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Namaste! Today I received 6 yoga blocks and 6 blankets thanks to the kind donation by Bike Friday Customer Glenn Martin  (pictured mid-Vasisthasana on Arizona Camp 2010 ) and a kind price break by YogaDirect.com. (As I said in my last yoga post, the ex-studio mats were donated by Laughing Lotus and my training was by Joschi Yoga Institute). It's gratifying to know that a dot com with a word like "direct" in it still has some human intervention to do special things for special people. Thank you Yoga Direct. The special people I'm referring to are the seniors at the Hudson Guild Community Center where I am volunteering a weekly yoga class. So far I've done 2 classes. Abilities range from belly dancers to someone in a wheelchair. It's really making me think about what really works for different bodily limitations. A lady with problematic feet could n ot do Downdog. We did Navasana (boat poses) instead - like a Down Dog upside down - no pressure on her feet a

"Lynette, tell them about your yoga class. LYNETTE'S GOING TO TELL YOU ABOUT YOGA!" Yehudit is gathering people around one of the giant round tables in the cavernous community dining room. Some people aren't moving, so I won't get their attention. Most are already walking out the door. There's at least two generations of a Chinese family with a translator in front of me. Someone asks if I can speak Spanish. "Sufficiente para sobrevivir," I answer. I start to describe some simple movements and talk about Ujayi or "Darth Vadar" breathing. "Slower," says Yehudit as we raise our arms above our heads. I announce that we will be doing standing yoga in my class. I catch a glimpse of a Chinese gentleman in a wheelchair just as Yehudit says, "what about people who can't stand?" "We'll be doing sitting postures as well," I say. Thus began my induction to volunteering yoga at the Hudson Guild S

As you can see I'm hard at work, and practicing my yoga routine  ... (Photos below from the YogaJournal.com site) This picture was taken during my recent, oh-so-brief 5-day stay in the Bahamas, thanks to Bike Friday customer Hilge Hurford for generously inviting me to her timeshare.   My take on the Bahamas . I got caught up on plenty of reading, including fully digesting the current issue (as opposed to being 3 issues behind) of Yoga Journal, a nice, tight publication with a very long history.  I've been doing regular practice ever since putting my back out in November  at the end of my Japan trip, and it's really paid off. After some emergency chiropractic, then letting the pain subside, I went to a yoga class after 3 weeks and was amazed that 75% of the pain and stiffness had disappeared by the end of the class. Wow! Sacro-iliac joint pain is so utterly common, than when it hits we seriously worry if we've done something drastic. It just needs some rest and

The Pink Panther demonstrates camel side plank and bow poses. You don't have to be this bendy to benefit from a little yoga!   I have proof: Yoga works. It really works. Remember how I put my back out in Tokyo last month? I was crawling around like a ninety-something, unable to even put my socks on, and having to get out of bed on all fours. As you will read, it is likely I suffered sacro-iliac joint pain, that is, the spot that joins the sacrum to the pelvis got locked up from walking by favoring my right side, and the muscles on the left lower back started spasming, trying to yank my pelvis back into alignment. Here's a very good article about the sacro iliac joint pain . After some chiropractic treatment then three weeks of making excuses so I didn't have to do anything, I gingerly took myself off to a yoga class. To cut a long story short: 90 percent of the stiffness and pain miraculously vanished after that class. In my Yelp Review of the studio where I

Still on a a "transcendental tear" after my Yoga teacher training , last night's spiritual excursion was to a Gongyo - a formal chanting ceremony in the Nichiren Buddhism tradition, as practised by members of Soka Gakkai International . Wiki oh wiki, what is Nichiren Buddhism? Nichiren Buddhism focuses on the Lotus Sutra and a belief that all people have an innate Buddha nature, and are capable of attaining enlightenment in their present lifetime. Nichiren Buddhists believe that the spread of Nichiren's teachings and their effect on practitioners' lives will eventually bring about a peaceful, just, and prosperous society. Sounds good to me! I was first introduced to SGI by leadership coach and friend Chuck Craytor , an SGI devotee for over 20 years. I was mesmerized by the power of even a small roomful of people chanting the key mantra, or Daimoku: Nam-myoho-renge-kyo . From Wiki: The basic practice of SGI members is based on faith, practice, and stu

This is NOT Obama, sorry. I think it's a photo of Swami Sivananda, founder of the Sivananda movement - from a postcard I bought at the shop. "Nothing is impossible to a person who practices concentration." Could have been said by Obama himself ... If you've ever wondered where those Hari Krishnas disappear off to when they float down the road in their orange robes, their chants and bells fading into the distance ... I think I've sussed it out. It would be a place like the Sivananda center, which in NYC, is actually a real live ashram tucked away in a row house, with resident Swami . Having recently completely a basic yoga teacher certification , I'm in the process of educating myself about as many different forms of yoga as possible - from the Friday night downward-dog-dating scene at some studios, to the fluorescent-lit gym drill to rubbing trunks with Ganesha himself - it's all good. According to Google, Sivananda is a non-profit organization ded

Fun and games with partner yoga - teacher Michael Kersten shows me a basic Cir du Soleil move Pictured above: Spring 2009 graduates. Spot the Galfromdownunder doing the easy pose - Navasana . Three grueling months are finally done and dusted - I'm now a 200-hour certified Vinyasa yoga teacher, according to the certificate that now sits on top of a pile of books including anatomy, The Bhagavad Gita, the Sutras, and a very thick training manual from Joschi Yoga Institute, NYC. No longer can I make half-baked Downward Facing Dogs with my knees on the ground begging like Fido. Why didn't anyone ever correct me in the past? There's nothing like a formalized course to set you straight on misconceptions you might have had for years. The course was big on anatomy, as Joschi , the head yogi, is a certified authority in that subject, along with psychology, dance, and other related fields. He and business partner Monika run a tight ship; there's no woo-woo laxness about the cours

Above: My mother is a big Sesame Street fan. She carries a photo of Bert and Ernie in her wallet. Shot in FAO Schwartz - where you can create a muppet of any kind but the one you're actually a fan of, due to "copyright". What's up with that? I want my own Prof. Bunsen Honeydew , the most Chinese of all the muppets! My mother celebrates 71 years on the planet today - here in "the center of the universe" (as my NY friends call it). In a week she's practically walked the entire length and breadth of Manhattan. Twice. Not surprising - she's recently done belly dancing, quigong, pilates, tapdancing and yes, poledancing with me ! Read the full montymedia about that. I wouldn't be surprised if she enrolled in breakdancing like the show we stumbled on in Central Park last Friday - c heck out my movie . My mother's hero? "TINA TURNER". She even took yoga and pilates mat classes at Joschi , where I'm currently enrolled in a 200-hour yoga

Bike Friday customer Colin Freestone is a long time yoga practitioner. "When I did a cycling trip and neglected my practice I became "unco" (uncoordinated)" he said. Read more . BACK from a month of customer evangelizing in Arizona and Colorado I've headplanted myself into a 200-hour yoga teacher training course at a small, Chelsea studio called Joschi Body Bodega . Yup, as I told my Facebook friends, "this is the year for getting certified in everything you normally pay for". Certainly better than sinking money into high risk stocks! I've noticed that my cycling life has probably created, shall we say, certain imbalances in my mortal coil. Crunchy knees , and a stiffish upper body which I sought to rectify by taking up poledancing . Only trouble with that one - you need a pole! I realized I can't be the only cyclist noticing these changes. I decided that with the right education, I could devise a yoga practise suitable for my bicycling br