Happy New Year

Moving into a new decade, Sally asked me to comment on how my practice has evolved in the last ten years. Ten years ago I was just beginning to realize the effect scoliosis was having on my body and it was particularly noticeable while practicing yoga postures. At the same time people were coming to me at the yoga studio with complicated physical issues. I felt compelled to dig deeper into the study of anatomy and physiology, particularly with regards to alignment in asanas. I took a week long Iyengar teacher training in Minneapolis, a weekend yoga therapy training with Tom Stiles (Mukunda) in Ohio, and a one day scoliosis intensive with Elise Browning Miller (Iyengar Yoga). I also met up with John Friend in Chicago. I loved John's Anusara yoga because to me it seemed to be a blend that included the precision of alignment found in Iyengar Yoga, and the heart of Kripalu style yoga. I thought his universal principles of alignment were brilliant and accessible.

Ten years ago my yoga studio in Park Ridge was bursting at the seams. Every few years we broke another wall down to expand and it seemed we were taking over the building. It was difficult for me to tell where my practice left off and teaching began. It was all one - union - yoga!

Well, since then, the studio moved twice, and now I teach not on a daily basis, but only a couple of times each year. My practices have turned more inward. Back then, my focus was on the physical practice, and my meditation followed. Today, meditation takes the front seat, infusing everything I do in my physical practices and in my life.

Contracting Lyme Disease last year really shifted my practices to a restorative level, but slowly I am regaining strength and stamina for a more vibrant physical practice. I like to start my day reading some inspired works. Right now it is the Upanishads - a gift from Sally. It rings, like our sharing bell in my heart, to read the words, and carries me effortlessly into a morning stillness, awareness, peace. Then I begin my asana practice. Right now my emphasis is on inversions - hoping to help my immune system with its continual effort to maintain balance, and to help purify my body on a regular basis. (Lyme has a way of building up toxins in the body.) Savasana, the conscious letting go and receiving posture that ends all asana practices has taught me so much about the subtle energies in my body, and how I can cooperate with prana to energize and revitalize on a daily basis.

If you have been in the practice for a decade, take a look and see how yours has evolved over that time. If not a decade, then since you began. Let me know what you find. I'd love to hear from you. Or post your comment here for all to read. Happy New Year!