A fascinating conversation with a long-time student and friend yielded the following contemplation:  What is the purpose of cultivating diversity in asana practice, apart from impressing your friends and intimidating your enemies?  L-TS&F was pondering why they [apologies for the third person plural, but there we have it] felt naturally drawn to certain families of poses and not to others, and wanted to know whether the overall intention of Anusara Yoga was the most well-rounded practice possible.

The Rhodes not taken

See, this is one of those conversations that seems pretty simple on the surface and then the bottom drops out.  I pictured the Anusara Syllabus poster in my mind, which is basically a Mandarin All-You-Can-Eat Buffet of yoga asana and so of course I’m thinking right off the bat, Yes, the overall intention of Anusara Yoga is the most well-rounded asana practice possible.  Sounds good, right?  A part of your nutritious breakfast.  Philosophically speaking, we are taught that it is through diversity and expanded experience that the Divine comes to know itself better, and by creating more forms, we create more consecrated expansion of the Supreme Spirit.  Phew.  Not bad for a morning’s work.

Then we get into it and they say, Well, if that’s so, why do I experience resistance to certain poses or groups of poses, and why do I delight in others?  Should I be choking down these other forms because they’ll be good for me [the Broccoli Theory of yoga] even though they make me not want to practice, or bum me out?  They told me that they used to be “up for anything”:  that is, the novelty of their practice ensured that there was a little adventurous spark and receptivity in every single class, and now that their sensitivity and self-honouring was increasing it was becoming more and more challenging to acknowledge the good in classes that favoured these less-pleasant poses.  Sure, they could window-dress it in the dowdy frumpiness of classical philosophy:  discipline and mindfulness and all that other bushwa, but if they honestly addressed their inner condition [which presumably a seeker is being asked to do], it wasn’t the same and it wasn’t pleasant. (more…)

I know that the gift-giving tyme is upon us so it’s somewhat perverse to be gassing on and on about the stuff that I’ve got for *myself*.  So much for the reason for the season.  I just happened to look around our dishevelled home and was so comforted and delighted to see so many things that have improved my life this winter.  I’m also attempting to promulgate the idea that yes, a yogi can enjoy stuff and even want to have more of it:  shocking, I know.  Also, link farm.  By the way, do you know this blog averages 400 spam comments a day?  I wipe the sweat off my brow as I delete massive chunks of ostensibly nude celebrity pics and various forms of, um, enhancement. (more…)

I can’t believe it’s only been a year since I started the ol’ Heavy Metta digs.  After David Foster Wallace’s death and my increased participation in the Yoga4Kidz relay I realized I couldn’t hide under the bed in this life anymore; at some point I was going to have to venture out and say what I wanted to say.  Well, I’m saying it!  I’m saying it so loudly and so often that my throat gets a little sore and my I feel like I have no skin on my body.  This, dear readers, is a sign of misalignment.  My sluggish posting rate is not due to any distrust in the blog-medium or a lack of desire to connect and reconnect with the Tubes and my friends thereon:  it’s because, as the seasons change, I feel that desire to hide under the bed again [especially after purchasing my new wool duvet...snuzzle!], and maybe [given the massive transformations of '09] that’s not such a bad thing.

I’m also preparing some weapons-grade rant-casseroles that I’ll serve up when they’re hot and the cheese is browned.

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Because there is some stuff going on.  I like stuff.  And things.

This Monday Nov. 9 I’ll be trekking out to Northshore Elements to teach at noon, in preparation for my upcoming backbending workshop on Saturday Nov. 14.  Backbending is kind of my jam; I would do backbends all day long if I could, so I hope to pass on what I find delightful and expansive about them so you can groove on backbending too!

I'm going to let it shine.

And the weekend of Nov. 21 & 22 is the annual Yoga4Kidz Yoga Relay, taking place at the Richmond Oval.  I must admit, I’m terribly curious to see what this thing looks like.  When you don’t drive, places like Richmond and the North Shore are impossibly exotic.  I’m co-teaching with Christine and participating as part of Team Raw Canvas, so either sign your bad self up to do some yoga, or please contribute to our efforts to raise funds for UNICEF…donate here!  Thanks, friends!

On Friday December 4, just before the Christmas party season gets super-wyld, I’m teaching a workshop at East Side Yoga, focussing on Yogic Winter Survival Skills:  bringing light and calm to a season that is often dim and stressful.  Lotsa hip openers, fun upside-down stuff, and some partner therapeutics that will help us yogis keep our heads on, even when faced with our most challenging practice of all:  the January Visa card statement.

Stay tuned for workshops in the Comox Valley and Kelowna in the New Year!  Details TBC; email me at my first name backwards at gmail dot com if you’d like to be informed of the deets.