January 1, 2024 • 35 mins
Have you ever found yourself lost in the seemingly effortless yoga poses flooding your social media, only to wonder if there's more to the story? Together with Jody and her husband Dan, we unravel the true essence of asana, the art of finding a steady seat for meditation, and how it anchors us amidst the ebbs and flows of life. As we navigate the depth of yoga's physical practice, we challenge the contemporary misrepresentations that prioritize aesthetics over the purpose of the pose.
In this heart-to-heart conversation, we reveal how accepting our unique anatomical blueprints allows us to practice asana functionally, fostering personal growth while protecting ourselves from injury. We share stories of transformation, illustrating how yoga's physicality can cultivate mental clarity and serve as a conduit to meditation and self-realization. If you're ready to strip back the layers of performance and connect with yoga's true intention, join us for an episode that promises to reshape your understanding and practice of this ancient discipline.
We would love to hear from you! Email us at becomeoneliving@gmail.com or reach out to us on Instagram at BecomeOne Living.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jody (00:17):
Welcome to Become One Living Tools for Conscious
Living.
Dan (00:23):
My name is Jody Domerstad and my name is Dan Boises.
Jody (00:30):
I was going to say just Dan Dan.
Dan (00:34):
Boises.
So we covered the yamas, wecovered the niyamas Overview, of
course.
Jody (00:43):
There are eight limbs of yoga, the eight limb path
ashtanga.
Ashta means aid, anga meanslimb.
Eight limbs and we have spokenabout how yoga is a complete
system because it has theseeight limbs.
We discussed the yamas, theniyamas, and now the third is
(01:07):
asana, asana, a hot one.
Dan (01:10):
It's a good topic.
It's a great topic we all havea body.
Jody (01:14):
We all have a body and asana is what dominates the yoga
world right now.
All classes I don't want to usean absolute, most classes are
asana focused and when we becometoo body focused we can forget
(01:39):
why we're doing the practice.
Asana, thousands of years ago,only mentioned the body or asana
three times in the scriptures.
So thousands and thousands ofyears ago.
If you look back in theyogasutras, there's only three
lines about asana and the wordasana means seat, s-e-a-t Seat,
(02:09):
steady seat or to take a seat.
And when you look at the yogasutras, the first one says about
the body the seat has to befirm, steady but comfortable.
Now, when you do that and youonly put in just enough effort
(02:38):
to maintain the pose, to be withit and breathe, you then yield
these powers they say of notwavering between polarities and
duality.
So when you do your yogapractice, the physical asana,
(03:01):
and you train yourself to beuncomfortable cold, stamina,
strength, stretching, feelingthe uncomfortability you entrain
yourself to be with thatuncomfortability to the degree
and the point where you willhave this ability to not waver
(03:24):
when stress happens.
You don't get pulled into thegood or the bad or the hot or
the cold.
Duality doesn't matter.
That's what the yoga sutras say, because you have this capacity
now to be with what is, evenwhen it's uncomfortable.
Dan (03:44):
Neat and the body is the tool, is the medium.
Jody (03:49):
The body, our bodies are just instruments that we're
using in this eight limb path toget to know ourselves.
The pose doesn't really matterand yet, all over Instagram,
it's pose orientated and posefocused.
Look at me in this pose.
Look what I can do.
My legs are wrapped around myhead.
(04:12):
I'm half naked.
Dan (04:15):
Yeah.
Jody (04:18):
I'm just thinking about the half naked part Only,
because years ago the practiceof yoga looked like it was done
in a baby diaper, right A littleshort.
Why did I share that?
Because yoga is not glamorousand we're trying to take
(04:39):
something and make it glamorouswhen you do yoga and you go in
deep yamas, niyamas and thenasana.
It's kind of ugly, messy andsloppy.
Dan (04:51):
And you're doing the work.
All the gloss and thesensationalism is really just
that.
It's the topical, it's just thesurface.
But if asana is the way in forpeople, if asana and shaking out
the body and moving the bodywith discipline and growing that
piece can take people inward,it's almost like they have to be
(05:18):
careful because they could fallinto the booby trap of one day
being okay, there's got to bemore to this, there's got to be
more to this.
And then one day, kind of likeit could sneak up on some and
next thing you know you're likeall right, there is more to this
.
And then you're bringing yourbreath more into play with your
movement.
(05:38):
And then, when you bring yourbreath into play more with your
movement, it requires you to payattention a little bit more.
And you pay attention a littlebit more, you're all of a sudden
you're being able toconcentrate for a whole class.
And then you're thinking toyourself I was just calm and
quiet and moving my body andbreathing for a whole class, and
(05:58):
what happens is clarity comesto mind.
You get clearer on yourthoughts.
You get clearer on what youwant in your life.
You get clearer on what youdon't want in your life you have
moments that give you glimpses,glimmers.
A little light shines in as towhat more you can do with the
(06:23):
complete package of the system.
Jody (06:27):
That was beautiful.
Dan just wove through all theeight limbs.
I want to go back to the body,because Dan is also a body
worker for many years and weshare a lot in our discussions
about space and making space.
(06:47):
Asana allows someone to makespace in their body so fluids
can move more optimally, bloodoxygen Also.
Some space can also allow forthe diaphragm to move more and
if the diaphragm moves more andyou can take a bigger breath,
(07:09):
that breath can signal the brain.
Hey, jody's taking a biggerbreath.
That could mean she's calm.
So moving the body is not posefocused.
We use the pose and thefunction of the pose to move our
body, to stretch our body, toexperience our body in what's
(07:34):
being offered, to open it, tostrengthen it, to make space for
what rises, because pain altersnot only the body but the mind
and the soul.
Dan (07:51):
Indeed, pain Can occupy a lot of space.
Pain can preoccupy your mind.
If you're in pain and you'renot at ease, well then you don't
have the ability to concentrateon other things in your life as
much as you could be, could,could if you weren't in pain.
(08:11):
So pain is very it's a very bigconcern, it's a very big issue.
It's a very big thing toaddress Right, if, if, again so
if you're in pain and somewherein your body You're not able to
be present Right.
So this is the importance.
One of the important thingsabout Asana is investigating and
(08:32):
exploring, becoming Having aheightened awareness of your
body and where it's achy, whereit's not in balance, so you can
bring it into balance, so thatyou can be at ease, so that you
can actually have a clearerthought process and be clear in
your mind.
That's a lot of work steady,ease, full seat.
Jody (08:52):
That's what Asana means and is.
It's a seat that needs to beSteady with ease.
That's what our body needs tobe.
This flesh suit that we walkaround in in our time in this
world has to be easeful, andthis brings up a personal
(09:14):
experience and I feel myemotions welling up right now
where the pain that I was in Wasso debilitating that I wanted
to die and yet, because of thevery much that the sensation of
(09:37):
the pain, not wanting to move,which experience are you talking
about I?
broke my jaw in Four, sevenplaces, they're not sure.
In high school I got hit with asoftball 60 miles an hour, they
said at least it had to be tofracture my jaw and face in the
(09:59):
way that it did and I was wiredshut for six to eight months and
20 25 years later I was insevere pain.
After teacher training I Wouldcome home and Dan would find me
on the floor crying in a ball inPain and he would have to hold
(10:21):
me.
Work on me.
Dan does cranial sacral, so Imean work by working the bones
in my head and releasing muscles.
The pain in my jaw Caused me tonot want to want to live and
that very feeling of pain alsoDidn't allow me to move in my
(10:46):
mind because I thought it wouldexacerbate the pain.
When I finally started moving,the pain started to subside and
of course I had to do some otherthings which we'll talk about
later Another podcast, airwayobstruction and a palette
expander and mouth breathing, awhole lifetime of exploring,
(11:13):
discovering, healing andthinking it's over, and then
another thing comes into play.
Dan (11:19):
And another thing comes into the play.
You know Asana is important forthese specific reasons to
explore, to discover.
And you may say you know it'sreally just a workout or this or
that.
But when you have pain well,let me start here.
So you say, like, why bother soto enhance your well-being and
(11:45):
enhance your life.
So what I see when people cometo me is, oh, they say I'm fine,
and once we get going wediscover things, but before pain
even happens.
So pain enters the body twoways Repetitive emotions or
repetitive postures, andphysical blows to the body right
.
(12:05):
So it's that simple.
There's two ways.
So you have to become aware ofyour repetitive emotions, and
doing Asana helps you do that.
It helps you notice yourimbalances.
You know once you understandthat it's not just right to pain
.
What happens before pain is aperson is fatigued, they're
(12:25):
tired, they have less energythan they would have if they
were in alignment right, andthen so a repetitive motion over
time takes a body out ofalignment and you feel exhausted
.
You feel more exhausted, youfeel more fatigue and that then
becomes like, for an instancethat becomes bursitis, and then
(12:46):
bursitis can get worse and thenyou have tendinitis and you're
wondering why this is happeningthis moment.
But it actually was happeningand taking place, and taking
hold over a period of time.
Jody (12:59):
And this is where Asana is so important, because
stretching your body, yourconnective tissue, your fascia,
the big trendy word right now.
All of the connective tissue.
Stretching that and pulling onthat, holding the poses allows
for this unwinding to occur andin that spaciousness things rise
(13:23):
up and in space things can heal, things can come up and then
you can start to see where youneed to put your energy and
focus, not in the actualphysical pose but in the
movements, the transitions, themovements, the shapes of the
(13:45):
pose according to your body.
Because what I also notice inteaching yoga is lack of
understanding of where your bodyis in space and time.
If someone doesn't even knowwhere their body is in space and
(14:08):
time, it's going to be hard forthem to get with pain and to
move through the pain or workwith the pain if they don't even
understand what's happening intheir body.
So it's a tool to understand,no matter what's happening, but
to get to know this physicalsystem.
Dan (14:28):
Awareness, awareness, body awareness yeah, it's really neat
stuff.
I believe so, steve.
In my training I took acraniocacral training and one of
the senior teachers essentiallysaid this if there's one word
that is helpful in curingchallenges in the body, it's
(14:49):
space.
So we don't want to overlookwhen you're in your formative
years, when you're younger andyour teens and your twenties,
you want to be a lot vigorousand physically active to develop
strength.
At a certain turning point youdon't want to lose your strength
, but what becomes moreimportant is space at all of the
joints, Space in your body.
(15:10):
Space and flow in the bodyequals wellness.
Jody (15:15):
Space and flow in the body , equal wellness, and stay with
this, because most people forcethemselves into these shapes,
and forcing themselves into theshapes that they think the pose
should look like could causeinjuries and disturbances to
their bodies, because everyoneis built different.
Dan (15:38):
Totally.
Jody (15:39):
Okay.
So now we're doing yoga, we'rejust cooking along, not creating
space, just moving withoutconsciousness and without breath
.
We're exercising, correct, Iknow it's so great.
And then you add a greatplaylist.
I love when someone says to meoh man, I have the best playlist
(16:00):
.
I look at them with a blankstare.
I don't even know what you mean, because my friends, let me
tell you this when I startedyoga in my teens, late teens,
early twenties, there wasn'tmusic, no music.
15 years later, I had to work,for.
I chose to work for someoneafter I sold my yoga studio and
(16:25):
they told me you need a playlist.
Now, thank God, I had met Danat the time, because he had two
iPods that I started to use andI used the same playlist.
Do you remember?
Dan (16:34):
Yeah, for like five years.
I think old angzine was on oneof the playlist.
Jody (16:40):
Oh my God, I accidentally hit shuffle on the podcast, On
the podcast on Dan's iPod.
I accidentally hit shuffle onan August day, in a hundred
degree heat, 3 pm on a Saturdayin Glen Rock, New Jersey, I
(17:02):
remember and that song came on.
The whole class stopped andstarted cracking up.
They're like what happened?
Is it New Year's Eve?
And I'm like why?
What's going on?
Because I don't even notice themusic.
But what happens with the music?
It adds that layer ofdistraction.
And now you're focusing on themusic and you're flowing and
(17:23):
you're moving and you're goingto the beat.
But what about the beat of thebreath?
Dan (17:28):
And the beat of the heart and the flow of your flow.
Jody (17:33):
And the visceral flow of the fluids through the body.
Yeah, wow.
Dan (17:39):
The breath and silence are where great things are born out
of or arise from, and if wedon't allow that space in the
class and our practice, then wecan't discover the great
offerings here.
Is it wrong, I mean?
(18:00):
No, it's just a matter ofactually, when your flower
blossom is ready to bloom, youmake a change no-transcript.
Jody (18:14):
The why, why.
Why are you playing music?
Why aren't you playing music?
The gift of yoga is duality, isembracing both sides.
Neither, like you said, is goodor bad, or right or wrong.
It's.
What are you trying to get outof this?
What is the purpose that you'redoing this asana?
(18:35):
One purpose of asana is to Useyour body to calm down your
nervous system so that you canSit and concentrate in stillness
and silence to meet yourself.
The history of yoga isn't aboutasana.
(18:56):
It's not asana focused.
It only used asana and poses toWork your body, to work out the
kinks physically, but also Tocalm down the nervous system, to
(19:16):
almost shake it off, so thatyou feel so peaceful enough that
you can sit, dan, in silenceand stillness and not run.
Can we look at yoga asana as agift and a tool to know thyself
(19:37):
and Not as something to obtainor perfect?
And I'll share a little secretthere's no such thing as the
final expression of a pose,please, there's no such thing.
Why?
Because we're all built sodifferently that my expression
(20:01):
of the pose on a daily basisChanges according to how I feel
physically, mentally andemotionally.
And the tightness or theopenness of my body.
Dan (20:11):
Yeah, that's like if you have a regular, regular yoga
practice.
What you realize is that yourphysical practice can become a
barometer as to how your day isgonna be.
You're like, oh man, it's gonnabe one of these days.
Or, oh man, it's gonna be oneof these days, yeah, it's.
It's a great tool, it's a greatmedium.
It's when Jodi and I do classes,offer classes or teach classes
(20:36):
together, the offerings that webring together.
So my favorite offering, myfavorite yoga, is chanting, and
I do very simple chance.
But when we do a workshop, I'mfeeling the energy of the room
and I only use chance to drawpeople in, to draw people in and
and, and.
And that's really, to me, theessence of asana.
(20:58):
If you can move your body in away and breathe with your
movement in a way that draws youin, draws you in, draws you in,
that's where you start todiscover the real great gifts of
this thing.
And I'm not saying a great bodyis a great body.
That's a great thing too, but,but, but there comes a moment, I
believe, where you're ready todo, to use your asana, to use
(21:23):
your body, to use that tool tocrack open and shed, shed your
next skin to the deeper, truer,more real, genuine, authentic
self.
Jody (21:36):
I when we become pose-orientated, that doesn't
happen Because we're looking toattain something outside of
ourselves, and some people arewilling, unbeknownst to
themselves, to do anything toget a pose because they think
(21:58):
it's the right thing to do.
Dan (22:00):
I've worked on some of those people Shoulders, wrist
injuries.
We've seen these characterscome through.
Jody (22:07):
Just recently, Dan had a young girl who had cervical
issues.
Dan (22:13):
No cervical curvature and I knew exactly what was going on
Too many chaturangas.
Jody (22:19):
Cervical means neck.
Cervical spine is the upperneck bones and she had no curve.
It was straight and it'ssupposed to be curved.
And Dan asked me Joe, what doyou think?
And I said she's probably alsodoing headstand and she's not
built for it.
And she came in, he worked onher and what did she say?
(22:43):
I was doing headstand.
Dan (22:46):
And chaturangas.
Jody (22:47):
Yeah, yeah, Some people will never be able to do some
poses.
I'm gonna say that again andsome of you listening you might
not like it.
Some people may never be ableto do some poses.
Dan (23:06):
Because of bony deviations, because of the way your body's
built, differently from onehuman to the next.
We're different, exactly yeah.
Jody (23:14):
And if you don't honor that or know that and you keep
pushing, that's when injuryoccurs, like lotus, sitting
cross-legged and tucking bothyour feet in.
If you don't know what sittingin lotus looks like, google it
or hopefully one day we'll showyou a picture.
But when they sit cross-legged,not everyone's lower, first of
(23:37):
all, not everyone's hips canexternally rotate, turn out, and
then some don't have torsion ofthe lower leg, movement in the
lower leg, so all the stressgoes into their knees.
And yet in yoga, let's say,people are like everyone in
lotus no, everyone not in lotus.
So asana needs to become moreof a study of your own body
(24:04):
within these shapes, that theseshapes actually have a function,
and Dan and I may do a podcaston the function of these poses,
or a course perhaps, becauseit's important to understand
what's the purpose of theseposes, not just blindly going
(24:25):
into them with instruction orcues that are so outdated they
don't make sense.
Oh my God, don't get me started, you're getting me started.
Dan (24:37):
Yeah, well, here's the thing You're leading away.
It's just natural for things toevolve.
From independent businessmenfiguring out how to get a rocket
out into outer space I meanthat's an evolution there used
to be a whole governmental thingfiguring out how to get rockets
to space.
(24:57):
Everything evolves and advances.
So the diaper and gettingeverybody into positions, that
was the time and we're thankfulfor that time.
But everything evolves, andbeing here with all the
neuroscience, with the abilityto go to a cadaver lab and open
up bodies and see for yourself,all these opportunities fuel the
(25:21):
understanding and educate us onhow our differences manifest,
how our differences can makecertain poses not available to
certain humans the femurs, theshoulders and the more that we
get underneath the skin we seemost people have a psoas major,
(25:42):
but not all people have a psoasminor, a particular muscle.
Some people actually have five,what we call quadriceps, four
muscles.
Some people have five of them.
So there's lots of variations,not just in bones but in muscles
and the makeup.
Our essentials are obviouslyour essentials.
They're necessary.
Everybody has the heart andlungs.
We need those.
(26:02):
But there are variations withinall of us that make it for some
not probable for them to getinto a pose.
Jody (26:11):
And if we look at the eight limbs, the first few, we
went through Yama's behavior inthe outer world, which will
reflect your behavior towardsyourself and your inner world.
That then leads into this limb,asana, because the way we treat
the world and the way we treatourselves is the way we treat
(26:35):
our body.
How you do anything is how youdo everything.
How you do anything is how youdo everything.
And here on the mat, this bigphysical dense thing that we're
moving here is so gross anddense that we can connect with
it a lot easier than we can withthe next limbs that will go
(27:01):
through later on, becausethey're more subtle.
So this is where we add in thephysical body and we're saying
here to all you listening, getto know your body, get to know
the pain, get to know thefreedom, get to know the your
senses, the touch, the smell.
(27:22):
I mean when I started to learnthese things in my body, I can
feel things that the norm can't.
Dan (27:32):
Right.
Jody (27:33):
Just because of my connection, not because I'm
special.
That's important for you all tohear.
There is no oh, dan, and I knowmore this or that.
We just have a differentrelationship with our body and I
gotta tell you all the injuriesI've had and traumas I've
experienced, if I didn't build arelationship with my body.
(27:54):
I wouldn't have known howdisassociative and disembodied I
was, because there's an aspectof yoga and asana that can
enhance disassociation.
Dan (28:08):
Yes, here's a note.
I've come to believe it's aparticular note about pain.
I've come to believe that,essentially, if you don't create
awareness of the pain in yourbody, what we do mostly on a
subconscious level, sometimes ona conscious level is we adapt
(28:29):
to the pain that we'reexperiencing in our body and
that that becomes the raisedshoulder or the twisted torso or
the hunched over shoulders.
We're adapting to pain.
Now here's the cool thing ifyou are brave and courageous
enough not to adapt to the painbut rather explore it and work
(28:51):
with it, there is, I've come tobelieve, a threshold with which
the turnover where the painbecomes, actually get ready
pleasurable, because the rewardthat you're getting from easing
that pain is going to begin tospeak louder than the pain
itself.
And the reason that weexperience pain again, I've come
(29:12):
to believe, is that we all havea blueprint, a perfect
blueprint for our health that wehave coded in our DNA, and it's
just like the pattern of a leafon a tree, it's just like the
pattern of anything in our world.
There is a DNA blueprint, I'vecome to believe, but of all
living things.
(29:32):
So we have this perfectblueprint and then we're born
and we have life happen to usall sorts of stressors,
repetitive emotions over, welloverwhelm of our our being, say
mentally and emotionally, andthese stressors take us off our
blueprint.
That equation equals pain ofone brand, of another, one
(29:54):
variety of or another.
And so if we can go and exploreour pain, get to know our pain,
diminish our pain and work withour pain, we start to
understand that pain can berewarding and pleasurable and
that's not twisted.
(30:14):
If you take the time to workwith your pain, you will
discover a whole world withinyourself and bring yourself to
ease and be able to manage yourbody better and and so your life
wow, that was beautiful.
Jody (30:32):
Pain is just a messenger.
Are you listening?
It starts as a whisper, and thewhisper gets louder and louder
and it starts screaming.
And the screams keep goinguntil you stop.
And if you don't stop, then thepain gets louder and louder and
the body then forces you tostop.
(30:55):
I love to share with ourlisteners a bit about the
functional approach to asanajust a little so that you can
see where we're going and whatwe love to share with you.
Dan, speaking about pain, thebody has an optimal alignment.
(31:18):
That it where it functionsefficiently and well optimally
optimally.
So it has an alignment.
Shall we say that in thisalignment you can move and
function optimally andefficiently.
And everyone starts off withthis alignment.
(31:40):
If you understand how thejoints work, okay.
So, if you understand, you havea shoulder joint, you have an
arm bone that fits in a socketand it's very mobile and it does
certain things.
If you know those things thatit does, you can then use that
(32:01):
knowing in your practice to goto all your ranges of motion to
understand where your limits are.
If you don't understand thefunction of the body or how the
body is designed to functionexample your knees are not
designed to be locked.
Just an example.
(32:22):
Now, if you know that and youlock your knees in yoga, you'll
start to practice unlocking themand see what that does for your
whole system.
Dan (32:31):
The rest of you.
Jody (32:32):
That's what I mean by optimal.
So there's certain things thatyour joints actually want and
need to be to function well.
We look at yoga that way.
So the Q you hear teachers say,inhale your arms up overhead
(32:52):
and pull your shoulder bladesdown your back.
That's not a functional Q,because when you lift your arms
overhead, your shoulder bladesactually move up to the ceiling
and your neck muscles pull yourshoulder blades up.
Now to tell someone to do theopposite could put them in
(33:14):
danger of getting hurtrepeatedly over time.
Just going to go back to saythis is asana, this is the limb
of asana, it's the third limb,and we're discussing the body
and how you can use the body tomove, to disperse and down,
(33:34):
regulate nervous energy, butalso you get to explore your
pain, your freedom, yourstrength, your weaknesses, so
that you know what you need towork on so you can live with
ease and health and longevitywhile you're on this earth.
(33:56):
And so the yoga that we'regoing to offer you throughout
these podcasts here and there isthis concept of functionality
how can you apply function totraditional?
Dan (34:12):
yoga poses.
Jody (34:14):
And please, please, please remember these poses weren't
designed for performances orpictures.
These poses, years ago, wereused to get you comfortable in
your body, pain free, so you cansit in meditation, still,
(34:36):
silent, and quiet, so that youcould hear your soul rise and
discover your true purpose.
And that, my friend, is aperfect time to end the eight
(34:56):
limbs of yoga.
They hold you, they support you.
A framework will continue thisconversation and if you would
like to add to the conversation,you can email us at become one
living at gmailcom, and find uson Instagram at become one
(35:17):
living.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
Welcome to Become One Living Tools for Conscious
Living.
Dan (00:23):
My name is Jody Domerstad and my name is Dan Boises.
Jody (00:30):
I was going to say just Dan Dan.
Dan (00:34):
Boises.
So we covered the yamas, wecovered the niyamas Overview, of
course.
Jody (00:43):
There are eight limbs of yoga, the eight limb path
ashtanga.
Ashta means aid, anga meanslimb.
Eight limbs and we have spokenabout how yoga is a complete
system because it has theseeight limbs.
We discussed the yamas, theniyamas, and now the third is
(01:07):
asana, asana, a hot one.
Dan (01:10):
It's a good topic.
It's a great topic we all havea body.
Jody (01:14):
We all have a body and asana is what dominates the yoga
world right now.
All classes I don't want to usean absolute, most classes are
asana focused and when we becometoo body focused we can forget
(01:39):
why we're doing the practice.
Asana, thousands of years ago,only mentioned the body or asana
three times in the scriptures.
So thousands and thousands ofyears ago.
If you look back in theyogasutras, there's only three
lines about asana and the wordasana means seat, s-e-a-t Seat,
(02:09):
steady seat or to take a seat.
And when you look at the yogasutras, the first one says about
the body the seat has to befirm, steady but comfortable.
Now, when you do that and youonly put in just enough effort
(02:38):
to maintain the pose, to be withit and breathe, you then yield
these powers they say of notwavering between polarities and
duality.
So when you do your yogapractice, the physical asana,
(03:01):
and you train yourself to beuncomfortable cold, stamina,
strength, stretching, feelingthe uncomfortability you entrain
yourself to be with thatuncomfortability to the degree
and the point where you willhave this ability to not waver
(03:24):
when stress happens.
You don't get pulled into thegood or the bad or the hot or
the cold.
Duality doesn't matter.
That's what the yoga sutras say, because you have this capacity
now to be with what is, evenwhen it's uncomfortable.
Dan (03:44):
Neat and the body is the tool, is the medium.
Jody (03:49):
The body, our bodies are just instruments that we're
using in this eight limb path toget to know ourselves.
The pose doesn't really matterand yet, all over Instagram,
it's pose orientated and posefocused.
Look at me in this pose.
Look what I can do.
My legs are wrapped around myhead.
(04:12):
I'm half naked.
Dan (04:15):
Yeah.
Jody (04:18):
I'm just thinking about the half naked part Only,
because years ago the practiceof yoga looked like it was done
in a baby diaper, right A littleshort.
Why did I share that?
Because yoga is not glamorousand we're trying to take
(04:39):
something and make it glamorouswhen you do yoga and you go in
deep yamas, niyamas and thenasana.
It's kind of ugly, messy andsloppy.
Dan (04:51):
And you're doing the work.
All the gloss and thesensationalism is really just
that.
It's the topical, it's just thesurface.
But if asana is the way in forpeople, if asana and shaking out
the body and moving the bodywith discipline and growing that
piece can take people inward,it's almost like they have to be
(05:18):
careful because they could fallinto the booby trap of one day
being okay, there's got to bemore to this, there's got to be
more to this.
And then one day, kind of likeit could sneak up on some and
next thing you know you're likeall right, there is more to this
.
And then you're bringing yourbreath more into play with your
movement.
(05:38):
And then, when you bring yourbreath into play more with your
movement, it requires you to payattention a little bit more.
And you pay attention a littlebit more, you're all of a sudden
you're being able toconcentrate for a whole class.
And then you're thinking toyourself I was just calm and
quiet and moving my body andbreathing for a whole class, and
(05:58):
what happens is clarity comesto mind.
You get clearer on yourthoughts.
You get clearer on what youwant in your life.
You get clearer on what youdon't want in your life you have
moments that give you glimpses,glimmers.
A little light shines in as towhat more you can do with the
(06:23):
complete package of the system.
Jody (06:27):
That was beautiful.
Dan just wove through all theeight limbs.
I want to go back to the body,because Dan is also a body
worker for many years and weshare a lot in our discussions
about space and making space.
(06:47):
Asana allows someone to makespace in their body so fluids
can move more optimally, bloodoxygen Also.
Some space can also allow forthe diaphragm to move more and
if the diaphragm moves more andyou can take a bigger breath,
(07:09):
that breath can signal the brain.
Hey, jody's taking a biggerbreath.
That could mean she's calm.
So moving the body is not posefocused.
We use the pose and thefunction of the pose to move our
body, to stretch our body, toexperience our body in what's
(07:34):
being offered, to open it, tostrengthen it, to make space for
what rises, because pain altersnot only the body but the mind
and the soul.
Dan (07:51):
Indeed, pain Can occupy a lot of space.
Pain can preoccupy your mind.
If you're in pain and you'renot at ease, well then you don't
have the ability to concentrateon other things in your life as
much as you could be, could,could if you weren't in pain.
(08:11):
So pain is very it's a very bigconcern, it's a very big issue.
It's a very big thing toaddress Right, if, if, again so
if you're in pain and somewherein your body You're not able to
be present Right.
So this is the importance.
One of the important thingsabout Asana is investigating and
(08:32):
exploring, becoming Having aheightened awareness of your
body and where it's achy, whereit's not in balance, so you can
bring it into balance, so thatyou can be at ease, so that you
can actually have a clearerthought process and be clear in
your mind.
That's a lot of work steady,ease, full seat.
Jody (08:52):
That's what Asana means and is.
It's a seat that needs to beSteady with ease.
That's what our body needs tobe.
This flesh suit that we walkaround in in our time in this
world has to be easeful, andthis brings up a personal
(09:14):
experience and I feel myemotions welling up right now
where the pain that I was in Wasso debilitating that I wanted
to die and yet, because of thevery much that the sensation of
(09:37):
the pain, not wanting to move,which experience are you talking
about I?
broke my jaw in Four, sevenplaces, they're not sure.
In high school I got hit with asoftball 60 miles an hour, they
said at least it had to be tofracture my jaw and face in the
(09:59):
way that it did and I was wiredshut for six to eight months and
20 25 years later I was insevere pain.
After teacher training I Wouldcome home and Dan would find me
on the floor crying in a ball inPain and he would have to hold
(10:21):
me.
Work on me.
Dan does cranial sacral, so Imean work by working the bones
in my head and releasing muscles.
The pain in my jaw Caused me tonot want to want to live and
that very feeling of pain alsoDidn't allow me to move in my
(10:46):
mind because I thought it wouldexacerbate the pain.
When I finally started moving,the pain started to subside and
of course I had to do some otherthings which we'll talk about
later Another podcast, airwayobstruction and a palette
expander and mouth breathing, awhole lifetime of exploring,
(11:13):
discovering, healing andthinking it's over, and then
another thing comes into play.
Dan (11:19):
And another thing comes into the play.
You know Asana is important forthese specific reasons to
explore, to discover.
And you may say you know it'sreally just a workout or this or
that.
But when you have pain well,let me start here.
So you say, like, why bother soto enhance your well-being and
(11:45):
enhance your life.
So what I see when people cometo me is, oh, they say I'm fine,
and once we get going wediscover things, but before pain
even happens.
So pain enters the body twoways Repetitive emotions or
repetitive postures, andphysical blows to the body right
.
(12:05):
So it's that simple.
There's two ways.
So you have to become aware ofyour repetitive emotions, and
doing Asana helps you do that.
It helps you notice yourimbalances.
You know once you understandthat it's not just right to pain
.
What happens before pain is aperson is fatigued, they're
(12:25):
tired, they have less energythan they would have if they
were in alignment right, andthen so a repetitive motion over
time takes a body out ofalignment and you feel exhausted
.
You feel more exhausted, youfeel more fatigue and that then
becomes like, for an instancethat becomes bursitis, and then
(12:46):
bursitis can get worse and thenyou have tendinitis and you're
wondering why this is happeningthis moment.
But it actually was happeningand taking place, and taking
hold over a period of time.
Jody (12:59):
And this is where Asana is so important, because
stretching your body, yourconnective tissue, your fascia,
the big trendy word right now.
All of the connective tissue.
Stretching that and pulling onthat, holding the poses allows
for this unwinding to occur andin that spaciousness things rise
(13:23):
up and in space things can heal, things can come up and then
you can start to see where youneed to put your energy and
focus, not in the actualphysical pose but in the
movements, the transitions, themovements, the shapes of the
(13:45):
pose according to your body.
Because what I also notice inteaching yoga is lack of
understanding of where your bodyis in space and time.
If someone doesn't even knowwhere their body is in space and
(14:08):
time, it's going to be hard forthem to get with pain and to
move through the pain or workwith the pain if they don't even
understand what's happening intheir body.
So it's a tool to understand,no matter what's happening, but
to get to know this physicalsystem.
Dan (14:28):
Awareness, awareness, body awareness yeah, it's really neat
stuff.
I believe so, steve.
In my training I took acraniocacral training and one of
the senior teachers essentiallysaid this if there's one word
that is helpful in curingchallenges in the body, it's
(14:49):
space.
So we don't want to overlookwhen you're in your formative
years, when you're younger andyour teens and your twenties,
you want to be a lot vigorousand physically active to develop
strength.
At a certain turning point youdon't want to lose your strength
, but what becomes moreimportant is space at all of the
joints, Space in your body.
(15:10):
Space and flow in the bodyequals wellness.
Jody (15:15):
Space and flow in the body , equal wellness, and stay with
this, because most people forcethemselves into these shapes,
and forcing themselves into theshapes that they think the pose
should look like could causeinjuries and disturbances to
their bodies, because everyoneis built different.
Dan (15:38):
Totally.
Jody (15:39):
Okay.
So now we're doing yoga, we'rejust cooking along, not creating
space, just moving withoutconsciousness and without breath
.
We're exercising, correct, Iknow it's so great.
And then you add a greatplaylist.
I love when someone says to meoh man, I have the best playlist
(16:00):
.
I look at them with a blankstare.
I don't even know what you mean, because my friends, let me
tell you this when I startedyoga in my teens, late teens,
early twenties, there wasn'tmusic, no music.
15 years later, I had to work,for.
I chose to work for someoneafter I sold my yoga studio and
(16:25):
they told me you need a playlist.
Now, thank God, I had met Danat the time, because he had two
iPods that I started to use andI used the same playlist.
Do you remember?
Dan (16:34):
Yeah, for like five years.
I think old angzine was on oneof the playlist.
Jody (16:40):
Oh my God, I accidentally hit shuffle on the podcast, On
the podcast on Dan's iPod.
I accidentally hit shuffle onan August day, in a hundred
degree heat, 3 pm on a Saturdayin Glen Rock, New Jersey, I
(17:02):
remember and that song came on.
The whole class stopped andstarted cracking up.
They're like what happened?
Is it New Year's Eve?
And I'm like why?
What's going on?
Because I don't even notice themusic.
But what happens with the music?
It adds that layer ofdistraction.
And now you're focusing on themusic and you're flowing and
(17:23):
you're moving and you're goingto the beat.
But what about the beat of thebreath?
Dan (17:28):
And the beat of the heart and the flow of your flow.
Jody (17:33):
And the visceral flow of the fluids through the body.
Yeah, wow.
Dan (17:39):
The breath and silence are where great things are born out
of or arise from, and if wedon't allow that space in the
class and our practice, then wecan't discover the great
offerings here.
Is it wrong, I mean?
(18:00):
No, it's just a matter ofactually, when your flower
blossom is ready to bloom, youmake a change no-transcript.
Jody (18:14):
The why, why.
Why are you playing music?
Why aren't you playing music?
The gift of yoga is duality, isembracing both sides.
Neither, like you said, is goodor bad, or right or wrong.
It's.
What are you trying to get outof this?
What is the purpose that you'redoing this asana?
(18:35):
One purpose of asana is to Useyour body to calm down your
nervous system so that you canSit and concentrate in stillness
and silence to meet yourself.
The history of yoga isn't aboutasana.
(18:56):
It's not asana focused.
It only used asana and poses toWork your body, to work out the
kinks physically, but also Tocalm down the nervous system, to
(19:16):
almost shake it off, so thatyou feel so peaceful enough that
you can sit, dan, in silenceand stillness and not run.
Can we look at yoga asana as agift and a tool to know thyself
(19:37):
and Not as something to obtainor perfect?
And I'll share a little secretthere's no such thing as the
final expression of a pose,please, there's no such thing.
Why?
Because we're all built sodifferently that my expression
(20:01):
of the pose on a daily basisChanges according to how I feel
physically, mentally andemotionally.
And the tightness or theopenness of my body.
Dan (20:11):
Yeah, that's like if you have a regular, regular yoga
practice.
What you realize is that yourphysical practice can become a
barometer as to how your day isgonna be.
You're like, oh man, it's gonnabe one of these days.
Or, oh man, it's gonna be oneof these days, yeah, it's.
It's a great tool, it's a greatmedium.
It's when Jodi and I do classes,offer classes or teach classes
(20:36):
together, the offerings that webring together.
So my favorite offering, myfavorite yoga, is chanting, and
I do very simple chance.
But when we do a workshop, I'mfeeling the energy of the room
and I only use chance to drawpeople in, to draw people in and
and, and.
And that's really, to me, theessence of asana.
(20:58):
If you can move your body in away and breathe with your
movement in a way that draws youin, draws you in, draws you in,
that's where you start todiscover the real great gifts of
this thing.
And I'm not saying a great bodyis a great body.
That's a great thing too, but,but, but there comes a moment, I
believe, where you're ready todo, to use your asana, to use
(21:23):
your body, to use that tool tocrack open and shed, shed your
next skin to the deeper, truer,more real, genuine, authentic
self.
Jody (21:36):
I when we become pose-orientated, that doesn't
happen Because we're looking toattain something outside of
ourselves, and some people arewilling, unbeknownst to
themselves, to do anything toget a pose because they think
(21:58):
it's the right thing to do.
Dan (22:00):
I've worked on some of those people Shoulders, wrist
injuries.
We've seen these characterscome through.
Jody (22:07):
Just recently, Dan had a young girl who had cervical
issues.
Dan (22:13):
No cervical curvature and I knew exactly what was going on
Too many chaturangas.
Jody (22:19):
Cervical means neck.
Cervical spine is the upperneck bones and she had no curve.
It was straight and it'ssupposed to be curved.
And Dan asked me Joe, what doyou think?
And I said she's probably alsodoing headstand and she's not
built for it.
And she came in, he worked onher and what did she say?
(22:43):
I was doing headstand.
Dan (22:46):
And chaturangas.
Jody (22:47):
Yeah, yeah, Some people will never be able to do some
poses.
I'm gonna say that again andsome of you listening you might
not like it.
Some people may never be ableto do some poses.
Dan (23:06):
Because of bony deviations, because of the way your body's
built, differently from onehuman to the next.
We're different, exactly yeah.
Jody (23:14):
And if you don't honor that or know that and you keep
pushing, that's when injuryoccurs, like lotus, sitting
cross-legged and tucking bothyour feet in.
If you don't know what sittingin lotus looks like, google it
or hopefully one day we'll showyou a picture.
But when they sit cross-legged,not everyone's lower, first of
(23:37):
all, not everyone's hips canexternally rotate, turn out, and
then some don't have torsion ofthe lower leg, movement in the
lower leg, so all the stressgoes into their knees.
And yet in yoga, let's say,people are like everyone in
lotus no, everyone not in lotus.
So asana needs to become moreof a study of your own body
(24:04):
within these shapes, that theseshapes actually have a function,
and Dan and I may do a podcaston the function of these poses,
or a course perhaps, becauseit's important to understand
what's the purpose of theseposes, not just blindly going
(24:25):
into them with instruction orcues that are so outdated they
don't make sense.
Oh my God, don't get me started, you're getting me started.
Dan (24:37):
Yeah, well, here's the thing You're leading away.
It's just natural for things toevolve.
From independent businessmenfiguring out how to get a rocket
out into outer space I meanthat's an evolution there used
to be a whole governmental thingfiguring out how to get rockets
to space.
(24:57):
Everything evolves and advances.
So the diaper and gettingeverybody into positions, that
was the time and we're thankfulfor that time.
But everything evolves, andbeing here with all the
neuroscience, with the abilityto go to a cadaver lab and open
up bodies and see for yourself,all these opportunities fuel the
(25:21):
understanding and educate us onhow our differences manifest,
how our differences can makecertain poses not available to
certain humans the femurs, theshoulders and the more that we
get underneath the skin we seemost people have a psoas major,
(25:42):
but not all people have a psoasminor, a particular muscle.
Some people actually have five,what we call quadriceps, four
muscles.
Some people have five of them.
So there's lots of variations,not just in bones but in muscles
and the makeup.
Our essentials are obviouslyour essentials.
They're necessary.
Everybody has the heart andlungs.
We need those.
(26:02):
But there are variations withinall of us that make it for some
not probable for them to getinto a pose.
Jody (26:11):
And if we look at the eight limbs, the first few, we
went through Yama's behavior inthe outer world, which will
reflect your behavior towardsyourself and your inner world.
That then leads into this limb,asana, because the way we treat
the world and the way we treatourselves is the way we treat
(26:35):
our body.
How you do anything is how youdo everything.
How you do anything is how youdo everything.
And here on the mat, this bigphysical dense thing that we're
moving here is so gross anddense that we can connect with
it a lot easier than we can withthe next limbs that will go
(27:01):
through later on, becausethey're more subtle.
So this is where we add in thephysical body and we're saying
here to all you listening, getto know your body, get to know
the pain, get to know thefreedom, get to know the your
senses, the touch, the smell.
(27:22):
I mean when I started to learnthese things in my body, I can
feel things that the norm can't.
Dan (27:32):
Right.
Jody (27:33):
Just because of my connection, not because I'm
special.
That's important for you all tohear.
There is no oh, dan, and I knowmore this or that.
We just have a differentrelationship with our body and I
gotta tell you all the injuriesI've had and traumas I've
experienced, if I didn't build arelationship with my body.
(27:54):
I wouldn't have known howdisassociative and disembodied I
was, because there's an aspectof yoga and asana that can
enhance disassociation.
Dan (28:08):
Yes, here's a note.
I've come to believe it's aparticular note about pain.
I've come to believe that,essentially, if you don't create
awareness of the pain in yourbody, what we do mostly on a
subconscious level, sometimes ona conscious level is we adapt
(28:29):
to the pain that we'reexperiencing in our body and
that that becomes the raisedshoulder or the twisted torso or
the hunched over shoulders.
We're adapting to pain.
Now here's the cool thing ifyou are brave and courageous
enough not to adapt to the painbut rather explore it and work
(28:51):
with it, there is, I've come tobelieve, a threshold with which
the turnover where the painbecomes, actually get ready
pleasurable, because the rewardthat you're getting from easing
that pain is going to begin tospeak louder than the pain
itself.
And the reason that weexperience pain again, I've come
(29:12):
to believe, is that we all havea blueprint, a perfect
blueprint for our health that wehave coded in our DNA, and it's
just like the pattern of a leafon a tree, it's just like the
pattern of anything in our world.
There is a DNA blueprint, I'vecome to believe, but of all
living things.
(29:32):
So we have this perfectblueprint and then we're born
and we have life happen to usall sorts of stressors,
repetitive emotions over, welloverwhelm of our our being, say
mentally and emotionally, andthese stressors take us off our
blueprint.
That equation equals pain ofone brand, of another, one
(29:54):
variety of or another.
And so if we can go and exploreour pain, get to know our pain,
diminish our pain and work withour pain, we start to
understand that pain can berewarding and pleasurable and
that's not twisted.
(30:14):
If you take the time to workwith your pain, you will
discover a whole world withinyourself and bring yourself to
ease and be able to manage yourbody better and and so your life
wow, that was beautiful.
Jody (30:32):
Pain is just a messenger.
Are you listening?
It starts as a whisper, and thewhisper gets louder and louder
and it starts screaming.
And the screams keep goinguntil you stop.
And if you don't stop, then thepain gets louder and louder and
the body then forces you tostop.
(30:55):
I love to share with ourlisteners a bit about the
functional approach to asanajust a little so that you can
see where we're going and whatwe love to share with you.
Dan, speaking about pain, thebody has an optimal alignment.
(31:18):
That it where it functionsefficiently and well optimally
optimally.
So it has an alignment.
Shall we say that in thisalignment you can move and
function optimally andefficiently.
And everyone starts off withthis alignment.
(31:40):
If you understand how thejoints work, okay.
So, if you understand, you havea shoulder joint, you have an
arm bone that fits in a socketand it's very mobile and it does
certain things.
If you know those things thatit does, you can then use that
(32:01):
knowing in your practice to goto all your ranges of motion to
understand where your limits are.
If you don't understand thefunction of the body or how the
body is designed to functionexample your knees are not
designed to be locked.
Just an example.
(32:22):
Now, if you know that and youlock your knees in yoga, you'll
start to practice unlocking themand see what that does for your
whole system.
Dan (32:31):
The rest of you.
Jody (32:32):
That's what I mean by optimal.
So there's certain things thatyour joints actually want and
need to be to function well.
We look at yoga that way.
So the Q you hear teachers say,inhale your arms up overhead
(32:52):
and pull your shoulder bladesdown your back.
That's not a functional Q,because when you lift your arms
overhead, your shoulder bladesactually move up to the ceiling
and your neck muscles pull yourshoulder blades up.
Now to tell someone to do theopposite could put them in
(33:14):
danger of getting hurtrepeatedly over time.
Just going to go back to saythis is asana, this is the limb
of asana, it's the third limb,and we're discussing the body
and how you can use the body tomove, to disperse and down,
(33:34):
regulate nervous energy, butalso you get to explore your
pain, your freedom, yourstrength, your weaknesses, so
that you know what you need towork on so you can live with
ease and health and longevitywhile you're on this earth.
(33:56):
And so the yoga that we'regoing to offer you throughout
these podcasts here and there isthis concept of functionality
how can you apply function totraditional?
Dan (34:12):
yoga poses.
Jody (34:14):
And please, please, please remember these poses weren't
designed for performances orpictures.
These poses, years ago, wereused to get you comfortable in
your body, pain free, so you cansit in meditation, still,
(34:36):
silent, and quiet, so that youcould hear your soul rise and
discover your true purpose.
And that, my friend, is aperfect time to end the eight
(34:56):
limbs of yoga.
They hold you, they support you.
A framework will continue thisconversation and if you would
like to add to the conversation,you can email us at become one
living at gmailcom, and find uson Instagram at become one
(35:17):
living.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
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