Area Yoga Brooklyn

Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon) 

We’re just past the halfway point of the year and with the sun closest to our part of the planet, Ardha Chandrasana, half-moon pose, can be our connection to the cool of the night.

Erin plays with getting into Ardha Chandrasana

Getting In: Start in virabhadrasana 2 (warrior 2), with your right foot forward. Turn your gaze toward the floor, a few feet directly in front of your right foot. Begin to reach for that spot on the floor with your right hand and press off your left foot behind you to launch forward. Your fingertips will come to the floor or you can put your hand on a block. Straighten your right leg and stack your left hip on top of your right hip – your left hip opens to allow your left toes to face the side wall. Your left leg lifts toward parallel to the floor. Take your left arm towards the sky and broaden across your collarbones to carry your left arm perpendicular to your torso and the ground. If you like, slowly turn your gaze to rest on your left hand.

Lining Up: Press your right big toe into the ground to stabilize your standing foot and simultaneously draw up your inner right arch, all the way up your right inseam. Flex your left foot as if your foot were on a wall to help keep the whole length of your leg buoyant and floating. Notice if your left leg has crossed into the plane of your right leg, and coax it back toward center by drawing your belly in; your left leg should come out straight from your hip socket. Draw both your knee caps up your legs to protect from hyper-extension. Has your lower back arched? Take some of the curve out of your back by continuing to reach out through your left foot to draw your pelvis away from your head – even take your tailbone towards your left foot; reach the crown of your head forward. Draw your abdomen in to encourage your right lung to chase your left lung as you rotate your torso evermore toward the sky. Lengthen your waist long. The more you rotate, the more your shoulder blades will glide toward each other on your back. Allow them to slip down your back to free your neck. Continue to widen across your collarbones to send your heart’s energy into both your open arms. Soften your gaze; smooth out your forehead; loosen your jaw.

Tuning In: This standing balance strengthens your legs and opens your hips and chest while promoting the sensation of lightness and buoyancy. Just as the moon radiates a soft glow, expand your energy in all directions of your body to lift yourself into your own place among the stars. (Keep breathing, lest you start to actually see stars.) No matter what your balance looks like, remind yourself that the moon is constant transit across the sky and transformation around the earth. The moon is never completely still, so allow yourself the freedom to breathe and the room to move. Let go of any anxiety about being still and smile at the idea that you are halfway between standing and completely turning your body upside down.

Phases of the Moon via Wikimedia Commons

This past week, I went home to New Hampshire for some much needed R and R. As previously mentioned, I’ve been feeling a bit frenzied and burnt out, so I thought that a bit of respite from the city could do wonders. Obviously, I’d like to be able to wrap my mind around some inner peace no matter my location, but I’m not sure I’m there yet. So family, trees, and sunshine seemed like a good bet.

Here’s the thing about good bets though: sometimes they aren’t good bets. That’s why we say “good bets” and not “good certainties.” The day that I got home, trying to make some Yogi Tea, I burnt my fingers on hot steam. Two days later, when I went to the hospital, they debrided the second degree burn and gave me a prescription for Vicodin. My initial reaction was: no thank you. Prescription pain killers did not seem congruous with my recent decision to try to heal from the inside out. So, I’m wondering if anyone in the Area Yoga community knows of an alternative natural pain killer that might be of use. Also, what about some practices to assist in the regrowth of tissue?

According to some prilimary research that I’ve conducted, there are some important nutritional steps to tissue regrowth. First of all, adequate protein intake is vital. I guess this is pretty obvious.  According to Douglas MacKay and Arthur Miller in an Alternative Medicine Review article, there are several other important nutritional components to wound healing though too, such as consumption of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, centella asiatica, aloe vera, zinc, and glucosamine. I am going to try purchasing some aloe vera juice and centella asiatica supplements to take alongside my multivitamin. Also, this may the week that I really need to embark on taking that Restorative Yoga class.

I’m always a bit wary when two seemingly unrelated things are combined to make one word.  The slew of celebrity couple pet names (for example Brangelina for Brad and Angelina and Speidi for Spencer and Heidi Pratt) never caught on with me, and I absolutely abhor any iteration of combined languages (Spanglish, Franglish, you get the picture).  When I saw that Area Yoga was offering a new Yogalates class, I was more than a bit skeptical.  After attending the first class, and despite my doubts, it seems that this portmanteau is one worth checking out.

That’s not to say this class was especially easy for me.  I found it to be a challenge, and it’s probably because I used to be one of those gym disciples:  5 days a week, hard cardio, 20 minutes of abdominal workouts.  I’m used to pushing my body to the limit physically – kicking the crap out of it every day just to start over the next morning.  For me, working out was about punishment – and all of my negative energy was felt in my workout.  At yesterday’s class, that simply wasn’t an option.

Yogalates is most definitely a combination of Yoga and Pilates – as the name would suggest.  This isn’t a hard-core ab work out.  Instead you work with your body, utilizing breath to compliment your bodies natural movements while also focusing on core strength and toning.  Candice, the class’s instructor gives focus to each of the abdominal areas:  the pelvic floor and the four main abdominal muscles.  You’ll get a tone for that little pooch over your jeans and also trim some of those lovehandles that are especially pesky in swimsuit season.

Probably because the definition of an ab workout is so hard-wired in my brain, the movements and exercises didn’t come easily for me.  Luckily, Candace was there to show the class how to do each move and to correct students as we moved along in the class.  Just as I reached frustration’s breaking point, we moved on to the more classic yoga movements to close out the class.  As we progressed through the movements, Candace was sure to stretch every muscle we utilized – meaning I was able to move today (a nice surprise for someone who’s used to waking frozen the day after a hard workout)!

If your skeptical, as I was, I suggest you give Yogalates a try.  I can’t say I’m completely a convert, but I do notice a difference in my core strength already.  I’ll be back next week to give it another shot as well!

Check out this blog post on the New York Times about core and abdominal exercises: Is Your Ab Workout Hurting Your Back? 

This may not exactly fall into our catergory of the health benefits of yoga, but it’s good reading for anyone interested in relieving back pain as it discusses some of the anatomy involved. Perhaps the most insightful comment is the one that reminds us to listen to our bodies’ individual needs.

On Sunday, I attended my first yoga class at Area Yoga Brooklyn, and I am so thrilled that I did. To give a bit of background, I am a freelance writer who supplements financially by working weekends at a night club, which I’m pretty sure is one of the least tranquil work environments New York has to offer, right behind taxi cab driving and policing. After working Friday and Saturday night, I was scheduled to work Sunday for the Puerto Rican Day Parade afterparty. Again, not exaclty your grandma’s sewing circle (unless your grandma gets really rowdy over embroidery) and so I decided to prep for a night of chaos by chilling out via yoga class.

When I arrived at the studio, I had just had a small argument with a friend and was reluctant to turn off my cellphone and put it away. We needed to talk things out, I thought, and what if she called? But then again, that was why I was at yoga: to permit some of the artificial and unnecessary sense of urgency in my life to fall away. So I turned my phone off, put it away, and laid out my yoga mat.

Once class started, our instructor Sarah informed the us that we would focus that day on Savasana, the final, corpse-like pose in yoga. It seemed almost fateful since I had come to yoga to quiet my perpetual mental bluster. Of course, I believed Savasana would be much easier than it actually is, reasoning that it is only lying down after all. Oh how wrong I was! The more I tried to make my body relax, the less it would! I started feeling muscles in my bodies contract that I had never even known existed; even the spaces between my fingers tensed. I was plagued by thoughts that if I did not manage to successfully relax, that I would have failed and wasted time. This, of course, is not very conducive to good Savasana. Fortunately, Sarah was hugely helpful. She assisted me by gently relaxing my brow and shoulders, and once you get those bad boys chilled out, you’ve got a pretty good start on Savasana.

Later, when I went to work, although there were many factors that normally would have led to my irritation, I was really quite giddy actually. The crowd felt like less of an obstacle, I did not get annoyed with non-tipping customers, and despite the late hours, I did not become irately exhausted. Maybe it was just chanting “Boricua” like a mantra, but I felt very yoga-peaceful at work that night.

I admit that for many years I was resistant to yoga. I confused peace with anaesthetized living, couldn’t conceive of still posing as legitimate exercise, and considered physical activity to be in diametric opposition to spirituality. Then recently I came to the realization that I have not been living my life as best I could. Stressed out by the double shot of espresso, double shot of whiskey, Manhattan bound, Brooklyn bound, bound to be bound somewhere, searching for a better apartment, searching for a better job, searching for a better T-shirt, too wired to sleep, too tired to focus bluster of city life, I decided it was time to center myself before the helter skelter knocked me on my butt. I moved with a dear friend to a less populated neighborhood, getting rid of some superfluous belongings on the way, and promised to clear some mental space for myself.

As a child I biked every day, as an adolescent figure skated, and as a young adult ran rigorously (often six to nine miles daily) up until a couple of years ago. Then I fractured three vertebrae and after recuperating exercised less and less until I had become completely sedentary. While recently I have made some efforts to reincorporate exercise into my life, I realized that I needed a vehicle to provide me with a little something more besides an escape from sloth. I needed something to isolate my sense of perpetually mobile chaos and help me relax. And so… yoga.

On Sunday I will take my first class at Area Yoga Brooklyn, and this blog will follow my exploration of and journey through yoga as I attempt to live a less stressful, healthier, and more focused life.

Less, hugs, and rock & roll,
Yoga Neophyte

Yesterday I attended my first Area Yoga class.  I have to say, it was great – small class, hands on and inspiring instructor, and a cooperative and supportive group.  There was one big problem, I began to feel a little sick as I was walking from my apartment in Park Slope to Cobble Hill.

Here is the lesson I learned.  Yoga, though restorative and wonderful, cannot cure the flu.  What started as a nice practice turned into the most difficult yoga session I have ever had!  I left feverish, clammy, and sore all over when it was finished.

Taken by Loïc Dupasquier; accessed on www.flickr.com

I think this pretty painful experience is a good way for us all to learn.  When your body is telling you something, like “I don’t feel well,” or “I’m hungry,” LISTEN!  Our bodies are much smarter than many of us believe.  Although pushing yourself through a workout or practice may seem like a small deal, it can actually make you feel much worse.

I must say, as a side note, Candice is a wonderful teacher.  Her classes are structured in a fast paced fashion, but everyone in the room was able to complete the practice.  Some of us took more challenging moves, but we were all able to tailor our yoga to our own bodies – what each was telling us (although I wasn’t listening very well to mine).

I’m going to listen to my stuffy body for a few days.  I’ll be back to Area Yoga when this fever is down and I can breath through my nose again!

Hi all, Yogito here – the newest contributor to Area Yoga Brooklyn!

I’m hear to chronicle and share my journey with yoga (and Brooklyn!) over the next few months.  I may throw in a bit of advice as I go along, but I’m really just here to share experiences and hopefully grown in my love and understanding of yoga.

Revolving Lunge Pose; taken by MyYogaOnline; accessed at Flickr.com

Before I begin, I should describe myself a bit:  I’m new to Brooklyn but not new to yoga.  I actually began with Bikram Yoga – a very intense yoga done in a hot room.  You sweat out the toxins and your muscles become much more relaxed and pliable in the heat.  Then I moved to Vinyasa Yoga, and got totally hooked.  I’ve been doing it for two years now, and see no stop in sight.  I love yoga for the flexibility I gain, the stress I release, and the community I find.  I find myself at Area Yoga Brooklyn for those three things, and I hope I find them!

Although I’ve been practicing for two years, there’s no end to the learning in yoga – there’s always something exciting and new involved in it.  If you feel you can offer me advice, or would like some of mine – just let me know!

I start yoga tomorrow, and I’ve chosen the Basic 1 Hour with Erin!  Stay tuned for updates:  my favorite classes, most challenging poses, as well as a few things going on in Brooklyn!

Till then!,

Yogito

Here’s an oldie but a goodie: 77 Surprising Health Benefits of Yoga.

As we hear about new studies and research demonstrating the health benefits of yoga, we’ll post links to the stories here.