Old Moon Yoga

Oldmooning at Venice Beach

Last week’s blog produced a record number of comments. It’s official, I have now amassed 3 readers. I have been on vacation this week, no yoga teaching at all. Like a the readers of this blog I have way too much spare time on my hands. I figured this would be a chance to catch up on my Yoga practice. No didn’t happen I seemed to get very little practice in. A belly Iyenga would be proud is all I have to show so far.

Time is now passing so fast on this vacation. Rather like a really good Yoga class, it starts slowly you savor every moment. At first you remember every pose, savor every minute as you get deeper and move towards the warm up.

My vacation warm up was helping my daughter move house, during the two hottest days LA has seen this so far this year. Rather like a vinyassa warm up there is no time to think, just do as you are told, keep it going, like a moving meditation.

Oldmooning at Venice Beach

After the warm up of course follows the stretching. The vacation equivalent, Yoga on the beach. In stark contrast to the kick boxers 20 yards away, we attempted the kind of graceful flowing poses you expect to see in a Yoga video filmed in Hawaii. I am sure they are all filmed in Hawaii.

Suddenly you glance up at the clock. “What only 15 minutes left. Surely it is not time to cool down already”. The class is nearly over, the vacation nearly over. Just enough time for a few of my favorite things. Well one actually motorcycle racing. MotoGP at Laguna Seca.

Been riding a motorcycle since I was 16 and I have heard several people liken riding a bike to meditation. A moving meditation clearly, and one where you have to totally keep your wits about you, oh and you can’t close your eyes. But hey in a helmet no one can hear you “OM”.

The end of the vacation though will be like a final savasana in my classes. Rather than imagine breath synchronized to an ocean wave, I can walk the beach and breath in time with the sea.

The sea

The vacation, like many Yoga classes, is just to short, but I am back with a vengeance next week teaching all my usual classes and subbing two additional ones. Should sort of that Iyenga belly in no time.

Neo

“You have nice butt” no it was not comment directed at me, but at one of the other students in class. As we sat there, if pigeon Eka Pada Rajakapotasana counts as sitting, in an interesting silence, they all look at me to comment. Usually quick with the mickey take or leg pull my reply is really PC. “No I am not going there” I said. Then one of my regular Yogi says “This sounds like a topic for your next blog.” It certainly could be but what direction should I take.

• A commentary on the things people say whilst in pigeon. You would be surprised. It’s a pose people like to vocalize in, for some reason.
• An exploration of appropriateness of comments, between Yogis and how much a teacher should get involved.

Like Neo in the Matrix, I am faced with a decision this morning. The blue pill says play it safe, stay in my current blog world, talk about the comments, and even cheers people express in pigeon. The red pill means potentially opening up Pandora’s box.

Of course there is yet another option. “Old Moon’s Guide to pigeon” but then that would ruin my Matrix analogy that I clearly worked so hard to seamlessly slide into this opening section. There was no yellow pill in The Matrix.

Down the rabbit hole we go

So rather than be pigeon holed (ouch sorry, I am on vacation its tiring), it’s down the rabbit hole we go, because well, “one pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small.”

In the office situation comments about one another’s body parts forbidden by law. “You have a nice butt” directed at a young intern from the boss would cause the skies tn implode I am sure. What about the Yoga studio though? I don’t go around telling people they have a nice butt, but I tell people they look beautiful, in poses, all the time. Some how that is ok.

So a little quiz, What kind of Yogi are you?

Q1 Your in a Yoga class, really enjoying the class. Kim a young attractive yogi behind remarks so the whole class can hear. “You have a nice butt”. Do you

1. Try to look embarrassed, but quietly enjoy the complement
2. Complement back
3. Check your alignment in the mirror

Q2. Your in a Yoga class, really enjoying the class. Jamie, the middle aged but pretty flexible yogi, behind remarks so the whole class can hear. “You have a nice butt”. Do you

1. Try to look embarrassed, whist checking their alignment in the mirror
2. Turn the other cheek (Still tired )
3. Desperately try to think of that witty thing that will only come to you minutes after class

Q3. Your in a Yoga class, really enjoying the class. Lesley, a little out of shape and pretty new to yoga gasps between breaths “You have a nice butt”. Do you

1. Turn red look embarrassed and try to shrink from view
2. Return the complement.
3. Reach for your cell phone and a lawyer’s number

Go ahead, make my day

Now imagine you are a member of the opposite sex and take the test again.

Now imagine they are the opposite gender to whatever you assumed they were.

The scenarios are endless. What if the comment was expressed with sarcasm. What if the comment was about other body parts? What if there is ulterior motive, beyond a simple complement? What if this happens repeatedly the “advances”, appreciated or not, don’t really need to be shared with the whole class.

Now imagine you are the teacher.

Is there one rule for the teacher and another for the class too? Clearly. Students come and go as they please. The teacher is the leader of the class and the person the class looks to to set the tone and atmosphere.

I encourage my classes to talk, to interact, I like the feedback. The teacher cannot get involved though, even if it appears light hearted and said in fun. “I’m not going there” Was my only comment as the rest of the class starts to join in the fun. Harder still, how does one control such a situation if it starts to get out of hand. I have no idea, butt (very tired) will be sure to let you know if it happens.

James, my son, in pigeon, no comments on the butt please

Why did this come up at all? I was teaching pigeon and, as usual trying to make sure everyone had something under their floating hip. Something to release into. So maybe this blog should have been “old moon’s guide to pigeon.” There is always next week.

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. With the exception of Neo of course.

No Warriors in this class

“No Warriors” was her reply. Occasionally I like to start a class by finding everyone’s favorite pose and then build a class incorporating them all. “wow that’s clever” I hear my reader saying to themselves, or may be it’s “that’s lazy why doesn’t he plan the class ahead of time.” Building a class around people’s favorite poses has lots of advantages.

As everyone arrives and gets settled I greet them and ask them their favorite pose. Not challenged enough just trying to put a name to each face, something I am really bad at, I like to compound the problem by adding a favorite pose to each Yogi too. Like bad variety act stage show, I “work the crowd” accumulating names and poses as I go down the line.

If I can’t remember names why make the problem worse by adding poses too? It turns out that it actually makes it easier to remember people’s names. The stage performer does something very similar when “working” his crowd. It is a well known trick for remembering a list of items of course, to associate a picture with each object you are trying to remember.

30 names and poses to remember!

There are other advantages too. I get to say more than hi to everyone in the class. I get to learn what people like, and more often than not, what they don’t like. These are both great pieces of information to have. People usually don’t like the poses they most need. Poses they like are usually ones they have been working on or are trying to perfect, or poses that just make them feel good.

Asking everyone hopefully makes it seems like a class more tailored to them, rather than something pre-canned class and driven from a cheat sheet, with no consideration for the Yogis who turn up. After all they have no idea that all the classes we teach are modified to suit the group.

Indirectly I learn whether people think in terms of Sanskrit or English for the pose names. Also hidden in there are clues to what they like about the class.

So hopefully everyone feels wanted, unless of course I forget to do one of the favorite requests:) It turns out it is not that hard to teach a class this way. Most request are for popular poses that one of my regular sequences would bring out anyway. If someone comes up with something unusual – “I want to do compass pose today” she announced as she was setting up her mat. Good job she did not use the sanskrit to describe that pose, I have no idea what it is – It is easy to remember the one that stands out, you can even build a sequence that leads to it.

I have tried this on groups as large as 20+ it still works. Many people have the same favorites. The fun starts when one person asks for a pose, and another asks not to do that pose. For some reason when you ask people for any special request they are just as likely to tell you what they don’t want. There is probably some deep psychological meaning here. “I am replying with what I don’t like it because my subconscious thinks my body needs it.” or “I come to this class for the torture, I might as well go all in.” Yes this is why I did not take up psychiatry.

Parivrtta Surya Yantrasana (Compass Pose)

So just remember, be careful what you ask for. “What is your favorite pose? “ and not “Any special requests today?” Unless you want the challenge of teaching class with “No warriors” but with Parivrtta Surya Yantrasana thrown in there somewhere.

Keeping an eye on the bookends

They were both new to my class, they came together, both relatively new to Yoga. I think mine was their first venture beyond beginner classes. No problem, I will keep my eye on them and give extra assistance and options. For some reason they take up positions at either end of the studio. They could not have been further apart, unless I opened the back door and let one practice in the car park. Like two bookends they are positioned as far from me as possible. So doing my best Marty Feldman impersonation we begin class.

I love to have new people in class, of course, and try to make the class as “all levels” as possible but a little “remote teaching” was needed here. This should be a doddle (sorry, I think it’s an English expression) as earlier this week I was able to share some yoga moves with someone as far away as the east coast.

Pincha Mayurasana (Feathered Peacock Pose) or more specifically Vrschikasana (Scorpion Pose). Vrschikasana a pose almost as hard to do as it is to pronounce, is very similar to pincha – you just let your legs drop over until your feet are on your head. Yeh right! After extensive research (a Google search), I have determined that this pose is only possible if you are young (I fail), slim (I fail), and female (mmm don’t even know how to qualify). If you don’t possess these three key attributes, join us mortals for which scorpion is pincha with back arched, the knees bent, and the feet waving around like divining rods in search of underground water.

The secret to success with both of these poses, like all balances, is getting a stable base. Once you have that stable base you can begin to learn the secrets of the balance and acquire the muscle memory necessary to stay in the balance. As we are on our arms in this pose, the arm position is critically important. The traditional position for the arms is in line with the shoulders and parallel to each other. The correct position, though, is the one let’s you balance upside down, after all you probably won’t have your feet on your head either.

When I was learning, we were shown a couple of positions designed to get those arms in the traditional parallel position. A block between the hands, palms up. A block between the hands with the hands flat and thumbs wrapping the block. Both of these get the shoulder parallel but do nothing to help stabilize the balance. A year or so ago a teacher showed me the following arm position. It feels a little odd at first, but it ready does help stabilize things

Old Moon Yoga’s guide to Pincha Mayurasana and Vrschikasana

• Start with the arms out in front parallel like usual.
  

  Arms parallel

• Then turn the hands over so they are facing up, still parallel.
  

  Turn palms up first

• Now turn the hands over so that the thumb and forefinger meet. The wrists can be a little bit raised. It feels a little weird, you can even take your elbows a little wider too (not too much though)
  

  Turn hand over, thumb and fore finger touch

• This should give you a much more stable base when you kick up. It is very similar to clasping the hands together but allows you to spread the hands for control over the stability.

My remote Yogi said this helped her. Mind you, I also learned she was able to walk her feet down the wall to her head for scorpion. Clearly she possesses those 3 attributes blocking me from a perfect scorpion

Coincidentally I came across this video from a Yoga teacher and friend of mine, Cora Wen. She demonstrates how to use the wall and a chair to improve your scorpion. http://www.youtube.com/user/CoraYoga#p/a/u/1/YnLMkPelHP4

YouTube, another form of remote teaching for yoga. Makes my two bookends challenge seem like a walk in the park.