A Steady Diet of Yoga

The consensus of expert opinion regarding a regular yoga practice is fairly unanimous: it’s good for you. It provides clarity, strength, longevity, and, for some, an overall feeling of synchonicity. For me, it ‘s just enough that I don’t feel like crap.

I am not a model yogi. While I do have a regular practice, I do it in jeans and, often, with a cup of coffee. When missing my practice in the morning, I’ve been known, at times, to do my practice in the evening with a nice full glass of wine. I prefer a black beret to a white turban, skull and cross-bones to an Om symbol, and Radiohead to Ram Das. Even though I do it in unconventional ways, my practice has all the reverence, fortitude, and discipline of any more “traditional” means of yoga. I meditate, breathe, pray, give thanks, and move mindfully with great intention.

Lately, as life’s challenges have mounted, my practice has gotten stronger and more profound. I slip into it with the same natural effortlessness with which I make my coffee in the morning. Each day, as the intensity and vigor of my practice grows, I find more of the essence of my practice spilling over into the rest of my day. I can stay with the breath even in traffic. The confusion of having three jobs is becoming as simple as chopping wood, carrying water, and contemplating my buddha nature.

For a time, with this steady diet of yoga, I find myself able to manifest and digest what I always remind my yoga classes about:

When the yoga practice ends, the real yoga begins.

Regulating Yoga

The debate about the regulation of yoga has been going on in my own mind for years, so I was unsurprised to find out the debate has gotten some media attention over the last few months.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/nyregion/11yoga.html?em

It seems that state governments, strapped for cash are looking at yoga teacher trainings as taxable trade schools. I find this comical on many levels, the least of which is that I gave up welding (a traditional trade) for yoga teaching (really not a trade, so much).  On another level, I now ride the line between being an acupuncturist (highly regulated and licensed) and a yoga instructor (mostly still under the radar).

These regulations will continue and we have only ourselves to blame. For two big reasons.

One: we’re good at what we do. A survey of the NCCAOM showed that people using yoga doubled from 2002 to 2007. The same survey showed that yoga is the most used CAM therapy in America. And why not. It’s now widely available, often dumbed down to be easily accessable (even if that makes it more dangerous). This growing popularity places us more and more in the limelight which, for all professions (even those with a spiritual calling) leads to government oversight.

Two: we’ve already accepted regulation in our hubris to seem more important. We’ve largely bought into the importance of the Yoga Alliance, who has paved the way for the government to approve and regulate us as they have. Why have we done this? Ego. It makes us seem more important even if our credentials (like E-RYT-500) make no sense to most people.

Though it seems inevitable, given the facts and circumstances, I am not in favor of any regulation. It is very difficult to credential safety and quality. It seems to have done very little for acupuncturists besides allowing us to take insurance and actually making what we do legal (acupuncture was illegal in california until the late 70’s). The former being a very mixed blessing. What regulation will largely do for yoga teachers is let more people put their fingers our pot. I often read and hear about yoga being a multi-billion dollar industry. Who’s making all this money? Not myself or any of the yoga teachers I know. Also, I believe we already pay enough in Self-Employment tax and receive no government representation for this (hmmm. sounds familiar: taxation without representation.)

The only solution I can see is union. By uniting under a qualified leadership perhaps we can create a yoga climate that is lucrative, equitable, and safe for the consumer. I’m not sure who could accomplish this, but I know it’s not the people creating overpriced conferences (who stand to benefit greatly from all the CEU’s we’d need to fulfill once regulated) or the yoga alliance that has already led us blindly down the path of regulation. Perhaps a grassroots movement of everyday yogis, like me, who love yoga, the job of yoga, and the yoga people it brings.

Are you out there?

Herbology for Swine Flu

There’s no doubt: cold and flu season has started. People all around me are dropping like rain engulfed in the Ricola coated misery of throat scratching, tissue wiping, body aching illness. Even John Stewart, last week, seemed to be complaining of the same cold my wife is now getting over, which, I suppose, is indirectly good for him, since sick people seem to watch a lot more television. Thankfully, my wife has only missed one day of work and I credit this miracle to the constant vigilance I’ve been giving to her regimen of chinese herbal formulas.

However, there are sinister forces at work. My wife, as a school teacher, is constantly exposed to the most virulent petri dish of cold and flu the world has known: children. Even more worrying is that one of her colleagues was diagnosed with swine flu, aka H1N1 (insert suspenseful music here). As tissue and Tussin sales go up, swine flu seems to be held breathlessly on everyone’s lips. Using chinese herbal formulas to treat this is becoming more well known. It is not surprising that, within china, they are already beefing up their herb supply to treat the impending flu season. A recent article stated that they already had 2 million doses of herbs ready!

Even within the U.S., there are practitioners using these same herbs to treat swine flu and other flus not gifted with such elaborate names and aliases. As an enthusiastic herbalist, I find this exhilarating. Even more exciting would be to have these formulas better integrated into the mainstream health care system, which would, not only help alleviate symptoms, but reduce cost. Chinese Herbs are cheap.

So here’s my vision: a giant steaming cauldron full of herbs, twigs and berries, slowly stirred in the hospital lobby, or the school cafeteria, or the airport security check, with a cup full of decoction for everyone.

Back by the Bay

After a turbulent couple of months, I’ve finally begun to settle in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m back in West Berkeley, only a few blocks from the Bay, and am enjoying weekly rides around the Berkeley Marina. Now that I’ve found a place to teach yoga and practice acupuncture, it feels like I can finally take my hat off and dig my heals in. I’m looking forward to re-connecting with all the lovely people I left here a year ago and picking up all my random projects where I left off.

I’ve started making medical tinctures, working on my detox retox website, and brainstorming herbal formulas for the impending cold and flu season. Good times ahead…

Need for Speed

Sometimes we come full circle in life. Especially when we go real fast.

The reason we get from one decision to another in life  can rarely be summed up in a paragraph or a quick bio, but, I think I can say, with confidence, that the reason I’m so into acupuncture and yoga is because of my history skateboarding and surfing: I hurt myself a whole bunch through my 20’s. Thus, I was naturally drawn to modalities well suited to healing chronic injuries. My daring and recklessness in these extreme sports has, thankfully, not carried over into my professional life. As a yoga instructor and acupuncturist, I am very conservative.

10 years ago, there’s nothing I liked more than bombing down hills on my long board at high speeds dodging cars and running red lights. 5 years ago I’d paddle out in every severe storm that hit the California coast. Now I just like a nice restorative yoga practice followed by a wholesome dinner. Maybe I’m older or maybe I’m wiser.

However, sometimes, my true youthful nature comes out like a werewolf at full moon. Living so close to Mt. Tabor, I have been studying the hills there with a discerning eye. I’ve hiked up there every week (sometimes twice a week) since moving here in November. I’ve watched some skateboarders cruise down the hill with jealousy. So, it was with great inspiration that I opened my quiver of long boards during this recent bout of extreme Portland sunshine to carve my craft on the holy dormant volcano of Portland: Mt. Tabor.

The runs down the mount feel as if the engineer who designed it did so for long boarders in mind. Smooth, fast, wide, easy, with many roads closed to traffic. Carving down the hill in the glorious sun, all my old skills came back; it was like I was 22 again. Unexpectedly, Portland has sweetened the deal. Maybe there’s no surfing in town, but with a hill like Mt. Tabor in my backyard, once again, I’ve got a need for speed.

Unleash your inner awesomeness

I work very hard on maintaining a positive attitude and ignoring all forms of popular media. Still, I hear things from people around town, since I have my ear to the ground. As an acupuncturist and yoga teacher people reveal to me many of their more intimate details: their worries and concerns, fears and doubts. Over the years I’ve learned a few things from these glimpses into so many souls: People are awesome. Which is surprising since there seem to be so many jerks on the road. (George Carlin observed that if some one drives faster than you they are a maniac and if they drive slower they’re an a******).  Another thing I’ve learned is that people are wily. Those who are challenged by life seem to rise to the challenge with incredible inventiveness and tenacity.

I won’t lie to you, times have been tough for me. I won’t go into too much boring detail, but I guess there’s this whole economy thing that has people freakin’ out and everyone says that’s why lots of people around town are having a tough time too. With my ear to the ground I hear some sad tales. Like many others some of my hopes and dreams have died while others have been postponed. A couple of days ago I thought, maybe the Buddhists are right, maybe life is suffering…

 But you know what?!? I have way too good of a time to believe that, even in tough times. Regardless, of my circumstance I have a real good time doing what I do, and I feel damn good in this bag of skin, aches and pains and all. The bleaker things get, the more I loose, the freer I seem to feel to fully unleash my inner awesomeness and re-create myself and my circumstances.

Most of all, I’m surrounded by a whole lotta love and this seems to be getting me outta the funk and back to being an acupunk.

Go Home… and do yoga

I have spent the morning resurrecting my favorite yoga workshop which I will teach tomorrow: “Deepening and Developing a Personal Yoga Practice.” Yes, it is a very long name. I have thought about changing it to “Go Home!… and do yoga,” since that is the working title for the book I am allegedly writing on the same topic. But that seems just a little too in your face.

Creating a personal practice is somewhat of a contradiction since we are trying to create a habit of something designed to break us of our habits.

This is a revolutionary idea at a very important time. The financial benefits are clear. Doing yoga at home is free. The workshop is free. However, it is more important is to make sure your mind is free. Too often we feel caged in our own thoughts, obsessions, and obligations. It seems pretty well documented that it takes constant vigilance and tenacity to maintain connection to the divine, but, the good news, is that it is free and constantly available.

Meditation is my Medication

I could brag that I’ve been meditating nearly everyday since moving to Portland, but, to be honest, I’m not sure I’m doing it right anymore. I generally give myself a pat on the back just for planting my behind on Katy’s zafu pillow since it is not always pleasant. There’s 20-30 minutes of sleep sacrificed for the sake of this practice, not to mention it is really cold in the morning in our new place. I put on a hoodie, a thick robe, and often a knit cap; then, I wrap myself in a warm blanket. If I time things right, I also have a hot half cup of coffee steaming under my nose and warming my soul. Then, I spend at least 90% of my time bugging out about all sorts of things in my life. Mediation can be sort of scary in this respect. Most of us, at some time or another, feels a little crazy, but, taking time to truly look at one’s mind, there is seen the full length, width, and depth of that craziness. My mind infallibly goes a million different directions at once, grappling with all sorts of perceived problems.

So, you might wonder, what keeps me coming back to this cold, sleep deprived, insanity? Inevitably, usually around the time my leg starts to fall asleep, I am wrapped in a calm in which I can only describe as love with no center. If I’m lucky, it lasts for a minute before my mind clicks back into gear. In this time I give thanks with the most authentic of gratitude and pray for the health and prosperity of my family and friends.

In a way it is the opposite of medication. Mary Poppins said a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. I think that with Meditation, it’s in the spoonful of craziness that we find a place to calm down.

I (Green Heart) Oregon

Yesterday, I had a few hours between patients and decided to go for a walk to find a nice place to write. I recently got this great “Portland Walks” book from my friend Jennifer and looked up a local one. Off I meandered through the neighborhoods of Lake Oswego toward the Willamette River. I walked up the river enchanted by the birds and trees, the sun on my back. I stumbled on a group of carved stones marked as the William Stafford Stones. One of them said,

“Oregon is insanely green

It is the thin light

left over from Eden.”

Listening to the bird calls and feeling the silent flow of the river while squinting my right eye to the welcome glareof the sun, I couldn’t help but be filled with a divine connection and a sense of everything coming together. Everyday, I am enchanted by this piece of paradise.

Welcome

Hi! I’m Jeff Levin and welcome to my blog.

Professionally, I practice acupuncture, chinese herbology, yoga therapy, and hatha yoga in Portland.

As an amatuer, I like to eat good food, drink tasty wine, quaff suburb coffee, create stellar art, and contemplate the nature of the universe.

The pages in my blog reflect this multi-faceted approach to existence.

In other news…

I just rediscovered this quote in ‘Freedom from the Known.’ I feel it sums up my current world view better than I can. Unfortunately, I think that just by quoting it, I am undermining what it’s actually trying to say, that truth and the divine are accessed through the individual, not through fancy quotes. I suppose that is the wisdom of paradox.

“You may think there is no waste of energy if you imitate, if you accept authority, if you depend on the priest, the ritual, the dogma, the party or on some ideology, but the following and acceptance of an ideology, whether it is good or bad, whether it is holy or unholy, is a fragmentary activity and therefore a cause of conflict, and conflict will inevitably arise so long as there is a division between ‘what should be’ and ‘what is’, and any conflict is a dissipation of energy.” – Krishnamurti