Moving Meditation

I don't like conflict, I believe it brings out the worst in people. So when I needed time off from an issue brewing amongst acquaintances, I couldn't find solace in yoga. Instead I found inspiration from a sweet and smart runner named Jaymie Pizarro. "The Bull Runner" as she is known among the running community, Jaymie is behind the Philippines' top sports blog, www.thebullrunner.com, a wellspring of information on running and the local running scene.

I consulted her about running and yoga, "Do they complement each other?," I asked since I was exploring the cardio-vascular benefits of running. I received a swift and thorough response from Jaymie who as it turns out, has recently gotten into yoga to strengthen her core which she says is essential for long-distance running as it will help maintain correct form needed for a more efficient stride. She says running tightens the leg muscles and yoga stretches areas that runners often neglect.

Jaymie has practiced in Yoga Manila Alabang a couple of times but frequently practises with Joseph de Asis at Gold's Gym Alabang. She sent me pre-run yoga poses from Runner's World as well as this article that encourages runners to cross-train with yoga for strength and to reduce injury (http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-409--12606-0,00.html).

Here's an excerpt from an article written by an American yoga practitioner-runner:

How yoga helps running: "In a sense, my running is sort of an extension of the yoga class. Through the deep breathing and quieting of the mind we all learn in class, I can get into that moving meditation when I run."

How running helps yoga: "Endurance is never an issue for me in my yoga classes, so if we have to hold some particularly difficult pose for a long time it's not a problem, and I'm certain that's due in large part to my running. From a strength point of view, running has given me strong legs, which is enormously helpful for some of the standing poses."

I'll be doing these postures very soon, hopefully with a group of runners from U.P. who regularly meet at Hector Yuzon's Second Wind shop at Maginhawa Street, Teachers Village. Looking forward too to running in ULTRA after the holidays. Goodbye treadmill, hello track oval. Lyn, tara na!

I'm quite excited to start running especially after having met new people who seem genuine, focused, and serious about running just as I believe I am about yoga. More importantly I was struck by the warmth of Jaymie and Hector--their aura seemed almost yogic, how there is an instant camaraderie established when one runner meets another, and how natural it is for them to offer and share insight, tips and experiences. That non-competitve atmosphere reminded me of practice at YM Makati, where most everyone was a serious and harcore Ashtangi no matter what level, but where many light moments were shared in Supta Kurmasana, Urdhva Dhanurasana and other intense asanas as Peachie Kilayko would bind every one and drop back the adventurous.

Hope to find that feeling again when I run. Om.

First yoga of the year

I was very happy to see my teacher, Peachie Kilayko, at my first Led class of the year. I had missed about 4 classes in December to attend to deadlines and a yaya who fell ill and had been hospitalized.

So I was raring to yoga more so because I knew I would see my yogini friend Lyn and other classmates again.

Peachie and I didn’t expect Hoze Arando to walk in. Today he was not teaching just practicing, said Hoze who handles the morning Mysore classes in Makati during the week.

One by one, the expats trickled in: Rica who is Japanese and a regular Yoga Manila practitioner on Saturdays; Silvina Gall from Argentina graciously hosted the YM Christmas party; Onanchi Chappett and her husband; and Bob, the newbie from Britain. With Margo Lao, Hoze, Lyn and I, there we were only nine practitioners in all. I guess I was buoyed by the company I found myself in because practice was wonderful! Hoze is a YM founder and has been "practicing yoga longer than anybody”; Margo Lao is YM’s instructor in Ortigas and who will teach at YM’s newest shala in Chi Spa located at the Shangrila Hotel by February; Rica, Silvina and Onanchi are all hardcore primary series practitioners; and Lyn and I still exchanged energies despite being at a distance from each other.

Margo Lao photo by Rheia Ramos - Yeo

I was anticipating being more sluggish than usual after having had my fill of holiday food. But I was charged right from the Suryas all through the finishing sequence. Though I admit I couldn’t roll around as smoothly after Garbha Pindasana and actually rolled back and forth about a dozen times before settling into Kukkutasana.

That morning yoga was almost like the first day I tried it. Unconsciously I must have heeded Hoze’s words when I shared with him my apprehension over being in pain the next day. He said to just let go and practice as if I was experiencing Ashtanga Yoga for the first time. And it was magic. I’m hooked more than ever. Om.

Bad Karma?

One of my favourite yoga images is this photograph from Alan Little. The yoga mats seem like they're floating in space but they're actually laid out on the floor of a shala in Munich, Germany.

I was puzzled that yogini friend Sasheen always comes late for class. She would stride into the shala, unfurl her mat and start her suryas as the rest of us would begin clasping our toes for padangusthasana. After an hour and a half of Led Ashtanga, she looked spent but always rejuvenated. Whereas I would crawl out of my mat, drenched in sweat, gulp down my water without caring if I was spilling half of it on my front and barely able to keep my hands steady while I write my name down on the sign up sheet. I am younger than Sash and longed to know her secret. So says Sash, the trick is simply to warm up before yoga.

That got me thinking. In ballet I used to do plies, backbends and leg extensions at the barre before going to centre for the floor exercises. For tennis, I’d limber up by moving my arms and joints in circles as well as doing some light lunges. But in yoga, we greet the sun right after the opening mantra in two fast-paced sequences that leave you gasping for breath. For many Ashtangis, the Sun Salutation is warm up in itself, especially Surya Namaskar B, which has a little of all the asanas in Ashtanga Yoga says Yoga Manila instructor Peachie Kilayko.

Working daily sometimes up to 12 hours straight in front of a computer always leaves me stiff as a board and unable to practice regularly, so if you’re like me, you may benefit from some other form of loosening up. For Sasheen, jogging around her La Vista neighbourhood complements yoga (and also explains why she's been late for class).

This now brings me to an article from the internet arm of my former employer, CNBC. Jennifer Wolf Perrine writes in “Bad Karma: When Yoga Harms instead of Heals”, that yoga became her salvation and then her damnation after she injured her arm in class. She reports that in 2006, nearly 4,500 people in the US ended up in the emergency room for treatment of yoga-related injuries, most commonly these include strained muscles, rotator cuff tears in the shoulders, exacerbated carpal tunnel syndrome in the wrists, torn cartilage in the knees, and lower-back and neck injuries such as herniated disks.

Being a “yoga butterfly”, a few months ago I encountered an overzealous instructor who was a lethal match for my over enthusiasm to learn. The result: a knee injury which has been compromising my right leg in ardha baddha padmottanasana, maricyasanas C and D, kukkutasana, padmasana, urdhva padmasana, baddha padmasana, yoga mudrasana, utplutih and leaves me sore and feeling extremely short-changed while lying in shavasana. I have been numbing the pain with 120 mg of Etoricoxib and by rubbing on the affected area a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory ointment twice daily, both doctor-prescribed.

But unlike Jennifer Wolf Perrine, I love yoga too much to feel betrayed by it. I still do Led Ashtanga but now I am more mindful of my limitations, heed my body’s signals, pace myself, modify the poses even stopping if I have to, and sometimes warm up to prevent injuries. I believe that yoga has more potential to heal than to hurt if done properly and when learned under the guidance of a qualified instructor. Studies reveal that yoga helps relieve chronic lower-back pain, depression and anxiety.

Ashtanga Yoga calls for strength, flexibility, proper alignment. Terri Kennedy, founder of Ta Yoga House in New York City adds that, “Yoga is about intention, attention and breath. If you keep the breath steady, then you can begin to steady the mind.” Kennedy who is also chairwoman of the board of Yoga Alliance, an American organization that sets standards for yoga teaching emphasises “That's the essence of the practice. It's not just about a perfect-looking posture.”