Posts In: Iyengar Yoga

MC Hammer may have said it best, and perhaps could have been referring to Dina Weldin when he rapped, “too legit to quit.” Dina is legit. She is a warm, caring, positive and authentic individual. She is beautiful inside and out and is far too legit to quit being wonderful. Step onto your mat with Dina Weldin this month on Wednesdays at 7pm for a mixed level Flow class. Check out our full class schedule here.

1. What is your favorite style of yoga?

Right now my favorite style of yoga is Vinyasa. I began with Iyengar and thoroughly appreciate that style but I enjoy the constant flow and movement with my breath during a Vinyasa practice. It is more of a challenge for me to control my breath when in constant movement so I appreciate that aspect of Vinyasa as well.

2. What first attracted you to yoga when you began your practice?

My mom was a yogi for most of my teenage life and I grew up watching her practice and hearing all about how much she enjoyed this thing called “yoga.” My mom convinced me to go to a class with her when I was home on a college break and just like that, I was moved. It wasn’t about the physical aspect for me. I felt the connection of mind, body, and breath in yoga and it was unlike anything I had experienced in any other physical exercise. I also left the class feeling more sore than every before – talk about using muscles you never knew you had!

3. What is your favorite yoga pose right now?

This changes with any given day! I love a good headstand and being upside down on most days. On this very day in my practice, I would say blossoming lotus pose. It is a perfect mix of balance, hip opening, and the beauty a lotus flower represents in general is inspiring to me. Not to mention, every time I teach this pose, I can’t help but smile at all my students that really look like little lotus flowers blooming! It makes me so happy to see.

4. What pose is still the most challenging?

Handstand! It gets me every time! You can find me in a handstand for no longer than 10 seconds before I lose my balance (and that’s on a good day!) Practice, practice, practice. This is what I keep repeating to myself when I try my handstands. It will come when it’s time.

5. If you were an animal, you would be: a DOG! Cliche, I know. But when I look at my dog and she looks back at me, I know she can understand what I’m saying. Dogs are on another level, far wiser than us humans at times I’m sure!

6. Describe what yoga means in your life using just 6 words: Unity with our mind, body, & breath

7. What might your students be surprised to learn about you?

I have been to Egypt every other year since I was born and I can speak Arabic! I have ten piercings (all in my ears!) but I rarely wear earrings in all of them. Oh, and me and forward folds are not friends! We are learning to get along though, slowly but surely.

8. Do you have any words of wisdom or advice for new students?

Practice every moment you can – at home, without a mat, in a park, in a studio, in the airport, wherever – just practice! Without practice it is difficult to achieve that sense of true connection. Never feel the need to push your body any further than it wants to go. Really listen to your body.

Most importantly, take a minute each and every day to listen to yourself breathe. That is the true indicator of what your body is feeling. If your breath is labored, speeding up, or interrupted, take a moment to sit in child’s pose and reconnect. Always remember:

“Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.” – Thích Nh?t H?nh

Sherri is one of the first teachers Yoga One owners Amy & Michael Caldwell practiced with when they arrived in San Diego back in 2001. She is also one of the best teachers they have had the fortune of knowing. What she teaches in the classroom is fantastic, but what she teachers through her living example is the real lesson. Vibrant, positive, active, athletic, spiritual, fun, humorous, beautiful, intelligent…you get the picture!

Sign up for her upcoming class and workshop June 6th and 7th at Yoga One here!

1. What is your favorite style of yoga? 

I love pose-by-pose practice, as in the Iyengar style. There’s so much refinement for the physical body that can happen in the depth and precision of that method, and the mind has specific points to concentrate on, which brings a natural calm. Really, I’m very grateful for having Iyengar as my beginning in yoga.

Over the years I’ve woven into my personal practice a more dance-like, fluid approach, mixing spontaneous movements with asana (yoga poses) to create a daily practice that changes and evolves along with me as my body and heart transform on this journey of life.

2. What first attracted you to yoga when you began your practice?

The physicality of Hatha Yoga drew me in – as a child cartwheels and splits and walking down the hall in a backbend were all part of a normal day for me.

But more significantly, yoga slowed me down. I was limited to the area of a mat, instead of the whole wide world that I’d been moving through, and in that confinement my soul came to the surface. I was captivated by the pain, the tenderness, and the vitality that poured out from my heart, within the stillness of practicing yoga. I’ve been following that inner thread every since, discovering more and more of my true qualities as my journey through life’s challenges and joys continues.

3. What is your favorite yoga pose right now?

That’s a difficult question for me! None of my students or friends would be surprised to hear me say downward dog! Someone quoted me as exclaiming in class one day, “You can never do enough downward dog!” or something to that effect, which is probably not at all the case, right?!

But I love practicing a simple inversion sequence like downward dog, arm balance, forearm balance, and shoulder stand to energize me and to build the internal muscles of perseverance and determination, two spiritual qualities I constantly seek.

4. What pose is still the most challenging?

Headstand for sure! I’ve had a lot of whiplash throughout my life, and then I’ve got a L-O-N-G neck – yikes. A number of years back a chiropractor friend told me my neck is giraffe-like! So it’s a challenging combination. Still, I am once again pursuing this pose with the help of some of my incredible yoga teacher friends here in town. So stay tuned for an update in this area.

5. If you were an animal, you would be: Not a giraffe – although I used to daydream as a child growing up in Cheyenne, Wyoming, of constructing a special saddle to be able to ride my imaginary pet giraffe. May we all find our way back to that level of innocence and creativity!

I feel very deeply that I would be a horse. Noble, wild, high-strung, courageous in the face of fear.

6. Describe what yoga means in your life using just 6 words: Yoga: strength for soul’s journey Home.

7. What might your students be surprised to learn about you?

My first teaching career was in Russian language, and I’m blessed to have a son-in-law and two-year-old grandson in my life to help me deepen my love affair with that phenomenal language. Thank you to Kolya and Misha for being part of my life path, and of course thank you to my daughter, Rhea, who made it all happen. She is one of my biggest teachers of all.

8. Do you have any words of wisdom or advice for new students?

Listen to your heart! Find the rhythm of your unique soul’s journey and expression in this life and on this material plane. Manifest your destiny, and don’t let anything stop you. This world needs our love, our care, our passion, our compassion. Give your heart and soul to what really matters to you. Show others how that’s done –  and stoke the fire of change and growth and transformation. Don’t lead a shallow life! As my wise sister Pat says, the Nike slogan pretty much sums it up: Just do it.

This month we’re featuring Lori Miller who leads a donation based 1 and 2 level flow on Mondays at 6:30am. In addition to your yoga mat and an open and curious mind, yoga students are encouraged to bring sunglasses to Lori’s class. Her radiant personality and smile will warm you heart. See our full schedule here.

1. What is your favorite style of yoga?

I love so many styles, it’s hard to choose! I love Anusara, Vinyasa, Iyengar, Hatha, Aerial, Laughter, and Restorative. If I had to choose one, I would probably choose a slow Vinyasa. I feel most connected to my soul when I connect breath and movement in a slow, conscious flow.

2. What first attracted you to yoga when you began your practice?

I was first attracted to the physical aspect of yoga. I like to challenge my body and yoga allowed me to do this. I viewed yoga as a form of exercise and at first, I didn’t fully get it. I kept going back because the teacher was funny and taught from a place of love and grace. After I learned to connect my breath and movement, I connected with my essential self – that place where I felt whole and complete, abundant and strong, full of love and grace.

3. What is your favorite yoga pose right now? 

My favorite pose right now is pigeon, eka pada rajakapotasana. I have very tight hips; the external rotation of the hip joint and the lengthening of the psoas muscle that pigeon provides is very relieving!

4. What pose is still the most challenging?

My most challenging pose is also pigeon. Because my hips are tight, I work very hard to get the proper alignment. It can be very challenging to stay present and at ease in this pose. Some days are better than others, but it’s always challenging.

5. If you were an animal, you would be: a wolf on the ground, an eagle in the air and a dolphin in the sea.

6. Describe what yoga means in your life using just 6 words: Connecting with essential self again & again

7. What might your students be surprised to learn about you? 

That I’ve had my pet parrot Clara for 33 years. I got her when I was 9 years old. As a kid, I used to ride her around on my bicycle handlebars and we would sing together as we rode down the street. She’s been through a lot of life changes with me. College, marriage, kids. She managed to bite every one of my boyfriends, but LOVED my now husband the moment she met him.

8. Do you have any words of wisdom or advice for new students?

Approach yoga as a long term relationship with yourself. Be interested in the feelings and sensations that arise. There may be many things that you can’t do right away, that’s okay! Try not to go into judgement or be hard on yourself.

This month we’re showcasing Kimberly Mackesy who leads an all levels Iyengar practice Saturdays at 9am. Kimberly brings a deep understanding of alignment principles to both her practice and teaching. Her conscientious instruction is clear and effective, expertly distilling the essence of each asana (pose). See our full schedule here.

What is your favorite style of yoga?

Iyengar Yoga. It gives me everything I need. There’s a Sanskrit word, ?raddh?, that means “trust which comes from revelation.” (Sutra I.20.) As its benefits have revealed themselves over the years, my trust in the Iyengar method has deepened. I’ve committed to teaching within the lineage. That said, I also know that every person’s yoga journey is unique. Yoga in the modern day comes in so many forms that I truly believe there is yoga for everyone. As B.K.S. Iyengar himself repeatedly expressed, “yoga is one.”

What first attracted you to yoga when you began your practice?

I was a stressed out college student. I was searching for answers to life’s big questions, and frankly I was depressed at what I was finding so far. Meanwhile, my dad convinced me to try yoga because he thought it would benefit me physically. I had no idea then that the physical health benefits are just one (albeit important) piece of the puzzle.

I started out with a 10-week gentle Hatha Yoga course at UCLA. The teacher was this radiant elder lady who brought her own tape deck. She taught the same poses to the same tape week after week…and I loved it. Simple, simple poses. Like clockwork, the yoga gave me a break from my stress. It gave me peace, breathing room, if only for an hour. I was hooked right away.

About a year after my first yoga class, I enrolled in the interdisciplinary teacher training program at the Center for Yoga in Los Angeles (co-taught Diana Beardsley, who now co-leads Teacher Trainings at Yoga One). I found my first Iyengar Yoga teacher, the beginnings of my own teaching voice, even the seeds of my career during that first teacher training.

What is your favorite yoga pose right now?

Padmasana, lotus pose. I find it deeply soothing structurally, organically and spiritually (that’s after lots of practice, of course). I love working with my students on the poses that prepare padmasana. With practice and sequential preparation, padmasana comes when the student is ready just like its namesake, the lotus flower, blooms in its own time. Mr. Iyengar actually compared the 8 limbs of yoga to the petals of a lotus flower: they all unfold at once to reveal the brilliance within.

What pose is still the most challenging?

Savasana, or corpse pose. The urge comes to adjust, to move, to try to balance the body. The mind wants to wander too because that’s its nature. It’s a tremendous challenge to surrender and be still, but that is exactly what savasana asks us to do. Paradoxically, that’s one of the reasons it’s so effective.

If you were an animal, you would be: a dragon! It’s my birth year in the Chinese Zodiac. And I’m a redhead, so it suits me.

Describe what yoga means in your life using just 6 words: Profound healing on all levels. AUM.

What might your students be surprised to learn about you?

That I’m looking for a husband! I don’t date my students, but I do take referrals. 😉

Do you have any words of wisdom or advice for new students?

You’ll feel something from the very first class, but the subtle benefits of a yoga practice take time to accrue. Consistency is key. Come to class twice a week or more and practice at home whenever you can, even for a few minutes a day. Yoga’s benefits show up in proportion to your efforts. Yoga can bring you more than you ever imagined, but only if you stick with it.

by Rachel Krentzman, PT, E-RYT

Backbends are an integral part of any Yoga practice. The intention for backbends is to open the chest and rib cage in preparation for pranayama (breathwork). For some, backbends are exhilarating and freeing while for others, they can be somewhat daunting and anxiety-producing. For the first few years of my yoga practice, I would experience back pain in most back bending postures and assumed that it was a ‘normal sensation.’ The truth is, if done correctly, backbends should be challenging but comfortable. If you are not experiencing freedom in your backbends, it is a sign that you may be compressing your lumbar spine instead of increasing your range of motion.

Is it safe for my spine?

When done correctly, back bends help increase extension of the spine, a normal movement that is available to us based on the anatomical structure of the lumbar vertebrae. There are approximately 55 degrees of extension available in the lumbar spine in most humans. As we move up the spine, extension is more limited due to the shape of the thoracic vertebrae.  In optimal alignment, the lumbar spine should rest in a slight arch (lumbar lordosis), to properly carry the body weight and prevent low back issues. When we lose the normal curve due to poor posture or frequent forward bending, there is an increased risk of low back pain, disc injuries and muscle spasm.

With all this in mind, it is important to increase the extension in our spine in order to maintain back health and mobility and combat the constant effect of gravity that pulls us forward. In addition, back bends help increase lung capacity, prevent arthritis, alleviate depression, build stamina and energy as well as improve circulation, digestion and immune function. Backbends are said to help us move from the past into the present, and to help us open our hearts and let go of fear.

Backbends are safe for most individuals (contraindicated for those with spinal stenosis or spondylolisthesis) as long as the body is warmed up appropriately and there is close attention paid to proper alignment and actions in each pose. The beauty of yoga is that detailed instructions can be given to help one attain ideal alignment so a greater sense of opening is experienced. When we have pain in backbends, it is because something is breaking down in our execution of the pose. Discomfort is an opportunity for us to practice more awareness and find a new, pain free way to work in the posture.

Common limitations

Individuals who have difficulty in backbends can be categorized into two main groups: those with tight muscles and ligaments and those who are naturally loose and highly flexible. In every body, there is a dance between the qualities of stability and flexibility in the musculoskeletal system. There is a myth that being more flexible is a sign of better physical health, however, the more flexible a person is, the more prone their ligaments are to injury in yoga because they lack stability. Conversely, those who are stiff are less likely to suffer an injury due to over-stretching, but these individuals need to increase their flexibility so the pelvis and spine can move freely and avoid compression during activities of daily living.

Common restrictions for tight individuals include decreased range of motion in the chest, shoulders and hips (primarily in the hip flexors and external rotators). These areas become restricted from prolonged sitting at a desk, driving, frequent forward bending and lifting and can even occur from overtraining the anterior chest musculature. Runners, cyclists and avid athletes are prone to tightness in the hip flexors and external rotators as well. These individuals need to focus on increasing flexibility in the chest and hips to prepare for backbends.

Hyper flexible people experience different difficulties in back bending postures. They often have tight hip flexors but compensate with over-extension in the low back. Core strength is usually lacking in these individuals, so they tend to ‘hinge’ at one segment in their spine over and over again instead of dividing the extension throughout the length of the spine. In this case, the hyper mobile segment becomes more mobile while the tighter segments in the spine stay tight. Years of ‘dumping’ into the low back without awareness can lead to injury as the segment bears all the work. These individuals need to focus on stability and strength in their backbends, which may mean backing off a little to maintain the integrity of the pose and length throughout the entire spine.

How to practice correctly 

Here are some important tips to help you achieve success in your back bending poses:

• Warm up! In order to be ready for back bends, you must practice poses that open the chest, hip flexors, quadriceps and external rotators of the hip. It is also important to practice a couple of poses that encourage strength in the arms and legs to prepare for certain backbends.
• Keep the front body long. “Back bends should really be called front body lengtheners,” says Jo Zukovich, a well known Iyengar Yoga teacher from San Diego. While we are extending our lumbar spine, it is important to maintain length at the same time so there is more space and equal movement between each spinal segment. The common mistake that leads to pain and injury is collapsing in the spine at one segment while in the backbend.
• Internally rotate your hips. Internal rotation in the hips is essential in all backbends to avoid compression in the spine. If we allow our hips to externally rotate (which will cause the knees to splay out), our stronger muscles, namely the gluteus maximus and external hip rotators, will contract. By internally rotating the thighs, we turn off those stronger hip muscles and activate the deeper gluteal muscles which help to create more space.
• Avoid gripping! The tendency in backbends is to contract the buttocks strongly which creates more compression and less freedom in the spine. In addition, ‘tucking of the tailbone’ creates shortening instead of increased length in the spine.  Instead, think about lifting the lower belly to help the tailbone descend. This creates length while maintaining the integrity of the spine and core strength in back bends.
• Don’t fight the backbend, GO FOR IT. Most people try to resist the back bend while they are doing it. It is safest to work on helping your lumbar spine move into extension at every level. Focus on moving each vertebrae into the body as if it were sinking into quicksand in order to safely increase extension in the lumbar spine. Remember that we are lengthening as we are extending to maintain a full lumbar curve free from compression.

Rachel Krentzman PT, ERYT 500 combines 18 years of Physical Therapy experience with more than 15 years of Yoga studies. Her treatment methods involve a highly effective approach to healing the whole person. Rachel received her 2000-hour certification from the College of Purna Yoga™ with Aadil Palkhivala and has studied Yoga therapeutics. She is the founder and director of Embody Physical Therapy and Yoga in San Diego, CA. For more details and/or questions contact: 619-261-6049 or rachel@embodyphysicaltherapy.com

Yoga One teacher Jennifer Tipton wrote a beautiful reflection on the life and practice of one of her yoga mentors, B.K.S. Iyengar for YogiTimes. Read the whole article here.

Jennifer teaches Yoga for Backs on Tuesdays at 7:30pm and Rooftop Mixed Level Flow at Hotel Solamar on Sundays at 9am. See our full schedule here.

The Iyengar style of yoga is known for its extensive use of props (blocks, blankets, straps, and more) and a focus on precise physical alignment.

Jennifer writes, “Through the longer holds in our yoga postures we can learn how to experience a calmer mental state and therefore allow energy to effectively channel throughout the entire body. Yoga practice has evolved through the years and as a society we have come to enjoy faster paced and more rigorous styles to match our fast-paced and hectic lives.

“Iyengar yoga teaches us to slow down and live in the present moment. Even if we only incorporate a few poses with longer holds and perhaps the use of props we can go deeper and experience the benefits that are so present in Iyengar’s teachings.

“Every Tuesday night I teach my “Yoga for Backs” class and more often than not I will incorporate a restorative bridge posture into the practice. It really is one of my favorite yoga poses and always has been.”