Tag Archives: Yoga

Roll with it Baby! Body Rolling and Self-Learning

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Yesterday in yoga teacher training, we had a day on anatomy and physiology. I find these topics fascinating, so it was a good deal for me. As part of the lesson, we did some “body rolling.” Body rolling is a therapeutic technique utilizing small rubber balls (6-10 inches in diameter) to locate areas of tension, elongate muscle, and stimulate other connective tissues. You literally roll your body over the ball and use gravity to help you locate different parts of the body. The balls we used were from Yamuna, and you can learn more about the whole deal at their site, http://www.yamunabodyrolling.com. Anyway, we weren’t using it as much to create the element of massage as to help us locate different muscles and connective tissues (and bones) on the body that we might need to know about when teaching and doing adjustments.

This was extremely interesting, as far as I was concerned. Descriptions of the various muscles and elements of the hamstrings make sense to me, but when I “sat” on the ball and rolled it slowly across the hamstrings, managing to very clearly identify which area of the hamstring is a problem for me, it was quite revealing (for the inquiring minds, it’s the biceps femoris, for sure. I was also able to see, even more clearly, through the interaction between the instructor – Heather Marie Miller – and the class, that areas which are commonly very sensitive or intense are not comparatively that intense for me, when I evaluate them against the areas on my body that may not bother a lot of people. On my body, it’s almost all the muscles that cross/connect major joints that are very tender. Surprise? Not really, but sort of. I’ve always thought it was odd that I have such tight hamstrings, because I’m not a runner. But, through this work, I was able to see that it’s not my entire hamstrings that are tight. It’s the muscle that is involved in both hip extension and knee flexion. I have rheumatoid arthritis. Oh. There were other insights for me, but I won’t bore you with all of them here. 🙂

Anyway, very cool stuff and I think I would recommend a body rolling workshop if there is one going on in your area. It might not only loosen up a few things, but also give you some insight into what is going on in there and how it’s all connected (literally and systemically).

Namaste,

L

Don’t Dream It – Be It

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Yes, these are the wise wise words of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.  And, while I do love the show, that’s not why I present them  here.  In fact, I guess I might even put a little spin on them and say – “don’t think it – be it.”  I’m having a very hard time right now transitioning what I know, and what I can do with my body (and have done probably a thousand times), like Surya Namaskara A, into teaching frame.  I can teach; it’s what I do.  I can do yoga.  But, putting the two together is giving me some fits.

The question, I suppose, is why.  And I think the answer is implied in these lyrics – I’m not “being” the teacher.  I’m thinking it, a lot, over thinking it even, and not being it.  As I try to lead the group into a pose, instead of just saying what it is (being it – feeling it), I start analyzing it (“Am I moving in or expanding out? Is this an exhale or an inhale? Exactly how is that pronounced?”)  And that just makes it worse.

The irony of this is that I know what to do about it.  I teach (well, not currently, but I developed the course and taught for several years) public speaking for reticent students.  I know what I would tell them – “Learn the information.  Talk about it with your friends and your family – just casually – until it becomes yours.  Then just tell us what you want to say – make your point, converse with us.”  So, yeah, I guess that’s what I need to do.

I’m a little freaked out that it’s this hard for me, but at the same time, over the weekend I watched colleagues who I think are brilliant get very nervous about presenting ideas that I know they have amazing insight into.  Once they stopped thinking about it and just did it, they were fine.

Teaching what I teach, knowing what I know, and being who I am can, I believe, bring something interesting and unique to the yoga classroom.  But, if I’m going to get there, I have to get over (around, under) this hurdle.  It’s good to plan and to think and to prepare and to dream, but at some point, we have to do, right?  After all, to mangle another quote, we aren’t “human dreamings,” we are “human beings.”

Namaste,

L

Eating Vegan in San Francisco – Part 3 – VeganMoFo 16

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Today wrapped up my vegan eating in San Francisco, because tomorrow I’ll be on the plan at the butt crack of dawn.  So, this is my final report on the trip.

I started the day off by taking a pass on breakfast.  I still felt a little full from last night when I got up at 5:00, so coffee was fine.  Around 7:15, I headed off for an Anusara yoga class (after a nice walk to get there).  The class was interesting, though I think I still need to process it somewhat.  It did make me feel like this back curve issue has got to be addressed if I’m going to be a good example for my yoga students.

When class was over, I walked a little more and headed to Herbivore restaurant.  Oh dear!  What another HUGE win (in fact, it might have been the vegan food win for the trip).  The menu was amazing and vegan and amazing, with breakfast/brunch/lunch choices and deserts.  After a long period of waffling, I settled on the vegan Thai iced tea and the bbq faux chicken sandwich with fingerling potatoes and a salad.  Wow!  Delicious and perfectly dressed with a creamy faux mayo, tomatoes, lettuce, a little onion, on a kickin’ sour dough roll.  Awesome.  And then desert accidentally happened, to the tune of vegan carrot cake.  Mmmmmmm!  I couldn’t finish, but I gave it what I had, you betcha!  My dining partner also loved the food and finished her meal with a vegan oatmeal cookie.

After lunch, she headed back to the conference and I went for another walk to Haight Ashbury.  Interesting.  It reminded me a lot of South Street in Philly, but with a few more head shops and a few more thrift stores.  I pawed my way through the items at several thrift stores, even though I’m not a shopping fan, just to see if some amazing find jumped out.  I did see a few things that I liked, but the prices were more “vintage” prices than “thrift” prices, so I passed on the purchases.

I started to walk back to the hotel, but realizing that it was 1,000,000 degrees out, I caught a bus half way there (and missed my stop, but hey, stuff happens).  After a shower (wow, did I need that), and a few minutes of air conditioning, we set off for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where we saw a special exhibit on voyeurism and desire in photographic media.  It was startling and intriguing and appalling and wonderful and awful and I may have more to say about it in a non-food post later.

When dinner time arrived, I wasn’t sure I had really recovered from lunch, but was game to try out The Golden Era, an all vegan Asian restaurant in a “gritty” part of SF (it wasn’t really that gritty – people just kept describing it that way).  The choices were fairly standard for vegan Asian, but solidly prepared and the atmosphere was quite interesting.

So, that wrapped up my food adventure in San Francisco.  It was a slow start, but more than made up for with the later meals.  In conclusion, if you ever are in SF looking for a vegan meal, I highly recommend The Plant Cafe and Herbivore.  The Golden Era is also a fine choice if you are in the mood for that cuisine.

Thanks for reading!

L