Meditation in Motion

Yesterday was my best class in a long time. I didn't think twice about pottering along to the class, despite the fact that my usual yoga buddy is away, and my boyfriend, who was going to come with me, got stuck at work. With noone around and no one to jolly me along to the class it would have been the perfect time to bail, but it didn't even process as a viable option.

The class flew by; we started off with seated postures and worked up to some standing postures (my favourite order). I normally glance at the clock for the first time about half an hour in, partly hoping the pain will be over soon, partly hoping the class will go on forever. Last night I glanced at the clock expecting it to be at the standard half hour point, but a whole hour had gone by. How did that happen? I must have been so in the zone that the time flew by without me noticing.

I've experienced similar in the past when meditating. Normally when I meditate time crawls by sooo slowly, so much so that I remember to this day the time I reached a perfect point of nothingness in a meditation session, so much so that half an hour just disappeared. Yesterdays yoga felt a little like this; perfect meditation in movement.

Building up to Arm Balances

So the latest news is that I'm thinking of joining the gym. In the past this has been a positive thing for my yoga practice. I loved doing a quick morning/evening workout followed by a short yoga session. I've found that 10 mins on the bike or jogging frees up the limbs like a good session of sun salutations, leaving you warm, strong and limber.

I've talked a lot about my struggles to do my yoga practice, but if I could build into my schedule a post or pre-work workout then it may get me over the hurdle.

On another note I've been reading up on how to build up to arm balances. Strength seems to be key here, and some ideas for postures to include into a daily practice to build this necessary element include:

• Plank
• Side plank
• Chaturanga Dandasana
• Dolphin
• Down face dog
• Ashtanga series (includes many of the above poses)

Below are some good articles and inspiring pics

• Yoga Journal: Strong Arm Tactics
• Pinterest: Yoga Arm Balances
• Fitsugar: Yoga Arm Toning

Sivananda Yoga

For me Sivananda Yoga, and it's founders, are some of yoga's lesser known heroes. Swami Vishnudevananda, a great character and student of Swami Sivananda, was one of the first to bring yoga to the west in the late 50s/early 60s after his Guru gave him a 10 rupee note and his blessing to spread the word.

After many years of travelling, peace missions and Gump-esque adventures (flying over Berlin on a painted plane to bombard the Wall with flowers, singing his way through Belfast with Peter Sellers, dinner with the Beatles) Swami Vishnudevananda had successfully set up the yoga schools across the west, and published some books on yoga.

It was one of these Sivananda yoga books, the "Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga", that sat on my mums bookshelf. My mum is a keen yogi and has been attending regular classes for decades. At 63 she is the perfect living example of the benefits of a prolonged yoga practice; she can still fold in half and rest her chin on her shins. Flicking through these books as a child and trying to recreate the poses was my first experience of yoga. In 2009, on my extended yoga tour of the world, I had the opportunity to stay in the Sivananda Ashram in Neyyar Dam, India. I credit the Sivananda Ashram for, among other things, instilling in me the importance of inversions in a regular practice, and giving me confidence in unsupported headstand.

Sivananda, like other practices such as Ashtanga, is based on a standard series or set of postures. These are organised in order of importance, the idea being that you can work through as far as you can in the time you have, content in the thought you've made the most effective use of your practice.

The series are below. You start off your practice with sun salutations before launching into headstand, and there are typically linking moves (dolphin before headstand, leg lifts before shoulderstand) and more advanced variations and postures you can add in, but it's a simple system that works.

I highly recommend trying out this lesser known style. Unless you have a local centre near you, probably the best way to do this is through a Yoga Vacation at one of their centres through the east and west. During these you'll get the full experience of all limbs of yoga as well as a solid grounding in the series.

Restarting a home practice

I have a confession to make... I'm rubbish at home practice. Despite a encyclopedic knowledge of yoga postures, and familiarity with the Ashtanga, Bikram and Sivananda series, I always struggle with what to do in my private sessions. Should I concentrate on building up to the more advanced poses I want to nail; forearm balances, Hanumanasana, Pincha mayurasana, Handstand? Or should I concentrate on one of the aforementioned series to ensure a complete practice? Or both? Aaargh.

Adding to this confusion of what, I also struggle to get past the why. Despite good intentions, when it comes to rolling out the mat at home I am hopeless. There's always something that needs doing, or a good reason why I can't. How can I get past this barrier?

I've come across an excellent article in elephant journal '5 Simple Strategies for Starting and Maintaining a Home Practice'

It is clear I need to:

• Find a space - Find a space where I can do yoga. Set it up with candles, blocks etc so when I'm ready to practice, it's as easy as unrolling a mat.
• Find a time - Think of when I can do my practice, and set aside the time in advance
• Start simple - Don't aim too high, just start with 7 minutes, a few postures, and see how it flows from there.

I'm going to start tonight. Lets see how it goes!

Inspiration

Yes... I know this is a little bit posey, and the titillating black underwear unnecessary, but every time I watch this equinox vid of Briohny Smith doing arm balances I cannot help but be inspired.

Private Classes - the next step?

How do I take my yoga to the next step? Build my skills, correct my unconscious mistakes, and get the input of a yoga teacher who can guide me in the right direction? The answer seems to be private tuition.

It's an expensive step. I've done a bit of online research and the cost seems to range from £40 - £60 per 1hr session. Even if I only have 1 private class a fortnight this quickly tallies up to £100 per month. I'm tempted to go ahead and book a session, but a few things hold me back;  1) It's pretty expensive and 2) I've just restarted yoga - I'm a little rusty.

I'm about to start a new job which, happily, will pay me a very nice wage. Luxuries like private yoga classes suddenly seem an option. But it's an expensive step and one I think I should earn... I'll commit to twice weeks classes for a month and then give it a try!

> Find out more: Elephant Journal - How to get the most from a private yoga class

Errr... back on the wagon (again)... for good?

So after clambering back onto the yoga wagon at the beginning of last year, I once again fell off - only this time I metaphorically hit my head and fell into a yearlong coma.

I have no excuse really - my work did mean that I was away most weeks, so the weekends I was at home I could barely drag my bottom out of bed early enough to do Saturday yoga. After a while I was embarrassed about my perceived lack of flexibility/fitness/yoga skills so I stayed away. I moved house, got busy, and yoga slipped by the wayside (again).

But now I'm back on that wagon. It was not too difficult; events coincided when a new friend asked me to go with her to a class. Suddenly with company the 'do I, don't I' indecision was removed. Surprisingly I have lost almost none of my flexibility; I am still able to 'thread the needle' though my back leg hip flexibility is pretty poor. I already feel energised and positive... but I know how fickle I can be so lets see :)