The Inconsistent Yogi - I need more practice!

I missed yoga all last week. I blogged, reflected and enjoyed every moment I had with the kids, but physcially there was no yoga, not even a short walk or stretch. So today was the day to get back into the yoga class. Monday nights is advanced class with Nina at Sunset. But today it was Terry Peterson substituting. Its been a while since I attended his class, so it was a pleasant surprise. Terry has a very unique style - gentle but firm, with lots of Iyengarisms blended in. His demonstrations are Nuvaneseque - highly precise and you can see it all in the book "Cool Yoga Tricks" that both he and Nuvana have been photographed in as models.

Today's class was mostly forward bends, but with a twist - they were longer and supported with props like blankets and chairs. My favorite was the supported Uttanasana. I immediately went into calm mode and it is excellent for my high blood pressure. His words "let go of your thoughts and simply observe yourself in the pose" helped me be calm and perform the poses without feeling like I had to bend more than I should. I simply enjoyed what I could do given the tightness I have developed over the last two weeks. I balanced on my head for the longest I can remember - a good 2 minutes off the 5 minutes.

On the way out Terry and I chatted briefly about my time with Nina and Manu Shahani in Pune. Terry had stayed in their holistic heaven twice before I did. I found out about this place next to the RIMYI center through Terry last summer. He asked if I enjoyed the food. "Enjoyed" was an under statement. I simply loved it I said! I can't thank enough the old lady who so humbly made the daily meals and walked up a flight of stairs to serve it to me on a tray or in a container called tiffin. She would also make a bowl of fresh yogurt every morning and remind me to finish it or it would become sour! Its the best yogurt I have ever tasted.

I came out of the class feeling like I had a new family - familiar faces, with greetings and hellos. I felt a sense of calm and relief from the turmoil I face every day - at least temporarily. I savored every moment of that calmness as I drove home. I was really enjoying the moment and truly in it. I am not sure what tomorrow holds. Whatever it is I hope to handle it with a calm, thoughtful and pleasant disposition. There is no other way. I need to practice my yoga every day so I can get better at being more observant of my life, so I can accept what it has to offer with calmness and contentment. I hope you will too.

Namaste

The Yogi

Yoga and Men

I have been taking yoga classes regularly at Sunset Yoga and my gym and I have found that nearly 70% of the students are women. Men are far and few. When I was in Pune last year and took classes at Guruji's institute, I found that there were a lot more Indian men in the class. There seemed to be more international students who were women as well. I wonder why in the western society acceptance of yoga is so low amongst men. I know we men are not as flexible and working out at the gym and doing cardio, pumping weight is more masculine, jockish. Its what men are meant to do. Trying to do some of the poses with our tight hamstrings is obviously harder, more painful and we look like wimps while the fairer sex nail these difficult poses with perfection. It hurts our ego.

EGO! Thats it! Its the male ego that comes in the way of us men accepting yoga in higher numbers than women in our society. So I wonder if we can let go of our ego so more of us can benefit from yoga. I know my teacher Terry Peterson would love to have more men in his class. I am one of his two male students in his advanced class at Sunset Yoga and I am not a regular. He is always happy to see me in his class to add some additional testosterone to the mix. Maybe its time to find a class called "Yoga for men" or how about watching Tara Stiles' video appropriately called "Yoga for Jocks" for some inspiration.