Yoga

Aja's Current Teaching Schedule

My upcoming teaching schedule:

 

Wednesdays: 

4:15pm Therapeutic Yoga + 6pm Hatha Flow at Studio Exhale. Cranston, RI. Ongoing, drop-ins welcome.

 

Full Moon Yoga:

9pm each month, on the Full Moon, Studio Exhale. Cranston, RI

January 9, February 7, March 8, April 6, May 5

Drop ins welcome!

 

Invoking Your Inner Goddess Workshop:

January 20 7-9pm, Yoga at the Ashram. Click here for more info.

 

Gentle Yoga with Yoga Nidra:

February 12th, 5:30pm, Studio Exhale. Cranston, RI. Drop-ins welcome.

Simple Meditation

JAI MA!

Back from a weekend spent with teacher and musician Bhagavan Das - over 10 hours of kirtan and chanting the sacred sounds of the chakras and divine. 

And WOW. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Chanting is one of those things that is not only ecstatic, joyful and blissful while your doing it, it also has profound effects afterwards. I just have these moments of "wow" where its as if the sacred sounds are still humming in my being. They probably are! 

Bhagavan Das is, to me, the ultimate kirtan experience. He is described as one of the last living cultural icons of the 60s, and indeed, his biography is inspiring, unconventional and fascinating. I highly recommend his book Its Here Now (Are You?). 

Admist the mounting energy of the season (which is so at odds with what is actually going on in nature - things are darker, dying and quiet) - we are running around, flocking to the mall rather than our places of worship, spirit and inner quiet. Here in the west, this is a rich month of diverse spiritual traditions. Take time in the quiet of your own soul to connect with your own spiritual yearnings. Make time for yoga and meditation. Nurture your body so that you can fully appreciate the joy and delight in festivities to come. 

Be the love,

Aja

The Brain

A friend posted this on facebook and I immediately thought of the challenges of savasana. Although I find that compassionate awareness tends to be more successful than angry mind shouting at the brain (not to say I haven't done it once or twice myself of course).

My practice right now...

My practice right now is:

...in community with others whenever possible

...stolen in quiet moments between the doing and planning

...essential

...exciting

...expanding

...focused on cultivated warmth and peace

...without expectations

Practice with Kindness

"I practice now not so much with ambition as with gratitude. And I ask myself frequently, 'How can I express kindness right now?' whether I am in a headstand of washing dishes."
 

- Judith Lasater, Restorative Yoga Teacher

(if there was a quote that summed up my practice right now, this would be it)

peace to your practice,

aja

And just like that...

The leaves change color. The air gets cooler.

And almost two months goes by and no yoga writing. Life is what happens in between blog posts I guess.

My goodness. I didn't mean to be gone so long! 

But all is well. Yoga teaching is making my heart sing - I just love the students I am working with. I can't say it enough. I am also continuing with my herbal medicine training, which fits in so well with the yogic lifestyle and I love it. Its all connected, this big world of ours. 

So fall is here and I tend to notice an upswing in yoga attendance when the months get cooler. It seems like everyone dives back into their practice with renewed vim and vigor. 

No, you say?

Ah well, here you go then: Ten Ways to Deepen Your Practice by Sharon Salzberg, excerpted from her book "Happiness: The Power of Meditation". Salzberg offers ten simple ways to cultivate our loving-kindness:

1. Think of kindness as a strength, not as a weakness. Kindness isn’t an ally of foolishness or gullibility, but rather an ally of wisdom and courage.


2. Look for the good in yourself—not as a way to deny your difficulties or problems but as a way to broaden your outlook so it’s more truthful and balanced. Looking for the good in ourselves helps us see the good in others.


3. Remember that everyone wants to be happy. If we look deeply into any kind of behavior, we will see an urge to feel a part of something greater than our own limited sense of self, a desire to feel at home in this body and mind. This urge toward happiness is often twisted and distorted by ignorance, by not knowing where happiness is actually to be found. Remembering what we share inspires us toward kindness.


4. Recollect those who have helped or inspired us. Sometimes even a small act of kindness on someone’s part makes an essential difference for us. Cultivating gratitude is a way of honoring these people, and also a way of lifting our spirits and reminding us of the power of good-heartedness.


5. Practice at least one act of generosity a day. We all have something to give, large or small. It may be a smile, or an attentive conversation. Perhaps you let a stranger get ahead of you in line, or gave a coworker a small gift, or wrote a late-night note of appreciation. Any act of generosity—whether material or of the spirit—is a meaningful expression of kindness.


6. Do lovingkindness meditation. Each day we can take the time to hold others in our hearts quietly and wish them well. This meditation might include someone who has been helpful or inspiring to us, someone we know who is feeling alone or afraid, someone who is experiencing triumph and joy, or someone we are about to meet with some trepidation. We might, depending on the circumstances of our lives, particularly include children or animals in our thoughts. Taking just 10 minutes a day to reflect in this way is a powerful path to transformation.


7. Listen. Often we have conversations where we are only partially paying attention; we’re thinking about the next e-mail we need to send, or what we forgot to mention to the last person we spoke to. Or we decide we know what the other person is going to say, based on past encounters. Reopening that closed file by listening is a powerful gesture of kindness, one that allows fresh responses and transformed relationships.


8. Include those who seem left out. In a conversation with a group of people, there may be those too shy to speak. In a room full of partygoers, there may be some who feel out of place. Be the one who opens the circle.


9. Refrain from speaking ill of others. A friend told me about a time he resolved not to talk about any third person; if he had something to say about someone, he would say it directly to that person instead. If you feel tempted to put someone down, assume knowledge of their bad motives, or generally prove their inferiority, take a breath. Even though we might feel a rush of power in saying those words, we ultimately get no benefit from dividing people and sowing seeds of dissension and dislike. There are ways to talk about wrong behavior without derision or condemnation.


10. “Walk a mile in another person’s shoes before you pass judgment.” As this old saying suggests, even if we’re going to take strong action to try to change someone’s behavior, a sense of empathy and understanding for them won’t weaken us. If anything, that element of kindness will allow us to act more compassionately and creatively.

Excerpted from Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation ©2011 by Sharon Salzberg. 

Book: Mindful Movements

I recently book this book on my iPad - it has a wonderful sweetness to it and would be perfect for families to read together. Its truly for all ages - the movements are very simple and the writing clear and straight forward. Its not very long and the illustrations are very child friendly. I didn't get the DVD in the Kindle version, so I can't speak to that, but I really didn't need it, as the movements were gently and it is easy to follow with book instructions.

I have been working with my meditation practice in the mornings (I typically do yoga in the evening after work) and these simple movements are perfect for my groggy morning body before I sit in meditation. The movements are so simple, they are easy to memorize, which is helpful for the groggy morning mind as well.

Peace to your practice,

Aja

The Student-Teacher Pact

 

My student love continues. Last night was my first class in the 6pm Wednesday time slot I am now taking over at the studio. This has been a "Basic Vinyasa" class, which is a title open for a lot of interpretation. To some, the basic doesn't mean intro or beginner, but it doesn't mean power yoga either. To others, I suspect that basic means straight-up, no bells and whistles, meat and potatoes vinyasa yoga. 

So I confess there was just a hint of self-doubt going into the class. Teaching in the Kripalu tradition, whether that be a more heat building-vinyasa class or more gentle-restorative class, does not mean meat and potatoes. Its more experimental-soul-food. 

(This is an analogy that is clearly developing during lunch time...)

In the end, I had to show up and remember I can only be me (who else am I going to be?) and the students had to allow for that. Its a pact. There are things I owe to my students and things they owe to themselves (which in turn, helps me teach them). 

I owe it to my students

...to be fully present; guiding them through their practice with safety and intention

...to create a safe space to explore being in their bodies

...to watch them carefully and give substitutions or help them go deeper and teach them to do this for themselves

...to pass along knowledge that helps their practice grow; alignment, anatomy, philosophy and further resources

...to not try and change my students in any way

...to let them have their own relationship to yoga

There are more than that, I am sure...these are coming into my mind at this moment (this hungry moment) So what of the students? What is their pact? On the one hand, I often feel like yoga asks a lot, of anyone. On the other, all you have to do is show up. As a student of yoga, what do you owe yourself? (and, ahem, your teacher)

As a student of yoga, I will

...show up

...be mindful of my body - the sensations, the energy, the breath (i.e. I will turn auto-pilot OFF)

...seek moments of compassion and non-judgment and respond to them: taking a block when I need support or going further when I know I can meet the challenge

...quiet the thoughts of comparison to others or my teacher 

...listen to the teacher and yet act according to my own inner voice and guidance

....not snore during savasana 

Just a few off the top of my head. Can you think of more? 

Why I love my students

I have the best students. Does every yoga teacher think that? Most likely. It really is a gift to teach something that is an important part of my own life, something that has made such an impact for me, and share it with others, helping them take the practice into their own lives and make of it what they will. 

But not only that, my students inspire me. They are brave, courageous and flexible. There are a few who might contend that label, but they are indeed flexible. They are open to spontaneaity and exploration, they know and accept that practicing with me means the unexpected - which is really the ultimate challenge for most of us. Working through the unexpected is excellent fodder for being in the present moment. They even let me teach them the lessons of not listening to me. Sometimes,  I will ask them to do silly things in the middle of a flow - like a few weeks ago, when we were in devi pose: standing with our feet apart, knees bent, thighs working hard to hold the body up. When I asked them to lift their right foot up and then stamp it down, and then the same on the left, everyone did it. No questions asked. I had them prepping for sumo wrestling for no apparent reason and they all did it, without a batted eye. There were a few giggles of course...

I did that not to mess with my students or to abuse the fine balance between teacher authority and student willingness. No, I did that to remind them to be present to themselves. To make the point that there will be times during a practice that I may guide my students into postures or movements that may not be right for them and if they blindly follow, the may go down a path that can cause them pain or injury. Obviously I take the utmost care to guide my students responsibly, matching our sessions to the levels of experience in the room. But the fact is, I am not inside each students' body. I cannot know exactly what your shoulders are feeling today, I cannot know precisely how tight your hamstrings are in this moment. 

What I can do is make careful and thoughtful adjustments, based on what I see and perceive. I can give a variety of alternatives for those who want more or those that need less. And most importantly, I can remind my students that they have the wisdom in their bodies to do what is right for them. I can help them to know when it is time to follow the teacher to somewhere new, exciting and unknown or know when it is time to listen to their own inner voice. 

My students do both. I support them as they move through postures, sometimes doing more, sometimes less - depending on their needs. In turn, they trust me when I ask them to do the unexpected, challenging or even silly - to flap their arms in Breath of Joy, or cross their eyes and stick out their tongue in lions breath. 

It makes me angry when I read articles like this one, in which a student has been bullied or shamed in a yoga class. Even though I myself have experienced the same kind of bad yoga teacher behavior, I am still so shocked. "But they are a yoga teacher! They should know better!" I think. A naive thought I know. No discipline is immune to bullies.

I like to think my students would never tolerate such bad yoga teacher behavior. I can see their own inner voices getting stronger and wiser. Every student brings with them their histories, their stories, their experiences - each as unique as their bones and muscles. I honor that uniquesness, I really do. Call me sappy, but I think its beautiful.

And at the end of each session, when yoga teachers everywhere say namaste, honoring the light in each student and I do myself, I often say it even more simply.

Thank You, I say. And I really mean it.