reviews

Several months ago, I had an uplifting and exciting conversation with two of my yoga colleagues. All of us had found our way to master yoga teachers whose teachings are more and more about meditation and emphasizing greater purpose beyond the asana practice. One of my colleagues is a student of Rod Stryker, and at the time, she was deep in her studies, working with a yet-unpublished manuscript of Rod Stryker’s new book, The Four Desires. What she had to say about his teachings really resonated with me, so I picked up a copy of The Four Desires as soon as it came out.

The Four Desires, as Rod Stryker outlines, are dharma (life’s purpose), kama (pleasure), artha (resources), and moksha (spirituality). At different times in our life, one desire my dominate over the others, and ultimately, we are striving for the contentment found by living out our life’s purpose. The book is all about uncovering the heart’s desires and how to achieve sankalpa (short term goals) that will lead you to fulfill your Dharma Code (your life’s purpose).

What I loved about this book is that it offered explicit exercises for self-study as well as complimentary guided meditation practices. I strongly recommend getting the CD that goes with the book, because it’s necessary to do the meditations as directed to get the full benefit of the exercises, and besides, the meditations are really lovely and will be useful even after going through the whole book.

Some of the exercises came easily, and felt good to do. Some were difficult and I encountered resistance. I’m really curious about the experience other yogis had with this book, so I’m going to go ahead and share the results of my work. If you consider that a spoiler, I guess you can come back and read this next part later! Also, I think it’s interesting to talk about what actually goes on in meditation, because otherwise it can be such a solitary practice. Something is happening in there though! I wish people would talk about that part more. Maybe I just don’t know the right people.

Anyway, here are some highlights of my discoveries:

I recently read How to Dance Forever by Daniel Nagrin. This book was published in 1988, when Nagrin was in his sixties and still an actively performing professional dancer. What fascinated me most about this book was not the physical requirements for staying in a physically demanding job, but the practical guidelines and personal philosophy behind longevity. I fully intend to teach yoga and dance forever, so this was a great read for me! I wish that somehow there was a more recent edition that answers some of the questions Nagrin poses about recovery from injuries and training, because I feel like progress has been made in that area, and also some of the nutrition and training information is outdated.

I was inspired to pick up this book when my troupemate, Amy, posted a link to his chapter on "Noise" in a blog post she wrote. Noise is all the obstacles that you yourself generate in your head that prevent you from being a better dancer and a better student. He points out that it's actually really selfish to allow noise to create a false wall around yourself that you claim you can't change. I like this a lot. I have my own bad learner habits that I'm working through and now I am at least not making excuses about it. I recently picked up regular classes again with the super sweet and talented Belladonna, which is a fun challenge for me. I do have to learn longer combinations than I'm used to, on top of that she is asking me to add emotional expression to what I'm doing. I don't have time to get hung up on the fact that this is difficult, I just soldier on through it and DO.

And of course this comes around to yoga practice/classes, too. If you are serious about advancing your practice, there is just no time to get hung up on listening to your inner critic or otherwise let your small mind derail yourself from the task at hand: learning. And if there is no space for that your own judgement of yourself, there is certainly no space to be gawking around the room and seeing what other people are up to. When you stop letting all that Noise affect you, everything seems possible! I'm totally excited by that prospect. Whatever I want to achieve through my dance is there for the taking!

Nagrin's personal perspective, supported by his subsequent survey of dancers, is that spiritual and mental health is just as important for longevity and injury prevention and recovery as is the physical training. I feel strongly about this as well, and that is why I believe yoga is a powerful complement to dancing. Nagrin's voice is encouraging and conversational, and in spite of the fact that it's a bit dated at this point, it's a lovely read that I'd recommend to dancers of any age.

This is my new yoga mat bag, the Saka Pinda Yoga Backpack. As I have blogged about previously, my mat of choice is the Manduka. Since writing my open letter to The Duke, as he is fondly called, I have grown ever more attached and must bring him wherever my yoga takes me. This means near-daily trips to the gym, up and down stairs, and all over creation, basically. The Duke weighs in at roughly seven pounds, which doesn't sound like much until you haul it around in addition to all the other gear that is involved with teaching multiple sweaty vinyasa classes every week. I needed put an end to me looking like some kind of yoga hobo, stumbling in with my arms full with a half-unrolled mat and myriad of bags.

Anyway, all this toting led me to buy the Saka Pinda, and it is fantastic. As you can see from the photo, the mat is strapped in by two layers of buckles onto a rubberized pad on the back. The mat is completely secure, and even if I did a very sloppy job rolling my big Manduka, there is plenty of length on the straps to contain it. There is also wee nylon cover that you can pull out (concealed in that bottom zippered part) if you'll be setting your mat down on any gross flooring. Like, say, my studio after aforementioned sweaty vinyasa class.

Notice all those pockets on the side! LOVE IT! The envelope holds my iPod classic, and I usually tuck an packet of Emergen-C behind the mesh pocket next to a couple pens.

If you follow the link on the photo, you can see a few more (poorly shot on my iPhone) views of the backpack. The backpack compartment itself is very compact. Still, it managed to hold a 10-yard skirt, a 3-yard veil in addition to my notebook and wallet. Now that is probably not a typical use unless you also happen to be a bellydancer, but due to the magical Mary Poppins nature of the bag, I'm sure a normal person would have no problem throwing in a change of clothes, a towel, or pretty much anything you need in there. Also, there are more pockets safely concealed for cash, cards, or other small items.

I love the water bottle pocket that zips out of the side, however, after a few weeks of gentle use, the bottom ripped out and dropped my water bottle on the ground. Oops. Fortunately, the good people at Saka sent me a replacement bag, no questions asked. I'm still a little reluctant to put a full bottle in there, though! Aside from that one small seam blowout, everything seems solidly constructed and the fabric I think will wear well over time.

The only complaint that I have is a minor one. The zipper of the main compartment is a little fussy going around the top because the corners are fairly square. Usually I don't bother zipping it all the way, unless my pack is full.

All in all, it's a super awesome bag. It's comfortable to carry, and I think it would be perfect if you are someone who bikes to and from your yoga studio. Also, I feel a lot less like a crazy yoga hobo coming into teach with my stuff all neatly contained! Two mudras up!