namasteph yoga blog

I was really excited last year to be a part of the Global Mala Project, instigated by Shiva Rea. The Global Mala Project had the intention to raise awareness and raise money for many worthy causes. I had volunteered last year and was looking forward to volunteering again this year.

Sadly, however, the community and grassroots vibe that seemed to permeate the first Global Mala Project seems to have been subsumed by a larger more commercial enterprise known as “Yoga Month.” The actual date of the Global Mala Project being overshadowed by “Yoga Health Festivals,” which are really just an excuse for vendors to show up and sell all their consumerist yoga gear.

Of course, there were vendors hawking yoga wares at last year’s Global Mala Project, but the overall goal seemed to be about the consciousness, the charity.

Yoga Month, and by extension, the “Yoga Health Festivals,” has a decidedly corporate, marketing feel to me. Oh, the website claims it’s about charity, but I’m dubious when the charity involved is one that is marketing yoga to kids under the guise of getting people to be healthier.

Don’t get me wrong – yoga has wonderful health benefits. But I’ve got a nose for BS and I’d guess that the financial rewards reaped by large yoga companies is their primary motive here, not making the world a better place. Getting kids sucked into an expensive yoga lifestyle is a good way to create new lifelong customers.

Yoga is a very big business now. Profit-driven yoga companies such as Hard Tail, whose exploitative, sexualized ads aren’t any different from what you’d find in a fashion magazine, aren’t necessarily any more “conscious” than a regular company, except that you can at least use their products to hit the mat. Granted, there are a lot of conscious, capitalist companies that strive to be more environmental and aware in their business practices, but that does not negate the fact that at the end of the day, they are still profit-driven.

Keep that in mind when the yoga marketing machine directs its sights on you.

I don’t have back problems but I love doing yoga that makes my back feel good. I was thus quite interested in Yoga Zone’s Yoga for a Strong and Healthy Back DVD.

The DVD offers two separate 20 minute workouts that you can also do back to back. One uses a female instructor, the other, a male. Both workouts are focused heavily on spinal twists as the main focus for the back. They are fairly easy workouts and should be accessible to most beginners who are relatively healthy and don’t have major physical limitations. I can’t speak as to whether these workouts will be OK for those with back issues, however.

I was a bit disappointed that neither workout included any significant backbends. Even a cobra would have been nice. Because of this, I found the workouts to be a little bit of a letdown for me personally. These are workouts I’d do on those days where I had low energy and didn’t want to get too physical with my yoga practice. The most challenging thing you have to do here is stand in chair pose and twist.

The setting was in Jamaica, which really didn’t matter to me much as we mostly saw the teachers sitting on mats in front of a beach. The music was a little cheesy and Jamaica-inspired, but nothing overly annoying.

I thought the instruction itself was clear and otherwise found the DVD to be pleasant. I’ll give this DVD a B-, only because I think it’s way too focused on twists.

Let me first state outright that I am one of those “embittered” Hillary Clinton supporters who will not be voting for Barack Obama in the fall. It’s not just about Hillary or the fixed Democratic primary, by the way…as an intuitive, I get real bad energy from Obama. I liked him at first, before I took a closer look, but now he makes my skin crawl.

So I just don’t get how new age people fall for the hype that Obama is this messianic messenger from the light. I think he’s a cynical, calculating, power-hungry Chicago politician who parrots progressive talking points or whatever else is the flavor of the moment to get ahead. (Obama’s dramatic flip-flop on FISA is proof of this.)

Yet, here in California, it seems, the leftist new age has embraced Obama as the Second Coming of Krishna. Fortunately, most yoga classes I have been to have been pretty neutral for the most part, though they sometimes imply that perhaps the Democrat would be a better president, they almost never say so outright.

Not so for one Boulder, Colorado yoga studio: They have gone so far as to add Obama yoga classes to their schedule. Called “OmBama Yoga,” these classes are described as follows:

OMbama Yoga classes! Enjoy these radically inspiring all level yoga classes of incredible, heartfelt practices for change! Join us for an eclectic and joyful practice as we celebrate the upcoming election and the opportunity of participating in the political process with one another and invoking the spirit of Obama’s own phrase, YES WE CAN! The instructors who will be leading these practices will be sharing their unique styles and collaborating with one another to inspire and serve and support you in this election year!

Can I just say: OMmy??!!! This is a bit much.

I personally would like to see politics kept out of yoga. As I’ve admitted above, I am not a fan of Obama. But even if I was, I just don’t think yoga is the place for it. You can’t assume everyone (even a fellow progressive) likes your particular candidate. I think yoga should be inclusive, and open its arms to people of all beliefs and political stripes. I’d be more open to an OmBama Yoga class if there was a similar OmMcCain Yoga class to balance it out.

You’d think that with a woman running for president, someone would have come up with Hillary Yoga, but it seems that a lot of women prefer to go for the young good-looking man over the “reminds me of mom” older woman when it comes to politics. Sigh.

Perhaps this liberal yoga studio has found their OmBama class to be popular, but is it also chasing away other potential yoga participants? I will tell you that I have stopped going to the Agape International Spiritual Center here in Culver City until the election is over. I don’t want to go for spiritual upliftment just to get hit with random Obama commercials during the service.

Early in the primaries, when Hillary and Obama were fairly even, I got earfuls of hateful spew from a few young women – yes, women – in line at Agape, who were angry that Hillary was so presumptuous to want to be president. Then I entered into the sanctuary only to be bombarded with Obama advertisements from the guy reading the announcements. I had enough and have not gone back since.

I know Obama quickly became the progressive darling this year, but I think it’s wrong to assume that everyone who is into yoga and spiritual things is automatically an Obama convert. Personally, I think Obama is dangerous due to the cult-like effect he has on followers, and for precisely the reason that he has “inspired” his own yoga class, I’m steering clear of Obama brainwashing in my yoga and spiritual life.

I have to admit I am not a huge fan of a lot of Gaiam videos…I do think they have gotten better in recent years, but the ones I had in the 90s (more the Living Arts era) were so serious. Gaiam Yoga Club is Rodney Yee’s online yoga course (with his wife Colleen Saidman) and it thankfully leaves behind that solemn yoga pretense for a joyful, down-to-earth course.

The 12-week self-paced course is geared towards beginners (though I’d have to suggest it would be better for fitter beginners and not those with serious physical limitations), but experienced practitioners can also benefit. Each week begins with a video illustrating the various postures, followed by daily audio practices with PDF guides to show the poses.

Rodney and Colleen are happily married and it shows in their comfort and obvious joy in each other’s company. (I must admit – I’m a bit envious and wish I had a relationship like that!) They are very free and casual in showing the postures and yet quite specific.

I’m impressed by the comprehensive nature of the program. It is very well designed and executed, and definitely an excellent investment if you want to learn yoga from home.

I’ve only finished week one – I had gotten a cheap yoga pass at a local studio with a special and thus have been taking more outside classes than doing home practice lately – but the nice thing is, there’s no deadline.

I’ll perhaps review more later as I go.

Friday night I went to a gong concert at Yoga West, only to have a complete meltdown because some naive mother thought it would be a good idea to bring her wee toddler to the event.

I was having a really trying day (it was the day of a big eclipse, if you are into the astrology thing). For one thing, my apartment manager had pounced all over me because a psycho neighbor was complaining that I parked my car in the street. (Yes, in the public street. Long story.) When I got to the gong event, all I wanted to do was relax and de-stress from my emotional day.

I got to the event and placed my mat upfront where I could really get the benefits of the gong. The description of the event had indicated we would be experiencing some kundalini exercises as well as a full yoga nidra, which is a guided relaxation, yoga style. Then we would hear the gongs. I was so excited…until…

About 10 minutes after the hour, a young mother walked in with a toddler. I am not that great with ages but the kid was barely out of “baby” age, meaning she did not appear to be walking yet, and she was making loud “baby” noises such as “BAH!” or “DAAAAH!” or “OOO!” at odd moments. Even though the kid was all the way in the back, I could hear these piercing sounds all the way upfront. “Inhale!” the teacher would say. “DAH!!!” the kid would pipe up with no rhyme or reason.

I was pissed. There was no way I would be able to relax with that kid babbling on randomly like that, with no restraint. And it seemed to me (or perhaps I was projecting), that even the guest teachers themselves were a little surprised and concerned when the child was brought in. You can pretty much bet that any child who is already making “BAH!” and “DAH!” noises is at some point going to start screaming or carrying on in some louder fashion later when you least want them to.

Now, I realize that some spiritual people would say that this was an opportunity to develop patience, but for me it was an opportunity to speak up. I walked out to the front desk and told them that there was a toddler in there, and did they perhaps have some child care, because it was disturbing the event. They were very nice about it and said they would see what they could do.

Read the rest of “The Toddler at the Evening Yoga Event” »

Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa is a Kundalini Sikh who wrote an often recommended book Kundalini Yoga: Flow of Eternal Power. While I found the book a bit too focused on the strict Sikh lifestyle for my tastes, Shakti Parwha is friendly and sincere. Since she teaches classes here in Los Angeles at Yoga West on Saturday mornings. She was Yogi Bhajan’s first student in America, and she is quite old now (70s or above). Her teaching style is gentle, informative, and accessible.

If you are looking to get started with Kundalini Yoga and you live in Los Angeles, I would heartily recommend her class. Even if you’ve done Kundalini Yoga for a while, you still might want to check it out. She gives a little movie review at the end of the class. She actually told us that surprisingly, she found the recent “Hell Boy” movie to be quite good.

“RYT” means “Registered Yoga Teacher” and I am official at the 200-hour level. This was my big goal for 2008 and now it’s done…which means, I have the rest of the year to slack off! Well, of course not…there’s so much to learn in yoga, it could take lifetimes.

I will never be the best yogini…I can’t do many advanced poses…my hamstrings are still tight (but loosening)…but I am enjoying teaching yoga. I feel I am a good teacher precisely because it does not come easy to me, and I understand the struggle to get into certain poses. I’d like to help more people who aren’t naturally fit, who have weight issues and health issues, people who could truly be transformed by yoga. It’s certainly made that kind of difference in my life, by being the way I climbed out of chronic fatigue syndrome as a full-on disability.

This is just a personal observation, based on the places I’ve done yoga at…I’ve noticed that here in Los Angeles, more men go to kundalini yoga classes. And not just any ole men – a lot of these guys are extremely good-looking, tall men. (Here in LA, there are tons of short guys for some reason…not that there’s anything wrong with short men, but when you are 5’8″ like I am, it can be a bit disconcerting to walk onto a dance floor and tower above everyone in the room.)

I like having men in yoga class. And no, it’s not about “hooking up” or anything like that. I like being around male energy. Too much female energy is stifling to me. And too much female energy in yoga can get twisted into yoga becoming about female vanity – something that’s all about having the perfect bod in the latest designer yoga clothes, rather than being about the yoga.

So more men in yoga, please. You are always welcome!

I was searching through some yoga DVDs on Amazon recently, and I was shocked to see that the DVD I dubbed “The Worst Yoga Video Ever” had a rating of almost five stars! How could that possibly be?

I know that my opinion is just mine, and that not everyone will feel the same way I do. But for the life of me, I could not see how a kundalini yoga video with a skinny girl in her underwear would appeal to the average American woman who might be trying yoga at home. The kundalini yoga is in and of itself weird enough that it’s going to be a hard sell to people who haven’t tried in the proper setting, never mind the rest of my issues with the DVD.

In looking through some of the mostly five-star reviews, which truly did seem to be a bit over-the-top, I found a thread in the discussion area. Apparently, people have tried to post negative reviews (or even just mixed reviews) for this DVD, only to get them erased.

Read the rest of “Yoga DVDs Getting Artificial Ratings on Amazon?” »

My hamstrings have been tight all my life. When I first started doing yoga in my twenties I could not touch my toes. I never thought I would get to the point where I might see my head near my knee. Well, I was doing a standing forward fold last night before bedtime. I don’t know what happened, but I realized that my gut was tight and maybe if I just relaxed it a little bit, I might be able to go deeper. Something just…realeased.

Miracle upon miracles! I could almost reach my knees with my forehead!

This is something that is easy for a lot of yogis, but it has been impossible for me. I am not quite sure what happened. My home yoga practice has not been stellar recently due to a heat wave last week, but all of a sudden, I’ve broken through a major, lifelong barrier!

I still have to bend my knees slightly to go that deep, but I am almost there! Wow!

I guess it just goes to show you – regular practice can make a huge difference.