All Mediation Is

It's conscious breathing. That's it. But with a catch, which is "don't think". Or rather, don't chase thoughts. We spend a lot of our mat time not breathing and letting our minds wander, distracting us from the task at hand - anchoring to the present. Being present.

I am the world's worst meditator. Truly. I've never met a thought I wouldn't chase down like a puppy after a squirrel, but even I can breath consciously  - though maybe not for long.

The following vid presents a simply approach for the beginner that, although a bit silly, is completely accessible.

Length and Ease for the A.M.

It's not the easiest sequence. Some of the balances might require too much from beginners, but it you are looking for slow, mindful and flowing - this might suit:

Bedtime Yoga Routine

Routine for the Morning

Sequence of the Day

I like short little sequences that flow. My teacher during training referred to this as "singing". A good sequence is an aura of movements with one naturally following the other in terms of alignment. I borrow little bit and pieces to work into the opening or closing of my classes to "sweeten" them as one of my fellow trainees, Zee, used to say.

I sometimes find Tara a bit daunting for beginners, but modify or skip what doesn't work for your body today and enjoy!

Fun with Quinoa

I wish I was more fond of quinoa, but I do love baby spinach.

And yes, picking up the spinach from the floor and just splashing a bit of water on it before tossing it in the pot horrified me. Seriously, the five second rule is a fiction and so is the idea that plain water banishes whatever you are tracking around on your feet (especially when you are a yoga teacher - yuck).

But the recipe looks doable and quick. Let me know, if you try it. My kitchen is still in a shambles due to the reno, so it might be awhile before I get to it myself.

Simple Restorative

Normally I don't find Tara Stiles beginner friendly. She assumes there will be strength and agility that most people still have to work themselves up to, but this restorative sequence is not bad.

Restorative is usually overlooked as a viable asana alternative for beginners and those nursing injury. It is also fairly actively shunned by those who view any exertion that doesn't produce sweat and soreness as a waste of time. It's value for a culture that won't permit itself to ever unwind, however, is great, in my opinion.

Typically, a new student to my restorative class is amazed at how he/she feels afterward, but most don't return. It's a combination of cost and the vague feeling that taking a 75 minutes to just relax isn't doing the body as much good as "real" exercise would.

In the sequence above, I substitute a bolster for the block, but a rolled up blanket will do as well. Skip the halsana (plow pose) and shoulder stand if you have neck or shoulder issues and just put your legs up on a chair or sofa instead. Be sure to take at least 10 breaths in each pose minimum.

And don't feel guilty. Relaxing is good for the body too.

Yoga Needs to be Saved?

Yoga is apparently in grave danger of losing its core. The gooey center of enlightenment coated with flexibility frosting has been ... gasp ... sucked into the American obsession with money, ownership and power.

Yoga?

There's a point or two to be found in the purists arguments that yoga is veering off into an exercise industry. The "uniform" is label conscious and pricey. Studios jealously guard "their methodology" which they would patent if Bikram hadn't already tried to and failed.

Yoga's material trail is considerable and the path to practice is increasingly sold through teacher training programs that has lead to organizations ladling out "accreditation's" which in most parts of North America mean exactly squat in terms of state or provincial oversight. But it's making someone money. A lot or a little.

Westerners can't stand to not profit. Or so it seems.

But a few of the anointed yogini elite are now banded together in an effort to stop the "making a living off yoga" corruption - even as they are presumably doing just that.

Barbara Benagh, Patricia Walden, Natasha Rizopoulos, Justine Wiltshire Cohen, and Peentz Dubble, all of whom teach at Wiltshire's studio in Newtonville, MA, are planning to actively yank yoga back to its egalitarian roots.

They've created the Down Under Yoga website with their mission being the following:

We believe that yoga studios should act in ways that are consistent with the teachings of yoga. We will never sell plastic water bottles that go into landfill (because ahimsa means “do no harm”). We will never sell $150 yoga pants (because aparigraha means “identifying greed”). We will never accept offers from companies to promote their gear in exchange for free publicity or products (because satya means “truthfulness”). We will never brand, trademark, or pretend we’ve made up a new style of yoga because humility is the whole point.

Somewhat of a Marxist manifesto, yoga-style?

It is difficult not to agree with their worry. My last browse through Lululemon caused me again to wonder at the sense of paying hundreds of dollars for a basic start up: mat, bottom and top. And the subtle way the chain pushes the idea that "fatties" aren't allowed by capping their sizes at 12 (when the average North American woman is a size 14) seems very un-yoga.

There is also the sexing up of yoga from Yoga Journal's recent Toesox scandal to Tara Stiles' new book Slim, Sexy, Calm.

Perhaps then that brakes do need to be put on "the madness".

But what do you think? Is yoga at a tipping point in the West? Has it been infused with greed and boot camp fitness mentality to the point where its purpose has been lost?