Peace, Love and Yoga

I was in upstate New York for the weekend enjoying food, family and catching up on all the gossip. I knew that the area I was staying in was close to the Woodstock Music Festival and inquired just exactly where the event had actually gone down. This sparked some hilarious stories from folks who had been there. Really funny stories that maybe I'll tell another time.

I did not pilgrimage out to the legendary field of peace, love and music - I don't think you can anyway, its somebody's farm, and who wants a bullet in the ass for trespassing - but decided to look for bliss via a local yoga class. I found what I was looking for at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Ranch in Woodbourne NY. This is a peaceful and beautiful compound set in the Catskills. Excited by my discovery, I was hoping I might get a class similar to the yoga I practiced in India. The class was quite similar minus the leaky roofs, unheated studios and equally freezing marble floors. I am happy to report Sivananda has warm studios, wood floors and lots of uplifting personalities. It was enjoyable and brought me back to India in a pleasant way. The instructor was very nice and the class had a nice flow. I felt he could have included precautions, but he did offer a few modifications and occasionally stated the health benefit from the pose. I came away resolved to add more breath to the students I teach as well as my own practice.

There will always be areas where I strongly disagree with a traditional hatha yoga class such as headstand in the first third of class. Actually I refuse to teach or have people practice headstand in my classes as I feel most do not have the upper extremity strength required and unknowingly press down on the crown of the head causing compression and over time damage to the upper cervical area. I also believe if a headstand is on offer in the sequence then there should be spotters in the class.

Although I have my disagreements I really enjoyed the class and came away taking a full breath and feeling at peace. The ashram has a good feeling and seemed a peaceful retreat for those looking to escape the urban jungle. For individuals living in New York City the ashram offers a bus ( for an extremely modest fee) that will pick you up on Friday, drive you to the ashram, and then deliver you back into Manhattan Sunday evening.

Hari Om and peace, love and happy Spring everyone!