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yoga news
Richard Freeman is coming to town
IN MEMORIAM
Much beloved guru of so many of our friends and teachers,
Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois passed away May 18, 2009, 2:30pm Indian Standard Time.
yoga studios at risk
The states' economies are hurting, and yoga-related businesses are grossing some $6 billion a year. Naturally, the states want their piece of the action. And who better to decide how to run your local yoga studio, than bureaucrats in the Dept. of Education? Many changes are afoot. See "NY State Licensing Update: Yogis Unite!" at yogadork.com.
coping with the crisis
In the yoga
tradition, obstacles are seen as our teachers. Although crises are by
definition painful, they also present opportunities. They force us to come
back to what is essential. Thanks to Thomas Friedman (NY Times, 3/7/09: The Inflection Is Near?) for helping to shift some of the
focus— in the discussion over what some have called a global
de(e)pre(ce)ssion— to the root of the problem,
an insane economic model with an impossible notion of infinite growth
and no regard for Earth’s limited resources. It’s very well put by a climatologist Friedman quotes: we have not
been generating real wealth but rather stealing it from future
generations in what is basically “a Ponzi scheme.”
Might our entire way of life be called
into question? This is just the sort of questioning the path of yoga
demands of us: the honest reflection of svadhyaya (self-study) with discipline or tapas (literally, heat ).
We put ourselves in the hotseat. Of course, it's all too human of us to want to
create scapegoats (Those greedy guys on Wall Street did it). The ego is all too eager to be the enabler for our avoidance of any reflection as to whether we may ourselves be part of
the problem. So here's a fun link I'd like to share, from the incomparable TED.com, re. one of many impacts our collective bad behavior has on the environment. See: Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
omagain exclusives
omagain.com maintains what is probably the most comprehensive and current listing of Manhattan's diverse array of yoga centers.
video short: "Vinyasa Yoga with Daniel Dale"
On the health & wellness website iHolistic.tv, a short presenting the fundamentals of vinyasa yoga.
Highly recommended
Boulder, Colorado-based master teacher Richard Freeman now has a blog where one can listen to his Studio Talks for free. Click & play, download them, or subscribe to podcasts.
What a gift! Many thanks to Richard, Mary & Co.
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Some days you may be up for a very vigorous practice of yoga asanas, but at other times that might be counter-productive. Here are some ways you can "soften" your practice:
• Smooth out the breath, gently. Complete each
exhales & inhales. Do not push further into the
asana (pose) if the breath becomes constrained.
• When doing a forward bend, you can step the feet a bit
apart and bend the knees. If the classical form of any
asana would be uncomfortable, just take your time—
perhaps years— to ease your way patiently towards it,
if at all.
• If lowering into chaturanga dandasana is too intense,
try a "knees-chest-chin" approach. That is, you can
always touch the knees to the ground first, when
lowering from a plank position.
• Then, you can always substitute a cobra pose for an
upward-facing dog, keeping the pelvis on, and pressing
into, the ground.
• As a substitution for downward-facing dog, try balasana ("child’s pose") or try what I like to call “downward
puppy,” simply by bringing the knees gently to the floor
from downward-facing dog, while still reaching up and
back through the sitting bones.
For explanations or pictures of the aforementioned yoga asanas, you might try searching in the Yoga Journal Pose Finder |
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In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny.
— Henry David Thoreau
The Upanishads are the most rewarding and elevating reading possible in the world.
— Arthur Schopenhauer
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Personal instruction
catering to your goals & needs,
experience level & availability.
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In yoga, we are going for perception,
not perfection.
— Michael Gilbert
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Whatever you do, have a good breathe.
— Mark Whitwell
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When our mind is not turbulent for a little while, we tend to think we’re in a slump and start groping about for something that can stir it up again: a thrilling movie, a stiff drink, a spirited quarrel, anything to “get the juices flowing.”...
When we fix our eyes on a higher goal, we begin to see beyond the immediate appeal of short-term satisfactions. Confident that a far greater joy is ours, we can hold out against the voices from all sides that cajole, “Eat this; drink that; watch this; buy that.” True joy is found when the mind is still, not when it is excited.
— Eknath Easwaran
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 Favorite yoga mat: Central Park's Great Lawn
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