Yoga and the Metabolism

The endocrine system, especially the thyroid gland, regulates your metabolism. A regular yoga practice can stimulate this system. The compressing, stretching and twisting of the various yoga postures helps to massage the endocrine organs, regulate their function, and improve blood flow.

A number of yoga teachers (as well as Ayurvedic practitioners) believe the most effective yoga posture for an underactive thyroid is Shoulder Stand. The Sanskrit name for this pose is Sarvangasana, which is usually translated to mean “all the body." As an inversion, Sarvangasana alters the normal effects of gravity and allows blood to flow from the legs and feet all the way down into the neck, where the thyroid gland is located. By sending oxygenated blood to the neck area, the thyroid is nourished and stimulated, which in turn can help with weight loss, improve circulation and increase the metabolism.

Shoulder Stand can be a tricky pose, even for intermediate and advanced yoga practitioners. It is best learned under the guidance of a teacher who can help you approach the pose mindfully and make any necessary adjustments. For most practitioners, using a couple of blankets under the shoulders is helpful, especially when you practice Shoulder Stand for the first few times.

To begin, place a couple of folded blankets on your yoga mat. As you lie down on your mat, rest your shoulders on the blankets a couple of inches from the folded edge allowing your neck to easily cascade off the edge of your blankets. Your head should rest comfortably on your mat. It is important that you never move your head while practicing Shoulder Stand.

Draw your knees in toward your chest and lift your hips off the floor. As you straighten your legs, reach your heels toward the ceiling and straighten your spine as you place your hands against your back near your shoulder blades. Your elbows should rest on the floor and, as best you can, try to keep them at shoulder-width.

Allow your hands to support your back as reach long into your spine and feel more pressure on your shoulders. The muscles in your lower back will be working actively along with your belly muscles. Try to bring your back, pelvis and legs into a straight line. The legs may be slightly bent if this helps you keep a straight back.

Try to keep your breath flowing evenly. Shoulder Stand is a dynamic pose and one that you may only be able to hold for a few breaths initially. As you continue to practice it, you may find you’re able to hold it longer—perhaps several minutes.

To exit Shoulder Stand, slowly bring your legs back down to your mat and allow your arms and hands to relax by your sides. Bring the soles of your feet together and allow your knees to drop apart as you rest in Reclining Cobber’s Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana) for several breaths.

Other poses that are recommended for thyroid stimulation include Bridge Pose (Setu Bandasana) along with additional inversions such as Headstand (Sirsasana), Handstand (Adho Mukha Vrksasana) and Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svasana).

The physical practice of yoga will help you to see your body in new ways. It will make you stronger and more flexible as well as help reduce tension. By practicing yoga, you will become more mindful of your entire body and mind. Potentially, you will not only stimulate your endocrine system, but you will begin to pay greater attention to the kind of food you eat as well.

(This was originally published in Natural Triad magazine in 2011.)

Diana Sands: Breaking Thru the Color Barrier on Broadway and Beyond

(This is the short lecture I gave this morning at the ACES event at Bennett College. Following my lecture, a group of faculty and students performed a scene from my play DIANA SANDS: A CERTAIN TOUGHNESS OF SPIRIT.)

My research on the life and career of Diana Sands began nearly a decade ago—during my first year teaching at Bennett. I received a grant that year to support a Service Learning project for the students enrolled in my Acting for Non-Majors class.  We called our project “Living ‘Herstory’ Monologues.” I challenged my students to select a famous woman of color from the past, research her life, learn about her achievements, and then write—and perform—a monologue, portraying the woman they had chosen. 

     I was surprised when one of my students, Anna Green, selected Diana Sands. I had seen Diana Sands in the film version of A Raisin in the Sun many times.  Her performance was mesmerizing, and clearly, an example of actress and character merging seamlessly into one being. And while I applauded Anna’s interest in Diana Sands, I was concerned that she might have difficulty with her research. However, when we began rehearsals, it became clear that Anna’s portrayal of Diana Sands was going to be very special. Although she was only able to find minimal information, Anna wove what she had found into a powerful tribute.

Anna’s project made me want to know more about Diana Sands.   What was she like? What other roles did she play? Did she command every character with the same concentration and commitment she displayed in A Raisin in the Sun? What kind of personal life did she have?

In 2006, I applied for, and received, a Scholar in Residence appointment at New York University, which gave me the opportunity to spend a month in New York City researching Diana Sands—and begin to work on a play about her.

_______________

      The height of Sands’ acting career occurred during the Civil Rights Era—a time of enormous change for America. Sands’ achievements as an actress, during these turbulent times, helped pave the way for today’s actors of color to audition for, and perform, roles in professional theatre that a mere few decades ago might not have been available to them. 

       Aristotle once said: “If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development.”  Documentation verifies that for nearly two centuries African American actors have appeared onstage in ”classical” roles. At the African Grove, a theatre founded and operated by African Americans in 1821 in New York City, two of the resident acting company’s most popular productions were Shakespeare’s Richard III and Othello. Additionally, a broad range of “classical” plays have been performed on the campuses of historically Black colleges and universities for many years.

Definitions of the term “classical” vary widely. For example, one regional company suggests the term applies to plays written at least a century ago. Another company takes a broader view, defining a “classic” as “a play… that exercises a broad scope of interest, a profound depth of understanding, and a long reach across time and geography.” 

Diana Sands trained at the High School of Performing Arts in New York City. “Classical” roles came her way early in her career—well before A Raisin in the Sun. In the mid-1950s, she made her first professional appearance playing “Juliet” in a production titled An Evening with Will Shakespeare.

During a professional career that spanned less than two decades, Sands performed in numerous “classical” roles. She also appeared frequently on television as well as in several movies. Many of these performances can be seen easily on YouTube, or on DVD—and I hope many of you will take a moment to watch some of them. Arguably, though, it was onstage that Diana Sands did her finest work and found her most challenging roles.

In a tribute article published shortly after her death, Ebony cited 1967 as Diana Sands’ “busiest year.” In this twelve-month period, she played the lead in five difficult classical productions: “Lady Macbeth” in Macbeth at Spelman College; “Cleopatra” in both Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra at Theatre Atlanta Repertory Company and Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra at The Los Angeles Shakespeare-in-the-Park Festival; Phedre at Theatre of the Living Arts in Philadelphia; and, finally, the title role in Shaw’s Saint Joan on Broadway.

In another 1967 article, published in The New York Times, legendary theatre critic Walter Kerr discussed what he referred to as Diana Sands’ “important inroads”—including her numerous “classical” roles. Although he acknowledged that Sands’ casting was “surely progress,” he went on to suggest that there was—and I quote—an “escape clause in each of these pieces of casting, with the possible exception of Lady Macbeth:”

 “Phaedra and Cleopatra are exotics, one a Cretan descendant of a sun god, the other queen of the Nile; on the most realistic of terms, their skins might have been any odd shade… Even Saint Joan might be said to belong to this group. Joan was of course French, and white. But, as Shaw wrote her, she was a loner, and other-worldly: in the play, she moves in her own orbit, isolated from those who use her, despise her, or fail to understand her. The nature of these roles constitutes a kind of waiver: white audiences can overlook the fact that the woman is colored because the woman clearly does not belong. Will the waiver apply when Miss Sands wishes to play Juliet?”

Clearly, Walter Kerr was not aware that Sands had already played “Juliet”—more than a decade before—in the mid-1950s.

         In the early 1970s, Diana Sands broke new ground on film by starring opposite white leading men in three movies: The Landlord, Georgia, Georgia, and Doctors' Wives. At the time of her death, she was signed to play "Claudine" in the film of the same name--a role for which Diahann Carroll would eventually receive an Oscar nomination.

       In conclusion, perhaps blogger and writer Stacia L. Brown sums it up best when she writes: “Today, when we see black actresses included in multicultural casts where their race doesn’t factor into the character’s ability, intellect, or sex appeal, we can consider each of those performances as an homage to Diana Sands, one of the first black women mainstream audiences”—and I would add to that theatre audiences as well—“embraced as an embodiment of grit, smarts, and sexiness without hypersexualization or stereotypes. To this day, cinema scholars wistfully speculate about what turns her career would’ve taken, if only she’d lived long enough to reach her full potential.”

The R's of Yoga

If you read yoga books and articles, you’re likely to notice—as I did—a lot of words beginning with the letter r. A few years ago, I created a series of four classes I called “The R Words of Yoga”—Repetition, Rejuvenate, Relief, and Receive.

Recently, I revised this series for a Beginning/Intermediate class I teach every Sunday morning. I finished up the final class in the series this morning, and I’ve decided to share all four class sequences here. Each sequence is designed for a one hour class.

If you’re a yoga practitioner, you may find these useful for your home practice. If you’re a teacher,  feel free to borrow from any of them for your classes. I welcome your comments or questions.

 

Class I: Repetition

Vinyasa or “flow” classes incorporate repetitive sequences that build heat in our bodies to help us achieve greater flexibility. Also, each time we repeat a pose, we discover something new in it—whether we are repeating it right away, tomorrow, or next week.

1) Vahdrasana - centering; add arm stretches and gentle twists 

2)  Pose of the Hare - 2x

3)  Surya Namaskar - 2x (or more) 

4)  Child's Pose

5) Downward Facing Dog flowing into Upward Facing Dog - 9x (or more)

6) Child’s Pose

7) Vrksasana (Tree Pose) – hold for 5 breaths on each side

8) Flow Sequence:

-Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)

-Warrior II

-Reverse Warrior II

-Warrior II

-High Lunge

-Warrior III (w/arms reaching back, palms toward the sky)

-Warrior I

-Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)

Repeat other side

(As an option, repeat the flow sequence on both sides, adding “airplane” arms or full extension in Warrior III.)

9) Upavista Konasana  

10) Dolphin Pose – 2x; hold for 5 breaths each time

11) Child’s Pose

12) Sukhasana w/easy twist – 2x each direction

13) Bharadvajasana – 2x each direction
14) Bridge Pose –  2x

15) Constructive Rest

16)  Happy Baby Pose  

17) Pose of Choice

18) Supta Baddha Konasana w/bolster, blocks and two blankets 

19) Savasana

 

Class II:  Rejuvenate

“Rejuvenate” comes from the Latin word juvenis meaning “young,” and, oddly enough, the chapter on backbends in The Runner’s Yoga Book is titled “Rejuvenate.” Although backbends (or “heart openers,” as I prefer to call them) definitely rejuvenate us, I believe we should feel rejuvenated at the end of pretty much any yoga class. That said, the practice below is more or less a general asana class, with some inversion prep poses as well as a restorative pose.

1) Sukhasana – centering and breath awareness; neck stretches and gentle twists

2) Downward Facing Dog –  hold 9-12 breaths, then move into “Heavy Handed Dog” and Eka Pada Dog on both sides

3) Child’s Pose

4) Balancing Cat/Cow – 2x each side

5) Tadasana – 5 breaths 

6) Urdhva Hastasana – 5 breaths

7) Uttanasana w/Doug Keller’s instructions to “soften the hip points as well as the knees” – 9-12 breaths (or longer)

8) Step right foot back into High Lunge; add Warrior I arms – 5 breaths

9) Step forward to Uttanasana

10) Step left foot back into High Lunge; add Warrior I arms – 5 breaths

11) Step forward to Uttanasana

12) Step or hop to Plank Pose

13) Exhale slowly to the floor, then inhale into Cobra Pose

14) Sphinx Pose – 5 breaths

15) Downward Facing Dog

16) Inhale to Plank Pose

17) Vasisthasana (Side Plank Pose) – hold  5 breaths each side

18) Downward Facing Dog – 5 breaths

19) Child’s Pose

20) Prasarita Padothonasana

21) Parsvotanasana into Revolve Triangle Pose – hold each pose 5 breaths on both sides

22) Core sequence adapted from Rodney Yee – 4x (or more):

-Dandasana

-Baddha Konasana

-Half-Boat (hold for an extra breath)

-Baddha Konasana

-Wide Angle Pose

-Baddha Konasana

-Dandasana

23) Wide-legged Big Toe – keep arch in low back, belly toned, and chest lifted.

24) Handstand or Half-Handstand at the Wall

25)  “Firelog” Forward Bend – change cross of legs and repeat

26) Bharadvajasana – both sides

27) Bridge Pose with bent elbows’

28) Happy Baby Pose – use both hands to hold one foot as you straighten the other leg and bring it to the floor; do both sides

29) Pose of choice

30) Viparita Korani

31) Savasana (with option of remaining in Viparita Korani)

 Class III: Relief

This practice focuses on stretching and flexibility.

1) Virasana - centering and breath awareness

2) Full Body Stretches w/knee to chest

3) Downward Facing Dog - add Eka Pada on each side, then repeat with option of Wild Thing or Flip Dog Pose 

4) Down Dog to Up Dog – flow 9x times (or more)

5) Child’s Pose

6) Down Dog with shorter stance (“Upside Down V”) bringing heels to the floor - hold 5 breaths

7) Parighasana (Gate Pose)  - both sides; hold 5 breaths

8) Flow Sequence—hold each pose 5 breaths:  

-Triangle Pose

-Utthita Parsvakonasana (Side-Angle Pose)

-High Lunge with Warrior I arms

-Triangle Pose
Repeat other side

9) Prasarita Padottanasana – repeat 2-3x with arm variations

10) Locust Pose – repeat 2-3x w/arm variations

11) Crocodile Pose  - hold 5 breaths

12) Bridge Pose – take one leg up at time and stretch heel away from you

13) Baddha Konasana – open feet like a book

14) Upavista Konasana

15) Supta Baddha Konasana

16) Knees to chest w/sacral rocks

17) Knees at right angle and hands behind head for 10 sit-ups

18) Wide-legged Child’s Pose w/bolster

19) Viparita Karoni

20)  Savasana

Class IV: Receive

This practice emphasizes backbends (aka “heart openers”) and twists. The sequence is inspired by Rodney Yee, Donna Farhi, and the “Revolve and Resolve” chapter from The Runner’s Book of Yoga.

 

1) Constructive Rest

2)  Supta Padangusthasana – all three variations on both sides

3)  Eye of the Needle – both sides

4)  Clock at the Wall stretch – both sides

5)  Flow sequence - both sides: 
-Downward Facing Dog

-Uttanasana

-High Lunge

-Crescent Moon

-Plank

-Exhale slowly to the floor

-Inhale Cobra

-Exhale Down Dog

      6)    Repeat Flow sequence on both sides, adding Chataranga

      7)  Revolve Side Angle (with back heel lifted) – 5 breaths each side

      8)   Simple Supportive Backbend – rolled blanket under shoulder blades; knees may be bent for low back support; hold 3-5 minutes

       9) Cobra Pose – 2x

      10) Sphinx Pose – 5-10 breaths

      11) Downward Facing Dog (add vinyasa if desired)

      12) Pigeon Prep Pose – 5-10 breaths on each side

      13) Downward Facing Dog (add vinyasa if desired)

      14) Child’s Pose

      15) Paschimottanasana

      16) Sukhasana twist – 5 breaths each direction

      17) Happy Baby Pose

      18) Constructive Rest 

      19) Savasana  

The Very Beginning

Shall we start at the very beginning? Oscar Hammerstein II once suggested this was "a very good place to start," and I'm inclined to agree with him. Of course, since this is my very first blogpost, anything I write will be the very beginning, right? 

Titles are important to me. Before I could move forward on this new journey as a blogger, my first step was not only to decide what to write about, but also what I was going to call it. One of my favorite professors in grad school once offered this bit of wisdom: "If you're trying to analyze a play, one of the best places to start is with the title." I actually thought about the title of this blog for quite awhile. I'm still not sure if "The Mat and the Stage" is a good title, a great title, or a really bad one. I do know this, though: it's definitely appropriate. 

You see, I spend a lot of time on my yoga mat, both as a practitioner and as a teacher. I teach three yoga classes every week at two different studios, and I attend class at least once a week at another studio. That said, my body and mind are on my yoga mat frequently.

I would like to say I spend a lot of time on the stage, but, right now, I can't make that claim. I do spend a lot of time thinking about the stage, though, and I see a lot of theatre in any given year, locally as well as other places. I also spend a lot of time writing plays that, needless to say, I'm hopeful will find their way onto a stage. I've been lucky enough to have that happen with several of them. 

While I'm likely to write about a number of topics here--and, yes, I'm giving myself permission to do that right from the very beginning--I expect more often than not to write about yoga (aka "the mat") or theatre (aka "the stage"). Of course, these two topics actually have quite a bit in common. Maybe if you don't see that now, you will if you continue to follow this blog. And I hope you will do just that.