Got the Monday Blues? Here. Watch this.

And this.




And this.



Have a great day!!

Why Do You Have to Pad My Top?

Today, I have two simple questions to pose...

1. Can someone please explain to me why every yoga top I buy has these little removable pads? My boobs are fine the way they are, thank you very much yoga clothing companies.(And I have yoga to thank for my positive body image so... I think you might be barking up the wrong tree..)



2. What the heck am I supposed to do with this mountain that's been sitting in my underwear drawer for years? Letting my 11-month-old play with them doesn't seem quite right... though she does seem to think they make pretty cool toys...



Am I the only one with a boob padding mountain in my drawer? What do you do with yours?

Yoga Ph.D.: A Q&A with Carol Horton

Carol Horton's writing often makes me furrow my brow--in a good way! She always seems to be able to make me think about things in a new way. It's no wonder--Carol was a political science professor so she once made people furrow their brows on a regular basis for a living. But she's way more relatable than I remember my poly sci professors being when I was in college (or maybe I'm way older so I can relate more now than I could then? But that's beside the point.)  

Her experience in the academic realm colors the way she views the yoga phenomenon in a really interesting and thought-provoking way. I'm so glad she decided to share that experience in her new book, Yoga Ph.D.

I wanted to learn more, so I asked her to tell me more. Learn more about Carol and buy her book, here! 

 

What makes Yoga Ph.D. different from all the other yoga books that have been released lately?

Yoga Ph.D. offers a comprehensive rethinking of what contemporary American yoga is and why it matters based on social science research and personal experience. It presents a new interpretation of the history of modern yoga and explains why that matters to me as a practitioner in very concrete, personal terms. Similarly, it discusses the psychological, spiritual, and cultural dimensions of American yoga today in ways that are both sociologically and personally meaningful.

Normally, scholarly work is very abstract and impersonal. Conversely, yoga memoirs and other forms of personal writing about practice are usually not very scholarly. Yoga Ph.D. is unusual in that it brings both social science and personal experience to bear on some really big questions about yoga today, including where it came from, why it’s become so popular, and what it offers us as individuals and a society.

How as your experience as a political science professor influenced how you view modern "yoga culture"?

There’s no question that my experience as a political science professor is central to how I understand modern yoga in general, as well as contemporary American yoga culture in particular.

As I explain in my book, I was already working as a college professor when I started my first weekly yoga class. This meant that when I became curious about questions such as the origins of modern yoga or the nature of American yoga culture, I naturally approached them informed by the years I’d spent studying social and political theory, as well as American history, politics, and culture.

What could the yoga community learn from the academic world? What could academics learn from the yoga community?

Great question! I think that academics could learn a huge amount from the yoga community – in fact, taking yoga seriously could revolutionize many fields of study, including psychology, biology, and religious studies. Most academic disciplines tend to approach studying the mind and body in ways that are isolated and mechanistic, rather than integrated and synergistic. Once you start taking yoga’s ability to integrate mind and body seriously, however, all sorts of fascinating research questions pop up that wouldn’t be on your radar screen otherwise.

I’ve also found that the stereotype that academics tend to live so much in their heads that they’re personally unbalanced is generally true. Certainly, this was the case with me J. Yoga has been an incredible tool of self-discovery and self-integration, giving me access to parts of myself I wasn’t previously aware of and experiences I wouldn’t have formerly imagined possible. 

Conversely, I think that the yoga community would be much better off it embraced the value of critical thinking, which is, of course, highly respected in academia. The recent wave of scandals that’s rocked the yoga community is only the most obvious indication of the need to become more thoughtful, reflective, and informed about the type of culture we’re creating. More ambitiously, I think that we need to become much more thoughtful about the extent to which we’re actualizing the positive potential of yoga in our lives and the world at large. This requires becoming more aware of and concerned about what’s happening in our society beyond the yoga community, and seriously reflecting on what we can do to help a world in crisis.

What was the most surprising thing you learned as you researched this book?

I was very surprised by what I learned about the history of modern yoga. While I had always been skeptical of claims that yoga is an unchanging 5,000-year old discipline, I had previously assumed that what we’re doing today is a wholly Westernized version of what had previously been a purely Eastern practice. What I discovered about the historical development of modern yoga, however, was much more interesting – as well as exciting and inspiring – than that.

Basically, I became convinced that master Indian teachers from Swami Vivekananda to Sri T. Krishnamacharya developed a distinctively modern approach to yoga that deliberately synthesized ideas and practices drawn from both modern Western and traditional Indian cultures. In my view, modern yoga has embodied a creative synthesis of East and West, ancient and modern, and the traditional and the revolutionary from its inception. This means that rather than feeling discouraged by the fact that modern yoga is “only” a little over 100 years old, we can feel inspired by the fact that we’ve inherited a practice that was designed to work in the historically unprecedented conditions of modernity, which is the world that we’re living in today. 

   

What's next for you? Are there more books in your future?

I’m developing a set of book talks and yoga workshops that build off ideas presented in Yoga Ph.D. and 21^st Century Yoga (a recently released collection of essays that I co-edited with Roseanne Harvey). Specifically, I’ll be presenting a workshop on “Socially Engaged Yoga: Indian Roots, American Developments, and Personal Practices” at the Serendipity Festival in April, and several talks on “Making Sense of Modern Yoga” in Chicago in May. Hopefully, more opportunities to present this material in innovative, interactive ways will develop from there.

I’m also working with my neighborhood yoga studio, Chaturanga Holistic Fitness, to develop a community outreach program serving the South Side of Chicago, where I live and the studio is located. Our neighborhood is very racially diverse (about half African American) and relatively affluent. (It’s where the University of Chicago is located and where President Obama used to live.) But, we are very close to some of the tragically troubled neighborhoods that have recently made headlines about Chicago being the “murder capital of America.” We hope to find ways to bring yoga to nearby communities that would otherwise not have access to it, and to cultivate students who could become teachers themselves by developing a yoga teacher training scholarship program.

I’m also working with a local nonprofit, Yoga for Recovery (YFR), that teaches yoga to women in Chicago’s Cook County Jail. We recently expanded from teaching non-violent offenders in a minimum security setting to serving women convicted of more serious crimes in the main part of the jail. I’m be attending James Fox’s Prison Yoga Training at Chicago’s Moksha Yoga Studio in April, and writing about that for Yoga Chicago, as well as helping YFR develop a protocol for teaching trauma-sensitive yoga to incarcerated women based on that and other trainings and research we’ve done.

I’m also working with Chaturanga to develop a module for their yoga teacher training focused on the specifically modern dimensions of yoga history, philosophy, and ethics. Ideally, I’d like to be able to offer this to other YTTs in the future. As far as another book goes, I’m hopeful that this will happen at some point in the future. For the time being, however, I’m focused on promoting Yoga Ph.D. and 21^st Century Yoga, and bringing some of the ideas they embody out into the world.

Hometown Yoga Heroes: Kelly Jean Moore

Kelly Jean Moore

What's one thing you wish you had known about yoga when you first started practicing?

That teachers, no matter how great, are also fallible people. I wish I had not glorified teachers and studio owners, believing that the yoga community was full of people who had mastered what they taught. That false idea of perfection really set me up for a huge let down and a lot of self-criticism, too... Of course, I can’t blame those teachers and other yogis for being human and in a process, a continuum of refinement. I can only site my own childish fantasies for my disappointment. I now feel at ease with my community because I know we are all on our own journeys and we all are complex beings. The expectation of enlightened behavior is something I have had to let go of, especially in myself.

 
What's your favorite pose at the moment? What are you learning from it?

I’m almost six months pregnant right now so every pose is different. My base line is different. To paraphrase the poet Theodore Roethke, I move in circles, and those circles move. I love exploring the animalistic drive to creep through deep squats that lead to starfish-inspired Downward Facing Dogs. At first I resisted my bodies request to move differently. I resisted breaking my own “rules.” At some point I just gave in. What higher guidance could I possibly be subscribing to other than my own inner voice and the voice of millions of generations of mothers and babies echoing through my expanding bones down through the ages?

What's the best advice someone ever gave you?

When I was a teenager I would come home from school in a tizzy over a boy or some friend drama. I often felt like an outsider and struggled with how the world worked. My mother always smiled and said calmly, “Kelly, this too shall pass.” It is the only truth I know for sure. All things, whether we like it or not, are impermanent. What a relief. Life is not such a big deal after all.

Why did you want to open a new studio in Charleston?

I want to get rich and famous of course.  Actually, I managed a studio in town off and on for many years and also designed and led their teacher training program, and I always wanted to have more creative control. In the back of my head I was always designing my dream curriculum and putting together an all-star team of teachers who truly represented what I envisioned to be the heart of the yogic teachings. I didn’t know if I would ever get the chance. It was just a pipe dream. I expected to start traveling to teach and also to focus more on my Rolfing career when my partners, Wes Carter and Shelly Wolfe, approached me about opening a space. It is all quite miraculous to me. They are just as responsible for the existence of Mission Yoga as I am.

What's special or unique about Mission Yoga that other studios in the area don't offer?

We are receiving a lot of accolades for the space itself, which is a remodeled gas station full of exposed brick, old concrete, beautiful bamboo floors, and a ton of natural light. This space is definitely a joy to practice in but to me, Mission Yoga is what it is because of the teachers. Each one of them has a level of experience and clarity of voice that sets them apart. They are all unique in what they have to offer but complement each other very well. We teach from the perspective of embodiment first. We honor our creative processes and those of our students. Although we enjoy the challenge of complex movement and teach “advanced” postures when appropriate we do not require or expect anyone’s practice or body to look a certain way.  Mission Yoga is a place for personal inquiry and empowerment not dogma or body/fitness obsessions. We try to weave meditation into our classes since we all personally feel that it is a primary part of the work of yoga and we all love what we do.  I think all the studios in Charleston have the right intention and having so much variety gives students multiple options and styles, helping them to all find a yoga home. I celebrate our diversity as a community.

What inspires you? Tell us so we can be inspired, too!

I love Walt Whitman, reading his work just breaks my heart open.  I love all of the arts really. Theatre, Dance, and the visual arts all inspire me and remind me of the depth and drama of the human struggle and of human nobility. Simple things inspire me, like watching animals move and children play. Movement is fascinating. My beloved LGBT friends, who work everyday for their equality in this country, inspire me. There is so much light and life in this world. How could I not be constantly enthralled?

Learn more about Kelly and Mission Yoga here.

Are You Ready for Yoga Teacher Training?

Image by Flickr user RelaxingMusic

1. Your biggest motivation for unrolling your mat is ________.
     A. To achieve the perfect yoga butt.
     B. To get to know yourself better inside and out.
     C. To relieve stress.
     D.  Because your friend invited you to class and you want him/her to see how awesome you are.
     E.  All of the above.

2. Your friend is on the fence about attending a yoga class. How do you try to convince her?
     A. Do nothing. She's obviously not as spiritual as you are so it's a lost cause.
     B. Say you know she'll love it whenever she's ready to go, you'd love to unroll your mat beside hers
     C. Not applicable. You don't associate with people who don't have a regular yoga practice.
     D. Tell her she HAS to go and list all the celebrities who do it
     E.  Do nothing. It's not your job to make others try yoga. She'll have to figure it out on her own.

3. Life is crazy. You realize you're going to miss your favorite weekly yoga class. What do you do?
     A. Panic. The last time you missed that class you went nuts and there was a series of unfortunate events.
     B. Take a few deep breaths wherever you are. Asana is only a small part of your practice.
     C. Unroll your mat at home for at least 5 minutes. It's better than nothing.
     D. Vow to take an extra class next week to make up for it. 
     E. Don't sweat it. Life happens.

4.  Your teacher is out and the sub instructs a pose that you feel most of the class is not ready to attempt. What do you do?
     A. Call her out immediately. You can't let your classmates injure themselves on your watch!
     B. Realize that there are different approaches to the practice, and try this new style with an open mind.
     C. After class you call the teacher over and quietly ask her about her style. It's different than what you've learned, but maybe she knows something you haven't considered.
     D. You make sure you practice the pose perfectly so that your classmates can see how it's done!
     E. You don't concern yourself with it. She's the teacher. She probably knows what she's doing.

5. How do you describe your yoga skill level?
     A. Expert, master, or enlightened.
     B. Intermediate, but you still have lots to learn.
     C. Intermediate. You can do more than most.
     D. Advanced.
     E. Beginner, in body and mind.

Should you enroll in teacher training?

Answer key:

Mostly As
Maybe not. It's helpful to approach a teacher training with the mindset that you're a student first and have a lot to learn. If you already feel you know everything you need to know, you might not get much out of the training. Not to mention, once you're done with training you'll be more relatable to students if they see you're humble and are on the same path of learning that they are. Keep practicing!

Mostly Bs and Cs
Dooooo it! You've practiced enough to know that you've just skimmed the surface of a limitlessly deep subject. You're open to learning, and you know that the best way to lead others is through your example.

Mostly Ds
Proceed with caution. Think about why you want to be a teacher: Are you trying to impress someone? Are you doing it to fit into a certain image of what you think a yoga teacher is? Yoga is about exploring your body, mind, and spirit. If you're not focused mainly on that, it might be hard to help others on that path. Keep practicing!

Mostly Es
It could go either way. You have the right attitude about learning more, but maybe you're more concerned with deepening your own practice than you are sharing it with others. Of course, that's a perfectly legitimate reason to enroll in a teacher training, but you might benefit even more from an immersion that doesn't focus as much on teaching skills.

Note: I did a teacher training when I was 22 years old.. and if I am really honest about it, I probably wasn't ready. And, truthfully, I know I didn't get as much out of the training as I could have. But I still wouldn't change a thing about it! It still helped me to deepen my practice, learn more about who I was and who I wanted to be, and I think I'm a pretty decent teacher now--even if I wasn't when I first got my certification. :) So, really, you're the only one who can determine when you're ready and what you want to get out of the training. I hope this little quiz gave you some food for thought, but please don't be discouraged no matter what the result! If you want to be a good teacher, you'll be an awesome one whether you take your training now or in 10 years.

I want to hear from the yoga teachers.. How did you know you were ready to enroll in teacher training?