Ahead of her visit to triyoga in April, acclaimed yoga teacher Lisa Walford explains the theme underpinning this year’s weekend of workshops…
Be humble, for we are made of the earth
Be noble for we are made of the stars. (Serbian proverb)
Practicing asana gives us stamina, strength, serenity, tenacity and helps us to heal old wounds. Asana practice is also a conduit to deepen the experience of the marriage between the mind and body and the subtle energies inherent in both.
Having practiced and taught yoga for over thirty years, I find that my interests are turning to how the body mirrors the elements around us. Connecting to my practice through these elements; earth, water, fire, air and space, enhances my sense of my potential to perceive a deeper cyclical nature and interdependence of all things. For example, a feeling of expansiveness is not only accessible in Savasana, but through deep forward bends and ultimately by how I cultivate spacious awareness in every asana. The struggle to “do” the asana shifts toward exploring how I connect with my bones and joints to anchor the pose; through the element of earth, while calming my stormy mind. The eyes and the solar plexus house the element of fire, which can whip up a frenzy of emotions, thoughts and reactivity. The untamed mind grasps, clings to old ways, and reaches for more and more sensation or stimulation. We will explore all of this in my workshops.
Some asanas can quiet the mind and help you sustain a calm practice. I find that this is the most rewarding part of my practice these days. Anchored in this mindset, I practice the full syllabus of asanas, including twists, backbends, inversions and Surya Namaskar. One technique is to learn how to stay in the poses longer; not surviving the pose, but resting deeply in the vitality of a pose.
Shree Iyengar says that Intelligence lives in every cell. “The challenge of yoga, he says, is to go beyond our limits – within reason. We continually expand the frame of the mind by using the canvas of the body” (Light on Life).
We generally think of a yoga pose as being about the physical position, alignment, shape, and expression of energy. In Sanskrit the word “Asana” means a seat. When we “seat” the mind or attention first, and channel that into the body, the posture assumes a different quality. Alignment is one way to do this. Another is to conjure qualities of the mind, like anchoring, expanding, listening, sensing, and spreading awareness. Even though the mind seems ephemeral and shifty, we can experience specific qualities. And these will enhance the experience of practice.
In these workshops I hope to build upon a basic repertoire of yoga practice and add a language of the mind in practice. Standing poses help to root and ground us, they connect us with the element of earth and our bones. Backbends open the chest and heart while cultivating a strong support from the back body. The double wings of the shoulder girdle and psoas muscles must release for the backbend to soar. Please join me for these fun, poetic and challenging workshops!
Lisa Walford holds an Intermediate Senior Iyengar Yoga certificate; has been teaching in the Los Angeles area for thirty years, and currently teaches workshops and retreats worldwide. She is on the advisory council for the International Association of Yoga Therapists, and co-developed the teacher training program at Casey Integrated Health Institute in Washington DC. She co-developed the Teacher Training Program for Yoga Works and continues to teach many of the courses in the certification program. She has a BA from UCLA and has co-authored two books; The Anti-Aging Plan and The Longevity Diet.
Join Lisa in Camden…
connecting with the elemental fabric in our body
friday 01 – 02 april 2016
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