Yoga in Chairs

You can do yoga in a chair, for sure. Sometimes you need to do yoga in a chair because doing yoga on a mat or even a spot on the floor is not appropriate. Sometimes you're in a seminar and start to get stiff. Sometimes you spend 3 hours in a car to get to a workshop where you will sit for 5 hours and you need a stretch. Torsten and I needed a stretch last night in our Landmark Introduction Leaders Program in Montreal. So we did a little chair yoga.

Here's what you do...sit up tall in your chair, pressing your sitz bones down and elongating your spine. Breathe. Even a little ujjayi breath can bring you present quickly. Then do some version of 6 movements of the spine. Any order is okay. You can turn in your chair and look behind you one way, and then the other way. You can reach up and go side to side with your torso a la Half Moon. And placing your hands on your thighs you can try a vertical cat/cow. If you want to go on you can bring a leg up, holding your thigh into your torso and swtich. Another stretch is to cross one leg over and bend forward. Switch sides. Those moves got us through until 12:30 when we got back into the car to return to Ottawa.

I've led Chair Yoga workshops and there are loads more moves I could show you if you ask me. Just because you don't have a mat and aren't all dressed in lycra, doesn't mean you can't do yoga!

On another note... The DVDs are being shipped and are $20 and if you contact me I'll get one out to you.

Yoga Outside

A lot of people think it would be great to do yoga outside. And sometimes it is great to do yoga outside, but often doing yoga outside is distracting for a number of reasons.

The number one reason yoga is distracting when you do it outside is bugs. There are bugs outside and when I teach outside, there is usually some time spent clearing bugs off of mats or making sure bugs are not going to be coming onto mats and like that.

There's also noise to deal with. When you're outside, depending on the group, the sound travels differently than inside and sometimes my voice doesn't carry as well as the truck backing up or the nearby lawnmower that starts up once the class has begun.

Then there's people. Passersby. People on phones, yelling as they walk by. People doing frosh week activities. Today's class was special...I'm at CHEO, so we're on the grounds of a hospital, and we're teenaged girls (except me I know), sitting on yoga mats, just as I'm saying, "and there are people around but chances are they won't be interacting with us," the point being they could just relax and know there are distractions but they can go inside and focus, some guy walks up to us and asks me if I have a spare smoke. A spare SMOKE! We're right outside doors that have no smoking signs and again, obviously engaged in a small group activity that did not include him, an activity that promoted health indicated by our exercise mats, and he comes up. Just after I had finished saying no one's going to interact with us. I said, "you must be joking," and with that he walked away. We all had a great laugh out of it.

Careful doing yoga outside...

Tae Bo-Bo

Last week I was at Costco and I was debating whether or not to get Wayne Dyer's latest book or Billy Blanks' newest Tae Bo DVD. I didn't want to get both because that would just be too much. I wanted to put my hand on Wayne's book and just get all of the knowlege without having to actually do the reading of the book. And I've seen Billy Blanks' stuff around for years but have never bought anything by him. He's even been faculty at Omega some years ago and I thought I'd take a listen.


I started his program that has this "amped" helper. Accelerator maybe. And I did it for a couple of days and it was fun. I felt really goofy doing a work out in front of my TV. I even had my spandex pants on and was working up a sweat. But the "set" I did on Sunday killed me! I had to put the accelerator down and just do the moves without the 3 pound workout wand. Crazy stuff. I was always uncordinated in aerobics classes and I felt a bit off in the virtual gym.

I must have done something wrong though because I hurt my shoulder! I didn't notice it right away but yesterday and today my shoulder has been killing. So I have a Tae Bo bo. :(

I think I'm taking it back to Costco. Maybe I'll trade it for the Wayne Dyer book. Or the organic bread I like get. Or maybe just get my money back and put the money towards renewing my membership at the gym, which ran out at the beginning of the month.

Billy Blanks sounds like a neat guy. I watched the interview with him and checked out his website. But he's not here in Ottawa. I like taking classes in person and being with people live. Bye-bye Tae Bo.

Flarp

If you don't know what Flarp is, you're going to know now. Flarp is a "noise-making goop."

So Wednesday, I'm teaching one of my favourite groups, the teens in the EDP at CHEO, and one of them says, "Jamine, are we going to do wind-relieving pose today?" And I said, "sure, we can do that." There we are lying down holding a leg into our torso, and one of the girls starts making body noises, let's say. And I have encouraged these girls to let 'em rip when they need to and gosh, there's one of them doing it now. My, she really has some awful gas. Wow, that's pretty serious. Hope she's wearing...then one of the other girls starts giggling and before you know it, they're all laughing and it's revealed that Sabrina's got some Flarp and is using it. Ha ha. The joke was definitely on me.

That was funny. I got to try it too. We talked about whoopie cushions and other toys that make good sounds and how to get the most out of them. Flarp in a yoga class. Look out. (I mentioned the incident to one of my classes for the patent office and someone said, "I'd hate to look at the patent for that stuff!")

Farting happens in yoga. It's going on and you know it. It's just one of those things...

Black Belt in Yoga

So John's making jokes today about how he went to yoga but he didn't see any sparring and he's wondering how long it takes until he can get his black belt in yoga and I'm laughing but you know, that's what we're up against here. When I teach yoga in schools, invariably somebody, and I'm sorry, but it's usually one of the boys, says, "can we do karate?" School's starting school soon and I'll be faced with the kids who do and don't want to do yoga.

Maybe there could be levels and we have belts and stuff. Whaddyathink?

Home Again, Home Again

It's Friday, and we got home on Tuesday night.

Omega was a lot of fun. I'm posting two videos of Sister Alice and her Gospel workshop participants just to give you a taste of the scene. One of them still makes me cry as she was soooo awesome.





We left Omega on Sunday and drove to Little Compton, Rhode Island, where my friend from Recovery Yoga, Peter, has a summer place. We spent two nights there and drove home on Tuesday. It was a long drive for us - 11 hours altogether - and Remi was great for the whole time. She is old enough to be my copilot now and can read the directions from the computer, which she usually has in the back seat because she can watch DVDs on it. We were a great team.

As I was driving home, outside of Montreal already, I got a call from Rama Lotus. I checked in with them when we got to Harvey's outside of Rigaud (if you haven't had their veggie burger yet, I recommend you try one) to discover that I had completely forgotten to get a sub for my Tuesday intermediate hatha class and that fortunately Ichih was available at the last minute and they combined our classes and it was handled. Phew. That kind of thing hardly happens to me and when it does it feels really awful!

I got around to checking my www.capitalyoga.com mail, which is mainly spam, and there were some compliments from people who had been to my classes at Omega and a request for my DVD. For some reason I have trouble releasing my DVD to the world. It's like it's not good enough. While I was in Rhode Island Peter and I talked about how people don't sing anymore because recordings are so good and people can't recreate that sound and so often don't even try. I think I did the same thing with my DVD. Instead of letting it be what it is, a straight run-through of my beginning yoga class, shot with one camera with me talking and doing poses at the same time, and my hair is my hair and my face is my actual face, and my shirt rides up, just like it does in real life, I compare it to Yoga Journal and Gaiam productions and think it's not ready.

Well, I'm ready to give that up and I'm letting the DVD out. If you want a copy let me know. The few people that have it already have said they like it and can do the class no problem.

On another note, I took out a DVD from the library and watched it today. It's called The Fire of Yoga, and it was a good look at yoga and how it helps people improve their lives, not their bodies.

Lots of Yoga

It's really wonderful teaching at Omega. The space is really beautiful, there are mats and props for everyone, there are nature sounds coming in to the rooms, and the people who come to take yoga are unbeatable. Open, relaxed, ready, and very appreciative. So, thanks Omega, for making these 2 weeks really fun. Even though I didn't have a day off (people keep asking me how my vacation is going), it's been good to be teaching in a different space.

And being with my daughter has been wonderful. We've had a great chance to connect and it's been wonderful seeing her run and play and climb trees and go off with friends and have sleepovers and meet me at breakfast and just run wild.

And I went up to Deepak Chopra last night in the dining hall and muttered something to him about hearing him speak at Kripalu back in '91 and how I like the part about how we're not the TV but being broadcast and all that stuff and I saw him on The Hour on CBC and how his shoes are cool, those Nikes he has made for himself, and that I'm a yoga teacher here. So when the class I was teaching this morning ended up being in a different room and his class was supposedly doing something different, I figured it's because he thought that if that babbling fool (me) was the teacher that they'd better offer something else. That's not what happened, but I did get moved and the thought crossed my mind. There was a room mix up and I was the teacher and it was all FINE. GOOD even.

I haven't seen him close up again today but if I do, I'm going to try and get my picture taken with him ;)

Who Will Show Up to Yoga?

Family Week just ended and Remi's workshop is over. She took lots of pictures and the whole week was wonderful. Elizabeth Lesser said "next year when you teach yoga, we can tell people it's okay to bring their kids to the morning yoga class." She had heard that people liked my class and I guess it would be good to go again next year.

I was going to have a bit of a rest this weekend because I was told that Deepak Chopra is coming and that he's bringing his own yoga teacher and they had forgotten to mention that to me and I could still teach my staff class but I wouldn't need to do the early morning and pm classes. Oh, Deepak doesn't need me, fine, I'll sleep in. Then they're chasing me down before lunch, "Jamine! Did so and so tell you? The person who was supposed to teach in the morning is stuck in California, and there's more to the story..." So I'm teaching in the am after all. The Main Hall holds a lot of people and if 200 people want to do yoga in there, they can. So I'm going to do down there in a while and practising using the mike. I wasn't using the mike for the other classes.

Hot, Hot, Hot Yoga

It's hot out. It's really hot here at Omega. I'm not sure how hot exactly, but it's very, very warm out. So doing yoga is hot and sticky. Some people like that, and some people don't.

Luc and I spent some time together this afternoon in Kingston. We took my un-airconditioned car over the Hudson River to the nice and cool Kingston Mall and did a little shopping. Came back just in time to teach some extra hot yoga.

I figured I'd go to whatever was happening at the Main Hall because it would be nice and cool in there. I was pleasantly surprised at the great entertainment. I'm not sure what I was expecting when I heard "the mask guy" was going to be performing. But it wasn't what we got, which was very funny and highly entertaining.

From his moves, I would guess that the "mask guy" is majorly into yoga. He had some wild positions and got a lot of laughs from the kids here at family week. By the end of the show he was completely soaked and we were all tired from laughing.

Remi's having a sleepover at the trailer park, which is adjacent to the Omega campus where some of the staff live. She's having a blast here.

Yoga at Omega

Teaching yoga at Omega got easier. It's actually a delight and is lots of fun. Everybody who comes to the class is motivated to do yoga. They've travelled far to get here and then they're taking their own time to come down and take my class. So they really want to be there. And even with the wide range of yoga experience people have, they seem to be open to what I teach. So that's good and splendid, really.

I'm not used to teaching so early (7 am) and that's actually been nice. My daughter, Remi, has joined me each morning in class even though she has permission to stay in our room at Crossroads and wait for me to come back. She always wants to get up at 6 and come down there with me. It's been really nice having her there. She gets my mat for me and puts it away at the end of the class.

It's Family Week at Omega and kids are welcome to come to the evening class with their parents. Yesterday no kids came except for Remi and her friend, Amber. I'm hoping to actually get some more kids in class today.

This is such a wonderful place to be. Kids feel safe and they run around in packs like in the olden days ;) Adults are generous and kind with each other. It's a treat to be here. If you haven't been to Omega, I recommend that you take a trip down and go for a weekend or 2.

One of the people here on camps this week is David Wilcox, the american one, not the canadian one. He has set himself up in the Garden Cabin during the breaks in workshops when people will be wandering around and can pop in. He calls himself the Music Doctor, and when the doctor is "in" you can pop in, tell him what ails you and he'll sing you a song for it. If he doesn't have a song, he'll make one up on the spot.

Last night I was walking down the garden path (heh) and I stopped in and had a listen. Someone was feeling like they were afraid to sing out in their singing workshop so he sang them a song about getting confidence. Another guy had something going on about fear of the future and David sang another song. He looked at me and said, "what's up with you?" I told him. I missed my boyfriend. I've been gone for a week and I've got another week to go and I miss him. He asked a few more questions about the situation and then David Wilcox sang me a song that made me bawl my eyes out. It was the medicine I needed. So I listened as he made up a song for me about looking through my eyes, and feeling love, and other things that hit the spot. It was magical. After he finished, I got up and wiped my eyes some more and headed to a phone so I could make that long distance call. It felt really good.

We're All Bozos on the Bus

I made it to Omega and have been teaching yoga here for the past 2 days and it has been interesting. There's such a diverse and eclectic group of people here with such varied experiences of yoga. Fortunately they are patient and really easy to get along with. I was a bit nervous coming in as there are so many teachers on campus and I'm teaching in the room that Kofi Busia is in and it's intimidating. Then last night I went to hear Elizabeth Lesser read from her book, Broken Open, and she read the part about how we're all just bozos on the bus and I relaxed a bit.

There isn't another bus where everyone is pretty and wealthy and doing it right, lives all running smoothly. We're not alone on the bus of bozos - people who live actual lives - lives of fear and insincerity and trials and ups and downs and wondering and wonderment and everything. She explains it much better in her book, you'll be happy to know.

Anyhow, while I'm here I'm teaching everyday at 7 am, which is a bit of a "stretch" as we're not usually out of bed at that hour this summer. I'm also teaching almost every night at 5:30 and a couple of classes a week just for the staff. And when I went to teach today I thought about how I'm not alone in this. There isn't a perfect yoga teacher out there just waiting to take my place. I'm the teacher for the next two weeks and I'm doing just fine. Some people might even say I'm doing great!

Remi's back from her golf cart drive with Luc, my mountie yogi friend. So I'm off for a while!

Grateful

So after I finished publishing my little blog post yesterday I noticed that I had some voicemail and I decided to take a listen. There was a message from Loblaws saying that they had my wallet and that it had been found in the parking lot. I hadn't even noticed that my wallet was missing. Oh well.

"C'mon kids," (Remi had a friend over), "we're going to Loblaws to get my wallet." On the ride over I was reviewing the contents of my wallet in my head - oh yea, there's 20 bucks in there - I took out my receipts recently so I've got those - oh, there are 2 cheques - and I'm wondering if the stuff will be there or if my wallet will be gutted. I figure the stuff's there or my id wouldn't still be in my wallet and they wouldn't be able to call me.

Sure enough, the wallet's there, everything's in place and so was the bag of broccoli I had also left when I had been shopping earlier. Whew. I got the guy's number who'd found it and turned it in, called to thank him when I got home, and that was that.

The last time I had my wallet stolen I had $300 bucks in cash (bad move) and I was able to keep my id and credit cards, but the person at Starbucks in the Glebe made off with an easy whack of cash (it was leftover from my trip to the States, which I'm about to embark on again, as a matter of fact). The time before that, my wallet was found in the parking lot of Costco, and instead of walking it into the store, the lady who found it took it home to St. Albert. That was a bit of a journey to get back, but well worth it as again, everything was left intact.

I learned a long time ago not to have anything on me that I couldn't stand to lose. Jewelry, money, passports, gifts for people, whatever. I travelled in Asia many years ago and slept in community dorms and on beaches and learned to relax and know that my stuff was probably going to be okay and if it wasn't, it wasn't the end of the world.

While I was living in South Africa, someone came into the house I was staying in while I was there and took my purse out of the house. They took the wallet, including my credit cards and id and left my cash and passport and purse, thank you very much. The credit cards were replaced within a week and my Canadian Citizenship card took about 6 months at least to get back. Oh, and a bracelet with sentimental value was taken too. I just felt grateful that I didn't know it was happening and that nothing happened to me!

Sometimes I leave the keys in the door to my house. And like in the Michael Moore movie, as a good Canadian sometimes the door to my house is open and you could walk in. I try to lock it up and pay more attention to that now that I'm a mother, but I figure that if someone wants to take something, they will.

I've learned that my happiness does not depend on my stuff. I don't have much that can't be easily replaced. Even trinkets I've bought abroad show up in stalls in the Market now. You can buy everything just about anyplace in the world. The rest that's local is usually perishable anyhow.

So I'm totally grateful that I got my wallet back, and if it had been gone it would have for sure been a hassle that I could do without, but I know I'd be okay.

Cops Get Fit

Below is a cute clip with a yoga bit at the beginning and then a story about the police getting fit back in the '70s. (Above is a picture of my buddy, Luc, that I took a couple of years ago for a laugh.) I still teach the police at the college, but here in Ottawa, not the one in Toronto they refer to in the documentary.

Here's the link: http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-41-615-3307/sports/fitness/clip5

Yoga Works

I haven't posted in a week, not because I don't have anything to say, but because I've been busy teaching yoga and when I'm not doing that, I've been out playing in the sun! (It's sunny right now too, but I'm in between classes and about to hop on my bike to get to my next class.)

If you want to get the benefits of yoga, you have to practise. It's as simple as that. You can think about doing yoga, you can have yoga dreams, but without the practising part, you won't get the benefits. And when you do practise yoga - it works! You get the benefits right away! Summertime is a fun time to skip off and not do yoga - I know. But if you keep up your practise over the summer then things like long walks or golfing or standing in line at amusement parks or long car rides won't be as hard.

I'm heading off on a long car trip in a few days. I know my yoga for comfort sequence (basically my beginning class) will make that trip manageable. While I'm away not only will I be doing yoga, but I'll be teaching yoga as well! I won't be on a vacation but a change of location, which sometimes is just as good :)

I'll be teaching yoga at Omega and I'm looking forward to seeing my old friends who are still there and to being exposed to all of that great holistic culture! Good food, music, vibes, people - if you haven't been to Omega, I suggest you give it a try. While the Canadian dollar is so high you'll get great value for your money these days.

Off to a Good Start

I mentioned before that I decided to offer meditation classes at the Shepherds of Good Hope partly in response to my discomfort with what was going on in my neighourhood. I was feeling judgemental and uncomfortable. My response when I get like that is to get curious rather to be more distant. So I thought I could offer meditation and see what happened.

It went well, and much like any other meditation workshop that I've led anywhere. One guy shared that it was a big deal for him to close his eyes in a group of people, totally honest, and he also mentioned after one of our "sits" that he felt some anxiety come up. Wow. I acknowleged him for having those feelings and for staying in the room anyways.

So today, I'm walking towards Rideau Street and I'm nearing the beer store and I notice some people sitting around and one of the people is that guy! We said hi and I kept walking. I felt so good. I felt connected and not annoyed and just a part of things in a different way. I knew that I would benefit by offering meditation classes but I didn't think it would happen so quickly or have such a positive impact.

I learned in my yoga experience that the world is one family. Today I felt the separation gone and I feel part of the world family again. I hope that made sense!

Free Meditation!

So I led my first Meditation class at the Shepherds of Good Hope this evening. It went really well. You are all welcome to come. It's on Mondays at 7 at the Shepherds on Murray St. See you there!

Animal Dreams

I guess I could just look this up on the internet, but I'm wondering what it means when you have dreams about animals.

This week I've dreamed about snakes (getting hit by cars, and they had belonged to Oprah), and cats (sick ones on an island, lots of sand), and last night it was grizzly bears (one was under water and the other one was stuffed like a stuffed animal and huge, next to a life-sized moose that was also like a prize from the Ex, not stuffed like taxidermy). What does it all mean?

I don't figure it means much, but it's funny to remember my dreams and notice that there are lots of animals in them. I thought maybe it meant that Hammie's on his way out, which may be true because he's coming up on 3 years, and that's pretty old for a hamster.



I have admired my Hamuel. He has done damage to my home with his perservance and sharp teeth. He has practically lived in the wild inside my house. He spent many many days in a row on the lamb. Even the other night he was downstairs in the bathroom walls. "Hammy! You get back upstairs right now!" He's like a hamster Houdini. I've even called the manufacturer of the cage to complain, or inform them rather, that their cages do not contain hamsters as claimed. He's in a "lock down" situation now, so his escape the other night baffles me. When it happened a year ago I put a call into the fire department to ask them about the potential damage to the electrical wiring in the walls. I got some good info. "Not to worry" was the main message I got though.



He sleeps a lot. He rattles his cage a bit when it gets dark out. He doesn't spend as much time on the wheel as he used to. I was convinced that I could put power back into the grid if I could hook up his wheel to something.

And being the mom, I clean his cage. I feed him and water him and even pet him. Remi is a bit tired of him and wants a dog or a cat. Or a bird, that's the new "ask." I told her I know she won't clean the cage, so when Hammy's done, so am I for a while. I'll miss him. I missed Buddy, the rat. And I'll possibly continue to have animal dreams and remember my pets...

Meditation for Crackheads

As most of you know (if you know me at all), I live right downtown next to the Shepherds of Good Hope, and there is a lot of "stuff" going on in my neighbourhood, not to mention on my steps, especially after midnight. When the weather's nice, there's more people "sleeping" outside and hanging around on the streets. I have noticed more crack lately and fewer needles and I've seen newer women on the corners who look in rougher shape than the regulars of the past few years and I got to wondering more about crack addiction.

Megan's blog has discussed the recent decision to stop giving out free crack pipes and I'm not sure what it all means, but the issue is becoming hot here in Ottawa.

From what I understand, crack addiction is one of the worst and recovery is difficult and people's reality is so different. I figured I'd like to offer meditation classes to that group, not so that they could recover or get off drugs or whatever, but just because meditation can be good for people in general. I spoke to someone in my yoga classes who works there and she got me a spot and starting on Monday, once a week I'll volunteer at the Shepherds, offering meditation.

As someone who literally has this going on in my back yard, the idea of spreading the services out across the city is an appealing one at first glance. When funding for mental illness programs was cut some years ago, many people were put out on the streets who really need support for living. Having a high concentration of services in one area of town has led to a trail from the Mission to the Shepherds, with stops on the way, and people just hanging out on other people's porches and stuff. I'm not clear on all of the issues associated with this, but I do know that it's a problem, and it seems to be getting worse.

When I start getting judgemental and opinionated about stuff, I try and take a closer look, get interested. So I thought I'd bring myself in greater contact with this marginalized population, rather than shut myself inside and wait for the "authorities" to do something to make me feel better.

Meditation: the Musical

After seeing some awesome live theatre shows lately, (check out the Parks Canada Players), I got inspired and was thinking up some scenes for plays that have yoga and meditation themes, mainly along comedic lines. For years I've had the idea of having yoga teacher characters that would come out and lead the class. Goofy teachers, airy-fairy teachers, even the yoga dominatrix has been discussed. But after watching a play at Ft. Wellington the other night that was totally interactive, it got me to thinking about a show that would have the audience be in a meditation class. Actors would be interspersed throughout the audience and would do their thing from the seats, which would be pillows on the floor. At some point there would be singing and dancing. "Meditation: the Musical" comes to mind. I crack myself up. If only I could get it out - it would be funny.

Yoga?

I really feel like I'm on vacation now. That's probably due to a couple of things. One is, many of my regular students are on vacation. So either classes are cancelled or there are only a few students in a class.

The other thing is that my daughter is out of school and she's home a lot and we actually get to sleep in! Most of the time I get up early just 'cause, but now that I don't have to have her dressed, fed, and out the door by 7:35, we can lounge a bit and I must say, that feels really good!



I was telling people in class last week about how people thought of different koans and things to get them out of their current state of mind and blown open to new ideas and thought patterns. Well recently I had my own things creep up to blow me away. One is crop circles. I haven't been into them before, and I'm not now, but I just thought about them a bit and that got me to thinking and let's just say, it doesn't sound like there's a real explanation out there. So that was cool.

And then I rented a DVD with conversations with Abraham the other day from Singing Pebble. Well that's a bit of a mind-blowing thing too. I've heard some Abraham recordings, which you can listen to for free on this site, but this DVD is new and has visuals, and then it turns out it was done by a guy here in Ottawa I've never heard of before. So check that out if you're interested.

The whole Abraham thing reminded me a lot of an experience I had years ago that I could call "Conversations with Gurubelle." I'm still so skeptical of all of this stuff even though I suppose I've had quite a bit of experience with it all!