The Story of Krishnamacharya and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

In this video Sonima founder Sonia Jones sits down with yoga master Sharath Jois to talk about his grandfather, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and his teacher, Krishnamacharya, who is often called the father of modern yoga. Through these stories and recollections, we gain insight into the importance of tradition and lineage.

Daylight Saving Time Explained

Interview with Harmony Lichty

Harmony Lichty

Favorite food:  Avocado

Hometown:  Calgary AB Canada

# of trips to India:  12 

Current Location:  Mysore, India

Shala: Ashtanga Yoga Victoria

Established:  2009

What was your first impression of Mysore practice?  

This is the way that Yoga was meant to be practiced.  It is incredible, deep, transformative, independent, and authentic in its approach and methodology.

What inspired you to get started?

Guruji and Sharath.  It was upon hearing stories about Guruji from old students that made me want to come and meet him, and practice with him in Mysore, India.

What did you like about it?

I liked that it was independently directed.  I liked the direct student to teacher relationship.  I liked that it was about uniting the mind and body through the breath, and that I could see and feel something transformative happening within myself. 

What was hard about it?

Practicing daily was very challenging, the discipline that the practice demanded, and the routine of getting up every morning. 

How did you move past those challenges?

Dedication, devotion, drive, and determination.  I found that the benefits far outweighed the difficulties for me, so I was motivated to keep doing it, as I felt such a deeply positive effect on my body and mind through the practice. 

What keeps you inspired?

My annual visits to Mysore keep me inspired.  As well as thinking about Guruji and his devotion to transmitting this practice, and Sharath and his continued dedication to practice and teaching and his lineage. 

Led intermediate class (Mysore, India)

What do you keep with you from your time with Guruji?

I see can still see the sparkle in his eyes, and often I can hear his voice in my mind.  I can sometimes feel the memory of an adjustment he gave me during practice, and I can still feel the warmth of his smile whenever I think of him, and my heart feels very full.  There is a deep love for this practice and for the entire tradition and philosophy of yoga because of my connection to him, and his passion for the Yoga Shastra. 

What do you keep with you from your studies with Sharath?

Sharath has shown me that I am stronger then I originally thought I was.  He somehow sees my capabilities and helps me to believe in them myself. He has a very tough and yet gentle way about how he teaches me, and his guidance and teachings are present in my own practice, as well as in the way I teach students.  I feel his clear direction being transmitted through me when I teach. 

With Guruji (Mysore, India)

How do you balance family, practice, and running your own business?

This is a big challenge for sure, as there are many demands when you have a family, practice, teach, and run a yoga school.  The practice helps me to maintain a sense of calm and balance throughout a very busy and hectic day.  I’m not sure you can balance it every day, all the time, some days I have more emphasis on my family, other days business, but the thread of my practice I try to maintain as consistently as I can throughout it all.  I find that this at least helps to keep me connected to some aspect of myself that is deeper and more true then all the changing external situations that I have to handle on any given day.

What advice do you have for beginners?

Jump in with your whole heart and don’t look back.  Remember this is not a sprint to some finishing point.  Yoga is not a box you can check off on some to-do list.  Yoga is a life-long practice, and something that you will never reach the end of.  When you set out to explore the depths of the infinite within yourself, be prepared to face many challenges and difficulties.  Don’t give up. 

What is your favorite thing about this practice?

As David Swenson once said: “If at first you find this practice easy, don’t worry it will get more difficult; and if at first you find this practice very difficult, don’t worry it will get easier.”  It is so balancing in every way, and there is something for everyone held within it.  There are many secrets and surprises that come up along the way if you just keep going.  I’m always amazed.  

What books do you recommend people read?

Yoga Sutras

Bhagavad Gita

Hatha Pradipika

These are just a few to start off with...

Anything else you'd like to add?

Yoga and specifically Guruji’s tradition of Ashtanga Yoga has given me my life as it is today.  I feel that this practice really saved me, and without it there is a very good chance I might not be alive.  It has given me everything good in my life.  

Prior to learning this practice I struggled with addictions, eating disorders, and in general a huge lack of self-esteem, which resulted in many self-destructive behaviors and choices.  Upon finding this practice I started feeling better about myself, and I began to start living inside my own skin for the first time in as long as I could remember.  

Jeff, Sharath, & Harmony (Mysore, India)

I began to feel more compassion and love towards myself, which was an entirely new experience.  This allowed me to feel my connection to others more deeply, which helped me to make more positive life choices, to forgive myself, and release the past.  

Through this practice I met my now husband, and love of my life, Jeff Lichty.  We traveled the world together, taught together, started a Yoga School together, and had a son, who lights up my whole universe.  For the first time I really know what selfless service means, and the feeling of unconditional love.  

Thus, it is with the deepest gratitude that I dedicate my practice and how I teach to Guruji and his lineage, and will do my best to continue on in a way that would make him both happy and proud.

About Harmony: 
Harmony Lichty spent many years training as a ballet dancer, and consequently, struggling with eating disorders and addiction. Her search for meaning, spirituality, and a healthier, more balanced lifestyle, brought her to the practice of Ashtanga Yoga. During her years of practice, she also began to study Sanskrit at the University of Calgary, and now holds double degrees in Philosophy and Eastern Religious Studies. In 2002, she traveled to China to research Buddhist Meditation, and practiced in several monasteries. These experiences encouraged her to pursue the path of Ashtanga Yoga in conjunction with a meditation practice. As a teacher, she integrates a deep understanding of movement, body awareness, along with the philosophy of the practice. She encourages students to listen deeply and follow the inner voice that comes from of the heart. Victoria was always a place that held a great deal of magic for Harmony, and it is with immense joy that she lives here now, and is able to share the teachings and practices that have changed her life.

Harmony Lichty and Ashtanga Yoga Victoria

Website

Facebook

Sun Salutations Cheat Sheet

This cheat sheet features twelve wonderful students who were willing to be photographed practicing the sun salutations. They range from experienced practitioners to very new; they range in age, height, appearance, and in ways too numerous to list. Each one of them is a daily practitioner, a devoted student, and a wonderful person. It is our hope that they demonstrate on this little sheet so much more than how to properly practice the forms of the two sun salutations. We believe the presentation of their differing forms demonstrate how to properly practice in spirit.
-Ashtanga Yoga San Diego

5-minute yoga class with Eddie Stern

Your first yoga class is
About 5 minutes. You have 5 minutes.
With KPJAYI Certified Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Eddie Stern of Ashtanga Yoga New York.
Free.
On demand.
Right now.

Boom, you have a practice. Now do it every day.

The Mahalakshmi Stotra

Moon Day Tomorrow

If you were in Albuquerque, you'd be here:

Taylor's Story

Video via authorized teacher Taylor Hunt of Ashtanga Yoga Columbus.

October in Burque

Mary Jo Mulligan in Albuquerque

Ashtanga Yoga with Mary Jo Mulligan, Certified Ashtanga Yoga Teacher
Saturday, November 8
9:00 - 11:00am 

We will explore Ashtanga yoga in detail through both theory and practice. The theory portion of this workshop will help us understand how to honor and listen to the body in order to develop further awareness through the practice. Awareness developed through consistent Ashtanga practice helps free the mind in order to calm and connect with the inner self. 

All levels welcome and Ashtanga yoga experience is not required. 

Mary Jo Mulligan is one of a small number of India certified Ashtanga yoga teachers worldwide through the kpjayi.org of Mysore, India. She has been teaching Ashtanga since 1997 and began practicing yoga in 1990. Mary Jo’s yoga background includes teacher trainings & workshops with several world-recognized teachers from the Ashtanga, Iyengar and Viniyoga/Desikachar traditions, including yoga sutra study, Vedic chanting and Sanskrit. Her other accomplishments include: Therapeutic Teacher Training for Seniors, Duke Integrative Health, Durham, NC; Master of Arts in Eastern Philosophy from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM; Yoga Works Teacher Training Program, Santa Monica, CA; Certificate of Instruction in Exercise Science from University of California, San Diego; Yoga Alliance E-RYT 500 and CPR/First Aid Certification. For further information about Mary Jo, including unsolicited testimonials, check out her website at maryjomulligan.com.

Early registration is strongly encouraged.
$45 by 11/4, $50 day of.
Register online now.

Do you have a daily practice?

Don't let this be you.

Yoga is a tool

Authorized Ashtanga Yoga teacher Harmony Lichty of Ashtanga Yoga Victoria speaks about how Yoga helps one reflect ones day to day life patterns and fears, and helps become a tool to self reflect and evolve.

Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar (December 14, 1918 – August 20, 2014)

Ashtanga Yoga Drishti 101

"Dṛṣṭi means gazing point. There are nine dṛṣṭis in the āsana practice. If the dṛṣṭi indicated for the āsana is too difficult, one may always revert to nāsāgra dṛṣṭi. With time and practice, the proper dṛṣṭi for each posture will be possible. Dṛṣṭi improves concentration and brings about a realization of oneness during the practice. With the gaze focused in one place during our practice, we can be more present in the postures. This focus and awareness can carry over into our daily life."
~ Sharath Jois

"By practicing these drishti (dṛṣṭi) points the mind no longer looks around, observing or judging, but instead becomes focused and soft. In the vinyasa system, drishti is one of the vital components to draw prana inwards. Prana follows awareness. If our awareness is scattered then our prana will mirror those same qualities and it will be evident in our behavior and life choices on and off the mat."
~ Magnolia Zuniga

The 9 Drishtis
1 - Tip of the nose - Nasagra Drishti
2 - Up to space - Urdva Drishti
3 - Third Eye - Brumadya Drishti
4 - Tip of the middle finger - Hastagra Drishti
5 - Tip of the thumb - Angushta Drishti
6 - Right Side - Parshva Drishti
7 - Left Side - Parshva Drishti
8 - Navel - Nabi Drishti
9 - Tip of the big toe - Padagra Drishti

Guruji: "Yoga is an internal practice, the rest is just a circus".

Credits, References, Notes:
Please consult your teacher regarding correct drishti. For ease in reading for non-Sanskrit speakers, we have chosen to spell sanskrit words phonetically rather than using diacritic marks.

R. Sharath Jois, AṢṬĀṄGA YOGA ANUṢṬHĀNA.
Magnolia Zuniga (KPJAYI Authorized, Mysore SF) http://on.fb.me/17EBEyF
Awesome Editor: Jessica Walden (KPJAYI Authorized) and Elise Espat (KPJAYI Authorized, Albuquerque Ashtanga Yoga Shala)
Cartoon guy: Boonchu Tanti (KPJAYI Authorized, AYBKK)

Moon Day Friday, July 25

No asana, just rest!

Why? Read this post with explanations and commentaries from:
-Shri K. Pattabhi Jois
-Richard Freeman
-Tim Miller
-Eddie Stern
-David Miliotis
-and The Yoga Comics

Practical Guide: Your First Month of Practice

1. Just show up.

2. Don't worry about memorizing anything.  Your aim is to show up every day. The rest will come automatically. No one in the class cares if you know what you are doing. The teacher doesn't expect you to know anything.  Just show up. (And remember to take off your shoes.)

3. Each morning you will wake up and some days you will feel good and some days you'll feel bad and the thing is to get past the ups and downs of the mind and just show up anyway.  This isn't the kind of thing where you think to yourself "oh, I feel nice today I think I will go to yoga".  Nope.  The yoga bit is showing up regardless of how you feel because feelings are always changing. Philosophically, this is the identifying with the unchanging Yoga Sutra thing. Try to get right away that it ain't about the asanas. Just show up.

4. Or maybe think about the asanas as where your body is located in space.  So rather than your body being at home, take it to the shala.

5. Build up your daily practice with the mantra of "slow and steady".  There is no rush.  There is no finish line.

6.  The first month (actually, the first few years) is all about trying to establish a habit.  That is one of the reasons why you start with a small amount of time.  It is much easier to show up for perhaps twenty minutes each day than 90.  This is different than going to a 90 minute yoga class.  This is about a daily practice as part of the rest of your life.  Start small.  A little each day. This is the traditional method for learning and practicing Ashtanga yoga.  We aren't changing a thing because this really does work.

7. It is ok to know nothing. It is ok to feel uncomfortable. It is ok if your ego gets bruised.  Be willing to learn.  Just be a student.

8. Yoga is not friendship time. Yoga goes beyond that. You can leave all that at the door.  You don't have to say good morning or be in a nice mood.  It really isn't about that. Your teacher isn't supposed to be your friend. Your fellow students are busy learning and practicing just like you are.  Let the space be more.  Let the energy be raised.

9. Just show up.

10. Keep showing up.

YYMysoreProgram (1920 x 1080).m4v from Yogayama on Vimeo.

Guru Purnima

Saturday, July 12 is Guru Purnima.

"Yogacharaya Shri K. Pattabhi Jois (Guruji) was born on the full moon of July 1915, in Kowshika, a small hamlet located 150 kilometers from Mysore in the southern state of Karnataka..."

Chant the Guru Stotram.

Practice with Sharath in the US.

"They thought that the boys and men that would come to my class would be a bit shy because I’m a woman. But I was determined; this was something I wanted to do. So I did it! The decision was all mine..."

Guruji's teacher: Tirumalai Krishnamacharya

Mary Flinn was one of my first serious teachers

Guy Donahaye was my first Mysore teacher

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya 

caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

Interview with Tonya Ruddick

Name:
Tonya Ruddick

Age: 
32

Favorite food: 
Thai

Hometown: 
Mainly Iowa and Colorado. I have been a bit of a vagabond.

# of trips to India: 
4 to India, 3 to Mysore

Current Location: 
Albuquerque, NM. Based in southern California.





What was your first impression of Mysore practice? 
The first Mysore class I attended was with Richard Freeman. I had been practicing other styles of yoga for several years and thought I was hot stuff. That first Mysore class was intimidating and extremely humbling.

What inspired you to get started? 
When I was introduced to Ashtanga I felt I was ready to make more of a commitment to myself and Ashtanga definitely asks you to step up and commit!

What did you like about it? 
I liked the intensity of the practice, the discipline and that it was connected to a lineage.

What was hard about it? 
Kicking my ego to the curb, being humbled every day and some of the lifestyle changes.

How did you move past those challenges? 
I just kept practicing, kept showing up and doing the work.

What keeps you inspired? 
The improvements I've noticed in my life-- physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. It keeps me connected and helps me to be a better version of myself.

What do you keep with you from your studies with Sharath? 
That it's not about the asana.

What is your daily schedule like? 
Wake up at 3:45am, practice, teach, coffee, writing, errands, eating, maybe a hike or some time in nature, spend some time with my love, early to bed.

What advice do you have for beginners? 
Breathe, take it slow and stay with it. There's no rush to get anywhere. Practice, practice, practice. 

What is your favorite thing about this practice? 
It continually challenges you and shows you where you're at, keeps you in check. It truly is a transformative practice.

Tonya Ruddick has been a student of yoga for more than ten years. She studied many different styles of yoga until being introduced to Ashtanga yoga by David Garrigues in 2008 at the Vibrant Living yoga teacher training program in Bali. She connected to the practice immediately and has been a dedicated student ever since. Tonya has spent the majority of the last ten years traveling and has spent significant time studying yoga and meditation in Asia. She has shared the gift of Ashtanga yoga with students in Seoul and Dubai where she assisted Nea Ferrier (authorized level II). She travels to Mysore every year to study with her teacher, R. Sharath Jois, and is a KPJAYI level I authorized teacher.

Sharath US Tour 2014

Registration link

Positively Ashtanga by Silvia

[One person's personal account originally published in 2008 in my magazine, Living Mysore.]

As you all know, Ashtanga yoga is a highly dynamic form of yoga requiring a good dose of stamina, strength and sweat. So why do I: a middle age woman living with two life-threatening viruses (hepatitis C and HIV) and taking a heavy cocktail of anti-retrovirals, practice ashtanga yoga? Why am I attracted to and greatly benefiting from such a demanding and strenuous form of yoga?

Let me tell you: When I was diagnosed with HIV, my life felt completely broken. I thought all I had ahead of me was disease and death. I had never felt so lonely and disconnected from myself and the world. Looking at death as a reality and not just as a remote possibility made me feel an urgency to act and do something with my life that was meaningful. All of a sudden, all I had was the present. The future looked too uncertain. The diagnosis gave me such an intense shock that the only way was to find a new way: change. HIV was going to be my first yoga teacher.

My life was quite a mess before HIV's arrival. I had been working on and off as an independent film/documentary writer since I left college, but at the moment of my diagnosis I didn't have job. I had also been suffering from depression and chronic low self-esteem since my teens: taking drugs, being wild, and getting involved in harmful and impossible relationships.

After the initial paralysis and despair, I set myself on a healing path. My first step was to act upon my external world. I made a short-term plan. I decided that I wanted a socially valuable job, which would make me feel I was living a worthwhile life, something that was of service to others. Because of my extensive travel both in Africa and India, I knew that even as an HIV positive person I was in a privileged position having access to high quality health care. After not much thought, I decided that my aim was to work for an NGO that supported people living with HIV in Africa and I found a postgraduate course in Development Studies, which would give me the qualifications to do such a job.

I started to work harder at improving my relationship with my family. Since my mother had died when I was 20, there was only my father – who was very ill with Alzheimer's – and my brother who I had a very difficult relationship with. It took me a long time and also a lot of counselling, but this was definitely an essential part of becoming a healthier me!

Fast-forward a few years and in 2001 my dream of working for a voluntary organisation supporting people with HIV had finally come true. I started working in the case work team here at Positively Women. It wasn't an NGO in Africa, as per my initial plan, but I realised that there were a lot of needy HIV positive people on my door-step.

Starting work full-time was a real challenge. The job was emotionally demanding: providing support to other positive women, including women in prison and drug-users. It was my first 9 to 5 job ever and I had been through some difficult years struggling to pay for my degree and moving to London. I was also bereaved by the death of my father. On top of all of this I had started antiviral therapy in 1998: my first regime included nearly 20 tablets a day and some pretty weird side effects! It has improved a lot over the years and nowadays I am 'only' taking 7 pills a day.

It's not a surprise that my energy levels were getting lower and lower. I was often so fatigued I didn't even want to talk to my friends on the phone. My doctors thought that the culprit was the hepatitis C virus which I had also been living with for several years. At the time of my HIV diagnosis, I had been told not to worry about it, because hepatitis C would have not had the time to affect me. Generally it takes 20 or 30 years for the liver to be severely damaged by this virus. I was told that HIV would kill me first.

With the advent of successful anti-retroviral therapy my liver had fast become my most important organ. It was my liver which processed my HIV medication and stored energy and nutrients from my food. Research was showing that the leading cause of death for HIV positive people in the West had become liver-related disease. Fatigue and lack of energy are typical symptoms of a poor liver.

My doctors started suggesting that I considered treatment for hepatitis C. One year on Pegylated Interferon. I knew that this treatment could potentially clear the hepatitis C virus. I also knew that it had some awful side effects (including severe depression) and because of my personal struggles with mental health I was terrified by the idea.

It was at this time that I started Ashtanga Yoga. I am not sure it was love at first sight. Initially I just thought that most of the postures were out of my reach. I couldn't touch my toes without bending my knees (unlike most people in my class). I would look around and think: I will never in a million years be able to do any of this! The initial sun salutations were so hard for me that by the end of them I was in a pool of sweat and catching my breath, thinking of a way of leaving the class without being noticed, but I always felt so much better after a class than before.

Something kept me going back to the classes: the sound of the breath; my body awakening. My body that had been under the shadow of imminent illness and death since my diagnosis but now was getting stronger and more supple.

I started attending self-practice sessions. I had to wake up before 6 in order to fit my yoga practice before work. My morning practice has become very special to me. It is a moment of freedom in which I try to totally focus in the present, experience my internal world. It connects me to the 'source'. My practice is a moving prayer for health and stability. It starts my day with a positive intention.

A side effect of yoga has also been that my diet started changing. If I eat too much heavy food or drink too much alcohol, I feel it immediately while I practice: I am heavier and sluggish. So eating, fresh nutritious foods and not over-indulging supports my yoga practice and makes me feel more energetic. Though I still fall for chocolate and a glass of wine now and then, overall my good diet has also really supports my health.

Six years have passed and I am now practicing Ashtanga yoga 6 days a week. I am amazed at how healthy and strong I feel. I cannot believe that, in spite of all the viruses I have, all the tablets I swallow, I have never felt so healthy in my life. I feel healthier then when I was HIV and HCV negative, and I can do things with my body now at 41 then I didn't dream of doing in my 20's. Most of the time I am full of energy. Sometimes I am also knackered, but who isn't in London?!

I have been refusing treatment for HCV. Few weeks ago I went for a liver check up at my hospital. The woman doing the liver scan was surprised – knowing my diagnosis – how good my liver was: 'Very good shape and size … excellent blood supply' she kept saying with her eyebrows raised. My liver exams have been getting better and better. Even my doctor – who has been trying to convince me to go on Interferon for the past 6 years – told me: 'Whatever you are doing, keep doing it!'

The moral of my story is that to live healthily with HIV it is vital to have a deep connection with the internal and external world. I express my connection to the external, especially in the work I do. My work now focuses on healing our society: aiming to make it more accepting of people living with HIV. On the other side my practice heals me and strengthens my 'Inner World', therefore allowing me to do my work with passion. Ashtanga yoga allows me to experience – maybe only for a few moments – that no matter what happens in the 'Outer World' deep within me there is a place of peace where I can just 'be', where HIV, pain, disappointment and the limitations and conditioning I daily experience can all disappear.

Resources:
Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute
Ashtanga Yoga London





Silvia is an Italian HIV+ woman and activist. She has been involved with Positively Women, a UK based, national charity offering support to women with HIV by women living with HIV since 2000 and she is also a member of the International Community of Women Living with HIV. She is committed to challenge stigma and discrimination directed towards women living with HIV and has contributed by speaking at national and international conferences. Silvia's work and health have been supported by a committed Ashtanga practice since 2001.

www.positivelywomen.org.uk
www.icw.org


Silvia would really love to meet other HIV positive people who practice Ashtanga. Thunderlightnow at yahoo dot co dot uk.

Good Morning from Mysore

History of Sanskrit Language

Sanskrit. While it is the language of yoga, you don't need to be a scholar in order to practice. However, if you are interested in broadening your knowledge, getting familiar with Sanskrit is a great place to start. Here's a quick overview of the history of the language and all you need is two minutes.

{Local} Free Intro to Mysore

Free Intro to Mysore

with Tonya Ruddick

Dates: Sunday, July 13th 10:30-11:30am 

and Sunday, August 3rd 10:30-11:30am

Introduction to basic concepts of asana practice (breathing, surya namaskar, finishing, rest) plus key etiquette (how to be a good student and get the most from your practice).

Who it is for: Anyone interested in starting a Mysore practice. 

All are welcome. 

Yoga mats are available for purchase or bring your own.

Register online here.

Ashtanga: Inspiration

Collaborative video project featuring authorized ashtanga teachers Magnolia Zuniga and Jessica Walden as well as Les Twins.

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.

Moon Day Cometh

Friday, June 27 is a moon day.
No practice, just rest!
The next moon day is Friday, July 11.

Live from India

Journey Across India from Mike Matas on Vimeo.

Petri Räisänen: "Practice Real Yoga from the beginning"

What is Ashtanga yoga, Mysore, and what can a beginner expect?

Ashtanga Yoga [Local]

9am by donation #Ashtanga yoga Q & A today at the Albuquerque Ashtanga Yoga Shala with visiting Authorized teacher Pj Heffernan. All are welcome.

Sunday self practice. Drop-ins with a current Ashtanga practice welcome.

Monday Mysore with new resident Authorized teacher Tonya Ruddick. Here's a video featuring Authorized teacher Nea Ferrier. (Tonya assisted Nea in Dubai.)

Video: Yoga Ruins Your Life

Yoga Ruins Your LIfe from Yoga Workshop on Vimeo.

Things to do this week

I was the guest teacher this weekend at the lovely Yoga Shala in Winter Park, Florida. We had some practice and some theory sessions and here are some resources to help you delve deeper into what was discussed.

Read the Yoga Sutras (free online)
Consider taking oil baths (here's how)
Where to find a KPJAYI authorized or certified teacher
What is parampara?
Led vs Mysore in a nutshell
Ashtanga yoga asana practice is more than bending
Practice daily
Essential classroom etiquette
Just rest on moon days
Learn the opening and closing chants
Practice daily (part 2)

Food Inspiration

Some meatless recipes from around the web to inspire and enjoy...

Image: theppk.com

1. Veggie breakfast basic -- scrambled tofu via the Post Punk Kitchen.

Image: ohsheglows.com

2. The nourish and glow miracle bowl via Oh She Glows.

Image: thisrawsomeveganlife.com

3. Vegan Sushi Rolls via This Rawesome Vegan Life.

Moon Day Tomorrow and Some Inspiration

The week in review: 

Albuquerque Ashtanga Yoga Shala resident teacher, Elise Espat, is teaching this week at The Yoga Shala in Winter Park, Florida.  More information and registration here.

PJ Heffernan is the current teacher in Albuquerque. PJ comes to us from Wisconsin where he teaches at his shala just west of Milwaukee in Waukesha.  Yes, that is the same guy from the documentary "Mysore Magic".  He'll be here through next week so be sure to get ye to practice. View schedule and register here.

Tomorrow is a moon day.  All classes are cancelled and do take rest from asana practice. 

Some moon day reading from around the web:

“Through practicing asanas, your mind should change.  That is the transformation that happens within you….Then you are a true Ashtanga practitioner, not just bending your body…Practice should not be just two hours, this practice must be for the whole day, whole life…Then there will be meaning to your practice.” 
- Sharath Jois, Krista Shirley's conference notes 

"Don’t hurry, this practice take time, the more you try to rush it, the more you will miss what it is actually about.... Everything has its own time."
- Saraswathi

"It is very important to understand yoga philosophy: without philosophy, practice is not good, and yoga practice is the starting place for yoga philosophy. Mixing both is actually the best."
- Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, "An Interview with K Pattabhi Jois: Practice Makes Perfect"

"Yoga teachers say: Practice once a week, and you’ll get sore. Practice three times a week, and you’ll get FIT. Practice every day and you will transform your life."
- The Purple Mat Blog

"[Mysore] provides the space to be learn directly and almost privately from a teacher, but within the context of a group environment. A student is introduced to the practice at the appropriate pace for them. Poses are taught in a way that is right for that specific body, with its own limitations and strengths. It’s a very individualized process, yet firmly rooted in a tradition and a community. Mysore offers the opportunity to be inspired by other practitioners, of all levels, without practice becoming a competition, since everyone is practicing the poses that were given to them, at their own pace."
- Frances Harjeet

"It was harder NOT to practice actually. I realized then that you could chop off my arm or leg and I would still practice. I don't do it because I should. I do it irrationally because I love it.
- PJ Heffernan


 

Yoga in a nutshell

Visualtraveling - India

Visualtraveling - 'Holy Cow' from Patrik Wallner on Vimeo.

PJ Heffernan in Albuquerque

Visiting Teacher: Pj Heffernan
June 11-22, 2014
PJ will be leading the shala's ongoing morning Mysore practice.

View Schedule.
Not a current student? Register now.

Beginners and new students are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Book a private session:
heffernanwellness@hotmail.com

PJ is a KPJAYI Level 2 Authorized ashtanga yoga teacher from Wisconsin.

How Yoga Asanas Change our daily life

Joey Miles is a KPJAYI authorized teacher, Ashtanga Yoga Leeds

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."

Trouble Sleeping & Intermediate Practice

Via: Mysore SF's Magnolia Zuniga 

Student Question

Q. Since I’ve started practicing intermediate series I’ve had trouble falling asleep. I also wake up in the middle of the night and have a hard time falling back to sleep. Do you have any tips?

A: The intermediate series is a stimulating and dynamic practice. It is not uncommon for students to experience many changes in their lives as the postures begin to weave themselves into the subtle body. Before we go into this, let’s look at the primary series and go from there.

The Primary Series is called ‘Yoga Chikitsa’ or yoga therapy. The focus is on detoxing the physical body. First, the postures work to ‘wring’ the internal organs. Correct foot and heel position, binding etc is crucial. The wringing action squeezes stagnant blood and toxins from the muscles/organs. The vinyasa between postures provides fresh blood to those same areas and as the body moves, internal heat is cultivated. Next, steady rhythmic breathing is what keeps the heat sustained and supported; the vehicle for detoxification. This breathing induces a calming and meditative effect on the mind and pratyahara (sense withdrawal) is possible. When we combine all of these actions simultaneously we experience Yoga. 

Detoxification is happening on mind AND body.

It is common for practitioners to experience flu like symptoms as the purification process takes place. This is one of the reasons daily practice is important. The impulse will be to rest however unless there is fever, practice daily (5-6 days, moon days off) so toxins can be thoroughly removed. This does not mean that you will never get sick or that the body remains in a perfectly cleansed state. We are constantly taking in toxins either through food/water, our environment or even the way in which we think/speak to ourselves and others. It simply means that we are in a certain state of balance. As a friend and teacher once said ‘Between life and death there is illness and recovery’. Our purpose in life is to find a place that is balanced for as long as possible.

Intermediate series is called ‘Nadi Shodhana’. Now that the physical body is (more or less) purified, we begin to work on the subtle body, the Nadi system. Some explain this as ‘purification of the nervous system’ but it’s more subtle than this. The subtle body is made up of chakras, pranic streams known as vayus (5 pranas) and nadis, the passageways in which the life force (prana) can move freely and evenly. These passageways are clogged and unbalanced in most people. They must be purified before a practitioner is able to experience higher and more subtle states of Yoga.

Throughout the intermediate series the postures bend and twist the spine, the largest nerve channel in the body, creating a ‘Nerve Cleansing’ effect. This precise work on the spine will create a stimulating effect on the subtle body which can show up in several ways. For some this includes difficulty sleeping, peaks and valleys in energy level and heightened emotional response/reactivity…for starters. Where you stop in the intermediate series will change how you experience the day to day, moment to moment.

Here’s what I love about the Ashtanga method. It requires you to take care of yourself. Seriously. Not some times, not part-time, all the time. Late nights, partying, drinking, drugs and gossiping, even once in awhile, will create more devastation to the body, mind and spirit once this cleansing process has begun. Be respectful of this powerful system. Move through your day intelligently, with awareness and Ahimsa. Rest to let the practice work in a beneficial way. Without proper rest, there will be problems both physical and psychological.

Here are some suggestions for getting the rest that you need.

1) Make sure you practice the entire finishing sequence without shortcuts or time constraints.

Many students rush through the finishing part of the practice either because they have not allowed enough time or they consider it a ‘cool down’. The finishing sequence is very important and crucial for the entire practice and in your daily life. The finishing sequence neutralizes the physical and subtle body, nervous and other systems etc. Bringing everything to balance, this is where most physical pain (especially back pain) can be alleviated. This provides a subtle protection as you go out into the world.

In fact, this is where the truly ancient and essential postures are practiced. For example, Sirsasana and Sarvangasana are considered the king and queen of all asanas. Their benefits include purifying the blood, lungs, heart, stomach, digestive system and strengthening Amrita Bindu. Each asana in finishing has many benefits. See ‘Yoga Mala’ by Sri K Pattabhi Jois for further information Sarvangasana pg 111 &112 and Sirsasana pg 119-123.

I recommend 50 breaths in Sarvangasana and Sirsasana and 15 breaths in all the other postures. Consider this another practice and allow yourself 30 minutes for finishing.

2) Keep all electronics out of the bedroom.

Viewing a brightly lit screen can create insomnia. They have a direct alerting effect and a melatonin-suppressing effect as well. Get an old fashioned alarm clock and keep the phones, iPads and computers outside of the bedroom.

3) Spend the last hour or so before bed, getting ready for bed – the hours for sleep are meant to be healing. Prepare for this by creating rituals that support the process.

• Go to bed early (before 10pm)
• No internet surfing at least an hour before bed.
• 10 minute light meditation is helpful.

4) Some Ayurvedic tips:

• Take an oil bath or shower with almond or coconut oil (depending on your Ayurvedic constitution) before bed.
• Drink warm milk with cinnamon and honey. I prefer to flash pasteurize raw milk myself.
• Ghee on the soles of the feet, temples and top of the head works like a sleeping pill : )
• Banyan Botanicals ‘Tranquil Mind’ is great for calming the mind without leaving you feeling lethargic or mentally constipated.

5) Diet tips:

• Use sugar moderately. This can be challenging for an Ashtangi. We tend to reach for sugar as an immediate energy boost. The crash later, weakened immune system and lowered energy levels will inevitably effect practice, day-to-day job and activities. Generally speaking, not worth it. Instead try fruits, (though not past 4pm as this ferments in the stomach turning into vata, gas, flatulence) dates, sweet potato mash. Sweet foods that are nourishing and soothing to the soul.
• No caffeine past noon. While Sharath Jois is a well known advocate of coffee, ‘No coffee, No prana’, he’s referring to South Indian coffee which is a much lighter version mixed with chicory, milk and sugar. It is not the keep you up for three days version we have here in the west. Use moderately, no problem.
• Eat more whole foods and less processed foods, fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Cook for yourself more. Eat out less. Restaurants exist by making a profit, not healing you. The more you eat out, the more likely you will be eating frozen, processed, GMO foods and other additives and preservatives. Shopping and cooking for yourself will ensure you are eating what you want/need. You will feel better and your savings account will too.
• Khichadi is delicious, easy to make and nourishing for the soul. Here’s a great recipe

Hopefully this will provide some helpful tips. Moving through the daily practice without completely driving yourself (and others) crazy is possible, enjoy!

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