The Yogini from Manila

October 6, 2007
by Yogajane
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C2 Will Do Yoga!

My daughter C2 came up to me the other day and announced that for her P.E. class next semester, she has decided to take up YOGA!

When she was still a baby, she had frequent bouts with asthma. I remember her doctor putting her on all sorts of medicines that already began to alarm me as I was afraid of the long-term effects of medication. But thankfully, she has outgrown the frequent asthma episodes though she still has them, at a lesser degree, and less frequently.

Over summer, I enrolled her at Gold’s Gym nearby where there were yoga classes (taught by my teacher Pio). She was with me one time at the gym and watched as I went through my routine self-yoga. It intrigued her and she has so been wanting to meet my teacher too. But the yoga class was on a Saturday, 7:30 in the morning — an unholy hour for C2 as she was too tired from her study load from M-F.

A few weeks back, thinking of what to get her for her 18th bday this month, it hit me that maybe I should get her a yoga mat….not just any cheap mat but a good, imported one. PinoYoga happened to have a Scooby Doo purple mat (and purple is C2’s favorite color).

So C2’s announcement a few days ago that yoga was going to be her next PE class was an answered prayer for me of sorts. I am excited to have her take this up in the hopes it helps improve her lung strength and capacity. She is also excited to see if she could lose some unwanted inches and poundage. More importantly, I hope that this intro to yoga will somehow stretch into her future lifestyle so that it makes her aware early on of the importance of wellness and health while still young.

October 5, 2007
by Yogajane
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Yoga, the traditional way, with Paul Dallaghan at Yoga Manila (Oct. 22-28)

A direct student of Pattabhi Jois, who likewise studied directly under Sri T. Krishnamacharya, Paul Dallaghan is coming to town under the auspices of Yoga Manila to conduct a week of classes in the traditional Mysore style.

Mysore-style teaching allows students to learn yoga a pose at a time. The teacher makes hands-on adjustments and students set their own pace, making these classes good for all levels.

Paul Dallaghan recently received from Pattabhi Jois the highest level teaching certification, making him only one of 35 teachers in the world who can lay claim to this accomplishment.

Here is an excerpt from Yoga Manila’s October newsletter:

“Do you ever get tired of doing the same routine?” is a
question we often get asked at Yoga Manila. In answer, we have this
to say: It is in repetition that one finds freedom; and it is in the
process of refining every pose, time and again, day after day, that
one often finds depth.

Director and co-founder of Yoga Thailand, Paul Dallaghan, can help
you discover the magic behind the routine of Ashtanga yoga. He will
be leading Mysore classes in Alabang every day at 8a. Don’t miss out
on this chance to learn from a teacher who uses technical expertise
and humor to step up your practice, without losing sight of the
deeper meaning of yoga.

For more details, visit Yoga Manila and make your reservations early.

September 26, 2007
by Yogajane
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‘Twas a Tough Yoga Night!

Pshew! Never thought I would survive tonight’s yoga class.

Pio was just on his second day back from a long bout with illness. I did yoga with him yesterday but that class was a regular one (he was still a bit hoarse then). Tonight though was something else. He was back with “a vengeance”! — the sign that yes, he is A LOT BETTER!!! 🙂

I did not know that he no longer had a class after ours (have I been away that long?). Tuesdays were usually quick as he had to run off to his next class. Well, I was wrong. Tonight, we were his last class and sure enough, he made us go through a good 2 hours doing TOUGH YOGA!

The counts were longer, the transitions from plank to upward dog had to be seamless. From plank pose, we bent down into chaturanga, and without sinking to the floor, had to swoop our bodies forward, then up into upward dog before transitioning to downward dog.

Power Yoga Classes: Chaturanga to Upward Dog —powered by eHow.com

 

 

And this repetitive sequence was embedded in almost all our other poses (did I count the number of upward/downward dogs? Are you kidding?). I remember hearing Pio say for the nth time — “Now drag your body into upward dog…” and I was thinking, can I just drag my body into bed??????

Just to give you an idea, here are some of the asanas we did tonight:

(Marichyasana: I did the right side fine; the left side though was another story! Aargh!)

(Wide angle forward bend: Ok. This one i can do…but still working on getting chin to floor)

(Half Lotus Bound, Seated Forward Bend: need I say more?)
(Fish Pose: we did the variation of this with both feet 24 inches from the floor)

(Monkey Pose: was, still is, and probably will forever be my killer asana)

(Supported Shoulderstand: A little more work and I think I can get the perfect, L-shape form)

It was a night of deepening poses, challenges, twists with a twist, and buckets of sweat.

Do I want to do it again? Call me masochist — but yes, I think I will go for another round. Pio, just not THAT soon, ok?

September 23, 2007
by Yogajane
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A Blog Plug

Mudra Moments

In a previous post, I blogged about how I became virtual friends with an active yoga blogger/teacher/podcaster, Elsie Escobar.

During my visits to Elsie’s blog, I clicked on a link to her friend and co-podcaster, Hillary Rubin. Eventually, as is the case with these wonderful blog features called backlinks and pingbacks, Hillary also traced back to my blog site and, to my delight, left comments as well.

Just a while back, Hillary once again left a comment, with a link to Elsie’s and her new blog site called Mudra Moments. I just came from that site and think it is the beginning of a wonderful collaboration between yogini friends (one living in L.A.; the other one in Philadelphia- another thing in common with Hillary as I lived in Philly for 2 years).

So friends, do check out Mudra Moments as well as the individual podcast sites of Elsie and Hillary. I am sure you will get wonderful pointers on yoga from them to enhance your own practice.

As for me, one dream is to be able to meet Elsie and Hillary in person one day and maybe even take a class under them. Till then, I plan to continue communicating with these 2 wonderful yoginis and learn as much from them as they continue to share their passion for yoga with the world through podcasting.

Namaste!

September 20, 2007
by Yogajane
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Global Mala Project Manila

My yogini mate, Lala, alerted me to this project so I decided to google around to see what I could find about it since I had no prior knowledge of the event.

In the June 2007 issue of Yogi Times, the Global Mala Project was described as follows:

“The Global Yoga Mala Project is a call to the worldwide yoga communities to cross the borders of our mats, studios, schools, styles or forms of yoga to come together to experience the power of collective practice and sacred action. The collective practice is based on joining hatha yoga, bhakti and karma yoga around practices relating to the 108 mala bead cycle—a sacred circle of beads used or mantra japa practice. The sacred action is raising funds and awareness for specific projects addressing that which we can prevent with urgent and peaceful action: global warming, AIDS and poverty. This will all take place on September 21 and 22 (UN International Peace Day and the fall equinox), when diverse yoga communities from around the world will be creating ritual events to form a symbolic “mala” or sacred circle around the earth. Currently over 54 cities are participating from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv, from offices, institutions and service organizations to the United Nations, Yahoo, AIDS centers and
juvenile halls.”

 

Hey, did you notice…..108 sun salutations???? As in, 108 Surya Namaskars?

Yikes, just a dozen sun salutations in class (coupled with downward/upward dogs) and I am already close to dying! And yet the Yogi Times article says that “the rejuvenation, empowerment, and communion that the group experiences over the two-hour, collectively guided moving prayer (there is no need for verbal instruction) has the effect of turning our mind’s limit and our individual shell on its head.”

Continue Reading →

September 16, 2007
by Yogajane
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Are You a Yoga Snob?

Just to unwind, I decided to see what was new over at Yoga Journal and stumbled upon this quiz.Had difficulty with some questions though which had choices for answers that did not suit me at all. Anyway, why don’t you try this out and see what you get. As for me, I am a…..

Take the Yoga Journal Yoga Snob Quiz!

September 15, 2007
by Yogajane
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Clayton Horton at Yoga Manila

Clayton Horton is coming to Manila for 2 workshops (Sept. 29 & 30, 2007) under the auspices of Yoga Manila. In Yoga Manila’s website, Clayton is described as follows:

Clayton has been a student of yoga for over 19 years. He began teaching in 1996 and is the director of Greenpath Yoga in San Francisco. Having directly studied under Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore India, the world’s modern-day guru of Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga. Clayton was granted authority in 2003 to teach. Fewer than 200 individuals in the world have earned this distinction.

Aside from these workshops, Clayton will also conduct Mysore classes at Yoga Manila’s Alabang and Makati venues (Sept. 27-Oct. 2, 2007). For more details, click here.

September 14, 2007
by Yogajane
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The Prodigal Yogini Returns!

That’s ME!

Yes, dear readers, this yogini, for the last oh so many weeks, has become…..

THE HAPHAZARD YOGINI!

Shame, shame, shame!

But while I can try to rationalize this with a long list of excuses, I would rather be true to myself and accept the fact that I had been remiss in keeping to my regular yoga class schedule and instead allowed myself to be swallowed up in this dizzy funnel called W-O-R-K!

Yesterday though, I had an enjoyable lunch with 2 yoginis who had just started doing yoga with Pio (Sarah and Becca). Our offices are in the same Makati area so it was easy to get together. Over lunch, I listened to their own experiences, struggles with poses, and questions and remembered how it was for me over a year ago when I was in their shoes too. Their enthusiasm and determination to do yoga all the way in Ortigas coming from Makati struck me because our regular group of yoginis was like that then. Despite the onslaught of a typhoon, 2 of my partners in PinoYoga showed up for class. And I remembered times when I had to reschedule activities to accommodate yoga.

It felt good to connect with new yoginis, not just with my regular group. All the more, I thought that while my Tuesday-Thursday schedule was great because Pio used these days to make the asanas more challenging, it was also nice to break out of the routine and attend other days. I so want to meet other yogis and yoginis like Sarah and Becca and make learning a 2-way thing.

So, resolve came back. Last night, I attended classes and enjoyed the vinyasa flows that Pio made us do (this vinyasa routine deserves another post!). And again, he used this class to do a lot of alignment adjustments which I always looked forward to. This Saturday, I plan to go again to class, this time joining Becca, Sarah and Chona.

So yes, this prodigal yogini is back. It’s going to be a bit more difficult now with a work schedule that will get hectic in the next few months — and me heavily involved in it.  But I always made it clear to the company I work for that my health is a priority and I will NOT sacrifice it for work.  With fingers crossed, I am hoping I get back into some kind of routine. Whether it remains Tues-Thurs or some other day, what is more important now is that I get to do yoga in whatever form and wherever it takes me….

September 8, 2007
by Yogajane
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An Amazing Partner Yoga Routine and More!

Ever since covering the Mind-Body Conference where I saw a partner yoga workshop moderated by Shirley Quesada, I have been intrigued by it.

When Pio introduced us to partner yoga in class once, it was an amazing experience because we all realized that by pairing up, we could actually help each other with areas where our bodies encountered resistance. The push-pull sequences being done on us by our partners actually helped us go deeper into our poses.

But when done with a partner of the opposite gender, as in the case of this video I came across, the routine takes on a very sensual atmosphere.

Now I don’t know if that is what partner yoga is all about. Our teacher Pio will probably disagree. But nevertheless, this couple’s routine just amazed me! Just watch and see for yourselves.

But here are more serious partner yoga routines with Tara Stiles and Tracy Lee. Enjoy!