Breathing ain’t easy, but it can be taught

By Nikki Dowling
The Riverdale Press

High school history teacher, Harvard graduate and active volunteer Dominique Padurano knows a thing or two about stress. That would explain why she practices breathing exercises with students during class, teaches yoga after school and plans to volunteer her services on weekends.

The 39-year-old has taught at Horace Mann’s upper division for four years and has lived locally for just as long.  She  said she noticed the school’s rigorous academic requirements wore students thin. So she began practicing yoga breathing and stretching exercises at the beginning of class to enliven or calm students, depending on what they needed. 

“In the beginning they’ll think I’m crazy, I’m sure ... but I think that they realize the benefits,” Ms. Padurano said, adding that she gives students stretching ideas to reduce back pain and sleeplessness.
Current and former students said the short practice period makes a big difference.

“I’ve never done yoga or really breathing before. It relaxes you,” 11th grader Spencer Reiss, who is currently taking Ms. Padurano’s class, said. He added that his Spanish teacher recently imitated the routine.

Senior Tucker Caploe said Ms. Padurano “made sure we were de-stressed and ready to work.”
Last year, Ms. Padurano revived the after-school yoga program to help with further stress-busting. Once every week in the school’s Black Box Theater, she teaches a small group of students how to bend, breath and pose until they fall into relaxation.

“Horace Mann is a pretty intense place and I think that teachers and students can use the tools that yoga can give us for dealing with stress,” Ms. Padurano said, adding that she offered a course for faculty and staff last year and is receiving requests to continue it.

Wearing black leggings, silver jewelry and a black tank top, Ms. Padurano performed some poses during an interview last month. Diving gracefully into an effortless plank, the 13-year yoga veteran didn’t look like she needed any more instruction. Yet, she said she was currently getting her teaching certification from Yoga Haven in Tuckahoe, N.Y.


Ms. Padurano is also finishing up a four-week course with the Good Dog Foundation, a nonprofit that trains dogs and their owners to work in animal-assisted therapy and was started for families and victims following the Sept. 11 attack.

Ms. Padurano and her white German Shepard, Blanca, will be a “Good Dog Team” that goes into nursing homes, hospitals or other institution to provide company and companionship to those who want it.

“Given that Riverdale’s got a lot of nursing homes I might wind up in a senior citizen center,” she said
Ms. Padurano  taught at Rutgers University, University of Texas at El Paso and at public schools in Long Island. She has a Ph.D from Rutgers in U.S. history, a master’s in education from Dowling College and a bachelor’s in art history from Harvard.

“To teach at a school like Horace Mann is a dream because the students are smart and engaged,” she said. “At Horace Mann if you’re a teacher you can really be a teacher.”
And a yoga instructor.

Yoga in Scarsdale Elementary School

Yoga in the School

Scarsdale’s Heathcote Elementary School implemented a new “Mindfullness Program” in November.  Part of the program consisted of each class participating in three yoga classes during the 4 weeks.  Yoga Haven’s awesome staff of six kid’s yoga teachers taught 58 classes during that month!  The program was a great success.  

Following are a couple of poems written by the students. 

Yoga Helps, 

by Maya

Yoga finds inner peace

In your mind on your body

Find a pose that’s for you

Your body will love it

You will too

Yoga is a tree

A mountain, a turtle

Yoga can be anything

As long as you look at it from the right way

Yoga Day, 

by Nicia

Yoga is a calming way

If you’re a tree it let’s you calmly sway

The lotus lets you calmly stay

All these poses have a way

In the yoga time of day

Yoga, 

by Stephan

Yoga is not for me

Sometimes it makes me crazy

The frog and the tree

Are all hard for me

So whenever I do those poses

I fall down

Yoga , 

by Caleigh

Cat dog, cow and tree

As you breathe count to three

Calm yourself and feel free

Yoga helps me be me

The Tree, 

by Ariel

The tree is calming

I have to stay very still

So I do not fall

Yoga, 

by Miles

Yoga is here everyday

It is new

Not for play

You stay still

Don’t walk away

Blend in with a tree any day

Poses, 

by Jocelyn

Cobra

Airplane

Warrior 1

Warrior 2

Those are some poses you can do

Cow

Tree

Cat

Downward

Dog

Please don’t forget the frog

Yoga is good for me,

by Axel

Yoga is good for me

It helps me to relax

I can stretch up and become a tree

Or bend down and meditate

I can breathe well when I ice skate

And make a figure eight

Or I can go down town to make a touchdown

Yoga is good for me

Yoga,

by Sarah Kazan

There are many poses in yoga

People know the tree and downward dog

But not really the frog

It may seem very silly

But really it’s good for you

Movie stars and athletes do it

Before they perform

So they can have a good form

Yoga,

by Rachel

Although the trees do not move

When in wind or a storm

You have to stay still

Have good posture

Have good form

Lotus, cobra warrior 2

These poses keep me calm

What about you?

Yoga helps me get rid of

Any bad thoughts in my head

I won’t just sit and relax

I’ll do yoga instead

Billy Joel, Leonardo da Vinci, and Kirtans?

So….what do Billy Joel, Leonardo da Vinci and Kirtans have in common, you ask?  Read on…

"I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by."

-  Billy Joel

"Do you know that our soul is composed of harmony?"

- Leonardo da Vinci

“Chanting is a way of getting in touch with yourself.  It’s an opening of the heart and letting go of the mind and thoughts.” 

- Krishna Das

There you have it.  It’s a belief that music heals and touches your soul.  That it can light up your heart, bring a smile to your face, or send chills down your spine.  If you love music—and we know you do--come check out our Kirtan this Saturday, Oct 23 from 8-9 pm at Yoga Haven.  Led by teachers Denise Madden (vocals and harmonium), and Ann Casapini (vocals), as well as by three professional jazz musicians – Arthur Rotfeld (who composes many of the numbers, sings and plays the guitar), Alan Eicher or Stefynie Rosenfeild (keyboards), and Steve Mansfield (drums), the evening promises to be an uplifting and joyful experience.

If you’ve never attended a Kirtan, you may have some questions.  Maybe you don’t know what it’s all about.  Maybe you’re afraid you’ll be forced to sing in public.  Maybe you think it’s just not your thing.  Well, we sat down with Denise, Ann, and Arthur to find out just what a Kirtan is and why Yoga Haven offers this musical event for its students and the greater community.

What is a Kirtan?

Ann: To put it simply, at a Kirtan we’re sitting around singing and making music together. For me, it’s pure joy.  I love to sing.  But, you don’t have to be a good singer.  It’s not about that.  It’s a joyful thing. We sing.  We make good music.  We uplift our mood because it’s fun.  It’s all about sound and sound vibration. We’re raising our vibration level which can actually heal the body and raise our spirits. 

  

Denise: It’s a celebration of the community and a chance for us all to come together in a joyful way.  Simply by being at a Kirtan you open up to an opportunity for the mind to settle and become focused and then the heart is able to recognize its true nature of joy and freedom.  Chanting creates a space of such support and you become absorbed in the universal language which is simply love! 

Is there a cost?

Denise: We ask for a $10 donation which the musicians generously accept as their payment for the evening. But if that’s a hardship, you can donate whatever you’re able.

What are you singing?

Ann: We’re singing chants. If you’ve taken yoga classes, you may have heard some of these tunes before.  We sing music by Krishna Das and Jai Uttal, and by our own Arthur.   We sing in a call and response style.  I sing a short phrase.  You sing a short phrase.  And it’s repeating back and forth between you and me.  So it creates this flow of vibration and a sense of community.

What do you mean by vibration?

Denise: There is a particular back and forth, call and response rythmn to chanting. This rythmn holds the vibration of everyone in the room and when you have a lot of people in the same room, energetically offering their voices it is powerful!  The chants are sung in Sanskrit and we sing it in this language because of the vibrational quality of the words. It’s the juxtaposition of the vowels and the consonants within the Sanskrit words that hold the vibrational resonance which makes it intensified.  And then we use instruments like the harmonium, guitar, drums, keyboard and our voices to elevate and maximize that vibration.  It’s that vibration that moves through us and opens our hearts. This is the kind of music that can move you into a deeper understanding of your heart.

What’s the music like?

Ann: Some of it is melodic, some of it’s upbeat -- there’s a range.  There are quiet numbers, numbers that sound almost romantic, numbers that sound like you could dance to them, and some with a Latin feel. And Arthur writes these beautiful pieces that brings something more contemporary to it.

How do the Kirtans at Yoga Haven compare to the larger venues in NYC?

Ann: There is something to the intimacy we have -- kind of like being in the front row of a concert as opposed to being way in the back.  There’s an immediacy to the exchange of energy.  You feel it in your bones when you’re that close.  It’s a pretty cool thing.  It’s not like the audience is in the dark and we’re in the bright lights.  It’s a shared experience and it builds community.  Friendship is built on shared experience and fun and that’s what this is – FUN.

How long have the Kirtans been going on at YH?

Denise: We started in 2006.  I had been chanting on my own for a while and I had been inspired to buy a harmonium.  I wanted to bring the Kirtan here as a part of building the community of Yoga Haven. It started with Antonia and me.  She had chants she liked, I had some I liked and we took it from there. Then Ann and I came together. Her voice is so beautiful--she adds an element of beauty.  But the big shift came in 2008 when Arthur came on because it opened our repertoire so much more.  He could hear the music and play it and then he started creating music for us which just blew us away.  When you start creating music together there’s a coming together of the hearts that’s very powerful.

Arthur, how did you become involved in the Kirtan?

Arthur: A couple of years ago, Denise asked me to do it.  I accepted because I’m the kind of guy who does what the teacher asks (he chuckles).  She was all smiley, so I said sure.

Denise, laughing:  He was in my class a good year before I found out he was a guitarist and composer which is why I asked him if he would play the guitar for the Kirtan.  I told him the names of a couple of my favorite songs and when he came back and played them so beautifully for me, I thought ‘Wow, this is the guy we need.’ 

What’s your background?

Arthur: I’m a musician, teacher, and writer.  I teach guitar, piano and composition.  I went to college for jazz and music education and then to graduate school for classical composition. 

How did Steve and Alan become involved?

Arthur: I’ve worked with Steve since 1988, since we were freshmen in college.  Alan and I met on the scene gigging…it’s been at least 10 years.  We play jazz and instrumental music at clubs and private functions.  I just asked them if they were interested and they said yes.  And Stefynie is a great musician who fills in when Alan can’t make it.

Before signing on, did you know anything about Kirtans or the music?

Arthur: It was new to me.  I started learning by listening to CDs by Shantala, then Krishna Das and Jai Uttal.  I got a book of traditional chants.  So we play some recognizable tunes and a good amount of original ones.

If they’re set chants how can yours be any different than say, Krishna Das?

Arthur:  You’re really taking the text and putting it to music.  So if you take something like Om Nama Shivaya, there are probably thousands of melodies for it. I’ve set them with melodies and harmonies that feel right for the mood of the text, with my musical conception.  The meaning and rhythm of the words matters most and that often serves as my initial inspiration.

Denise: They’re all chants based on original Sanskrit text.  All the different melodies come from what moves that particular individual’s creative heart. And wow, we are so fortunate to have such a creative heart here in Arthur!

Are you glad you signed on?

Arthur: Yes. The real thrill comes from making music for an appreciative audience.  I’m looking to create a meaningful experience for everyone in the room.  It’s very rewarding.

What can people expect to get out of it?

Ann: It’s kind of like a yoga class.  You can take yoga on so many levels.  You can take it for your back pain, to de-stress, or to go deeper inside yourself.  It’s the same with Kirtan.  It can be a concert, a mood lifter, or a spiritual journey.  It’s what you bring to it.  You get out of it what you need to get out of it.  And, you may go not expecting to get anything out of it –and then find it surprises you.

Denise: It really gives participants a deeper connection to their hearts and to the hearts of those around them.  The chanting is really a vehicle in.  It’s a way for us to all join as one. We all want to be happy and chanting does bring a sense of true joy to our being.  You just can’t help but feel moved and happy by coming together with others in this way.  It makes you happy in the heart, open to be touched, moved, and inspired.

What do you personally get out of it?

Ann: I’m there because I really like that I can participate with other people. I love music and it makes me happy.  With so many other things in life you can intellectualize it-- plan it, but I don’t with this.  I just do it for the pure joy.  Think about children.  When they play, they play for the pure joy of it.  And for me, that’s what chanting is.  It’s for the pure joy of it.

Arthur: We (Arthur and the other musicians) like coming to a place where it’s a listening and supportive environment – where people aren’t talking over the music, where you’re not competing with distractions.  I also get the same thing that other participants get of it – the spiritual benefits, the meditative benefits, the community benefits.

Denise: For me chanting is like sipping a sweet divine elixir and the more I sip in the energy of the room, the more intoxicating the experience, until I am totally blissed out!  The energy in the room itself transforms and it is the sweetest experience when we can make deeper connections to one another in this way.  The experience is made more powerful by all of us just sharing heart space.  The power is in the sharing of the experience for sure.

Any last thoughts?

Ann: Even if you aren’t in the mood to sing, you’re still going to feel the sound.  It’s like going to a concert.  If you go to hear music you like, it usually shifts your mood.  So if you’ve never been, check it out.  You don’t have to stay for the whole thing, but checking it out is a good thing to do.

The Book Shelf

What We’re Reading… 

Yoga Haven Staff Picks

Our newest Book Shelf selection The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael Singer, comes from Yoga Haven teacher Alex von Bidder (who by the way is an author himself.  If you haven’t seen his adorable children’s book Wiggins Learns His Manners at the Four Seasons, be sure to peek at it in the YH shop).  Here’s what Alex had to say about his book choice:

“Yoga is an art and science that enables us to go beyond our traditionally narrow way of experiencing life.  This beautifully written book by Michael Singer, describes the process of self-discovery in an easy, effortless and enjoyable way. The Untethered Soul is a brilliant step-by-step path to discovering your very best Self and how to express it in the world.  In it Singer reminds us of the unlimited positive energy available to us.  He teaches us how to identify and transform anything blocking that energy, so that we can successfully access and use it.  I found this book to be a life-changing read.  I hope that you will too.”  

Copies of The Untethered Soul are available for sale in the Yoga Haven shop.

Private Thoughts - Yoga Teacher Trainees Journal Entry 9/26/2010

"Interesting thought that occurred to me today as I was getting ready this morning. I have been hesitating writing the “weekly journal” part of my required Yoga teacher training homework because in the back of my mind I am not sure where I should write. Should I write in my huge spiral journal notebook that I already started journaling in years ago but hardly ever write in? Should I use loose leaf paper so I can put it in my Yoga manual? Should I use a new, thinner spiral notebook that I dedicate to Yoga thoughts and class notes? Should I buy a beautiful journal to chronicle my thoughts and have as a keepsake for the future? Should I write in the computer? Perhaps even start a blog about my contemplations and jumpstart my formal writing aspirations with my yogic journey thereby killing two birds with one stone?

Apparently there are quite a few options.

Can you believe this? I am debating internally where to best collect my thoughts about this yoga journey when I should just be writing the damn thing.

Is there a cosmic lesson here? Could it be that I am learning something about myself? Could it be that I am sometimes paralyzed by form? Is the how taking up more importance and time than the why and the what?

The bottom line is that it needs to be done, for practical reasons as well as esoteric ones. I need to hand in something at the end of class detailing my journey, and I assume that the reason it is required is that the act of thinking about it and writing will chronicle the emotions and changes we experience while learning about Yoga philosophy and trying to incorporate it into our physical and mental lives.

I am doing this teacher training in part to learn how to correctly do and teach the poses. And yes, although form in Yoga is important, certainly we should not become slaves to the how and realize that the practice itself is enough. Sloppy handwriting does not diminish the power of the words.

Still not sure whether to print this or keep it in a computer file."

Nancy Rodriquez, 2010 Yoga Teacher Trainee

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The Book Shelf

What We’re Reading…

Yoga Haven Staff Picks

Students often ask what books our teachers are reading – what they find particularly inspiring or worthwhile.  So we decided to ask them.   We’re kicking off our Yoga Haven Staff Picks with Yoga Gems by Georg Feuerstein.  It’s a long-time favorite of teacher Karen Safire, who always keeps a copy close by.  Here’s what Karen had to say:

“Georg Feurerstein has filled the pages with pearls of wisdom and inspiration from yoga masters ancient and modern.  This is a book that you could read all the way through, but I think it is best left on the night table for some soothing words to help let go of a stressful day and create a smooth transition on to sleep, or picked up and flipped through when one needs a little inspiration.  I have had the book for several years, never tire of it, and continually return to its pages for new insight.  It truly is a “gem.”

Copies of Yoga Gems are available for purchase in the Yoga Haven office.  So stop on by and check it out.

Yoga Injury Question

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Following is the first student question we have received.  Please feel free to email a general question or a question for a specific teacher regarding yoga to betsy@yogahaven.com.

"Hi, I have been practicing Ashtanga Yoga for 1 year and I love it...but I have developed a couple injuries along the way.  Can you give me any idea why I might be having shoulder and neck issues?"

(response by Jill Ganassi)

It’s so important for yoga practitioners to recognize signs of strain or injury as early as possible.  What starts out as a nagging discomfort somewhere in your body could be a warning signal. For newer practitioners, it can sometimes take a while to become fully aware that something isn’t right.  As you gain experience, however, you’ll begin to develop an inner knowledge and connection to your body that allows you to recognize more quickly when something is wrong.  Then it takes humility, honesty, and openness to acknowledge that something might be going awry with your practice.  

incorrect chaturanga with shoulders dropping

torso and pelvis placement on the blocks
correct chaturanga

Those of us who have practiced regularly for long periods of time, have almost all had injuries.  So you’re not alone.  Believe it or not, injuries can be wonderful teachers.   They bring us to a deeper awareness of our physical alignment and function, the quality of our attention, the ability to hear that inner voice of knowing, and of course the ability to respect and respond to that voice with intelligence. 

 I’ve had many students over the years who have complained of shoulder and neck pain.  One reason for this is that in the practice of Ashtanga and other forms of yoga, there are some opportunities for repetitive upper body stress injuries from all of the Chaturanga Dandasana and Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (up-dog) in the sequence.   Chaturanga Dandasana is extremely difficult, because it requires both great strength and tremendous coordination of multiple muscle groups.   When lowering down into the pose from down dog or plank, the journey from straight arm to bent arm puts a load on the shoulder joint that can strain the tendons, ligaments, bursa, and other connective tissue.    Weakness in the rhomboids, middle trapizius, rear deltoids, terres minor, and tricep muscles, (upper back and back of arm), combined with tightness in the pectorals, front deltoids, subscapularus, and latisamus dorse (chest and front of arm), all combine to pull the head of the humerous (the top of the upper arm bone), forward, closing the chest and straining the front and rear of the shoulder joint.  If you watch people doing the pose from down dog or plank you can usually see this forward rolling and dropping of the shoulder on the way down.  And when your attention is brought to it, you can definitely feel it when it’s happening. 

So, what to do?  Well, once you’ve gotten an all-clear from your medical practitioner, the solution is to practice, practice, practice.  But in addition to working on chaturanga, practice all of the poses and exercises that strengthen those weak areas and stretch those tight ones.   Pec stretches at the wall are a good daily routine for all of us, and especially for people working on opening a tight chest. Any variety of chest-opening poses and stretches will make a difference in the process of slowly creating the condition in the chest that allows the muscles of the back body to hold the head of the humerus toward the back of the body.  Poses that strengthen the mid and upper back and triceps, such as cobra and locust, makarasana, bow, and bridge pose are great.  

Another unfortunate side effect of the shoulder rolling forward in chaturanga is that it causes the upper trapezium muscles to roll toward and, therefore, crowd and compress the back of the neck, causing neck strain.

block placement

Along with practicing the poses and stretches that support the strength and flexibility needed for Chaturanga, there are ways to practice the pose itself that can teach awareness of the needed actions without the strain of the full pose.  For example, the pose can be done with support.  Take 2 blocks.  Place one in front of the other on the lowest height to make the longest shape possible. 

Lie down with your pubic bone just in front of the first block, not on it, and rest your front torso on the 2 blocks.  Then take the general shape of Chaturanga.  Place your hands by your side ribs.  Separate your feet hip width and tuck your toes under.  Stretch your heels back and lift your kneecaps toward the ceiling, firming your quadriceps as much as possible.  Then, curl your tailbone toward your pubic bone.  Reach your side ribs forward and align your neck and head with your spine keeping your sternum parallel to the floor.  Maintaining all of that, lift your shoulder bones to the ceiling so that your upper back muscles contract and your chest opens.  Ideally your upper arm bones should be parallel to the floor and your forearms should be perpendicular to the floor, but in the beginning your hands can be a little further forward than that for more leverage.    Now, press down into your hands and the balls of your feet and engage all the muscles that you feel would be required to lift you evenly a half an inch off the blocks.   But don’t come off of them.  We’re just engaging muscles here.   Specifically focus on your quadriceps, abdominals, pecs and triceps.  After 30 seconds relax.  Repeat this 3 times.  Then repeat the process, but this time concentrate on keeping the front of your shoulders lifted as you go ahead and try to evenly raise yourself off the blocks.  Watch to see if your shoulder alignment corrects, once you’ve brought your focus and attention to that area of your body.  Good luck! 

Please feel free to email a general question or a question for a specific teacher regarding yoga to betsy@yogahaven.com.


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