Hosh Yoga of Greenpoint and Williamsburg » Yoga

Additional classes, events, and projects

becca — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 02:09:30 +0000

Hello Yogis,

We wanted to let you know about some of our plans for September and beyond!

—>Starting August 30th <-–

OUR SCHEDULE will be expanding (and slightly shifting) to give you more options for your yoga.

Our 7am weekday classes will be moving to Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays (no longer on Monday and Friday). 7am classes will be 60 minutes.

We are adding DAILY 10am classes. So you can come to a 10 o’clock class every day of the week! Monday through Sunday!

We will also be adding a Friday 8pm candlelit class.

LIVE MUSIC starting October at Hosh

Starting with October 2nd we will be having live acoustic music the 1st Saturday evening of each month. Doors will be open from 6:15pm on. Music will start at 7 and end by 9pm. Teachers will also be on hand to answer any yoga questions or to walk you through anything you would like help with. Events will be BYOB. $6-10 sliding scale.

If you are a musician who would be interested in playing or know someone who would be interested, please contact yuuki@hoshyoga.org.

If you would like to be involved with organizing these events please send an email to becca@hoshyoga.org.

SPACE EXPANSION We are in the process of preparing to expand our space by breaking down the dividing wall. We hope to be able to do this before the sun sets on 2010. To make this happen, we need the support of our Hosh community now more than ever!

As always, we appreciate your feedback and involvement. So please let us know what you’re thinking about or if you’d like to volunteer with us.

Enjoy the rest of August!

Becca and all of Hosh

Pose of the month: Vasisthasana

becca — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:38:00 +0000

Welcome to Vasisthasana or Side-Plank Pose. This is one of those simple poses that is decidely not easy. However, it is easily adjustable to the level of the practicioner, by making various modifications. Taking the modifications appropriate to your level will help prevent injury and build the necessary strength and flexibility to advance in the posture.

Begin in Adho Mukho Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog) and move into plank pose. Engaging your lower abdomen as you exhale, shift your weight on left hand and the outer edge of your left foot, bringing your right hand along the top of your right hip. Make sure the left hand is just slightly ahead of the shoulder and press through the fingers of your left hand to spread the weight bearing area of the hand. If the hips sag here, you have a wrist injury, or you feel otherwise unstable, take a slight modification. You can drop down to the left knee, keeping it in line with the rest of the body, or try coming down onto your left elbow, keeping it in line with the shoulder, forearm perpendicular to the body. (When in doubt, stack your joints!)

Ideally, we want to experience a sideways Tadasana here, maintaining neutral alignment of the spine, legs, and arms, as they resist the action of gravity. Be mindful of the hips and shoulders falling forward or backward, the spine wanting to twist, and the scapulae to adduct (draw together). To help stabilize the body flex the heels (you can even try it against a wall), draw the lower abdomen tight towards the spine, and let the sacrum tuck. Feel the entire right side of the body lifting away from the floor. Keep the breath even and steady, being mindful that very sudden full breaths may destabilize the pose.

If you find this expression of the pose to be stable, there are other leg and arm variations to play with that require strength as well as more flexibility. You can bring the right arms in line with the torso as you raise the right leg parallel to the floor. Or try on a diagonal tree pose for size. Or maybe even take yogi toe lock with the right foot and hand, and pull the right arm and leg up vertically. Remember to keep breathing.

Whichever expression you take, exit the pose mindfully, before fatigue completely overtakes you (remember you are your best teacher). Come back to the classic side-plank, exhale back into plank, and press back to downward dog. Rest in child’s pose if needed, letting the hands come beside the hips, palms face up. Then repeat 2nd side.

Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.

Gomukhasana, our pose of the month!

becca — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:03:25 +0000

If you’ve been coming to class, you’ve probably noticed that Gomukhasana or cow-face pose has become prevalent this July. Well here’s a bit more about it. For starters, you can remember the sanskrit because its pronounced go-moo-KHAS-anna. But we won’t make you moo in class, not yet anyway. What gives the pose its name? One interpretation is that looking down at the body while in position, the thighs and calves form the shape of a cow head and the feet sticking out beside the hips form horns. Gomukha means one whose face resembles a cow (let’s have no name calling please), and apparently a gomukha mãrga is also a kind of musical instrument, a very low-register drum, which is narrow at one end and broad at the other like the face of a cow.

Gomukhasana isn’t an easy pose—it’s a shoulder and hip opener whose prerequisite is some openness in the hips and shoulders. So if you’ve been riding your bike all summer and your hips are tight, possess some of those bulging biceps, have an old tight injury, or are just getting going with this stretching business, you may find this pose somewhat frustrating. The good news is, it’s probably an excellent pose for you to work on. Your chest will be more open and lifted, the spine more fully erect, the shoulders and hips less tense, and cramping in the legs will lessen.

Let’s start with the leg posture. Begin sitting in Dandasana or staff pose, feeling both sits bones rooted on the mat. (If both sits bones are not comfortably on the mat, sit on a blanket or block.) Bend both knees and thread the left knee under the right, bringing the left foot alongside the right hip. Slide the right foot back, allowing the right knee to come in a vertical line with the left—ideally the knees will stack and the feet will be equidistant from the body. If the hips are tight there may be a significant distance between the knees—use a block and/or blanket as a support to take some of the stress off the knees. You may also want to start the pose sitting on a blanket or block to help the spine to lengthen and the hips to open. Allow the release of the hips and leg muscles as much as possible.

Cow-face arms are often used in variations of other postures such as Prasarita Padottanasana (wide leg forward bend) and are an excellent, if challenging, way to open the shoulders. Inhale the right arm out into a half-T-shape. Then internally rotate the arm down (thumb is the first thing to turn), and sweep the back of the palm into the hollow between the scapulae, keeping the scapula drawing in towards the spine (adduction). Try to maintain a long spine, shoulders stacked above hips. Inhale the left arm forward and up (the top arm and leg should always be opposite), on the exhale bend the elbow letting the fingers find those of the right hand. If the fingers don’t reach use a strap to cover the distance (being mindful not to use force to open the shoulders) or leave the top (left) arm above the head and draw the elbow across with the right hand. Keep the chin away from the chest, lengthen the spine long, and imagine bringing the elbows into the vertical line of the spine—do not rush, do not force.

It is very important to work with the sensations in the body in a slow and observant way so as not to overmobilize the shoulder joint or torque the knee. Steady breath, steady sensation, steady stretching.

After breathing 30 seconds to a minute release arms and legs and come back to dandasana. Repeat other side.

Inhale fully. Exhale fully. Repeat.

Note: Iyengar instructs this pose with the feet underneath the body.

June pose of the month: Ardha Chandrasana

becca — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 03:36:02 +0000

Ardha Chandrasana

Ardha Chandrasana, literally translated to “Half Moon pose”, is what we’ll be exploring this month at Hosh.

At Hosh we sometimes step into Half Moon from another balancing posture, however, the traditional way to find it is by beginning in triangle pose on the right side, with the right foot out 90 degrees and the left foot turned in slightly. As you exhale bend the right knee enough to place the right hand onto a block or the floor about 18 inches in front of the right foot—your pinkie toe and thumb should approximately line up. Simultaneously you will come onto the toes of your left foot. Stay here for 1-2 breaths, then exhale as you lift the left leg, flexing the left foot, extending the right leg and arm—stacking the right shoulder over the right wrist, rotating the chest upward, and extending the left arm straight up. The gaze can follow the left hand, unless this creates tension in the neck. In which case, look straight forward or down at the right foot. Ideally the extended left leg will be parallel to the floor or slightly higher. To exit the pose, reverse the entry. The left arm can also remain lengthened on the left hip for a milder variation of the pose or both hands can come to heart center for a more advanced posture.

Ardha Chandrasana is often practiced against a wall, which minimizes the muscular effort used to balance and allows even an advanced practitioner to be able to focus more on issues of alignment and to enjoy the spaciousness of the posture. At Hosh instructors may offer both options, feel free to find a wall always, if you would like to.

Ardha Chandrasana takes Trikonasana (or triangle pose) off the floor. So when coming into the pose, channel the lessons of triangle into your half moon. Imagine the body flat between two panes of glass, the hips stacked in a vertical line (not twisting forward) and length in the torso and the limbs—imagine flexing your lifted foot and pressing through the heel as you might press your foot into the floor. Also, begin by accepting that gravity will most likely get the best of you, especially as you continue to work on elongating and exploring your edge. Remember that coming out of the pose at any time is always available to you. Practice Trikonasana to build strength and elasticity for Ardha Chandrasana.

Ardha Chandrasana helps to tone the lower abdominal muscles, organs, and spine as well as the nerves connected with the leg muscles, benefiting many leg ailments. It also builds strength in the knees.

Enjoy the way the pose disperses energy from the body’s center out into its extremities, allowing the chatter of the mind to flow outward. The opposing energies of both the vertical and the horizontal allow for a feeling of expanse and spaciousness and freedom in the body not often available to us.

Inhale, exhale. Repeat.

Breath, Life and Yoga

yuuki — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:21:34 +0000

It happens to all of us. Our yoga practice is like out breath. At certain times we can become disconnected and lose focus. In our yoga practice, on our mat, we sometimes concentrate so intently on the pose, trying to keep our balance that we forget to breath, calm the mind and create a more meaningful effort.

Similarly our breath is like a microcosm of our overall practice. Life happens and we can lose that concentration and connection. We are busy people, with occasionally unexpected stressful moments. We have deadlines to meet, tests to study for, papers to write and sometimes not so pleasant people to deal with. With all of the work and schedules to keep up we seem to lose the time to return to class or even simply back onto our mat.

Yet, there is no need to feel bad or get yourself down, it happens, it happens to all of us. The important thing is first to be aware that you need to settle down, take a deep breath and reconnect. Once you are mindful of your breath, of your situation, then you can take the first step to back on the mat.

So if you have been postponing going to class, I strongly encourage you, give yourself that one hour of class to recharge, uplift, reconnect, focus and then let yourself become more rooted, calm and ready to take on life with a greater passion.