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Susanna H.

New York, NY

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1 year ago Susanna H. Holidayasana!
- +1 Healthy Meals
- +None today! No Disposable Plastic Bags?
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1 year ago as a catch up for December 10 Susanna H. Holidayasana!
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1 year ago as a catch up for December 1 Susanna H. Holidayasana!
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1 year ago Susanna H. Holidayasana!
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As the cold set in today, I found that I needed to nap even more than I needed to practice, but still, I eked one out after a huge nap! It's hard to not shovel carbs when it is so cold, but a little pasta is ok :-)
- Liz C. I'm glad to hear I am not the only one struggling to stay awake on these cold, dark days! I napped all weekend, but didn't have your willpower to practice yoga this weekend...or curb the carb loading! 1 year ago
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1 year ago Susanna H. Holidayasana!
- +None today! No Disposable Plastic Bags?
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1 year ago as a catch up for December 7 Susanna H. Holidayasana!
- +None today! No Disposable Plastic Bags?
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1 year ago as a catch up for December 1 Susanna H. Holidayasana!
- +None today! No Disposable Plastic Bags?
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von Hottie v. said to Susanna H. 1 year ago

What do you do if you can't quite get your butt over your head to get into a shoulder stand or plow pose? Start at the wall?
- Susanna H. The first thing that pops into my head is that I am wondering if your spine is touching the floor when you are moving into the pose. I ask this because it shouldn't - the cervical vertebrae (the neck ones!)are particularly vulnerable in this pose and should NEVER be touching the ground in any way. No weight should be put in the neck & remember not to turn your head to the side while you're up (once you get there - and you will!).
  
  So why am I digressing about this? Because in order to insure that your spine is off of the ground, you need to support yourself entirely on your shoulders& the back of your head, which ALSO enables you to launch yourself more easily into shoulder stand.
  1. take bridge pose, wiggling your shoulders underneath you & clasping your hands behind your back, which helps to keep them there. You should feel the shoulder blades flat on the back, lifting up the heart area. Make sure that your chin is raised toward the ceiling & not squashing your neck, which should feel easy, elongated, & open - front & back.
  2. NOW...notice if your entire spine, including the neck is off of the floor. If it is, you are ready to move toward shoulder stand. If not, come out of the pose & layer 1-2 blankets under your torso, from the top of the shoulders, down. Your upper neck & head should be off of the blankets on the ground. Your spine is now safe, but keep pressing the shoulders & upper arms into the ground to lift. When you are strongly grounded in this way, you can use your hands at the back of your pelvis to launch yourself upward! YAY!!!!!
  3. If you still can't get up, you can try beginning with your legs on a chair. Make sure that the chair is stable & wont move - wedge it against the wall. that way you are beginning halfway there. Another option is to get a VERY highly trained (in alignment & adjusting) yoga teacher to take hold of your hips & assist you up.
  
  I hope this helps! I don't teach the pose too often in my class because to care for the spine you have to use so many props, which takes time, but when I do teach it I do neck-checks on everyone!
  1 year ago
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1 year ago Susanna H. Holidayasana!
getting there, people, getting there! I have officially finished my Xmas shopping & have not acquired any plastic bags. The only bag I acquired at all was a tiny green paper one that held a necklace for my niece. I did a little victory dance (in my heart...).
xox! susanna
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1 year ago Susanna H. Holidayasana!
- +1 Healthy Meals
- +None today! No Disposable Plastic Bags?
People clearly thought I was crazy today as I turned down plastic bag after plastic bag. It seems that the closer we get to Xmas, the less amused and/or impressed people are about our green initiative. It's more like..."whatever..." But we shall see. I am wondering if it has to do with the fact that the people working in stores were overwhelmed & exhausted & the little bit of extra whatever was a bit too much. we will see what tomorrow holds!
- Liz C. I've noticed this too. BUT I was extremely impressed when the +70 year old woman working at Macy's lingerie dept. pro-actively asked me if I had a bag. Of all places, I didn't expect Macy's to be progressive. She showed me. 1 year ago
- Susanna H. There is so much fabulousness in your above statement, I barely know where to begin. 70+ year old woman working in the lingerie dept at Macy's. That alone made me happy! By age 70, we women should definitely know our way around lingerie! And on top of it, she is eco-conscious! excellent.
  
  I too, plunged deep into the murky heart of holiday shopping at Macy's the other day-screaming babies, petulant adolescents, stressed-out parents, but the people working there were SO NICE! How do they do it? I was impressed... 1 year ago
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1 year ago Susanna H. Holidayasana!
Two fabulous practices today - the 1st led by some of the Virayoga Teacher Trainees I'm mentoring - our last mentor session & they did beautifully! The second was after my Sat 4:15 class - I stayed for Eric Stoneberg's 6pm class, which was as inspiring as always. It is the only time that someone teaches class AFTER me, so it my favorite way of finishing my teaching week.

Both Eric & I have been teaching about different goddesses this week - me on Bhairavi, the ferocious one & Eric on Bhuvaneshwari, the divine mother. If you want to find out a bit more about them, either check out Eric's blog on tumblr: http://easnyc.tumblr.com/ , where he's writing about the 16 Lakshmis, 1 day at a time, or my SocialWorkout blog this week! - http://blog.socialworkout.com/2010/12/08/fierce-goddess

Almost finished with my Xmas shopping & no plastic bags yet!
- angee n. What is Virayoga? 1 year ago
- Susanna H. Virayoga is the studio where I teach in Soho, NYC. www.virayoga.com - all Anusara! 1 year ago
- angee n. Okay, I have a CD audio of John Friend's "Anusara Yoga titled "Essentials" and it's quite a lovely practice. 1 year ago
- Susanna H. I'm so glad you like it! John has been my teacher for almost a decade. He is phenomenal live - pure streaming positive energy. 1 year ago
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1 year ago Susanna H. Holidayasana!
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Visual artist & Anusara yoga teacher, I balance my life in the art world with my life on the mat. I've exhibited all over the world & am in many public & private collections. My yoga teaching is based at Virayoga, but I also travel. And, of course, I write a blog for SocialWorkout called "Finding Beauty." For more info, check out my personal website or the sites of: Virayoga, Anusara, SocialWorkout, or just google me!