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| Cultivating a Calm Mind in Rough Waters: A physical therapist's view on how yoga applies to everyday life |
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by Lisa B. Minn, PT - October 31, 2011
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Provided by The Pragmatic Yogi
 “Peace comes from within” -Buddha
Yesterday I was invited to a special stand-up paddleboard (SUP) yoga class. CNN is doing a story on this latest yoga phenomenon so they contacted my teacher, Leigh Claxton. She agreed to teach a class to be filmed for their story and wanted students with a range of experience, age and gender to represent a typical class.
As I walked to class, I wondered how distracted I might be with the presence of a big camera and news crew around. It turns out that the camera and crew were the least significant distraction. When I arrived at class, the beach was empty but the wind was blowing. When we got on our boards to warm up with some paddling, the wind immediately blew us across the cove and the current threatened to suck us out to the bay. So we quickly anchored in the most protected part of the cove. But for a few of us, the anchors were not very effective so we kept drifting away slowly then had to make a mad dash and paddle back to class.
The camera crew was late and when they arrived they asked Leigh to come back to shore so they could set her up with a microphone. To my surprise, she asked me to take over teaching the class. On one hand, I was flattered and happy for the opportunity but on the other hand, I thought... “oh my gosh, I have never taught this before and I have no idea what I’m doing!!!” To make it even more of a challenge, my anchor was effectively useless at the time so as I was trying to teach on the fly... I was literally flying around on my board. I had to keep paddling back toward the class while thinking of things to teach that wouldn’t make anyone fall in. Yikes!
For the record, teaching a SUP yoga class is very different from teaching a regular yoga class. Not only are the poses sometimes completely reversed in the level of difficulty (lunges are difficult, upward facing wheel is easier than usual), but it’s impossible to use your normal, soothing "yoga voice," it’s impossible to make adjustments or provide manual cues, and it’s almost impossible to provide individual feedback.
At some point during class I was lying face down on the board feeling slightly disoriented from watching the rippled surface of the water moving underneath me at an impressive velocity. By the end of the class, my clothes were damp. My hair kept blowing into my eyes. The wind howled as it blew through the masts of the sailboats in the adjacent marina.
But despite the physical and mental discomfort of the day, I truly enjoyed the experience. In fact, I think it might have been the most yogic experience I’ve had so far during a SUP yoga class. It’s easy to relax and and find peace of mind when the sun is shines its warmth upon your face and you hear the water gently lapping all around. But yesterday’s class was a perfect opportunity for practicing pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) and dharana(concentration). And those are yoga skills we all need to practice off the mat.
Lisa Minn is a licensed physical therapist and yoga enthusiast. She has been incorporating aspects of Yoga and Pilates into her physical therapy practice since 2001 and became a certified yoga instructor in 2004. Her experience ranges from working with athletes at West Point and Georgetown to instructing elderly and wheelchair-bound clients in the fundamentals of Hatha Yoga. Lisa has conducted several lectures and workshops across the US, as well as in Honduras and Peru, where she volunteered her services. She currently resides and practices in Northern California. This and other articles by Lisa can be found at The Pragmatic Yogi.
The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
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