Sweet Silence: Seeing results

First came comments from friends, family and my blog supporters, asking where I was or questioning if I was okay. It took everything in me to not write back until time was up. I even had classmates emailing me, to which I had to wait to respond.  Fighting with my internal dialogue, I waited… and waited… and waited longer. The first few four hour sessions seemed like days.

I found that after a few days, my silence got easier. It was less hectic, less rushed and more incredible than before. I grew happier, using my silence as a solace where I could acknowledge feelings and not have to explain them to anyone.

During the second week of my experiment, I was faced with hardships at work as well as in my family. Through choosing silence, I was able to listen to concerns, to feelings shared with  me. I was able to listen to everyone around me with a clarity I hadn’t before. They shared things that were new and raw. I was able to listen and focus, not just hear or acknowledge

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Sweet Silence: Conclusion

Of all of the emotions and changes that silence brought me, the one most pressed upon me is the feeling of thankfulness. I feel as though I was able to gain insight in to myself, into those around me and also the people I come in contact with everyday. I worked to listen. To understand the things that weren’t said. To give the people I was in contact with my full, undivided attention. It was pretty incredible feeling. They noticed, too. I was more present, alert and in tune with them.

Using the idea of silence will continue to be influential in my journey towards helping others through yoga. Being present in the moment and hearing where my students are coming from will help me to tailor their experiences in my classes or in private instruction. I’m incredibly excited to see the lasting effects of this experiment throughout the journey I’ve started. It will benefit me as well as my students, fellow classmates in training and my family.

It seems to me from talking with classmates, that this experiment impresses upon us a feeling of renewal. There’s something magical about bettering yourself. It seems like a common thread between all of the experiments, no matter the group, that they’re life changing and they turn out differently (and better) than we’d originally planned or thought. It’s truly been a life changing two-and-a-half weeks. I know I’ll continually reflect on this time as one where I gained insight into myself and those around me.

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Open House

Dear Yogis,
Axis Yoga is Denver’s on Donation based Yoga Teacher Training. Come experience a free class, meet staff and graduates and find out about what students have been raving about!
Saturday, August 27th from 4-6pm at the Consulate Healing Center that’s 750 E. 9th Ave, on 9th and Clarkson, on Capitol Hill.  Certificates for Free Basil Doc’s pizza for guests!
Sincerely,
Derik Eselius
zrldesign.com | 720.934.6934
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Axis Yoga Open House Sat Aug 27th

Dear Students of Yoga,

Thank you for your interest in Axis Yoga’s Teacher Training; Denver’s only donation based ytt.

This one of a kind, life changing experience is offered just twice a year in the fall and in the spring.  Our next session is scheduled to begin Sept 8th.

Axis Yoga offers an in dept and transformational immersion into the heart of yoga practice.  Our program covers all dimensions of yoga practice from theory to pranayama, from real time life experiments to the postures.

Unlike a regular studio, Axis Yoga offers teacher trainings exclusively.  It is our specialty, our life’s work, our passion.  In order to make these teachings as accessible as possible, AYT is offered on a donation basis!  There are just a few spaces remaining for our fall program!

Come find out more, visit our site zrldesign.com and come check out our Open House. Come experience a free class, meet staff and graduates and find out about what students have been raving about. Saturday, August 27th from 4-6pm at the Consulate Healing Center that’s 750 E. 9th Ave, on 9th and Clarkson, on Capitol Hill.  Certificates for Free Basil Doc’s pizza for all who attend!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Derik Eselius

AYT Director

720-934-6934

derik@zrldesign.com

zrldesign.com

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Riding the Tide

Throughout the course of Axis Yoga’s 200 hr. teacher training program, students engage in a variety of experiments, incororating the material they learn in the training, into their daily lives. This student chose to incorporate various ayurvedic self-care and supportive asana practice into her routine. Below she recounts her experience and reflections.

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Riding the Tide: Introduction to an Ayurvedic Experiment

In the beginning of this experiment my prakruti was vata, pitta, kapha, however after 4 days of experimenting I witnessed a significant change in my energy and focus due to a traumatic experience, shifting me to vata, kapha, pitta.  This shift allowed my experiment to truly test the soil of Ayurvedic practice.  This said, I decided to focus my experiment on my very vata/kapha-like nature. To add to my already long list of daily to do’s in keeping myself healthy and sane, I decided to experiment with a restorative vata yoga practice, abhyanga-external massage with oil prior to bathing, internal oleation through ingestion of ghee, and tongue scrapping every morning upon rising.

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Riding the Tide: Asana Practice

Restorative yoga and vata asana practice is such a yummy delightful practice.  I felt such bliss after my first introduction to vata based yoga series by Santosh.  My vritti slowed,  and I could feel my nerves and muscular system release into long lean fibers of mush.  Following the first few days of the experiment, I was hooked!  I woke up early to do sadhana, then found a class online that was specific for vata dosha or classified as restorative which are sets of poses that help ground the energy and mind of the sometimes spacey vata. Poses that support vata include forward folds and seated stretching.  I enjoyed them, and found a very satisfying calm from the sequence of poses. 

 Four days into my Ayurvedic experiment, the health rituals that I had been so disciplined with went up in smoke. Literally went up in smoke!  Our garage burnt down, and the stress of it all devoured me.  I turned to a very tamas and kapha-like state.  Suddenly my energy plummeted and getting out of bed in the morning was a chore.  All I wanted to do was sleep and relax, truly forcing myself to find the motivation to cook, clean and play with my daughter. This event helped me realize how vata I tend to be mentally, emotionally and energetically most of the time.  However, in times of major stress my mind lingers in a vata state while my body retreats into a very kapha-like state where I find it very hard to get out of bed, or even do my daily chores. Thus, for a kapha being who is incredibly grounded with a tendency to be lethargic, yoga takes on an entirely different type of asana that focuses on ascending the energy through backbends, inversions and poses that require arms over head throughout a good part of the practice. Wow! What a radical change in energy you can experience from such a practice. Coming into class I was so tired and sleepy, after an hour of kapha balancing yoga poses, my energy was soaring.  I found it very difficult to go to sleep that night.

 One evening, I found the time to be alone, and although I wanted to practice asana and sadhana, I found the task to be daunting due to the stress of the fire.  My mind was racing and energy fleeting.  So, I held Viparita Karani Mudra (the only yoga pose that balances all five vayus at once) for a period of 10-15 minutes two consecutive times.  My experience was euphoric.  After coming down from this mudra, my mind was completely quiet and my body was so relaxed it felt as if my subtle body was flying in the ethereal realms. I had a wonderful meditation where my mind was completely free of thought.

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Riding the Tide: Ayurvedic Self Care

Despite the mayhem, abhyanga was one Ayurvedic technique that I was consistent with through the two weeks of experimentation.  I experimented with two different techniques.  The Ayurvedic way is to apply oil on the body prior to showering, opposed to applying after one showers.  I found the Ayurvedic way to be much more soothing and moisturizing to the skin.  My skin, which is very dry at an altitude of 5280ft, is so much more radiant, glowing and supple.  I also tried two types of oil, sesame and coconut.  Sesame is the oil of choice for vata beings and coconut for kapha.  My favorite was coconut.  I found it softer and more soothing to my skin. Internal oleation with the ingestion of ghee was one part of the experiment I’m unsure of.  Although I used it daily, I can’t tell a true difference in my bowel movements, but I’ve also never had issues in this area of health.  Vata constitutions are said to have dry and firm bowel movements, however I fall more in the kapha dosha in this particular area.  But, I will continue to use it with the hope of coming to a conclusion.

Tongue Scrapping… Wow! What yucky ama one can have if you are not following a healthy regimen or fall weak under times of stress.  Interesting enough, I’ve found a correlation in my sinusitis flair ups and the production of ama, and it all has to do with the consumption of water.  If I don’t drink enough fluids, my sinuses seem to bother me and my ama is thick, white and copious in the mornings. If I drink enough water, the ama upon my tongue in the morning is clear and thin.  I also found a correlation due to stress.  In the beginning of the experiment I was stress free, well rested, eating healthy/following my diet and following a daily morning ritual of sadhana and asana.  Then after the fire, all of my practices fell through the cracks.  I could feel the stress and anxiety in every cell of my body, even my bowel became distressed for three days following the fire.

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Riding the Tide: Conculsion

In conclusion, I found my experiment to be very enlightening.  I plan to continue using the techniques I applied in my experiment to balance my doshas, all the while studying, testing and experimenting with Ayurvedic principles and practices in hopes that I can make improvements in my health and well-being while dancing with the fluctuations of life.  In the words of Babi Hari Dass…”The body is a boat which carries the soul in the ocean of the world.  If it is not strong, or it has a hole, then it can’t cross the ocean. So the first duty is to fix the boat.”  With my hammer and nails I forge, carrying a strong heart and mind.  I will forgive myself if I sink a little, rising once again to paddle the course and dance with the tides.

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Experiment in Ayurveda

As part of Axis Yoga’s 200 hour teacher training program, students learn about the ancient science of Ayurveda and are invited to design an experiment incorporating ayurvedic wisdom and medicine into their lives. This student’s experiment consisted of  Abhyanga Massage-self massage with oils, Vamana Dhauti, Marma Massage and eating foods to support her dosha.  Below she provides an explanation of each experiment along with her results.

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