Five Points Yoga

Barrett's Blog

What is that Savasana feeling?

Posted July 26th, 2010 | 2 Comments » | Bookmark and Share

What is that quintessential Savasana feeling?

I just got home from a week long vacation, in which I did very little yoga.  I couldn’t wait to get into a routine at home again, including a regular yoga practice.   I rolled out my mat on Sunday afternoon, and just fell on it in happiness.  After about 30 minutes on the mat, I took my first Savasana (did you know you can do that??  Multiple rest and relaxations in your yoga practice??)

The feeling was exquisite.   Everything in my body was vibrating!  It felt so good to physically notice my toes, to feel the weight of my body sinking into the ground, to imagine my imprint on the earth as I let go.   Because I had just been on vacation, I wasn’t yet thinking about lists of to-dos.    So, even though I was on the clock, having to teach in an hour or so, I felt delicious.   I could just float through and on the sensations of deep relaxation.

My teacher Don has a phrase that he says during Savasana: “Notice any pulsing, tingling, streaming sensations.”   I’ll use this occasionally in class, and I also try to come up with other evocative language.   If you’re at all a “word” person, then it will be worth your while to notice the words and phrases that work for you in your yoga practice, whether you hear them from  a teacher or come up with them yourself.  The words that came up during this Savasana were “thrumming” and “vibrating.”

I had a sense of deep well-being.   At one point, I was saying Well-Being over and over, which is really nice if you think about it.  Smiling and sighing a lot (you know how much I encourage that if you go to my class).

Afterwards, it felt so clear to me *why* yoga makes such a difference.   When you have that experience as part of the back drop of your day, you can draw on it to help you with difficult situations.   Instead of reacting in anger or defensiveness, you might be able to take a deep breath, feel compassion, and try a different, more effective tack.   That’s what happened to me!  It was wonderful to know that my yoga practice was good for me, and for the others around me who benefitted from a more soothing response from me.

They say the effects of yoga practice last for about 48 hours.   I think that’s more or less true – of course we’re all different, and so are our yoga practices!   But if you can give yourself a little yoga (WITH Savasana of course) at least every other day, I think you’ll notice some changes, both on and off the mat.

Happy to be back!

Barrett

savasanaCircle lululemon picture :)

Posted under Personal Experiences, Yoga

Yoga Journal’s Boston Conference

Posted June 18th, 2010 | Leave a comment » | Bookmark and Share

Way back in April, as part of my bachelorette weekend, I did part of the Yoga Journal Boston conference.   I don’t think I had been to a yoga conference since 1999 – they’re huge and very consumerist-oriented, so sometimes they are a turn-off to me.   I lose the yoga in all the hubbub!

But this was actually really great for me.   I needed a weekend of intensive yoga – no teaching, just doing my own thing.  It was wonderful to take care of my hamstring and shoulder, and go at my own pace.   There was a sense of less ego and performance for me in this conference than I probably had 10 years ago at my last conference.   Injury and experience both will humble you, I guess!

I saw some teachers I’d studied with before and to whom I wanted to make a little pilgrimage.  David Swenson, Shiva Rea, and Beryl Bender Birch were all great, and it was nice to be in their energy again. Each one is so different!  It’s good to study with lots of people.

New for me was Desiree Rumbaugh, an Anusara teacher.   I have always liked Anusara, but just haven’t pursued training because I like a lot of other styles too.  I’d never studied with Desiree and I’m so glad I did!   She’s got a lot of energy, and she teaches well.   She reminds me of my teacher Amba with her infectious laugh and joie de vivre.  I did a handstanding workshop, and though I’m very proficient in handstands, I learned a little of the Anusara approach, which is definitely different than any other approach I’ve learned or intuited on my own.   I’m considering another workshop with Desiree later in the summer, because this short intro was not enough!

I also had an introduction to Julie Gudmestad, who had written the Anatomy column in Yoga Journal for forever!   She’s a physical therapist and yoga teacher, and I did a course with her on the rotator cuff.   It was great because my rotator cuff has been getting aggravated easily in the last few months.   She had some really helpful information, and in general, the conference helped me zone in a bit more on some of the things I am doing in my teaching that are probably contributing to the problem.

So, do I recommend conferences?   Yes!  But sparingly.  A conference once every 5 years or so is plenty for me.  If you’re interested in studying yoga more intensively, a conference is a good way to shop around for potential teachers, and could even be a good way to explore one topic with many teachers.   For example, if you wanted to work on arm balances, you could do a conference and pick sessions that help you learn a bit more about arm balances (word to the wise though – these conferences are tiring, so make sure you don’t injure yourself overdoing it!).

Once you have teachers you love, seek them out and learn from them.   Most teachers who inspire you will be a deep well of information and transformation, good to learn from several times over many years.   I think there’s beauty in going deep with one teacher or tradition, and while a conference doesn’t give you that, it’s a valuable sampling.

Now get on the mat!

Barrett

Posted under Education, Personal Experiences, Yoga

A Good Excuse for Being Away

Posted June 17th, 2010 | 2 Comments » | Bookmark and Share

I got married!!  Hence, my hiatus here on the blog and in my monthly newsletters!

A lot of people give advice when you’re getting married, and I found it breaks down into equal thirds.   1/3 of the advice is complete bollucks, 1/3 is good advice that you’re not going to take because it’s too late or doesn’t apply to you, and 1/3 of it is something you end up using.

The best advice we got?   Try to be in the moment!!   So many people told us the wedding would be a blur.   Several women told us that they were still so busy coordinating on the day of the wedding that they weren’t really present.  Lots of people said we NEEDED to have a videographer because that’s the only way we’d remember the wedding.

That was some bullocks for us – no video needed!  Instead, we planned a lot and worked hard.  For the actual weekend, Gadi and I were really *present* and the whole experience blew my mind.    Lots of others seemed to have a great time too, which was nice, but it ROCKED for us.  I remember everything so vividly!  Of course, we’re also trying to write everything down and collect pictures from everyone, because we know someday we will start to forget.

Interesting right?   That was what a lot of people missed about their own wedding experience – being in the moment – being present.   For me, even though there was very little yoga asana happening in the week leading up to our extravaganza, we tried every night to debrief with each other and really soak it all in.   It felt for me like a lot of my yoga training came into play each day in order to go with the flow of it all.

At 2am the night before our wedding, when I couldn’t sleep, I finally turned to the mat, and it felt SO good to breathe deeply.   In general, the times when I feel most present in my life are on the mat or in the studio teaching.   It’s a really familiar touchstone at this point.   I knew in that moment on the mat, in the middle of the night, in a hotel room, the day before my wedding, that everything would be fine. Even if I was only getting a few hours of sleep before the marathon day of getting married (I had a good makeup artist to hide the circles if need be!).

Thanks to everyone for your advice, even if I didn’t take it :) Hearing about other’s experiences was enough for us to really plan out our weekend so that we could be there with people who’d traveled hundreds (and thousands) of miles to be with us.   And so we could really be there with each other, in the moment, as we made a big commitment!   It was, for sure, a high moment in our lives!

JustMarried!

Just married!!


Posted under Personal Experiences, Yoga

Wearing Your Baby

Posted March 12th, 2010 | 12 Comments » | Bookmark and Share

Continuing on my exhaustive week of all things mom and yoga related, I just taught my new moms yoga class today.   In class, there was a new mom whose baby is 10 weeks old. She lives in the neighborhood, and told me she doesn’t own a car or a stroller!   She and her partner have planned to buy a stroller this spring, but she can’t bring herself to do it yet.   The thought of storing the monstrosity in a city apartment is part of it.   And she says, she likes wearing her baby and finds it more comfortable and convenient. 

And then I read this article from the NYTimes two days ago, all about “babywearing” instead of strollering.   Very interesting!   Moms and Dads, what do you prefer?

Love and light,

Barrett

Posted under Education, Postnatal Information

Of Interest to Moms

Posted March 10th, 2010 | Leave a comment » | Bookmark and Share

While I’m on a roll with mom resources, here’s some more local events in town, and global events happening online!

1. Monday, March 22 at 7pm.   Mass Midwives Birth Circle at the Cambridge Women’s Center.  “Each meeting will include positive birth stories in all settings as well as additional topics regarding pregnancy, birth, and parenting. Come meet women who treasure their birthing experiences.”  For more information see above Women’s Center link or email info@mfom.org

2.   Mothering Magazine – I get a digital subscription and it’s awesome!  No magazines cluttering my house!  I wish more magazines did this – I’d subscribe.    Occasionally, Mothering also offers packets of helpful information, like this Sleep Packet.   The number 1 thing new moms discuss is sleep – their lack of it, and their babies’ ever changing patterns of it.   This packet has a lot of helpful information about sleep during the first year of your baby’s life.

3. A new pamphlet out from Childbirth Connection called Comfort in Labor.    This is a helpful guide to print out and use when you go into labor.  Also,  I highly recommend having a doula if you’re giving birth in a hospital – she’ll help you through all the things this handout mentions, and more!  

4. One of my favorite articles to come out in the last few months on the NYTimes concerns laboring women’s right to eat and drink during labor.  This has been quite exciting, because if you’ve been in labor you know it’s a lot of work and you need *fuel.*   Midwives and doulas have been encouraging moms to snack for years in labor, and hopefully this lifting of the ban on eating and drinking during labor will go by the wayside quickly. 

 I’ll leave you with some cute pictures of our mom and baby class that happens on Friday afternoons.   Happy families!


Babies love to watch their parents move!


Feels good to go upside down!

Posted under Local Interest, Postnatal Information, Prenatal Information, Upcoming Events, Yoga

Mama Resources

Posted March 8th, 2010 | 1 Comment » | Bookmark and Share

For years, I’ve sent expectant moms a prenatal resource list and new moms a postpartum resource list.  Both are chock full of local people (doctors, doulas, acupuncturists, classes, etc.) and items (DVDs, music, etc.) that are helpful in pregnancy and postpartum.  I’m now putting them online!!  Click here for my favorite prenatal resources  in the Boston area.   Click here for my postpartum resources list in the Boston area, and please note that this is a work in progress.   Email me if you have other suggestions.   

I realize that wherever you are in the world, it’s so important to find a community that can give you these kinds of resources.   I’m always learning from moms in my classes about new resources.   It got me thinking -

How do you find your community?  

1)     Go to movement class – preferably yoga!!   When you’re pregnant, it’s so helpful not only to move and breathe in pregnancy, but also to meet moms.  This goes for the postpartum period as well.   After my Friday afternoon new moms yoga class, participants go across the street to the local café to keep on talking.   I know many pregnant and new moms make walking/hiking dates, and even have girls’ nights out, baby-free!  

2)     When you’re pregnant, go to the new moms groups, like LaLecheLeague.  Going before you have your baby helps you scope out the best  resources ahead of time, while you still have time! 

3)     Consider taking  childbirth education classes earlier.  The trend these days is to take CBE classes all in one weekend later in the 3rd trimester.   I recommend taking a 6 week series between your 2nd-3rd trimester (like 24-30 weeks).   You’ll interact more in a longer series, and you’ll have more opportunity to act on helpful information you receive (caregivers, test options, etc.)

4)      Keep hanging out with your non-parent friends.   Keeping this all in context is so important!!  In the first months postpartum, it’s difficult to talk about anything else besides babies.   Having some good friends around who have been with you through pregnancy will be invaluable in this time.   They’ll listen to you, but they’ll also help you with some non-baby conversation and stimulation!

5)     Get online.   There are a lot of virtual communities as well that can be a good source of support and information.  Nothing replaces real human connection, of course, but this can be a good adjunct.

I hope this helps moms in my local area, but also around the world.   Please pass along!

Love and light,

Barrett 

Posted under Education, Postnatal Information, Prenatal Information

Yoga and Food in the News

Posted February 10th, 2010 | 5 Comments » | Bookmark and Share

There was an interesting article recently in the NYTimes, about a workshop that combined yoga and a rich meal afterwards.  The idea was after the yoga class, you would enjoy the flavors more in your heightened sense of awareness. 

Then the article delved into whether you needed to be a vegetarian in order to be a devout yoga practitioner.   About once a year, I see an article talking about this.   Last year, it was Sadie Nardini “coming out” as a meat eater in the Huffington Post.  

Over the years, the owners of the largest yoga studio in NYC have written books and countless articles about their vegan diet, and their belief that everyone should adopt that diet.  I learned from the NYTimes article that they require their teacher trainees to become vegan.  

What I LOVE about yoga is that it makes you aware of everything.   Yoga is about relationship – to yourself, your family, and yes, with your food.   I think any regular practitioner of yoga thinks about what they eat in relation to their practice, at some point.   We know that eating a large meal is going to make our practice difficult, but we also start to realize what kind of food makes us feel energized and what doesn’t.   

But you get to pick.   To me, it is so clear that some people just can’t be vegetarian and healthy.  It’s also clear that overall, Americans eat too much meat, from both a health and environmental perspective.  Wouldn’t it be incredible if there could be less judgment and more balance around this very personal topic of food choices?  That seems like the “yogic way” to me. 

I recently picked up an old Yoga Journal magazine and found this article.

I think it offers some refreshing perspectives from several yogis about their decision to eat meat, or not. 

Enjoy eating, today, with awareness, with love and appreciation for all that you have, and with no guilt!!

Barrett

Posted under Health and Wellness, Yoga

Notes from the Field – Week 1 in the Yoga Odyssey

Posted January 15th, 2010 | 1 Comment » | Bookmark and Share

I always have a *terrible* time keeping up with the blog during the Yoga Odyssey, but I’m really trying this time!   Seeing as this is the first week of the Yoga Odyssey, and I’m so immersed in the program, I thought I’d share some highlights of what we’re experiencing.

There’s a community bulletin board as part of the program.   People share a bit about their yoga journey, their experiences during the practice, and questions (and answers) they might have.   It’s fun, and new and different each time!

I’ve been thinking about our demographics as I’ve read participants’ introductions on the bboard.  There have been some fun things I’ve noticed: 

 We have a mother-daughter combo!  In October we had two whole families participate which was also really fun.   I like watching them write each other on the bulletin board J We have at least two sibling pairs this time around, and of course, several friends practicing together “virtually” through the Odyssey.   It makes me happy that this is a project people can share together.

We also have a lot of new moms in our program, in large part because I teach prenatal and postnatal yoga.   I think the moms have started to bond over the joy and challenge of having young children, and finding the balance in order to be able to take some time out for themselves.   

Finally, we have several people from out of the United States.   One participant commented on the interesting sensation of being a little out of phase with the majority of the US-based participants.   She was finding it an interesting challenge to wake up to practice “while everyone else is resting sublime in sleep.”   I’ve thought of that too, when I get an email at 3am in the morning from someone.   Of course, that doesn’t always mean they’re in a different time zone from me, but definitely we are not in phase :)    That’s the beauty of this – you can do it at any time.  Because I won’t be teaching a class at 3am any time soon, but you may want to practice at that time! 

Anyway, thank you all for the first week – it’s been wonderful for me so far!

Love and light,

Barrett  


Posted under Personal Experiences, Yoga

Reflections on a Decade of Teaching in Boston

Posted January 5th, 2010 | 11 Comments » | Bookmark and Share


BIG NEWS!  It’s 2010! I moved to Boston in October 1999, on the cusp of the millennium, 10 years ago.   I taught a yoga class the very weekend I moved to town, even though I was sleeping on my friend Mel’s couch without an apartment of my own.   I’ve pretty much taught every week that I’ve been in town since then :)

These 10 years have flown by.   Some of you I’ve been practicing with for that entire time, which kind of blows my mind.  A lot has happened in my yoga life in this decade, and it’s been fun for me to reflect on it over the last few days.

I took my first teacher training in 1997, started teaching in 1998, and became certified to teach in 1999.  I was still pretty new to teaching when I moved to Boston, but then, a lot of people were new to yoga back then, so it wasn’t that scary to just jump in and try it out.   I *still* have the sheet of paper that I kept notes on for my first weeks of Sunday morning classes!

From 2000 to 2005, I worked part-time in public health and part-time teaching yoga.  I was very happy to have the stability of a desk job with a fixed paycheck, but the flexibility to teach as many classes as I could.  I learned a lot about teaching through those years, and did a lot of training.

In 2001, I started to spend a good chunk of the winter time in Costa Rica, with my teachers.  I got my advanced certification, and assisted in teacher trainings for a few years.   I also got away from Boston in the most frigid time of the year, which probably helped keep me here this long!   I do much better with the winters now, and though I haven’t gone to Costa Rica since 2005, I’ve continued to travel every someplace warm every winter since. I credit yoga practice with helping me realize that I have to be *proactive* in the wintertime, and find ways to not get too SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).

Finally, in 2005, it became clear to me that I was ready to teach full-time.   I spent 6 months planning with a business coach, developing a website, and visioning how I wanted my career to look.   It’s been challenging, but totally fantastic as well.   Though I’ve doubted at times, it has only been out of fear of the unknown future, not because of a bleak present.   I’ve finally just fallen into trusting that teaching ROCKS, and if it stops rocking at some point, I’ll make a new plan.

In these 10 years, I have taught in SO MANY different studios and locations, though happily, I’ve settled here in Cambridge and do a lot less travelling now than I used to.  From renting space – who remembers the church in Davis Square (actually 2 churches, 1 chiropractic office, and a basement private studio)? – to working in gyms and offices and private homes, I’ve done it all.  At least it feels that way.   I remember saying to someone once, “I think I’ve gotten to the point where you could wake me up in the middle of the night and ask me to teach a class on the moon, upside down, and I could do it.”

There’s definitely been thoughts over the years about starting a studio, but wow is it tough.  Not only is it difficult financially to pay the bills and pay your teachers well, but it’s also just tough on your personal practice.  The more you administer, the less you teach.  So, I’ve looked to projects that are a little more creative, and a little less scary than starting a studio.   The Yoga Odyssey is the big one.   I’ve been offering it for 2 years now, and it’s SO FUN.   I’m planning to offer a teacher training this year as well, and some other fun products to sell on my website.   Stay tuned!!

Two months ago, I took a business workshop.  In one part, we were doing some visioning.  With a partner, we reminisced about where we were 10 years ago.  I talked about many of the same things I’ve written about above.  Then, we visioned 10 years from now, and it was awesome to think about 2020, and where I’ll be then.   I don’t know the details, but I know I’ll be practicing and teaching yoga!

Love and light, and Happy New Year!

Barrett (on the mic playing Rock Band New Year’s Eve)

NewYears2010


Posted under Local Interest, Yoga

Cauliflower and a Love of Diversity

Posted December 30th, 2009 | 4 Comments » | Bookmark and Share

Oh, I miss my farm!  It’s only been 2 months, and I am already in withdrawl from the lusciousness that is fresh vegetables.   Yes, I love this season for the citrus fruits and the winter squash, but I miss the weekly trips to the farm, and I even miss the wrestling with fridge space every week as Gadi and I try to finish the share. 

So, how could I pass up this amazing cauliflower that was at Whole Foods?   It wasn’t cheap, but I had never seen anything like it!   I googled it and found out it’s often called the Romanescu cauliflower (or broccoli – depends on what you think it tastes like more).  It took me awhile to find it, because it’s also colloquially called a Mandelbrot cauliflower, after the mathematical Mandelbrot set (see Gadi’s post). 


 Really Awesome Cauliflower

Along with the taste of fresh vegetables, the thing I love most about a local farm share is that we are actually promoting botanical diversity with these farms.   I’m going to get a little political now, but part of the agribusiness model depends on uniformity.   Big (monopolozing and dishonest) companies that supply the majority of our produce to supermarkets spend time studying which tomato they can get to grow the fastest, biggest and cheapest, and then how they can ensure that each tomato they grow will be a clone of that. 

The result?  We start to lose diversity, both in species of plants, and in their flavor and vitality.   In yoga, we have the idea of PRANA – life force, or vitality.   Practicing yoga helps take you from a state of less prana, less vitality, to more.   When I eat a sad supermarket tomato, I can’t help but think that there’s so little prana in that tomato.  Part of my yoga off the mat is eating foods full of prana.  

So I LOVE when I see a new food.   Or a new variety of food.   There’s not just one kind of cauliflower!   There’s not just orange carrots!   There are hundreds of kinds of tomatos out there!   Every time I realize this, it’s this enlightening moment, for my brain and for my tastebuds.  And I’m amazed that even here in New England, where we don’t have a year-round growing season, we can grow an astounding variety of foods!  

Gadi and I were both so taken with this food that we each wanted to write a blog post about it, for very different reasons!  I hope you enjoy.

My parting words: Eat yogic foods – foods high in prana, foods that make you appreciative, and food that nourishes you body and mind!

Love to you all,

Barrett

Posted under Food

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