Any forward bend is a good opportunity to practice Svadhyaya or self-inquiry. Your gaze and focus naturally turn inward. Your head symbolically reaches below your heart inviting you to listen deeply to what arises.

Start with mountain pose, then step the legs about 4 feet apart, parallel or slightly turn the heels outward.

Bend forward until the upper body stands halfway parallel to the ground. Place your hands right under your shoulders on the ground and see to it that your lower back is straight and still supports your position.

Reach your pelvis upward, look to the ground and stretch from the neck towards the ground.

If you can do this easily, you can grab the outsides of your feet and slightly pull at them so that the front part of your body feels long and you can stretch even further.

The stretching should be the result of relaxation, letting loose, gravitation and the stretching motion itself and not the result of pulling your hands with force.

~Andrea

But regardless of your depth of interest in the study of Sanskrit or Zen Buddhism or Motor Cycle Maintenance, the study of the self can be infinitely rewarding. Your inner voice can lead you on a path to unveiling your own divine nature or it can railroad you into depression and despair.

“Choose your path wisely, Grasshopper.” Here are two recent contrasting yoga articles that illustrate this choice:

This article in Real Age explains how hate speech (in this case ‘Fat Talk’) can undermine your ability to meet your goals. It tells us that  “My butt is big,” “I’m so fat,” and “No you’re not fat, I’m fat,” will work against you. The article admonishes: “Pay attention to the tone you use when talking to or about yourself.”

This article from Oprah (which I usually love) talks about the power of Bikram yoga to transform your life in 60-days. Any kind of consistent yoga practice can be transformative; the heat and sweat and discipline of Bikram are known for it. But the author’s hate talk about her body might put the kibosh on her transformation potential. Check it out:

My flabby abdomen won’t let my forehead anywhere near my knees, and my legs tremble as I try contorting myself into a position my body neither recognizes nor endorses. The goal is to concentrate on stretching and breathing, but I’m fixating on my unpedicured toenails. And the neon paleness of my legs. And the fact that I probably should have shaved.

This article ends with the author’s admission that  “I’m stuck in self-flagellating old thought patterns”.  But the language above made me pause to reflect. I have heard the trash talk of my own inner voice. Maybe it’s time to change the station to something more like “I’m so awesome for trying ekapada kundinyasana II again” or “I’m nurturing myself in child’s pose right now.”

As part of your own Svadhyaya practice, try listening closely to the inner voice that arises for you during yoga practice, during meditation, or during your bath. You’ might just be surprised and edified by what you hear.

image credits: smalltalkaboutbiglove.org, gaiam.com

A yoga retreat is not just a good idea, it actually has scientifically proven health benefits. While the health benefits of a regular yoga practice are well-known, the data on the benefits of taking a vacation are fairly new.

Let’s take a look:

- A recent study done by the Mind Body Center at the University of Pittsburgh shows that the benefits of engaging in multiple activities on vacation are lower blood pressure, lower stress hormones and smaller waists.

- Well-being research conducted by scientists in the Framingham Heart Study found “More than 12,000 men who were at risk of heart disease were followed over nine years to see if there were ways to improve their longevity. Among the questions they were asked annually was about vacations…The more frequent the vacations, the longer the men lived.” (Quoted on NPR)

- Francine Lederer, a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles was recently quoted in Insidescience.org, “The impact that taking a vacation has on one’s mental health is profound…Most people have better life perspective and are more motivated to achieve their goals after a vacation, even if it is a 24-hour time-out.”

- The Harvard Businss Review reported that taking a vacation increases productivity at work.

- An NBC report suggests that liberal vacation schedules for workers result in better focus on the job.

It’s not much of a leap to assume that the benefits of taking a Yoga Vacation are greater than the sum of the parts. Check out our June Yoga Retreats with John McConnell or Andrea O’Connor and our September Yoga Retreats with Martha Whitney or Janet Carscadden. You can find a little paradise right here in Vermont.

One of my favorite meditations is to sit quietly for a few moments, listening to the breathe, and then ask myself,” Without thoughts, emotions, memory, images or perceptions, what am I?”

There’s no right answer! First thoughts might rush forward,  helping me to see everything that I think I am or think I should be. Then I can accept that. Then maybe let go of that and be aware of the silence, spaciousness or pulsation that exists amidst thought. It doesn’t matter what happens in this meditation. It just matters that I asked.

Taking time to get to know ourselves is a simple definition of svadhyaya. We can practice this as we do yoga, meditate, study sacred texts or just by being aware of what’s happening in and around us.

~Andrea

When I developed the “Strong on the Inside” class series and workshop, I wanted to bring together the core information that I had learned from various disciplines. This class brings clarity to core work from yoga (the bandahs), Physical Therapy, and Gyrotonic. And it feels great. Come check it out! No yoga experience necessary! Fit athletes, experienced yoginis, and those less conditioned or recovering from injury benefit from this unique work.

Thursdays, 4:30-5:30pm
6 weeks for $99
starting May 10th
Register Here

Guided Meditation 8:30 – 9 AM (donation)

Anusara-Inspired Level I/II 9 – 10 AM

Anusara-Inspired Level I/II 3 – 4 PM

6 Weeks to Core Strength: Center of Power with Andrea on Thursdays afternoons from 4:30 to 5:30 PM (Begins May 10th to June 14th)

Where do you continue to find your inspiration? Waking up in the morning and thinking “sign me up” does it. If it doesn’t, then I adjust something, either my attitude or my circumstances.

How did you begin your yogic journey? Ten years ago I was a stressed out marketing director with a sore back. That was a great place to start.

Tell us about your “Branch Out! Yoga for Gardeners” retreat this June: This retreat is a wonderful opportunity to do yoga in a way that brings new discoveries about ease, strength and bliss. And we will make these new yoga skills, whether for our backs or our brains, work for us as we leave the weekend and move through life, doing our gardening, yard work, and even favorite outdoor sports like biking, hiking, running.

How has your practice and teaching changed over the last decade? In the first five years of my practice and teaching, I focused on doing fun poses and working hard. Nothing wrong with that; I loved it! In the last five years I’ve begun to focus on a daily or weekly philosophical principle and how to move with ease and strength on and off the mat. That feels great too!

Take the opportunity to make your summer better at two Feldenkrais Workshops:

May 5 – Sitting for Strain-free Meditation
June 2 – Growing Taller – Find Your New Height

In these workshops, you’ll learn to understand how your body is organized. You’ll find that even small movements can have a big impact.

The Feldenkrais Method® is a somatic system that improves movement, reduces pain, and promotes general well-being. Uwe Mester Mester, Burlington Feldenkrais practitioner, can attest to the efficacy of the method. It helped him recover from lower back surgery; and he has been teaching Feldenkrais in the Burlington Area ever since.

Inspired by martial arts, child development, bio-mechanics, the Alexander technique, brain research, psychology, and Eastern health practices, Method founder, Moshé Feldenkrais (1904-1984), created a system that teaches students an integrated, free, and easy way to move. His method uses slow, careful, focused motions to bring the body into alignment and out of pain.

While some Vermonters might think that Feldenkrais is something that happens to your father’s Chrysler in the middle of pothole season, you know otherwise.

In the past, I’ve had community garden plots where bushels of roma canning tomatoes, culinary herbs, funky striped beets, and spicy mesclun were among my favorite crops.Will do that again some day! As a renting intervale farmer, I raised and sold many types of medicinal herbs one year.  I’m into rock and our tiny city yard has three rock walls, a stone patio and stone walkway. Each year I tear something apart and rebuild it, much to Bill’s distress (What? It was fine the way it was!!!) This year the walkway is up for a facelift.  ~ Andrea

Join Andrea O’Connor for a weekend retreat in Starksboro, Vermont from June 8 – 10th, 2012 – Branch Out! Yoga for Gardeners