Namaste? Is that like "Have a nice day"?

Yoga Journal recently addressed the practice of yoga instructors ending their classes with the expression, "Namaste." What does "Namaste" mean? If you've wondered why this is part of our practice together, wonder no more!

The word "namaste" carries a multiplicity of meanings and comes from ancient tradition. Namaste comes from three Sandskrit words: nama, "to bow"; as, "I", and te, "you." Literally, Namaste says "I bow to you." The word Namaste is usually accompanied by a gesture called the anjali mudra; hands are placed together, palm to palm, at the heart, with the eyes closed and the head slightly bowed.

According to Aadil Palkhivala, considered one of the world's best yoga instructors, "The gesture Namaste represents the belief that there is a divine spark within each of us that is located in the heart chakra. The gesture is an acknowledgment of the soul in one by the soul in another. . . . This is an especially deep form of respect."

As a fellow practioner, ending our time together with "Namaste" allows me to articulate my connection with you, my respect for your own life-force, and to acknowledge our time together. While we could begin as well as end class with Namaste, at the end of class our minds are more focused and peaceful. As your teacher, I pronounce  Namaste as a symbol of gratitude and respect toward you, my students, and to my own teachers. When you choose to return the gesture and say "Namaste," you in turn connect with and acknowledge  your life's  teachers. Thus we all recognize our oneness when we move from our hearts.

Namaste is not a mechanical phrase. It's not the same as "Have a nice day," or "See you next time," or even "Take care." One popular explanation is: "I honor the place in you in which the entire universe dwells. I honor the place in you which is of love, of truth, of light, and of peace. When you are in that place within you and I am in that place in me, we are one." A bit less florid is this: "I bow to what is alive in you and you bow to what is alive in me;" this translation emphasizing the essence of our existence here and now, gratitude for the moment.

Mind/Body classes such as yoga seek to make a direct connection between the body, mind, and spirit. In the midst of our practice we learn focus, gain strength, exercise patience, and treat our bodies with respect and compassion. Often when we stand in tadasana, we place our hands in the "namaskar" position--a mini-meditation and glimpse of our own heart-filled light. As the class ends and I pronounce the word, "Namaste,"  I show my gratitude and respect for you and all that you help teach me in my own life's journey.

Namaste,

Nancy

   

Non-judgment + Contentment = Santosha

  

"No courtesy workouts today."

"No pain, no gain."

"Welcome to the workout from hell."

"If you're not burning at least 300 calories, you're wasting your time."

     Wow! Those statements don't motivate me at all. How about you? While I love a challenge (especially when I am successful), I fear failure, negative judgments, and public ridicule. I'll admit that there are more than a few classes that I've avoided because I feared failing, the instructor's scorn, or being the "klutz."

     Don't get me wrong. You'll find me sweating it out doing cardio several days a week. But I am not inspired to work harder to gain an instructor's approval or to avoid a scolding. Yoga changed the way that I view my workout, whether it be cardio, strength, or stretching.

     From one of yoga's guiding principles, let me suggest this "mindset" for your workout: santosha, or nonjudgment and contentment within oneself. Santosha is essential to yoga.

    Your practice is just that: your practice. It's yours and it's an evolving process of discovery. If your fingers graze your shins while you're in forward fold--great! If your nose touches your knees in forward fold--great! Yoga's not about the pose. Yoga's not about the calories burned. Yoga's not about suffering, or pain. Yoga's not about competition. And yoga's certainly not about pleasing the instructor.

     Everyone who walks into the practice room comes with a unique anatomy, diverse experiences, and varied expectations. Acknowledge what is true for you at that moment. Let go of how you think things should be, of how you want things to be, of what you are "supposed" to look like in a pose. Yoga is as much about self-acceptance as it is about the poses that we do together. Some days you can balance well; others, not so well. Some days you might feel energetic; others, you take a break (or two) in child's pose and catch up with the class later. No judgment from others, especially the teacher. No pressure to conform to another's expectations.   

     Yoga is fueled by positive motivation and acceptance. You don't have to prove anything or pass any test to practice yoga. It's not about contortions; it's not about discomfort. It's about linking the body and the mind with breath, noticing the sensations, and staying focused. Truth be told, everyone else in the room is so busy working on his or her own practice, you are virtually invisible to others.     The mind/body connection in yoga is this: by acknowledging our human nature with all of our flaws and imperfections, we develop self-acceptance and a sense of humor. By extension, we open ourselves to witnessing the same qualities in others, without judgment. We learn to appreciate what we have and where we are today, in that very moment. Non-judgment brings inner harmony, contentment, joy, and curiosity about the world around us. As we change the way we think, so do we change the way we act.     Santosha, the state of contentment and non-judgment, begins to penetrate into our lives outside our practice room. Santosha can even move into our other workout routines. You just might discover that you don't need to have "your butt kicked" to try your best; you become your own best coach who uses encouragement and acceptance to challenge your performance.     You may think that you come to yoga to get into shape, lose weight, reduce stress, feel better--and you will. You do all of that with patience and self-acceptance, without competition or fear of embarrassment. You may get even more benefits: yoga can change your attitude, even your life.  I'm in those cardio and strength classes now, but I'm listening to my self and setting my own goals. Hope to see you there!

Uniting Mind and Body with Breath

     24 Hour Fitness offers mind/body classes such as yoga to help strengthen not only your physical self, but to help you connect more deeply with your true self. Your practice is enriched tremendously when you focus on your breath. From "Yoga for Beginners," here are the basic principles of yoga breathing. This brief introduction ends with a detailed explanation of one type of pranayama that we use to begin, to focus, and to balance our practice together.
     Breathing is a vital element of yoga. Practicing yoga breathing, or breath control in yogic terms is called pranayama. The word "pranayama" can be broken into two parts: Prana means life force and Yama means control. By conscious control of the breath, you can create a proper rhythm of slow, deep breathing.
     Pranayama breathing exercises are the link between the physical and mental disciplines of yoga. Because the breath, body and mind are so closely linked, a change in one immediately affects the other two. By developing control of your breathing, you can bring about beneficial changes in your body and mind. Yogic breathing energizes and cleanses the body, calms and relaxes the mind, and serves as a perfect warm-up for practicing yoga poses. In coordination with yoga poses, the breath unifies mind and body, balances opposing energies, and helps the body relax deeply and safely into each pose.


Physical Benefits of Pranayama Breathing


     Proper breathing provides sufficient oxygen for the correct and efficient functioning of every body cell. Without sufficient oxygen, the cells cannot metabolize food properly. Nutrients, including precious vitamins and minerals, are wasted. Proper breathing allows the body to metabolize food efficiently and to rid itself of all the noxious gaseous by-products of metabolism, especially carbon dioxide. It nourishes the muscles and organs with oxygen. It dispels fatigue and anxiety.
     Brain cells have a high rate of metabolism, so the brain requires much more oxygen, relatively, than any other organ of the body. A lack of oxygen results in sluggishness, fatigue, confusion, disorientation and a loss of mental balance, concentration, memory and control of the emotions.
     A mastery of yoga breathing techniques is the best - and most readily available - tool for stress reduction. The common remedy for stress is to take a deep breath. Supplying the brain with sufficient oxygen is the greatest tool in stress management.
     Yogic breathing exercises help to keep the two sides of the brain in balance. As well as controlling opposite sides of the body, the two halves of the brain deal with different functions and different aspects of our lives. The right side of the brain is calming, intuitive, inner-directed, emotional, subjective and deals with simultaneous reasoning and spacial and nonverbal activities. While the left side of the brain is aggressive, logical, outer-directed, rational, objective and deals with sequential reasoning and mathematical and verbal activities. Proper breathing helps the two sides of the brain to work together.
     Pranayama deepens breathing which stretches the intercostal muscles, strengthens the respiratory system and aids conditions such as asthma. Pranayama breathing has helped one class member regulate her asthma, and keeps her from dependence on a nebulizer.


Mental and Emotional Benefits of Pranayama Breathing


     By exercising control over breathing, you can learn to control the energy within the body, and ultimately gain control over a restless mind. In yogic breathing exercises, the breath is seen as the important link between our physical and mental aspects. Pranayama cleanses and strengthens the physical body, but its most important benefit is for the mind.
     Proper breathing soothes the nervous system; calms, steadies, and clears the mind; improves concentration, focuses attention, and increases the ability to deal with complex situations without suffering from stress.
     In addition, proper breathing calms the emotions, increases emotional stability, helps with emotional control and equilibrium, reduces craving and desire, combats depression, helps in the relief of grief and sadness, puts you in touch with your inner self and gives you poise and serenity.

Alternate Nostril Breathing: Calms and balances the mind and body, aids relaxation, improves concentration, and strengthens respiration.      In class, before we begin our practice in earnest, we often use this pranayama exercise to focus and balance our energies. Use Alternate Nostril Breathing whenever you need to find your own mental equilibrium. If you're in the middle of a tense meeting or other challenging situation, imagine your right hand on your nostrils as you focus on your breath.

Sit comfortably in a cross-legged position on the floor. Keep your spine and neck straight, but not tense. Do not lean forward. Place a cushion under the buttocks or the knees if you need more support. Rest the left hand on your left knee. Extend the thumb, ring finger and little finger of your right hand and fold down your other two fingers into your palm. Start by closing your right nostril with your thumb and inhale slowly and deeply through the left nostril. Then press the ring and pinky fingers against the left side of the nose, sealing the left nostril closed while keeping the thumb against the right nostril, and hold. Lift the thumb from the right side of the nose, opening the right nostril. Exhale slowly and fully through the right nostril. Inhale slowly and deeply through the right nostril, still holding the left nostril shut. Cover the right nostril with the thumb and hold. count. Release the left nostril and exhale through the left nostril. Repeat sequence five times. Practice alternate nostril breathing, working up to the ability to maintain each inhale, hold, and exhale for a count of eight.

Sticky Business . . . Yoga Mats

Do I really need a sticky mat?

If you are a casual yogi, dropping in occasionally for a class or two a month, you can certainly make do with the mats provided by the gym. The Group X room has two choices: one is blue, soft, and rather squishy; the other is charcoal grey, somewhat soft and more rigid. Some folks use one or the other, and some use both. These mats cushion senstive joints from contact with the hardwood floor. It's so much more effective to practice yoga without the distracting crunch of elbows, knees, and ankles against hard surfaces.

One downside to using the gym-provided mats is that they are very, very slippery. Doing any standing work that requires a shift in weight (such as from any warrior pose to triangle pose) or any balancing work (tree, dancer, even eagle pose) can be very dangerous on an unstable surface. For your own protection, it is essential to step off the gym-provided mat onto the floor. The other disadvantage to gym-provided mats is that they are next-to-impossible to keep clean. These mats are accessible to anyone at the facility; the mats can be taken out to the weight room, and are used by various Group X classes (Pilates, Lift, Yoga, S.E.T.). If you want to avoid the germs but not bring your own mat, consider bringing in a large towel to use as a bacteria barrier.

If you practice yoga on a regular basis, you will want to have your own sticky mat. You have the advantage of a safe, secure place for your footing. The material is non-slip on both sides, so you can shift your weight without the fear of falling or sliding. And, as cooler weather approaches with cold and flu season, you aren't sharing dirt, sweat, and bacteria with other gym members.

Mats are available in a variety of materials: rubber, microfiber, vinyl, even biodegradable materials. You can find mats that aren't too thick (about 2.3 mm); some that are superthick (up to 6.4 mm); and some that are in-between. Most mats average 24 inches by 68 inches; if you need a longer mat, there are those that are as long as 76 inches. You can get mats with their own built-in carrying straps. You can get fancy mats with graphic designs. The yoga mat market has a price-point and features for everyone. Some of us drive subcompacts; other drive top-of-the-line luxury models. Suit yourself and go for what makes you comfortable. Consumer reviews indicate that the more expensive the mat (some can set you back as much as $70!) the longer it lasts.

Which sticky mat is for me?

This is a matter of personal preference, of course. If your have sensitive joints or particularly knobby knees and ankles, a thicker mat might be more comfortable. If you are taller or have long arms and legs, you might enjoy having a mat with more length. For most of us, the basic 2.3 mm thick, 24 by 68 inch mat works just fine. The purpose of a mat is to improve, not complicate, your practice.

Where can I find mats?

Just about any sporting goods department or athletic equipment store has yoga mats. 24 Hour Fitness sells standard mats as well. If you want a mat that isn't the standard, you might look on line first to get an idea of what is a good price. There are scores of on-line yoga equipment distributors and they offer mats in a dizzying choice of sizes, thicknesses, colors, and customized options. If you are interested in the best value for a plain ol' sticky mat, swing by any of the secondary-retailers (TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Northstroms' Rack) to look for a mat. There won't be a wide selection, but the prices will be lower than at spots such as Target, Walmart, and the like.

My mat is getting musty . . .

After a couple of months, while in child's pose, you might notice a funky odor wafting around your nostrils. That smell comes from accumulated sweat, grime, and bacteria. You might even notice that parts of your mat have darkened with grime as well. Maybe even little chunks have peeled off from foot and hand friction. Congratulations! Look at the offending mess as evidence that you've really been working at your practice and have logged in hours and hours of experience. But the mat? Yuck! Before you toss the mat as a hopeless mess, give it a cleaning.

If the mat is only lightly soiled, mix three parts water to one part mild laundry liquid (Woolite or its equivalent). Spray the mat with the solution. Rub the mat clean with a soft cloth or towel. Make sure that you keep the sticky on your mat by removing all traces of the solution.

If the mat is tragically dirty (as mine often are), you can soak the mat in a bathtub of cool water with just a drip of mild laundry liquid (again, Woolite comes to mind). Let the mat soak for 30 minutes, then use a washcloth or soft towel to scrub the mat and loosen the grime. Let soak for another 30 minutes. Then rinse the mat well. Use a bathtowel to roll up the sticky mat (jellyroll style) with the towel to the outside. The towel will soak up much of the water. Then hang the mat out to dry away from direct sunlight. If you wish, you can use your own washing machine in place of the bathtub. Use cold water settings and don't let the mat go through the trauma of the spin cycle.

If these cleaning procedures don't restore your mat, it just might be time for a new one. And that's not such a bad thing . . . hour for hour, the price of a sticky mat is a relatively inexpensive piece of fitness equipment.

"It's called yoga practice, not yoga perfection"

I must give credit to for this saying to Lois, a dear fellow yogini, "It's called yoga practice, not yoga perfection." Release yourself from all judgment when you come to class, no one is looking at your poses in a critical way. The purpose of your practice is to gain confidence, strength, flexibility, and especially, to unite your body and mind with your breath.

TeachStreet offers these tips for getting the most from your practice, every single time:

We are all beginners at something, sometime. I know many yogis who have been practicing for years who still feel like beginners, myself included! Yoga is a process of constant growth, and the 'level' at which someone performs a yoga pose does not always correlate with their internal knowledge and growth along the yogic path. Therefore, don't let your experience as a first-timer feel isolating.

Nuts-and-bolts note: It helps to know what to expect from class. Wear comfortable clothing that affords you a range of motion. Watch others when you arrive: generally, you'll take your shoes off, place your personal items in an out of the way place, and set your mat up. Sit quietly until class begins or find the teacher and introduce yourself. Make sure your cell phone is turned OFF.

You are not being judged in a yoga class. Yoga teachers are there to help you work within each pose in a way that is safe and appropriate to your body. They aren't walking around thinking about how inflexible, weak, or awkward you are, so you shouldn't be preoccupied with those things either! Turn your focus away from the people around you in the class and try to approach the movements with an attitude of openness, playfulness, and self-acceptance.

Nuts-and-bolts note: Expect the teacher to swing by during poses and offer modified versions or to show you how to use props to support your body in the poses. Feel free to ask questions of the teacher when s/he comes to your mat to assist you, or after class.

Perfection isn't the point. Yoga is not just for those who are flexible, strong, thin, enlightened, etc. There is no such thing as a perfect yoga pose, or a yoga teacher or student who has a perfect grasp on the poses and what lies beyond them. Yoga is an opportunity to come to your mat just as you are, and work with whatever that is. At the end of the day, yoga is a process, and every single person in any yoga class is in a different place with respect to that process, even that guy in the corner who's twisted into the most advanced pose. A "perfect" practice is one in which you are completely present, observing your thoughts, feelings, movements, and relationship to the practice that day. That kind of presence takes a lifetime to master.

Ahhh! Savasana!

Ahhhhh, savasana!

My favorite pose! I've got a car plate with the slogan, "I'd rather be in savasana." When I first began practicing, savasana was the "no-brainer" pose that I anticipated at the end of each session. I would just sink into the floor and experience genuine, authentic relaxation. Or so I thought. But paradoxically, I've discovered that doing savasana with a little mindfulness allows the mind to disconnect more effectively.

Five minutes of savasana's deep relaxation and replenishment can be as renewing as a quick nap. The Sandskrit word "savasana" means literally, "corpse pose." It seems a bit morbid to imagine that we end every session in a room that resembles a morgue, but that's not the intention of savasana. After an hour of stretching, challenging, balancing work, the savasana pose gives our bodies a chance to experience a period of total relaxation and disassociation from the distractions of a busy mind and body. When we come out of savasana, our muscles have received freshly oxygenated blood, our minds are calm, and our spirits are reborn.

Getting the most from savasana, here's what Yoga Journal recommends:

Who doesn't want to get the maximum benefit from rest time? So many of us arrive at class exhausted and depleted. Savasana may be the most important pose of our practice. When we leave class feeling relaxed and refreshed, we are more likely to make a settled mind a priority throughout our busy, nonstop lives.

IIdeally, as the our muscles relax in Savasana, our bodies should have room to spread freely on the floor, like an ice cubes melting, losing their hard edges and forming puddles. Any sense of being crowded by objects on the floor, or especially by another person, results in a subtle pulling-in action—there won't be complete letting go. Similarly, any body part touching a wall limits the sense of room to expand and leaves a subtle sense of compression rather than expansion. If you are feeling hemmed in, move from a crowded area to one with more open space

Any pain or discomfort, results in muscle guarding and tension. Shift your position to relieve pain and lead to a deeper sense of letting go. Lower back pain that is a result of over-arching is usually eased by supported bent knees or even a rolled blanket or towel under the knees. The knee-flexed position also decompresses the lower back and lengthens the muscles there. Lower back strain from forward-bending activies such as yardwork or housework, can be eased with a small rolled toewl under the lower back to support the natural anatomical lumbar curve.

In addition to quieting the physical body in Savasana, it's also necessary to calm the sense organs. Soften the root of the tongue, the wings of the nose, the channels of the inner ears, and the skin of the forehead, especially around the bridge of the nose between the eyebrows. Let the eyes sink to the back of the head, then turn them downward to gaze at the heart. Release your brain to the back of the head.

Breath normally through your nose. Feel your stomach rise and fall while your diaphragm does the work.

If your mind begins racing, bring yourself back to the rhythm of your breath.

Enjoy the peace. Enjoy the moment. Savor the joy.

Why the right side?

After savasana has finished, keep your eyes closed and treasure the sensation of peacefulness. Roll gently onto your right side. Traditionally, lying on the right side favors breathing through the left nostril, the entryway for meditation. It is believed that by maintaining the right-sided position, our bodies can hold onto the tranquility of savasana for just a bit longer. Use your arms to gently move into a seated, cross-legged position, keeping the breath gentle and the eyes still closed. Bring your hands to heart center. Ahh, savasana!