05-15-04, 07:31 PM | |
VF Supporter
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Ville de neige
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Leslie Kaminoff in Rochester 5/15/04
Leslie Kaminoff is a teacher of Viniyoga. What I know about Viniyoga is not too much, though the knowledge base got a big assist today. (fyi, Erich Schiffman's wife is a Viniyoga teacher)
Viniyoga was founded by TKV Desikachar, who is the son of Krishnamacharya - whose students also included Pattabi Jois (Ashtanga) and son-in-law B.K.S. Iyengar. The emphasis of the school, as I saw it today though Leslie, is restorative and breath centered. Leslie is the founder of The Breathing Project, located in Manhattan's Chelsea district. Leslie is quite charming. As an NYC expat, I enjoyed his metropolitan ways. We're about the same age, so the references he made to "yoga in the 70s" rang familiar. He has a breezy-but-serious teaching style, completely with Steinfeld-esque kidding - the sidelong glance, the raised eyebrow. I attended one day of his weekend workshop, which was 2 (out of 4) sessions - "The Warrior Series" and "Dymystifying the Bandhas". Tomorrow he'll teach a restorative class, and one about sacred sounds. Leslie was anatomically oriented, but in very different way than Iyengar. He had an amazing slide show (Lianne would love it) with all kinds of interesting anotomical pictures - shown to explain the importance of breath in opening up the body Leslie designed the Warrior Series to allow for increased grounding of the lower body and freedom of movement in the upper body. Accordingly, although this was a vinyasa, there wasn't much "hands on the floor" - the feet did the grounding. No downward dog! The movment was breath coordinated. His postures were quite different than Iyengar style - for instance, Warrior I was a shorter, wider stance with arms that had an almost ballet-like curve. He taught the series slowly, with alot of attention to detail, than we ran though it vinyasa style. He used some of his anatomical photos in a power point presentation to show how prana and apana were allowed to flow better when the lower body is grounded and the upper body is free. I should mention that Leslie has a very powerful chanting voice and, to this ear, seems very good at pronouncing sanskrit. We ended with a few oms and savasana. I had lunch with Toaster/Beth and her friend - which was great - at Alladin's Natural Eatery. The afternoon began with more a discussion of anatomy as it is linked to the bandhas. There are three bandhas which, Leslie said, should always be engaged, when doing any of the active asanas - mula, uddiyana and jalandhara (pelvic floor, abdomen and neck) He helped clearly identify mula bhanda (it is *not* kegeling ), its relationship to uddiyana bhanda and how to use jalandhara bandha to correctly place the neck and head during asanas. He did some fairly simple movement patterns, again, integrating them with the breath, and some pranayama. The thing that was most interesting was the connection with the interior of the body - the chest and abdominal cavities. I feel like I understand my anatomy much better, in a way that is helpful with movements. He's a charming guy - uplifting and fun to be around. He knows alot. The approach is different. I don't feel drawn to Viniyoga as my main practice, but the breath-centered work adds a whole dimension (different than Ashtanga). Its an interesting yoga philosophy. If he's coming to your town you should check him out.
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Jane C. Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, idolator, worshipper of fire, come even though you have broken your vows a thousand times, Come, and come yet again. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Rumi |
05-16-04, 03:21 PM | |
Exchange Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Western NY
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Thanks to Jane for starting this thread, and thanks to the others for saving their past posts and reposting them here!
I also attended the Kaminoff Warrior Series workshop with Jane and my friend Rebecca. I had a great time, and my thighs were definitely sore today from all that standing pose work! It was a nice change of pace to do a practice focused only on the lower body (Jane mentioned no down dogs--no chaturangas either!). During the first half of the workshop, Leslie taught us a specific sequence of Warrior poses--using the viniyoga alignment Jane mentioned--which we went through relatively slowly. Then, in the second part of the workshop, we went through the poses in a more vinyasa-like fashion. As Jane said, Leslie was very personable (some of his jokes were pretty goofy though), and I appreciated the main adjustments he offered throughout the workshop. He actually flipped my friend Rebecca and another student--a sort of party trick--and he helped me balance in Warrior III, which was tough because he had us do the pose after our legs were already pretty fatigued. All in all, it was a great experience--I'm so glad Jane encouraged me to go!
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Beth aka Toaster (she/her) Follow me @YogiBethC YouTube|Instagram|Facebook And yes, I am Reviewer Dr. Beth on Amazon. |
05-17-04, 11:46 AM | ||
VF Supporter
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Ville de neige
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Quote:
I"m glad you encouraged me as well, and all I can say is your friend Rebecca seemed happy as a clam after Leslie flipped her, and for sometime thereafter. Something interesting Leslie said, that I didn't mention earlier, was about Iyengar, essentially "even if you don't think you've been doing Iyengar, you have. No one was talking about principles of alignment pre-iyengar - we certainly weren't in the seventies. all of the videos, etc., get their alignment from Iyengar, whether they know it or not." Pam - you are lucky to live in Phoenix, where there is so much great yoga, including Desiree Rumbaugh's AZYoga studio, for anusara style . I know several VF Yoginis, including myself, will be travelling hill and dale to work with Des this summer.
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Jane C. Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, idolator, worshipper of fire, come even though you have broken your vows a thousand times, Come, and come yet again. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Rumi |
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05-18-04, 02:14 AM | |
VF Supporter
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Ville de neige
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Nyc
Reporter fans will want to look at The disparate, desultory NYC Yoga get together thread, and I will cut and paste my main summary of my my small part in this ongoing movable feast, originally titled Wowie Zowie. Fade to flashback...
******* where do i begin? at the beginning? My four day NYC-VF yoga sojourn was transforming. Its been a while since i've been to a live yoga class. i suggest to others, who, like me, have been relying on videos, to get out there. it makes a huge huge difference in my practice - baseline, it made it safer. If you live near NYC - wow- a garden of earthly delights is waiting. You meet such nice people! i very much enjoyed my time with Sharon and Meggie. They're both wonderful and, all other charming attributes aside, first rate yoga buddies. There's so much to say, and I'm busy at work, but briefly: Elena Brower at Virayoga this is a very trendy soho class in a beautiful room with all the trimmings. Elena is charismatic - she focused on the atmosphere in the room and the warmth theme. The "bent eight ways" pose was great because, well, because I could lift off. Trendy or no, she's got alot to offer, and it was an interesting experience. I bought her CD, and will report. Alison West at Yoga Union at Mercer and Crosby (?) I loved this class. Alison knows a great great deal. You feel the depth of her knowledge - the distilled wisdom of years of practice. If I lived in NYC, I would take with her and Sharon's Jackie regularly. My feeling after class was 1. There's so much to know 2. I so want to know it. Alison infused a desire to know more about yoga and the sense it would benefit me in many ways. She conveyed a great deal of information - most of which flew by - but I'm grateful for what stuck. She called the asanas in Sanskrit. this frequently left me in the lurch, but consider, upon analysis, that this is an important thing to know, and its good to be in a room where the importance of knowing the words is recognized - just one example - the whole experience was like that - she set a standard, and a tone. Lianne, if you've been thinking you want to go, i only encourage you. Alison is on my short list of *musts* for every return trip to NYC. The style was very precise. As Meggie described - it was advanced by any standard I have, but it didn't shut me down, it opened me up to the possibilities. She's *very* beautiful. I hesitate to write this, because women often hurt themselves by comparing to others, but I want to convey that she's supple, strong, agile, centered, grounded and brainy, by the way. Beautiful from the inside out. I was blown away. Sonic Yoga - Jonathan Field's Level 2 - the next night I went by myself to Jonathan's class. It was FREEZING out. The room was packed and very very warm. Jonathan played eighties euro rock (think Peter Gabriel's Mercy Street). The vinyasas were fast - lots of standing work, lots of twists. Jonathan's strong suit is his personality. He is a very sweet, extremely intelligent guy. He corrects and adjusts a great deal. He's got a nice vibe. I got lower in half pigeon then I've been since my 20s. He pushed down on me and both hips reached the floor. It felt great. I would note, however, that after two nights of Anasura and Iyengar, I had the feeling that the flexibility that came from the physical heat in the room, and the fast pace, was a bit of a cheat. I'll take it though. It was fun, and I got a cute hoodie that says "Sonic Yoga/Hells Kitchen 10019") Jackie Prete at Yoga Mandali This was a wonderful class, and the class that gave me the most concrete material for my home practice. The studio is lovely - there were only eight students in the class. Jackie gave exceptional individualized instruction that really helped me use my muscles, rather than stress my joints in all the poses. I got a clear understanding of the opposing spirals. My downward dog and standing postures are much more grounded. She gave great corrections for joint protection, which - in my late 40s - is so important. Jackie was very empowering. she laughs alot. I felt like there were certain understandable principles which, if regularly practiced, would lead me into the advanced asanas and, more to the point, a more integrated, flexibile, vibrant body. And we know its true, BECAUSE SharonNYC did a Handstand and SharonNYC did a Forearm Stand no fluke, no hapanstance - don't let her tell you otherwise! the best part was Sharon's great big happy yoga grin upon completion of same. Aline - I very much wanted to go to Dharma's class - but just couldn't fit it in the schedule - its on my short list for future visits. I commend the VF desultory, episodic NYC Yoga tour to all interested parties. At the risk of repeating myself - SharonNYC and Meggie were wonderful, and the experience, as a whole, deepened my practice. My recent participation in the Yoga checkin, and the January sadhana, laid a foundation for my four days in NYC - I'm grateful.
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Jane C. Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, idolator, worshipper of fire, come even though you have broken your vows a thousand times, Come, and come yet again. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Rumi |
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christine felstead, eye bag, legs up the wall, old thread alert, proprioception, yoga audios, yoga workshop reporter, yoga workshops |
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