Getting to Non-Attachment

In the early summer of 2012, I found myself at a crossroads. I know, cliché, especially coming from a yoga teacher. But bear with me. 

I blogged about a student leaving a yoga class as I was teaching it and needing to reinvigorate my yoga teaching. I'd been teaching for one year and had a month earlier picked up two amazing regular classes. After a year of networking, I'd finally had three regular weekly classes that I could cultivate.

Then a former employer in Seattle asked me to apply for a position there. I loved the people I met when I worked and lived in Seattle in 2010, and of course, the access to the outdoors. The low clouds all winter long nearly killed me, though. 

Between my ambivalence about Seattle, a desire to nevertheless move out of the D.C. area, and having finally "made it" with teaching yoga part-time in D.C., I was conflicted. I was really attached to the two new classes that I had just picked up. I recognized the attachment, knew that nothing is constant, and yet I clung to the classes. 

I had worked so hard to get to a place where I was teaching regular restorative yoga classes in studio settings in D.C.

So, it's with a cheeky smile that I write that as of last week, I no longer teach those classes: a Friday night class and a Saturday afternoon class. Technically, I haven't taught the specific Friday night class since 2013, but I replaced it with another Friday night class. 

Don't get me wrong. I loved teaching those classes. 

But, in November, I decided to shake up my yoga teaching schedule. [insert one of my least favorite clichés about making space for something new to come into your life] There isn't a defining moment of how I arrived at non-attachment to the classes, but it was a little unnerving not having anything to "fill" the space. Over the course of a few weeks, it just made sense to let go and see what would happen.

Two fantastic teachers are inheriting the classes, and for that I am grateful.

Now, I'm facing my first Friday and Saturday that were until 10am this morning completely unstructured. The idea of having a weekend is amazing. I'm positively giddy. I'm headed to a yoga workshop tonight and tomorrow, and I don't even need to find subs to cover for me. 

Wow.

Winter Yoga Retreating

A month ago, I found out that my restorative yoga teacher was looking for another person to assist at her annual retreat in the mid-Hudson region of New York, which is more or less where I spent the first half of my life. After a little deliberation (What happens if there's another debilitating snow storm on the east coast? What does a yoga assistant at a retreat do?), I told her that I wanted to be an assistant. 

I arrived at Hogwarts the resort on Friday evening, a week after it had reopened to the public following a massive sanitation effort prompted by an outbreak of a gross GI bug. The resort is, simply, amazing. All it needs is a 2000' vertical snow-covered slope, and it would be perfect for me, but who's got time to pick nits?

I assisted classes.

I cross country skied in toasty conditions.

I ice skated.

And completely unexpectedly, I subbed the last class at the retreat. It was one of those clichéd "right place at the right time" moments and having the courage (or, more accurately, being only half awake and uncaffeinated) to say yes when the opportunity arose. It turned into one of the most amazing experiences I've had teaching yoga: after the class, one woman told me that it was the fastest 75-minutes she's ever experienced!

I went into yoga teacher training 4 years ago to "deepen my practice." Teaching wasn't the end goal. I had done enough led Ashtanga, Iyengar, and traditions in between to know that I cared about alignment and wasn't into binding into a pose just for the sake of binding into a pose. Besides, I have tight shoulders. From teacher training, I wanted to receive knowledge that I was unlikely to obtain from taking large group classes.

Being too groggy to pay attention to any gremlins that wanted to creep up and whisper to me not to teach on Sunday morning was a good thing. It essentially led me to step outside of my comfort zone, or take a calculated risk where I expanded the level of risk I was willing to accept. And really, the risk was just my ego, right?

Realistically, the class size was not much larger than classes that I've taught in gym settings in DC. The most nerve-wracking thing for me was that people had signed up for a winter yoga weekend with my teacher, not me. I wouldn't have been offended if people had turned around and decided to go snowshoeing instead. But no one turned around. And although I think many in the group initially stayed out of kindness, I really believe that at the end of class, they were pleased that they remained.

I'm still riding the high from the weekend and excited to bring this energy to my regular classes this week....stay tuned!

On Why I Teach Restorative Yoga: Lengthening the Exhale

Over Labor Day weekend, I had the honor of sharing a yoga asana practice the morning of a college friend's wedding in Tahoe. Eleven souls moved through a flowing practice on a ski lodge deck, drinking in the moment and simply being in the present before moving on with the day, or in the case of the bride and groom, their journey ahead. Congratulations, Catherine & Chris!

Because of the morning chill, savasana was brief. Short savasanas make me sad. 

* * *

Earlier this year, someone asked me whether I had an agenda when teaching yoga. In retrospect (and by "retrospect," I really mean "in the course of writing this post"), I think she likely meant, "Do you plan out a sequence ahead of time and have a theme prepared?" Anyway, at the time that I heard this question, I interpreted "agenda" to mean "ulterior motive." Whoops.

Anyway, yes, I have an "ulterior motive" when I teach yoga: I sneak in restorative yoga.

If I had my way, every class that I taught would be 90% restorative (with 10% movement to get out those jitters) and be replete with bolsters, blankets, sand bags, and eye pillows.

As it is, I don't regularly teach a full-length flow or vinyasa class anymore. The closest is a flow + restorative class that I teach on Friday evenings, which features ~30 minutes of flow and 45 minutes of restorative yoga, including a 15-minute savasana. Through the flow + restorative class, I discovered that flow yoga is the carrot for the restorative practice in this town because so many people feel like they need to "earn" a restorative practice.

Friends, you don't need to "earn" a restorative practice. To paraphrase a wonderful and brilliant yoga teacher I met last summer, Francesca Cervero, I know you're a hard core [fill in the blank with that hard core thing you do – and if you're living in D.C., you probably have at least 3 things that you're super hard core about], but right now we're going to be really hard core about taking a deep full inhale and lengthening our exhale.

I'm drawn to teaching restorative yoga because it is physically accessible to everyone, and a student open to the practice can begin to experience its effects after just one class, simply because he's taken the time to press "pause." Restorative yoga is a practice of supported rest, of surrender, and of allowing oneself to be nourished. There are no edges in restorative yoga, only softness.

So much of our day-to-day experience consists of pushing, seeking the edge, or doing what it takes to stay afloat. Take time to dial it back and nourish yourself. Long savasanas – and a restorative practice – are the bee's knees.

ॐ

Fits, Starts, and (S)Puttering Along

First, the important stuff: I'm teaching a yoga for runners workshop on May 5th at Quiet Mind Yoga in Washington, DC. If you're in the area and have always wondered what yoga can do for your running, please stop by. Scroll down on the studio's "Workshops" page to register. Hope to see you there!

Now, on to my running.

Something is wrong with my right leg. It sucks.

Two weeks ago, it was deceptively warm after a couple of frigid weeks in D.C., so it seemed like a good idea to run home from work. Unbeknownst to me until I stepped out of my office, it was in the low 50˚s and winds were steady at 20mph, gusting to 30mph. Ugh. And brrr. Twenty steps in, my right ankle felt weird. I have freakishly flexible but strong ankles – the only time I've ever sprained one was when I tripped and tried to stay upright while running down stairs a decade ago. I actually tore a ligament there because you know, when it comes to me and soft tissue injuries, it's either go big or go home. Anyway, I figured the ankle would feel better over time. And it did.

But then the rest of the kinetic chain started falling apart. I circled the Washington Monument, a mere half mile into my run, and just hoped to get home because the headwind was pretty wicked. Then there was a twinge in my calf. Or my hamstring. I kept running. "It'll ease away if I ever warm up in this wind."

I went for about 2 more miles before calling it quits. By then, all the wrong muscles started compensating for whatever was wrong in my right leg, and my right knee was really, really unhappy. I limped home. Did I mention it was windy? 

Sigh.

Since then, I've been resting, mostly because every run I've attempted since then has resulted in a walk home. Even today. Not exactly inspring.

I've been trying to figure out if I pulled something or if something is weak. It's likely a combination of both, so I've headed back to Pilates. I've pulled out the foam roller. And the Yamuna Ball. I even picked up some calf compression sleeves.

It's slow going. The right leg and knee still feel pretty weird after about 2 miles, and now I'm seriously contemplating a DNS for the Pike's Peek 10K next week, which is a subpar way of starting off this year's races.

On the plus side, I'll be able to head to a yin yoga training that I had been trying to figure out how I'd be able to fit in to my schedule. Silver linings, right?

ॐ Mission Accomplished: June 30-Day Yoga Challenge ॐ

On Saturday, I completed my June 30-Day Yoga Challenge at a studio close to my heart, Flow! At 9:45 am, Leah's class ended and the yoga challenge was done.

In addition to Flow, the last 8 days of the month took me back to Unity Woods for my regular class with Liz and a makeup the day before with Lori, Tranquil Space, and Yoga District's I Street studio. On Wednesday, I used the "I taught" save. I just wasn't up for a vigorous led Ashtanga practice that afternoon. 

Click on image if you don't have bionic eyes.

Friday was awesome and definitely the highlight of the week. It may have even been the best thing to emerge from the entire month, actually.

I wanted to take a particular class at Tranquil Space on Friday, but then I noticed that there would be a sub. I had already taken a class by the sub this month, and one of the goals of the 30-Day Yoga Challenge was to experience the teaching styles of a variety of teachers. So I took advantage of Flow's "Pay What You Can Final Friday" and registered for Shawn's Prana Flow® class.

Here's the thing. I don't usually go out of my way to take Prana Flow® classes. My first experiences with the style years ago involved few alignment points and lots of hip opening poses, neither of which mesh well with an alignment junkie with tight hips. The most recent Prana Flow® class I took was in the winter. The energy was a little off, or maybe I was distracted. I took Friday's class on a whim.

I'm so glad I made that choice.

Somewhere in the middle of a mandala (circular movement around the mat) during class, I had an epiphany. I'm actually enjoying this. Whoa. Who am I??

Then it was time for partner work where it was critical to grab a similarly-sized partner. My partner turned out to be a recent quasi-transplanted full-time yoga teacher from New York City looking for leads on yoga teaching and studios in the area. We caught up after class, and then I noticed that another yoga teacher acquaintance – more senior than me – was in the class, and I hooked the NYC teacher up with the DC teacher. Sure, networking in DC is nothing new to me. Networking in DC about yoga teaching though? And actually being able to assist? Completely new.

While I connected the two teachers with each other, Shawn emerged from the studio. Then I learned that she had just taught her last regularly scheduled class in the DC area before moving west. I was anything but a regular in her classes, but it saddens me that DC — and Flow — and is losing such a wonderful spirit and teacher. I can't believe my incredible fortune to have been able to share one last practice with her and to have the practice coincide with my epiphany.

When I started the 30-Day Yoga Challenge, I was "simply" hoping to re-inspire my yoga teaching and, indirectly, my running. The cliché from doing these types of challenge tends to be something like getting more out of it than you expected, or learning something new about yourself from the experience. Here's what I learned: Friday showed me that I am way more connected to the DC yoga community than I previously thought.

Finally, attending a group yoga class — even if three of them were ones that I taught — every day for a month forced me to be very vigilant about how my body was feeling. Other than my regular Monday night Iyengar class and a couple of other classes, I dialed down the physical intensity of my practice, particularly in the second half of the month.

And, in case you were wondering, the yoga streak actually ended on Monday, with a yoga 3 class at Tranquil Space.

ॐ

When Outside Is Hotter and Steamier than Inside the Heated Yoga Studio

Yesterday was Day 21 of the 30-Day Yoga Challenge. It was also the hottest and steamiest day in DC so far this year, and I brilliantly found myself in Audrey's heated flow class at Yoga District. It was actually cooler inside the studio than outside. And Audrey's class was a treat.

Since last Friday, when I took Megan's inspiring gentle flow class at Flow, I took six classes at Unity Woods and Yoga District and used the "I taught" save once, on Wednesday.

click to enlarge, unless you have bionic eyes or are under age 30

This week's highlights: 

• Megan's gentle flow class inspired the all-levels yoga classes that I taught this week. At the end of the Sunday class, one student told me she loved my class, which made me feel like a rock star for the rest of the day. My Wednesday morning class had a different vibe, but two of the students clapped at the end - funny to me because while I've seen people clap at the end of other group fitness classes,  this was the first time I'd witnessed people clapping at the end of a yoga class!

• I took classes taught by my friends Audrey (yesterday) and Andrea (Sunday), both of whom I met through teacher training! Having them share their practices with me was like coming home to something comforting and familiar, especially because their styles  -- while different -- still echoed that of our teacher, Chrissy Carter.

Only 8 days left in the 30-Day Yoga Challenge!

ॐ

On Reaping a Reward from the 30-Day Yoga Challenge

On Friday I was just about halfway through my personal 30-day yoga challenge. Last week in particular, I was doing double workouts every day to accommodate the yoga challenge and my regular exercise schedule: Monday, a morning run and Iyengar in the evening; Tuesday, yoga in the morning and mat Pilates in the evening; Wednesday, taught a morning yoga class and then yoga in the evening; and Thursday, a morning run and yoga (with a focus on inversions and arm balances) in the evening. By the time Friday rolled around, my glutes and piraformis were crying from all the pigeon poses the flow yoga sequences had put them through, and my running legs felt dead. Actually, the running legs felt dead on Thursday. 

Instead of taking a flow 1.5 class on Friday as I had planned, I dialed it back and took a gentle yoga class. It made a world of difference.

Nixed the flow 1.5 class on Friday and took a gentle yoga class instead. Best. Decision. Ever.

Then, of course, on Saturday I set out for a long-for-me run, refueled, grilled a billion burgers, dogs, and veggie burgers at a cookout for a few hours, taught restorative yoga, took an evening yoga class, and then called it a (long) day.

Sunday, I was inspired, in particular by Friday's gentle yoga class and the latest issue of Yoga Journal. I subbed a vinyasa yoga class, the one that I've wondered whether it was the right decision to turn down. I subbed this class a few weeks in January, and the size of this class gives it energy that I love, even though on any given Sunday (great, now I'm going to get internet search hits from people looking up football movies) at least half the class is over age 50. I won't go into the details of the sequence, but it was fresh, heating, and accessible. Guess what: my Wednesday morning class is going to get the same thing.

And then at the end of the class, I heard those words that will make any yoga teacher's heart glow — words even better than "Where/when else do you teach?"

"I love your class."

I've been glowing ever since I heard those words.

ॐ

Halfway! June 30-Day Yoga Challenge

Remember back at the end of May when I said that I was going to do a personal 30-day yoga challenge in June? I took on this challenge to reinvigorate my non-restorative yoga teaching and also to be more diligent/form a habit/etc. So far, it's been a treat to experience the teaching of so many different yoga teachers in D.C.

Here's the midpoint update.

Get out your magnifying glasses (or click to enlarge).

I haven't yet gone to today's class, but here's my progress so far: 5 different studios, 6 new-to-me classes, and 6 new-to-me instructors. I used the "I taught" save once, the first Sunday. Which is really okay because earlier in the day, I ran the North Face Endurance Challenge 10K. How many other people ran a trail race and then taught yoga in the afternoon? My point exactly.

The studios that I hit: Flow (the first studio where I was ever a regular), Tranquil Space, Quiet Mind (where I regularly teach restorative yoga and taught the community class the first Sunday of the month), Unity Woods (for Iyengar junkies), and Yoga District (where I also teach). Classes that I attended: yoga 1, flow 1.5, morning prana flow 1.5-2, level II Iyengar, morning on-the-go, yin, Sivananda, and prenatal. Inhale. Exhale. Whew.

Highlights from the first half of the month: 

Prenatal yoga. No, I'm not pregnant. This was for edifying purposes, and WOW, prenatal yoga done right is the most nurturing experience EVER. Heck, my back's so sore right now that I kind of want to go to a prenatal class.

I didn't want my presence to make any of the prenatal students uncomfortable or more difficult for the instructor to focus on the moms to be, so I spoke with the instructor and her assistant before class, explaining to them that no, I'm not pregnant, but I'm a teacher, and — Susanna cut me off. "Yes," she said emphatically. And that was that. What followed was 75 minutes of slow flow, strength building, partner yoga, and restorative poses. 

A couple months ago, a woman just starting her third-trimester came into my all-levels yoga class. I didn't freak out, but my prenatal training was limited to the information imparted in the non-specialized 200-hour yoga teacher training. Taking the prenatal class affirmed that the poses and sequences I'd been teaching in the all-levels class were appropriate for pregnancy. Phew. I also learned more about the range of issues that can arise for even a healthy woman during pregnancy.

Sivananda. This was my first Sivananda class ever, and it was different, in a good way. Traditionally, the practice is done with the eyes closed to avoid external distractions. The practice consists of breathing exercises, sun salutations, and a sequence of 12 basic poses, including savasana (a supine resting pose), with savasana in between each pose, too. And, we began class in savasana, too. It was a savasana club sandwich. But yet, I didn't feel restful, even in the final relaxation.

After the opening breathing exercises, I began my sun salutations with my eyes closed. My mind raced: Is my right foot making it in between my hands for a lunge? Is my left foot meeting the right in a forward fold? I cheated in the first down dog. I adjusted my feet and stared at my navel.

We didn't go exactly in standard order of the 12 poses: we saved  shoulderstand and fish pose for the latter half of the sequence, and the instructor added in a few leg lifts. I opened my eyes to set up a few poses in the practice...crow and headstand. Most of the time, I was thinking of those restaurants where they blindfold you so you can't see what you're eating, and your other senses get amplified. For sure, my sense of balance was amplified. I felt crooked half the time.

Iyengar. I LOVE my Iyengar classes. At my first class ever several years ago, I was taken aback by how precise my teacher directed my prop positioning. Now, I've practically got a Ph.D. in blanket folding.

These days, I'm working on my upper back and shoulders, both of which are ridiculously inflexible. In both ways. It doesn't like curving too much forward (a good thing), nor does it like bending backwards. And my yoga teacher noticed this and has me targeting that area. So, on Tuesdays, I walk around like there's a board on my back because the muscles are crazy sore.  Oddly, I like it.

More tales from the 30-day Yoga Challenge to come...

ॐ

30 Day Yoga Challenge

Yesterday marked my first experience of a student walking out of my yoga class. In this case, the student was a newbie and admitted that she was a cardio fiend. Sure enough, after we'd centered, moved through some cat/cows, twisted, and rose to the first downward facing dog, she got up and left.

At least she said goodbye.

Since January, I'd been wondering whether I'd made the "wrong" decision by declining to pick up a weekend class that regularly had 20 or more students and instead picking up a new morning class. Attendance at the morning class dwindled from a high of 7 students in January to currently 1 or 2. Even my regulars were no longer, well, regular. Sure it could be the summer coming upon us, a time of transition in D.C. But what if it was me?

"Teaching will ruin your practice," my teacher trainer's words echoed.

It was true. Aside from a weekly Iyengar class, I was only sporadically attending any other yoga classes. And because teaching yoga is, as another teacher once told me, sharing your practice, it was possible that my teaching has become uninspired.

And so a local studio's upcoming "21-Day Yoga Challenge" inspired me. Their rules: take 21 classes in 21 days and win prizes. If you skip a day, you can double up on another. Just get 21 classes in between June 1 and June 21.

Why stop at 21, other than June 21 being the summer solstice? Heck, go for the whole month. And so my 30 Days of Yoga was born. 

Right now, buckling down to continue building a running base just isn't happening for me. Waking up to spin out a few miles is just not resonating with me right now, and today, I a 3.5 mile lunchtime run with a stranger felt way harder than it "should" have. By the way, why does no one listen when you tell them you're a slow runner??

From June 1 through June 30, I will attend a yoga class every day. Why June? Well, it's shorter than July or August. And I have no travel plans.

The Aspiration: 1 day, 1 yoga class, from June 1 through June 30 

The Rules:

• In a pinch, teaching a non-restorative yoga class may count as taking a class
• In even more of a reluctant pinch, if I take two classes in a day (but not teach one and take another), each of those classes can count toward the grand total of 30. But I really don't want this to happen.
• Taking a restorative class also counts as taking a class. Same with prenatal yoga, even though I'm not pregnant. It's for research!
• Pilates, yogalates, anti-gravity yoga, and barre yoga do not count. I have to draw the line somewhere. This is it.

I'm hoping this reignites my yoga teaching and my running!

ॐ

A Word On My Yoga Teaching Philosophy

I rarely write about yoga, even though I'm certified at the 200-hour level, have taken additional training in restoratives and therapeutics, and teach it part time. But because I'm not eking out any more turns on the ski slopes and have started spending more time pounding the pavement and trails, I've had plenty of time to think about last Wednesday's Morning Edition piece on Hindus and the evolution of modern yoga and what it means for me, an agnostic Asian American teaching yoga in the nation's capital.

I teach yoga. 

In a gym setting. 

In a town that's saturated with yoga studios and gyms offering yoga classes.

I've never been to India.

There are rock star yoga teachers in D.C. As of right now, I'm not one of them. But if I were, someone would probably want to take yoga back from me. Heck, they probably want to take it back from me right now.

So what's my teaching philosophy, and why come to my classes?

Because gym yoga is often the gateway to a more holistic yoga practice, in a more traditional venue. 

This isn't to say that gym yoga is inherently not holistic. But, realistically, many people who practice yoga at the gym are there because they want a workout or stretch session, and this was the only class offered that day (not kidding about this). Maybe they'd heard something about the meditative and mindfulness aspects of yoga, too.

Similar to how I sneak restorative poses into the classes that I teach – on the hunch that most people in D.C. don't even realize their bodies are craving restoration – I also sneak in reminders of mindfulness and silent meditation. It may not be the entirety of what traditional yoga in India offers, but it's more traditional than other more fusion-based practices. Poses are not "yummy" or "juicy." They are what they are, and if you happen to bind in your standing twist today, then yippee for you, at this moment.

If anything, call what I teach yoga "light." I believe it's still yoga.

ॐ

On Online Photo Contests....

At the end of April, I was online shopping for yoga pants.  This means that I was on the Athleta online store because it's the only store I know whose petite length pants means "perfect for my legs."  Until I discovered Athleta, I always did yoga in shorts, à la Iyengar practitioners, because at least shorts were not often too long.  So, two weeks ago, while I was online shopping, I saw a banner for a Facebook photo contest.   In a nutshell, submit a photo, write your fitness goals in the caption and get votes.  The top 10 vote-getters would then be considered for the grand prize, chosen by Athleta judges, and grand prize was a workout outfit for the winner's sport of choice and a to/fro outfit.  So, I figured, what the heck.  I was going to buy clothes anyway, why not see what buzz I could generate on the interwebs about myself.

I submitted this photo that the Transporter took  when we drove through Grand Teton National Park last July.  Yes, I know that my foot is in the wrong place for vrksasana....balance is not my thing.  It should be noted that I am wearing Athleta pants in the photo, although I think it was the 4th or 5th day in a row...  Unfortunately, I sort of messed up with the caption for the contest - I didn't put down my fitness goals, which, in case you're interested, include getting a PR in the Army 10-Miler this year.  But, I did manage to come in 6th place in the contest, with over 70 votes coming in the final morning of the contest!  What a surprise!

See, Generation Xers, which I and most of the people whom I know are, are sort of hit or miss when it comes to social networking - some of us have embraced it with gusto and others, not so much.  When we started college, the internet existed mostly in BBS form, NCSA Mosaic was the only web browser, and the final project in Comp Sci 101 classes across campuses was to build a web page.  So, I had no idea whether I'd get more than a few votes (thanks, Mom!).  In the end, I'm thrilled at the number of people who voted for me, and keeping my fingers crossed that Athleta chooses me (the winner is announced May 11).

A change in perspective

I interrupt the Washington to Washington trip recap with a few initial thoughts on Seattle, namely the yoga.  After four (or five?) years of practicing at the same studio in D.C., I am (hopefully temporarily) without a yoga home.  I haven't found a class that resonates in a "ahh....this is where I'm supposed to be" kind of way, although one has come close.  I wonder if I actually need to walk into an Ashtanga Mysore practice to find that...you know, the same series of poses day after day...building up heat (in one of the rare US cities that's experiencing an unusually cool summer this year)....

Madison Lake, Yellowstone NP

Regardless, the lack of a yoga home is distressing mostly because I have done only one headstand in the last 3 weeks.  At least it was in Yellowstone (Madison Lake)!  I've seen too many people in large classes attempt the pose by kicking up and then toppling over, so perhaps rightly so, the king of asanas has not appeared in any of the sequences at the four classes I've taken in the city so far.  And for a variety of reasons, I don't have a home practice, either.  So I'm left without sirsasana for the time being.

Often we invert to gain a change of perspective.  I'm finding, though, that because I already have a change of perspective of approximately 3000 miles and a few degrees north latitude, that I am craving a steady inversion like sirsasana to be grounded and to connect with what I know.   Hm.

"Proposed" DC Yoga Tax

As far as I can tell, the D.C. Council has not actually proposed a sales tax on yoga classes. That is, I do not believe it appears in the proposed "Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Support Act", B18-731, that was introduced in mid April. I'm not being snarky. I just can't find it, and I find stuff like this to pay the bills...At any rate, the proposal to tax yoga classes (and gym memberships and other services) appears to arise from an outside source.

In response to the effects of the recession and the District of Columbia's ongoing budget issues, the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute recommends several taxes to increase revenue. According to its website, the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute (DCFPI) was established in 2001 by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, one of the nation’s premier policy organizations working on federal and state issues that affect low- and moderate-income residents. DCFPI "conducts research and public education on budget and tax issues in the District of Columbia, with a particular emphasis on issues that affect low- and moderate-income residents. By preparing timely analyses that are used by policy makers, the media, and the public, DCFPI seeks to inform public debates on budget and tax issues and to ensure that the needs of lower-income residents are considered in those debates." The nature and extent of DCFPI's relationship with the D.C. Council or its members is unclear. It is also unclear whether or how DCFPI's recommendations were made to the D.C. Council.

Among DCFPI's recommendations is an expansion of the sales tax to include more services. Expansion of what is taxable is not an uncommon trend in the past few years. DCFPI's rationale in expanding the tax base is framed as a "modernization." One undated document* on the DCFPI website states: "DC’s sales tax was created at a time when people spent more on goods than services. Today it’s the other way around. Adding more services to DC’s general sales tax — like pet grooming, health club memberships, and theater tickets — would raise more than $14 million." Presumably, yoga classes would fall under the "health club memberships" category.

Several other states have grappled with this issue of imposing a sales tax on yoga classes. The tax exists in Missouri, although, in January, a repeal of the tax was proposed. I have not yet checked the status of the repeal. I believe that yoga classes in Missouri previously escaped taxation because they were considered spiritual, and thus, tax exempt. Either yoga then lost its status as "spiritual," or the sales tax was created specifically enough to include yoga. I also believe that Washington State considered, but did not pass, a yoga tax in 2008. I need to research these legislative histories a little more.


What is the proposed "Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Support Act"?

It's a bill. When enacted, the Budget Support Act is a piece of local legislation. It makes the changes to District law that are necessary to implement the budget. These changes can include adjustments to tax rates, legislative establishment of new programs, and other amendments to the DC Official Code.

The DC Council prepared a notice of public hearings and committee markup schedule for the bill. There is a public hearing on May 7. There are some who believe that DCFPI will use this opportunity to advocate an expansion of the sales tax.

Let me know if you'd like to borrow my Schoolhouse Rock DVD.



* The proposal is on Fair Budget Coalition (FBC) letterhead. The relationship between FBC and DCFPI is unclear.

More research to follow.....

Reiki!

Today in yoga class, we had the option of having one of our classmates do some reiki energy stuff to us during savasana. There were only six people in the class, or five potential recipients of the reiki treatment. Not a bad deal, I thought. And really, who cares if you believe in the energy healing or think it's a load of baloney -- it's not like it can hurt, right?

So, during savasana, I put my hand on my belly to signal that I was open to the reiki practice. I closed my eyes, spread out my arms and legs, and focused on my breathing to bring me to relaxation. For what it's worth, my breathing felt erratic and too deep to be fully relaxed. Then, all of the sudden, I calmed down. I felt a pleasant buzzing and warmth around my head. My brain felt like it was melting away, and my thoughts were empty and only in the present. My only thought was something like, "Holy cow, this is amazing!! This reiki stuff is so rad!!" This went on for what felt like minutes.

And then I felt someone tap my hand and say, "Namaste, do you want reiki?"

Crap. You mean that wasn't reiki in effect, and it was just me going into my own meditative state by myself?

So, I acknowledged that I wanted reiki and then had my eyes half open to check out what my classmate was doing. Sadly, it had nothing to do with energy geared towards my head. Her hands hovered over my midsection, and when she was done, she gently pushed my shoulder blades into the floor and lifted my head to extend my neck. I spied her a little longer as she moved to the next student. Her hands hovered over the student's midsection and there wasn't any visible treatment going on above the neck.

Alas.

Acclimatize, schmaclimatiize

I've long believed that I am a better runner in the mornings, at 70 degrees and 75% humidity, than afternoon/evenings, at 95 degrees and 30% humidity. For whatever reason, the heat (especially the sun beating down on me) made me bonk. On three-mile runs. If that's not lame (and terrifying, in light of the fact that I'm supposed to be training to run three 3 to 8-mile legs on September 26-27), I don't know what is. Now I have proof that I am normal.

Of course, late last week, I managed to bruise the crap out of my knee while attempting galavasana (right). I got both legs off the ground and was about to extend the free leg when my core muscles rebelled and mayhem ensued. I came crashing down onto one knee. I actually went for a 5-mile run the following day, but then spent the better part of the weekend with the leg elevated, iced, and worried I would never build up a base for Ragnar. No worries, sports fans, it's a mere bruise on the knee, and although it's still a little tender, it's nothing that a little rest and ibuprofen can't take care of (says my doc).

On distance running

Depending on how one defines "distance," I don't run distance. The furthest I ran was 7 miles, and that was by accident. I'm now signed up for a 7.5 mile (more or less) race and a 10 miler. Yikes. I don't want to ever want to run a marathon because moving for close to 5 hours just does not sound attractive to me. But I track people who do, like Jonelle, who ran Boston for charity, and Jon, who actually qualified and recently told me that he wants to shave off more minutes from his time. More yikes. Which is why the idea of selling and buying race bibs for the elite race confuses me. Because everyone who is not insanely speedy at Boston is wearing a charity bib, right? So if you paid $500 for an illegally re-sold bib acquired by someone who qualified, and then all of the sudden you pull up at the Boston Public Library 5 hours after you started, someone's going to wonder. And sure, you may have run the Boston Marathon course on Patriot day with a bib on, but it's not like you earned it one way or another.

In other news, last night, I went to a stride clinic/promo event at Pacers Running Store and conducted by Newton Running. Those were some pretty funky trainers that would have fit better if I'd tried on a wide shoe. I was also told that I had a calcification on my toe joint and how to deal with that in my shoe, but the question remains: what the heck is the calcification and what does it mean?

On speed training.

I really have little to contribute on the topic of speed training, other than I'm not great at it. Thursday, I thought I was scheduled for two one-mile repeats, although at the end of the day, long after my run, I realized I was supposed to do six miles, with three miles in there at tempo. This has created utter havoc in my training schedule for B2B, but at least I've already bought part of my costume for that and have the excuse of "Oh, it's just B2B, I was doing that for fun!" I digress.

So I measured out a 1-mile section of the Mall, ran a warmup, did two repeats, and hated nearly every minute of it. The shocking part being my consistency: I did each piece within 30 seconds of each other. And were they faster than what I do my longer runs are, as this NY Times article discusses? I dare say so.

Good luck to the Boston runners tomorrow!

Yogic start to 2008

I received two text messages this morning at 2:53AM, sending New Year greetings from the west coast, sort of. One message was from the Navajo reservation in Arizona, and I, for one, never know what time it is there. But the oddity of receiving two messages at the same time, neither of which is midnight anywhere, makes me wonder what's going on....

I headed off this morning to the mall to return/exchange a Christmas gift. I came back having discovered a store that I thought was new and hip and perhaps a little Boulder-esque (think Outdoor Divas), but then when I got home and looked them up on the internet, I found out that it's less subversive than I thought. Although, it is Canadian, so maybe that's subversive in and of itself. I saw yoga mats in the window of Lululemon Athletica and thought, "Hey, my mat is falling apart and has divots (don't ask - I don't know how)! I need a new mat." The salesperson, which the company calls "educators" -- err -- was uber helpful and we talked about the type of yoga I practiced and where, and I walked out with a new biodegradable (allegedly) mat. And a neat reusable bag that kicks the ass of the Whole Foods bags. And a sticker. I am a sticker fiend. But I still think that Outdoor Divas is cooler.

Oh, and apparently there is a non-odoriferous way for a city dweller like me to have a compost pile under my sink. I'm not about to try.

Emergency Button

This photo, taken in a changing stall at the yoga studio I attend, makes me wonder about my personal safety sometimes.