Interview with Nicky Poole for Zen Nomad Clothing

I was introduced to Nicky Poole through Stephanie Bonas of House of Bonas photography and was very interested to hear of her yoga practice. Nicky really embodies what we think of as a Zen Nomad lifestyle in her unique way so I am delighted to share an interview with her for the Zen Nomad blog. 

NICKY POOLE IN ZEN NOMAD SYMMERTICAL YOGA BRA TOP AND BAMBOO HAREM SKIRT- PHOTOGRAPHY BY HOUSE OF BONAS

What started you on the yogic path?

 After University in New Zealand, I gave away my belongings and travelled alone to India.  This was a wonderful time in my life for immersion into the culture of the Himalayas and the arts of meditation and yoga.  A three week ‘holiday’ turned into six months in India, and a further ten years living, studying and working in Asia.  All of these diverse experiences deepened my curiosity and connection to this path we call ‘yoga’.

 What types of practices and teachings do you feel most connected to, for your personal practice and also for teaching?

 I have a rather eclectic background, which is normal for people who have been in the yoga world for as long as I have!  It began with meditation practice in the Tibetan Mahayana tradition, and evolved to include serious study in ashtanga yoga, prana flow with my main teacher Shiva Rea, and more recently kalarippayat.  The methodology I teach stems from these practices and is constantly evolving as I learn, unlearn and relearn various techniques and dabble in other traditions of mindfulness and movement.  I guess the glue that holds it all together is the wisdom I’m gaining in getting older, and the valuable lessons I have learned in eight years of raising my kids and learning to juggle all of it at once!

You are studying an acient type of marshal art from India, what is it?  What turned you on to it? What does the practice mean to you?

 I practice a martial art from South India called Kalarippayat.  I’ve been learning it for about six years now.  Last year I travelled to Trivandrum to immerse myself in the study of this beautiful art from at CVN Kalari, one of the oldest centres of learning in Kerala. It is my deep wish to return and continue to study, (and I will, one day) but my household responsibilities restrict this dream a little!  For now, I humbly practice what I have been taught thus far on my own.  There’s no teachers here in Toronto any more so you can usually find me practicing in Trinity Bellwoods Park. This practice means more to me than I can really put into words.  It is fierce, feminine and sacred.  I hold it very close to my heart.

With Zen Nomad is all about finding connection in the world and being able to find ease and home within it, I see you travel quite a bit, What type of traveling are you inspired by?  What places have you felt most connected to and inspired by and why?

I lived in Asia from 1999 to 2009.  I was a tour guide in South East Asia for two years, and the rest of the time I was running my small community yoga studio on the banks of the Saigon River in Vietnam.  We return to Vietnam regularly to reconnect to the things that are important to us.  It’s my second home.  My kids were born there, and my husbands family still lives there. I guess it has instilled in me a sense of gratitude for all that I have.  Vietnamese people are extremely hard working, and never complain about anything, even when they have very little in terms of material possessions.  The loyalty towards their extended family,  and respect towards the importance of education and faith,  has inspired me and changed my life in many beautiful ways.  I’m grateful to be a global citizen and be raising my kids free of the divisions of ‘us’ and ‘them’.   I’m a lot more Vietnamese than I look!

 Tell us about your yoga offerings, what you teach and where?

 My yoga home is 889 Yoga ( www.889yoga.com ) where I teach a handful of regular classes.  I’m also the lead teacher in the 889 Living Yoga School and run teacher training workshops and intensives from September to March each year.  I guest teach at a few other studios in the GTA, workshops including asana, teaching pedagogy, and philosophy.  I also specialise in  Pre and Post Natal yoga, and am honoured to be offering this teacher training at Downward Dog studio in Toronto in July.  All my events are listed on my websitewww.nickypoole.com.  You can stay connected with my current offerings by following me on twitter or instagram @yoginicky

What is Vinyasa?

On most yoga schedules in the western world we see the words ‘vinyasa’ yoga, but how many of us know what it really means?  That ubiquitous phrase – “Now, take a vinyasa” – often refers to the challenging yoga sequence from plank, down into chatturanga, into upward dog and back to downward dog.   For many students, this is their only understanding of vinyasa.  But as our commitment towards our yoga practice develops, many of us look for deeper levels of insight within our practice.  How can we enmesh the lessons we learn on our mats into the rest of our lives?

Vinyasa is a Sanskrit word that is formed by linking two words together:

 Nyasa means, ‘to place’ and Vi means ‘in a special or sacred way’.    Hence Vinyasa means ‘to place something in a sacred and special way.’

 A common definition of vinyasa is ‘breath synchronised movement”.  This is not completely incorrect, however, this popular definition that does not convey the true power of the word.   A truer and broader reflection of the meaning of Vinyasa may be ‘the placement of movements and life events in a sacred and mindful manner’

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The father of modern yoga posture practice, Krishnamacharya

The father of twentieth century yoga practice was the great Indian yogi and healer Sri Krishnamacharya (1888 - 1989).  His students include India’s most influential teachers, most notably B.K. S Iyengar, the late Sri K. Patthabi Jois and his own son TKV Desikachar.   He taught yoga adhering to the principal of vinyasa krama; a structured arrangement of yoga postures progressing towards a desired goal.  It was a highly personalised offering, carefully tailored to the specific needs of each student.  For example, some vinyasa sequences he taught were therapeutic, some were invigorating, and some were restorative, depending on the needs (ages, gender and general health) of the student in front of him.

Today, vinyasa is commonly associated with the specific series of postures known as ashtanga vinyasa yoga.  This yoga method includes six challenging series of yoga postures, each of increasing difficulty, which are taught sequentially with a focus on breath and movement co-ordination.  Ashtanga vinyasa yoga has experienced growing popularity around the world since first being introduced to Western students in the 1970’s by the late Patthabi Jois (now disgraced and remembered as a sexual predator).   Prior to this time, it was a vigorous style of yoga that was only taught to young Indian boys.

 In the past 20 years, there has been a natural evolution of the beautiful Ashtanga Vinyasa series towards more creative combinations of yoga postures.  Vinyasa yoga today is personalised by each teacher, making it an open system relatively free from rules.   It is commonly enhanced by music, and can combine elements from dance and martial arts alongside traditional tantric yoga techniques of mantra (sound), pranayama (breath control), mudra (hand gestures) and meditation.

Less well known, and perhaps more importantly is that Krishnamacharya also defined vinyasa, as any cycle or wave that has a beginning, middle, and an end.  Upon examining this more organic explanation, we begin to understand that vinyasa is not limited to what we practice on our mat, but is also the intelligent unfolding of life itself.  It is the movement of the earth around the sun (a 365 day vinyasa), the rhythmic passage of the four seasons (a 3 month vinyasa depending on your global location), the lunar cycle from new moon to new moon (a 28 day vinyasa), the ebb and flow of the tides and the daily arc of the sun (a 24 hour vinyasa), and each beat of our hearts and breath (a moment to moment unfolding).  In fact, our lives are representative of a maha vinyasa (great vinyasa) from our very first breath at birth, to our final exhalation as we leave our bodies.  Developing an awareness and appreciation of the many cycles in nature, enables us to live with a greater sense of connection and unity to the cycles living within us. 

 This is yoga, a sense of union, or non-separation with all that is around us.

 Flowing through a movement vinyasa requires us to have mindfulness between one moment and the next.  Vinyasa shows us that all forms are impermanent, cannot possibly be held on to, and that all movements have a clear beginning, middle and an end.  With this idea, we can release our attachment towards their outcomes, knowing that the dissolution of each posture, gives rise to other related forms.

  We practice the awareness of vinyasa as we observe and embrace the changing seasons, cook, share and enjoy a meal, or dance under the stars – anything that takes us deep into a state of flow with full awareness.  So, the next time your teacher says in class the ubiquitious – ‘Take a vinyasa’, please take a moment to appreciate the flow into upward dog, and back into downward dog.  These movements are symbolic for the many peaks and troughs of life, and our challenge as yogis is to ride this blissful wave with as much strength and grace as we can.

Yogic themes in the Movie "The Kings Speech"

By Nicky Poole, Yoga Community Leader

Spoiler Alert:  If you haven’t seen the movie, don’t read this article! 

I just returned from watching ‘The Kings Speech’ for the second time.  It is a beautifully crafted film, a compelling true story and has a wonderful cast.  It traces the relationship between King George 6th(known as Bertie) and his ‘speech therapist’ and friend Lionel.  I was struck by just how much YOGA was in this movie, and how most of the issues presented (stuttering, anger management, lack of confidence, neglect, and fear) could be so brilliantly explained by a yogic understanding of the Chakras.  The personal development of Bertie in this movie is a clear example of a man with a major energy deficiency at the throat chakra, and the brave process he undertook to unblock this energy and restore himself to a state of balance.

The Chakras

Briefly, Chakras are energy centres in the body.  Most of the ancient yoga texts describe seven energy centres from the base of the spine, running upwards through the midline of the body to the crown of the head.  Each chakra is reflective of different aspects of our personality and spiritual development, and for the purpose of this article we shall focus on the 5th chakra, called Vissudha, which is found at the throat.

Visshuda Chakra, and the energy stored in this area is responsible for communication and creativity.  On a physiological level it covers the health and functioning of the Laryngeal nerve plexus, vocal chords, mouth, throat, ears, and thyroid.  Energetically, the spoken word come from this chakra and gives expression to the emotions felt within the heart.  The basic human rights associated with Visshuda Chakra is the right to speak and to be heard. 

If this chakra is balanced, you have a strong and clear voice, you can listen to others well, you have a good sense of timing, appropriateness and rhythm, and you can communicate your ideas clearly and creatively.  If you experience trauma in your early life (especially between the ages of 7 – 12) such as excessive criticism and verbal abuse, then you develop either an excess or deficiency in the throat chakra.  A person with an excess of Visshuda Chakra energy will talk too much, most likely have a loud and dominating voice, and will be a poor listener. 

King George 6th’s difficult childhood

In the case of King George 6th, we clearly saw that he had a major deficiency at the throat chakra: he was terrified of speaking, had a weak, timid voice with poor rhythm and a terrible stutter. His energy was blocked as it moved from the lower chakras upwards, and resulted in him having a great deal of fear around speaking and expressing himself.   Words literally got stuck in his throat.

The viewer learns that Bertie had indeed suffered terrible abuses as a child.  He was withheld food by his Nanny, and was starved of physical affection and love from his parents.  His parents, King  George 5th and Queen Mary were extremely strict, and set rules that could not be questioned.  He was also subjected to endless criticism, and his ‘faults’ of left handedness and knock knees were harshly corrected.  He had no freedom of choice in anything he did.  He grew up with no voice.

Lionels Speech Yoga Therapy Techniques

Lionels unorthodox speech therapy techniques could just as effectively be described as yoga therapy.     He bought Bertie into Savasana with the Queen sitting on his belly to practice deep diaphragmatic breathing.   Lionel instructed him to chant mantra (basically an OM) as another method of breath control and awareness.  He taught him Tadasana (Mountain Pose) and other simple rhythmic yoga kriyas, enabling him to find a greater sense of ‘flow’.   He gave him exercises to relax and soften the shoulders, throat, jaw and facial muscles.  I also appreciated how he encouraged deep verbal release through abundant  swearing, and made a note to try that when I am having a really bad day.

 He also explained to Bertie that  “Physical exercises and tricks will only fix the surface problems”.  Like any great teacher, Lionel was able to cut to the root of his physical problems when he said “You needn’t be governed by fear Bertie, you don’t need to be afraid of the things that frightened you when you were five years old”.  Lionel understood that the physical manifestation of his stutter came from a lack of empowerment and confidence in expressing himself that he suffered early on as a child.

Lionel as teacher

Lionel really embodied all the qualities that I would want in a yoga teacher; endlessly patient, unorthodox, compassionate, hard ass, hilarious, and wise.  We are shown an argument between the King and Lionel near the climax of the movie, and Bertie eventually yells in a frustrated rage “I HAVE A VOICE!”.  This seems to be the pivotal moment in the movie, when the blockage is finally released, and he is able to transform from the reluctant and nervous King with a crippling stutter, and step fully into his new role with confidence and grace.

Go and see this movie.  It is enjoyable however you choose to view it, whether it be through the lens of yoga or not.