Village.  I chose Mysore Ashtanga for the above distinctions and because I needed more rigor and discipline in my practice, which I wasn’t getting at other studios.  While my attendance was choppy in the first few months, as my body and mind adjusted to the early mornings, and as I conditioned myself to get up early with every blissful practice, I began to go as often as my body allows, which is about 5 days a week at the moment.

With Ashtanga, it is important to drop all expectations and put trust in the teacher.  At first seeing others around me doing more advanced poses and further along in their sequence than I, played with my ego.  I wanted to get to where they were, fast.  However, as soon as I began trusting Guy’s guidance, the ego no longer dominated.  I began to look at my practice as my own and I began to be more compassionate toward my own body.  I wanted to challenge myself, but I didn’t want to push too far.  The process began to be joyful.  I forgot about being given the next pose in the sequence and focused on the ones that I had.  Eventually, a wonderful sense of ease settled in my practice and before I knew it, I had Bhuja Pidasana added to my sequence - a pose, that in my opinion, represents a real breakthrough for me!  The dedication resulted in a sense of accomplishment; and that powerful feeling that I was heading somewhere.  

This is what life is about. With most pursuits we will not see immediate results.  And many times, if those results are immediate, they may not be long-lasting.  Along the way, as we commit to something, we need to change our mindset, be true to the process and drop our expectations.   Only, then can we experience breakthroughs that help lead us toward our goals.  And with those little breakthroughs comes elation and the sense that you’re close to where you ultimately want to be.  This drives us forward.  

As lifestyle plays a powerful part in affecting how my body reacts to my yoga practice and since I'm still exploring my limitations with food - eating more vegetarian vs not - I know that the ease that I've been feeling in the studio can be fleeting in conjunction with my lifestyle choice.  However, there is beauty in the process and I learn from every action I take.