Sh** Happens: An Interview with Annie Carpenter

by Jill Rivera Greene, Conference Blogger

welcomebackAnnieAnnie Carpenter combines the wisdom of four decades of deep practice with a uniquely no-nonsense style. Her keen insights on alignment are intermixed with a sharp wit that, at last year’s conference, kept packed rooms full of yogis laughing (when we weren’t frantically taking notes).

The conference team was beyond thrilled when Annie agreed to return this year for a command performance—and judging from the way her workshops are filling up, we’re not the only ones.

You attend a lot of yoga events around the country. What makes NWYC stand out?

Its class sizes are smaller than at some events, which gives it a kind of intimacy. I see the same students over and over in my classes throughout the weekend, so the conference almost feels like a workshop-intensive. There’s something special about that for me as a teacher. I can really get a sense of the students’ practice and see how best to help them. For their part, the students begin to get my language, my rhythm, my perspective. I feel like they get a deeper experience. And that’s lovely, that’s a real gift.

With so much travel, how do you maintain balance on the road?

You just have to keep your practice up. Especially when you come in from a long trip, you’re jet lagged, and it feels like 4 a.m. but it’s really 10 a.m. and time to teach. You have to fit your practice in. Even if that means you practice for a half hour in the morning and come back to your mat for an hour later in the day.

The other thing that is hard but essential is to eat well. It can be really hard to get the right foods, enough fresh vegetables when you’re on the road. You have to work at it, but it’s worth it. If you eat well, you feel better.

For me, it’s also important to maintain enough time at home, to support my own relationship and my relationship with my students. There can definitely be a point where there’s too much travel.

NWYC15 - Saturday Web UNmarked - Tony F Photography-9680I attended your shoulder workshop last year, and I was blown away by your approach to alignment and stabilization, including pointing out common practices that can lead to injury. What are some of the unsafe habits you encounter in classes?

The question is really, how can we practice in such a way that we maintain mindfulness? Whether you’re talking about a shoulder issue, a low back, a knee … if you can sustain mental focus, if you can continue to be mindful not just in the poses but in your transitions between poses, then you’re very unlikely to get hurt. What happens is we tend to jump ahead. Our mind thinks of something else, or we’re thinking about how this pose ought to be or how it used to be, and we pull ourselves out of the present moment.

So one of the hallmarks of a really good teacher is presenting in such a way that the practice demands mindfulness in every moment on the part of the students.

Yes! I definitely notice that when I am looking around the room, thinking about what a pose looks like for someone else, I get pulled out of my own practice.

Right. That happens to everyone. It’s very common.

One way of looking at advanced practice is letting go of what it should look like, what you wish it looked like, what it looks like for someone else. If a thought takes you out of what you’re doing, out of mindfulness, then even the strongest and most experienced practitioner is at risk. The practice is about staying present, not about what poses you can do.

If a culture is all about how deep you can get in a pose, or how long you can balance, then we’re really doing a disservice to our students, to ourselves, and to yoga. That’s not what yoga is about. This practice was developed to create mental focus and stamina, so that we can answer the bigger questions. Not, “Should there be three feet or four feet between the feet in Trikonasana?” but, “Who am I? Why am I on this planet?” and “What can I do to serve the truth of life?” The only way we get there is by learning how to concentrate, how to pay attention rather than judge and expect.

Can you talk about an influential experience of pilgrimage?

Two things come to mind.

The first is my time studying with [Shri K.] Pattabhi Jois in India in 1997. It really was a wonderful thing to make the choice to take two months off work and go to India, at a time when not as many people were doing that sort of thing. It meant really committing myself to the practice and to myself as a practitioner, surrendering to a teacher at a different level.

Annie AdjustingI think that making that choice—that commitment to leave my home, my job, and my friends behind for two solid months—was almost as important as the advances I made in the practice during that time (and those were considerable). To put your practice first is a powerful thing. It was a watershed moment.

The other experience I was thinking about … well, sometimes shit happens and we do get injured. I had a fall, and I ruptured one of the ligaments in my knee. I had to have surgery, and then not bear weight on the knee for months. It was another kind of pilgrimage to come back from that. You never really know how much you’ve lost in terms of flexibility, strength, or sensitivity, or how much you’re going to get back.

I think all of us can relate to the idea of a pilgrimage of returning to the practice, whether from an injury, grief, or an illness. I remember when a very dear friend died, almost 9 years ago, and I was in such grief that it didn’t make sense to do my practice as it was. That was a kind of pilgrimage, too—to let go, to surrender to the situation, to the fact that I didn’t have energy, time, or focus for the practice. And then to slowly, slowly come back.

So I think there are many things that happen to us, whether they are physical injuries, emotional upsets, illnesses, even the birth of a child. To see what is happening and make the pilgrimage to return to your practice the way it was … maybe … or maybe differently. That’s a leap of faith.

You’re going to be on our keynote panel, The Journey of Self-Discovery Through Yoga Practice. I think there’s a tendency to think that there will be some end-point to this journey, or that there’s some place to “get to.” What would you say to that, after four decades of practice?

The truth of the matter is, it’s endless. I embrace the Buddhist philosophy on this question. The big teaching of the Buddha is, “Shit happens.” (I’m paraphrasing here.) Life is difficult, things change, we lose things. So every day is an opportunity to open your eyes, open your heart, and accept what is.

Yes, we all have good, easy days, but the truth is that we’re constantly on a pathway to keep our hearts open and accept whatever it is that comes. I don’t think there’s an endpoint to that. Rain or shine, love or death, fear or excitement … every day something new is going to present itself, whether on your mat, or walking down the street with your family. Yoga is a place for us to practice being open to whatever it is that comes, and approaching it with as much kindness and love as we can.

For more about Annie, read last year’s interview.

There are still a few spots available in many of Annie’s workshops, including her all-day intensive on Thursday. Claim your place now!

Conference Team Yoga Workshop Picks

By Melissa Phillips-Hagedorn, Conference Founder/Director

Do you remember those days in school when you would receive your class schedule? The next few days were filled with the chatter of comparing schedules. Which classes did you and your bestie have together? Were you able to get into your favorite teacher’s class? And how could you rearrange your schedule to make it the most ideal for you?

Seattle Yogis Choosing Their Yoga Workshops at the Northwest Yoga ConferenceThis is the analogy I think of when picturing conference attendees signing up for their yoga workshops at the conference.  Going through and hand-picking the yoga workshops that call out to them. Comparing schedules with their friends to try and make at least one or two yoga workshops together, mat by mat, friend by friend. Of course, here on the conference team, we enjoy checking in with each other and seeing what each person is excited to take. Take a peek below at the workshops that each of us are looking forward to this year:

Melissa's Yoga WorkshopI love studying with Annie Carpenter and appreciate her dedication to teaching in a style that keeps the body in a safe alignment while keeping the bigger picture of the practice in mind. I am really looking forward to her yoga workshop on backbends as I know it will be full of useful insights into practicing backbends safely! -Melissa Phillips-Hagedorn, Conference Founder/Director

Jill Yoga WorkshopAlthough I love the yoga workshops that deepen and expand my practice of asana, I am most excited this year about those that explore other aspects of yoga. The opportunity to hear Aadil Palkhivala speak on living the eight limbs, make my own mala with healing stones, and explore devotional chanting with Janet Stone … all in one place … is what makes the Yoga Conference such a special experience for me. I can’t wait! – Jill Riveria Greene, Conference Blogger

Torrey Yoga WorkshopThe Northwest Yoga Conference always has such an amazing and wide variety of yoga workshops that it is difficult to choose just one! I am excited to explore new ideas for how to lift-off in Arm Balances 101 with Annie Carpenter, and to learn more about the elements of our hands in Mudras: Expressions of the Hand with Kimi Marin. -Torrey Kaminski, Marketplace Coordinator

Katie Yoga Workshop This is my first year giving my full presence to the Northwest Yoga Conference. I’m so excited to learn, play and grow with all of the master yogis sharing their wisdom with us, but I’m not-so-secretly most excited for Joanna Dunn’s Restorative/Somatic Movement/Pranayama to Soothe the Nervous System to give myself an intentional space to relax, clear my mind and integrate some of the more extroverted yet equally awesome yoga workshops. Self-care is the best! – Katie Vincent, Conference Blogger

Carly Seattle Yoga Workshop With all of the wonderful teachers and genius workshops, it was wonderful agony trying to choose which classes to attend at NWYC! Most of all, I’m looking forward to Sadie Nardini’s “Next-Level Authenticity, Anatomy, and Abundance” all-day intensive. I teach a wide range of yoga styles, and it will be wonderful to hear advice on how to maintain my authentic voice while still delivering what my students need most. – Carly Hayden, Swag Bag Coordinator

Linds Seattle Yoga WorkshopI am really looking forward to Sadie Nardini’s workshop ‘Bust Sabotage and Rock Who You Are’. As a small business owner and creative enthusiast, vulnerability and doubt sometimes cloud my thoughts and can distract me from my core truth. I am excited to learn about Sadie’s techniques in a high energy, yet rooted – soul filled workshop! – Lindsay Baugh, Graphic Design

Julie Seattle Yoga WorkshopWhich to choose? I am definitely excited that Sadie Nardini will be here and am looking forward to taking a yoga workshop with her. But also looking forward to another class with Annie Carpenter and my ‘bestie’ Jill Knouse. But then there are workshops with Naomi Jones and Kimi Marin, who were volunteers with us in the past, so that’s cool to see them on the other side of the conference. And the yoga sutras with Silvia Mordini is always a good topic. So, I don’t know! – Julie DiRusso,  Volunteer Coordinator

For those of you who may find yourself in Julie’s predicament, don’t worry! Just like school, you can change your schedule. Sign up and register for the yoga workshops that call to you right now and check-in at the beginning of the year to see if those choices still resonate with you. If not, go ahead and change it up. Keep in mind, just like school, there are a limited number of spaces in each workshop.

You can view the full conference schedule here.

An Interview with Annie Carpenter, founder of SmartFLOW Yoga

By: Jen Mullholand, conference blogger

 Annie Carpenter has spent the past four decades devoted to the practice and teaching of yoga and dance. She is an internationally renowned teacher based in the San Francisco Bay area where she teaches SmartFlow yoga. She also leads 200 and 500-hour teacher trainings at Exhale in Venice Beach, CA. Annie is known as a teacher’s teacher, with a keen eye for alignment in the context of Vinyasa Flow blended with a dedication to the meditative qualities of yoga.Annie Carpenter

Annie will be teaching a variety of workshops at the conference, including a day-long therapeutic intensive on Thursday, March 5. I had the chance to chat with Annie via email before she left to lead a retreat in Nicaragua with her friend and long-time colleague, Maty Ezraty.

You will be teaching an all-day Therapeutics intensive at the conference. What brought you to study yoga in a therapeutic context? And why should flow teachers (or any Hatha Yoga teacher) gain knowledge of therapeutics?Frankly, ALL yoga should be in by definition, therapeutic! Which simply implies that a level of attentiveness is present during the practice so that each act one makes in a practice, whether the way one breathes, or sits or moves from pose to pose is enhancing well-being and the understanding of being wakefully alive and how each of us fits into the miraculous web of life.

Annie in Yoga Journal demonstrating Utthita Hasta Padangustasana

Annie in Yoga Journal

Specifically, having spent 4 decades practicing and teaching (and all of the structural study), I have witnessed how practices helps and how it doesn’t. I have felt in my body and mind how change happens over the years via aging and the shifting of life circumstances (joy of new relationships, children; grief of loss of loved ones; illness and pain; etc.) creates conditions which needs must alter how to practice. As Sharon Salzberg says about a daily meditation practice (I paraphrase), “practice today so that it’s there when you need it.” If we can create a practice that is — as you say, strong flow — when we are young, healthy and free of distress that is awesome. And if we can create an attitude and a knowledge of how and when to alter the practice as needed depending on shifting circumstances, then we have a practice for life. Our own, and our students’.

You have been practicing and studying yoga for the majority of your life. What inspires you these days to get to your mat or the meditation cushion?

The fact that I ALWAYS feel better after I practice.

As you know, there’s a lot of Vinyasa, or Flow yoga, available to Western yoga practitioners. What makes your style of yoga, SmartFLOW, different from any other style of Vinyasa or Flow practice?

annie padmasanaSmartFlow is a method which sets up the conditions for each student to discover HOW to practice in every moment of their practice. In each pose, in each breath, we offer a continuum of exploration that is at once highly specific and open to individual choice. This leads to a heightened awareness that is structurally sound for each practitioner, and invites the practice of being a witness. Through this capacity to step back and observe the choices one makes moment to moment, and more importantly how and with what attitude, we create a practice that is rigorous and compassionate, passionate and patient.

You are offering a pranayama session and a restoratives session at the conference. How do you find these practices help balance students, especially those of us (myself included) who tend to find ourselves typically practicing strong flow?

The strength of practice lies in its rigorousness of steady attention. What we are doing will shift; how we practice is the transformative aspect. When you can make it strong! When you need it, make it quiet…

Illuminate Your Chakras

By Jill Rivera Greene, Conference Blogger

chakra_dancerImagine a stack of swirling energy centers, illuminating the spine from its base to the crown of your head. Those who have vision sensitive enough to see the chakras describe them as spinning wheels of light, each radiating its own brilliant color, from red to violet.

We are not all blessed with this gift of sight, but when our chakras are unbalanced, we feel it: in mind, body, and spirit. Deficiencies in particular chakras manifest as illness or pain in related parts of the body. We experience unbalanced anger, fear, or sadness … or simply feel “stuck” in emotional patterns that repeat in relationship after relationship. We may feel depressed or disconnected from ourselves and from Spirit.

Everyone experiences some degree of imbalance in the chakras—it’s part of being human. Yoga helps to release blocks and restore balance, and at the Northwest Yoga Conference, you will find many workshops to promote optimal energy flow.

Some sessions focus on a particular chakra, through specific asanas that open and awaken related parts of the body. Annie Carpenter’s SmartFlow will take us deep into our hips, cultivating stability through the root chakra. Jeanne Heileman will help us illuminate our heart chakras through backbends, breathing techniques, and Tantric visualizations.

There will also be deliciously sequenced practices designed to support balance and alignment through all of our chakras. Join us on Friday evening for a powerful movement and music co-creation by Jill Knouse and DJ HyFi: “Rockin’ It from Root to Crown.” Or treat yourself to a vinyasa series and sound bath that will brighten your entire energy field, in Amber Tande’s Sunday morning session.

It’s not just about the poses: We hope you will take advantage of the conference’s diverse offerings to discover (or rediscover) how chanting, meditation, 10169260_710140972408514_677844912580619374_nmantras, and more can work in harmony with asanas to promote healing, well-being, and focus.

After a weekend of yoga, our chakras are bound to be moving more freely. So come practice and play with us, and get ready to enjoy more balance in all areas of your life—a healthy physical body, peaceful mind, and deep connection to Spirit.

Can’t wait until March to learn more? Explore the chakras with us in our Chakra Immersion Series, happening right now on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/nwyogaconf), Twitter (@nwyogaconf), and Instagram (@northwestyogaconference). Each week we feature a different chakra, with poses, meditations, tips from conference presenters, and exciting giveaways!