It was a huge, intuitive hit…..Shirley MacLaine’s new book “Dance While You Can” practically jumped off the bookstore display. I was a professional dance teacher and for 13 years I was happily running my 2 dance studios, teaching 27 classes a week, doing choreography, recitals, raising my daughter, and loving every minute of it!! I was very high energy and physically fit all of my life when I suddenly began experiencing severe and limiting cardiac issues caused by Fabry’s disease. For years, Atrial fibrillation put me in the hospital every few months and would, eventually, require heart surgery and end my dance teaching career. I joyously continued to “dance while I could”. I was surprised to read that Shirley MacLaine did Yoga every day. As a dancer, and knowing absolutely nothing about Yoga, it just didn’t make sense to me when a dancer is all about body connection through movement, stretching, strengthening, balance and rhythm.
As I got sicker, I wanted something to replace dance, so I followed Shirley’s lead and tried Yoga. I lived in rural Coudersport, Pennsylvania and the nearest Yoga studio was at Penn State - 2 hours each way! So I bought books and videos, and as a trained dance professional, I could mimic the poses but I knew that I was missing the very essence of Yoga. I made the 4 hour round trip to the Yoga studio at Penn State, and while the teacher did GREAT Yoga, she was a HORRIBLE Yoga teacher! I decided to become trained myself.
Synchronistically, I found YogaFit with trainings in Pennsylvania. After completing Level 1, I was required to teach 8 hours of community service Yoga and was totally amazed when 32 people showed up for my first free Yoga class in Coudersport! There was so much interest that I added Yoga at my dance studios, watched the program grow, and trained toward my 200 hours RYT. A short time after certification, I became an ERYT - Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher, for teaching another 1000 hours after RYT 200.
My huge work load was taking its toll…I had to make a change, so in 2005 I sold everything and moved to Frederick to begin Fabry’s treatment at Johns Hopkins. I was SO EXCITED the first day I drove up Patrick Street and saw “Yoga today” at Sol Yoga!! I took class that same day with Eva, who suggested I talk to Dorcas about teaching at Sol, and have been on staff ever since. Thank you, Dorcas!!
Teaching fewer dance classes in Frederick was still very challenging on my body, while Yoga was healing. My heart was extremely compromised, even after a cardiac catheter ablation, so I retired from dance. I now teach a few Yoga classes a week which I love and is perfect for my compromised health!!!! I am a living, breathing example of how to accept your circumstances after drastic life changes, honoring your body, living with chronic illness, the ups and downs everyday from disease, and finding health, well-being and a spiritual connection through Yoga. I love Yoga, the chakras, and the body’s subtle energy system, so I followed a second passion and became certified as an energy healer, a Healing Touch Certified Practitioner. I’m grateful to be able to give to others and touch their lives through Yoga and Healing Touch.
I hope my life story will speak to someone who may be struggling with illness or unexpected life changes. What may appear to be a tragedy has been the greatest gift in my life and it’s made me who I am today. Women with Fabry’s don’t usually survive their 50’s….I turned 60 in August. I appreciate every single moment and my life is rich, joyous, peaceful and loving. I live in gratitude every day.
I sent out an email blast, asking Sol Yoga teachers, teacher trainees, staff and volunteers to share with me their "yoga story" or anything else that they feel inspired to have posted on this blog. Janet Krones, a yoga teacher, sent me this. I think many would agree, doing yoga feels like this:
If once you've slept on an island
You'll never be quite the same
You may look as you looked the day before
And go by the same old name.
You may bustle about in street and shop
You may sit at home and sew
But you see blue water and wheeling gulls
Wherever your feet may go.
You may chat with the neighbors of this and that
And close to your fire keep
But you'll hear ship whistle and lighthouse bell
And tides beat through your sleep.
Oh, you won't know why, and you can't say how
Such a change upon you came
But once you've slept on an island
You'll never be quite the same.
I’m pretty confident that Surya Namaskar is the reason I practice yoga. The flow of it, the way the asanas perfectly counterbalance one another, the zen-like state that allows me to come out of my head, really tune in to my breath and just be present in my body – that’s what keeps me coming back to yoga time and time again. Sun salutations are the only thing that has even moderate success in getting me out of bed at 5 am. I’m not saying that I’m a regular early morning yoga practitioner, but on the occasions (2 so far this week!) when I am able to drag myself out of bed an hour earlier than would otherwise be necessary, it’s been to practice yoga. And, on those early mornings (and just about any time I practice at home), I start with sun salutations. For me, a yoga practice just isn’t a yoga practice without at least a few sun salutations to kick it off and build some heat. Because of the frequency of surya namaskar in my practice, the words needed to take me or anyone else through a round easily come to mind:
Start in mountain pose, inhale up, exhale and fold forward, inhale half-way lift, exhale to plank and down to chaturanga, inhale upward dog, exhale downward dog (take a few breaths), at end of next exhale jump or step forward, inhale halfway lift, exhale forward fold, inhale all the way up, exhale hands to heart. (repeat, repeat, repeat)
I also love that surya namaskar can easily be modified and poses inserted midway through to form the variations. Add in chair pose (utkatasana) in leiu of mountain (tadasana), add in crescent lunge (anjeleyasana) or Warrior 1 (virabhdrasana 1) for surya namaskar b or add in any mix of standing poses to create a full flow class.
At the risk of going overboard in my love for surya namaskar, I also appreciate that there are so many variations possible throughout the series. There’s the potential for jump back to chaturanga and jump forward from downdog, you can add in a little chaturanga push up for an extra kick along the way or make your plank, chaturanga and down-dog all three legged to keep things interesting. On the flipside, there’s the option to drop your knees in plank, do a baby cobra in lieu of up-dog, take child’s pose instead of downdog. It truly is a series that can work its magic for all levels of yogis.
I came across this blog post yesterday and it set off some light bulbs in my mind. Danielle LaPort's blog White Hot Truth was talking about the difference between Motivation and Inspiration in a way that I had never thought about before. She gives some good examples to clarify her point of view and ends with the following:
Inspiration is a completely different force of creativity.
What is motivating you?
What is inspiring you? What is pushing you?
What is pulling you?
Follow the pull.
It's the first step toward flying.
If I'm honest, I tend to get in front of the push and allow it to move me - usually because it's the right thing to do. Floss. Go to the gym. Check email messages. Try to do crow the next time you're at yoga.
But what about the pull? If I think about the last 5 days and some of the things that I've been pulled to do it's a kaleidoscope of activities: Walking the dog. Wearing a scarf even when it's not cold. A glass of wine. Butternut Squash. Watching The Royal Tenebaums with my teenager.
This has gotten me thinking about what has possibly been pulling me only because I've tethered myself to it out of habit and not because it inspires me in anyway? Like Facebook updates, for example. Some people I gravitate towards because they're always posting a thought provoking link or a cool quote. These people that I haven't seen or heard from in over 25 years would never be on my radar if it wasn't for facebook. I feel grateful to facebook for giving me these connections and truly enjoy what they share with me. But the other 75% of the information that I receive from the medium simply enters uninvited into my subconscious. It's just chatter. Shit I could care less about and just happen to glance at, that takes up space in my brain. It makes me wonder: Does this excess information get in the way or worst yet, block whatever is trying to latch on and pull me closer to my truth?
Definitely something to ruminate on today.
Interestingly - I'm feeling pulled to collage which I haven't done in more than 5 years. To read. To meditate. To make my bed and to pour another cup of coffee. I guess I'll start there and see what happens.
What pulls you when you're on your yoga mat? Do you know the difference between being pushed versus pulled toward a pose? Toward a modification? Toward movement? Toward stillness? Toward the studio in general? Do you come because you want to or because you have to? Do you come out of guilt or because yoga is good for you? Are you pushed to the yoga studio or pulled to Sol Yoga by forces beyond your control?
Let us know when you figure it out.
Namaste,
Linda
I'll admit. As much as I love yoga, I've skipped a class or two to watch a good, trashy, rerun of The Real Housewives (insert any city here). And although I can easily teach a yoga class without judgment, I have analysis paralysis from harshly judging any and all participants of Reality TV or anyone that openly chooses to "put themselves out there" and then fall for their own hype.
So when I came across some yoga drama brewing in New York City between Yoga To The People and Bikram Yoga, I clicked on the link faster than Tamra Barney can throw a drink in Jeana Keogh's face.
It started this past week when Bikram Yoga Manhattan announced their Penn Station location would close on Thursday, Aug. 11. In a letter posted to the studio's website, founder and director Raffael Pacitti specifically blamed the closing on competitor Yoga to the People, which had recently opened up three locations within walking distance of Penn Station.
Which makes this all the more dramatic is that Yoga To The People's (YTTP's) founder, Greg Gumucio, is a Bikram Choudhury trained instructor that sometimes ran Choudhury's teacher trainings in Los Angeles.
Personally, I've never taken a Bikram class. In 2002 a Bikram studio moved into Hoboken, NJ but since I was already taking a great yoga class at the YMCA that was included with my monthly membership, it never occurred to me to pay for Bikram. I had heard great things about the heat helping yogis avoid injury, detox and burn calories and apparently the poses, although challenging, weren't completely out of reach for someone brand new to the practice.
It was only after moving to Maryland that I heard more about this flamboyant, speedo/silk suit wearing, Bently driving, patent pending, I'll-sue-the-shit-out-of-you-if-you-dare-use-my-name-or-asana-sequencing, yogic Svengali. After reading similar statements such as the following found on Wikipedia, it turned me off and I wasn't interested in exploring this type of yoga:
Bikram's car collection includes over 40 Rolls Royces and Bentleys, including cars owned by the Queen Mother and the Beatles. His collection of watches numbers in the 100s, valued in the millions. 'It's huge,' he says, 'I'm making - I don't know - millions of dollars a day, $10 million a month - who knows how much?' [2]
“It is beyond medical science,” Bikram shrugs. He claims NASA scientists tested Bikram Yoga on osteoporosis patients for eight months, seeing a “100%” improvement, and has said: “They couldn’t write a thesis how this happened; I prove this every single day.
Whether a president [such as Nixon, whom Bikram claims to have taught in 1972 and who then gave him an open invitation to live in the United States] or a prime minister [Indira Gandhi, whom he calls his godmother], or the Pope [Paul VI].” Bikram claims to have rejuvenated them all. “I saved years and years and years and years and years.” [5]
Bikram's claim to have carried out research for NASA, although extensively repeated, has not been confirmed by that organization. His claims to have treated Nixon are similarly unverified and do not appear in Nixon biographies. In a BBC radio documentary he claimed to have treated the Beatles in 1959, even though the Beatles had not been formed at that time.[6]
To be honest, Gumucio's reasons for leaving Bikram are different than what I expected and available to read in this New York Times article. I thought they would've been more personal, and perhaps privately they are, but publicly Gumucio claims it was about allowing the student to own his or her, no-frills yoga practice without the distractions of who's teaching, what folks are wearing and what dogma the studio is selling. Hence, Gumucio made the very un-Bikram like decision to go against the grain and instead of creating a low volume, high cost, it's-worth-the-money-because-our-teachers-are-rock-stars yoga studio he decided to open a high volume, donation based business via word of mouth and a web site that not only doesn't feature the founder, but also keeps you in the dark about what teachers you'll be learning from each day.
And apparently it's working. So many folks are hitting YTTP's space that Bikram's studio in the same Chelsea/Penn Station location is closing it's doors later this week. But instead of quietly transitioning all of their students to their Bikram Soho location, they posted a letter on their web site, publicly accusing YTTP and Gumucio specifically of disrespecting yogic tradition and ripping off New York Bikram yogis for financial gain.
I take no issue with someone making a great living teaching yoga in general or Bikram Yoga specifically. Although I can't imagine myself being anything but turned off by Bikram himself, I'm sure there are amazing yoga instructors that lead his 90 minute sequence with grace. My concern is: What constitutes knowledge and who, if anyone, owns it? And secondly, If your business model aligns you with someone not willing to stand by the ethical standards that he preaches, how does that affect you?
I figure my knowledge is in my head and what I do with it is my business. I'm a trained yoga teacher that paid to gain knowledge that I house in my brain. But every time I take a class from another teacher, I'm adding to this knowledge. What comes out of my mouth when I teach is the accumulation of all my yogic experiences. My twist on this 5000 year old practice is no doubt influenced by that which I've experienced by my yoga teachers - who's own practice was affected by her teacher - who was tweaked by his teacher, and so on and so forth. So again, I ask. Who if anyone, owns this knowledge? I say, no one.
And how does this quest to define, own and trademark, (i.e., the western yogic business model) jive with the yamas, yoga's sacred 8-limbed path that leads toward enlightenment? And lastly, if you're going to spend all of your money, time and energy protecting your brand, how dare you get pissy when someone beats you at your own game? Donation based yoga is no different than any other yoga brand. In fact, Gumucio was inspired to start YTTP due to the success of Bryan Kest's donation based Power Yoga studio in Santa Monica, California that has been taking donations for years. Yet Kest isn't bitching that Gumucio is stepping on "donation based toes".
Bikram is huge. So is Baron Baptiste, Shiva Rae, Shawn Corn, Rodney Yee, Patricia Waldon, Cyndi Lee, David Life, Sharon Gannon and a million other western yogis that have created a brand and make their living not only teaching yoga but also selling a yogic lifestyle. Will they each eventually own so many bits and pieces of yoga, that the rest of us have to rename, revamp, and re-brand yoga to teach it without walking into a lawsuit?
People say the free-market always works itself out. Some believe it's the answer to everything. If those involved in the free market are highly ethical, I believe it does work itself out. But when you put profits before people, ideas, and concepts and give yourself permission to bend your ethical rules to make as much money as possible, it's going to bite you eventually.
So I say, "Good for you, Yoga To The People"and good luck as you continue to buck the western yoga system as well as challenge basic western business and economic ideals.
Is anyone else unbelievably disappointed that this wasn't filmed for a new Bravo TV show entitled, The Real Yogis of New York City? I can just imagine Bikram all sweaty in his speedo talking into his headset about how he was friends with Elvis and has 72 hour erections, (click on this link, I can't make this shit up) while using dollar bills to fuel the fire that heats his yoga rooms to 105 degrees. Then they cut to the Gumucio's class where he's no where to be found and a bunch of yogis are simply sweating and doing their thing for 60 minutes, shoving dollar bills into a tissue box on the way out the door. Then Gumucio gets his own spin off reality show and makes millions while Bikram drops his latest auto-tuned pop album to coincide with his stint on Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab trying to detox from his addiction to Western fame and fortune. Because like all good addicts know - 15 minutes of fame and 40 Rolls Royces, will never be enough.
To make up for my lack of blogging lately...please go to YIOM, co-created by the fabulous Thais (Sol Yoga Teacher In Training and Volunteer). Check out their blog roll for a list of great yoga blogs to explore.
