As a member of the Namate Book Club I’ve been reading a wonderful little book entitled Downward Dogs & Warriors: Wisdom Tales for Modern Yogisby Zo Newell . The premise of the book is to educate the reader about the powerful stories from which Indian culture and yoga has come. It is “about using asana and related images for reflection, self-examination, and healing” in order to deepen “your yoga practice through observation of your body, your mind, and your emotions.”

The first story in the book is that of Shiva as Destroyer: Warrior Poses. In a nutshell, Shiva’s wife, Sati, threw herself into a fire becoming the sacrifice her father refused to provide during a ritual party where he was simply flaunting his power and prestige. Upon hearing of his wife’s demise, Shiva, overcome with grief and fury, ripped his hair from his head and threw it on the ground where it became a Warrior, the  embodiment of his emotions.“This is Virabhadra, the personification of righteous anger and the noble impulse to defend the innocent.”

This pose and its story took on very personal meaning over the past week as an innocent child became the victim of molestation. Suddenly each time I do Warrior pose, I am Virabhadra filled with anger and anguish at the injustices of life. What was once a sometimes demanding physical pose now encompasses an entire range of strong emotions.

Newell encourages yogis to:

Reflect and journal on a time when you came to the defence of a righteous cause or an innocent person. Invite the emotional qualities of that experience into your practice of the warrior poses. Keep the experience in mind while practicing with softness in the eyes and openness in the heart.

It may be a too soon for me to practice “with softness in the eyes and openness in the heart” as I am still in protect and safety mode. However, knowing the story behind the pose has given me hope to work through the pain to the point where my heart is open and calm as I move into action.

There are far too many children who are victims of abuse. Please do everything within your power to protect and fight for their innocence. Be the Warriors for those who cannot protect themselves.

Recently I wrote an article for Radical Parenting which is a parenting site written by teens and gives you the straight facts on how to raise a teen in today’s crazy, mixed up world. The site is managed by Vanessa Van Petten, who manages 80 teen writers as they share life through their eyes and what they really need from their parents in order to succeed. The site covers everything from study hints to the latest teen trends and issues and promises to keep it real, challenge what you think you know, provide tried and true advice from those in the trenches, and help teens and parents navigate the teenage years as harmoniously as possible.

Shari wasn’t happy. She wasn’t popular, didn’t have a boyfriend, didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life, and felt alone much of the time even though she was surrounded by friends. Then Shari’s Mom enrolled her in a yoga class. In a matter of a few weeks Shari began to walk taller, feel stronger, and know that she could accomplish anything she set her mind to. She began to attract positive people and experiences into her life and spent most of her day smiling and feeling good about herself. As Shari practiced yoga her self-confidence grew. She knew herself better and was certain her future would be bright no matter what it held.

Here are a few ways in which yoga helped Shari and will help you feel good about yourself and know you can handle anything life brings your way…

Read the rest here.

There are many more twists and variations, especially when you delve into arm balancing poses and inversions. However, a large number of these require strength, balance, technique and other essential skills in order to perform. They are definitely something to work toward and have fun with but, many teens may not be ready just yet to take on the challenge. The ones covered here are great for High School PE classes, athletic teams, and teen yoga classes.

Yoga Twists for Teens

Half Lord of the Fishes Pose (Ardha Matsyendrasana)

Sit on the floor with legs bent. Place your left foot on the outside of your right buttock, left knee facing forward along the ground. Step the right foot to the outside of the left knee with the knee pointing straight up. Hug the raised knee and sit up on your sitz bones. Inhale and circle the right arm behind you, placing the hand on the floor as you exhale and lengthening the spine. Inhale, raising the left arm. Exhale place the elbow on the outside of the right thigh. If this isn’t possible simply hug the knee. Inhale and exhale two more times as you continue to deepen the twist throughout the entire spine, pressing the elbow against the knee and looking behind you. Binding Variation:If your left shoulder can clear the right knee (be on the outside of the knee), you can try to bind the arms. Circle the left hand toward the right hip and thread it through the hole between the legs. The right arms reaches behind the back to clasp the left fingers. Voilà, you are a pretzel! This is the quintessential twisty yoga pose and always a class favourite.

Revolved Chair Pose (Parivrtta Utkatasana)

revolved chair pose

Stand in Mountain Pose. Inhale raise your arms overhead. Exhale bend your knees and hips as if you are sitting in an imaginary chair. Inhale extend through the upper body, exhale, twist to the right, bringing your hands into prayer position, and placing the left upper arm on the outside of the right thigh. Look down at your toes or to the right, whichever is comfortable. Hold for 3 to 5 breaths. Inhale and return to standing. Repeat on the other side.

Revolved Triangle Pose (Parivrtta Trikonasana)

Stand with feet wide apart. Inhale raise the arms to shoulder height in line with feet, ankles should be directly below hands. Turn your left foot in slightly (this is your brake). Turn your right foot out 90 degrees. On an exhale turn your torso to the right bringing the left arm to the front, right arm reaching behind you, and squaring your hip points to the front as much as possible. Inhale, lengthen the side body, actively reach the arms apart, and ground through your big toes. Exhale, reach your left hand down to the ground or onto a block while the right hand reaches high. Beginners can look down or to the side. More advanced students can gaze at their raised thumb. Hold this pose for a few breaths. Exhale to release the twist. Inhale to return to standing. Reverse the feet and repeat on the other side.

Revolved Side Angle Pose (Parivrtta Parsvakonasana)

Stand with feet wide apart. Turn your left foot in slightly. Turn your right foot out 90 degrees. (So far the same as above) With hands on hips, turn your torso to the right and square you hips forward. As you do this lift the left heal off the mat, rotating on the ball of the foot. Exhale and bend the right knee to get your right thigh parallel to the ground. Keep the left leg active. On the next exhale, rotate the torso and lean it down with the left arm on the inside of the right foot, right thumb in the crease of the right hip, pressing the thigh down and back. If this is easy, inhale come up slightly place hands in prayer position, extend through the side ribs and then twist further by placing the upper left arm on the outside of the right knee. As with all twists, lengthen the body on the inhale, deepen the twist on the exhale. Hold for a few breaths. Inhale to come up. Exhale to release the twist. Reverse the feet and repeat on the other side.

Journaling has long been a tool for achieveing better emotional and mental health. It is a remarkable device for easing concerns, identifying hopes and fears, allowing the creative process to flourish, and connecting with your inner self. Journals help to identify your personal wisdom and realize that you are wiser than you once believed as ideas and solutions flow from deep inside. The process of uniting your conscious and sub-conscious mind through ink and paper, in black and white, empowers and enlightens, connecting us with our true selves and shining a light on who we truly are.

Adding journal writing to your yoga practice allows you to access these transformative benefits and takes the process from being simply a physical experience to becoming a window to the soul. 

You never know what you will learn till you start writing. Then you discover truths you never knew existed. – Anita Brookner

There are two way to use journalling: prompted or free flow. Both have their advantages and disadvantages as well as a place within the yoga journal experience.

Prompted Journaling & Yoga

Prompted journaling is when the teacher assigns a topic for students to journal. For example: “We’re going to do Pigeon pose and I want you to pay attention to what your hips are telling you. We’ll then spend a few minutes recording the thoughts and feelings this pose generates.” Journals also are a wonderful place to record personal affirmations, set goals, and recognize our strengths and weaknesses. Topics I’ve used include:

• Comfort is relative – how do backbends teach this idea?
• How does doing Fish pose help you look at life from a different perspective?
• What do you feel while doing Eagle pose? What do you feel after?
• What images come to mind while doing Warrior pose?
• Let’s write an affirmation for Mountain pose. Everytime you do Mountain Pose repeat this affirmation to yourself.
• Which is your favourite yoga pose and why?
• What do you want/need to get out of class today?

Free Flow Journaling & Yoga

Free flow journaling occurs as an organic result of the yoga experience. Allowing yourself to simply reflect upon the experience, identifying and putting into words your thoughts, feelings, insights, etc. while upon your personal yoga journal, is an enlightening endeavour. It is not uncommon for yoga asanas and breathing techniques to release strong emotions. We often hang onto negative emotions such as fear, anger and sorrow because we have not dealt with them adequately in the past. Our bodies remember and hold these feelings deep inside. A regular yoga practice will release this negativity and tension, allowing us to return to a state of happiness and relaxation. Journaling these experiences will hasten emotional recovery and is widely used as a self-discovery and therapy tool.

How to Use Yoga Journal Writing

In children’s classes I almost always provide a prompt. This helps the children get to the journaling without wasting time on wondering what to write about. Younger children can draw a picture of their feelings and insights while older ones can put these into words.

Teens and adults are more familiar with the journal writing process and can adapt it to the yoga classroom generally without difficulty. Since this is the case I will use both techniques while encouraging them to ponder and explore their yoga practice. Yoga classes that begin with setting an intention are a wonderful place to start if students seem stumped for a topic to journal.

Entries by my students have ranged from sketches and quick insights, to lists and pages and pages of emotional outpouring. The lovely thing about journal writing is you can’t get it wrong. It is a snapshot of who you are today. There are a number of fantastic yoga blogs which serve as journalling for the authors. Some of my favourites who share the more emotional/trans-formative side of their yoga practice include:

• Everyday Yogini – Nona’s life through yoga coloured glasses
• Grounding Thru the Sit Bones - Brenda shares her life & revelations from the mat
• It’s all yoga, baby – Roseanne probes into yoga culture and community
• Karmaspot’s Blog – Jen shares thoughts on yoga for kids and parents
• Lifebloom Yoga – Abby’s creative expression of yoga in her life
• Linda’s Yoga Journey - Linda explores the world and her personal yoga journey
• The PranaMama – Amy provides yoga from a Mom’s perspective
• The Queen of Bohemia Cleans Her Own House – Sydney connects yoga and emotional recovery
• YogaChickie- Lauren writes about her life and the insights gained from yoga
• Yoga Demystified – Bob entertains and educates through poetry and probing questions
• Yogic Muse – Brooks reveals her personal journey one yogic step at a time
• Yoga With Spirit - Amy applies yoga to her life

A recent article in The Oakland Tribune reports on the power of yoga to help relieve stress in schools in the South Bay area: a tough part of town known for gangs, drugs, violence and low socio-economic conditions. It started as a pilot project and how extends to a 6 weeks program for entire Freshman class. Administrators, parents and students who have participated have noticed a difference in how they manage stress. 14-year-old Gina de la Rosa recently stepped away from a classroom confrontation after remembering to breathe and realised, “I don’t have to scare teachers.”

At schools hard hit by neighborhood violence, gang pressure, parental job loss and homelessness, the centuries-old Indian discipline of yoga may turn out to be an effective tool in helping young people cope with both crises and day-to-day life.

This is great news for everyone. The more teens who can be exposed to yoga and access its benefits, the more can use the breathing exercises, relaxation techniques and asanas to cope with the stress of growing up in the modern age. The four years of high school are often considered the most stressful time of life. Providing youth with tools to stay calm, manage their anger, and combat the negative effects of stress is vital.

Yoga is well known for its stress busting qualities but many teens don’t have access to the practice. Yoga classes geared especially for teens needs and interests are often hard to come by so this program is great news. And taking it to kids in high risk neighbourhoods – FANTASTIC!  Street Yogais another program doing similar work. If you are interested in helping de-stress teens, a great resource to help teens manage stress while building self-esteem is Indigo Teen Dreams by Stress Free Kids.

I think Alejandro Adame, 14, an Overfelt freshman, summed it up best when he said, “You just take a moment to not get angry.” Now if we all can simply follow his example.

One of the reasons I love teaching yoga to kids and teens is to celebrate their uniqueness. Each individual brings something different to the mat every time they practice. It is wonderful to see them try Crow pose and succeed or, thanks to their natural flexibility, be able to touch their feet to their head in King Cobra pose, or finally be able to stop moving and truly relax when doing Corpse pose.

Lately there has been a debate raging around the yoga community regarding developing competitive yoga with an eye to having it accepted as an Olympic sport. Some find this philosophically wrong as yoga is about acceptance and personal growth. While others enjoy the individual challenge that the competitions emphasize.  To see the two sides of the argument visit YogaDork’s Competitive Yoga:Vicious or Vindicated: Ask Bikram and the flipside at the Bikram Yoga NYC blog Yoga Competition: Perspiration and Inspiration.

Today NY Times enters the fray with this article on how Rajashree Choudhury (wife to Bikram) is trying to build momentum for competitive yoga in North America and the Yoga Community’s response to that effort.

From what I know about yoga competitions I tend to agree with Michael Alba, a yoga teacher in Boston, who is quoted as saying, “It perpetuates the idea that yoga is for lithe-bodied contortionists.” A concept I completely disagree with. Yoga is for every body. See Yoga Accessible to All.

Competitive yoga is yoga at its pure physical extreme. Even Choudhury admits “We are not trying to judge any kind of spirituality when they are out there.” I think that is exactly the point. Yoga is, after all, a body/mind discipline and yoga competitions simply celebrate the physical aspect in a quick three minute performance, even if part of the path to achieve that physical performance was spiritual, mental, and emotional.

Jon Gan, a Bikram Yoga instructor and Director of the United States Yoga Federation, hopes that yoga competitions will help inspire yogis and non-yogis alike. “When I was a kid, I played tennis, and whenever I watched players on Wimbledon I’d want to get out there and play like them,” he said. “It inspired me. I’m hoping the same kind of things will happen here.”

Maybe, maybe not. In the meantime I’ll continue to teach all kids, teens and adults, regardless of ability, strength, flexibility, body shape, or special challenges, how to harness the many benefits of yoga and access their personal path to acceptance and understanding.

Namaste.