tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-156425822024-03-14T03:24:23.711-07:00CHASING REASON by Rhonda Geraci©2019. All rights reserved. No content on this site can be used without permission.rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-71969873924786270172018-01-30T11:49:00.000-08:002018-01-30T11:49:35.336-08:00Robert Abrams A tribute to a gentle man<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_4trCTHdApM6K8c1B_T_96g0xVoiZivTvsq2VpeedRwHuqQz-z7tWtFRpiizgVaJNYXDPioNRSLg8nOv_vfqYTyljC-u8VIX2hEGvaM5QavZp21N9cbUCDFity6GX86qsbxLVg/s1600/UncleBob%2526Me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_4trCTHdApM6K8c1B_T_96g0xVoiZivTvsq2VpeedRwHuqQz-z7tWtFRpiizgVaJNYXDPioNRSLg8nOv_vfqYTyljC-u8VIX2hEGvaM5QavZp21N9cbUCDFity6GX86qsbxLVg/s320/UncleBob%2526Me.jpg" width="177" /></a><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Robert Abrams came into this world on January 4, 1926, with a west
wind. Not the kind that flips your umbrella back like on the streets of
New York where his parents, Essie & Samuel raised him. He whirled
through school and served his country in ways he never talked about. He
left the prying few dangling like that last preposition. As a biologist, he
thought he’d found heaven in his first job working in the Museum of
Natural History, but the internal politics brought him back to earth. Still,
he breezed by social norms and a heavy-handed Jewish mother to marry a
Sicilian, Catholic, opera singer, named Libora Geraci. He met her on a
blind date he only agreed to because his best friend's crush insisted on a
double. He was a good friend. He found Libora to be the most ‘authentic'
woman he’d ever met. After they married in 1951, he refused to work at
his father's box business in Brooklyn and moved his wife to the woods
beyond the hamlet of Glen Gardner, New Jersey where they built a
company of their own: Champlain Biological Services.
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">He wasn’t an only child, but the age difference made it seem so. He had
a much older sister, Ruth from his mother’s first marriage. He kept close
ties to his wife’s brother, Dick, and all Lib’s brothers and sisters and
adopted Lib’s enormous extended Sicilian family here and in Sicily but it
was the children of his sister and siblings-in-law who he held most dear. It
created a couple of jealous parting of ways with the older relatives, but
what child wouldn’t love Bob and his wife, Lib in their lives. They weren’t
bound by the messy roles of parents. They made no demands. They
listened and loved unconditionally. They were fun and fascinating. They
talked about science and art, went to interesting plays and museums, and
read wonderful books like </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic;">The Outlook Fairy Book for Little People </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">when
the children were young.
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Bob and Lib's love for each other wouldn’t make the </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic;">Modern Love </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">section
of the </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic;">New York Times</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">. Theirs was an old-fashioned love before
expectation and entitlement. It wasn’t even a death-do-you-part love. It
is and always will be a true forever love. He was so rooted in the biology
of our existence, he never questioned nature’s twists and turns that
caused an early decline in his wife’s health, and she was never phased by
his curmudgeon demeanor as his loving niece, Kathy Priolo called it. They
loved each other - period.
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Their lives moved like autumn before the fall: colorful, never insistent or
resistant. They had simple lives with a tight group of friends. They
worked hard with care and honesty. They delivered. They traveled far but
made time for those they loved even moving one niece, Antonia who is
now a Judge, to her first apartment in NY to attend law school. They
weren't perfect. They’d forget to pick the beans Lib's father planted for
them, until the day he came to check on the garden. Lib would rush Bob
out the door to accomplish the task, so her father wouldn’t be
disappointed.
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Libora passed away 20 years before Bob. Bob’s mind never dulled even
after 92 years. Yes, he closed his eyes often, but that wasn’t because he
was sleeping —he'd done this all through school, which he attended well
into his 80s —making his way from the Windrows, the adult community
where he became a fixture, to Princeton to audit courses in Italian and
Cognitive Neuroscience to keep his mind active. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">His eyes eventually
degenerated as did his legs. His dear caregiver, named Comfort, stood by
his side and became his eyes and legs. She and “Boss” maintained a lively
and affectionate banter until his last moments. Judith dropped by most
days to provide provocative discourse on the issues of the day and turned
off the ever present classical music and radio programs of NPR to play
books on tape from the Public Library (long live the Public Library) and
the Association for the Blind. Steve was the only one meticulous (and
patient) enough to do his shopping and odd jobs.
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Bob left this world on January 6, 2018, as gently as he came in, on a late
night breeze, his eyes closed, his mind calm, surrounded by Comfort,
Judith and Antonia, but comforted by the love of all his nieces and
nephews far and wide lifting him upward to join his one and only true
love. </span></span></div>
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-63676258465065602842018-01-08T12:06:00.000-08:002018-01-08T12:17:51.250-08:00Kquvien DeWeese Weekend Workshops Day 3: Our right to happiness.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"A happy and serene mind allows us to pursue our quest as well as live with artistry and skill. Does not the American Declaration of Independence talk of Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness? If a yogi had written that, he would have said Life, Happiness and the Pursuit of Liberty. Sometimes happiness may bring stagnation, but if freedom comes from disciplined happiness, there is the possibility of true liberation." ~BKS Iyengar, <i><a href="https://iynaus.org/store/books/light-life-autobiography">Light On Life</a></i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The final day of Kquvien's Weekend Workshop turned out to be a playful one. Mr. Iyengar lists curative poses in the back of <b style="font-style: italic;"><a href="https://iynaus.org/store/books/light-yoga">Light On Yoga</a>. </b>KQ gave us a few of the cures for arms and abs listed on page 489. The list itself elicits laughter until you experience the poses.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Chaturanga Dandasana, Bekasana, Eka Bekasana, Visvamitrasana, Ekapada Koundinyasana after the sixth or seventh try it felt good on the arms, shoulders, and abdomen. One student exclaimed after doing Bekasana, "It makes me happy." The student then asked if it might be wrong to feel happy. KQ immediately exclaimed, "No." Reverend Jaganath Carrera notes in his book <i><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Yoga-Sutras-Comprehensive-Sourcebook/dp/0932040578">Inside the Yoga Sutras</a></b></i> that, "Cheerfulness is a characteristic of sattwa. Cheerfulness is included not simply because it is an anticipated outcome of practice but because a cheerful mind has the energy and perseverance necessary to proceed to the highest states of spiritual experience."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvl6bdj9lCxpzdEJqJu71hu0fqdshUKDXMjPzfoQFGfTup3t0OHIZ1WalXSs0_8BaBAyN1h8ocH21P0M6W59MkwZiFphHalrBwikSqUfz9OYgKVGvdo1k_BpY8Qg3SQpu2HWqfYA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-01-08+at+2.45.09+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvl6bdj9lCxpzdEJqJu71hu0fqdshUKDXMjPzfoQFGfTup3t0OHIZ1WalXSs0_8BaBAyN1h8ocH21P0M6W59MkwZiFphHalrBwikSqUfz9OYgKVGvdo1k_BpY8Qg3SQpu2HWqfYA/s200/Screen+Shot+2018-01-08+at+2.45.09+PM.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kquvien's students will all admit; she brings fun into the challenge of yoga. She doesn't shame you. She has great humility when she demonstrates her poses effortlessly. Poses you know she practices day in and day out to unearth from her body. "Approach it like your in Olympic training and every second counts." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We all have mental, physical, emotional, and financial hurdles to overcome day in and day out. Kquvien impresses on us that the path of yoga is here for us always and forever. Take your time, but spend it well might be her motto. She ended class by putting us in the wonderfully serene Bhishmasana pose. She told the story of Bhishma from the <span style="background-color: white;">Mahābhārata</span>, India's longest epic poem. Talk about issues: this prince gave up his throne so his stepmother and her son could have more power. He went into exile where one version of the story has a warrior princess he'd been betrothed to had he kept the throne shoot 52 arrows into back out of spite. He didn't die right away, and he wouldn't let anyone move him. He made a bed of all his arrows and rested there content to his last breath. May we all make a bed of our troubles in 2018 and rest content with those we can not change. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thank you for a great weekend, Kquvien. Namaste </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></span><span style="text-align: left;"></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard;"></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">To learn more about Kquvien DeWeese visit her website at <a href="http://kquvienyoga.com/">kquvien Yoga </a>.</span></span></div>
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com02033 Hosea L Williams Dr NE Suite A, Atlanta, GA 30317, USA33.751014200000007 -84.3212204000000168.2289797000000071 -125.62981440000001 59.273048700000004 -43.012626400000016tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-74660649128441900202018-01-07T07:59:00.002-08:002018-01-08T12:21:43.573-08:00Kquvien DeWeese Weekend Workshop Day 2: Heading into the New Year Feet First.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In <i><b><a href="https://iynaus.org/store/books/light-life-autobiography">Light on Life</a>,</b></i> BKS Iyengar talks about the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali which begin with </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Samadhi </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Pada</i></span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(an experience of transcendence)</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and ends with</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Kaivalya </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i>Pada </i>(Liberation). However, in between the 85 sutras that make up the two <i>Padas </i>(chapters) </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Patañjali "drops right back down to the basics showing how to put one's first foot on the path of the inward journey [...]." </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2l1y-ARb6-SgIybqZG_K67fXaVpEvF9iyEEu9VoBfeZj1_oK7khrlRM2QhmIAZf2MYfYBGqKxMWRKydOwQAw8KRonHgWOSVC6FVVhMeOeBzOcFZNCoZEU5GkkYBHGDzZfrZaRQ/s1600/Unknown-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2l1y-ARb6-SgIybqZG_K67fXaVpEvF9iyEEu9VoBfeZj1_oK7khrlRM2QhmIAZf2MYfYBGqKxMWRKydOwQAw8KRonHgWOSVC6FVVhMeOeBzOcFZNCoZEU5GkkYBHGDzZfrZaRQ/s400/Unknown-1.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Day 2 of our Weekend Workshop, Kquvien woke up our awareness of our feet with the </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Virasana</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> series. We explored the connections from our toes to our ankles and shins. She challenged our awareness through <i>Baddha Konasana, Siddhasana, Ardha Baddha Padmasana, </i>and<i> Padmasana.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kquvien quoted from a Shambala book by <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ruling-Your-World-Ancient-Strategies/dp/B078PS8977/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1515339475&sr=8-3&keywords=Sakyong+Mipham">Sakyong Mipham</a>, that talked about how we 'meditate' all the time --like on what other people say or what we are going to eat; ergo, we can learn to meditate on our feet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When she showed us the art of rotating the feet from the shins and ankles, she emphasized the fact, "It's all connected." She went back to the basic precepts of Yoga the </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Yamas</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> and the </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Niyamas</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. She explained the importance of understanding the first of the five obstacles: </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Avidya, </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ignorance (uninformed) and that by applying the Yamas, Niyamas, </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Abhyāsa (practice) </span></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and </span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Vairāgya (detachment), we can turn </span></span><i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Avidyā</span></i><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">into </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Vidya</i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kquvien admitted that even for herself some of what our yoga mentors teach us could take over ten years to fully understand. I won't assume I completely understand any of them yet. However, my take away was that no matter how deep we go on our yoga path, as Mr. Iyengar further explained in his book, "the practitioner still has to get dressed in the morning, eat breakfast, and answer his correspondence." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We can't lose sight of the basics. Kquvien read an excerpt from another commentary on Sutra 1.1 Atha yoganushasanam, that urged us to understand that enlightenment doesn't come in a bolt of thunder but in everyday events. <b><i>Now</i></b> begins our yoga in this very moment --in putting on our socks and shoes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For 2018, perhaps we can also aspire to Mr. Iyengar's vision for our feet, "I would suggest the image that one foot is on the earth, whereas the other stands in divinity, but a divinity that is not divorced from practical reality. It is simple that the divine foot lives in Oneness." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thank you, Kquvien. Namaste.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-standard;"></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">To learn more about Kquvien DeWeese visit her website at <a href="http://kquvienyoga.com/">kquvien Yoga </a>.</span></span>
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-51540029160455973122018-01-06T07:52:00.001-08:002018-01-06T08:36:14.658-08:00Kquvien's Weekend Workshop Day 1: How To Twist Without A Shout<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Rotational extension of the spine in fact, gradually brings the spine to a neutral position from forward as well as backward extensions." --BKS Iyengar & Geeta S. Iyengar BGFTY</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kquvien DeWeese opening class to her January Weekend Workshop instilled a fire in our bellies beginning with Jāṭharaparivṛttāsana coupled with Parvrtta <span style="color: black;">Supta Pādāṅguṣṭhāsana. We learned techniques to experience twists or Parvrtta poses as backbends and forward bends. We felt these sensations through the work of three main body parts: our tailbone, our abdomen, and our shoulder blades. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Supine on the floor, we gained sensations that we brought to our upright poses. At the same time, the upright poses challenged us to maintain the actions in these three main areas with ever greater difficulty.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That's the beauty of the Iyengar Method of teaching yoga. Systematically, awareness and discernment deepen; and with that depth, our poses go places we never thought they could go.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Don't be greedy!" </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kquvien, who we lovingly call KQ, interjected as we began to recognize how much further we could twist under her tutaledge. </span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Aparigraha </i><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">is the fifth Yama. The Yama's are the "Universal Moral Commandments." It is the second limb of the Astanga or 8-limbed path of the Yoga of </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Patañjali. <i>Aparigraha</i> is a Sanskrit word that means non-coveting. While there is the greed from an economic standpoint that we have had the pleasure of experiencing in ourself and in our nation, there is also a deeper personal greed where we covet faster enlightenment or a better pose even when our body (include the trinity here) is not ready for it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sticking to the Yama's (universal vows) and the Niyama's (self-purification laws) is a basic precept of yoga and arguably its most difficult. KQ helps us understand that if we want to twist in life without a shout, it's worth applying them. Thank you, KQ. Namaste.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">To learn more about Kquvien DeWeese visit her website at <a href="http://kquvienyoga.com/">kquvien Yoga </a>.</span><br />
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com02033 Hosea L Williams Dr NE Suite A, Atlanta, GA 30317, USA33.751014200000007 -84.3212204000000168.2289797000000071 -125.62981440000001 59.273048700000004 -43.012626400000016tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-19672623022078341592017-12-26T06:30:00.000-08:002017-12-26T06:47:15.715-08:00Virtues <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The stillness of hope</div>
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teeters on time</div>
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ahead</div>
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in between</div>
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and behind</div>
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Prudence perches</div>
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on precision</div>
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and prepares</div>
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for a storm</div>
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before a single </div>
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cloud passes</div>
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Hope sees</div>
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rain as food </div>
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for flowers</div>
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Its fill for her</div>
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barrels</div>
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whose water </div>
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will wash</div>
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the dust </div>
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from her clock</div>
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Until courage</div>
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comes to make </div>
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all their dreams</div>
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come true.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12px;"> ~</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">RLG©2017</span></div>
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-45395715503675252252017-10-18T08:18:00.000-07:002017-10-18T08:18:19.675-07:00Life Against The Grain<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Cut from our roots,<br />
We are all just logs<br />
Encrypted with age<br />
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The world turns<br />
To soften our edges<br />
Uncovering cracks<br />
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We can seal them<br />
With glue but that<br />
Wears thin eventually<br />
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It takes a hollowing<br />
To get to the source<br />
But that can break us<br />
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Discernment and care<br />
Are integral to the craft<br />
Not just a fancy finish<br />
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A worthy vessel<br />
Must be ready to receive<br />
Whatever life throws us.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">RLG©2017</span><br />
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-81900469343927050832016-04-20T09:20:00.000-07:002016-04-20T09:20:35.814-07:00AN IYENGAR YOGA RETREAT WITH KQUVIEN DEWEESE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTb6nhNpakReggTBWHM3EdMcVO-0wFuYHDaaurgmMlJNlv-OnHW3IhFwyJzLkOpSVVVkJPSCfsMIg_tomIp_nkydx8eu89LSOiADOPGD_KXn2BSUmgr_q9eae9EYSifkiEPF5Ymw/s1600/IMG_5835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTb6nhNpakReggTBWHM3EdMcVO-0wFuYHDaaurgmMlJNlv-OnHW3IhFwyJzLkOpSVVVkJPSCfsMIg_tomIp_nkydx8eu89LSOiADOPGD_KXn2BSUmgr_q9eae9EYSifkiEPF5Ymw/s320/IMG_5835.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
RETREAT has military connotations as in a withdrawal of troops from the battlefield. It could be said that each of us has an ongoing internal and external battle that we wage at various levels of intensity depending who we are, what we do, where we live, and what we believe. A Yoga RETREAT is a retreat from the battlefield of life to a more secluded spot where we can gain a new perspective and are better able to bring about a dedicated focus inward - a focus that reunites us with the wholeness of our being. It pulls our energy back in from all the places we've allowed it to scatter.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6zkifmXh4YIsMjoB6_JwQSSXBHIA-c8rw9piquBdlhVDsz_aETmxqwRM9amvhclwjM6CqXdKTedTlMKaTeu6Z-7Wcqb9BxaAnCr17jJQRPjLQ0CB-zc23VYzXhxeEyGnCf861MQ/s1600/IMG_5773.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6zkifmXh4YIsMjoB6_JwQSSXBHIA-c8rw9piquBdlhVDsz_aETmxqwRM9amvhclwjM6CqXdKTedTlMKaTeu6Z-7Wcqb9BxaAnCr17jJQRPjLQ0CB-zc23VYzXhxeEyGnCf861MQ/s320/IMG_5773.JPG" width="240" /></a>Kquvien DeWeese's SPRING RETREAT came at the tail end of tax time with presidential debates blaring blame and throwing the energy of the nation all over the place like the solar flares of the sun. Yoga practitioners new and old chose to RETREAT from it all. We weaved our way up to <a href="http://dahlonegasparesort.com/"><b>Dahlonega Resort and Spa. </b></a> There we reunited our energies and bonded with each other in true Yogic form. Kquvien teaches The Iyengar Method of Yoga, which was developed by <b><a href="http://bksiyengar.com/">B.K.S. Iyengar</a></b>. The method could be described as a systematic RETREAT. It is a slow involution from the gross to the subtle. It brings our awareness from the external to the internal. Kquvien began her lessons with simple poses that focused on our arms and legs; and then, she added props like chairs, blocks, and straps to support a deeper understanding of our body and its tendencies.<br />
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Once she shifted our focus to RETREAT inward, we were more receptive to the guidance of a few of the 196 Yoga Sutras of the sage Patanjali. Patanjali describes yoga as "<i>Citta Vrtti Nirodha</i>," Iyengar translates this in <i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Light-Yoga-Sutras-Patanjali-Iyengar/dp/0007145160/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1461167798&sr=1-1&keywords=light+on+the+yoga+sutras+of+patanjali">Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali</a></b></i> as "Yoga is the cessation of the movements in the consciousness." We discussed several other translations of this sutra (1.2) along with a more recent translation by Rohit Mehta's from his book <i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Integration-Commentary-Sutras-Patanjali/dp/8170595207?ie=UTF8&refRID=MNTHX712F98EGQB9YTV4&ref_=pd_ybh_a_18">Yoga, The Art of Integration</a>.</b> </i>Mehta explains <i>Citta Vrtti</i> (read monkey mind) as a comparing or contrasting <i>reaction</i> to any stimulus. The reaction perpetuates itself into a chain of reactions.<br />
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We might react to a cup of coffee with a comparison of the warm milk we got as a child that made us feel loved then contrast that reaction with a reaction of pain brought about from an imprint of when our father spilt hot coffee and burnt us. The cycle can go and on and on and follows the same groove as every other set of chain reactions. We can trap ourselves into this endless pattern our entire lives. Or we can learn to see each experience as new -- void of any comparison or contrast. Interestingly, it was about here in our discussion that Kquvien brought up Albert Camus' <b><i><a href="http://dbanach.com/sisyphus.htm">Myth of Sisyphus</a></i> </b>(I encourage you to click and read it, along with this <a href="http://www.elephantjournal.com/2013/10/camus-the-dude-greek-mythology-yoga-yes-please-cathy-woods/"><i><b>Elephant Journal </b></i>article</a>) and consider the last line that imagines Sisyphus happy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtr9R5ind6_RtZfs8uyRavaWd4VYIfnvVhQsfWe6KHRLB7UxJPLFM4oO0t_aWGiOMdcGNKgcxJANyhTNxo8Uct18H2pm-inQUr552UVmI_V41g8pcWhpGhlNZFEvn2Roq7cOkPw/s1600/IMG_5833.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggtr9R5ind6_RtZfs8uyRavaWd4VYIfnvVhQsfWe6KHRLB7UxJPLFM4oO0t_aWGiOMdcGNKgcxJANyhTNxo8Uct18H2pm-inQUr552UVmI_V41g8pcWhpGhlNZFEvn2Roq7cOkPw/s200/IMG_5833.JPG" width="200" /></a>The Yoga of Patanjali's Sutras teaches us how to RETREAT from this chain reaction of thoughts. In RETREAT, we gain strength of awareness of a part of us that is separate from the meat suit where we live. Kquvien discussed Sutras 2:26-2:27 where Patanjali explains that there are seven stages to this awareness. Iyengar Yoga guides us through them systematically from the external body and senses to more internal areas of breath and prana (energy) to mind/intelligence and consciousness and finally to the innermost part of us that is none of that - what some call the soul. As we grow strength in the awareness of this innermost part of us, we learn to stay there. And staying there, with uninterrupted awareness, <i>Nirodha Parinama</i> (a transformation that reduces the power of our reactions) results in growing moments where we experience the "Incomparable joy" that "comes from self-containment" [Mehta: Sutra 2:42], and a steady (<i>Sthira</i>) stream of happiness (<i>Sukham</i>).<br />
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Kquvien will have another SPRING RETREAT. Until then, consider that your thoughts are merely a chain of reactions. That what's behind your eyes are your own <i>Samskaras</i> or imprints and you are constantly comparing and contrasting them, ad nauseam, against any new information or experience. Therefore, perhaps you don't need to take your chain of reactions so seriously. If you're not an Iyengar practitioner, I encourage you to find an Iyengar Studio near you. There you can begin to learn how to RETREAT from the chain of reactions, so you can see all your experiences with fresh eyes. And who knows where that could take you.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">To learn more about Kquvien DeWeese visit her website at http://kquvienyoga.com/</span><br />
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-87283690148561677612016-03-27T13:36:00.001-07:002016-03-27T13:36:49.996-07:00Romantic Love <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A blush of sensation<br />
A share of information<br />
A shower of affection<br />
A heart that opens<br />
A passionate expansion<br />
A safe space for truth<br />
A ground to grow dreams<br />
A thread of moments sewing<br />
A tapestry of experience<br />
A hearth of forgiveness<br />
A window of ideas<br />
A door to possibilities<br />
A family furnace heating<br />
A burning desire to fix<br />
A battlefield of wounds<br />
A mirror projection<br />
A cut that oozes<br />
A poisonous pattern repeated<br />
A million years before<br />
A scab of hope begins to heal<br />
A reunion of souls now able to see<br />
A clear path to travel on<br />
A source of energy that flies into forever.</div>
rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-672745650413849522016-02-14T04:23:00.003-08:002016-02-14T04:42:27.271-08:00LOVE IS NEVER LOST<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Valentine's Day is my sister, Maribeth’s favorite holiday. She reminded me the other day that one year I gave her a gold safety pin that I hung little charms representing all the members of </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">our family. Another year, she gave me a floating heart. I wore it when I went to New York for ballet. I believed it gave me courage. One late night, I was mugged and the mugger had a knife pointed at my belly. I’d never been mugged before and didn’t know the protocol for such an event, so when an innocent question came into my head, I let it come out of my mouth, “Does your mother know you do this?”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Love is never lost. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">My words shocked the mugger just enough to go away, but not before grabbing my necklace with the floating heart. That night, terribly troubled by the loss of such a sentimental yet otherwise worthless piece of gold, I dreamed about the incident again and again. I thought about how the floating heart always got caught on the clasp. It dawned on me that the mugger might not have gotten the heart. The next day, I went right back to the mugging scene and there on the sidewalk shining in the morning sun lay the floating heart. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Love is never lost. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our family has had to learn a lot about love this year. We’ve wondered where love goes when we can’t see it. We’ve thought about how it can appear that love loses its way when life turns it upside down. However, appearances are deceiving. Love never loses its way. It knows exactly where it’s going and it is steadfast despite what our mind tricks us into thinking. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Love is never lost. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Love for people we care about who behave in ways we never imag<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ined</span>, love for ourselves when we don’t meet our own expectations, love for situations that we didn’t plan for, love in </span>loss<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, pain, anger, and suffering –all seem to elude us. But it simply doesn’t have our attention. We are too attached to the behavior, the disappointment, the loss, the pain, and the suffering. We are caught in a whirlwind of thoughts, anxieties, and stresses that we can’t feel the power of its presence. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Love is never lost. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It knows it doesn’t have our attention, so it finds another way in – it finds a loving sister, a dear friend, a supportive mentor. They show up or call or arrange a get-together. You talk and laugh and the knots of pain, anxiety, and stress disappear for a moment. Love says, “feel me now? I am still here. I am always here for you.” This Valentines Day, please pass love’s message on and keep believing: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Love is never lost.</span></div>
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-56512067216081922862016-01-25T08:24:00.001-08:002016-01-25T08:35:05.508-08:00A Little Piece of Cerebral Bubblegum To Chew<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Richard Tarnas in his recent book,<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Psyche-Intimations-World-View/dp/0452288592"> <i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cosmos and Psyche</i></a>, marks Copernicus, more specifically his heliocentric theory, as the impetus to transforming the human psyche from a belief in the divine will of God to a more science-driven world view. The heliocentric theory put the sun in the center of the universe with the planets orbiting around it as opposed to its geocentric counterpart, which put the earth in the center of the universe. Tarnas explains the heroic efforts and boldness of the Copernican Revolutionaries, who stood up against the Catholic Church and forged an entirely “new conception of reason.” All conventional paradigms of our place in the universe had to be redefined. Needless to say, it took generations.</div>
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While I do not assume to have any deep understanding of Tarnas work (which I hope you will explore) or the historical contexts within it, he has my attention and for purposes of my fodder here, suffice it to say whether it was this revolution or something else, the power of scientific discovery began to carve out a superior spot for us on the planet. While linguistic symbolization stands as a precursor to what is separating us (subject) from that which is not us (object), the sense of superiority we gained from science gave us a greater sense of personal autonomy and freedom. The residual effects are still being seen. </div>
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Though empowering and innovative, with us as the subject and everything else as the object this worldview has reduced planet earth and everything else in the universe to something to be exploited as a canvas, a treasure chest, or trash can. It has distanced us from Nature. Most ancient and spiritual teachings allude to the paradox of dualism to subject and object; matter and anti-matter. Regardless what you choose to call it, <i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">prakrati</i> and <i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">purusa,</i> <i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">yin </i>and <i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">yang</i>, or any other duo without our otherness or opposite there could be nothing to learn from or play off of –no ally or enemy, no heaven or hell, no canvas, treasure chest, or trash can.</div>
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It’s interesting how much we admire our reflection in everything we create or destroy, (look what I made from that forest of trees) and yet we turn a blind eye to our connection to it. Science came about as an antithesis to religion, yet now is discovering micro units of matter and a proposed smallest unit that ended up with the nickname, “God particle”. It is uncovering things on a macro level as well with the possibilities of an ever-expanding universe or multiverse. Lately, the more we uncover, the more we learn about our interdependence and interconnection with it and a seemingly magical interplay at work of which our ego is not always creating.</div>
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These discoveries have brought about words like limitlessness and non-linearity, which all sound fun; however, in the vein of a non-dualistic world with its actuality of vast nothingness even iron-willed Existentialists might become anemic. Like Tarnas points out Nature seems indifferent to our presence much less our ego needs. As the light of knowledge keeps shining ever brighter through our windows, we can try to keep the curtain closed.</div>
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We don’t want to end up like the students of the sage Patanjali. <a href="http://www.artofliving.org/yoga/patanjali-yogasutra/knowledge-sheet-1">The story </a>goes that after Patanjali took the form of Adesesha, the 1000-headed cobra, he set out to carefully and systematically shed the light of knowledge on his 1000 students one-on-one. However, despite his warning not to peek behind the curtain that shielded them from the true brightness of all that Adesesha knew, curiosity got the best of them and they all burned to death. It might behoove us to be more like the one student who survived. The one who ultimately received all of the knowledge of Patanjali even after he disobeyed the rules and left in the middle of class to answer the call of Mother Nature. </div>
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-250362493198384782015-12-14T11:38:00.000-08:002015-12-14T11:56:29.434-08:0097 Reasons To Explore Iyengar Yoga<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">BKS Iyengar, the World's Best Yoga Teacher, would be 97 years old today. He is renown for his life's work in developing a systematic method of teaching the eight-limbed path of Astanga Yoga to the masses. Today Google honors his work as does this documentary:<a href="http://igg.me/at/sadhakafilm/x">http://igg.me/at/sadhakafilm/x</a> </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As a tribute to his 95th Birthday, I started a list of 95 reasons why everyone should experience Iyengar Yoga. I have now added two more to honor his 97th Birthday. I urge Iyengar practitioners to contribute, add to, enhance or correct my attempts here. Please keep in mind I am a student. I am by no means a master of Iyengar's work. The choice and order of my reasons were approached very organically and based on my humble idea of how to begin simply (some may view it as oversimplified) and progress into less simple reasons. Needless to say, this list is not in the right <em>Krama</em> (sequential order), though some effort has been applied to do so. As I gain more Light from the study and practice of Iyengar's work, I will probably want to change this list. For now, it is simply a small tribute to a man I will never meet, yet who has affected my life in profound ways. Perhaps it will also serve to encourage at least one person to explore The Iyengar Method for themselves. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. Alignment matters: Poor body alignment leads to poor bone, muscle, joint, and ligament alignment. improve your body alignment and you extend the life and vitality of the body.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. Alignment matters: Poor body alignment leads to poor health. When the body is misaligned it puts undo stress on all the systems of the body, decreasing function and capability. Improve your body alignment you improve your health.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. Alignment matters: Poor body alignment leads to poor mind alignment. When the body is misaligned, the mind is constantly troubled by <span style="color: #666666;"><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">tamasic (dull/heavy) and rajasic (fiery/active)</span></em></span> states of mind and unable to reach a harmonious <em>sattvic </em>state. Improve your body alignment you improve the state of your mind.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">4. Alignment matters: Poor body alignment leads to poor emotional alignment. When the body is misaligned the emotions are troubled and mentally imprisoned by the <em><a href="http://yogahyde.com/uncategorized/patanjali-revisited-a-run-down-on-the-5-kleshas-by-bibi-lorenzetti/"><span style="color: #666666;">kleśas (five afflictions)</span></a><span style="color: #444444;">.</span> </em> Improve your body alignment and you improve your emotional health.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">5. Alignment matters: Poor body alignment leads to poor inner alignment. Improve your body alignment and you improve your connection to your true self.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">6. Alignment matters: Poor body alignment leads to poor breath alignment. Improve your body alignment and you improve your ability to bring this vital nutrient to more areas of the body and tap into your own life force energy.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">7. Alignment matters: Poor body alignment leads to poor energy alignment. Improve your body alignment and you improve the alignment of (72,0000) <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadi_(yoga)"><span style="color: #666666;">energy or nadi channels</span></a></em> in the body.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">8. Alignment matters: Poor internal alignment leads to poor external alignment. Improve your internal alignment and you improve you ability to align with the world around you.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">9. Alignment matters: Poor alignment with your <em><a href="http://www.that-first.com/show/article/yamas-and-niyamas-value-training-and-asanas/"><span style="color: #666666;">community responsibilities</span></a></em> leads to poor community integration and support. Improve your alignment with your community responsibilities and you improve your standing in your community.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">10. Alignment matters: Poor alignment with <em><span style="color: #666666;"><a href="http://www.that-first.com/show/article/yamas-and-niyamas-value-training-and-asanas/">healthy habits </a></span></em>leads to poor alignment with your aspirations in life. Improve the alignment of your personal habits and you clear a path to your goals.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">11. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method will enable your highest self to unfold naturally.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">12. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method will enable you to focus to such an extent that learning anything becomes easier and more accessible.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">13. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method teaches you to know yourself --your habits, your strengths, your weaknesses, your emotional state, your conscious state, your ignorance, your intelligence, your wisdom, your sense of grace and compassion for yourself and others.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">14. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method gives you wisdom and discretion.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">15. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method systematically and compassionately opens new pathways to healing yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">16. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method gives you courage so you can liberate yourself from your fears, stresses, and anxieties.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">17. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method teaches you safe ways to push your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual abilities through the use of props and other resources.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">18. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method demonstrates how small successes can accomplish big goals.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">19. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method gracefully shifts what and how you choose to engage your mind, body, and spirit; whether that's choosing a healthier diet, or reading, watching, and listening with more discernment.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">20. Dedication pays: Dedicating yourself to the study and practice of the Iyengar Method gives you the tools, the words, and the experience to share what you have learned with others.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">21. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: "Transformation is achieved through sustained change, and it is achieved through practice." - BKS Iyengar</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">22. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: "Knowledge is always something that is universal. It is not meant for one person. It is not individual, but every individual contributes. When knowledge goes in the right direction and ignorance is removed it takes all of us in the same direction. So I learn when you learn. When you feel, and you understand, that gives knowledge to me. In a similar manner when I give knowledge to you, you also start to understand." Geeta S. Iyengar. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />23. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: "The intelligence […] grows faster vertically than horizontally." - BKS Iyengar. (Vertical = Intelligence, Horizontal = Wisdom).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />24. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Learning to stand first roots the body's intelligence in the feet first providing what is known as "base intelligence."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />25. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Learning to root the body from the base enables vertical growth to happen.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">26. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Learning standing poses enables the practitioner to activate and grow the intelligence in the outer limbs and basic structures of the body.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">27. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Mobilizing the mind to activate the outer limbs of the body through extension develops a firm foundation and fundamental intelligence needed for standing forward bends.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />28. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Standing extensions and forwards bends mobilizes the gluteals and teaches the concavity actions necessary for seated forward bends.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />29. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Seated forward bends increase the flexibility in the gluteal, sacral, and coccyx regions to prepare the body for lateral extensions (twisting).</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">30. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Standing upright teaches the elements of inverted standing poses on our shoulders, hands, forearms, and head.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">31. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Standing, forward bends, lateral extensions, and inversions, ready the abdomen for deep abdominal contractions.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">32. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Mastering the proper alignment of the sacral and coccyx regions along with the concavity actions of the upper back prepare the body for the introduction of preliminary back bending poses.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">33. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Systematic learning enables the body, mind, and intelligence to awaken gracefully and compassionately.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">34. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Sequencing is not provided in a haphazard way according to the instructor's whim, it is progressive to foster maximum growth of the mind and body at every stage of development.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">35. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Systematic learning frees the body and intelligizes the mind while increasing awareness how different sequences stimulate the adrenals, while other sequences pacify the adrenals while still others stimulate the pituitary and thyroid glands to balance the hormones.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">36. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: The Iyengar Method systematically teaches in order to stimulate specific systems in the body in order to bring more physical, mental, and emotional balance.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">37. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: From a more balanced body, "the body becomes a universe for the mind to travel within." BKS Iyengar.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">38. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Once vertical intelligence is achieved horizontal wisdom can flourish. The intelligence can spread to occupy every minute area of the body creating space. This is what BKS refers to as a "yogic mind".</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">39. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Once a "yogic mind" is developed physical and mental health flourishes and control of intensity in action, relaxation, or stillness are in your hands.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">40. Study of The Iyengar Method Quickens Learning: Once a "yogic mind" is developed the body and mind can evolve in such a way as to ready itself towards deeper inner awareness or "involution".</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">41. Dedicated Study in the Iyengar Method Makes Discipline Easy: Once the "yogic mind" is developed the <em>Yamas </em>(Global Disciplines) and the <em>Niyamas </em>(Self-Disciplines) naturally follow."They are meant to train, channel and purify the energy of the organs of action and senses of perception ." "The principals of </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">yama </em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">tame the organs of action. </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yama</em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> strengthens <em>dama </em>-restraint of the senses; whereas the principles of <em>niyama</em> bring </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">śama</em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> - calmness and quietness in mind due to simplicity in life." --BKS Iyengar <em><strong>Aṣṭadala Yogamālā- Vol. 1</strong></em></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">42. Dedicated Study in the Iyengar Method Makes Discipline Easy: Once the Yamas and Niyamas are cultivated higher levels of āsana naturally follows.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">43. Dedicated Study in the Iyengar Method Makes Discipline Easy: Once the Yamas, Niyamas, and Āsanas are mastered, the discipline of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Prānāyāma</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> follows naturally.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">44. Dedicated Study in the Iyengar Method Makes Discipline Easy: Once the discipline of the Yamas, Niyamas, Āsanas, and Prānāyāma become a natural part of the practitioners life, a discipline of sense withdrawal or Pratyahara naturally follows.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">45. Dedicated Study in the Iyengar Method Makes Discipline Easy: Once the discipline of the Yamas, Niyamas, Āsanas, Prānāyāma and Pratyāhāra become a natural part of the practitioners life, Dhārnā (concentration) and Dhyāna (meditation) can be cultivated naturally in succession.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">46. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: Integrity in his physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">47. The Iyengar Method was Developed by a Man of Integrity: BKS Iyengar has dedicated over 80 years of his life to analyzing his own practice and discovering ways to give voice to the subtleties required to evolve every āsana. His early practice was up to 10 hours a day. Today, at 95 he continues a 3-hour daily āsana practice with a 1-hour pranayama practice. It has been said that he explains he has to continue practicing because he hasn't been able to access "every cell" in his body yet. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">48. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: He has a rigorous teacher training program to ensure his teachers can safely and systematically develop students physically, mentally and emotionally into a more yogic state of balance and alignment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">49. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: He systematically gives voice to instruction that will eventually bring about an evolution whereby the student begins to experience <em>Sthira Sukham Ā</em></span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">sanam</em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (Sutra 11:47, sweet, stable, comfortable yoga pose within a vibration of oneness), so that </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Prayatna </em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>ś</em></span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">aithila ananta samāpattibhām</em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (Sutra 11:48, the effort to perform the pose becomes effortless), and </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Tatah dvandva ānabhighātah</em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (Sutra 11:49 from that dualities cease to disturb or constrain us).</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">50. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: BKS Iyengar has written over 20 books like some of the following:</span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Arogya Yoga</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Light on Asthanga Yoga</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Art of Yoga</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Light on Pranayama</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Astadala Yoga Mala - 1</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Light on Yoga</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Astadala Yoga Mala - 2</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Light on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Astadala Yoga Mala - 3</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Tree of Yoga</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Astadala Yoga Mala - 4</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Yoga - A Path to Holistic Health</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Astadala Yoga Mala - 5</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Yoga – Ek Kalpataru</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Illustrated Light on Yoga</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Light on Life</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Growing Young</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>YAUGIKA MANAS</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Yog Depict</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">51. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: He trained his children in the art of yoga.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">52. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: His daughter Geeta and son Prashant chose to continue their father's work.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">53. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: With the help of his daughter Geeta he has developed "Guidelines for Teachers of Yoga".</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">54. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: He fostered his daughter Geeta's passion towards women's issues and health. Her definitive guide for women <em>Yoga: A Gem For Women </em>has been a great resource for women interested in yoga all over the world.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">55. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: He fostered his son Prashant's exploration into subtler whelms of yoga. Prashant is the author of several books:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Prashant Uvacha</em></span></li>
<li><em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yoga and the New </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Millennium</span></em></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Organology and sensology in Yogash_stra</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Class After Class</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Alpha and Omega of Trikonasana</em></span></li>
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</span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">56. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: He doesn't waiver from his roots and yet he is constantly dissecting those roots to learn more so he can share more with all of us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">57. The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: Please click on this link to read another recent tribute: <span style="background-color: white; color: #999999;"><em><a href="http://www.yoganorthwest.com/yoga/reflections/past-reflections/iyengar-turning-90/">Ingela’s Reflection, Guruji Turning 95, An Artist, Scientist; Philosopher</a>, <a href="http://www.yoganorthwest.com/yoga/reflections/past-reflections/iyengar-turning-90/">forever learning, sharing; helping</a>. </em></span></span><br />
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</em></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">58. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Iyengar Method was developed by a Man of Integrity: </span>"Yoga, as practiced by Mr. Iyengar, is the dedicated votive offering of a man who brings himself to the altar, alone and clean in body and mind, focused in attention and will, offering in simplicity and innocence not a burnt sacrifice, but simply himself raised to his own highest potential." --Yehundi Menuhin in forward of <em><strong>Light on Yoga</strong></em> by BKS Iyengar<br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">59. The Iyengar Method Works: It progressively teaches the science of yoga, the art of yoga, and the philosophy of yoga. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">All of which result in the development of "a fresh mind"state. </span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">60. The Iyengar Method Works: "If we maintain that state in our daily lives, that is known as integration. To be fully integrated means to integrate oneself totally from the body to the self and also to live in integration with one's neighbors and surroundings." --<strong><em>Tree of Yoga</em>,</strong> BKS Iyengar</span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">61. The Iyengar Method Works: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Iyengar constantly analyzes the details of ancient texts such as <em><strong>Hatha Yoga Pradīpikā</strong></em> and <em><strong>Patañjali's Yoga Sutras</strong>. </em>His method is based on developing what these texts define as the primary goal of yoga, which is to "<em>Prana-vrtti-nirodha</em>" or stilling the fluctuations of the breath and "C<em>itta vritta nirodha</em>" stilling the fluctuations of the mind. When movements of consciousness are restrained a space is created, much like the space between inhalations and exhalations. As that space expands, a realization begins: that consciousness has no light of its own. It is dependent on something else. Much like the interplay between the Sun-<em> Ha</em> and the Moon-<em>tha. </em>The <strong><em>Ha</em></strong>=Sun=Hot=day=light=atma=soul and <em><strong>tha</strong></em>=Moon=Cool=night=dark=chitta=consciousness. The moon is merely reflecting the light of the sun. However, without the cooling effects of the moon, the energy of the sun would burn. Iyengar's Method works on the idea that the balance of <em>Ha</em> and <em>tha</em> is an </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">imperative, which puts one on the path to experiencing the even greater force within the various levels of <em>samadhi -</em>absorption.</span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">62. The Iyengar Method Works: Iyengar uses personal experience and constant reassessment to teach us how we can use the breath to control the consciousness, while in turn controlling the consciousness through regulation of the breath. </span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">63. The Iyengar Method Works: Iyengar has systematically broken through the Western belief that yoga is only a physical exercise by teaching and abiding by the Eight Limbs Of Astanga Yoga: 1) Yama 2)Niyama 3) Āsana 4) Prānāyāma 5) Pratyāhāra 6) Dhārnā 7) Dhyāna 8) Samādhi.</span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">64. The Iyengar Method Works: Iyengar's book <em><strong>Tree of Yoga </strong></em>serves as a guide to how yoga goes beyond the studio and permeates in all aspect of our lives to bring us more freedom and peace.</span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">65. The Iyengar Method Works: Iyengar is known as the first real "class" teacher of yoga. He has developed a method that communicates according to the students ability. "In the majority of pupils, the intellect of the head is very strong, but the body does not react to the volition of the brain. Usually, their brain acts as the subject, but you have to learn to treat the brain as an object and the body as a subject. This is the first lesson yoga teaches. When that is learnt, the effect of yoga is very quick." <em><strong>Tree of Yoga</strong>.</em></span><br />
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</em></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">66. The Iyengar Method Works: The Method works no matter if you are well or sick, young or old, energetic or lazy, well formed or deformed.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">67. The Iyengar Method Works: Iyengar has a knowledge of the causes of the disease. His Method integrates therapeutics that work on chronic issues by strengthening surrounding areas before addressing the affected area.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">68. The Iyengar Method Works: It could be said, The Method's <a href="http://iynaus.org/yoga-samachar/springsummer-2011/therapeutics-iyengar-yoga-your-job-put-student-path-yoga"><span style="color: #999999;">therapeutic approach</span></a> is based on Sutra II.16, <em>heyaṁ duḥkham anāgatham, </em>which according to BKS Iyengar's <strong><em>Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali</em></strong> is interpreted, "The pains which are yet to come can be and are to be avoided<em>." </em></span><br />
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</em></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">69. The Iyengar Method Works: In the article linked above, <em>"Therapeutics in Iyengar Yoga: 'Your Job is to Put the Student on the Path to Yoga'"</em>, b</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">y Stephanie Quirk, "</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">[In The Iyengar Method] we have </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Abhyāsa</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> and </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Vairāgya</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> No alternative health method has this. Your job as a yoga teacher isn’t to be someone’s doctor, nurse, or psychiatrist. Your job is to put the patient/student on the path of yoga. They must become followers and practitioners if they are to finally eradicate all trace of what disturbs them (dosha). Abhyāsa (practice) and Vairāgya (detachment) are at the core of everything one has to undertake. They are the irreducible plinths upon which yoga is based, and what truly separates the yogic path from other alternative health therapies."</span><br />
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70. The Iyengar Method Works: The first book written on the technique of yoga with detailed descriptions and photographs, <em><strong>Light on Yoga</strong></em> by BKS Iyengar is still the best resource on the proper practice of the yoga <em>Āsana</em> and <em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Prānāyāma</em><em>.</em> First published in 1966, it was written based on Iyengar's 27 years of experience at the time. The book covers 200 āsanas, bandha, kriya, and pranayama with over 600 photographs. </div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">71. The Iyengar Method Works: In addition to descriptive books on technique, the Iyengars also provide "Hints and Cautions" in order to assure the student is learning in the safest and most effective environment. However, despite the many books and resources, Iyengar always stresses the importance of experience and study with an Iyengar Certified Instructor or Master Teacher to guide your progress. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">72. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: He recognizes the nine obstacles that impede progress on the path of yoga.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Vyadi</em>: Illness</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Styāna</em>: Langour, mental stagnation</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Samṥaya</em>: Doubt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Pramāda</em>: Heedlessness, lack of foresight</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Ālasya</em>: Sloth, fatigue</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Āvirati</em>: Dissipation, overindulging</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Bhrāntidarshana</em>: False views, illusions</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Ālabdhabhūmikatva</em>: Lack of perseverance</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Anavasthitatva</em>: Instability, regression</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">73. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Patañjali:</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The physical obstacles, which can range from laziness to disease are overcome through the Iyengar Method with the use of all kinds of props. Props make poses possible (even in illness) for everyone (removing doubt, laziness, and fatigue) which encourages the perseverance in practice that will begin to break through these obstacles.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">74. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Patañjali:</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The other obstacles are mental obstacles.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> These can range from doubt and illusion to idleness. Iyengar recognizes that when teachers pace lessons they can begin to develop a student's mental faculties in order to reduce the mental obstacles while sharpening focus and stamina.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">75. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Patañjali:</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> T</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">he five </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">kleśas</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> 1. Avidyā(Ignorance) 2. Asmitā(ego)3. Rāga (attachment) 4. Dveșa(aversion) 5. Abhiniveṥa(fear of death) along with the nine</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> obstacles serve as distractions to that scatter the mind. Iyengar's method works to significantly reduce the hold the nine obstacles and five kleśas have on the student in order to create a better foundation for progress. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">76. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Patañjali</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">:</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Iyengar encourages self-study or<em> svadhyaya. </em></span><br />
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</em></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">77. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Patañjali</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> By concentrating on a particular object the consciousness becomes serene. Iyengar makes the āsana the object of focus. When the student becomes engrossed in the study of āsana, the mind steadies fostering deeper progress.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">78. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 sutras of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Patañjali:</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“The yogi conquers the body by the practice of āsanas and makes it a fit vehicle for the spirit. He knows that it is a necessary vehicle for the spirit. A soul without a body is like a bird deprived of its power to fly.” - BKS Iyengar, <em><strong>Light On Yoga.</strong></em></span><br />
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</strong></em></span>79. <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Patañjali:</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Though only three (to five according to </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><strong>Aṣṭadala Yogamālā- Vol. 1</strong></em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">) sutras are attributed to the practice of āsana. Āsana helps the student move from the gross to the subtle - from the external to the internal. Iyengar's method concentrates on the external alignment in āsana in order to create the environment to penetrate and align the internal world of the student.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">80. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Patañjali:</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> "Whatever āsana one performs, it should be done with a feeling of firmness and endurance in the body, good will in the intelligence of the head, and awareness and benevolent delight in the seat of the heart." BKS Iyengar </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><strong>Aṣṭadala Yogamālā-</strong></em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em><strong>- Vol 2.</strong></em></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">81. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patanjali: Only after the perfection of asana (Sutras 11:47, 11:48, 11:49) is a student begin </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Prānāyāma</em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">82. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Patañjali:</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <em>Pranayama</em> must be introduced gently. In his book <em><strong>Light on </strong></em></span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><strong>Prānāyāma</strong></em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, Iyengar covers the 14 basic types of </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Prānāyāma </em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">broken down into a careful formulation of 82 stages so that the student can safely progress. He outlines the difficulties and dangers while providing a detailed 200-week course to help avoid them. To explain he power of <em>prana </em>he said, "Hindus often say that GOD is Generator, Organizer, and Destroyer. Inhalation is the generating power, retention is the organizing power, and exhalation, if the energy is vicious, is the destroyer. This is prana at work. Vigor, power, vitality, life, and spirit are all forms of prana."</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">83. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Patañjali:</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Iyengar takes great care in his teachings on </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em>Prānāyāma</em></span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> "[…]breath-control, that is </span>Prānāyāma is<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> not merely deep breathing or breathing exercises, normally a part of physical culture. It is something far more, involving exercises which affect not only the physical, physiological and neural energies but also the psychological and cerebral activities, such as memory-training and creativity." --R.R. Divwakar in Forward of <strong><em>Light on </em></strong></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em><strong>Prānāyāma</strong></em></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><strong>.</strong></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">84. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Patañjali:</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Iyengar offers respect and admiration to those who are credited for the discovery of </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Prānāyāma</em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, namely Patañjali and the ancient Yogis of India. He explains how he can write about the subject, but words are limiting. Practice and </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">experience done with caution, sustained effort, and patience are the only way to gain by this limb of yoga.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">85. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patanjali: </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <em>Avidyā, </em>(ignorance) is what Iyengar deems the "mother of all afflictions." This may be why he encourages the study of Yoga with the guidance of a Guru. Gu=Light Ru=Ignorance. A Guru is simply someone who has mastered the art and science of yoga and can shed light on the dark areas where there is a need or want for knowledge and understanding. <em>Pranayama</em> is said to be "</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">exalted knowledge" according to the <em><strong>Yogachudamani Upanisad</strong></em>. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">86. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Patañjali:</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Patanjali prescribes ways to train the mind. There are five basic qualities of mind 1) </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mūda</em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (dull) 2) </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Kṣipta </em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">(lazy) 3) </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Vikṣipta</em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (oscillating) 4) </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ekāgra</em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (steady) and finally 5) </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">niruddha</em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (still). Nancy Mau explained in class today what I will attempt to impart here: that Iyengar describes two banks between a river, one bank being the <em>yamas </em>and the other the <em>niyamas</em> by adhering to the boundaries of the banks we will flow in the right direction. The two banks align us, irrespective of birth, time, place or sex. The banks keep us going in the right direction where friendliness, compassion, joy and indifference (as needed) naturally spring forth along the way. The mind steadies itself and eventually finds stillness.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">87. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Patañjali:</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The four chapters or padas of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 1) Samādhi Pāda (Sub Consciousness) 2) Sādhanā Pāda (Study) 3) Vibhūti Pāda (Power) and 4) Kaivalya Pāda (Freedom) are according to Iyengar ordered for their interdependent cultivation. "The theory of the first chapter and the practice of the second and third chapters, when converted into science, art, and philosophy, become <em>yoga sastra </em>(teaching), <em>yoga kala </em>(unit/time), and <em>yoga darsana (</em>for sense awareness)." -BKS Iyengar </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><strong>Aṣṭadala Yogamālā- Vol. 1</strong></em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">88. Iyengar follows the yoga as explained in the 196 Sutras of Patañjali: As a Master Teacher, Iyengar codified the Sutras of Patañjali according themes for quick study for his students in his </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><strong>Aṣṭadala Yogamālā- Vol. 1</strong></em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">89. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Iyengar Method believes three things must be united in yoga: Love, Knowledge, and Action. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"It must not be just your mind or even your body that is doing the </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">āsana</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> You must be in it. You must do the </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">āsana</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> with your soul. How can you do an āsana with your soul? We can only do it with the organ of the body closest to the soul - the heart." -</span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">BKS Iyengar in</span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <strong>Light on Life</strong></em><br />
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</strong></em></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">90.<em style="font-weight: bold;"> </em></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Iyengar Method believes three things must be united in yoga: Love, Knowledge, and Action.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Iyengar explains that he teaches a "spiritual practice in action." He uses the body as the vehicle to discipline the mind toward consciousness of the soul. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">91. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Iyengar Method believes three things must be united in yoga: Love, Knowledge, and Action.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"You must feel your intelligence, your awareness, and your consciousness in every inch of your body." </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">-</span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">BKS Iyengar in</span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <strong>Light on Life</strong></em><br />
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</strong></em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">92. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Iyengar Method believes three things must be united in yoga: Love, Knowledge, and Action.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Love must be incarnated in the smallest pore of the skin, smallest cell of the body, to make them intelligent, so they can collaborate with all the other ones, in the big republic of the body." -- BKS Iyengar in <strong><em>Sparks of Divinity</em></strong></span><br />
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</em></strong></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">93. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Iyengar Method believes three things must be united in yoga: Love, Knowledge, and Action.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Sadhana should be pursued even though pain and death are at our throat." <em>Sadhana</em> means self-effort, spiritual discipline. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">94. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Iyengar Method believes three things must be united in yoga: Love, Knowledge, and Action.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"The eyes must go to the region that does not work, not the one that does." -</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> BKS Iyengar in </span><strong style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><em>Sparks of Divinity</em></strong><br />
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</em></strong><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">95. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Iyengar Method believes three things must be united in yoga: Love, Knowledge, and Action.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"You are in bondage. So while you are sweating and aching, let your heart be light and let it fill your body with gladness. You are not only becoming free, but you are also being free. What is not to be glad about? The pain is temporary. The freedom is permanent."</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">-</span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">BKS Iyengar in</span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <strong>Light on Life</strong></em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />96. The Iyengar Method teaches, "</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Before peace between nations, we must find peace within the small nation which is our own being." - BKS Iyengar,</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><strong style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><em>Sparks of Divinity,</em></strong><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The teachings of BKS Iyengar, Compiled by Noelle Perez-</span>Christiaens<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">97. The Iyengar Method teaches, "The seed is the cause for the tree to grow, but the surprising thing is that in the seed there is nothing visible for one to know how the tree grows and with what content. From this apparent 'nothingness' of the seed the tree shoots up. In sthe same way, the seed of our life force, at the core is the Self." BKS Iyengar, </span><em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><strong>Aṣṭadala Yogamālā- Vol. 7</strong></em><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Namaste</span></div>
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-20756067159232613682015-11-30T08:05:00.000-08:002015-11-30T08:05:33.443-08:00Certified Iyengar.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">BKS Iyengar</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Learning Iyengar Yoga is a humbling experience, but the lessons feed a part of us that is very hungry. BKS Iyengar dedicated his life to learning the many aspects of yoga at a granular level to be able to teach it to his students. Because of his inexhaustible work, Certified Iyengar Instructors are usually outstanding teachers and the more open we are to what they have to share the more we understand the incredible work BKS Iyengar did.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, before anyone can be open to learning what an instructor has to offer, much less understand what it took for them to become certified to teach the Iyengar method, a few things have to happen. Thanks to Mr. Iyengar they are beautifully embedded into his teachings. His method wakes up our body and mind systematically by introducing poses in a sequential order. Instructors teach the poses in Sanskrit with English translations. When we hear the names of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">asana</i> in every class and connect them with the actions of the pose, our hearing refines and adapts to a whole new language. Over the course of our studies, our ego takes a back seat to our desire to learn. At the same time, the ego provides us the necessary fuel we need to keep going. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meeting Dr. Geeta Iyengar in Pune, India</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When our ego steps down a natural sense of reverence takes hold for the Father of Modern Yoga who synthesized the path of yoga into 196 pithy Sutras or threads: the sage, Patanjali. The Sutras are aphorisms that serve as an incredible tool to guide us as we delve into the vast subject of yoga. To honor his contribution many classes begin with an Invocation to Patanjali. BKS Iyengar's daughter, Dr. Geeta Iyengar, said the following about the importance of chanting The Invocation:</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"We chant so that at the very beginning that feeling of sanctification comes from inside, with the feeling of surrendering oneself, because nothing can be learned in this world unless you have the humility to learn.”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With a humble disposition comes an openness to learn more and work harder that is met with help from your instructors. My Iyengar instructors did some little things that made a big difference in my belief I could do the work required. </span> <span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Kathleen Pringle, the owner of Stillwater Yoga and a Senior Level Iyengar Instructor, showed me a trick with my Microsoft Word program, so I could begin to save the Sanskrit words as I documented the classes I took. Nancy Mau, an Intermediate Junior Level 3 Certified Iyengar Instructor let me borrow a CD of the Invocation, so I could carve out time to learn the invocation in my car. Kquvien DeWeese chanted particular Sutras of Patanjali in her classes each week and had them listed on her website with the translations so that I could study them. After a while, the names of poses began to resonate, I began to recite the Invocation with some proficiency and chant some Sutras. The once daunting language of Sanskrit slowly began to make sense. I'd gained a better sense of hearing that seemed to wake up my mind and fostered my belief in my ability to keep learning about this vast subject. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It also fed a desire to want to share what I was experiencing with others. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I remember when I asked Kathleen how to become a Certified Iyengar Instructor, she smiled then explained the process. It is something Kathleen has had to do innumerable times in her 30-years as an Iyengar Instructor and Teacher Trainer. However, she knows that until the student goes through the process, they won't understand what is required. That’s because, like anything with the Iyengar name in front of it, it is something that comes through experience. Earning the “Certified Iyengar Instructor” title is only a small, albeit important part of the Iyengar Teacher Training Process. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">B.K.S. Iyengar is renown for being the World's Best Yoga Teacher. His teacher certification process assures that teachers of the Iyengar Method strive to be the best teachers they can be. Therefore, the process is designed to have very high standards. One recent Certified Iyengar Instructor, Sam Cooper explained, "This is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. I graduated from college, from Seminary, and earned a Doctor of Ministry degree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Becoming a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher was harder than any one of those three. Academic work engages your brain. You pour information into your brain, you process it, and you produce something with your mental faculties. To be a yoga teacher you have to be a yoga student first, and being a yoga student, means that you must cultivate the intelligence of your body. This demands a lot more than developing mental intelligence. I believe this is why it was such a challenge for me, I think.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The rewards for becoming a Certified Iyengar Instructor are much greater than a title or a piece of paper you can hang on a wall. They are life changing: for you and more than likely for the people with whom you share the practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 18px;">While the process is being re-evaluated on an ongoing basis to encourage more students to embark on it, it</span><span style="font-size: 18px;"> is still a process that requires a long-term commitment, focus, and discipline. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> I believe it is challenging because it creates the ‘opportunity’ for you to face yourself in a way most people may never have to. I came to the practice after ten years of other types of yoga and over 23 years of ballet training. I felt I had body/mind intelligence, but I’d also developed a lot of bad habits. To overcome these takes time and feedback from our teachers.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Kathleen Pringle and some of my Teacher Training Peers</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The wonderful part of the Iyengar Teacher Training process is you have a mentor to guide you through it. Not only that, you have an amazing community of Iyengar peers, practitioners, and instructors who are always at the ready to answer questions and lend support or advice. In Iyengar Yoga, moments with your mentor can be very uncomfortable: "I did that? Oh no. I said that, really?" However, these moments bond you to someone who has gone through the process and helps you learn about yourself in a way you never thought possible. You continuously hone your ability to hear your teachers and yourself. You systematically learn restraint and discrimination, along with the power of your breath in affecting your thoughts, words, and actions. None of this could happen without the help of a mentor. Your mentor understands what you're going through; therefore, they are the perfect guides to get you through the process. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The process seems to assure the self-realization that Patanjali's Yoga Sutras so succinctly describe. Not that by the end of your first level assessment, you'll be a self-realized human being, far from it, but you will realize enough to know you want to stay committed to your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sadhana. Sadhana</i> is the means by which anyone reaches a goal. It is an effective and effortful practice that continues regardless of any obstacles in your path. The more directed your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sadhana</i>, the more you can apply ever-increasing skill and efficiency. In other words, the more effort you put into it, the more things fall into their proper place to allow for sustained practice. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sadhana Kriya</i> or the skilled action of any practice requires <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tapas</i>, discipline, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">svadyaya</i>, self-study, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Isvara pranidana</i>, faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With these three qualities, a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sadhana</i> transforms from effortful effort to effortless effort.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I liken the Iyengar Certification Process to a psychotherapist going to get their Ph.D. to become a psychiatrist. Many programs require they go through psychoanalysis before they serve others. One article I read, by Steven Reidbord M.D. in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psychology Today</i> referred to it as "Calibrating the Instrument" so the therapist can better help their patients. I feel BKS Iyengar strived to develop such a rigorous training process so that his teachers are well-calibrated instruments for serving the students of Iyengar Yoga. The bonus is we become well calibrated for life, too. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">My Mentor, Kquvien DeWeese</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My mentor, Kquvien DeWeese is an Intermediate Junior Level 3 Iyengar instructor. She is very committed to Iyengar Yoga and her personal self-realization process. Her lessons on how to remedy the obstacles on our path along with how to “stay behind the chaos” we create for ourselves have been invaluable and come from her personal experiences. I'm grateful for her insightful albeit hard-to-swallow truths about my teaching skills and her meaningful encouragement. She's not afraid to be honest about her process; therefore, she serves as an inspiring mentor who helps me learn to honor mine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The distinction between Iyengar training and most other types of yoga teacher training is that it encourages things like assisting more senior instructors and peer training. </span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> My training group for my second assessment met about once a week to practice and enjoyed guest appearances by our other training buddies from other states (Peer training eventually becomes a World-Wide experience in Iyengar Yoga). In addition to Peer Training, there is Personal Study and research that must take place. Each assessment level (there something like eight levels) has a specific syllabus to follow.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Once I went down the rabbit hole of all the information available on the subject, I didn’t want to come out of it. However, yoga is about learning balance, restraint, and discrimination. It’s amazing how many places in my training process and my life these lessons reared their head. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of my study material</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Finally, there is the “Mock Assessment.” Each Mock comes with a set of very honest notes about how the teaching could improve. The choice to improve stays with you, but with effort improvement happens. No matter what the critique, how much apparent backslide, or noticeable improvement there is it’s important to maintain <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">abhyasa</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">vairagya</i> (continuous practice and detachment).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My final assessment for the Introductory II Certification happened in Charlotte, North Carolina, at 8th Street Yoga. The owner, Phyllis Rollins, who I’d had the honor of meeting at trainings and workshops was unable to be there, but I felt her presence through her warm and inviting studio. Assessors, Sue Salaniuk from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Sandra Pleasants from Charlottesville, Virginia, and Mary Obendorfer from Kalaheo, Hawaii complimented that warmth with their own. I will never forget the sincerity in their eyes when they explained, “Please don’t misinterpret our facial expressions as anything negative. We want you all to pass.” Overall, I felt during the assessment weekend all the prospective teachers were rooting for each other. We bonded much more than last year when we all were like deer in the headlights not knowing what to expect. This year, we had folks from many states across the U.S. as well other places like Holland and Israel. We shared meals and stories, fears and worries, and emails so we could keep sharing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The first day involved an assessment of our level <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pranayama</i> or breath regulation practice, a timed written exam, and a demonstrated practice of up to sixty-six poses in our level syllabus. The final portion of the assessment was the teaching demonstration.</span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt;">While you can prepare as any teacher would prepare, an Iyengar Instructor must be ready to address whatever presents itself that day. They must be prepared to “see” and “teach” the students who are in front of them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Erin Bailey greeted me with a hug the day I came for the teaching portion of the assessment. She is another peer I’ve trained with who’d recently received her certification and was hosting this assessment (with aplomb I might add). When the assessors arrived, each one engaged me in some way, either by asking how I was or how I slept the night before. I responded in kind. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I didn’t tell them that before I went to sleep, a deep reverence for B.K.S Iyengar, who is no longer with us came over me. The thought of him put things in perspective. I wanted to honor this great man whose personal <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yoga Sadhana</i> spawned a systematic method of teaching that enabled the transformational effects of this art, science, and philosophy to spread around the world – a method of teaching he did with more love, humility, authenticity, and integrity than anyone I know. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The epiphany calmed me down that night. The next morning, before the clock (on the wall and my wrist), started timing the 40-minutes I had to teach six poses, the assessors allowed me to be in the studio alone. I focused on the photos of BKS Iyengar that surrounded the room. I said the Invocation to Patanjali to myself. I did some of the poses I’d learned that calm the system down and sharpen the mind. I thought about the support of the community that I’d built over the years through this practice. When the time came, everyone including the three assessors took their places, then, with faith and courage, I turned around to share what I’d learned with my students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-11400748897692940532015-09-02T09:11:00.000-07:002019-02-04T12:17:24.544-08:00Steve Jacobson's Breath in Asana Workshop at Stillwater Yoga<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Patanjali Sutra 2.52 - <i>tata kshiyate prakasha avaranam</i> - Pranayama removes the veil covering the light of knowledge and heralds the dawn of wisdom. – BKS Iyengar, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali</span></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">Photo of Steve by Donna Moresco</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Steve Jacobson has his own style of teaching. Like many Iyengar teachers, Steve offers the wisdom he gains from his ongoing study with the Iyengars in Pune, India. His teaching and practice honor the boundless work of B.K.S. Iyengar and the expanse of information that his daughter, Geeta Iyengar continues to add. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">Prashant with Geeta: http://www.sadhakafilm.com/</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, Prashant Iyengar’s unique exploration of yoga resonates with Steve in a special way. While he doesn’t teach every class with the concepts of Prashant, the ones he does teach, definitely let you know there is so much more to Iyengar Yoga than meets the eye.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Prashant is B.K.S. Iyengar’s son. It is the superlative that has defined him since his father became known in the field of yoga. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Prashant said in the interview, </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="https://iynaus.org/yoga-samachar/springsummer-2011/we-are-beyond-our-body-and-mind-we-are-even-beyond-our-dreams">We are beyond our body and mind. We are even beyond our dreams</a></i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> that B.K.S. Iyengar was a great father, but of himself, he said, “I was an ordinary son.” Inspired by the virtuoso violinist, Yehudi Menuhin at the young age of 13, Prashant began to study the violin. He claims his musical ability came from his mother who sang. Tragically, his mother was taken from him too early, and an auto accident cut his future with the violin short. </span></div>
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However, students like Steve, who also enjoy music, know Prashant's internal rhythm is still playing strong. Steve might say that Prashant’s innumerable hours of study with his father along with his love of music is what evolved his teaching into what it is today.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Steve began to share a few of Prashant's teachings with us during his August 29, 2015, breath in asana workshop. <span style="background-color: white;">Breath in asana</span> describes merging the breath to the actions of an asana or yoga pose. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">BKS Iyengar encourages mastering the first three limbs of the eight-fold path of yoga: </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yama</i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (ethical disciplines), </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Niyama</i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (rules of conduct), and </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Asana</i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (poses) before </span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pranayama</i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (breath work). The reason for that is the fact, we must overcome specific physical and mental challenges before a mature practice of pranayama (conscious, prolonged inhalation, exhalation, and retention) can happen. When asanas are perfected, Iyengar explains, pranayama naturally follows.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">Steve in Supported Setubhanda</span></td></tr>
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<!--EndFragment--><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The
students who attended Steve’s workshop were seasoned practitioners of both
asana and breath—the foundation for studying the influences of breath on
actions in asanas. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Steve took us through a variety of examples. He reminded us of the physical way of creating vertical and horizontal space: lift your arms up, now take them to the side. He then helped us create that same spatial sense using the breath. Using Prashantisms like vertical, horizontal, and diagonal ways of breathing, Steve directed our Breath in asana experience down a rabbit hole where I, just sitting in a cross-legged position, felt like Alice in her Wonderland. Steve interweaved rhythmic images of waves, upright and inverted cones, as well as elliptical shapes, centrifugal and centripetal actions for the body and breath that took me on an adventure I didn’t want to leave. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">While <i>Prana</i> is considered breath, it is a generic term for the vital atmospheric energy that controls breathing. Indian sages identified five different types of this vital energy or vital winds of the body: <i>Prana</i> (controls the activities in the thoracic region), <i>Apana</i> (controls the activities in the lower abdomen), <i>Samana</i> (controls the gastric fires of the abdominal region)<i> Udana</i> (controls energies around the area of the throat), and finally <i>Vyana</i>, which distributes energy to the entire bodily system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">BKS wrote an entire book on the basic practice of pranayama in which he warns, “A Pneumatic tool can cut through the hardest rock. If not used properly, it may destroy both the tool and the user. Study your breathing carefully and proceed step by step, for if you practice pranayama hastily or too forcibly, you may well harm yourself.” - BKS Iyengar, <i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Light-Pr%C3%A3n%C3%A3y%C3%A3ma-Yogic-Art-Breathing/dp/0824506863/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441207269&sr=8-1&keywords=light+on+pranayama+by+bks+iyengar&pebp=1441207272685&perid=1358TFA0C7W1CYXWBW63">Light on Pranayama</a></b></i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In Steve’s Breath in Asana Workshop, we got a sampler of the possibilities that integrating the breath with the actions of asanas can bring. We could use the breath to enhance the extension of specific areas like the upper back, or the expansion of another area like the lower back. One of the many samples that stood out for me happened when we sat on a chair and revolved as in <i>Bharadvajasana I,</i> a basic open twist. After several different versions of integrating the physical revolving action with the breath, he had us visualize the breath twisting without the physical action. It astonished me the force of energy that transpired. Though nothing physically twisted, my body felt like it revolved more than it probably could have. As an ex-ballerina, my mind immediately envisioned what I could have done (back in the day) with the kind of power generated from such an internal state of being. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The experience hinted at how so many vitalities are developed through yoga as explained in the <i>Vibuti Pada</i> (powers chapter) in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Light-Yoga-Sutras-Patanjali-Iyengar/dp/0007145160/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441207348&sr=8-1&keywords=light+on+the+yoga+sutras+by+bks+iyengar&pebp=1441207350161&perid=1793AJS6J89ZVCGTD3XA">Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> I knew I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Mixed literary references aside, the experience not only held my attention and fascination; it gave me tools to explore much more in my practice. To me, it felt like I got to take home a toy chest filled with things like a Ferris wheel, Merry-go-round, Bag Swing, and Big Wheel. All with the potential to thrill me to the bone, but also to teach me and deepen my practice through a vastly different perspective, while making me feel happier and more alive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thank you, Steve. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Namaste.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To learn more about Steve Jacobson and his classes visit <a href="http://stillyoga.com/">Stillyoga.com </a></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rhonda Geraci is a freelance writer and avid Iyengar practitioner</span></i><br />
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-46923149360870398022015-08-05T08:53:00.000-07:002015-08-06T06:26:27.694-07:00Homage To A Guru: Manuso Manos July 31st Atlanta Weekend Intensive<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Manouso
Manos Weekend Intensive in Atlanta, hosted by Stillwater Yoga began on a very
special day. July 31<sup>st</sup> is not only a rare blue moon; it is the day
that Guru Purnima is celebrated. Purinma is Sanskrit meaning full moon. The
word Guru is made up of two Sanskrit root words Gu (darkness or ignorance)
and Ru (remover of). Manouso said having a workshop on July 31<sup>st</sup>
was one of the worst and one of the best days to have one. I have to agree.
July 31, 2006, is the date my mom passed. I could argue she was my first Guru.
Though she was not a spiritual teacher in the strict sense, she was enlightened
in her own way. She taught us from a deep spiritual place of knowing and we
embody her lessons today. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBY8TQotxj7yWcaX5-jB1mancGdOxYa4ROa4xYcm4FWMvHfk97WZhERR6HGPyx9j7SMg3lx_I35ZBVvsTB-mirukSqMjdjG61FkzUMppMXsIrmyaEDq8Ygj1UdpgjxeQy3aoiJHQ/s1600/bks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBY8TQotxj7yWcaX5-jB1mancGdOxYa4ROa4xYcm4FWMvHfk97WZhERR6HGPyx9j7SMg3lx_I35ZBVvsTB-mirukSqMjdjG61FkzUMppMXsIrmyaEDq8Ygj1UdpgjxeQy3aoiJHQ/s320/bks.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BKS Iyengar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Manouso’s Guru is of course BKS Iyengar and though he
too is no longer with us physically, he is working his magic light through
others with more vibrancy than ever.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Stillwater Yoga studio owner, Kathleen Pringle explains, "Manouso¹s years of
dedicated study with Guruji, and the depth of his personal practice shines brightly through his teaching, helping to illuminate our path. Our community is grateful that he comes to Atlanta. And I¹m personally grateful for his guidance and support all<br />
these many years.</span>" <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jspESBBQiIggla75hrN-tHDqnYXv6Uj06NEtQPUzx2D1UNE2MK5W484QIJliLrFBx7d6Q5OKsDrM7o7l-8J2lZZh2_FdAydrMUeMP1pf-cHRAHtE0c25nQ-koVQ8pTrGIOuYqQ/s1600/IMG_4707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jspESBBQiIggla75hrN-tHDqnYXv6Uj06NEtQPUzx2D1UNE2MK5W484QIJliLrFBx7d6Q5OKsDrM7o7l-8J2lZZh2_FdAydrMUeMP1pf-cHRAHtE0c25nQ-koVQ8pTrGIOuYqQ/s320/IMG_4707.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kathleen Pringle with Manouso Manos</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Manouso shares BKS Iyengar's magic light through stories and sensations that attach themselves deep
within our body’s intelligence. He engages us with an anecdote and teaches us
by fixing our minds on a particular action, so our mind doesn’t wonder.
It is focused. Perhaps, at first, it is just our imagination on the action, “I
am extending the inner line of my big toe forward.” However, that unwavering
focus, becomes our <i>Dharna</i> point or concentration, which becomes our <i>Dhyana</i>,
our meditation, and then something amazing happens – our imagination turns
into intelligence as it seeps into the layers of our skin, to our muscles, and
bones, and our intelligence. The physical parts yoke themselves together with the mental parts in
‘beautiful synchronicity’ and nothing else exits. Or perhaps it is more fitting
to say that everything yokes to the one action in singularity. The yoking of our
intelligence to the action gets stronger and stronger. It brings to mind the
Sutra 3.25: <i>baleshu hasti baladini,</i> by practicing <i>samyama</i> (<i>Dharna,
Dhyana, Samadhi</i>) you can become as strong as an elephant. In time, we learn
to yoke our intelligence to that particular action at will – and then we
discover deeper and deeper yoking taking place. Who knows, at some point
perhaps we could say, “I reached <i>Samadhi </i>by extending the inner line of my big
toe forward.” Stranger things have happened in Iyengar Yoga.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Manouso shared a
particularly strange story about one of BKS Iyengar’s special <i>Vibhutis</i>
or powers, namely being able to shift the hairs on his body at will. Yes, you
heard that right. I wish that could have been captured on film with all of the
stop motion technology we have today. The story goes something like this, that
BKS Iyengar could make the hair on his legs move towards his hips as he drew
the skin of his outer thigh towards the hip in<i> Utthita Parsvakonasana</i>.
When Manouso saw this, looking on with mouth agape, BKS Iyengar proceeded
to show him another ‘parlor trick’. BKS turned around and made the hair
at the nap of his neck stand straight out, a powerful demonstration of his
intelligence yoking to pores of the skin and hair. Needless to say, most
of us are a long way away from being able to do anything like that, but it goes
to show what a steadfast, uninterrupted practice over a long period of time:
1:14 <i>sa tu d</i></span><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">ī</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">rghak</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">ā</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">la nairantarya satk</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">ā</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">r</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">ā</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">sevito srdha bh</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">ū</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">mih</span></i><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> can do. </span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1NzMXDns34t5Zaiu8QTWKLzuDERO5MQgU4TqUrR_jv2Q8djpfAeSEb1jTm5dBbRGJ6hVKc8WQc9TNRd0r4nN95EtWRehRHgbZ_kY_nVq-PKaiKPSodkzKdsldu18Lg2xFoCCOFQ/s1600/772ba-Manouso_Manos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1NzMXDns34t5Zaiu8QTWKLzuDERO5MQgU4TqUrR_jv2Q8djpfAeSEb1jTm5dBbRGJ6hVKc8WQc9TNRd0r4nN95EtWRehRHgbZ_kY_nVq-PKaiKPSodkzKdsldu18Lg2xFoCCOFQ/s1600/772ba-Manouso_Manos.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: x-small;">Manouso Manos in Utthita Trikonasana</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Manouso systematically worked our upper and middle backs on
Friday evening. On Saturday, he woke up our hips, sacral area, and coccyx. On these
boney masses of ignorance, he attempted to fix our intelligence in such a
way as to help us discover parts of ourselves we have yet to know intimately.
Repeating some actions from previous workshops with more depth and detail to an
abiding audience of “more seasoned practitioners”. In <i>Bharadvajasana</i> I
and II, we shifted the lift under each buttock, turning to one side and
experienced new feedback on the inequities of effort in the right and left sit
bones. The poses became a curious wonderland of sensation that deepened with
the exploration of the neck’s role in the revolutionary actions. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The <i>Upavistha
Konasana, Marichyasana, Janu Sirsasana</i>, and <i>Virasana</i> hip sequence
prepared us for Sunday’s hip work, which expanded on our new awareness of the
benefits of opposing actions on each hip through poses like <i>Utthita Hasta
Padangusthasana</i> at the wall – something introduced in previous workshops,
and yet, totally different-- it felt like reading a book once as a kid then
reading it again as an adult. His <i>Supta Parsva Padangusthasana</i> with
strap singed our awareness even deeper. Personally, I felt a branding iron in
my hip joints as I realized how much work I still need to do to get stronger
there to avoid hip surgery in years to come. His upper body lessons over the
weekend were similar in intensity and resulted in the same branding-iron
awareness. However, none of this happens unless we learn to listen and fix our
intelligence to the integrity of the directions Manouso provides.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">During Geeta’s
Birthday Intensive in India, it became very apparent that part of our practice
involves the evolution of our hearing capabilities. One student was asked to
leave the stadium to put her notes away. Manouso did so as well in his Atlanta workshop. However, I want to stress that having our pen and paper taken away,
so we can’t take notes is not a punishment. It is a gift. It is part of our
yoga practice. Evolving our hearing faculties in order to remember and yoke
mind to body is part of the lesson. Our teachers provide lessons; however,
these cannot be taken lightly. These are mere introductions for further
exploration. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This is one of
the many distinctions between Iyengar Yoga and other yoga. Iyengar Yoga demands
the student continues to explore even after the class or teacher training is
over. The answers aren’t given to you. You have to seek the
answers. Your body and your mind have to embody the lessons, which is why
Iyengar Yoga demands a certain level of evolution from its students. It may
also be why Iyengar students tend to skew a little older and have higher
educations than other yoga students. </span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Either Iyengar
students are smart enough to know they must open themselves up to a new view of
themselves, or they actually have enough self-awareness to know they know very
little about themselves and Iyengar Yoga is the way to learn more. Regardless,
Iyengar students have the discrimination to know there is no other yoga
practice that will give them the kind of detailed instruction to bring them to
the level of self-awareness they seek better than Iyengar Yoga. </span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">BKS Iyengar
spent his entire life, every minute of every day, seeking self-realization.
Not only that, he cared enough to figure out how to verbalize his innumerable
quests (<i>Bahiranga Sadhana</i>, external quests, <i>Antaranga Sadhana</i>,
Internal Quests, and <i>Antaratma Sadhana</i>, Inner Most Quests) through his <i>Kriya
Sadhana</i> practice of Tapas, burning interest, <i>Svadyaya</i>, Self Study,
and <i>Isvarapranidhana</i>, devotion. Iyengar Yoga demands that of every
student and especially their teachers.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Iyengar Yoga can
teach you how to gain self-realization and freedom from suffering; however,
it is up to you where you take it from there. Iyengar Yoga has a strong
community and it is very much yoked around the teachings of BKS Iyengar and his
children and grandchildren who carry his legacy. At the same time, the path of
Iyengar Yoga is a very individual one. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To gain even a
thimble full of the imperishable enlightenment that seemed to seep from every
cell of BKS Iyengar's body, you must develop indomitable striving for your own
self-realization. You can't be pacified by an illusory community of
"thought" or by simply regurgitating <i>Sanskrit</i> and <i>Sutras</i>
so that your ego gains the pat on the back it so desperately seeks. The lessons
must penetrate your inner-most being. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The pain of that
seeking is your guru. Manouso Manos is a testament to that and to the humble
albeit grand rewards of liberation that result. He knows his work is not done,
he still has much to learn. An example of his continuous striving came when he
talked about how many times he practiced the lessons from Geeta's Birthday
Intensive last December, so he could understand in his body what she was
describing. At sixty-three years old, he truly embodies the intelligence of the
lessons he learned from BKS Iyengar and continues to learn from the Iyengar
family, and like his Guru, he takes great care in sharing it with us. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Thank you, Manouso. </span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Namaste.</span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic";"></span><br />
<br />
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0Stillwater Yoga33.7489954 -84.387982433.3266004 -85.0334294 34.1713904 -83.7425354tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-91703354879568781342015-07-23T14:24:00.000-07:002015-07-23T14:24:51.635-07:00Stretching Our Idea Of What We Can Do: Nancy Mau's Annual Yoga Hip Opening Workshop<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPP_ZTvw3GeZ6YhNWg6Ha34AFVB3DNop28YJIoZ7Lp3FzgnXB7m5qSTO_IWspGlUyiqqU_mWnMO8s-BbTVPlno5ZM7Axst-yWRcr0_ONuWuceoKtWWmLHZzbcyoAMrRBEY7IaHw/s1600/038804420-anatomy-male-brain-pain-all-jo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPP_ZTvw3GeZ6YhNWg6Ha34AFVB3DNop28YJIoZ7Lp3FzgnXB7m5qSTO_IWspGlUyiqqU_mWnMO8s-BbTVPlno5ZM7Axst-yWRcr0_ONuWuceoKtWWmLHZzbcyoAMrRBEY7IaHw/s200/038804420-anatomy-male-brain-pain-all-jo.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Nancy Mau’s annual Hip Opening Workshop at Stillwater
Yoga in Atlanta stretches your idea of what you think you’re capable of.
Stillwater owner, Kathleen Pringle said, “I was so glad to be here for Nancy’s
Hip Opening Seminar. The sequencing was so great and the instructions so clear
that I was inspired to share many things from her class in my classes the
following week.”<span style="color: #14a0c2;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">The workshop is the “go to” workshop to many
students and non-students, especially those who feel they have ‘tight
hips’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of us lose flexibility in our
hips due primarily to under use. What is most prevalent way we under use the
muscles in our hip area is by over doing one common behavior: sitting. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYGH5vewVajUt1ABXsoZe7bu8dcVWP_NIvWpDUvIwXQeMHL25__rKKWC3w1195XN-ioUrByf29wkP1AgIXJswGoMAN4XKgDNoZexZ-GDC17WJ3JH2ynpcrGUdrrig3T8rMw1afWw/s1600/050006564-knee-hip-ankle-running-man-leg.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYGH5vewVajUt1ABXsoZe7bu8dcVWP_NIvWpDUvIwXQeMHL25__rKKWC3w1195XN-ioUrByf29wkP1AgIXJswGoMAN4XKgDNoZexZ-GDC17WJ3JH2ynpcrGUdrrig3T8rMw1afWw/s200/050006564-knee-hip-ankle-running-man-leg.jpeg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">However, even active runners get ‘tight hips’. The repetitive act of
running under utilizes and thus shortens muscles around the hips. When this
area gets tight, we tend to develop back issues as well because of the way it
forces the pelvis to tilt. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbG55rO0mLZbYKMlDLBXnpq2VHbw5GkQoQBVoxcQniGKKrCBmogq2suzNk8lfeU6U_VI22eSaW3C_h_GsP5AxpeOq-wN7aCFDgiD-rBPK-iuR1EnFS58Rrq1qNaumc02Ub1PNRMQ/s1600/Lotus-Pose-2205693.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbG55rO0mLZbYKMlDLBXnpq2VHbw5GkQoQBVoxcQniGKKrCBmogq2suzNk8lfeU6U_VI22eSaW3C_h_GsP5AxpeOq-wN7aCFDgiD-rBPK-iuR1EnFS58Rrq1qNaumc02Ub1PNRMQ/s200/Lotus-Pose-2205693.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">In Nancy’s Hip Opening Sequence, she
progressively utilized the tight areas around the hips in such a methodical way,
many students were surprised at how much more flexible they were by the time they
got to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Padmasana</i> or lotus pose. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nancy explains, “The sequence is designed to
wake up the muscles in the legs, hips and pelvis while also creating stability,
which leads to better alignment for the spine. For example, standing,
balancing, and seated poses, along with twisting poses work to create space and
flexibility in the hamstrings, quadriceps, and sartorius muscles, as well as
the gluteus medias and piriformis muscles. The same sequence of poses can also
reduce injuries to knees and lower back for the same reason.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Iyengar Yoga is pretty awesome that way. What distinguishes Iyengar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Yoga is not only its precision in alignment, but also its timing of
sequencing asana in order to systematically strengthen the body to open and
move more consciously. In this way, students reduce injuries and safely
increase their range of motion in their poses. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Corinne Lee who is new to the Iyengar system learned a lot about
being more conscious in her poses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
explains,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“In the workshop Nancy said, ‘Be
interested in the pose, yet not wanting.’ Her words have resonated in me on and
off the mat after her workshop. She talked about when we have practiced a pose
a thousand times we may fall into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bhrantidarshana</i>
or illusion, of a pose. Taking a pose for what it is not. An example of this
illusion would be in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">vrksasana</i>, tree
pose, where we sacrifice the integrity of the pose (making sure the pelvic
bones are facing forward) by "wanting" to have the balancing knee
turn all the way out. She stressed to be "interested" in reaching
that final pose but not "wanting" so much that we sacrifice our integrity,
our alignment, our awareness for it. Thanks for that little life nugget,
Nancy!”<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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“Nancy’s hip opening workshop was a wonderfully informative sequence of poses with
her instruction helping each pose become attainable at some level for all
different ages and stages of yoga study. Her clear and logical instructions and
explanations of where to focus your attention and what areas to engage while
moving into poses was enormously helpful releasing tense areas of my hips that
are tight and periodically ache. Great class and very encouraging! Love it!
I’ll be back next time! Thank you.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">In <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Astadala Yogamala</i></b> Vol. 3,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>B.K.S. Iyengar advised, “Teaching yoga is a very difficult subject, but
is one of the best services you can do for human beings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Work, not as a teacher, but as a learner of
the art of teaching.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you take any
of Nancy’s classes you know, she has done just that, and she continues to
refine the art of her instruction. Her clarity and impeccable sequencing,
gently opens our mind and body to the possibility that we can do things, we
never thought we could do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Thank you Nancy Mau. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Namaste.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">To learn more about Nancy Mau and Stillwater Yoga please visit,
<a href="http://stillyoga.com./">Stillyoga.com.</a></span><a href="http://www.stillyoga.com/"> </a></span></i></div>
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-14100140566011111362015-06-17T12:08:00.001-07:002015-06-20T14:03:30.268-07:00Kquvien's Yoga Karavan goes to Dehlonega Spa Resort<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Kquvien Photo by Holly Sasnett</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://kquvienyoga.com/about-kquvien/what-students-are-saying/"><span style="color: #999999;">Kquvien</span> </a>lives her yoga heart and soul. When she shares her practice with you, you get caught up in the yoke of her wheel and it takes you places you never thought you'd go.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Origami Swan by Kquvien<br />Photo by Holly Sasnett</span></td></tr>
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It is no wonder why Kquvien has a Karavan of folks </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">that include all types: from doctors, lawyers, and nuclear engineers to writers, musicians, and photographers all dedicated to following her path as she discovers the vast world of yoga. Her summer retreat put like minds together doing what we love in a place that took us away from it all: </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">Dehlonega Spa Resort by Lee Barrineau</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Friday evening the resort welcome came from a gentle woman whose name escapes me, but her kind heart left quite an impression. She delivered the resort offerings and regulations with earthy compassion and ended it by adding assurance to the group to feel free to walk around safely at any hour. Following the welcome, Kquvien quickly engaged us in the back leg of our standing poses. Standing poses in Iyengar Yoga are designed to open, strengthen and purify our nervous system to bring sharper awareness to our <i>karmindryia's</i>, our organs of actions: the arms and legs. Each pose is a confine, Kquvien explains, from which we can discover more about ourselves like if we take our inner eye off of what is behind us, we lose the foundation for what we are building.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Kquvien Demo Photo by Holly Sasnett</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">During the class, we merged with the peace of the mountain and slowly let go of our attachments to the city. All levels of students attended and were taken care of accordingly. Kquvien approaches yoga teaching in the same way that she approaches her own practice. She teaches with a plan of no plan to allow and honor those who are present and not force an agenda. Though taking charge, she enables the group energy to mold the class so something bigger can happen. What happened is the classes and the entire retreat took the shape of exactly what we needed. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Chiara and Laura Photo by Rhonda</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As the days passed too quickly, we found ourselves becoming closer. Being mat-to-mat practicing Iyengar Yoga at <a href="http://www.stillyoga.com/"><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999;">Stillwater Yoga</span></a> on a weekly basis and some of us a daily basis for many years, our mistakes, anxieties, fears, anger, exhaustion, and frustration are all exposed. For that reason, friendships born from the mat feel deeper -- more compassionate, more patient, and more joyful.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Reflections Photo by Lee Barrineau</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The retreat gave us an opportunity to witness our energetic link in nature. Each evening passed with more heartfelt conversation or a unified silence in awe as the crickets, frogs, and ducks performed their serenade and the fireflies danced over the water.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our mornings began in silence on the porch watching the mountain mist move up to the sky and lift us from our slumber. <i>Prānāyāma</i> was set to begin at 7 am. The first morning, we arrived in the studio early and waited for the hour with our chest lifted in a restorative pose of our choosing. Kquvien had us build a high throne that easily placed us in correct alignment to sit, along with a supine setup at the ready. The practice focused on awareness of alignment, an exploration of the <i>rechaka</i> or exhalation, and a glimpse of <i>pratyh</i><i>ā</i><i>r</i><i>ā</i> through the <i>sanmukhi mudra (</i>san or six openings, where the eyes, ears, and nose are covered to bring the attention inward).The second morning, we practiced outdoors overlooking our beautiful mountain view. On the fortunate request of a student/CDC doctor, we explored some <i>mudr</i><i>ā</i><i>s </i>(gestures) and<i> </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bandhas, </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(binds)</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">which </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">physical locks that hold or direct the <i>pr</i></span><i>ā</i><i>nic </i>(lifegiving) energy<i>. </i></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: xx-small;">Sutra Study Photo by Lee Barrineau</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our <i>Sutra</i> study in the afternoon was taught in an organic way as well. We reviewed <i>Patanjali's Sutras </i>1:12-1:14, beginning with <i>abhyāsa-vairāgyābhyam </i><i>tannirodhah, </i>which states that the way to stilling the fluctuations of the mind is through practice and detachment and ending with <i>Sutra</i> 1:14 <i>sa tu dīrghakāla nairantarya satkārāsevito srdha bhūmih,</i><i> </i> steadfast, uninterrupted practice over a long period of time. The question came up: How can we have uninterrupted practice? The answer came through the door later that afternoon as if <i>Patanjali</i> himself sent it to us special delivery in the form of a puppy dog open for love. After as many hugs and ear scratches as she could get, the rest of us went into <i>S</i><i>ā</i><i>lamba Ś</i><i>ī</i><i>rṣ</i><i>ā</i><i>s</i><i>ā</i><i>na. </i>We stood on our heads. The puppy stayed. She wasn't an interruption. She became a part of our practice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Kquvien has been reading Mircea Eliade's book <i><b>Yoga: Immortality and Freedom</b></i> and said he described the purpose of <i>Tapas </i>(disciplined practice) as making us more fit to endure the dualities (read detach, acclimate, accommodate rigidly or subtly depending on the moment)--endure the qualities or states of being or <i>gunas: rajas (firey), tamas (inert), sattva (harmonious). </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Later a student mentioned, that BKS Iyengar spoke in <i><b>Light on Life</b></i> about doing our <i>āsan</i>as<i> </i>from the heart, and not the head. Mircea Eliade adds in his book <i><b>Yoga: Immortality and Freedom</b></i> about being led by our thoughts by not thinking. Allowing the movement of chatter in our head to run our lives prevents us from acting from our heart. As we discussed more, the lesson presented itself as if from the ethers and because of its universal applications it was received and readily absorbed. Our higher mind is in the heart center, the seat of the divine, not the <i>chitta vrittis </i> acts of our brain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our entire <i>Sutra</i> lesson rolled up like well-used yoga mat with <i>Sutra </i>3.35 <i>hrdyye cittasamvit</i>, which Iyengar translates: "By <i>saṁayama</i> (concentration, meditation, absorption) on the region of the heart, the yogi acquires a thorough knowledge of the contents and tendencies of consciousness." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The weekend gave us a delicious taste of that. Our connection to Kquvien, to the practice of Iyengar Yoga, to each other, and to the singularity of energy that animates us all seemed to foster a kind of concentration, meditation, and absorption that created a natural <i>parinama</i>, a transformation born of our unified desire to be open to receive it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thank you, Kquvien</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkrMiRnLROZZ0FWDRQ-p3X934AE7o904RZRAOpOyZmBFZclO3Cs45cXIWO88cCeE98j2Qh8f3XM6PjhDTeEDsjCVE-vDWmUKI6ghIDpwcno9RPoQvcppfcQrcXP213BqyjKgiRTA/s1600/IMG_3544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkrMiRnLROZZ0FWDRQ-p3X934AE7o904RZRAOpOyZmBFZclO3Cs45cXIWO88cCeE98j2Qh8f3XM6PjhDTeEDsjCVE-vDWmUKI6ghIDpwcno9RPoQvcppfcQrcXP213BqyjKgiRTA/s200/IMG_3544.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Group Photo by Holly</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgavXwg9m8DgkcQJ53v10iSbFS-vqVg356LUbGgUZRwfpIcAGBPVVb0mTcG8Av_T4FlLpEz8N8LxMkqq9Y1Hf3zevQzCJkc1-RNJ_RtWO0feEPZsIBP0T6qMP6zDyz3RLZD0_KDug/s1600/IMG_3545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgavXwg9m8DgkcQJ53v10iSbFS-vqVg356LUbGgUZRwfpIcAGBPVVb0mTcG8Av_T4FlLpEz8N8LxMkqq9Y1Hf3zevQzCJkc1-RNJ_RtWO0feEPZsIBP0T6qMP6zDyz3RLZD0_KDug/s200/IMG_3545.JPG" width="198" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Group Photo by Henry</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Namaste.</i></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Special thanks goes to Kathy Koenigsberg for organizing it all and bringing her sparkle to the group.</i></span><br />
<div>
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0Dahlonega, GA, USA34.5261465 -83.98439530000001734.421493000000005 -84.145756800000015 34.6308 -83.823033800000019tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-83973951020011766302015-05-09T16:21:00.001-07:002015-05-09T16:21:47.515-07:00Mother's Day Tribute to a Magical Mom.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
About nine years ago, two months after Mother’s Day, I lost my
Mom. In my last memory, lying next to her, I held her hand and she let go. She
didn’t pass that night. In fact, I didn’t understand why she let go of my hand.
However, for Mom even dying became a teachable moment. It seemed as if she knew
what she was supposed to do at every stage of her illness, so we learned from
it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She knew she had to let go. Let go of her attachments to
this world: her roles as a professional realtor, a mentor, and a dutiful friend.
She knew she had to release her attachment to being a loving sister and mother
of the five heirs to her wisdom, passion, and sense of humor. I had a hard time
letting go of that fact. The feeling of her freeing her fingers from their
interlace with mine rewound in my heart time and time again after she passed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Months later, I had a dream that she came to my bedside and took my hand. It felt like there was a distinct sense that she
was in a different place than me, but the energy of her love and mine
intertwined again. Mom made a point to say things when she was still alive that made us believe she'd be around us after she died, like she said she'd be a
Cardinal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I</span> think the Cardinal is one of the most
frequently seen birds aside from the Robin. She didn’t want us ever to feel
alone. When Cardinals fly by me, or perch on my porch I pause a moment and
think of her. The energy of her love swoops in with a full wingspan and wraps
her warmth around my heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Happens
every time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One evening, my printer turned on (without anyone turning it
on) and printed out a page with Mom’s name on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a legal document on my computer, but
not one that had been in my printer queue or even one that had been pulled up
or edited for over six months. It woke me up in a fright. I can’t bring much logic to this incident, except to say that the very next day
someone broke into my house and took my television. Luckily, I wasn’t
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my printer’s mysterious
'wakeup call' the night before felt like a warning of some kind. It stuck
with me. I took the lesson from the experience and reinforced the security of
my home. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A year or so later, driving home from a meditation class, I
thought to myself, ‘Mom, why haven’t you tried to talk to me. I’d listen. I miss you. I want
to hear from you.' Not two minutes later, I stopped behind a big white truck.
The height of the truck put its license plate in direct line with my eyes. I
did a double take.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It said, “I LUV
U”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I looked down and the state on
the plate said, “Montgomery” where my mother was born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, I don’t know about you, but I
appreciated the synchronicity of these two events. Needless to say, I like to think of it as Mom giving me a timely and wonderful, heartwarming response to my question.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Who knows what’s on the other side of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t. However, I will say, my Mom set things
up for us before she left this world, so it feels like she’s still very much a
part of our lives. So this Mother’s Day, I’d just like to celebrate what great
mother’s do to keep us believing in the possibilities of life and anything that
might be beyond it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love you,
Mom!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Happy Mother’s Day. <o:p></o:p></div>
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-69425065959140515732015-04-24T06:25:00.000-07:002015-04-24T06:25:06.068-07:00Triangles of Breath - New light from an old lesson by Prashant Iyengar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This week Kathleen Pringle taught a pattern of <i>prāṇāyāma</i> based on something that Prashant Iyengar taught in a class at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute many years ago. It is a pattern that I have found myself wanting to practice more and more.<br />
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At Geeta Iyengar's Birthday Intensive back in December of last year, she teased us about our <i>prāṇāyāma </i>practice. She said we get it over with as quickly as we can so we can say, "I did my<i> Ujjāyī</i>. I did my <i>Viloma.</i>"<br />
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Guilty. <br />
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Even though I have heard Geeta's voice in my head ever since her workshop, other <i>chitta vrittis </i>(again read chatter) would inevitably sneak in and make me wonder how I would have the time to fit everything in my day that I needed to. The thoughts actually got in the way of my practice. They shortened time. I couldn't stay present long.<br />
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This week, I could. The pattern Kathleen shared with us kept my attention and focus. Earlier in the class she talked about how BKS Iyengar explains in <i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=light+on+life+bks+iyengar&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=32948720249&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7761173213179515265&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_9e2b346reg_b"><span style="color: #999999;">Light on Life</span></a></b></i> that our vertical actions in <i>āsana </i>practice bring intelligence and our horizontal actions bring wisdom. She also spoke about <i>atha, </i>which she defined as the 'eternal now' as in the first sutra of Patañjali, 1:1 <i>atha yogānuśāsanam,</i> which BKS Iyengar translates as, "[...] now begins an exposition of the sacred art of yoga." Prashant's pattern of a breath seems to bring attention to the vertical and horizontal actions, and a peak at the eternal now.<br />
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His pattern is an inverted triangle pattern that Kathleen introduced during our <i>Viloma I </i>practice<i>. </i>Like an <i>āsana</i> practice, there are many different types of <i>prāṇāyāma </i>you can practice. <i>Viloma</i> means against the grain. Basically, it's three or more equal volumes of breath taken in sections along the trunk of the body and separated by equally timed pauses. <i>Viloma I </i>might go something like this: after a full exhalation, inhale and pause, inhale and pause, inhale and pause, a very small inhalation and slow, soft, smooth exhalation - all followed by a normal inhalation and exhalation as needed.<br />
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With this new triangle pattern to focus on during <i>Viloma I,</i> the concentration required on the vertical and horizontal actions seemed to bring about a deeper sensitivity to their differences. Last week, Kquvien DeWeese gave lessons on the direction and focus of our eyes during poses. When we look up or down, on the horizontal plane, hard focus, soft wide and expansive focus - all bring about different sensations in the mind and body. The pattern brought about a similar realization and yet my eyes were closed and my focus inward.<br />
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What's more, with my intense focus and concentration on this pattern, the Sutra 3:53<i> Kṣaṇa Tatkramayoḥ saṁayamāt vivekajaṁ jñānam </i>came into play<i>. </i>This is a Sutra that Nancy shared during Spring Training last weekend. Nancy has talked about <i>Kṣaṇa</i><i> </i>often in her Saturday classes. I kept saying to myself that I would remember the word and research it more, but by the end of class the word would escape me. I lost my focus; therefore, it didn't stick with me.<br />
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It did this time. I wrote it down. I looked it up and I could associate its meaning with glimpses of experiences in my āsana practice. I also got a glimpse of why Nancy shared it. And in Kathleen's <i>prāṇāyāma</i><i> </i>classes this week<i>, </i>I got to be with its meaning a little more. Now I'm beginning to hold onto a bit of understanding.<br />
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BKS Iyengar translates this sutra in<span style="color: #999999;"> </span><b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Light-Yoga-Sutras-Patanjali-Iyengar-ebook/dp/B008CBDJ7U"><span style="color: #999999;">Light on the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali</span></a> </i></b>as "by <i>saṁayama</i> on moment and on the continuous flow of moments, the yogi gains exalted knowledge, free from the limitations of time and space." S<i>aṁayama </i>literally means holding together, it's the integration of concentration, meditation, and self-realization. When I finally took the time to read the commentary on the translation, it opened me up to something much bigger that my teachers have been trying to teach. It turned on another light. We've all experienced time expanding. Unfortunately, it's usually only in a tragedy situation (read my blog <a href="http://rhondageraci.blogspot.ca/2009/07/expanding-time-in-moment.html?m=1)"><i><span style="color: #999999;">Expanding Time in a Moment</span></i></a>). However, the idea of learning how to sustain being that present all the time is pretty incredible. An infinitesimal moment, now that could put a new angle on our day. I know I've enjoyed the peek at the possibility. I am forever grateful for my teachers who care enough to keep learning and sharing their experiences.<br />
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Namaste.<br />
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#StillIyengar #StillLightingTheWay #StillwaterYoga #Stillit.<br />
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-8617378993405019172015-04-20T11:58:00.000-07:002015-04-21T14:34:09.438-07:00SPRING TRAINING AT STILLWATER YOGA - FINDING FAITH AND COURAGE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When you've studied and trained in Iyengar Yoga as long as is required for your Level 1 Assessment, which is a minimum of three to four years (or as long as it takes for you to be truly ready) and even longer for Intermediate, Junior Level or above Assessments, hearing the rumor that Iyengar Yoga may not offer Assessments after this year until 2017 took many of us aback. The <i>chitta vrittis </i>(read chatter)<i> </i>in my head whispered, "but what if I don't pass this year?" Fortunately, we all recovered from any lapse of focus and put our eyes back on what mattered: our Spring Training at <a href="http://www.stillyoga.com/"><span style="color: #999999;">Stillwater Yoga</span></a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2ut-snm0YOsWWBhTumM6QuoqXs4TCm7mKbcF4JeExmCP-jFza6H_NA4hyphenhyphenQSMNZChODJKUbzQFibtP51jDwBGW1zcrOdsnLqHK6qyxlHX5m0G_NLfpQuc8xiamrZf1pFN3Bjn-A/s1600/IMG_3996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2ut-snm0YOsWWBhTumM6QuoqXs4TCm7mKbcF4JeExmCP-jFza6H_NA4hyphenhyphenQSMNZChODJKUbzQFibtP51jDwBGW1zcrOdsnLqHK6qyxlHX5m0G_NLfpQuc8xiamrZf1pFN3Bjn-A/s1600/IMG_3996.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
Stillwater Yoga owner, Kathleen Pringle is dedicated to training and assessing teachers. As one of only a few Senior Iyengar Instructors in the Southeast, she conducts Teacher Training in Atlanta as well as other states. Her curiosity and fascination with the mobility and stability aspects of poses with various body types and issues is infectious. She takes us on a journey of learning that I wish all academic teachers could witness. Charlotte-based instructor, Erin Bailey explained, "I feel like Kathleen is a great fit for me as a teacher. I appreciate how gentle she is. Since I am a very sensitive person, I am glad that she puts compassion towards her students as a very high priority. She comes across as patient and a very careful communicator in all aspects of her teaching. And her beautiful smile alone is enough to put anyone at ease."<br />
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In Atlanta, students come from far and wide to study with her. Teacher in training, Kim Blitch drove from Kentucky despite the fact Kathleen will be in her town in a few weeks to teach another training. Kim said, "Kathleen is an inspiration. Her dedication and love for Iyengar Yoga is obvious as a teacher and as a student. She is generous with her time and knowledge for which all of her students benefit."<br />
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Learning from those in the Iyengar system who have more knowledge is what distinguishes an Iyengar Instructor. Iyengar teachers never stop learning. For example, mentor, Kquvien DeWeese is away for a few weeks training at two different workshops with Senior Advanced instructors, Patricia Walden and Manouso Manos. One of the ways Kathleen continues learning is by going Pune, India every winter to study with Geeta Iyengar. </div>
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Kathleen's ever-growing mastery of training teachers showed itself immediately. She set a seamless pace for the weekend by having us pick poses to teach in Nancy Mau's Saturday morning Level 2 <i>Purva Pratana Sthiti </i>or backbending sequence and then grouping us to fulfill a task. By focusing on our task together (eg. listing the linking actions between three poses in our sequence) each person in the group became a visible and viable part of our training. "We bonded right off the bat," said Phyllis Rollins of <a href="http://www.8thstreetstudio.com/teachers.html"><span style="color: #999999;">The Yoga Center</span></a> in Charlotte, N.C. </div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Phyllis demos a bad pose </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">so Kathleen can </span></div>
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We learn from Kathleen and we also learn a great deal from each other. In fact, Kathleen even learns from us. For example, she may witness common tendencies that teachers in training might have teaching specific poses. She shares those tendencies with us so we learn to avoid them. Aspiring Intermediate Junior Level Instructor, Phyllis Rollins explained, "I enjoyed working with the individuals to practice teach and get feedback on some of my problem poses."<br />
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Practice teaching is an important part of teacher training. Kathleen creates a safe space for us to brave the act of teaching some of the poses in our level syllabus. To keep us on our toes, she has the 'students' purposefully do common wrong actions to help us train our eyes to see them. "Kathleen makes the process supportive and helped me focus on the areas of my teaching that need improvement. It was a very positive experience for me," Phyllis concludes.<br />
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The secret to a great Iyengar class or training session is having some of what Patricia Walden calls your<a href="http://www.yoganow.net/faith.html"> 'Yoga Vitamins'</a>. Nancy Mau explained in her seemingly flawless Level 2 class on Saturday that those 'yoga vitamins' are from Sutra 1:20 <i>śraddhā vīrya smrti samādhiprajñā pūrvakaḥ itareṣām. </i><i>śraddhā</i>(faith)<i> vīrya</i>(trust)<i> smrti </i>(memory) <i>samādhi </i>(concentration) and <i>prajñā </i>(wisdom) <i>pūrvakaḥ. </i> BKS Iyengar translates this in <i><b>Light on the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali </b></i>as,"Practice must be pursued with trust, confidence, vigour, keen memory and power of absorption to break this spiritual complacency."<br />
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In training, we have to put ourselves out there so we learn the most we can in the time alotted. That takes faith and courage. Luckily, Kathleen sets a tone of compassion that emanates to all of us. Erin adds, "It warms my heart to feel the support of everyone in our group. The feeling is certainly one of 'we are in this together' rather than that of competition."<br />
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No matter how raw or new to the system you may be you will get through it. Our Spring Training happened to be Atlantan, Corinne Lee's first Iyengar Teacher Training. Her openness to learning and willingness to put herself out there in an egoless way served as a reminder to us all to keep a beginner's mind. Corinne shared this about her experience, "Being new to the Iyengar lineage of yoga, I was thoroughly impressed and challenged by the rigorous and seemingly dogmatic practice and overall mindset. But I realized after my first teacher training, that the rules are there to keep your practice safe and steady as you progress into more advanced asanas. The Iyengar queing and sequencing has definitely strengthened and deepened my practice to a whole new awareness and communication with the mind-body connection."<br />
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Like Phyllis, I chose poses that I knew I needed work learning to teach. I'd done my homework, studied the material, and knew the primary actions; however, knowing it and teaching it through the Iyengar Method are two very different things. Kathleen explains, "In Iyengar Yoga, you teach one-on-one even if you are teaching a large class." Everyone gets seen. Therefore, we train not only to learn the actions of the pose, but also how to observe each student and know how to help support them where they are, further them along, or correct any wrong action that might come up for them.<br />
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After the Saturday Level 2 class where we each taught a pose, Erin Bailey of Charlotte admitted "Nancy Mau is a tough act to follow." Nancy's expert demonstrations, her economy of words in instruction, her clear and succinct corrections, not to mention her seamless linking of poses and yoga philosophy gave us a prime example of what we should all be aspiring to.<br />
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Becoming an Iyengar Instructor challenges every part of you in a very fulfilling way. You have to keep taking your 'yoga vitamins'. Your faith, trust, memory, and concentration are tested constantly. You transform and discriminating wisdom follows. Patañjali encourages us not to give up and not to loose focus with the Sutra (of which he has about 196 of them) that comes just after Sutra 1.20.<br />
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In Sutra 1.21 <i>tīvrasaṁvegānām āsannaḥ</i>, which BKS Iyengar translates as, "The goal is near for those who are supremely vigorous and intense in practice." The goal is <i>Samadhi</i> and here I will use the definition of that to be self-realization in every fiber, cell, and synapse. Self-realization so you can share what you have learned with an honest and pure heart. You can deliver your simple demonstrations and clear instruction with enthusiasm and ease.<br />
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I believe Corinne Lee saw the results of that vigorous and intense practice in Kathleen's Spring Training, "Once you've sat through an Iyengar teacher training with Kathleen, you can understand why she is so highly respected and well-known in the Iyengar community. Her succinct teaching approach paired with her genuine tenacity for the practice and her dedication to her students is inspiring."<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Thanks to everyone who contributed to this article. To Nancy Mau for showing us how it's done and once again allowing us to teach in her class. To my training peers who I've enjoyed learning from and getting to know better. And of course to Kathleen who is committed to passing this great lineage along with the utmost dedication, integrity, and respect. </span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i> <i>If you'd like to learn more about the Iyengar Method visit <a href="http://iynaus.org/">iynaus.org</a> </i><i>and our Southeastern Iyengar Association at <a href="http://iyase.org/">iyase.org</a>. To learn more about Kathleen Pringle and her other great instructors please visit <a href="http://stillyoga.com/">stillyoga.com</a> #stillteaching #stillinspiring #stillwateryoga #stillit.</i></span><br />
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Namaste.<br />
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-72888068154648388252015-04-09T14:52:00.000-07:002015-04-09T14:52:28.319-07:00Fooled by Form and Other Thoughts on the Journey To Self-Mastery - Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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"When stability becomes a habit, maturity and clarity follow." - BKS Iyengar <i><b>Light on Life</b></i></div>
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As an advertising writer and creative consultant, I am more than aware of how our human desires are enticed with sensual displays of everything from electronics to food and fashion to pharmaceuticals. However, as much as we like to blame advertisers for the many ills of the world, they can also do a lot of good. They can change behavior, caution, educate, employ, and raise money for good causes just to name a few. </div>
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Those of you who are old enough to have children may have experienced how the exponential growth and omnipresence of advertising is beginning to teach our kids the need for discrimination. Learning to make wise choices is integral to finding balance in an over-stimulating, ever-changing world. The eight-limbed path of yoga is a well-tested systematic way to build the intelligence of the mind so we can think, speak, and act with discriminating wisdom.</div>
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It's been said advertising can get you to try a product or service, but only a good product or service can get you to buy it again. Learning to build good products is an art. Most of us have heard our parents say, "Well they don't make [insert product] like they used to." These days, we've come to believe some products are built with embedded obsolescence. In other words, after a certain time, it's actually made to break down so you have to buy a new one. It seems as if some manufacturers have lost their passion, drive, and sense of integrity when developing new products.</div>
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And yet, we are detoured constantly by them. Look, a shiny new phone. Where did you get those awesome shoes? Can I take a picture of your car? Is that a new lip color? Wait! How did I get here? Where was I? ADD/ADHD comrades aside, our world has become a massive detour sign destabilizing our connection to who we are and why we are here.</div>
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It has been my experience that when we apply passion, drive and integrity towards the 8-limbs of yoga, we have a better possibility to extend our life cycle so we are made to last. We can also develop control over the millions of distractions around us. We begin by building stability in the body through the postures. In the postures, we get to know ourselves by learning to ground our feet on the earth and extend our arms and legs and spine. </div>
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Extension creates space in the body. It purifies our nerves and wakes up the skin so it's like every pore becomes an eye showing us more and more of ourselves. What is my left side doing? What is my right side doing? Which side is stronger? Which side needs to work harder? As we progress we move from the skin inwards to the muscles, to bones, to the organs, and suddenly you find yourself wanting to go back and visit this fascinating place again and again so you can explore it more and more.</div>
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It's just you, yourself, and the unexplored sheaths of your body that are slowly unveiled as your stability and inward focus expands. You get glimpses of a quiet place deep inside you that offers stillness and peace. It is from this place of stillness that you gain clarity like you've never experienced before. The moment you question it, you lose it. The chatter in your head returns but like any other pleasurable occurrence you want to try to go back to it again.</div>
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Fortunately, along the way you have learned that with practice and detachment you build on the stability you've gained and the experiences of stillness, peace and clarity begin to grow too. You begin to be able to apply this stability and clarity to other aspects of your life. Over time, your desires and attachments are put in a perspective you can see with more eyes than you knew you had.</div>
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,,,To be continued. </div>
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-18285119007277966932015-04-08T12:41:00.002-07:002015-04-08T12:41:57.372-07:00Fooled by Form and Other Thoughts on the Journey to Self-Mastery - Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 16.8999996185303px;">Yoga is a path I stumbled upon on my way somewhere else. It attracted me because it expanded on a mind-body concept that I'd gained from ballet without a promise of tutus or toe shoes. It offered something better: Freedom. The <i>Cliffnotes</i> version of yoga might be as follows: Mastering yoga precepts brings the discipline to master postures, which leads to mastering the breath, which leads to mastering thoughts and desires, which leads to one-pointed focus, which leads to supreme stillness that leads to self-realization. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 16.8999996185303px;">Mastering anything takes a lifetime of practice, discipline, and commitment. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 16.8999996185303px;">Most of us have encountered the idea of mastery at some point in our life. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 16.8999996185303px;">We are driven to become proficient at something in hopes of some reward. As children, our first reward is usually some form of acceptance or love. Smile. Pick up your toys. Say 'thank you,' and master the social skills your culture demands and you gain acceptance into your tribe. School rewards your mastering the skills the 'system' deems important to becoming an active member of your community. Employers reward you with raises for mastering the skills the 'corporation' figures will give them the most </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.8999996185303px;">return on their investment. Like Pavlov's dog, we learn very quickly that if we do something 'they' want we get a treat. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.8999996185303px;">We have been trained well, and yet the process of modern existence has distanced us further and further away from our connection to our own body</span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.8999996185303px;">. It's wild to consider that America's Puritanical beginnings have nothing over </span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.8999996185303px;">the digital society of today in its ability to isolate us from our own skin, but I'm beginning to believe it. Whatever </span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.8999996185303px;">we think we need these days takes on some form outside ourselves. It's beginning to get dangerous where we don't even think for ourselves. As former Harvard Business Review editor, Nicolas Carr asserts in his latest novel, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Cage-Automation-Us/dp/0393240762/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428519718&sr=8-1&keywords=Glass+Cage"><b><i>The Glass Cage: Automation and Us</i></b>.</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.8999996185303px;">Iyengar Yoga is not an ascetic</span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.8999996185303px;"> practice of denying the body or the material world. Being part of a household, neighborhood, or community are all opportunities towards self-mastery. The simple duties of cooking and cleaning can become wonderful exercises in mindfulness. However, by living at the speed of society these days, we have</span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.8999996185303px;"> become automatons. BKS Iyengar says in<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Light-Life-Journey-Wholeness-Ultimate/dp/1594865248/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428519770&sr=8-1&keywords=Light+on+life"> </a></span><i style="font-size: small; line-height: 16.8999996185303px;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Light-Life-Journey-Wholeness-Ultimate/dp/1594865248/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428519770&sr=8-1&keywords=Light+on+life">Light on Life</a></b></i><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.8999996185303px;">, 'They move from bed to car to desk to car to couch to bed, but there's no awareness in their movement, no intelligence." We continue doing the same thing in order to attain some nebulous prize that promises to gratify our ego. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.8999996185303px;">What we discover is that no matter how much we get it's never enough. </span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.8999996185303px;">Reverend Jaganath Carrera explains in his book </span><b style="font-size: small; line-height: 16.8999996185303px;"><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Yoga-Sutras-Publisher-Publications/dp/B004WG5DTG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1428519824&sr=8-2&keywords=Carrera+Inside+The+Yoga+Sutras">Inside the Yoga Sutras</a></i></b><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.8999996185303px;"> that if we believe something will give us happiness or pleasure, we are doomed to repeat it. However, the feeling is fleeting, so the craving returns, which is why he says fulfilling desires will never eliminate them. </span><br />
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...to be continued.<br />
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-40849679583654409962015-03-25T12:54:00.001-07:002015-03-25T13:55:14.400-07:00Eye Ur Veda and Other Lessons from Ayurvedic Practitioner, Sonam Targee at Stillwater Yoga in Atlanta<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sonam Targee is a man of many talents with a list of degrees and certifications as long as most of our resumés. Stillwater Yoga practitioners, Tom and Anastasia Ragland brought him to Atlanta, and he offered a free lecture at the studio. <br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-size: x-small;">An Ayurvedic and herbal medicine practitioner for 30 years. He currently practices and lives in Rochester, NY. He was born in Tamil Nader, South India. He holds a masters degree in Chinese Medicine, a practitioner's certification in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, a Bachelor's Degree in Ethno-musicology, a graduate of The New England School of Acupuncture, and a member of the National Ayruvedic Medical Association having studied extensively with renown Doctors of Ayurvedic Medicine Dr. Vasant Lad, Dr. Robert Svoboda, and Dr. Mahadevan, as well as His Holiness The 16th Karmapa Master Mantak Chia, Baba Mktananada, Dr. Hawkins, and Yeshe Donden (personal physician to His Holiness the Dalai Lama). </span></blockquote>
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I usually never regret attending a lecture at Stillwater, and this turned out to be no exception. When I entered the studio, Sonam's sense of calm struck me immediately. Non-plused by late comers, he directed us to gather up several handouts to take home. Once we settled, he chanted an invocation. Apparently well-versed in yoga alignment techniques, he sat on blankets with his inner thighs weighted with sandbags. He began writing on a whiteboard some key points about Ayurveda. Marking an easy way to remember how to pronounce it by breaking it down to eye • ur • Veda.<br />
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He began by explaining that the <i>Gunas </i>or qualities in nature in Ayurveda are the results of the balance or imbalance of the basic elements earth, water, fire, air, and ether. Too much fire creates heat and dryness. Too much water creates dampness and cold. Too much air and ether create gas and spaciness.<br />
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In Ayurveda, <i>Doshas </i>are what make up the primary constitution of a person. There are three basic <i>doshas</i>: <i>Vata</i>, <i>Pitta,</i> and <i>Kapha</i>. We can be a single, double, or tri <i>dosha</i>. Our constitution is determined by things like the mind space around your conception, the pregnancy, and childbirth, as well as seven generations or more of your ancestors --- not to mention the snake, frog, or swan pulse pattern on your wrist felt by your index, middle and ring finger.<br />
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Each <i>dosha</i> has specific food propensities, for example, <i>Vata</i> like dry and salty foods, <i>Pitta </i>like spicy and sour, while <i>Kaph</i>a prefers sweet and creamy. There are also physical cues to a <i>dosha</i> type <i>Vata</i> may have long legs short arms or short legs and long arms. Every <i>dosha</i> has a planet and day association like Monday and Friday are <i>Kapha</i>, Tuesday and Thursday are <i>Pitta</i>, and Wednesday and Saturday are <i>Vata</i>.<br />
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In addition, when a <i>dosha </i>is out of balance, it creates specific changes in the physical and mental constitution of a person. A <i>Kapha</i> imbalance may lead to sadness and cysts. A <i>Pitta</i> imbalance may lead to anger and rashes. A <i>Vata</i> imbalance may lead to anxiety and respiratory issues.<br />
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It is difficult to give justice to this 5000-year-old practice in just two hours - a practice that can even boast surgery techniques like the "nose job" which are still being used (unchanged) by plastic surgeons today. However, Sonam gave a wonderful overview and left us knowing there's a lot more to Ayurveda than meets the eye.<br />
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Namaste. <br />
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<i>To learn about other workshops and lectures at Stillwater Yoga visit <a href="http://stillyoga.com/">Stillyoga.com</a>. To contact Sonam Targee in Rochester, NY call </i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><i>585-256-1841. </i></span></span></div>
rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-42663543058290968302015-02-23T13:11:00.000-08:002015-02-23T14:00:32.019-08:00Further discussion on freedom from suffering by "Cultivating the Opposite", Pratipaksa Bhavana<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://rhondageraci.blogspot.com/2015/02/cultivating-freedom-from-suffering.html">In my last blog</a>, I explored the idea of <i>pratipakṣa bhāvanā,</i> "cultivating the opposite". I talked about the importance of using this concept to counter the afflicted acts or thoughts that keep us in an endless cycle of suffering. The <i>klesas </i>or afflictions are <i>avidya</i>, ignorance, followed by <i>asmita</i>, egoism, <i>raga</i>, attachment, <i>devesa</i>, aversion and <i>abhinivesa</i>, clinging to life.<i> </i>I focused mainly on <i>raga</i> or attachment.<br />
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In an effort to deepen our understanding of how to use this new counteracting tool, lets look at its application in <i>prānāyāma - </i>regulating the breath. BKS Iyengar, in <span style="color: #999999;"><b style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Astadala-yogamala-Collected-works-1/dp/8177640461/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424722905&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=astadala+yogamal">Aṣṭadaḷa Yogamālā, Vol. 1</a></b> </span>goes into great detail about witnessing the breath and noticing how we breathe without the interference of other thoughts. However, he says to do that we have to first establish silence. In the same breath, he explains that "breath stimulates and creates thoughts in the brain."<br />
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Do you notice we have two opposing things going on here? How can we find silence to breathe if breathing stimulates noise in our head? But that's life isn't it? Life is full of opposites. There's positive and negative, hot and cold, happiness and sadness, laughter and anger just to name a few. To cultivate silence in our head, we have to remember the Sutra <i>Tivrasamveganam Asannah</i> that Iyengar translates as, "The goal is near for those who are supremely vigorous and intense in practice."<br />
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We have to practice quieting the brain while witnessing the in-breath, the out-breath and the natural retention. If we don't discipline the brain to be quiet, it will suck all of our attention away. In my last blog, I describe a tornado of spiraling thoughts. To avoid thoughts from spiraling, the student "[...] has to learn to develop the sovereignty of intelligence and sobriety of brain so that the brain remains as a witness and not an actor. This is called <i>pratipakṣa bhāvanā."</i><br />
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Once we find silence, we can begin to experience the wonders of our internal world. We can discover the origin of the in-breath. We can follow the breath and notice how one nostril or lung seems to engage in the process more than the other side. If the left side is active or <i>pakṣa </i>the other side is the opposite or <i>pratipakṣa bhāvanā. </i><br />
<i><br /></i> This week at <a href="http://www.stillyoga.com/"><span style="color: #999999;">Stillwater Yoga</span></a>, we will be working on <i>prānāyāma. </i>Kathleen Pringle often asks us to notice the two opposing sides of the body as we breathe. We can strengthen the breath by bringing attention to the inactive side, which helps to balance our awareness of our breath. This is also a form of <i>pratipakṣa bhāvanā." </i><br />
<i><br /></i> Using the breath is also a good way to calm ourselves down when we are suffering deeply from any one of the five afflictions or <i>klesas, </i>which BKS Iyengar describes as 1. Nescience 2. Egoism 3. Attachment to lust or greed 4. Aversion, hatred or malice; and 5. Selfishness or fear of losing the joys of life. The breath enables us to step away from those negative sensations. Instead of painful noise, we cultivate silence and breath.<br />
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We build strength one breath at a time, moment by moment, countering debilitating thoughts or feelings first with the breath. We create space, silence and awareness of our internal world. It brings us closer to our true self. It gives us an ability to gain clarity --to think and act in a more positive way than ever before. I encourage you to learn about how the breath can help you develop a habit of <i>pratipakṣa bhāvanā. </i>It can become a strong force to fight the pains in our heart and head that keep us bound in suffering.<br />
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Namaste.</div>
rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-34026422097133765632015-02-21T16:23:00.000-08:002015-02-21T18:29:05.448-08:00Cultivating freedom from suffering through Pratikpaksa Bhavana<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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- BKS Iyengar, <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Astadala-yogamala-Collected-works-1/dp/8177640461/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424564306&sr=1-1&keywords=Astadala+Yogamala">Astadala Yogamala</a></b>, Vol.1</div>
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According to Yoga Philosophy, there are five <i>klesas</i> or afflictions that cause suffering that is either seen or unseen. First is <i>avidya</i>, ignorance, followed by <i>asmita</i>, egoism, <i>raga</i>, attachment, <i>devesa</i>, aversion and <i>abhinivesa</i>, clinging to life. BKS Iyengar states the afflictions as 1. nescience 2. egoism 3.attachment to lust or greed 4. aversion, hatred or malice; and 5. selfishness or fear of losing the joys of life.</div>
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I am going to focus on the third affliction <i>Raga</i> or attachment. It's all about what we want to have or hold. It's about desire or expectation and the afflicted thinking that results. According to Patanjali's Yoga Sutra 2.33 <i>Vitarkabadhane pratipaksa bhavanam</i>, when we have what BKS Iyengar describes as an "arousal of thoughts" or <i>Vitarka Badhane,</i> we have to <i>Pratipaksa Bhavanam</i>. We have to counter that brain activity by contemplating what the heck is going on in there and doing the opposite.</div>
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Oscillating ruminations from lusting after or afraid of losing something or someone, expecting a raise to just being attached to a particular outcome in your yoga practice all cause endless suffering. They can only be countered by stepping away and getting a different perspective. As systematically stated in Patanjali's next Sutra 2.34.<i> Vitarka Himsadayah Krta Daritanumodita Lobha Drodha Moha Purvaka Mrdu Madhyadhimatra Duhkhajnanananta Phala Iti Pratipaksa Bhavanam</i>. Iyengar explains this as "Pain are of three degrees - mild, medium and intense, caused by three types of behavior - direct indulgence, provoked and abetted. They are motivated by greed, anger, and delusion, and they have to be countered and corrected with right knowledge and behavior."</div>
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Jaganath Carrera's <i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Yoga-Sutras-Comprehensive-Sourcebook/dp/0932040578">Inside the Yoga Sutras: A Comprehensive Sourcebook for the Study & Practice of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras</a></b></i> explains that the path of yoga isn't for "passive bystanders on the sidelines of life." If we are striving to be free from the destructive tendencies (read afflictions) of the human condition to gain any semblance of a state of peace and tranquility, then we have to work hard to counter our 'unbridled' thoughts. </div>
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Destructive thinking can become like an endless tornado. It spirals downward and takes us and everything else in its path with it. Therefore, we must understand the imperative to stop it. To stop it, we must make a habit of <i>Pratipaksa Bhavanam</i>, cultivate the opposite of harmful or destructive thinking. </div>
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It's mentioned twice in Patanjali's pithy 196 sutras. Perhaps that's because it plays an important role in the what he deems the ultimate goal of Yoga:<i> Citta Vrtti Nirodha</i>, the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. BKS Iyengar describes as "the cessation of all forms of thinking, whether internal or external, that sprout with or without volition." </div>
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Our thoughts have the power to create or destroy. We want to counter negative thinking with positive thoughts. Ultimately, we don't want to allow a tornado of thoughts to begin at all so we can be free of them and create peace. First, we have to be a witness to our thoughts and actions. We have to begin to recognize how they are affecting us and those around us. From there, we can begin to cultivate right thoughts and actions. Yes, it's a lot easier said than done. But my teachers and mentors continue to stress Sutra 2.21 <i>Tivrasamveganam Asannah</i>, which Iyengar translates as, "The goal is near for those who are supremely vigorous and intense in practice."</div>
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I may be an idealist, but I believe we can change. However, I'm smart enough to know change takes a lot of effort. Oddly enough, most of us will avoid that effort and choose to endure unbelievable amounts of suffering instead. Some of us don't see the problem has anything to do with us (it's something or someone out there causing all my suffering). Transformation can't happen without first acknowledging our thoughts and actions have something to do with it.</div>
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Chip Hartranft in his book <i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Sutra-Patanjali-New-Translation-Commentary-ebook/dp/B007ZE7WNM/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424564251&sr=1-2&keywords=The+Yoga-Sutra+of+Patanjali%2C+A+New+Translation+and+Commentary">The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, A New Translation and Commentary</a></b></i> says we've all developed bad habits in our thoughts and actions that we cling to because they are what seem to define us somehow. Therefore, we need a systematic way to purify our thoughts so that we can be free from suffering. He says, "The central human wisdom Patanjali teaches us, is that a pure awareness resides, impervious, at the core of each and every kind of sensation, thought, and feeling, whether we see it (vidya) or not (avidya). And the route to knowing this wisdom fully is yoga." I just wonder how much suffering do we all have to endure and cause others before we recognize it and decide it's time to learn how to stop it?</div>
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15642582.post-57367193908577145792015-02-17T07:10:00.004-08:002015-02-17T07:10:40.345-08:00Getting to the heart of language and intent: Valentine's Weekend Iyengar Teacher Training with Kathleen Pringle <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Lewis Carroll's <i>Alice in Wonderland </i>character the March Hare inspired the ubiquitously quotable line 'Say what you mean and mean what your say'. Of course, how often do we say what we mean? We usually discover if we did or didn't by the outcome, right? Did you get the action or reaction that you wanted?<br />
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Language is a powerful tool; however, it can become a heavy and superfluous appendage to inter-relational effort when used carelessly. Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training is not like any other kind of education. I recommend it for reasons that go far beyond a desire to teach yoga. Learning discrimination and refinement in our speech is an invaluable skill, and it's an enormous part of Iyengar Teacher Training. BKS Iyengar set up a system of teaching the mind and body through the science of yoga that is designed to work on us synchronistically from the outside inward.<br />
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"Yoga releases the creative potential of Life. It does this by establishing a structure for self realization [...]. The Light that yoga sheds on Life is something special. It is transformative. It does not just change the way we see things; it transforms the person who sees. It brings knowledge and elevates it to wisdom." --BKS Iyengar, <i>Light on Life</i></blockquote>
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Kathleen Pringle has helped transform innumerable Iyengar students into more self-realized individuals and certified teachers. The Valentine's Weekend Teacher Training paired introductory level teachers with junior level teachers. What is so unusual about this particular pairing is an innate sense of respect for each other and openness to learning. Iyengar Teacher Certification involves a lot of training, even Introductory Level teachers usually have a solid number of them under their belt, and they still may not be Certified Iyengar teachers. Junior Level teachers are veteran learners. They always come with a beginner's mind. In this atmosphere, there is a comfort level that allows organic exposure of what needs attention. While the training involved lessons on a myriad of details in teaching and questions on syllabi covering a total of over 90 poses, Kathleen often brought it back to our words.<br />
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'Do your words follow your intent? The idea came up not only with our teaching, where we would use confusing words to solicit an action, but also in our general questions. When someone articulated a question, it would seem clear at first what was being asked; however, Kathleen helped us understand how it could be interpreted in various ways. While it could be just "a matter of semantics," it's important to see how the subtle differences in language can create confusion. The amazing caliber of learners in our group allowed the possible interpretations to be aired freely. The more I listened to the banter the more I learned about the imperative for clarity.<br />
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Having the opportunity to take classes and train with Kathleen on a regular basis, I have slowly begun to develop an ear for the care she takes with her words. She has studied the words of BKS and his daughter, Geeta intently. She knows words are not thrown around lightly in Iyengar Yoga. They are carefully said or written to bring Light. Every word matters. When the words change, there's a reason. Developing a refined sense of what we want to say is a constant challenge. However, discrimination and wisdom with our words keep teachers from becoming white noise in the heads of our students.<br />
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Interestingly, I experienced something like this firsthand today, albeit in reverse. I had to finish some copy for a project and a woman who is renting a room in my house temporarily stayed home. Her job involves calling film production people, and though she worked in her room with the door closed, her voice carried. I found it impossible to work, so I had to leave and go to a coffee shop. It struck me how I could work undisturbed in such a crowded place. I texted Rusty Cobb, a music producer who works with sound regularly, and I asked him how I could write at Aurora Coffee with all the noise and not at home with one voice talking? He said, "It's all about clarity." Unbeknownst to my roommate (who is wonderful, by the way) her singular voice resonated clearly throughout the house.<br />
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Clarity gets our attention. Kathleen said in an earlier training that clarity can also come through the quality of our voice. Our tone plays a large role as well. The dynamics of the voice can become like a prop to our students to encourage, motivate, and keep them safe. In teacher training, Kathleen also made a point that to be clear doesn't always mean we have to use words. There is power in silence. When we demonstrate observable actions without words, it becomes another language (think sign language), and the eyes, not the ears form the impression.<br />
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Patanjali, credited for codifying the art, science, and philosophy of yoga through his 196 Sutras or aphorisms also wrote a commentary on the importance of purifying our speech and grammar. The American Sanskrit Institute says on their website, "Patanjali so perfectly captured the essence of yoga in his Sūtras that there is virtually no difference between theory and practice. The text is the practice."<br />
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Yoga develops the discrimination and wisdom that brings about lucidity in our thoughts and gives us more precision in our words. Iyengar Yoga offers a systematic way for that evolution to happen. Refining our speech is what will create the educational system, the neighborhood, the community, the business, the government, the city, the state, the world --the life we want.<br />
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In my opinion, it's a skill worth learning.<br />
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Namaste.<br />
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A big thank you to Kathleen Pringle for her time and insights. The tips on teaching inversions are invaluable. I'd also like to thank Nancy Mau for coming in on her anniversary and demonstrating exemplary teaching under our curious microscope. Finally, I want thank my training peers, who will always and forever be my teachers, too.<br />
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*Source: <i>Yoga Sutras, The Practice</i> by Vyaas Houston, M.A.<br />
http://www.americansanskrit.com/yoga-sutra-article<br />
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rhondageracihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00259762075824431021noreply@blogger.com0