Gus, the two year old hyper labrador, does Restorative yoga with the help of his private yoga teacher, Leslie Ullstrup of Scottsdale, AZ.
I am in the midst of Spring at Kripalu Center in the Berkshires and am teaching a Relax and Renew@ Training. It is so much fun to watch the fatigue drain from people’s faces over the five days.
One reason I am writing is to celebrate the publication of my new book: Yogabody: Anatomy, Kinesiology, and Asana. Last month I taught the first workshop based on the book. The workshop was called Experiential Anatomy and located at my annual Spring trip to Yellow Springs, Ohio. I learned a lot and the students said they did, too.
Order the book on
my web site or from your local bookstore.
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Too often our mental process is to judge ourselves for what we are thinking or feeling. A thought arises and our inner dialogue says something like, “Oh, I shouldn’t be thinking that” or “How can I be thinking/feeling that when I am a yoga student, teacher or meditator?”.
Then we react to those judgments with even more judgments for judging, and we are caught in a repeating pattern from hell.
A practice I have been enjoying for some months now is to “make peace with the present moment”. That means that when thoughts arise followed by thoughts of judgment I tell myself that the whole process is part of my practice: the original thoughts and the secondary or following thoughts as well. I do this by saying to myself, “how human of me to have a thought of X”. This helps so much when I look at the behavior of others as well.
When I say silently to myself, “How human of him to act/react with anger or fear or disappointment” then there is a space for compassion to arise in me. And I like how that feels. Then I am at peace with the present moment.
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May 6th, 2009 · Books
Judith's latest new book!
In Yogabody, author Judith Hanson Lasater writes, “You can’t fully understand the dynamic movement of asana without first understanding the basic structure of the human body.” Drawing on almost 40 years’ experience as a yoga teacher and physical therapist, she focuses here on macroanatomy and kinesiology in relationship to asana practice and teaching. Organized into five parts — the locomotor system, the vertebral column, the lower extremity, the trunk, and the upper extremity, Yogabody covers the body’s bones, joints, connective tissue, nerves, and muscles. This valuable guide builds on what yoga teachers already know and enables them to quickly decide what might help their students move with more enjoyment and less difficulty. It helps yoga students understand how their own body functions. Packed with color anatomical drawings, black-and-white diagrammatic asana illustrations, and helpful charts, Yogabody is the Gray’s Anatomy for yoga teachers and students.
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