Category: Yoga

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Power Yoga Yoga

Concentrate on Arm Balances

Power yoga is intended to leave you feeling invigorated, confident and strong.  Wherever you’ve come from or whatever you’ve been doing, spending an hour on your mat will bring your focus to the present moment.

Dharana is a state of concentration. It is the sixth of eight limbs of ashtanga yoga and means “hold steady,” “single focus” or “concentration.” It is a state of mind, and in terms of productivity in your life off the mat, it sounds like a good place to be! To be able to focus and concentrate on a specific task for a period of time will certainly help you achieve your personal and professional goals. The trouble is, there are so many distractions afoot that concentrating on a task can be more challenging than the task itself.

Enter Power Yoga.

Power yoga, while not offering a life-changing prophecy, does create a time (about an hour) where your focus will be entirely on the practice of yoga. Whether you consciously decide to focus on the moment or not, it is unlikely that your mind will be able to focus on much other than the task at hand when that task is a handstand, or an arm balance, or an upside down dog.

Power yoga might not change your life. But then again, it just might. And that change may be in the most unexpected way. Whatever your reason for stepping on to your mat, I aim to help you step off your mat feeling strong, focused and prepared to tackle the next challenge. By leading you though a challenging sequence of poses, I hope to create a yoga practice where your focus is on the present moment. I hope that you can bring that focus with you off the mat to cultivate productivity.

This week, we’re practicing astravakasana (eight-angle pose). We’ll progress to this arm balance with a flowing warmup and a series of poses designed to lengthen the psoas (outer hip), stretch the shoulders and strengthen the core. Eight-angle pose provides a chance for everyone to have a laugh and to challenge themselves to balance on their hands. Not everyone will be able to fly into the pose, but everyone’s concentration will be completely on the act of attempting the pose and that dharana, that steady focus, is the place where I hope everyone will end up.

Join me for Power Yoga on Monday/Wednesday at 7pm and Tuesday at noon at Taiga Yoga Studio. We will let go of distractions, concentrate completely on the tasks at hand, and maybe fly into new poses.

Kate Covello teaches power yoga inspired by the Baptiste Journey Into Power sequence. Her current goal is to focus on tasks at work for 30 minutes at a time, and refrain from getting distracted by social media! She also plans to hold a handstand for ten breaths in the very near future.

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Handstands Power Yoga Taiga Yoga Uncategorized Yoga YTT Blog

What is Power Yoga?

What is Power Yoga? The term power yoga can be found on many yoga schedules and there is some confusion on the meaning of the term. Power yoga is designed to make you strong. You will likely sweat during the practice and there will probably be some core-strengthening poses. Some teachers will follow a set series of poses in each class, while other teachers will create different sequences every day.

Power Yoga is aimed at individuals who don’t want a lot of chanting and meditation in their yoga practice. The time on the mat will be focused on strengthening, balancing and sweating. The sequencing will be challenging, but will be adaptable to every student. Baron Baptiste describes his sequencing as a blueprint for an invigorating vinyasa yoga practice and says that his brand of power yoga is adaptable for all body types, ages and fitness levels.

Most power yoga sequences are based on Ashtanga yoga, but will likely flow faster than a traditional Ashtanga practice. Where Ashtanga encourages practioners to hold each pose for five breaths, power yoga sequences will likely hold each pose for far fewer breaths, sometimes moving fluidly throughout the entire practice, cultivating one breath per movement and not pausing in any pose.

What to expect from my Power Classes:

• Flowing sequences. We will start slowly, taking the time integrate breath with movement, but expect to flow between poses. All of my sequences offer a logical progression from the floor to standing and back again.
• Sweaty yogis. Sweating is encouraged. If you tend to perspire a lot, you may find it beneficial to bring a small towel to class. The towel can be used under your hands so you have a firm base in downdog or to dry your arms and legs so you don’t slip out of side crow. Be sure to hydrate before arriving on your mat.

• Some core-strengthening. There will be 100 core-strengthening poses strategically placed throughout the practice. They might be extremely challenging or relatively simple to you, but we’re a team and we’re going to do all 100 of them together.

• Handstands. Try one or try 50. Handstands are a fun inversion and are challenging and will make you laugh. My current goal is to hold a handstand for ten breaths! I’m not there yet, and I’m having a great time building up the strength and confidence to get there. In each class, I will offer tricks to help you practice your handstand.

• Accessible language. I will offer clear instruction on where to place your hands and feet in each pose. That being said, if you’re ever unclear on the alignment in a pose, ask! Shout it out! Someone else in the room probably has the exact same question.

• A friendly vibe. I encourage everyone to join me on the mat for Power Yoga. I don’t care if you’ve never tried yoga before or if you’ve been teaching at an Ashram for the past 20 years: you’re all welcome. In the 60-90 minutes that we practice together, we are a team and we will be learning, progressing and having fun together. A note to the newbies: every single person in the room was new to yoga at some point, and we all know what it feels like to not have a clue what is happening. If you’re new, you will probably fall over a few times and there will definitely be poses that are unavailable to you, but I can assure you that nobody is criticizing or judging you!

Join me on your mat at lunchtime on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7pm and Tuesdays at Noon at Taiga Yoga in Yellowknife. Whatever your reason for wanting to practice yoga, I can’t wait to share my practice with you!

www.taigayoga.com

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Uncategorized Yoga

Creating Space

Recently my boyfriend and I packed up our stuff, piled it up in my parent’s garage and left town. We left our friends, the comfort of having our own home and our jobs. We did this bravely. We are going back and will set up life there again, but for the next ten months, we’re going to live in a variety of places, look for work where we can and try out new countries, languages, food and friends.

A routine has yet to be established, and likely there won’t be much routine over the next ten months, and the lack of routine has been challenging for both of us. Previously scheduled activities like mealtimes, daily exercise and walking the dog now occur at unpredictable times.

Most of the time, I feel happy about the changes. The so-called “freedom of the road” and excitement about not knowing what is happening next stir my passion for the unfamiliar and leave me feeling eager to see what the future will hold.
Inevitably, I occasionally suffer the opposite: scared, and a feeling that my life is disorganized and chaotic. We currently don’t have a home to call our own, our stuff is scattered between two cities and we have no idea where we are going to live when we do go home next year.

In my yoga class, I refer to trying new poses as “creating space.” I challenge my students to try new balances or challenging core exercises with the intention of creating more space in their bodies. By breathing deeply and being patient, students are able to let go of any pre-conceived notions about their physical abilities and surprise themselves with where their yoga practice can go.

When I feel unhappy about the fact that all my stuff is in storage and I don’t know where I am going to live next year, I remind myself that by letting go of familiarity and inviting in new challenges, I am creating space for new adventures in my life. By abandoning the pre-conceived notions of what the future should look like, I am allowing my life to bend and stretch in exciting new directions.

By letting go of physical limitations and expectations about what a yoga practice should look like, my students are able to tap into strength and bend and stretch into new and exciting poses.

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Uncategorized Yoga

thank you Whitegold!

To the ladies (and fellow) of Whitegold Yoga: thank you! Thank you for being a community of commited yogis. I have practiced at a lot of studios in a lot of places, and yoga usually feels like an individual sport, a solo endeavor. Indeed, as a teacher I frequently encourage my students to look within and reflect on the self. Prior to coming to WGY, my yoga practice included sitting quietly, practicing without paying attention to the individuals on the adjacent mats and leaving with a nod and a thanks to the instructor. The students at WGY do not allow for this type of lonely yoga practice and for this I am grateful. In the minutes leading up to practice at WGY, there is chatter, catching up on each others lives and families, discussion of cooking and skiing and above all, positive encouragement and support offered between the mats. Thank you, Whitegold yogis. I have lived in Whistler for over ten years and repeatedly heard talk of the amazing community and friendly and supportive people. But until I started practicing and teaching at WGY, the “whistler community” was only folklore. Apart from skiing, I hadn’t found a group of friends in Whistler; I hadn’t been introduced to the community. Whitegold Yoga IS the community. To the ladies and dudes of Whitegold Yoga: you are Whistler in miniature. Diverse, strong, ambitious and, above all, supportive. It has been a pleasure and an honour to practice and teach alongside such extraordinary individuals. To the ladies and gentlemen of Whitegold Yoga: thank you for your suppport and friendship. I will be back.

To everyone else, if you haven’t practiced at Whitegold Yoga yet, there is a wide variety of classes including several free karma classes with new teacher trainees and you should go. With Erin at the helm, you are certain to step off your mat feeling strong, supported and inspired. Whatever your reasons for practicing yoga, try it with the WGY team. They embody team spirit,acceptance and kindness. The first and second limbs of ashtanga: The yamas and the niyamas consist of striving for kindness to yourself and to others around you. Whitegold yoga teaches kindness through strength and support.

Whitegold Yoga: on Nancy Greene Drive in Whistler, BC

www.whitegoldyoga.com

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backbends Yoga

getting into backbends

Spring is upon us, and with it comes a desire to make changes in my life. Every year, with the arrival of spring I feel a sense of stagnation in my life, and I desperately seek ways to bring fresh energy into every aspect of my life. In my apartment, I find this fresh energy by throwing away boxes of old clothes and books. I also take the time to spring-clean my kitchen, especially the fridge. Spring marks the return of fresh herbs and fresh vegetables to my diet. Spring also brings with it extra daylight hours, and the reduced darkness gives me renewed energy to set goals and make plans for the upcoming months.

In my yoga practice, backbends feel like the perfect way to invite in change and renewed energy. Winter in a cold climate often finds us shuffling along, laden down with heavy clothing, and hunched forward. Spring is a time to peel off layers, open our hearts up and find more time to run around outside, coming out of the hunched and face-protecting posture of the chilly Canadian winter!

Consider how you feel after you have been hunched over a computer for several hours, picking weeds in your garden or cleaning out a drawer. The natural instinct afterwards is to stand up straight, reach your hands overhead and stretch upwards! This is a backbend, and this is exactly the motion that springtime backbends are cultivating.

Backbends are the perfect antidote to a long winter and have many benefits. Backbends can

release tension along the front of the body
open the heart, inviting in renewed energy and letting go of stale emotions
counteract bad posture
realign the spine to its natural curve
help with digestive function
relieve stress by stimulating the heart (fourth) chakra
open the lower back, which will provide freedom from insecurity
prevent you from taking yourself too seriously.
To safely venture into backbends in a yoga practice, consider first warming up your spine with 3-4 complete sun salutations, warming up your hips with a pose such as crescent lunge, and warming up your spine with cat/cow, revolved lunge and several easy twists.

Once warmed up, some backbends to try include

locust, baby cobra, little bridge, full wheel, camel and upward-facing bow

Remember, as always, to practice patience with yourself. Move slowly into each posture, be mindful of pain or discomfort and be intentional in your practice. Finally, respect the limitations of your own body, and do not concern yourself with what other students in the yoga class are doing or with pictures you see of backbends on the internet!

Happy Spring and Happy back bending!

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Uncategorized yin yoga Yoga

The practice of Yin

For a long time, power yoga (vinyasa flow) was my go-to yoga practice. I loved the muscular effort of the practice. I loved how lean my thighs and tummy became after several weeks of consistent power practice. I loved the sweat and the effort. I loved the strength I developed. One day, my vinyasa teacher said she was offering a yin practice, and that I should go. She told me that yin yoga involves holding static poses for several minutes with the intention of stretching the connective tissue between the muscles. Bo-ring, I thought to myself. I didn’t go. For years, I didn’t go. Friends and family reported back to me that they were loving yin, that I should go, that it feels amazing, that it feels relaxing, that it increases strength, that it compliments the muscular aspect of vinyasa flow. Still, I didn’t go. I wanted six-pack abs, I wanted defined triceps, I wanted strong quadriceps. What could yin yoga possibly have to do with those things?

Yin Yoga, it turns out, provides an ideal compliment to an energetic, heat-producing power class. Indeed, vinyasa flow and power flow classes are often referred to as yang-style yoga. Yang is energetic, hot, changing, mobile and active. Yin is  stable, passive, immoveable and cool. Generally a yin yoga practice will include only a few poses, all of which will be held for 3-5 minutes or longer. By sitting in postures for a relatively long period of time, students will give the connective tissues in their joints a chance to lengthen and loosen. A yin practice involves settling into the shape of a pose, finding the physical edge, and then staying still in that shape.

Yin yoga deliberately targets the deeper connective tissues. Connective tissue is made up of fascia, tendons and ligaments and by targeting these elements of the body, practitioners of yin are able to increase stamina, balance, body awareness and have a greater ability to comfortably sit still.

What to expect from a yin practice

To reap the most benefit from a yin practice, it is suggested that muscles be cool and relaxed. If muscles are warm and active, then they tend to absorb most of the benefits of the tension of the stretch. To this end, yin yoga can be practiced in the morning, after a long trip, or before sleep.

Before practicing yin yoga, consider the following suggestions:

  • practice on an empty stomach.
  • avoid wearing perfume and cologne during practice.
  • remove jewellery and wrist watches
  • dress in layers; this type of practice does not generate internal heat.

During a yin practice:

  • Every time you come into a pose, go only to the point where you feel significant resistance in the body. Refrain from immediately going as deeply into a pose as you possibly can.  By not going “all the way” into a pose, your body has a chance to move deeper into the stretch as the connective tissue loosens.
  • The essence of yin is yielding. Yin yoga is an opportunity to notice what your body is capable of and accept its limitations. During practice, many emotions may bubble up to the service; notice the sensations and emotions that arise, sit with them, accept them.
  • Let go of whatever expectations you have of how poses should look. Accept where your body is in the moment, and allow yourself the freedom to be in that moment.
  • Find stillness: stillness in your body, stillness in your breath, and stillness in your mind.

Patience, yielding and acceptance of the body and mind will lead to a satisfying yin practice. Ideally, a calm mind and rested body will be attained from a regular yin practice.

For me, after all that reluctance at first, I now practice and teach yin several times a week. I find that it is the perfect compliment to my active lifestyle and I look forward to my evening yin practice.

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Uncategorized Yoga YTT Blog

Five Reasons to take a Yoga Teacher Training program

1) you will discover patience within yourself. Or you might discover some other attribute within yourself that you didn’t know you had. The point is that yoga teacher training will take you beyond the physical realms of yoga and will calm your mind and create space for new and exciting emotional qualities.

2) You will meet a group of amazing people who come from unique backgrounds and have chosen to expand their knowledge about yoga. You will get to know strangers and learn, laugh and balance together.

3) You will learn enough about yoga to make an educated decision about what type of yoga you want to do (and teach). The choices of yoga classes can be overwhelming, but with a solid foundation on the fundamentals of yoga, you will be able to choose what you like about yoga, and which aspects you are less interested in. Maybe you will only want to teach chair yoga to seniors, maybe you want to teach meditation to recovering addicts, maybe you want to teach introductory poses to a rugby team. Yoga teacher training gives you the knowledge to know what you love about yoga, and the skills to share that knowledge.

4) Yoga is not some trendy fitness fad. Despite branding from clothing manufacturers who convince you that yoga and yogis have to look a certain way, yoga can be pretty much anything you want it to be. Yoga is an ancient tradition, folks! Learn more about it. Discover meaning in your practice. Relate to people around the world and through the ages who are practicing the same poses. It’s amazing to think that, with some knowledge of the practice, you can walk into any yoga studio around the world and hear the same words being used to describe the same physical shapes. Teacher Training will make you understand and appreciate the complexity of these poses.

5) Yoga Teacher Training will make you strong and resilient. Emotionally strong, physically resilient. Physically resilient, emotionally strong. Try it and see for yourself.

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Uncategorized Yoga

White Gold Yoga: Handstands for everyone!

I’ve been practicing at White Gold Yoga in Whistler, BC. Owner Erin Anderson is warm, welcoming and confident that everyone can do a handstand! Maybe not today or even this year, but she knows that we’ll all get there someday. The space is cozy and usually the students are practicing mat-to-mat. The teacher does not actually have a mat, but Erin and her staff are so adept at verbal cues that they can effectively read what the class needs and cue logical sequences without actually moving through the practice themselves. As a yoga teacher myself, I am extremely impressed with their verbal cues. I’m going again this afternoon, and I am going to channel Erin’s belief in me and hopefully believe enough in myself to do a handstand today (or maybe tomorrow).

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Uncategorized Yoga

shhhhh……

The world is a chatty place. Yoga is designed to be a collection of quiet, introspective moments. Unfortunately yoga studios are not immune to chatter. There have been times when I’ve wondered if it would be improper to wear ear plugs while in the studio?? I fear that sometimes yoga teachers forget the value of silence, and instead choose to instruct, direct, correct, and tell stories for the duration of the yoga class. All of this equates to chatter, and makes quieting the mind extra challenging for the practicing student. I understand the need for some guidance as the class transitions through the poses. I even understand the need for some reminders and tips on how poses should look. I do not, however, think that personal anecdotes and life-reflections are relevant in the yoga studio. I am confident that every person who steps foot into the yoga studio has a different reason for being there and a unique set of circumstances that brought them there. Beginner yoga practitioners, to be sure, may not yet know what to expect from yoga, but I believe that a quiet space will give everyone a chance to find their own reasons for practicing yoga. Ultimately, with a quiet space, everyone can find a quiet mind, if even for a moment.

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Uncategorized Yoga

Being present

  • There are infinite distractions swirling around in our daily lives. The biggest challenge every day for me is to be present and give all my effort to the task at hand. I recently upgraded from my trusty flip phone to a shiny new smartphone. I was assured by the handsome and knowledgeable salesman that the capability of my new device would “allow me to accomplish more while on the go.” At first, this seemed like a real benefit. No longer would I miss substitute teaching opportunites at the yoga studio because I didn’t get the email. My time sitting on the bus or waiting for doctor’s appointments could now effectively be used to update my calendar and do online banking. My smartphone would even be able to show me maps and give me directions. For example, finding a yoga studio while travelling to my cousin’s wedding would not require prior research. I would be able to look them up on my phone!

Now, I know that none of these applications of a smartphone are news. Every day, I see people looking at their screens, productively scrolling through documents and presumably accomplishing more while on the go. After two weeks with my smartphone, however, I noticed a disturbing trend in my daily affairs. I was forgetting important things! Appointments, plans with friends, even entire converstations were slipping my mind. It occured to me that all of so-called remote productivity was distracting me from the present moment. Suddenly I was emailing while having lunch with a friend, and not doing a particularly good job of either. The conversation with my friend was lacklustre and the email to my boss was overrun with grammatical errors. I wasn’t concentrating on either and as a result, I forgot important details of both.

 

The sixth limb of ashtanga yoga is dharana, or the ability to concentrate and be present. Generally, I am available to cultivate concentration while I’m teaching or practicing yoga. Now I want that skill to translate to my every day life.

For me, being present for every task and activity is a challenge in the best of times. Thelast thing I need is a portable device that distracts me all day. The two week relationship with my smartphone ended abruptly when I accidently dropped the phone in the toilet. I chose to view this unfortunate event as good omen, and reactivated my flip phone that evening. Since then, I have made a conscious effort to really listen when my friends are talking to me and to sit down at a computer to proof read my emails before sending them off. I am confident that being present in each activity that I do is a far better tool for productivity than having a portable distractor in my hand at all times.

Dharana.