So Much To Learn In So Little Time...!

These days I am not near a big city, and I only have access to 1 good yoga class a week. I've heard that many people are in the same situation, and hope they could study more. I, myself, want to study 6 days a week. But, the proliferation of instructional yoga DVDs and Internet sites with yoga resources and classes is tremendous. So, I can - with a certain amount of self-discipline - study yoga 6 days a week. So far, I've been very impressed with the quality of instructional yoga DVDs I use, and I have been able to learn a lot on my own. In fact, I've heard that it is strongly recommended that all students of yoga set up some kind of home practice in addition to their live classes to make discoveries on their own! Of course, I have to save my questions during the week for my teacher, or rewatch a certain section of a DVD over and over. But, I now have enough DVDs to have a varied and interesting practice. For the past few months, I have been rather spontaneous about what I would do for an evening of yoga. While it is good to always listen to your body, I felt I needed something a little more structured for a weekly schedule. This past weekend, I went over my DVDs and designed a schedule that would focus on different things that my body needs throughout the week. I tried to pay attention to my weaknesses, but also allow time for myself to enjoy things that are easier for me to do. Of course, picking and choosing can be difficult if you start collecting a large number of yoga DVDs, and I certainly wish I had a few more days to add other exciting workouts to my practice. Feel free to use or rearrange or delete or add to this suggested workout practice. I probably will as time goes on! Happy practicing!

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Classical Yang Family Tai Chi Long Form 15-20 min. Gravity Yoga Work on Headstand DVD (Lucas Rockwood) Day 1 15 min. 15 min. Power Yoga Total Body DVD (Rodney Yee 2005) 80 min.	Classical Yang Family Tai Chi Long Form 20-25 min. Work on Headstand 15 min. Gravity Yoga DVD (Lucas Rockwood) Day 2 15 min.   Strength Building Yoga DVD (Rodney Yee 2004) Do Workout  1 42 min. (DVD is   65 min.)	Classical Yang Family Tai Chi Long Form 20-25 min. Work on Headstand 15 min. Gravity Yoga DVD (Lucas Rockwood) Day 3 15 min. Ultimate Power Yoga DVD (Rodney Yee  2010) Do Workout 1,2,and 4 or 5 Do 1,2,4, and 5 only if you feel really energetic 1. Power Foundation (15 min) 2. Sun Salutations (20 min) 3. Standing Poses (20 min) 4. Back Bends (20 min) 5. Restoration (10 min)	Gravity Yoga DVD (Lucas Rockwood) Day 4 15 min. Yorie’s class at Kokubu’s community center 70-80 min.	Classical Yang Family Tai Chi Long Form 20-25 min. Work on Headstand 15 min. Gravity Yoga DVD (Lucas Rockwood) Day 5 15 min Yoga Burn DVD (Rodney Yee 2005) 60 min.	Yoga Abs DVD (Rodney Yee 2004) 30 minutes AND Backyard Yoga: Lotus Pose DVD (Erich Schiffmann) 81 min. OR Repeat 1 or 2 sections from classes during the week i.e. parts from Strength Building Yoga or Ultimate Power Yoga OR Try a new yoga DVD workout Optional: Roller Take 30 minutes to roll through back and hang at various points	BREAK Go for a walk or ride your bike.
125-130 min.	92-100 min.	95-100 min.	85-95 min.	110-115 min.	60 + min.	Any amount

Competitive Yoga is Not Yoga

If you have a look at yoga videos on Youtube (of which there are many!), you will probably at some point come across yoga competitions! I was a little surprised to learn about these because I always thought yoga was a personal journey into mental, physical, and spiritual self-improvement - and not a journey into seeing who can lift their leg higher or bend their back more... One of the things I have always loved about setting foot in a yoga class was that it was not showy and competitive like a dance class. In fact, ideally the lights are dimmed, so that you can focus internally on - the self - your self - and not on others... and gradually develop your practice over time. What nags me is that the competitive yogis are missing all of the "spiritual" or mental parts of yoga practice. So, quite frankly the idea of yoga competition turns personal yoga practice from an intimate moment of retreat and therapeutic relaxation into stressful sport. It is hard enough for aspiring yogi like myself not to be seduced by pictures - let alone videos - or people doing mind boggling poses or asanas. Yoga is about turning down the noise created by multi-media, the stress of often itinerant work realities, and the high pace of living in the modern world. We turn down the noise to listen to ourselves, and do what we need to do for ourselves - so that we can be happier and lead more peaceful lives. Sadly, competitive yoga does not help turn down the noise. Competitive yoga is not yoga.

"Fall from Grace": More abs required

And, then last night in yoga class as I tried a headstand at the end of class - my teacher caught me - literally - because it was going all wrong - and I was about to have a "fall from grace." More abs she said. More abs? So, yoga is not about relaxing! Abs are the devil of all movement exercise forms like dance and pilates! I even discovered the calm and serenity of my tai chi long form benefits from strong abs gripping away as you go so you can free up your extremities to more in their ethereal way... And now yoga too!?

Click here for the modern day guru Rodney Yee's take on strong abs and yoga!!

Yogic Flying

Next, I will attempt yogic flying LOL!





Perhaps some of you once remember that the Natural Law Party would make Canada's debt disappear magically and they would install yogic fliers into Canada's parliament. Don't worry American fans! American is or at least was rife with state level Natural Law Parties in several places! Congress may also be met happily and peacefully with yogic fliers in the future who will make Bush Jr's debt disappear magically!

Click here NOW for a classic Youtube clip:

Perhaps you remember this startling announcement by magician then representative of the Natural Law Party of Canada, Doug Henning, in the 1992 national election on public television numerous times a day (Where did they get the money from?! Where are they now when we need them sooooooo BADLY!?)

The King of All Poses

Last night I did a headstand for the first time. I took about 10 seconds to carefully bring my legs up. Even though I was only able to hold it for about 3 counts... I finally did it! I read so many naysayers on the Internet who said it was dangerous and you could only do it with a teacher... but the times I did fall I just rolled out like a front roll or the wall caught me if I was up against a wall.

Click here for a Youtube clip of a good headstand (sorry it's not me... YET!!!)

On Upward Bows

I learned this pose incrementally. It demands both arm and leg strength, and shoulder and back flexibility. A few excellent preparatory poses that help me are camel pose, bow pose, and the bridge pose. Keep at it, and it will gradually get better! A good abdominal connection helps me.

Watched a clip by Lucas Rockwood who shows you where you can take the upward bow. His voice makes you feel like anyone can do it, but his extreme flexibility puts me to shame:

Click here to watch a super flexible upper bow!

My Journey - Epilogue

After working on my yoga DVDs for a few months, I finally came across the only yoga studio in Kirishima called Yoga Mala. Yoga Mala as it turns out is more of a single teacher, Yorie, who teaches yoga in different places in town than one actual studio. I decided to give her class a try and found that I really enjoyed Yorie's easy-paced Hatha yoga class. Rather than the fast-paced Vinyasa flow classes I was used to in New York or on my DVDs, Yorie's classes focus more on holding poses correctly for long periods of time. However, this difference is in fact a very positive thing for me. Her class is a great opportunity for me to learn to do my yoga poses correctly, and ask her questions about things I am trying to learn on my own at home. It also connects me to a local community of yoga friends who I can talk to about yoga! I now take her class once a week at a community center near my home, and keep up a home practice 4 or 5 days a week - along with my tai chi long form.

Where my journey will take me next, I do not know. There are certainly directions I'd like to take my journey. If learn to do more advanced postures and sequences of yoga, I might even try a yoga teacher training course and try my own hand at teaching at a community center or at my work. While this path in my journey is by no means certain, my yoga teachers have all agreed on one thing:

The path of a yogi is never complete.

All students and all teachers are aspiring yogi.

At first the idea of a never ending journey felt a little daunting, but I have come to a new understanding that I need to approach my journey with patience, dedication, and realistic expectations. I am very excited at how far I have come, and the never ending road ahead - everyone on their own journey - forever aspiring yoga!

My Journey - Part 10

When we arrived in Kirishima, I was surprised at how normal life was. Apart from one single product shortage - certain brands of cigarettes - the supermarket shelves were fully stocked, people were going to work and school, and somehow remarkably the economy of Japan held steady. We checked radiation reports, and found that we were very safe - and had moved to the part of Japan with the lowest risk of tropical storms and the lowest risk of earthquakes. Apart from the usual chore of settling in to a new home, a new job, and in our case - life in a new country, we were doing pretty well.

The one problem I had with the move was that I couldn't find a yoga studio anywhere. There were apparently none. I was disappointed. I was really excited by my yoga classes in New York City, and I really didn't want to give up my yoga dream so soon. I had just started yoga, so what could I do? I remember thinking back to my visits to Barnes & Nobles bookstores in New York and seeing Rodney Yee yoga DVDs over and over again in the exercise section. My sister-in-law had tried a DVD of his, but said it was "just okay." Without a live teacher available, I had no choice but do the next best thing. I ordered some yoga DVDs on Amazon.com featuring a few famous American yoga teachers and took a chance on a few by Rodney Yee because of favorable product reviews. Despite having only "virtual" teachers to work with, I persevered with a home yoga practice. I was amazed that I was able to keep up my inspiration with just DVDs, and even improve my yoga in a short amount of time! Within a couple of months, Rodney Yee, my teacher who I had never met and probably never will, had patiently and successfully taught my to do an upward bow at the age of 40!



My upward bow in August!



My upward bows in October!

My Journey - Part 9

Yoga was such a nice addition to my life! It was certainly nice to have it to look forward to or to reward myself outside of the drudgery of work.  My wife was in very good spirits too. At the time, she found something that related very well to her creative interests, and her interests in beauty and fashion. She was excitedly working her way through a professional cosmetology program at the New York Aveda Institute. However, with all these positive things going on in my life, the pressures work and of living a a big city for ten years were beginning to take their toll on my health. I still came home a nervous wreck at the end of the day.

Even with a decent school administrator who treated staff with respect and dignity, forces outside of the school made my future career prospects with the New York City Department of Education appear dismal. The Mayor threatened layoffs and changes to our contact, and the state imposed ongoing cuts to our school funding. Around this time, I found myself trolling around a popular Internet ESL forum and looked at the jobs posting. I coincidentally found a position for a high school ESL teacher in Kirishima near my wife's hometown of Kagoshima in Japan. Because my marriage is an international one, it seemed reasonable that Mizue and I would either continue living in New York City, or live in her hometown of Kagoshima.

I prepared my family for the possibility. I applied for the job and waited. And, waited. I waited a while longer and still hadn't hear a decision from Tim Board, the teacher in charge of hiring at the school. I then more or less forgot about the job except to periodically E-mail Tim that I was still interested in the position. After four months of waiting, Tim finally got in touch with  a job offer. He said that the director of 25 years had changed, and that this had caused considerable confusion and delays on his side. Tim and I spoke on the phone and exchanged several E-mails, while my wife and I talked over the offer. In the end, I found that my feelings had not changed about the Department of Education. I wanted to quit being a public school teacher in New York City. Mizue said she really wanted to go back to Japan, and that she could pursue her cosmetology career there. Thankfully, cosmetology, much like ESL teaching, is a career in which you can cross borders easily.

A week before our move, the tsunami, multiple earthquakes, and a nuclear disaster devastated many communities in Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima prefectures. It was a horrible tragedy and a downer for my wife and I, and  caused great anxiety for friends and family alike. I thought back to my first disastrous year in New York City in 2001 when 9/11 destroyed many people's lives, and I shuddered. As I prepared to move, I went by my school one last time to pick up a final paycheck. This turned out to be a horrible visit, and not the friendly goodbye I expected. I ended up storming out of the office because I felt that the three secretaries had ganged up on me to talk me out of moving out of Japan. One even had the nerve to make a snarky remark about making sure I packed potassium-iodide tablets! Other people in our lives endlessly warned us by directing us to Internet and television news updates. Everyone we met wanted to know if we were still moving, and what our plans were. As tiring as all this was, I ultimately appreciated people's concerns as they definitely meant well. In the end, we kept our plan because we learned that Kagoshima was more than 800 miles or 1000 Km from the affected areas. We decided to take a chance, and with our three cats and my very heavy folding bike, we moved from New York City to Krishima, Japan in spite of all the troubles.

My Journey - The Prologue

My journey is a personal story about an aspect of my life. To write a life story or biography about everything in my life would be far to voluminous - as it would be for anyone. It is always necessary to edit out many things from a biography. Some parts of our lives are ones we're happier to forget or would be hurtful to others if written about. Other parts are not important to us. And, still other parts would take us off on a tangent, and would be best left for another story at another time. My journey is more of a short story of a particular theme that is important to me and who I am as a person. In this story, I've chosen to focus on the artistic expression of the human body through movement, and my relation to this theme. It is a journey through physical training, performance, and greater enlightenment. With any kind of training whether physical, mental, or spiritual, my journey is an incomplete one. As long as I live, and perhaps after, I will always be in a state of movement on a path towards greater self-improvement or enlightenment without end. Such is the case with this writing. There are always more details I could provide, more people I could mention, more anecdotes, or more pictures or video clips. But, my journey is my earnest attempt to capture something that could be lost from memory if it is not written. It is the story of my journey into the world of dance, and  later tai chi chuan and yoga. I don't pretend when I write this that I am any great cultural hero - for most certainly there are more talented people than I who probably deserve a biography more than me. Apart from writing so that I don't forget my memories, I write because I have an interesting story to tell - one that I enjoy sharing - and one I hope you will enjoy reading. As I motivate myself to pursue my dreams, let me motivate you the gentle reader with the knowledge that in your life it is just fine to reshape your dreams as your circumstances change in your journey through life.