Workshop Saturday!

Today I had the pleasure to attend a 3 hour workshop at Yoga on High here in Columbus, Ohio, taught by Marcia Miller. The workshop was entitled "Rodney Review" as it was a chance to re-visit some of the techniques and concepts taught by Rodney Yee during his summer workshop in Columbus. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to attend that original workshop, but I was truly looking forward to whatever insights that Marcia might have to share ... and she had many! I was disappointed by my own absent-mindedness that I didn't bring a pen and paper to take notes, because I found myself realizing that there was so much valuable information that I wanted to remember.

Here are a few of the key points that stand out in my mind:

• Relaxation is the foundation for pranayama. Instead of defining pranayama as "breath control", try "breath awareness".
• Yoga should not be a struggle. We should not be in conflict with ourselves when doing asana practice. Know and listen to your body and do not fight your body in yoga.
• Yoga is balancing our natural habit.
• In tadasana, teachers are always saying to bring our shoulder blades down the back. Marcia pointed out, however, if our arms are reaching upward and our shoulder blades are not, this is called "dislocation" - not good. She pointed out that it is okay to raise our shoulder blades when we reach up in this pose, but not to scrunch and tighten up the neck.
• Search for the counter-pose within each pose. Work each muscle a little bit to assist the primary working muscles, to create more ease within the pose. Be aware of your whole body while in the pose, not just the "obvious" muscles.
• In trikonasana, I had always been told to envision myself as placed between two sheets of glass. However, Marcia suggested that this was not the best way to get into this pose. Instead, the back/outside hip should turn inward slightly, the front leg turned out completely. When I bend over the front leg, the ribs (but not the hip) rotate upward .... and she does not consider this pose to be a backbend. I am not doing a great job of explaining her instructions, but it was a completely new way for me to go into this pose that I have done hundreds of times. I can't wait to practice some more.
• In Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (bridge pose), rather than instructing us to raise our tush in the air (which tightens your gluteal muscles), she told us to bring our hips toward and over our heels and our hearts over our shoulders. In this way, you are spreading the work throughout your body. The same focus can be taken when doing Urdhva Dhanurasana (wheel pose), which we practiced with the help of a partner.
• We also worked on Hanumanasana (monkey pose), a very difficult pose requiring flexibility that I don't possess. I used three blocks. In this asana, we focused on bringing our back hip forward and our front hip back to be in proper alignment, even if it meant we couldn't go down as far. To get out of the pose, we used the strength of the back leg and hip to float forward gracefully.

It was a fantastic workshop and I can't wait for the next one I am taking there, which will be focusing on the Primary Series.

Today's workout:
60 min. interval elliptical (5.5 mi)
60 min. home practice yoga