A beautiful twisting pose named for the great fish Matsyendranath, who overheard the teachings of Yoga by Lord Shiva to Parvati and who after 12 years of contemplation reincarnated as one of the world’s greatest Yogis. According to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, when Ardha Matsyendrasana is practiced, the life force energy is "channelized" toward the navel center which activates the process of awakening knowledge of the Self.
In the practice of yoga, one can find that twisting aids in clearing out of toxins in the body, which leads to a clearing out of contaminants in the mind. A clarity of mind aids in the evolution of wisdom, knowledge and enlightenment. Working with twisting poses like Ardha Matsyendrasana helps to cultivate the patience and compassion to “see” the past and move into the future with awareness and wisdom. We release our gripping or holding of the past as negative thoughts/stories and toxins and grow into the next new moment with a sense of peace and celebration. The breath creates the rhythm for this patient exploration. Every inhale is an expansive, nourishing rising wave..... and every exhale is an invitation to release and soften into the gentle fall of the next wave. "Wisdom leavens intelligence, and ennobles consciousness, and advances evolution itself" - Becoming Wise- An Inquiry into the Mystery of Living by Krista Tippet
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I would like to share with you what a wonderful journey this training has been for me.
It has been my salvation these past few months, and a metaphor for many parts of my life. Teacher Training has allowed me to profoundly deepen my practice and self-awareness. I have found that yoga offers some of the most therapeutic benefits, that are simply not available to me in other life experiences. The connection between the mind and body in yoga has been incredible. I hope one day to find a way to weave the practice of yoga into other areas of my world, helping others to experience some of the wonderful benefits that may unfold when one attends to the inner experience, perhaps while facing fear or discomfort and moving through it. Throughout the training, I was faced with challenges in my life and practice, many aspects of which were not of my choosing, that felt hard and at times insurmountable. Often I was bitter that I had less time available to commit to my yoga training than I hoped and planned. There were days when I was convinced that I could not get through what was being asked of me, both in training and in life in general. There were poses that I felt that I could never master. Often, upon reflecting, it became clear that these feelings were related less to my yoga practice and were in fact more of a mirror of other struggles in my life at the time. However, by looking inward to find strength and focus, I was able to move through these moments, which enabled me to get to the other side of each pose, practice and hard thing in my life. My yoga training has enabled me to use this time to bring myself back to center and to find inner peace when faced with chaos. I am typically extremely focused on mastering all that I do, to the point that I often lose myself in working toward producing an outcome, missing the process. Through TT, I continually reminded myself that this process is not about being perfect or an outcome, but rather about deepening my practice and knowledge of yoga, so that someday I may be able to help others experience some of the amazing benefits that it has brought to my life. For me, yoga is a journey, and one that I intend to continue as long as my body and mind allow. I am joyful that my training has enabled me to broaden and deepen this path and I am so very thankful to you for all that you have taught me and challenged me to do throughout the process. I look forward to continuing this journey, deepening my practice and self discovery, as well as being part of the BY community. Here's an interesting article and video about biomechanics and nutrition:
In this episode, Breaking Muscle Radio speaks with biomechanist Katy Bowman. Katy has earned an international reputation for reducing pain, increasing bone density, improving metabolic health, and solving pelvic floor mysteries. When Katy combines biomechanics with her passion for problem solving, and applies both to the human race, the insights she discusses with Managing Editor Becca Borawski Jenkins and Coach Nicole Crawford are astounding. Author: Rhiannon Kim 2015 - a wild, wild ride. 2015 broke me apart and broke me open in the most painfully beautiful ways I could have imagined. In 2015, I lost Pop, my grandfather who always told my partner, “Take good care of her—she’s a special one.” I lost Kathleen, the woman who made my wedding dress and who often showered me with divine praise. I lost Hank, an indescribably loving dog, whom I loved with my whole heart. Each of these beings who ceased to exist in my physical space had shared their love with me freely. Each loss hurt. The cumulative grief was overwhelming—uncontrollable sobbing and releasing and letting go. Every shred of my protective layering crumbled. Through the grieving, I began to open up to and feel the power of vulnerability. Those weren’t the only changes to my life in 2015. Click here to continue reading Before finding my teacher in Burlington, I used to think about the quote “When you are ready, the teacher appears.” While there is absolutely truth to that, I’ve coined my own version: “Keep searching for your teachers. You’ll know when you find them.” There are thousands of yoga teacher training programs popping up everywhere and it now seems more than ever, there are yoga teachers teaching every kind of yoga imaginable on every street corner. So how does one choose who to study from and to learn with? It’s an important journey, for both the teacher and student. I suggest that you choose carefully. Ask about lineage. Ask your teacher where she/he learned from. Essentially, you are learning from your teacher’s teacher, so be sure they learned from someone legit. There are lots of fads out there and it’s important that your teacher is a well trained and wise yoga scholar. They let go of ego. I know teachers who teach because it’s their mission. They do it from their heart; they do it with purpose and intention. They don’t do it because of the shape and size of their body, no matter how strong and flexible it is. These teachers teach from a deeper part, from a part that goes beyond their asana. They aren’t doing it for outside validation or because they look good in Ardha Chandrasana (half moon). You’ll know when you encounter a teacher like this. You’ll feel it. You don’t need to impress them. Excellent teachers care about the safety, alignment, and breath of their students. They don’t want to see students injure themselves by attempting to get into Sirsasana (head stand) incorrectly. Great teachers don’t care if their students spend the entire class in Balasana (child’s pose). Look for teachers that offer alternatives for challenging poses and teachers that offer easy to understand cues instead of leaping into asanas. Additionally, these teachers know how and when to use a soft touch and can help students deeper connect through this method. They assist. You know that feeling when a teacher helps you really open in a twist or expand in a back-bend? It’s magical. There's art to hands-on-assisting. My teacher once warned me about the weak-assist. Those may be worse than a weak handshake. The best yoga teachers offer adjustments with a powerful, strong hand. These assists are deep, powerful, and shows that the teacher is experienced and not afraid to guide their students. Additionally, my teacher assists me in my life too. She has helped me with career decisions and told me which are good vitamins to take. They are not life coaches, but quality yoga teachers are filled with knowledge about holistic living and can aid in making decisions from a yogic approach. The sequence makes sense. Students can’t be expected to get into a twist without having warmed up first. Experienced teachers build sequences that are intuitive and fluid, and most importantly are safe. Sequences should follow an arc, and leave the student rested and centered before Savasana. If you’re feeling rushed, confused, or in any pain during a yoga class, the teacher is probably not prepared to lead a class. Other cues that you’ve found a great teacher include the stability and quality of her voice, excellent music, but not overly relying on music, a knowledge of sanskrit, incorporates breath work in her class, and a sense that she lives a yogic life of compassion, kindness, and balance. Yoga teachers are inspiring souls and it’s worth the wait to find the best ones. I’ve met yoga “celebrities” and traveled far to meet them, but was left disappointed. My favorite yoga teachers live in my town and also are very real people. It’s easy to put teachers on a pedestal and to worship them. Admire them, respect them, learn from them, but remember that they are very human. With deep gratitude to all my teachers. Molly Ritvo By Molly Ritvo We’re constantly bombarded with images, advertisements, and even self negative talk about what our bodies should look like. For women, this is particularly dangerous and can leave us filled with doubt, sadness, and even shame about our bodies. Yeah, I’m talking to you, Sports Illustrated. One of the reasons why I first started practicing yoga was because it gave me a place to feel centered and connected to my body. I was also blessed to find a teacher who taught me the building blocks of alignment, how to come to my breath, and how to find stability, balance, and expansion in the asanas. After years of attending aerobic, cardio, and weight classes in front of mirrors and bright lights, I felt gratitude for finding yoga and a warm, quiet room filled with beautiful music and calming essential oils. It was a space without horrible gym lighting and irritating trainers and uncomfortable locker rooms with no privacy and way too loud pop music. I discovered that it didn’t matter what kind of clothes I wore. It wasn’t about the surface and cosmetic side of movement. It was about something much, much deeper - something that healed the inside. I would leave yoga classes feeling calmer, more grounded, and even lighter. I still feel that unique ease today that I can only find at yoga. However, something else has started to unfortunately cloud the yoga industry. Lululemon, Athleta, and other major clothing and retail companies have started to capitalize on yoga and have started to infiltrate these sacred yoga spaces. Kripalu and exotic yoga retreat centers in Mexico now seem like commercials for white people in yoga pants, paleo energy bars, and fresh kale juice. And then Instagram entered the yoga-spehere. Suddenly, social media has turned into a competition and compilation of teachers contorting themselves into challenging, yet sexy asanas wearing bright colored mala beads with hashtags such as #yogaeverydamnday & even #yogafitbody. Suddenly ambassadors of clothing companies are selling yoga in a way that rubs me the wrong way. This yoga porn is bastardizing the true essence of what yoga is. A daring teacher recently wrote “As a yoga teacher and yoga studio owner, I feel the urge to speak out against yoga porn as it’s just so damaging to women's self esteem and perpetuates the body image problems that yoga is slated to cure.” I couldn’t agree more. I wish that yoga teachers didn’t use their bodies to attract students and I wish that there were more images of what yoga really teaches us (like how to be a better friend, or how find stillness in challenging situations, and how important the breath is). Luckily, there are still studios where yoga is taught is in its true nature and where students can leave with that sense of peace we all seek. Luckily, we can seek out those places, studios, & find teachers who inspire us and offer healing as an antidote to the commercialization of yoga. Thank you, Burlington Yoga for always being that space. |
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