The Day-Star Method of Yoga is a style of Hatha Yoga bringing together the body, mind, and sprit in the effortless bliss of being rather than the toilsome push of doing. This description sounds similar to many forms of yoga, yet Day-Star has some subtle differences and some not so subtle differences. The differences evolved through the experiences of its developer, Susan Flanders. To understand Day-Star concepts, a little history is helpful.
It all started about 30 years ago with a right shoulder that would creep up toward her ear. She looked like she had talked on the phone for hours only the receiver was no longer pressed to her ear. That was the main symptom of stress that plagued a young Susan Flanders. She could barely pickup an infant daughter or look over her shoulder to safely change lanes while driving. Pain relievers reduced her life to switching from one pill to another only to find their effectiveness diminishing. A visit to the chiropractor may have begun a journey that continues to this day. This kind doctor suggested to Susan that she begin enjoying her life and look to her lifestyle for potential answers for her condition. Realizing she needed to relax more, Susan resolutely trotted off to her first yoga class. After three months in class, she hadn't felt a great deal of relief, but pertly told her teacher, Pat Barker, that she was "gritting her teeth and going onward" with practicing poses. Pat quietly responded, "Quit gritting your teeth." Susan was stunned by these profound words of dental wisdom. As it always happens, the teacher appears when the student is ready. Susan was ready to hear the concept of effortlessness.
Within a matter of weeks of releasing the "efforting", Susan noticed an amazing difference in her neck and shoulder and the associated pain became almost nonexistent. Her own practice grew and to her surprise, evolved to a point where she wanted to share the benefits of what she experienced. She began teaching a small class and studying any yoga material she could get her hands on. At the time, Susan lived in Colorado Springs where there were only a handful of yoga teachers. Supporting a young daughter made traveling to distant places to study yoga impractical. So Susan studied the works of Ina Marx (Yoga & Common Sense) and Richard Hittleman (Richard Hittleman's Introduction to Yoga), two popular classical yogin of the early 70's. Susan then had an opportunity to study with Adeline Morris (a First Lady of Yoga in the Denver area). Some of Susan's lineage of teachers includes Swami Atmananda, Swami Vishnu-devananda (by extended lineage), Swami Rama, Judith Lasater, Mukunda (Tom) Stiles, Ruth Bender, Brooke Medicine Eagle, and Lilias Folan.
Since funds and continued access to live teachers were limited, Susan used her own body as a laboratory and experimented with poses she learned, not unlike an ancient yogi observing animals. Susan then developed a structure, a sequencing process, and lesson plans. Students in her class and other yoga teachers saw an immense intellectual gift in Susan and repeatedly asked her to provide them with additional training. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity to share her insights, knowledge, and a few funny stories, she acquiesced. Having an affinity for sun faces and the energy of the sun, Day-Star Yoga came into being.
The art of effortlessness that Susan came to know early in her yoga career permeates the practice of the Day-Star Method of Yoga. Effortlessness does not mean very little work. Here it means bringing the work deeper by using breath-incepted movement. Allowing the breath to move the body instills the inner harmony while outwardly appearing easeful. Other concepts incorporated in the Day-Star Method include:
Process orientation – brings the student to mindfully remove goals and to enjoy the process of blissfully being with yoga. Without having a predetermined or perhaps even a competitive goal of say, touching the toes, the experience and process become joyful and progress naturally occurs. This also reduces the effects of setbacks due to illness or injury. Its called "enjoying the ride because the destination will still be there when you arrive."
Move slowly & without pain – is deliberate movement so that the body's messages about range and depth of movement, and duration of hold are communicated before injury occurs.
Balanced practice – means that every class includes forward bends, backward bends, lateral bends, twists, inversions, balances, and always breath work. Each class also includes the skillful symmetry of building strength and increasing flexibility.
Precision of technique – continues the flow of the practice without excessive attention to detail. This does not imply that alignment and position is not important. Day-Star encourages the dawning intelligence within the body to float to the surface so that alignment and accuracy are a natural outgrowth of the practice. Individual body wisdom is honored in terms of placement to safely reap the benefits of each ásana.
Day-Star presents yoga poses in English terms so that the average student can remember and pronounce them. Each pose in a typical Day-Star class is performed three times and presented over a period of three weeks. This gives the student time to acquaint and assimilate the pose. The trinity concept of pose presentation is careful attention to uniting the body, mind, and spirit. Day-Star is also unique in that lateral bending is considered a separate form of bending. With its concepts and presentation style, Day-Star is a powerful style of hatha yoga without being "power yoga."
Over the years, Susan has trained numerous teachers in the Day-Star Method. Although most of those teachers reside in Colorado, there are some scattered across the country in Wyoming, South Carolina, and California. Susan has since moved to a sunny place (no surprise) in southern New Mexico where she continues her love of sun faces by sculpting them. She currently returns regularly to train her final group of teachers here in Colorado. Two of her senior teachers, Tammra Straub and Sandi Walters, will be carrying on her teaching tradition.
For further information about Day-Star classes or teacher training, please call 303-432-8200. To contact Susan Flanders directly, send email to: SolSiren@yahoo.com
Tammra Straub is the director of Mindful Motions, a place for energy transformation in northwest Denver. She combines the art of the Day-Star yoga and Jin Shin Jyutsu ® (acupressure) in many of her classes to facilitate the movement of personal energy.
