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VISION_QUEST2's Recent Blog Entries
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Monday, January 24, 2011
Dear General Manager of OM Yoga--
I went to the workshop in the Heliotrope Studio yesterday, and also ran into World-Class Yoga Teacher who also suggested that this was the Front Desk responsibility. It is not.
Sprightly Yoga Teacher addressed all my concerns during the workshop; she was a masterful instructor, a quick study, rose to the occasion (I wanted a little attention as was my due ...); and, this seemingly less experienced teacher was far superior to the Yoga Teacher to the Future Yoga Rock Stars (I won't divulge his name) who has maybe 6 times the experience teaching in chrono-years that she does ... [[damn! I forgot to tell them that Yoga Teacher to the Future Yoga Rock Stars teaches all over the city but not at THEIR studio ]]
Suggestion for a workshop:
Intro to the Challenging Inversions
for Beginner/Intermediate and Intermediate students.
{this is using your precise class level nomenclature}
Brought back to OM from the year 2004 ... [No, leave that last part out ... I am absolutely just guessing ]
I had not known that the advertising for Sprightly's workshop was referring to the actual class level one habitually takes, e.g. Intermediate/Advanced equalling just that (I take Intermediate classes only (World-Class never once kicked me out of those I took with him!), and Advanced Beginner/Early Intermediate in Hatha; and I had thought the workshop was for Intermediate AND Advanced. I'd had my misgivings when registering in person, at the front desk. I told her where exactly I was (in my primarily home practice of well over 3-1/2 years' duration) in graphic, even self-deprecating terms.
But I was encouraged by the front desk to go through with it, anyway ... [this, by the way, was in an of itself, a REFRESHING change from the yoga studio I used to go--where if they didn't like you, they didn't want your money for a too-advanced class because many instructors did not like: (1) child's pose (2) viparita or (3) watch-asana; and, besides, would put most of the over-50 (who are not underweight) in their own ghetto ... with little respect for you unless you coughed up some buck$ for privates/unlimiteds ...
[I'm sure not the first sojourner to OM who had been burned by lousy public relations at a yoga studio before ..]
I ignored the video; I thought the scope of that was just for a small part of the class (used to among others, a Dharma-inspired style in the past ...)
I was quite pleased also to see an advanced student who had about 20 years on ME! [fellow Sparkers know my age already to be 56] Proof that you're not all kids from NYU and The New School ...
I don't think my presence detracted from their Ganda Bherundasana and the ending series with me doing watch-asana while the advanced students had an acro-yoga party in the center of the room [this not meant to be biting: I just don't KNOW the name of the partner pose where they paired up and flyer did handstand and then was lifted up into a fully supported backbend on the back of the base, supposed to leapfrog eventually. I had worked enough at my edge, and felt immobile but, contrary to popular belief, still cared to watch ... [maybe slightly mellower hatha background here speaking?] OM is on a World Stage; I am sure they will get people who don't regularly practice at OM--same as they reached out during the Holidayasana challenge.
Thank you for listening. The Front Desk is ace at public relations, actually; nothing to complain about THERE!
Signed,
Tina
[known to fellow Sparkers as AMPHIBI-YOGINI]
Note to Community Team: I am closer to my goal weight. I raised my goal weight back again. That's why.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Okay. What happened this morning on my way in to work is I fell on frozen slush, right on to my backside (which is by heredity NOT cushiony--the last low-calorie diet I went on in 2002 just made it flat as a pancake that NO exercise program remedies).
In addition, despite having the counterweight of a humongous backpack, it has almost worn threadbare and thus rides too low to provide balance. Hence I landed on my palm to break the fall. Ungloved at the time, and on frozen slush (which equals ice).
So now it hurts. And hoping it does not hurt (so much) by the time of the Workshop ...
I have neglected to blog because I have been very busy and in The Yoga Challenge on two message boards elsewhere on Spark for the past few months ...
Anyway, this upcoming workshop, the last of its kind, as I am now at the "affordable yoga" price point--officially. I do not "go to yoga" like the young (many of them well heeled) people do. I have primarily a home practice.
I had been told about a studio by The Master Teacher, that he now runs (I guess he got tired of not getting new actual students, but a lot of yoga teachers elsewhere and future teacher trainees and otherwise high-ticket yoga "consumers" ... he is just that bit spiritual enough - as well as hungry for private clients who are not geographically mobile - that this would not DO ... so he helped found Nameless II Studio ...
I had always thought to myself that if I were in the market for such a place, I would have tried out Tara Stiles' place, Strala Yoga, a long time ago ... $10 all the time anytime for a yoga class - in New York City! BUT, I had seen a different side of OM Yoga due to Social Workout's Holidayasana Challenge. There was not much OHMMMMM! to be found. The world-class teacher souped it up so that it was actually Power Yoga, trying to entice and convert students from miles around in the promotion.
I'd got a few classes for a steal from OM at that time as well. By the time the promotion would die down, new students would find the Real OM yoga too slow ... they'd either continue (possibly by that time be addicted to OM's juicy and mellow style) or revert to the power shalas ...
And I'd thus found that Power Yoga wasn't so hard, bad or undoable. Of course Soft 2 Be Strong®, which is what I call my home practice, will enable me to continue to focus on strength maintenance in a yoga practice. Being a hard maintainer of muscle mass, I find Power Yoga has focus on a lot of agility and speed and continuous movement ... and does not really add to/maintain my strength ...
Just a word about how I am not "evolved" away from "attachment to having money in my wallet" and to "paying down my debt"
The day had been this past Sunday, I ran into a student I'd known from The Nameless at this new yoga studio I plan to go to fairly frequently from now on. I actually prefer the euphemism of "popularly priced", rather than "affordable" or "reasonable" for yoga. Because many people do not have that kind of money. Hence, the word "popular" !
This is one of those no-frills studios in pre-renovated spaces with their charming exposed brick and other quirks. The Nameless is now, decidedly in the "carriage trade" after having acquired a "hard-headed business type" (though her head is in reality a little soft for her to do so much headstand).
So, I'd had the gall to ask her if she--this student--were slumming. Hate the hypocrisy of the spiritually inclined ... that no economic classes exist ... (granted she probably isn't of the managerial class, but still however acquired ... major bucks) ... of course she squirmed. Was that rude of me???
There would be no need for "affordable" versions of anything if it weren't for economic classes and greed ...
Oh, and the student probably will not be "slumming" again with her Lululemon pants and her lonely Jade mat. The owner of the new space sympathized with her a little much because the space spun off of the upscale studio ...
In the Yoga Journal Nectar blog one time, Jack made a comment there:
'Yoga is going to have a business model whether anyone wants it to or not. Protestant ministers have a business model; basketball players have a business model. Like any other phenomenon, as long as yoga exists, those who propagate it and those who study it seriously are going to need a livelihood. How will we support them? How many should we support? What should we expect in return? These are questions that any nascent profession needs to ask. Right now the model is ad hoc; yoga teachers are paid in a variety of ways, but usually through tiered membership fees. Likewise, there are different standards as to what a teacher's experience should be, and what the classroom environment should be like. Should a yoga teacher be more akin to a spinning instructor or a doctor? How many students should the teacher work with at any given time?'
'If we look at T. Krishnamacharya, it appears that he taught relatively few students. A few paid spectacular sums in the form of support for his school, and the rest paid nothing. He could command that capital from wealthy patrons because he had something they felt they could not get elsewhere for less - plus those patrons were accustomed to a culture in which they were responsible for funding public spiritual institutions.'
'Fast forward to America in 2010. Acceptable standards of living for yoga teachers are relatively high. We also have a culture that emphasizes straightforward, one-dimensional payment for market value of services rendered. In other words, rich people are generally not inclined to pay more for yoga so that others can act as free riders. So yoga teachers need to make a substantial amount of money, and they need to have a basic line of products with prices assigned to each one. How can they make that work? For most teachers and studios, the compromises to reach solvency can feel troubling: endorsements, advertising, and teacher trainings that exacerbate the glut of inexperienced instructors. Retail sales of themed consumer items, accessories, and music. But what are their other options in an all-or-nothing society? Should they cut costs by downgrading teacher pay, which would probably solidify a culture of Wal-Mart yoga? Should they do it by practicing in locations with really cheap overhead, or would that decrease demand too much? Should they find another way to boost revenues? Really, the only viable way (on a large scale) to have yoga without consumerism, taught by people devoting their lives to the subject, and with classes held in un-dangerous parts of town is to pay a lot more for the privilege.'
'Should we attempt to restrict yoga to that, then? Make it an expensive luxury, like organic raw local fair trade cheese? Or should there be commodity AND luxury yoga, the former shallow and full of consumer yuckiness and the latter pure, rich and creamy? I don't know. I don't like the thought of compromising on principles. But I also cannot afford expensive yoga, and I think that even a studio with inexperienced teachers and an emphasis on expensive yoga gear can be beneficial to the world by creating an identity that doesn't scare away mainstream society and tells our culture that it is cool to take care of yourself and think about spirituality just a tiny bit.'
'These are the discussions that need to be worked out, and it's very good to see that the yoga community is starting to do it.'
He said it much better than I ever could, whether through lack of articulateness or low-grade anger seeping out from beneath my words ...
Sunday, January 02, 2011
As early-arrested as last night's binge was, I had gotten a tiny chest pain. Some headaches. And hours later was struggling for breath towards the final stretch of the long hilly walk ... obviously, there was low octane fuel in my tank ...
... and I felt so ... old ...
Just could not help having started it. I'd stopped it in time.
I know for next time, though, I believe I'd done enough pilates in my session yesterday afternoon. The entire session lasting nearly two hours. Thoughts running through my head, putting me in this frame of mind: (along with screaming abs ... !)
 There were the cookies, fast getting stale and losing their flavor after days ...
Why did the company down the hall where I work move out after only a few months, rumored to be relocating to prime, easy-to-get-to space (no Excursion-caliber round-trip commutes required) ... and they moved out A DAY AFTER THE BLIZZARD!
No Christmas bonus, and I'd expected one
Good Lord, this cabin fever is getting to me ...
I hate Winter ... the cold, the snow, the hassles ...
Signed up for some yoga workshop later in the month ONLY because it was not being taught by The Yoga Teacher to the Future Yoga Rock Stars ... in my condition, no matter how vigorous my Soft 2 Be Strong Vinyasa Yoga® * is, would I be ready for it?
You know, like a train going over a track ... these things start out slow ... I would take just a nibble here, and a bite there (so many varieties! home baked!) ... it's not that I shoveled it in. Not even when I had been 220 pounds did I shovel anything in my mouth ...
It's just that ... the train sometimes picks up a little speed ...
It takes fewer than 3,500 calories per day for me to weigh about 200 pounds ... EVEN WITH OVER AN HOUR 6 DAYS A WEEK VIGOROUS STEP AEROBICS!
I did the calculations once ...
Even if my metabolism would be stoked by a heightened food intake ... the effect lasts less than ONE DAY ...
I have something that can do primitive calculations for THAT, too.
It's called a BATHROOM SCALE !
With my metabolism already in the toilet, and no hope for stoking that lasts longer ...
I ... better ... stop ... this binge ... pronto ... !
*That's another name for my longer-than-class-length home yoga practice ...
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Yeah, I had been pretty good for so long. But this holiday time, I had had so many gifts of cake, cookies, chocolate and pastry. Recession-era style gifts.
No Xmas bonus this year. I barely have my head above water, financially.
As far as those sugary snacks, nobody else wanted me to give much of it to them. Combine it with it staring me in the face for a couple of snow days' worth of nea- cabin fever, and I just started. And I live alone--nobody to decorate the apartment for, no parties to host, nothing ...
I read about Intuition-Assisted Eating, on Debra's Just Maintaining blog. I think that is what I do. The "real" intuitive eating mavens here at Spark usually by their Spark-stats, seem to do vigorous exercise about 12 hours a week (those SparkAmerica minutes don't include strength training or using the Ab Rocket ... at least not in This Lifetime). That's not me. I don't have that kind of free-time schedule, and with my public transportation costs now nearing $300 a month, I'd BETTER not (a part of it is reimbursed to me by my boss ... and it's a bear of a commute) ...
But I again remembered what my father said, may he rest in peace, who'd never worked a day in his life past 48 years of age and did not financially support a young family beyond that age ... and who was quite obese; until one year- his 49th - he wasn't anymore, and remained that way the rest of his life ... "I felt real bad about those Spanish peanuts. I can't afford food. But out it goes ..."
The binge didn't get too bad.
Monday, December 13, 2010
I updated my SparkPage. Hoping to continue to blog.
But I will not sail under false colors anymore.
It is obvious that I have a special relationship with my own body, which I used to call "The Human Sponge". It had been a very long journey to get to where I am today ...
So, in living every day - which I do find precious - I realize that I am not a sponge around food if I don't want to be.
I don't ever want to leave off SparkPeople.
If I reach goal (again) ... just a few pounds ... it would not be the end.
For me, it would be the beginning.
I AM NOWHERE NEAR AS FORTUNATE AS THIS LADY:
justmaintaining.wordpress.com/2010/1
2/12/why/
She claims, and I quote:
"Why do I maintain a radical amount of weight loss? It’s hard. It’s lonely. I haven’t confused 'health' and 'weight loss', so that doesn’t motivate me. Why, indeed?
"The easiest answer (at least the one that falls out of my mouth most often) is, 'Because I can.' That is incomplete and prideful, of course. And it redirects to a question that is easier to answer, 'Why CAN you do this?' So many people want to do this, and yet they can’t.
"I don’t know the answer to that question either. It’s all speculation. Perhaps, I can do this because I enjoy blessings:
* I have the financial resources to buy mostly unprocessed, organic foods, and the time and flexibility to prepare them.
* I have the time and flexibility to exercise as much as I need to and when I want to.
* Certain physical attributes probably help. As a fat person, I was “cello” shaped, evenly fatted. My waist was ten inches smaller than my bust and 14 inches smaller than my rump at my biggest (not including pregnancy). Maintenance is probably easier for me than someone who starts with an 'apple' shape, or another shape that tenaciously holds fat in a designated place.
* Personal history may help. For example, I’ve only had three legitimate yoyo weight-cycling episodes prior to this last run at loss, and by that I mean losses and rebounds of more than 10% of my highest weight at the time. I understand many people rack up dozens of yoyo attempts representing hundreds of pounds.
* For all the grief I express about endocrine, I may get some help from it. I’ve never, for example, been a big fan of fatty meats. Just not my thing.
"This does not explain it entirely. Other people who have these blessings or others have been unable to maintain losses.
"I guess I maintain weight loss, I can maintain weight loss, because I find it endlessly interesting (if sometimes exasperating). "
However, if that weren't enough (and believe me, at age 56, it IS ENOUGH FOR AT LEAST MY LIFETIME), I do have "beginner's mind" (as in Zen mind), as well ...
Good Lord, I have the rest of my life in which to Spark ... !
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I hate having that stuff around, but it is hard to throw it out. Good for you for pitching it before it got you!
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