This has been an amazing experience. 600 Politicians, Senators, National Institute of Health, IOM, University Professors, Doctors, Naturopaths, TCM, Homeopaths and other practitioners coming together to talk about how our Nation’s health care system can be improved.

Some highlights are:

-          Major push in US towards an Integrative Medicine model

-          Understanding that health care needs to change, is not affordable anymore.

-          All parties (business, health insurance, health professions, patients) seem to agree.

-          President Obama has promised to reform health care with a major focus on prevention

-          Dean Ornish was by far the best speaker (before he had to rush to the Capitol for a Senate hearing to testify about how health care can be improved). His points was that he and many other renowned researchers have done plenty of high quality studies on how heart disease, diabetes, cancer can be reversed up to 70% by lifestyle changes (biopsychosocial, for example plant based diet, yoga, meditation) and that it is time to put this knowledge into action.

-          Prevention on a national scale from kids to adults is necessary and will increase quality of life and health care costs.

-          Several discussions were about yoga and how yoga incorporates many of the health benefits we all seek: physical fitness and flexibility, deep breathing, body mind relaxation, mindfulness.

National Yoga Month will play a vital part in the process of transforming health care from a disease management system to a health and prevention health care model.

Los Angeles, March 1, 2009 – In observation of National Yoga Month (September 2009), the Yoga Health Foundation calls for all yoga studios, teachers and students to go online at www.yogamonth.org and get involved to create one Yoga Month event in every city across the United States.

The Yoga Health Foundation, a nonprofit 501 c(3) organization based in Los Angeles, CA, was founded by Johannes Fisslinger with the intent of delivering yoga and other preventative health care practices to underserved communities.  To achieve this goal, Fisslinger created National Yoga Month, a national awareness campaign to inspire an informed and healthy lifestyle.  In October 2008, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion deemed September (followed by Breast Cancer Awareness in October) to be National Yoga Awareness Month and listed it as an official health observance at www.healthfinder.gov.

National Yoga Month is a campaign to educate and inspire youth and adults to take responsibility for their health by focusing on prevention and living a healthy lifestyle. Yoga Month is the perfect opportunity to begin to create small lifestyle changes for yourself and your family.

HOW OLD SHOULD ONE BE TO START YOGA?

• You can start yoga at any age.

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF PRACTICING YOGA?

• Some of the benefits of practicing yoga are increased flexibility, stronger muscles and connective tissue, alignment of the vertebrae, toned and rejuvenated internal organs.
• In addition, the epidermal, digestive, lymphatic, cardiovascular, and pulmonary systems are purified of toxins and waste matter; the nervous and endocrine systems are balanced and toned; brain cells are nourished and stimulated.
• Results of a regular yoga practice include increased mental clarity, emotional stability, and a greater sense of overall wellbeing.
• Yoga is one of the 10 most utilized Complementary Medicine methods in US.
• Because Yoga operates on so many different levels, it can be an effective therapy for chronic diseases and conditions that do not respond well to conventional treatment methods.
• Additionally, a regular yoga practice will sharpen concentration, balance, and composure.

WHO BENEFITS FROM YOGA MONTH?

• You benefit the most. Start practicing yoga (at home or with a teacher) and feel the difference it will make in your life.
• Yoga Month educational programs were created to offer solutions to diseases such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension and other chronic illnesses that have cast a pall over the health of our youth. 
• Yoga Month proceeds fund the national awareness campaign and health education programs like mind body fitness education for children in pre-schools, kindergarten, elementary schools and after-school programs. 

The Yoga Health Foundation’s 2009 goal is simple: One Yoga Month event in every city.

Get involved. Visit www.yogamonth.org and add your event today!

You might have heard by now that yoga studios are as full as ever. The physical and emotional stress created by the recession (or is it a depression…) is felt all over the country and globally as well.

Yoga has been around for 5000 years and it will be around for many more to come. Maybe there is something to learn from this. Not only can practicing yoga help us live a more balanced and healthy life but the yoga lifestyle can give many important pointers to redesign our economy and society.

Focusing on sustainable growth with sensitivity towards our environment (our close personal reality and earth itself) will be essential in the years to come.

Yoga Month wants to inspire. Yoga Month is about creating a healthy personal lifestyle and a supportive community. Just imagine what millions of yogis and yoginis can do together.

Hello yoga lovers and welcome to the YogaMonth blog.  In this blog – we’re trying to do something never done before, especially for in the yoga community.  We’re writing about our experiences as humble yoga students and hopefully will excite you enough to participate in the yoga classes we write about.  

I’m YogaMan and I wish to share my S. Cali yoga practice experiences with you and hopefully help you in finding the right studio, instructor, and a link to learn about yourself through the study of yoga and self understanding.

So here we GO!

 This week was very special, I finally feel like I’m getting my soccer skills back and FINALLY shedding the “holiday 10”…aka – those 10 pounds I gained while traveling around this beautiful country and visiting loved ones during the Xmas holiday season.

On Wednesday I decided to go to the 24 Hour Fitness on 2nd Street in Santa Monica and practice yoga with Crystal C, a 20-something athletic yoga instructor who has great posture and loves to incorporate breathing exercises into the routine. 

The routine was very calm and concentrated on both breathing and the core, and although it was a bit short for my taste - After the hour-long class I left the gym feeling like I am walking on clouds and ready to take on the day

If you’re in Santa Monica and would like to visit Crystal C and take her class, well she teaches at the 24 Hour Fitness gym every Wednesday at noon…Let her know YogaMan sent you!

Thanks for reading about my experience and be sure to visit again to learn about my next yoga experience.  Also feel free to add me on twitter (YogaMonthMan) and Facebook (Yoga Month).

Namaste & CHEERS
YogaMan

Let your mind wander to the subject of yoga. What do you see? An emaciated Indian man with his feet wrapped around the back of his neck? A lithe, 20-something model with her feet wrapped around the back of her neck? A lithe, 20-something model in skin tight clothing standing on her head?

Or do you see yourself sitting in a chair, one knee crossed over the other, in a gentle twist that energizes your spine, relaxes your shoulders and deepens your breath? (Of course, if you’ve had a hip replacement you won’t see your knees crossed!) If you think that image is impossible, think again!

Yoga has joined the elder world in a big way. More and more senior centers, assisted living facilities, and even skilled nursing facilities now include yoga in their recreational choices. Yoga studios across the country now offer classes called Gentle Yoga, Yoga for Seniors or Therapeutic Yoga. Any of these might be appropriate for an elder who want to enjoy life to the fullest.

Many yoga poses can be adapted and modified to fit the needs of the elder population, and their baby-boomer children who are beginning to feel some aches and pains too! There are yoga teachers who are specially trained in the therapeutic aspects of yoga and are able to create programs especially designed with the elder yogi in mind.

These practices are gentle, move slowly, allow ample time for rest and relaxation and often include enlivening breathing techniques and calming contemplative/meditative practices. Some of the practices can be adapted to a chair or wall for support.

Yoga’s gifts and benefits are many…increased strength and flexibility, more sound sleep, better balance, increased lung capacity, greater peace of mind. All of these benefits increase our joy in living, our acceptance of life-as-it-is, and greater ability to live with purpose (whatever that may be for you). You might find yourself able to play with your grandchildren with greater gusto. Or you might provide that calm center in the midst of a family upset. Or your yoga practice might inspire you to become a mentor in the field you spent decades perfecting. Or you might teach a child who has little family support to read.

You really don’t need to be a pretzel to enjoy yoga. All you need is an open mind.

            At the age of fifty-one my mother took-up yoga after a girls’ getaway to Canyon Ranch Resort during the spring of 2002. While at the beautiful health spa, my once skeptical mother decided to take a class listed as restorative yoga, which involves the use of props such as blankets, bolsters, straps, and blocks to help students into extremely relaxing and healing postures that help relieve symptoms of chronic stress. Typically only five or six poses are performed in one class, the majority being executed on the ground, and each pose is held anywhere from five to ten minutes, ultimately “restoring” the body.

Upon hearing the instruction that she was going to be in one position, concentrating on nothing else other than her breath for ten minutes, my mother freaked out and thought there was no way she could do it—no way could she sit still and just breathe for ten minutes. But, before she knew it the ten minutes had flown by, and the instructor was guiding the class out of the first pose and into the second. As soon as the teacher had lead them into the next position, and the enchanting music infused the air, she once again fell into an extremely relaxed state. Upon leaving the class she felt so relaxed and rejuvenated, my mother knew that yoga was definitely something she wanted to try again. For the remainder of her stay at Canyon Ranch she attended daily restorative yoga classes. Jazzed she actually liked yoga, which was becoming exceedingly popular, she then found a great local studio five minutes from the house, and spent the rest of the summer attending yoga classes, learning the basic fundamentals of a hatha yoga (the physical branch of yoga consisting of yoga poses or postures called asanas) practice. 

            The positive changes were evident almost immediately. Since we had been kids, my brother and I repeatedly witnessed the unraveling of my mother. She would yell, scream, cry, and lose it over what we thought were the silliest things. Granted she had plenty of validity to be stressed, not only was she raising her two children, but two step-children as well as working full-time, and keeping the perfect house. But, that wasn’t it. She was unable to distinguish between minor annoyances and major cataclysms, resulting in a permanent frantic state. Yoga changed all of that.

            During her last few years of teaching (she taught first and second grade for thirty years) she was able to make it to yoga once, maybe twice, a week—enough to radically shift her temperament. The woman, who perpetually carried on five conversations in her head, was learning to become quiet and remain still, to breathe slower, and to focus her attention. She became noticeably calmer, more rational, happier, and peaceful. Yoga has taught her to let go of the small stuff and, although her house is still spotless, she no longer panics if the carpet remains un-vacuumed for 24 hours.  She is more grounded, her personal relationships have improved, and she no longer screams, well, not nearly as much.  I have witnessed a transformation in my mother beyond words. Not only has she become more coordinated, but also she is more confident, comfortable with herself, and empowered to try new things. Naturally she wanted to share the gift with me—the gift of yoga. 

Have you ever seen photos of a yogi standing on one leg with the other one wrapped around the back of his neck? Mindboggling! It’s even more remarkable when we fear for our lives walking on the street, terrified of losing balance. As the population turns gray, more and more of us will be facing this fear on a daily basis.

That remarkable yogi notwithstanding, each of us can improve balance with a calm, steady and regular yoga practice. This post and two to follow will guide you through the practice of Tree Pose/Vrksasana.  Today’s entry shows the pose using a chair for support. It’s best practiced by people whose balance is already a bit shaky! Using the chair will give you confidence while you build strength in your legs and learn to connect with your feet and the earth beneath your feet.

These, and many other practices, can also be found in my book, A Vibrant Life: Yoga in the Middle Years and Beyond.

Tree Pose with a Chair 

Vrkshasana

Place the front legs of the chair against the wall. Stand next to your chair holding onto the back of the chair with your right hand. Shift your weight onto your right foot. Find a spot on the wall in front of you to rest your eyes.

Lift your left leg off the floor with your knee pointed directly forward.  Once you have found your balance, move your left knee out to the side. Place the sole of your left foot against your right ankle.  If your left shoulder is flexible, as you inhale, raise your left arm out to the side bring it up overhead next to your ear. Mindful attention to your breath will help you maintain and develop balance. Remain in this pose for as long as you are comfortable. 

More options:

If you are living with shoulder issues, allow your left hand to rest on your heart.

To come out of the pose: As you exhale, release your arm from overhead or from your heart. Place your left foot on the floor and stand securely on both feet. 

Take a few resting breaths before you turn around and repeat on the other side.

Awareness: Visualize the roots of your tree growing deep into the earth from your standing leg. The crown of your tree reaches up toward the sky. As you are balanced in Tree Pose, be aware that your pelvis is parallel to the wall in front of you so that the two hip bones are pointing directly forward.  Maintain your steadiness by holding onto the back of the chair.

Cautions: dizziness or light-headedness, balance issues

Benefits: improves balance, strengthens legs, opens hip joints

Namaste yogis and yoginis-

Blog coordinator Angela, here. 

Our recent article by Bekah Finch has got me thinking.  It’s no secret to those of us who have been practicing for awhile that yoga transforms us.  Often, first it’s our bodies, then we find ourselves being able to let things go a little easier than before.  We may change our diets and start examining ourselves further.  Our relationships start improving.  Sometimes, we find ourselves so transformed that we wake up one day and can hardly believe we used to act in…whatever less-than-pleasant ways. 

So, we’re on this journey into ourselves, and, eventually, we find ourselves wanting to give back.  But…how?

Karma yoga is the yoga of action in the world.  Through this path, practitioners engage in seva, or selfless service—we help others through our unique talents, or find a cause that speaks to us deeply and advocate for it. 

So, I’m wondering—what’s YOUR seva?  What are you currently doing to make the world a better place, and how did you get started?  Feel free to discuss in the comments section, or, better yet contribute an article to this blog (you can reach me via email at dr.angelakolter on gmail).

Global Mala last year was inspiring. I walked around the room admiring all the beautiful people, the booths, the energy. It was a candy store for a hippie like me- all the organic, healthy and green you could possibly want. I stopped in front of a booth with the title “off the mat, into the world.” I was stunned. It sounded so.. Wonderful. Then I saw Seane Corn and two other beautiful faces smiling up at me from the poster. Something in my belly clicked: I had to do this, whatever it was.

It turned out to be a training program for Yogi’s and activists. It was a bridge between our own healing and allowing that healing to move into our communities. I read the website every day, relishing the strength and hope in this concept. My dear friend Alysha who I did a training with years ago also was devoted to attending this session which only confirmed that I was meant to do it as well.

January 2008 was the month we began. We got up early every morning to drive from Burbank to Venice, where we watched the sunrise over the ocean from our parking spot. I have done many trainings and workshops over the years- but there was nothing like this one. It was more than physical asana, so much more. It was the bridge from body and mind to spirit. We worked our bodies, our voices, our brains  and our souls. We had to speak our truth and admit our dreams and fears. It was hard. It was sweet. It was truly miraculous. I discovered things about myself that I had never known before. I shyly began to create a dream- a dream I had been to afraid to even consider. Working with the others was incredible. The room was filled with power and inspiration- we had to work together- we had to let go of old fears and resentments and connect deeply. I was so high off this workshop I was afraid I might never come down; and perhaps I didn’t want to. Seane Corn, Hala Khouri and Suzanne Sterling were so supportive and magnificent through the training. Hands on, heart to heart and nothing but truth they guided us through our transition. I was so grateful to be a part of the training.

As the week ended, I felt unstoppable- like I could go out and single handedly save the world! My group and I had amazing intentions and possibilities. We were going to make a difference. We had a plan!

But life is funny. As I moved back into my busy, busy life- I got further away from the raw power we tapped into. My ideas and endeavors took a back seat to catching up on bills and my relationships. The constant flow of emails between my group and I slowed and then stopped. I caught myself one day feeling terrible- No wonder the world was in this state! If we, as yogis, couldn’t stay focused enough to make a difference, how could we expect anyone else to?

Yet as I sit here, a few weeks away from Yoga month, I understand that things are as they need to be. I was not able to work in a soup kitchen every week and donate thousands of dollars to charity, no, not yet. But I have brought a new awareness to my life and my community. I have donated money from workshops to tree people, a local group. I am helping to set up and organize the events for Yoga Month in my studio. I feel comfortable speaking my truth and encouraging others to do the same and that it is okay to dream and dream big. As a yoga teacher, I have more respect for what this Yoga is actually about- its not just body- its taking it to the mind, the soul and only then can it transmit to others off the mat. I have learned that I can do Yoga MY way- the way that speaks to me, that fills me up. I have a stronger connection to my planet now and more compassion for others; as I have done deep inner work during my training sessions as well as faced my fears and doubts first hand in the time since. This changing the world stuff is not easy. It is truly much more simple to keep it on the mat. But that’s why there are people like Hala and Seane and Suzanne and Alysha and all the others who feel that click in their belly when they see phrases like “Off the mat, into the world”, “Global Mala” and anything else that tugs at the guts. Slowly, but surely, one mat at a time, I am moving into the world. And I KNOW each of you can, too.

 Editor’s Note:  For more information on the Off The Mat Into The World yogic activism and seva training program, please visit http://www.offthematintotheworld.org.  -Angela

Count on breaking a sweat when practicing Bikram Yoga. The 26-posture series developed by Bikram Choudhury is taught at a piping 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) and 40% humidity. Choudhury affectionately calls his own studio "Bikram’s Torture Chamber." Still, the heat actually helps loosen muscles for intense stretching and protects against injury.

The series evolved from Choudhury’s own experience with a weight-lifting injury. Doctors said he wouldn’t walk again, but he refused to hear it. Instead he returned to his childhood teacher, Shree Bishnu Charan Ghosh, for six months of yoga therapy. When Choudhury completely recovered, Ghosh encouraged him to open yoga schools of his own.

Choudhury designed his signature series to sequentially stretch and contract the total body in 90 minutes. The practice, taught in Bikram Yoga studios worldwide, makes the physical and spiritual benefits of hatha yoga accessible to beginners, but also promises to challenge more advanced students.

Bikram Yoga exploits the "tourniquet effect." After an opening pranayama breathing exercise, the sequence unfolds into 24 poses handpicked for stretching, balancing, and creating pressure. Each posture specifically stretches the body to prepare it for the next one. The series closes with a detoxifying breathing exercise.

The patented Bikram Yoga routine is rooted in Patanjali’s tradition of the Yoga Sutras. Choudhury does not claim these classical poses are his inventions. Instead he emphasizes the order in which the postures are strung together as his method’s distinguishing feature.

Rather than demonstrating each asana, Bikram Yoga teachers guide their students with their words. Verbal instructions and adjustments help each student find her pose. Studios offer mirrored walls to encourage physical and spiritual awareness of one’s practice.

Though new students may find sauna temperatures stifling, drinking more water throughout the day can help these feelings fade. Concentrating on normal breathing even while fighting through a posture alleviates nausea. It is not unusual to feel exhausted after the first few classes, but regular practice awakens reserves of energy.

It’s common to inadvertently memorize the basic series, but there’s still much to learn from repetition. Micro-adjustments can further improve familiar poses. Rather than jump ahead in anticipation, the trick is to synchronize movements with the teacher’s instructions. Every posture becomes an opportunity to engage with a beginner’s mind.

Practice draws the student into their inner life and fosters mental calmness. Choudhury breaks it down into the five aspects of mind: Faith, Self-control, Determination, Concentration, and Patience. A dedicated physical practice helps the student build self-esteem and cultivate strength of mind in turn.

Bikram Yoga both energizes and calms the mind-body. After powering through a killer back bend, you cherish every second in the resting pose that follows, even if it only lasts for a breath and a half. Other times you may teeter out of a balancing pose into an unsuspecting neighbor. If you can laugh it off, the rejuvenating benefits of this cleansing practice will keep you coming back to take the heat. 

It was about 11:40 A.M. on July 29, 2008. The students of the Gentle/Therapeutic class were resting on their backs in the final relaxation pose, called shavasana, the Corpse Pose. In this pose, the body surrenders and relaxes completely while the breath and mind stay alert and engaged. As the teacher I led a focus for the relaxation the breath. We had spent the previous hour with attention to the rib cage and mid-back in various gentle asanas (poses).

I sat on my mat, speaking softly, when I felt a gentle movement of the floor. Could it be a delivery truck? In several seconds the movement became a rolling and I knew another earthquake had shifted the plates and faults of Mother Earth.

In a calm voice I said, “Earthquake. Focus on your breath and remain calm and tranquil.” Needless to say, the energy in the room changed as the sensations of the rolling earth came into everyone’s consciousness. Most of the students stayed lying on the floor. Several sat up. One sprung up in alarm.

The rolling ceased and there was a little more shaking. Everyone found their seat again. Again I reminded the students to stay focused on the breath. As we calmed, I suggested we bring palms together in anjali mudra, the prayer position. We offered up gratitude that we hadn’t been hurt, the studio was intact and we had a great story to tell about the meeting of Earthquake and Shavasana.

“I can’t do yoga; I’m not flexible.”  Because yoga, like so much else in our culture, is portrayed by and for our children and grandchildren, we believe we are not capable of receiving yoga’s myriad benefits. I’m here to bust that myth!

I came to yoga in my 40s, hardly fit or flexible. I was the oldest student. I fell in love instantly, and knew I wanted to share this remarkable practice with people my age. Right after I completed teacher training, I fell ill with what tuned out to be a genetic blood disorder. I used yoga to aid my year-long recovery. From my personal experience I became an expert on the remarkable healing, enlivening, and inspiring gifts of yoga.

I discovered that all yoga practices could be adapted and modified to suit the needs of each individual. If that were not so, yoga would not have survived its 5000 year-old history. Each of us has inherent capacities that blossom with yoga practice. Most of the standing poses can be modified to suit any limitations. They can often be practiced using a chair or wall for support. The seated poses, usually practiced on the floor, are easily modified to a chair. Even back bends can be adapted to a chair. There is even a specific practice to loosen all the joints and help with the easing of joint pain—maybe even preventing it.

In the West yoga means standing on your head or being a pretzel. Rarely do we think of the energetic practices of yoga that are most appropriate for the middle years and beyond. In addition to the physical postures, there are meditation and concentration practices that benefit those of us who are in what the yoga tradition calls the third stage of life, the stage of wisdom. This is the time of our lives when we have the opportunity to pass on the knowledge we have gained over decades of experience. Yoga practice helps make that possible.

There are yoga therapists and yoga teachers who specialize in adapted yoga for people in their middle years and beyond. Find one who can help you live a vibrant life no matter what your condition or age. Yoga practice will become in integral part of your life, one you won’t be able to live without. And that’s not a myth—it’s the truth.

Lauren Cahn has an editorial in the Huffington Post entitled "Namaste . . . Bitches."  It’s hysterical and satirical, and one of the most enjoyable yoga articles I have read in months.  Cahn’s humor moves from the true-to-life to the slightly absurd, and the entire time reminds us that yoginis and yogis are always human.  Even the most diligent and inspired practitioners make mistakes and encounter difficulties. 

We see articles illustrating these same points all the time, but Cahn does so in a way that genuinely reminds us not to take ourselves so seriously.  Yes, we aspire to live a yogic life.  Yes, we slip up.  But that should not be a cause for shame or embarrassment.  We need to correct our behavior, learn from those mistakes, but also laugh at ourselves.

Denver, CO – July 4, 2008 – Yoga Month 09.2008, a national awareness campaign to inspire a healthy and informed lifestyle, kicks off the Democratic National Convention in Denver with a nonpartisan yoga health festival and benefit concert.  Yoga master Seane Corn and music sensation Justin Nozuka will headline events.

The Yoga Health Foundation, a 501 c (3) nonprofit organization, will officially launch Yoga Month, a national awareness campaign to inspire a healthy and informed lifestyle, in Denver on the eve of the Democratic National Convention (DNC).  On August 24 and 25, the Yoga Health Foundation and OmPass, a yoga and health resource company, will produce the Yoga Month Denver Health Festival at the City Park in the Minsuk Cho Architectural Pavilion for Public Discourse.   The festival is nonpartisan and will be presented by the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee and the City of Denver Office of Cultural Affairs.    

The floating, futuristic Pavilion will house world renowned yoga experts, green and holistic vendors, celebrated medical practitioners and health-conscious politicians during a yoga festival geared toward cultivating awareness, inspiration and an action plan for conquering the health care crisis engulfing the country.   Yoga masters Seane Corn, Hemalayaa and Hala Khouri will team up with music sensation Justin Nozuka to raise national consciousness about health care and the inexpensive and holistic options available to prevent and treat a myriad of illnesses.

The Yoga Month Denver Health Festival will be the first of ten festivals implemented in celebration of Yoga Month by the Yoga Health Foundation.  Additional yoga health festivals will take place in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, New York, Austin, Chicago, Boston, Miami and Vancouver.  Proceeds generated by Yoga Month activities will benefit Youth Health Alliance, a charity that provides free yoga inspired enrichment classes to underserved youth and the families that support them.

The Yoga Health Foundation is a 501 c (3) nonprofit located in Los Angeles, CA.  The Yoga Month 09.2008 health initiative is the first of its kind and seeks to bring the benefits of yoga to underserved communities.   The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion designated September as National Yoga Month and lists Yoga Month as an official health observance on Healthfinder.gov.  For more information, please visit www.yogamonth.org or contact Vera at 818-762-4767.

My introduction to yoga was in a basement classroom at a community college. I was so impressed by the girl in headstand I began to seek out studios. The first studio I went to was a Bikram studio. Then I found Ashtanga.  I spent the next three years in love with the physical benefits of yoga. Power yoga, Vinyasa flow, Anusara and whatever level 2/3+ class I could find was where I put my mat. I had no interest in slowing down. I used to come to class five minutes late and leave five minutes early so I could miss the “breathing” and the “savasana.”