Reflections from the River Styx: Near death experience.

Screen Shot 2013-04-28 at 5.30.31 AMI asked my Dad what is was like to come back from the dead.

“Well, it was just dark and peaceful,” he said.  My Dad looks a little like Clint Eastwood. He’s got the same kind of squint and no nonsense style.  (And he spends most of his time operating heavy machinery on a farm.  By choice.)   But he’s also quick to smile and chooses to laugh when life is quirky rather than get mad about it.   Even when “quirky” means near death experience.

“So it wasn’t painful.”

“No.”

“So you didn’t see any lights, or…fairies, or anything like that?”

“No.”

“No one saying, ‘Welcome to the light, Bill?””

“No.”  He concedes,“Okay, there may have been a light, I’m not sure.”

My Dad is very tolerant.

“Were there any feelings associated with that place?”

He looks up and considers.

“Like I was floating,” he shakes his head, “But then it was over.”

“How long were you out for.”

He inhales through his teeth, “About five minutes, I’d say.  A retired New York firefighter started CPR and they brought a de-fib machine.  Rumor has it they hit me with a jolt five times.”

I deadpan.  “They really didn’t want to mess their cruise up, did they.”

“No.”

“That,” I say,” would have been some bad PR.”

We crack up.

“…Okay, so when you came to…”

My dad sighs.

“Hey,” I say, “Hello, excuse me, near death experience, here?”

“Alright, alright.”  He gestures impatiently.

“Would you say that that experience made you less afraid of death, more afraid of death, neither way?”

“Less.”

“Why?”

He shrugs, “I was there.”

“And it didn’t hurt, it wasn’t bad.”

“Yeah.”

“You were like, I can chill here for a bit.”

He laughs.

“Were you alone in that space?” I ask.  He probably knows what I’d like to hear.  It’d be nice to hear that Granddad Scott was just around the corner and that all our childhood pets were romping happily at his feet.  Or that at the very least there was some sort of benevolent indefinable whosi-whatsit floating around.  I’m a yogi, so I’m not particularly attached to a vision of St. Peter.  But I’d be open to some straight-forward experience of one-ness and ultimate transcendence.  But my Dad isn’t one to blow smoke up anybody’s spiritual ass.

“There wasn’t anybody else there,” he says.

“But you didn’t feel lonely,” I press.

He considers, “No.”

“So it was alright.”

“Yeah.”

My Mom interjects from the kitchen, “What are you telling Rachel that you never told me?  You told me you didn’t know anything!”

“He didn’t say he knows anything,” I holler back.

“I told you everything that I told her,” he says, only slightly exasperated.

“You told me you just blacked out and there wasn’t anything!”

He rubs a hand over his head, “No I mean, it was just…peaceful.   I mean, it seemed okay.  But I was gone… “ he laughs at this, “So what do I know?”

“Well,” I say, “I think it’s interesting that you felt alone, but not lonely.”  I am taking this as a good sign.  “I mean lots of people have experience of seeing lights, things like that.”

He tries to humor me, “Well, I was probably in this transitional…” he holds up his hands, demonstrating some sort of supernatural crawl space.

“Right…” I point over an imaginary hill, “Like the trumpets were just right over there.”

He stands up and grabs his coffee, “And they were just holding them up to play…”

“And then they were like, ohhhh!  Snap!  False alarm, he’s back.”

We giggle.  Well, I giggle.  My dad kind of guffaws.

 

He heads back outside to fix up the fence across the road.  That’s enough time today spent on afterworld speculations.   There are stakes to be put in the ground, welding to attend to, and then the deer need to be fed.

And even though Dad wasn’t greeted by relatives, pets,  hallelujah angels, or a benevolent light, the experience was okay.  And he’s not afraid of death anymore.

And that’s something.

How to: Wheel – strapping for shoulder stability

A good – if slightly claustrophobic way – of keeping the arms from splaying out in the ascent to Wheel (Urdhva Dhanurasana).

Tips:

  • I’d be less likely to use this on a really tight guy (who may need a little extra room to find full flexion of the arms) than on a flexible but instable person who needs more support.
  • Work to make the strap loose – not to hang out in it.
  • The key to the backbend is in the upper back – thoracic extension.  For maximum stability, set the shoulder girdle before you become weight bearing and press all the way up.
  • However, this pose is particularly challenging because it also demands full flexion of the arm at the shoulder.
  • For tighter folks, have them place their hands a little further away from their ears and turn their hands out (creates more space)
  • Less stable and weaker folks (more flexible) can move their hands closer to their ears before fully coming up in order to facilitate the press up.

Wheel: modification for splaying legs and feet

Take a look at how the use of a simple block can transform the space and stability possible in Full Wheel (Urdhva Dhanurasana).  Notice how the upper body is also affected by the prop.

Tips:

  • set the feet first and keep the inner edges of the feet anchored
  • use a prop of an appropriate width
  • prop either between the knees or thighs – whatever gives your student the best connection to their adductors

Wheel: Strap assist for spinal traction yumminess

Here is a two person partner assist for Full Wheel (Urdhva Dhanurasana).  This assist is perfect for those needing more space and stability through their lower back.

Tips:

  • place the straps at the bra line and sacrum line
  • guard your own body position (hinge at your hips, not your low back)
  • pull the straps diagonally rather than straight up
  • use your own body weight to pull the straps – not your arm strength
  • stay in communication with both partners
  • To see this with a tighter partner, click here.

Wheel: for wrist issues and tight shoulders – great partner assist

Anyone with wrist issues or tight shoulders knows that Wheel (Urdhva Dharusasna) can be hard to do. Here’s a simple and easy partner assist that you can do (keep it simple by not using straps and just using the ankle hold) to help your tighter students find their way into this complex pose.  For a deeper look at positioning the straps, click here.

Tips:

  • Use just the ankle hold if you’re doing this as an in-class partner assist to help someone with wrist issues and shoulder tightness
  • If you’re using the straps, make sure to place them at the bra and sacrum line in order to facilitate maximum traction.
  • With straps, pull on a diagonal line rather than straight up.  Pulling straight up will overly compress the spine, whereas pulling diagonally will create more length through the lower back
  • You can use a good deal of strength through the straps to create support, so use your body weight (slowly) rather than rely on the strength of your arms
  • Stay in good communication with your partner at all times

 

How To: Forearm Stand

A marvelous doozy of a pose, Forearm Stand (pincha mayurasana) invites into a full inversion and a backbend a the same time. Here are clear and easy steps for safely instructing your students into the pose.

Tips:

  • finding the backbend in the upper back will help you to effectively balance in this pose
  • using props to prevent the shuffling of the elbows out  will help to create stability and open the shoulders
  • patience!  This pose asks for wicked shoulder and hamstring opening.  Take one step at a time.

 

How to: Headstand with a prop assist

Teach your students to find the necessary stability for their upper backs with this simple block assist in Headstand. By placing the block at the level of the shoulder blades, you will help them to find the necessary scapular stability to get move their hips over their shoulders, which will eventually lead them to a safe and slow ascent.

How To: Handstand

Step by step guide into handstand.

Here are some tips:

  • Straight arms: Keeping the arms straight will keep you and your students out of “nose to floor” danger
  • Midline: Hug the inner thighs together to maintain a neutral alignment in the hips
  • Straight legs: Keeping the legs straight makes your students safer, more supported, and more in control.  Resist bending the knee to get to the wall – it will only create instability for most students
  • Shoulder blades: Draw the shoulder blades onto the back strongly to keep the upper back from rounding.  The action of the thoracic spine keeps the upper body from shifting forward (avoiding that “nose-wall” relationship!)
  • Patience: Handstand is psychological as well as physical.  Allow the gradual and calm unfolding.

 

How to: Chaturanga!

Learn to do and teach an excellently positioned Chaturanga. Use props to find your best alignment and protect the delicate shoulder joint for repetitive stress injury. Check out as we do this is in the YYoga 200-hour Teacher Training.

How to: Chaturanga to Updog

This is a challenging transition for the best of us! Check out these options that you can use to help both do this transition – as well as teach it to your students. Avoid “cheating” and be kind to your rotator cuff 🙂

How To: Handstand Prep

Join and and the YYoga 200-hour teacher trainees as we look at how to do and teach Handstand Prep. The secret is in the bent knees and the shoulder blades…. 🙂

How To: Supta Hasta Padangustasana

An awesome way to teach Supta Hasta Padangustasana – the floor gives you great feedback for your spine and the wall allows you to feel the turn out that tends to happen as our leg takes the path of least resistance.

How not “doing it all” makes your Muppets happy

muppetsI have this fantasy.  Involving many muppets.

I attended an anatomy workshop last weekend with Diane Lee and LJ Lee.  Also attending was a constellation of health practitioners: chiropractors, physios, massage therapists, Pilates teachers…

The muppets in my brain went something like this:

Kermit: “I did not know that, that is amazing!”

Janice:  “Wow – being a physio is cooooool!”

Fozzie:  “Wait, HE said something amazing, he knows stuff too!  I’d better be an RMT, too.  No, wait, wait, really maybe med school!  Yes, be a doctor!”

Animal: “An-i-mal!  An-i-mal!”

Beaker: Eeeep, eeep, eeeeep!

Kermit: “Can I do that and work at the same time?”

Miss Piggie: “Moi?  I can do anything!”

Finally, I intervene in exasperation: “Gang!  We are not going to med school.”

They hang their heads in disaapointment, “Awwwwwwww…”

“At least,” I concede, “Not now.”

This muppet fantasy, which I can’t entirely shake, is that somehow I can do it all.  Or learn it all.  And if I learn it all, then I will be okay.  Then I will be worthy, respectable, infallible.  The knowledge in my brain will somehow protect me from all bad things (shame, ridicule, falling down in public, farting in public).

We all have our muppet fantasies, where we miraculously get “that thing” that we need and then the world falls into place.  For some of us, it’s about getting enough knowledge in our brains to feel perfect, for others it’s about getting the right job, the best relationship, the ideal house.  Usually we are “here” and this fantasy involves a mysterious “there” that isn’t quite reachable. Back at the workshop, Diane and LJ were speaking about community.

“So we can send someone to you and you’ll understand when we say that this is the primary driver.   Or when you send a client to us, you can say, this client is having trouble in utkatasana and hip flexion movements.  Then we can work together and…”

My muppets and I look up.

Work together?

So…not do it all?  Just do my thing?

What if I let go of the fantasy that I have to know it all in order to be “good”, and rather embrace my own niche? Not only would this keep me out of school  – and debt –  for the rest of my life, but it would also allow me to help people more effectively by honoring the specialized skills that I already have.  And then I could actually have a life occasionally (read trashy vampire books, see people, go to the beach, breathe) rather than fretting about everything that must be done to get me to my elusive and safe “there.”

My muppets are nodding.

Piggie: (flipping her hair) I like to read trashy vampire novels.

Fozzie: Then we can tell jokes!

Beaker: Eeeeep.

Animal: Animal!

Janice: Groovy.

Sam the Eagle: A very good idea.

Me: Gang, then we can do what we do well, and let other people do what they do well.  And work together.  And everyone wins.

Kermit (worried): But what about learning?  (He looks at the other muppets.)  We like learning.

Me: Or course keep learning!  I mean, there’s so much I don’t know.  But you know…maybe I don’t need to be a doctor.

Kermit (nods): That sounds good to me.

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew: You don’t need to be a doctor.  I am already a doctor.

Beaker: Eeeeeep.

Me: Exactly.

 

The Pilates teacher next me whispers, “I’ve been thinking about doing my Yoga Teacher Training, I think that would be a great next step!”  And I smile.

Because I think I can help her out.