Apr 27 2009
Living Yoga
If my blog were to accurately describe my life right now, I would have to change the name of it to Lolly Yoga*ing Around. In other words, the knitting is happening, but right now, it is to a lesser degree than it has been in quite awhile. A few rows here and there – mainly simple stockinette when I should be working on my mother’s lace 
cardigan… but truth be told, other parts of my life have really “amped” up to such a degree that something needs to be moved to the backburner… long hours at work and long hours at the yoga studio – neither of which I regret or feel remorse over, but for the time being, it is my knitting that lags behind a bit. Of course, this is a short-term thing until things calm down – or until I figure out a way to keep the level of energy I need to do my job and my yoga and to get less sleep (I don’t see that happening!)
The beauty of it is that yoga is a process just like knitting is. Somedays it flows so well – your fingers are flying and you are very “present”. Same with yoga: some days your balance is right on and you are open to new possibilities. Other days you drop stitches and have to frog your work. Or you can’t get into a pose that gave you no trouble the day before… but it is not about perfection. It is about process. It is about what you learn along the way – both about yourself and the world around you. Something that really resonated with me is an oft-repeated quotation in my yoga classes: “It is called yoga practice, not yoga perfection.”
Two weeks ago, I got a sinus infection that turned into a bit of bronchitis. I was frustrated because I could not breathe properly – and my yoga asana practice (the actual physical postures) suffered a bit because breath work is so essential to every movement of the body. When you can’t breathe, you don’t feel well, and that was the case… yet, just because I couldn’t breathe well did not mean that my yoga practice stopped there… in fact, it was through this time that I truly learned about patience.
My journey in yoga teacher training is truly an inner discovery as well as training my body. One of the most influential practices we do as a group involves ethics and codes of conduct – called yamas in Sanskrit. The most-cited and well-known is ahimsa, meaning non-violence and non-harm. Ahimsa is a yama that resonates with me on many levels – I became a vegetarian for ethical reasons (specifically non-violence to living 
creatures). However, ahimsa can also be a deeply personal matter: practicing non-harm and non-violence with yourself! negative self-talk, demeaning yourself, masochistic tendencies… all of these things go against ahimsa. The little nagging voice that tells you that you look fat or that you are stupid. Ahimsa is silencing that deep voice. It is difficult, and it is a lifelong practice. Sometimes the first thing that comes to mind when you fail at something is “if only I were smarter/more aware/prettier/healthier… this would not have happened to me”. Ahimsa is realizing that you have the ability to move past that line of thought. And my my, it is hard. I think it might be particularly difficult for women who often have these pre-conceived notions of what they should be and how they should act.
Each month, we focus on another yama; if you are interested, I can share some of those thoughts and meditations here in the form of other blog posts. It has been an amazing practice – very eye-opening. I thank my teachers for having the forethought to make this part of the yoga teacher training program.
During my last teacher training weekend, we taught a free class for the community. We had a wonderful turn out on a beautiful day – seven of my peers and I led a class with 25 people. We each taught three or four poses, 
and I had the wonderful opportunity to lead the students in several poses: a restorative pose that calms the central nervous system commonly referred to as “Cannoli”, a gentle seated twist pose for the spine, and a nice hip and thigh opener. It was such a wonderful day!
I was hoping to get the opportunity to post this past week over the Earth Day and Arbor Day observances, but things got a bit busy around here… for these two observances that I love so much, I put together a yoga asana sequence that celebrates the life on our planet – I sequenced together poses that are named after animals and natural phenomena using Yoga Journal’s Sequence Builder. Next to each pose, I wrote a detailed description of the pose and how to transition from one pose to the next.
Earth Day Asanas (PDF download)
If you do this sequence, please let me know what you think. It is friendly for all levels. Absolute beginners should not use the photographs as the absolute model, but more of a pose to work toward… these are professional models showing the poses, so please do not be intimidated. Be safe and practice ahimsa!
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**The pose above is a recent progression called Pincha Mayurasana, meaning “Feather of the Peacock”. I had to get over a lot of fear and practice ahimsa to get into this pose itself (and more than a few upper body strength exercises)… and I had a lot of support to get to this point! I was a bit nervous posting it…
thanks for this earth day sequence, lolly! i used to regularly do yoga at home, and have been thinking about reintroducing it to my routine. i will definitely give this sequence a try.
I’m so impressed by you! You are so fantastic!
Beautiful post, Lolly. I so agree that practicing ahimsa to ourselves can be so challenging at times, but so very important. Your sequence looks fabulous – I will definitely try it out on one of my home practice days – and you just took the pressure off for home practice – you rock!
Amazing!
Way to go with the “feather of the peacock”! Someday, perhaps I will be there. I am enjoying hearing about your yoga progression and the different insights you have.
Wow! That is some amazing yoga pose! Life requires balance and clearly you have great balance
Your knitting will flow soon enough.
Great post Lolly! Thanks for taking the time to emphasize the deeper aspects of yoga…and I love that reminder of it always being “practice”! I for one would be an avid reader of any thing you care to share of your yogic experience!
Practicing ahimsa to ourselves is so important! Thanks for the reminder. I, for one, would be interested in reading the thoughts you’d have to share on the yamas.
Great post. Thanks for the inspiration
Thanks for sharing this Lolly – I would also be really interested to hear more about the other yamas
I would definitely be interested in hearing more about this. When I have (sporadically) practised yoga I have always concentrated only on the physical whilst being being aware that it could offer so much more but not really knowing any more than that. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Thank you for reminding me about ahimsa’s including self-talk. It IS a hard concept to begin to live. And thank you for sharing the yoga sequence. I will give it a try tomorrow! PLEASE write more about your yoga journey!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I’m also a vegetarian for ethical reasons, but I never thought about the idea of non-violence applying to the way we treat ourselves. I’m very self-critical but your post has given me lots to think about.
Thanks for this post, Lolly. I have been thinking a lot recently along similar lines. I find it so much easier to practice ahimsa with others than with myself, that thinking about the imperative to practice it with myself feels very counter-intuitive. Last weekend my teacher asked me how I would treat my children if they were hurt, sad or struggling, and how I would treat myself; and her challenge to me as to why my answers were so different has given me a lot to think about. It’s good to hear that I’m not alone in this!
Thanks for such a wonderful post. I really love that this is becoming such a big part of your life. Your explanation about yoga practice and positive vs negative thinking were very uplifting. Thanks for the continuing inspiration – whether it be yoga, life, or knitting.
[...] Excerpt from: Lolly Knitting Around » Living Yoga [...]
Thanks for sharing that sequence, I’m looking forward to trying it.
I find it so much easier to practice yoga in a class setting but have really been making an effort to practice more regularly at home. It’s hard not to get down on myself when I plan to practice but, for whatever reason, don’t end up doing it. Your words about practicing ahimsa to ourselves are inspiring.
A very thought-provoking post. I liked your explanation about ahimsa and how to apply it to ourselves as well – I haven’t thought about it that way before. It resonates with my own metta (lovingkindness or compassion) practice and how the first step in that is to offer compassion to ourselves, which is not always an intuitive thing to do. And another request for more posts about the other yamas you are learning about.
Lolly, for me this is the best post I ever read on your blog (not that I didn’t like your others).
Maybe it came in the right moment. I just picked up a daily (very gentle) yoga pratice at home, as soon as I was feeling good enough after many weeks of sickness.
I’m quite often suffering from bronchitis et.al. and my idea is deepening my breathing and strengthen my lungs through yoga to prevent getting sick so often.
After work today I sat in front of my notebook and saw your long article. So I picked up my knitting and enjoyed reading. Yes, I always have something easy to knit, so I can do it blind.
It’s not only for the topic that I’m happy with your post but because of the two so special b/w-photos. By incidence (in which I don’t believe….) I’m recently pondering the idea of going for b/w for some photos. Yours are so beautiful and calming.
As you might guess I would enjoy more of lolly yoga*ing around.
Oh, and your demanding asana looks great. I had to work many hours to overcome the fear doing the headstand against the wall, so I think I do understand.
So, now I’m off for my yard and my mat.
Greetings
Tally
What a thoughtful post! I think a lot of us, men and women, have a hard time settling that voice. There’s a difficult line between acceptance and motivation, I think, and how one practices one with the other.
I’m really looking forward to trying your earth day sequence; we’re having the kind of weather that’ll be great to do it outside with the birds.
I’ve just started doing yoga, and looking forward to more. Enjoyed your thoughts on ahimsa.
This is a timely post for me (found your blog from ‘Namaste From Deluth’
). I have been feeling chaotic and stressed, and that deep negative voice has been popping up more recently. However, Yoga outside this weekend was helpful, and hopefully more yoga outside today in the nice weather 
I love my home practice and will be trying the Earth Day Sequence- Thank you!
Blessings,
Lisa
I am very interested in hearing more about your journey through your yoga practice. Everyone’s journey is so different and we can all benefit by learning about others’ experiences. Thank you for the Earth Day series as well. I have been feeling distant from my yoga and this may be just the thing to ground me.
Beautiful Feather of the Peacock pose!
I’ll try your earth day sequence soon, looks great.
I love the yoga intertwined with knitting, no problems here.
Lolly–yes, please continue to write about the insights you gain through yoga practice and yoga teacher training. Do no harm. My motto for the day. And tomorrow morning, I’ll try out your Earth Day sequence. Looking forward to it.
Don’t be nervous about posting anything–I’m very impressed by what you can do! And by the way you write so well about it. Thank you for taking us on your journey through training. It is fascinating, and I find myself wishing I could find such a safe and supportive environment to learn yoga too!
I really enjoyed following the Wiki link and reading about the 10 aspects. These are by and large principles whose presence in my life are bits and pieces I’ve stumbled across as I have sought to live a life of kindness and truth. I’d love to read more about your journeys with the topics.
Lolly,
I, too, am a knitter/yogi/vegetarian/blogger/eco-concious woman and have been thrilled to see your recent posts on yoga. I have been wanting to go through teacher training, as well, but am intimidated, and have a knee injury to deal with first.
In any case, I would love to hear more about the yamas! Blog away!
And congrats on the peacock pose!!! I understand what you mean – I am still trying to master half-headstand, and I get so scared sometimes, because most of the time, I fall down in a big way! Keep it up – it’s an inspiration!
I love the new yoga content! I’ve been doing some rowing lately after a long hiatus and I often find myself relating it to other life challenges. A cool thing about rowing is that you do something over and over and over which means that you’re constantly given a chance to improve. You have to let go of ‘mistakes’ really quickly. You also can’t focus on comparing yourself to those around you. These are both really great lessons for knitting and for life! Nice to hear you’re getting the same sort of stuff from your yoga practice.
What an incredible post, Lolly. You are so inspiring, and look at that yoga pose! Yowsa! What a strong, smart woman you are. Thanks for sharing your words with us.
My sister has been living in Brasil for two yrs now and she started Asthanga Yoga about 18 months ago. She loves it. Your moves remind me of hers
You look so good and balanced
I really love reading about your yoga practice and work towards becoming a yoga teacher. Your peaceful energy and love for yoga really shines through. And wow, what a beautiful woman in a beautiful pose. I bet you did a LOT of dolphin poses to get to that point!
Another reason why you might be busy is all that hockey, huh? You must be so excited, your Pens made it to the next round! Crosby against Ovechkin, should be good!!!
I think it’s great that you’re finding so much fulfillment and purpose in your yoga studies. It’s certainly normal over time for people interests to change and grow, and I am happy to go along on the journey with you!
Loved your post! I took up yoga and knitting at about the same time and I too can see the similarities in them. Both make us feel good about life and teach us to slow down, enjoy the moment and have patience.
very cool, lolly! i don’t think i’ve told you before but i love reading your yoga posts. i got back into yoga (mainly ashtanga) this year after a several year hiatus and it’s been great on so many levels. thanks for sharing your sequence!
Hi Lolly – I also found your link from the NamastefromDuluth.blogspot.com. I noticed that Kristin also linked to our teacher’s blog, http://www.TheYamasandNiyamas.blogspot.com. Folks might want to know more about this. Our teacher, Deborah Adele, has written a book on the Yamas and Niyamas. It is insightful and easy to follow. Visit http://www.TheYamasandNiyamas.com for more information.
Thanks for starting the discussion.
Sara
I just attended a first class in yoga for beginners offered for grad students at my university today. I found it challenging to be still, especially toward the end, but felt so energized after the class. I will save your post to refer back to when I am a bit more experienced. I would also love to hear more about the yamas. Oh, what I would give to silence that voice, even for just a little while. Thank you for sharing this part of your journey.
I love your yoga posts. Just with regular yoga practice I’ve found myself being less critical of my body. I haven’t even tried to work on it but I think with strength in the body comes a strength in the mind you don’t even expect. Now I know there is an actual term for calming the negative thoughts. Also thank you for the Earth Day practice I can’t wait to add it to my practices.
I love your earth day sequence!
I’ve never heard of cannoli pose before ~ is there a sanskrit name? It sounds delicious
I have such respect for you and your yoga skills! I am just awful at it-years later and still can barely balance on one foot! You have been such an inspiration to me; whenever I am feeling like I just want to throw in the towel and give up all this healthy stuff, I head on over here and get recharged. Just wanted you to know that.
And thanks so much for posting the photo. I know what you mean about feeling a little shy to show off, but you look amazing-so healthy and strong, not to mention beautiful, and it is important for women to realize there is no ‘perfect body’ for yoga, or for any other fitness program. We come in all shape and sizes, and being in good health is what should matter most!
Yes, please continue to share your yoga (yama-thoughts and meditations) practice with us. Your work is inspiring!
Wow! That photo… not to mention uttanasana. I’m working towards flexibility and strength with tae kwon do. I suspect yoga would be a wonderful complement to that work. Hopefully someday the budget will stretch and be flexible enough for both.
Thanks for sharing about body image, etc. And, don’t worry, there will be a time for knitting again!
I love this line, “Sometimes the first thing that comes to mind when you fail at something is “if only I were smarter/more aware/prettier/healthier… this would not have happened to me”, and your connection of this negative talk to ahimsa…thank you!