The Healing Power of Yoga

This past weekend and week I've been doing an Ashtanga training with Nancy Gilgoff. Nancy has been practicing Ashtanga for almost 40 years, and is pretty much the female expert on the practice, being pretty much the longest female practitioner of this form of yoga. Having attended workshops and trainings with Manju Jois, David Williams, and David Swenson, I'm still blown away from what I'm learning from Nancy.

To sum it up, Nancy was a physical wreck when she started yoga, and Ashtanga healed her body. Not only that, but her nervous system/energy levels were completely out of whack and to this day, she relies on yoga to help her find balance. Because of this, she has a very firm belief in Ashtanga as an energetic practice, one that has the power to heal bodies beyond what Western medicine can understand.

As a teacher, I had many questions for her during her clinics about alignment and adjustments. Finally, she put me in my place yesterday and told me straight up "Ashtanga is not about alignments. Stop thinking so much with your head and practice with the body!"

That is difficult for me, no doubt, since I'm a very cerebral person (I am an academic, after all!), but I tried. So today, I rolled out my mat and forgot about everything except for three things that Nancy keeps emphasizing:

1. How can I make this practice as efficient as possible? (read: how can I minimize the amount of movement/fidgeting) 

2. How can I maintain my bandhas in every posture? (this involves a lot of back-rounding and curling in)

3. How can I effectively channel energy through the body and keep the circuit flowing? (this changes a lot of my hand options and the way I bind my hands)

Let me just say wow. WOW. Yoga releases a lot of emotions, and on Sunday Nancy held us in Kapotasana (pictured below) for almost 20 breaths. I have done backbends now for years without any emotional reactions (it's usually hip-openers that get me). Well, let's just say I felt a hint of tears after that backbend. And it wasn't until Monday night that all of a sudden I burst into tears. I'm now starting to recognize that really dedicating myself to this practice is life-changing. Just in the few days I've been practicing with Nancy, some hormonal imbalances I've had for years are starting to regulate. My spine is aching a little the way it used to when I had scoliosis, but I'm told that it's my body reliving old injuries as a process of healing itself. 

One thing I love about Nancy is that even after 40 years of practicing, she still says things like "I'm just now starting to get this thing," or "I haven't figured this out...yet..." She has inspired me to be a firm believer in the practice of Ashtanga. 

Luckily, I am almost done teaching Vinyasa. So starting September, I'm going to throw myself into the practice of Ashtanga. For a year, I will follow the traditional practice: 5 days a week Mysore and a weekly led Primary class. Rest on moon days and first 3 days of the ladies cycle. Weekly coconut oil baths and monthly castor oil baths (more on that later). And let's see what it does!