Nutrition lecture

Tonight we had a 2 hour class with Darshana Weill. I would have loved a 3 or 4 hour lecture by her, since it seems we only dipped our pinky toes into the ocean of information she has to share. There were many questions from the trainees about nutrition, diet and yogic living. She also had many great questions for us. She asked us about our cravings, our eating habits, if we eat meat or not, if we cook, and do we think about food often. The main theme as I understand it is that she encourages us to develop a relationship with our bodies in regards to cravings, and to be able to identify what is behind each craving. For example, is it a nutrient that the body wants, or are we trying to pacify an emotional discomfort? She said she wants to teach us how to stay present to what's happening in our bodies all the time.

Toward the end of the class she asked us what was standing out to us after our discussions. What stood out to me was how when someone revealed that they have sweet cravings in the afternoons, she told us that the time for sweets is between 2pm and 4pm. For me, I notice that at 3pm, I feel tired and antsy at the same time every day when I'm at my 9-to-5 job. That is the time that in the past I would make coffee, and then later in the day regret drinking it. About six months ago or so I tried to make it a regular practice to do a back bend every day at 3, which would energize me and also express pent up energy. Another option I learned tonight is to have a "super food" instead of coffee, tea or sugar. Super foods are like supplements, they are high nutrition in small quantities. For examples, Spirulina and blue green algae were mentioned. She suggested that we could add some blue green algae to water and feel energized as a result. I am not at all familiar with blue green algae, but if I go to Whole Foods or Rainbow Grocery, I'm sure I can find out about it.

I learned tonight what "whole grain" means. A grain has three parts to its physical body. The inner most layer, the center of it, is called the endosperm. Around the endosperm is the germ, and the outer most layer is the bran. Pasta is just the endosperm. The fact that they make wheat germ and bran muffins reveals that there is nutritional value in those layers. We need all 3. Couscous is just the endosperm, like pasta. Quinoa is a whole grain and also the highest protein grain. That was nice to hear because Bob and I eat a lot of quinoa.

I went to a cooking class with Darshana Weill before I started the YTT course, and it helped me a lot. It was great to meet with her again and get some more ideas about how to eat well. A lot of the students seemed to like what she had to offer us. It was a subject that everyone has something to say about. We eat every day, so let it be "a practice" like yoga and eat mindfully.

Arm balances

Today we learned arm balance poses with Stephanie Snyder. I enjoyed the class a lot. I've enjoyed all of her classes and I think she is a great teacher. I like how direct and clear she is with her instructions and opinions, also she seems to be open minded and presents different options and points of view about poses and yoga. I see myself in great contrast to her in terms of our physical strength. She has great upper body and core (abdomen) muscle strength, as well as flexibility. Going into the class today, I had very low expectations for myself in terms of what poses I would be able to do. I feel very weak in my upper body in general. I have a history of wrist, elbow and shoulder injuries or sensitivities. So I tried to do each pose, and for the most part I couldn't hold my balance very long. For example, in Bakasana (Crow Pose), I could get my feet off of the floor for 1 or 2 seconds only, and then I'd lose my balance. One time I fell forward onto my head (on the cushion of a blanket) and felt mild pain in my wrist because it bent back when I fell.

When it came time to try Eka Pada Koundinyasana, my wrist was a little sore and I said to my classmate that I was just going to watch others do that pose, and I would rest. However, my friend responded by telling me I had to try it, that there was no sitting out. Okay, so I tried it with little expectation. However, I found that pose to be a bit easier. And I got both legs off of the floor, so I was balancing my body on my upper arms, which were bent. The teacher saw me making progress and gave me some pointers to improve my pose, and I held it for several seconds (maybe 15 seconds). When I came out of the pose, some of the students applauded my efforts and I felt exhilarated and proud. It was fun. I didn't get my leg completely straight, but I did balance on my hands and that was the surprising part for me.

Tonight at home I was inspired to practice headstand and handstand. In classes I still use a wall to rest my feet against because I can't balance on my own. We practiced handstand in class today, and one student asked what does it take to do handstand in the middle of the room. The teacher suggested that one day we will just decide to do it and we will. I remember as a kid walking on my hands for brief intervals. I think if I increase my upper body strength, I'll eventually be able to do unsupported handstand. For tonight I had Bob spot me and he helped me to balance in the poses. In headstand I was able to hold it on my own for about 3 seconds. That is progress! Woo hoo.

Corpse Bride

On Saturday morning, April Fools Day, us YTT students visited a cadaver lab to learn more about anatomy. The visit was optional, and most students chose to attend. I viewed and touched (with rubber gloved hands) 4 dead, dissected bodies. It was interesting and intense.

The smell of formaldehyde reminded me of when it was my assignment in college to dissect a cat for Anatomy & Physiology class. The faces and hands and feet of the human bodies (the areas where skin was still intact) reminded me of my first job in a hospital, on a cancer unit, when I was responsible for "post-mortem care". Basically, after a patient died we needed to prepare the body for the morgue, which meant we stripped the body, took out any IVs and catheters, tied the jaw closed, tied name tags to the big toe, and wrapped it in a plastic sheet. Sometimes it was my job to do post-mortem care for a patient who had been on the unit for many months, and so I had developed a deeper relationship/friendship with them. That would be sad for me, but I put on my practical nurse's hat and got through it. Sometimes I cried a little, but it didn't get in the way of completing my work. I remember feeling privileged to be responsible for the person's care. Death is a special time, like birth is. I felt honored to witness the passing, in a similar way that I felt honored in nursing school when I observed a mother giving birth and I was the first person to dress the baby. On Saturday, I felt honored to view the insides of these bodies, and I felt grateful to the souls who lived in those bodies for sharing with us. I felt myself wearing my practical nurse's hat as I held a heart in my hands. I held a lung and I saw a brain, too. I touched leg muscles and the sciatic nerve. The experience has helped me to process all the anatomy I've been learning during the past month. I have a clearer understanding of the muscles now that I've colored them in my Anatomy Coloring Book, and then saw them in the (dead) flesh. I also have a firmer understanding of my preference for vegetarian nutrition.

When I got home on Saturday after a day of YTT, Bob surprised me with a DVD he rented from Le Video. He said he got "Corpse Bride" because I'm his bride and I'd spent the morning with corpses.

Laboratory mat

Dina's 9am class today was delightful. I worked hard and sweat a lot
but we held each pose long enough to breath in it and focus on
alignment. At one point while we were holding triangle pose, she
encouraged us to picture our mats as a laboratory. I am experimenting
with how I relate to the poses on the mat, and that gives me a clue as
to how I relate to life in my day-to-day. I thought it was a beautiful
idea when she said it, although I can't remember her exact words now.