- Adventures in Mysore India, Diversity, Social Media, Teaching Ashtanga, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
It Is So Much Easier To Tell You To Change
It is so much easier to tell someone else or an organization to change than to actually change ourselves. How many times have you made a statement that Ashtanga, the government, your job, your yoga studio should change but you cannot even clean out your closets without having a meltdown? For most people, switching careers, cities, boyfriends or hairstyles is a harrowing ordeal, but your democracy, that should change overnight. Not only should everyone change but they should do it smoothly and quickly without disrupting YOUR life. Hmm…how realistic is that? I have been yearning for change in my own life and I have made no steps in any direction.…
Why Practice 6 Days A Week or Every Day?
To become grounded in practice. “Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without break and in all earnestness.”-Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 1:14 What is practice? “Effort towards steadiness of mind.”- Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 1:13 You practice 6 days a week, or whatever your tradition requires, to become firmly grounded in a steady mind. I recently read an article that stated, not practicing every day is an act of compassion. I think the opposite. Yoga was created to alleviate suffering in ourselves and in the world. Therefore, doing our chosen yoga practice is the ultimate act of compassion. Doing your practice not only serves…
Yoga Sutras For Modern Day Life: Do You Believe in Karma?
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2:12- Our actions and their consequences, Karma, are influenced by the Kleshas. You may see the results of your Karma during this life or the next. Defining the Sutra 5 Kleshas Ignorance (avidya) Ego (asmita) Attachment to Pleasure (raga) Aversion to Pain (dvesa) Fear of Death (abhinivesah) Keeping the Kleshas active has consequences. They affect your present life and the next. Modern Day Application Lets talk about the elephant in the room, future lives. What I know for sure is that I have no clue what the afterlife holds. Science has proven that we cannot be created or destroyed and that we continue to exist in some other…
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Yoga Sutras for Modern Day Life: Insidious
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2:5: Avidya (Ignorance) is seeing the impermanent as permanent, the impure as pure, the painful as pleasant and the non Self as the self. Defining the Sutra: It is important to note that Patanjali is speaking about a certain type of ignorance. Normally, ignorance is defined as not knowing or even ignoring what you know. Avidya is a deeper more insidious type of ignorance. Avidya is when you believe something to be true and you have no clue that it is not. Avidya is when a child is terrified of the monster under the bed. Avidya is when a person believes that all Black people are bad. Avidya is when…
Yoga Sutras For Modern Day Life: Peaceful Sleep, Peaceful Mind
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 1:38 The mind can also be made steady by meditating on a dream or on dreamless sleep. Defining the Sutra Patanjali continues to talk about techniques to steady the mind. One of these techniques is meditation on a peaceful dream or on dreamless sleep. By meditating on the tranquility of a pleasant spiritually oriented dream or on the relaxed feeling of deep sleep, one can become relaxed. Modern Day Application There is an ongoing belief, in the modern world, that yoga is not accessible to all. Patanjali always disproves this by giving simple techniques for calming the mind. Everyone sleeps. Why not use it to further…
Yoga Sutras For Modern Day Life: The Super Human Yogi
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 1:35-Also the development of super sensory perception can aid in concentrating the mind Defining the Sutra The is the first mention of yogi super powers. I bet your yoga teacher never talks to you about this. Like the bodiless ones, discussed in Sutra 1:19, and Ishvara, a reoccurring theme in the Sutras, the super powers make people a tad bit uncomfortable. Relax. Think about it this way. When someone experiences the lose of one of their senses like sight or hearing, they start to heavily rely on their other senses and this strengthens the remaining senses. Something similar happens in evolution. In order to survive, organisms adapt.…
Your Yoga Practice is a Weapon
Now, this is neither easy nor difficult. It is just simple. It is so simple that your mind-which is being pulled and pushed by so many factors, which is functioning within the limitations that you have gathered, where you have made your limitations gold plated-is just confused. If you stop gold plating your limitations, if you stop seeing your shackles as ornaments that you wear and are proud of, then it is very simple and you are on fulltime. Please see how many deceptive ways you seek support for your limitations from the people around you. You want approval for your limitations. You want these hindrances to be thought of…
Yoga Sutras For Modern Day Life: Yoga Should Change You
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 1:30: Obstacles (distractions) on the path of yoga are sickness,dullness (inertia), Defining the Sutra A distraction to staying on the path of yoga is inertia or dullness/styana. The purpose of yoga is to realize that you are not your thoughts or emotions and that you can be happy regardless of the circumstances of your life. For most people to get to this place of freedom , a huge shift has to occur in their heart, mind, and lives. To be resistant to this change, is to be resistant to yoga. Also change is the nature of the universe. Seasons change. We live and die. It is rainy…
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Yoga Sutras For Modern Day Life: Devotion-The Ultimate Key To Success
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 1:23 Or (samadhi can be attained) by devotion to ishvara. Defining the Sutra: Joy and well being can be found by staying connected to supreme consciousness. The first law of thermodynamics is that energy can not be created or destroyed. It is only transformed. By staying focused on the part of you that can never be created or destroyed, you realize your essence. This essence is supreme consciousness. Supreme consciousness animates us all. As we move through the world, we become blinded by collecting experiences and things and lose our ability to connect to supreme consciousness and the world around us. Yoga removes that which blinds us from seeing the luminescence…
Making the Philosophy and Poses of Ashtanga Accessible for All
