The more I learn to listen

Date: Feb 23, 2008

The more I learn to listen, the softer my yoga classes get.

Last class...
Began with our breath observed, how in and exhale create subtle movement thruout the thorax and abdomen, the breath resonating further across soft tissue, deeper inside cell membranes.
It's not much more than watching.
Maybe that's the point, without much else going on, we have the chance to listen, to release and recharge.

Class ended with humming breath on long exhales while our hands rested above our heart, below
our throat. Vibration for several minutes over our thymus gland. Some higher pitched humming,
hands alongside temples. The class seemed to help us let go of some anxieties or at least feel
strong enough to look current worries in the eye. Sometimes, as yoga opens up our interior spaces, the distances between ourselves grows smaller.

:)ohn

New location reminder

Yoga On Main has moved classes to:
The Lutheran Church of the Resurrection,
on the corner of the " T " intersection of Main Street
and South Bedford Rd, directly across from
Northern Westchester Hospital.
There is lots of parking in the church lot.
See website for further directions.
Open class times are on Sundays at 12noon and
Fridays at 5:30pm and 6:30pm.
Additional class will follow at 7:30pm or Monday
evenings once we have several people interested.

I also teach private/semi-private classes in studio or
at your home, working on any specific health concerns.

Cliff notes on Sunday's class, 2/18/08

Feb 18, 2008 9:43 AM
Cliff notes on Sunday's class
Class starts easy- sitting breath- a few minutes before reaching up and over
to side stretch. While sitting- w/ straight legs, forward bending long enough
to open along our back with our breath, w/ assist. Later: progressive loosening
toward intending foot behind the head pose; breath leading undulation thru
spinal flexion and extension; then twist w/ one bent knee.

Onto hands/knees-> move into child pose->updog->child pose->updog->child pose->updog->hold. Repeat.
Downdog->folding down, reach child pose->lunge rt leg->monkey stretch->
hips back stretch->monkey stretch->hips back stretch->again on the left side.
Pidgeon pose->plank->downdog. Repeat several times on both sides.

From virasana position, series of different shoulder movements, neck.
From sit bones, navasana (boat pose), centering from our core below & in from
the navel. Fish pose w/ assist, uddiyana bandha. Savasana (corpse pose) for a
little longer than 5 min....
Tea. Appreciation of working on soreness at left center scapula (JK), of
progressively loosening the whole body, letting go of tensions, particularly
our attentions pulled this way, bumped that way,
like a continuous pinball game, always moving, w/out taking a rest.
We forget about taking that step back, to observe from where we are not in
a hurry. Always having something to do hinders us from actually being present
(yoga stretch becomes moving meditation, w/ breath as guide).
Afterglow of release, infusion of cell energies; feeling safe, communal,
in a good mood. :)ohn

Other notes:
Trying to start a monday class at 5:30pm as soon as people interested
can sign up for a 5 class series (doesn't have to be used consecutively).
I will be spreading the word at neighboring medical facilities, hoping to
enlist local after work yogis. Let me know who might be interested.
And with 3 possible classes per week, as part of a 5 week series, there
is an option to sign up for all classes (one class/wk free).

Sunday class, starting on 3/1, will change to 12noon, to make it easier
for church parishioners to attend after service.

February class

Feb 15, 2008 2:17 PM

Tonight's class will start with opening our spinal range of motion.
If we have any back issues, we can explore what will feel better.
We will include some more traditional pranayama, like alternate
nostril breathing and shining skull breathing, which also have their
own relationship with our spine.

Yoga for Valentine

February 14
Yoga for Valentine

-In the morning,
with arms outstretched in "hug a tree" pose,
while standing shoulders relaxed, knees slightly bent,
as if hugging a large diameter tree-
Stand like this for quite a while, arms start to tire,
and the meditative presence of the posture releases
shoulder muscle by connective tissue by arterial response,
thru out the body. By high noon over head, with eyes closed,
our breath can shadow the energy flow in the arms.
Think of sparks firing from the heart.

"Imagine ourself as the tree, roots extending into earth,
on a hillside, in a hayfield,
drawing sustenance up thru our legs, with branches relaxed,
still reaching thru the late afternoon to receive the energy
from the air and sun around us".
Eyes still closed,
remembering yourself as a toddler, running happily towards
your grandfather or grandmother calling you, arms open, carried
by that pure anticipation of embrace.
Observe the energy streams from the heart, feeling excitement
travel thru the body. Appreciate the quality of innocence,
mentally or physically feeling joy or exhuberance.
"Now imagine you are the grandparent with your arms wide
to receive that grandchild running without reservation towards you."
The different way the heart energy swells connects thru the body,
perhaps overwhelming the throat, finding resonant places inside.

A meditation to open our hearts,
feelings inside brim then overflow,
the whole is summed by tiny parts
love rises above and dips below.

:)ohn

What is grounding?

What is grounding?
Often mentioned, as in "Ground yourself in Tadasana (mountain pose)"
or as in "Frank seems well grounded" or "Casey has been grounded
after school for a week". What is the process and how do we get some?

Grounding, being grounded, is establishing a dialogue to the present
moment using our physical surroundings as the point of reference.
This sounds vaguely succinct, nevertheless there is this thing about
disconnect, of living too much in my head most of the time.
All that thinking takes me out of my physical awareness.

So then I have to make a conscious effort to reel in those windy
thoughts, bringing the attention back down to earth, and the
immediately accessible way is through my body's contact with the
ground. Grounding very literally is aware of touching the ground.

Standing w/ knees bent

Yoga friends,
Think about not locking the knees while standing. 
Keeping the knees slightly bent lets us stay engaged 
with our standing leg support from the ground. 
Locking the knees can provide a disconnection and lift
that support into upper body tension. This separates
us even further, not only physically, from being calm
and supported by the ground.

Namaste,    )ohn

Two sided koan after yoga practice

The nostrils open along the upper lip,
the windy doorstep of the entering and
leaving breath;
it's vapor tread left on an ethereal touchstone,
hinting reference to extension beyond ourselves.

Gravity anchors our feet to the surface of a rocky truth.
Here we can shout, reach out and move about.
Grounding ourselves draws this energy back
in the direction of earth, releasing
the outward intentions of our mind.

:)ohn

Split-second Nirvana

On the #7 local train to Enlightenment

You'd almost think that it is to be an either-or situation,
either you "got" enlightened or you are not. Like saying,
"if you have to talk about it, then you don't really get it".
To that end, not enough is said about the today's-numbers-
for-tomorrows-Lotto-jackpot,
-several-miles-down-the-road-from,
-you-just-missed-your-stop, -"Waiting-for-Godot"
-like condition known as Split-second Nirvana.
It is a curious kind of promised land. There are travel
brochures, we've seen the Perillo Tours commercial.
There are plenty of brief moments which we all share,
instances when the veil drops away and we see clearly,
splinters of happiness prickle inside our hearts, when we
recognize a larger scheme of things connecting us into
the matrix. It's like falling in love, the self tends to disappear.
So what if those moments only last a moment.
Our daily activities, all our busyness, constantly obscures
what is present. We say, "Be Present". ...
And we rely on those peepholes into times when
we scratch away at our schedules and concerns.
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