Yoga on the Bridge : A short yoga practice inspired by flowing water, rustling leaves, Garuda the eagle, and the imagination.

Recipe for a Handstand: How A Handstand is Like Baking A Cake

Recipe for a Handstand. Attempting a handstand is like baking a multi-layered cake. We can think about the individual layers of cake, the frosting, atmospheric conditions, construction, and finally, the unique decoration of your masterpiece. Like baking your first cake, your first handstand may fall short of your expectations. They may be uneven, taste a bit starchy, and perhaps look like something a three year old constructed out of play dough.

For many people, the handstand is something that terrifies, eludes, and challenges even the most dedicated of yogis. Why? Because it takes everything you've learned in yoga, everything you've practiced on your mat and during meditation, and puts it to the test by, turning it upside down.

The first ingredient of the handstand recipe is Tadasana, good ole mountain pose. In mountain pose we study our bodies an anatomically neutral position and look for the weak links in our posture. Does our lower back sway causing our abdominal muscles to disengage? Does our body weight tend to shift toward the balls of our feet? We study each piece to feel the nuances of our bodies and practice holding a strong and supported standing position while remaining soft enough to relax and breathe.

Once we have studied Tadasana we add in Urdhva Hastasana, upward lifted hand pose, the second posture of the Sun Salutation series. When we move our arms overhead we look to see how the rest of our bodies respond. Do the ribs poke forward? Does the abdominal wall disengage? What is needed to maintain the lessons of tadasana while we add this second layer?

When this has been rectified we are ready to add the third ingredient, the sweet layers of frosting.This is made from tapas and amritas, the disciplined mind and the ambrosia of the gods. This tasty layer is also one of the trickiest to apply. If the consistency is too sticky or tacky, it will peel off the top layer of the cake. If it is too thin it won't do its job of holding the layers together. The perfect thickness can be achieved through a careful combination of self-discipline, determination, and method with surrender, playfulness, and listening.

Now that we have the three basic components of a handstand we can begin to practice:
1) Stand about 3 feet from a wall and practice the transition from Tadasana to Urdhva Hastasana while maintaining core integration.
 
2) Reach your hands to the floor and come into downward dog with your fingers 3 inches from the wall.

3) Re-establish urdva hastasana from your hands to your hips.

4) Walk you feet toward your hands and shift your shoulders over your wrists while looking between your hands.

5) Fire up your tapas while connecting to the soft flow of amrita.

6) Lift one leg toward the ceiling and use your lower leg as a spring. Practice keeping your core engaged while floating your lifted leg toward the sky.

7) Smile.

8) Keep practicing. Think about stacking your hips over your shoulders, over your wrists, like a multi-tiered cake.

9). Enjoy. Embellish your handstand with sound-effects, leg variations, and laughter!

10) Remember that some days will be more conducive to practicing handstands than others. The atmospheric conditions and the accessibility of the gods may be more generous on certain days. So, don't be discouraged. Just like baking a cake, be firm, know the quality of your ingredients, leave room for magic and whimsy, and when your practice is over, take a big ole bite and savor this delicious experience 

xoxo!
~Ashley Litecky Elenbaas

40 Days of Seva: No Minimum Donation for 40 Days

There are many ways an organization can give back to their community. In December of 2013 Sky House launched its Seva (a Sanskrit word meaning self-less service) Sunday program, opening all Sunday yoga classes to the public with no minimum donation. Over the last nine months we've seen such a positive response that our team of teachers and staff have decided to open the donation scale for all our yoga classes for 40 days!

This means that there is no minimum donation to take any Sky House yoga class from September 8 - October 17th.  We hope this opens the door for more people to take yoga, and for our current students to take more classes.

We love our donation model which holds space for each individual to contribute what they can. Those with more can donate more, and those with less can donate less. In the end, things always seem to balance out :)

Also, with our wedding coming up in less than 30 days (Eek! We are so excited!) we thought it would be a nice way to give back while we are receiving so much.

Class registration details are listed below. We expect classes to fill pretty early so please register early. We thank you for standing by us over the years and we hope this 40 Day gift will inspire more yoga practice and community!

Much Love,
Ashley

Visit www.skyhouseyoga.com and click on our Yoga page to find the class schedule.

Value and Currency

Yesterday I had a wonderful conversation with Risa Garon, founder of the National Family Resiliency Center. We are working to put together a grant to bring yoga and meditation to young women who have experienced family trauma like the loss of a loved one, divorce, moving, or personal afflictions like depression, eating disorders, or anxiety. During our conversation it became evident at the heart, we are interested in helping young women re-assign value to themselves and identify their value within the context of their community.

For many young women it is a challenge to identify their value outside of what they own, and their physical features. It is our hope to help them discover their value in terms of what they can give.

The term currency comes from the Latin word "currens" which means,'a state of flowing.' On its own, gold has no value. It is only valuable when it is being traded or 'moved' from one person to another. So, to know our own value, we need to move and be moved. We must find our gifts and do something with them.

I remember many years ago during an herb walk with David Winston, he mentioned that in the Cherokee tradition, if a person was depressed it was called 'spirit sickness.' This was a very serious condition and was treated within the tribe by giving that person to an elder or a medicine man as a helper or caretaker. The spirit would get stronger through the act of service. This fed the flame of spirit until the persons light was restored.

In my eyes, yoga is another way to feed the flame and get our currency moving. It can move us outside of the small locus of 'self' where we get stuck. In a yoga practice we can face our insecurities, our fears of failure and success, rise to the challenge, and sit quietly with our hearts and listen to the voice inside can tell us where to go. When done in the right spirit, yoga can provide us with the right questions needed to identify our soul work and the communities that can be served by this work.

It is my hope that yoga is valued by its ability to bring people together in a safe place and for its ability to move energy THROUGH its practitioners. That a yoga classroom is a space where deeper questions are asked, tears are shed, frustrations expressed, changes are made, and learning can happen. 

It is my hope that every person that walks out of a yoga class thinking, 'what can I contribute?' And that contribution is made with a smiling heart.