Yoga and Jet Lag

Sure, yoga can make us stronger and more flexible, but the postures can do so much more for us if we know how to use them.  Each group of poses has a different energy and each pose within that group evokes that energy in very specific ways.  Knowing how to work with the energy of the poses can help you with such things as overcoming jet lag.

Conventional wisdom suggests that for each time zone you cross, it takes one day to adjust.  So, traveling can leave you unable to fall asleep at the right time and/or groggy and lethargic when it is time to get going.

To work with jet lag, it is helpful to know which poses are energizing and which ones are quieting.  This knowledge can help you fall asleep or help clear out your brain fog.  Otherwise, your yoga practice can work against what you are trying to do.  You can also use specific yoga poses to open the hips and relieve the low back which are two other problems associated with travel.

General categories of poses

Sun Salutes are energizing.  Use any variation of Sun Salute, even if you make up your own, to help get you going in the morning or during a mid afternoon slump.  Don’t use them at night, however, as they may stimulate you so much that you have trouble falling asleep.

Standing Poses are grounding and energizing.  They help connect our legs and feet to the ground and to the time and place we are in.  They help us establish pose and presence.

Standing Balancing Poses are focusing and energizing.  If you are truly jet lagged and exhausted, you may find it difficult to balance.  In that case, work on Standing Poses and your core and then see if your balance improves.  Or, just give yourself a day or two and try again.

Hand and Arm Balances are energizing and empowering.  They can help you feel strong and confident.  Use these poses to help get your ready to take on your new surroundings. Make sure you warm up before tackling this category of poses.  Do a few sun salutes with some time in Down Dog, at least.  Doing handstands without warming up properly is very hard on your shoulders, wrists and elbows which are not accustomed to holding all of your body weight.

Inversions refer to Head Stand and Shoulder Stand.  These poses are often done together and counter balance each other.  Leave them out if they are not part of your regular practice.  Head Stand is fiery and focusing.  Shoulder Stand is nurturing and relaxing.  Headstand clears your head and dispels extraneous energy which allows you to calm and quiet down in Shoulder Stand.  These two poses together are often prescribed or sleeplessness.  However, it is important to prepare yourself properly before doing Head Stand: do Child’s Pose, Down Dog and Standing Forward Bend to help regulate your blood pressure before going upside down in Head Stand.

Hip Openers are used to relieve the legs and low back from a lot of sitting.  These are poses like Cobbler’s Pose, Seated Wide Legs, Cow Face Pose and the Pigeon variations.

Back Bends are energizing and opening.  Do these in the morning and not at night as even restorative Back Bends can energize you.

Twists are great poses.  They often relieve minor low back discomfort.  But their best attribute is that they change energy.  Twists can release excess energy and calm you down, or they can get the blood flowing and stimulate you.  So, if you are ever unsure of where to start, try a couple of twists and see where that takes you.

Seated Poses are calming and quieting.  They can also help ground you as you are physically closer to the ground than even in standing poses.  They also help get you ready to be more passive and still.  Vertical poses are more stimulating and the closer you get to horizontal, the less stimulating poses can be.  (except in  low back bends like Cobra.  Contracting the spinal muscles against gravity takes an enormous amount of effort and will.)

Forward Bends are introspective and quieting postures.  These are best done at night to get ready for bed.

Restorative Poses can help calm you down.  Travelling can be invigorating and exciting, but often it stimulates our adrenaline.  We need to lower our adrenaline levels to help get to sleep.  This category of poses can help you do that.  And you don’t need to carry a whole host of yoga props with you.  Our hotel room will often have extra blankets, pillows or chair cushions that you can use to prop yourself up pretty comfortable.

Pranayama also can help you get energized or relaxed.  In general, focusing on the inhalation is stimulating and energizing; focusing on the exhalation is more calming and quieting.  Most people are familiar with alternate nostril breath as in Nadi Shodhana Pranayama.  Breathing in this way is very balancing to the nervous system.  However, there are two similar forms of digital pranayama (This is where you use your fingers, or digits, to open and close the nostrils.  In Surya Bhedna Pranayama, you place your hand in front of your nose, as you do in Nadi Shodhana, but you only inhale through the right nostril, while closing off the left and exhale through the left nostril, while closing off the right.  YOu can repeat this for a half a dozen rounds or whatever seems appropriate and comfortable to you.  Surya is the sun channel and like the sun it signifies daytime and activity.  In Chandra Bhedna Pranayama, you use your hand again, as you do in Nadi Shodhana, but this time you close off the right as you inhale through the left.  Then you close off the left and exhale through the right.  Repeat for a few rounds.  Chandra is the moon channel and like the moon it signifies darkness, quiet, night time and sleep.

Now that you know the energy of the postures, you can make up your own routines that help you adjust to the time zone you are in.  Or, just help you feel more present and calm even if you are not changing time zones while traveling.

Poses that are energizing

Use these poses to get you going in the morning even when your native time zone is telling you it’s time to sleep.  You can also use these poses to recharge when you are experiencing that mid-afternoon slump.

Sun Salutes
Standing Poses
Standing Balancing Poses
Handstand
Arm Balances
Back Bends – particularly Bow and Wheel
Twists – particularly standing twists
Pranayama – focus on the inhale 

Poses that are quieting

Travel takes you out of your normal routine.  This makes your more alert and outwardly focused. These poses will help you turn more inward and quiet your nervous system.

Seated Poses
Forward Bends
Inversions – such as Head Stand, Shoulder Stand and Legs-up-the-Wall
Twists – particularly seated or supine twists
Restorative Poses – although sometimes restorative poses allow you to catch your second wind
Pranayama – focus on the exhale

Hip opening and low back postures

Lying Hand to Big Toe Pose – straight up, out to the side and twist
Quad stretches
Back Bends – especially Cobra, Bridge and Camel
Twists – Any: standing, seated or supine
Pigeon – and any of its variations
Seated Poses – Cobbler, Seated Wide Legs, Revolved Seated Tree
Pranayama – equal inhalation and exhalation

A note about props

I always take my yoga stuff with me when I travel. I have a thin travel mat that does not take up too much room in my suitcase.  It is not very cush, but sometimes I can place it over a rug, or use a towel to pad my knees, or whatever.  I also travel with two thin (3″) blocks and a 6′ yoga strap.  Anything else I need, I usually try to be creative with what I have in my hotel or Air BnB.   I did take my Awesome Toes with me on this trip.  They feel really good after walking around all day!

How to make progress in your yoga practice.

The Two Wings of Practice

Students often ask me how long it is going to take them to be able to achieve a certain pose or goal they have set for themselves.  The short answer comes from Patthabi Jois and goes like this: “Practice, practice and all is coming.”

There is the literal interpretation of this aphorism that most yoga students want to believe and that is to keep practicing and you will achieve your goal.

However, Patthabi Jois does not say to keep practicing and your results are guaranteed.  By telling us to keep practicing he lets us know that wisdom can be accrued and through wisdom, discrimination.  The teachings of the Bhagavad Gita tell us to practice for the sake of practice but not be attached to the fruits of our practice.  It also warns us to not be attached to inaction.  This means that you are not guaranteed that if you practice a pose repeatedly that you will be able to achieve it.  It also means that if you don’t practice regularly, progress will be elusive.

How do you practice?  One way is to come to public yoga classes.  These are great, but you are at the whim of practicing whatever the teacher wants you to practice, not what you as an individual might need.  Also, sometimes teachers avoid certain poses for a variety of reasons.  Those poses might be beneficial for you.

It is important to practice with a teacher who doesn’t practice with you, but one who watches over you and corrects your postures, someone who has walked the path before you and knows the pitfalls and the problems.  We are blind to our own mistakes and sometimes we think we are doing something, but we are often, but not always, mistaken.  I know this has been true for me and the corrections I have received from a knowledgeable teacher have transformed my practice in a minute.  Practicing the same mistake over and over can take years to figure out and may even cause injury.

To make progress in your yoga postures, it is also important to develop your own practice.  Originally, yoga was taught individually because everybody has different needs due to their physical structure, habits and restrictions.  I find that I need to do certain poses, stretches, strengthening exercises, or particular  actions every day as part of my own "physical therapy" program.  This would be beneficial for all serious yoga students.  It takes a lot of discipline to do this, but it doesn’t have to take that much time; 10 to 20 minutes may be enough.  You may be surprised that getting to your mat can be hard, but once you are on your mat 20 minutes can easily stretch into an hour!

By practicing on your own, you start to find out what you don’t know.  You may start to realize that if no one is telling you what to do with your leg, foot or arm, you suddenly realize that it could be in a myriad of positions.  This is good!  The next time you take a class, you will pay more attention to those details that you thought you knew.

Just as a bird needs two wings to fly straight, you need two wings to your practice.  Working on your own is one wing of practice, the other is to practice with a knowledgeable teacher.    These are the two wings complement each other and help you make progress on the path of yoga.

First Annual Food/Restaurant Review

Hey, a yogi has to eat doesn’t she?

We were talking about food the other day in class and someone asked if what we talked about would be in my newsletter, so here goes:

Vegetarian restaurants:

Sprig & Vine in New Hope:Nice atmosphere, vegan, BYOB.

Blue Sage Vegetarian Grille in Southampton:Small, popular place.  Reservations are a must.  BYOB.

NellieRae’s Kitchen in Ottsville:A vegetarian café.  Only open for breakfast and lunch.I haven’t tried this place yet, but everyone says it’s good 

Italian Pizza Places:

Spuntino Wood Fired Pizzeria: Doylestown,  in the mall across from the Gap.Pizza in 90 seconds.  Individual sized pizzas only, gourmet toppings, sourdough crust.  Amazing!

Bacco Bistro in Doylestown:Extensive Italian menu.  One favorite pizza is the Drunken Brooklyn – vodka sauce and mozzarella.A friend of mine always uses these folks to cater his events.

Goombas in Colmar:
A Philly style joint.  You can’t eat there, it’s just take out.  14”, 18” and 30” pies.  Good homemade sauce.  The best sandwiches – but they are large.  My family likes the Porcetta alla Rabe – roast pork, aged provolone and broccoli rabe.  I like the Grilled Veggie - Grilled broccoli rabe, eggplant, onions, roasted peppers, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, with aged provolone.And, of course, (although it’s not Italian) 

Jule’s Thin Crust in Doylestown:A great selection of different types of toppings.  Great for a slice or to take a whole pie home.

Japanese:

Ooka in Doylestown, of course!All-time favorite Japanese restaurant.  I'm not into the Hibachi tables.

Hachi in Chalfont:It's in the Giant Shopping center on 202.  It's a little further for us and its small, so I always make a reservation.  Because it's BYOB it's less expensive.

My Current Favorite Restaurant:

Maize in Perkasie:Small cozy place in Perkasie.  Great food, cooked to order.  It's slow; be prepared to be there for a while. Bring a good friend, your favorite beverage and enjoy! Want to add?

Just For Fun - Word Play

Just for Fun: Word Play!

For years, an email has been circulating about the “Washington Post's Mensa invitational,” which includes a very clever list of words made by changing common words.

The most recent email circulation listed the “2009 winners.”   Those of you who have received this email probably noticed it was very similar to the “2008 winners.”  In fact, they’re also very similar to many of the 1998 winners!  (UPDATE: The very same "2014" list is now in circulation – check Google!)

So, many, many years ago, someone ran a contest and it’s been circulating on the internet ever since.

But hey, it’s a good idea.  And it's really funny!

Here are the winners:
1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.
2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.
3. Intaxicaton: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
5. Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high
8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
10. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
11. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
12. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
13. Glibido: All talk and no action.
14. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
17. Caterpallor ( n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

 The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.
And the winners are:
1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.
3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.
6. Negligent, adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.
7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle, n. A humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!

Can Yoga Cause a Stroke?

Can yoga cause a stroke? Apparently so.

My yoga classes were buzzing last week with the story of a yoga teacher who suffered a stroke. Some of them just wanted to talk about the story and some of them were concerned for their own health and safety.

I had heard about the story, but I hadn’t looked into it. At first I assumed it was one of those random events where somebody had something inside of them that they didn’t know about: a ticking, internal time bomb that could go off at any time. When I looked into the story, I realized that was not the case. And that this story was not what I typically associated with a stroke. This was more of a preventable accident. The woman actually tore the carotid artery in her neck while performing a yoga pose which caused a blood clot to travel to her brain.

Rebecca Leigh was an Instagram star, posting pictures to her 26,000 fans. She suffered an injury while she was doing a pose called a hollow back handstand. It seems that she was working hard in the pose to get it perfect for her many fans and she pushed herself too far.

Rebecca Leigh in the hospital and performing a hollow back handstand

This incident happened in May of 2017. I’m not sure why it is making the rounds now, but it is a good cautionary tale. Any activity, including yoga, can be dangerous. Some of it depends on your health history. You know that saying about consulting your doctor before you embark on any exercise regime, right?! How many of us do that? Some of the conditions that predispose you to stroke are obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. If you have any of these conditions, check with your doctor to see what you should or should not be doing, not your yoga teacher.(Although, please let me know if you have any of these conditions.) Once your doctor has cleared you to do things, or suggested you don’t do certain things, that’s where your yoga teacher comes in. I can help you build towards a pose over time if appropriate, or find a suitable modification for a pose that you shouldn’t do.

While she survived the ordeal, Ms. Leigh still suffers the consequences of what she did. She has trouble speaking and suffers headaches. She cautions people not to push themselves in yoga, to take their time, go easy, be patient. This is always the advice in yoga, but our ego can get in the way and sometimes we want to go just a little bit further to try a little bit harder. We often want our results now.  It is important to work on maintaining good alignment from the beginning in any pose.  Start with the foundation and work gradually and intelligently from there.  Often students think that they are more advanced than they are and just want to achieve the pose. This story is a dramatic reminder to be patient and work within your abilities and limitations.

In the book How Yoga Works, Miss Friday asks her student The Captain to try to touch his toes while standing up. He bends forward and his fingers are about a foot off the ground. She grabs some stacks of paper off of his desk and puts them on the floor under his hands until his fingertips reach the top of the stack. Then she tells him to practice this pose every day, but that he can only remove one sheet of paper a day. The Captain gets dejected when he looks at the 1,000 or so sheets of paper that are stacked up under his fingers. He reckons that it will take more than three years to touch the floor. But really, what’s the hurry? There are no prizes for achieving a pose and there certainly are consequences for pushing ourselves too far.

One of the things I thought was interesting, and scary, is that despite having trouble with vision and the use of her left arm, it took this woman 2 days to get to the hospital to be looked at. This story is a good reminder that it is better to be checked out right away than it is to sleep on it and see how you feel in the morning. Fast treatment can lessen the brain damage that stroke can cause.

Here are the warning signs for stroke. The CDC uses the acronym F.A.S.T. to help you remember:
Acting F.A.S.T. Is Key for Stroke

When someone is having a stroke, every minute counts. Just as putting out a fire quickly can stop it from spreading, treating a stroke quickly can reduce damage to the brain. If you learn how to recognize the telltale signs of a stroke, you can act quickly and save a life—maybe even your own.

Acting F.A.S.T. can help stroke patients get the treatments they desperately need. The stroke treatments that work best are available only if the stroke is recognized and diagnosed within 3 hours of the first symptoms. Stroke patients may not be eligible for these if they don’t arrive at the hospital in time.

If you think someone may be having a stroke, act F.A.S.T. and do the following simple test:
F—Face: Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?
A—Arms: Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
S—Speech: Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is the speech slurred or strange?
T—Time: If you see any of these signs, call 9-1-1 right away.

If you want to read more about strokes, here is the link to the CDC pages.

How to charge for your time as a yoga teacher

The Art of Pricing

Often I get asked by new yoga teachers what they should charge for teaching a specialty class or a private outside of a yoga studio. In this article, I will discuss what to charge for teaching a one off specialty class at some location. In future articles I will address pricing for privates and workshops.

Those specialty pricing questions are often tricky. If you price yourself too high, then you might price yourself out of the job. Too low and you will regret doing it, especially if it is a recurring class. If it is just one and done, then it doesn’t really matter. You’ll learn from the experience whether you felt like you charged the right amount or not and know better for next time.

Some of what you charge depends on whether you really want to do the class or not! However, don’t scalp the person just because you don’t want to do the job. The ethical thing to do if you really don’t want to teach the class is to politely decline and maybe recommend a friend for the job. Sometimes, especially in the beginning, you need to say “yes” a lot. You never know what connections you might make, or which gigs could lead to other opportunities.

It is also ok to do a one-off, specialty classes for free. A friend asked me to teach a class of goat yoga for a fundraiser she was doing. I had never taught goat yoga before and really didn’t know what to expect. Since it was a charitable event I decided to do it for free and donated my time. I googled goat yoga and prepared myself. It was fun and it was a successful event for her but I decided that it wasn’t for me. The next time someone asks me to do goat yoga, I can politely decline and recommend some colleagues.

To figure out your hourly rate it helps to have a formula. What do you get paid at the yoga studio where you work? How does that number feel as an hourly rate? Often, you get paid less teaching a regular, repeating class than you would teaching a one-time private. What does your studio charge for a private with you? If you don’t work for a studio, you can usually inquire what a private session costs at a yoga studio in order to get a ball park. Call around, you may be surprised at the variations! It’s harder to find out what yoga teachers get paid for a class. That info is usually private and it depends on several factors. Yoga teachers make more in big cities than their rural counterparts. Pay also varies with experience and expertise and ultimately how many students you can attract.

Typically yoga teachers anywhere from $20 for a newer, inexperienced yoga teacher up to $100 an hour for a seasoned, popular teacher with a following in a big city. Once you have some of these numbers, you can play with them in a formula and come up with a price.
Let’s say that the class somebody wants you teach for them at their store, arboretum, office or back yard is an hour long. It takes you 30 minutes to get there and 30 minutes to get back. So you have 2 hours of your time invested in this class. If you figure that your hourly rate is $25, ask for $50 for the two hours. If that doesn’t feel like enough, plug in $30 an hour and now you’re up to $60.

Try different numbers until you feel justified in asking for that rate without apologizing. You have to feel comfortable asking for your price because once you commit you cannot change your mind. Also, you have to be just as comfortable with them saying that you are asking for too much money. Individuals and smaller operations typically can’t afford as much as larger business or corporations. But you still have to be able to look someone in the eye and ask for your price. If you can’t do that, then that is a sign that you are not asking for the right amount.
If the commute time, one way, is longer than the amount of time you are actually teaching, you might want to seriously consider passing this off to a colleague. People want to pay you for what you are doing for them, not necessarily for driving to get to them. I’ve taught some classes about an hour from my where I work for the experience and the exposure, but I have never gotten any students from that area as it is just too far for those students to travel to find me and in the end it wasn’t really worth it.

Sometimes people don’t want to pay what I charge for my time and that’s ok with me. I have a lot of training and experience. I’m also fortunate that my schedule is pretty full and that I can’t say yes to every opportunity that comes along. I’ve also learned from being miserable doing something that really wasn’t worth my time. Because I also train yoga teachers, I often can refer other teachers for jobs that I don’t want to do or can’t do. There is also good karma in that, sharing the wealth and opportunities.

As you can see, pricing is an art, not a science. While it helps to have a formula, you often have to go with your gut. And remember that pricing is ultimately an energy exchange. It should feel good to both parties in order for it to work.

Good luck. And let me know in the comments below if this was helpful, or if you have any other questions.

A Lesson in How to Shake it Off

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

MORAL :
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Yoga for Your 50’s, 60’s and Beyond!

Surrender is often the hardest spiritual practice.

We have to constantly learn to let go of things, especially as we age. This is as true in yoga as it is in life.

This is certainly something I am thinking about as I have just turned the corner on 60.

I know that I am quite strong and flexible for my age. I am fortunate that I have always been interested in being physically fit and active. That means in some ways it is easier to maintain what I already have achieved. I also started doing yoga in my 20’s when a lot of physical things were easier than they are now. And although I was not very flexible when I started, I became flexible with dedication over time. These two steps of dedication and time are important to a yoga practice no matter the age of the practitioner.

Y.S. 1.14  Sa tu dirgha kala nairantarya satkara adara asevito drdhabhumih
It is only when the correct practice is followed for a long time, without interruptions and with a quality of positive attitude and eagerness, that it can succeed.

My yoga practice was much different when I was younger. I was more interested in the physical workout than the internal one. As you can see by my quoting of the Yoga Sutras, that my interest has shifted, I am still interested in the physical practice, but I am now much more interested in the mental, emotional and spiritual practices. This is a typical pattern followed by many aging yogis before me.

My practice and even my teaching has changed as I have gotten older. Although I started off in the Iyengar tradition, I practiced and taught other forms of yoga that provided more of a workout during my 30’s and 40’s. Perhaps it was age, or maybe it was the slight physical imperfections of scoliosis combined with arthritis and injuries over years of being physically active that have impelled me to look again and return to the therapeutics of an Iyengar practice. I am less and less interested in moving fast through poses and more interested in spending time and finding balance and equanimity in the postures. I am more interested in developing my buddhi, rather than my booty. I am very interested in the benefits and subtleties subtleties of the poses, revisiting them and deepening them over time. Every pose changes over time as your body changes and your understanding, proprioception and ability changes.

I am still interested in a strong yoga practice, one designed to build strength, stamina, flexibility and equanimity. And I believe that it is possible to do so at any age, no matter if you have been doing yoga for many years, or just starting in retirement. The key to a sustainable yoga practice is working with what you have, being dedicated to practicing, keeping curious about what you might be able to do, being patient with your progress and moving step by step.

I'll see you on your mat!

This is what my version of 60 looks like.

Decade birthdays have always been major milestones for me. I was a teacher in a K-12 school when I turned 30.  All of a sudden the students considered me old.  I shouldn’t have been surprised. I remember a conversation I had with my mother about my kindergarten teacher, Miss Roosevelt.  I thought she was an elderly woman in her 60s.  My mom told me that she was in her 20s!  Age is relative. And it definitely depends on who is doing the aging.

At 40 I had my midlife crisis.  I quit my job, moved out of the house I was literally born in and adopted my son.  I remember feeling not only the biological clock ticking, but also a greater sense of the impermanence of things with my dad passing away a few years prior.

For my 50th birthday I decided that I wanted to do something special for myself.  It was one of those mom fantasies.  My son was ten and as much as I loved him (and still do), I needed some me time.  The  Yoga Journal Conference in San Francisco  happens every year around my birthday and I always wanted to go.  So, I decided that was the year.  While I was there I had my palm read.  The guy was good.  He looked at my hand and without asking me any questions told me that I was a teacher and a scholar (so true) and had been so for many lifetimes.  He also read that I had some major life changes in my 40’s (see above) and that I would have some more in my mid 50’s (my mother!)  He also told me that I would work for my entire lifetime.  Since I apparently have a long life line I guess retirement is not in my near future.  Maybe someday I can shoot for being the world’s oldest yoga teacher!

After my 50th birthday extravaganza, I decided that, for my 60th, I wanted to spend time with my family and friends.  Mitchell and I are taking a trip together and visiting some friends along the way.

Each decade has felt a little like a leap into the unknown and a time for leaving some things behind and taking up other new and different things.  Getting older in our culture is a challenge with so much focus on youth and beauty.  Like others before me, I don’t necessarily feel any older on the inside.  Yes, there are aches and pains at times and I cannot ride my bike as fast or run as fast as people half my age, but I am still out there doing the things I love to do.

I am grateful for my yoga practice all through these years.  I credit yoga with keeping me healthy physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  My focus in the practice has definitely changed over time.  In the beginning I did it for relaxation.  Then, as the popularity of yoga increased, I got swept up in the physical practice and achieving poses. Although I never felt comfortable with posting poses on Instagram, students do want to know what you are capable of doing physically.  Now, I am more interested in how the physical practice influences my internal world.  I know that strength, balance and flexibility are important as we get older.  But so is contentment, clarity and peace.

As an older yoga teacher I face my own physical limitations of an aging body.  One thing I have had to let go of is that I no longer attract young students who are only in it for the physical practice.   As I move into this next decade of my life, I leap with the guidance of many others who have gone before me, I am holding the hands of those who are moving with me and I hope to light the way for those who come after me.

As I move into this next decade, the physical practice is still important.  Mr. Iyengar taught that when the body is dull, the mind can become dull, So I will continue to practice and explore the poses, but the physical body is only one of the five sheaths of the body.  There is also the energetic sheath of the breath, the mental sheath of the senses, the intellectual sheath of the mind and the blissful sheath of exploring the inner Self.  I hope to keep exploring the many layers of this practice called yoga with you for years to come.

What happens when your body lets you down?

On my City to Shore MS bike ride this year, I witnessed two events that gave me pause to stop and reflect.

The things you can’t prepare for.
The first was an accident, a lapse of attention. Someone ran into the wheel of the cyclist in front of him and down he went. The guy was scraped up and bruised pretty badly, but nothing broken, on his body anyway. His bike was damaged, but that can be fixed. If we could be mindful and fully present all of the time, these things wouldn’t happen. But, that is easier said than done. I read somewhere that the average person loses their attention an average of six times a minute!

Reflection: Bicycling can be a dangerous sport. It is important to pay attention to your surroundings as you ride. Just like driving, you need to ride defensively.

And the things you can.
The second event, could have been an accident, except that there may have been other contributing factors to a rider who suffered from heat stroke. Was this a condition of this man’s body letting him down? Or was it him not listening to his body? Had he trained for this event, or had he just willed his body to participate in it? Riding 75 to 100 miles is not something you can do on a whim. You need to prepare for it.

Through my work personally training dozens of people over the years, I have heard many times people complain that they can’t do something and they wish that they could. They often feel frustrated and that their body has let them down. Very few people understand how their body works. It seems as if they want their body to perform by imposing their will over it rather than doing what is necessary to have their body function optimally.

Our bodies talk to us all of the time. Unfortunately these messages are non-verbal and you have to know how to interpret them. Often pain, discomfort and unease are the body telling us that something is wrong. The next time your body doesn’t perform the way you want it to, instead of wondering how your body has let you down. Ask how you may have let down your body.

We all know how important the following things are to our health:
Sleep
Food
Hydration
Movement
Relationships
Spirituality
Connection to Community

But there are two questions to ask yourself about these things.  First what is the quantity of each item on the list.  Second is what is the quality?

Reflection: You don’t play the game to stay in shape. You stay in shape to play the game.