turkey

I don't eat meat, so I can't offer a turkey recipe. Heck, it's a pretty imperialist holiday, anyway - I can't say I identify with pilgrims of the past or present. I've resigned to the fact that I can't avoid Thanksgiving unless I spend it alone. So, I'm going to a friend's parent's house. Practicing gratitude is important any time of year.

Now that the fires around LA give way to the risk of mudslides with oncoming rain, it's a great time to rebuild what's around us and within us, too. I remember hearing from Mela Butcher that this is a good time of year to fortify the body and add, rather than reduce. This season falls within the six months of kapha accumulation. At the end of Spring, we will enter the alternate six month period of airy vata cleansing. And so on, 'til the end of time.

In other words, just flow with it - don't resist. The best lesson I've absorbed recently is that it's usually more indulgent and less self-serving to resist what is going on, whether clinging to thoughts of an ex-lover or "swearing" not to overeat during the holidays. In short, yogic tradition arguably feeds the madness called Thanksgiving.

teaching

We had our last day in class yesterday. We shared in an exposition of the yoga sutras, and more importantly, taught our final poses. Remember, mine was Ardha Chandrasana. Everyone in class nailed the teaching. I was surprised at how powerful it felt to teach a class that size (35 students). It wasn't the kind of power trip you get because people are listening to you, more like feeling enormous support and really just flowing with the class, too. It was totally incredible and unexpected. Contrary to my feelings for the past few weeks, I feel like my teaching is actually up to snuff. I'll start with beginner students.

We had our final exam last Friday, hence I didn't have time to record what was going on last week. The amount of work in this course and the level of study was totally rigorous - not the kind of class you can just glide through by showing up. I wasn't sure what I'd be faced with, but this experience has certainly exceeded my expectations. We bonded in a way I never did with students in a college course.

Now, onto the take home exam....

....Pictures to follow.

Ardha Chandrasana

I feel it's time to devote a little more love to my final pose, Ardha Chandrasana - Half Moon Pose. It's the hand that fate dealt me, and I'm now responsible for instructing the pose to a class of 35.

The pose is known to strengthen legs and ankles, and as with most balance poses, cultivates physical and non-physical balance and a sense of general equanimity. For that reason, it's one of my favorites - despite my early inability to teach it! It's also one of the asanas where it's easy to become a little too confident of your abilities, especially when you learn to balance without your leading hand on the floor. Of course, that's when your ego gets checked and you fall over.

It's common to instruct into the pose from Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) because in this pose you're essentially doing Ardha Chandrasana in a different plane. Trikonasana teaches the extension in the front leg that is missing if you lead from Virabhadrasana 2 (Warrior 2). More balance comes from the lifted leg than you might expect - you will feel it when you flex more energy through the heel and work to achieve levity in the back leg. And contrary to what I've read in some other sources...the last thing you should do is straighten your standing leg! Even though it is the platform of the pose, and you will want to straighten it right away, you need the extra leverage of a bent leg to get extension in the torso and lifted leg. You can also focus on maintaining even extension on both the inner and outer ankle more effectively.

The extension of the spine out of the torso is important to realizing full length, too. You achieve this by both rotating your torso with your grounded hand (which, by the way, is barely bearing any weight). I actually find this extension by keeping my torso slightly higher - parallel to the floor - and lifting my bottom hand. This way, you can fully engage your wingspan, and open your upper spine and neck. It's a tricky modification, but it has worked really well for me.

Somehow, this whole jumble is going to turn into coherent instruction, promise.

home practice

I got a pretty valuable tip about teaching this week:  If you want to be a good instructor, you must keep up a regular practice (thank you, James).  This seems totally rational, but it's something I haven't been keeping up with - particularly since I've been in school.

I attended my first ever Mysore Ashtanga class about a week ago.  I made it as far as Parsvottanasana.  After I completed a bunch of Sun Salutes and did the obligatory rest of the series, the instructor told me to grab a copy of the primary series sheet and establish a home practice.  Wait, you mean I'm supposed to do the same thing everyday and hope to graduate to the second series in a matter of years??  Needless to say, I'm not sure Mysore is for me.  I failed to practice at home even once in the week following (though I did take a couple different classes). 

Shame on me?  Shame on the style?  I'm one of those yogis that requires classroom 

instruction - I just don't do it at home.  Perhaps if I lived in a quieter place.  Unfotunately, my street is the path of least resistance for emergency vehicles, and people seem to prefer getting others attention with car horns, rather than phone calls.  

All this thought of trying to make it work at home makes me again turn to technology.  The home practice is a hard nut to crack - maybe I can embrace distractions like Netflix to stream a yoga lesson?  I've never tried it, but I have the feeling won't come close to the classroom.  

whoops!

We received our "final" poses this weekend. Mine is to instruct Tadasana to Trikonasana to Ardha Chandrasana. I will be alotted four minutes to teach this on the final day.

I didn't practice teach too much in advance, so I indulged my group of students in a little improvisation. Hopefully that original demonstration is NOT an indication of the way I will teach in the future. I was feeling a little arrogant about my ability to basically repeat what I've heard other instructors say in class...this is a pretty common linking of poses in several yoga traditions.

I stammered and struggled, got the asana points wrong - I sounded pretty incompetent. It certainly didn't help that my voice was pretty threadbare from eight hours of chanting the night prior. Might want practice on some of my friends for awhile, instead.

beautiful streets

The night was gorgeous. What started as about 12,500, according to most papers,
ended with a few thousand at Santa Monica Blvd and San Vicente. Drew Barrymore, bless her, marched in support.

During the middle of the evening, around 11:00pm, I banded with a smaller group
of about 150 and embarked from Hollywood & Highland toward Sunset and La Brea.
We were small, because most of the marchers chose to walk from Silverlake...I (and maybe 300 others) took the train.
The police were initially very aggressive, in full riot-ready regalia. The small train-taking crowd wasn't sufficiently large to sway the police to be our friends. Apparently, there's a critical mass that must be reached in order to convince police to act in your safety.

In any case, the hour or so that I spent with the smaller group was the most beautiful outpouring of love I've ever experienced. We walked through traffic, unaccompanied by police, chanting and sharing. This Saturday expect another day of mass protest, this time in cities throughout the U.S. More info here & here.

the strategy

I regret that I've not recorded as much about my teacher training this week. I have been setting the liberation of all souls as my intention in yoga classes, and as a general daily intention.
There is a movement now gaining traction - people are clearly furious and ready to put heat on the gay marriage ban in California. I encourage anyone local, or anyone who can make it to Los Angeles to come support civil rights. We are the impetus for change. It's great that the passage of prop 8 has motivated thousands of people to take to the streets.

There is a rally tomorrow, Saturday Nov. 8th beginning at 6pm at the Sunset Junction.
To get there, take the Red Line train, exit Sunset & Vermont - walk east.

3700 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

I hope to see all of you there.

There's a directory to events all over the U.S. on Queerty, too!