Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Doing a double dose of yoga

- KAREN MARTIN Karen Martin is senior editor of Perspectiv­e. kmartin@arkansason­line.com

Yoga is all about being in the moment.

This moment. Not the next moment, like plotting a defense of your proposal at the next day’s staff meeting while grasping your ankles in bow pose. Or the former moment, when you’re enjoying child’s pose yet wondering what you were thinking when you volunteere­d to host the next book club gathering at your house, which doesn’t have enough space for all the members.

I’m proof that you can be awful at being in the moment and still manage to practice yoga. And now the availabili­ty of such moments has doubled.

Offerings of yoga practices have been going on since mid-summer when my neighbor, who recently became a certified instructor, began to offer a free sunrise class on Fridays to those of us living nearby.

It’s held on the serene riverside setting on the docks at Rockwater Marina, limited only by weather and our very busy instructor’s schedule. Participan­ts anxiously await a WhatsApp notificati­on from her on Thursday evenings as to whether class will take place the following morning.

My newly joined gym had several yoga classes each week, though it looked like none were in a time frame I could work into my schedule.

Then, on a recent morning, a poster appeared on the gym’s glass door: New yoga class, 8:30 a.m. Fridays.

Yay! My experience with the gym’s classes has been terrific. Although my awkwardnes­s at figuring out the steps in a challengin­g Zumba class on Saturday mornings is downright embarrassi­ng. I can handle yoga. Besides, most participan­ts are way too involved in concentrat­ing on their poses than in observing what the person on the next mat is up to.

Since the new class is also on Friday, I now cram two yoga practices into one day: at 6:15 a.m. at the marina, then again at 8:30 a.m. at the gym. The dogs get hauled out for a walk in between.

Two classes in one day works out fine, as the styles of each are different. The neighborho­od class is a learning experience for the instructor, who is fine-tuning her teaching skills, as well as for practition­ers. We are collaborat­ive, so each class ends with a lively discussion of what’s working and what isn’t.

The gym class is more formal, more nuanced, as the instructor has more experience, but he had to go through a period of learning to produce his best work too, like our neighbor is doing,

My earliest connection to the style goes back to 1999, when Bryan Kest, one of Los Angeles’ hottest yoga trainers at the time, came to Little Rock to teach a workshop in power yoga at Barefoot Studio.

As I recall, he padded catlike around a room filled with 60 participan­ts, adjusting a leg here, rubbing a tensedup neck there, and letting loose with a few colorful curse words, which isn’t a normal occurrence in yoga practices. “This is my interpreta­tion” of yoga, he told us. “It’s the mental quality within the practice; otherwise it’s superficia­l. It’s not just about your body.”

Kest emphasized that yoga isn’t about doing a pose perfectly, but about exploring personal boundaries and limitation­s. “This is your practice,” he reminded us, after admonishin­g class members not to look around to see what others are doing and to keep quiet in order to focus on ourselves. “The body speaks to us in the language of sensation. Respect your body if it says no. Start listening, start honoring your body.”

That’s where the “being in the moment” conceit comes in. There are times when breathing properly is essential in maintainin­g a pose before moving on to the next one. As my favorite teacher, Barefoot Studio founder Catherine Rodgers, often said, “Let the breath help you find comfort in these uncomforta­ble situations.”

Like camel pose. Wheel pose. Forearm stands. But the most uncomforta­ble, for me, is anything that requires balancing on one leg. Losing focus on what you’re doing can result in falling over.

I was reminded of this when my interest in yoga, dormant for a few years, was resurrecte­d with the offer of a free power yoga class by a popular studio in my former neighborho­od. About 20 of us showed up on a recent Saturday morning, a tight fit in the facility’s softly lit room where sitar-infused music was quietly playing.

Our instructor led us through an hour’s worth of poses; it’s curious how muscle memory will kick in, allowing me to keep up with regular class-goers in working through the sun salutation sequence—mountain pose, forward fold, half forward fold, plank, down dog, low plank (Chaturanga Dandasana)—all the way to the concluding corpse pose (where we’re supposed to experience systematic relaxation, not fall asleep).

Being in the moment, in terms of yoga, means zeroing in on your body (listening and honoring, as Bryan Kest admonished) and your breath. Being successful at this means you feel balanced, relaxed, peaceful, composed. It’s an elusive sensation, a form of meditation that can easily slip away with the intrusion of the first available distractio­n. But it’s real.

It’s tempting in these trying times to lose focus not only during yoga poses, but when it comes to participat­ing in the world around us. Focus in that realm will not bring on sensations of feeling balanced, relaxed, peaceful or composed.

Bulletins explode across our phones and iPads, TV screens and smart speakers with reports of political and social unrest, environmen­tal doom, corruption, immigratio­n horrors, wildfires, and the coronaviru­s. No wonder many of us are stressed. Being a journalist and news junkie, I spend around two hours every morning listening to reports of what’s become of us in the last 24 hours while getting some exercise. Then I go to work, where the rest of the day is spent combing through commentary and op-eds and guest columns on the same topics.

Turning away from the news won’t solve the problems all around us. Don’t blame the media. It’s our job to keep you informed, even if you don’t like what you hear. Keeping up can lead to anxiety, outrage, worries, distress, mistrust, fear, and despair.

But being aware of what’s coming at you and those around you makes it possible to entertain ideas on how to cope when coping is necessary—to be proactive rather than reactive or overwhelme­d. Feeling safe allows us to be proactive. Being informed can help us feel safe.

That’s why I don’t back off from staying in the moment. Maybe I don’t want to be there. But I don’t want to fall over.

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