Showing posts with label india. Show all posts
Showing posts with label india. Show all posts
Oct 9, 2014
Jul 7, 2014
Jun 27, 2014
Sights and sounds
Tomorrow is our first day of classes at the KPJAYI.
In the background you can hear the same sounds that I heard this morning just outside my window.
Jun 25, 2014
Jun 10, 2014
Jun 6, 2014
Incredible India {Documentary}
Welcome to India
"Learning how to survive on an increasingly crowded planet is probably our ultimate challenge. But there is one place, home to over a sixth of the world's population, which is already making a good shot at adapting: welcome to India. This extraordinary observational series casts aside the usual preconceptions about the sub-continent, and lets a few of India's 1.2 billion show how their world really works. With astonishing access into the densest districts of Kolkata and Mumbai, it celebrates the impressive resourcefulness, resilience and absolute pragmatism of those living and working there, and reveals the psyche needed to get ahead in the biggest of crowds. This follows two main characters as they employ all their ingenuity to carve out a home. With more people moving to cities in India than anywhere else on Earth, securing that place you can call home is vital for nurturing your family's future. Kaale has come to Kolkata in search of gold - incredibly, he earns a living by sweeping the streets of the jewellery district for stray gold dust. But to fulfil his business ambitions, he must escape his landlord and rent a room of his own. His plan pushes even his resourcefulness to the limit: dredging for gold in Kolkata's drains. Rajesh and his wife Sevita have created their home on a Mumbai beach after their controversial love marriage. They support their kids' future with some impressive improvisation, including running their house as a makeshift beach pub selling cane liquor. But then eviction by the Mumbai council threatens their home for good."
Aug 3, 2013
Weekend Edition #16 The week in review
Thanks to the participants and organizers of last weekend's Anahata Yoga Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was a wonderful event and there is already talk about the next one...
Here are a few articles, posts, and conference notes worth a read:
- Yoga: Changing The Brain's Stressful Habits by Alex Korb, Ph.D. in Psychology Today
"As a neuroscientist, despite my initial incredulity, I came to realize that yoga works not because the poses are relaxing, but because they are stressful. It is your attempts to remain calm during this stress that create yoga's greatest neurobiological benefit." - Ellen Williams Kympton, 68: Practicing with Gratitude, Living Gracefully with Cancer by Robbie Norris in the Richmond Private Blog
"I teach a 78-year old woman who has experienced major revitalization during two years of daily practice. Her 40-minute (and growing) practice has dramatically changed her body, increased her overall wellbeing, and enlightened her sense of humor with moments of childlike bliss.
People who know only a little about Ashtanga Yoga (including many who might say they've tried it) often characterize it as fast yoga, athletic yoga, yoga for the young and healthy, or a practice that is too strict with no room for innovation. When you hear someone speak about Ashtanga Yoga in that way, be assured they know virtually nothing about it, and let a red flag go up -- because it will be a person who assumes authority about that of which his knowledge is slight." - AY:A2 ashtanga session ‘bootlegs’ via YogaRose.net
Here’s the session as one long view.
Eight limbs and tristhana.
Ashtanga as a natural movement practice.
Ujjayi pranayama versus breathing with sound.
House Recommendations.
Communicable diseases in the Mysore room.
Finally, here’s a playlist of all the videos. - Conference notes with Sharath Jois in Mysore, India via Jois Yoga
-January 8, 2012 by Andrew Hillam
-July 22, 2012 by Anna Muzzin
-September 9, 2012 by Megan Riley
For the home practitioners, there is also a new live stream of Sharath teaching in Moscow:
I'm heading to Mysore in the fall to practice and study with my teacher R. Sharath Jois. Here is a glimpse of a led intermediate class at the shala a couple of years ago:
Lastly, I've opened up an online shop to help raise funds for my trip and also for Uttarakhand disaster relief. Check it out!
Thanks for reading!
Jul 15, 2013
Namarupa & ♥India Fundraiser
Namarupa Magazine's latest edition is now available online for free.
In this issue there's an article detailing Sharath's conference in New York earlier this year at AYNY as well as many other good reads. You can read it online or purchase a print copy here.
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| "Vishnu" by Elise Espat |
Jul 7, 2013
Weekend Edition #14 India ♥
"The Journey Home" is a sweet companion video to Radhanath Swami's book of the same title. (We have a copy in the Shala library).
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| Rishikesh, Haridwar in Uttarakhand, India |
ON JUNE 16, 2013 DISASTER STRUCK IN UTTARAKHAND!
An early monsoon brought days of torrential rain, bursting dams, landslides and floods. To date the death toll is well over a thousand with many still missing. Whole villages washed away. Places that had existed for hundreds of years gone without a trace. Those who had not perished were left with the shreds of the clothes they were standing in. The papers have been filled with stories of the disaster and survivors are trickling home with harrowing tales. Much has been written about the terrible plight of the many pilgrims in the area.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE VILLAGERS AND HOW WE CAN HELP? See more at: http://www.namarupa.org/bandhava/bandhava.php
Feb 25, 2013
Yoga Stops Traffick 2013
Based in Mysore, India Odanadi is a wonderful organization initiating real change and positivity in the lives of many. Their annual Yoga Stops Traffick event raises awareness and funds which help provide a "safe haven for survivors of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, slavery, domestic abuse and destitution".
Donate. Get involved. Learn more.
Jan 3, 2013
Conference Notes Archive
(Latest update 8/3/2013)
2013
March 24, 2013
March 18, 2013
March 10, 2013
March 3, 2013
February 27, 2013
February 17, 2013
February 3, 2013
January 20, 2013
January 6, 2013
2012
Dec 30, 2012
Dec 23, 2012
Dec 16, 2012
December 2, 2012
November 18, 2012
November 9, 2012
November 4, 2012
October 21, 2012
October 14, 2012
July 22, 2012
July 8, 2012
March 2012
March 18, 2012
March 11, 2012
March 4, 2012
February 26, 2012
February 8, 2012
January 29, 2012
January 22, 2012
January 8, 2012
January 1, 2012
2011
December 18, 2011
December 11, 2011
December 4, 2011
November 27, 2011
November 20, 2011
November 11, 2011
November 6, 2011
October 30, 2011
October 23, 2011
October 16, 2011
September 11, 2011
January 23, 2011
January 16, 2011
2010
December 26, 2010
December 19, 2010
October 31, 2010
2009
November 7, 2009
October 30, 2009
August 30, 2009
2008
August 24, 2008
August 10, 2008
June 22, 2008
June 15, 2008
June 2, 2008
2006
August 16, 2006
2013
March 24, 2013
March 18, 2013
March 10, 2013
March 3, 2013
February 27, 2013
February 17, 2013
February 3, 2013
January 20, 2013
January 6, 2013
2012
Dec 30, 2012
Dec 23, 2012
Dec 16, 2012
December 2, 2012
November 18, 2012
November 9, 2012
November 4, 2012
October 21, 2012
October 14, 2012
September 9, 2012
July 22, 2012
March 2012
March 18, 2012
March 11, 2012
March 4, 2012
February 26, 2012
February 8, 2012
January 29, 2012
January 22, 2012
January 8, 2012
January 1, 2012
2011
December 18, 2011
December 11, 2011
December 4, 2011
November 27, 2011
November 20, 2011
November 11, 2011
November 6, 2011
October 30, 2011
October 23, 2011
October 16, 2011
September 11, 2011
January 23, 2011
January 16, 2011
2010
December 26, 2010
December 19, 2010
October 31, 2010
2009
November 7, 2009
October 30, 2009
August 30, 2009
2008
August 24, 2008
August 10, 2008
June 22, 2008
June 15, 2008
June 2, 2008
2006
August 16, 2006
Sep 15, 2012
Intermediate Series Demonstration
This is a video from an asana demonstration we did in India in 2010. It was during the Dasara festival (around this time of year). We did two. One was outdoors in front of the Mysore Palace. The other was in the JSS Hospital. Sharath picked a few students to do the demonstration and he led us through some asanas from primary and intermediate series while he spoke on the benefits of practice.
In general, I prefer not to demonstrate asanas. I think people (myself included) often only see the form. They see the acrobatic feat and think that that person must have been born like that or that it is easy for them or that they can do it because they are old or young or have short or long arms or were dancers or whatever. A bunch of judgements that distance the viewer from the possibilities and potentially disregard the actual story being told.
That said, something very important and unique to this lineage of Ashtanga yoga is that the people teaching it are people who actually practice and do their absolute best to be living it. To be Authorized or Certified by the KPJAYI is as some have said not an accomplishment, but an obligation. We practice every single day. We continue to make the pilgrimage to Mysore. We hold ourselves to the highest of standards because we are so small with the great responsibility of sharing an immense tradition. We are and will always be students first. This I think is very important.
So I'm posting this demonstration because it tells the story of years of continued daily ongoing uninterrupted unglamorous practice.
Jul 21, 2012
Mysore Conference Notes: 1st Conference of Season by Suzanne El-Safty
Sharath’s First Conference of the Season
By Suzanne El-Safty
By Suzanne El-Safty
22 October 2011
Last Sunday Sharath gave his first conference of this season (it’s
taken me forever to write this up – too many classes and too little
sleep this week). The conference was short as it was the first day and
Sharath didn’t want to overwhelm the new students (‘lot of new students,
is good, means Ashtanga Yoga is spreading’).
He started by speaking about appropriate behaviour in Mysore –
appropriate dress (not beach clothes, women should wear a shawl to cover
themselves), not standing in big groups at the coconut stand, avoiding
making unwanted ‘friends’.
MORE CONFERENCE NOTES
Conference – Asana as the Foundation of a Spiritual Practice – 1st January 2012 by Suzanne El-Safty
Jul 19, 2012
Interview with Krista Shirley by Xinalani Yoga Retreat
Interview originally published here:
http://www.yogaretreatsinmexico.com/2012/07/asthanga-and-mysore-tell-us-more.html
http://www.yogaretreatsinmexico.com/2012/07/asthanga-and-mysore-tell-us-more.html
Asthanga and Mysore, tell us more!
Our first retreat of the 2012-2013 season will be hosted by Krista
Shirley and Elise Espat, an Ashtanga Adventure! We wanted to find out
more about Krista, Ashtanga, and the Mysore teaching method. Get
excited, their retreat will surely prove to be an amazing experience!
Xinalani: Thanks for
taking the time to do this interview with us and allowing our readers to learn
more about you and your upcoming yoga retreat. Tell us
a little about how you found your practice.
How did it all start for you?
Krista: It all started
at a World Gym in Altamonte Springs, Florida my junior year in College. I decided to try a new yoga class that
appealed to me because it appeared to be quite a challenge. It was a modified led Ashtanga Yoga class and
I loved it. After a couple of weeks of
classes at the gym, my teacher introduced me to Winter Park Yoga where she
practiced each day and where they taught traditional Ashtanga Yoga in the
Mysore method. I committed to come six
days a week for one month and then I was totally hooked. The transformations I went through mentally,
spiritually and physically were truly life changing. The rest is history…I eventually started
teaching this method because I live it each day and it seemed a natural
progression for me to share this passion with the world. I love waking up each day and doing my
practice, then teaching this practice to others. I feel truly blessed in this life to have
this yoga to help me be the best me I can be, and to be able to do what I love
for a living.
Xinalani: You teach
Ashtanga Yoga. Can you tell us about
this particular style of yoga?
 |
Krista: Ashtanga Yoga is a 5,000 year old discipline that explores, develops, and
integrates the body, mind and spirit. Ashtanga Yoga purifies the body, the
nervous system, the internal organs, and the mind through the use of vinyasa
(breath with movement), asana (physical postures), deep breathing, and drishti
(looking place or gaze). Practicing Yoga Asanas purifies the body and
strengthens and gives flexibility to the body. Performing deep breathing
purifies the nervous system. Drishti is the place where you look while
performing asanas, or postures in order for you to concentrate on one specific
place; also helps to stretch the eyes. The goal of incorporating drishti to
your practice is for purification and stabilization of the mind. Daily practice
of Ashtanga Yoga promotes weight loss, vitality, mental clarity, stress
reduction, deep relaxation, and overall health and wellness to the
practitioner. Our beloved Guru, Shri K.
Pattabhi Jois was the modern father of this yoga method and taught students
from around the world in his home in Mysore, India until his passing in
2009. Now Guruji’s grandson Sharath is
the primary lineage keeper of this yoga method and is my and Elise’s
teacher.
Xinalani: How do Ashtanga and Mysore yoga
relate to one another?
Krista: Mysore is a specific way to teach the
Ashtanga Yoga method. Ashtanga Yoga is a
specific ‘yoga style’ that consists of breathing, bandhas, drishti and a
specific sequence of postures that make up the primary, intermediate, 3, 4, 5,
and 6 series. This ‘yoga style’ can be
taught in a led setting or a mysore setting. In a led setting a teacher will verbally guide an entire class from
start to finish (Surya Namaskara A to final rest). Students must start at the same time, move at
the same pace, and end together. Unlike
led classes, mysore classes are very unique, very individualized, and truly the
absolute best way to learn and practice yoga. This
unique method of instruction is suitable for beginners as well as longtime
practitioners because every student is taught individually. In other words,
each student is given a one-on-one lesson in a group setting in order that he
or she can progress through the Ashtanga Yoga series’ at their own pace and
according to his or her individual needs.
Timings are also flexible so people can come to their mat when it works
for them and are not mandated to get to their local studio by a specific
time. For example most mysore rooms will
have a morning program from 6am to 10am, for example, and students can
literally show up and start their practice anytime between 6am and 9:00am as
long as they finish practice by 10am.
This allows students flexibility in their schedule, and helps in the
natural functionality of the mysore room because different students need help
with different asanas and the spread out timing allows teachers the ability to
help all students when they need help – if it were a led class one teacher
could not help 20 students in drop backs in a timely manner but in a mysore
room he/she can.
This is the way that yoga is taught by our
teachers, Shri K. Pattabhi Jois and R. Sharath Jois in Mysore, India and why it
has come to be known as “Mysore Style” teaching. For more information on
Ashtanga Yoga please visit www.kpjayi.org
Xinalani: In the fitness world,
experts often say you need to change up your workout in order to constantly
challenge your muscles in new ways so they don’t become accustomed to the same
movements. Why is Ashtanga different,
even though you follow the same series repeatedly?
Krista: I’ll try to answer your
question from a purely physical perspective:
In Ashtanga Yoga asana practice you do repeat the exact same series of
postures in the primary series until you master those asanas (postures) – until
you are indeed accustomed to the movements and your body has not only
physically mastered the ability to do the movements with grace but also
mastered breathing fluidly without strain while doing the postures with
grace. This is not cross training, this
is yoga and one of our goals is to steady the body by training the body and
breath so that we can then work to steady the mind. But it takes a long time for a person doing
the Ashtanga Primary Series 6 days per week to truly master that series and be
ready to move onto the next. During that
period of working towards mastery the student is doing the same sequence each
day struggling to find balance and agility, stamina, control, coordination,
build strength and flexibility and much more.
And over time, doing the practice consistently, for a long period of
time, without break, a student will eventually become master over those
movements that make up the primary series – as that is part of the
process. If we took the approach of the
general fitness world, we would never master any yoga postures– to me there is
little benefit in that. While physical
fitness is certainly a benefit of yoga practice, it is only one of many – the
process should take us deeper and deeper, not keep us on the surface level. But please don’t mistake me, this asana
practice is an intense physical challenge.
Once a student does master primary series he or she will slowly build up
second series postures and later 3rd and so on, and each series is
progressively more challenging and demanding on the body. One thing that really makes this yoga method
unique, even for fitness buffs, is that the student can gauge their own
progress in their practice each day – as they get deeper into postures, attain
more balance and flexibility they can see that on the mat because they are
repeating the same sequence over and over until it is ‘mastered’ so that their
body and mind is ready to embark on the next series of asanas to continue to
challenge their body, mind and spirit.
Krista: Absolutely!
I can guarantee that not one day is ever the same on your mat. Let’s say you are working to master primary
and have three poses left in the sequence.
Sunday-Friday you do your practice exactly the same each day, but on
Sunday you focus on keeping with the Vinyasa count, Monday you are extremely
tired and move much slower than the count and holding postures a few extra
breathes, Tuesday you are short on time so you have to leave out your final
three seated postures before moving to finishing, Wednesday your mind is all
over the map thinking about a deadline at work and you are not very focused on
asana but you show up and do anyway, on Thursday you are totally connected with
your breath and bandhas and nothing in the world can distract you in practice
and you attain a true moving meditation session on your mat, and Friday your
teacher leads your class through primary series with proper Vinyasa count and
you end in final rest with your eyes closed, clothes drenched in sweat, smiling
knowing tomorrow is a rest day. Every
single day is different and YOU make it what it is. You put in the effort or you don’t, show up
and do or you don’t, allow the distractions in the room or in your head to
affect your practice or not, go to classes outside your local studio when
traveling or chose to roll out your mat in your hotel room…While Ashtanga yoga
does not allow for creativity in sequencing of postures in the series, that
doesn’t mean the practitioner cannot be creative within the structure of the
sequence in each series. If Ashtanga did
allow creativity of sequencing, then it would no longer be Ashtanga Yoga – it
would be power yoga or flow yoga or power flow yoga or Vinyasa or any of the
many names people have made up in recent years to describe their own creative
diversion from this traditional Ashtanga yoga method. In Ashtanga yoga the creativity comes from
within you. Each day is a blank canvas
and you get to color it how you wish. I see my practice exactly the same way –
my Ashtanga yoga practice is my canvas – I get on my mat and take my prescribed
practice and the outcome of that practice is totally up to me – the lessons I
learn, the stuff I release the thoughts I have or don’t have…New styles of yoga
that ‘mix things up’ remind me of today’s toys for children. Toys today are so detailed and so intricate
there is little room for creative freedom on the part of the child. Today’s yoga classes are so mixed up
and flavored with this and that, there is little room for yoga practitioners to
go deep within themselves to have their own creative experience. Simple is best – allows more room for growth,
change, transformation and joy.
Xinalani: Each year
you go back to Mysore, India to practice and learn. What are some of the more valuable bits you
have taken away from your recent trips?
Krista: Ha, funny
question for me personally because my most recent trip with my son (then 1 and
a half), and the trip before I was six months pregnant with Kaiden. Regardless of my condition, I can say with
certainty that India is a magical motherland that feeds your soul and each trip
I make fills me to the brim with adventure, mystery, struggle, joy and
faith.
I return to
India each year to study with my teachers at the Krishna Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga
Yoga institute to ensure my practice is progressing under the correct
path. Doing my practice alone at home
all year, it is a true gift to get to return to Mysore and ‘check in’ with
Sharath for a few months, to be a student only, to surrender to India, allow
myself to be vulnerable, and to soak in all that India has to teach me.
The valuable
bits truly are the ones words cannot describe.
Taking yourself out of your comfort zone, putting your faith and trust
into a practice such as this, allowing yourself to be open to learn from every
single interaction and experience – these are the things that make each trip so
special. Be it India, Mexico, Morocco
or anywhere on this globe that you consider an adventure or something on your
bucket list, something that excites you or moves you – remember life is short
and you deserve to live it to the fullest.
So whatever it is you wish to experience, wherever it is you wish to
travel – do it now! You might just learn
something along the way!
Krista: Elise and I met
in the fall of 2007 in Mysore, India. We
were both studying at the Krishna Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute in
Mysore with Guruji, Sharath and Saraswathi.
When I met Elise I loved her spirit.
We hung out that year in Mysore, have stayed in touch through the years,
and have met up when we can in India, New York and California. We cherish our friendship with one another,
enjoy the chances we have to see one another, practice and learn together, and
we both love travel and adventure. So
when Elise came up with the idea of doing a retreat together I was totally on
board. This will be our first of many
retreats together because we know it will be a week full of fun, adventure,
hard work, dedicated practice, relaxation, and exploration. We both love this practice, are both deeply
dedicated to our teachers and this lineage, both own our own yoga schools, both
work hard, play hard, and practice with devotion. We enjoy adventure, challenges, problem
solving, and fun; we work well together and care deeply for each other and I
know our retreat participants will benefit tremendously from our
co-contributions as well as our individual ones. I am very excited about this week at Xinalani
with Elise and am eager to share our friendship and passion for this yoga with
our group.
Krista: ADVENTURE! We will start each day with our Ashtanga Yoga
practice followed by chanting. We will
then enjoy a wholesome group breakfast.
Participants will enjoy some free time to relax, explore, read or rest
until lunch at 1:30pm. After lunch each
day Elise and I will facilitate excursions for the group from body boarding,
kayaking, shopping, mule rides, swimming with the dolphins, trekking and
snorkeling. These excursions are
optional so participants can join in or do their own thing. The group will reconvene back on resort
property at 5pm for meditation, chanting, lectures and much more and we will
end each day with a group dinner at 7:30pm.
After a week of
yoga and adventure with me and Elise at Xinalani, our group will leave with
some stellar memories, new friendships, and a new found or re-discovered love
for travel and adventure!
Xinalani: What
advice would you give from your own personal experience to our readers?
Krista: Don’t ever look
back wishing you had done something…Do…and do without regret…even if the
outcome is not what you envision, the experience is wisdom gained to carry
forward to the next opportunity…So DO and by doing you will live your life to
the fullest.
Jul 13, 2012
Interview with Guy Donahaye by Elise Espat Part 2
Part two of my interview with Guy Donahaye on his book "Guruji: A Portrait". And beyond.
Originally posted here:
http://yogamindmedicine.blogspot.com/2012/07/reflections-on-guruji-portrait.html
http://yogamindmedicine.blogspot.com/2012/07/reflections-on-guruji-portrait.html
Reflections on "Guruji: A Portrait"
- Interview with Elise Espat - Part II
- Interview with Elise Espat - Part II
Everyone you interviewed spent time with Guruji in Mysore. Why is making the time to practice in India so crucial? Or is it?
If you want to go deep into a subject, you have to go to the source.
Spending time in mother India is an incomparable experience and having
the opportunity to study closely with a master such as Pattabhi Jois is a
priceless opportunity. I believe
that it is almost impossible to understand yoga without spending
extended time in India, so for a deeper understanding I think it is
necessary.
Practicing with Guruji, especially in the intimate setting of the "old shala" in Lakshmi Puram was a very powerful and transformative experience. Receiving the asanas from Guruji and being adjusted in them by him on a daily basis also has a profound impact. Beyond the effectiveness and beauty of the sequences he created, the nature of his adjustments and the way in which he engaged with each individual were teachings on a daily basis. Much more is conveyed through teaching asana than is at first evident.
He would observe our personalities, mental and physical states and engage with us accordingly - teaching us yama and niyama and other yogic truths indirectly or in a practical way. For instance, in some students he was always trying to curb ambition and break down an over inflated ego, in others he was pushing, encouraging, demanding more effort. For each individual on each day it was different. This often caused a lot of confusion, intense emotions and outbursts of anger - either in private or in the shala - one day you though he loved you, the next he seemed to despise you. This caused a lot of self reflection and self analysis.
Practicing with Guruji, especially in the intimate setting of the "old shala" in Lakshmi Puram was a very powerful and transformative experience. Receiving the asanas from Guruji and being adjusted in them by him on a daily basis also has a profound impact. Beyond the effectiveness and beauty of the sequences he created, the nature of his adjustments and the way in which he engaged with each individual were teachings on a daily basis. Much more is conveyed through teaching asana than is at first evident.
He would observe our personalities, mental and physical states and engage with us accordingly - teaching us yama and niyama and other yogic truths indirectly or in a practical way. For instance, in some students he was always trying to curb ambition and break down an over inflated ego, in others he was pushing, encouraging, demanding more effort. For each individual on each day it was different. This often caused a lot of confusion, intense emotions and outbursts of anger - either in private or in the shala - one day you though he loved you, the next he seemed to despise you. This caused a lot of self reflection and self analysis.
Prior to 2002 Guruji's yoga shala was very small. In the beginning there
was space for eight yoga mats - two rows of four. As the numbers grew
we squeezed an extra mat in each row and then eventually there were two
in the middle - making twelve. In '91, when I first arrived, Sharath was
just beginning to assist, so there were two teachers and eight students
in the room. Prior to this and
during the summer months there were only a handful of western students,
sometimes only one or two - they would get private lessons from Guruji.
With the new shala there was space for sixty students to practice at the
same time so the teacher student ratio changed radically. By this time
there were many of Guruji's students teaching around the world and
students coming to Mysore already knew the practice, so the teaching in
the new shala for most students was more about quality control and less
about one-on-one teaching. At times there were as many as 300 students
present in later years. However, Guruji's commanding presence continued
to have a powerful impact on everyone present even though he did not
necessarily engage with you directly. It was a common experience that
when Guruji spoke to one student - he would shout "straight(en) your
leg!" or "touch your chin" - other students in the room felt spoken to
also and even though his prompts were not directed at them, they were
able to use them also.
Much is made (with good justification) of the ashtanga sequences, however, it makes a huge difference who you learn from and the environment in which you learn. Some say the practice is the teacher. I feel the practice is more like therapy. The guru is the teacher. Even though the teaching may not be explicit, by investing the teacher with a real or imagined superior knowledge, he causes us to reflect on our own limitations. When you are in close proximity to the Guru, these reflections take on a much greater intensity. We used to call mysore a karma accelerator - we felt that enormous transformation was taking place.
Much is made (with good justification) of the ashtanga sequences, however, it makes a huge difference who you learn from and the environment in which you learn. Some say the practice is the teacher. I feel the practice is more like therapy. The guru is the teacher. Even though the teaching may not be explicit, by investing the teacher with a real or imagined superior knowledge, he causes us to reflect on our own limitations. When you are in close proximity to the Guru, these reflections take on a much greater intensity. We used to call mysore a karma accelerator - we felt that enormous transformation was taking place.
How does Mysore influence the practice? Or does it?
Going to India can help by making practice the central theme of one's
day for a period of time. It is also an opportunity to allow the
transformations which want to take place in the mind/body to unfold in
an environment which does not elicit one's habitual (conditioned)
responses. Somehow India has the effect of opening people to greater
acceptance and transformation.
I believe it is easier for those who spend time in India to become less
materialistic and to start to guide their lives on the basis of a
spiritual purpose. While churches in the West are closing, in India
every tree or road side rock is a temple to a deity. While many indians
crave the same material rewards as westerners, the celebration of and
devotion to the divine is everywhere.
The traditional Hindu culture as primarily propagated via the Brahmin
caste is based on the same principles as yoga. Guruji's old shala was in
Lakshmi Puram, a neighborhood hardly touched by the twentieth century,
where people lived much the same way they had been living for hundreds
of years. We lived simply without furniture other than a mattress on the
floor, intermittent electricity and water. We went to bed when the sun
set and got up long before it rose. All around us the local people were
all also involved in their early morning rituals, chanting, cleaning,
bathing, etc. The target of life for the Hindu is liberation, yoga's
target is the same.
Feb 24, 2012
Feb 7, 2012
Jan 17, 2012
Magnolia's Conference Notes: Obstacles in Yoga Practice
'Yogis should be honest.' Conference notes Nov 6, 2011 w/ Sharath Jois
By Magnolia Zuniga
Posted 11/8/11
Source blog.mysoresf.com
Every Sunday afternoon at 4pm (shala time) is conference with Sharath Jois. This is a time for him to talk about the practice, the philosophy, etc and answer questions from students. Conference on Nov 6th, 2011 Sharath spoke on the many obstacles that come along the path. I touch on just a few...
Obstacles in Yoga practice...
On Doubt - The practice of Hatha Yoga is not easy and requires sacrifice of many things. Many people have doubt about the practice, the lineage. Instead of surrendering they want to argue. As life changes we have new doubts and new challenges. Guruji used to say 'Practice and all is coming' but if there is no practice how will doubt be cleared?
In college we must prepare and study. To find answers we read books. But in yoga we practice to find answers. We can read Bhagavad Gita, and Hatha Yoga Pradipika but this is intellectual knowledge. We continue practicing Hatha Yoga to find better answers to the questions...
What is God?
What is yoga?
What is spirituality?
What is life?
On Carelessness - Our carelessness brings lots of problems and our minds get distracted. When we're careless we're not thinking properly. Students come to Mysore, do yoga one month and turns into a gym. If you come to surrender yourself to practice, the effect will be totally different. When you come to Mysore your aim should be to practice yoga. Then mind is clear and focused. Many times it happens students lose energy...
too much talking...losing energy...
too much talking...losing energy...at coconut stand...talking, talking.
On Confusion - Confusion kills yoga practice. Students learn tradition and someone tells them 'oh what they are teaching there is not correct, do this yoga, this is better yoga' then 6 months same thing, and they do another type yoga, then 6 months later another type yoga, and it's like this. Then they say 'Oh I did this yoga, and that yoga and this yoga.' They should also say they are confused. Yogis should be honest.
Question: 'Sharath, why if we're supposed to be relaxed in a posture do you push our limits?'
Answer: [Smiling] You're misunderstanding relaxation. Relaxation in a posture means that if I count it for 2 hours you can stay. You have to reach your limitations longer. You should steadily take to your posture. Bring stability then you can hold for long time.
[laughing] I feel happy for you Guruji is not there.
Magnolia started practicing various styles of yoga in 1991. She began practicing Mysore Ashtanga Yoga in 1997 with certified teacher Noah Williams and authorized teacher Kimberly Flynn. She first met and studied with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Jois in 2004 on her first trip to India. Since then she has traveled and studied in Mysore 7 times and taught Mysore Ashtanga Yoga in Hong Kong, Tokyo, France and is currently running a traditional Mysore Ashtanga School 'Mysore SF' in San Francisco. She continues her studies with Sharath Jois in Mysore South India each year.
Magnolia received blessings to teach in 2007 and is now an authorized level 2 teacher.
For more information about Magnolia please visit her website www.magnoliashtanga.com
republished with permission
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