Flying Into 2013: How To Video on Eka Pada Bakasana

Happy New Year!!   What a day… trying to finish up and squeeze in all the last minute things before the year ends and I managed to get this video made for you as promised in the “4 flying crows” post

Before you watch, keep in mind that this pose requires you to do the crow variation of bakasana and not the crane expression.  The distinction:  crow = knees lower near the elbow with elbows bent whereas crane is the full expression of crow with knees high near armpits and arms straight.  You’ll need to get your butt high in the air… go ahead and lift that badonkadonk and tell 2012 to kiss it cause we’re flying right into 2013.  Enjoy!!  Hope the tips help you fly and soar into 2013.  As always, let me know if you have comments, feedback or other tips to help with this pose.

Peace!

How To Video: Starfish

I recently received an email from a podcast listener who couldn’t quite get what “star fish” pose was.   I don’t remember where I got the name of this pose but I think some crazy yoga teacher made it up at some point (ha! maybe it was me LOL) and an internet search doesn’t yield anything but the real echinoderm or silly people having fun spreading their arms and legs as wide as they can go… and no doubt this yoga version of starfish pose is fun!  Think heart opening and expressive… like triangle on crack!  Enjoy!

 

To download free yoga podcasts:  http://nikkiwong.com/poweryoga/podcasts.html

How To Video: Handstand Prep Tip#2

I am inspired by the number of people who have taken the 365 day handstand challenge and have committed to practice at least one handstand a day for the rest of the year.  People who were afraid are now having fun.  People who are able to handstand are helping those who are just starting.  Oh my heart!  Is it possible that practicing a single pose can create community?…. wow.. the heart of yoga in action.

More handstand prep techniques using straps.  One step at a time…

 

Thank you to those who have sent me some pictures and videos already of you practicing… it inspires me.. so keep sending them in (snikkin at yahoo dot com).

The Space Between

The space between breaths…

The space between thoughts…

The space between today and tomorrow…

It is called the present….  It is where life happens.   Sometimes the space is peace.  Sometimes the space is joy.  Sometimes it is love.  Sometimes the space feels anything but love. It’s gray.  It’s unbearable.  It’s uncertain.  Nevertheless, it is a space where life happens. 

How do I deal?

With a crazy yoga transition that matches the intensity of the space between my thoughts, my breath, my life…. in transition from today until tomorrow until the end of time.   Enjoy!  Please laugh at me… and laugh at yourself OFTEN…. for this is how you make it through the space between transitions.

 

Practice and all is coming…. (that includes your life!) 

How To: Chin/Cheek Stand

I know it’s not about the destination… but it’s a good feeling when you see your own progress.  It’s like checking off another item on your to-do list… not because you’re a type-A perfectionist, but because you know you’re capable.. you’re strong enough, flexible enough, and mostly you’re willing to break through… willing to take a risk… willing to fall. 

I first saw this pose done over the summer when I was on my yoga coaching trip to Italy.  ”Whoa” was the first word out of my mouth.  I wanna do that.  And the next words out of my mouth was, but “I’m not strong enough,” followed by a slew of other “buts.”  But really, I was afraid to fall.  What if I twist my neck, smash my already flat nose, and break a nail?  It would surely be the end of the world, right?  Of course!  So this pose stayed off my mat. 

Not for long though cause yoga just knows how to creep back in and test your boundaries.  It nags at you.  It keeps telling you you’re strong enough.  You’re ready.  It tells you to trust yourself.  And when you get quiet enough, you can hear this faint voice.  As you listen this faint voice becomes louder than your doubting voice.  Then you find that you don’t even need to have that much courage to try it… you find that all you need is a willingness to open up to courage.  

 

Be willing!

 

How To Become (Or Find) An Awesome Vinyasa Yoga Teacher

Certainly this year I have been doing a lot of work on myself and watching my teaching soar from the work I’ve done with Live Love Teach.  So naturally when I saw a class scheduled at Wanderlust called “From Adequate to Awesome” for teacher’s only with Schuyler Grant, I signed up.  I’m not surprised to hear that Schuyler thinks there are so many adequate 200 hr vinyasa teachers, but it stops there.  She says so many yoga schools are sphewing out 200 hr teachers but it’s rare to find an exceptional teacher.  She thinks one of the reasons might be that many vinyasa teachers have never even taken an Ashtanga class.  She thinks whether you are an Ashtangi practitioner or not, as a vinyasa teacher, one should at least be familiar with the primary series because it is the foundation of vinyasa. I’d have to agree. 

Here’s some other tips on what you can do to become an awesome teacher (or if you’re a student, look for these traits in your vinyasa/flow teacher):

1.  Study other styles frequently because regurgitated vinyasa is boring.  Study Iyenger, Anusara, Kundalini, etc… bring these elements into the flow class.  Steal and steal away from other teachers.

2. Teach from your own experience.  As you experience other classes, put it into your own personality instead of being a parrot and regurgitating those yogic catch phrases that are being said over and over by every teacher. Does it have meaning?

3. Be clear and concise with your words.   You can be poetic in your conversation, but try not to use “ing” words.  For example, “reaching your left arm up, stepping your right foot forward…”  Be direct and say what you  mean. 

4. Listen to your own words.  No mushy words and no sexy, zen like yoga voice. 

5. Focus on a theme:  use it as a container with a beginning, middle, and end.

6. The rhythm and tempo of the class is balanced and not jerky. 

7. Vinyasa is a breathing system, a way to connect breath, mind, and body.  Are you connecting breath to movement?  Is there breath in the class?

8. If you practice while teaching, it’s lazy teaching or remedial.  If you’re practicing the whole time while you’re teaching, you’re not present for the class.  All your brain energy is in your own body.  Are you in “doing” mode rather than “being” mode.

9. If you’re not present, then how can you give appropriate adjustments (physically or verbally)?

10.  To be an awesome teacher, you must cultivate a home practice.  Experience what you teach in your own body.

11.  Using music is a cheat.  Although music can be fun, do you use it to hide behind?  Music can be distracting and it can become more powerful than you as a teacher.  Do you want them to come for your playlist or what you offer as a teacher? Do you give enough space and silence?  Does space and silence make you uncomfortable?

12. Speak to the student’s body as you see it. 

13.  Have fun!

Awesome list!  But I already knew all that .   Live Love Teach ingrained these in me and then some. If you’re feeling exhausted after teaching a class, you are not stepping into your awesomeness.  Chances are you are trying too hard and missing one or more items on this list. But there’s more that Schuyler has not added that will make teaching fun and rewarding instead of feeling like “work.” 

I don’t like to advertise here, but I must because I believe in the work.  Many teachers ask me how I could ever teach 17 classes a week and deliver consistently awesome classes while balancing out everything else in my life.   There’s nothing more encouraging to me than hearing other people say to me, “I want your life.”  And I want you to experience full joy and have endless energy in your teaching.  Come with me to Montana with the Live Love Teach team on September 11 – 15, 2011.  I will be co-facilitating it with two other fabulous teachers and our three mentors.  You will get the opportunity to put all of these skills (and then some more secrets to awesomeness) into action and step up from being adequate some of the time to being AWESOME all of the time!

Ok that’s it on the high horse… if you’re a student, demand these from your teachers.  Give them honest feedback.  Help them grow because when your teachers grow, so do you!

How To Video: Transitions

There’s been a bunch of transitions happening all around me.   A handful of folks I know are definitely making shifts in their families as they grieve losses over the holidays.  Some are switching jobs.  Some are even transitioning out of their resolutions already.  No doubt change is the only constant.

I certainly am trying to accommodate change with the addition of new classes and family who were in town for the holidays finally leaving.  Whatever the change is, a new “reality” is created and I believe these times of change and transition are opportunities for me to practice my “yoga” off my mat.  How I handle these changes and transitions are more important than how I’ve arrived or left one situation for the next. Of course this is all reflected on the mat too.

I’ll share with you one tidbit on how to make transitions in your practice more graceful and more efficient so you can embrace a vinyasa/flow/power class with less frustration.  (When you watch the video, keep in mind that during the halfway lift, you need to contract your core in and feel your inner thighs spin to the wall behind you and your sit bones spread.)

Remember that how you approach change and transitions regardless if it’s on the mat from pose to pose or in your life from career to new career tells a whole lot about you.  If you are present to the occurring changes, grace is within in reach and your execution will seem effortless.

How To: Om

A U M

A student recently asked me how to chant om.  The first thing that came to my mind was, “is there really a right or wrong way to om?’   It’s such a personal word, I think.  So many people sing it differently.  Some loud.  Some long.  Some short.  Some even silently.   When I first came to yoga, I was nervous about chanting it for many reasons.  I didn’t know what it meant except for what the teacher said, “it’s the Universal sound.”   Now think back to the first time you came to a yoga class…  I was just expecting to stretch so the Universal sound was not in my vocabulary.   I was already nervous about looking like a fool and you want me to sound like one too?   Yeah right!

I eventually learned that the word is actually A-U-M (sounds like ‘home’ without the ‘h’).    This is how I om:

Take a deep slow breath in

Slowly exhale and pronounce the ‘A’ sounds like ‘awe’.   The ‘ah’ starts at the back of the throat and prolongs into ‘aaaaaah’ for a couple seconds.  A vibration rises from the belly into the chest.

Then pronounce the ‘U’ sounds like ‘oooooo’ that will prolong and roll to the roof of the mouth.  The vibration will continue to rise to the throat.

Then pronounce the ‘M’ (sounds like you’ve eaten something yummmmmmmm).  The sound from ‘oooooo’ to ‘mmmmmm’ will roll from the roof of the mouth to the front of your mouth where you will close your lips until they touch to make the ‘mmmmm’ sound.   Feel the vibration move to the top of the head.

Then deep silence as the ‘mmmm’ finishes.

I start and end class with three oms.  One for myself.  One for the beings around me (the local community).  One for all the heart beats in the world.

Click to hear and join in

AAUUUMMMMMMM(silence) AAUUUMMMMMMM(silence) AAUUUMMMMMMM(silence)

How do you om? What does om mean to you?

How To Video: Move it

Hi welcome me back!  Geez it’s been a week since I posted.  Thank you to the person who will not be named for reminding me that I’ve been on a long blogcation.   Speaking of the one that shall not be named… my house has been invaded by Harry Potter.  The kids have turned into Harry and Hermoine as they act the scenes out, the second grader is proudly reading my old books, old baseball bats have turned into brooms and quidditch will replace football on Thanksgiving.  Among the pre-holiday craziness, we’ve had a DVD marathon… trying to catch up on the series before watching the new release.   Three years ago I decided I was not going to fuss over Thanksgiving slaving in the kitchen and decided to go watch a movie.  Let me tell you… Thanksgiving matinee is the best time to go watch a movie.  We are lucky if there is another family or two in the theater.  It’s the best time to go and I don’t have to feel pressured to hush the kids up when they decide to chat.

It’s still crazy nonetheless.  I’ve been brewing up some really really really (did I say really?) exciting new ventures in my yoga.   I am brimming with so much excitement I can hardly contain myself and just want to blurt it out!  BWAH!  But I won’t.  Part of the challenge for me is to sit and wait til it unfolds.  It’s hard… and don’t even try to get it out of me.

When I feel pent up, stressed out or just exhausted, I move.  It’s counter intuitive.  You’d think you should slow down and rest.  Well if you’re anything like me, being tired means jitterly, anxious and restless nerves (ha! maybe that’s a good feeling for some of ya).  I need to MOVE!   Here’s a sequence you can do right now.  Get up, walk away from the computer, roll out your mat and join me in some dancing warriors:

You’re thinking… that energized me right?   Indeed it does.  Stuck energy is gone.  Body wrung out.   Mind at ease.  Now I can relax.

How To Video: Drop Backs

Ahhh it’s “fall back” (yay! for one more hour of sleep) here in the U.S. and literally falling back in this week’s video.  The year is almost over and I’ve faced nearly every fear I have in my practice.. not to say that I’ve conquered them yet, but on my way for sure!   I can bet that 9 out of 10 yogis will have some sort of fear around dropping back into urdhva dhanurasana (upward bow/wheel/back bend pose).

Physically it looks kinda freaky (if you’ve seen some bendy person do this) and it’s definitely freaking scary.  Thoughts of falling on your head or breaking your back or even worse breaking your ego flashes across your mind.  In that split second of thoughts, you’ve begun your mental breakdown where you come up with a long list of excuses, listing every reason why you can’t do it except admit that you’re scared.   Symbolically, dropping back can represent our past and every terrifying thing about our past. We try so hard to not bring up the past that we often forget to experience the present moment for what it is.   I’ve learned that the best way to let go of the past is  to allow myself to truly experience it with my full awareness and observe my experience as it is.  As this happens, the grip that the past has on me begins to loosen and I can better have a grip on my present moment.  It is so relevant the old saying that sometimes, “you have to take two steps back to go one step forward.”  So here goes… dropping back… (FYI prior to this taping, I’ve already completed a whole practice so be clever and make sure you’ve done some warm up before attempting)

A quick update on my 30 days of yoga and gratitude challenge:  I am sore all over.  You’d think I would not be sore since I’ve had a regular practice, but at the end of the first week of this challenge, I’ve noticed how much more engaged I am in my practice.  With heightened awareness on my breath, my movements, and the sensations, I’ve definitely found new edges to explore.  Perhaps that’s my ego’s determination to rise up to a challenge or just that I’m having some fun with what might be an old boring pose that I’ve done a million times.  What ever it is, I’ve been grateful for an awakened body (aka sore body).
Disclaimer:  This blog is for informational and entertainment purposes only and is not a substitute for a qualified yoga instructor. The author is not a medical doctor and is not responsible for any consequences regarding your use or intended use of any information provided on this site. Always check with your medical professional or seek out a trained yoga instructor in person.