June’s DCTribal Café is going to be Hot, Hot Hot this month! I'll be dancing with my troupe, Kallisti Tribal!

Part dinner show, part gathering of friends DCTribal Café is a great way to spend Sunday night!

Sit back and be entertained by cutting edge tribal fusion belly dance performances by three professional dancers while enjoying Asylum’s down-to-earth but oh so heavenly menu – full of the regular standard American fare and extensive vegan and vegetarian offerings. With your tribal café admittance you get ½ price discount on burgers and $2 off select draft beer.

This month DCTribal Café is proud to host performances by

Mavi

Belladonna

Kallisti Tribal, introducing newest member Flissy! (hey, that's ME!)

Sunday June 28, 2009

6pm – 9pm

Asylum Bar & Lounge

2471 18th Street, NW

Washington DC 20009

$10 cover, please tip your dancers and waitstaff generously!

With the music of DJ MELLIE MEL in between dancer's sets! Doors at 6pm, performances start at 7pm – get there early for the best seats!

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It's the start of dance workshop season around here... well, for me at least! Sunday I went with my troupemate, Amy, to Philadephia to take some workshops with Paulette Rees-Denis of Gypsy Caravan.

Amy had lent me Paulette's book, Tribal Vision and as soon as I finished reading it I was hungry to learn more from Paulette. I was so excited when I found out that she was going to be in the area so I could experience her teaching and dance philosophy first-hand. The workshops did not disappoint, and Paulette was was warm, grounded, and a clear teacher.

The theme for the day was duende, a quality of passion and inspiration. My personal interpretation for the purposes of dance is dancing your truest self.

Paulette led us through a Tribal Trance Dance session, where we explored various forms of movement individually as well as with a partner and with the whole group. I don't want to break the sacred and confidential nature of the work we did that day by going into too much detail, but I will say that it was a wonderful experience. On a personal level, it was very satisfying to release any negative or stagnant energy by moving in a new way, allowing more room for my inner self to have more of a voice. Also, it was an especially fun way to build a deeper bond with my troupemate and connect with the other dancers at the workshop.

Paulette is obviously passionate about developing true community among dancers, and I really respect her for that. We're experiencing a period in tribal bellydance where many dancers are trying to make a name for themselves by creating sub-genres and new formats and, as a result, the community can seem somewhat fractured. The sense of community is what really drew me into tribal bellydance in the first place, and it is what continues to feed my dancing as I study deeper and perform. It's so important for us to nurture relationships, because when it comes down to it, we are all working to achieve duende, to honor the dance, and to present the best versions of ourselves. Isn't it that much sweeter to support one another and in turn be supported on the journey?

Last year, one of my favorite yoga bloggers interviewed Kate Churchill about her documentary, Enlighten Up!, which follows a newbie yoga student in a six month quest for enlightenment. At that time, she had just finished the film and it was just being submitted at film festivals. It made it's way to DC and I finally got to see it!

Her subject, Nick, is a total skeptic, and expects no transformation of any kind. He's a journalist by profession and asks many great questions about the practice of such yoga superstars as Sri Pattabhi Jois, Dharma Mittra, BKS Iyengar, Sharon Gannon and David Life, to name a few.

I don't want to give many details away, lest I spoil the film for anyone. I will say that I think it's a well made film that yogis of any level would enjoy. I think many questions that Nick and the director ask are common ones. How do you find happiness? What does asana have to do with spiritual practice? Can I do yoga and not be religious? What does it mean to be enlightened? How long does it take to get there? I must admit that it was delightful and inpsiring to see so many great teachers generously delivering insight after insight all in one small film, but if you think this film will answer those questions for you, it won't!

It was obvious that the gurus featured in the film had attained personal contentment and spiritual fulfillment. It was also apparent that they had all come to this place by individual routes, colored by their own personal experiences. Perhaps this also explains the fractured nature of yoga in the west... there is a brand of yoga for everything! The film touches on this theory, as Nick tries to puzzle out how so many different teachers can have entirely different practices and still call them all "yoga."

Watching this film as a teacher reminds me that I have to pay such careful attention to my students to meet their individual needs. Not everyone is going to take the same path. I would say that we are all seeking something greater than ourselves, but sometimes that isn't true, either. In that case, the best I can offer is a solid physical practice with the hopes that it builds the foundation for even greater growth.

Check out Cody's interview with Kate Churchill. (no spoilers!)

I received Paul Grilley's Anatomy for Yoga DVD for my birthday. It contains over four hours of workshop lectures and other fun interactive stuff. It's rich in content and is really getting my brain going about yoga and anatomy, so expect a series of anatomy inspired posts!

Paul Grilley is the dude behind Yin Yoga (although, unlike some supertar yogis... cough Bikram cough he claims not to have invented it and claims no ownership over it). Yin yoga emphasizes release of connective tissue and joints by holding postures for long periods of time. HIs anatomy lectures elaborate on his primary message, "Discriminate between the sensations of Tension and Compression when practicing Asanas." By Tension, he means muscular tension that restricts movement. For example, tension in my hamstrings makes a full split a distant dream for me. Compression is bone-on-bone contact. Compression stops normal people's legs from straightening beyond 180 degrees... not freaky hyperexteners like me, though. Heh.

Here's a great clip from one of the lectures that illustrates the variety in individual anatomy as well as Paul Grilley's thoughts on how these differences are reflected in yoga asanas.

What's so surprising to me, is that Grilley openly accepts all the variations of postures that take shape in different bodies. In fact, he encourages practitioners to explore the full range of motion and experiencing compression on the joint whether it is hypo- or hyper-flexible. I've been practicing yoga since 2001, and I don't think I have ever had an instructor be okay with my hyper-mobility. I'm not sure that I'm even okay with my hyperflexibility, between always being told things like "Hug in! More muscular energy! Microbend your knee!" by my yoga instructors and being prone to injury in my loose joints. Frankly, having permission to experience yoga in the way Grilley suggests boggles my mind. I don't think I've ever tried it, and now I'm really curious to drop in a Yin Yoga class and see what it does for me.

In addition, even though anatomy is a hard science, in yoga there is so much room for discussion about what a yoga posture is, and what is the "right" and "wrong" way to do it. If you have ever injured yourself in practice, or received an improper adjustment in a yoga class, you might certainly feel there is a "wrong" way to do yoga! I'm still churning all this around in my mind, and I do have probably at least two more hours of anatomy lectures to watch that may help me feel my way around the incredibly complex relationship between yoga and anatomy.

Thoughts? Have you explored the range of motion in your joints? What have you learned about how your body moves just by experiencing your yoga practice?

I am just now getting back into my regular practice after a few weeks break.

At the end of April, I got really sick. I ended up having a reaction to the medication I was taking, which, of course, required MORE medication, which kept me out of commission for several weeks by the time the whole adventure was tallied up.

Over those weeks, I my body was sick and tired, and my brain was in a massive fog from the fatigue and all the drugs I was taking. It just wasn't possible for me to keep up my regular asana and dance practice during this time. I must admit, it wasn't easy to back off when I am so used to being physically active. Since I am an instructor, it is especially important for me to take a break when I need to so that I can heal completely and quickly. I would do a disservice to myself and my students by attempting to lead a class when my physical and mental resources are tapped.

It's so important to listen to your body! If you're sick and you push through practice anyway, you can stir up those germs and make yourself feel even worse. Likewise, if you're injured, you can inhibit your body from completely healing. By taking care of your body, you're practicing ahimsa by being compassionate towards yourself. Give yourself permission to pamper yourself until you are able to be 100% present in your asana practice.

As for me, I am happy to report that I am back to my normal activity level and have renewed joy in my asana practice because I missed it so much!

I'm including information about the Metta meditation, also known as the Loving-Kindess meditation. This is a really lovely and simple meditation to practice to develop compassion towards yourself and towards others.

Guided Metta Meditation (audio file and transcript)

Facets of Metta, an excerpt of the book, Loving-Kindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness.