Jamie Lindsay / Kundalini Vinyasa Flow Yoga

Chrisandra Fox official guest teacher for Hawai'i!

2010-04-10T09:51:00.000-07:00

Chrisandra Fox is going to be a guest teacher for the retreat at Kalani!

This is from her bio (which she's currently rewriting :)) at yogatreesf.com:

Chrisandra's teaching draws upon the wisdom of the masters and the sacred knowledge found within dedication to the path of hatha yoga. She is a student of Hatha Yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, and Tantra. Her influences are many, though she has been particularly influenced by the work of Andrey Lappa, and by the Shadow Yoga school.

Chrisandra leads classes, workshops, and the Heart of Renewal retreats at Yoga Tree in San Francisco and abroad. She has modeled for Yoga Journal, and can be found practicing in Gravity & Grace (DVD) with Peter Sterios and Paul Grilley's Yin Yoga DVD. She is the Web Correspondent for Yoga Journal TV.

Grey's going to be teaching a class or two in Hawai'i

2010-04-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

Grey's going to be teaching a class or two in Hawai'i, and he's just started teaching at Bernal Yoga!

He's also in charge of coordinating rides to the airport to and from Kalani, and you can reach him at: grey.wedeking@gmail.com

Peace,
Jamie

Grey's Bio from Bernal:

“I first took yoga classes in Berlin in 1994 in exchange for English conversation. I can only imagine that I did it because I thought stretching would be good for me. Seven years later, burnt out from 6 intense years of road bicycle racing, I turned to yoga hoping to find something I could practice for the rest of my life. So far, so good. I’ve practiced with a number of those teachers you’ve seen pictures of or read about in Yoga Journal, but the principal informant to my teaching style and practice is Jamie Lindsay, from whom I’ve taken countless hours of class, and whom I assisted in public classes and at teacher trainings. The practice will be more or less familiar to anyone practicing Krishnamacharya lineage, Astanga vinyasa derived asana, with a helping of Universal Vinyasa, and a side salad of energy and breath work. I believe that the work of the asana practice through the breath can bring light, consciousness and awareness throughout the body, inform the intelligence of the body, and bring equanimity, peace and joy to the mind and spirit.”

Cheap First Class Tickets SFO to Hilo, under $550

2010-03-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

hi all,

just a quick note: Dennis just let me know that first class tickets are now on sale thru Hawaiian Airlines at around $550 between SFO and Hilo! Hope you're enjoying the day.

Peace,
Jamie

Hawaiian Airlines Tickets

p.s. the page for Kalani follows, and this year you call Dennis to sign up, at (808) 965-0468 x122

Kalani Retreat Center

Hawai'i Retreat approaches as the last blizzard melts

2010-03-06T11:11:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I'm loving New York, though I'm glad the most recent blizzard has almost melted and Spring seems to be on the way. And I miss all of you enormously, and can't wait for the retreat in Hawai'i coming up.

I hope everyone's coming back this year, but it's at least been wonderful seeing so many of you in NYC during the year, and give me a call so we can figure out how to get together on my way thru San Francisco especially if I won't be seeing you on the Big Island, and just so we can catch up!

Dennis is handling all the registrations this year, and you can reach him at: (808) 965-0468 x122

Big love!
Jamie

Kalani Retreat Webpage

Facebook Retreat Page

P.S. Dennis said he could give everyone a free upgrade in room thru the end of April, since there's only us at Kalani for the retreat :)
hope you're all enjoying the day!
biglove,
jamie

See you in New York!

2009-07-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

It has been a truly amazing fifteen years, and last night's going away party was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. I am so thankful for my experiences teaching yoga in San Francisco, and for knowing all of you amazing people. Yoga has been the ground and center of everything that I have done for many years, and that isn't going to change, though navigating academia from that place will be a wonderful new challenge. And then there's surviving New York :)

I'm not thinking of this as goodbye, and I hope I will be seeing all of you in New York some time soon, if not here or in Hawai'i next year.

Thank you for all of these wonderful years of yoga!

My phone number won't change, and I'm on facebook if you want to stay in touch that way. This mailing list will prob'ly become a bit less active, as I don't know that I'll be teaching in New York. If I do, it won't be until Spring, at least. But I'll blog a bit about my trip to Europe on the way to New York, and about settling into Brooklyn.

With overwhelming gratitude, and love,
Jamie

Kalani 2010, Yoga Retreat on the Big Island, Hawai'i

2009-07-10T14:46:00.001-07:00

Vinyasa Flow Yoga Retreat with Jamie Lindsay:

A nine night retreat in paradise! The energy of Kalani is absolutely magical, the food is just delicious, and we’ll be doing a ton of vinyasa yoga. At least two classes a day, with a few optional advanced workshops thrown in there for fun, and the two daily classes will be a mix of meditation, breathwork, detail-oriented alignment precision holds, light flowing energy-awakening vinyasas, comprehensive Universal Yoga-style joint mobility openings, and powerful fiery sun salutation practices, with some restorative to help integrate the energies released by so much yoga, and some partner play for fun. We’ll have some side-trips as well, for snorkeling, and lava walks, and afternoons on the black sand beaches!

Hi all,

Most of you were inclined towards returning to Kalani, and many of you expressed an interest in a somewhat longer retreat (with more vegan desserts :)). So I've booked a retreat for next year, close to the same time: May 29 thru June 7. It's two days longer than the last retreat, total of nine nights (ten days). I strongly encourage everyone to arrive before dinner on May 29th, and to plan for an afternoon flight on June 7th!

If you register before I leave San Francisco -- July 24th -- I'll give you a $100 discount on the retreat, and Kalani will give you a free upgrade in accommodation (which varies according to your inclination. Dennis wrote, for example: "so they can pay for a lodge shared and get a lodge private. or pay for a private and get a cottage. or pay for a cottage, and be in the tree house.").

Also different this time: Dennis will be handling the booking, and I won't. So you can reach him on his direct line: 808-965-0468 x122. He'll ask for a $200 deposit, and 100 is
refundable up to a 2 months before the retreat begins.

Also different, I'm going to be flexible about people coming for shorter times. For example, if you want to come for 7 rather than 9 nights, you can pay a mostly pro-rated tuition and do just that. Also this time, partners are quite welcome to come, and Kalani will give them a nice partner rate. You can check with Dennis for details when you call him.

The rates for the retreat, for all nine nights, are:

lodge single pvt bath: 2035
lodge double pvt bath: 1585
lodge single shared bath: 1765
lodge double shared bath: 1441
camping: 1225
cottage single: 2125
cottage double: 1675
tree house single: 3025
tree house double: 2125

I'm looking forward to seeing all of you before I leave ;)

Love,
Jamie

About Jamie Lindsay:

While practicing standing backbends during an Ashtanga practice in 1997, Shiva nearly knocked me over with a first blast of kundalini. I've been a devoted teacher and practitioner of yoga ever since. I am grateful to all of my teachers, and I enjoy all styles of yoga, but my teaching tends to focus on accurate alignment within vigorous Vinyasa as a means to liberate the breath, prana, and ultimately kundalini, and more simply, as a tool to assist in the continuous learning of the capacity to simply pay attention. Attention heals. This practice is the love of my life, and sharing it is a great joy.

Kalani's Website

Retirement, Hawaii, next year's retreat?

2009-06-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

Hawaii was absolutely amazing, my favorite retreat yet :) and Kalani was so easy, though next time there will be more vegan options at all meals, and I'm definitely diving with the Mantas!

Lisa took amazing pictures if you'd like to see:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lmpicard/collections/72157619779026962/

And she wrote a sweet review for her blog:

http://lisapicard.blogspot.com/2009/06/chefs-and-yogis.html

My last classes in San Francisco will be July 19th, and I'll be teaching my usual schedule at Grace Cathedral, Yoga Tree, and James Howell Studio until then. Afterwards, you can find me in Brooklyn!

For next year, I'd love to go ahead and start planning another retreat, so if you're interested PLEASE let me know immediately about it, and if you have preferences. I'm inclined towards going back to Kalani, as it's set up so perfectly, but if you know of another destination that wouldn't be prohibitively expensive, let me know!

biglove,
jamie

FINAL 6am class sequence, from this morning

2009-02-17T08:44:00.000-08:00

photo from Kevin's practice class at Mission Yoga

So, school's begun to require a great deal more work. Final semester, thesis, advanced logic seminar, and so forth. I'm reducing my schedule yet again, no more Tuesday 6am, but Adrienne has been organizing early morning open practice sessions at James Howell Studio, and I strongly encourage you to get together for yoga, or to deepen your home practice, and to begin exploring all the other wonderful yoga teachers that San Francisco has to offer.

Or DEEPEN YOUR HOME PRACTICE!!!

My schedule at James Howell Studio, Advanced Class by donation, will be:

Saturday and Sunday mornings, 8am.

Nothing else will change :)

And, this was the practice from this morning:

Movement Series, 30m:

Siddhasana, pelvic circles
Cat Rolls, from pelvis
Bhadrasana, snaking sidebends
Down Dog, alt. knee bends
Dog Vinyasa
Uttanasana, alt. knee bends
Simple Jatara P.
Eka Pada Setu Bandha Sarvangasana core Vinyasa
Mandalanamaskar (inspired by Shiva Rea)

Inhalation Focus, 30m:

Down Dog
Sphinx
Heart Stretch
Bhujangasana
Supta Virasana
Child's Pose
Three-Legged Dog R
Pigeon I R
Three-Legged Dog R
Sirsasana, Hanuman Pigeon R
Child's Pose (and then repeat set to the left)
Ustrasana
Child's Pose
Headstand Scorpion
Three-Legged Dog R (lighten left hand)
Low Lunge R (then repeat both to the left)
Ganda Bherundasana

Exhalation Focus, 30m:

At wall, block on crown, elbows touching
At wall, block sliding upwards
At wall, block forward, set elbows, raise
Down Dog, partner grounding sacrum
Pincha Mayurasana, partner assist for balance

Surrender, 30m:

Upavistha Konasana, with head support 5m
Diamond, with head support 5m
Paschimottonasana, with head support 5m
Reclining twist with thighs crossed 5m each side
Savasana

DO try this at home!

Advanced Class, James Howell Studio, 1/25/09

2009-01-25T11:41:00.001-08:00

(the sky, walking to class this morning)

today's class was quite similar to yesterday's, though the pacing was somewhat more vigorous, and we did more pranayama and less core. i was originally aiming towards Setu Bandhasana and Ganda Bherundasana, but we stopped with Mandalasana instead.

If i got any of this out of order, or skipped anything, please comment!

Siddhasana
Kapalabhati with single-hand Muladhara Mudra
Bhastrika, Muladhara Mudra
Arm rotations with spinal undulations
Hip rotations
Pelvic circles
Down Dog, alternate knee/hip rolls
Balasana
Bhadrasana, snaking sidebends
Down Dog
Uttanasana, hip rolls
Tadasana/Uttanasana vinyasa from foundation
(adding some lateral movement)
Sidebend vinyasa from legs
Dharma Mittra-inspired rapid rotations
Nauli
Mayurasana
Balasana

Hatha Salutation
Hatha Salutation with Shiva Rea-inspired Mandalanamaskar
Suryanamaskar A (Ashtanga-inspired)
Samakonasana Handstand jumpings
Prasarita Pad. III
Star Arch
Runner, neck release
Reverse Warrior into Revolving Runner (R/L)
Star Arch
Runner, neck release
Hanumanasana I-II (R/L)
Star Arch
Prasarita Pad. III
Chatturanga Vinyasa
Standing Tittibhasana
Tittibhasana (arm balance)
Kurmasana
Tittibhasana
Bakasana
Prasarita Pad. III
Stupa Pose
Samakonasana

Runner into Janu Sirsasana I (soft)
Cradle Stretch
Leg-Behind-Shoulder Twist
Eka Pada Sirsasana
Paschimottonasana (soft)
Navasana (whole set, then other side)

Halasana
Salamba Sarvangasana I
Karnapidasana
Parvrtta Halasana
Setu Bandha Sarvangasana
Matsyasana
Urdhva Dhanurasana I (with rocking)
Setu Bandha Sarvangasana
Supta Baddha Konasana (abdominal breathing)
Setu Bandha Sarvangasana
Matsyasana
Urdhva Dhanurasana
Tadasana
Tadasana Mandalasana variation
Pristhasana
Urdhva Dhanurasana
Chakra Bandhasana
Sirsasana
Vrshikhasana in Sirsasana
(or Sirsapadasana)
Mandalasana

Open Practice Period

Twist
Nadi Sodhana
Savasana / Restorative pose
Kapalabhati
Simhasana

Namaste,
Jamie

Vinyasa Sequence from Advanced Class, Saturday 1/24/09

2009-01-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

(We should take new pictures; I'm leaving soon, and I'd love to have the memories!)

Just a quick notation of the basic sequence, as a record for folks who were there, perhaps as a guide to practice.

Connecting movements left out :) and if i missed anything please comment...

Siddhasana
Arm rotation waves
Hip rotations
Seated pelvic circles
Down Dog alternate leg hip rolls
Bhadrasana snaking side bends (from crown)
Cat rolls snaking from base

Ana Forrest-inspired hip stretch curls
Jatara Parivartanasana I-II
Rolling like a ball
Nauli
Standing side vinyasa (from base)
Dharma Mittra-inspired vigorous rotations

Hatha salutation
Hatha salutation with Shiva Rea-inpired Mandalanamaskar

Series from Star, with backbend/psoas stretch:
Runner (softening neck)
Reverse Warrior
Vashisthasana
Hanumanasana I-II (on the right)
Stupa
Samakonasana
Hanumanasana I-II (on the left)
Star with arch
Reversal of Samakonasana
Standing Tittibhasana
Tittibhasana (arm balance)
Kurmasana (and bind)
Tittibhasana

Halasana
Setu Bandha Sarvangasana
Matsyasana
Rolling like a ball
Chakrasana
Sirsasana I
Vrishikhasana in Sirsasana
Chakra Bandhasana
Dropbacks

Open Practice Time

Shift to Abdominal Breathing:
Supta Baddha Konasana
Ardha Apanasana
Simple Reclining Twist
Savasana

Nadi Sodhana
Kapalabhati
Simhasana

Namaste!
Jamie

Yoga Retreat at Kalani, on the Big Island, June 7-14 2009

2009-01-13T09:20:00.000-08:00

It's official, we're going to Hawaii!!!

It's a day longer than the usual Kalani trip, I thought Sunday to Sunday would be lovely, and there's no group after us, if you'd like to book a longer stay. This is just casual notification, I'll fill in more details later on.

But, I booked us for a lodge (or maybe two), and at double-occupancy, it'll be $1350, though I'm open to a partial scholarship or two if money's a substantial issue. Also, there are other accommodations at Kalani you could select, from camping to tree-houses with ocean views. Check out: www.kalani.com...

We'll have (at least) two yoga classes a day, delicious food, trips to the lava flows, snorkeling, etc...

I'm going to use facebook for the group page, as it'll give everyone a chance to get to know each other a little before we even get to Hawaii!
Go to: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=54874522791&ref=mf

last classes for 2008 are THIS week!!!

2008-12-03T08:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Day!!!

It has been an amazing year! I'm a little sad to see it go, my last full year in San Francisco (at least for a while).

But, I'm almost done with Ph.D. applications, and if all goes well I'll be leaving next July, after another trip to Copenhagen to teach a men's yoga workshop at the OutGames, and some classes at Hamsa Yoga, in my favorite city that isn't San Francisco...

Copenhagen World Outgames

Hamsa Yoga Studio, Copenhagen

I've been toying with the idea of doing a retreat somewhere in Europe -- Denmark if possible -- in July or August, so let me know if you're interested, or if you know of a great location! It'd be a great way to end this phase of life, as the new one begins!

That said, I've been working really hard getting the last of the applications finished, and I've still got the GRE next Monday, but I've decided to take a long Winter's break after that, and really settle into the Solstice and the New Year peacefully. Yoga, more yoga, sleep, and good food. And family: I am truly blessed with great relationships with my mother and my brother, and I'm going to spend some time with them over the holidays!

So: my last class of 2008 will be THIS Sunday, 8-11am at James Howell Studio. PLEASE COME!!!

Classes at James Howell Studio will resume on January 4th (and there'll be no subs at JH).

At Yoga Tree, Jehffre Spirit will be covering all the classes starting next Monday (December 8, 10, 15, 17, 22, 29):
Jehfree Spirit's website

At Gold's Castro, Andrea Mirabai will be covering all the classes starting next Tuesday (December 9, 16, 23, 30):
Andrea Mirabai's website

Grace Cathedral will have a slightly longer break after tonight's class -- which will be in the Quire -- as the Yale Glee Club will be performing on the first Wednesday in January. Grace Yoga will resume on January 14th.
Grace Cathedral's website

Moving into the New Year, I'm going to be teaching several classes in the Yoga Tree Teacher Training, and Grey is now officially assisting :) but if anyone else is interested in coming to those classes, the first one is on January 3rd, the day before classes at James Howell resume. Let me know!!!

I hope to see you all tonight or Sunday, but if not, have a wonderful holiday season!!!

Many blessings,
Jamie

Effects of Selective Nostril Breathing on Autonomic Function

2008-08-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

From healthandyoga.com:

http://www.healthandyoga.com/html/research_papers/btp/om.asp

Television might really cause Autism

2008-08-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

From Slate:

http://www.slate.com/id/2151538/

Meditation may slow AIDS progression

2008-08-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

From Reuters:

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN2449373420080724?rpc=60

San Francisco closing streets for outdoor exercise

2008-08-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

From KTVU:

SAN FRANCISCO -- Community groups rallied Tuesday in San Francisco in support of closing off city streets to traffic on Sunday mornings, in an effort to encourage residents to get out and exercise.
The city will close a four-and-a-half mile stretch of the Embarcadero and Third street from Chinatown to the Bayview district on August 31st and again on September 14th.
"Along the route we've planned a host of activities from swing dancing to yoga... to roller skating, street hockey, lacrosse and tai chi," said Susan King, coordinator of the initiative, which is called "Sunday Streets."
San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, who first proposed the plan, wants to make the Sunday street closures a regular event, but merchants at Pier 39 oppose the plan, saying the road closures will hurt business.

Yoga Botox

2008-08-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

After a slew of acquaintances -- who by request will all remain nameless -- chose Botox, I noticed this article about yogic Botox.
Amusing read :)
jamie

http://myblogonbeauty.blogspot.com/2006/12/kapalabhati-pranayam.html

Sequence from Advanced Class 7/27/08

2008-07-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

Just a quick notation of the sequence, without all the connecting movements, as reference for self-practice if you'd like.
Namaste,
Jamie

Dance of Shiva
all of Level I

Energizing Pranayama

Stupa Pose
--wrist rotations in/out
Wide Leg Toe Stand
--wrist ext/flex/side in & out

Double Square Sequence:

A:
Reverse Warrior R/L
Half Hero Elbow R
Half Lotus Elbow R
B:
Runner Backbend R/L
Svastikasana I-II R
Low Lunge R
--Shoulder Pigeon out/in R
C:
Runner Bound Twist R/L
Parv. Janu Sirs II R
Crunch / Upward Bow Vinyasa
Parv. Janu Sirs III R
D:
Warrior III R/L
Half Hero R
Crunch / Upward Bow Vinyasa
Half Lotus knee press R

--on the second side of the square, rotation to the left, substitute the following arm balances for the standing poses from the first (right) rotation:

A:
Side Plank (bound) L/R
B:
Eka Pada Koundinyasana I L/R
C:
Eka Pada Koundinyasana II L/R
D:
Kala Bhairavasana prep L/R

Headstand Vinyasa between the following poses:
Elbow reversal
Front ankle stretch balance
Malasana
Open-foot Baddha Konasana

Drop-back, and Staff between the following poses:
Side Cobra
Half-lotus neck side-bend
Half-hero neck twist

Crunch / Upward Bow Vinyasa to standing

Standing side-bend
Standing bound Tittibhasana
Karnapidasana
rolling like a ball, Chatturanga vinyasa to Prasarita

Star arch between the following poses:
side squat knee reversal
Samakonasana reversal
inward pigeon of the hip in extension
wide pigeon twist
Hanuman forward / backward

headstand scorpion
soft spinal rolls in Vajrasana
forearm stand scorpion or camel pose
soft spinal circles in Vajrasana
chin backbend or fish pose
soft lateral spinal movement in Vajrasana

Niralamba Sirsasana
Nauli
Yoga Nidrasana (or happy baby)
Paripurna Matsyendrasana (or deepest twist)
Padma Mayurasana (or approach)
Nadi Sodhana
Savasana

I was watching the newly released DVD "The Basics of Anusara Yoga: Teacher Training", and John Friend said something I quite liked:

"The more knowledge we get, the more myopic we become. Remember the big picture, find the foundation. Let your eyes smile a little bit."

All Levels Sequence for Yoga Flow Castro 7/21/08

2008-07-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

This is a sequence for Yoga Flow, 8pm Monday class, and it is meant to balance the mobilities of the body that seem appropriate for beginners. Some of the mobilities -- particularly of the wrists, ankles, shoulders, and neck -- simply don't seem appropriate in large group classes, so this practice focuses on the hips and the torso spine (lumbar and thoracic).

If you have studied with Andrey, I would love any feedback on this sequencing as an approach to the complexity of Universal Vinyasa Yoga sequencing, though some of the vinyasa sequences may not make perfect sense if you haven't been in class...

Happy practicing!
Jamie

Suryanamakar A
Suryanamaskar B
alt. knee bend series:
--in Down Dog
--in bent-knee forward bend
--in straight leg forward bend
Hatha Vinyasa
Mandala Namaskar
(from Shiva Rea)

Eagle Pose
Square Three-Legged Dog
Side Angle Pose
Runner Backbend
Square Triangle with foot variation
Bound hip-stretch balance

cat rolls
Tiger series
Low Lunge
Split Preparation
Bound Standing Tittibhasana
Standing Side-bend
Standing Backbend
Bridge Pose
Fish Pose
Upward Bow Pose
Reclining Bound Angle
rolling like a ball

Wide Pigeon
--forward bend
--side-bend to heel
--twist
Cow-face Pose
--side-bend
--twist
--bound forward bend
Bound Angle Pose
Janu Sirsasana I
--forward bend
--side-bend
--twist
--forward bend
Seated Angle Pose
Bharadvajasana
Paschimottonasana
reclining twist
Savasana

Notes:

Shiva Rea is coming to Yoga Flow Castro in October:

Mandala Namaskar

And Andrey Lappa is going to be teaching at James Howell Studio October 31st- November 5th:

Universal Yoga

Tassajara / SF Zen Center requesting assistance during the fires

2008-07-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

I just received the following email from the Zen Center, and I'm reposting it in case any of you might feel inclined to help.

"Gratitude courses through this valley and our veins, for we and our community are well and safe, supported in a thousand ways known and unknown by the generosity and efforts of so many beings, so many bodhisattvas, so many Buddhas. And finally, deep bows to the fire, whose undeniable dharma teaching of impermanence has earned our awed respect and attention."

--David Zimmerman, Tassajara Director

Dear Jamie,
I’m sure that by now you have heard that fire raged through Tassajara on Thursday afternoon and a handful of Zen monks were successful in protecting the monastery from destruction. Today, after scorching the earth and doing damage to a number of structures at Tassajara, the fires have definitely moved on, and the five monks at Tassajara can relax a bit, even though fires continue to burn throughout the Los Padres National Forest.

For an amazing account of the fire and the brave efforts of the monks at Tassajara, I hope that you will read Tassajara Director David Zimmerman’s letter to the sangha here:

David Zimmerman’s Account of the Tassajara Fire

If you haven’t already, you will also want to read these excellent articles in various local papers that covered the Tassajara Fire story as it unfolded:

Priests survive inferno near Tassajara Zen Center (Monterey Herald, 7/11/2008)

Holdouts keep fire from Tassajara center (San Francisco Chronicle, 7/11/2008)

As grateful as we are that everyone is safe and that the fire was not as devastating as it might have been, we are still in need of your help. Right now, we have lost at least one month of our guest season, and it looks very likely that we may not be able to resume this year's guest season at all. This would result in a projected loss of $300,000 or more, beyond what our insurance will cover.

This is a devastating development for the Zen Center, since we are not a wealthy organization and we depend on revenues from the Tassajara guest season to help cover the most basic operating expenses not only at Tassajara, but also for Green Gulch Farm and the City Center. A loss of this magnitude will impact everything we do, the practitioners that we support, and the many Zen Buddhist programs that we plan to offer over the coming year. In addition to loss of income, we will need to rebuild the structures that have been destroyed. While projected costs for rebuilding have not yet been calculated, it is clear that we need your support.

If each person in the sangha-e community were to give $100 towards these efforts, we think we would be able to withstand the losses without curtailing programs or services at our other centers.

So please, on behalf of Abbots Paul Haller and Steve Stücky, the Zen Center board of directors and all those displaced by the fire, I ask that each of you consider making a donation today -- of whatever size -- to help us overcome this challenge.

Sincerely,

Robert Thomas
President

Sequence from Advanced Class this morning

2008-07-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

This is roughly the sequence we did this morning, without all of the connecting movements that make it flow. They were consistent with the vinyasas we've been using recently. It was nice having the extra time for a more complete practice!

If I missed anything, let me know!

Namaste,
Jamie

Shiva Nata:
through first two starting positions (out of five), both horizontal and vertical arms, with legs

Energizing Pranayama

Suryanamaskar A

Suryanamaskar B

Leg yang / Arm yin:
Virabhadrasana II
wrist flexion/extension
Virabhadrasana I
wrist side stretch inner&outer
Virabhadrasana III
wrist rotations
Wide Utkatasana
elbow reversal
Runner backbend
half lotus elbow
half hero elbow
Runner bound twist
Svastikasana I-II
Bound side angle
inner/outer pigeon shoulder
Utkatasana
heart stretch
rack
Sarvangasana

Arm yang / Leg yin:
Eka Pada Koundinyasana I
balance front ankle stretch
narrow Malasana
wide Malasana
open Baddha Konasana
Janu Sirsasana II-III
Eka Pada Koundinyasana II
knee reversal
half hero
half lotus (hands to knees)
prep Kala Bhairavasana
reversal Samakonasana
Samakonasana
Hanumanasana I-II
inner pigeon of hip
maximal outer rot. hip into
arm balance standing on triceps
Headstand

Spine:
Yoga Nidrasana
standing Tittibhasana, bound
Karnapidasana
side cobra
standing sidebend
half lotus neck sidebend
full pigeon, bound
standing backbend into Chakra Bandhasana
prep Ganda Bherundasana
Bharadvajasana
Ardha Matsyendrasana I
Ashtanga Parighasana neck twist
Forearm Stand

Finishing:
Nauli
Mayurasana
Nadi Sodhana
Savasana

Wednesday Yoga Flow class cancelled for Swami

2008-07-12T10:45:00.001-07:00

Wednesday night's class will be cancelled, as there will be a lecture by H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji.

I only know what's on the Yoga Flow website (below), and on his website (http://www.parmarth.com/), but I'll be attending :)

How to Find Peace in the Chaos with H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji
Location: Castro Yoga Flow

Dates: Wednesday 7/16/2008
Time: 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Please join us for an Evening of Divine Inspiration & Upliftment with H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji. He is the President and Spiritual Head of Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh (Himalayas), India, & Founder/Chairman of India Heritage Research Founation.

This event is free to the public.

Program will include:
Divine Devotional Chanting
Inspiring Lecture
Question - Answer session

Official Schedule Change for Advanced Classes at James Howell Studio

2008-07-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

It's official: classes are moving to the early mornings. The new schedule will start with my first class back, this Sunday morning, an hour earlier, and I hope to see you ALL!!!

Classes are scheduled at three hours on the weekend, and two hours during the week, though I'll certainly understand if you can't commit to the whole time, every time, and sometimes we may not go the full length, if practice feels complete a little earlier. Hope that feels comfortable for everyone.

The new schedule:

Sunday 8-11am
Monday thru Thursday 6-8am

I'm having an amazing time in Florida. Yoga on the beach near sunrise every day (facing east, right?) is a phenomenal experience. It's been close to 80 degrees already by that time every day except today!

But, I'm missing San Francisco, and all of you...

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

PLEASE COMMENT!

Arm Mobilities IV -- Shoulders -- following Andrey Lappa

2008-06-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

This entry will finish up sample poses for addressing the mobilities of the arms, focusing on the shoulder joints, which have poses that are comparable to the poses we'll later discuss for the hips.

Once I've finished covering all of the basic areas of mobility of the body, I'll do a series of entries on spinal movement, covering beginner through advanced versions of several primary patterns, all designed to awaken flow in the energy body. I was looking around on youtube yesterday, and found this rhythmic gymastics routine that incorporates quite advanced variations of some of the things we've been working on, though you might notice that the gymnast's technical alignment is not what we usually consider yogic. It's beautiful, regardless.

The serpent in the spine indeed...

And this video, of Indian boys doing yoga, interestingly doesn't seem to take account of our Western notions of accurate alignment in poses either:

But then, B.K.S. Iyengar in 1938 clearly had not developed his later clarity on alignment, which has so influenced our Western ideals about form in the practice of asana:

But, on to the shoulders. To review, the basic mobilities of the shoulder joints are:

1. opening across the front of the shoulder with arm wide (Svastikasana I)
2. opening across the back of the shoulder with arm across throat (Svastikasana II)
3. outward rotation of the shoulder (outward pigeon of the shoulder)
4. inward rotation of the shoulder (inward pigeon of the shoulder)
5. full flexion of the shoulder, arms overhead (heart stretch)
6. full extension of the shoulder, arms behind (rack pose)

Out of the poses for the arms, these are certainly the ones we do most frequently in class, so I imagine that they are familiar to most of you already, more familiar than the poses for the elbows and for the wrists.

1. Opening across the front of the shoulder / Svastikasana I

Lying on your belly, bring your right arm out to your right side, perpendicular to your mat. Firmly anchor the front of your shoulder to the mat, with your palm face down. Press your left hand onto the ground just outside your left ribcage, and roll your heart up so that the weight of your ribcage settles onto your right upper arm bone (humerus bone). At the beginner level, this is the complete pose. If this is comfortable, take the soles of your feet to the ground close to you hips, and lift and move your pelvis as far away from your right wrist as possible, gradually flattening your sacrum to the ground. Lift your right fingers with your palm facing away from you, and take your left hand over and pull your fingers up, focusing the lift on the index side of the wrist. If your pelvis is flat and comfortable, lift one or both of your legs towards the sky. Repeat to the other side.

2. Opening across the back of the shoulder / Svastikasana II

Svastikasana II is the natural reversal of Svastikasana I, giving the complementary opening of the shoulder joint, and it is quite similar to Half Lotus of the elbow. Lying on your belly, take your right knee or leg wide to your right, as in the first stage of Half Lotus of the elbow. Take your right arm across your throat, anchoring the back of your right shoulder to your mat. Bring your neck in between your grounded right shoulder and your right wrist, so that your right palm comes back between your shoulder-blades. Lengthen the back of your neck so that your hairline comes to the floor, and there is room for the breath to move in your throat (your throat is not compressed by the biceps). Take your left hand to your spine from below -- as in reverse prayer -- and slide it up your spine until you are able to clasp your right hand with your left. With your left hand, pull your right hand gently downwards towards your tail. Repeat to the other side.

3. Outward rotation of the shoulder / Outward Pigeon of the Shoulder

Lying on your belly, bring your right elbow against your right waist line, with your forearm perpendicular to your spine and your palm face down. Bring your right knee on top of your right elbow, and use your right leg to anchor your right shoulder and arm to your mat, as much as possible. Bring your left hand to the ground outside your left ribcage, and press into the earth to lift the left side of your heart away from your (ideally) grounded right shoulder. Twist your head up and to your left, without backbending your cervical spine (neck bones). Repeat to the other side.

4. Inward rotation of the shoulder / Inward Pigeon of the Shoulder

Inward Pigeon is the natural reversal of Outward Pigeon, and it is quite similar to Hero of the elbow. The only difference is that the elbows are bent at a right angle, rather than almost fully closed, though the action in the shoulder joint will feel quite different.

5. Full Flexion of the shoulders / Heart Stretch

This mobility -- like most of them -- can be addressed in many ways, including some very muscular Dolphin variations, but I prefer the Heart Stretch variation because it is more passive and so allows for a wonderful release, and because in its full expression it helps prepare the cervical spine for deeper extension (backbending, or arching). From all fours, bring your arms out in front of you with your palms face down. Your arms are parallel to one another, and stretched out in front of you on the ground. The flat underside of your chin (and definitely not the front or the point of your chin) is flat on the ground, and eventually so is your sternum (breastbone). Your entire spine is backbending, and your knees are as close to aligned underneath your hips as is possible with every joint of your spine in extension. In the pose, the inner shoulder-blades are spreading outwards, and the outer shoulder cap muscles (posterior delts, to be specific) are rolling down towards the earth. If it is impractical to bring your neck into deep backbending -- if there is any discomfort at all -- then a beginner variation would bring the hairline to the ground, with the back of your neck elongated within the pose.

6. Full Extension of the shoulders / Rack Pose

Start in sitting. Bring your palms behind you and interlace your fingers, and then roll your wrists so that your palms face the ground. Notice that there are two directions that you could roll your wrists to accomplish this. In one direction -- the easier way of rolling -- the elbows are able to bend easily with the palms grounded and face down. Choose the other direction of rotation, so that when the palms are grounded it is not at all easy to bend your elbows. Slide your pelvis forward on your mat as far as possible, until ultimately your lower back (lumbar spine) is fully grounded. Allow your head to fall forwards towards your heart, and if your lower back is anchored to the earth, lift your knees to your hairline. If that is comfortable, straighten your legs across the crown of your head. If the interlock is to difficult, a beginner modification would be to place your hands behind your, palm down, with your middle fingers parallel and facing away. In this pose, note that the action should be felt in the shoulders and not in the elbows. If it feels like the action is moving into the elbows -- and they are hyper-extending with any discomfort whatsoever -- bend them slightly in the pose (keep your biceps slightly engaged) until you can clearly and cleanly direct the action of the pose into the shoulders themselves.

Finally, I was struck forcibly by how difference from our notions of what a yoga conference looks like this one appears to be (note the fifth minute of the video in particular):

Watching the documentary Yoga, Inc. last weekend has left me thinking quite a lot about the culture of competition in yoga practice, and in case you haven't seen samples, contrast the poses demonstrated in the Ukraine with those in the Bikram Yoga Competition:

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

PLEASE COMMENT!

Arm Mobilities III -- Elbows -- following Andrey Lappa

2008-06-29T14:40:00.001-07:00

After the last post, I suppose this one is a bit dull. It's a bit of engineering underlying the art, sorting out the directions of possibility for the the joints to progressively open the flow of energy through all the nadis (or energetic pathways) of the body.

In the same way that there are foods that are simply better to eat because they more adequately supply what is needed by the body, there are poses that most effectively address the various mobilities of the body, and so more adequately address the energetic opening of the whole. Andrey's system provides one way of exploring these possibilities, and in this entry I'll just address the elbows, with poses that will be mirrored when we get to the knees, with which they have a functional similarity.

As a review, the primary mobilities of the elbows are:

1. extension of the elbow (maximal opening of the elbow crease, releasing the biceps)
2. full closure of elbow with wrist outside (half lotus of the elbow)
3. full closure of the elbow with wrist inside (half hero of the elbow)

Rather obviously, the comparable poses in the knees are full extension, lotus, and hero...

Examples of poses (there are many, many other ways of addressing all of the mobilities, and of progressively combining several of them into new and creative expression through new postures, one of the ways that yoga continues to grow!):

1. Extension:

In maximally extending the elbows to fully release the tendon of the biceps, it is necessary to be careful, and to approach the opening gradually, being certain of how it will effect your body, only gradually opening more deeply. In full extension of the elbow, the stretch actually hyper-extends the joint, which in ordinary practice when bearing weight on the arms is definitely to be avoided! However, addressing the possibility of movement in fully opening the joint while not bearing the weight of the body on the hands is beneficial to the overall openness of the body. To address the opening, start in a squat (a Malasana-type pose) and place your palms face down in front of you, with your middle fingers parallel pointing directly towards your feet. This is not meant to be a wrist stretch, so allow your shoulders to be forward of your wrists. Then, place your knees just above the points of your elbows, and gradually increase the pressure, knees to elbows, until you feel a gentle stretch and the biceps release fully. In the pose, lift your heart out of your shoulders, and allow your head to relax forward towards your lifted chest.

2. Full closure with the wrist outside / Half Lotus (Ardha Padmasana) of the elbow

Lying on your belly, bring your right leg wide to the side, with your inner foot grounded. If this is too difficult, bring a bent knee out to your side, or simply skip the leg opening until the pose is comfortable. Take your arm across your throat, until the back of your shoulder (the posterior delt) is grounded. Bend your elbow fully, so that your palm faces your shoulder, and your wrist is moving towards the floor a little closer to the front of your mat than your shoulder. Using the underside of your chin, press the pinky side of your wrist to bring it to the ground. Bring the points of your thumbs to the bases of your pinky fingers and softly close your four fingers over your thumbs (Muladhara Mudra). Slide your gently closed left hand between your shoulder-blades from below. Repeat to the other side.

3. Full closure with the wrist inside / Hero (Virasana) of the elbows

Squat into a Malasana-style position. If your Achilles' Tendons feel tight, and squatting is impractical, the same instructions work sitting with the knees bent up at a right angle and the soles of the feet grounded. Close both hands into Muladhara Mudra (bring the points of your thumbs to the bases of your pinky fingers, and softly close four fingers over thumbs). Take your wrists barely below your shoulder-blades, so that you can feel an inward rotation in the shoulders, and your elbows are almost closed. With no flexing whatsoever at the wrists, bring your elbows just inside your knees, and using your knees bring your elbows together (if this is not yet possible, the pose can be completed by doing one elbow and then the other, in a sitting position rather than in a squat). In the pose, lift your heart, and allow your head to release forwards towards your lifted heart.

what were you doing in 1990?

And in terms of opening up the flow of energy through the arms, there's nothing quite like the Dance of Shiva, but that will have to be a topic for another post...
namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

PLEASE COMMENT!

Sunrise, East, Ahimsa, Kundalini

2008-06-29T12:02:00.000-07:00

As you all know by now, I've been considering switching to teaching in the early morning hours, which are traditional for yoga practice, and which in my own experience -- as well as in many of yours', from the feedback I've been getting -- are the most beneficial hours from the practice of hatha yoga.

"Most traditional authorities agree that the early morning is the best time for meditation. In India, the yogins typically meditate at sunrise, known as the "Hour of Brahma" (brahma-muhurta). It is thought that the quality of the life force (prana) is then particularly pure and strong and more easily assimilated."
- The Shambhala Guide to Yoga, Georg Feuerstein, p. 93

In addition to the benefits of practicing before the day begins, in the Hour of Brahma, there is also the benefit of doing practice at the same time every day, which is the reason for moving class to the same time every day, Monday thru Friday, 6am. However, several of you really want to keep one day on the weekend, so I'm thinking at this point that the James Howell Studio schedule will change to:

Sunday: 8-10am
M-Th: 6-7:30am

Let me know how that sounds to you, or comment directly on here if you like.

Also, we've shifted direction in the studio, so that we're facing East. Several of you have already let me know that you feel a difference, which is really exciting to me. The east is indeed more expansive than the west. Practice is working! I invite you all, in your practice, to begin to become sensitive to the differences in the directions, and how they appear to your inner eye. These energies are -- by far -- easiest to sense in the hours before and including the rising of the sun. Indeed, I've found that 4-6am are the most wonderful hours for practice, so I'd encourage you to at least once in a while, get up well before the sun and practice as it gradually approaches the horizon. It's truly amazing, to begin to feel the sun, and to feel the changes that happen within during those hours, when most are dreaming.

Finally, in the Advanced Classes at James Howell Studio, we've been doing quite a few new poses, and many of them are quite demanding, physically as well as perhaps emotionally (the poses that affect primarily the upper chakras open up energetic flows and lead to emotional effects that are somewhat less familiar to us that what occurs through the opening of the lower chakras). Perhaps it's worth saying that the poses, truly, are secondary to the breath.

The breath is the center of practice.

The poses are simply beads strung along the thread of the breath, but where the breath is broken, the beads fall. Practice is like stringing a mala. If the thread of the breath is lost, even for an instant, all the beads fall off, and in a sense the meditation practice starts anew. The body of course still receives benefit from practice -- any practice -- but the inner energies of practice that we are awakening arise from the breath, and the thread of consciously attending to it, through the union of the attention and the breathing, which is then expressed outward through the poses, which are all quite optional.

In trying new poses -- or difficult poses that are quite familiar -- it is quite easy to lose the thread of the breath, but the thread of the breath is what matters. The breath is the practice. Like changing clothes, the change of pose, but if the breath is not expressing itself through asana, there's no one to wear the clothes and the support of the meditation is dropped. The practice is staying with the breath, whatever happens, and it is this ability to stay present within in a continuous way -- come what may -- that makes the practice itself practically useful in living life off the mat: the ability to stay consciously present inside, come what may.

The internal concentration on the breath -- which grows and deepens over the duration of the meditation, and drops away in a way that is directly palpable when concentration evaporates -- is the true source of the internal fire of hatha yoga. The closing of the eyes and the withdrawal of the senses inwards is another form of Tapas -- or internal fire -- that we regularly practice. Notice the way in which your internal sense of heat is affected by wandering eyes, and by the withdrawal within of the sense of sight. In Savasana, the absolute absence of movement -- the attention of the mind with absolute absence of action of the body -- is another Tapas.

The heated room is a prop, to be dispensed with as practice deepens. Ultimately, as you deepen your capacity for paying attention you will begin to feel the external heat challenging your meditation to some extent, because the external heat in addition to the dramatic internal heat will create a condition of too much heat, which you will notice will lead to the need to reduce the internal heat through adjusting the breath accordingly, though of course, any external circumstance is an opportunity for meditation...

In asana practice, I encourage you to develop an attitude of play. The mind is focused on the breath, and invited to express itself playfully through poses. The poses are not essential, and there is a way of approaching even the most advanced pose that is appropriate in every healthy body. But that way will never involve interrupting the flow of attention and breath. Any practice where the pose is allowed to take priority over the breath and internal attention quickly begins to violate the first principle of Patanjali's Classical Yoga: AHIMSA.

Allowing the breath to take precedence over the more external and muscular actions of the physical body sets up the conditions for optimal non-violent practice. When practice is approached in a primarily muscular way, and the poses are created from the body first -- and then perhaps the breath is relocated afterwards -- the practice is done so externally that it can become a bit violent. Ideally, the breath is invited to move through -- and as -- the body, so that the breath itself gradually becomes the actual source and inspiration of all movement. When the body is manipulated from without, the wisdom that lives in the breath is not so easy to access.

All of the information about alignment of the skeleton and the actions of the muscles is coded fully in your breath, and as such, your breath is your teacher.

To the extent that the breath -- and the ability to concentrate attention through it -- is compromised, the alignment and action of the pose is 'incorrect'. Yoga teachers suggest ideal alignment and action in poses, but none of us are in fact the ideal.

The ideal towards which we aim is in fact fictitious.

We all have our own ideal, our own breath gradually embodying itself. All of these instructions are merely places for you to begin your own exploration, your own experimentation in your own body. If the instructed alignment does not optimize the flow of attention/breath, change it towards a greater sense of internal flow, or if needed simply skip the pose.

Always: Child's Pose, Headstand, sitting meditation, or lying meditation are appropriate alternatives (at least in my class).

Finally, several people in class have been having rather intense kundalini experiences lately, and I really appreciate all of your frank conversations on the subject. We're all learning this together. This essay -- though it certainly has a particular opinion expressed throughout -- is quite interesting on the subject, and might at least help a bit with context for kundalini awakening (scroll down, the whole text is there):

http://www.skaggs-island.org/humanistic/sannella/kundalini.html

Also, swami-krishnananda.org has a great essay on Tapas -- the third niyama -- if you scroll down (or 'Find' Tapas):
http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/univ/univ_11a.html

And in closing, THANK YOU to Aubrie, who brought in a heater for the studio this morning -- we could use a couple of more if you've got extras! -- and to Adrienne, who's making curtains to keep in the heat. It won't be hot, but it'll be nice to be a little warmer!

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

PLEASE COMMENT!

NO CLASSES July 3rd-11th

2008-06-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

Quick reminder:

I will be in Florida visiting family over the 4th of July weekend, so there will be no classes July 3rd-11th.

Classes at Grace Cathedral (July 9th) and at James Howell Studio (5th, 6th, and 8th) will be cancelled.

Classes at Yoga Flow and Gold's Gym Castro will be taught by Eben Ostergaard, just back in San Francisco from teaching in Copenhagen.

I will be here thru this Wednesday's class at Yoga Flow Castro, 8pm on July 2nd...

And after the break, there will likely be changes in the schedule at James Howell Studio, so if you have any unexpressed thoughts about what would best suit you, please let me know :) I'll get the changes on both blog and website as soon as they are finalized.

Classes at Grace Cathedral, Yoga Flow Castro and Gold's Gym Castro will stay the same.

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

Finishing Poses Series for Advanced Class students in All Levels classes

2008-06-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

So, in All Levels classes I usually say something like: "If there are any poses you like to finish with, take your time."

Perhaps some suggestions would be helpful.

First of all, in closing practice it's nice to open up the flow of energy deeply, so spinal undulations are a good first step towards closing. This can be done in fairly basic ways, to your taste -- you've got a lot of options from practice over the last year! -- but the two most powerful spinal movements -- if they are appropriate for your body and reasonably accessible! -- are Viparita Chakrasana and Mandalasana. Variations of Viparita Chakrasana and Mandalasana are possible in all of the inversions: Shoulderstand, Headstand, Forearm Stand, Handstand, and Chin Stand. Choose the pose that's ideal for you, and find your edge. Or, do gentler versions of circular and linear spinal movement in more basic poses, to stimulate energetic flow before the final poses.

Mandalasana in Headstand (Sirsasana):

Viparita Chakrasana in Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana):

(note that Chakrasana as a backward somersault has similar energetic effects, and is of course far easier to accomplish)

Alternatively, the opening of this contortion routine is a sort of Chakrasana...

Following up the poses involving movement, there are several yoga poses that have nothing to do with the mobilities of the body, really, but are essential for various psycho-energetic reasons. In a later post, I'll write more about the reasons for each of these particular incredibly important poses, but they are (in the order I prefer them):

1. Unsupported Shoulderstand II (Niralamba Sarvangasana II)
2. Unsupported Headstand (Niralamba Sirsasana)
3. Nauli / Full Uddiyana Bandha
4. Peacock Pose (Mayurasana)
5. Corpse Pose (Savasana)

Niralamba Sarvangasana (it's the 4th pose in the Iyengar Shoulderstand Cycle, about one minute in):

Niralamba Sirsasana (Dharma Mittra doing the approach):

Nauli / Full Uddiyana Bandha:

Mayurasana / Peacock Pose:

Savasana / Corpse Pose:

The full list, then:
0. Spinal movement
1. Niralamba Sarvangasana II
2. Niralamba Sirsasana
3. Nauli / Uddiyana Bandha
4. Mayurasana
5. Savasana

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

PLEASE COMMENT!

Arm Mobilities II -- Wrists -- following Andrey Lappa

2008-06-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

To review, the basic directions of mobility of the wrist joints are:

1. opening the palm side of the wrist
2. opening the top side of the wrist
3. opening the thumb side of the wrist (outward side-bending)
4. opening the pinky side of the wrist (inward side-bending)
5. outward rotation
6. inward rotation

The first pair correspond to flexion (forward bending) and extension (backbending) of the spine, the second pair correspond to side-bending of the spine, and the third pair, naturally enough, to twisting of the spine.

Just as any stretching in any joint of the body creates a resonance inviting other joints to open, similarly there is a direct relation between any particular sort of action in a joint and the comparable aspect of movement in every other joint. So, for example, poses that create rotational stretching in the wrists, ankles, shoulders, and hips, will specifically assist the twisting of the spine.

The first four mobilities are nicely addressed by Doward Dog-type poses with the wrists in varying positions, though for beginners it is a good idea to practice the placement of the hands with the knees on the ground, so there is less weight placed on the stretch. After you are accustomed to bearing weight in these unusual ways, you can increase the pressure by lifting a leg off of the ground, into variations of Three-Legged Dog.

1. To open the palm side of the wrist, take Down Dog with the palms facing down, but with the wrists reversed, so that your middle fingers point directly back at your feet. As you gradually increase the pressure, drawing your straight arms back over the line of your middle fingers, carefully assert the stretch directly at the center of the underside of your wrist. Additionally, in all of these Down Dog variations, lift your ribcage out of your shoulders, and spread the backs of your shoulder blades, making space for the breath in the back of your heart.

2. In the natural inverse of the last pose, take Down Dog with your palms facing up, and with your middle fingers pointing towards your feet. Take care as your deepen the stretch that it is focused at the center of the top of your wrist.

3. To stretch the thumb side of the wrist, take Down Dog with your fingers turned out ninety degrees from the front of your mat, or if your wrists are particularly flexible, take your fingers out a bit more than ninety degrees, though not so far that the stretch is shifted from the thumb side of your wrist to the underside.

4. The natural inverse, of course, turns the fingers in ninety degrees, or more if flexible, though again not so far that the stretch is shifted from the pinky finger side to the underside of your wrists.

The final two mobilities -- the rotations of the wrists -- are best accomplished in sitting or standing poses where the spine is erect in gravity. I enjoy them most sitting in Gomukhasana, or Cow Face Pose, where the thighs are crossed with the ankles outside opposite hips. These rotations have very strong effects on the wrists, and so as with all new yoga poses, please be gentle with yourself, especially at first, as you learn how the poses will affect you, and feel your way into your ideal alignment.

5. To stretch your right wrist into outward/external rotation, take your left wrist under your right wrist. Turn your palms to face one another, and interlock your fingers. Drop your interlocked hands under between your elbows, continue rotating them thru towards your heart, and keep going until your interlocked hands are again in front of your with both arms almost straight. Relax your right hand and arm, and use your left hand to deeply rotate your right hand and wrist outward. Be gentle! Repeat to the other side.

6. To stretch your left wrist into inward rotation, take your right wrist under your left wrist. In this position, allow your right wrist to relax completely, and use your left hand to rotate your right hand and wrist internally.

If you find other interesting ways to address these mobilities of the wrists, please write to me!

Also, I invite you to consider how the comparable mobilities of the ankles would be addressed...

Stephen Earth Metz gives a really gentle version of wrist opening for addressing actual injuries:

And this is a nice essay on protecting the wrists when bearing weight on the hands, in basic poses:
http://www.myyogaonline.com/blog/2007/08/30/protecting-wrists-in-downward-facing-dog-and-yoga-poses/

A brief reminder to practice Ahimsa, or non-violence, when practicing yoga, specifically addressed to the wrists:
http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/962

And, and longer piece on working with wrist injuries using props:
http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/1247

And finally, some suggestions for wrist pain in yoga practice:
http://www.inneridea.com/library/Yoga-and-wrist-pain

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

win Hannah the perfect wedding

2008-06-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this is a bit outside the usual for this blog, but local yoga teacher Hannah Pask has been chosen as a finalist in the Us Weekly win a wedding competition. It's been an interesting week for weddings in San Francisco...

http://www.usmagazine.com/wedding-2008-couple-16

From Hannah & Shay's email:

Shay and I are Finalists in the US Weekly “Win a Wedding” Competition! Please vote!

We have been selected as a Top 20 couple to win our Dream Wedding from US Weekly magazine! No joke! Please log on and vote for Hannah and Shay at:

http://www.usmagazine.com/wedding-2008-couple-16
Just scroll down past our story and click on “Vote for Us.” on the left side. Voting is from now through Wednesday June 25. Vote a lot. Please PASS THIS ON TO FRIENDS, FAMILY, ORGANIZATIONS, ANYONE WHO CAN HELP!

Thank you, thank you for voting for us!!! Lots of love,

Hannah & Shay

The lovely Chrisandra Fox talking about love and yoga

2008-06-20T13:18:00.001-07:00

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

Ram Dass' Fierce Grace

2008-06-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

This is a short seqment from my favorite film related to yoga (however loosely). The writings of Ram Dass brought me to yoga, years ago...

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

Film screening Yoga, Inc. this weekend at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

2008-06-20T10:12:00.000-07:00

Chrisandra and I are going tomorrow to the 5pm show, let me know if you'd like to join us.
http://www.baddogtales.com/yogainc.html

Read Karen Macklin's review for Yoga Journal:
http://blogs.yogajournal.com/cityblog/san_francisco/

REVIEWS

“An entertaining, informative, cautionary, yet ultimately hopeful portrait of yoga,” Richard Rosen, Yoga Journal

"Smartly witty but grimly cautionary,” Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star

“An incisive, scathing and sometimes hilarious look at yoga madness,” John Doyle, Toronto Globe and Mail

“A revealing essay on greed in the name of a higher power," James Wegg, jamesweggreview.org

“An informed and witty examination," Rosenne Harvey, Ascent yoga magazine

"A fascinating combination between the ancient East and capitalist America," Yogabasics.com

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

Shockingly cheap flights to India...

2008-06-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

from Frommer's blog:
http://www.frommers.com/blog/2008/06/sale-offering-astonishing-round-trip.html

A sale offering an astonishing round-trip airfare to India for only $549 is currently being offered for purchase during the next two-and-a-half days
It sounds too good to be true (and may well be!), but at a time of year when round-trip fares to India are nearly $2,000, there's a way to go there at one-quarter the price -- if you act immediately (within somewhat less than 72 hours). Specifically, if you book autumn trips through a travel agent before Friday night of this week, you can buy a round-trip seat on Air India to Mumbai and other Indian cities for as little as $549 (leaving mid-August to mid-September) and $599 (mid-September to the end of October). While those dates are partially during the monsoon season, numerous old-hands at travel in India will confirm that the rains (a couple of hours a day) don't really interfere with your enjoyment of that exotic sub-continent.

Now what I've just reported is what the consumer press is announcing. They tell you to book the fare by going to www.airindia.com. Once there, you will find not a single word on the subject! It is only when you phone one of Air-India's toll-free numbers (tel. 800/223-7776, 888/359-2412, or 800/625-6424) that a reservationist located in India will advise you that the sale is called One Price India and that it can be purchased only through a travel agent.

I'm dubious about prices as incredible as these. But I would be remiss not to pass on the word. If you have ever hankered to visit India (one of the world's most fascinating countries to tour), and can make a firm decision in the next three days, you really should give One Price India a try.

Arm Mobilities I, following Andrey Lappa's Universal Vinyasa Yoga

2008-06-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

Andrey's rather scientific approach to hatha yoga has certainly informed much of my sequencing in vinyasa classes over the last few years, and I thought it might be helpful to give some reference to the basic principles, for help in understanding how the sequences actually work.

Basically, Andrey's method breaks the body down into all of its moveable components, and then analyzes them into all of the possible directions of mobility. A complete and balanced practice, on his account, would equally stretch all of the significant joints of the body in a balanced fashion. An implication of his method -- though to my knowledge it is not stated anywhere in his printed work -- is that a balanced opening of all of the joints in a single practice is a more effective way to open any particularly challenging mobility than a practice which focuses wholly on the actual challenge. The implication is that a practice which equally addresses all of the mobilities of the body -- equally affecting all of the joints and the muscles and tendons that cross them -- would more effectively open the hamstrings than an entire practice in which every pose targeted the hamstrings, with far less stress to the hamstrings themselves. It is as if an opening anywhere sets up a resonance that assists with opening everywhere.

Patient practice with Andrey's method solidly bears this out, but the method is dauntingly complex, and quite challenging to learn. There are quite a few possibilities of joint movement in the human body, and keeping track of them all throughout practice requires a great deal of mental attention. But mental attention helps develop the internal heat that opens the body. The true fire or tapas of hatha yoga is concentration of the mind, the internalization of energy, the consolidation of prana within...

I'll start with a listing of the basic mobilities of the arms.

Wrists (6):

1. opening the palm side of the wrist

2. opening the top side of the wrist

3. opening the thumb side of the wrist (outward side-bending)

4. opening the pinky side of the wrist (inward side-bending)

5. outward rotation

6. inward rotation

Elbows (3):

1. extension of the elbow (maximal opening of the elbow crease, releasing the biceps)

2. full closure of elbow with wrist outside (half lotus of the elbow)

3. full closure of the elbow with wrist inside (half hero of the elbow)

Shoulders (6):

1. opening across the front of the shoulder with arm wide (Svastikasana I)

2. opening across the back of the shoulder with arm across throat (Svastikasana II)

3. outward rotation of the shoulder (outward pigeon of the shoulder)

4. inward rotation of the shoulder (inward pigeon of the shoulder)

5. full flexion of the shoulder, arms overhead (heart stretch)

6. full extension of the shoulder, arms behind (rack pose)

In your home practice, I invite you to consider what poses would create the maximal stretch in each of these directions, and in a few days I'll give suggested possible poses for each mobility, though this lovely article by Todd Jones will get you started with the shoulders (note that some of these poses are for the shoulders, and some for the elbows):

http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/2038

namaste,

jamie

Clematis in front of Trine's in Copenhagen

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

Considering making the move to 6am in July

2008-06-10T22:08:00.000-07:00

I hope you're all enjoying all this gorgeous weather. I'm certainly loving being hot for a change, and it feels like it's finally time to shift classes back to the early morning hours, to the traditional time for yoga practice, around the sunrise. The mind is quiet, and the benefits to the body are great when practice happens before the day really begins. When the planet is quiet it's so much easier to drop into the deeper layers of sadhana, and to explore the inner energies of body and breath.

I'll be going to Florida to see family over the 4th of July weekend (gone from the 3rd thru the 11th, with Eben subbing classes at Yoga Flow and Gold's, and all other classes cancelled for the week), and when I get back, I'm considering switching my donation-based classes at James Howell Studio to 6-8am, Monday thru Friday, to give us a chance to practice together daily for my last year in San Francisco. The classes will be listed as 'Advanced', but everyone with a sense of humor is certainly welcome. The current classes at James Howell Studio would go away, if I make that change, which would start on July 14th, Bastille Day.

Nothing's official yet, I'm just checking in with everyone, and would like to know your thoughts. Would this serve you? Comment here, or just send me an email...

Also, if you have any old space heaters, or old heavy curtains to block off the archways to the back area for greater energy efficiency, we could certainly use them! It's important to me that the studio is warm enough for comfortable practice, though not hot, as at Yoga Flow :)

with gratitude,

jamie

p.s. The picture at the top of this post is the entrance to Christiania, in Copenhagen, which is more San Francisco than San Francisco these days. Their Summer of Love isn't quite over...

Back from Copenhagen and Amsterdam!

2008-05-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

I'm back from Copenhagen and Amsterdam!

It was a glorious adventure, and I learned so much, though it will take some time to integrate all the new!

All of these pictures are from Copenhagen, the first part of the trip, and I'll post some from Amsterdam later on.

Anyhow, all classes are back on, starting this Saturday morning with the Advanced class at James Howell, at 8am.

I'm really excited to be back, actually, and it's wonderful to be home.

It's wonderful to feel at home, in fact.

To remember that really, I do love San Francisco, and that this is my home.

I missed you all quite a bit, and I realize that leaving to do a Ph.D. next year is going to be a bigger challenge than I'd anticipated...

Trine in Copenhagen and Marcel in Amsterdam were really wonderful to me, and I am deeply grateful to them and to all the other people that I met along the way. I think I made quite a few new lasting friends on my journey, and I will certainly return to Denmark and Holland...

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

Myanmar, a forward from Vinny

2008-05-10T11:00:00.001-07:00

This was forwarded to me from Vinny.
To offer support, one place to go is: http://www.google.com/myanmarcyclone/

Hello Dear Ones,

As you may or may not have heard on the news, a cyclone tore through Myanmar this past weekend, leaving tens of thousands of people dead and hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

A close friend of mine teaches at a school in Myanmar. Thankfully, she and her husband are safe. A representative of her school recently sent out an email which I am compelled to share with you today.

The situation remains dire for many people but I have hope that the people in Myanmar will recover from this horrible disaster and ask that you please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

With love,
Vinny

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Julia Mims
Date: Wed, May 7, 2008 at 1:55 PM
Subject: Fw: A message from Melanie Von Spreecken

This is the e-mail that Roger Hove just sent me updating us on the conditions in Myanmar for Anna and Jared. After you read it you will understand why they are not on a plane flying out of there. Please continue to keep them as well as the people of Myanmar in your prayers. Thank for all of your love and concern during this horrific event.

Love,
Julia Mims

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Julia G. Mims
To: Julia Mims
Sent: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 4:50:10 PM
Subject: FW: A message from Melanie Von Spreecken

From: ROGER HOVE [mailto:Rhove@iss.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 4:30 PM
To: Julia G. Mims
Subject: A message from Melanie Von Spreecken

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you for all the wonderful notes and words of support and
encouragement. It is truly a bleak situation here. Daily we see the
clean up of Yangon and are amazed and the creativity and tenacity of
the Myanmar people. We have yet to see a front loader and yet the
streets are cleared more and more each day. We haven't heard a
chainsaw, but the people work with a machete with skill that belongs
in the Guinness Book of Records. And there have been more uniforms
around in the past couple of days, but never wielding the tools of
reconstruction, rather standing on the sidelines watching.

We have been able to access the news and watch in horror the
destruction and devastation of villages, lives, and livelihoods. The
news reports it well and we are glad that the world can catch a
glimpse of the horror. However, that is not the life that we are
living. CNN would not want to film our lovely apartment building
because all they would see would be a few broken roof tiles. Our lives
are very removed from the devastation that you see on TV. We need you
to understand this and to rest assured that we would never knowingly
put our lives in danger.

The storm was predicted to hit sometime on Friday. Greg and I have
just moved to an apartment on 2nd floor up to one on 4th floor. The
rain came late Friday night; we went to sleep to the sound of driving
rain. Then the winds started very early morning. I've never seen or
heard anything like it. We were mesmerized as we witnessed the power
of the cyclone from our windows. Before the storm the area below our
apartment was covered with lush vegetation. Sadly, maybe one fourth of
it is left. Amazingly the three palm trees that we watched dancing
their maniacal dance are still standing proud.

The school was hit hard. One of our buildings is a nine story
building. I teach on 6th floor of this building and from my floor on
up the windows were blown completely out. Tables and chairs were
strewn across the floor and any loose papers were lost forever. But by
the grace of God very little was actually lost or destroyed in the
devastation. My piano stands against a wall that no longer exists, and
yet when I sat down and ran my fingers across the keys, I found music.

When the storm abated on Saturday afternoon we realized that we
couldn't go anywhere so we continued to work on our move. The
apartment building kept electricity via a generator, but TV, phone
service and internet was down. We couldn't really say that no news was
good news and about 3:30 that afternoon one of the teachers ventured
over on his bike. He was mud from head to toe and had endured a
treacherous ride, but he wanted to report that the news was in fact
very bad. His words were bleak and Greg knew he needed to get over
there to see it. Very few taxis were working, and those that were
charged exorbitant prices to brave the roads covered with trees,
poles, electricity wires and debris of every kind.

What he found when he finally arrived at the school was both
devastating and inspiring. The school had suffered a hit of
unimaginable strength, but there in the rubble starting to clean up
were many of the teaching staff who live right across the street from
the school. Knee deep in debris, water, broken glass were teachers,
housekeeping staff and security guards worked side by side trying to
find some semblance of order.

Our managing director suffered overwhelming damage in his schools
throughout the area. But he called in all his resources and daily we
have watched the school take shape. Windows are still missing, but
sheets of plywood stand ready to be put in. Electricity is being
checked and rechecked before hooking up the generator. Rubble and
debris is removed by the armful by an endless stream of workers
climbing up and down the 9 floor building. The building remains eerily
quiet except for the flip flop of their bare feet going up and down
and the melancholy sound of the songs they sing while working.

The teachers returned on Monday for a meeting and assessment of the
damage. Tuesday the Americans attended a town meeting at the Embassy.
Today Greg brought the staff together and explained the situation, the
Embassy's recommendations, and led a group discussion of where we
wanted to go. The response of the teachers is a memory that I will
carry forever. The desire to carry on for the sake of the kids was
overwhelming. I was truly inspired and humbled by the professionalism
and dedication of my colleagues when all hands went up in response to
Greg's question, "If we have students and we can make the building
safe, how many of you would like to see us finish the school year?"

Maybe now you will understand when you write to us asking us to please
come home, why we have not yet made any return reservations. We will
continue to monitor the situation daily. We have students dropping by
the school daily to check on the progress. There are many more
students who we haven't yet seen and we continue to hope and pray that
they are safe. The plan is to hold a student/parent meeting on Monday
morning and if the parents concur with the teachers, YIS will open its
doors on Tuesday to finish the last three weeks of the 2007/08 school
year. Our goals are lofty, but the rewards are great.
If our plans change we will be in touch.

Much love,
Melanie & Greg

NO CLASSES May 13th-28th

2008-05-10T10:44:00.000-07:00

I won't be teaching May 13th-28th.

Classes at James Howell Studio will be cancelled, but if you come to those regularly, you know Ngu, and he'll be opening the studio for an open practice group on some days, if that suits you :) My first class back at James Howell Studio will be Saturday May 31st.

Class at Grace Cathedral will be cancelled May 14, 21, and 28, and will resume on June 4th.

Class at Gold's Gym will by covered by Eben Ostergaard:
http://www.ebenflow.com/

Classes at Yoga Flow will be covered by Eben Ostergaard and Jim Donovan, with Jim teaching on the 19th and 21st, and Eben teaching the other classes. My first class back at Yoga Flow will be Monday June 2nd.

My LAST class before leaving will be Monday night at Yoga Flow, 8pm. Hope to see you all there!

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

Trine Posted the Workshop Series in Copenhagen at Hamsa Yoga

2008-05-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

Hamsa Yoga Serpent in the Spine Workshop

Provisional Text for Amsterdam and Copenhagen Yoga Classes

2008-05-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

I fear it sounds more Californian that any of my California yoga classes...
feedback appreciated, of course...
namaste,
jamie

The Serpent in the Spine:
A Class Series with Jamie Lindsay on Awakening the Spine

In this progressive series of classes we will explore a combination of movements of the spine as undulating waves running directionally alone the spine synchronized with the breath as rhythmic pulsations to energize and awaken pranic pathways in the body. Attending to the spine with wave-like movement, articulating it one joint at a time, is a powerful means to awaken the energy body, and to develop both a greater facility with deeper poses and a greater sense of bliss in practice. Practice will start with vigorous yang-style vinyasa, to stimulate the internal fire, with a series of repetitive vinyasas synchronized with the breath done with progressively more fire. One way into awareness of the energy body is through vigorous stimulation of the movement of energy -- at times vigorous repetitive vinyasa can begin to feel a bit like being plugged into a light socket -- and we'll start with this active fiery approach.
Then, we'll more into practices specifically focused on core stabilization to create the foundation and grounding to hold internally the energies that we're awakening, followed by a progressively deepening series of backbends, to open the radiance of the heart. The relation between proper use of the core in Tadagi Mudra and Uddiyana Bandha is as symmetrical with the opening of the Heart Chakra as the inhale is with the exhale. The active Vinyasa part of our practice will finish with inversions, culminating in Headstand, with suggestions offered for beginners. The ability to do Headstand will only be needed on the final day. Headstand is a crucial pose as it is the only position of the body which directly shifts the grounding into the central channel.
We will finish each day with a shift into relaxed abdominal breathing and gentle spinal undulations, hip opening and twisting with full release, balancing the active yang practices with a gentle internalizing and quieting yin-style practice to leave the body feeling nourished and refreshed. The complete surrender of all action is the other direct path into awareness of the energy body.

Bio:

While practicing standing backbends during an Ashtanga practice in 1997, Shiva nearly knocked my over with a first blast of kundalini. I've been a devoted teacher and practitioner of yoga ever since. I am grateful to all of my teachers, and I enjoy all styles of yoga, but my teaching tends to focus on accurate alignment within vigorous Vinyasa as a means to liberate the breath, prana, and ultimately kundalini, and more simply, as a tool to assist in the continuous learning of the capacity to simply pay attention. Attention heals. This practice is the love of my life, and sharing it is a great joy.

Handout from Rusty Wells' Bhakti Flow teacher training today

2008-04-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

Primary Alignment Principle for all Poses except Twists:

The actions of the pose are such that all muscles attached to the torso spine are released, creating a vacuum into which the breath (and ultimately prana & kundalini) can flow. This means that the poses are supported by the limbs (with the head/neck considered as a fifth limb) and the core of the body.

Inversions / 1:45

Headstand
Finding the crown of the head (heel of hand to hairline)
Tripod Headstand (Salamba Sirsasana II) set-up for beginners
--Aligning the shoulders/elbows/hands accurately
--With partner guiding back of heart
--Vertical, with partner guiding from core/sacrum
--Vertical, adjusting verticality of legs (hands above knees & at sacrum)
Interlock Headstand (Salamba Sirsasana I)
--Assist from core/sacrum

Shoulder Alignment for Inversions & Backbends
External Rotation in Full Flexion
--Down Dog, check the traps & the rotation
--Dolphin, check traps, then apply pressure
--Block on the head @wall, alone then with partner

Forearm Stand (Pincha Mayurasana) & Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana)
--Forearm Stand at wall with block between hands (partner assist core/sacrum)
--Handstand at will with partner assist
--Forearm Stand at wall with block & strap, partner assist
--Handstand at wall with strap, partner assist
--Forearm Stand at wall, partner assist legs to vertical balance
--Handstand with crown to wall, partner assist legs to vertical balance
--Handstand with crown to wall, lateral split
--Freestanding Forearm Stand with partner
--Free Handstand with partner
--Both repeat with lateral split

15m break

Core (flow practice) / 30m
Generally when the focus of practice is exclusively on core, it’s most effective to do the surface muscles first, and work progressively deeper. However, today we are focusing on preparing for Backbends, and so we’re going to work in the opposite direction, finishing core practice by completely exhausting the surface muscles that are meant to be released, but ideally leaving the deepest layer – which is a primary support of deepest backbending – awake and supporting the lumbar spine, allowing the lumbar spine and sacrum to relax and receive the energy of the breath, in lateral breathing.
--Supta Baddha Konasana with Abdominal Breathing
--with Tadagi Mudra engaged, flattening the spine to the ground without crunching the rectus!
--Bridge spinal rolls supported from the core
--Uddiyana from bridge
--Basic Leg Lift set-up
--Jatara Parivarttanasana variations both through basic vertical and revolving through splits
--Udhva Prasarita Padasana variations, both simple alternate extensions and hip circles
--Rocking on the spine, all the way to standing and back, feeling the roll vertebra by vertebra
--Supta Gomukhasana crunches, holding each position, with pelvis moving on exhale and heart on inhale, to exhaustion then directly into Bridge / Fish / Upward Bow

Backbends (flow practice) / 30m
In backbends, ideally all muscular action is in the limbs and the deepest layer of the core, so that the spine itself is relaxed, and the erector muscles are not engaged, so that the breath can expand laterally across the spine, all the way down into the hips, from the back of the body. This might be easiest to feel in long yin-style holds in Cobra or even Sphinx – coming out of the pose as soon as the erectors tense across the kidneys – but we’re doing a Yang-style practice today. I invite you to try this in your home practice.
--Plow dropping into bridge one leg at a time, then both legs simultaneously
--Fish / Uttana Padasana
--Upward Bow / Eka Pada I-II
--Viparita Dandasana / Eka Pada
--Setu Bandhasana
--Chakra Bandhasana
--Supta Baddha Konasana
--rocking on spine
--Chatturanga Vinyasa 
--Padangusthasana 
--tail down to erect spine & arms 
--standing side bends 
--Padahastasana 
--tail down to erect spine & arms parallel feet hip press / squat heel down feet out
--hip press / squat heel down 
--repeat both with passive squat 
--repeat both with full backbend 
--bent knee forward bend 
--Crow Pose

Potential Partner Backbend Practices (depending on time and comfort) / 60m

--Sirsasana drop-backs
--Up Bow shoulder adjustment
--Viparita Dandasana shoulder adjustment
--Chakra Bandhasana shoulder adjustment
--Standing spinal rolls, as a wave, partner observing the pattern in the spine, undulating bottom to top
--Standing drop-backs with a partner
--Forearm Stand drop-backs with a partner
--Scorpion II
--Mandalasana

Note: Jillian’s got your Shoulderstand details tomorrow. We’re leaving it out today, and our bridge practice will counterbalance Headstand energetically. Similarly, tomorrow’s therapeutic and relaxation-oriented approach will balance today’s strongly yang-style practice.

Sequence for Yoga Flow last night (4/16/08)

2008-04-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

This is just the basic outline of the sequence from Yoga Flow last night, with some modifications and additions [in brackets] based on the sequence the night before at James Howell Studio. If you catch anything I missed (or typos :)) please let me know!
namaste,
jamie

Virasana
--strap/shoulder circles
--Gomukhasana arms I
--wrist clasps
--Gomukhasana arms II
--wrist circles
--rotator activation in shoulder flexion
Tripod Headstand (set-up)
Child's Pose
Cat Rolls
Down Dog

Suryanamaskara A x3 (hold down dog in the first, up dog in the second)
Suryanamaskara B x2 (hold Virabhadrasana I in the first)
Suryanamaskara A adding standing poses:
--square 3-leg dog
--Virabhadrasana II
--Runner twist [bound]
--Reverse Warrior
Tiger Series (four poses) into Low Lunge
Uttanasana
Rocking on spine
Rocking to standing hip presses

Core series
--wide arms/ vertical legs/ spine press
--single leg extensions (with foot movement)
--Jatara P.
--[Supta Gomukhasana crunches, holding each element five breaths]

Bridge / Fish / Upward Bow
Supta Baddha Konasana, arms overhead
EP Bridge / Uttana Padasana / Upward Bow [EP]
SBKon
rocking on spine / Chatturanga Vinyasa
Padangusthasana
tail down to erect spine & arms
standing side bends
Padahastasana
tail down to erect spine & arms
parallel feet hip press / squat heel down
feet out hip press / squat heel down
repeat both with passive squat
repeat both with full backbend
bent knee forward bend
Crow Pose

diamond pose / heel flex / reclining with arms over

happy baby I / knees to chest / passive twist

Baddha Konasana I-II / reclining / single knee to chest / twist

Gomukhasana side bend / twist / Garuda arms [raised in cat arch] / Gomukhasana arms in forward bend / Upavistha Konasana side bend / twist / forward bend (note that in each side bend to the left then twist to the right first)

[through-the-hole stretch / hamstring exension / Supta Gomukhasana twist

reclining cradle / cradle twist

Supta Padangusthasana I-II / Parvrtta Supta Padangusthasana]

Savasana

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

Pesticides sprayed on SF under Homeland Security

2008-04-17T08:38:00.000-07:00

Jillian Chelson-Briscoe of the Yoga Medicine Project just let me know about this alarming development. The following text is a quote from the Play Not Spray site, and there will be a protest on the City Hall steps April 28th at 10am:

"On August 1, 2008, the CDFA plans to aerial spray the San Francisco Bay Area with a time-released pesticide against the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM). (View warning label for CheckMate-F, a close predecessor to Checkmate OLF-F, which has been sprayed over Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.)

San Francisco, East Bay, Marin, and other residential areas will be sprayed every 30-90 days for 2-10 years. The CDFA has been given permission and funding through Homeland Security to spray the pesticide on private property without consent by owners.

The USDA and CDFA are promoting Checkmate as a harmless pheromone. But not only is it a synthetic pheromone, it includes a long list of "inert" ingredients that are toxic to humans and animals. The pesticide is enclosed in time-released plastic microcapsules, small enough to be inhaled and become lodged in the lungs. During the August and November sprayings further South, the CDFA advised everyone to stay indoors during the spray, and to hose down all play and eating areas the next morning.

Many scientists, including entomologists from UC Davis, have been speaking out about the spray and insist that it is neither necessary nor effective."

Flooding in Mississippi

2008-04-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

This has nothing directly to do with yoga, but my brother sent me these pictures of flooding in Mississippi, and it's generally shocking that it doesn't appear to making national news. These were taken two days ago, and waters are continuing to rise.

Apparently we've been distracted by the pope.

An excerpt from my brother's email two days ago:

"Just thought you guys would like to see some pictures of the flooding about 20 minutes North of I 20/Vicksburg. The area flooding in most of the pictures is farm land in the area called the Delta. The water that is muddier is on the delta side and is currently 8 ft less then the water on the MS river side. Flood stage for Vicksburg is 43 feet it is currently at 50.0 and is expected to crest at 51 feet by the 19th. If we get much more rain along the basin or it warms up to quick and the snowmelts faster it will get worse. Note that New Orleans Flood stage is at 17 feet and the water is currently at 16.6 and rising, the levees only protect to 20 feet there."

Class Cancellations This Week

2008-03-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

Quick note:

There will be no beginner yoga class at Grace Cathedral this Wednesday (3/19/08), and no advanced vinyasa yoga classes at James Howell Studio this Saturday and Sunday (3/22-3/08)

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

Lovely Little Stretch Practice

2008-03-04T18:40:00.000-08:00

As a basic sequence for opening the primary mobilities of the body, I've really been enjoying this series lately. It doesn't include any warming up, or any energetic practices (including inversions), so add whatever you like. This one's just about stretching and opening...

Gomukhasana Side Bend L / Twist R / Gomukhasana Shoulder-stretch Forward Bend (L down) / Upavistha Konasana Side Bend L / Twist R / Garuda Shoulder Stretch (R under) in spinal flexion then extension / Upavistha Konasana Forward Bend (then repeat to the other side)

Inward Double Pigeon / Outward Double Pigeon (R on top; then repeat both and do Outward Pigeon the other way)

Hatha Salutation (greatly modified):
Tadasana Backbend
Bent-Knee Forward Bend
Low Lunge arms up
Triang Mukaikapada Paschimottonasana
Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottonasana
Low Lunge / Hanumanasana Prep Vinyasa
Hanumanasana
Low Lunge
Knees/chest/chin to the ground (hatha push-up)
Bhujangasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana (knees slightly bent to access hips)
Low Lunge arms up (deepest)
Low Lunge / Hanuman Prep Vinyasa
Hanumanasana
Low Lunge
Bent Knee Forward Bend
Tadasana Backbend

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

Upcoming Yoga Cancellations

2008-02-02T10:44:00.000-08:00

Note the following yoga class cancellations:

Wednesday 2.6.08 Grace Cathedral Yoga cancelled for Ash Wednesday service
Wednesday 2.20.08 Grace Cathedral Yoga cancelled for concert in the Cathedral
Saturday 2.23.08 Advanced Donation Flow Yoga cancelled for Early Modern Philosophy conference
Sunday 2.24.08 Advanced Donation Flow Yoga cancelled for Early Modern Philosophy conference

Enjoy the day!!!

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

Mailing List Migrating to Blog Subscriptions and other news...

2007-12-02T12:51:00.000-08:00

Starting this Tuesday, I'll be back at Gold's Gym in the Castro once a week. Drop-in attendance is welcome if you're not a member.
Gold's Castro is on Market at Noe, and the class will be Tuesday afternoons, 4-5:30pm. I'd love to see you :) I'm taking the class over from Darren, who's cutting back a little on teaching in the coming year for some exciting new writing projects. It will probably be a bit mellower than All Levels classes at Yoga Flow Castro.

Usually, in December, classes are cancelled at Grace because of chairs on the labyrinth for all of the festivities in the Cathedral, but this year we'll be moving to our temporary home in the Quire :)

On December 16th I'm going to teach another session with the Yoga Tree Teacher Training, and if you're regularly attending the advanced classes and would like to assist (or attend) let me know!

Finally, I'm going to take a little break between Christmas and New Year's, so I won't be teaching from December 24th through January 4th. Classes at James Howell Studio and Grace Cathedral will be cancelled during my break, and there will be subs at Gold's Castro and Yoga Flow Castro.

Namaste,

Jamie

p.s. I'm migrating my mailing list to my blog, for the New Year, so that you can add and remove yourselves from the list as you like. So, if you'd like to stay on my list, please subscribe to my blog. My email list will be ending at the end of the year...

Visit jamielindsay.com

Visit Gold's Gym

p.p.s. the picture is of chalk graffiti that was scribbled on the sidewalk outside Yoga Flow Castro after an evening class. :)

AIDS Quilt on display in Grace Cathedral

2007-11-20T13:25:00.000-08:00

Currently there's an exhibit of 28 panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt in the nave of the cathedral in honor of the 20th anniversary of The NAMES Project and World AIDS Day. It's arresting.
Grace Cathedral Information
go to NAMES Project Foundation

Grace Cathedral Yoga in the London Financial Times Weekend?

2007-11-20T13:02:00.000-08:00

Florence forwarded me this article from the London Financial Times Weekend edition. It's a travel story, on San Francisco, that starts with mention of our class!
No Flowers in your Hair

Questions about Counter-Poses, and Inversions during Cycle

2007-11-19T11:08:00.001-08:00

After the Yoga Tree Teacher Training, I've been thinking a lot about one question asked in particular:

"Is it necessary to practice fish after shoulderstand?"

I have my own thoughts on the question of Counter-Poses, and on the wide variety of answers one finds to that question in the various styles and traditions of yoga, particularly in light of the energetic benefits of polarity reversal on which my teacher, Andrey Lappa, often focuses, but I'm interested in how others think about this question.

One way of thinking about the question of the necessity of Counter Poses -- and further, of avoiding Inversions during cycle -- is to make a differentiation between normative and descriptive truth. It is certainly true that when the biceps engage the elbow flexes, or that when the shoulder blades are abducted there is more space for breath in the back of the heart, but whether one SHOULD do either of these things in any particular pose is another thing entirely. Questions about what happens as a result of a particular action are descriptive, while questions about what one ought to do are prescriptive, or normative. It has generally been my experience that descriptive accounts of yoga are possible, but that normative accounts are more highly personal, in much the way that science can be objective, and ethics can't. More simply, questions about what is true are different from questions about what is right.

So, I'd love to have some feedback on the questions of:

1. Counter-Poses
2. Inversions during cycle

First Double-Square, from Advanced Class 11/17/07

2007-11-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

Ia:
Side Angle
Vir II
Rev. Vir II
Tiger
Circles
Knee twist
Parsva dhanurasana
Swastikasana II
Outward pigeon shoulder
Lotus elbow
Swastikasana I
Snaking cobra
Cobra twist

Ib:
Runner BB
Runner T
Half Moon
Standing Split
Runner BB
Vajrasana circles
Core w/arm circles
Virasana circles
Bhadrasana circles
Snaking side bend
Bhadrasana twist
Bhadrasana arch
Standing side bend I-II
Standing side cobra
Standing snaking

Ic:
Vir III
P.A.Chandrasana
Sacrum twist wide knee squat
Reverse table pelvic circles
Bridge core circles
Eka pada bridge
Side bridge
EP Up Bow I

Id:
Parsvottonasana
Parv. Trikon.
Runner BB
EP Sarv/ Bridge Vinyasa
Sarv. Mandalasana

namaste,
jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Yoga classes
Yoga Tree / Yoga Flow Castro, Gold's Gym Castro, Grace Cathedral, and James Howell Studio
san francisco
california

Sequence for Yoga Tree Teacher Training

2007-11-18T16:44:00.000-08:00

Adjustments:
 as alignment instruction
 for support
 to deepen stretch

Adho Mukha Svanasana:

Important pose in yoga because it prepares the body for:
--Backbends
--Forward Bends
--Inversions
--Arm Balances
--Standing Poses
--Basically, everything but Twists!

Some adjustments in Down Dog:
--Aligning the middle fingers so that they are parallel
--Aligning the outer feet so that they are parallel
--Pressure to head of sacrum in the angle of the legs
--Using a strap to simultaneously ground sacrum and femur heads while
standing on the heels
--Adjusting outward spiral of the shoulders, releasing trapezius muscles,
neutral spine
--in Three-Legged Dog I, adjusting sacrum and knee to open side body
--in Three-Legged Dog II, squaring the hips
--in Dolphin (bent knees fine), adjusting the shoulders to deepen stretch

Child’s Pose:
--pressing sacrum gently

Prasarita Padottonasana III:
--adjusting wrists and sacrum simultaneously

Salamba Sarvangasana I (with or without blankets):
--pulling on their feet while holding the elbows narrow with your feet

Salamba Sirsasana II (with or without blanket to pad skull):
--spotting with hand to back of heart, just to get knees on elbows

Adho Mukha Vrksasana:
--at right angle to the wall, Half Handstand, adjusting sacrum to heels
--assisting with the alignment, one leg vertical, ankle over hip
--assisting into Handstand at wall, hands to front and back of core
--crown to wall, assisting into balance, one hand to front of thigh heads, one to
back of calves
--if time permits, assisting into Hanuman (Half Scorpion) Handstand, from Half
Handstand; and other Backbend approaches in Inversions

Namaste,
jamie@jamielindsay.com

If you'd like to be on my email list, or you have thoughts on this post, or specific questions, drop me a note!
and if you found it useful, please forward it to everyone you know :)Kundalini Vinyasa Flow Yoga Classes with Jamie Lindsay in San Francisco
James Howell Studio in the Castro
Yoga Flow, the Yoga Tree in the Castro
Grace Cathedral, Nob Hill

Descartes, Lacan, Deleuze, Butler, Patanjali; 9/12 Grace Cancellation

2007-09-10T15:22:00.000-07:00

There will be no class at Grace Cathedral this Wednesday, September 12th, as I have to attend a session at San Francisco State on Plato. Regular class will resume the next Wednesday, September 19th, 6:15-7:15pm. Please remember to bring a mat or two, as the carpet labyrinth has been replaced by a (gorgeous) new stone installation, and so the floor is quite hard.

Philosophy, lately:

For Descartes, to think is to exist, such that if one were to stop thinking, one would no longer exist. For Lacan, desire is essentially and necessarily unresolvable, a necessary lack which is the constitutive moment of individuation whereby the unconscious is separated from consciousness, such that the actual fulfillment of desire would result in the (imaginary) dissolution of the individual. For Deleuze, writing against the naturalized inscription of desire as lack, desire is realizable, through a progressive affirmation of life and an exponential unfolding of libidinal diversity from the codings of culture which seek to domesticate it, in a project that questions the actual existence of the subject in Cartesian terms. Deleuzian schizoanalysis uses as model the psychotic (rather than the Freudian neurotic) to explore the means to liberate captured desire and in a Spinozan turn, open up the possibilities for a body to be affected, without clearly showing how this opening to desire could be checked prior to the dissolution of the individual. Deleuze committed suicide. For Judith Butler, all of these projects fail, as they all institute some form of a-historical absolute -- the subject, the Oedipal moment of individuation, desire -- while she contends that what is necessary is a Foucaultian geneological inquiry into all of these concepts, such that desire -- as well as the subject and its purported gender -- turn out to be effects of productive hegemonic power, where that power does not have ontological existence outside of its effects. For Patanjali, in the Yoga Sutras, yoga is defined as the cessation of the movements of the mind.

Penny for your thoughts...

Namaste,
jamie@jamielindsay.com
If you'd like to be on my email list, or you have thoughts on this post, or specific questions, drop me a note!
and if you found it useful, please forward it to everyone you know :)
Kundalini Vinyasa Flow Yoga Classes with Jamie Lindsay in San Francisco
James Howell Studio in the Castro
Yoga Flow, the Yoga Tree in the Castro
Grace Cathedral, Nob Hill

First Side, Double Square I

2007-09-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

If you're coming to class regularly at James Howell Studio in the Castro, you might find it helpful for home practice to have some of the sequences we've been working with lately. These next few posts will simply be notes from practice; putting together a yoga practice out of them might prove challenging if you haven't already tried them in series within the context of class :)

Also, if you're finding Dance of Shiva challenging, you could check out these diagrams that offer some explanation:
Universal Yoga with Andrey Lappa

First Side, Double Square I:
Cat (backbend led first crown then base)
Tiger (four variations)
Heart Stretch
Twist on Knees
Locust Vinyasa
Swastikasana I variation
Bhekhasana (Frog Pose)
Cobra Rolls (backbend led first crown then base)
Snaking Cobra
Bhujangasana (Cobra) Twist
Svanasana (Dog Pose) Vinyasa

Namaste,
jamie@jamielindsay.com
If you'd like to be on my email list, or you have thoughts on this post, or specific questions, drop me a note!
and if you found it useful, please forward it to everyone you know :)
Kundalini Vinyasa Flow Yoga Classes with Jamie Lindsay in San Francisco
James Howell Studio in the Castro
Yoga Flow, the Yoga Tree in the Castro
Grace Cathedral, Nob Hill

Facial Paralysis / Bell's Palsy

2007-05-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

Hiya,

I just posted several blog entries I'd been working on right before the right side of my face became paralyzed :) At that time, I was playing with sequences for awakening Agni, or Internal Fire, based on the Sun Salutations (note to advanced students: in my experience, nothing works better for this that Sirsasana, Kapalabhati, Standing Arch, Nauli, Mayurasana -- in that order). Since the Bell's Palsy, I've been working on sequences to calm Vata (or excess Air), so practice has changed somewhat. Perhaps I'll write more on the Ayurvedic aspects of sequencing later, if anyone's interested, but at least, I would strongly recommend the work of David Frawley.

Paralysis has been an amazing teacher, and happily it's temporary, but it's beautiful, in practice, to have one nerve (the seventh cranial nerve) actually IN Corpse Pose! All sensory input, absolutely no motor output. Injury is invariably the best teacher. Feedback is immediate...

Just wanted to drop a quick note as I've been away for a while exploring the new state my body is in.

If there's anything you'd like me to write about, drop me a note, eh?

Namaste,
Jamie
Kundalini Vinyasa Flow Yoga Classes with Jamie Lindsay in San Francisco
James Howell Studio in the Castro
Yoga Flow, the Yoga Tree in the Castro
Grace Cathedral, Nob Hill

Practicing Dying

2007-04-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

Noam has done an amazing job with the James Howell Studio website! Carlos found some great old photos, so we put those up, and I thought I'd share them here as well.

Also, James Howell's story is moving. Especially considering that part of what we are doing, in yoga practice, is practicing dying.

James Howell was an early member of the Joffrey Ballet and choreographic assistant to Gerald Arpino. Howell entered the Joffrey Ballet studios in 1960 with little ballet training, but his intelligence and ability to interpret music quickly caught the attention of Joffrey choreographer Gerald Arpino, who asked Howell to assist him in the studio. Howell continued to work closely with Arpino on choreographic projects until leaving the company to move west in 1973.

In San Francisco, Howell studied physical therapy and taught class in his own studio on Sanchez Street in the Castro District. Shortly before he died from AIDS complications in 1982, Howell created the 45-minute ballet Ritual: The Journey of the Soul, which has been described by performance theorist David Román as possibly the first performance piece about AIDS. Howell left instructions in his will that video documentation of the piece be shown at his memorial service. This prompted the Bay Area Reporter to note: "Howell's gesture opens a new chapter on gays developing a style on how to die."

Namaste,
jamie@jamielindsay.com
If you'd like to be on my email list, or you have thoughts on this post, or specific questions, drop me a note!

Kundalini Vinyasa Flow Yoga Classes with Jamie Lindsay in San Francisco
James Howell Studio in the Castro
Yoga Flow, the Yoga Tree in the Castro
Grace Cathedral, Nob Hill

III. Sun Salutation Series for Internal Fire

2007-04-10T16:49:00.002-07:00

This one is even more complicated, but most of you from classes at James Howell Studio are fairly familiar with it by now. Some of you have even grown to love it :) though I have changed it up a bit in the last few weeks.

To give this growing collection of Salutations some semblance of order, I'm going to give them all letter names, just so that we have some way of referring. Yes, I'm in grad school in philosophy...

Most of the Standing Poses can easily be found on-line with google image search, if you're unsure, and they are generally as found in Light On Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar, and of course, you'll prob'ly remember them from class!

Enjoy!

Suryanamaskar C:
consisting mostly of Standing Poses, playing a bit with polarity in the joints, and introducing Sirsasana (Headstand)

start in Tadasana, hands in prayer position
I: anchoring your feet and maintaining the firm lift of your kneecaps and inner thighs, sweep your arms wide and up into a backbend, stretching your throat while pressing your inner arms behind your ears
E: keeping your knees firmly lifted, fold from your hips and then hang your spine into Uttanasana (standing forward bend)
I: crown lifts heart into an arch of your spine (Ardha Uttanasana)
E: leaning weight forward into your hands to float feather-light into Chatturanga Dandasana (Yogic Push-up Pose)
I: keeping your shoulders grounded down and back, crown lifts heart into Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog Pose)
E: keeping your knees firm and centered, heels lead hips into Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose)

first half to the right, then repeat directly on the left:
I: keeping your left sitting bone reaching into the sky, lift your right leg into Square-Hip Three-Leg Dog
E: step your right foot forward between your hands and roll your left foot in 90', into the foundation of Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II)
I: Virabhadrasana II, resisting feet towards the center line
E: bind your right arm under your right inner thigh into bound Utthita Parsvakonasana
I: maintaining the firmness of your left knee (throughout this series!) lift your spine up stretching your right arm upwards and dropping your left hand back to your left leg into Side-bending Warrior II
E: roll your hips square, pressing straight back through your left heel, into Basic Runner with your fingertips grounded
I: feet resisting towards the center line, arch your spine up and back into Runner Backbend
E: spine spirals right into Bound Runner Twist
I: unwinding spine back up through Runner Backbend
E: fingertips returning to the ground for Basic Runner, left knee still firm
I: left hip rolls open into Ardha Chandrasana (Half-moon Pose)
E: hips square and left leg points as your head hangs into Standing Split
I: lift into Virabhadrasana III (Warrior III)
E: spine spirals into Parvrtta Ardha Chandrasana
I: big movement, left foot reaching back into Runner Backbend
E: starting at the feet, rolling them parallel, strongly straightening legs, and rolling forward into Big Toe Prasarita Padottonasana
I: holding big toes with middle and index fingers, lift your head and heart as high as possible
E: from base to crown hang again into the forward bend, interlacing your fingers behind your back and dropping your arms overhead to the floor
I: lift your head and heart while dropping your palms to the ground preparing for Tripod Headstand
E: lean your weight into the crown of your head, actively reaching and grounding with palms and crown
I: Salamba Sirsasana II (Tripod Headstand)
HOLD: for about six breaths
E: lower your feet to the floor into Prasarita Padottonasana
I: crown leads heart lifting into a high backbend, hands on your hips
E: starting the exit at your feet, rotating smoothly out through Chatturanga Dandasana
I: Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
E: Adho Mukha Svanasana
repeat on your left side

I: float your feet shoulder's width, behind your palms, and lift head and heart
E: hang your spine from base to crown (Uttanasana)
I: catch your big toes, lift your head and heart
E: hang your spine from base to crown (Padangusthasana)
I: slide your palms under your feet, lift your head and heart
E: hang your spine from base to crown (Padahastasana)
I: crown leads heart, arms wide and joined overhead, High Arch Backbend
E: hop your feet together, Tadasana hands in prayer

Namaste,
jamie@jamielindsay.com
If you'd like to be on my email list, or you have thoughts on this post, or specific questions, drop me a note!
Kundalini Vinyasa Flow Yoga Classes with Jamie Lindsay in San Francisco
James Howell Studio in the Castro
Yoga Flow, the Yoga Tree in the Castro
Grace Cathedral, Nob Hill

II. Sun Salutation Series for Internal Fire

2007-04-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

This one is much more complicated than the first one.
Enjoy!

Modified Ashtanga Suryanamaskar B with Bakasana (Crow) Variations:
repeated twice, with a different Core and Shoulderstand Variation in the center each time

(it's written like a dialogue; I:inhale, E:exhale)

Start in Tadasana, hands in prayer position
I: anchoring your heels, bend your knees deeply forward and sweep your arms wide and up into Utkatasana (Fierce Pose) Backbend
E: keeping your legs firm and knees even, spiral your spine right into prayer twist
I: expand your ribcage out of your waist in the twist
E: lean your hands to the right of your mat and anchor into the grounding for Parsva Bakasana (Side Crow)
I: float into Parsva Bakasana
E: withdraw your navel deeply to support the Arm Balance
I: anchor your lower body and sweep your arms wide and up into Utkatasana Backbend
E: Utkatasana Prayer Twist second side
I: expand your ribcage out of your waist
E: lean into the grounding for the Arm Balance
I: float into Parsva Bakasana second side
E: withdraw your core for support
I: Utkatasana Backbend
E: pressing evenly through the corners of your feet, draw your kneecaps up your front thighs, and fold into a forward bend, Uttanansa
I: keeping the firm grounding of your lower body, lift crown and heart out of your waist, creating a backbend from sacrum through crown
E: lean forward into your hands and float back to Chatturanga Dandasana (Yogic Push-up Pose)
I: crown leads heart into Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog Pose)
E: heels lead hips into Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose)
I: maintaining the grounding through the corners of your hands, roll your right hip open into Open-Hip Three-Leg Dog
E: step your right foot forward between your palms and roll your left heel in 45' into the foundation for Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I)
I: crown leads heart into Virabhadrasana I
E: returning to Chatturanga Dandasana
I: Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
E: Adho Mukha Svanasana
I: left side, Open-Hip Three-Leg Dog
E: left side, foundation for Virabhadrasana I
I: left side, Virabhadrasana I
E: Chatturanga Dandasana
I: Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
E: Adho Mukha Svanasana
I: float forward into Dandasana (Staff Pose), anchoring your legs and sweeping your arms wide and up overhead

First time through this Salutation:
E: roll back into Basic Leglift Set-up, with your sacrum and the back of your ribcage anchored, your legs vertical with your heels flexed, arms parallel to the floor with palms face-down, chin to chest in Jalandhara Bandha, gaze to navel

three times repeat, alternating legs:
I: keeping your sacrum level in its grounding and your knees firmly centered on your legs, extend your right leg though a point of your right big toe and lower your leg almost to the floor
E: keeping your sacrum level in its grounding and your knees firmly centered on your legs, flex your right heel and fold your right hip back to vertical, a bit past the position of the other leg

I: extend both legs through pointed big toes
E: press your shoulders down to maintain a lift of you neck and roll into Halasana (Plow Pose), with your fingers interlaced on the ground behind you
I: strongly anchoring your inner upper arm bones, lift both legs symmetrically into Salamba Sarvangasana II (Supported Shoulderstand, with fingers still interlaced on the ground as in Plow Pose)
HOLD: for about six breaths

Second time through this Salutation, try this:
E: roll back onto your back with your arms wide (palms face-up) and your head and neck relaxed, shoulder-blades well-grounded, drawing your knees into your heart
I: flatten your sacrum to the ground, and flex up through your heels, straightening your legs

three times, alternating sides, modified Jatara Parivartanasana Vinyasa:
E: keeping your inner thighs firm and both shoulders strongly grounded, bend your knees together and twist them off to your left side towards your left elbow, while using your exhalation to wrap your belly into your body and away to your right
I: roll your sacrum back to center and flex your heels, straightening your legs

E: pressing your shoulders down to stay off your neck, sweep your arms (palm-up) overhead on to the floor and roll your feet overhead into your hands (Halasana variation)
I: grounding your shoulders, lift your legs into Niralamba Sarvangasana I (Unsupported Shoulderstand with arms overhead on the floor)
E: bring your palms onto your front thighs, into Niralamba Sarvangasana II (Unsupported Shoulderstand with palms on thighs)
HOLD: for about six breaths

to finish the Salutation after Core and Shoulderstand variations:
E: lower your legs back into Halasana (Plow)
I: roll forward, bending your knees and crossing your ankles (alternate the cross)
E: and plant your hands at the top of your mat, jumping into Chatturanga Dandasana (Yogic Push-up Pose)
I: Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
E: Adho Mukha Svanasana
I: float into Bakasana (Crow Pose), knees landing in arm-pits
E: lower your feet together to the ground into Malasana, a Wide-Knee Squat, releasing your neck forward and down
I: Utkatasana Backbend
E: Tadasana, prayer
Namaste,
jamie@jamielindsay.com
If you'd like to be on my email list, or you have thoughts on this post, or specific questions, drop me a note!
Kundalini Vinyasa Flow Yoga Classes with Jamie Lindsay in San Francisco
James Howell Studio in the Castro
Yoga Flow, the Yoga Tree in the Castro
Grace Cathedral, Nob Hill

Mandalasana with Chrisandra Fox

2007-04-10T00:15:00.000-07:00

Yoga Mob Benefit

2007-04-09T18:05:00.000-07:00

The Yoga Mob benefit at 12 Galaxies last month was wonderful!
Yoga Mob is putting together a devoted space in the Mission in San Francisco for Donation Only Yoga classes! Check out their website.

I took pictures of Ramutis and Chrisandra's performance, with Zoe Keating playing Cello in the background, and finally I'm putting some of them up...

I. Sun Salutation Series for Internal Fire

2007-04-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

Yoga Flow Castro, Monday 4/9/07

I’ve been away from this blog for some time, as I wasn’t really sure where to begin. And I’ve realized the best place to begin is precisely where I began loving yoga myself: with FIRE.

My own love of yoga started with daily practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, and since I was naturally incredibly inflexible, the heat developed in the Ashtanga practice through rigorous integration of systematic Sun Salutations really helped my body and breath begin to open, and to cleanse both of years of neglect. Through years of Iyengar practice following a few minor injuries early on, I found many ways of moving and breathing that felt to me more creative than the systematized practice of Ashtanga with which I began, but which still developed the internal fire that was so vital to my early passion for yoga, and that is so easily lost in the slow and methodical (and beautiful and brilliant!) attention to detail that is characteristic of the Iyengar Yoga approach.

In practice, I am constantly finding new Salutations that move energy and develop the internal fire of practice, so I thought this blog, for a while, could be about sharing some of the Salutations that I use in my own practice and teaching.

Ashtanga Suryanamaskar A (four times, with leg variations in Down Dog):

start in Tadasana, hands in prayer (0)
inhale (1): ground the corners of your feet to raise arms and allow an upper back arch, feeling your entire spine as a single unit anchored through the earth
exhale (2): maintaining the anchor of your feet, fold from the hips and then allow your spine to hang
inhale (3): maintaining a firm lift through your kneecaps, lift from your crown until your whole spine is arched out of your folded hips
exhale (4): lean forward taking your weight into your hands and float back into Chatturanga Dandasana (Yogic Push-up Pose)
inhale (5): crown leads heart into Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog Pose)
exhale (6): heels lead hips into Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose) and holding for leg variations, below
inhale (7): float forward into position 3
exhale (8): hang your spine from bottom to top, into position 2
inhale (9): grounding your feet to lift your crown (leading your heart) up through Position 2
exhale (10/0): arms wide as possible to your sides and back into prayer

first Down Dog, either holding Bent Knee Down Dog, or as a Vinyasa:
exhale: bending knees deeply pressing into hips
inhale: firmly restraightening legs maintaining attention to hips

second Down Dog, as an alternate leg Vinaysa:
exhale: bend one knee, alternating, and taking the knee progressively across the center line, shifting your sitting bones to the side and stretching into side waist
inhale: firmly neutralizing knee

third Down Dog, either holding Open-Hip Three-Legged Dog, or as Vinyasa:
inhale: anchoring your arms and right leg and maintaining the firmness of both knees, roll your left hip open and stretch your inner big toe into the sky (alternate legs)
exhale: maintaining the firmness of your knees, flex your left heel then hip and return to Down Dog

fourth Down Dog, either holding Square-Hip Three-Legged Dog, or as a Vinyasa:
inhale: anchoring your arms and right leg and continuing to press up through your right sitting bone, from the inner border of your left thigh lift your left leg into the air as high as possible with your pelvis and sacrum level
exhale: maintaining the firmness of both knees, return to Down Dog

Rachmaninoff Vespers at Grace Cathedral Yoga

2007-02-28T20:03:00.000-08:00

Yoga Classes with Jamie Lindsay in San Francisco

At Grace Cathedral Yoga tonight, the Pacific Boychoir was rehearsing for their upcoming show on March 2nd, a performance of the Rachmaninoff Vespers.

It was exquisite, heavenly, and so incredibly loud that the sequence I'd planned went entirely out the window, and I invented something that would require a bit less speaking. The sequence, generally, went something like this:

Tripsichore Basic Sun Salutation
Ashtanga Suryanamaskara A
Sphinx Pose
Passive Neck Twist
Basic Cobra Pose
Threaded Twist from Cat Pose
Lateral Shoulder Stretch
Bhujangasana I
Cat Pose I-II
Pigeon Forward Bend & Backbend
Bridge Pose
Fish Pose
Knees to chest, lateral and bottom-to-top rockings
Upavistha Konasana I into a high sidebend and an upright twist
Janu Sirsasana I into an upright twist
Ardha Matsyendrasana I
Gomukhasana
Upavistha Konasana I into a cat arch into Parvrtta Upavistha Konasana I
Baddha Konasana
Supta Baddha Konasana
Through the Hole Stretch
Parvrtta Supta Gomukhasana
Happy Baby Pose
Savasana

Namaste,
Jamie

Changes in Vinyasa Flow Yoga classes at Gold's Gym Castro and Yoga Flow Castro

2007-02-26T18:19:00.000-08:00

Yoga Classes with Jamie Lindsay in San Francisco

Hi all,

Hope you're enjoying the rain :) the misty white City is so lovely to me...

I have rather big news. Christopher Love has unexpectedly left Yoga Flow (I included his email to students as a forward below, if you're interested; it's sweet) and they've offered me the Monday and Wednesday night 8pm classes, which means I'm going to be making some changes in my schedule. As a result of adding those two classes, I'll be needing to drop Gold's Gym Yoga Mondays, and the two morning classes at Flow as well, though nothing will change with classes at James Howell Studio, or Grace Cathedral Yoga (back to its regular time this Wednesday, 2/28). My last class at Gold's Gym will be next Monday, 3/5/07; and my last morning classes at Flow will be this week, 2/27 & 3/1. I'll start in the evenings at Flow next Wednesday, 8pm, 3/7.

Gold's Gym has been a fun place to work, and the Group Fitness Manager, Pam, has been wonderful, so I'm rather sad to be leaving that class, and I plan on staying on the sub list, so from time to time I'll be around the Gym doing guest appearances :) particularly over the summer, when I'm on break from grad school of course

The morning classes at Flow have also been a lot of fun, and a great learning experience for me as well, coming back to Flow after teaching only by donation for a year or so. The General Manager of Yoga Tree, Kathleen, has been great to work with, though, and I'm excited about this move to evening classes. Since I'll be teaching right after Rusty on Mondays, I'm considering assisting his classes for the experience of a powerful style of yoga (and chanting) that is incredibly different from mine :) and since evenings at Flow tend to have lots of students, I'll be looking for assistants for the two classes. If any of you are interested in assisting with these two new classes I would love to talk to you about it!

Other things coming up: I may be teaching (again:)) in the next Yoga Tree Teacher Training, which they're putting together for the Fall, though I haven't fully committed as yet :) and Darren's taking a group on a pilgrimage to India in August just before the semester starts, and he's asked me if I'd like to go as a special guest teacher. I included a link to the current flyer below for your consideration, and wondered if any of you would be interested in going on such a trip? I'm not planning on leading any kind of yoga retreat or trip this year, though if I go with Darren I'd teach a couple of classes (in India!!!).

Finally, Noam's been working on a website for James Howell Studio , so that you can find out more simply about the classes going on there. He's still putting the finishing touches on it, but if you'd like to have a look, any suggestions would be appreciated. There are lots of class times available on the schedule, as you can see, so if you teach any sort of dance, yoga, movement or meditation practice, you could contact Carlos about setting up classes at James Howell right off the website. Also, I've written new descriptions for the James Howell Studio donation classes, intended to be more specific, and to differentiate them from one another a bit, and they're up on the James Howell site, as well as linked to from my yoga schedule page. Again, any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!!!!

Thank you all for your kindness and support through the years. I feel truly blessed to be able to do this work.

Namaste,
Jamie
415.272.5209
YogaClasses

info on Darren's Yoga India Pilgrimage

Christopher's final Flow email:

Dear Students & Friends,

I have been making a very important announcement in my classes, and in case you haven't seen me recently, I wanted to take this opportunity to share this news also with you.

After teaching full-time for many years at Yoga Tree, I have made the decision to take a sabbatical from teaching group classes. My body, my practice and my home life have been asking for a break for months, and so I recently decided to trust that inner guide.

You may know that, in addition to teaching yoga classes I have maintained a private practice in spiritual counseling for many years. I will be developing my counseling practice this year, and teaching private yoga in my home studio. For any of you who have ever wondered about taking your yoga practice into a dialogue, or wanted to deepen your hatha practice, I would be honored to work with you. In addition to sending me an email through my website, you can also contact me at 415.519.5683.

I will be teaching my last classes at Yoga Flow this week:

Sunday, Feb. 25. 11:00 am
Monday, Feb. 26. 8:00 pm
Wednesday, Feb. 28. 8:00 pm

Additionally, I would like to share with you the teachers who will be coming in to work with you:

Jamie Lindsay will be teaching the Monday and Wednesday night 8:00 pm classes at Yoga Flow.

Les Leventhal will be teaching the Tuesday/Thursday 6:00 pm classes at Valencia.

And Jehfree Spirit will be teaching on Sunday mornings at 11:00, Yoga Flow.

I know each of these men, I respect the depth of their practice and teaching, and I strongly encourage you to experience their work.

Finally, I want to say how very glad I am to have had the opportunity to work with each of you. Indeed, for every one of you in this mailing, there are countless others who have come to experience my work and practice over the years. I am sincerely grateful and feel blessed that I have had all this time with you. I hope to see you this week at Yoga Flow. Again, thank you and blessings...

Namaste,
Christopher
_______________
Christopher Love
Yoga with Christopher
415.519.5683