Today is the Early Bird deadline to apply for @OM yoga Teacher Training at the excellent Evolution Yoga Studio in Cleveland — you know, the studio where Lady Gaga takes privates from owner and OM yoga teacher, @Sandy Gross. And, well, if OM yoga is good enough for Gaga it must be good! Check it out, www.omyoga.com — click Teacher Training.
Here are some pictures from our OM yoga teacher training taught by Joe Miller and me.
8am. 40 people breathing. peaceful 6th floor up above the Broadway rush.
This is Ryan, a graduate of the OM yoga 200 hr. TT program in Cleveland. Here he is doing one of the pranayama TT assignments: teach a warm-up vinyasa to prepare for pranayama.
Joe gives an anatomy of pranayama lecture with the skeleton and slides and his fun drawings.
Working in partners to feel how the breath moves in the body.
Working in partners to explore the rib cage while Joe works with his partner, the skeleton! Actually I am Joe's teaching partner and also have been teaching this training but since I'm the one with the camera there are no pics of me...
This morning Joe guided students in feeling their bellies in preparation for practicing Kapalabhati.
Joe demonstrating Jalandharabandha using a rolled up yoga strap.
Then it's their turn to practice Jalandharabandha.
Then class is over for the day. 4 hours each morning and then we go out into the world and take our breathing with us, sharing it with every other breathing being who lives in this vast ocean of air.
Just got done with a final planning session for next week’s OM yoga Pranayama Immersion and Teacher Training, which will be led by Joe Miller and me. Joe is a quiet genius. A truly great yoga teacher, an anatomy expert with a Masters Degree in Applied Physiology, specializing in the breath. My part will be leading practice, inspiring you, helping you learn how to teach this beautiful practice….and more. This will be a fairly complete Part 1 Pranayama TT and you will be ready and confident to incorporate this work into your classes and your life. If you don’t want to take the teacher training, you can just take the Immersion. Start your day with stretching and breathing and see how much goodness comes forth. Immersion June 14-18, 8-9 am; TT 9:30-12:30 (starting with the 8-9am immersion). www.omyoga.com
We taught Yoga Body Buddha Mind all weekend and I also taught a special class for teachers on Sunday afternoon, a regular OM yoga class on Monday and a meditation class. David gave a talk at the Berlin Shambhala Center.
Moveo is a beautiful studio on the top floor of an old, renovated brewery. The students are gathering for the first class.
These little round cushions are just right for Viparita Karani away from the wall.
I went to Detlev's class on Monday. He did a fantastic job of teaching an OM yoga class and even though it was in German I could tell what was happening because the rhythm and vibe was so familiar. He also had the typical OM yoga ingredients of smart sequencing, clear instruction, sensitive hands-on and some well aimed smiles. I loved the class -- good job, Detlev!
We had a really fun OM yoga class last night and it was super cool to get such a positive response. We’re talking about an OM yoga TT here in Berlin in 2011 — stay tuned!
This is the down ramp from the balcony of the Aya Sofia. When you walk on this you really get the sense that we are talking centuries, here folks, not decades, but centuries!
On the way there is this magic wishing column. You put your thumb in and turn your hand in a total circle. I don't know what it means but I like this picture.
When I saw these workers outside the cathedral I got the sense that this has been going on for hundreds of year. Since the 1400s when the place was built there have always been workers here doing rebuilding, maintenance, restoration.
Now we are off to see the Blue Mosque.
It's a short walk across the park, which is lovely, especially since we are here during the Tulip Festival.
Street food -- chestnuts and roasted corn. Also, a traditional drink called Salep which, I think, is barley and honey and I don't know what else. David thought it was too sweet. I loved it and found it comforting, sort of like liquid oatmeal.
This is a real working mosque. Visitors are kept on the edge and inside are real worshippers. It is huge and beautiful and peaceful. I wore a scarf and if ladies are in short skirts, they must wrap a cloth around their waist to cover their legs.
Blue mosaic tiles. Heavenly.
Nudgie puts his shoes on and ready for the next stop....
the Hammam! The famous Turkish baths. We were vigorously scrubbed, soaped up and shampooed. Them nicely oil massaged and showered, emerging soft and fresh like babies. I love the raw cotton scarves they wrapped us up in and the olive oil soap. This Hammam has been here since 1584.
Then we visited the Yogashala Teacher Training anatomy class taught by Ken the Rolfer from New Jersey by way of Goa. He knows his stuff, for sure. Here he is demonstrating the rotation available in one of the students who is super flexy and Can, the owner of Yogashala who has a torn meniscus.
I’m so excited about these two pranayama courses. Not to brag…but I think these will be very special, deep and useful courses on working with your breath…and helping others to access their own natural ability to breathe. Do you know what the number one most important thing in teaching pranayama is? Do you know what one of the most important things in breathing awareness is? Come and find out!
Registration is open for my Pranayama Immersion and Pranayama TT June 14-18, 2010 at OM yoga in NYC. I will be co-teaching both of these with the excellent Joe Miller. Joe will be discussing the anatomy of breathing and I’ll lead the pranayama sessions as well as the teaching of pranayama sessions.
For more info, see below or go to www.omyoga.com.
PRANAYAMA IMMERSION
Connect with yourself through the intimate experience of breathing.
Each morning we will practice breathing methods grounded in the ancient yogic tradition of pranayama. Using blankets, bolsters and other props in both seated and lying down positions, we will begin to experience how these simple breathing techniques can positively affect our body and mind, helping us find balance as we start our day.
Your teachers will gently guide you through the traditional 3 part breath, alternate nostril breath, victorious breath, shining skull breath and the most profound of all, simple breath awareness.
Anyone is welcome to attend the pranayama immersion. Working with your breath is good for everybody, including actors, singers, athletes and people who may be experiencing anxiety, depression or asthma. It is also a perfect method for quitting smoking!
PRANAYAMA TEACHER TRAINING
This training will give you the tools to teach pranayama in yoga classes, pranayama classes and with private clients. Each morning following our Pranayama practice session, we will study the pranayama techniquespracticed that morning. This training is perfect for yoga teachers, acupuncturists, massage therapists, bodywork practitioners, or anyone interested in learning more about pranayama.
Joe Miller will teach the anatomy of pranayama. You will learn about the relationship between lungs, diaphragm, abdominal cavity and abdominal muscles and how that relationship creates breathing.
He will also teach breathing physiology, or function.
nervous system?Combining practice and study, Cyndi Lee will lead participants in how to apply OM yoga teaching methodology to pranayama so that teaching breath work can become a seamless, effective and meaningful aspect of your teaching offering. Students will work in groups to practice using props and hands-on adjustments for pranayama. Each student will then have plenty of opportunity to create pranayama sequences and teach them in front of the group, receiving feedback from both Joe and Cyndi.
It was a great day. Beautiful weather. Good hearts everywhere. I almost cried at the end of the day although I prefer to stay dignified and tearless. But I felt deeply moved by my experience here. I feel touched by these students and I do feel that I have touched them in a meaningful way.
Mayumi-san is very relaxed.
The whole class had a group breakthrough today. Their work in the morning active asana class was totally different – very mindful and present through every transition. Anu, my translator, and I were astonished when we saw the very first Surya Namaskar. Wow! There was also a breakthrough in the restorative session. I noticed people being more free and creative. I tried to communicate to them that Yoga is not a Box. It is personal. They want to know what to do if this happens or that happens but until that happens we wont’ know what to do. So I taught them the overarching principles and encouraged them to be present through their meditation practice and confident that they will see what is needed. And…it worked! A very great day today!
OM yoga Restorative Teacher Training, Tokyo, Japan, 2010
And then…it was over. 
No Trikonasana left in the room. No more Supta Baddhakonasanas to put away. Empty space. Time to go home. Back to NYC tomorrow. Thank you to Chama and Kazumi and Emi. Arrigato gazimashta.
Here are some pictures from yesterday.
The sink at the studio -- so fancy! I need glasses to read the control panels in the toilets. This sink has a spout for water on the right, a spout for soap on the left and then if you put your hands just inside the close rim of the sink hot air blows to dry your hands. Whoa..
The famous Sunday Tokyo Flea Market.
A ladies drumming team practicing in the park.
Back to Restorative Yoga. Here is Yukiko watching over her partner in Supta Virasana. Today they learned how to meditate so that they can pay close attention to their students. The students are their dots of awareness and the teachers won't try to "fix" things before seeing what is actually happening first.
Here is RedPants doing a great job placing Chigusa in a variation of Setu Bandhasana at the wall.
Then, it was time for dinner...and yes! yes! yes!....
Ramen! This is salt ramen, which Chama says is from Hokkaido. Oishi!
This is how it works. You go into the ramen shop which is quite small and only has counter seating. You make your selection at a vending machine which has many pictures. Put in your coins, push the buttons for what you want and out comes a little ticket. You give the ticket to the waiter and have a seat at the counter. In a few minutes, piping hot ramen! The nori in the bowl tells what is in your personal ramen that day. And, of course, then you stir that nori in and eat it. I got Salt Ramen without the pork and even though it was very unusual, Chama talked them into giving me some bok choy instead.
Kazumi making TKG.
Kazumi had a different kind of ramen which they said is very trendy right now. The noodles and the broth come in separately and you mix them together. But after she ate that she also ordered TKG. It is a bowl of rice, a raw egg and a package of seasoning. You crack the egg over the rice, pour in the seasoning and mix it all up. That is what she is doing here. TKG stands for Egg Over Rice.
She loves it!
Our ramen chef -- Arrigato, gazimasta!
Joe gave a terrific lecture on the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system and the endrocrine system - relating it all to restorative yoga.
Shoe etiquette is very deep here. You must even take them off in a dressing room in a store and you have to put a special bag over your head when trying on clothes.
We discussed the difference between meditation, relaxation and sleep -- but it's hard to tell which one Chama is doing here!
While the students are in savasana, Kazumi looks through the studio door.
Then we went out to dinner in Aoyama -- my new favorite restaurant in Tokyo -- it is called 45 Dav. Organic, cool music, great elegant food.
This was our waiter and chef. He is from LA but he is Japanese and totally fluent in both cultures. And, doesn't he look like Ethan?
PS — do you like my new shirt from Commes des Garcon?
After an active morning asana class and a lunch break, we began the Restorative TT. What is Restorative yoga? Why do we need it? What does it do? How does it work? What is relaxation, anyway? We looked at all that but first, we practiced. After practicing Supta Baddhakonasana, the students learned how to put each other in that pose.
Chigusa, in her cute OM yoga t-shirt, is setting up Agapana AKA Red Pants. That is his nickname because he wears Red Pants every day.
Here is a classroom full of many yogis helping each other to relax.
Yes, that’s Joe in the background — and that’s another story which I will tell you later.
These students are very good at paying close attention to their partners, with care and right attention.
I love this one. Her partner really created a cozy pod for her to rest within.
Gotta go now and hey — the sun just came out. After being awakened by the loud, shrill 65 mile an hour winds blowing through the high skyscraper canyons of Shinjuku, it is lovely to see the clouds lift, the rain stop and beautiful spring time sun shining. Off to teach!
