SenemZen

Unbelievable transformation, unbelievable determination. Also, inspirational in showing how yoga really does work as therapy. This man was a gulf war veteran and was told he could not ever walk again. No yoga instructor wanted to take him on. He practiced slowly and sent his teacher little clips of his progress. Even the teacher cried when he saw what he accomplished. Amazing!!!

Scientific evidence   that yoga   IS   enough to keep you fit.  I always knew this to be true. I'm so glad someone did the research. Where else other than in California? Yay!  I'm so glad, because I never liked gyms. The remaining challenge is to make time for yoga and pranayama, and meditation daily.  Reminds me of the gym buffs who'd come to class and not be able to hold Trikonasana, and feel crushed. 

That's right. Tight hamstrings. The number one thing a yogini would lose, if she is no longer a yoga teacher everyday and has an office job would be her hamstring flexibility. This is what my Paschimottanasana looks like these days:  ...not what it used to be. Not only does it bother my ego, but it truthfully doesn't feel good to have tight hamstrings. Paschimottanasana is a hard pose to begin with, and it takes a long time to feel good in it.  I currently work 56 hours a week at an office job (one needs to make a living), but I won't deny that it's taking a toll on me. As I said, the first thing I notice is the tighter hamstrings. A tighter lower back that experiences pain sometimes (before: never ). Some funny wrist issues, not exactly CPS since I still do yoga. Tighter shoulders, tight jaw when stressed...and of course, neck issues. I stare at a computer for a long time, and I notice the turtle head Cynthia Funk had taught us happening: the way our heads sta

This Saturday I finally went to Cihangir Yoga after a very long time. I had dropped by back in November or December, but didn't take a class. It was more to say, "hey, I just came back from Toronto, I can teach yoga in English...just so you know." Either way, I have been recently feeling like I need to connect to the yoga community in Istanbul regardless of me teaching or not, and found myself a yoga buddy to get my ass into class when I'm too tamasic...(thanks Elif!) and got to David's 2.5 hour class. The class was in English and David would throw in a few Turkish phrases here and there like, "lift your popo " and "beş nefes". This being Istanbul, there was some crazy guy screaming outside, who probably needed yoga himself. David joked, "that was the pilates class" which made us all laugh. It just felt so good to be there. The class, hearing English, the familiarity of the poses (the poses are the same no matter where they're ta

I've been teaching in Turkish for a while now, and it's interesting to observe that it's not easy! I was expecting this, it did not come as a surprise. There really was no way to prepare for actual interactions with students in a different language than I have been accustomed to. Even if I rehearsed, read Turkish yoga books, or wrote down a sample class in Turkish (all which I did), nothing can replace the actual moment where the interaction has to take place organically. Only in my 12th class did I feel like I was relaying almost everything I wanted to, in the way I wanted to, that felt natural to me, in Turkish. (and even then it felt incomplete) I felt like my yoga teacher self again, who I had felt had disappeared in the first few classes. In those classes I felt like a child, who'd say to an adult "I know so much more than I can explain, honestly, I can say all this in a more worldly way...really! just wait." My teachings truly felt like they were Lost in

Very interesting article . How yoga can be risky, and even problematic when done poorly, or taught by unqualified instructors. Even teachers can injure themselves if not careful. Çok ilginç bir makale. Yoganın dikkatli olunmadığında potansiyel zararları...Hep kendimize ve birlikte çalıştığımız eğitmenlere dikkat edelim. Hocalar bile kendilerini incitebilir. New York Times, January 5, 2012. PS: Of course if you do the poses like these guys, you'll get injured!