Category Archives: YIOM

Chanting – It Does a Body Good!

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When I first was exposed to chanting in yoga, I just wasn’t sure about it.  It wasn’t really that I was too worried about what the chant said; it was more discomfort with my own voice, particularly in a language that I did not know.  And I wasn’t convinced that there was any real value. But, I’m also a rule follower, so I gave it a try. And I realized that there was something about the chanting and the resonance of the sound in my head and chest that made me feel amazing, connected, relaxed, and unified with everything and everyone. Now, I pretty much love to chant and do so whenever I can (despite the fact that one of my kids told me it sounded like I was summoning demons to consume her soul).

In a yoga practice, we primarily chant to create union (with others, with Self, with the divine) and send our positive energy out into the world. But, chanting has been shown to also have very real physical effects. Studies of the impact of chanting by neuro-scientist Dr. Alan Watkins, neuro-scientist Dr. Marian Diamond, and physician and psychologist Dr. Alfred Tomatis, among others, have found that chanting decreases physical stress levels, heart rate, and blood pressure while it increases immune system functions and healing.

There are so many wonderful chants that can be part of a yoga class or stand on their own. Three of my favorites are posted below. If you don’t currently have chanting as part of your yoga practice, try it out. You can do so alone (using the wealth of information online), find a group or class to work with, or check around for a Kirtan session going on in your area. However you do it, belt out a few. It can’t hurt and it just might help.

Namaste,
L

Wow! The Power of a Good Inversion Assist

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In yoga teacher training today, we were working together on a variety of peak poses (including arm balances and inversions) that we might use for our final teachers.  In groups of four, one of us taught, one of us practiced, one did adjustments/assists, and one observed.  It was really so much fun and very revealing.

In assisting others into inversions, I noticed that I’m not that worried that I will get kicked in the face, but I am more concerned that I will pull the person practicing off balance or create a situation where he/she is not getting as much out of the inversion as he/she could, because I’m getting in the way.  However, doing the  practice of it definitely helped with that feeling, and made me feel more confident that I can be of assistance.

And then I practiced.  I got to be assisted in several poses, including adho mukha vrksasana (handstand), pinca myurasana (peacock tailfeather or forearm stand), and sirsasana (headstand).  Some of the adjustments were very informative, a tilt of the hipbones in pinca to create more length in the lower back, a lifting of the hips to ease the process into handstand, etc.  As I went into pinca myurasana, my assisting yogi, Yvonne, had her feet bracing my hands and her knees behind my shoulder blades.  Once I was in position up the wall, she encouraged me to push my shoulders into her knees and my lower back lengthened like crazy.  Neat!  Then later, in headstand, she had her feet outside of my elbows, keeping them from splaying out to the side.  Just that bit of extra help gave me some sort of oomph that I haven’t had ever before in the pose, and part way through I realized that my head was actually about 1/2 inch off the ground.  It was crazy and cool and crazy cool! (Have I mentioned how much I love inversions?)

We also did a little brainstorming of ideas for workshops or series.  Maybe it was all the blood that rushed to my head in the inversions, but I felt like there were so many great possibilities just running through my mind.  Sweet!

Yep, this is why I om.  😀

Namate,

L

Building Yoga Community through Blogging

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It’s April, which means that it is time for YIOM (Yogis Inspiring -and inspired by – Oneness Month).  During this month-long celebration of the online yoga community, a group of yoga bloggers have agreed to attempt to blog each day about some aspects of yoga.  The blogs will all vary.  Some will be about an asana that struck a chord that day.  Some will address the philosophy, history, current issues of yoga.  Some may focus on meditation.  Various yoga types will also be represented.  The overriding goal is to share yoga with one another and with others, to illuminate the beauty of how yoga practice aids us in creating peace, unity, and oneness.

In Buddhist practice, a sangha is the sacred community of ordained (or pre-ordained) monks and nuns.  Being in a sangha helps members to be supported in their practice, grow their practice through interaction with like-minded others, contribute to the process for other members, and also provide a resource for those outside to the community to gain information about Buddhism.  Similarly, a yoga community or yoga sangha provides for its members informational, social, pragmatic, and emotional support.  It provides practitioners with a “home base” from which they can branch out into yoga in a variety of paths that feel new, always retaining that connection back to the stability of the group.

Yoga sanghas may be created through personal relationships with others who practice, through a shared yoga studio or gym (maybe the most common), through a connection to a guru, etc.  And now, with the vast array of social media available to us, we can more easily create and maintain a sense of community with a wide variety of people around the world.  It is my hope that YIOM helps us to do just that, as it also provides a lot of wonderful food for thought, information, inspiration, laughter, and enjoyment along the way.

You can learn more about http://theveganasana.com/YIOM, but I’ve also added the blogroll below for easy access!

Namaste,

L

YIOM Blogroll

The VeganAsana
Living in the (k)Now
Along For The Flow
Yoga Saves the Day
Vogue Yogini
Yoga for the Long Run
Philosophy Fitness
YogaLifeWay
Flying Yogini
Seva Soule Yoga
Om La La
Yoga Insights and Excites
Yogi Crystal
Imagine Balance
Lissabliss
Namaste*Heather
The Curious World of L
Faern-In-The-Works
Me and Les Girls
Yoga Sutras
Yoga in My School
Musings from the Batcave
Positivity.Green.Yoga
Moving Only Forward
Glow Green Girl
Ups and Downs of a Yoga Mom
yogameansunion
Light on Light on Yoga
Yoga Emergence
Jo Griffith Yoga