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Yoga

The Teacher Today

November 25, 2015

The relationship between a teacher and student in yoga has changed over time.  Centuries ago students were expected to devote their entire lives in the service of their teacher.  The teacher’s word was law and blind, unquestioning faith was expected of the student.

The relationship has evolved over the years.  In the plethora of yoga teachers and classes available in the market, students sometimes get confused about what they are searching for. After all, a certain amount of discernment is only fair. A yoga class can change your life, or leave you feeling flustered. A yoga teacher can point you in the right direction, or get on your nerves. You could end up learning something about yourself, or end up looking for reasons to avoid class for the rest of your life.

Where once a teacher held absolute authority over a student and her practice, nowadays the relationship has become a bit tricky. Teachers are younger, and prone to all the foibles that come with youth (relationship troubles, anxiety about getting a ‘real’ job, peer pressure etc.). And frequently they have another job on the side to pay the bills. This is in sharp contrast to traditional yoga teachers who lived to practice and to teach. Needless to say, all these aspects effect the vibe of a class.

I have mulled over the question for a while now. What is the role of a modern day teacher? After all, it’s the age of consumerism and yoga teachers and classes are being consumed with a vengeance. What then is a yoga teacher’s role? When a student walks in, you know they may walk out the next day. Or next year. How can you make a meaningful contribution to a student’s life with this uncertainty?

As it frequently happens, my teacher unwittingly gave me the answer. The other day in class, he demonstrated the Viparita Dandasana and asked us to correct his posture. He modified his pose according to our inputs. By the time we were done with our cues he looked extremely uncomfortable in the posture. He came out of the pose and told us that as a student we must learn not to depend on the teacher too much. He told us that tomorrow he may not be around and we would then be lost in our practice. He said we must observe our own bodies in all asanas, independent of the cues given by the teacher. We must focus on how the ‘right’ asana feels and use that feeling to get into the pose next time.

What this means is that a student needs to cultivate a practice which fits them. We are bombarded by information about yoga all the time, and sometimes this information is just opinion disguised as fact. The real life asana is in being able to distinguish what works for you from what doesn’t. It lies in being truthful to yourself about whether you are blindly following a teacher or school and losing yourself. Or are you learning and being guided by all this information and eventually finding yourself?

In the modern day scenario, the role of a yoga teacher is to empower a student. Encourage your students to explore. Encourage them to try out other classes and teachers and encourage them to think about how they feel. Encourage self reflection (pratyahara). It is rewarding to see a student find wings under your tutelage. If you teach a student how to be self reliant, the decisions they make on and off the mat will come from a place of confidence and trust, rather than insecurity. You will foster a culture of exploration and abundance. A culture of respect and tolerance. A culture of healthy minds and healthy bodies.

“Illuminated emancipation, freedom, unalloyed and untainted bliss await you, but you have to choose to embark on the Inward Journey to discover it.” – BKS Iyengar

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Untying the Knots

October 9, 2015

A couple of weeks ago I had a student in Supta Baddhakonasana.  That’s Lying Down Bound Fixed Angle Pose, a supine variation of a pose popularly called the ‘Butterfly Pose’.

As the relaxation came to a close, I gave the instruction to keep the eyes closed and to come out of the pose in the easiest and most comfortable way possible.

The student started to undo the belt binding his legs in the pose.  He realized that he couldn’t reach far enough to actually undo the belt easily.  He started to reach around and fumble with the belt a bit more.  All the effort made him want to open his eyes, but he wasn’t going to not follow the instructions.  Finally he managed to twist and turn enough to grab a hold of the buckle and wrest the belt off.  Once done he sat upright and relaxed his tightly closed lids.  Hmmmm….

Sometimes a student’s behaviour on the mat is highly indicative of his/her approach to real life.  Does a student twitch and move a lot when relaxing?  Post Savasana do they quickly jump up and run out to meet the rest of their day?  Do they fall asleep during relaxation?  In this case, the student had to complete his relaxation and face the real world.  One which, at that point, literally had him up in knots.

When faced with sticky, frustrating, tight, claustrophobic, rigid etc situations, our first reaction is to fight for dear life.  So we close our eyes tightly and twist and turn and try to grab that which we feel is smothering us and wrench it away from us.  However, if you breathe deeply and instead of struggling, you work on accepting that you are in a bind (in this case quite literally), then you may have an easier time getting out of the unpleasant situation.

Someone once told me that you can consider roadblocks to be either problems or  constraints.  You can choose to dwell on your problems and try to (unsuccessfully) wish them away.  Or you could think about how you can carry on with your life’s work with the existing constraints.  I believe that changing your perception is all it takes to change your life, and this forms a huge part of that philosophy.  So next time you’re in a conundrum, think, do you want this to be a problem, or do you want it to be a constraint.

badhakonasana

The Supta Baddhakonasana is when you lie down on your back and keep your legs in this position.

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Vegan For a Day

September 3, 2015

I got invited to a full day workshop about veganism this past weekend.  We were invited for a detailed talk about what it is and why it’s good for us.  We were going to be treated with a vegan breakfast, lunch and snack.  And we were surprised with a goodie bag at the end of the session to enable us to continue on our Vegan journey without a stop.  The session was quite intense, but there were a few things that stood out and they made sense to me as well.  What I’m trying to say is that it wasn’t all mumbo jumbo.  Some of the ideas were logical.  And I’m going to try a few of the things they spoke about.  And in no particular order these principles were:

  1. Eat a whole plant based diet.  Vegetarian food is high in fibre.  Not only is animal based food high in fat, it is high in cholesterol as well.  Because only animals produce cholesterol.  So effectively cholesterol is a hormone made by animals.  And ghee happens to be 100% fat.
  2. Good sources of fat are nuts and seeds.
  3. Meat and milk are equal.  Both contain hormones, antibiotics and pesticides.  On top of this milk contains IGF – Insulin-like Growth Factor.
  4. It is a common misconception that we are a milk drinking nation.  We are consuming more milk now than ever before.  Historically in India, people used to have one cow and not feed it hormones to give more milk.  The milk that humans would consume would be the one left over after the calf had finished nursing.  So that would be very less, not gallons upon gallons that we consume today.  Krishna was stealing other people’s milk products because he wasn’t drowning in milk and ghee himself.  Even though he was quite wealthy and had no reason to steal anything.
  5. The body gets enough protein on a whole plant based diet.  Think about it, very few people report protein deficiency.
  6. Plants are better sources for Calcium than milk.  Only 30% of the calcium in milk is assimilated.  And anyways, you need Vitamin D to absorb Calcium into your bones.  So having only milk doesn’t mean that you will assimilate all the calcium in the milk.  What you should do is ensure that you have adequate Vitamin D so that all the calcium you provide to your body is assimilated.
  7. Eat whole foods because refined foods lose a lot of nutrients.
  8. Replace animal milk with soy, rice, almond peanut etc milk. (Basically plant based alternatives.)  Sesame seeds have more calcium than milk.
  9. Say no to sugar.  Have dates and raisins instead.  Fruits have plenty of natural sugars.  And jaggery and honey not allowed because they aren’t whole.
  10. Replace plain butter with peanut butter, cashew butter, sesame butter or almond butter.
  11. Replace paneer with tofu.
  12. Don’t have curd made of animal milk.  Make your curd out of soya, peanut milk etc.
  13. No meat.
  14. Replace white rice with unpolished rice.
  15. Replace maida with atta, jowar, bajra, nachni etc.
  16. White salt with Himalayan salt, rock salt or sea salt.
  17. Don’t fry your food because vegans don’t use oil.
  18. Have smoothies for breakfast.  So blend bananas, coriander and mint and have that for breakfast.
  19. Avoid tea/coffee because the increase blood sugar and stress.
  20. People tend to say that sugar causes diabetes, but it’s actually fat that causes diabetes.  so avoid fat in your diet.  The technique to eliminate fat is to eliminate all refined fats.  Refined fats are those without fibre.  Animal products don’t have fibre.  But coconuts do, so coconut fats are good.  After a fatty meal your blood thickens and fat cells get deposited in the arteries.  If you remove the fat, your blood will start flowing again.  Meat has free radicals which can damage the inner lining of muscles.  Plants on the other hand contain anti oxidants.
  21. People think that Diabetes and Hypertension are hereditary, but that’s false.  Both these conditions are lifestyle related and directly related to your diet.
  22. Honey and Jaggery are not ok.  Both are not whole.  However, you can eat sugar cane is good because it’s whole and unrefined and natural.
  23. Cheese is 70% fat.  Cheese is like Vaseline.  Your system can’t ingest cheese, it can’t ingest Vaseline.
  24. Have only 10 nuts a day.  However, peanuts are not nuts.  They are legumes.  So you can have more than 10 a day.
  25. Whole foods have complex carbs.  They take longer to digest and keep you full longer.  Hence you end up eating less.  Refined foods have simple carbs.  They digest immediately and you want to eat more.
  26. Don’t have two grains in one meal.  So don’t have rice and roti together.
  27. Broccoli has more protein than steak.  Excess protein causes osteoporosis and kidney disease.

So the two things you should ask yourself if you want to aim to eat vegan is whether what you are eating is plant based, and whether it is whole.

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Yoga

Week 2 Day 2 – Extend the Sides

February 11, 2015

Most gym rats will tell you that you should work on sides and abs on alternate days.  What makes yoga a great workout is that most yoga classes have varied routines and you will end up engaging different body parts even if you attend the same class 5 times a week.  Some days it may be abs intensive, on other days, perhaps, arms.  But, for the most part, you will use your body as a whole instead of just working out isolated body parts.  So while you’ll work on sides pretty much in all your yoga classes, there are a few moves that you can do with a bit more awareness next time so that you can get the most out of them.

The Side Plank or the Vashishtasana

Most people tend to put most of their body weight on their arm and wrist when they do the side plank.  Are you one of those?  If your wrists hurt when you do this move, then the answer is yes.  The key to improving your form and increasing the amount of time you can hold this move is in how you engage your arms.  Tightening the musIMG-20150209-WA0016[1]cles of your arms helps in taking the pressure off of your wrists.  To do this you can try and spread your fingers out wide on the floor.  And the  push your shoulders away from your ears.  So on hand reaches all the way up to the sky and you stretch your shoulder blades as well.  The other hand pushes into the floor, so you try and dig your fingers into the floor also.  The neck should be relaxed.  Sometimes you may not realize that your neck is strained.  A good way to ensure that your neck is easy is to smile and allow your face to relax.  This relaxes the neck as well.

Once your arms take on the proper form, you can start to work on your sides.  Keep your stomach tight at all times and then gently push your hips up towards the sky.  This gives you a little elevation and also ensures that you keep your awareness on your core.  That little lift makes a huge difference, else you may tend to sag down closer to the floor, which will put more strain on the shoulders.  Finally, keep your knees locked.   This will ensure that you are engaging your legs in maintaining the balance as well.

The Trikonasana or the Triangle Pose

Despite years of practice, I feel that it is only now that I’ve really started appreciIMG-20150209-WA0003[1]ating this pose.  All yoga poses give you a sense of release and relaxation post the practice.  If you don’t feel it now, with consistent practice, you eventually will.  The key to the Trikonasana is doing it step-by-step.  Many students go into the pose with the end picture in mind.  Yes, many experienced students as well.  But that just leads to a compromise with the geometry of pose.  Do it stepwise and when you finally bend down make sure you bend from the waist.  Your torso should be parallel to an imaginary wall.  Try and get both shoulders in one line and reach up to the sky and down to the floor almost drawing your shoulder blades apart.  Make the pose active right through your fingertips.  Focus on your feet as well.  The inner edge of the front foot will go into the floor and the outer edge of the back foot will be pushed into the floor and this will give you stability in this pose.

Note on this pose.  Iyengar said in an interview that even after countless years of practice, writing books and articles, conducting workshops all over the world etc, he is still working on getting his awareness to his smallest toe in the Trikonasana.

The Parsvakonasana or the Side Angle Pose

The base work in this pose is similar to the Trikonasana.  What you need to take care of most in this pose is that the knee is right above the ankle.  The inner edge of the foot should be strong on the floor.  Keep the thigh parallel to the floor.  Extend your arm out and keep it close to your ear.  Keep your gaze on your fingers but relax the neck.  Feel the extension on the side of the body, from your foot all the way to the finger tips.

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Questions? Queries?  Let me know!

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Week 2 Day 1 – Abs Are Made in the Kitchen…

February 8, 2015

…But you have to work on them in yoga class too!  So for Day 1 of Week 2 do a bit of abs work.  The great thing about yoga (and particularly about our classes) is that most yoga moves involve the core.  Every single time you do a rep of the Surya Namaskar, you’re utilizing your core strength.  So today practice a few rounds of the Surya Namaskar to warm up and then start with your leg raises.  You can do 3 sets of 15 each.  Take a small break and repeat twice more.  You can choose to plank and side plank as well.  These moves engage the core and strengthen the arms as well.

The Naukasana (The Boat Pose) is an awesome way to strengthen the abs and also to test your balance.  Start with lying down on the floor and raise your torso and legs up at the same time.  No jerky movements.  Keep your legs absolutely straight.  Push your shoulders back and try and expand the chest.  Elongate the neck.  Breathe.  You should be balancing on your tailbone.

2015-02-03 13.47.14[1]

Setubandhasana (The Bridge Pose)

2015-02-03 13.36.53[1]After the Naukasana you can start to stretch your abs a little bit.  Start with the Setubandhasana.  Start with keeping your feet about hip width apart.  Keep your arms on the floor next to your body with your palms flat on the floor.  Push into the floor with your hands and press your feet into the floor and raise your hips up.  Tighten your glutes to take the load off of your back.  Make sure that your ankles and knees are in one line and perpendicular to the floor.  Once your hips are as high as you can take them lift your hands and place them on the small of your back.  Your fingers should be facing each other and thumbs should be on the outside, circling your waist.  This helps in strengthening the arms and wrists.  Try and get your elbows as close to each other as possible.  Your shoulder2015-02-03 13.38.31[1]s should also be pushed back and chest should be expanded.  You should also experience the Jalandhar Bandha.

 

 

 

 

Chakrasana (The Wheel Pose)

After the Setubandhasana, the Chakrasana is a great way to deepen the stretch on the torso.  As a prep, you can practice holding the Bhujangasana.  After this lie down on 2015-02-03 13.40.17[1]the floor on your back.  Bend your arms and place your hands under your shoulders.  Bend your legs and bring your feet as close to your hips as possible.  Lift your hips up first just like you did in the Setubandhasana.  Then start to push your hands into the floor and raise the shoulders up as well.

 

The Halasana or the Plough Pose

When you practice back bends its important to do complementary poses as well.  The complementary pose for the Chakrasana is the Halasana.  In the Halasana yo2015-02-03 13.45.16[1]u must try and get your spine straight.  The Jalandhar Bandha in the Halasana is a deeper and stronger one than the one in the Setubandhasana.  Keep your elbows locked and arms clasped.  Push your shoulders away from your ears.

 

 

Try this cool variation as well:

2015-02-03 13.43.55[1]

 

 

 

 

 

Remember after all this you must go into the Savasana and allow your spine to rest and relax.

 

 

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It’s Never Too Cold to Workout

January 14, 2015

This morning I woke up and instinctively curled into a tight ball under my blanket.  It was so so cold.  I checked the temperature and sure enough it was 15 deg with dense fog in Bangalore today.  I lingered under the covers for a while and finally had to get up for class.  And there was bleak attendance for today’s 8-9 am session.  The fact is, even though you may be 100% committed to your fitness goals, getting up in the AM and throwing the covers back to get up is not child’s play.  But small changes can lead to big results.  So here are a three things you can do to make it a bit easier to get out of bed in this chill.

1.  Plan what you’re going to wear the night before and have it out ready.  The path from your bed to your workout clothes must not have the obstacles of decisions and doors.  Preferably keep your clothes ready in the room where you change in.

2.  Make yourself a cup of really really strong coffee or tIMG_20130923_085420ea.  I prefer tea and these days I add loads and loads of ginger, black pepper, cardamom…and pretty much any other heating spice to it.  This not only warms you up from the inside but also wakes you up.  Remember, go easy on the sugar.  Also, you want to have enough so that you wake up, but not so much that you’re unable to move in yoga class!

 

 

 

3.  Being self-motivated is IMG_20150114_085733great.  But it’s easier to workout regularly in a group class.  So, join a group class, make friends with the others and motivate each other to brave the winters!

 

 

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How to: Keep Your Fitness Resolution

January 12, 2015

It’s the start of Week 2 of 2015.  Most people’s New Year’s resolutions comprise majorly of fitness resolutions.  People who bought state of the art running equipment last year want to run their first marathon this year.  Some others want to come down 10 dress sizes.  Lots of people hope that the new year will magically infuse them with the willpower to achieve their goals.  They hope that new year resolutions  are somehow different.

And most people who had fitness on their resolutions list may not even have started working on their goals.  Because most people who state ‘I will lose 10kgs in 2015’ spend more time visualizing clothes they want to wear and dreaming about the shrieks of admiration/jealousy emanating from their friends.  So lost are they in this visualization and dreaming activity, that they completely forget to plan how they are going to accomplish these feats.

And because there hasn’t been any proper plan in place the first week of the year may IMG_20141026_122003[1]have been a repetition of the first week of the last year for many people.  Dealing with the early morning getting ready for office frenzy.  Sleeping late after finally switching the TV off.  Coffee-fuelled days and restless nights.

The thing is, waking up early and going for a refreshing walk, having a wholesome breakfast, reading something interesting before falling into a blissful sleep isn’t really difficult.  Nor is it difficult to workout EVERY SINGLE DAY.  The difference between frazzled and flow-like-the-river days is just planning.  Yes.  So those who dream of losing 10 kgs can do so if they plan how they will go about doing it.  Is it really feasible for them to get up at the crack of dawn every day for an hour long intense workout?  Or would it be more practical to workout for three weekdays and then both days of the weekend.  Can you really follow through on your goals like no sugar, rice, coffee, chocolate etc, or would it be easier to cut out one thing first and then  move on to more.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, and a healthier, fitter, happier you will also need consistent effort over several weeks.IMG_20141231_160302[1]

However, I do come across many people who have a balanced approach.  There’s a girl whose been coming to class for a couple of months now.  When I asked her about her new year’s resolutions she said just fitness, which is just an extension of the way she’s currently living.  She eats well and tries to work out frequently.  She tries not to overdo things.  So the other day when she messaged me to tell me she won’t be able to make it to class I told her to relax.  However, she came to class and said she would try to follow along to the best of her ability.  She had pulled a muscle and wasn’t too sure about practicing that day.  But I saw her energy levels consistently increase during the session and there was peace and smiles during the savasana.  Later on  she messaged me to thank me for the session because post yoga she felt energized and the muscle she felt she had pulled felt more relaxed.

That’s when I realized why this woman was achieving the fitness goals she had set for herself.  She was achieving them because she was working on them a day at a time.  A yoga session at a time.  A meal at a time.  And consistently making the choices that would contribute to achieving the larger picture she has in mind.  That’s the key to success for fitness resolutions.  Keep the larger picture handy, but focus on the small steps.  This way you won’t be overwhelmed by the 10kg goal.

So when it comes to keeping fitness resolutions, sweating the small stuff yields the results you want.IMG_20141030_223059[1]

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Yoga Challenge – #7daysofniyama

June 26, 2014

niyama
So we’ve looked at what, according to yoga, we can do without in our lives. But what about the rules that yoga tells us to live by? Starting tomorrow, join me for #7daysofniyamas. Niyamas literally translated means rules. I believe that the fundamentals of all cultures, religions and philosophies are basically the same. To be good, to be kind etc. So many of you may already be incorporating the niyamas in your lives. Lets take a look at the niyamas and see how yogic philosophy transcends race, cultures, countries, class, caste, religion etc.

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Making Time to Live Your Life

June 5, 2014

louise I met Louise in Wellington, when I first started teaching yoga.  After a couple of months, I held her up as an example of ‘balance’ to the class.  She is in her early 40s, has two beautiful childern, a rocking career, wonderful marriage…and she still found time for her yoga, tennis, hiking, reading etc.  The credit for making her life so rich and full goes to no one but Louise.  After all, she could also sit back and complain that she had wanted a career/tennis/amazing body/(fill in the blank) but had to give it up because of: children are too small/husband has a transferrable and demanding job/has other familial obligations/(fill in the blank).  Granted Louise comes from a culture and country different from 95% of my students, and many who are reading this are thinking “well you know in our culture (fill in all the perceived limiting factors of being a married woman with kids in India)”.

Now I have an example of an Indian woman (yes, married to a man who has a demanding and transferrable job; yes, has two mrsV_transformgrowing children who demand/want time/attention; yes, has all the familial obligations that come with being from our culture) who reminds me of Louise.  Sharmishta Vardhan has been regular in my class from Day 1.  When I got to know her better, I found out that she’s a Bharatnatyam dancer.  When there’s no yoga she goes for a walk.  She’s an amazing swimmer and has been swimming since she was 8 years old.  (Incidentally, she taught me how to swim within 10 days.  I’m confident standing on my head on land, but 10 days ago I would list drowning as my biggest fear.)  Here’s an Indian woman, in her 40s, married for 9 years, two crazily energetic boys (I’ve seen them in the pool), who defies the ‘Indian woman married with two kids’ convention.  She reads, sometimes travels to pursue her hobbies, gets in her daily swim before heading home for dinner, cultivates her own friends circle with whom she goes for movies, exhibitions, fairs etc.  You can see the results of daily yoga in her before-after.

IMG_20140528_173423So next time you think you don’t have time for yoga remember that there are women like Louise and Sharmishta who are busy living the lives they love, and making time for yoga as well! 🙂

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10 Days of Gratitude – Day 10

June 4, 2014

gratitude10

Today is the last day of our gratitude challenge. Today lets take a moment to appreciate all the mistakes we’ve made in life. After all, mistakes teach you a lot about yourself and the world around you. Mistakes help you understand what you actually want in life. They take you on adventures that make you who you are. If it weren’t for mistakes we wouldn’t have so much to be grateful for!

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