Feathered Pipe Ranch

April 30th, 2011

Feathered Pipe Ranch

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“Grace, gratitude and heart. This sums up the experience of yoga and people at the Feathered Pipe." -April Nelson

The Feathered Pipe Ranch

We invite you to join us for an unforgettable experience: a week at the Feathered Pipe Ranch, one of the country's premier retreat centers. Tucked in the heart of the Montana Rockies and surrounded by miles of forested mountains, it is a vibrant and peaceful oasis to which our guests return eagerly year after year - inevitably leaving the Ranch feeling recharged and relaxed - and counting the days until they can again return.

Erich Schiffmann

For 36 years, the Ranch has been home to yoga and meditation retreats and a host of other personal growth programs that help us experience our wholeness and remember our intimate connection to all of life. Many of today's foremost authorities on yoga, meditation, wellness and health have come through our doors at one time or another, with many of them getting their start as a student through our Scholarship Fund. Dr. Andrew Weil, Patricia Walden, Erich Schiffmann, Judith Hanson Lasater, John Friend, and world-renowned Native American flutists, R. Carlos Nakai -- just to name a few -- are honored alumni of the Feathered Pipe.

The ranch itself has a rich and deep history. First homesteaded by Leo Zimmer, it was eventually purchased and developed to its current state by the Rheem family of the industrial giants, Rheem Heating & Cooling. Robert Rheem, along with his life partner Liam O'Gallagher, were instrumental "behind the scenes" in encouraging and fostering the progressive thinking and creative expression that flourished in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, befriending such luminaries as Aldous Huxley, Allen Ginsberg, Andy Worhal, Allan Watts, and Marcel Duchamp (See: Every Exit is an Entry). They assisted in the creation of numerous human growth and progressive thought organizations such as the Ojai Foundation and Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, and were integral to the land finding its way to the founders of Feathered Pipe Foundation and encouraging the mission that was undertaken and continues to this day.

Open Yourself to the World

The Ranch is nestled amidst almost a million acres of national forestland and offers an ideal setting for true retreat experience, allowing the space within and without to experience the essence of ones self and nature. Visitors can wander alone exploring ambling brooks fed by pure mountain springs and discover open vistas to view the world below and the Big Sky above. Ranch retreat visitors can just as easily find community with others, sitting on the open lawn in the shade of Cottonwood trees, quaking aspens, and fragrant pine with an exquisite view out over the lake with Lake Tipi and mountain woodlands reflected. Horseback riding is available for those wishing to view the world from a truly Montanan point of view (See: Hiking & Horseback Riding).

Main Lodge

The main lodge is the centerpiece to the Ranch. The spacious main room with fully equipped yoga walls and supports along with diverse library is the perfect space in which to explore oneself and relationship to others. The main lodge, chalet and cabins hidden tucked in the forest offer a variety of warm and comfortable lodging options, while tipis, tents and yurts dot the landscape and are available to guests who prefer to be even closer to nature, waking to the vivid colors and sounds of the day. And the bathhouse with hot tub, cedar wood sauna, and massage rooms where our massage and bodywork staff work their magic offers you numerous different ways in which to relax, nurture and heal body, mind and spirit (See: Services & Activities).

If the spirit of the ranch is captured anywhere, it is in the kitchen. Our specialty is wholesome, natural food specializing in ethnic recipes from all over the globe. We strive to use whole, organic ingredients prepared with a commitment to health and well-being, attempting to locate locally grown and raised organic food sources as much as possible in order to play our part in building sustainable, healthy communities.

India Supera

Our staff is dedicated to making you feel comfortable and at home, welcoming you as family back after long vacation away. Together with India’s daughter Crystal, who runs the Shanti Boutique, our staff does everything in its power to accommodate your every need. And as always there is India Supera, whose own personal, wondrous and strange journey has shaped and blessed the living narrative of the Ranch. She is here to share her stories, lend a comforting ear, and remind you that you’ve never left home and that you are perfectly whole, perfectly fine, just as you are.

We look forward to your arrival and coming to call the Feathered Pipe, "Home". There's nothing like it!

 

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April 28th, 2011

For Your Health: Be Sweet To Yourself – Kira Ryder

Relationship with Self

Yoga is a practice of intimacy. And by now you might have noticed that we are our most intimate relationships. We are the ones we are talking to most often. We are the ones usually talking back. And we are the ones we think about almost non-stop. This can be embarrassing when you first see it. Seeing it is the first step to freedom.

Our Autonomic Nervous System has two parts. The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). You can keep them straight by remembering “s” for “stress.” The SNS continually asks the questions, “Am I Safe?” As long as she gets the answer back, “Yes,” then the PNS can run the show. The heart rate stays low, the blood pressure is appropriate, food is digested and long term optimistic projects like reproduction can be considered.

For physical survival, we are wired to crave safety, and just to make sure, our first primal emotion is fear. When the SNS receives the answer of “No” to its inquiry of safety, the Fight or Flight Response* is launched. You might remember this from 6th grade science. Adrenaline is released into the bloodstream increasing in heart rate and blood pressure. Concentrations in the plasma of the protein fibrinogen are increased to encourage clotting in case of an attack. We get a quick 30 minute boost in the immune system and a shot of glucose for energy. Long term projects are ended and shut down. The expression, “he was so scared he shit in his pants,” is literally true as the digestion clears itself out and closes shop. Once we are out of danger, the SNS is designed to relax and turn the reigns back over to the PNS. Yet so many of us get stuck. Recent reports suggest that stress is the leading cause of disease in America.

The Yogis have long suggested that our problems are all in our heads. Sutra 1.2 of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, “yogas-citta-vritti-nirodhah,” or “yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind.” Within the Sutras, the very first suggestion of how one might approach this is Sutra 1.33: "maitiri-karuna-mudita-upkesanam-sukha-duhka-punya-apunya-visayanam-bhavantas-chitta-prasadanam". Ravi Ravindra’s translation is, “A clear and tranquil mind results from cultivating friendliness towards those who are happy, compassion towards those who suffer, joy towards the virutous, and impariallity towards the wrong-does.” Cultivating friendliness, compassion, joy and goodwill must have been just as difficult 2000 years ago as it is today because the very next suggestion is, Sutra 1.34: "prachchhardana-vidharanbhyam-va-pranasya", is “or from attention to the outwards and inward flow of breath.”

Back to you and your thoughts. If in your research, you discover that it is true that you are the one you are most often thinking about. The next step is to notice how you are thinking about yourself. Most of us have a great deal of practice of self abuse. The smallest things launch a campaign of internal cruelty. Leaving your wallet at home or locking your keys in the car or missing a credit card payment can generate the most caustic harshness. When you look at yourself in the mirror, is there always something to be fixed? Lifted? Tucked?

Can you imagine that this continual flow of harshness might cause the Sympathetic Nervous System to feel that its under attack? You can live a beautiful rich life in all respects, but if the internal dialogue is continually suggesting that you are fat, stupid, poor and unworthy, the body is going to respond as if its in danger. When the body is under continual attack, new “rest levels” are set. The resting heart rate goes up, the blood sugar levels raise and a weakened immune system can result in chronic illness.

Is this making sense? We have the power to perpetuate a feeling of stress. And we have the tools to unravel it. Let the wisdom of the Sutras help.

1. Find a comfortable seat. In a chair or on the floor. Choose a common negative thought you have often. Begin to repeat it over and over and over to yourself for a least a minute. Notice how your breath and body respond. Write your results.

2. Repeat the exercise. After about 30 seconds, find the negative thought’s opposite. And switch tracks. Notice the body’s response when you switch. (e.g “I ‘m not a good teacher” to “I am a good teacher.”)

3. Go in there again, same or different negative thought. Now, try to hold onto the thought as you deepen your breath. Literally make an effort to cling to it. See if you can.

4. Try the same thing with a positive thought. Try to hold onto a positive thought while deepening your breath.

You are more than your thoughts, negative and positive. But the negative ones are slowly choking you to death. You can only come to this conclusion on your own. So be a good Yogi scientist and do your research.

 

* A much more sophisticated understanding of this response is “Fight, Flight, Freeze or Fold” as presented by Peter Levine, PhD in “In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness.”

 

Kira Ryder

Kira lives in the magical Ojai Valley. She is the Den Mother of Lulu Bandha’s Yoga Studio and hostess of the annual Ojai Yoga Crib. Lulu Bandha’s offers online yoga classes, workshops, blogs and other resources. Her teaching emphasis tuning into the alignment within your own heart. Kira will be sharing her deep insight on developing self nurturance within one's practice and life during her retreat, The Anatomy of Self Love, at the Feathered Pipe Ranch, June 25 - July 1.

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April 27th, 2011

Relief from Spring Allergies – Marla Apt

Downward Cat

Spring has sprung! And here at the Feathered Pipe Ranch, this means the cats after their winter-long hibernation inside Lake Cabin are venturing back out to reacquaint themselves with the world outside. For many the coming of spring brings the dread of allergies and their effects - watery eyes, runny nose, congested sinuses and pressure behind the eyes. Marla Apt has kindly offered this asana sequence that she submitted (with input and approval from Geeta Iyengar) to the Yoga Journal Magazine in May of 2008 while she was writer contributor for the "Basics" column.

Marla urges you to be mindful of drawing the shoulder blades downward and into the back body while keeping the face soft throughout all poses. This will encourage spacious opening within the shoulder region, neck and throat allowing drainage of the sinus passages. Please also be conscious to maintain normal, easy breathing not constricting, straining or overly extending the breath.

 

During the Sequence

WRAP IT UP - For Halasana (Plow Pose) and Savasana (Corpse Pose), you can wrap your head with a non-stretchy bandage (you can often find the lightweight Indian ones at Iyengar Yoga studios). The light presence of the bandage encourages the facial muscles to relax, but if wrapped too tightly it can add pressure. Unroll the bandage around your forehead down to eyebrow level and around the back of your skull. Wrap it lightly so that it supports the forehead but doesn’t put pressure on the eyes. Remove the bandage if you find breathing difficult.

NOTE: With the exception of Chatush Padasana (Four-Footed Pose, which you can hold from 20 seconds to 1 minute), each pose in this sequence can be held for up to 5 minutes.

Balasana

1 Adho Mukha Virasana (Downward Facing Hero Pose) Sit on your heels with your knees apart and big toes touching. Extend your arms forward and rest your head on the floor. If your head does not reach the floor with ease, put a blanket or two underneath the forehead for support. Lengthen the buttocks back while extending the chest and ribs forward. Keep the neck soft and the shoulders away from the ears.

Adho Mukha Svanasana

2 Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose) With your hands and knees on the floor, place a block underneath your chest. Straighten the legs and lift into Downward-Facing Dog. Let your neck release down so that your head can rest on the support. If your head doesn’t reach the block, place a bolster or several folded blankets underneath it. While the arms, upper back, and torso work to lift away from the floor, keep the neck, throat, and face soft and relaxed.

Uttanasana

3 Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) Separate the feet wider than hip-width apart and bend forward. Place the crown of your head on a support (try blocks or even a chair). Hold your ankles with your hands and separate your elbows. Even though your head is resting on the prop, keep your weight in your feet. The neck should feel long and the chest broad.

 

Supta Virasana

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 Supta Virasana (Reclining Hero Pose) Sit in Virasana (Hero Pose). Lie back on a bolster. If your knees splay apart or hurt, use more support under your back. If your head tilts backward, place a blanket underneath it. Extend your arms overhead and clasp your elbows with your hands.

Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana

5 Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana (Two-Legged Inverted Staff Pose) Sit backward on a folding chair, with your legs threaded through the opening above the chair seat. Lie back, placing your upper back on the edge of the chair seat. Extend the legs and place your heels on a block. Pull on the chair with your arms to open your chest. Rest the crown of your head on a prop, keeping the neck relaxed. Bend your knees and lift your torso up to come out of the pose.

Sirsasana

6 Sirsasana (Headstand) If this pose is new for you, do not attempt it without the guidance and supervision of an experienced teacher. It is not for beginners or for those with neck injuries. Try it at a wall if you cannot balance in the middle of the room. Place your forearms on the floor, with your elbows directly underneath your shoulders, and then interlock your fingers. Place your head on the floor between your hands. Straighten your legs and walk your feet closer to your head. Gently lift your legs up into Headstand. Keep the shoulders lifted while you come down, then rest your head on the floor for a minute in Adho Mukha Virasana.

Chatush Padasana

 

 

 

7 Chatush Padasana (Four-Footed Pose) Place three blankets on a mat and lie over the blankets with your shoulders in line with their top edges. With your feet hip-width apart, bend your knees and clasp your ankles with your hands, place and hold a belt around the ankles, or grasp the sides of your mat. Press your heels into the floor, lift your pelvis up toward the ceiling, and roll the outer edges of your shoulders down into the floor. Lift the upper back away from the floor and open the chest.

Salamba Sarvangasana

8 Salamba Sarvangasana (Supported Shoulderstand) Before coming into this pose, place a chair with a rolled blanket or a bolster behind your blankets. Then lie back on the blankets and lift your torso and legs up toward the ceiling directly above your shoulders. With your elbows bent, cradle your upper back (near the shoulder blades) with your hands; don’t let your elbows splay wide apart. Relax the neck and throat and look at your chest as you walk your hands further down your back toward the floor.

Halasana

9 Halasana (Plow Pose) From Salamba Sarvangasana, take your legs overhead and rest your thighs on a support. Relax the arms by the sides of the head. Keep the throat passive and the eyes, temples, and cheeks soft.

After you Finish

REST... Lie on your back in Savasana. With your arms by your sides, palms up, press your forearms into the floor and pull your shoulder blades away from your neck to roll the outer edges of your shoulders to the floor, and turn your upper arms out. The back of the neck should feel long, as though it were lengthening away from the feet. If the head tilts backward, place a blanket underneath the head and neck. The chest should feel broad, but with the throat and neck relaxed. Let the arms and legs relax completely.

 

Marla Apt

Marla will be returning to the Feathered Pipe Ranch to lead the retreat, The Two Wings of Yoga, Aug. 13-19. She is a writer contributor for Yoga Journal Magazine and is the author of Yoga Journal’s "Basics" column. She has been involved with medical research studies at UCLA on yoga for depression, anxiety and IBS and created the first yoga therapy content to be incorporated into UCLA medical school’s curriculum. Her website is www.yoganga.com.

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