ALL THINGS NERDY . . .

There is a wonderful and very detailed blog (linked as 'yoganerd's notes') written by a Certified instructor in New York, somewhere.  In her blog entries, which happen about once a month, she will explore one very small part of our practice, expand on it and build a class/practice using that one point as her reference. It is amazing.  Check it out!

I have my own library of 'nerdy' things, though maybe not as comprehensive.  Not only am I compulsive about tracking my hours, I am also compulsive about workshop notes.  You won't see me writing every minute of every training or workshop, but you will see me writing down - what I feel - is pertinent to my studies and teaching.

In San Francisco, John commented on the amount of notes being taken in the room on day one.  His focus for that week was how much we listen and then carry out what's being asked during our asana practice; he also asked that we try to limit our note taking - simply listen and absorb, as much as possible.  Truly pay attention.

Well, I tried it - I still wrote, tho, as did most people.  Then, I sat down early the following morning and transcribed those notes into easy reading on the computer.  When I get home from an event, I'll finalize and review the typed notes, print them out and store them in a 3-ring binder.  And, I do review them from time to time.  (Handwritten - I don't review much.)  This process allows a few hours to absorb what I heard, then - typing them - offers me another opportunity to review and expand on what was discussed, re-reading the notes cements some of them into the recesses of my brain - the others, well - later.

In 2008, I was not so organized.  I had typed a number of training notes up, but there were several books with handwritten & scribbled notes that I had done nothing with (and - to be honest - much I had forgotten about).  I went through those books, and pulled what was comprehensible and created a document called 'notes to remember - through 2008'.  All these previously lost pearls of wisdom went into this document.  It now lives in the same book as the others.

So, I had a question about an entry a couple days ago.  I decided I'll share three nuggets from my book, and maybe do it once in a while.  If you've heard them, great - this may be just be a reminder; if not, then you can explore them on your own.

Nerdy Point One - I'll start with straightening your hands while keeping fingers securely rooted:  In our practice of Anusara® yoga, fidgeting of the hands and fingers is discouraged.  As part of the foundation of the pose, hand placement requires our attention and our commitment -- so, as I tell students, when we move from down dog to plank through chaturanga dandasana to cobra or up dog, and then back to down dog (whenever our palms are flat to the floor); the hands don't move, the fingers don't lift, the knuckles don't lift -- the hands stay firmly rooted and supportive through all this movement.

There are times, however, that something happens and we find that - rather than being parallel with the end of the mat, our wrist creases are lining up slightly off to the right or left.  Now what?  How do I fix this without someone reminding me of what I just wrote !?!?!?!?

Well - and this is from John - keep your fingers and knuckles of the offending hand firmly rooted.  Lift the heel of the hand (base of the thumb and across the wrist crease) and move it to the right or left, bringing your wrist creases parallel with the end of your mat.  Now, the fingers may have to move to get back in sync with the wrist crease, but keep firm contact with the mat as you do it ever so subtly.

Now, why worry about this?  Our hands are our connection to the earth in these poses; we are drawing energy from the hands up to the focal point.  When we break that connection, we cause a 'service interruption' with the prana of the pose.  Enough.

Nerdy Point Two:  No one's on vacation.  What can she mean?  That during our asana -- even in poses where it seems that one leg isn't involved in the action (i.e. janu sirsasana); wrong!  That extended leg still works -- the activation of the foot, hugging in of the leg muscles, etc., serve to strengthen the foundation.  So, if I see an extended leg 'hanging out', I quickly ask students to do a comparison -- how does it feel with both legs energized (especially through the foundation of the pose), then with both legs just folded into position and 'hanging out'.  Same applies to the extended leg in poses like ardha chandrasana.   Every part of the body participates in our asana.  (I've been teaching this for a while, and I loved it that as I read my new "version 12" Teacher Training Manual -- there was almost the same verbiage "no one's on vacation".)

Nerdy Point Three:  I just heard this recently (I usually say 'heard', because I may have been taught it many times before, but I have finally 'heard' it) -- we get so much information in these trainings that it's easy to go into overload.  Cramps are a result of too much muscle energy.  Balanced action of muscle energy and organic extension will mitigate the chance of cramping.  If one does happen, ask student to extend organically (i.e. muscle cramp in hip or hamstring -- extend out through foot and knee of that leg). So far, it's worked.

Well, let me know what you think -- was this a useless exercise? did you know everything I wrote about? were you reminded of something you'd also 'heard' before?

March is going out like a lion here in SLC.  I've shoveled my deck 3 times in the last 12 hours.  Haven't needed to do the driveway yet, but now it's time.  Even the snowplow just went up our street -- It's been snowing since yesterday morning!!!

Have a nice Thursday,