Ignite & Unveil Your Highest Potential

The purpose of the Chromatic School of Yoga is to Ignite and Unveil Our Highest Potential as individuals and as a collective. This is the all encompassing purpose for our yoga practice. Moving forward with Chromatic Yoga I intend to develop a stronger system for doing so. While the School that educates teachers is clear and tactical, the development of the expansion outward (teachers educating students) requires greater structure. Toward the end of 2019 I decided that all Chromatic Yoga branded classes must include at least one Through-line be it Physical, Thematic or Integrative. This will give students clarity around what to expect from Chromatic Teachers. While the Elements are not required as part of a class, it is still the frame work for how we present a class. Further development of the Elements as a System for Sequencing is in the works. What I would like to add is an emphasis on a model similar to the Kosha’s – the layers of our being. At the core of our being exists Bliss and Awareness (taken from Tantrik philosophy.) To connect to these layers we work through the 3 outer layers: Physical, Mental/Emotional, and Energetic. These three layers are what we focus on when practicing in Chromatic Yoga:

1. Physical Layer (anamaya Kosha) We practice Asana to purify the physical sheath/layer of our being. Understanding the physical body allows us to release our identity to it which is mostly wrapped up in external appearances and asthetics.
2. Energetic Layer (pranamaya kosha) We practice Pranayama and assess the quality of our eating habit in relationship to our digestion. Breath and Food are both physical, however the energy that we experience from them is the energetic layer. Feeling tired, rejuvenated, chill, relaxed, fatigued, invigorated, etc. are all rooted in our energetic layer. It’s important to understand that these can be results of our physical and heart-mind layers because all layers affect one another.
3. “Heart-Mind” Layer – Thoughts and Emotions (Manomaya Kosha) We practice Meditation, Self Inquiry, and Satsang in order to purify our thoughts and emotions  – how we process life’s experiences.  All layers can effect each other, so mental and emotional pain could be the result of being energetically depleted, or having a physical injury and visa versa.

Working with these three layers results in the ability to touch the deeper layers of Bliss and Awareness. In the classic module of the Kosha’s The 4th layer is called Ajnamaya Kosha which is Wisdom/intuition, and the 5th layer is bliss. Consciousness pervades all layers and is also at the core.  There are many debates around the Kosha’s but for our purposes, using the Physical, Energetic, and Heart-mind layers to gain access to Bliss and Awareness is what I would like our focus to be.

So when a student asks What is Chromatic Yoga? You can now answer with one of these options in your own words:

1. We study the layers of our self to connect to our inner essence of Bliss and awareness
2. The Goal of Chromatic Yoga is to tap into our inner state of Bliss and Awareness and we do so by pealing back the layers of our being.
3. Chromatic Yoga focuses on practices to purify body and mind through asana, pranayama and meditation. The Goal is to connect to bliss.
4. Chromatic Yoga is about strengthening your awareness in order to connect to the inner state of bliss. To do so we study the body, mind and breath

IMPORTANT, To further the conversation: Chromatic classes are centered around a through-line to increase the effectivity of our practices. Physical Through-lines strengthen awareness through the physical body and help to purify the Physical Layer (Anamaya Kosha). Thematic through-lines help to strengthen awareness of our mind and help to purify the Heart-Mind layer (Manomaya Kosha). Together Physical and Thematic through-lines help us to become more skillful in assessing what our energetic body need (food, digestions, breathe etc.) This path leads us to the development of awareness (decernment, wisdom, witness) that provides us with the ability to experience our inner state of Bliss. 

February 2020

Discussion: Defining Chromatic Practice through the Kosha’s 

Physical Through Line

Peak Action: Elevation of The Scapula

Contrast Teaching: Depression of the Scapula

Potential Peak Postures for Elevation or Depression: Upward Dog, Cobra, Handstand, Downward Dog, Headstand, arm balances.

Key Points: Elevation of the scapula or more accurately upward rotation of the scapula helps to avoid shoulder impingement when the arms are over head (flexion of the Gleno-humeral joint). Elevation also tends to allow for more retraction of the scapula providing more mobility of the shoulders for most people. Depression of the scapula tends to stabilize the shoulder girdle which is excellent in weight baring postures when the arms are not over head such as plank, chaturanga, or most arm balances.

What postures come to mind for you when thinking of these actions?

Theme and Chromatic Evolution

This months theming can be around the Kosha’s: moving from the gross physical layer to the more deep, subtle layers of Bliss and Awareness. Your classes can revolve around all 5 koshas or simply focus on one at a time, giving you up to 5-6 potential themes:

1. Physical Sensations (physical through line),
2. Energetic (how are you feeling: tired, light, vibrant, awaye, fatigued, calm, etc.) Pranayama, Meditation, Savasana, Restorativ, Nidra
3. Heart-Mind (thematic Through Line and/or Mantra) Themed Asana, Meditation, Inquiry, satsang. 
4. Awareness: Any of the above awaken awareness, Directing ones attention toward becoming aware of their own awareness can be done through Thematic Throughlines in Asana, Meditation, and Satsang. 
5. Bliss: Using thematic throughlines to place attention on the core of our being “bliss” through Asana, Meditation, Satsang, and Nidra are great ways to help guide students to deeper layers. (I suggest looking for inspiration via anaologies like the eye of the storm, Siva Sakti, and many others from Tantric Linneages) Search: Awareness and Bliss Tantra
6. Moving Through all 5: Just like the Elements you can have one class that moves through all the Kosha’s taking students from the mundain to the subtle – utilizing both physical and thematic through line. and practices of Asana, Pranayama and Meditation. 

While Chromatic Philosophy is deeply tied to the Elements of Nature, I am now bringing in the Kosha’s another tie that can help anchor our practice. The Koshas help us to distingquish why and what we are practicing. So Long as we are directing our attention to one or more of these layers we can call this Chromatic Yoga. Physical Through-lines help us with anamaya kosha, while thematic through-lines help inspire us to direct our attention to the 4 other koshas.

We use the practices of Asana, Pranayama, Chanting, eating, sleeping, Meditation, Self Inquiry, Satsang,  journaling, etc. in order to experience and observe our existence within each layer.

January 2020

Discussion: Happy New Decade! Abhyasa and Vairagya

Happy New Year/Decade! 

In the 2010’s the idea of Chromatic Yoga was born and braught to life. Over the past years it has grown in so many ways – thanks to your involvement, feedback, and desire to expand it into its highest potential. Thinking about this decade moving forward, I am so excited to see where we take Chromatic Yoga, and where it takes us in the 20’s! Thank you for your continued investment into this system and our empowered community.

Abhyasa & Vairagya

December 2019

Discussion: Tapas 

Tapas

How do we cultivate awareness of these three? respecitively: Asana, Pranayama, Meditation. To boost our ability to be more aware Chromatic Yogis and teachers practice Self-inquiry. Level 3 teachers learn how to effectively lead Satsang which is group guided self inquiry. What happens when we truly practice Asana, Pranayama, Meditation and Self inquiry is that a discomfort arrises. We see, feel, think, or experience aspects of ourselves that we don’t like. We then want to run away, hide, or go back to ignorance. Tapas is about sitting in the discomfort and working through for the sake of experiencing the pure essence of our being.: BLISS or “Ananda”. 

Physical Through-Line

Flexion and/or Rotation – Abdominal Activation

To compliment or balance the expansion and outward expression and opening of the holidays I thought we would use the abdominals as a way of bowing back into ourselves, resetting/detoxing and rejuvinating.Feel free to explore any of the 4 layers of abdominals to create various PTL based classes. 

Chromatic Updates

The Chromatic Approach

For this month, feel you may focus your themes around the Chromatic Approach as a whole or divide it into separate teachings:

1. Vision: Big Picture/Goal/Heart’s Desire
2. Road Map: Small Attainable steps, or action plan
3. Conscious Action: Action aligned with vision and heart.

Physical Through-Line

External Rotation of the Humerus at the Glenohumeral Joint: 

A common physical pattern for most people is internally rotated upper arm bones do to the nature of our day to day routines: hold cell phone, eat meals, read book, cross arms in front of chest, hands in prayer or namaste, computer typing…need I say more? all of these are long held postures of internal rotation causing a muscular pattern. One exception I could think of is a server in a restaurant – holding tray’s of food or drink, if they are holding the tray out to the side they will likely have more development in the external rotators of the humerus.

Questions: 

Which muscles externally rotate the humorous at the Glenohumeral joint? 

• Where is the glenohumeral joint and how is it different than the scapulocostal joint?
• What Yoga Postures require external rotation of the humerus?
• What are some great postures to strengthen the external rotators in?
• What are the opposing muscles of external rotation?

Please share your findings in the Facebook group regardless if you are an anatomy expert or just learning. Let’s support each others growth and learning by sharing our experience.

Sequence Example:

Peak Pose: Side Plank

Peak Action: External Rotation at the Glenohumeral joint

Layering Postures:

1. All 4’s: “Biceps rotat forward”
2. Tadasana: “Palms rotate out and biceps externally rotate to face away from your body”
3. Plank: “Rotate biceps to face front of the room”
4. Warrior 2: “Turn palms upward, now rotate upper arms as well until you see your biceps face upward or backward if possible”
5. Side Plank At Wall: With your hand on the wall rotate your bicep upward, your hand will want to rotate outward as well but keep it on the wall so the movement primarily occurs at the shoulder socket”

Prep-Peak:

Side Plank with bottom knee Down: 

“Align your hand a few inches forward of your shoulder. Look down at your upper arm, try to rotate the bicep forward”

September 2019

Discussion: Spanda

 Spanda

 As Chromatic Yogis we often practice self inquiry by observing how we relate to nature. One of my favorite teaching from Tantra Yoga traditions is that of Spanda, or Pulsation. Everything in nature contracts in order to expand and back again. It is an endless cycle and we can see it everywhere from our exhales/inhales, to the season, to life and death. One of the basic forms of human resistance stems from forgetting this basic truth. Everything that expands must contract, and everythign that contracts must expand. When we are in the expansion, life feels easy, light and joyful, we are in full celebration mode, as we should be. However I have notice in my own life that I am always shocked when the contraction comes back around. I can thankfully say do to the teaching of spanda its a lot easier to handle the contraction because I know it will not last forever. I also know that the more I welcome in the contraction, a greater expansion awaits for me on the other side. Have you noticed this in your life? do you have a story that you can think of from your own experience where you thought life was falling apart, but in reality it was actually falling together? Level 2/3 teachers please reflect and share this as your Thematic Through Line for the Month of September 2019. I look forward ot hearing your stories below and/or on facebook. Please also feel free to share your story on video for instagram or in a caption!

Physical Through-Line

Internal Rotation of the Femur at the Hip Joint: Exploring internal or medial rotation at the hip joint this month in your classes is sure bring up some creative exercises, isometric engagements, and movements. The majority of yoga postures are externally rotated at one or both hips, so quite often you will be using internal rotation as your Balancing Action – balancing out the external rotation. There are however, a few postures that require internal rotation at the hip joint, do you know what they are? The primary internal rotators are the TFL and Gluteus Medius and they recieve assistance from some of the Adductors. 

Share Your Exercises: Please record videos of the exercises or postures that you come up with to retract the scapula and/or engage the rhomboids, and share them with everyone on the facebook group! In addition send me your videos via text and I will post on instagram.

Step into Action:

1. Look up inernal rotation at the hip and how to strengthen the muscles of this action –  look at your anatomy books and on youtube and start picking your creative brain.
2. come up with 5 ways to strengthen the internal rotators, to support your students growth potential.
3. Layer these postures into your classes.

Potential Peak Postures: Please share what you think would be a great peak posture on the facebook group and we can discuss there!

August 2019

Discussion: A.C.T – Awareness + Conscious Action = Transformation 

Chromatic Yogis seek a remembrance of our true nature by providing a system to explore self awareness through the exploration of the nature’s elements, known as the Maha Buthas: Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space. The elements are a way of breaking down the larger force nature into smaller pieces—to understand the whole, we study its individual parts. Being that we are nature, we each have the qualities of each element within us. By observing these qualities we become more self-aware and have the opportunity to unveil the truth about ourselves. 

Chromatic teachers use this approach to support the growth of our students by breaking down bigger challenges (postures, practices, life goals) into smaller digestible parts, and encourage a step by step approach toward awareness, conscious action and transformation (A.C.T) 

A.C.T (awareness, Conscious action, transformation) is a method unraveling patterns. Chromatic Yogis practice observing their patterns in order to better understand the “why” behind their way of thinking, feeling, acting, being (perspective). Our muscles have patterns based on our past physical experiences such as the sports we played, how we sat growing up, activities we did, injuries we had and so on. Our thoughts and emotions operate exactly the same: if someone raises their hand in a classroom we are all patterned to assume that they are wanting to ask a question, this is a pattern. Some patterns serve us well and others do not. Our work as yogis is to become aware of them so we can have the freedom to change the ones that do not serve our well being. As teachers we provide the space for our students to do the same through the process we call Act.  

1. Awareness: What we are aware of can be changed. Awareness is strengthened by constantly directing our attention toward anything (breathe, body, the 5 senses, thoughts, emotions, subtle vibrational energy, etc.). Through practices attention building practice like asana, pranayama, meditation, contemplation, conversation we eventually become aware of our own awareness, and it is in this state that we deeply connect to all that is. 
2. Conscious Action: is required in order to make any type of change. Awareness reveals our patterns, but in order to make a change we have to take a different course of action in order to “Re-Pattern” our body or mind. Practicing non-action is still an action because it requires a choice to do something different which is to “observe” or witness. Action without being “anchored” into an intention can lose its purpose and its power when patterns are strong. Conscious Action is action that is inseparable from our higher intention, or the deep desire inside of us that desires long lasting change.
3. Transformation: the result of repetitive awareness practices and conscious action over the course of time. Transformation requires a new pattern to be formed be it neurological, postural or otherwise. While change is inevitable, transformation is a choice and the Chromatic Yoga aims to choose. 

Physical Through-Line

Retraction of the Scapula: Retracting the scapula can be challenging for many people simply because of modern postural patterns – hands in front, upper back flexed – these two patterns will tend to put the shoulder blades in a slightly protracted and/or upward tilted stated. You can use retraction as your Peak Action, or you can use activation of the rhomboids as your peak engagement. The difference is that in the peak action you can utilize gravity and outside forces, where as the engagement requires some sort of resistance against retraction of the scapula. Regardless if your focus is on passive retraction or activation of the rhomboids I would suggest your layering postures include both. It is significantly more challenging to come up with Rhomboid strengtheners within the yoga practice but as a group we can get super creative and support each other. If you have props or weights in your studio use them!

Share Your Exercises: Please record videos of the exercises or postures that you come up with to retract the scapula and/or engage the rhomboids, and share them with everyone on the facebook group! In addition send me your videos via text and I will post on instagram.

Step into Action:

1. Look up retraction of the scapula, and how to strengthen the rhomboids in your anatomy books and on youtube.
2. come up with 5 ways to strengthen the rhomboids, to support your students growth potential.
3. Layer these postures into your classes.

Potential Peak Postures: Dancer (palm faces out), Camel pose, reverse plank, Wild thing, Chapasana (palm faces out).

Thematic Through-Line

Transformation: “Change is inevitable, but transformation is a choice” Chromatic Yoga teachers and practitioners alike hold an intention to step into the challenges that allow them to live at their highest potential. Potential is a path, not a destination. To live at our highest potential means to keep stepping into the fire of transformation so we can dance amongst the flames.

Step Into Action:

1. Extract the meaning of this them for you. Feel free to take my words as they are and repeat them, or find your own way of saying it.
2. How can you inspire your students and community to step into the fire of transformation?
3. What challenges will your students face?
4. What resistance comes up around this subject?
5. What is the solution to moving through the resistance in order live boundlessly?

July 2019

Discussion: What is Chromatic Yoga, and What are the Pillars? P.A.C

What is Chromatic Yoga?

Chromatic Yoga is a systematic approach to teaching that provides a highly intentional and purposeful experience for students to cultivate awareness of their body and mind. Authenticity is our highest core value for the purpose of cultivating a supportive and empowered community. 

Our Vision:

To ignite, and unveil each persons highest potential and empower them to live boundlessly.

Chromatic Yoga is a school that honors and welcomes the wide variety of yoga traditions and styles. Rather than defining ourselves by the postures or practices, we instead look at the higher purpose: recognizing that we are intimately and energetically intertwined with each other through the force of nature that exists within us. We are each unique expressions of a bigger power. This realization can be attained in any moment when we pause and become aware of the magnificence of our body, mind, and breath, but is easily forgotten in the busyness of our daily life.

P.A.C – Pillars of Chromatic Yoga

P.A.C conveniently represents the pillars of chromatic yoga – a pack of wolves for example, is a community that comes together to support their collective strength, fulfill their social rolls, looking out for the well being of one another. Chromatic Yoga is a place where we support one another in our journey toward our highest potential. Empowerment each individual inspires a rising of the collective. Chromatic stands upon these pillars:

Practice: Practice is the action of aligning with our intention on a regular basis. Chromatic teachers and students alike honor the importance of practice as the way toward self-awareness and living boundlessly from our highest potential. This is not limited to being on a yoga mat, but rather wide open to the spectrum of practices for the purpose of revelation. From practice comes wisdom, and from wisdom comes the empowerment to support the rising of others.

Authenticity: Authenticity, also a chromatic core value, is a pillar which we stand upon. To be authentic we must strip away the layers of our emotional armor and courageous enough to share ourselves for the sake of inspiration and heartfelt connection. Authenticity requires courage and vulnerability, and it is the energy that attracts abundance of all of life’s gifts that we seek.

Community: Community makes us stronger and holds us to our spiritual path – it binds us to our integrity. In this community we are held (and hold others) from a place of love. We support each other in our “Practice” of staying true to our intention. This is not about shaming or guilting but rather serving as a reminder and a reflection of our highest intention. When we are not living or acting in alignment with our intention the first thing we will do is step away from anyone that would remind us of that. This is why community is a pillar – it serves as a reminder of who we truly are below the surface of day to day troubles and it asks us to step up to our fullest potential. In the good times, community is our collective strength for which with thrive, in the bad times community is the fire re-ignites our soul’s purpose, but first you must choose it.

Physical Through-Line

Abduction of the Hips: Abducting the hips simply means to move the thigh bone away from the midline. The midline is the center line of your body: pubic/tail bone up through the crown of the head. The muscles that create abduction of the hips are the Gluteus minimus, Gluteus medium, and the T.F.L.

In Yoga: We abduct the legs away from the midline in postures like Prasarita Padatonasana (wide legged forward fold), warrior 2, triangle, etc. In addition postures like half moon are also abduction at the bottom hip…the top hip can be abducted but it is fighting gravity and the tightness of the adductors so it requires great strength of the abductor muscles in order to be abducted. Bottom hip: when opening the pelvis, the midline is moving away from the bottom thigh bone – this hip is abducted.

Step into Action:

1. Look up abduction of the hips and/or Gluteus Medius, Minimus, and TFL on youtube, google, or your anatomy books. Explore ways of strengthening these muscles.
2. come up with 5 ways to strengthen the abductors, and support your students in learning how to abduct their hips
3. Layer these postures into your classes.

Potential Peak Postures: Half Moon, Wide Seated Straddle, Uttita Hasta padagustasana B, Side Crow with knees/feet abducted…

Thematic Through-Line

Practice: As a pillar of chromatic yoga it is appropriate to explore what practice means to us. Why practice, what are we practicing, what are we committing our self to? As stated in the manual Practice is aligning our actions with our intention. So we must ask ourself what is our intention for teaching? Think back to what got your started, what did yoga provide for you, how did/do your teachers inspire you to go beyond your reality. Unveiling and igniting our highest potential and supporting our students to do the same can seem overwhelming and impossible. As Chromatic teaches – instead of diminishing the big picture, break it into small achievable pieces, and start taking one step at a time! This is the practice.

Step Into Action:

1. Contemplate your intention for teaching and how practice has supported the expansion of your life
2. How can you inspire your students and community into practice? Try not to be dogmatic, shaming, or guilting people into practice but rather share your stories about your practice that has opened your mind and heart. This is a skill and it requires contemplation.
3. Come up with a TTL-Phrase: After solidifying how you will inspire your students, figure out a phrase that you can “drop the hammer” with through-out the class in order to drive the inspiration through the journey.