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Adventures in Mysore India, Alignment and Injuries, Ashtanga Adaptability, Conference Notes, Teaching Ashtanga, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
The Lesson, Not the Event
“By this time I had learned that it was more fruitful to pay attention to the lessons rather than to events themselves.”- Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, At The Eleventh Hour We all come into this practice carrying the results of our life and DNA in our bodies. In Mysore, Sharath would joke, “Don’t get mad at me because you are stiff. Get mad at your parents!” Last week, a student said, “I have been doing hip openers for a couple years now and my hips are still not open.” I said, “Sometimes, it is not possible to undo 40 years in a few years of practice, if at all”. Working…
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Adventures in Mysore India, Ashtanga Adaptability, Conference Notes, Uncategorized, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
Fidgeting on the Mat: Ill Fitting Yoga Clothes or Road to Enlightenment?
‘There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.’” Albert Einstein…maybe These days, everyone wants to be their own Guru. Being your own Guru can be much harder than finding a human one. With a human one, you just do what they say. Done. When you are your own Guru, to get to the essence of who you are, you have to weed through years of suffering, pain,memories, and knowledge. I guess it is possible to have instant enlightenment. I would take a guess though, that if it does happen, it is super rare.…
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Adventures in Mysore India, Conference Notes, Teaching Ashtanga, Uncategorized, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
Yoga Sutras For Modern Day Life: Why Are We Here?
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2:18– The objects of experience are made up of light, action, inertia, the elements and the sense organs. The universe exists for the purpose of experience and liberation. Defining the Sutra This Sutra tells us why we are here. All the components of the Universe came together so that we can experience life in this time space continuum and be liberated. Modern Day Application Contrast and the illusion of separation allows us to fully experience the world. We cannot fully know dark without light, sour without sweet, and hot without cold. In a state of oneness, there is bliss but there is also no contrast. We came out…
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Adventures in Mysore India, Ashtanga Adaptability, Ashtanga Quotes, Conference Notes, Teaching Ashtanga, Uncategorized, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
Yoga Sutras For Modern Day Life: Is It True that We are All One?
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2:17: The cause of that avoidable pain is the union of the seer (Purusha) and seen (Prakrati). Defining the Sutra When you start to go down the rabbit hole of yogic philosophy and spirituality, you start to discover paradoxes. Statements and ideas that are seemingly contradictory but really are not. This is one of the reasons why Gurus and teachers advise us to stick to one teacher or method. We can get to the same conclusion in more then one way but we usually get there quicker if we use one method. When most people fly, they usually look for a direct flight with no stops.…
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A.P.P Goes To Mysore: Ashtanga Yoga Pre Social Media
Sharath told us that he was glad that he started practicing Yoga before Social Media because he could concentrate on his practice. I started practicing before Social Media as well and there are definitely some differences pre and post Social Media. These are some of the things I feel have shifted in the Ashtanga world post social media. I would also love to hear what you feel has changed. The Pose that Everybody Wants When I first started Ashtanga, the skill that everyone wanted to know was how to Jump Back and Jump Through. Whenever anyone did a workshop, there was usually a segment on it. I am not talking about…
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Adventures in Mysore India, Alignment and Injuries, Ashtanga Adaptability, Ashtanga Quotes, Conference Notes, Pose How To, Teaching Ashtanga, Uncategorized
A.P.P Goes To Mysore: Mysore Backbending aka Catching
Urdhva Dhanurasana is important at Sharath’s shala. Sharath says that catching keeps the spine from getting hunched in old age, opens Granthis, which are energetic knots in the body, and it raises the Kundalini. The Granthis keep Kundalini from rising. As Kundalini rises, awareness rises. For many, it is the only pose that you ever get assisted on. “Catching” or grabbing the backs of the legs during backbending is something that almost everyone works on. Even if you don’t “catch” someone will help you walk in as far as you can as if you were going to catch. It is rare for someone to not have to attempt to catch. For most in the Shala,…
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Adventures in Mysore India, Conference Notes, Food, Teaching Ashtanga, Uncategorized, Yoga Philosophy
A.P.P Goes to Mysore: Alcohol in Mysore
If you like to get your drank on, you will not find it easily. I have seen alcohol at 3 places. The airport (like 3 hours away), Big Bazaar Grocery Store (about 20 minutes away) and at the Green Hotel. I have not seen anything within walking distance. There may be more but they are not a part of the usual Mysore student shopping and restaurant circuit located around the Shala. There is a temple or Yoga school on every corner, but liquor stores….not so much. Ashtanga and Alcohol don’t really go hand and hand. In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a yogic text that we study at KPJAYI, Chapter 1 vs 59 places alcohol on…
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A.P. P Goes to Mysore: Everything is Energy. Energy is God
Everything is energy. Energy is God-Sharath Jois This is probably no surprise to those of you that have been following my blog over the last month but I went through a very brief (thank goodness) period of confusion. I had stopped listening to the still voice within. The ego is an amazing story teller and I had begun to listen to its harrowing tales. Many teachers say, if you really want to see if you have overcome your ego, go spend time with your relatives! Well, I am used to my family so that wasn’t much of a trigger. Coming to Mysore was a huge trigger. I often share these…
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Adventures in Mysore India, Alignment and Injuries, Ashtanga Adaptability, Ashtanga Quotes, Conference Notes, Uncategorized, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
Tough Yoga Practices: When Doubt Touches the Heart
Can you remember a time in your life when you thought you would never get over something, but you did? Do you remember an injury that you thought would never heal but it did? Do you remember feeling like you would never be comfortable in a certain asana but now you are? It is funny that even though we know intellectually that, this too shall pass, we still get caught. For me, the slow falling away of who I thought I was, is in direct contradiction to who I think I am in the moment. The reality is that none of the images are true. The presence inside of me…
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Adventures in Mysore India, Alignment and Injuries, Ashtanga Adaptability, Ashtanga Quotes, Conference Notes, Gita, Teaching Ashtanga, Uncategorized, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
Yoga Sutras for Modern Day Life: Insidious
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2:5: Avidya (Ignorance) is seeing the impermanent as permanent, the impure as pure, the painful as pleasant and the non Self as the self. Defining the Sutra: It is important to note that Patanjali is speaking about a certain type of ignorance. Normally, ignorance is defined as not knowing or even ignoring what you know. Avidya is a deeper more insidious type of ignorance. Avidya is when you believe something to be true and you have no clue that it is not. Avidya is when a child is terrified of the monster under the bed. Avidya is when a person believes that all Black people are bad. Avidya is when…
