121563415-45858051-Yoga-Journal-2010-11

+Slow-Cooked ComforT food oN A bUSy SChedUle

yoga Journal

Could headstand hurt you? New techniques to protect your neck

Challenging asana, tranquil mind

How old is that pose? A historian’s discoveries might surprise you

Ultimate rejuvenation

12 blissful yoga vacations!

Happier holidaysbe the change you want to see in your family

strong body,open heart9 poses to feel more joy

contents

features wish you were here ( 78 )

Planning a dream vacation? Here are 5 luxurious

yoga destinations worth saving up for.

by Rachel Lehmann-Haupt and Sarah Saffian

yoga’s greater truth ( 66 )

A scholar embarks on a quest to trace the roots

of his yoga practice. What he discovers confounds

and unsettles him, and, ultimately, gives him a

new perspective on tradition. by Mark Singleton

artistry in action ( 70 )

What would you do if you found that the practice

you love was causing you harm? In this cautionary

tale, yoga teacher and artist Patricia Sullivan

shares her story of injury, self-discovery,

and healing in Headstand. by Patricia Sullivan

on the cover Happier holidays: Be

the change you want to

see in your family ( 55 )

Strong body, open heart:

9 poses to feel more joy

( 63 )

Could Headstand hurt

you? New techniques to

protect your neck ( 70 )

Challenging asana,

tranquil mind ( 89 )

How old is that pose?

A historian’s discoveries

might surprise you ( 66 )

Ultimate rejuvenation:

12 blissful yoga vacations

( 78 )

Slow-cooked comfort food

on a busy schedule ( 41 )

78

66

70Cover credits

KK Ledford in Eka Pada

Rajakapotasana II,

variation (One-Legged

King Pigeon Pose II);

stylist: Jane Black/Ford;

hair/makeup: France

Pierson; clothing:

top: Elisabetta Rogiani;

leggings: Zobha.

Photographed by

TRINETTE REED

& chRIs gRamLy

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november 2010

+SLOW-COOKED COMFORT FOOD ON A BUSY SCHEDULE

yoga JOURNAL

Could Headstand hurt you? New techniques to protect your neck

Challenging asana, tranquil mind

How old is that pose? A historian’s discoveries might surprise you

Ultimate rejuvenation

12 blissful yoga vacations!

Happier holidaysBe the change you want to see in your family

strong body,open heart9 poses to feel more joy

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practice

home practice withamy ippoliti ( 63 )

Heart wide open Create a stable base

and strengthen your arms, and you’ll be

free to expand ecstatically into Wild Thing.

master class withjohn schumacher ( 89 )

Take aim As you prepare for Archer

Pose I (Akarna Dhanurasana I), learn to

direct the arrow of awareness at yourself.

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eating wisely ( 41 )

Slow food For cozy home-cooked meals

on a fast-paced schedule, try a slow cooker.

by Lynn Alley

well being ( 49 )

Down to earth When life is a whirlwind, take

time to ground yourself, which Ayurvedic

tradition considers especially important as

the seasons change. by Timothy McCall, MD

inspiration

om ( 21 )

Bringing your practice to life Viewing the

world with traveler’s eyes; Asian spices for

dinner; probiotics for better health; skin

care by dosha; yoga-inspired travelwear.

reflection ( 37 )

Bird’s eye view Caring for animals injured

in the Gulf oil spill leads a woman to consider

ahimsa in a new light. by Allison Ford

wisdom ( 55 )

Branching out Going home for the holi days

can mean getting stuck in old family

patterns—or growing into something new.

by Sally Kempton

media ( 99 )

A wrap-up of the latest in online yoga videos,

plus reviews of the latest books, CDs, and

DVDS, including books by and about K.

Pattabhi Jois; Mantra Yoga, from David

Frawley; and Diamonds in the Sun, by Girish.

the yj interview ( 116 )

Messenger of love Krishna Das says

chanting the names of Hindu gods isn’t

religious—it’s just joyful. by Kelle Walsh

contents november 2010

eDITor’S leTTer ( 12 )

ConTrIbuTorS ( 14 )

leTTerS ( 16 )

yoGA PAGeS ( 110 )

lIVInG Well ( 113 )

ClASSIFIeDS ( 114 )

6 y o g A j o u r n A L . C o M n o V e m b e r 2 0 1 0

POST SAVASANA BLISS.

YOGA. LOVE. RUN. PEACE.

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new at

yogajournal.com

MORE ONLINE Look for this symbol throughout the magazine, pointing you to exclusive content and free offers on yogajournal.com.

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visit our

cover galleryWe asked; you voted! Which Yoga Journal

cover from the past 35 years was voted

the most retro? Which was the most

inspirational? Which cover model would

you most like to have dinner with?

And which cover was awarded best of

the bunch? Log on to find out.

covers.yogajournal.com

8 y O g a j O u R N a L . c O M n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0

our new blog follows teachers

on their adventures around the

world. This month: Follow Iyen-

gar teacher Cora Wen on her

magical mystical Tour through

the Himalayas and bhutan.

blogs.yogajournal.com/teachers_on_tour

enter Yoga Journal’s

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a holistic vegetarian cruise,

plus other fabulous prizes!

yogajournal.com/freestuff

Flip to pages 63 and 89 to read through masterful

sequences by Anusara Yoga teacher Amy Ippoliti

and Iyengar Yoga teacher John Schumacher; then,

practice along with the video versions online.

yogajournal.com/livemag

this month’s

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A video message from Kaitlin can be

found online at yogajournal.com/livemag. watch▼

( )reality showWhen life throws us hard truths,

yoga helps us view them with honesty

and handle them with grace.

The truth isn’t always easy to live with, but it is often our best teacher. Some

personal stories in this issue offer a sweet reminder that a commitment to yoga can

give us the tools to approach the truths that we wish were different, to see our

beliefs for what they are (not necessarily the truth!), and to act with as much clarity

and grace as possible. In “Artistry in Action” ( page 70), yoga teacher Patricia Sulli-

van, who has been practicing for 40 years, shares the dramatic tale of discovering

that the asana practice she knew was providing her with great benefits was

also causing her great harm. This difficult revelation led Patricia to reassess her

approach to the practice (leaving beloved poses

behind for a while) and to reinvent it, slowly and

painstakingly, and honestly. As readers, not only

do we learn from her example of self-inquiry

and honoring the truth of her body—but we also

gain a deeper understanding of how to prepare for

and practice Headstand, safely.

The yoga scholar Mark Singleton, too, shares

his journey through the territory of disappoint-

ment and confusion when he learns that the

Ash tanga vinyasa practice he has dedicated much

of his life to is not necessarily what he thought it

was. The revelations he revisits in “Yoga’s Greater Truth” ( page 66 ) are likely to be

rather shocking for a yoga community that hangs the hat of authenticity on lineage

and history. (Could your practice owe as much to European gymnastics as to the

ancient rishis, or seers, of India?) Mark, too, uses the truth as an opportunity for

self-reflection, and grapples with the question: If the practice isn’t as “authentic”

as it was once assumed, is it necessarily less beneficial?

Then, in “Bird’s Eye View” ( page 37), Allison Ford explores the meaning of ahimsa

(nonviolence) while rescuing birds whose instincts lead them to react violently to

their helpers. How do you apply ahimsa when the actions you take to help others

also cause them pain or fear? Though there is no easy answer, Allison does her best

to honor the seemingly contradictory truths of the birds’ reactions and their needs.

Practicing yoga gives us the fortitude to see paradoxes, face difficult truths, and

then stick around long enough to see what they might have to teach us. Now that

is a truth worth celebrating. ✤

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editor’s letter kait l in Quistgaard

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trinette reed & chris gramly

patricia sullivan

kk ledford

This photography duo and couple has signed

up for a most enviable profession: visiting

spas and resorts in the name of work. Whether

shooting in the Napa Valley, St. Barts, or

Tahiti, they are masters of inviting you to

imagine that those are your toes dangling in

turquoise water while palms gently sway

nearby. Reed and Gramly, who have also shot

for Spa and Condé Nast Traveler magazines,

have a love, Reed says, for “places that are

designed to create a sanctuary away from the

chaos of day-to-day life.” Based in San Francisco, they also enjoy capturing yoga

images, like the joyful cover shot of KK Ledford, which are informed by their own

practices. “Regular yoga makes everything in life a little easier,” Reed says.

Cover model and certified Anusara Yoga teacher

KK Ledford enjoys the many labels that fans and

friends have given her: fierce, feisty, faerie, and, from

Anusara Yoga founder John Friend, “president of the

Keep Anusara Weird Committee.” Ledford, who

lives in San Francisco, has her own label for what she

teaches: Wild Moon Wisdom, which is a blend of

Anusara, astrology, herbalism, and a healthy dose of

humor that invites her students to go deeper into the

practice—and into themselves. Though she grew up

on a farm in eastern Texas, where yoga was hardly

common, Ledford was an active, flexible, and spiritually attuned kid. When she

discovered the practice in her late teens, she was hooked; by age 22 she was teaching.

And when she met Friend in 1998, “I knew right away I had found my teacher.”

Having studied and taught yoga for 40 years, sculptor

Patricia Sullivan (“Artistry in Action,” page 70) knows

that a yoga practice, like clay, is shaped by the influ-

ences of the practitioner. Studying in India with B. K. S.

Iyengar and his daughter, Geeta, and teaching at the

Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco gave her a

steady focus on alignment and the innate intelligence of

the body. As her practice broadened to include other

traditions, especially Zen Buddhism, her teaching—

and her art—grew with it. Today she’s as likely to sculpt

the Buddhist goddess Kuan Yin as Hindu deities like

the Shiva/Shakti shown on page 71. Her teaching, too, has expanded. “I include

things I’ve learned in my Zen practice and from my life experience,” she says.

“My students are getting a synthesis of yoga and anything that I think is useful.”

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I don’t think Yoga Journal has be come

“another voice for the status quo.” It has

always been artistic, tasteful, and inspira

tional in its content. Don’t change a thing!

Mia Larson Great Falls, Montana

It was unfortunate to see Judith Hanson

Lasater’s letter expressing displeasure

with partial nudity in some Yoga Journal

ads. Modern yoga in so many ways is asana

oriented; thus, the body plays a major

role in one’s yoga practice. While some

of the photos may be attention grabbing,

they are neither titillating, distasteful,

nor exploita tive. They are beautifully

executed asa nas by accomplished yoginis.

Advertisements allow us to receive

Sally Kempton’s pearls of wisdom, Roger

Cole’s gems on anatomy, Christopher

Wallis’s and Kate Holcombe’s juicy in

sights into philosophy, and the list goes

on. Each person may not like all parts of

the magazine; perhaps that becomes an

opportunity to practice karuna and upek-

sha, resting then in santosha, focusing on

what is valued in the publication.

Anne O’Brien Glen Ellen, California

Sciatica CautionThank you for the article “Sciatica Sooth

ers” (Om, Sept. ’10). It was helpful to illus

trate which asanas provide relief, but be

sure to indicate which asanas may cause

pain and instability. For example, I have

found when I externally rotate my hip in

Vrksasana (Tree Pose) or Janu Sirsasana

It’s GettingHot in HereI found it amusing when

I read Judith Hanson

Lasater’s re cent letter

about ad vertisements

using photos of naked or halfnaked

women to promote a product (Letters,

Sept. ’10). Coincidentally, I have been

feeling the same, about both Yoga Journal

and the state of yoga in general, particu

larly in the West, where it seems to simul

taneously move mankind toward a better

place and hold it back through yoga’s

own brand of consumerism. Perhaps to

achieve the former one must tolerate the

existence of the latter?

Lee Kirts Hatfield, Pennsylvania

I was so happy to hear someone of Judith

Hanson Lasater’s magnitude share wis

dom about something that needs to be

addressed. It feels disheartening that

your magazine needs to have the same

“sex sells” mentality that is so prevalent.

It seems like yoga has become more about

the trendy things you can buy instead of

the real practice anymore—talk about

marketing frenzy!

Mira Holiman West Fork, Arkansas

On the Other Hand ...I was saddened by Judith Hanson Lasa

ter’s letter chastising Yoga Journal for its

advertisements, and I disagree with the

assertion that the ads objectify women.

Every month, I look forward to the new

est Hard Tail ad—inspirational! Kathryn

Budig’s ToeSox ads—pure art! The prod

uct advertisements for anything from

vitamins to ecofriendly yoga mats—keep

’em coming! Living in a rural area, I don’t

have access to the same things that are

available in bigger areas. The advertise

ments in Yoga Journal let me know what’s

out there. Er

ik A

lM

ÅsThe exercise instructions and advice presented in this magazine are designed for people who are in good health

and physically fit. They are not intended to substitute for medical counseling. The creators, producers, partici-

pants, and distributors of Yoga Journal disclaim any liability for loss or injury in connection with the exercises

shown or the instruction and advice expressed herein.

like it!

People in Europe are scratching their

heads over this one, wondering, “What

is America’s problem?” These kinds

of ads have been the norm over here

for decades. I think the human body

is a thing of beauty, and we would

do well to see it in all its glory more

often. Bill Mueller

I love seeing yoga poses done well,

and I hardly noticed that the model

in the ads was naked. I said to my

self, “That’s a beautiful pose.” With

these ads, I take it that Yoga Jour

nal’s subscription price stays down

to earth so that I get to read it for

the articles—and I do love those

ar ticles. Amee

It’s funny how Lasater’s letter has

been boiled down to “Oh, no, nudity!”

I didn’t take it that way at all, but

rather as a lament for how yoga,

as presented in Yoga Journal, specifi

cally in the ads, has become about

selling a product rather than teach

ing yoga. But I can also skip the

ads to read the meat of the YJ arti

cles and practice yoga in my plain ol’

sweats and Tshirt and be perfectly

happy and fulfilled. Jennifer Minnick

I wonder what people would feel

like if they had to pay the full cost

of production of Yoga Journal with

out advertising. I wish I still looked

like the beautiful models in the

ads! Thank you, Yoga Journal, for

pro viding daily inspiration for my

practice! Melissa D. Corbin

Become a fan by visiting facebook.com/

yogajournal and clicking on “like.”

in the september issue, we printed a letter from Judith Hanson lasater that ignited

a passionate response from the yoga com-munity. (read the letter here yogajournal

.com/lifestyle/3058 and an editorial response here blogs.yogajournal.com/

yogadiary/2010/08.) Here’s how some YJ readers responded to the debate on our Facebook page.

1 6 y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m n O v E M B E r 2 0 1 0

letters

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Natural Has a New Address:

Natural diet side effects may include extreme purring as if to say,“Permission granted to stroke my gorgeous coat. Begin at once!”

(Head-of-the-Knee Pose), it leads to my

pelvis and sacrum going out of alignment,

and more pain and tingling.

Lora Cole Berlin, Maryland

Support Family Farms I feel that agriculture was misrepresented

in “Diet for a Healthy Planet” (Well Be -

ing, Sept. ’10). Family farms make up

the majority of farms in America, and

are dedicated to upholding the highest

standards of animal care and well-being.

For example, Organic Pastures, in Cali-

fornia, is a certified organic dairy that

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and receive shares of milk. When their

milk-producing years are over, the cows

are retired and supply manure for an or -

ganic composting company.

Hailey Harroun Fort Collins, Colorado

send feedback tO Letters, Yoga Journal, 475 Sansome Street, Suite 850, San Francisco,

CA 94111; email: [email protected]; fax: (415) 591-0733. Include your name, city, state,

and phone number. Letters and emails may be edited for length and clarity.

Small Town, Big HeartI wanted to say thank you to Yoga Journal

for such a fine magazine and website. I

live in New Harmony, Indiana, a com-

munity of less than 1,000 people. I like

to compare it to the Andy Griffith Show,

but with lots of art and culture. I lead a

small hatha yoga class here in town and

have found your magazine and website

to be invaluable sources of information.

Molly Felder New Harmony, Indiana

Inclusivity AppreciatedI just finished reading the September issue

and was pleased to see African Americans

as models for several stories. Thank you

for being more inclusive and reflecting

the variety of people who do yoga.

Sarah V New York, New York

Yoga Helped MeThe article “Warriors at Peace” (Aug. ’10)

touched my soul. I was in Iraq, and in the

military for almost seven years. The tran-

sition to civilian life has been very hard.

But yoga has given me the balance, focus,

and self-acceptance I need. I may not be

able to break the habit of waking up at 5

a.m., but I can do yoga during that time.

Jennifer Bendus Deridder, Louisiana

cOrrectiOn: In “35 mOMents,” Eric

Shaw’s timeline of yoga history (Sept.

’10), the entry “standards of practice”

(1999) should have read: “Yoga Alliance

establishes a registry to recognize teach-

ers that meet its training standards.” Yoga

Alliance does not license yoga teachers.

Thank you, Molly Felder, for your

handmade envelope. We loved it!

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After my husband

and I returned from a

trekking honeymoon

in Peru, we decided

we would get up early

every morning and

take a long walk together before hitting our

favorite coffee spot. Some mornings I had to cut

our walk short, or skip it altogether to get to a

class on time, but when that happened, it felt like

something essential was missing. So when my

husband went away on a business trip, I kept up

the ritual with our dog, Rosie, and discovered

a new world outside my door.

Rosie stops to curiously sniff every tree as if

it’s the first tree she’s ever seen, as if she’s never

before smelled the scent of another dog. She

barks at every passing skateboard as if it is an

astonishing sight—a wild stallion bucking down

the street that she must herd! And she stalks

every squirrel with the unshakable faith that one

day she’ll catch one.

Then, a few mornings ago, I noticed that Rosie

had begun to skulk along a grassy patch next to

the sidewalk. She had spotted a squirrel. She

approached, careful not to disturb a single blade

of grass, and then she lunged, just missing the

squirrel as it scampered up a chainlink fence,

sped along the top, and then leapt like a dare devil

onto a tree branch a few feet away.

Witnessing the magic of this moment instantly

opened me up. Just the night before, a friend

from out of town had asked me if I had grown

used to Manhattan’s endless avenues and tower-

ing buildings, or whether I was still filled with awe

and reverence every time I stepped outside. I

brave new worldCultivate the fresh

perspective and heightened awareness

of a traveler to a distant land.

n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m 2 1

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mind

realized I had indeed become so accus-

tomed to my surroundings that I no

longer even noticed them.

In the mountains and rainforests of

Peru, I saw everything. We walked slowly,

picked up interesting rocks, dipped our

fingers in the glacier waterfalls, and

tasted the sweet fruit of coffee berries

right off the bush. We were like Rosie,

investigating the world around us with

curiosity and appreciation. But the locals

who were running the tourists’ camping

gear back and forth on the trails behaved

in those breathtaking mountains the

way I often behave in New York. They

didn’t have time to look around, so they

forgot where they were and lost their

appreciation for the place. Traveling,

away from the responsibilities of daily

life, gives us permission to slow down and

look around. But it’s not where you are

that’s important—it’s giving yourself per-

mission to have that heightened aware-

ness of sights and experiences.

After Rosie’s encounter with the squir-

rel that morning, I began to see my city

through new eyes. I started smiling and

saying hello to people on my early-

morning walks. I felt a connection with

them and with everything else I saw—

the paved streets and their potholes,

the urban fauna and the manmade struc-

tures around which they have adapted.

I noticed the old brick brownstones

and the modern condos; the fledgling

boutiques and coffee shops with window

signs still reading Closed; the rusty,

defunct factory buildings blocking my

view of the East River. Every morning on

my walk I experience these things as if

for the first time. And I fall in love with

them all over again. elizabeth Neuse

Elizabeth Neuse teaches meditation and vinyasa

and therapeutic yoga in New York City.

sweet life

REMEMBER Repeat this

affirmation of sovereignty: “Here

I am.” This moment is the only

one. The beginning and the end

of your experience is the here

and now. Suggest to yourself,

“Now, I am awake. I remember

who I am, and I am present to

the world around me.”

mirka kraftsoW

Mirka Kraftsow is co-director of the

American Viniyoga Institute. She

teaches the art of personal practice.

brave new world

A busy mind is like a blind-

fold, keeping the sights and

sounds of the world from

penetrating your awareness.

When you’re distracted, you miss the opportunities to enjoy

the sweetness of your surroundings—and yourself. Take these

three simple actions to wake up to the present moment:

STOP Clap your hands, just

once, but loudly, as if you wanted

to get someone’s attention.

(Your attention!) If you’re in a

public place, you might, instead,

silently but emphatically say

to yourself, “Wake up!”

Feel more joy when you

stop, breathe, and notice

the moment you are in.

BREATHE Do a brief

round (20 counts) of Kapal-

abhati Pranayama (Skull

Shining Breath). Or simply

take a few focused, deep

breaths with the intention

to enliven your whole being

with oxygen.

2 2 y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m N O v E M B E R 2 0 1 0

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Jane Austin

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Julie Gudmestad

Hemalayaa

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Brent Kessel

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Erik Kipp

Gary Kraftsow

Judith Hanson Lasater

Cyndi Lee

David Life

Tias Little

Timothy McCall

Richard Miller

Dharma Mittra

Eddie Modestini

Paul Muller-Ortega

Jason Nemer

Aadil Palkhivala

Sarah Powers

Shiva Rea

David Romanelli

Desiree Rumbaugh

Jenny Sauer-Klein

Beth Shaw

Sianna Sherman

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Rod Stryker

David Swenson

Jasmine Tarkeshi

Patricia Walden

Darshana Weill

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Jane Austin

Baron Baptiste

Scott Blossom

Kathryn Budig

Jnani Chapman

Seane Corn

Jason Crandell

Nicki Doane

Dana Flynn

Ana Forrest

Richard Freeman

Sharon Gannon

Amanda Giacomini

Julie Gudmestad

Hemalayaa

Leslie Howard

Anodea Judith

Brent Kessel

Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa

Erik Kipp

Gary Kraftsow

Judith Hanson Lasater

Cyndi Lee

David Life

Tias Little

Timothy McCall

Richard Miller

Dharma Mittra

Eddie Modestini

Paul Muller-Ortega

Jason Nemer

Aadil Palkhivala

Sarah Powers

Shiva Rea

David Romanelli

Desiree Rumbaugh

Jenny Sauer-Klein

Beth Shaw

Sianna Sherman

Stephanie Snyder

Rod Stryker

David Swenson

Jasmine Tarkeshi

Patricia Walden

Darshana Weill

Rusty Wells

Wendy Wyvill

MC Yogi

YJEVENTS.COM

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Last spring, after months of

caring for her, I lost my dear

mother to lymphoma. Several

months later I lost my job. I

was devastated, angry, and unmoored. My husband

was dealing with his own stresses, and we started

shutting each other out. Life was not very sweet.

I had practiced yoga for more than five years,

but my husband had never shared the practice

with me. Now, feeling that I needed to clear my

head and make a fresh start, I signed up for a solo

yoga retreat at Bali Spirit in Ubud, Bali. I told my

husband I couldn’t find a friend to go with me who

was excited about yoga, so I was going alone. He

said, “I’ll get excited about yoga,” and from that

moment, everything began to change.

Nestled between the Yoga Barn and the Zen

Spa, our hotel was surrounded by rice paddies and

palm trees. Our day began with a morning swim,

a pranayama class, and breakfast, followed by a dif-

ferent yoga class for each of us. My husband

started with “tight guy” and beginner classes, while

I took more vigorous ones.

After class, we met up to explore the sights.

Balinese culture is filled with so much beauty and

gratitude; daily offerings of sweet incense and

colorful flowers filled the streets. We never saw an

argument or a fuss over anything. People seemed

to glow with inner happiness.

As the days went by, we started to reconnect in

a magical way. My husband was excited about his

new yoga practice; he was losing weight and feeling

great. I was finally releasing my grief in this joyful,

nurturing, safe, and fulfilling space. Now that we’re

back home, we feel closer and more loving than we

could have ever dreamed. I feel my mother’s spirit

nearby and am grateful for her beautiful presence

in my life. Life is very, very sweet.

SHEEna nancy SarlES

the heart grows fonderWith distance,

a couple finds

each other.

practice makes perfect

In Yoga Sutra I.13, Patanjali

tells us that reaching a state

of yoga, or citta vrtti nirod-

hah, requires certain efforts,

and that it takes still more

effort to remain stable there.

Specifically, Patanjali tells

us we must commit to mak-

ing the necessary efforts to

support our practice. Wheth-

er that means waking up

earlier to do it, forgoing a fa-

vorite TV show so we can

get to sleep earlier, or priori-

tizing time for ourselves

and our practice, it is only

through continued effort and

a desire to nurture our prac-

tice that we can reach a state

of yoga. KaTE HolcombE

Kate Holcombe is the founder

and co-director of Healing Yoga

Foundation in San Francisco.

Her teachings apply the Yoga

Sutra of Patanjali to daily life.YOGA DIARY Share your

personal stories with us at

yogajournal.com/submissions.

Yoga Sutra I.13

To achieve and remain

stable in a state of yoga, or

focused concentration

(citta vrtti nirodhah), you

must make the effort to give

strength to your foundation

through practice.

n o V e m b e r 2 0 1 0 Y O G A j O u R n A l . c O m 2 5

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food

spice it up

If you can’t head to Asia this

week, bring some of its flavors

to you. Spice pastes, sauces, and

dried mixes lend an exotic flair

to a quick weeknight meal.

1 For fast flavor, cook

fresh vegetables

with WorldFoods’ Thai

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2 Add veg gies and

tofu to Tikka Masala

Simmer Sauce ($4.99

for 12 oz.) from Seeds

of Change for a con-

venient take on the

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3 For an instant delicious Indian

marinade or dip, stir Neera’s

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4 Mix Garam Masala from Juliet

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5 Serve grilled tofu with Thai

Kitchen’s rich Peanut Satay

Sauce ($4.69 for 8 oz.).

1

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wellness

love bug

The human digestive tract is home to hun-

dreds of species of microbes. Under healthy

conditions, the good microbes have the

upper hand over harmful ones. But some-

times the balance is upset—when you’re

taking antibiotics, for example, or you con-

tract a case of traveler’s diarrhea.

A growing body of research shows that

ingesting concentrated doses of friendly

bacteria in the form of probiotic supple-

ments can help reset that balance and may

be as effective as medication in treating cer-

tain digestive disorders. The key to finding

relief is to choose the right strain, says Barry

Goldin, a professor of nutrition at Tufts

University’s nutrition school in Boston.

“Probiotics can have very significant effects

on health when you get the right strains

for the right conditions,” Goldin says.

Probiotics may even play a larger role in

your overall health. Researchers are explor-

ing their potential to help treat a range of

conditions from cavities to the common

cold. Some naturopaths already recommend

taking probiotic supplements or eating

foods containing live cultures on a regular

basis to boost immunity.

FIND THE RIGHT BUG

Not feeling well? Choose a supplement that

contains the right strain for your condition.

for traveler’s diarrhea use Saccharomyces

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for antibiotic-induced diarrhea use Saccha-

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Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus bulgari-

cus, and Streptococcus thermophilus. for

bloating, gas, or irritable bowel syndrome

use Bifidobacterium infantis 35624. for bac-

terial vaginosis use Lactobacillus rhamnosus

GR-1 combined with Lactobacillus fermen-

tum RC-14. HeatHer boerner

Traditional diets have

always included cultured

and fermented foods such

as yogurt, pickled vegeta-

bles, or soy products,

which may help tip the bal-

ance in the gut in favor of

health-promoting bacteria.

While supplements are

helpful for treating specif-

ic conditions, getting your

probiotics in food can

help you maintain healthy

intestines, according to

nutritionist Jo Ann Hattner,

RD, the author of Gut Insight:

Probiotics and Prebiotics for

Digestive Health and Well-Being.

She suggests eating fermented

or cultured foods with naturally

occurring friendly bacteria as

well as food products with added

live cultures. She also suggests

eating foods containing nondi-

gestible ingredients known as

prebiotics—fibrous molecules

that nourish the friendly bacteria

present in the body. H.b.

Friendly bacteria help

keep your intestinal

ecosystem in balance.

food sources

of PREBIOTICS,

fibrous molecules

that nourish

friendly bacteria:

* artichokes

* bananas

* leeks

* onions

* whole wheat

feed your belly

cultured or

fermented foods

that contain

PROBIOTICS:

* kimchi

* kombucha

* miso

* sauerkraut

* yogurt

2 8 y o G a j o U R N a l . c o m n O v E m B E R 2 0 1 0

The lucy Hatha Power Pant™

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ayurveda

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The science of Ayurveda holds

that every part of our mind

and body is governed by

the doshas, the bioenergetic

forces that sustain life. Skin

is no exception, says Pratima

Raichur, an Ayurvedic physi-

cian and the author of Abso-

lute Beauty: Radiant Skin and

Inner Harmony Through the

Ancient Secrets of Ayurveda.

Learn about your dosha and

discover the skin-care routine

that’s best for you. (For more,

go to yogajournal.com/dosha.)

Ayurvedic teachings sug-

gest that applying essential

oils appropriate to your dosha

can rejuvenate the skin and

bring harmony to the mind.

Glowing skin and inner peace—

sounds good, right? Here’s

how to get it. hillari DowDle

The pitta dosha is governed

by fire and water and mani-

fests in oily, sensitive skin

with a tendency toward

inflammation, rashes, and

acne. Try soothing, cooling

essential oils like lavender,

ylang-ylang, fennel, neroli,

melissa, and sandalwood.

If you’re a pitta type...

1 Solavedi Organics Shatavari

Balancing Facial Moisturiser

($34 for 2 oz., solavedi.com)

employs essential oils and the

herb shatavari, often used to

soothe pitta skin types.

2 Bindi Pitta Essential Oil

($39.60 for 0.5 oz., bindi.com)

calms inflamed skin with sandal-

wood, ylang-ylang, and jasmine.

1

2

Nourish your skin with essential

oils tailored to your constitution.

beauty by the dosha

3 0 y O g a j O u r n a l . c O M n o v e m b e R 2 0 1 0

. It’s where green meets black. Where being at one with

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associated trademarks are owned by Green & Black’s Chocolate Limited. greenandblacks.com

Live in the

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ayurveda

Kapha (governed by earth and water)

can create either beautiful smooth

skin or skin that’s beset by excessive

oil, congestion, and cystic acne. Keep

it energized and unclogged with stim-

ulating oils like rosemary, spearmint,

eucalyptus, clove, juniper, and ginger.

If your skin is dry and thin and

has a tendency to develop fine

lines, you’re dealing with vata

(governed by air). Ayurvedic

principles suggest that vata

types benefit from daily self-

massage with sesame oil and a

skin-care routine that features

essential oils with sweet,

grounding energy, such as rose,

neroli, orange, and geranium.

If you’re a kapha type...

If you’re a vata type...

1 Ajara Kapha Exfoliating Facial

Cleanser ($14 for 4 oz.,

ajaraskincare.com) uses natural

grains to slough off tired skin

and rosemary oil to tone pores.

2 Tara Kapha Purifying Mask

($37 for 1.5 oz., taraspa.com)

draws impurities out of the skin

with a blend of mineral-rich clay

and kapha-specific herbs.

3 Sundari Nighttime Nourishing

Oil ($140 for 0.5 oz., sundari.com)

is a decadent before-bed treat-

ment with moisturizing neroli.

4 Pratima Vata Herbal Cleanser

($18 for 2 oz., pratima skincare

.com) rejuvenates with lemon,

basil, and nutmeg.

1

2

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3 2 y O g A j O u r N A l . C O M n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0

Dress with yoga-inspired

ease, and you’ll look

great and stay comfortable

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I crouch down in a wooden pen and grab

the pelican’s bill. When he snaps at me,

I flinch but hold fast, bracing his wings

against my legs, until I can force a syringe

down his throat to give him water. When

I let go, the bird backs away nervously,

watching me with a keen, terrified eye.

I watch him go with a pang; no matter

how many birds I handle, it still upsets me

to cause this fearful re action. But there is

no way around it. I work with the Interna

tional Bird Research and Rescue Center,

overseeing the care of hundreds of oiled

birds, victims of the Deepwater Horizon

rig spill in the Gulf of Mexico, at the Fort

Jackson Oiled Wildlife Rehabilitation

Center in Louisiana. If I don’t forcibly

hydrate and feed these birds, they could

die of starvation or hypothermia.

In my work in both environmental pol

icy and animal care, I’ve been inspired by

the idea of ahimsa, or nonviolence, de

scribed by the yogic sage Patanjali as a core

ethical principle. But my work shows me that we are in a constant

state of violence against the natural world. In caring for wildlife,

I’ve come to question what nonviolence really means.

When I began this work, I often wondered, “How am I supposed

to avoid injury to an already injured animal, when my very presence

triggers a violent reaction?” People come to the practice of rehabili

tating wildlife expecting docile, grateful birds who understand that

we are trying to help them. Can they not see that, by cleaning the

toxic goo off their feathers, we are giving them a new chance at life?

From the birds’ perspective, though, we are their captors at best—or

predators at worst. Over time, as I’ve seen many birds restored to

health and returned to their life in the wild, I’ve come to accept that

I have to do things to the birds that cause them perceived harm in

the short term in order to save them in the long

term. What’s harder for me to accept is that I’m

part of the reason the birds are suffering to begin

with. I’m part of the harm we are causing to the

planet—and all its inhabitants—by continuing

to consume fossil fuels at the level we do. This

to me seems the most egregious injury in a knot

of violence I don’t know how to undo. Seeing

beautiful wild birds coated in oil is a wakeup

call about the harm of our actions in the world.

It’s an overwhelming thought to grapple

with every time I go to tube a bird, so instead

I work through it in my daily yoga practice. In

bird’s eye view

reflection by Al l ison Ford

Ge

rA

ld

He

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er

t/A

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oc

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ed

Pr

es

s

( )Caring for animals harmed in the Gulf oil spill leads a woman to consider

ahimsa in a new light.


treating it. I accept it with each moment

that I can be fully present with the victim

of a problem that is bigger than me. But

I know that I can’t stop there. When I

leave here, I will seek ways to end the big

ger violence that landed these birds in my

care in the first place. I believe that this,

too, must be part of ahimsa: seeking the

path of nonviolence in a given moment,

but also seeing the connection to the

general state of violence in our world.

Looking at the problems of oil spills,

climate change, and all the other violence

stemming from our consumption is over

whelming. Where could one person pos

sibly start? When I get overwhelmed, I

bring my concentration inward. There is

nothing beyond the present, whether I’m

on the mat or making daily choices that

are right for Earth. Just as my practice on

the mat flows into my practice in the pen,

so will my practice in the pen flow into the

bigger choices I make in life. D

Allison Ford is an environmental policy

specialist currently working in Louisiana.

human way of communicat

ing love, but would terrify a

wild bird.

bird by bird

My yoga practice is a core ele

ment in my efforts to wrap

my head—and my heart—

around the complexity of the

work I do. It has taught me

that focusing on the present

moment, on the breath I’m

breathing right now, is the

way to deal with any challenging situa

tion. It’s the same with handling birds.

Concentrating my energy on the bird I

am working with is hard when I know that

30 other birds need my care—but the abil

ity to truly focus is both a coping mecha

nism for me and a kindness I owe the bird

in my hands.

This is how I accept the burden of re

sponsibility for what happened to the

Gulf—and the global harm I am compli

cit in. I accept it each time I catch a bird in

my hands and focus all my awareness on

the pen, I have to put it

aside and bring my focus

to the bird at hand. Here,

ahimsa means moving slowly around the

edge of the pen as I clean it, leaving the

bird an escape route from me. It means

capturing the bird quickly, so it doesn’t

beat its wings against the cage, and hold

ing the bird with a gentle but unyield

ing grip, so that it can’t slip away before

it receives the care it needs. It means not

giving the bird the hug that I am longing to

give—knowing that hugs are a particularly Ch

ar

lie

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Author Allison

Ford treats an

injured pelican.

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( )For cozy home-cooked meals on a fast-paced schedule,

try a slow cooker.

Several years ago, I spent a few months on an

isolated farm near Davis, California, working on a

writing project. The farmhouse kitchen was empty

of equipment except for a vintage slow cooker. Like

most people I knew, I associated slow cookers with

unappealing dishes like chicken sauced with canned

cream of mushroom soup. But that was what I had to

work with, so I went to the local co-op and bought

every kind of dried bean they had. Each day, I’d

choose a bean, wash it, put it in the slow cooker to

simmer while I worked, and then I’d eat the

warm, fragrant beans in their cooking broth with

nothing but some good salt and a handful of chopped

herbs picked outside the farmhouse.

Those were quiet days, and I had a lot of time to

get to know that old slow cooker, to savor the simple

slow food

eating wisely by Lynn Al ley

ph

ot

oS

: S

he

ri

gib

Lin

; f

oo

d S

ty

LiS

t:

kA

re

n S

hin

to

favorite chili

(recipe, page 44)

y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m 4 1

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meals I prepared with it, and to refl ect on

how nurturing and deeply satisfying food

cooked this way was. I left the slow cooker

behind when I left the farm and returned

to my regular life. But to my surprise, I

found that the slow cooker had trans-

formed the way I thought about food.

Since the invention of pottery nearly

10,000 years ago, human beings have been

gathering ingredients into one pot and

cooking them for hours, sometimes over

an open fi re, sometimes in a communal

oven, all the while melding the flavors,

aromas, and textures of the ingredients

in a way that roasting over an open fl ame

could never do. Today, the slow cooker

gives us an opportunity to use the same

principles of fl avor development that our

ancestors did, without having to dig pits

or fi re up communal ovens. While in my

modern life as a writer and yoga teacher I

might not have time to tend to a dish for

hours, I can plug in my slow cooker and

experience simple, rustic cooking.

I began to think of classic, comforting

one-pot meals from cultures around the

world, dishes like hearty winter soups,

risottos, and curries, in a new way—in

terms of how they could be adapted to the

technology of the slow cooker. Meat, of

course, stands up well to long hours of

cooking at low temperatures, but I was

gradually making a transition to a meat-

less diet. While I knew that vegetables

couldn’t take the same treatment—eight

hours in a slow cooker would reduce most

vegetables to a soggy mash—I began ex -

perimenting with grains and root vegeta-

bles, which could hold up under longer

cooking times, adding more fragile vege-

tables later or near the end of the cooking

time. The results combined the subtle fl a-

vors of slow-cooked beans and grains with

the vibrant colors, textures, and fl avors of

tender vegetables and herbs.

READY WHEN YOU ARE

The same fl exibility that makes the slow

cooker well suited to vegetarian meals

also makes it an ideal tool for supporting

my yoga practice, helping me fi t home-

cooked meals into a busy and not always

predictable schedule of personal practice,

writing, and teaching. Breakfast is a great

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example: I need to eat something substan

tial a few hours before I practice in the

morning. In the evening before I go to bed,

I put oatmeal or cracked wheat berries

( see recipe on page 44) in the slow cooker

and let it cook on the lowest setting all

night long. When I get up in the chilly

dawn, I’ll stir in cinnamon and milk and

sit down to a warm, filling meal. For vari

ety, I sometimes cook khavits, an Ar me

nian wholegrain dish topped with feta

cheese, pistachios, and honey.

comfort food

Rarely do I feel like cooking after an eve

ning yoga class, and there are nights when

even steaming a vegetable feels like too

much trouble. But on those nights espe

cially, it’s wonderful to come home to the

smells of a simmering vegetable soup or

stew. When I have an evening yoga class,

I might put something that doesn’t take

long to cook, like tofu with a sauce of

miso, sesame oil, and tamari, in the slow

cooker before I head out the door. When

I get home, I stir in some spinach, and 10

minutes later, dinner is ready. If I’ll be

out for a larger portion of the day, I might

choose something like cubed butternut

squash, and stir in a green curry sauce when

I get home. And if I’ll be away all day,

I might put red beans on to cook in the

morning, and add tomatoes, onions, and

spices that evening. I’ll let them simmer

for another hour or so, filling the house

with a savory smell as I unwind.

One recent afternoon, one of my neigh

bors invited me to a potluck that evening.

I scrubbed some small potatoes and put

them in the slow cooker with a little wa

ter, olive oil, and sea salt. The potatoes

simmered for a few hours, at which point

I added some chopped red chard and sliced

mushrooms. In 20 minutes, they were

ready for some freshly ground pepper

and a squeeze of lemon juice. And in the

meantime, I had time to do a few stretches

and get ready for the party. ✤

Lynn Alley is the author of five cookbooks,

including The Gourmet Vegetarian Slow

Cooker (Ten Speed Press, 2010). She teaches

vinyasa flow and restorative yoga classes

in Southern California.



eating wisely recipes

cracked wheat

berries with honey

and ricotta

Cracked Wheat BerrieswithHoneyandRicottam a k es 3 to 4 s e rv i n gs

This creamy porridge makes a sustaining

breakfast on chilly mornings. Thin the

finished dish with water, if necessary.

1cuphardwheatberries

4cupswater1⁄2 teaspoonsalt

1 1⁄2 cupsfreshricottacheese

Honey

Groundcinnamon,forgarnish

Cocoapowderorshavedsemisweet

chocolate,forgarnish

1 Pulse the wheat berries briefly in a

blenderorfoodprocessor,justlong

enoughtocrackthemintopieces.

2 Placethecrackedwheat,water,and

saltintheslowcookerinsert.Coverand

cookonyourslowcooker’slowestset-

tingovernight,about8hours.

3 Spoonintobowlsandtopwithascoop

ofricottacheese.Drizzlewithhoney,

andthensprinklewithgroundcinna-

monandadustingofcocoapowder.

Favorite Chilim a k es 6 to 8 s e rv i n gs

Slow cookers vary, so adjust the tem per

ature of yours to keep the liquid at a low

simmer as the beans cook.

2cupsdriedkidneyorpintobeans

6cupswater

6allspiceberries

1stickcinnamon1⁄2 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano1⁄2 teaspooncuminseeds1⁄4 teaspoonaniseed1⁄2 teaspooncorianderseeds1⁄2 onion, diced

3clovesgarlic,finelyminced

1(28-ounce)cancrushedtomatoes

1tablespoonunsweetened

cocoapowder

1to2tablespoonschilipowder1⁄4 cupdicedredbellpepper1⁄4 cupdicedgreenbellpepper1⁄2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

Salttotaste1⁄2 cupsourcreamornonfatyogurt1⁄4 cupthinlyslicedgreenonions,

greenpartonly1⁄2 cupchoppedfreshcilantroleaves

1 Thoroughlypickthroughandwash

thebeans,thenplacethem,alongwith

thewater,ina6-or7-quartslowcooker

insert.Grindtheallspice,cinnamon,

oregano,cumin,aniseed,andcorian-

derinanelectriccoffeemillorwitha

mortarandpestleandaddtothebeans.

Coverandcookonlowfor6hoursor

untilthebeansaretender.

2 Addthedicedonion,garlic,tomatoes,

cocoa,andchilipowdertothebeansand

continuecookingfor2hours.

3 Aboutahalfhourbeforeserving,add

thebellpepperandcorntothebeans.

4 Seasonwithsalttotaste.Ladleinto

bowlsandtopeachbowlwithadollop

ofsourcreamandasprinklingofgreen

onionandcilantro.

Recipes reprinted with permission from The

GourmetVegetarianSlowCooker:Simple

andSophisticatedMealsfromAroundthe

World, by Lynn Alley (Ten Speed Press, a

division of Random House, Inc., 2010).

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Some in this age

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EQUINOX EXHALE SPA CORE POWER ʺOGA MAHA ʺOGA THE SPORTS CLUB/LA PARAGON SPORTS ʺOGAWORKS

Heather, a Boston-area bodyworker,

has been under stress lately, and she’s

starting to feel its effects. Blustery win -

ter weather has arrived in New England,

and she has a hard time keeping warm.

With the economy yet to rebound, ap -

pointments at the spa where she works

are still off, and she finds herself ly -

ing awake at night worrying about

money. Her bowels, always a little on

the sluggish side, are worse than usual,

and she’s been experiencing intermit-

tent heartburn.

To make up for the loss of income at

the spa, Heather has taken on a few pri-

vate clients. Though the extra money

helps, her schedule is packed, leaving

barely enough time for laundry or exer-

cise. She’s driving more than usual and

finds herself annoyed with other driv-

ers. She rarely sits down to eat during

the day, instead grabbing a salad on

the run or snacking on energy bars be -

tween clients. At night she winds down with a glass of wine in

front of the TV, and then falls into bed exhausted.

From an Ayurvedic perspective, Heather, a composite based on

several people, is vata-pitta. That means her natural constitution,

or prakriti, which is the unique combination of doshas that

a person is born with, is balanced between the airy qualities of vata

(creative, energetic, active, but tending toward anxiety) and the

fiery nature of pitta (smart, passionate, driven, but prone to anger).

She has less kapha, the dosha associated with earth and water, which

is marked by strength and dependability but also a tendency toward

laziness. (Some people have one dominant dosha, while others, like

Heather, have two. A balance of all three is called tri-doshic.)

Heather’s life isn’t usually so chaotic. When

she is feeling balanced, the combination of vata

and pitta serves her well. She’s good at her job

and maintains a busy social life. Although her

schedule is pretty full, she manages to cook a

few nights a week, usually sleeps seven or eight

hours, and makes it to yoga class fairly regularly.

storm watch

But the cold, windy weather, a hectic schedule,

and financial worries have caused Heather’s vata

dosha to become imbalanced. To use the term

well being by Timothy McCal l , MD

ph

oT

o:

ro

ry

ea

rn

sh

aw

/sa

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bo

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Tu

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; s

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es

Th

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fe

inM

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( )To stay grounded when life is a whirlwind, try Ayurvedic techniques

to calm vata (the air element).

down to earth


some Ayurvedic physicians employ, her

vata dosha has become deranged. Accord-

ing to Ayurvedic thought, vata is like the

wind. It’s cool, dry, rough, and erratic—

and anything with similar properties will

tend to increase it.

stress alert

A lot of what we refer to as being “stressed

out” in the modern world is, from an

Ayurvedic perspective, a manifestation

of vata derangement. It’s more likely to

happen to someone like Heather, who

has quite a bit of vata in her prakriti. Still,

people with a lot of pitta and kapha can

also see their vata get out of balance as a

result of a combination of climate, stress,

lifestyle decisions, and other factors, such

as the aging process, certain illnesses, and

lots of travel.

Regardless of your prakriti, if your

vata is acutely increased, it can cause

problems. You may experience typical

vata symptoms like anxiety, constipation,

and insomnia. Those with vata-related

health problems like arthritis, chronic

pain, or Parkinson’s disease are likely to

notice more pronounced symptoms. Over

time, excessive vata can lead to derange-

ments in the other doshas, too. For ex am-

ple, a kapha-dominant person with vata

de rangement might experience an in -

crease of the negative qualities of their

prominent dosha—feeling more lethargic

than usual or coming down with a sinus

or bronchial infection. A pitta with vata

derangement might become more hot-

headed or experience heartburn. These

symptoms parallel modern science’s in -

creased understanding of how stress con-

tributes to or exacerbates most medical

conditions, from heart disease and dia-

betes to depression.

When you experience stress, the sym-

pathetic nervous system—the body’s “fight

or flight” emergency-preparedness sys-

tem—becomes activated, and stress hor-

mones such as adrenaline (also known as

epinephrine) and cortisol flood the body.

MOre ONlINe To learn a vata-

calming asana sequence, go to

yogajournal.com/vataasana.

5 0 y O g a j O u r N a l . c O M n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0

well being

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The Ayurvedic practice of abhyanga,

or warm-oil massage, is a soothing

treatment for overwrought vata.

As a self-care treatment, it’s tradi-

tionally done in the morning, before

bathing, and is especially useful as

a daily ritual in the winter months,

says Graciella Zogbi, a Vedic health

educator at the Raj Maharishi

Ayurveda Health Spa in Iowa. “Vata

by its nature is dry and cold. With

abhyanga, the warm oil penetrates

the skin. Its lubricating quality is

the complete opposite of vata, and

it’s balancing on that level.”

Abhyanga is also used to help

direct ama (toxins) from the tissues

to the organs of elimination. Done

regularly, Zogbi says, it can improve

circulation and digestion, relax the

nervous system, nourish the skin,

create feelings of groundedness and

focus, and increase ojas, or radi-

ance, which results from good diges-

tion and strong immune functioning.

Plan to spend at least 10 minutes

massaging the entire body after

coating it in oil, and then resting for

at least 10 minutes before washing

the oil off. (If you don’t have time to

rest and let the oil sink in, try lubri-

cating the body in oil before begin-

ning the massage to give it more

time on your skin.)

winterwarmer

fingers may wiggle in yoga poses, even in

Savasana (Corpse Pose). They probably

don’t ground their feet well in standing

poses. In Tadasana (Mountain Pose), their

upper thighs may be farther forward and

more externally rotated than is ideal. In

yo gic terms, this indicates a lack of apana,

or downward-flowing prana (life force).

That might not sound serious, but in Ayur-

vedic diagnosis, it signals a possible im -

balance in the body, and imbalances can

Common vata symptoms like agitation,

fear, intestinal disturbances, and diffi-

culty focusing may all result from these

changes to the nervous system and hor-

mone levels.

When you observe the physical state

of people in the throes of vata derange-

ment, you’ll notice that they aren’t well

grounded—and this isn’t just a metaphor.

Often they’re in constant motion and

can’t sit still. Their eyes may wander. Their ph

ot

o:

Da

viD

ma

rt

ine

z;

st

yl

ist

: ly

n h

ein

ek

en

; h

air

/ma

ke

up

: b

et

te

n c

ha

st

on

You’ll need

+ 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 cup organic sesame oil to

generously lubricate the body. (If

you have a strong pitta dosha in

your constitution, you may want

to substitute organic olive oil.)

+ A metal saucepan to heat the oil

+ Towels

1 HEAT THE OIL on the stove until

it’s warm but still comfortable to

the touch.

2 MASSAGE YOUR BODY with the

warm oil, moving from the head

to the feet. Begin with the outer

folds of the ears, then massage the

head (if you don’t want to get oil in

your hair, do a dry head massage),

and work downward. Use circular

motions on the joints and use a gen-

tle circular clockwise motion over

the heart and abdomen. This, Zogbi

says, is a way to coax erratic vata in

the direction it’s supposed to move.

On the torso, massage inward fol-

lowing the direction of the ribs. Mas-

sage straight up and down on the

arms and legs. Finally, thoroughly

massage the feet.

3 SIT COMFORTABLY on the edge

of the tub or lie on a towel on the

floor and relax for at least 10 min-

utes, allowing the oil to penetrate

the skin. You can also sit in a warm

bath. When you are done, wash the

oil off using a gentle cleanser.

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to digest fully. Ideally, meals should be

eaten at the same time each day. Also,

food should be well cooked, moist, and

soothing. Hearty soups, steamed vegeta-

bles with brown rice, and casseroles are

all excellent choices.

Keeping warm is important, particu-

larly in a cold climate. Other measures

such as drinking tea and taking hot baths

can help, as can a daily warm-oil massage

( see “Winter Warmer” on page 51). Staying

warm is also important during yoga, es -

pecially for relaxation practices, so make

sure to have a sweater or blanket handy as

the class cools down.

If you’re experiencing vata derange-

ment, you likely crave stimulation and

variety. The air element in vata seeks

constant expansion, but it can lead you

into an even more chaotic state. Staying

grounded means slowing down. You may

have to skip some favorite activities. Just

as sitting down to a meal will help you

digest your food, so slowing down and

being more mindful will help you “digest”

all the other things that feed you in life.

In the long run, Heather needs to make

choices that keep her vata in check, be -

cause a chronic imbalance can lead to

more critical health problems. But she

can’t change the weather, and for now

she can’t afford to turn down the addi-

tional work. Still, when it comes to vata

management, even small lifestyle changes

can make a difference: She could dress

more warmly; opt for hearty, warm soup

instead of a salad at lunch; and relax with a

hot bath in the evening instead of watch-

ing TV. And, even when there’s hardly a

mo ment between clients, there is almost

always time for at least one slow, deep,

mindful breath. ✤

Timothy McCall, MD, is Yoga Journal’s medi

cal editor and the author of Yoga as Medicine.

Find him online at DrMcCall.com.

eventually lead to disease. Those with vata

derangement are also likely to breathe in

a choppy, erratic way, primarily into the

upper lungs, and they may have difficulty

exhaling fully and deeply. Yoga teaches

that breathing this way increases agita-

tion. Medically, we know that ra -

pid breathing depletes the body of

carbon dioxide, which can in crease

feelings of anxiety.

Modern medicine doesn’t have

much to offer those who are under

stress, other than tranquilizers, an -

tidepressants, or perhaps a recom-

mendation to exercise. Fortunately, yoga

and Ayurveda have many tools to safely

lower stress levels, shift the balance of the

nervous system toward relaxation, and

ground the restless spirit.

ground control

The yogic approach to countering vata

derangement involves slowing down,

being more mindful, breathing smoothly

and deeply, and learning to ground the

feet into the floor. This isn’t always easy

if you’re experiencing vata imbalance.

A slow, quiet practice, and particularly

restorative poses like Savasana, can feel

like torture. Before you can settle into

a more balanced state, you might need

to first burn off some steam with active

practice, as long as it doesn’t deplete you.

Heather and everyone else suffering

from vata derangement would benefit

by heeding the main Ayurvedic lifestyle

advice for the condition: Do less. This

means cutting back on scheduled com-

mitments, minimizing multitasking (and

exposure to vata-stimulating technology

like computers and television, particu-

larly right before bed), and making time

for daily relaxation. It’s also important

to stick to a regular bedtime and to get

enough sleep each night to feel rested.

This may be difficult at first. Excess vata

often results in insomnia. But sticking to a

regular bedtime and implementing some

of the other changes that support relax-

ation should help.

Diet and eating rituals are important

aspects of Ayurvedic healing. Mealtimes

should be mindful events where you sit

down and eat slowly, allowing your body

Staying grounded means

slowing down. You may have

to skip favorite activities.

5 2 Y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0

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If you think you’re enlightened, go visit

your family. Ram Dass, the influential

American teacher of spirituality, said that

back in the 1970s. For Anne, who called

me recently to confess her dread of an up

coming family gathering, it’s more than

just an ironic quip.

Every year, 50 members of her extended

family—siblings, stepsiblings, chil

dren, stepchildren, grandchildren, and

spouses—arrive at her father’s ranch in

Montana, each harboring a personal griev

ance, grudge, or rivalry with at least one

other family member. Anne’s mother can’t

say hello to Anne’s sister without making a

comment about her weight. Two of Anne’s

cousins are Scientologists, and another is

a bornagain Christian who believes that

Scientologists are cultish Satanists. Even

the yogis in the family disagree about one

another’s life choices. Anne’s sisterinlaw

blogs angrily about a former teacher—who

happens to be Anne’s teacher.

Even the gatherings of relatively happy

families can simmer like a samsaric stew,

with everyone’s issues bumping up against

each other over drinks and dinner. Memories, rivalries, and dis

appointments are only a piece of it. More basic is the forced

encounter with parts of yourself that you thought you

outgrew years ago, and the equally insidious confrontation with the

ideas that family members have about who you are. A family is not

just a collection of individuals united by blood or marriage. It’s a

system, an entity of its own. Years after you leave home, the family

system tends to pull you into itself even when you’ve sworn that this

time you’ll remain an island of loving detachment. So you revert to

your role as the family rebel, or the good kid who

takes care of everyone else. (And that’s just your

family of origin! What to say about your inlaws

and the roles they might have cast you into?)

Not all families are difficult or dysfunctional.

But most families have their emotional mine

fields. If you always felt bossed around by your

sister, you might still react to her suggestions with

resentment, even when you know she doesn’t

branching out

wisdom by Sal ly Kempton

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( )Going home for the holidays can mean getting stuck in old family patterns—or

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others will to a large extent create your

perception of yourself, and this is never

more true than in your family system. In

other words, you grow up seeing yourself

through the eyes of your family. Those

early patterns become part of your inter

nal wiring. So when you slip into the old

roles, you are slipping into a consciousness

matrix that you and your family members

each hold in your individual emotional

brains, and mirror for each other.

Your family members share not only

blood and genes, but also values and re

sponse patterns—regardless of how

much all of you may have changed

or worked through the family stuff.

“For me,” a student told me, “the

hardest thing is watching myself

slip into the groove of the family

temperament. Everyone in my fam

ily is cheerful on the outside and

filled with existential anger underneath.

After an hour in their company, all I can

see are currents of undirected rage shim

mering in the air.”

In my family, we routinely interrupt

each other—a tendency I’ve carried into

later life, as friends and colleagues often

point out to me. But along with the nor

mal discomfort of seeing your personal

eccentricities mirrored by your fam

ily members, there can be more serious

sources of discomfort at family dinners.

Political and cultural differences, for

example. One classic disjunction between

yogis and their families is the culture gap.

Perhaps you have parents with strong

conventional values, or your siblings have

turned into people whose view of life is

radically different from yours. Maybe

you’re gay, and your family has a hard time

accepting that. Maybe you have political

or religious views that you have to keep to

yourself in order not to wreck the atmo

sphere at dinner.

Even for those of us lucky enough to

have a great relationship with our ex

tended family, there are often layers of

unspoken feelings, difficult issues, hidden

resentments. The family dysfunctions

can burst out during gettogethers, or,

just as often, be hidden under a veneer of

normalcy that can make such gatherings

feel strained and artificial. If you see your

intend to be bossy. If you and your father

argued through your teen years, you may

still feel the urge to defend yourself no

matter what he says. Part of the difficulty

is that as family members, we tend to

think of each other as not having changed

from the people we were when we lived

together. How you were as part of the fam

ily system may have little to do with who

you are today, but chances are good that

many of your family members don’t see

that. A friend of mine relates that at one

family gathering, she interrupted a conver

sation between her father and brother to

announce that dinner was ready. “Greedy

as ever,” her father said. My friend, who

had been chunky as a kid, was so hurt that

she spent the entire meal speechless with

shame and resentment. As a child, she had

reacted to being denied dessert by sneak

ing sweets and hiding candy bars under her

pillow. Now slim, healthy, and something

of a food disciplinarian, it took her weeks

to recover from the recognition that, 10

years after she’d left home for college, her

father still saw her as the daughter with

no selfcontrol.

It might have comforted her to realize

that not even enlightened beings escape

being seen through the prism of the fam

ily story. In Autobiography of a Yogi, Para

mahansa Yogananda’s great memoir of

spiritual life, he describes the time the

mother of his guru, Lahiri Mahasaya,

came to visit Lahiri’s ashram. She seemed

compelled to keep taking her son down a

peg. “I’m your mother, not your disciple!”

she would say. To her, he was still the kid

whose nose she’d wiped. My suspicion is

that, at least occasionally, he fell into that

role when he was with her. We all do.

family ties

None of us can help being influenced by

how our family members perceive us.

The way you are seen and mirrored by

None of us can help being

influenced by how our family

members perceive us.

5 6 y o g a j o u r N a l . c o m n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0

wisdom

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extended family only on holidays, it’s pos-

sible to paste on a smile and skate through

the occasion, knowing that you’ll soon be

able to leave. But at some point, most of

us feel the need to evolve our relationship

with our families. They are, after all, cen-

tral players in our karmic drama.

deep roots

No matter how different you may be from

the rest of your family, you were born into

this particular configuration of souls for a

reason. Regardless of whether you accept

the notion of karma, or believe in past

lives, the truth is that your family rela-

tionships are part of who you are. You can

break up with your romantic partners,

even your spouse. You can quit your job

and stop being friends with people you’ve

grown beyond. But you can’t divorce your

family (though in extreme situations you

may decide that it’s better not to spend

much time with them). And at some point

it makes sense to learn how to turn them

into allies of your growth.

At the very least, being with your family

is a powerful spur to self-understanding.

You may never get your father to approve

of your sexual orientation or your spiritual

choices, but you can learn a lot about your-

self by observing your reactions to him.

Every member of your family is a teacher.

Some of them teach you through their

good qualities. Some of them teach you

through their mistakes. Even more impor-

tant, your family members offer a mirror

of the issues that confront you in this

lifetime. They show you your strengths—

the skills and competencies you came into

this life having mastered. They also reveal

your weaknesses, the wounds and triggers

that you’ll need to deal with sooner or

la ter. A family gathering offers you the

opportunity to understand something

about who you are and what you need to

work on. If you accept the fact that these

people truly are your kinfolk—internally

as well as externally—then they become

teachers in the truest sense. They are the

book in which you can read your own char-

acter and karma.

A friend of mine had a deep aversion

to his mother. He couldn’t spend time

with her without getting depressed, and


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looking for transcendence and meaning

in some sort of practice tradition. They

clearly share an interest in transforma-

tion. The members of her parents’ gen-

eration were generally absent parents,

but all their children—Anne’s siblings and

cousins—are deeply engaged with their

kids. So they had all learned a new way to

live, by committing themselves to chang-

ing one of the family patterns.

Anne’s parents have a kind of gallantry

and style that she still unconsciously

emulates—making light of troubles in

front of others and doing their best to

make other people comfortable. And the

whole family cares deeply about the Earth.

There was more, of course. Anne and her

sister still giggle about their starchy sister-

in-law who can’t stop criticizing Anne’s

more laissez-faire style of child rear-

ing. They still roll their eyes when their

brother makes remarks that reveal his Tea

Party sympathies. But Anne also sees that

she’s as intolerant of her siblings’ political

positions as they are of hers (the common

quality being intolerance) and that her

fear in his being. Recognizing both her

positive and negative qualities in himself,

he found that he could feel compassion for

her—and even began to enjoy her com-

pany. When the month with his mother

was over, a knot of inner tightness had

been released that was so noticeable that

his friends commented on it. By seeing the

karmic, genetic heritage he carried, and

accepting that what he saw in his mother

was also in him, he loosened its power over

him. One of the miraculous effects of

accepting your family is that it helps you

accept yourself.

family practice

So when you go to your next family gath-

ering, see if you can look at each of your

close family members and ask yourself

the following questions: What do these

people show me about myself? What do

I have in common with them? What do

they teach me about how to live?

Anne tried doing this with her family

last year. Here’s what she saw. Like her,

most people in her generation are seekers,

so he avoided her most of the time. At

one point, a job took him to her city, and

he had to live with her for a month. Dur-

ing that month he went through every

shade of irritation and impatience. But

he also began to recognize that some of

the qualities he disliked about her were

(big surprise!) also in him. His mother

was a stickler for control and punctuality.

He considered himself to be exactly the

opposite—laid back, always urging every-

one to get mellow and let things unfold.

But while living with his mother, he found

himself impatiently trying to get her to

relax, and he suddenly began to see the

inherent contradictions in his attitude.

He realized that his insistence that

everyone relax and not worry was as much

an attempt to control others as her an xiety

about making plans and keeping things

on schedule. And he began to recognize

other traits they shared—some of them

positive, others not so positive. Like his

mother, he cared about helping the under-

dog. Like his mother, he loved gossip. Like

his mother, he carried an undercurrent of

wisdom


family. Seva is what saved him. “When

I’m do ing my best to serve the situation,

I feel positive, they feel positive. It just

works,” he says.

I understand what he means. Years ago,

during a time when I felt estranged from

my father, my guru invited him to visit

the ashram. After I introduced the two of

them, my guru turned to me and said,

“Remember, he’s my guest.” Taking care

of honored guests was one of my jobs

around my teacher, and it was immedi-

ately clear to me that I was being shown

the way through the difficulties between

my father and me. Looking at him as an

honored guest, trying to make him com-

fortable, serving him in different ways,

made our relationship far less personal,

your yoga to the test. What follows are

some traditional yogic practices that,

when applied to family dynamics, can

turn a family gathering into a practice of

internal yoga.

offer service with a smile (seva)

Seva—selfless service or karma yoga—is

one of the fast-track practices of yoga,

offered in every tradition for its power to

cleanse the heart, kindle compassion, and

turn your karmic challenges into

enlightened activity. What better

arena for practicing it than with

your family?

Randall is known among his sib-

lings and cousins as the family saint.

This tag is only partly ironic. He

spends family gatherings doing his

best to make other people comfortable.

He talks to the kids, spends time with the

deaf aunts, refills people’s water glasses.

Years ago, Randall realized that he needed

to have a coping strategy for dealing with

the in tense feelings of alienation that

he ex perienced when he was around his

sister-in-law’s attitude challenges her

to stand up for her own way of living.

training ground

What I often tell students who have prob-

lems with their extended family members

is to think of their next visit as a training

opportunity. Maybe you’re training for

freedom—freedom to be with your fam-

ily without getting emotionally bent out

of shape. Maybe you’re training yourself

to notice your own emotional triggers.

Maybe you’re training in compassion, or

in letting go of resentment. Maybe, as one

of my Facebook friends shared, you’re

being given the opportunity to be loving,

without caring how your family responds.

In fact, one of the best ways to approach

a family gathering is to see it as a special

opportunity for practice. Rather than go

into it with expectations or dread, want-

ing to be recognized or loved by family

members, or counting the minutes until

you can leave, decide that you’ll approach

your family gathering as a practice experi-

ment, an unparalleled opportunity to put

approach family gatherings

as an opportunity to

put your yoga to the test.


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so that instead of feeling resentful or hurt

because he wasn’t more emotionally pres-

ent, I could interact kindly with him and

enjoy him for who he was.

see beauty in the beast (inquiry)

In the yogic practice of inquiry, you ask

questions aimed at taking you past your

surface viewpoint, and into the heart of

a person or situation. What is unique and

beautiful about weird Uncle Al? Where

do you think his wounds are? What might

be the good intention behind your aunt’s

nosy behavior? Where does she hurt?

Your work at this family gathering is to

find a way to open your heart to that one

relative you’ve never been able to stand.

Sometimes that means looking for that

person’s great qualities. But you might

also find that your heart opens to some-

one when you recognize their brokenness.

Experiment. Look generously, acknowl-

edging these people’s greatness. Look lov-

ingly, acknowledging their hurt. Notice

how either viewpoint can change your

attitude toward them.

hold your fire

(mindful observation)

Mindful awareness is one of the key yogic

practices for transformation. As painful as

it can be, taking an honest look at what

sets you off is one step to freedom. Be

aware of your reactions as you step into

the family circle. What happens to your

body? What emotions come up? Notice

the thoughts that cycle through your

mind. Notice what you say and do. Is it

reactive? Are you withdrawn? Friendly?

Do your words feel authentic? Be aware of

the thoughts that grab you. Then refocus.

Become the knower of these thoughts and

feelings. If need be, go into the bathroom,

take some deep belly breaths, and tune in

to the awareness that holds all this.

cultivate the opposite thought

(pratipaksha bhavanam)

This famous practice from the Yoga Sutra

is the core tactic for changing your mind

by changing your thoughts. Once you’ve

noticed your reactive thoughts, you have

a chance to turn them around. When you

catch yourself thinking, “I can’t stand


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Seeing your family as your teachers will

immediately loosen your feelings of nega

tivity. If the meaning of your relationships

with family members is to learn, then no

encounter is ever negative, because every

one of them has something to show you.

drawing boundaries

Sometimes, with some family members,

it’s important to keep your distance.

There may be people in your family whose

behavior is abusive or hostile, whose pres

ence causes you so much pain that strong

boundaries become imperative. When

a family situation is truly toxic for you,

staying away from family gatherings may

be your best option. And even with less

toxic situations, there are times when it

may be important to keep some distance.

Ultimately, it’s our relationships that

test our attainment, our maturity, our ca

pacity for growth. More than that, they

are our opportunity for healing. In the

Jewish tradition, there’s a teaching that

human beings come together for the pur

pose of tikkun, a Hebrew word that means

“fixing.” In other words, relationships

are the arena through which we fix what

has been broken, not only between the

two of us, but between human beings in

general. Fixing doesn’t necessarily mean

becoming best friends with every one of

your family members. But in every family,

there are streams of brokenness, uncon

sciousness, and grief that are passed on

along with family gifts and wisdom.

Each generation has the power to

shift something in the family heritage.

Sitting across the table at Thanksgiving,

toasting the bride at a family wedding,

we can sometimes recognize what needs

healing in the family line. And with every

conscious recognition of the beauty and

pain that each of your family members

carries, with every opening into compas

sion, you heal a piece of that brokenness.

Sometimes, one family member’s loving

intention is just what is needed to make

the crucial difference. ✤

Sally Kempton is an internationally recognized

teacher of meditation and yoga philosophy and

the author of The Heart of Meditation. Visit

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the way Freddy chews,” quickly find an

opposite, positive thought, like “I love

Freddy’s sense of humor.” “These kids

are driving me nuts” can become “Isn’t

their energy wonderful?” Even if you don’t

fully believe it, your effort to change your

thinking will calm your stress hormones

and might even inspire a feeling within of

love or compassion.

give your blessing

(positive intention)

One of the great practices of the devo

tional yogic tradition is the practice of

offering blessing. So whether you feel

loving toward your family members or

not, start with the intention that your

presence in the gathering will be a bless

ing. Then, whenever your glance falls on

someone, send them a silent blessing.

A friend of mine tried this during a

particularly gnarly weekend with her sib

lings and their spouses. At one point, a

fierce argument broke out between her

brother and sister. My friend kept repeat

ing silently, “Blessings to Sara. Blessings to

Rick.” A few minutes later, the two squab

bling siblings looked at each other and

started to laugh. “We’ve been doing this

since we were six,” said her sister. “Truce?”

My friend swears that it was the power of

her blessing. We’ll never know. But one

thing we do know: It didn’t hurt.

lessons learned

Human beings need to make meaning—

it’s simply how we are. When we have

trouble with family members, it’s often

because we’ve assigned painful mean

ings to our past or present encounters.

If your father’s gruffness translated for

you into the feeling of not being loved,

or your mother’s anxiety created tremors

of fear in your stomach, consider what

these folks are teaching you. Is it about

letting go of anger? Recognizing that we

are responsible for our own feelings? Lov

ing no matter what? Notice how your atti

tude shifts toward these people when you

see them as a teaching pod rather than

as the people who should have loved you

better or done a better job with their lives,

or as the group of people in whose pres

ence you feel most selfcritical or lacking.


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heart wide open

The enormous heart-opening gesture

of Wild Thing evokes a sense of freedom,

levity, even ecstasy. But beneath the

rapturous exterior, Wild Thing requires a

strong, stable base. In fact, Anusara Yoga

teacher Amy Ippoliti believes that creat-

ing a stable base is the key to opening more

deeply into this backbending pose.

To that end, Ippoliti has designed this

sequence to fire up the strength in your

arms, which serve as your main support in

Wild Thing. “This pose is a hand balance,

so it’s critical to tone the arms, since they

are bearing so much of the weight,” she

says. “We have an expression in Anusara:

‘strong arms, soft heart.’ ” Ippoliti ex plains

that if the stability in your hands and wrists

is weak, you limit your ability to support

yourself adequately and move into your full

range of motion.

In addition to preparing your arms

to support the weight of your body, the

sequence also opens the front of your

legs, hips, and torso through several back-

bends. This provides just enough heat to

encourage your chest and heart to melt

into opening in the final pose. In time, as

you continue to practice and move into

Wild Thing from a stable, solid base, you

may just get a taste of the delicious light-

ness and freedom that were yours to have

all along. Jennifer rodrigue

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home practice with amy ippol it i

( )Create a stable base, and you’ll be free to expand

ecstatically into Wild Thing.

to beginOpen to Grace sit quietly and

listen to your breath. connect to

the highest purpose of your practice,

recognizing your potential for

stability and acknowledging your

innate freedom.

to finishGround down Bathe in the

warmth of your movement and

rest in Balasana (child’s pose),

offering a blessing to the earth.

Restore rest in savasana

(corpse pose) for 5 to 10 minutes.

n O v e m b e R 2 0 1 0 y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m 6 3

home practice with Amy Ippol it i

1 Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose) Come onto all fours, then lift your hips and knees and step

your feet back to open your chest and hamstrings. Lift your

armpits and lengthen your side body. Claw the floor with

your finger pads to feel tone in your arms, which will sup-

port you in opening more freely. From your heart, stretch

down to your hands, then fully up through your spine, and

down your legs into the feet for 5 breaths.

2 Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend), variationWalk toward your hands, feet sitting bone–distance apart,

and fold forward. Interlace your fingers behind your back

and bend your elbows shoulder-width apart. Use gravity

to lengthen your armpits toward the floor. Move the head

of your arm bones and your throat toward the back plane

of your body as you reach your arms overhead. Keep your

elbows bent and your legs strong. Hold for 5 breaths,

release your hands, and step back to Down Dog.

3 Utthita Parsvakonasana (Extended Side Angle Pose) Step your right foot forward, turn your left heel down,

and hug your legs in toward your midline. Extend your left

arm in front of you and pull your upper arm bone into your

shoulder socket. Then, from your core, turn your belly and

chest up to the sky. Keep your right hand by your right foot

or take your right forearm to your right thigh for more

space in your torso. After 5 breaths, step back to Down

Dog. Repeat on the left side.

4 Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)Lie on your stomach with your hands shoulder-width apart,

elbows bent, and hands under your shoulders. Spread your

fingers and claw your finger pads down, energetically drag-

ging your hands backward as you lift your armpits. Pull the

heads of your arm bones up and back, and lift your head

and chest for 5 breaths. Move your shoulder blades down

and in toward your heart. Root your pelvis back

through your legs, and curl up through your spine. Stay

for 5 breaths. Release and push back to Down Dog.

5 Ardha Bhekasana (Half Frog Pose)Come back to your stomach, prop yourself on your fore-

arms, and melt your heart toward the floor. Bend your

right knee and reach back with your right hand to hold the

inside edge of your foot. If possible, pivot your right hand

so that your fingers face forward as you press your right

foot down toward your outer right hip. Scoop your tailbone

down. To stretch even deeper, lift off your left forearm

and onto your left hand. After 5 breaths, release, switch

sides, and then step back to Down Dog.

6 Anjaneyasana (Low Lunge), variation Step your right foot forward into a Low Lunge, left knee

on the floor. Twist to the right, bend your left knee, and

hold the outside of your left foot with your right hand. To

go deeper, take your left foot in toward your outer left hip,

place your left forearm on the floor, lean back, and curl

your shoulder blades in toward your heart. Root down

through your legs and open up through your whole torso.

Stay for 5 breaths. Step back to Down Dog and take the

other side.

7 Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)Lie on your stomach, rest your forehead on the floor,

and enjoy your breath. Allow the muscles on either side of

your spine to settle and expand laterally. Keep that soft-

ness, then bend both knees and hold on to the tops of your

12

9

6 4 y o g A j o U r n A l . c o M n o v E m B E r 2 0 1 0

A video of this Home Practice

sequence can be found online

at yogajournal.com/livemag.

▼ watch

feet. Root your tailbone toward the fl oor, keep your thighs

parallel, and press your feet back. On an inhalation, lift

your head, torso, and legs up into Dhanurasana. Hold for

5 breaths, release, and step back to Down Dog.

8 Vasisthasana (Side Plank Pose) Come forward into Plank, with your shoulders stacked

above your wrists. Take your right hand slightly ahead

of your shoulder and shift your weight onto your right

hand as you stack your feet. Secure both shoulder blades

onto your back, open your torso, and lift your left arm

up. Hold for 5 breaths, release your left arm down, and

step back to Down Dog. Repeat on the other side.

9 Wild ThingFrom Down Dog, come into Vasisthasana on your right

side. Step your left foot behind you, keep your right leg

straight, and push your hips up away from the fl oor. Scoop

your tailbone and use your legs to keep lifting your hips.

Curl your head back, lift your left side body, and keep your

left upper arm moving toward your shoulder socket.

Extend your left arm over your head and curve into a rap-

turous backbend. Have fun. Be wild. Taste your freedom.

Then release, step back to Down Dog, and switch sides.

7

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 0 Y O G A J O U R N A L . C O M 6 5

A scholar embarks on a quest

to trace the roots of his yoga

practice back to their source.

What he finds confounds and

unsettles him, and, ultimately,

provides him with a glimpse of

.

by Mark Singleton

photography by Richard Seagraves

The pale winter sunlight shone from the high windows

of the Cambridge University library onto a dark leather

book cover. In the hall full of silent scholars, I opened

it and leafed through picture after picture of men and

women in familiar postures. Here was Warrior Pose; there

was Downward Dog. On this page the standing balance

Utthita Padangusthasana; on the next pages Headstand,

Handstand, Supta Virasana, and more—everything you

might expect to find in a manual of yoga asana. But this

was no yoga book. It was a text describing an early 20th-

century Danish system of dynamic exercise called Primi-

tive Gymnastics. ❡ Standing in front of my yoga students

that evening, I reflected on my discovery. What

did it mean that many of the poses I was teaching

were identical to those developed by a Scandi-

navian gymnastics teacher less than a century

ago? This gymnast had not been to India and had

never received any teaching in asana. And yet his

system, with its five-count format, its abdominal

“locks,” and its dynamic jumps in and out of those

oh-so-familiar postures, looked uncannily like the

vinyasa yoga system I knew so well.

Time passed, and my curiosity nagged at me,

leading me to do further research. I learned that the

Danish system was an offshoot of a 19th-century

Scandinavian gymnastics tradition that had re -

volutionized the way Europeans exercised. Sys-

tems based on the Scandinavian model sprang up

throughout Europe and became the basis for phys-

ical training in armies, navies, and many schools.

These systems also found their way to India. In the

1920s, according to a survey taken by the Indian

YMCA, Primitive Gymnastics was one of the most popular

forms of exercise in the whole subcontinent, second only to

the original Swedish gymnastics developed by P. H. Ling.

That’s when I became seriously confused.

AnCIEnT or MoDErn?This was not what my yoga teachers had taught me. on the

contrary, yoga asana is commonly presented as a practice

handed down for thousands of years, originating from the

Vedas, the oldest religious texts of the Hindus, and not as

some hybrid of Indian tradition and European gymnastics.

Clearly there was more to the story than I had been told.

My foundation was shaken, to say the least. If I was not par-

ticipating in an ancient, venerable tradition, what exactly

was I doing? Was I heir to an authentic yoga practice, or

the unwitting perpetrator of a global fraud?

I spent the next four years researching feverishly in

li braries in England, the United States, and India, searching

for clues about how the yoga we practice today came into

being. I looked through hundreds of manuals of modern


yoga, and thousands of pages of magazines. I stud-

ied the “classical” traditions of yoga, particularly

hatha yoga, from which my practice was said to

derive. I read a swath of commentaries on Patan-

jali’s Yoga Sutra; the Upanishads and the later

“Yoga Upanishads”; medieval hatha yoga texts

like the Goraksasataka, Hatha Yoga Pradipika,

and others; and texts from the Tantric traditions,

from which the less complex, and less exclusive,

hatha yoga practices had arisen.

Scouring these primary texts, it was obvious

to me that asana was rarely, if ever, the primary

feature of the significant yoga traditions in India.

Postures such as those we know today often fig-

ured among the auxiliary practices of yoga systems

(particularly in hatha yoga), but they were not the

dominant component. They were subordinate

to other practices like pranayama (expansion

of the vital energy by means of breath), dharana

(focus, or placement of the mental faculty), and

nada (sound), and did not have health and fitness

as their chief aim. Not, that is, until the sudden

explosion of interest in postural yoga in the 1920s

and 1930s, first in India and later in the West.

WHeN aSaNa WeNT WeSTYoga began to gain popularity in the West at the

end of the 19th century. But it was a yoga deeply

influenced by Western spiritual and religious

ideas, representing in many respects a radical

break from the grass-roots yoga lineages of

India. The first wave of “export yogis,” headed by

Swami Vivekananda, largely ignored

asana and tended to focus instead

on pranayama, meditation, and pos-

itive thinking. The english-educated

Vivekananda arrived on american

shores in 1893 and was an instant

success with the high society of the

east Coast. While he may have taught

some postures, Vivekananda publicly

rejected hatha yoga in general and

asana in particular. Those who came

from India to the United States in his

wake were inclined to echo Vive-

kananda’s judgments on asana. This

was due partly to long-standing

prejudices held by high-caste Indians

like Vivekananda against yogins,

“fakirs,” and low-caste mendicants

who performed severe and rigorous

postures for money, and partly to the

centuries of hostility and ridicule directed toward these

groups by Western colonialists, journalists, and scholars. It

was not until the 1920s that a cleaned up version of asana

began to gain prominence as a key feature of the modern

english language–based yogas emerging from India.

This cleared up some long-standing questions of mine.

In the mid-1990s, armed with a copy of B. K. S. Iyengar’s

Light on Yoga, I had spent three years in India for yoga asana

instruction and was struck by how hard it was to find. I took

classes and workshops all over India from well-known and

lesser-known teachers, but these catered mostly to Western

yoga pilgrims. Wasn’t India the home of yoga? Why weren’t

more Indians doing asana? and why, no matter how hard I

looked, couldn’t I find a yoga mat?

BUIldING STroNG BodIeSas I continued to delve into yoga’s recent past, pieces of

the puzzle slowly came together, revealing an ever-larger

portion of the whole picture. In the early decades of the

20th century, India—like much of the rest of the world—

was gripped by an unprecedented fervor for physical cul-

ture, which was closely linked to the struggle for national

independence. Building better bodies, people reasoned,

would make for a better nation and improve the chances

of success in the event of a violent struggle against the

colonizers. a wide variety of exercise systems arose that

continued on page 106


Patricia Sullivan, 61,

began practicing

yoga at 21. Behind

her is the Shiva/

Shakti statue she

sculpted.

I first noticed numbness in my right hand six years ago while

sculpting a highly detailed model of Shiva/Shakti, destined for

casting in bronze. Over the next few months, holding on to my

sculpting tools became excruciatingly difficult, if not impossible.

Despite my efforts to address the problem with bodywork and

yoga, the numbness got worse. About a year into this chronic pain,

I woke up hourly with viselike gripping sensations in both of my

hands. For three weeks, I spent the early-morning hours pacing

and shaking my hands until the pain subsided. This prolonged

lack of sleep led to my lowest point yet: I fell asleep at the wheel

while driving along a winding road around a lagoon. My car became

by Patricia Sullivan

photography by David Martinez

artistry

actionin

In this cautionary tale, yoga teacher and sculptor Patricia Sullivan shares her journey of injury, self-discovery, healing, and the safe remaking of her Headstand practice.

What would you do if you found that the practice you love was causing you harm?

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airborne, flew over the embankment, and landed in the

low-tide mud flats 50 yards or so from the road.

Fortunately I wasn’t injured from the car accident, but

it served as a wake-up call—one that motivated me to see

a doctor for my chronic pain. The doctor ordered cervi-

cal x-rays. They showed extensive damage, including a

reversed cervical curve, disk degeneration, and bony

deposits that were partially blocking nerve outlets. The

degeneration had occurred gradually over a number of

years. My doctor and I both suspected the cause: I had

been practicing long holds of Salamba Sirsasana (Sup-

ported Headstand) for years, even though it was painful.

My longing to excel both in my asana practice and as an

asana teacher, had led me to ignore my body’s signals and

cries for relief. Faced with my now-brutal reality, I began

a deeply humbling journey of examining how my practice

had caused me so much harm.

headstand’s benefitsFor years, I had experienced Headstand’s benefits first-

hand. According to the yoga tradition, the pose, known

as the king of the asanas, affects every system of the

body, including the cardiovascular, lymph, endocrine,

and digestive systems—in addition to enhancing prana,

or life force. Numerous texts, old and new, encourage

the practice of Headstand and speak of its profound

benefits, such as a renewed sense of vitality, mental clar-

ity, steadiness, and calm. Many people believe that the

complete reversal of our usual upright position enhances

circulation, which is known for its cleansing, nourishing,

and healing effects.

My regular practice of inversions such as Headstand

had strengthened my upper body and given me balance.

Headstand had also given me confidence in my ability to

remain balanced in a whole range of situations, provided

a daily feeling of profound renewal, and lifted my spirits.

I didn’t want to give up all of that, but clearly I needed

to make a change.

… and risksWhen I look back on my yoga journey, I can see it wasn’t

just the pose that contributed to my injury—it was the

the poses that follow

will help you build the

strength and awareness

needed to do Headstand safely. take as much

time as you need—weeks, months, or even

years—to work on the preparatory poses.

once you do float up to Headstand, the ease

that you will experience in the pose will be

worth your efforts. if you are a beginner, or

if you feel that you should avoid Headstand

altogether for whatever reason, practice the

preparatory poses to build strength in, and

awareness of, your upper back and shoulders,

which will help you in daily life. for your inver-

sion practice, you can opt for viparita karani

and bask in the ease and benefits of inverting

by putting your legs up the wall.

way I practiced the pose. I came to yoga at the age

of 21 in very good physical condition. Getting into

Headstand and Salamba Sarvangasana (Supported

Shoulderstand) was easy, and I soon began extend-

ing the time I stayed in these poses. But I had no

awareness of healthy biomechanics nor a long-

term plan for gradually becoming more proficient.

At that age, I was susceptible to the suggestion

from some of my teachers that I needed to per-

severe through pain in order to be rewarded with

the stamina required to reap the pose’s benefits.

So I pressed on, eager to prove myself.

There had been a fleeting early-warning sign

years before my hands went numb. For a period

of time, I developed a frozen neck—in order to

look from side to side, I had to turn my whole

body, as my neck muscles were painfully protect-

ing me from doing further damage. But after some

expensive chiropractic treatments, my symptoms

diminished, and I returned to inversions—and

building blocks to a healthy headstand



forearm dog with blocks

body language Sullivan

demonstrates (above) the im

portance of taking your body

proportions into account before

doing Headstand: With her

hands in Headstand position,

her head is clearly above the

horizontal line of her forearms,

which means that her neck will

not be fully supported by her

arms in Headstand. Try this in

front of a mirror at home and,

if you have similar proportions,

consult an experienced teacher

for propping options.

Set up two blocks. Place one block flat with its short edge touching a wall. Place

the other block on top of it, with one end on the floor and the other end resting on

the edge of the first block at a diagonal.

Begin on your forearms and knees, with your elbows shoulder-width apart on the

floor. Place your hands on either side of the lower block and press in lightly. Press

your forearms, hands, and wrists down. On an exhalation, lift your knees off the

ground and your hips toward the ceiling. Rest the crown of your head on the slanted

block. Your spine should form a straight line from your head to your tailbone. Now

that you are set up, use your shoulders, back, and belly to move your weight toward

your hips while lengthening your neck and head toward the block. (Depending on

your body proportions, the slanted block may need to be adjusted so that your

head reaches the block.) Start with your heels reaching toward the floor, then raise

them an inch or 2 and engage shoulders, back, and belly away from the floor. This

will prevent weight from being transferred to the neck and will further strengthen

the core and shoulder girdle. Stay here for 5 breaths.

Opens the shoulders; allows you to experience the

sensation of letting your neck and crown lengthen

downward while bearing very little body weight.{

contraindications You should not practice Headstand if you

have retinal problems, high blood pressure, cervical strain, stenosis,

or compressed cervical disks. People with marked spinal asymmetries

such as scoliosis should work with an experienced instructor. Do not

practice inversions during menstruation. Practice during pregnancy

only with guidance. And finally, any neck pain is an indication that

your Headstand setup or variation isn’t working for you and that you

should consult an experienced teacher.

N O v e m B e R 2 0 1 0 y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m 7 3

From a kneeling position, place your forearms on the mat, with

your elbows shoulder-width apart and directly below your

shoulder joints, fingers interlaced. Widen your shoulder blades

and firmly snug them on the rib cage to make the upper back

wide. Resist collapsing through the waist by using the strength

of your lower and middle belly. Walk your feet back until you

are in Plank Pose on the forearms. Start the glides: Slide your

body forward and back a few inches by rolling on the toes,

keeping the back of the neck long and in line with the spine.

Do this several times, then rest in Balasana (Child’s Pose)

for a few deep breaths.

Come into Forearm Plank again to begin the pumps (shown at

right). On an inhalation, allow the shoulder blades to migrate

toward each other while lowering the chest a few inches

toward the floor without sagging at the waist; then, with the

exhalation, slowly pump back up again to the starting position.

The slow movements recruit more muscle fibers, strengthen-

ing muscles more thoroughly than quicker movements will.

After doing the pumps slowly 2 more times, rest again in

Child’s Pose. Repeat the glides and pumps 2 times each, rest-

ing between each one. Over time, build to 5 to 10 times each.

forearm plank pose with gliding and pumping

{Strengthens your core, spine, neck, and

the deep muscles in the upper back

and ribs that support you in Headstand.

74 y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m n O v e m B e R 2 0 1 0

to my quest to achieve the recommended minimum time of 10

minutes in Headstand. Once I had achieved that goal, I wanted

to move on and learn the exciting and exotic-looking variations.

As the years went by, I simply got accustomed to a certain level

of pain. At that time, it was an acceptable tradeoff for the posi-

tive effects I enjoyed.

journey to wholenessAfter the car accident, I surrendered to the possibility that I’d

never do Headstand again and allowed myself to concentrate on

recovering. I did physical therapy, meditation, Rolfing, and qi

gong. I adopted an Ayurvedic diet and lifestyle. I also faced the

disappointment of abstaining from not only Headstand but also

Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose), Urdhva

Mukha Svanasana (Upward-Facing Dog Pose), Chaturanga Dan-

dasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose), Shoulderstand, and other

poses that I once practiced with ease. Then, after about three

years, as I regained a sense of ease in my neck and arms, I found

myself entertaining the idea of building back up to Headstand.

This time around, I was determined to make my attempt at the

pose an opportunity for self-exploration rather than an exercise

ruled by ego and ambition. So, I played with props and created

variations of poses. I also took my time with my practice.

The first hurdle was practicing Downward-Facing Dog with-

out numbness. When I could do that, I began working in very

Place your forearms on the mat, with

your elbows shoulder-distance apart

and your hands clasped. Lift your

knees off the ground and tiptoe for-

ward so the spine becomes nearly

vertical and the back of your head

rests lightly on your wrists. Hold for

several breaths without straining

the neck. Over time, build up to a 30-

second hold. This position will help

stabilize the torso while you’re up-

side down; the latissimus dorsi and

serratus anterior prevent you from

toppling backward, while the core

ab dominals stabilize from the front.

small increments with poses such as the fore-

arm plank variations and the vertical hold you

see here, to strengthen and support my shoul-

der girdle in order to prevent compression. I

found ways to create space in my body as I

attempted to invert—for example, I began

practicing a supported Shoulderstand using

a bolster and a chair to keep my neck off the

ground and most of the weight in my sacrum.

Finally, I attempted my first Headstand

using a stack of blocks to avoid putting weight

on my head. I remained weak and shaky for

months. Instead of fighting it, I honored that

and came down after only 20 to 30 seconds. I

built up slowly, second by second. When at

last I built up to a freestanding Headstand, I

held the pose for only half a minute.

Today, I still actively practice my variations

and preparatory poses so I can safely do Head-

stand. I practice freestanding Headstand two

to three times a week for two to three min-

utes, and the block-supported Headstand

about three times a week. I can do this safely,

Strengthens the shoulder

girdle and enables you to

practice keeping the neck

long and decompressed.

vertical hold

{

continued from page 75

n O v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m 7 5

without any negative effects. The bony changes in my

neck linger, no doubt; the nerve inflammation returns

if I’m not careful. And though I’m back to Headstand,

my current inversion mainstays are Viparita Karani

(Legs-up-the-Wall Pose) and chair-supported Shoul-

derstand. I can remain in Viparita for much longer

periods of time, concentrating on breathwork and

settling into a calming, mindful awareness.

learning to train, not strainIf you want to practice Headstand safely, do an hon-

est assessment of your physical, mental, and emo-

tional state each time you practice. The strength and

concentration required for Headstand may not be

there on any given day. Also, if you haven’t been able

to release the stress in your practice prior to coming

to Headstand, you may be too distracted to apply

yourself fully to the challenge.

To do Headstand, it’s also important to consis-

tently train and strengthen the shoulders and upper

back. Here’s why: In standing poses, we support the

weight of our bodies via the pelvis and the long,

strong bones of the legs. In Headstand, however, our

body weight is supported by the smaller, frailer bones

of the neck. If you align the upper back and shoul-

ders properly, you can offset some of the pressure on

the neck. But the shoulder joints are relatively less

stable than all of the other joints in your body, and it

can take years to build up the strength and body

Set up your blocks. Place a block so it

stands up vertically 2 or more inches

from the wall on a sticky mat. (Where this

block ultimately ends up depends on how

flat or rounded your upper back is and

how long your upper arms are in relation

to your neck.) Place a second block on

top of, and perpendicular to, the first

block. The third block comes out from the

wall lengthwise on the flat dimension,

resting on the middle block, one end at the wall. The

block setup may seem onerous, but it helps to fully

support the body and protect the neck.

Begin on your knees facing the blocks with the elbows

shoulder-width apart. Wrap your fingertips firmly

around the vertical block. Press into the floor with

your forearms and wrists. On an exhalation, lift your

knees off the floor, raise the hips, and lift your heels.

Your head should be off the floor. Tiptoe forward until

your upper back presses onto the blocks and the back

of your head touches the vertical block. The top of

your head will only lightly touch the floor, if at all.

Straighten your legs if possible, though the knees

may need to remain somewhat bent in order to walk

forward enough to get your upper back to the blocks.

Feel how the blocks prevent the upper back and shoul-

ders from collapsing toward the wall as you walk your

feet closer to the blocks. (When your upper back col-

lapses, your neck receives too much weight, putting

you at risk for strain.) Hold for 30 seconds to a min-

ute, keeping your back firmly pressed against the

blocks with hips reaching up. If you want to continue,

practice lifting one leg up. Hold the leg up for several

seconds. Lower this leg and repeat with the other

leg, building to about 30 seconds gradually over time,

as long as your neck remains comfortable.

{

headstand preparation

using a block stack

for thoracic support

Supports and opens the upper

back and shoulders while

stretching and strengthening

the shoulder girdle.

7 6 y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m n O v e m B e r 2 0 1 0


Using the same block configuration, lift

one leg and spring from the other leg to

come into full Sirsasana, with your back

supported by the blocks and your head

either entirely off the floor or only lightly

touching. (You may need an assist from

an experienced teacher.) Since the blocks

prevent you from counterbalancing back

ward with the shoulders and hips, getting

up can be a little like jumping into Hand

stand. If your balance does not feel steady,

bend your knees and press your feet into

the wall. This will allow you to align your

self from knees to shoulders while en

joying the support of the blocks and wall.

Stay for a few seconds; then gradually

build up your holds according to what feels

appropriate for you.

Place a bolster or blankets 4 to 5 inches away from the wall. Sit on

the end of the bolster, with your right side next to the wall and your

feet on the floor in front of you. Place your left hand on the floor, then

lower your upper body toward the floor. At the same time, lift and

turn your buttocks toward the wall, keeping them in contact with it.

Bring your left shoulder down to the floor near the bolster and roll

onto your back. Scoot as close to the wall as you can while keeping

your legs straight. Make sure the bolster is supporting your lumbar

curve and that your tailbone feels as though it’s dropping toward the

floor. (Some people are more comfortable if the sacrum is also well

supported, while others need to be farther from the wall due to tight

hamstrings.) Arms rest in a loose circle overhead, one hand in the

relaxed palm of the other. Draw your attention inward, toward the

breath and more subtle awareness. Beginning students can stay

for several minutes, while seasoned students can stay even longer.

viparita karani legs-up-the-wall pose

Allows those with cervical disk

compression to enjoy inverting

without risking further damage.

headstand variation with block stack

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n o v e M B e r 2 0 1 0 y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m 7 7

Whether you’re drained, suffering from the winter dol-

drums, or just need to prioritize some “you time,” sometimes

the best investment you can make is in yourself—and in your yoga

practice. a week at a sunny, tropical yoga retreat could be just

what you need to recharge and replenish, both inside and out.

a great winter yoga retreat experience has many components—

world-class yoga teachers; fresh food that nourishes both body

and spirit; a lush tropical setting (local wildlife is an added bonus);

and opportunities for therapeutic and indulgent spa treatments.

these dreamy getaways offer all that, and more. if an exotic

vacation isn’t in the budget this year, put these on your “maybe

someday” list. dreaming can shift your perspective, too.

need a dream vacation?

here are 5 luxurious yoga destinations worth the splurge.

by rachel Lehmann-Haupt

& Sarah Saffian

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relax on the

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the sounds of

the ocean.

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A HuicHol word, haramara means

“mother sea,” the place where every-

thing comes from, says owner Sajeela

de la Borbolla. And with its warm, family-

like atmosphere and fresh gourmet cui-

sine, this gracious retreat center does

feel like the source of something sacred.

“You’re taken care of from the moment

you arrive,” says Ashtanga Yoga teacher

Peggy orr, who has led nine retreats

here. located just 40 minutes from

Puerto Vallarta on the riviera Nayarit,

a sleepy stretch of coast dotted with

resorts, the property includes a private

beach and 12 acres of tropical jungle.

The yoga space is an open-air,

thatched palapa with a 360-degree

view of the ocean and rainforest.

Guests stay in simple but beautiful

palm-thatched casitas, with open-air

walls on three sides that invite in

the ocean breeze and the sounds of

the pounding surf. charming bath-

rooms, oil lamps, and canopy beds

with handmade quilts complete the

look—a blend of rustic and elegant

that orr describes as “robinson

crusoe meets Architectural Digest.”

Price Averages $1,795 (per person)

for a weeklong retreat.

YoGA Visiting teachers have included

rodney Yee, Jason crandell, desirée

rumbaugh, darren rhodes, and Sianna

Sherman. check the schedule for

upcoming retreats.

doN’T miSS The homemade granola

at breakfast, the spectacular moles

at lunch, and the just-caught seafood

at dinner—plus ViP treatment by the

chef, who will prepare a meal based on

your dietary needs.

haramararetreat.com

A SAlTwATer iNfiNiTY swimming pool is

the first thing you see as you approach

Blue Spirit, a retreat center bordering a

nature reserve on the northwest coast of

Costa Rica. The sight sets the tone for an

experience of the infinite outdoors. Blue Spirit’s large yoga studio is on the

top floor of the center—a breathtaking 3,000-square-foot air-conditioned

pavilion with floor-to-ceiling windows. “You have more than a 180-degree

view of the ocean and the beach while you’re doing yoga,” says Jenay Martin,

a Northern California yoga teacher and photographer who accompanied

Shiva Rea on her last retreat there. “You can see birds flying by in formation.

It’s dreamy!” A smaller, cabana-like yoga space in the jungle is wall-less on

three sides to let in the soft breezes and howler monkeys’ calls. A short stroll

down a tree-canopied path brings you to the beach for sunset yoga practice.

Blue Spirit’s mostly vegetarian menu features fruit smoothies, greens,

grains, and legumes as well as fresh-caught fish. The rooms (singles or dou-

bles with private baths in the main building) and eco-cottages (which share a

bathhouse down the hill) are clean and cool, and all buildings are solar pow-

ered and made with local concrete and sustainably harvested wood.

Price Varies by retreat and type of room, but ranges from $700 to $1,950

per person for a weeklong stay (less if you stay in a tent on the grounds).

YoGA Beryl Bender Birch, Peter Sterios, Cyndi Lee, Sharon Gannon, and

David Life have all taught here. Check the schedule for

up coming retreats.

doN’T miSS Enjoying a tangy lime-ginger ice pop at the

open-air Café Library, located on a spacious balcony

that has a view of the mountains.

bluespiritcostarica.com

Blue SPiriT reTreAT

NoSArA, coSTA ricA

HArAmArASAYuliTA, mexico

Blue SPiriT Those seeking

even more time

outside can go

surfing, horseback

riding, kayaking,

or bird watching.

N o V e m B e r 2 0 1 0 y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m 8 1

You want to immerse your

self in yoga, but your best

travel partner has other ideas

about what makes a dream

vacation. You’ll both be happy

at Rancho La Puerta, a re

nowned healthandwellness

destination located on 3,000

acres in the mountains of Baja

California, Mexico. Yoga and

meditation teachers come

from all over the world for

special weeklong yoga pro

grams, but the ranch also has

a broad spectrum of other

offerings. there are more than

50 daily fitness classes, plus

RanCho La PueRta

teCate, MexiCo

swimming and volleyball,

miles of hiking trails, cooking

classes at the ranch’s culi

nary center, and tours of the

ranch’s sixacre organic farm.

You’ll both want to check

out the full menu of spa

services and therapeutic

treatments, some of which

make use of organic medici

nal herbs grown on the prop

erty. accommodations range

from luxurious private villas

to singleroom “rancheras”

with garden patios, all with

a Mexican folkart motif,

handmade furniture, and

handpainted tiles.

PRiCe Varies by accommo

dation type, but ranges from

$2,715 to $4,515 per person

for a weeklong stay.

Yoga in addition to regularly

scheduled daily yoga classes,

specially programmed weeks

are dedicated to different

kinds of yoga, including iyen

gar, ashtanga, and anusara.

Check the schedule for

up coming programs and

teachers.

Don’t Miss taking a 6 a.m.

guided hike up the sacred

Mount Kuchumaa, past rock

formations and glorious

desert scenery—and coming

back to breakfast by the pool.

rancholapuerta.com

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rancho la pUErta a candlelit

lab riynth walk,

hot stone massage,

and first-rate

yoga classes are

just a few of

your options.

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Secluded on 150 acres of

virgin rainforest, Luna Lodge

is a great place to renew

your love of nature and your

aware ness of the interre lat

edness of all living things.

Yoga classes take place on a

loftlike platform perched

high in the Corcovado

National Park, with spectac

ular views of both the ocean

and the rainforest, home

to scarlet macaws, toucans,

shy tapirs, slowmoving

sloths, and other wildlife.

“The sounds of the howler

monkeys and birds are our

music,” says Gloria Drayer, a

Kripalu Yoga teacher who

has lead retreats here. Guests

can stay in simple bung a

lows with private decks, in

haciendastyle rooms, or in

tents built on platforms in

the jungle. The lodge is self

sustaining, running com

pletely on hydro and solar

power. Its amenities—a

swimming pool; an openair

restaurant that serves tropi

cal fruits and spices grown

on the property; and a spa

that offers coconut body

scrubs, massage, Reiki, and

aromatherapy, among other

treatments—are designed

to be light on the landscape

and integrated into the sur

rounding jungle.

Price Varies by retreat,

but averages from $1,220

to $1,425 per person for a

weeklong stay.

yoga Sianna Sherman, Amy

Ippoliti, Gloria Drayer, and

Tias Little have brought

groups here. Check the web

site for a list of upcoming

yoga retreats.

don’t miSS Lana’s Special

spa treatment: a combination

of deeptissue massage,

hot stone rub, and a sooth

ing organic facial.

lunalodge.com

luna lodgeoSa PeninSula, coSta rica


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AshiyAnA RetReAt CentRe

A serene site located between the

Mandrem River and the coast of

the indian Ocean in northern Goa,

india, Ashiyana has daily yoga and

meditation classes with resident

teachers, plus yoga retreats with

visiting international teachers

scheduled throughout the season.

Guests stay in bungalows over-

looking the beach and dine on

indian and Western vegetarian

cuisine. ashiyana-yoga-goa.com

MAyA tuluM

this restorative spot on the

yucatan Peninsula of Mexico

has white-sand beaches, simple

thatched cabanas, a full menu

of spa treatments, and retreats

with teachers like Baron Baptiste,

Jonny Kest, and Deborah Burk-

man. mayatulum.com

PRAnA Del MAR

located on the southern tip of

the Baja peninsula, this tranquil,

eco-friendly beach resort offers

yoga retreats (including some

that combine yoga with surfing)

with renowned visiting teachers.

pranadelmar.com

sOMAtheeRAM

AyuRveDA ResORt

this tropical retreat center

in Kerala, india, the birth-

place of Ayurveda, is not

about practicing with West-

ern yoga teachers (though

some do bring groups here)

or getting Western spa

treatments, but about

immersing yourself in the

healing lifestyle of Ayur-

veda. the resort offers indi-

vidualized treatment plans

from the Ayurvedic physicians on

staff, classical sivananda-style yoga,

and traditional Ayurvedic therapies,

plus a range of comfortable accom-

modations. somatheeram.in

stAy huMAn yOGA

AnD RetReAt CenteR

Michael Franti and Carla swanson’s

intimate retreat center in ubud, Bali,

is scheduled to open in January

2011, with an open-air yoga studio,

lush tropical gardens, and a swim-

ming pool. stayhumannow.com

WillKA t’iKA

Owner Carol Cumes has created a

retreat center in a verdant paradise

that is an hour from the Andean town

of Cusco, Peru, and that supports

the local community. Retreats include

yoga and meditation, visits to

Machu Picchu, and the opportunity

to learn about the region’s rich

spiritual and cultural heritage.

willkatika.com

XinAlAni RetReAt

Where the jungle meets the beach

on Banderas Bay near Puerto

vallarta, Mexico, you’ll find this

sparkling new eco-chic retreat

center with open, thatched pala-

pas, spa services, and resident

yoga instructors as well as visiting

teachers like Amy ippoliti and Dar-

ren Rhodes. xinalaniretreat.com

MORe sPeCtACulAR sPOts

to reconnect with your practice

Above:

Maya tulum

welcomes

visitors.

Below: yoga

at Xinalani

Retreat.

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Located on a 1,000-acre

private island in the northern

caribbean, Parrot cay is

the setting for the ultimate

fantasy vacation: an über-

luxurious resort that has chic,

airy rooms furnished with

Balinese fur n iture; a holistic

spa that offers both Western-

style and ayurvedic treat-

ments; and two restaurants

serving just about every

kind of food you can imagine—

asian-inspired dishes, raw

and vegan cuisine, american-

style breakfasts, local seafood,

and more.

World-class visiting yoga

teachers lead classes in an

open-air studio with views of

the island’s powdery white-

sand beaches and turquoise

waters. “the treatment rooms

como ShamBhaLa at Parrot cay Turks and CaiCos

are immaculate, the spa is

staffed by true virtuosos, and

the ginger tea that’s always

on hand is utterly medicinal,”

says elena Brower, a cert i fied

anusara instructor and

founder of new York city’s

ViraYoga, who has led a num-

ber of retreats here. “and

their green juice is my favorite

fuel.” como Shambhala also

operates luxury retreat cen-

ters with great yoga program-

ming in Bali and Bhutan.

Price Starting at $5,728

per per son for a weeklong

yoga retreat.

Yoga erich Schiffmann,

rodney Yee, colleen

Saidman-Yee, and elena

Brower have all taught here.

check the website for a list

of upcoming yoga retreats.

don’t miSS the abhyanga

Package, a 90-minute spa

treatment designed to en -

hance circulation and release

impurities that begins with

an ayur vedic oil massage

and is followed by an herbal

steam and a body mud mask.

parrotcay.como.bz ✤

Parrot caY a caribbean

island is a great

place for serious

pampering—and

serious yoga

instruction.

8 6 y o g a j o u r n a l . C o m n o V e m B e r 2 0 1 0

off the m

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( )As you prepare for Archer Pose, learn to direct the arrow of

awareness at yourself.

One purpose of practicing asanas,

arguably the most important, is to dis-

cover a meditative path toward realizing

who you really are. This self-realization,

after all, is the classic aim of yoga. Patan-

jali’s Yoga Sutra says that when the prac-

titioner has a tranquil mind, he “abides

in his own true nature” (I.3). In order to

practice asana as a meditative path, you’ll

need to learn how to let go of habitual

responses to physical and mental distrac-

tions during the practice. This will allow

you to shed unnecessary effort in each

pose, which will ultimately lead you to a

feeling of effortlessness.

Of course, maintaining a pose involves

some effort, some type of intention and

take aim

master class with John Schumacher

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A video of this Master Class sequence can

be found online at yogajournal.com/livemag.

▼ watch

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 0 Y O G A J O U R N A L . C O M 8 9

master class with John Schumacher

3

2

11 Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose)

Open hips are an essential aspect of Akarna

Dhan urasana I (Archer Pose I). Baddha Konasana

is an excellent pose for stretching your inner

groins and lengthening your inner thighs so that

you can draw your foot back by your ear in the

final pose. Done in the upright position, Baddha

Konasana also develops strong lower back and

spinal muscles, which you’ll need to avoid back

strain in Archer Pose. As you sit, relax your jaw

and release any tension in your throat. Be aware

of any unnecessary effort and let it go.

2 Janu Sirsasana (Head-of-the-Knee Pose), variation This variation of Janu Sirsasana continues

to open your hips and stretches your

straight leg as well. From Dandasana (Staff

Pose), bend your left knee, draw your heel

toward your left groin, and lower your left

knee out to the side. Move your left hand

along your left thigh toward your knee to

roll your thigh slightly back and increase

length and rotation. With your right hand,

hold your right big toe and draw your side

ribs in to lift the sides of your trunk evenly.

This will lighten the load on your lower

back and give your diaphragm space so

your breath can move freely to center and

quiet your mind.

3 Marichyasana I, variationPhysical stability is necessary to take your

awareness to deeper levels within your-

self. When you bend your left knee toward

your chest, ground your left sitting bone

to keep from tilting to your right side. Pull

your left knee back and draw your left

inner thigh toward the groin. As in the

Janu Sirsasana variation, use your hands

and arms to help lift and lighten your

trunk. Keep your gaze soft and direct it

toward your right foot to bring your

awareness into a quiet focus.

9 0 y o g a J o u r n a l . c o M n o v e m B e r 2 0 1 0

( benefits )

Increases hip mobility

Strengthens arms and shoulders

Stretches arms and legs

Improves core strength

( contraindications )

Pregnancy

Menstruation

Shoulder injury

Lumbar disk problems

Hamstring injury

5

44 Akarna Dhanurasana I

(Archer Pose I), preparationIn this preparation for the final pose,

you’ll hold your leg and pump it back

and forth a few times to create heat,

lubricate your hip joint, and increase

your range of motion. You’ll also

strengthen your arms, a necessary

component of Akarna Dhanurasana I.

After you pump the leg several times,

hold your position for a few breaths;

then practice taking your leg farther

back by first pulling with your hands,

then by moving back from the leg

itself. You might be surprised at the

extra space you find in your hip when

you practice this way.

5 Akarna Dhanurasana I (Archer Pose I)Now you’re ready to take the different elements of your

practice and put them together in this graceful, challenging

pose. The flexibility, strength, balance, and stability that

you’ve built up through your previous efforts will all come

into play. Maintain a strong hold on both big toes as you pull

your left elbow and shoulder back to draw your left foot

toward your ear. Press the entire length of the back of your

right leg toward the floor and reach out through your right

heel. As you gradually learn the mechanics and rhythms of

holding your bow and drawing your bowstring back, remem-

ber that the time to release the arrow of your awareness

toward the target, your Self, will come when you let go of

effort, become quiet, and surrender to the moment.

n o v e M b e r 2 0 1 0 y o g A j o u r n A l . c o m 9 1

Slide your shoulder blades downward,

press them into your back ribs, and lift the

sides of your torso. Sit for two to five min-

utes, maintaining the actions of the pose.

Relax any tension in your temples and the

outer corners of your eyes. Such tension

is a clue that you’re using excessive effort.

For an asana to be meditative, you’ll want

to let go of any strain in your eyes, tongue,

temples, jaw, and throat.

Janu SirSaSana

(Head-of-the-Knee Pose), variation

Come to Dandasana (Staff Pose). From

here on, you’ll take Dandasana between

each pose in the sequence up to Akarna

Dhanurasana. Bend your left knee and

draw your heel toward your left groin.

Lower your left knee out to the side

toward the floor. The ball of your left foot

should turn slightly up toward the ceiling,

as it did in Baddha Konasana.

Keeping your right leg straight, lean

out and catch your right big toe with the

first two fingers and thumb of your right

hand. If you can’t reach your toe, use a

strap around the ball of your foot. Place

your left hand on your inner left thigh

and, pressing your hand into your thigh,

simultaneously move the skin toward

your knee and roll it back toward the

space behind you.

To relieve compression in your SI joints

and lower back, press the back of your

right leg and your left sitting bone into

the floor, and move your right hip socket

toward your left foot. Take your pubis

back into the body, and then lift your SI

joints upward.

As you pull with your right arm and

press with your left hand, slide your

shoulder blades down and draw your right

shoulder blade toward your spine. Turn

your chest toward the left and pull your

outer left shoulder back. Turn your head

to look at your right foot. Even though

you are working your arms and torso, keep

flexibility in your legs and hips. Before

beginning this sequence, warm up with

poses that encourage strength and flex-

ibility, such as Supta Padangusthasana I,

II, and III (Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe

Pose I, II, and III); Paripurna and Ardha

Navasana (Full Boat and Half Boat Pose);

and Malasana (Garland Pose).

Baddha KonaSana

(Bound Angle Pose)

You’ll begin with Baddha Konasana, a

fundamental hip-opening pose. Fold a

blanket into a rectangle about two inches

thick. Sit on the edge of the blanket, with

the most even corner under your tailbone

and your sitting bones near the edge.

Bend your knees, lower them out to the

sides toward the floor, and bring the soles

of your feet together. Draw your heels as

close to your pelvis as possible. If your

knees are higher than your waist, stack

another blanket and add enough height

so your knees can drop lower than your

hip points.

Press your heels together and stretch

your inner thighs from your groins toward

your knees. Keeping your heels together,

insert your thumbs between the balls of

your feet and spread the balls of your feet

apart as if you were opening a book. The

inner balls of your feet will face up, toward

the ceiling.

Turning the soles of your feet like this

softens your groins and releases your

knees. This movement will come in handy

when you bring your foot toward your ear

in Akarna Dhanurasana.

Continue pressing your heels together

and lengthening your inner thighs; then

move your tailbone forward to open your

hips farther. At the same time, draw your

pubis back and press your sitting bones

into the blanket to lift the back of your

body from your sacroiliac (SI) joints

upward. This will help support your lower

back and relieve pressure on the SI joints.

action. However, in time, you can learn

to re lease the unnecessary movements,

thoughts, and ac tions that come from

pushing yourself physically or mentally

to achieve a pose. Developing this type

of “effortless effort” transforms your

practice of asana from mere exercise into

a yogic journey toward absorption into

your true infinite Self.

To reduce excessive effort in your asana

practice, you’ll need to align your body

physically to support the pose and open

channels of energy. From there, you’ll

observe and then relax your sense organs.

Soften your eyes, relax your tongue, and

release the skin on your temples. Let your

breath be gentle and easy. This progres-

sive process of “undoing” everyday ten-

sion brings your mind to a quiet, receptive

state that is free of conflict and duality.

Before You Begin

Akarna Dhanurasana means literally

“Toward-the-Ear Bow Pose,” but is bet-

ter described as “Archer Pose,” since it

resembles an archer preparing to release

her arrow. You can practice this sequence

leading to Akarna Dha nurasana I (Archer

Pose I) as a way of discovering how—by

quietly observing your adjustments, the

quality of your breath, and your state of

consciousness—you can have a presence

of mind that allows you to aim the arrow

of awareness at yourself.

To observe your self in this way requires

skill and patience. If the archer is con-

cerned only with pulling the bowstring

and hitting the target, or the yogi is con-

cerned only with getting into the physical

shape of the pose, the meditative dimen-

sion of the practice will always be elusive.

Physical skill and technique are essen-

tial, but at some point, you must let go

of a focus on performing a collection of

movements. Through steadiness in the

body, relaxation of the eyes, and complete

surrender to the breath, you can abandon

unnecessary effort and fully occupy and

express the infinite present moment.

On a physical level, Akarna Dhanura-

sana, like archery, requires both strength

and flexibility. The sequence that follows

is designed to help you develop the neces-

sary strength in your arms and torso and

9 2 Y o g a J o u r n a l . c o m n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0

master class

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Continue to refine the pose and soften

the muscles at the base of the back of your

skull. Relax your soft palate and smile, gen-

tly releasing tension from your eyes, tem-

ples, and jaw. Breathe softly and slowly.

The lightness you bring to the body with

these various actions will ease your mind

into a more introspective state.

AkArnA DhAnurAsAnA I

(Archer Pose I), preparation

One of the biggest physical challenges for

many people in Akarna Dhanurasana is

stiffness in the hip joints. This next pose

is not a formal asana, but it’s an exercise

that will assist you in loosening your hips.

In Dandasana, bend your left knee, lift

your left leg, lean forward, and catch your

left foot. Hold the inner arch of your left

foot with your right hand and the little-

toe side of your left foot with your left

hand. Lift your left foot until your shin is

parallel to the floor. Hold your left fore-

arm slightly above your left shin, and draw

your knee back so it is just outside your

left shoulder.

Roll your pelvis forward onto your left

sitting bone, and from your SI joints, lift

your torso. Press the back of your right leg

into the floor to help lift. Keep the sides

of your body lifting and your shin parallel

to the floor. Pull your left foot with your

hands to move your left knee behind you.

Don’t let your knee move out to the side.

It doesn’t go exactly straight back either,

though. This is one of the tricky aspects of

this exercise and of Akarna Dhanurasana.

You have to play a little, letting the knee

go out slightly, then holding it closer to

the body, adjusting subtly in and out to

find out where you have the most ease and

freedom of movement.

Pull your leg back, and then, still hold-

ing your left foot, release it forward. Re -

peat this pumping movement 6 to 10

times. Lift your torso and stay forward on

your left sitting bone. Keep your pelvis

the back of your neck long and soft so that

your sense organs remain relaxed.

Sit for two to three minutes, relax your

breath, and take your attention inward.

With regular practice, the mechanics

of the pose will become more familiar

and you may find a natural sense of ease.

Soften the skin on your face and body and

bring your mind from an active state to a

more reflective one. Then, extend your

left leg forward and change sides.

MArIchyAsAnA I, vArIAtIon

From Dandasana, bend your left knee

and bring it in toward your chest. Place

your left heel near your perineum. Keep-

ing your right leg straight, reach out with

your right arm and catch your right big

toe with your first two fingers and thumb.

Put your left palm on the outside of

your left knee. Press the back of your right

leg into the floor. Pull back on your left

knee, as you move your left hip socket

forward, and roll onto your left sitting

bone. Press your left sitting bone down

into the floor and notice how this helps

to lift your torso.

Draw your right hip socket in toward

the center of your pelvis and lift up from

your SI joints to make your body long and

light. With your left hand still holding

your left knee, pull your left knee back

toward the space behind you. Use this

action to draw your left side ribs into your

body and lift the right side ribs higher.

Look at your right foot.

As you use your arms to help lift your

body, slide your shoulder blades down

and into your back ribs. Still holding your

right big toe, move your right shoulder

blade toward your spine and press it into

your back ribs, simultaneously pulling

your left shoulder back. This sets up the

chest, arms, and shoulders in the action

you’ll ultimately need for Akarna Dha-

nurasana. After two to three minutes,

change sides.

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onto your sitting bones, move your outer

right hip socket into your pelvis, and lift

your SI joints and back body. Draw your

left side ribs in to keep your right side

body from collapsing.

As you go on pulling your left foot,

play a little to find out how much your left

knee should come out to the side (it won’t

be much), so that you have maximum free

dom and stability in that hip. To release

your left hip fully, allow your left ankle

to angle slightly so the sole of your foot

turns toward your face. Keep looking to

ward your right foot and pull your left

heel toward your left ear until they al

most touch, or as near as you can. Resist

the temp tation to lean your head toward

your left foot.

Slide your shoulder blades down and

move your right shoulder blade toward

your spine and deep into your back ribs.

This will allow you to draw your left shoul

der back, which will in turn enable you

to pull your left foot back a little farther.

You now look like an archer fully prepared

to release your arrow toward your target.

As you maintain the posture, soften your

neck and throat. Release any tension in

your facial muscles and bring your eyes,

ears, and tongue to a quiet state. Relax

your breath. Be in the pose.

When you are no longer present in the

pose and tension begins to mount, release

your left leg to the floor and take the other

side. To finish your practice, fold forward

into Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward

Bend) for two to five minutes, then rest in

Savasana (Corpse Pose).

You may practice for years before ex

periencing a moment of true quietness.

Dedicated and consistent reflection on

your thoughts and actions is required in

order to recognize what effort is neces

sary and what is excessive. When, after

steady practice and surrender of effort,

the time of perfect quietness comes to

you in Akarna Dhanurasana I, the arrow

of your awareness will release itself toward

the target of your true Self, and you will

know yoga in the art of archery. ✤

John Schumacher, a certified senior Iyengar

teacher, lives in Maryland. He is the founder

and director of Unity Woods Yoga Center.

and body steady to focus the energy of

pumping into the hip.

After pumping your leg back and forth,

lift it one more time and draw it back, pull

ing with your hands and arms. Once you

have taken the leg back to its limit, pause

there for a breath or two. Then us ing your

hands and arms only to keep your leg

lifted and back, not to pull it, move your

left knee farther back by moving from

the leg itself.

This is a different sensation from the

one you have when you pull with your

hands. You may be surprised at how much

movement you can make, even though

you thought you were at your limit. Pause

for a couple of breaths, then use your hands

and arms to pull back a little more. Again,

wait for a breath or two and move your

leg back from the leg itself, not by pulling

with your arms. Then release your left leg

forward and take the right side.

AkArnA DhAnurAsAnA I

(Archer Pose I)

Reach forward from Dandasana and hold

your big toes with the first two fingers and

thumb of each hand. If you aren’t able to

reach your toes, wrap a belt around the

ball of your right foot and hold the belt.

Bend your left knee, hold the big toe with

your left hand, and place your left heel

on the floor a few inches away from your

inner right knee. Pause here, press the

back of your right leg into the floor, roll

forward onto your left sitting bone, and

press it down into the floor.

Keep a strong hold on both big toes,

and draw your left elbow and shoulder

back to pull your left foot toward your

ear. Press the back of your right leg into

the floor and lengthen your right leg out

through your heel. As you pull your left

foot and leg back, any tightness in your

left leg or hip may cause your body to tilt

backward and your lower back to sink.

To avoid straining your back, roll forward

9 6 y o g A j o u r n A l . c o m n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0

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Coral brown

roger Cole

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jason Crandell

nicki Doane

lilias Folan

ana Forrest

sean johnson

brent kessel

emily large

Cyndi lee

Tias little

kino Macgregor

vinnie Marino

Dharma Mittra

eddie Modestini

aadil Palkhivala

natasha rizopoulos

Desirée rumbaugh

loren russo

graham schweig

Cameron shayne

rod stryker

laura Tyree

Patricia walden

Colleen saidman Yee

rodney Yee

YjevenTs.CoM

800.561.9398

reviews books + music + videos

media

Beth Morey, a writer in Mis-

soula, Montana, has an active

and evolving yoga practice.

But the yoga classes at her

local gym are rarely offered

at times she can attend, and

few are in the vinyasa style

she favors. So Morey gets her

yoga instruction almost

exclusively through podcasts

and online videos, from

teachers like Dave Farmar

in Denver; Eoin Finn in

Vancouver, BC; and Sadie

Nardini in Austin, Texas.

“This way, I’m able to get

the kind of practice I want,

from the teachers I want,

at times that work with my

schedule,” Morey says.

Doing your kind of yoga

on your time. A changing ros-

ter of classes (and teachers),

so you never grow bored. The

ability to watch from almost

anywhere. Those are major

attractions for students on

the frontier of online yoga

instruction. And the field is

responding with new offer-

ings every day, making it pos-

sible for anyone with a Web

connection to study with tal-

ented teachers from around

the world, right at home.

Here’s a rundown of some

of the latest offerings.

web video

services

On a cold November morn-

ing, wouldn’t it be nice to

take the chill off with a heart-

melting Anusara class taught

by a celebrated teacher

like Elena Brower? For $18

a month, YogaGlo (yogaglo

.com) lets you do just that.

Classes at the YogaGlo studio

in Santa Monica, California,

are videotaped, recorded,

and streamed online, and are

searchable by style, level, and

length. Membership gets you

access to unlimited classes,

taught by a variety of teach-

ers, including Brower, Kath-

ryn Budig, and Noah Mazé.

YogaVibes ( yogavibes.com)

also offers a wide range of

classes from both regional and

nationally known teachers,

like Ana Forrest. Prices range

from $10 for a single class

that you can watch for up to

14 days, to $25 per month

for a subscription that

allows unlimited viewing

of any classes.

The yoga DVD company

Pranamaya ( pranamaya.com)

has also gotten into the

online yoga video market,

offering streamed classes

and workshops led by Paul

Grilley, Andrey Lappa,

and Sarah Powers. They cost

between $7.95 and $18.95

each, and purchases can be

stored in an account in

Pranamaya’s online digital

library for unlimited viewing.

Also, at Yoga Journal.com

you can watch free videos

of the magazine’s practice

stories featured in LiveMag

(yogajournal.com/livemag),

or download popular videos

from our archives for a fee.

Budig says that online

video classes are great for

people who lack access to

good studio classes or want

to develop a home practice.

“They’re also amazing for

mothers who only have 20

The latest in web

technology makes

yoga classes

more accessible

than ever.

the new yoga frontier

ev

a t

at

ch

ev

a

by Erica Rodefer

n o v E m b E R 2 0 1 0 y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m 9 9

to tell what’s safe and what’s not,” says

Nardini, who posts free videos to You-

Tube and writes the Core Values blog for

Yogajournal.com. “I suggest that before

a student follows any instructor’s videos,

they do some research. For example, how

long has the teacher been teaching? Who

have they studied with and where do they

teach now? Even on YouTube, you can tell

if people are well received by the yoga

community or not.”

It’s also important to have some experi-

ence with asana and to know your body’s

limitations. “If you can afford it, and have

the time and access, fi rst go to a yoga stu-

dio where a teacher can watch your prac-

tice,” says Budig. Then, from there, you

can experiment with online instruction

from teachers you’re curious about.

NEW COMMUNITY

One of the biggest potential drawbacks to

practicing with any video or audio instruc-

tion is that you miss out on the benefi ts

of interacting with your teacher and fel-

low students. But with social media, this,

to $6.99. Yogajournal.com ( yogajournal

.com/podcast) offers a whole collection

of free downloadable 20-minute classes

taught by Budig and Jason Crandell.

Many teachers offer free audio pod-

casts through their personal websites.

Some popular ones include podcasts by

Washington, DC, teacher Faith Hunter

( faithhunteryoga.wordpress.com), New

York City Jivamukti teacher Alanna Kai-

valya ( jivadiva.com), and Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania, Anusara teacher Elsie Es -

cobar (elsieyogakula.wordpress.com).

YOUTUBE AND YOU

YouTube, the Wild West of online vi -

deo, offers a veritable smorgasbord of

yoga instruction. You can fi nd everything

from free classes and workshops by well-

known teachers like Darren Rhodes, to

video footage of Indian masters, such as

B. K. S. Iyengar.

The caveat, of course, is that you’ll also

fi nd a lot that isn’t necessarily high- quality

teaching. “The challenge with all this

online information is that it can be hard

minutes here and there to practice, but

who need yoga so badly,” she adds.

Subscription online video services are

convenient and offer high-quality instruc-

tion. The downside? You can’t download

these videos t o your own computer or

portable player to watch them later—you

have to be connected to the Internet to

view them.

PODCASTS

If you like to practice on the go, you

might want to try downloadable yoga

podcasts, which you can transfer to an

iPod, a smart phone, or a computer. Yoga

Today ( yogatoday.com) offers a variety of

yoga class videos shot in serene outdoor

locations. You can purchase a single class

download for $3.99 or sign up to down-

load or stream the service for $9.99 a

month. The website offers a new free vi -

deo each week, plus several free video pod-

casts on iTunes. Yoga Download (yoga

download.com) has free 20-minute down -

loada ble podcasts, which you can upgrade

to 30-, 45-, or 60-minute classes for $1.99

Join John Friend on this three-day intensive and catapult your yoga practice

to new physical and energetic heights

To order visit www.shopyj.com or call (800) I-DO-YOGA (436-9642)

Anusara Yoga Grand Gathering

Special feature:

Interview with John Friend

thiS live 3-DvD Set incluDeS:

• 3 Master Classes filmed live at Estes Park• The Grand Gathering’s opening ceremonies • 45 minute interview with John Friend

media

1 0 0 Y O G A J O U R N A L . C O M N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 0

DATES AND LOCATIONS

QUEBEC, CANADANov 14 – Dec 11, 2010

NEYYAR DAM,SOUTH INDIANov 14 – Dec 12, 2010Jan 9 – Feb 6, 2011

(with translation)Feb 13 – March 13, 2011Mar 20 – Apr 17, 2011

MADURAI, SOUTH INDIANov 28 – Dec 26, 2010Feb 27 – March 27, 2011

NASSAU, BAHAMASDec 6, 2010 – Jan 2, 2011Jan 23 – Feb 19, 2011Feb 27 – March 26, 2011Mar 31 – Apr 27, 2011May 5 – Jun 1, 2011

TYROL, AUSTRIADec 18, 2010 – Jan 16, 2011

VRINDAVAN, NORTH INDIAFeb 5 – Mar 6, 2011

CU CHI VIETNAMFeb 6 – March 6, 2011

HIMALAYAS, INDIAApr 10 – May 8, 2011May 15 – June 12, 2011June 19 – July 17, 2011

WOODBOURNE, NYApr 17 – May 15, 2011June 1 – June 29, 2011

LOIRE VALLEY,FRANCEApril 29 - May 28, 2011

GRASS VALLEY, CAMay 7 – June 6, 2011

LONDON, ENGLANDMay 14 – June 12, 2011

too, is evolving. Some teachers make

themselves available via Facebook, Twit-

ter, and YouTube to answer questions

from students. These postings can grow

into full-fl edged communities where stu-

dents ask questions, give feedback to the

teacher, and interact with one another.

When San Jose, California, yoga teacher

Cora Wen tweeted about practicing Scor-

pion Pose a year ago, she got enough

responses and questions about her tech-

nique that she posted a video on YouTube.

She thought it would be a useful tool for

the handful of people who had questions,

but within an hour the video had hundreds

of views. “Yoga is a process of connection,

communication, and collaboration with

our body, mind, and spirit,” Wen says.

“Online instruction broadens this explo-

ration by offering students fl exibility, con-

venience, and the opportunity to expand

their expertise.”

reviewsBOOKS YOGA MALA, by K. Pattabhi Jois,

and GURUJI: PORTRAIT OF SRI K.

PATTABHI JOIS THROUGH THE EYES OF

HIS STUDENTS, edited by Guy Donahaye and

Eddie Stern. North Point Press; fsgbooks.com

Arguably the most infl uential force in the

world of hatha yoga over the past 35 years

is K. Pattabhi Jois, the

fierce yet jovial South

Indian Brahman who

died in 2009 after a life-

time championing the

challenging method he

called Ashtanga Yoga.

Beginning in the mid-

1970s, thousands of Americans, Europe-

ans, and Asians—fi rst in a trickle, then in

a fl ood—made the pilgrimage to his yoga

school in Mysore and followed him on

teaching tours abroad.

Now, thanks to the simultaneous publi-

cation of two books spearheaded by long-

time Jois student Eddie Stern, director of

the Ashtanga Yoga Shala in New York,

those fortunate enough to have studied

with Jois can rekindle their memories, and

the rest of us can get a clearer sense of the

man’s power and magic as a teacher.

Jois’s own Yoga Mala, fi rst published

in his native Kannada language in 1962,

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media

details the Primary Series, Ashtanga’s in

troductory sequence of asanas. Along

with a concise introductory section on

hatha yoga’s benefits, Yoga Mala provides

more detail than Jois’s famously terse

inperson instruction.

This new edition also

includes a foreword by

Stern that covers de

tails of Jois’s biography

and the history of Ash

tanga’s transmission

to the West, and some

new text that Jois himself either wrote

or ap proved before his passing.

The second book, Guruji: A Portrait

of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of

His Students, consists of interviews con

ducted by Jois’s longtime student Guy

Donahaye with some of Jois’s earliest

Western students (including Tim Miller,

Annie Pace, David Swenson, David Wil

liams); with his family (including grandson

R. Sharath, who continues to head Jois’s

teaching lineage); and with native stu

dents and contemporaries from Mysore.

Some wellknown themes arise over

and over: the force of Jois’s personal pres

ence and winning smile; his psychological

acumen (or, as Richard Freeman puts it,

his trickster’s guile in motivating stu

dents); and his rare combination of deep

scholarship and experience of the effort,

sweat, pain, and grace that come from

decades of intense asana practice.

Many of the students interviewed for

this book seem aware of the irony of a t

tempting to capture in words the essence

of a man who taught using so few, a man

who conveyed much through his force

ful yet precise physical adjustments and

through the shaktipat (transmitted spiri

tual energy) emanating from the force of

his own practice and lineage.

Besides being a moving portrait of

Jois, Guruji also amounts to a sympo

sium conducted by some of the most

dedicated and experienced practitioners

in his lineage on many of the key philo

sophical and nutsandbolts issues of

hatha yoga. Exactly how does a physically

demanding practice cultivate spiritual

growth? Are pain and injury avoidable set

backs, or are they necessary for physical

3D Yogis and Yoginis Box of PosesThe Instructional Guide To Hatha Yoga

• 16 Poses per Box (Statuettes 2”- 3” in size)

• Each pose identified with numbers and names

• 12” x 16” guide with word for word pose description

• English and Sanskrit names for each pose

• Made with recycled plastic, paper and cardboard

• A great introduction to Hatha Yoga

Go To : www.rayzodyssey.com to purchase

Email : [email protected] for more information

Connect

with

a child

The Journey of Light

is Eternal

Find the Spirit Within You TM

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Be a Tree

n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m 1 0 3

and mental breakthroughs? How do you

balance practice with the demands of ca

reer and family?

The teachers interviewed in Guruji

illustrate that practice can hone one’s

responses to life’s dilemmas, exemplify

ing one of Jois’s favorite maxims: “Do

your practice, and all is coming.” Taken

together, these two books convey Jois’s

powerful presence, evoking memories for

his students and bringing him to life for

those who never had the chance to meet

him. Todd Jones

book MANTRA YoGA AND PRIMAL

SoUND: SECRETS oF SEED (bIJA)

MANTRAS, by David Frawley (Pandit Vama-

deva Shastri). Lotus Press; lotuspress.com

Hatha yoga is the dominant school of

yoga in this country, but in India there are

some half dozen major schools, including

what might be called the yoga of sound,

or mantra yoga. David Frawley is one of

yoga’s foremost scholar

practitioners and the

founder and director of

the American Institute

of Vedic Studies. Here,

he explains the role of

sacred sound in Indian

spiritual practice and

details the transformative power of the

50 Sanskrit letters, each of which is con

sidered to be a mantra in itself.

At the heart of the book are what Fraw

ley calls the “most important of all man

tras,” the onesyllable shakti bija (seed

power) mantras. He also discusses the

subtle “body of sound,” in which the heal

ing capacities of various mantras are asso

ciated with body parts, as well as the use

of mantras in pranayama, in Kundalini

and bhakti yoga, and in mantra therapy.

Reading Frawley is always serious busi

ness. Although a beginning student could

manage this book, it’s probably better

suited to someone with a working knowl

edge of the yoga tradition and its ter

minology. What’s always interesting

about his work is the way he brings tradi

tional practices into the modern arena

without trivialization. This is the first

book I’ve come across that goes into the

practice of “placing” ( nyasa), by which

1 0 4 Y o G A J o U R N A L . C o M n o V e m b e r 2 0 1 0

media

mantras are ritually installed in the body

to spiritualize and dedicate it to the Di -

vine. Whenever I read one of David Fraw-

ley’s books, I invariably feel that I’m

privy to the an cient wisdom at the root

of all yoga, and this book is no excep-

tion. RICHARD ROSEN

CD DIAMONDS IN THE SUN,

by Girish. girishmusic.com

Diamonds in the Sun is a unique offering,

even in the experimental realm of mod-

ern kirtan music. You might even forget

you’re listening to music that has its roots

in India. That’s not to say Girish doesn’t

give the tradition the respect it deserves.

On the contrary: His love and inspiration

are evident in this heartfelt recording.

Girish, a tabla player who has per-

formed with many of today’s top kirtan

and mantra music artists, brings a modern

acoustic Western sound to many songs.

He performs many kirtan standards al -

most as ballads. Possessing a deeply

soothing, almost sensual voice, he sings

San skrit with palpable devotion and ten-

derness, as on “Lakshmi,” a gorgeous slow

sway to the deity. And his treatments of

songs such as “Om Namah Shivaya,”

“Saraswati,” and “Kali Durge” feel even

more poignant for renderings that border

on alt-country—loll-

ing pedal-steel guitar

and all.

Girish brought to -

gether a posse of kir-

tan allstars for this

album, and the musical arrangements,

featuring acoustic and electric guitar,

banjo, sarangi, trumpet, cello, and man-

dolin, perfectly complement the textures

of his voice. The melodic interplay be -

tween instrumentalists and vocalists is

magnificent. Similarly sublime are the

background vocals by Donna De Lory

and C. C. White.

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 0 Y O G A J O U R N A L . C O M 1 0 5

has to peruse translations of texts like the

Hatha Tattva Kaumudi, the Gheranda

Samhita, or the Hatha Ratnavali, to see

that much of the yoga that dominates

America and Europe today has changed

almost beyond recognition from the

medieval practices. The philosophical

and esoteric frameworks of premodern

hatha yoga, and the status of asanas as

“seats” for meditation and pranayama,

have been sidelined in favor of systems

that foreground gymnastic movement,

health and fitness, and the spiritual con

cerns of the modern West. Did this make

the yoga I was practicing inauthentic?

This was not a casual question for me.

My daily routine during those years was

to get up before dawn, practice yoga for

two and a half hours, and then sit down

for a full day researching yoga history and

philosophy. At the end of the day, I would

teach a yoga class or attend one as a stu

dent. My whole life revolved around yoga.

I went back to the library. I discovered

that the West had been developing its

own tradition of gymnastic posture prac

tice long before the arrival of Indian asana

pioneers like B. K. S. Iyengar. And these

were spiritual traditions, often developed

by and for women, which used posture,

breath, and relaxation to access height

ened states of awareness. Americans like

he was also receptive to the needs of his

day, and he was not afraid to innovate,

as evidenced by the new forms of asana

practice he developed during the 1930s.

During his tenure as a yoga teacher under

the great modernizer and physical culture

enthusiast Krishnarajendra Wodeyar, the

maharajah of Mysore, Krishnamacharya

formulated a dynamic asana practice,

intended mainly for India’s youth, that

was very much in line with the physical

culture zeitgeist. It was, like Kuvalay

ananda’s system, a marriage of hatha yoga,

wrestling exercises, and modern Western

gymnastic movement, and unlike any

thing seen before in the yoga tradition.

These experiments eventually grew into

several contemporary styles of asana prac

tice, most notably what is known today as

Ashtanga vinyasa yoga. Although this style

of practice represents only a short period

of Krishnamacharya’s extensive teaching

career (and doesn’t do justice to his enor

mous contribution to yoga therapy), it has

been highly influential in the creation of

American vinyasa, flow, and Power Yoga–

based systems.

So where did this leave me? It seemed

clear that the styles I practiced were a rela

tively modern tradition, with goals, meth

ods, and motives different from those

traditionally ascribed to asanas. One only

melded Western techniques with tra

ditional In dian practices from disciplines

like wrestling. Oftentimes, the name

given to these strengthbuilding regimes

was “yoga.” Some teachers, such as Tiruka

(a.k.a. K. Raghavendra Rao), traveled the

country disguised as yoga gurus, teaching

strengthening and combat techniques to

potential revolutionaries. Tiruka’s aim

was to prepare the people for an uprising

against the British, and, by disguising

himself as a religious ascetic, he avoided

the watchful eye of the authorities.

Other teachers, like the nationalist

physical culture reformist Manick Rao,

blended European gymnastics and weight

resistance exercises with re vived Indian

techniques for combat and strength. Rao’s

most famous student was Swami Kuvalay

ananda (1883–1966), the most influential

yoga teacher of his day. During the 1920s,

Kuvalayananda, along with his rival and

gurubhai (“guru brother”) Sri Yogendra

(1897–1989), blended asanas and indig

enous Indian physical culture systems

with the latest European techniques of

gymnastics and naturopathy.

With the help of the Indian govern

ment, their teachings spread far and wide,

and asanas—reformulated as physical cul

ture and therapy—quickly gained a legit

imacy they had not previously enjoyed

in the postVivekanandan yoga revival.

Although Kuvalayananda and Yogendra

are largely unknown in the West, their

work is a large part of the reason we prac

tice yoga the way we do today.

InnOVATIVE ASAnAThe other highly influential figure in the

development of modern asana practice

in 20thcentury India was, of course,

T. Krishnamacharya (1888–1989), who

studied at Kuvalayananda’s institute

in the early 1930s and went on to teach

some of the most influential global yoga

teachers of the 20th century, like B. K. S.

Iyengar, K. Pattabhi Jois, Indra Devi, and

T. K. V. Desikachar. Krishnamacharya

was steeped in the traditional teachings

of Hinduism, holding degrees in all six

darshanas (the philosophical systems of

orthodox Hinduism) and Ayurveda. But

1 0 6 y o g a j o u r n a l . c o m n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0

yoga’s greater truth


As a category for thinking about yoga,

“authenticity” falls short and says far

more about our 21st-century insecurities

than it does about the practice of yoga.

One way out of this false debate, I rea-

soned, was to consider certain modern

practices as simply the latest grafts onto

the tree of yoga. Our yogas obviously have

roots in Indian tradition, but this is far

from the whole story. Thinking about

yoga this way, as a vast and ancient tree

with many roots and branches, is not a

betrayal of authentic “tradition,” nor does

it encourage an uncritical acceptance of

everything that calls itself “yoga,” no mat-

ter how absurd. On the contrary, this kind

of thinking can encourage us to exam-

ine our own practices and beliefs more

closely, to see them in relation to our own

past as well as to our ancient heritage. It

can also give us some clarity as we navigate

the sometimes-bewildering contempo-

rary marketplace of yoga.

Learning about our practice’s Western

cultural and spiritual heritage shows us

how we bring our own understandings and

misunderstandings, hopes and concerns

to our interpretation of tradition, and

how myriad influences come together to

create something new. It also changes our

perspective on our own practice, invit-

ing us to really consider what we’re doing

when we practice yoga, what its mean-

ing is for us. Like the practice itself, this

knowledge can reveal to us both our con-

ditioning and our true identity.

Beyond mere history for history’s sake,

learning about yoga’s recent past gives us

a necessary and powerful lens for seeing

our relationship with tradition, ancient

and modern. At its best, modern yoga

scholarship is an expression of today’s

most urgently needed yogic virtue, viveka

(“discernment” or “right judgment”).

Understanding yoga’s history and tangled,

ancient roots brings us that much closer

to true, clear seeing. It may also help to

move us to a more mature phase of yoga

practice for the 21st century. ✤

Mark Singleton holds a PhD in divinity

from Cambridge University. His latest book

is Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern

Posture Practice.

Cajzoran Ali and Genevieve Stebbins,

and Europeans like Dublin-born Mollie

Bagot Stack, were the early 20th-century

heirs to these traditions of “harmonial

movement.” Newly arrived asana-based

yoga systems were, naturally, often inter-

preted through the lens of these preexist-

ing Western gymnastic traditions.

There was little doubt in my mind that

many yoga practitioners today are the

inheritors of the spiritual gymnastics tra-

ditions of their great-grandparents far

more than they are of medieval hatha

yoga from India. And those two contexts

were very, very different. It isn’t that the

postures of modern yoga derive from

Western gymnastics (although this can

sometimes be the case). Rather, as syncre-

tic yoga practices were developing in the

modern period, they were interpreted

through the lens of, say, the American har-

monial movement, Danish gymnastics, or

physical culture more generally. And this

profoundly changed the very meaning of

the movements themselves, creating a

new tradition of understanding and prac-

tice. This is the tradition that many of us

have inherited.

CRISIS Of fAIThAlthough I never broke off my daily asana

practice during this time, I was under-

standably experiencing something like a

crisis of faith. The ground on which my

practice had seemed to stand—Patanjali,

the Upanishads, the Vedas—was crum-

bling as I discovered that the real history

of the “yoga tradition” was quite differ-

ent from what I had been taught. If the

claims that many modern yoga schools

were making about the ancient roots of

their practices were not strictly true, were

they then fundamentally inauthentic?

Over time, however, it occurred to me

that asking whether modern asana tradi-

tions were authentic was probably the

wrong question. It would be easy to reject

contemporary postural practice as ille-

gitimate, on the grounds that it is unfaith-

ful to ancient yoga traditions. But this

would not be giving sufficient weight to

the variety of yoga’s practical adaptations

over the millennia, and to modern yoga’s

place in relation to that immense history.


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living example for others in this world.

Although I believed that I had cultivated

this approach in my yoga practice, I came

to see how my ego had created blind spots

in my vision.

These days, the pose feels different to

me because I’m not trying to prove myself

or get approval by practicing it. Instead,

I’m using it as a tool for awakening as well

as simply enjoying the wonderful feeling

of being completely upside down and the

increased vigor I feel afterward. This is

the gem I received as a result of meeting

my pain and injury with compassion and

self-inquiry. At 61 years old, I hope I’ve

learned to truly listen to this instrument

I call my body and my mind, and to honor

my inner wisdom. I encourage you to take

the same approach in your practice. The

benefi ts far outweigh the risks. ✤

Patricia Sullivan’s 30 years of teaching have

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Buddhist meditation. For more information,

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awareness to create the necessary sup-

port for a properly aligned Headstand.

compassion and self-inquiryI believe that with proper guidelines

and preparation, most people can avoid

injuries due to Headstand. I recommend

working with an experienced teacher

who can look at your body’s proportions;

each body is different, so each person’s

approach must be customized. A good

teacher will guide you to avoid placing

undue pressure on the delicate cervical

vertebrae or disks and encourage you not

to build up your time too quickly.

But perhaps the most important thing

to remember when you consider a pose

like Headstand—or any other advanced

pose—is that yoga is about discovering

your Self and living from it every day. If

competitiveness and athletic accom-

plishment overshadow this purpose, you

lose a valuable opportunity to live from

a place of wholeness and to serve as a

YOGA JOURNAL Issue 233 (ISSN 0191-0965),

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( )Krishna Das says chanting the names of Hindu gods isn’t

religious—it’s just joyful.

of these names, and the real result of practicing

like this, is that the presence that lives in our

own heart is released and uncovered. And this

is the real meaning of these chants. This is why

kirtan is not a Hindu practice. It’s not even a

religious practice. This is a spiritual practice. It’s

not something you have to join or give anything

up for. It’s something you add to your life.

What is a guru, in your opinion? The real way

you spell guru is L-O-V-E. The guru is what

leads you to that love inside. The real guru is

your own true Self. Some people get to meet

another physical being that embodies that for

them, and others don’t.

When your guru died, it was devastating for

you. How do you recapture that love? That’s

essentially what my life is about. You come into

the presence of that love, and you recognize that

it really does exist, and you have to find it. Finally

you realize you have to find it within yourself.

Until you recognize the truth of that, you will

always be looking for it outside.

Do you ever tire of singing the same songs over

and over? Yes. But once you start chanting,

that feeling, that boredom, that nastiness, just

becomes another thing to let go of. It becomes a

part of the practice. And that’s a very key thing.

Practice has to be your whole life. It can’t just

be 15 or 20 minutes or an hour a day. There isn’t

spiritual life and worldly life. Gradually, inevita-

bly, everything in our lives leads us to that love.

You were asked to sing with the rock band

Blue Öyster Cult. Do you ever regret not doing

it? Not at all. And the funny thing is, every-

thing I thought I wanted from being a rock ’n’

roll singer in a band, everything I thought that

would let me feel, I’m getting now. From this.

Do you ever just want to bust out in song

that’s not kirtan? I do, all the time! You should

hear us at sound check. We do Van Morrison, Wil-

lie Nelson, Rolling Stones. We do everything.

We’re totally nuts in sound check. ✤

Headlining concerts around the globe, and now with 14

albums to his name, Krishna Das is a megastar in the world of

kirtan (devotional chanting). Ironically, it took walking away from

a promising career in rock ’n’ roll to get here. Back in 1971, as Jeff

Kagel, he followed in the footsteps of his friend Ram Dass and

traveled to India, where he met his guru. There, he embarked on

a lifelong journey of bhakti (devotion) yoga that has inspired thou-

sands of spiritual seekers to discover their own wellspring of love.

How did you get to this place in your career? After my guru,

Neem Karoli Baba, or Maharaj-ji, died, I crashed pretty heavily. I

had gotten into a pretty closed-down state. I was standing in my

room in New York at the time, and I completely understood that

if I did not chant with people, my heart would never open again.

Chanting Hindu gods’ names intimidates some Westerners.

What is the meaning behind this practice? We can’t understand

the real meaning of these names with our minds. The real meaning ra

me

sh

wa

r d

as

messenger of love

the yj interview by Kel le walsh

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