Ever wonder how yoga relates to justice and peace? Check out a blog post by Yoga District founder Jasmine on how our yoga practice can serve as self care and as a practice of peace in its own right. From teachings of former Harvard Professor Ram Das to Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Emily Greene Balch, you’ll explore a few simple ideas about how everyday life is full of opportunities to practice peace.

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IS peace the point or the journey? 

Back in 2009 I asked Ram Das, former Harvard professor and author of Be Here Now (pictured here), how to love people who I considered political enemies. He told me:

“You’ll never find peace in the outside world. Just go inside, find peace, then become an instrument of peace.”

So next time you do some yoga, do it as an instrument of peace. Your practice is not just for you. It’s for everyone, everywhere, who deserves or needs that peace. It’s for peace itself.

Every time you practice in this way, it’s as if you’re making a little deposit in the universal bank account of peace. When you join a peace demonstration, when you are kind, when you eat vegan, when you don’t buy something you don’t need, when you speak truth to power, you’re making little deposits in the peace bank.

If you’re attached to achieving peace, you might find yourself upset with much of the results these days. But attachment to achieving peace isn’t the goal. Instead, like Nobel Peace Prize laureate Emily Greene Balch (pictured here) said, “Peace is the way.” So the goal is to peacefully fight for the fight for peace.

As always, thanks for sharing your practice with us, and please keep finding ways to contribute to peace. Be sure to do plenty of yoga as self care so you develop strong resilience to any ups and downs you have on the journey! 

The post Yoga and peace appeared first on Yoga District.

 Meet Maylin, one of our teachers at Yoga District who focuses on accessibility, inclusivity, and healing practices. Learn about her journey with yin yoga and how she helps her students practice the best yoga for their bodies. Check out Maylin’s current class offerings at bit.ly/yd-maylin. 

Yin yoga features poses held for longer periods of time compared to flow and other hatha yoga classes, and the practice incorporates principles of traditional Chinese medicine.  It’s a great way to do some deep, meditative stretches to develop real flexibility and mindfulness.

Yin Yoga Journey 

I’ve been practicing yoga since college but had only done ashtanga/vinyasa classes. To rebuild my strength after an injury, I took a Yin/Yang class and discovered that I really loved the yin practice. Finding that yin teachers were in short supply, I did extensive yin yoga teacher training and even trained under its founders, Paul Grilley and Sarah Powers. 

Now, as a yin teacher, I love sharing my practice with others. Not only does this practice provide physical, energetic, and mindful benefits, it encourages each student to customize poses to their bodies (1). For example, in yin yoga, we can all be in slightly different poses when working on hamstrings. Each of us utilizes props as we see fit to support ourselves in our poses. Since we hold yin poses for several minutes, I have time to work with students individually to make their poses optimal for their bodies. 

Yoga for All

A lot of people tell me they can’t do yoga because they aren’t flexible, which is a huge misconception. My teacher Bernie Clark is famous for saying, “We do not use the body to get into a pose – we use the pose to get into our body.” I encourage people who haven’t tried yoga to not worry about looking “perfect” in a pose or whether they can touch their toes. Yoga is about getting in tune with body and breath. You may eventually find some mindfulness and energetic benefits as well. 

My yin yoga training has taught me a lot about skeletal variation. Everybody has a unique skeletal structure and we may need to adjust poses accordingly (2). For example, I have a long torso and short arms, so it’s impossible for me to touch my hips in the starting position of a bridge pose. I can come into a traditional bridge pose, but I’ve learned that I can get into a much deeper backbend and feel more supported with my feet further apart.

Our skeletal structures may also limit us when doing certain poses. For example, I admit that even as a yoga teacher, I cannot do a headstand because of the structure of my shoulders and length of my arms. In a supported headstand, I learned that my head was hitting the ground first just by a bit, which is why I could never figure out how to leverage my arms to support me in the inversion. In my classes, I incorporate teaching with skeletal variation (i.e. functionally). I will be pursuing more training in functional vinyasa and hope to share this approach when teaching vinyasa as well. 

Teaching Yoga

I love that I get to teach a variety of students in my classes. I strongly believe in making my yin and yin/yang classes accessible to all ages, body types, and conditions. It’s inspiring that so many students, particularly those with injuries and conditions, are willing to try my classes and trust me to guide them in their practice. 

In my classes, the top requests I get from students are to work on hips and shoulders. These areas carry a lot of tension and emotion in our bodies. Prior to COVID-19, I would often do some gentle adjustments and reiki on my students during yin poses. I feel my students’ energy change during child’s pose, figure four, or sleeping swan — a yin version of pigeon (3). They tend to release stress during shoulder openers, such as supported heart-opener, supported fish pose, or simply savasana (4 and 5).

Sources

1. 1. Benefits of Yin, https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/types-of-yoga/yin/yin-yoga-2/
   2. A Lesson in Anatomy: Why Your Practice Won’t Look Like Anyone Else’s, https://yogainternational.com/article/view/a-lesson-in-anatomy-why-your-practice-wont-look-like-anyone-elses
   3. Sleeping swan pose, https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/9618/sleeping-swan-pose-yi
   4. Supported fish pose (Matsyana), https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/modify-fish-pose-joy-contentment/
   5. Savasana, https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/6582/savasana

The post Teacher Feature: Meet Maylin! appeared first on Yoga District.

Practicing Different Styles

So far in our training we’ve practiced Vinyasa Flow, Power, Dharma, Ashtanga, Restorative, Prenatal, and Chair Yoga (1, 2, 3). And each style has been taught by a teacher who specializes in it. As someone new to teaching yoga, having this exposure to different styles and teachers has been invaluable. It’s helped me broaden my perspective of what’s possible in terms of teaching.

While taking a class with Mana, I learned about the world of set sequences and gradual progression of postures that’s a part of the Ashtanga style. In Restorative I learned the benefit of staying in a posture, like Reclining Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana), for 5 to 10 minutes with the support of props to allow the muscles to safely soften into a deeper stretch (4). This relaxation benefits the parasympathetic nervous system. It aids our body to conserve energy to be used later and to regulate bodily functions like digestion and urination(5).

In our Chair Yoga class with Jasmine, I learned how to get into poses like Warrior 2 (Virabhadrasana II) and Cat-Cow (Chakravakasana) with the support of a chair (6, 7). Techniques that will be helpful if I have the opportunity to teach someone that may prefer not to have to get on and up from a yoga mat multiple times.

Dharma

My teacher Emily instructed us through a class that included a sequence from the Dharma 1 Yoga Asana Chart. Per the Dharma style, after getting into certain postures we were given the time to find stillness in the posture. And Emily relied largely on demonstrating poses to assist us in refining our alignment. Hands-on assists are minimal in the Dharma tradition to avoid interfering with one’s natural ability to connect with the poses. However Emily’s refining cues made me feel supported in the various postures.

Energy After Class

What stood out to me about practicing Dharma was how calm I felt after the class. This highlighted to me how practicing various styles can have different energetic outcomes for the practitioner. And (although I can’t control the effect a class will have on a student) has made me more mindful about what the targeted energetic outcome will be for the classes I teach.

My Teaching Style

I’m leaning towards teaching a high-energy class that will probably align the most with the Vinyasa Flow style. But I haven’t committed to one particular yoga style just yet. More than likely it’ll be a style unique to who I am. And combine a little from each of the styles we’ve studied in training and techniques used by my teachers.

Inclusivity in the Classroom

The “Diversity, Accessibility, and Inclusivity” class taught by Mikela, also shaped my perspective on teaching. It was refreshing to have a blunt conversation about a range of topics such as the lack of diversity we’ve observed in the studio. How things like the geographical location of studio spaces and the media contribute to the problem. And also how as teachers we can make the studio a more inclusive space for all people. 

Some of the tips our class came up with for creating an inclusive atmosphere are small things like:  

1. Welcoming students as they walk in the class
2. Mentioning at the start of class that it’s okay to ask for assistance 
3. Giving students the opportunity to thank their neighbor for sharing space with one another 
4. In general, just being kind

This conversation resonated with me. I’ve practiced yoga in-person at studios for about 4 years. And it took at least 2 years before I could walk into a studio, be able to acknowledge that not many (if any at all) people looked like me, and still feel comfortable to be myself. Part of what helped me get to that point has been simple things. Like when a teacher walked over and introduced themself at the start of class. Then asked if I have any injuries or conditions I wanted to share. These small actions alone let me feel welcomed and helped reassure me that I did in fact belong in the space.

So as I make the shift towards instructing yoga classes myself, I’ll definitely be using the techniques we discussed in the class with Mikela. With the hope that everyone in the classes I teach feels included and comfortable to be themself. 

What’s Next

A common misconception with yoga is that the physical asana practice is the main component of yoga. In reality, asana makes up only one of eight parts of yoga as it’s described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. In the next post – I’ll share what these eight aspects are. And how our teachers have incorporated some of them into our Yoga Teacher Training.

Sources

1. Vinyasa Flow, https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/5431/flow-yoga
2. Power Yoga, https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/5030/power-yoga
3. Chair Yoga, https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/10518/chair-yoga
4. Reclining Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana), https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/7001/reclining-bound-angle-pose
5. Neuroanatomy, Parasympathetic Nervous System, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK553141/
6. Warrior 2 (Virabhadrasana II), https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/6093/warrior-two-pose
7. Cat-Cow (Chakravasana), https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/7624/cat-cow-pose

The post Yoga Teacher Training: Learning To Teach appeared first on Yoga District.

Building Community

I’ve always loved the community aspect of going to a studio and practicing yoga with people of all different backgrounds. Over the course of my 200-Hour Hybrid Yoga Teacher Training, I’ve had the privilege to experience the blossoming of that connection. It’s due to my classmates, teachers, and the way our training is structured.

Building Community Online 

Our teachers led us through a series of community building exercises. Each fostered a sense of community that helped our class connect from the very beginning of the program. First we learned more about one another then we created ground rules for our training.

Fostering Familiarly and Inclusion

In the first online session, teacher Jasmine gave us the opportunity to share: 

1. how we’d like to be identified (an open question for people to share whatever they’d like about their identity) 
2. pronoun preferences
3. training intentions

We also went into breakout rooms with a partner to share a fun (non-work related) fact about ourselves and if we had any injuries. Afterwards, we reconvened as a group and presented what we had learned about each other. 

Our class is very diverse with representatives of different genders, race and ethnicities, career paths, and life experiences. We worked through this exercise together learning about our shared similarities and our own uniqueness. Afterwards I began to feel like I was in a group where I belonged and was accepted for who I am.

My feelings of inclusion were bolstered over the course of the training in many ways. My teacher Camryn has a background in the medical field and shares my interest in yoga anatomy. She worked with me, during and after class, to answer my questions about complex anatomical topics like connective tissue and diaphragmatic breathing. And my classmates have been welcoming and supportive from day one. They help me take photos for my blog series, also work out cues and sequences. They display nonjudgement when I open up about vulnerable aspects that make up my yoga journey.

Ground Rules

In another online training session, our teacher Dr. Aparna, led us through the exercise of creating a list of ground rules. The goal was to help cultivate a mindful space with loving kindness and no judgements. 

The importance of this kind of exercise became apparent to me in the first few weeks of training as I experienced firsthand how emotional YTT can be for some. During a meditation at the start of one class, out of nowhere, the emotions of losing a loved one came back to me. I felt a little embarrassed when I noticed tears in the corners of my eyes. But ultimately, I was able to feel those emotions and process them healthily in part because I felt safe in my environment. Had we not taken the time to create ground rules together then I’m not sure I would have been in a mental space to experience that moment fully.

In Person Class

With the hybrid teacher training model in addition to training online we also have the opportunity to train in person. I still remember riding my bike up 14th street with my yoga mat clipped to the bottom of my backpack for our first in-person class. It was great to see everyone in the studio after hours of training together online earlier in the week.

Community Building

Despite having only met virtually before there were a lot of hugs and happy hellos that first day. And when everyone got settled our teacher, Blythe, gave us the opportunity to continue building the community we fostered online. Sitting in a circle we shared a little more about our yoga journeys with one another. After we did our daily meditation practices, Blythe explained that before we determine what we teach, it’s important to consider how we teach. Specifically, that we teach in a way that embodies and reflects yogic ethics such as ahimsa (1). It’s a Sanskrit term that can be translated to non-harming, or alternatively, the act of actively loving. So that we co-create a space with students that’s inclusive and a relationship of equals. 

We were taught several ways to accomplish this. One that especially resonated with me is having service be the foundation of my role as a teacher. Learning this has helped me shift my attention away from any teacher goals that don’t serve me (such as wanting to be the “best” teacher or insta-famous), and move my attention to one solely focused on service. This shift has already made the prospect of teaching more enjoyable for me. Also, I think it will result in more impactful classes for my future students too.

Classmate Camaraderie

During that first week of class my fellow YTT trainees and I enjoyed a sense of fellowship beyond training. Eating together outside we talked about: our backgrounds, school, work, and all the different directions we were thinking about taking our yoga teaching. Sitting in the shade, amidst the sounds of the city, I enjoyed the company of my classmates. I couldn’t help but notice how joyful it was to be connected to this community.

What’s To Come

Yoga District’s teacher training is taught by multiple teachers. Many of whom teach different styles of yoga. In the next post: I’ll share some of the styles those teachers have introduced, what it was like for me to practice it, and how it’s impacted the style of yoga I’d like to offer to a community.

Sources:

1. Ahimsa, https://www.swamij.com/yoga-sutras-23545.htm#2.35

The post Yoga Teacher Training: Building Community appeared first on Yoga District.

This month’s pose is Warrior I.

You likely experience it several times during a Flow (Vinyasa) yoga class.

Find out about Warrior I:

•      benefits
•      cues
•      modifications
•      variations
•      contraindications

Warrior I (Sanskrit: Virabhadrasana I)

Pronunciation: veer-uh-buh-DRAHS-uh-nuh

Vira = Hero, Brave
Bhadra = Virtuous
Asana = Posture
Virabhadrasana = Virtuous Hero Posture

Warrior I- Yoga Journal

A Pose of Strength + Steadiness

Warrior I is a powerful grounded pose that requires a lot of concentration. As a foundational pose, many other poses build off of it during a yoga sequence. Warrior I involves strength, stability, and balance.

Disclaimer: If you have any medical concerns then talk with your doctor before practicing yoga. Practice within your own limits.

Benefits of Warrior I:

• • Opens up the chest
  • Enhances stability
  • Strengthens the abdominal muscles, thighs, ankles, and back
  • Helps with flexibility in the hips and shoulders
  • This pose can be very therapeutic for people that experience sciatica

Cues:

  1. Begin in downward dog.

  2. Raise your left foot into three-legged dog.

  3. Bring your left foot between your hands.

  4. Ensure the back foot is at a 45 to 60 degree angle.

  5. Ground the heel of the back foot into the mat.

  6. Draw the front hip back and the back hip forward so that your hips are squared towards the front of the room.   

  7. Keep the front knee directly over the ankle.

  8. Make sure to not overarch your low back.

  9. Keep the gaze forward and chin parallel to the floor.

10. Press the shoulders away from one another to open the chest.

Modified Warrior I- Yoga Journal

Modifications:

• Press the palms of the hands into the wall.
  • This will help align your torso properly. Shorten your stance and place your hands on your hips.
• Place the arm of the front leg to your hip or back and raise the other arm over your head. Separate the arms if the shoulders rise up towards the ears.
  • This will help your shoulders rest in a neutral position.
• If you can’t keep your back heel grounded, you can place a blanket under your heel.

Warrior I Variation Cactus Arms-  Yoga Journal

Variations

   If you have any issues with raising your arms or neck strain:

•     – you can press your hands into the sides of your ribs
•     – you can also use cactus arms instead of raising your arms straight up

Contraindications:

• Begin this pose with modifications if you have:
  • knee issues
  • hip issues
  • shoulder pain
  • low back pain
  • high blood pressure
  • heart disease
  • history of stroke
• If you have neck problems then do not gaze up towards your hands

SOURCES:

Kaminoff, Leslie, and Amy Matthews. Yoga Anatomy, 2nd Edition. Human Kinetics, 2012.

Le Page, Joseph, and Lilian Le Page. Yoga Teachers’ Toolbox, 2nd Edition. Integrative Yoga Therapy, 2005.

The post Pose of the Month: Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I) appeared first on Yoga District.

Welcome to our

Yoga is steeped in history and tradition. It began over 5,000 years ago.  Several different types of yoga have emerged and each offer their own unique practice.  Our newest series will explore various yoga practices.

Jess, a Yoga District teacher, explores the ancient tradition of Ashtanga Yoga and how it does not need to be an intimidating practice.

Feel free to attend one of our Ashtanga inspired classes or any upcoming workshop.

Sign up here for the classes.

If you’re wondering about Ashtanga yoga then don’t be afraid to try it out! It builds strength, flexibility, coordination and symmetry in the body through set sequences.  

Ashtanga Yoga History & Overview

Ashtanga can be a very intimidating practice because of its strong ties to tradition and rigid sequencing. Yet it is actually the root of all modern vinyasa flow practices.  In the 1950’s, Ashtanga yoga began to spread to the West via K. Pattabhi Jois, a direct student of Krishnamacharya. Eventually westerners adapted the practice to better suit their needs and the needs of their students. It evolved into Power Yoga and other more familiar types of yoga.

Ashtanga is generally practiced Mysore style. This style originated in Mysore, India. In Mysore practice, students are not led together by a teacher but instead practice at their own pace. The teacher gives them poses of a set sequence one by one that they must memorize. Students may not progress past the pose they have been given or make modifications to either the sequence or each pose.

Ashtanga Primary Series

The most commonly practiced sequence is the Primary Series:

• It starts with the Sun Salutations and standing poses like warriors and triangles (the same standing poses that we know and love)!
• The sequence then moves towards a series of seated postures that become progressively more pretzel-like. There’s a vinyasa (jump back to chaturanga, upward facing dog, downward facing dog, jump right back through to the seat) between each seated posture.
• All Ashtanga practices end with the finishing series. It starts with 5 rounds of bridge or wheel pose and then moves into cooling inversions followed by meditative postures to prepare the body for rest.

Principles of Ashtanga

Whether you’re a Mysore practitioner or simply a yogi that dabbles in led primary series then the principles of the practice are the same:

• pranayama (breath focused)
• bahnda (core engagement)
• drishti (gaze)

You may have heard these terms used in a vinyasa flow class since they are so integral to the vinyasa method.

Ashtanga Yoga Classes

Ashtanga yoga is held very sacred to some who only practiced it Mysore style. Yet, others wish Ashtanga to be accessible to a wider group of practitioners.

Teachers who hold a more progressive view may lead primary or modified primary series classes. These classes invite students to try out the full series even if they have to modify or skip some poses (or some of the 40+ vinyasas typically practiced in a primary series).

Ashtanga doesn’t have to be intimidating! Yoga District offers Ashtanga inspired classes along with three weekly led primary series. Don’t worry, we keep it approachable and will help you to modify the sequence and poses to fit your body and level.

Introduction to Ashtanga Yoga Workshop

Ashtanga Yoga is now one of my favorite practices. I love the mobility, symmetry, and awareness it cultivated in my body.  

In a typical workshop: you’ll learn the origins of Ashtanga, be instructed in Pranayama (breath-work work), run through a 90-minute asana practice (break down the poses and transitions) of modified primary sequence series.

Come ready to sweat, deepen your practice and connection to the roots of flow yoga.

Join me and you might just fall in love with the Ashtanga too!

The post Ashtanga Yoga appeared first on Yoga District.

Welcome to our new series! Each month we will be highlighting a different yoga pose.

See what each pose does for your body, mind and how it could deepen your yoga practice.

This month features a pose you likely experience several times during a yoga class.

Find out about Downward Dog: benefits, cues, modifications, variations, and contraindications!

Downward Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

Pronunciation: AH-doh MOO-kah shvah-NAHS-anna

• Adho = Downward
• Mukha = Face
• Svana = Dog

Yoga Journal

A Pose of Integration + Balance

Downward Dog is a foundational yoga pose—it strengthens and stretches your body from head to toe.

It is often used as a transitional pose or a resting pose.

As your body settles into the first downward dog of class, you are encouraged to peddle out your feet and/or bend your knees. As class progresses, the warmth of your body allows you to deepen into your downward dog position.

Disclaimer: If you have any medical concerns then talk with your doctor before practicing yoga. Practice within your own limits.

Benefits of Downward Dog:

• • Can help relieve back pain
  • Elongates the spine
  • Allows you to tune into your breath
  • Improves digestion
  • Strengthens the legs, arms, and shoulders
  • Calms the nervous system
    • In inversions, the heart is higher than the head. The flow of blood to the brain can calm the nervous system relieving stress.

Cues:

1. Bring your body into a tabletop position.
2. Curl your toes under.
3. Straighten your legs lifting your hips up and back.
4. Spread your fingers wide and press into the thumbs and the index finger.
5. Rotate the upper arms outward, so the eyes of the elbows roll slightly forward.
   • Imagine you are trying to open up a pickle jar towards each outside edge of your mat.
6. Keep the shoulders relaxed and the shoulder blades moving toward the pelvis.
7. Lengthen through the arms and spine, creating a straight line of energy from the wrists to the pelvis.
8. Make sure your heel is behind the 2nd and 3rd toes.
9. Stretch through the legs and walk the heels from side to side to deepen into the stretch moving the heels toward the floor. You can keep your knees bent if you prefer.

Yoga Journal

Modifications:

• You can slightly bend your knees keeping your heels and tailbone lifted. Ensure your spine remains straight.
• Stand facing a wall. Bend at the hips maintaining a straight spine and press your hands into the wall.
• Place a block between your thighs. This helps to develop leg strength and proper alignment in this pose.
• Place knees down on your mat.
• Place a block under your head to relieve any stress on the neck.

Variations:

• Keep one leg raised into the air. Keep the raised foot active.
  • If you wish, you can bend the knee of the raised leg and make circles with the knee in one direction. Reverse the direction about several rotations.
• Practice with your forearms on the floor. The forearms should be parallel to one another.

Contraindications:

• You should modify the pose if you have wrist or shoulder pain.
  • If you have wrist pain, practicing with your forearms on the floor may help alleviate the pain.
• This is considered a mild inversion because your heart is higher than your head in this pose.
  • You should not practice inversions, such as downward dog, if you have:
    • carpal tunnel syndrome
    • late-term pregnancy
    • high blood pressure or related issues
    • an injury to the back, arms, or shoulders
  • If you are unsure on whether or not you should practice this pose, please contact a medical professional.

SOURCES:

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