Royal Yoga Studio

This is a list of 100 people that have made a difference in my life

Andrew’s 100

1. Andria Miguez – My Partner and Friend. Her gravity brings me back to my power.
2. Egon Zap Dugas – My son and pillow fighting opponent
3. Dagny Bloom McGuire – My Daughter and tickle buddy
4. Bodhi Royal Dugas – My youngest son, inventor of the food-drink.
5. Charles Dugas – My father. Always meets me with unconditional love. Taught me to be a teacher and dad.
6. Judy Dugas – My mother, sparing partner and inspiration. Gave me my gab.
7. Emily Bollinger – My sister. Writer, Singer, Musician, Musician. There even when she’s not.
8. Dana McGuire – Ex, baby momma, cutting edge Luddite. Always opens her heart to me.
9. Mikas K. – My dear friend, too often too far away. Sexiest man I let myself be around.
10. Jeff Hanson – My best friend from HSPVA. Gave me much of who I am, dork-wise.
(Now in no particular order)
11. Paul Ellison – My bass teacher from Rice. Introduced me to yoga and general awesomeness.
12. Marisa Miller – Former lover, has very inspiring eyebrow crinkles when she’s thinking.
13. Katrina Miguez – Tireless grandma, student and teacher. Gave Andria her silliness.
14. Pete Lippincott – Introduced Andria to a friend that introduced her to tango. So we met.
15. Grandma Flynn – My Dad’s mom. Mean ‘n ornery mom made my dad controlled and committed.
16. Robert Boustany – My teacher, friend. Never asks for anything and invests so much. Thank you.
17. Paul Barrera – My old rock climbing, talking, eating and laughing buddy. Where are you, bro?
18. Sandra McDonald – Egon’s birth’s midwife.
19. Joni – Bodhi’s midwife.
20. Grandma Laverne – I love you still.
21. Karl Fenner – Because I took you out on a school night to get drunk, I got together with my soon to be wife.
22. Jan McHenry – Demonstrated for me what a great coach can be. Walking unconditional love.
23. Brian Nord – Stands for me no matter what I do or say.
24. Linda Weiner – My biggest fan. Unwavering support.
25. Misha Laird – Gave me my break in yoga after I moved back.
26. Sam Evers – Student turned friend turned colleague. Inspires more strength.
27. Aaron Harting – Colleague and soon to be dad. Gives me a reason to climb.
28. Duane Smelser – Tirelessly generous and voraciously persistent. Helped me more than he could know.
29. Debby Pellikan – Dana’s mom, gave her her critical mind, impatience for dumbness and a great smile.
30. Luis Z – tango buddy out to transform big things. Very nice hair and a trusting heart.
31. Indre R. – Dancing partner of old, blonde enthusiasm goddess.
32. Roy Dugas – My uncle, makes silly choices but has a heart of gold.
33. Tracy Harrington – Ex, stood by me during a very rough time.
34. Dennis Hartley – Supported each other through a rough patch. Thanks bro.
35. Luiza Paes – The funnest dancer you’ll ever meet. We make music together.
36. Rose Kuo – Top 5 human smiles. Great dancer and friend!
37. Dave Anderson – Wrote 3 pieces for bass that took up most of my time and were my signature pieces.
38. Melinda Taylor – Always feel the love from her. Great energy!
39. Mila Vidgorova – My first very favorite tango dancer. Stayed up late saying, ‘wow, we actually dance!”
40. Sol Metts – My mentor of old. Hilariously irreverent. My first taste of great coaching.
41. Ann Hyde – Climbing and yoga buddy. Shared lots of good laughs over the year.
42. Denis Grace – Said I have Bernini Feet. Best compliment ever.
43. Mariana Ancarola – Top 5 dancers ever. My favoritest person to dance in close embrace.
44. Lajla Cline – An enigma wrapped in a mystery.
45. Ira Gold – Embodied work ethic for me as a young lad. Very infection laugh.
46. Carmela Hill-Burke – Gives great complements after dances. Helped me with videos even though she was busy.
47. Matt Mirabella – My cousin who’s immortal words ‘Zerki attack!’ are forever etched in my brain.
48. Michael Webster – Teacher and yogi, gave me straight feedback on my crappy integrity, thanks!
49. Kim Krichbaum – Fashionista, growth pirate, collector of things wonderful.
50. Gosia Leska – Friend, who, before we officially met, I had my most embarrassing moment ever with.
51. Pamela Miller – My butt loves calling her. Wonderful dancer, generous many times around tango.
52. Steve Stayer – Made Sarah, supports my classes. Top 10 human smiles.
53. Greg Bryant – World class spinner, story teller, visionary, and commiserator. Miss you bro.
54. Jeanine Van Sise – Cook, baker, DJ and general sweety-pie. Great supporter in all things tango!
55. Susan Zadoff – Friend and tango fan. The sweetest, most self deprecating great dancer you’ll ever meet.
56. Dani Whitehead – Coffee with love, not to mention enthusiasm for all things cool..
57. Maud Chapuis – Leaves the best comments on things I post.
58. Adrienne Black – Wry and sweet all rolled up. A great support through all that stuff.
59. Murat Erdemsel – Always acknowledges the teachers that come to his classes. Very classy.
60. Shalini Komarla – The biggest eyes and the most enthusiasm at discovery ever!
61. Mercedes Pereyra – The biggest smile and great energy wherever she goes.
62. Brigitta Winkler – Got me teaching at festivals. My first an only tango bliss as a leader.
63. Jeremiah Runnels – Visionary slob, trickster extraordinaire, next President of the United States.
64. Taya Sparks – Gave me the best Bday present ever. Chess, tea, humming, laughing.
65. Isa Jennings – Gorgeous woman and soul, great dancer with so much caring for us. Thank you.
66. Loren Kwan – Friend and fellow depressive. Upright posture and a cute dimpled smile.
67. Marlana Frances – Great supporter. Drove all the way twice! You’re awesome.
68. Tabiltha Guasta – Former lover, always good for a sweet little note just when you need it!
69. Shuba Eachempati – Always there with a great dance.
70. Marlies de Koning – yogi and great spirit. Inspires grace.
71. Farm Soy – Sponsored me at the Farm, gave me a job. Best day ever working there.
72. Sylvia Sundquist – The only woman I’ve proposed to without ever having made out with!
73. Vicky Ayers – Gave me my first class in Eugene. Great dancer!
74. Robin Thomas – A constant reminder for awesomeness.
75. Tara Dooley – Great energy and easy spirit through a tough time with the festival.
76. Albert Bates – ETC guy with a huge brain. Gave us a place to stay and work.
77. Becky Lee – Former lover and roommate. Easiest climbing buddy ever. Sweet too!
78. Rebecca Rorick Smith – Top 5 dancers + a great earth spite.
79. Virginia Ariza – Always shows up to events early to see how she can help!
80. Vincent Kelly – Oregon yogi with great questions and spirit.
81. Veronica Toumanova –Top Dancers, dances like the wind.
82. Ron Lord – Top 10 best human smiles. Always enjoys classes and lets you know.
83. Vanja Modzelewski – One of the top 5 dancers I’ve ever had the privilege of creating with.
84. Carrie Schneider – Pointy shoes and the sweetest heart. Give great hugs.
85. Troy Bollinger – There to help with any questions and needs.
86. Sandor Ostlund – My bass buddy of old. Played at my sisters wedding.
87. Sriram Eleswarapu – His 365 photo project inspired the expression of my 101 poems site.
88. Tricia Waldrum – My fresh green tea drinkin’ buddy of old.
89. Tomas Howlin – Gave me grace in my feet.
90. Cecilia Garcia – Top 5 dancers ever. Took care of me sweetly like an angel one time
91. Tom Henegan – Sanity on a board of silliness.
92. Anna Whitmire – Great dancer, tirelessly curious and silly.
93. Kevin Bass – Wide-eyed stand for integrity, which is rare. Always out for me to have more power.
94. Sabine Ives – Three times gave the best last dances of a festival.
95. Tamra Lee – My friend, tango partner, supporter, b&b and promoter. You rock!
96. Benjamin Brochstein – One of the best people to see after a yoga class…bliss and smiles. Good hugs too.
97. Santiago Dorkas – Running on all 4s like a monkey on speed.
98. Anala Miller – Best babysitter ever. Thanks for you sweet support of the poetry!
99. Caren Flanegan – My first tango student, great dancer, human friend. The only person I gossip with!
100. Samarra Burnett – Gave the best thank you card ever for a private lesson.

I’ve started a new blog for a while.
One for the love of my life.

Hope you enjoy it:
http://iamforher.com
101 Poems in 101 Days

With Gratitude,
A

Next we look at the shoulders in back and side sleepers.

As mentioned in the last article, collapsing the front of the body is one of the, if not the most significant, factors in body imbalances during sleeping and waking posture.

Once I’ve lowered the head, decreasing the angle on the neck, I can begin having the front of the body open while sleeping.

Issue:
While lying on my back, my shoulders are still next to my ears.
If we spend our days with the front to the check collapsed, gravity pulls shoulders forward. It becomes imperative to take shoulder blades down the back. Lying on the back the best way to do this is to press the head straight back into the bed, lifting/lightening upper back and shoulders off of the mattress, then pull shoulder blades down the back towards the pelvis. Relax upper back down and you’ve reset the shoulders.

Possible Solutions:

• Adjust shoulder blades down the back, take the hands palm up by the hips as far away from the ears as possible.
• Adjust shoulder blades down the back, rest palms on the lower belly by the hips with elbows reaching away from ears.
• For most extreme need: adjust shoulder blades down the back, slide palms face up under the hips, with hands as far away from ears as possible
• Adjust shoulder blades down the back, take hands under the neck, near the base of the skull. If using a pillow, have pillow under neck, shoulders and head and have hands under pillow.

For side sleepers the same applies. Keeping shoulders away from the ears is the best way to not wake up with that not-so-pleasant feeling in the neck, upper and lower back and shoulders. For most side sleeping positions I recommend having the bottom hand under the head, under the pillow. The top arm and rest forward, on the hip or in extreme need, between the hips to lock the hand further from the shoulder.

Possible Solutions:

• Arch the chest so the back of the head, shoulders and hips are in one line. Have both the front and back of the neck as long as possible(In the beginning this will feel VERY awkward!)
• Instead of having just the head on the pillow, slide as much of the pillow as possible under the neck, pushing the shoulder away from the ear while still having the head on the pillow. If you have acute shoulder issues this may put too much pressure on the joint. You may consider the next solution.
• Remove pillow and turn upper body towards the bed. If lying on left side, legs bend over to the left, turn the body towards the bed with the chest flat. (Sleeping in a gentle spinal twist).
• If this is too intense, straighten the left leg in a hybrid side/belly position.

Despite the awkwardness of the some of these positions, relax into your breath, sleep and give yourself a few weeks of each before judging results. Each time you wake up in the ’same old position’, lovingly come back to a chosen alignment over and over and over again. It will soon become rote.

My next article will look at shoulders and lower back for belly sleepers.

Namaste,
A

We spend the most time in any one position while sleeping.
We are in control of our bodies the least while sleeping.
We exaggerate all of our imbalances while sleeping too.

For those that go to yoga regularly its easy to forget that, though we spend 1 hour in the class, the other 23 actually determine the alignment and functionality of our bodies.

What’s your body position while you are:
driving?
eating?
walking?
working?
reading?
ordering coffee?
talking on the phone?
rock climbing (or belaying!)?
deep sea diving?
being a rocket scientist?
SLEEPING?

As your practice deepens and the body opens, its not uncommon for sleep to become less comfortable. You are able to feel your body more and therefore feel your discomfort more acutely than before. Joints become temporarily unstable as they adjust to a new balance of pressures. Muscles get confused and areas like neck, shoulders, ribs, lower back, S.I. joints, hips and knees can start to complain. We open the body up and create a new alignment, then when your body goes right back to its old ways unconsciously during sleep, it can get frustrating.

First Steps:
The first step in any sleep position realignment is to look and experiment with the pillow.

Issue:
Are you using a big, fluffy pillow while sleeping on your back? (see picture below)
This is probably the culprit for your neck, shoulder, breathing, and lumbar spine issues. Sleeping with the head hugely elevated is essentially like standing with your head significantly forward of your chest with your lower back rounded and chest collapsed, i.e. slouching. The main benefit to elevating the head while sleeping is to allow blood to drain more easily from the back of the brain.

Possible Solutions:

1. Consider using a significantly more compressible pillow, like a down filled pillow.
2. Slide the pillow lower on the neck and upper back so the upper part of shoulders are also partly on the pillow and the head is near the top edge of the pillow. This decreases the angle on the neck.
3. Consider not using a pillow for sleeping on your back or belly.
4. If you have a very soft bed, where you feel like your chest is collapsing while lying on back even without a pillow, consider getting a new, somewhat harder bed.
5. As you spend some time with the head in a lower position you may find it helpful to have the head turned to one side or another as you feel the back of the head collect more blood than normal. Same with inversions, its takes time to adjust to any change in blood flow to the head. (Extra credit: do your dreams change from left to right?)

   All

   Sitting? Sleeping on your back? Sleeping on your side?
   
   Which one are you?(notice how the ribs almost point straight to the floor. Imagine trying to take a deep breath!)

   More than any other practice, giving yourself plenty of time (in terms of months and years) to re-align sleep is important. Don’t get discouraged as you begin to notice that you fall asleep in the perfectly aligned position but wake up like you fell from a great height (with the aches that go with it). Gently bring yourself back as you come in and out of sleep though the night, breath and be kind to yourself. In the beginning this work will be anything but comfortable. Stick with it!

   In the next installment, we’ll look at
   Lower back, hip and the ever-problematic shoulders issues for front, side and back sleepers.

   With love,
   A

   Tags: alignment, andrew, Andrew Dugas, andrew royal dugas, awareness, excercise, hatha yoga, karma yoga, meditation, raja yoga, royal yoga, sleep, yoga, yoga blog, yoga class, yoga instruction, yoga practice, yoga tips, yoga video blog
   

We are unique in the complexity of our language. Some scientists say that all memories (as we think of them) are based in language and until we have words to describe (define, limit, contain) ‘things’, they practically don’t exist for us. Examples sited are people raise in by animals or in extreme isolation and introduced to society late in life with no language. As they begin to be able to express themselves they each have an inability to remember life before they were ’saved’. The human brain it seems lives to a great degree in language. We reflect on our past in language. We sit in front of something and say, ‘Ahhh, what a beautiful sunset. Our futures are shaped by vague ideas we have working in the background about how life will be. All in language. We want to understand. There is an almost compulsive need to define, hold onto.

The idea of ‘not knowing’ is likened to death.

This of course is the great irony of the human mind. Though we think and communicate in words…they’re made up. They’re not real. When you see a cat, you’re not seeing a cat. You’re simply calling it a cat. No big deal. But what about when we confuse the thing that we call a cat with the idea/word cat. In other words, we think what we think a cat is really is what a cat is. When I see a cat, all the great positive life experience I have with animals like that thing come up and I feel loving. When someone else sees a cat, they may see an animal that scratches and pisses on everything and makes their allergies flare up to emergency room levels. The animal in front of us isn’t any different but the definition of cat is completely different.

Which is true?

In the biggest sense: neither of course. Its all made up! That cat isn’t good or bad, positive or negative. It isn’t even a cat!

In other words: the sign in the road pointing to Houston is not Houston. Its just a sign. That’s where we get confused.

I have an experience with a man and now all men are ______ (Bad, or rude, or cruel, or sweet, or loving, or oblivious or kind, or…) Which of course isn’t true, simply our view of the events in our life.

In a smaller or more practical sense: both cat stories are true. They are true because we say they are.

So what if you could get all your stories about cats out in the open and take responsibility for them? What if you could sit in front of a sunset and just see it, rather than a ‘beautiful sunset’? Then conversations get really interesting!!

The Power of Conversation.
What if everything in your practical life was created with language?
What if you committed so something radical (said you were going to do it and when) and did whatever it took to make it real?
What if you treated your word like your life?
What if you lived in a world where being honesty was more valued than being nice?
What if you cleaned up the things that weigh down your relationships with the power of your words?
What if you jumped into the game of your life and didn’t take yourself out of the conversation?

I notice in my life that nothing works when I’m not in the conversation and everything works when I am.

Share yourself with everyone in your life today this week. See what happens. Something will shift we get into the conversation of our lives.

With love,
A