Notes from Laurie Blakeney’s workshop part 1

Laurie Blakeney has flown into the islands like the much needed trade winds and began her workshop this week. I attended the morning basic class. We started with an hour of seated poses: dandasana, swastikasana, baddha konasana, and upavistha konasana. The emphasis was to address stiff hips.

In dandasana, she had us engage both legs at a time and notice which one engaged first. Then she had us engage one leg at a time. It was telling on how we have a tendency to work one leg more than the other, and more minutely, how we work certain parts of each leg more than the others.

In swastikasana, we did a forward bend with a folded blanket under the cross of the shins. She called this “rolling uphill.” I had a tremendously difficult time in the forward bend as I am quite girthy. “It doesn’t matter what is hanging out, what matters in the interior abdominal muscles behind what’s hanging out,”Blakeney said.

In baddha konasana, we leaned to one side to get the whole side of the thigh on the floor, then slowly shifted back to the middle trying to keep the thigh on the floor as long as possible. This was quite effective in elongating the inner groin muscles.

We then did a quick transition between baddha konasana and upavistha konasana with our fingers behind the knee tendon. We monitored which knee tendon “snapped” our fingers first (of if they snapped at all). Again this built tremendous awareness on how one side often acts differently than the other, and how within the leg there are different movements. In upavistha she noted that the feet should not be the “shining star” but rather the work of the quadriceps. An ongoing theme over the past few years with Laurie is she noticed Hawaii practitioners have overactive feet, likely a symptom of wearing slippers, and wants us to soften them more in our poses.

More to come as I didn’t address the second part of her class, the standing poses…

Notes from a Mary Obendorfer workshop

 

Mary Obendorfer was one of the teachers who gave my practice a complete 180. Back in the early 2000s, I attended a teacher training she conducted to inaugurate the center where I now teach. She introduced concepts of sequencing back then that I continue to use today in my practice and teaching.

At the time she asked us to come up with a sequence and then the group would critique it with her provisions. I actually handed her a sequence that started with Paschimottanasana (intense stretch of the West side of the body pose) as the first pose because that was what my teacher at the time was teaching (he was not Iyengar based). “Why are you starting with such a difficult pose?!” She asked, but not really wanting to know the answer. After her instructions, I now completely understand why starting a sequence with Paschimottanasana is a bad idea on just about every level. I won’t give you the answer if you don’t know, because so many of my previous blog posts have addressed it.

Fast forward 13 years, Mary Obendorfer still visits our studio annually. This year she is back from GeetaJi’s December intensive in Pune, India with more gems. What I have always enjoyed about the Iyengar system is that you get the knowledge eventually even though you may not be able to attend Pune intensives first hand.

Obendorfer gave us detailed instructions on two poses: Baddhakonasna (bound angle pose) and Upavistha Konasana (seated angle pose.) I will write posts about these poses later once I have integrated the teachings in my practice, reflected on them, and developed my on insights on them.

Baddha Konasana

Upavistha Konasana

The one thing that was imparted is that regular practice of these two poses will “decrease the suffering of your standing poses.” Obendorfer also relayed Geetaji’s message that these poses will also help to alleviate problems that people face when they age. With all the upward apanic (pelvic region) action required to do these poses, it is evident that Geetaji has noticed people suffer from GI problems as they age and has given us an “antidote” through Baddha Konasana and Upavistha Konasana to minimize the problems that manifest as we grow older.

Tonight I will continue the workshop with the intermediate class. More gems to come I am sure…

 

I am a BHP graduate! (Trigger Alert)

Warning! I will be talking about urine and man parts in this entry. About two and a half years ago, I was in constant agony. I could not properly empty my bladder when urinating.  Asana was painful, and I had difficulty doing certain poses that put pressure on my abdomen. I can remember the final straw that made me see a doctor was when I was taking a workshop with a senior teacher. As I had to use the bathroom, I did not want to sprint out of class in order to cling to every thread of teaching. The pose was Parivritta Parsvakonasana. Next thing you know, I wet myself.

Within the week I was in my doctors office and within the next two weeks I was on the operating table. I had a condition know as Benign Hyperplasia of the Prostate (BHP). In my case, the prostate, which is donut shaped, was bulging on one side and acting as a flap which would not let any urine through when I was trying to use the bathroom. I constantly had the urge to use the restroom without being able to empty my bladder. My doctor asked me to provide a urine sample and just a few drops came out. He ordered an ultrasound. The nurse came back with a large pitcher about the size of a wine bottle. “This is how much urine you have retained in your bladder that you can’t empty,” she said. The doctor then scoped me through the urethra. “Therein lies the problem, he said after showing me the said flap my prostate was forming. “You need surgery right away.” Very scary words to a 41-year-old healthy man who has a family history of prostate cancer.

I had a procedure called a TURP, or transurethral resection of the prostate. You can click on the link for all the gory details. The short of it is that they rotor rooter your urethra to clear the blockage from the prostate, or as my doctor colorfully put it “you’ll be able to write your name in the snow again.”

I could not do any asana one month post surgery. It was painful. My mentoring teacher Ray gave me the simple instruction to do Baddha Konasana as often as I could, coupled with Supta Padangushtana I and II. He also advised rope sirsasana with baddha konasana as I healed more. I still do these asanas as often as I can in my home practice.

Today I had my two year doctor visit since surgery. My doctor was surprised that I did not take any medication at all. My PSA count, which is the trigger for prostate cancer, is markedly lower. I evacuate urine like a race horse and was able to provide a good sample. No pain or blood in my urine. My doctor said “you can graduate and not return unless there are further complications.” That is as close to a “clean bill of health” as you can get. Asana heals profoundly.

Is Your Practice Too Rajasic?

Now that I have more time on my hands during the holidays, I have been able to get to some leisurely reading. Among the books I have picked up are Benjamin Lorr’s “Hell Bent” a book that is critical of the Bikram Choudury teacher training program. The writer is in a seminar called the “Back Bending Club” with one of Bikram’s senior students. They are training for a “yoga competition.” Here is an excerpt:

“The women are doing backbends so severe their ribs are popping out of place. The chiropractor pops them back in and the women return for more backbends. I know this because as one of the only people with a car, I drive them to and from the studio when it happens.”

Excerpt From: Benjamin Lorr. “Hell-Bent.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/jrm0E.l

If you are having to go to a doctor regularly for you to maintain your practice, my guess is that your practice is too Rajasic. Rajas are one of the three Gunas of yoga that corresponds to frenetic, firey energy.  Your practice may not so intense that your chiropractor is factored into your commute home from the studio, but if you have elements of recurring pain that you know is stemming from your asana practice, it is time to reevaluate.

Yoga practice should be intelligent. You should be discovering how your body works (Swadhayaya) instead of pushing your body until you have to visit a doctor just to function properly. Intelligent practice would be recognizing that your ribs are being damaged, questioning yourself why you are doing poses to perform in a competition, and realize that your true nature is to do yoga to gain health to help others, instead of boasting in a contest.

When you are injuring your body for the sake of a yoga competition, you are not adhering to the Yamas and Niyamas. The rib-maligned students from the excerpt were not practicing Ahimsa (non harming), Aparigraha (non greediness), and Santosa (contentment). They were mired in the Kleshas or the obstacles to yoga because their intent was to win a contest, rather than to remove the fog that is covering their true being.

A good way to bring your practice from Rajasic to Sattvic (balanced) is to focus on one clan of poses every week. For example, the first week of the month do Utthistha Sthithi (standing poses), the second week do Paschima Pratana Sthithi (forward bends), the third do Purva Pratana Sthithi (backbends), the fourth miscellaneous poses, and the fifth week Visranta Karaka Sthithi (restorative poses) and Pranayama. In many ways you satisfy Rajasic tendencies by getting deeper into poses that you avoid or don’t have time to do in your practice. By changing the type of poses each you do each week, you move towards Sattvas by having a sense of balance in your practice.

An important part of this cycle is the restorative week. This is where you can move toward the higher limbs of yoga aside from asana. By doing Pranayama (regulation of prana via the breath), you can cultivate Pratyahara (detachment from the senses), and Dharana (concentration).

In restorative week you can also hold poses longer which cultivates other parts of your practice, mainly patience and forebearance. You can work at “building time” in Sirsasana (head pose), Supta Virasana (reclined hero pose), and Baddha Konasana (bound angle pose). Working to build time is very different than trying to attain a backbend at the expense of your ribcage.

There is a time and a place for Rajas. During the holidays, we tend to lean towards Tamas, or dull lethargy. The reason why I am posting this topic is because once the New Year celebration is over, many people will return to the gyms and the studios with zealous enthusiasm. Just remember that jumping into a Rajasic practice after a period of Tamas is a good recipe for injury.

Tracing the “Lineage” of a Pose

Last night in Mary Obendorfer’s workshop, we worked on Padmasana (Lotus Pose) as seen above. Today, my legs feel “lighter” as the pose works the tight hip flexors, gluteus maximus while elongating the groins. It also creates space and movement in  all the major leg joints: hips, knees and ankles. It is easy to see why this pose has lasted thousands of years.

In usual Mary O. style, she gave us homework to trace the “lineage” of this pose from the sequences in the back of Light On Yoga (Iyengar’s foremost text), and through our certification manual. Lineage in this case refers to poses that lead up to Padamasana and how those poses have similar action. Since I have some time on my hands, I went through Light on yoga and did the assignment.

The sequences in the back of Light On Yoga is a whole other blog post topic. He gives a 300 week course going through all 200 poses and sequences building up to them. When I first started doing Iyengar yoga, I went from week one and was stopped dead in my tracks at week 16. After 14 years of practice, I could probably make it to week 30. A senior teacher asked Mr. Iyengar about the difficulty of the sequences compared to the time allotted and he said “just add a zero a the end of each week.” 3000 week course, got it!

In the back of Light On Yoga, Padmasana doesn’t rear it’s head until week 22. Poses with similar actions include Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasna, Bharadvajasana II, Siddhasana, Baddha Konasana, Janu Sirsansana, Maha Mudra, Virabhadrasana II, and Utthita Parsvakonasana. In the Certification Manual, Padmasana does not appear until Intermediate Junior II (I am far from qualified to teach it). But if you see the previous post, I speak at length about Baddha Konasana which has many of the major muscle actions of Padmasana without the extreme joint movements.

For more advanced practitioners reading this blog, find a “target” pose and trace back poses with similar actions and use that as a sequence. For beginner students, just work on building your time in Baddha Konasana as seen in the previous post.

Read the NY Times In Baddha Konasana

I am currently taking Senior Teacher Mary Obendorfer’s workshop. She gave us a curious “homework” assignment. She she instructs her students to read the NY Times in Baddha Konasana (bound angle pose)…cover to cover! That is a tall order, but she is trying to illustrate that some poses need far more time to stay in than we get an hour to hour and a half class. This is what Baddha Konasana looks like:

In Baddha Konasana sit on folded blankets and make sure the knees are at least hip level or below.

I haven’t been much of a NY Times fan since William J. Broad has been writing ridiculous articles about the dangers of yoga. So my “modification” to Mary’s homework assignment is to do a blog post in Baddha Konasasna.

I had a surgical procedure on my prostrate about a year ago, and found this pose helpful in my recovery. With over 80% of yoga students being female, it is hard to find good men’s yoga pose sequences. Coupled with Supta Padangusthasana (reclined big toe pose) and Supta Baddha Konasana (reclined bound angle pose), this makes for a great sequence for men’s health.