Image Copyright 2012 @ Phyzz Yoga

I’d like to share (with permission), an email from one of the participants in this year’s retreat to La Duna:

“I wrote this to a dear friend this morning about the Phyzz Retreat in La Duna, Mexico and I’d like to share it here, as is:

Some of it:

• Seeing whales less than five feet away from a tiny boat on an otherwise empty ocean surface
• Witnessing the birth, first breath, first words, first steps and first milk of newborn goats and sensing their mothers’ choice to have shared this with us
• Seeing the sun rise every morning on the ocean, then feeling it heat my face through morning meditation
• Yoga twice a day under an outdoor palapa, as birds found and refound their nests above us
• Snorkeling with sea lions
• Being in the desert, surrounded by cactus forests
• Sleeping and waking in a wooden hut
• 10 foot manta rays from that same boat
• Having fresh gazpacho on an empty beach nestled in the curves of an island in the middle of the Cortez Sea
• Reading medicine cards every morning to think about the new way I will look at myself
• Entering an ancient canyon with a Lakota ritual
• Kayaking along the desert shore
• Reflexology massage accompanied by spiritual insight

Surrounded by the smells, sounds and intentions of goats, friends, dogs, chickens, cardinals, sea lions, whales, woodpeckers, cacti, canyons, spanish…. it feels nearly impossible to describe and I know I will be forever changed by La Duna. I sobbed on the airplane, yesterday. My heart ached when I woke up this morning and I was again surrounded by walls.

I hope you can come next year.”

It’s true: I’ve been known to work the odd project management consulting gig here and there. Let’s just say that when it works, having a little extra cash to pad your local yoga teacher’s pockets ain’t a bad thing.

My current gig recently had me plan, organize, and execute a 3-day conference that drew attendees from all over the globe. The timing of this conference was such that, apart from working my “dayjob” part-time, I was also just off the ramp from leading a trip to India, on the home stretch planning this year’s retreat to La Duna in Mexico, writing a song to perform, planning my wedding, and oh yeah, teaching some yoga.

Hel-LO? Stress City, can I help you? 

Fast forward through all that to this afternoon, Day 3 of the conference, I’m sitting in a meeting room feeling a LOT less present and  less engaged than I was two days prior, my low back hurts, my neck and shoulders are tight, and I’ve been eating corporate conference food for the past 2.5 days, which makes my tummy not feel so great…

…all this to say that in that moment I realize: MY BODY DOESN’T LIKE ME VERY MUCH.

Sideline: As it happens, I have to leave to teach my regularly scheduled class at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (a.k.a. “The Hutch”, one of my longest-running clients) because I couldn’t find a sub. So, off I go.

Now, I can’t tell you the number of times someone has said something along the lines of, “Oh, you teach yoga? You must do A LOT OF IT when you teach! You’re so lucky.” I’ll be the first to tell you that I am very much not practicing while I teach, and any teacher worth their rocks will agree that teaching is not practicing. Teaching is, at best, lopsidedly practicing; sure, you might demonstrate a pose on one side, let’s say, but you’re probably walking around and adjusting folks for the other side, or otherwise holding space for others, and in general, not in your “zone”.

But here’s the thing. Even in light of all that, suffice it to say that after teaching that one hour class, I left  in a lighter mood, dripping with rainbow sparkles and heart full of absolute joy and ooey gooey gratitude that I get to do this for at least part of my living. My back was humming – my body felt tingly and ALIVE, and AWAKE!!!

Here are my main takeaways from this experience:

1. I have lost my resilience for that much “corporate sitting”. If I felt that poopy after just 2.5 days, I can only imagine how that feeling might be magnified and extended for someone else who does it all the dang time, day in and day out.
2. If I felt that much better after only “quasi-practicing” (i.e., teaching) for an hour, I can only imagine the effects of a sustained practice rhythm.

I realize that much of the “feel more energized, clear, blah blah blah” can sound like marketing-speak when you hear it over and over and over, especially in my line of work. But guess what?

Turns out this yoga stuff actually works.

“Today may there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.”

Okay.

This NY Times article is furiously making its Facebook rounds, and I’ve now been emailed this article enough times that I compelled to say something about it. There’s been quite a bit of a yoga buzz in the news of late. Perhaps this is par for the course, being that it’s the season of New Year’s resolutions and all.

Part of the reason this one article is spreading like wildfire is that the headline borders on fear-mongering, basically shouting from the mountaintops about how dangerous yoga can be.

Well, duh.

Just like anything else, yoga has its risks. Many factors can amplify these risks, including taking class from teachers who are inexperienced and therefore lack the knowledge and wisdom to give proper instruction or advice. You can also take class from teachers who teach for more dubious, less-than-honorable reasons, and there isn’t really a positive way to enumerate those reasons so I’ll just leave it at that.**

In my training to become a teacher (and mind you, we’re talking a 7-month-long immersion, not your weekend-warrior-presto-change-o-now-you’re-suddenly-a-yoga-teacher kind of “training”…not to toot my horn here, but it’s true), we were told over and over that yoga isn’t about the poses, matter of fact they are just a small part of the journey.

But, it’s not just about the teacher. Yes, a yoga teacher’s number one responsibility is to provide a safe space, as awesome and insightful yogi Alison Hinks points out. If you read between the lines in the NY Times article, it becomes clear that the real “danger” lies within both teachers and students: ego. Yep, that means you and me both, yogi.

Again, I’m not saying that yoga isn’t without its risks. Glenn Black, one of the veteran yoga teachers featured in the NYT article, contends that “the vast majority of people” should give up yoga altogether because “It’s simply too likely to cause harm.” I happen to think that’s a bit extreme. It might be closer to the truth to say that folks shouldn’t practice for the wrong reasons.

It is never a bad idea to consider why we are “doing yoga”, before, during, and after we practice. “Doing yoga” to get “yoga butt” (and I can’t even believe there’s actually a wikipedia article on that)…not a good reason.  ”Doing yoga” to be able to “do _____ ” (fill in the pose name)…also probably not the best reason.

Yoga isn’t just exercise. Yoga isn’t just deriving life-appropriate truisms from teachers waxing philosophic while you happen to be getting a workout. Yoga is largely — in fact one might say exclusively —  about developing awareness. Awareness of the self at all levels. One of my teachers here in Seattle, Troy Lucero – for whom I have the utmost respect for his no-frills style, deep insight, and way with words — teaches that yoga is about accessing our entire “neural net”; it’s about spreading the awareness throughout the body, so it doesn’t just sit “in that vague area behind the face.”

For this yogi, that’s reason enough to practice AND to teach. That, and this lady:

Mrs. Calman, Amazing Australian "Yoga Grandma"

**Not to mention that the original title of this blog post was “The Case for Regulation (i.e., Not Yoga Alliance)”

Image: flickr user Muffet

I recently walked into a very busy yoga studio and asked if I could leave some postcards advertising Phyzz’s upcoming trip to India this February. The person behind the desk literally raised an eyebrow at me and motioned suspiciously, “Let me see’em.” After taking a look, they huffed, “Sorry, can’t post’em. We already have people in-house that are going to India.”

At some point in recent history, many studios adopted a policy of not allowing the display of yoga activities, classes, and/or workshops at competing yoga studios. These policies have been enforced to varying degrees, but competing? Really? Is that what we’re doing?

I get it. These are hard times for many. I get that business is business is business and that you can’t just roll over and fork money over to the next yogi who’s just trying their damndest to survive and keep their livelihood alive.

But I’m using this piece of real estate on the Interwebs today to remind you (and myself) of an ostensibly familiar concept called Aparigraha - one of the Yamas, or self-restraints in the 8 Limbs system of yoga.  Aparigraha is a Sanskrit word that means non-grasping, non-possessiveness, or, more simply put, greedlessness.

With all that’s going on in the world right now with regard to the economy I ask: Do we, as yogis, really want to mirror the paradigm of the few controlling the resources of what should be available to the many?

Again, as a business owner myself, I get that it makes business sense to take measure to stand out amidst the competition. There is a certain amount of “win” drive that one must access in order to make a living.

But how healthy is it to cling to our attachments to wealth and prosperity, to the point where we pointedly institute policies and measures that inhibit the proliferation of yoga as a whole? Don’t we want more people — in fact, as many people as possible —  to experience the joy of yoga? Isn’t that what we’re about as teachers, students, and stewards of this 5000-year old science?

C’mon, what are we really doing here, people?

Image: flickr user David Paul Ohmer

As a yoga teacher that specializes in “bringing yoga to the workplace and other unique spaces”, I’ve seen a wide range of spaces.

I’ve taught in conference rooms, parks, theater lobbies, college auditoriums, classrooms, tropical palapas, kitchens, rooftops, organic smoothie joints, and a whole lot of other places.

As far as yoga in the workplace goes, however, some spaces really lend themselves to holding a yoga class, while in other situations, my students and I get to use our noggins to transform it so that there’s enough room for mats and the people on them.

Here are three notable workplace makeovers:

Salmon Bay Lending

(Read about their yoga experience here). Upon entry you’re greeted by a cute reception area with tile floors and great natural light, with a screened-off section that holds a round conference table….a yoga class in here? Really?

Then the chairs go in the closet, a few helping hands move furniture, and…voila! Room for the entire office of 7 ladies to share a yoga class together!

Office Nomads

(Read about their yoga experience here) Open and spacious, but also divvied up into sections with “pods” of desks. We hold our yoga class in the back part of the joint called “The Cafe”, which is intended to be a more casual modifiable, multi-purpose space.

Phyzz has been teaching yoga at Office Nomads for over two years as of this writing, and although layout of The Cafe has evolved over the years, the Office Nomads yogis (Office “YOmads” or, more affectionately, ONOYOgis) and I have got the act of clearing the space for yoga down to a science. So much so that sometimes we can even get a little creative…

The Hutch (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

(Hey, this class made the local news! Watch the VIDEO.) I can’t say enough about the fact that, not only have I been teaching at the Hutch since 2003 (that’s over 8 years as of this post), but I wasn’t the first person to teach yoga there, and neither was the person before me, nor the person before that person. It’s accurate to say that there has been a yoga class at The Hutch for nearly TWO DECADES. They are certainly one of the most dedicated group of students I teach.

Perhaps it’s because the conference room in which we’ve been practicing (it’s changed floors a couple of times, but the layout and furniture have remained the same) has a stunning view of Lake Union, and the tables are so incredibly easy to move you can do it within the span of a minute.

Here, let me prove it to you. The Wondertables: Clearing Space For Yoga At The Hutch (VIDEO)

UPDATE: Registration might be officially closed (I say “might” because I’m waiting on a couple of strong yeses to confirm)! For the first time ever, I may have to turn folks away from coming on a yoga retreat with me. Which is a great and not-so-great problem to have, as I would LOVE to accept everyone that wants to come and spend a quiet weekend deepening their practice with yours truly and others.

But the truth is, a group can get too big and unwieldy in these sorts of settings. So in the interest of preserving a sense of intimacy during the weekend, I may have to close registration this weekend.

A BIG, SLOPPY-KISS THANK YOU to the amazing folks that are coming to OPI with Phyzz in November! Remember, there’s still India, and Mexico next year!

—

Here’s the deal.

I recently learned about the awesomeness that is Olympic Park Institute. It sits on right on sparkling Lake Crescent in the Olympic National Park. It’s totally gorgeous, and a very special place. So special, in fact, that I’m planning my own wedding there next August!

During the wedding planning process, it occurred to me that it would be a great place for a retreat, and it turns out this is the only weekend that it’s available the rest of the year. So, I’m putting the word out there to see if there is enough interest, so please feel free to pass this email on and help spread the word!

We need at least 5 people to make this thing go, so if you’re seriously considering it, please let me know ASAP.

A Pre-Winter Weekend Yoga Retreat

Where: Olympic Park Institute on beautiful Lake Crescent, Olympic National Park

When: Nov 4-6, 2011

Schedule (subject to change):

Friday, Nov 4th

Arrive afternoon

Mellow early evening yoga practice

Dinner served

After dinner short sit, followed by free time

Saturday, Nov 5th

Optional early morning sit

Morning yoga practice

Free time for reflection and to explore the beautiful lake and surrounding forest trails

Lunch

Afternoon free time

Early evening yoga practice

Dinner + social time

Short sit

Sunday, Nov 6th

Optional early morning sit

Morning yoga practice

Breakfast

Free time

Lunch available if desired

Farewells, departure

Cost:

The cost for this beautiful weekend would be $335, which would include all meals, accommodations, and yoga and meditation classes.

The price is for shared accommodations in modern, heated cabins that includes a central common space with four or six private rooms. Each room sleeps two to six guests with an adjacent bathhouse available with private restroom and showers. Wheelchair accessible facilities are available.  A limited number of non-shared, private accommodations are available for an additional $60 per night.

Registration:

Email karen@phyzzyoga.com or call 206.214.5169 for more info or to register. I also posted a Facebook event invite to get the word out about this retreat, so there’s that.