Last weekend both the LPTA Tango class and the Yoga4Tango session afterwards focused on creating awareness of how the body is split into parts, and how these parts interact with one another, and pass on energy in order to facilitate each movement.
I have spoken to a number of people this week about how they think the body works when they watch and dance Tango. Many have acknowledged that the chest plays an important role in dancing for both the leader and the follower, because this is where the connection between partners stems from most of the time, and also dissociation. Not many seemed to comprehend that the body is split into several separate parts, and that it is the downward, spiraling, dissociated motion of these parts that sets off a chain reaction, and influences the natural and instinctive manner in which the body moves when we dance.
In order to reinforce what was taught in the LPTA Tango class beforehand, we started the Yoga4Tango session off with a focus on three-part breathing, to activate our awareness of the different parts of the torso. Having already spent two hours experimenting with the different parts of the upper body whilst learning the Tango sequences in the previous class, I already had a very clear awareness of these parts. It was nice to wind down though, and rejuvenate the muscles with the yoga breathing exercise.
Three-part breathing involves first drawing breath into the lower stomach, holding it there before releasing and breathing all of the air out of the body, and holding at the bottom. Then breathing into the lower stomach, holding, and then drawing the breath further up into the upper section of the stomach and holding, before releasing all of the air out and holding at the bottom. And finally doing the same thing but breathing air right up into the chest and throat, holding at the top, and then breathing it all out and holding again at the bottom.
The yoga instructor pointed out some of the benefits and uses of the three-part breathing exercise in the session. He told us that a student had described using the technique before an important meeting to calm nerves and focus the mind. It can also be a useful way to warm up all parts of the body before dancing and reinforce in our minds the fact that we can use all of these parts during our dancing to improve the flexibility of our movements and make the most out of the energy we are using; this is what brings me to think that perhaps the yoga session would be more beneficial is positioned before the DPTA Tango class.
I feel that after I have spent a few minutes of using the three-part breathing technique my body feels more open and my posture feels more natural because I have opened up all the space inside of me, instead of everything feeling scrunched up and sucked in like a vacuum. I feel ready for action, ready to dance, ready to learn and absorb and bounce positive energy around the room.
I feel like the Yoga4Tango would be a great preparation for the body and the mind if it came first, and it would then allow us to make even more out of the Tango class. I am personally finding that this way round I am not benefitting as much as I would like to from the yoga, because I am feeling fatigued. It does however make me think that practicing yoga directly before a Tango class or milonga may be beneficial, so this is something I think I will start doing from now on. A private yoga session at home, then a quick shower and off to a Tango class or dancing seems like a good idea.
The breathing is such a relevant part of the Yoga4Tango practice in general because it draws parallels with how we create the energy while dancing that springs back to provide our bodies with the momentum it needs to flow into each movement.
In yoga we create length in the body by breathing in and bringing our attention to correct body alignment and stability; and then when we breath out we maintain all the strength we have set up, at the same time as letting go and releasing any tension we would otherwise be holding in our bodies. I really do enjoy the way my body feels when I do the breathing exercises properly during a yoga sequence. I can feel relaxed, strong and stable at the same time, and it eliminates any sense of struggle.
Alas, I have not really been feeling any of these benefits during my yoga practice recently. I want to think about where I am in my yoga journey and what is causing current blocks for me. I have not been practicing as regularly as I’d like to. Developments in my personal life have meant that I don’t have an awful lot of space and privacy, which I feel I need in order to practice yoga in my own time.
Because I am unpracticed I have been finding the Yoga4Tango sessions more challenging and not as enjoyable as I have found them in the past. I feel frustrated at my lack of flexibility. My short hamstrings annoy me. And I feel these negative feelings distract me further during my practice and I end up losing my balance and not breathing properly, which means I am finding certain poses uncomfortable. I have to say, I am disappointed with myself most of the time. It doesn’t help that I am now feeling tired if I take the Tango class first and then the yoga class immediately afterwards.
Yoga is a funny thing. Your personal response to it and overall experience can be so sensitive to a number of outside influences. Luckily I remember how yoga has the potential to make me feel amazing, and I want to reach that point again. Tango dancers often have a similar experience, going through episodes of feeling down about their dancing, and then going through periods of feeling high. Both yoga and Tango are so closely linked to our emotions and the type of energy we project outwards. Maybe I have to take into account other things that are happening in my life and be less hard on myself.
The rest of the yoga session involved us going through the Sun Salute Sequence a number of times, focusing on smooth transitions, deep breathing and generating strength by transitioning into organic energy when settled into each pose in the sequence. I have written about all of these things in more detail in previous posts, so please have a browse through and see what you come across. I found it difficult, and I was focusing too much on the fact that I knew I could do better and have done better than this before.
I think for the time being while I focus on reconnecting with Yoga4Tango I may have to cease attending the LPTA Tango class that comes immediately before it. It is a pity because I have thoroughly enjoyed the Tango classes, and they have been immensely useful. I would definitely recommend them to anyone who is looking for a Tango class that will challenge the way they approach dancing. Martin and Laisa are really lovely, and great teachers.
Don’t forget that the times have changed and Yoga4Tango now starts at 4:15 to accommodate for people who would like to use the changing rooms afterwards without feeling too rushed. We have also discovered a really great café/restaurant nearby for post-yoga socializing. I am a great fan of the place too as I discovered they sell different coloured chocolate buttons (pink and yellow). Looking forward to buying some next week. See you there!
Wednesday, 09 April 2014 12:21
Yoga4Tango Combined With LPTA Dancing Technique Tango Classes
Written by Zara MThe Yoga4Tango classes are now being held at Fitness first, just around the corner from Angel Station, at the new time of 4:30pm; which is straight after the LPTA (Leandro Palou Tango Academy) Tango class, held in the same venue, starting at 2:30pm. I decided to attend both the Tango class and the Yoga class to get a feel for the complete Sunday experience, and feedback to you.
Firstly the new location is very good for me. It is central and there are plenty of transport links. It’s also great for post-yoga socialising as there are plenty of cafes, restaurants and bars in the area, which are open when we finish, despite it being late on a Sunday afternoon – don’t you just love being in Central London? I wasn’t able to make it for a drink and bite to eat this weekend unfortunately, but I think a few of the others got together and went out. I think that going for a chat and a beverage is a nice perk of the yoga class, especially now that summer is approaching, (Let’s just ignore the dreary rain we seem to be getting this week!)
Fitness First offers great facilities for those who like to get changed and freshen up after the yoga session; especially if you intend to head out for dinner and then go straight to Tango Etnia in Camden for dancing afterwards. The ladies changing rooms are very pleasant with modern showers, hair dryers, lockers etc. Being the first week there were a few hiccups regarding class timing because the gym closes promptly, and so there was not much time to get ready and leave at the end. I believe this is something that is going to be taken into consideration for the future though.
The space we practiced in was bright with strong lighting, and spacious enough for the amount of people who attended the classes. There were plenty of mirrors too, which was good for self-observation during both the Tango and the Yoga practice. Admittedly there were a couple of inconvenient pillars which obscured the view sometimes, but that’s easily rectified by repositioning oneself. I don’t think it would prove to be a problem with the current class numbers.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Tango class, which was taught by Martin Ojeda and the lovely Laisa Souza. I don’t attend Tango classes very often I have to admit, because I find them disruptive to my general dancing enjoyment. You might think that is an odd thing to say, and in fairness it is somewhat juvenile for a dancer of nearly three years; the truth is that while I love to dance and enjoy myself at milongas, as soon as I turn dancing into an education and attend classes I find that the spontaneity and my ignorant enjoyment disappears. I do realise of course that the underlying issue is a personal fear of losing enthusiasm for something that makes me feel good. I don’t like dealing with the inevitable discomfort of realising how much hard work it is going to take if I want to improve my technique and become a better dancer! Unfortunately if you do have aspirations to improve your dancing, which I suppose we all should have if we want to make dancing in London better for everyone, you will have to face up to the hard work involved at some point; and it is better to deal with it sooner rather than later when you have developed a selection of bad habits that will then have to be unlearned. I have written about this issue in a previous post:
“Yoga and Tango can feel so easy and pleasurable at times when we are blissfully unaware of our flaws; and then it becomes less pleasant, because suddenly we find ourselves in a different stage of personal development; one that forces us to be aware of our incompetence, and we consciously have to work harder on improving ourselves in order to get back to that blissed-out, natural and flowing sense of enjoyment.”
You can read more about the topic here - http://www.yoga4tango.com/blog/item/23-the-importance-of-body-alignment-in-yoga-and-tango.html
I have to say though, that attending Sunday’s Tango class has actually encouraged me to take another look at my dancing. I really did enjoy the way the class was taught, and the way it made me think about myself as a follower. Self-improvement is always very satisfying in the end, but you will always have to go through those initial stages of discomfort, insecurity, frustration and basically hard work before the changes begin to take shape.
What I specifically enjoyed about the Tango class was the attention paid not only to the anatomical detail in applying the dance techniques, but also to the care that was paid to the beauty of the execution of each individual step and adornment. I really like the way Laisa encouraged followers to apply elegance to each adornment by slowing down the movements, and focusing on using core strength to take control of each movement rather than falling into each step. It reminded me of how Yoga4Tango encourages us to make mindful transitions into each yoga pose, using core strength and taking the time to achieve the right body alignment first.
In the Tango class there was a strong emphasis on leading the movement of the body with the chest first, and then letting the body spiral naturally down through to the hips and finally the legs and feet. One thing I know I am going to have to work on now is being much more conscious of using my core muscles in order to take control of my movements rather than letting my legs swing about of their own free accord, doing their own fancy thing. It is hard work to keep focused on the idea that all parts of your body are connected to one another, and that every movement each part makes is consequential of a movement a different part of the body has made previously. You really do have to develop quite an intimate relationship and awareness of your own body; it is quite strange to have to pay attention and concentrate on the way your body naturally moves, you would think that any natural movement would be left to the subconscious, but initially you have to bring it all into the forefront of your mind so that you can learn and understand what is happening with your body, how it works and why. Again Yoga4Tango draws important parallels with what was being taught; it was interesting to have a source of reference from the yoga sessions to aid my understanding of what was being taught in the Tango class.
Developing core strength and developing an awareness of the body in terms of it having segments that work separately but simultaneously together, as a whole, is a concept that Yoga is good at reinforcing. Practicing yoga on a regular basis can help to develop and maintain core strength, but I don’t think that attending one Yoga4Tango class a week is enough. The Yoga class provides a very good basic practice session, but I think that the most benefit comes when it is combined with regular practice at home and perhaps also attending one or two Tango lessons a week as well as dancing at Milongas or Practicas.
I think it is a great idea to intertwine yoga practice and dance practice. Being able to attend the Yoga4Tango practice session straight after The LPTA Tango class provides this opportunity. I have to say that personally I found it physically and mentally quite challenging to go straight into the yoga practice after such a mentally intense Tango class. Some of the other students also commented on the fact that they found the Tango class a challenge, which is a good thing of course, because it means we are all learning something! But I was too tired to dance in the evening. I guess stamina requires practice and patience.
What I would like to see more of in future Yoga4Tango practice sessions, especially now that they are positioned straight after the LPTA Tango classes, is a more streamlined experience in terms of how the yoga session relates to what we are learning in the Tango lesson beforehand. I think that the continuity will help to keep students switched on, and we will find the yoga sessions even more relevant and useful. I would like to see more Tango references in our yoga practices too, to help maintain the fact that these yoga sessions are unique and important for our dancing development. What do other Yoga4Tango (or potential Y4T) students think?
Many thanks to Martin Ojeda and Laisa Souza for the Tango class, and Winston as usual for the Yoga practice. It was lovely to meet all of the Tango students too.
Thursday, 27 March 2014 10:26
How Yoga Compliments Other Forms of Exercise and Dancing.
Written by Zara MThe Yoga4Tango class last weekend started off with an alignment exercise. We were asked to stand with our backs against a wall, feet flat on the ground and slightly apart, away from the wall. Then we aimed to lengthen and straighten the spine’s natural curve by pressing our backs up against the wall. We stretched our arms out to each side so that the shoulder blades rested flat against the wall too, and then we raised our arms up and down paying close attention to what our bodies naturally wanted to do. I think the idea was to consciously but naturally lengthen the body and straighten out the curves so that they were properly aligned and ready for the practice session. It was a nice warm-up and a great way to start the class, being an alternative way to stretching whilst lying on our backs on the ground. I also felt it gave me a peaceful moment to connect with myself, and bring my awareness to each part of my body before the class began.
I was a concerned that I’d find the class a struggle because I had gone out for a run that morning for the first time in many, many years. You look at people running, and some of them make it look easy as they spring along, whilst others look like they are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. I knew I wouldn’t be sprinting down the street on my first go, but I didn’t expect the experience to be quite as painful as it was. Carrying the weight of your own body in a way you are not used to is more work than you think! I was convinced that because my body and muscles were not used to running, that they would seize up, and that later I would not be able to take part in the yoga class. How wrong I was though!
The yoga instructor had certainly not chosen a time to be lenient with us. He pushed us to our limits. The pace was fast and he challenged the class with non-stop transitions and posture holds. But I found it so exhilarating! Despite the physical challenge of the session, I felt that I had suddenly acquired a restful sense of stamina, and for some reason my body as a whole felt more open and flexible. I moved into each pose of the Sun Salute sequence mindfully, and I found myself breathing into each pose in a far deeper way than usual. I had to ask myself whether the cardio exercise I did earlier had prepared my body or mind in some way or other so that I was more ‘up for it’ in the yoga session. I felt like my body was alive. By the end of the session I had started to flag, especially in some of the poses that required the muscles in my legs to work harder, my legs were beginning to feel like jelly by this point I must admit.
I was convinced that I would suffer the following day, but to my surprise my body felt good and my muscles did not hurt. I guess a good combination of the cardio from running and the muscle lengthening from yoga worked well together. I’m not convinced that I want to take up running as a regular activity because I have heard about it being a high impact kind of exercise, but my yoga instructor explained that if you take the time to figure out your body alignment first then you lessen the negative impact of certain sports like running because you don’t put unnecessary pressure on certain parts of your body as your weight will be more evenly distributed. Yoga is such a wonderful activity for getting to know, and also looking after your body, so that you can protect it while doing other things to benefit your health. I am looking forward to the new Yoga4Tango intensive back to basics course, which is upcoming; we will be exploring how you can apply basic yoga techniques to help improve the way your body works in everyday life. I am expecting the classes to focus on things like posture and weight distribution.
I have also been paying closer attention to how the muscles in my body work while I am dancing Tango. I am finding that I feel much more stable now that I seem to have discovered a proper Tango posture, and one that feels natural. I’m not sure when that happened, but I am feeling that my posture has improved in everyday life too. I am not hunching my shoulders as much and my body looks and feels more open, which is benefitting my dancing. Perhaps it has something to do with a change in the weather? It’s not as cold, and people are looking forward to sunshine after having a glimpse of summer a few weeks back. My newfound posture may also have something to do with improved core muscles, holding my upper body upright feels more natural because my core muscles are used to being engaged now. It’s a wonderful feeling.
I hope that the next few weeks in Yoga4Tango will have a strong focus not only on how yoga can benefit our everyday lives, but also give a closer examination of how we can apply yoga techniques to dancing Tango.
Wednesday, 12 March 2014 12:03
Flexibility and Repetition: How to be Mindful in Yoga, Tango and Life.
Written by Zara MI am always quite fascinated by the fact that every week I can go to the same Yoga4Tango class and practice the same yoga sequence pretty much over and over again, yet still be able to take something different away from each session. This doesn’t always happen, mind you. Sometimes it feels tedious and repetitive; but that is why I have to remember that what I take away from each class always depends on what I choose to bring to the class in the first place.
The same applies to every aspect of our lives, whether it is dancing with the same Tango partners or learning the same back-to-basics dance techniques over and over again, whether we are facing repetition in our jobs or daily routines, or whether we retire to bed with the same person every single night for the rest of our lives.
Last weekend a theme emerged in the class, which focused on ‘flexibility’, and I decided to link it to my thoughts on repetition, because the idea of ‘practice’ is linked to repetition and also to improvement and ‘reaching’ further into the task or action so that we get more out of it. When you repeat the same things over and over again; it could be a tune on the piano or a sequence of yoga poses, your aim must be to discover new things about yourself, and experience new feelings and watch your natural abilities flow and grow. Repetition is about learning and reaching your maximum potential. In order to do this you have to work on your physical and also your mental flexibility.
When I first started to practice yoga with Yoga4Tango I had a vague concept in my head about how practicing yoga can be a good way to improve your flexibility, and while I thought this was pretty cool, I wasn’t quite sure why it was necessary, at least for me. I can’t touch my toes, but then so what? I can’t bend backwards until I reach the floor in an arch, but then how would that ever be of any use to me in my everyday life? It might be nice to be able to say I can do the splits, but is that really going to benefit me in any real way? When am I ever going to need to know how to do the splits? I am now beginning to realize that yoga encourages us to be flexible in many different ways, not all physical, and that all of these ways can refer to and affect the ways in which we approach life. When you translate anything you do to the bigger picture, suddenly the potential benefits and possibilities become infinite.
During our Sun Salute Sequence in the Yoga class last weekend our instructor brought our attention, through his usual commentary and instructions, to how our muscles behave throughout the sequence. We were made aware of the constant contraction and expansion of our muscles, and the fact that in yoga, and also in Tango, we are never staying still or the same; even the mind has to be flexible in order to allow the muscle energy to transition into organic energy and flow naturally to increase the body’s flexibility and maintain it’s strength and stability. The instructor reminded us that yoga is about mindful movements, and not blind repetitions.
When you practice yoga in this mindful way, and you really pay attention and put effort into your movements so that each pose flows into the next, you can actually feel quite beautiful and enter a meditative realm of your own. This ethereal existence can be felt when dancing Tango or doing any activity in your daily routine. You should try it!
I had the terribly long and tedious task of copy and pasting clumps of text from an online script writing facility to the new software I bought for my macbook, because the content wasn’t compatible to transfer over in one go. I applied a similar mindset to the task to what I have been talking about, and soon I found that I was in a rather blissful state; not zoned out, but experiencing a mindful pattern of movement and thought. My brain was in sync with my fingers, and I became so naturally absorbed with the task; and even though it had all of my focus, I was still well aware of what was going on around me, and perfectly able to respond to the activity. I felt like I was melting into what I was doing, and that I was part of my environment. There was no resistance or clashing.
I know is sounds a bit abstract to compare something as mundane as computer work with yoga, but the same sort of thing happened when I went for a bike ride. I haven’t ridden a bike for a long time and so it was jolly nerve wrecking. I was so stressed and I felt like I couldn’t focus on the different elements of riding a bike all at once – there was balance, vision, working the brakes, steering, watching out for cars, and people, and dogs – my mind was in a state of chaos and I just wanted to get off the silly thing! But on the way back home, when I got the hang of it, I allowed myself to slip into that ethereal state of mind, so that suddenly the whole experience became enjoyable and relaxing. It felt more natural and right, like I was part of the bike and the road and anything else that happened to join me on my ride.
I think that if you can apply this level of positivity to the different areas of your life, you will stop your mind from closing up and making life seem more difficult or complicated. Look for ways in which you can help yourself, and ease yourself into a comfortable level of flexibility that feels right for you at the time. As you know I have been having trouble with the pigeon pose in my yoga class. Instead of feeling despondent about it or frustrated, I didn’t seek to put the problem at the door of my instructor. Instead I took onboard what I have learnt in the classes and through various conversations, and I attempted to connect with my own body to find out why I can’t seem to relax into this pose. Using a couple of blocks I managed to achieve an alignment in my body that felt good for me at the time, and I know that the more positive energy I put into this pose, the more I will encourage myself to discover what feels right, and the more I will get out of it.
Wednesday, 05 March 2014 05:56
Connecting The Body and The Mind Through Yoga & Tango
Written by Zara MI have been thinking recently about how much I have taken my body for granted over the years. Before I discovered Yoga and Tango I didn’t really think about how my body worked at all. It was just there, like something separate from me, which served only to get me from A to B, and make me look good when I dressed it up in nice clothes. My body was a hassle when it wasn’t well or functioning right, and I resented it when I had little energy to do anything physical, because it held me back from living my life the way I wanted to. I abused it by drinking too much alcohol, and I left my body to repair itself over and over again. I didn’t eat well and I stayed up late even when I had to wake early. I didn’t give it the proper exercise it needed to function, yet I expected it to function anyway. I was young, and my body was in its prime, or so I thought. I didn’t connect with it though. I didn’t work with it, respect it, or enjoy building a proper relationship with it. It was just there. I hardly thought about the part my body plays in my life at all.
As you get older you change the way you think about yourself though. I know now that my relationship with my body is more important because I know that it defines what sort of life I can lead; and forming a connection between my body and mind reminds me that I have the power to choose how I want to feel every moment of every day. The mind and the body must form a positive and equal relationship in order to walk harmoniously through life together. (You can quote me on that if you like.) I am now thirty years of age, and I have only just started to realize how special my body is. It is the only one I have.
The reason all of this has come to the forefront of my mind now is because recently I strained my neck and it was jolly painful for a few days. I wasn’t able to attend the Yoga4Tango class last weekend because I need to rest it. Don’t worry, I didn’t strain it while I was doing yoga, I think I must have slept wrong. The small but deeply incapacitating injury has seriously made me evaluate how much you can take your body for granted. It has also brought my attention to how useful both Yoga and Tango can be to help resolve the physical and mental ailments of the body and the mind, and also how important they both are in helping you to develop these special connections; mental connections, physical connections and sometimes even spiritual ones; they all work towards developing who you are and how you approach life and the people you meet.
During the Yoga4Tango class I attended the week before, the instructor made a reference to pain, which stood out to me because it made me giggle. “Why create pain?” he asked, “It doesn’t make sense.” His comments made me smile because they were true, why continue to struggle through something when you can take a step back to re-establish what your situation is, and then find a better way? Sometimes it is important to feel the pain though, because then you can use it as a sign to back up and re-evaluate things before proceeding onwards. Often we don’t stop; we continue to struggle through. This is a mistake we make most when we are young, and luckily our bodies are fit enough to handle it. When you get a bit older you must learn to listen to your body.
If we feel pain in a yoga pose, it is because the body is not properly aligned or there is too much compression, and we need to come out of the pose in order to focus on the distribution of our weight, and breathing more air in to expand the body and allow for more space and flexibility to stretch and twist into the pose. We use muscle energy to generate the strength we need to establish ourselves in the pose properly before transitioning to organic energy, which allows us to sustain the pose, and breathe deeper into it whilst allowing the muscles to relax just enough so that we are comfortable, yet still strong and stable.
I think it is always important to question anything that doesn’t feel right, and anything we don’t fully understand. How often when dancing Tango, do you struggle with your back ochos, without attempting to understand why they seem so difficult? If you attend a few Tango classes, and there are plenty in and around London, you can begin to understand how the rest of your body needs to work and behave in order for those ochos to flow smoothly. It is not just about learning where to put your feet; your body must move as a whole and the energy needs to flow all the way through you, from the music and your partner, it must fill your mind with emotion, and then surge through into your shoulders, chest and heart; spiraling down through your core like a corkscrew so that you have enough momentum to swivel on the balls of your feet and step back into your ocho. (Don’t quote me on all of that though!) What I am trying to say is that when something doesn’t work properly or feel natural to you, there is a reason you are struggling. Struggle shouldn’t be continuous.
Even when something works perfectly, make sure you understand why it does! I have attended all of these Yoga4Tango classes week after week and not once have I bothered to find out why we all say “Namaste” to each other at the end. Everyone just looks happy and blissed out, so I have followed the crowd, and felt good too. I have just looked it up though, and so when I say it at the end of the next class it will feel much better because the gesture will have meaning for me. If you want to find out what “Namaste” means, here is the link - http://www.yogajournal.com/basics/822.
Thursday, 13 February 2014 11:11
Pay Attention to The Journey: Mindful Transitions in Yoga
Written by Zara MIf you don’t pay attention to the journey, how will you ever know how you got to your destination? What if you end up in the wrong place? Making the journey again would be pointless because you could just end up back in the same wrong place! I am of course, not talking about your journey to work or any other physical journey in life, although these could also apply; what I am referring to is the mental awareness of what it takes to get you from one place to the place you want to be; more specifically, the importance of making mindful transitions in yoga, and while we are at it, let’s also apply the theory and practice to dancing Tango.
Why doesn’t she just say that then? I hear you think, instead of waffling on in metaphor about “journeys”? If I began this article by jumping straight to the point, and if I basically told you what the essential message of this blog piece is before sharing my creative thought process, then perhaps your mind would just glaze over. The information would go in one ear and out the other, because when you arrive at a destination without enjoying the journey, suddenly the journey has no relevance to you because you didn’t mindfully experience it yourself.
Is this a mistake you repeat in your life, your yoga practice and your Tango dancing? Or do you have the patience, and take the time to enjoy the process, the learning, discovery and the journey as a whole? If you do, you are much more likely to gain a deep sense of satisfaction, not only in the activities you pursue; whether it is preparing dinner in the evening, pushing personal boundaries with a certain yoga pose, or perfecting that Tango move you want to lead or follow; but also in your personal existence and life as a whole.
Last weekend the focus of our Yoga4Tango class was all about mindful transitions. It was about aligning the body properly first before using muscle energy to transition into each pose, and then transforming this muscle energy into more sustainable organic energy by allowing our bodies to surrender to gravity and move deeper into each pose. We practiced the process several times using the Sun Salute sequence; flowing through the whole sequence with smooth, mindful and flowing transitions, and then holding each pose for five breaths, which allows us to consciously re-evaluate and analyze how our bodies feel in each pose, so that we can make adjustments in order to make the end results feel even better. Yoga is all about feeling good, after all.
I can forget the fact that yoga and Tango is about feeling good when I am not feeling properly grounded, and my body and mind are not connected at the beginning. If I don’t prepare both my body and my mind by arriving in the space on a mental and physical level before any action takes place, which means focusing on the present moment and letting everything else go, then I have already missed the first vital phase of the journey. Before any journey you take in life, you must prepare for it. If I do not take the time to align my body properly whilst I am transitioning in and out of yoga poses or practicing steps with a Tango partner, then I just end up feeling irritable because my body feels wonky, unbalanced and inflexible, and the whole experience becomes a struggle, because essentially my mind and body are not united; they are in resistance. It is like going on a physical journey somewhere but not really wanting to, so there is a reluctance that makes the whole journey unpleasant, and the destination becomes pointless!
Okay, I think I have talked enough in metaphor now, so let me tell you about my own journey in the yoga class last Sunday. I found most of the class a pleasure because I arrived with the conscious aim of wanting to improve on the previous week. I knew that my focus in the previous week had not been firmly situated in the here and now, and so I was not able to get the most out of the session; I had felt restless and my mind would not sit still. But the main thing is that I was aware of my shortcomings and so I was able the following weekend to approach the session differently, and address those issues to have a much more pleasurable experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the Sun Salute sequences, and I even took more pleasure than usual in holding the poses I often find more difficult, because I was mindfully moving into those poses and thinking consciously about where the tension was and what I could do to relieve it. It’s a rather lovely feeling when you independently figure out why you are struggling with certain poses; and then when you make the adjustments needed you feel your body accept the pose and that is when you really enjoy it.
My pleasurable experience of the class did not last the whole way through though. Perhaps this was because I knew that something was coming that I have a problem with, and I can’t figure out why yet. That something is called ‘The Pigeon Pose”. It is supposed to be a sort of resting pose that opens up the hips. We have started to do it at the end of the session. The body has been properly warmed up for the pose by this point. I don’t like the pose at all though. I feel uncomfortable in it; lop-sided, and misaligned like I am going to either topple over onto one side. I can’t relax into the pose or ‘surrender to gravity’ either, because most of my energy to focused on ‘holding’ my body in the position, so I am feeling tense when I know I shouldn’t be. Basically I am waiting for it to be over. There must be something I am doing wrong. Maybe it is something to do with how I am setting my body up in the position to begin with. Maybe I will ask for some extra help with it next week. I will let you know how I go.