TWIT: @aspringyoga
YOUTUBE: Uke videos!
Here is a fun song I wrote and put on Youtube about pop songs! Enjoy and take an exercise break to lift your spirits with music!
26th March 2012
Its always good to have a music break! Music can comfort us or give us excitement or companionship! Come have a look at an original ukulele song I wrote and recorded on Youtube about peace!
In rural Japan, I face my usual absence of yoga studios other than my nice Wednesday hatha class, so I continue to fill up my week doing yoga DVDs on my other days along with tai chi.
Last night I tried out a new DVD I ordered by famous Californian yoga teacher Erich Schiffmann titled, “Backbends: Yoga with Erich Schiffmann, Backyard Series.” Like other yoga DVDs I’ve tried of Erich’s he has an extremily calm nurturing voice and a very organic progression - slowly moving in and out of positions and into the next pose.
This 90 minute workout was an entire class on the backbend theme including: opening #4 half salutes, triangle, high lunge, dog, bent knee side stretch, twisting bent knee, low lunge, cobra vinyasa, pigeon cycle, double pigeon, locust, cobra, bow, cobra from cat, cobra from dog, hero pose, reclining hero, camel pose, half dog, bridge pose I, II, III, wheel pose, knee to chest, abdominals, reclining leg stretches, twisting reclining leg stretches, reclining sage twist, and relaxation pose.
Although the class is listed as an intermediate class, Erich’s detailed instructions, and numerous preparation exercises for more complicated poses really makes the class accessible to students of all levels.
What I found most challenging was developing a basic pose into something more elaborate. For example, pigeon pose is one of those poses that already has me at the extremities of my ability to stretch, but Erich has several ways to “play” with the pose and go futher with it - and because of his insisitence on breath and “waiting for it to happen” somehow I continued through the whole workout with him.
The only thing I couldn’t do was a full the 3 repetitions of the wheel pose at the end. I could only do 1! I also found his bow series particularly tiring on the floor as his bow prep included 3 or 5 reps of lifting the upper body then the legs without any arm assistance for about 20 seconds each! He also really worked the back with very slow transitions into cobra poses where you started with no arm support and used your arms as little as possible!
Overall, his class was definitely a great workout and one that I recommend for people serious about backbends, and anyone else like me who spends too much time sitting at a desk at work! Enjoy!
Notes: 2
In your 20’s you can climb a mountain in a day, but you can stumble on a pebble. In your 40’s you can climb over every pebble, but a mountain is a journey.
I had a powerful moment in yoga class last night doing the tree pose. Sometimes I catch myself thinking too much about correct alignment and making the balance happen. Last night I was calm and focused in such a way that I simply let myself get into the pose and balance nicely on both the right and left sides.
In Yoga, overthinking and making your body can be a downside, while letting and allowing your body can yield surprising results.
I wanted to post another ukulele song from my Youtube. This a feel good song for all of you to break your blues. Enjoy!
It’s time for a ukulele break! This my song for my little neices Ava and Hannah on how to live a healthy life after I saw them in a video my sister-in-law sent me drinking soapy bathtub water! Enjoy!
I took more yoga classes at Yogaworks in Westchester on December 27th and January 4st.
The first class was taught by Patricia Schneider who reminded us that yoga class is practice and that there are positions that even teachers are working on. She told us there were days you could do certain poses properly and days you can’t do them.
Some nice exercises from the class included:
- Crunches! Yikes! But a good prep for using to blocks to lift body with arms with feet tucked under you or crossed.
- Setting up 2 blankets and folding mat over these provides super support for a shoulder stand!
On January 4th, I took a class with Carol Silverman. This class was particularly busy, and unfortunately Yogaworks seems to be overtolerant of late-comers to join. But having said that, late-comers came in respectfully quiet.
Here are a couple of nice things we did in the class:
- After doing a headstand, she had us stretch in child’s pose with legs separated with the head turned to the right and left to stretch out the tension.
- Long lunge with back leg knee up and back heel off the ground in a modified Warrior 1 - this was difficult for me to hold for a long time!
Overall, my days at Yogaworks were really great ones, and I came back to Japan with many new ideas to use props at home. I also brought back with me a super Manduka yoga mat. I no longer has to worry about my hands and feet slipping around! Just be careful because these mats are not cheap! I should also note that Yogaworks is not cheap. Drop-in classes are $22 compared to my $14 classes in Japan.
I took another class at Yogaworks on December 26th, so naturally the regular teacher was on holiday and Debra Lefkowitz came in as a sub to teach a low level Iyengar class. Being a sub is not easy to do, but the teacher had a bit of a grating voice and referred to her notes too much. However, we did a number of interesting exercises:
- Walk legs up wall until horizontal while supporting this position with hands into a modified downward dog pose.
- Use a strap to do a leg stretch while the support leg is straight and pushing against the wall.
- Modified savasana with pillow under back and legs up and resting against wall.
- Chair against wall with blanket draped over it. Stand on one leg and put other leg on back of chair with foot against wall. Then turn supporting leg in as you bend the other leg - straighten leg - then readch hands to stretch spine to wall.
- She said there was no such thing as a cold studio - there are exercises to warm you and cool you…
In December 2011, I took some great classes at Yogaworks in Westchester, New York.
The studio is dimly lit with candles and has a beautiful view of the Hudson River and is well-stocked with straps, cushions, and bricks, so you can travel there light with just a mat and your water bottle.
The first class I took was a mixed style class with Allison Schubert on December 21, 2011. She began the class with OMs, and a very nice lying spinal twist with our upper bodies on a cushion and hips and legs on the floor (on our mats). Throughout the clash she use a calm and supportive voice without being too chatty.
Something interesting we tried in the practice was a Warrior 1 using a brick between our bent knee and the wall to really carefully prepare the proper alignment for the pose.
At the end of the class before relaxation, she let us do 1 final pose that we wanted to do. It was really empowering for me, and I tried for the first time (successful) a headstand in the middle of the room. It worked out nicely because everyone else was doing their own thing and I could focus on the challenge by myself without any pressure from anyone else.
