Yoga Yoga Yoga. It is almost annoying how popular it is these days. I mean, yes, it is lovely that so many people practice, and the easily accessible formats, styles, and varieties available to practice. On the other hand, it is hard to keep track of all the new trends and fads in this industry and all the ways it can take your money. Yoga has been part of my life for over a decade - like 13 or 14 years - and it has morphed and evolved many times. My experience includes many trends. While I may sound like I'm rolling my eyes about it now, I know that we all need different things in life and from our yoga practice. Recently, I was reflecting on why yoga has stayed in my life for so long. I sat down and charted my yoga path and practice so far; where I started, where I am, and the significant milestones along the way. I thought I'd share it here mostly because I'm curious about your yoga experience. What does your Yoga Journey look like? Where did it take you?

Hawaii

The first time I tried yoga was about thirteen years ago at a music festival in Hawai'i. It was a mandatory option to attend morning yoga two or three times a week before rehearsal. I noticed the benefits immediately. I was clear-headed and focused in rehearsals, my playing felt confident and full of ease, and my body felt refreshed and stronger. This was probably the best introduction to yoga a musician could ask for; morning yoga in Hawaii with a roomful of other musicians and then immediately transitioning to music "work." I was hooked. I think we practiced some type of Iyengar yoga, but my memory is a little hazy, and my knowledge of yoga at the time was practically nonexistent. I remember sun salutations were involved as well as many props (including backless chairs) and use of the wall for alignment purposes. I came home from the festival totally addicted to yoga and spent the rest of the summer attending almost daily classes.

Bikram - Traverse City

This photo was taken in Tulsa many years later because unfortunately I don’t have any early photos of my yoga journey

The summer of the music festival was the summer after my freshman year of college. I went home for the season and worked at a local restaurant when I wasn't in Hawai'i. In the mornings and on my days off, I would head to the Bikram Yoga studio in town, which had just opened. I started with my mom, who still practices hot yoga. I remember having the most impressive abs I've ever had in my life by the end of the summer. I was in excellent shape and probably accomplished my deepest backbends during this period of my practice. I loved sweating so much that I was drenched by the end. It also meant I was drinking tons and tons of water every day, and I started to really pay attention to my diet. I was working at an upscale hippy-dippy restaurant at the time, and so my food options were mostly farm-to-table organic and very nourishing. There is much to gripe about and dislike about Bikram and the practice, but if you have a good teacher, it is a deeply beneficial practice that emphasizes alignment. I fell in love with the sensations of particular basic (change) asanas like Warrior 2, extended side angle, camel pose, toe stand, rabbit pose, and tortoise. Every time I go home to visit my family, I join my parents for a grueling Bikram class or two.

Corepower - Minneapolis

Crow pose was one of the first fancy balance on my hands poses I ever managed to do successfully.

Corepower Yoga is now a large, multi-city, and online yoga business, but when I went there 13 years ago, there was only one studio in Minneapolis. I started with the Hot 26 class because it was basically a Bikram class with a different name. I liked it because it was familiar, but due to scheduling conflicts, I started attending more Vinyasa Flow classes. Then I tried Yoga Sculpt, and Restorative classes as well. I really liked the workout feel of the hot vinyasa flow classes. The physical benefits of these classes, like increased strength and flexibility, are the most accessible to those not ready for the more "woo woo" yoga styles. By the time I left MN, there were several core power studios in the twin cities, and I went at least 4 or 5 times per week. It was my favorite way to workout. Looking back, I see that my ego was so assertive in these classes. Everything was a challenge that I wanted to conquer. I wanted to be the best asana performer in the class, and I didn't really care how I got my head on the floor or legs into whatever pretzel pose. The mirrors on all the walls allowed me to admire my alignment (aka analyze what I liked and disliked about my body).

Ashtanga - Norman

When I was accepted to grad school in Oklahoma, one of the first things I worried about was where I would take yoga classes. It was the first thing I looked into when checking out apartments and the location of the university. I didn't have a car when I first moved to OK, so I needed to be bicycle riding distance from the studio. Fortunately, I found one (yes, just one) studio and also met some like-minded musicians - mostly singers - who wanted to go a few times per week. The owner of this studio is a widely respected Ashtanga teacher, but I really didn't even know what Ashtanga meant or what it was until later. We met Catie Coon and attended her Tuesday/Thursday morning class, and I think a class on the weekends. Her personality was so graceful and welcoming, and when she opened her own studio, we followed her immediately.

Yoga At Tiffany's - Norman

Just some of my yoga and music book collection. Not pictured: All of the anatomy books I have acquired plus so much more.

Catie's studio was primarily a vinyasa flow studio. My practice became quite powerful, and I was at a place where I could incorporate handstands into my sun salutations and flow. I was practicing many times per week and participating in yoga challenges. I had a yoga class friend group of fellow yoga students and teachers and trying to incorporate what I learned in class to my life. It was also a time when I couldn't overcome some of my physical limitations, and I couldn't make sense of my shortcomings. For example, I naturally have tight hamstrings and hips, but I admire Hanumanasana and have always wanted to do the complete version of this pose. I tried and tried and tried, and I could not do it. I was also feeling pain in my shoulders and neck, probably from the combination of handstands, improper proprioception, and hours of violin playing. I knew yoga was supposed to be therapeutic, but it was not easing my discomfort, and I couldn't find a way through the physical barriers.

Natalia Callard introduced me to alignment-based classes and unusual adjustments. In this photo she is helping me discover the (lack of) mobility in my thoracic spine. Norman, OK.

I found a class at Yoga at Tiffany's called "Strength and Alignment" and was totally hooked almost immediately. I felt like I was learning so much about anatomy, asana, tradition, and alignment in every class. The teacher was strict and direct, which I liked instantly, and I bought Light on Yoga, plus anatomy books, and other yoga books like the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. My study deepened immensely during this time. It was the first time I practiced yoga at home with the same intention and attention that I applied to violin playing. This class propelled me towards Iyengar Yoga and was the impetus for my dissertation topic: violin and yoga.

Alignment based yoga - everywhere

I started going to Iyengar classes whenever I was in any city with an Iyengar studio. I practiced at home and followed mostly sequences that Iyengar outlines in his books. The violinist Yehudi Menuhin was instrumental in bringing Iyengar to the West, and I became obsessed with their relationship. In fact, it became the basis of my dissertation on the violin and yoga. After finding Iyengar yoga and practicing alignment-based yoga for several years, it was hard for me to go back to Vinyasa flow. I could feel the therapeutic and energetic benefits in an Iyengar class and trusted the instruction of my teachers.

Tulsa

I tried acro yoga at Be Love Yoga. This was fun and felt really good for my shoulders, but when I tried going to an acro yoga “jam” I was not as enthused.

Unfortunately, the yoga studios in Tulsa were primarily Vinyasa focused, and I kind of fell out of love with yoga. I tried different yoga classes and studio and was even featured in the Tulsa Guide Book that was in every hotel room in Tulsa for two years but I practiced half-heartedly on my own and took a class whenever I was elsewhere on a trip but felt somewhat disconnected from my yoga practice. I was going twice a week to the 6 am class with a friend, which was an excellent way to wake up, but I didn't feel fully engaged. Every time I attempted to jump through my sun salutations or try a handstand, I would do something funky to my shoulder and feel defeated again. I couldn't find a yoga teacher that felt like MY yoga teacher.

Los Angeles - Iyengar Yoga

What most of my Iyengar books look like.

When Jeff and I moved to LA, I was excited about being so close to the Iyengar Institute that I attended classes and still take classes there whenever I can. But I felt disconnected from the community there. As my schedule started to fill up with work, and I started to work at times that conflicted with class, I again found myself disconnected from my yoga practice. I bought a few Groupons for yoga studios close to my home (Silver Lake area) in the hopes of finding a Vinyasa class or teacher that would inspire me. Sadly, I think my appetite for a regular vinyasa diet is gone. Happily, I stumbled on an Iyengar class about 2 miles from my house with one of the most beautiful teachers I have ever met.

Silver Lake Yoga with Sue Darling

Therapeutic handstand. This makes my neck feel so much better and alleviates so much violin tension.

I go to Sue's class in Silverlake as often as I possibly can and have made her class a priority in my schedule. If I am not out of town, I am in her class. I love the community, and when I found her class 4 months ago, I finally felt like I could call Los Angeles home. I practice at home, I read yoga texts, I am curious about my practice, and I apply principles to my non-yoga commitments. Sue recently transformed Handstands, which years ago took a toll on my body into something I could practice for therapeutic benefits. I was so happy to return to handstand practice again, this time as a way to alleviate neck stiffness. Her class is exceptional. If you ever visit me in Los Angeles, I guarantee that I will try to talk you into going to class with me. She has helped me understand so much about my body and my yoga practice, like why sun salutations and handstands tend to hurt my shoulders, why deep twists sometimes make me feel nauseous, and so much more. She has helped me use it as a tool to alleviate the lopsided tension of playing the violin.

Reignited Love Affair

The yoga room at Intermission in Manchester, VT this summer.

This summer, I went to Intermission, a musicians yoga retreat, and attended 2 yoga classes per day. I was unenthused going into the week about the fact that I assumed the teachers only taught Vinyasa classes. They had expanded their knowledge and practice way beyond the typical 200 hr teacher training program. I learned many movement lessons from them, and I loved the way they reframed many yogic concepts into an accessible and modern format using props, simple exercises, and partner work to guide our learning and understanding (I even enjoyed the vinyasa flow classes).

This summer, I think I fell back in love with yoga and the multitude of benefits it offers. From community to strength, from education to flexibility, from curiosity to adventure. My yoga practice feels fresh again. It is no longer just my favorite work out. It is my ideal way to warm up, calm down, strengthen my mind, condition my body, and find ease in my daily life. The ability and openness to practice it different ways speak volumes to my understanding and learning and process. I needed to find Sue, and I needed to go to yoga camp with a bunch of other musicians to reconnect me with many elements I had cast off or forgotten. There is a zeal for practice that I had several years ago that is reignited. My desire to better my asana practice is matched more evenly with my knowledge and patience for the process. My limitations have been reframed not as failures but as the current place I am working from. My mind is not (usually) so busy judging my body and comparing it to others in the class. I am amazed sometimes by the journey. It does not look more advanced now, but it feels so much better.

Tell me about your journey.

My Yoga Journey