Well, I thought that would grab some of your attention, haha! It took me slightly by surprise to find that this really was the modern name for a Yoga Asana.... and yes, the name does give a visual aid to practicing it! Thankfully, this below, was not the book I found it in ( though of course, I do have it being a true Scot!)
Rather than either asking you to Google the phrase 'Kinky Cobbler' ( which could go horribly wrong!) or even worse giving a personal demonstration, here's an image borrowed from my source of the asana, 'The Modern Yoga Bible' by Christina Brown.
Friday was our May Pop Up Finale, so I brought this one out of the Yoga box to bring in some fun to finish the month on. Sometimes our weekly themes are 'deep', dealing with the ancient philosophy of Yoga ( look back at the Klesha Blogs below!) - not necessarily what you need every time you come to class! Mostly, I try to make them more topical to connect to our modern lives, whilst still being rooted in the century old guidelines.
Modern life definitely has its benefits as far as Yoga goes. For instance, modern Yoga is completely inclusive, with practices to help solve every problem our new lifestyles throw at us. Also, over 70% of practitioners nowadays are women ( though the number of men is steadily rising), a complete opposite of what would have been the case 2000 years ago when Patanjali wrote his Sutras. One of the main benefits of modern life for our Friday practice was that our classes are online. We can turn the video off and loose all inhibitions in taking Kinky Cobbler! With 30 people sitting beside you it may have felt a little awkward!
Taking this view of online experience a little further, how many of you shrink back inside yourself when asked to stand up and speak or worse, sing in public face to face with real people?! In the Blog earlier this week I discussed the powerful energy of sound and its ability to forge collective emotive experiences. Sitting in an audience listening we can feel 'hidden' enough in the crowd to let go and immerse ourselves, but when asked to stand up and sing along it takes much more confidence. This may mean we don't get the same result or enjoyment from the collective experience. However, online classes are a great way to gain that enjoyment without the blushes! At our finale to our ' Sankalpas - Best of Intentions' week we all joined in with a Mantra. A Mantra according to Sri. Swami Satchidananda is " anything that makes the mind steady, using vibration to create a sort of receptivity". On your mat, in a room by yourself, you hear your own voice saying the words out loud or in your head to yourself. There is a vibrational connection that focuses your mind on them. In class we were aware of our classmates on the other side of our screens as we spoke, but there was none of the possible shyness or embarrassment attached. We could feel free to send our voices 'out there' with no one close by listening.....
Living throughout the Pandemic has changed our lives immeasurably, mostly positively I would hope. It's given many people space and time for reflection, which of course, being on a Yoga mat has always done. Many have realised in this enforced pause that our modern lifestyles have been adversely affecting our health and relationships, to name only a couple of things. Given the opportunity of hindsight it may have felt we had been on a runaway train or a treadmill. Both stopped for a while at least in Lockdown and gave us a chance to decide whether to get back on or take a different journey. That's what modern Yoga does. It helps us to silence all the unnecessary distractions, to connect with who we really are and to realise what we really need for a safe, happy, healthy life. Strangely enough its exactly what Patanjali told us to do all those centuries ago.... maybe life hasn't really changed much after all!
Here's the Mantra we used, saying each sentence on our exhales, sending our best wishes to Ourselves, to You and to All of Us in a collective voice....
By the way, if you'd like to join us, the next 'Early Birds in June' Pop Up begins this Tuesday the1st, so book now here at the Charity Pop Up Page.
Namaste X