On My Way Home!

What an exciting discovery! The Oakland airport has free wifi! And I am 3 hours early for my now delayed flight. Ahh, the joys of modern travel. At least I can get a start on my internship homework, which is literally 10 pounds. The nice check in people identified that's how overweight my bag was, so I am now hauling the manual through the airport in my backpack. Thank goodness for yoga stretches to rebalance the load!

As we pause at the half way point in our training, my fellow students and I compared notes about the most influential elements to date. The actual information was voluminous (ten pounds!) but the experience of sharing this community with each other is the greatest learning tool. I came to California to enhance my meditation practice and deepen my connection to the source of all bliss in the universe. Meditation is still just as challenging, and I still do not have a direct dial to the big guy, despite my sincere efforts. It's funny how your prayers are answered anyway, just not in the way you expect. As we all sat in our closing circle, I truly drank in the sight of my sangha. Looked each one right in the eye, and consciously articulated (silently, in my own mind) what shone as their best qualities and allowed myself to feel genuine affection for each of them. What a powerful experience! It was all just in my own mind, not a big show of "woo-woo" stuff. But I was flushed with such love, and contentment, and even bliss! So, this is what the sages speak about. It is right in front of us all the time. We just get so busy with our agendas, meetings, various distractions, that we forget to stop and really see our gifts. This is the flavour I would like to infuse into our classes. Building our sangha so we too can feel that authentic connection that we all share as fellow travellers on the path. I have some new practices that worked for us at the ashram that I can't wait to share.

In light, Cheryl

Two More Days to Go!

We're starting to count down the last few days of this training session. Here are a couple of my fellow students. Franny on the right is a two time cancer survivor and an inspiration to all of us as our most senior participant. Joyce, the shining face in the middle, is holding our Ayurvedic text. She has actually had several years of instruction from a master teacher, and we've perhaps learned more from her. That's what is happening. During breaks, we all share our wide ranging specialties and that time has been perhaps more instructive than the regular curriculum. On the left is Ann, a physical therapist. She is amazing at adjusting in postures. I would consider travelling to Seattle to take further teacher training from her! In the background is the portapotty. You see, there is a shortage of bathrooms... 25 people on site and 3 regular bathrooms! This has proven to be one of the biggest challenges. Going without wine... without snuggling with my honey... no onions or garlic... getting up to meditate at 6 am.... but the lineups for comfort breaks are what is straining me to the breaking point!

There are so many new ideas and practices that I am hoping to share with our Yoga Centre sangha. Here is a "prayer" that we have used frequently and I have grown to really love it. I am hoping to use it for closing our classes ...

"Om Namah Shivaya; Om Namah Shivaya; Om Namah Shivaya;

With great respect and love, I honour my heart, my inner teacher. Namaste"

I have witnessed so many amazing energy experiences here, and felt my own energies dancing. I have some powerful mudras and intentions to share as well. Remember, your nadis, or energy pathways, respond almost instantaneously. Shifting your awareness can bring a flush of warmth or sensation of movement to any area, along with healing and balancing.

Om shanti.

All You Need is Love

So this is where it happened today. Here is a photo of some of my classmates. Amanda is the cutie in front with the shining smile.

What happened? We had a group energy release. A brilliant teacher, Mukunda Stiles, is spending the first part of this week teaching us structural yoga adaptations. Alignment in asana is vital, but as teachers, we must have an intimate understanding of not only anatomy, but kinesiology as well, so we can offer yoga movement that is tailored for every body. When we work with different bodies, presenting different structural issues, our first approach might be physical adjustments. But the physical body is a manifestation of our energy. As Mukunda worked on one student, after another, in our class, we witnessed first hand how releasing blocked energy through the subtlest and simplest of adjustments brought huge change. As he worked, the room heated and began to literally vibrate with energy. In one particularly powerful adjustment, he asked us all, as we circled around the "patient", to breathe and audibly relax so she could release her block. Wow. We cried, we felt, the energy swirled. The recipient felt a large release of sacral pain and said her hips were breathing for the first time in a long time. We have Mukunda with us for 2 more days and I can't wait.

Here's something you can try to center your energy, or prana, into its seat in the sacral chakra. Lie down. Make a triangle with your fingers, thumbs together and fingers pointing downward. Experiment with holding the triangle over your ASIS (bumper bones) and pubic bone, and shifting up and around a bit. Close your eyes, breathe deeply into the belly. Can you feel that warmth or energy pooling there? This is called the jnoni (pronounced yoni) mudra. Try it morning and evening and just see what happens.

Neck and Shoulder Prescription

This is Sammy enjoying full navasana during one of our breaks. Patanjali tells us that our postures should be steady and comfortable. This is what he is talking about. Look at that smile!

We spent today with a physiotherapist, reviewing neck and shoulder therapy. Do you realize that your beautiful head weighs almost 25 pounds? No wonder that neck is tired at the end of the day. As you read this, you may find excessive tension in the upper back and shoulder muscles, maybe a fuzzy feeling in the head? Try this simple stretch series. It can be done anywhere and only takes about 10 minutes. You'll feel refreshed and ready to conquer what comes next!

1. lie down

2. roll head side to side in a "no" motion, slowly and using a belly breath

3. rest

4. roll the head in a "yes" motion, not lifting the head from the ground

5. rest

6. tuck the right hand under the buttocks, palm down, and roll head back to the left; hold and breathe

7. come to neutral, rest and repeat on the other side

8. once again, tuck right hand under buttocks, palm down; tip head so left ear is coming toward shoulder; hold and breathe; slowly lift chin toward ceiling and breathe

9. return to neutral and rest; repeat on the other side

10. add in a restorative pose for about five minutes... my favourite would be a rolled blanket along the length of the spine and another rolled blanket under the backs of the knees; remember to belly breathe

We are also working on our first big homework assignment... a yoga therapy prescription for one of our fellow students which we have to present to the class. We assess their lifestyle (diet, exercise, sleep, emotions, etc), goals, range of motion and physical condition and design a personalized program using our yoga tool box of postures, exercise, diet, ayurveda analysis, meditation, mantra, affirmations and relaxation practices. Whew! I'll keep you posted on if I pass!

Week One at the Ashram - I did it!

This is my cabin. There are three of us sharing this space, so it's cozy. Amazingly, we are getting along famously and I now have excuses to visit Arizona and Seattle with my new yoga sisters.

We have been studying determinedly. Our days involve 2 meditations (60 minutes each), 2 hours of asana and 8 hours of lecture. Some of the most exciting material has been the Yoga for Cancer section. A dynamic teacher, Jnani Chapman, shared her decades of experience. There is not one among us who have not been touched by this disease so I am passionate about finding tools to help people survive this battle.

The picture on the left is Nathan. He is an amazing young man who embodies a connection to nature and beauty of spirit. He picks us fresh strawberries from the garden each morning and is shown pruning the mustard plants in the photo. He is on his way to India after this training to immerse himself in the culture. He's the kind of guy that butterflies like to land on and he is the first to rush to carry your plate or fluff your meditation cushion.

We've certainly been learning a lot about yoga, and the tools available to us as a therapist (meditation, breathwork, diet, mantras, cleansing rituals, ayurvedic herbs, etc...), but I think the experience of sharing such intimate space with 18 other amazing yoga teachers will be the most influential component of the training. We have all been sharing ideas, support and even love. I am so looking forward to returning to our yoga studio to offer this energy to my sangha there.