Yoga Supporting the Cancer Community

This year's Pose 4 a Purpose festival has become something a little different. For the past 2 years, I've organized - with the help of very dedicated volunteers - a wonderful outdoor yoga festival that raised money for Cancer CAREpoint. This local nonprofit offers free non-medical support services to anyone dealing with cancer in the Silicon Valley. This means you, your neighbors, your friends and family who have been touched by cancer (and is there anyone who hasn't been?) can benefit from their wide-reaching support.

Instead of organizing an outdoor festival, we decided to ask the local yoga studios to support Cancer CAREpoint directly. Each of our participating studios agreed to host events to raise funds for this great cause. Thank you, Almaden Yoga, Breathe Los Gatos, Just Breathe @ Rivermark, Willow Glen Yoga, Yoga @ Cindy's and Yoga of Los Altos for coming together and supporting us again!

Here is a short list of some of the wonderful events you can participate in and contribute to cancer support in your community:

• Bollywood dance
• Chanting
• Yoga mala (108 sun salutations)
• Aerial yoga relaxation
• Body work
• Acro yoga
• Kids yoga
• Heated vinyasa yoga
• Gentle yoga
• Vinyasa workshop for teachers
• Self-massage workshop
• Restorative yoga
• Candlelight flow to live guitar music
• Juice bar purchases

Click the flyers below and our participating studios' websites for more information. This is such a beautiful example of the yoga community coming together in order to lessen suffering in themselves and others... and as we learn in yoga, "there are no others". Namaste.

almadenyoga.com

breathelosgatos.com

   

   

justbreatheyogarivermark.com

willowglenyoga.com

    

yogaatcindys.com

yogaoflosaltos.com

How Do I Win at Yoga?

Recently The Onion, an online source of satirical commentary, posted about meditation and I found one line in this funny article to be especially interesting:

"With consistent practice, you should start developing calluses on your chakras in no time."

This made me chuckle, and then it made me think.

Yoga has recently come under fire because of its apparent obsession with the physical form; yoga selfies are now a thing to be debated; there's an entire movement dedicated to educating the public that you can do yoga with any body shape or size, and instructors like Annie Carlin and Dana Falsetti have been getting a lot of traction as they demonstrate via pictures and videos how size doesn't matter in asana.

So why are we so concerned with how the pose looks?

Do the ancient yogic texts spend countless words on the precise alignment and sensation in each pose? As someone who has skimmed some of these texts (don't call me an expert!), I can tell you that asana is very rarely mentioned.

So why do we spend countless hours practicing yoga? Aligning this way and that... Checking our alignment in the mirror and asking for other's opinions about our postures. What is it we are really practicing for?

As The Onion author so cleverly illustrated, it's hard to quantify results from a subtle practice. In fact, I would say that the deeper and more subtle my practice gets, the less I want to quantify or even discuss it. Everything I try to say about my non-physical practice of yoga falls short or sounds arrogant.

But show me a picture of my navasana from 6 months ago and compare it to today's, and I'll see those quantifiable changes. And that will feed my ego just enough to keep coming back to the mat, which is where the real practice begins anyway, the practice that brings calluses to my chakras.

Lorien in the Wild! 

Come to one of my Education Workshops or Fundraisers for  Cancer Support

Living Better With Yoga & Breast Cancer

Fri, April 15 - Sun, April 17 @ Vista Yoga, Decatur, Georgia

Erase Cancer Weekend Fundraiser for Cancer CAREpoint

Sun, April 24 @ Breathe Los Gatos, CA

Summer of Love Fundraiser for Cancer Survivor's Yoga Retreat

Sun, June 26 @ Breathe Los Gatos, CA

Living Better With Yoga & Cancer Intro Workshop

Sat, Aug 6 @ Santa Barbara Yoga Center, Santa Barbara, CA

Yoga, a Tool to Relieve Suffering

I often joke with my students that my favorite place to practice my calm, 3-part breathing is in the dentist's chair. I know there may be a few of you reading who actually enjoy the dentist, but let me tell you that it's one place where suffering arises for me. A lot. Not just physical suffering (although there's plenty of that to go around), but emotional suffering, too. I have a knack for beating myself up about my dental hygiene, if I'm not careful. After a few decades of unpleasant experiences at the dentist, I decided to try something different. I started using my yogic breathing and conscious relaxation techniques to calm down during my visits, and it really helped make my appointments more enjoyable. I even had a dental hygienist ask me if I was falling asleep once! Focusing on my breathing helps keep my mind away from the blame rut, and my physical practice allows me to relax into the chair without triggering my chronic pain.

During my most recent visit, my doctor found a chip in one of my many fillings, and asked me to stay to get it taken care of right away. That meant that instead of 60 minutes of dentist-chair practice, I got 90 minutes. While I was waiting for the anesthesia to take effect, I checked my emails, and found one from someone who had just been diagnosed with cancer. She and I knew each other from before my yoga days, when our children went to school together, and then she began coming to classes with me. As my mouth grew numb, my heart broke. I pictured the long road ahead for her: surgery (if she's lucky), chemo, radiation (hopefully not)... Minutes before, I had been lamenting the drill, the soreness, the drooling that would come with my dental work. These discomforts paled compared to what she is facing. I replied to her email with the only answer I have: come to yoga.

There is a special chemistry that forms in our Yoga for Cancer Survivorship classes, a recipe made up of all the students who show up, despite what they are feeling and facing. Some days there are tears. Some days there is laughter. Some days I feel helpless and can only host an accepting environment that I hope does some good. Some days there is joy. Students are reminded of their connection with each other and with their bodies. Whether it's anxiety or pain, students report feeling relief from the suffering after class.

On Saturday, September 12, I'll be producing the second annual Pose 4 a Purpose Yoga Festival and Fundraiser in Los Gatos. This event brings together nearly 20 of the area's yoga studios and many more teachers, who volunteer their time and talents to raise money for Cancer CAREpoint, a local nonprofit offering free non-medical services to people with cancer. From wig banks to support groups, meditation to massage, nutrition to yoga lessons, this organization presents several different ways to support people dealing with the suffering brought on by a cancer diagnosis.

I'm so pleased to be able to unite our yoga community this way, so that we can practice to relieve our own suffering, as well as others. I hope you'll join me!

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

"May all beings everywhere be happy and free from suffering"

Goals, Not Dreams

I recently watched a video of Australian artist Tim Minchin giving an address at Western Australia University, and I really resonated with what he calls his "nine life lessons". In this address he states,

"I advocate passionate dedication to the pursuit of short-term goals. Be micro-ambitious. Put your head down and work with pride on whatever is in front of you… you never know where you might end up. Just be aware that the next worthy pursuit will probably appear in your periphery. Which is why you should be careful of long-term dreams. If you focus too far in front of you, you won’t see the shiny thing out the corner of your eye."

You can watch the full video, below, and it's well worth the time. It's funny and insightful, and it came to me at exactly the right time.

Even as a child my dreams always had backup plans. Adults asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I replied, "Prima Ballerina." They they asked me what I would do if that didn't work out. I shrugged and responded, "I'll be a ballet teacher." I remember having those conversations as early as seven years old! I was never one to romanticize my dreams. I wasn't all that connected to them. In college, I went through four majors - all wildly different from each other. When I left engineering to teach yoga, I did so with the understanding that my path is a windy one, and to try to look around the corner will only lead me to suffering.

So, I adopted Mr. Minchin's philosophy of pouring my heart into whatever work lay in front of me, always staying open to what comes next, but never trying to force it. Which is how teaching yoga to people with cancer came about. I didn't actively seek this work, but once I devoted my heart to it, I found it really fit.

Back in December, I decided to set several goals for myself for the year 2014. I wrote about these goals as being "leaps" in the Year of the Horse. Today, I'm looking back on those goals:

In April, I led a training for yoga teachers who wish to work with people who have cancer. This 40-hour training was conducted mostly by myself, with some guest speakers. The teachers that I've studied with made it look so easy to lead, but I wasn't fooled; I knew it would be a bog task to organize, write and present the material in a way that made sense and lasting impressions. I learned some big lessons there, and will implement them when I run this program again next year.

In July, I went to Africa with my daughter and 17 other women for a yoga and service retreat. This trip across the world is still affecting me. I've written one blog about it here, but I'm sure there are more in me. I just haven't processed the experience fully yet.

This Saturday is the Pose for a Purpose Yoga Festival and Fundraiser at Vasona park in Los Gatos. Back in December, I had the idea to raise money for Cancer CAREpoint, and realized that I couldn't do it alone. I need to ask my friends for help. Asking is hard for me; it's a practice. It turns out that asking was the easiest part! People can be so generous. Not everyone, no. But 99%, which keeps me hopeful.

As of yesterday, we earned enough in festival ticket sales to cover our expenses - money that my husband and I have spent out of our pockets to make this event happen. You can imagine my relief! So now, all the ticket sales moving forward will be donated to Cancer CAREpoint, a nonprofit organization that make dealing with cancer just a little bit easier. This was the goal all along: to have money flow into Cancer CAREpoint. By passionately dedicating myself to this goal, it has become a reality.

I do have a glimpse of the next shining thing, as Minchin calls it, but I'll save that for another post...

Some people have big perspectives; they can hold their big dreams for a long time until they become reality. I prefer smaller goals, and the dogged discipline it takes to see them through.

To find out more about the festival, go to www.pose4apurpose.com.
To  find out more about Cancer CAREpoint, go to www.cancercarepoint.org.

September Offerings

Greetings, September! Did this month sneak up on anyone else? Ready or not, here it is.

School is back in session, the earth is showing her dry spots and many of us are noticing the changes in our schedules and in our lives.

I'm no exception.

This week marks several new classes, times and locations for classes for people with cancer. As some of you know, teaching people with cancer is my calling and my privilege. I am incredibly honored to add these new classes to my schedule. I hope to see some of you there, if it is appropriate for you to be there. Please help me spread the word to those who need these practices during some of their most challenging times.

Namaste,
Lorien

Stanford Cancer Supportive Care Program has moved its yoga classes to a new location! 

We are now holding yoga classes 3 days a week at Samyama Yoga Center, located at 2995 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto. This new center is very luxurious and has welcomed our program with open arms. On Mondays, Denise Wendler (my first yoga teacher) will lead the Restorative Yoga class, which is open to students in any stage of their cancer journey. On Wednesdays, I will lead a Gentle Yoga for Cancer Recovery class, which is the next step from restorative and invites movement and includes some (optional) standing poses; this class is designed for those through their more active phase of treatment through recovery. On Thursdays, I will lead a Yoga Basic for Cancer Survivors class, which offers a bridge for those students who are through treatment and would like to eventually step into any other yoga class with confidence and safety. All classes meet 1:30-2:45pm and are open to survivors as well as caregivers and are offered free through Stanford's generous donations.

Cancer CAREpoint has a newly remodeled space and yoga classes!

The Cancer CAREpoint resource center, located at 2505 Samaritan Dr., Suite 402, in San Jose, has expanded to include a space for yoga classes. In addition to the weekly Tuesday classes held at Breathe Los Gatos Yoga Studio, we are now offering a weekly Wednesday evening class at the resource center. This class is designed for students who are working during their cancer treatment, or those who are through their active treatment and returning to work. The class meets Wednesday 6:00-7:00pm and will include breathing, stretching and some standing work. In October, there will be an additional Thursday morning class, taught by Linda Toenisketter. Classes are meant for survivors and are free (but we will gladly accept donations).