The Yogi Next to You

Meet ELIZABETH HAZAN!

What’s your yoga story? How did you find Mala?

My first yoga experience was prenatal yoga at Integral when I was pregnant the first time (Benjamin’s about to turn 16 - and has dated another baby from that class!). It was a fabulous way to connect with other pregnant women and very reassuring to see so many go off and have babies ahead of me.

The years with 3 young children at home were a blur, then I started doing yoga when my youngest went to preschool about 6 years ago. I was doing it at various places when Liz Luckett said I had to try Mala, that I would love everything about it. She was right! We joke that she’s like Mary Poppins. She got me set up and then was on her way.

What pose do you want to do all day? What pose could you never do again?

Ardha Chandrasana. I love the full extension and the feeling of soaring in a roomful of people doing it. Also it’s fun to transition into from other poses.

I don’t like reclining virasana.  My knees just scream “don’t do this!” Luckily, there are bolsters.

What are your biggest yoga obstacles and how do you overcome them?

I’m very tight in the inner thigh which has always made uphavistha konasana really hard. My mind goes back to Miss Dorothy’s ballet class at the Joffrey when I was the only girl who couldn’t do a wide straddle and put my head on the floor. When we do it, I just close my eyes and listen to the instructions like, thinking about bringing the outer knee to the hip, and that really helps me. I think the encouraging spirit in the class makes trying challenging poses fun, no matter what level you are working.

What was the last Dharma talk that resonated with you?

Jen’s talk about surgeons with Tourrette’s Syndrome who are able to forget their ticking for hours while they operate. Thinking about different kinds of mindfulness and forgetting.

Where is your favorite place to get coffee, or a drink post yoga?

One Girl Cookies. The staff is so nice and its quiet and delicious. Although its fun to see the whole class at Cafe Peddlar sometimes!

If you could practice yoga anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I think the idea of practicing and then swimming in lovely water sounds heavenly, so I’d love to go to Costa Rica, Tahiti, or anywhere with a fabulous beach right there.

How has practicing shifted other aspects of your life?

For a year I stopped doing yoga to have more time in my studio and found that my work and my body suffered. This past year, doing yoga more seriously at Mala has helped my painting enormously. Also, having elderly parents makes me feel this investment in ourselves is really for everyone we know.

Each week we’ll bring you the story of a Mala yogi in their own words.  Maybe you know them, maybe you’ve never seen them before, maybe they look familiar, maybe you once knew their name, but forgot.  Whatever the case may be, here is the chance to learn a little more about the person practicing on the mat next to you.  Click here to read about past yogis.

Loud, Annoying, Hot and Bothersome…

by Angela Clark

For the past three or four weeks our Mala home has been surrounded by industrial scaffolding and all the ‘crap’ (not for lack of better word) that goes along with it.

We, as practitioners, have been playing host to a myriad of sounds, smells, and stifling humidity. We have drills and hammers during savasana, men hanging in front of the windows during sun salutations, and a constant chatter of Bengali competing with our inner chatter of a different language.

Having the chaos right outside the window of your yoga mat quickly moves the ‘practice on the mat’ into ‘practice off the mat.’

As we become hyper-aware of our surroundings, we will begin to notice which sounds we want to go away or our attachment to a space void of humidity.  Knowing that the workers have to work, that sounds will exist around us and it will get hot and humid, can we continue to allow ourselves to come back to the moment in front of us - no matter how uncomfortable. Can we let our environment exist with us in the same space and time?

Of course it takes training to stay in the present moment, and it won’t always happen, so we practice with compassion for ourselves, letting that extend out as compassion for others. Because even with the banging and the drilling, there can be a grounded silence in our lives.

Words to Live By

“The main problem with this great obsession for saving time is very simple: you can’t save time. You can only spend it. But you can spend it wisely or foolishly.”

- Benjamin Hoff, The Tao Of Pooh

We Recognize That Face…

Thanks alignyo!  We’re so thrilled you thought of us.

The Yogi Next to You

Meet JANNA LEYDE!

Janna wrote a book, He Never Liked Cake.  Click here to read more about it, or click here to pre-order it! 

What’s your yoga story? How did you find Mala?

I was 15 and I saw a giant book on sale–Yoga Mind & Body by the Sivananda Vedanta Center. I bought it because I thought it would be cool to teach myself how to do a headstand. Senior year in college I opted for Hatha Yoga over every other Phys Ed class. I moved to New York and found hot, sweaty intense Bikram when I needed it most, in grad school. Bikram was what ‘got me to the mat.’

Just last summer, fresh from vinyasa teacher training and new to the neighborhood, I was walking up and down Smith and Court Streets making mental notes of the yoga studios, when I saw two very happy people with mats leaving Mala Yoga. I took my first class with Jen, then Christina and learned a thing or four about alignment. A week later I met with Angela and Stephanie to discuss teaching opportunities and that day I knew that I’d found teachers who would believe in me and my practice even on the days that I could not, because those days do happen.

What pose do you want to do all day? What pose could you never do again?

Parsva Bakasana (Side crow): The flight of a good arm balance leaves me delightfully giddy. Sometimes I just want to break out in side crow wherever I am. Sometimes I do. Pincha Mayurasana (Forearm Stand): Nothing feels right. It’s as though all parts of my body resist what I’m asking of them. Clearly, I need to carve out five minutes each day for me, my mat, my block, and a wall–and probably a strap.

What are your biggest yoga obstacles and how do you overcome them?

Getting to my mat, quietly. I’m that yogi that sits down, chitta chattering, still making lists. It is a conscious effort to slow it all down and choose to not multitask. If I choose an intention, then I am able to fill up my mind and breath with a singular thought. When I start ‘telling stories’ then I come back to my simple, singular thought.

What was the last Dharma talk that resonated with you?

Christina read Rumi’s The Guest House. There is something to be said for welcoming in that which frightens or angers you. I felt grateful for my challenges.

Where is your favorite place to get coffee, or a drink, post-yoga?

Cafe Pedlar for coffee and a palmier or Nectar for a PB&B. Depends on the hour.

If you could practice yoga anywhere in the world, where would it be?

The beach. There is nothing quite like back bending through the salt air and seeing the ocean meet the sand from upside down.

How has practicing shifted other aspects of your life?

Quantum. Seismic. These are words I’d use to describe the yoga shifts in my life. Not only have I found my best teacher within my practice, but I’ve found my biggest fan. I am who I want to be and where I want to be. I’ve learned to quit worrying and to simply show up. Oh, and I’m happy. Yeah, ask my friends–I’m wa-ay happier when I have a regular practice.

Each week we’ll bring you the story of a Mala yogi in their own words.  Maybe you know them, maybe you’ve never seen them before, maybe they look familiar, maybe you once knew their name, but forgot.  Whatever the case may be, here is the chance to learn a little more about the person practicing on the mat next to you.  Click here to read about past yogis.

Mirror, Mirror

via The New Yorker

Hitting the Wall

by Blakeney Schick

For years, I have worked on kicking up into handstand at the wall, and for years, the pose has seemed to be just out of reach. Our yoga practice may be one of the only places in our lives where we’re asked not to avoid hitting a wall, but to use it, gather information from it and then take that information into our practice. For me, the challenge came when I was invited to throw myself against a wall over and over again.

On retreat in Vermont in 2010, we tried to get up into handstand in the middle of the room, with 2 people forming a “wall” with their arms for us to kick into. And I got up. I didn’t stay up for long, but there I was, in handstand. Returning to Brooklyn, I was sure that I could kick up into the wall the next time handstand came up in class. No dice. I didn’t understand why. Surely, I told myself, this can’t boil down to a change of zip codes or fresher air. But I told the part of my brain that likes to accomplish things to quiet down and be patient, that my handstand would come in its own time.

Fast-forward through 16 months of pretty unsuccessful kicking at the wall to Guatemala in January. Our studio there had glass walls, so handstand meant 2 other people forming a wall of arms again. From the first day of the retreat, I was getting up into the pose with relative ease. And that was when Stephanie said to me, “I think you have a thing about using the wall.” By that point, this could have been as obvious to me as the fact that I have 2 arms and 2 legs, but it wasn’t. I hadn’t seen the pattern that I had developed when it came to this particular pose, and I hadn’t been thinking about the wall as a prop. As we’re often told at Mala, props, instructions, and variations for poses don’t necessarily work for everyone in the room. I needed to ditch a prop that was not working for me.

There isn’t really a conclusion here because this is a story that hasn’t ended. I still can’t kick up against the wall much of the time. And I can’t tell you why the wall doesn’t work for me. What has shifted is my attitude toward it – I have accepted that my handstand practice at the wall will come on some days and not on others. Maybe one day handstand at the wall will come easily. And maybe it was never meant to be. Whatever happens, the walls of Mala, like the studio and the community they contain, are still teaching me a lot. I use them, gather information from them, and bring that into my practice.

The Yogi Next to You

Meet SHENAAZ JETHA!

What’s your yoga story? How did you find Mala?

I started yoga in college. I was an undergrad at UCLA in the World Arts and Cultures Department, which had recently combined with the Dance Department. Anyway, Shiva Rae was getting her masters at the same time. She started offering yoga classes to the students. Our first class was in January 1996. I took two semesters and then left for a year of study abroad in India (where I didn’t practice any yoga!). I’ve been practicing off and on since then.

I came to Mala in March of 2009. I was looking for a local studio close to where I live. I took my first class with Angela on a Friday afternoon, a basics class. Been here ever since.

What pose do you want to do all day?

I love Ardha Chandrasana, Ajanasana, Ustrasana- all the heart openers (well, Full Wheel and I do a constant dance of pleasure and pain). There’s something about opening your heart to the universe, to spirit and saying, “here I am, I’m yours.”

What pose could you never do again?

Ha, this is easy (unlike the pose), Adho Mukha Vrakasana or handstand! For years, I’ve had what I call, “an aversion to inversions”! I was finally able to do headstand about a year and a half ago with Steph’s support, and I even like forearm stand, but handstand just scares the s—t out of me. I think it may have to do with not thinking that my hands can support the rest of me. I know it’s deeper than that, but let’s just stop there. I am coming to terms with the fact that I may never do handstand on my own and I’m fine with that (in this moment at least.)

What are your biggest yoga obstacles and how do you overcome them?

I’m going to say my health, but even that I’m not sure about. I had two major illnesses in 2008 and continue to deal with the side effects of them daily. As a result, I’ve had joint and strength issues. I’m on a new treatment now, but it’s hard to know whether it’s my body or me not practicing enough when I can’t do a certain pose. Such an overachiever! Some days, it’s just easier to accept where I’m at, and others, not so much.

What was the last Dharma talk that resonated with you?

This sounds bad, but I’m often finishing up a sign-in when class starts and my mind isn’t settled when the dharma talk starts, so I only take part of it in. But the other day, Angela read a quote that I think I remember, “Great love and great achievement requires great risk.” I think that’s it. Guess I remember more than I think And of course, the pink washcloths and Elmo story from Steph – that was a good one.

Where is your favorite place to get coffee, or a drink, post-yoga?

One Girl Cookies. It’s like “Cheers” for me, where everyone knows your name. I don’t suggest eating a cupcake right after a yoga class though. You think you’ve earned it, but the body knows better!

If you could practice yoga anywhere in the world, where would it be?

That would be India of course. I can’t believe I didn’t when I was there in 1996/1997, but I did take a Vipassana meditation retreat and that was enough. Besides, just living in India was “yoga” enough; you’re surrounded by life, death, spirituality, prayer, compassion, and the edge - it was like being in a very long handstand!

How has practicing shifted other aspects of your life?

I remember when I started practicing again in 2007.  It had been three or four years since I’d been on a mat. I was taking a long break in the afternoon and going around the corner to take hour-long classes at Laughing Lotus.

After the first two classes or so, I recall telling a friend that “I can’t not practice anymore.” The effects of returning to the mat were that profound. I still feel that way. It’s like meditating, at the time, the mind can be all over the place and it feels fruitless, but at some point later in the day, you’ll take a long exhale; or remember a quote Angela said; or how you were able to do forearm stand with directions Christina gave that morning that allowed you to invert with ease; or how Steph made a funny joke that created an ease in your practice and for that moment, even just that moment, all is right in your little world. Just as it should be.

Each week we’ll bring you the story of a Mala yogi in their own words.  Maybe you know them, maybe you’ve never seen them before, maybe they look familiar, maybe you once knew their name, but forgot.  Whatever the case may be, here is the chance to learn a little more about the person practicing on the mat next to you.  Click here to read about past yogis.

Runner’s Class with Steph Creaturo

Saturday, May 5th, 2:00 – 3:15pm
$17 – You can use your class card

This is a great class to add if you’re training for a marathon, half-marathon, a triathlon, or are a recreational runner. All levels welcome.

For more about what to expect, we asked Steph a few questions:

How do I know if I’m a runner?

If you put on sneakers and put one foot in front of the other, then you’re a runner! (The girls at Hot Bird Running say this, so I have to give them credit. They get asked this all the time.) This can be frequently or infrequently, but as with “being a yogi” there can be an unrealistic ethos around “being a runner.” Do you go running during the week? Check. Does it make you happy? Check. Then you’re a runner.

Is it a real yoga class?

Only if you know the secret knock to get into the studio!

Um, yes, it is a “real” yoga class. Though we focus less on the “tricks” (no arm balances) and more on the “nuts & bolts” poses to keep our legs and hips stretched out, to build strength in our backs, and to open up our shoulders.

Can I come if I don’t run?

Totally. You may be inspired to run by all the running chatter! And, given how much we sit in our lives, the quad and hip stretching is good for everyone.

I run, but I’ve never done yoga before.

Totally fine. Just come. You never ran at one point as well, right? And now you do. The hardest thing to do with any yoga class is to show up.

I do yoga, but I’ve never run before.

Also totally fine. If you’re interested in running, but don’t know where to start, come to class, chat with the other students, ask us how to get started. We’ve got plenty of ways to point you in the right direction if you really want to put one foot in front of the other.

Practice Makes Practice

BALANCING ACTS

by Sandra Bark

The summer before I was a born, a man named Phillippe Petit walked across a tightrope stretched between the Twin Towers, showing the world that with enough practice, human beings can learn to balance on a thread.

Three decades later, balance is a cultural buzzword. Every self-proclaimed guru, stress-reduction expert and women’s magazine is hawking directions to a place called Balance, a magical land where life is perfectly and evermore aligned. The idea of balance has become our Holy Grail, and we all want to drink from the balance chalice.

The fact is that for all of us, gurus and tightrope walkers alike, emotional and physical balance is incredibly elusive. That’s why it is especially important for us regular folk to make time for a consistent yoga practice. On the mat, one learns quickly that even if we rise in Half Moon on Monday, we might wax and wane on Tuesday.  That the more often we wobble in Warrior Three and struggle for our Standing Split, the stronger we get. That balance is not something we master; it is something we continually work towards.

These are valuable lessons in a world where Balance is the new Kool-Aid.

In life, as in class, it’s simply not possible to be perfectly balanced each and every day.  How can we go to work, go on vacation, volunteer for worthy organizations, take care of our families, work out, meet friends for dinner and get some sleep, all in a single 24 hour period? The answer is that we can’t. Sometimes, we have to save up and trust that the balance will equal out later.

So we make do. We work hard for a few months and then go to the beach for a week. We get our bills paid and then make it to yoga. We bathe our children and as soon as they are asleep, thank the babysitter and slip out for a glass of wine. We may seek balance daily but true balance is found over time, a complex equation that leads us to a feeling of simplicity.

Perhaps, then, balance is not about the solution but about the seeking. Not a place you get to, but a place where you are always going. A little to the left, a little to the right, and suddenly, at the supreme axis between ease and effort, just for a moment, there you are, walking through the air.

And how lucky for us that we aren’t Petit.  As Steph often reminds us, we’re not at the edge of a building.

Nothing will happen to us if we fall.

Sandra Bark is a writer who lives in Brooklyn and practices at Mala. PRACTICE MAKES PRACTICE offers a student’s perspective of the yoga experience, on the mat and off.

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