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Vasisthasana in Arkansas: I-40 Yoga Trip Review

Vasisthasana

Reading and pronouncing a yoga pose in Sanskrit are often harder than the actual pose. This is Vasisthasana, or Side-Arm Balance. To be more specific, it is Vasisthasana in Arkansas.


The vinyasa (a sequence of several yoga poses that loosens up the spine) that I practiced on the cold, stone Arkansas Visitor Center sign might have been the only yoga I have ever done in Arkansas.

While on our I-40 Yoga Tour, my sister and I outright neglected Arkansas' yoga opportunities. Instead, Megan got a lesson in driving a standard transmission and I rode my longboard around a parking lot. The state just had some bad luck. It was a long day behind the wheel and we decided not to stop between Oklahoma City and Memphis. Next time Arkansas.

This pose has come up several times since I've arrived in the Yoga Mecca of Asheville. Anusara trained instructors Meghan and Joe at West Asheville Yoga and Asheville Yoga Center clued me in to a different perspective on my alignment here. By drawing my hips back, as if to stick out my butt then curling the tailbone under I was able to pull in more stability from my core. This allowed me to breathe deeply and open my torso and heart to the sky fluidly, without loosing my balance.

It was exciting in my own nerdy-yoga way.

Moral of the Story:
Stability can originate in the center and spread throughout the body with the fluid connection of deep breath.

New Rivers: North Fork French Broad, Doe, Watauga

North Fork French Broad, Clog rapid. Photo courtesy Chris Bell

This Asheville living thing is going to be fun. The rain hasn't really stopped in the past week and new rivers just seem to be everywhere. First day out I caught Adriene before she headed off to Australia for an epic Kimberly mission. The Green was on the low side, but that just made the boofs bigger. Only a few days before temperatures were probably in the single digits, leaving thick ice coats on all the rocks and ledges. Lines were tighter and beautiful ice structures were everywhere. Check out her blog for some photos.

After another great run on the Green, Charley and I joined Chris and Harrison (C1) on the North Fork of the French Broad.

Harrison droping over Boxcar rapid. Photo courtesy Chris Bell

A little creek just outside of Asheville, this run provided some great drops, like Boxcar seen above. Even better, this was the third day of paddling with new locals. I can't get enough of kayaking's ability to creat instant friendships with some amazing people. Lucky me.

Charley on boxcar. Like a waterslide for big kids. Photo courtesy Chris Bell

Gotta take time to enjoy some beauty every once in a while. Photo: Harrison

Harrison dancing with danger under massive ice daggers. Photo courtesy Chris Bell

Me dropping into Suicide rapid (no worries, suicide is left...i'm going right) Photo courtesy Chris Bell

Charley and I headed out toward Boone, NC to get on the Watauga River at a higher flow. My good friends Drew and Jeff graciously showed my students and I down this stretch of river in the fall, but at much lower water. It was a creek then, today it was a full-on river. Some might go as far to say a high water river.

Charley sending it over a boof, Watauga River.

Stateline Falls, higher water than I've seen yet. Representing TeamSOG

Charley and Drew on Doe river, an unexpected canyon in eastern Tennessee, a secret wilderness beauty.

The Doe Canyon was an unexpected treat for Charley and I. With a severely broken Nomad (not mine luckily) and the constant desire to get on some new runs, Drew agreed to meet us here. This canyone is said to be one of the most beautiful, easily accessed runs in the region. The fog hung in the trees, provided the occasional glance to surprisingly large cliff faces on either side of this micro-creek. Mellow rapids with some great boofs and tight, technical lines made us happy. But then again, it doesn't take much to make us happy.

The next few months will be filled with good times like this. So many more runs in the area, many of which will push the envelope more and many of which will take the breath away.

Keep it comin!

More Canyon

Still Thinking About the Canyon

Moonlight to Moonlight, Grand Canyon in Between

The moon's luminenscence upon snow turned our path into a glowing white carpet. After the first hour of descent the sun began its day with lighting up the very edge of the top rim, where we had just been. Our elevation dropped, and the sunlight upon the canyon wall followed us down. It caught up in no time. We are athletic, but the sun moves pretty fast.

I think I can say that every other time I've gone for a hike it has been uphill first. Perhaps a bit of downhill to get to the uphill, but its almost always up then down. It was an adjustment to be going down for so long with taking absolutely no steps up. For 3 hours gravity helped us move along the trail. We would sometimes allow it more control, placing each footstep strategically in an assisted run. Other times it worked more against us, reminding us of our weight through our knees.

At the river we shared coffee and hot chocolate at Phantom Ranch, relaxed and wandered around. By the time we decided to start going up again, it felt like summer. Warm sun rays around every corner, the sound of rapids just around the bend and a soft, sandy beach.

Moving from summer into fall, the temperature dropped with the sun. The crampons got more use and we pushed to complete the 5 hour ascent back to the rim. The increased numbers of ill-prepared and hesitant tourists meant that we were only moments from the visitor center on the rim. A sunset to remember for a long time.

Next Adventure: I-40

Avoiding Insanity on a 30 Hour Drive


View I-40 Yogaventure in a larger map

My dear sister, Megan, is flying out from Greenville to spend the next 4 days with me along I-40. Several years ago my dear friend, also Megan, and I pointed her white Jetta west and headed along I-90. Over the following years I found myself moving about these latitudes; lots of I-70, a bit of I-80; crossing from one side of the country to the other. This week, we will get to know another of these interstates, a southern route. We'll see how the rest stops compare to Ohio, how the truck stops compare to Pennsylvania, the scenic overlooks compare to Utah.

But why let your muscles atrophy sitting for hours and hours on end? Only a strict deadline warrants this, which we don't have. So in light of our mutual interest and love for yoga, we will stop in some of the major cities to visit studios and explore the urban scene. (Urban? How do I do that?) Check out the map to see some of our ideas for stopping.

Know anything interesting to see or do along this route? PLEASE let me know!

Why Two Wheels All of a Sudden?

Again, you find yourself on a bike. A new trend that doesn't suck.


New Years Eve in the desert:

You wake up late because Boondock Saints went late last night with your new friend Will. Fortunately, your bikes and gear are loaded into the futuristic, distance-friendly Toyota Prius and you leaisurely drive south to Sedona.

There are no bookstores in Sedona, you come to find. There are plenty of jewelry, t-shirt and jeep tour shops though. All of which are sandwiched between the purple signs of psychics. You don't want to visit any of these shops, as they only remind you of the excessive luxury tourism of other outdoor destinations like Breckenridge, Stowe or Sonoma.

You make your way to 7 Centers Yoga School, where the auroma and taste of new spices will fill your head for the next hour and a half. The Ayurvedic cooking class is part of their free New Years Eve class schedule. And free is your favorite flavor.


Your boyfriend, however, is tired at this point and needs an energy boost. You decide to swing into the local bike shop to fish for the "local" scoop on good biking spots for the day. NOD, as the attendant introduces himself (gnarly old dude, the G is silent), is a Navajo descendant who prides himself on giving his friends a unique biking vacation. Just last summer he took his buddies, the Switzerland World Champion Mnt. Biking team, on a ride through the reservation, an experience unavailable to those without the proper connections. He mentions he wants to take them down the Colorado next summer. Good thing your boyfriend is a guide. Cha-Ching.
NOD sells you a Cosmic Ray Bike map and sends you on a route you simply can't hate.


Despite being fitted for someone else and rarely ridden, your bike is perfect. The first few miles you remember which levers make it harder and which make it really harder. The next few miles you begin to remember to change these settings in order to climb hills, or speed up around bends. Slowly the comfort and ease of a mountain bike comes back to you. Rocks, ledges and ditches are no longer obstacles, but features. Your body is working hard and you are loving life.

The sun is setting and you are back at your car. Salty skin and fatigued thighs, but smiling powerfully.