A mindful yoga practice can also help to shed light on the people, situations and opportunities that have made a real difference over the past year.

On the longest day of the year, heart-warming activities like these dispel the darkness, and counteract the chill of winter.

While reflecting on the highlights of 2011, I’m grateful for the wonderful yoga teachers who serve in Seattle and nearby yoga studios.

Yesterday was an example of one teacher’s generosity, and her commitment to yoga’s teachings…

Her husband was in the hospital recovering from surgery, so she had cancelled the morning class to spend the day with him. But she had no way to notify the students who had preregistered for her class online…

She showed up at the studio to do a few sun salutations before rejoining her husband at the hospital — only to discover two students waiting outside the studio for class to begin. (I had driven half an hour in rush hour traffic to get to class on time…)

Sharing the Blessings of Yoga

So she invited us to join her in a set of sun salutations, a practice she needed to ground herself before heading to the hospital. For us it was not a class, but a yoga-centered opportunity to open our hearts, breathe deeply, and express the joy of being alive, surrounded by people we cherish.

It was a beautiful practice, a wonderful gift from a yogini very pressed for time, but willing to share her yoga practice with the two of us. A true yoga experience…

Her generosity yesterday was a reminder of the enduring gifts that yoga teachers are eager to share, with those who are ready and willing to receive them.

Namaste.

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As my practice improves, I’m getting better at bringing energy up from my hands and feet to my core — but I tire more quickly. Legs start to shake, my poses lose their integrity.

Using the right mat can help, but I haven’t yet found the perfect solution. These days I’m experimenting with two different combinations, for different class styles.

For more in-depth discussions of yoga mats, based on personal trials, see: the quest for the perfect yoga mat, the quest (take 2), and still waiting for the perfect yoga mat.

The Yoga Mats Teachers Recommend

Observant teachers who see me slipping will recommend switching to a different yoga mat. Although teachers have different preferences, they tend to recommend either Jade or Manduka brand yoga mats.

As a result, I now own and use two different mats for class. Before heading off for class, I’ll choose the one best suited to today’s teacher — her yoga discipline and what she tends to emphasize in the way of asanas:

• Jade Harmony Professional Mat — for use in moderately sweaty classes (vinyasa flow, when poses will be held only briefly)
• Manduka Black Mat Pro — for use in Anusara classes that focus on core building and strong poses held for long periods (where stability counts)

Neither mat fully solves the problem, but for different reasons.

The Jade Harmony mat has a longer “mean time before slippage”; however, it deforms as it warms. So the Jade mat tends to be less suited for Anusara-style asanas with its focus on solid foundations and opposing actions. The Manduka never deforms, is always rock solid, but my hands and feet slip much earlier in class unless I’ve taken precautions.

Mat Covers Can Help

Because neither mat is sticky enough on its own, I’ve tested different mat covers, with varying degrees of success. Here’s my current “class formula”:

• Vinyasa flow: Jade Harmony mat plus Manduka eQua hand towel
• Anusara: Manduka Black Mat Pro plus Yogitoes Premium Skidless Mat-size Yoga Towel

For Vinyasa Flow

During classes with lots of sun salutations or other flowing sequences, I’ve found that Manduka’s micro-fiber hand towel does a good job keeping hands or feet stable. I’ve used a single towel, but am about to try placing two towels on the mat, one for hands and one for feet.

Manduka’s longer mat cover is less effective during vinyasa flow sequences — it wrinkles too easily. (This may not be an issue for skilled yoginis who jump and float easily from one pose to another, without graceless foot dragging.)

When possible, I prefer to bring the Jade Harmony mat to class because it weighs a pound or two less than the Manduka mat, rolls up nicely, and is easy to secure with a velcro strap. (That said, it took a couple of months before the rubber smell dissipated enough for me to ignore the Jade mat during class.)

For Anusara

My preferred solution for Anusara classes is the Manduka Black Mat Pro with Yogitoes skidless mat towel, which almost fully covers my yoga mat.

Even after two years of use and multiple washings, the Yogitoes towel remains reasonably absorbent, and the rubber feet keep it firmly in place — most of the time. It can wrinkle during fast-paced sun or moon salutations, so it sometimes needs adjusting during class.

What I don’t like is the somewhat bumpy feel of the rubber protrusions on the reverse side of the Yogitoes mat towel. This sort of spoils the zen-like beauty of the Manduka mat.

The wrinkly mat towel is the reason my vinyasa teacher tells me to bring the Jade Harmony mat to her classes.

I keep hoping that someday I’ll find a yoga mat that doesn’t compromise on stability while retaining its stickiness for the duration of the class. Perhaps this is just a fantasy…

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Revolution: The Perfect Dimensions

Designed in collaboration with Anusara founder John Friend, the Prana Revolution mat offers the perfect dimensions for yoga practice — 78 inches long and 30 inches wide — 4 inches wider and 7 inches longer than Manduka’s standard mat.

I own the Revolution as well as Manduka’s larger mat, which is 85 inches long and 26 inches wide. What I’ve learned is that Manduka’s mat is longer than I need (and those extra inches add to its heavy weight). But Manduka’s standard length of 71 inches is too short. This is why I find Revolution’s dimensions to be just right: 78 x 30.

If you’re tall, the Revolution’s larger dimensions make it easier to achieve proper alignment in poses like Downward Facing Dog or plank pose. And if you take classes in crowded urban studios, those added inches give you just enough breathing space from your fellow yoginis.

Like the Manduka black mat, the Revolution has a very dense and stable foundation: it won’t stretch or slip even when you’re jumping from one pose to another. (This stability is in striking contrast to some of Prana’s less expensive mats.)

The design-sensitive side of me also prefers the Revolution’s grass green color to the sober black of the Manduka. I also like the whimsy of the cute yellow-green Anusara logo placed in an unconventional spot on the mat.

I don’t like the white bloom that appears on the surface after a few moments of practice. It disappears right after cleaning, but reappears as soon as you resume practicing. (You can see the bloom in this photo.)

Both Mats Are Too Heavy

At almost 9 pounds each, both of my mats are quite heavy — and seem even more so while walking multiple city blocks from my parking spot to the yoga studio. If you carry this weight over your shoulder multiple times a week, it can really give you a sore neck or shoulder.

My perfect mat would weigh closer to 4 pounds — much like the weight of a well-balanced laptop computer.

Having said that, if your sticky mat is used only for home practice, this weight isn’t really a factor.

Note that Manduka’s smaller (standard size) mat weighs less, 7 pounds instead of almost 9.

How Well Do They Grip? Manduka Is Better

Neither mat is very sticky when brand new. If you don’t set your foundation just right, you’re vulnerable to slipping even in warrior poses. It took months of use before I stopped slipping on the Revolution. And even so, I bring a skidless towel to class to put on top of the mat.

I think the break-in time for a new Manduka black mat is somewhat shorter than for the Revolution, but the Manduka is also too slippery during its first month or two of use (even longer if you don’t practice on a daily basis).

The yoga teacher who sold me the Manduka mat advised cleaning it daily with a rough towel and mat-friendly cleanser, and “scrubbing the heck out of it” — her secret for breaking down the manufacturing residues that prevent a new Manduka from gripping as well as it’s designed to do.

After each mat has been broken in for a year, the Manduka’s surface affords a surer grip for sweaty hands and feet than does the Revolution. But on hot summer days or in warm studios, even a well-used Manduka is too slippery midway through practice if you suffer from sweaty hands and feet.

Neither One Is Perfect

In my home studio where I have the luxury of space, I go back and forth between the Manduka and the Revolution during daily practice. I’ve learned to prefer one mat over the other for certain poses — a clear sign that neither one is ideal.

Maybe someday I’ll be able to buy a mat with the wonderful dimensions of the Revolution and the superior grip of the Manduka — and a shoulder-friendly weight of 4-5 pounds.

That would be a happy day.

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Colorists, interior designers and other experts know how to influence moods and attitudinal state by the colors that surround people at work, at home or at play. I was reminded of the power of color at yesterday’s Anusara yoga class.

Before class, we were all buzzing about the energy we feel in Seattle Yoga Arts’ new venue (shown above).

The studio is vibrant, alive with heart-warming hues: reds, oranges, pinks, mustard yellows, and purple accents. The playful interior offers a huge (and welcome) contrast to the original studio a few blocks north. While this energizing palette may not be optimal for inspiring meditation or contemplation, it fires our asanas. An appropriate choice for Anusara’s heart-centered philosophy.

As one color expert writes,

…Red suggests the very ebb and flow of life. It is the most viscerally alive hue, the symbolic color of the heart, strong-willed and expressing strong emotions. It may command us to stop but at the same time encourages movement. Physiologically, red is a call to the adrenaline glands to get the body and senses activated.

—Leatrice Eiseman, Color: Messages and Meanings

Driving home, still pondering the impact of color, I recalled two starkly different office environments from earlier in my career, back in my Silicon Valley days.

Apple’s colorful, carefully designed office environments were a playful but energizing contrast to HP’s drab office spaces and linoleum floors. HP’s office always made me think of a house that was functional, but unloved. Although separated by only 2 miles, they were oceans apart in terms of corporate culture and design sensibilities. Apple’s environment stimulated my brain and inspired me to do my best; HP’s depressed me into a low-energy, dull and plodding state — one I couldn’t wait to leave.

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Cultivating community can be as simple as a friendly yoga class, a shared meal or an inspiring workshop. This can sow seeds towards creating a soul-centered kinship of yogis who take their community “off the mat” and beyond the studio walls.

Community Begins with the Teacher

For almost a year, I attended a yoga studio in the heart of Sydney, Australia. It was a busy school, packed with workers from nearby buildings, and had a “buzz” of the town outside. I attended several classes a week and was often taught by a particular teacher who, time and again, asked for my name. The first dozen times, I didn’t mind.

Another evening after class, I heard a teacher invite several students to the pub for a drink after class. I wasn’t offended by a yoga teacher having a drink with his students (Who knows? They may even have been drinking soda water.), it was the inclusive/exclusive inference that left me feeling on the outside.

My present yoga teacher cultivates community in each and every class he teaches. Not only does he have a gift for remembering names and the physical limitations of each student, he gently uses our names to verbally adjust students, which also works to introduce us to each other.

Creating Community — One Class at a Time

Each class is made up of a collection of individuals who bring with them the emotions and preoccupations of their particular day. I’ve witnessed yoga teachers change students’ differing energies, uniting the class towards common goals such as mindfulness.

Rather than create challenges for the more experienced yogis in the room, try to teach each class as if all your students are beginners — make your instructions accessible, your tone welcoming, and your spirit encouraging. A sense of fun and joyfulness is a powerful teaching tool and helps students lighten up and smile at their neighbors. Ask students to introduce themselves to the people next to them in small classes. And lead students in a Namaste to each other at the end of class.

Humor is most effective at helping students get out of their heads and onto their mats. Crack a joke and see people relax — most effective after a core strength session. One of my favorite teachers has a gift for cracking jokes at opportune moments. Although these jokes can be a bit off-colour at times, they are accompanied by a charming, open smile; my teacher easily disarms new students of their concerns that all yoga teachers are serious and holier-than-thou.

Taking the Classroom Outside

Encouraging students to linger longer can start with a cup of tea, extend to a meal, and end up with people volunteering in their community — it’s all in the spirit of inclusion.

One successful Sydney studio does this with grace as the yoga teacher boils a kettle in the reception room and offers students who linger after class a cup of tea. A meal at a local restaurant after a yoga workshop or the completion of a course also encourages students to relax and get to know one another outside of class. Depending on your locale and the students’ means, either bundle the meal into the price of the workshop or let everyone know it’s “Dutch treat.” Some studios sponsor annual or seasonal group meals, and ask students who want to participate to contribute something, such as a favorite home-cooked dish, to share with their teachers and fellow yogis.

For students who are frequent visitors to your yoga studio, offering a volunteer program can help build a sense of community, and not only among the volunteers. One yoga city studio I have attended has a “karma yoga” program offering free yoga classes in exchange for cleaning duties. I began volunteering at another studio giving adjustments and corrections during Saturday classes. I was already an experienced yoga student at that time and much appreciative of the personal instructions given to me by the yoga teacher. The studio also benefited from having an extra set of eyes and hands during busy classes.

Widening Your Community

Groups tend to be judged by their actions before people listen to their words. Perhaps the single most powerful thing yogis can do to encourage new people to experience the benefits of yoga is to become more involved in community services. This also allows students to experience karma yoga, the yoga of action.

Samadhi Yoga in Sydney has a formal “Yoga in the Community” program, and offers 16 heavily-discounted classes per week to anyone who wishes to attend. This organization also runs programs in conjunction with drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, at-risk child care services, clinics for patients with AID and juvenile justice units. While this type of commitment may be some years off for a fledgling studio, a “clean the park” picnic day, a free weekly class after school to local teenagers, or a visit to an aged care home is more easily manageable.

Each yoga studio has the potential to become a hub of activity for the community beyond its walls. When we gather together with the hope of reaching self-realization, we are working toward recognizing the universality of all beings, and achieving peace and freedom not only for ourselves, but also our worldwide community. Taking our yoga practice “off the mat” and into the world.

— Brook McCarthy, YogaReach, Sydney, Australia

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Sadly for shoppers (but not the store), all 4 of the dressing rooms were in constant use, resulting in at least a 15-minute wait to try on apparel for size and fit. As a testament to Lululemon brand loyalty, almost everyone waited patiently in line for a dressing room rather than go elsewhere. (There is at least one other yoga apparel store at this location, so people have other options within a 5-minute walk.)

Most of the bins for pants and crops in my size were empty, and the same was true for tops and tanks. I overhead one sales person tell a shopper that they replenish their merchandise on a weekly basis. 

Another positive sign, the cashiers’ lines were busy; lots of people were buying. Clearly this store doesn’t suffer from shoppers muttering, “Sorry, just looking…” And as everyone knows, yoga wear with Lululemon’s brand is definitely not inexpensive.

As another indicator of consumer confidence and this brand’s appeal, the shop was loaded with men and women across a surprisingly broad range of ages and body types. Yes, the store was packed with teenage girls checking out the latest hoodies, but also with boomer women trying on yoga crops or tops, guys looking at running gear, and men buying gifts for wives and daughters.

There was a lovely buzz in the store. It made me hopeful that this region is starting to rebound from its long slump.

On the other hand, one of my more cynical friends said that people aren’t shopping generally; they just find it easier to rationalize investments in “wellness lifestyle” aids. And if that’s the case Lululemon is certainly benefiting, at least here in the Seattle area.

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Why the Voice Matters in Yoga

The sound of a teacher’s voice is an important aspect of a class: what she says and how she says it. It’s a matter of personal taste, but some voices are — to my ear at least— more pleasing than others. In any given class I spend a lot of time listening with either eyes closed or attention focused elsewhere (the drishti gaze). When I’m not actively watching the teacher, the sound of her voice helps me focus my practice or identify where a micro-adjustment might be required. What she says and how she says it can make all the difference between yoga-as-gym-activity and yoga as something more meaningful or uplifting.

Does the teacher’s voice direct your attention to the key focal point(s) for your pose? Does it help you crystallize your intention or improve your ability to shift into your meditation space?

Yes, of course, the content of what the teacher says and how she delivers her instructions are hugely important. That’s the starting point, the sine qua non. If the teacher’s instructional style or her ability to guide you is out of whack with your needs and capabilities, nothing else matters: you need to find a teacher better suited to what you need to learn, or unlearn. Solve that problem first.

Once you’ve found a set of talented teachers whose instruction style and yoga tradition match your preferences, then you can start to pay attention to other factors, like class size, the nature of the invocations or readings, etc. The spiritual content (or lack thereof). The smell of the studio. Its decor. The props on offer.

Ideally, I prefer classes that are small enough to offer semi-individualized attention on how to improve your pose, alignment, action, drishti focal point — whatever. But it’s rare to find a high quality, uncrowded class. In this particular urban area crowded classes are the norm, unless you’ve found a new teacher, a new studio just developing its following, or can take classes at unpopular hours.

In large or crowded classes, it can be difficult to see the teacher when your mat is not up in the front, except for those moments when she stops the class to demonstrate a new or challenging pose. In classes like this the voice matters more than ever. It’s the carrier for good instruction.

Implications for Teachers

If you’re trying to attract more students, think about ways to offer a trial experience of your voice, the quality of your instruction. What about offering some sample podcasts or an online video clip to showcase how you teach and interact with students? Pick a pose or two, find a willing student or two, and get someone’s help to record/video the instructional moment.

Then look for appropriate places online where you can publish or offer your sample of how you teach your students. Facebook, YouTube, your studio’s website, iTunes, online yoga communities — you now have lots of relatively inexpensive opportunities to showcase what makes you such an inspiring teacher. And if this is all technically beyond your skillset, perhaps you can barter some free classes in exchange for technical or professional help with your podcast or sample video.

If you contribute to a blog, think about ways to offer a brief podcast or audio clip in which you share your voice, your values, or what you’re all about as a teacher and yoga practitioner.

Share your voice.

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This morning I uncovered a web-based information vortex when I tried to find out how many Americans currently practice yoga. I fell into a circular spiral, with no end point, and lost track of time while trying to find out more. I found numerous blogs and news articles published around the world in 2009, all citing a factoid released by the Yoga Journal based on a poll conducted by Roper Research:

A recent Roper poll, commissioned by Yoga Journal, found that 11 million Americans do yoga occasionally and 6 million perform it regularly.

Source: A January 2009 article published by Reuters. This article can be downloaded from Yoga Journal. More detailed information is not publicly available from Yoga Journal (at least not by online means).

None of the journalists or bloggers who refer to this factoid can explain what is meant by “regular” versus “occasional” practice. (The Reuters article released by Yoga Journal does not define these distinctions.)

What’s Interesting Is What They Don’t Say

Having found so many references to the same slim source, I find myself intensely curious about the questions that are not answered:

• Does the factoid refer only to Americans who live in the US, or does it include Canadians too?
• How many men practice yoga?
• How many people, by age group, practice yoga? Are people trending older or younger?
• How often do regular practitioners practice yoga, and why?
• How do occasional practitioners differ from regular practitioners?
• What factors might motivate someone to shift from occasional to regular practice?
• How many classes do regular practitioners take on a weekly or monthly basis?
• How often do regular yoga practitioners do their asanas at home versus in a class environment?
• Are occasional practitioners more likely to attend class, or follow a DVD at home, or run through their own set of asanas at home?
• How do their spending habits differ?
• Is yoga practice spread evenly across household income levels, or are there interesting patterns?
• What about educational levels?
• What are the regional variations? Coastal or urban dwellers versus “Heartland?”
• How many people teach yoga?
• What’s the (forgive the expression) “viral impact” of regular practitioners? How many newcomers become yoga practitioners as a result of referrals by friends?

You can comb through 3 pages of Google search results and find nothing beyond citations of the same factoid, with pointers to the same Reuters article and the same one-sentence factoid.

Nowhere is there any in-depth information about the actual poll: when it was conducted, how many people were surveyed, using what methodology, how statistically valid the sample is, etc., etc. There’s no information about the specific questions posed in the survey.

The final report from Roper is not readily available online, most likely because it was proprietary research for Yoga Journal, conducted for reasons that aren’t explained. (We can guess: for advertising rate cards.)

But it leaves us hungering for more… It would have been a real service to the yoga community for Yoga Journal to have shared deeper insights than the slim factoid that is currently circulating around the Internet. It’s hard to believe they would commission research from Roper simply to find out how many people practice yoga…

Perhaps the next time they commission research they’ll structure the deal to permit a broader sharing of results.

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In an ideal world I’d take 6-8 weekly classes in succession from the same teacher at the same studio, to benefit from her careful class planning and sequencing. But in 2 years of taking classes I’ve never been able to attend all 8 classes due to family or work-related schedule conflicts. As a result I’ve joined a second local studio to have an alternate place where I can take classes when I face a conflict with my primary studio. Each one uses MindBody for booking purposes, so I have two separate accounts now.

From a busy student’s perspective, it would be really great if I could book classes using a centralized reservation system that showed me all the classes available today (or at later dates) within, say, a 20-mile radius. For each class on offer I’d want to see information about the yoga style or tradition, the teacher, the relative difficulty of the class, prerequisites (if any), time, location, pricing, etc. Like the Open Table restaurant model it would be nice to see something comparable to menus and photographs of the venue, if it’s a studio I’m unfamiliar with. I’d also want to be able to filter the class listings by teacher name, yoga tradition (such as Anusara), difficulty level, etc.

This raises a larger question of the business model. Would I pay the central booking service, and have it disburse funds to the studio? (My personal preference as a student.) Would there be a finder’s fee paid by the booking service to the studio, with students paying for the class directly to the studio? I don’t know. Certainly from the student’s perspective, being able to book and pay online in a single transaction is the most convenient approach.

What I do know is, I’d take more classes if such a booking system were available, one that allowed me to book and take classes on the spur of the moment, as time permits. Such an approach could be financially beneficial to the studio owners, if they could fill up more classes… They might even offer specials on classes that are generally sparsely attended.

Perhaps this is something that Mindbody could explore.

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This is a smart decision, as they have limited space, a growing number of qualified teachers, and increasing demand for their classes and workshops. On one noteworthy Sunday, the class was so crowded that only inches separated our yoga mats. Those of us who were there are still talking about that class.

There’s a very limited supply of Anusara style yoga classes in the Seattle area, so it’s been clear for some time that this studio needed to take action to deal with their capacity challenges, given the demand that they enjoy. This week they’ve responded.

Like other nearby yoga studios, Seattle Yoga Arts has just implemented the MindBody ecommerce engine to make online class registration possible. Students can now pay by-the-class, prepay for either a fixed or unlimited number of classes, or subscribe to an entire series of classes over a 60-day period.

I applaud the studio for offering more choices, more classes, and a more flexible registration and payment system. If the online scheduling mechanism is kept up-to-date, it should be possible for students to make last-minute decisions to attend a class without fear that it will be over-booked. (A recurring problem with this studio in the past – the problem of popularity when the resource is finite.)

The combination of more classes plus more insight into class availability should also help relieve some of the capacity pressures. It would be great to know we’ll have more space between the mats!

Change Brings Challenges

From emails and remarks to students, it’s clear that the principals who run the studio are of mixed minds about this transformation. They are dedicated teachers, and devote a lot of time and care to planning their 8-week class sequences. They want to ensure that each session builds on concepts, principles and skills introduced in the preceding classes.

But the drop-in model that MindBody makes possible runs counter to that teaching philosophy: it puts students in control of their schedule, and lets students attend class at their convenience. Our teachers no doubt fear that those of us who are still in the learning phase of our yoga practice will lose the coherence of their teachings if we let scheduling convenience trump disciplined class participation.

People with unpredictable schedules or jobs that require a lot of last-minute travel will welcome an online registration model that accommodates today’s crazy schedules.

My business travel has never allowed me to attend more than 5 or 6 classes out any given session, so I’ll welcome a payment model that’s more accepting of this reality. Much as I’d like to attend all the classes in a session, it has never been possible. In effect I’ve paid a 20% premium given the classes I’ve been unable to attend. (And there’s been no way for me to provide information that my space would be available on such-and-such a date, due to business travel.) Clearly, the paper-based booking system was sub-optimal for all concerned.

All of this makes me wonder whether our pay-per-view and online lifestyles are bleeding into the world of yoga, resetting expectations of how studios “should” treat their students or manage class logistics. As a practical matter I look forward to the convenience of online registration and payment, but hope to continue benefiting from the teachers’ wisdom and session-long class planning as well.

I hope this transformation proves to have been a good business decision for Seattle Yoga Arts, as well as its students.

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