Finding Balança

"O meu Mestre quer ver voce balançar"

The chorus to this song is basically "My master wants to see you balance."  In the most literal sense, it could be referring to a movement called balança where you swing around a little bit, break the rhythm and let go of the rigid, robotic movements that are easy to get stuck in.  Mestre Foca would always say "put some funk in your movement!"  In the past I would cringe when I heard that in class.  I wanted things concrete: kick, dodge, cartwheel, rinse, repeat. It was so hard to put funk in my movement when I was so self-conscious. Maybe he could demonstrate this funk for me and I could just copy the movement....

I first started this blog to document my journey into yoga by trying to review as many different yoga schools as possible and using that as a way to get more flexible to physically serve my self expression in capoeira.  As I started, I expanded that goal a little bit to include a basic spiritual tenet that seemed to come with the territory: be more open.

Looking back at those posts, it's clear how rigid, robotic and closed off I was in my life.  It may have had to do with where I was at the time, reeling from the end of a relationship, desperately grasping at square pegs and trying to fit them into round holes and searching for anwers. My spiritual mentor kept telling me "pain is the touchstone of spiritual growth"but I didn't really believe him.

In those early yoga classes, I was pretty self-conscious.  I was scared of chanting, even just "Om" at the beginning of class. I was worried when I was only the guy in a class.  I was interested primarily in getting a good workout.  Physically, I could do the postures, but not very well, and I was definitely muscling through them.  In dietary terms, I was eating well but still eating meat 6 or 7 days a week. I wasn't meditating.  My capoeira game was stagnant. And the best part is, I thought I was doing great.

I decided to give it 90 days - I bought an unlimited class card at Jivamukti, made the commitment to go 5 or 6 times a week, embraced veganism, followed suggestions, read a lot and dedicated myself to the practice.  The benefits are too deep and wide-ranging to explain in this post - but they affect my mind, body and spirit in ways, layers and directions that I wasn't prepared for. And I can carry them from the mat into into my daily life and from my daily life into the capoeira roda.

My capoeira game has improved, but not necessarily because I am more flexible -- there's a little more funk, a little more swing in my step or my ginga and my "conversations" in the roda are a little more complete (Think of a capoeira game as a conversation between two people through movement.) I'm more interested now in what my partner has to say, and because of that I can listen and respond thoughtfully (with a nice kick or floreio)

They talk about yoga as creating union (coming from the word to yoke) - and for me that was always hard to see, isolated on a mat in a class, focusing on my breath or my posture.  But I'm starting to think that my daily moving meditation brings me closer to "God" and by being more in tune with the  God/universe I can connect better with people off the mat, in my daily life and in the roda.

I used to think capoeira and yoga had a zero sum relationship - do more of one, you had to do less of the other.  But the more I do yoga, the more I want to do capoeira and vice versa.  And somehow I'm finally finding balance between the two.  They're separate, but attached, things. Now when I hear "O meu Mestre quer ver voce balançar,"I think about finding balance in my life, (which has never been easy.)  Or maybe that song pops into my head when I struggle with balancing postures like standing split or tree pose. Maybe, capoeira, like yoga, transcends....

The direction of this blog is starting to change, especially since I'm focused more on my regular practice than trying as many different places as I can. I'll still make field trips and definitely go to cool workshops like "Yogaeira" and contemplate how much extended side angle pose looks like a rastiera.  But I intend to dig a little bit deeper and be a little bit more open.

Jivamukti Kool Aid

After 3 classes at Jivamukti, I'm kinda sold. Like I said, I appreciate the mix between mental, physical and spiritual I find there. While I'm not totally sold on the chanting, I enjoy the spiritual things said there. Every few montha or
so they have a theme they emphasize, right now it is the renaissance (makes me think of q-tips solo album, but still). I like that idea. Particularly following their previous which was death. This idea of rebirth, out with the old , in with the new is super important to me right now.

So I'm going to take some time, buy a 10 class card and focus on the renaissance and the yoga they offer there. I think it works for me. At the very least it works for my busy schedule.

I still have to try Iyengar, Ashtanga and even kundalini. And I will. Just not in a rush anymore to do as much yoga as I possibly can in intro weeks as possible. Its a tall order....

After a month of that I also feel healthier, calmer, more accepting*, more flexible and in better shape.

I'll be back as I progress but expect to hear a lot less from me. Thank you for reading. It's cool to know that someone reads this.

For now I'm off to play capoeira for.a week in California. Yay.

*most of the time!

Jivamukti holy shit

Jivamukti Yoga Center
http://www.jivamuktiyoga.com/
near Union Square
First class free / $25 introductory special for NY residents
holler at your boy

After I go to a yoga class for the first time I usually write a few initial thoughts in my smart phone on the way back to Brooklyn. These were the first words and thus the title of my little yellow-paged iphone note that came out after attending my first class at the Jivamukti Yoga Center.


I ended up here because I couldn't find another yoga class at a new place that fit my schedule. The website didn't list any sort of introduction week but that didn't even matter - I just wanted a good yoga class.

I was warmly suprised when I arrived. not only is the place beauitful, clean, mordern, spartan and full of beautiful people -- they have an awesome intro deal. The first class is complimentary (aka FREE) and if you dig it and are a new york resident, you can get a week unlimited for $25!  Score!

The class was in the Goddess room (oh god here we go again, i thought I left laughing lotus down the street) but actually the Goddess room is pretty bare and neutral (as is the whole place.) The class had about a 3:1 ratio with maybe 12 people.

We were to sttart with some chanting and before my brain could start to protest I was handed a book, with an explanation as to why we chanted, what we were chanting and a translation.  When our eacher got started chanting, she had a wonderful voice. It was just one line and was pleasing to the soul and came back naturally. I didnt feel too self-conscious singing it and actually kind of enjoyed it.

The class had a vinyasa flow feel to it, with a firm focus on breath (instructor would count to 5 and tell you when to inhale and exhale) and an emphasis on challenging oneself. The teacher manually corrected poses but also stretched us harder and deeper, physically pushing us.  We did the warrior poses, we did headstands, handstands, we did a whole back series, we did the wheel, we did a long should stand.  I learned that not only are headstands good for your skin (the blood rushing to your face helps it ?? ) but also gives you a different perspective on the world (ha ha )The class was fully balanced.  It was great.

After one class, I'm already totally sold on Jivamukti. I don't even know how to pronounce it. Gee-va muklti or Jai-va mukti?? Anyone?

I'm not one to get super excited about something and declare it my most favorite thing in the world right away. oh wait yes i am.  regardless, this first class was the perfect balance between physical and spiritual, between exertion and relaxation, in a loving, happy but focused atmosphere. There was a little bikram feel to it, a little Hatha feel to it, a little vinyasa, a little "integral." It was the perfect balance... And balance is my main goal.   It also fits my schedule. Which is awesome.

I will have a full report back after I finish my week up and take a few more classes.

Extra Value Meal #1 - Bikram w/Cheese

Bikram Yoga Park Slope

I haven't been to a bikram class in about a month or so since I started this project. Today I wanted a good stretch, and I also wanted to know exactly what I was going to get. I could have easily gone to another new studio and taken my chances but I wanted some familiar poses and to "stretch my limits."

So I went to back to Bikram.  And it was fuckin' awesome.  I love a good backbend and anyone who has seen me play capoeira knows I could benefit from them. My favorite posture in bikram actually is that first backbend right after the sidebends in half moon (ardha-chandrasana).  When I do it , I almost look something like this.

Anyway, I was able to find some good focus today and felt like all this vinyasa and other stuff I've been doing has really opened up my practice - certain postures in particular.  Eagle pose, standing bow, locust, camel all were awesome today.

The peak of the bikram standing series (first half) is triangle pose - trikanasana.  One thing about bikram's triangle is that the front leg is bent. When I was at Laughing Lotus for instance, they kept it straight.

I had the hardest time today with both my standing separate leg stretching pose  (dandayamana-bibhaktapada-paschimotthanasana) and the standing separate leg head to knee pose (dadayamana-bibhaktapada-janushirasana).  These are the like the bread of the triangle sandwich.  On the first one I couldnt get my head near the floor and on the second I couldn't get my head to stay on my knee. Maybe I was being lazy but it wasn't there today. Good to be aware of though.

I left feeling good, refreshed, zapped out and a little bit dehydrated.  I stood a little taller in my posture and got my day going.


My schedule has changed drastically and I will no longer have the luxury of taking a 2 or 3 or 4 pm yoga class. For the most part, the only classes I'll be able to take are at 7:30 or more likely 8pm or later.  This may affect my project some but I hope to continue as best I can and at the very least continue a somewhat regular (2-3x week yoga practice). The benefits so far have been innumerable.

Integral Yoga: The Anti Bikram

Integral Yoga Institute of New York
227 West 13th Street
http://www.iyiny.org/
$30/3 classes no expiry


On a whim, I landed at Integral Yoga Institute of NY and while I knew it would be different, I didn't know how different.

The building itself is cool, kind of big (6 floors) very old school, lots of old wood, muted colors.  The lockers in the locker room reminded me of middle school . There are paintings and altars set up all over the place for Sri Swami Satchidananda. The place has a completely different vibe from any of the other young, hip, "sexy" yoga places I'd been to.  I was looking forward to taking yoga back to its roots.

There is a health food store, apothecary and a bookstore attached to the studio and for the price of my intro card ($30/3 classes) I get a 20% discount at each of those.


The class was led by an older woman dressed in all white who prayed for a few minutes at the altar of the Swami before class.   We started with a few "om's" and some sanskrit chanting.  While the chanting was pleasing to the ear, I still can't get into it. It seems so...cheesy.

After the chants we got started with the "traditional eyeball stretches." This was just weird. It was made extra weird because the class was in a narrow room with two rows where each row faces the center (see: eachother.) So while I am imagining a giant clock in front of me and looking at the different hours, the goofy older guy across from me is doing the same and it's kind of awkward. 

After this 20 minute or so warmup we finally got into the yoga and it was very traditional Hatha yoga.  I learned how to do a Sun Salutation among other things  The teacher talked very slow and was very detailed. She would usually explain the posture, do the posture and then walk us through the posture step by step.  There was an emphasis on not pushing yourself too hard, taking it easy, relaxing, not stretching too much, doing it however you wanted to, not worrying about whats right or wrong and so on.

As the practice continued we did a handful of posturess, some of which are very similar to the bikram sequence including cobra (bhujangasana), half locust (arddha salabasana), locust (salabasana), bow pose (dhanurasana) and head to knee (janusirshasana)   It was nice to hear those asana names and they will certainly be familiar to anyone who has taken a few bikram yoga classes.

The pinnacle of the class was the 3 minute shoulder stand. By far the longest pose, and 3 minutes is pretty long! I couldn't do it that well but the teacher really walked me through it (she didnt single me out but it was pretty clear because everyone else was doing it quite well.)   After that we kind of warmed down.

At the end we went into a deep relaxation/meditation that included a few body relaxation techniques that were very similar to the native American ones I learned through my spiritual mentor and reinforced at the tracker school several years ago : tensing the body up in various ways and quickly releasing and also imagining a warm bright light engulfing your body slowly. It was cool that the native American and yoga meditations have such similar cores. That really validates it for me.

We finished the class with half a dozen breathing exercises (slight exaggeration), including alternate nostril breathing  (no exaggeration).  The class ran about 20 minutes over which put me in a slight panic because I had to be somewhere. (See: control issues) I made it there.

The class was very meditative. It wasn't very physical. The emphasis on not pushing yourself, doing it at your own pace, taking it easy, was the complete opposite of what I'm used to with the similar poses of a bikram class.  In this class today I didn't sweat at all.  I wasn't sore later.  To be honest, I like bikram better, I liked to be physically pushed.  However I do appreciate the meditative stuff emphasized in this traditional Hatha "integral yoga" class

Since I do have 2 more classes, I will return. But there is no expiry, so I won't rush. Going to find a more strenuous class first.  Thinking about a level 1/basic led ashtanga class. Wish me luck.

 Might have to take a bikram class in between too as I have about 9 left on my card and I am "craving the stretch." Check out this other Ian's Capoeirista blog where he talks about bikram. Its funny how my first post mentions a lot of the same things.  Ahh bikram. Still love it.

Too Rich for my blood

Reebok Sports Club New York
160 Columbus Avenue
3 day complimentary guest membership
Yoga Classes Attended - 2
Total Cost - $0.00


I stumbled upon this deal on the web through one of those gmail-based ads that reads your emails.

I spent about 8 hours at the club over my 3 days on two seperate trips. The first trip I focused on the gym. It's a really nice gym. Really big. Really clean. Almost sterile.  I mean they literally have people whose sole job is to walk around wiping down machines.  They have a nice TRX station thats open to use. A huge free weight room.  Any machine you could imagine.  An outdoor track 5 stories up. A swimming pool. A roof deck. 2 huge basketball courts.  Great locker room amenities.

I did not like how the gym was almost sterile in a cold, unfriendly way. There was no music playing. People were very wrapped up in themselves. I saw a woman texting in the middle of a yoga class. I heard a guy complain to his trainer about his AMEX card being declined which was "ridiculous" because he spends "hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on it."  I saw somone who was identified as a TV star by a woman to her children. He was playing basketball. Wow. I think it was Jeff Fahey.

The trickiest part of the gym for me was figuring out the lockers and the "digilocks." I brought my own lock but was met by a flat door with this thing on it.  I tried pressing all sorts of buttons but couldnt get it to do anything. I became convinced that it was a members-only based lock system and I was out of luck. As I prepared to carry my wallet and iphone with me in the gym and leave everything else unlocked, I started googling "how to lock lockers at reebok sports club new york" on my iphone but no good hits were coming up. Finally, I just asked the guy next to me and he said press C,make up your own 4 digit code, and then press the lock key.  Wow. Things are so simple when you ask for help.


Anyway-  to keep on topic -- the yoga.
The classes at reebok sports club take place in the mind body center, right near the snack bar/lobby:

It has that same vibe to it. Very clean. Very bright.  Very earthy like colors..   The mats were really nice and clean as was all the equipment - the blocks and blankets and stuff. The crowd diverse - a few guys and lots of women.  Everyone in general was a bit older - there was more of a 40s-50s vibe here with a few outliers


The first class I took was "Vinyasa Flow" with Karen.  She was good she introduced herself to everyone individually before class and asked about injuries.  That allowed her to remember names during the class and give individualized pointers which was cool. The class was a typical vinyasa class - but a bit long about 90 minutes. It was moderately strenuous, I barely broke a sweat, but the room was really cold. We flowed through postures quickly and I am getting more and more familiar with the vinyasa flow.  I tried to do crow and managed to take off for a few half seconds. This is progress for me.  She talked about making space, polishing ourselves with yoga, pushing out the bad and allowing space for the new. Typical, but good yoga-speak. She played a lot of music the whole time and definitely played Coldplay more than once. She teaches at a place called Exhale on Central Park South which seems pretty high-end/spa-like and not a place I would normally hit up - though it has a beginners deal.....

I knew there was a "Core Flow' yoga class right after and it sounded kinda sweet - maybe more strenuous, faster paced, different. So instead of leaving after the first 90 minute class, I stayed and attended another! Kind of crazy I know but I didnt have too much shit to do and I really wanted to "abuse" my free membership to the fullest.  The second class actually held postures a lot longer. This was a surprise to me because of the name.It was pretty hard!  It was a lot of the same typical vinyasa postures just a focus on holding them longer - 30 seconds or a minute. This forced me to focus on breathing to stay in the postures. It was really good. And really different. I think I like this better than the flowing short pose vinyasa. I like the deep, strenuous stretch.  She talked a bunch but my mind had pretty much turned to yoga goop by then after 3 hours of yoga and I think I fell asleep in savasana at the end.

However I awoke refreshed and pushed through an hour of cardio before retiring to the luxurious locker-room and taking advantage of the spotless sauna and steam room,  clean showers, body lotion, mouth wash, shaving cream, deodorant.  I really tried to take advantage of this place.

Then I stopped in the lobby area for a quick and well deserved smoothie before heading out into the rain and back to work. The smoothies were good and slightly overpriced but the girl gave me the extra she made at no extra charge or request.


Reebok Sports Club costs about $220 a month. It's a great deal if you're really rich, live on the upper west side and like that sort of pampering and environment. I pay $90/month for Crunch and while Crunch doesnt have all the amenities that Reebok does, it does have all the same machines. Crunch also has a cooler vibe with younger people that I can feel more comfortable around.  I plan to try some yoga classes there soon too.



All in all it was a great 3 day pass and I never even had to sit down with the membership guy. Just a few emails.  All in all, a great $0 spent.