Dr. Lori Kimata is a naturopathic physician, midwife, yoga teacher and co-author of Partner Yoga: Making Contact for Physical, Emotional & Spiritual Growth.
Many people think of yoga as a class to take one to three times a week in a special studio with a sticky mat. And, although this is one aspect of the ancient tradition, there is much more to yoga than might initially meet the eye. The all-familiar yoga postures and breathing techniques are just a part of yoga. When I speak of yoga as a way of life, I mean also living the principles and practice of yoga regardless of whether we are in a specific yoga posture, sitting in silence, brushing our teeth, hiking a mountain, or even working our nine-to-five jobs. If we are being present in the moment, breathing deeply, watching how our inner world and the outer world are interacting, and staying with our truth, we are beginning to practice yoga. Yoga is union, harmony, inner peace and ultimate alignment of mind, body, heart and spirit. It is about taking the outer journey in and the inner journey out, and finding the space in the middle where these journeys meet as one. Marcel Proust once said, "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in seeing with new eyes." In other words, the adventure begins at home, inside of our ever-changing selves. Yoga helps us stay in the moment and learn how to simply be with all that is changing. Octavia Butler writes in her book, Parable of the Talents, "All that you touch, you change. All that you change, changes you. The only lasting truth is change."
Yoga has been essential to just about every adventure I find myself in.
With my wild life and all the unusual places I find myself in, something that keeps me fit, flexible, calm and in the moment is absolutely necessary. My love for people, travel, adventure and yoga, finally intertwined last year in a journey extravaganza which led me from my home in Hawaii, to California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, NYC, Senegal and Guinea in West Africa, India, and back to Hawaii. With long airport layovers, twelve hour cramped car rides on bumpy dirt roads, strenuous hikes and hours of sitting, stretching on all levels was necessary simply for survival at times. During those eight months of travel, the practice of yoga was my way of life. It kept me focused, on track, constantly growing, and full of energy, enthusiasm and joy. Whether I was teaching a Playshop, hiking a mountain, exploring the desert, catching the waves, or sitting in the shade, yoga lead the way. It certainly wasn't your typical yoga experience, and that's why I call this article "Yoga Off the Mat!"
Since the late 80's I've taught yoga in a variety of different locations from the park, to the church or school, to the "official" yoga studio. Now, more often than classes, I teach people how to live yoga twenty-four hours a day, breathing deeply and stretching throughout their lives, not just in yoga class. Are we flexible in life? Do we have rigid ideas of the way things are? Are we peaceful inside? When my purse was stolen and I was hung up by myself at Hong Kong Airport under police interrogation for six hours at two in the morning without a passport, yoga - deep breathing, flexibility and a bit of inner peace - went a long way. In Africa when there were saggy straw beds, no electricity, no running water, it was malaria season and I had no idea what was on my plate, again, yoga was key to an enjoyable trip.
Solo Yoga to Partner Yoga: Another Adventurous Step
About eight years ago, my personal yoga practice took an unexpected turn.
Until then I had pretty much practiced what I now call, solo yoga. Even though I had practiced yoga with other people in the same room, I had not actually practiced yoga postures in partnership with someone else. It was time to work on yoga in relationships. "Partner Yoga," as Cain and I later "coined" this specific type of yoga, literally fell into our arms. Four years of intense focus, tears and laughter, growing pains and cherished intimacy, finally birthed a book, a photographical, easy to follow, guide to practicing Partner Yoga, on and off the mat. The practice creates an opportunity to be in interdependent mutually beneficial yoga postures with another person. Beyond all the benefits of solo yoga, practicing partner yoga allows us to explore how we trust and surrender to each other, and how we relate to everything in the world.
In November of 2000, Cain Carroll and I co-authored and published the book, Partner Yoga: Making Contact for Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Growth.
Throughout 2001 we took the book on tour throughout the United States, offering Playshops at yoga studios, schools, and yoga centers. The more we taught, the more we learned. We watched how people related to each other. Was there trust, surrender, balance, or mutual benefit in partnerships? Were people willing to stretch a little beyond their comfort zones? When the Playshops were over and we walked off the mat, did people apply the principles we taught to the rest of their lives?
In the book we list seven axioms: All things are interdependent. Touch and intimacy are basic human needs. Fear and pain are two of life's greatest teachers. Exercise and rest are essential for vibrant health. Laughter and play are life's fountains of youth. Partnership is based on trust and communication. Breath is life. This is the path we have chosen to travel. And although I hadn't seen Cain for almost a year, last month we kayaked the Na Pali Coast of Kaua'i, and Partner Yoga was still very much our way of life. We connected heart to heart, we stretched, we laughed, we breathed, deeply, and we thanked God for this wondrous journey so far.
Cain Carroll and Lori Kimata offer 60 Partner Yoga postures and three flows with excellent photos and instructions to accomplish them. For more information on Partner Yoga check out the website partneryoga.com and the book can be found on Amazon.com, at all major bookstores or through Rodale Press. |
.jpg)
