Pranayama are breathing exercises developed by the ancient yogis for purification. Prana translates into "life force energy" and Yama translates into "control or mastery of". Thus, Pranyama is used to control, cultivate, and modify the Prana in the body. Prana is taken in through the air we breathe, and since the Pranayama exercises increase the amount of air we take in, they also increase our intake of Prana.
For all Pranayama (except Kapalabhati), the breath is slow and steady, breathed in and out of the nose and down into the belly. Always sit with a straight spine and a relaxed body. While you are practicing Pranayama, let go of any thoughts by focusing on the breathing involved with the Pranayama.
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Many yogis in New York City are grappling with the aftereffects
of another upheaval in their yoga universe. Earlier this month Pure yoga studio
fired popular teacher Marco Rojas in a manner he believes reflects their lack
of adherence to yogic ethics. Pure has dismissed the act as not even very
interesting, but it brings up some valid questions: is teaching yoga just
a job like any other, and should studios be held to the same principles we
expect teachers to exemplify?
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A recent tongue-in-cheek headline blares, “Yoga
Quitter: Why I couldn’t say namastay in class.” Author Jenn Fields
describes arriving to her regular yoga class looking forward to her “happy yogi
energy” teacher Steph, only to find a dreaded sub in her stead. As an 11-year
practitioner, Fields was well aware of her “unyogilike” resistance, but her
“pissyness” upon arriving to discover her teacher was absent persisted. After
“bitterly down-dogging and up-dogging, head and heart out the door,” she snuck
out of class in a “stress-ball flurry,” hoping to find another class at a
nearby studio.
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Several recent studies suggest Bikram yoga may be effective
at improving numerous aspects of mental and physical health, including improved
sleep, physical fitness, mindfulness, and reductions in perceived stress.
Bikram yoga refers to the practice established by Bikram Choudhury, renowned
for its 105-108 degree environment and trademarked 26-pose sequence.
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Ah, summer…the days get longer, the sun gets stronger. But
we can have too much of a good thing. Summer’s solar qualities (heat,
projection, activity) equate to sympathetic
nervous system stimulation. Obvious signs of overheating are feeling irritable,
distracted and, well, hot.
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I’ve started studying the Yoga Sutras, and I’m beginning to
think I might be a bit of a jerk. The thought of referring to myself (or anyone
else for that matter) as divine or in the pursuit of divine nature makes me
cringe. All my years of cynicism and egocentricity are catching up with me, and
what I read in the sutras is the exact opposite of how I’ve lived my life. To
be honest, these are the aspects of yoga I avoided for some reason, and I now
realize that by avoiding them, I have not been doing the work to make necessary
changes in my life. I lack devotion to both my yoga practice and myself.
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Barbie dolls: maligned for their tyranny of impossible
proportions, yet beloved by many, these
ubiquitous icons of American culture have reflected the popular Zeitgeist for
decades. When first created, the dolls sported demure fashions with their
eyes glancing sideways in a gesture of deference. In 1971, the eyes were
adjusted to look forwards, mirroring an increasingly direct female populace. In
2009, “Totally Tattoos Barbie” launched to the outcry of parents and experts.
And now, as part of a line of Barbies exclusive to Target stores, Yoga
Teacher Barbie has launched, reflecting the massive recent increase in yoga
practice in the US population.
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Though yoga is not yet an Olympic
event (thank goodness), there is a lot of striving and competition in yoga
classes today. As a culture, we’re goal-oriented and externally focused, and
our asana often reflects that. One way we can shift to internal awareness is to
practice the Pawanmuktasana
Series, simple joint movements or warm-ups that prepare the body for more
complex postures and focus the mind on coordinating breath and movement.
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The breath is a reflection of our mental state and vice
versa, yet often this connection goes unnoticed, even when it is ruling our
behavior. If you have ever realized that you were holding your breath then
taken a few full breaths, you may know the feeling of softening places you
weren’t even aware were becoming tense. The connection between our breath,
body, and mind is beautiful, fierce, fragile, and sometimes less under our
control than we would like to believe.
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In a modern
yoga-scape littered with self-development lit and enlightenment-centric
teachings, some of yoga’s finer—and more beautiful—teachings may be overlooked.
Self-compassion is one such teaching
that’s particularly emphasized in the Kripalu Yoga tradition (Kripalu means
“compassionate, merciful” in Sanskrit), referring to a deep and affective acceptance of present
moment experience as it arises, as well as recognition that one’s suffering is
common to all of humanity.
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The first yoga classes I attended were $3 each, guided by an
ashram-trained teacher in the dusty back room of a crystal shop. None of us had
a sticky mat (not yet widely available) to put on the concrete floor, and $100
yoga pants weren’t even a gleam in some marketer’s eye. Times have changed.
Classes today average $10-20, and most yogis would consider a mat a necessity.
No longer counter-culture, yoga has moved from backrooms and basements to spas
and studios, and it seems like everyone’s gone to the mat, from your best
friend’s mom to Hollywood celebrities. Though yoga practices are still
transmitted from teacher to student, technology has given us a myriad of ways
to “take” a class, from streaming video to Wii Fit.
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As yoga becomes big business, the average class is in danger
of pricing
out the average yogi. You can choose not to participate in the latest
designer yoga fashions, and a $15 mat works just fine, as do studio loaners.
Still, most of us are at the mercy of the yoga studio’s pricing scheme when it
comes to taking classes. The dilemma doesn’t fall only to students of yoga
though; developing an economically sustainable practice is a challenge that
affects students and teachers alike.
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Two-Part Series (Part One)
Oh, yoga. We love it, we leave it, and some of us may
eventually come back to it with a deeper appreciation of its multi-layered
complexity. Yoga instructor, JC Peters, recently blogged
about going “on a break” from her yoga practice. She notes that it’s not an
issue of discipline (she flosses), or lack of love for the practice (she still
enjoys occasionally playing sweet tunes and rolling around on her mat for 10-20
minutes). Instead, she’s felt “insulted” by yoga: “She’s been bossing around my
hamstrings and poking me in the belly. She has started telling me I’m not good
enough the way I am, that I need to adjust the angle of my foot, or that I need
to draw my low ribs in more, or that I should be thinking about my bikini body
as summer comes.” For Peters, Yoga Barbie was the last straw.
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Two-Part Series (Part Two)
Why does disillusionment
sometimes occur after immersion in yogic practices, and why does it send
many of us running for shelter from our once-beloved practice? The answer lies
in yoga’s seminal scripture, the Bhagavad
Gita. Pandava prince Arjuna asks the Supreme Lord Krishna to drive his
chariot into battle, only to face the dismal
prospect of engaging in combat his family, teachers, and friends at Krishna’s
behest. At the Gita’s conclusion, Arjuna surrenders fully to Krishna and
takes up the sword. The Gita
teaches us that to engage in the path of yoga and align with the divine, it
will not be easy. Indeed, at times our inner state will feel much like a
battleground, as old mental patterns (samskara) struggle to reassert their
primacy.
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Breaches of yoga etiquette happen all the time,
and are usually quickly forgotten. That is far from the case with a recent
incident that happened during a class at Facebook. Not only did a student in
this class demonstrate that she felt her phone deserved more attention and
respect than her practice, the instructor or the other students, she felt it
was necessary to complain about the look the instructor gave her for her
behavior. In an equally dazzling disregard for the entire yogic discipline, the
instructor was fired for the incident.
The story has blazed across the Internet as an amusing and sad commentary on
our addiction to constant stimulation. Underneath the absurdity of this
scenario lies a common human weakness: we are often strongly drawn towards
practices that perpetuate our imbalances rather than address them.
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Restorative
yoga is a gentle practice designed to promote relaxation. Like more
familiar yoga asanas, restorative poses can be sequenced to move the spine in
all directions—backbends, forward bends, twists, and inversions. But in
restorative poses, gravity becomes your partner, gently encouraging release and
openings while you are completely supported by bolsters, blankets,
pillows and other props. It’s a recipe for surrender.
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While many can attest to yoga’s
attenuating impact on hangovers, a Bushwick,
NY venue has stepped it up several notches. Doubling as a bar by night and
yoga studio by day, Cobra Club offers 1pm weekend “Hangover Yoga” to help patrons offset the effects of excess debauchery
the night before, throwing in a bloody mary or mimosa (after class, natch) to
sweeten the deal.
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