Ashtanga yoga practice, sick and you

Should you practice if you are sick?
If you have a fever, rest.
If you feel contagious and/or are really gross or think you'll be disruptive, practice at home.

What is it?
Do you have a cold or the flu?
Q and A at the CDC

Help prevent others from getting sick
How flu spreads at the CDC

What to do if you feel sick

• Tips at the CDC

• Gargle salt water throughout the day

• Perform jala neti

• Avoid sugar and dairy

• Take acidophilus if you are on antibiotics

How to help prevent illness

• Perform jala neti

• Avoid sugar and dairy

• Wash your hands and don't touch your mouth...
  

• Sleep well and practice regularly
  

• Stay regular/eat smart: Everyone says it is hard to stay on point and take care of ourselves over the holidays, but really, there is always stress in our daily lives and there will always be an excuse not to do the right thing. It is way cooler to be healthy and able to hangout than to be sick and full of snot in bed. Eat to fuel your body, your practice, your work, and your digestive system. Poop everyday!

• Dress properly: Whether on bike, foot, or train, our outerwear is the equivalent of our cars and worth the investment.
  
  

Allergies, practice, and you

Holiday Schedule

Dec 21 (Tuesday)
Moon day
No class

Dec 22 (Wednesday) - 28 (Tuesday)
No classes

Ashtanga Yoga Demonstration

From the 2010 Dasara Festival. KPJAYI students (including Elise) demonstrating Ashtanga yoga asanas.

Primary Series at the Mysore Palace: Bhujapidasana, Kurmasana, Supta Kurmasana





Intermediate Series at the JSS Hospital: Ustrasana, Laghu Vajrasana, Kapotasana, Pincha Mayurasana, Mayurasana

Conference with R Sharath Rangaswamy

Dharma Talk with Richard Freeman

"Ganesh’s Secret: The Obstacles to Yoga"

http://www.yjevents.com/audio/ep10_richard_freeman.mp3

Ashtanga Yoga Retreat with Elise & Mary

Ashtanga Yoga Retreat
with Elise Espat and Mary Flinn
January 28-30, 2011
Ananda Ashram, Monroe, New York
More information
Register online

Join us for a full weekend immersion filled with yoga practice and more, inspired by the rich experience of studying at the source in Mysore, India. Nestled in the tranquility of nature, the Ananda Ashram is the ideal setting for contemplation and rejuvenation for the year ahead. This weekend is open to all students of yoga from complete beginner to advanced practitioner.

Elise Espat is one of the few teachers worldwide to have received Level 2 Authorization, enabling her to teach both the primary and intermediate series of Ashtanga yoga. She is honored to have practiced with the late Shri K. Pattabhi Jois and is a direct student of R. Sharath Jois at the KPJ Ashtanga Yoga Institute in India. Elise leads the Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn daily Mysore program in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Mary Flinn has been teaching yoga for over 15 years and has directed several yoga centers in NYC. Her daily practice has been Ashtanga yoga since 1997 and she has been blessed by the late Shri K. Pattabhi Jois and his grandson R. Sharath Jois to teach the first and second series of Ashtanga yoga. She has studied yoga philosophy with the scholars at the Ananda Ashram for many years. Mary teaches in Philadelphia at Mount Airy Yoga.

Sign up now

cosmic dancer

this is what 5am looks like

Online Store

Resource and product recommendations in one place. If we don't offer them here or here definitely shop online at the Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn Amazon store.

Ashtanga from the source: Traditional Method

From the KPJAYI:

All students commence their instruction in the same manner in which on the first day of class they are taught Surya Namaskar A, followed by Padmasana and deep breathing, and a few minutes of rest to conclude their first day of practice. The next day after Surya Namaskar A has been performed, Surya Namaskar B is taught, and one then again concludes in the same method as the previous day, with Padmasana, deep breathing, and rest. After both of the Surya Namaskar have been learned correctly, each of the various asanas are added one by one. When one asana is correct, the next one is taught. Depending on the age and ability of the student, it can take anywhere upwards of 3 months to learn the primary series.

Continue reading at the KPJAYI website by clicking here

Moon Day + Thanksgiving Weekend

Next Moon Day: Sunday, November 21

Thursday, November 25th: 8-9:30am Led replaces Mysore (sign up here)
Friday, November 26th: No class
Sunday, November 28th: Regular schedule

Thursday, December 2: New led class Tue/Thurs 3:30pm at 112 North 6th.

Led Primary Series at Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn/ Go Yoga

Ashtanga ~ Led Class
Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:30-5pm starting December 2nd

The primary series of Ashtanga yoga taught in the traditional method of Mysore, India by Shri K. Pattabhi Jois. Students will be led through Yoga Chikitsa (Yoga Therapy) to the rhythm of the vinyasas counted in Sanskrit. There are no classes on new or full moons (moon days).

No class on Dec 21 (Tue), Dec 23 (Thur), Dec 28 (Tue), Jan 4 (Tue), May 3 & 17 (Tue)

Location:
112 North 6th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Sign Up: Unlike the AYB Mysore program, please contact Go Yoga to register online or in person. Drop ins welcome.

Shala Chanting: Ādityahṛdayam आदित्यहृदयम्,

About (includes transliteration, devanagari, and English translation)

Mysore Goes 6-Days

Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn now offers a 6-day per week traditional Mysore program.
Monday - Friday 6:45am - 9:30am
Sundays 8am - 9:30am

Closed Saturdays and full/new moon days.

We are so lucky

That is all I can think. As I jump onto a non-hard as a brick bed: I am so lucky. As I accidentally open my mouth in the shower, drink water from the tap, drink from a cup of water in the dark without fear of ants, stare into the abundance and variety of foods in the fridge... I am so lucky.

There are a lot of people in New York, but I don't see them like I feel I did sometimes in India. It is probably the weather. Too hot in India and everyone disappears. Too cold in New York and the same thing happens.

This is one of my favorite times of year in New York. It has a smell that has a feeling. Bouquets of pencils. Scarves. Holidays. Pumpkins and changing leaves. I love it.

I am in shock over how quickly I went from 100% everything India to 100% being here. Like being thrown from one bucket of water into another. In the plane I thought about Louis CK. "I'm flying in the sky like a bird...I'm sitting in a chair in the sky." And how this sort of trip used to take years. Even a few years ago it took more than one stop. More than a couple of days...



So lucky!

Cosmic Dancer

Sita Sings the Blues

November 5th marks the festival of lights aka Diwali. Jains, Sikhs, and Hindus share the holiday, with Hindus celebrating several important events including those from the Ramayana. Below is an animated retelling of the epic.

Sanskrit Alphabet

Pronunciation guide pdf

Vowels


Consonants

Ashtanga Yoga Opening Prayer

वन्दे गुरूणां चरणारविन्दे
सन्दर्शित स्वात्म सुखाव बोधे ।

निःश्रेयसे जङ्गलिकायमाने
संसार हालाहल मोहशांत्यै ॥

आबाहु पुरुषाकारं
शंखचक्रासि धारिणम् ।

सहस्र शिरसं श्वेतं
प्रणमामि पतञ्जलिम् ॥

vande gurūṇāṁ caraṇāravinde
sandarśita svātma sukhāva bodhe |

niḥ śreyase jaṅgalikāyamāne
saṁsāra hālāhala mohaśāṁtyai ||

ābāhu puruṣākāraṁ
śaṁkhacakrāsi dhāriṇam |

sahasra śirasaṁ śvetaṁ
praṇamāmi patañjalim ||

I bow to the lotus feet of the Gurus
The awakening happiness of one's own Self revealed,
Beyond better, acting like the Jungle physician,
Pacifying delusion, the poison of Samsara.

Taking the form of a man to the shoulders,
Holding a conch, a discus, and a sword,
One thousand heads white,
To Patanjali, I salute.

From the KPJAYI website.
Listen to Sri K. Pattabhi Jois chant the opening mantra.
Read the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali online or get a translation.

Where to Buy

Currently AYB offers cotton Mysore rugs, mat bags, and books by request (learn more here). What AYB doesn't supply, I'll definitely will help you find. I'll only recommend what I know works, is of quality, and ethically produced. If I'm not certain of any of these, I'll say so. I try my best to stay current with what is available and what is out there, however, it is impossible to be on it all the time, so, if you have thoughts, suggestions, or updates, your feedback is welcome. Lastly, because we are a Brooklyn-based program, my suggestions are as local as possible. Support small businesses! If you prefer to shop online, check out the AYB Amazon Store.

-Elise


Yoga Mats
How to choose a yoga mat (click here)
Go Yoga: Harmony Mats and Manduka Mats, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Kula Yoga Project Manduka Williamsburg, Brooklyn (more in Manhattan)
Greenhouse Holistic: Harmony Mats Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Lululemon (see below) Manduka
Om Harmony & Prana

Yoga Rugs
Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Kula Yoga Project Yogitoes Williamsburg, Brooklyn (more in Manhattan)

Yoga Mat Bags
Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn
Go Yoga

Yoga Clothes
Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York (Malaika Padma Pune Chic Yoga Shorts) Chelsea, Manhattan
Yoga Works (Hard Tail leggings, pants, and shorts) Manhattan
Pure (Tanya-B pants) Upper West/East
Online/find a store (Shining Shakti pants)
Kula Yoga Project Hyde pants (men) and tops/pants (women) Williamsburg, Brooklyn (more in Manhattan)
American Apparel (Leggings--though they wear out quick & t-shirts) Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Jivamukti (organic tops and bottoms for women, some items for men, prancing leopard, inner waves) Union Square
Om Union Square (women)
Yoga Sutra Midtown
Laughing Lotus Midtown
Lululemon Union Square and Brooklyn (men/women)



Books
Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn
Go Yoga
Barnes and Noble
Yoga Sutra
The Strand
Yoga Works
Jivamukti

Sita Sings the Blues

Diwali is rolling in fast. For Hindus, it celebrates a moment in the Ramayana...

I won't spoil it.






watch movie

2011 Ashtanga Yoga Moon Days

A list of full and new moon days for 2011. Ashtanga practitioners take this time off for rest. Find out why by clicking here.

January 4th, Tuesday, New Moon
January 19th, Wednesday, Full Moon

February 2nd, Wednesday, New Moon
February 18th, Friday, Full Moon

March 4th, Friday, New Moon
March 19th,Saturday, Full Moon

April 3rd, Sunday, New Moon
April 18th, Monday, Full Moon

May 3rd, Tuesday , New Moon
May 17th, Tuesday, Full Moon

June 1st, Wednesday, New Moon
June 15th, Wednesday , Full Moon

July 1st, Friday, New Moon
July 15th, Friday, Full Moon
July 30th, Saturday, New Moon

August 13th, Saturday, Full Moon
August 29th, Monday, New Moon

September 13th, Monday, Full Moon
September 27th, Tuesday, New Moon

October 12th , Wednesday,Full Moon
October 26th, Wednesday , New Moon

November 10th, Thursday, Full Moon
November 25th, Friday , New Moon

December 10th, Saturday, Full Moon
December 24th, Saturday New Moon

timeanddate.com

Ashtanga Yoga Gear

Cotton Mysore practice rugs
Why you should rug it

Yoga mat bags

Yoga Mala book

Yoga Sutras

Bhagavad Gita

email info@ashtangayogabrooklyn.com

Girls Rock

9 days of pure female power. Mysore is in the mist of Navratri (nava- 9, ratri- nights) aka the world famous Dasara Festival.

You can read more about the tradition here
Today is a shout out to Saraswati

There are many different cultural events taking place including some yoga demos.






Word has it that there will be more tomorrow...

Monday (Columbus Day)

No class on Monday, October 11 (Columbus Day).

Fall schedule

The Imagination of Ourselves

Quote of the Day

Never complain
Never explain
Just be it.

-Matthew Rolston

Change Your Mind

Probably the hardest thing to do. Sometimes it isn't a reaction to events that is governing one's emotions. Sometimes, it is the chemicals in one's brain gone haywire. Quick fix: realize/reinforce one's life as a musical. Trick the brain to peace by creating an event that moves things in a "positive" direction...

Moon Day Theory #5 {Dena Kingsberg}

Next Moon Day: Thursday, September 23, 2010.

From Dena Kingsberg:

"Both full and new moon days are observed as yoga holidays in the Ashtanga Yoga tradition.

What is the reasoning behind this?

Like all things of a watery nature (human beings are about 70% water), we are affected by the phases of the moon. The phases of the moon are determined by the moon's relative position to the sun. Full moons occur when they are in opposition and new moons when they are in conjunction. Both sun and moon exert a gravitational pull on the earth." read on

See all 2010 moon days

Irie Ites

-Monday, India

With no intermediate series, the old hard stuff in primary gets amplified. All the extra energy gets processed in the brain and it is just too much to handle. Upside down in sirsasana (headstand) the dialogue is a lot of:

God god god god
I'm upside down, maybe I'll just fall back no
god god god prana prana breathe breathe
This is completely unnatural I'm upside down and finished time to fall over no
Light prana prana breath inhale 1 2 3 4 5

Baddha padmasana/yoga mudra:
breathing and god-thinking punctuated with here comes uthplutih it is coming and it will be hard

Padmasana:
Channel energy channel energy stay light stay light

Utpluthih:
I'm up breathe breathe breathe
Wwwwwwwooonnnnne...
One? Only one? I go to reciting the Yoga Sutras in my head and I get to eight. Eight. Eight. Eight. Eight. Eight. Like a record skipping. I can't remember what comes next. It starts and gets caught and repeats and I'm stuck on it just like I'm stuck in the air and Sharath is only on five maybe and the record keeps skipping skipping skipping. How long can I just let it skip? Until ten.

It makes me think of how in our bodies, many things change throughout our lives. Our hair color, skin color and texture. Our organs, our bones, our weight, our digestion, our thought process, etc. What is constant? Breathing. The quality may shift, but still as the body transforms each second, the breathe still goes in and then goes out again. So in practice, do I attach/pay attention to the experience of my muscles burning, of my mind freaking out? Or, do I tune into the breathing because even when the muscles aren't burning the breath will still be there? At first I think it is easier to tune into whatever is loudest, but maybe it is a helpful thing to attempt stepping back a bit and listening for the most important thing instead. As I pop up into the next thing after utpluthih and my breathing quickly stabilizes, I realize that actually the freak out is not permanent, not even really that real. It didn't do any permanent life-threatening or debilitating damage. The breath on the other hand was something else entirely. Maybe like a glimpse into infinite potential or something. I try to remember this.

-India, Sunday

Princess of Power

Last night I dreamt of sanskrit letters covered with ants to the soundtrack of a dog barking. That pretty much sums it up.

As much as I would love to not be trite, I suppose it is for good reason. India has a way of pushing you, testing you, taking you to the edge and challenging you to see what you will do. Who are you, really?

Example: You're actually looking forward to some aspect of practice? Okay, well, you don't get to do it until next week. You want to save money/be nice and make breakfast for friends and have picked out a specific menu? Well, no spinach today. Maybe 4pm, you come back. You want your toothbrush to be safe from flying e. coli? You're willing to be chill about everything else in your personal space and cover the toothbrush so you don't have to say anything? It will for sure get knocked innocently onto the wet bathroom floor by your wide-eyed friend. You want a scooter so you can save money and have independence and the wild rush of wind in your hair? You can get one but it will stall every time you take your hand off the gas. And it will be covered in ants. You want a grape juice so you can leave all the little stuff behind you because it isn't really a big deal? Sorry, Madam, no grape juice today.

As the heat begins to rise, as you get ready to throw over the table, as you get ready to rip at your hair and howl, you take a little breath or something equally hippie-new age, you know, think of God and all that, and it is okay you order watermelon juice. Dude brings you a local paper where the front page headline reads "I don't make akki roti anymore". "My God!" you yelp. Why wouldn't she make akki roti anymore? Very tragic. Akki roti is super good.

What female superhero are you?
There's a quiz for that, of course.

-Saturday, India

Power of music

After serious considerations on animal cruelty (dog barking all night was totally mean) and dreams of nightmarishly soggy pincha mayurasana (I haven't practiced second since NY) I need a serious pick-me-up this morning. I brewed some crazy strong coffee (while standing in puddles of water) and turned some music on. I think it works.



To be fair, I also listened to Jayashree and practiced my chanting for God thinking. But sometimes God is in the excitement too.

-India, Friday

Bringing in the sun

ah aaaah ee eeeeeh ooh oooooh
short long short long short long
Super strong coffee begins to pump through my veins, sanskrit vowels loop in my brain, wild neon yoga pants on legs, it is 4am, 4:15am shala time and I'm off to practice. Today is my last day of Mysore primary-- chikitsalicious!

-Wednesday, India

Grrrape Juice

It isn't easy to make a fantastic grape juice and when it's right, it is really right. I remember the grape juices at Veg Park as bigger, but the tall glass they served was enough. The blue straw floats in a purple mush with lighter foamy areas that quickly separate and float to the top with the translucent purple (I hope it isn't tap) water/juice at the bottom. Stirred or not, each sip is a sweet and fruity delight. I tell myself it isn't loaded with sugar, but I know it is and just enjoy. It is easy to gulp it down in three long draws, but I hold myself back between handfuls of Veg Park's delightful South India Thali (a large metal plate with lots of different foods, savory and sweet, to mix and match as you see fit). When I find myself slurping at the foamy bits at the bottom, I don't hesitate to order another.

I found this picture on the internet and yes, this is what the juice looks like when they first serve it and the glass is bigger!

-Monday, India

Surrendering to one's duty: ant killer

As the ant ranks swell around the doorjamb, my role becomes clear: I am Arjuna. Although the weight of all that death weighs heavy on my heart (I really like ants, they seem really smart and cute and have a really excellent work ethic), it is my duty to take care of the apartment and in the epic battle between man and beast, I must take a stand. I find a can of industrial mosquito mustard gas and hope to spray the animals out the door. My attempt at humane crowd control fails and the little creatures scatter. I chase them around the apartment alternating between sickening swats and noxious sprays. The event was clearly in the direction of death and destruction and I had no choice but to kill them all lest the survivors reorganize and plan a counter attack while I sleep. I'm haunted by the idea of opening my eyes to an army of ants staring at me from a pillow or carrying me away to their secret lair where they can charge me with crimes against humanity.

After the last spray was sprayed and ant smooshed, I turned out the light and pulled the covers wondering if that will be the last of that. I know deep down that it isn't. The following morning, I crouch around the apartment scraping up ant corpses to take to the mass grave in the kitchen. Horrible, just horrible. But I am Arjuna and this is my duty and I'm doing it. As Deletion says, I don't know God's plans, death is a part of life, and maybe it was their time to be born into a higher state.

-Saturday, India

Same Same but Different

-Friday, India

1-x-1 fluvir red and yellow
1-1-1 paracetemol white
1-x-1 cluvid? white
1-x-1 antiseptic rinse blue
1-1-1-1 cough syrup green and tasty
Deletion is sitting across the table and I see lips moving and I hear words flowing but the dubbing is way off. My lips are tingling and my feet and toes are creeping further and further away from my torso.
me: I have to lie down
deletion: Yeah, I could use a nap
Without feet fully touching the ground I'm on the bed. My eyes are closed, I'm asleep, they are open, I am awake. I'm going to puke. Organs cold and twisting. Kick the sheets, roll to the side, back, belly. Tingly face- no, forehead...melting off. Pills exploding in torso melting face.





This is after the hospital and on the road to recovery. This is enough to scare anyone off pharmaceuticals for life. Exactly four hours later, awake and oblivious to the horribly psychedelic events that transpired, I feel fine. Raspy, slightly dazed, but generally okay. A completely different kind of sick.

-Tuesday Morning, India

Fever

Fever = no practice. Fever since Saturday. Barely the will to stand. Little bursts of "energy" like writing these few lines which make me feel optimistic. Time for the hospital.

-Monday, India

In pictures

Arrival via Indica under the cover of darkness




View from the road




Road show







Even the trees are different







We arrive




Taking rest







room with a view




smell good/feel good






The fridge key. Best diet ever. Good for fasting and storing valuables.






Loot from the local "bed, bath, and beyond"












Sick evidence









Real fresh coconut water. Accept no alternative!



-Sunday, India

Moon Day Theory #4 {Karyn Grenfell}

Next Moon Day: Wednesday, September 8, 2010.

From Karyn Grenfell at Blue Lotus Ashtanga:

"Through practising Yoga we become aware of our own tendencies and the natural cycles that occur within and around us. Hopefully, over time we are able to function more harmoniously with ourselves and with the environment we live in.

Observing moon days connects us with the functioning of the universe and makes us aware of the effect the universal energy can have on us individually." read on

Home Sick

Waiting for our scooters it hit me--this isn't jet lag, I'm really feeling sick. I woke up with a little cough that continued with eye itching through our self practice sesh (we hadn't practiced since Wednesday, there is a moon day next week, and we were all just in the mood). I did have a little tiny fever and felt much better seated or reclined. Part of me thinks it is just a reaction to the travel and freaking out at my core without knowing it about being in this new environment. I'm sure missing Jesus amplifies this immensely. The cornerstone of my life, my mind has not computed what my body knows at the deepest level: 2 months is a long time and it hurts. My femurs are covered with paper mache ruffles that are expanding and contracting with the fluctuations of humidity in the air.

Since our arrival, we've eaten 2 sets of dosas. One was stand-up place and fluffy and delicious. The second I made at home for breakfast with a ready-made mix bought from the local store. I found a "rustic" black pan that seemed perfect, although probably it was meant for chapatis. I flicked water and it jumped and popped. I ladled ghee onto the surface, immediately igniting and I just stared at it. "Hey guys, have you ever seen ghee on fire?" We all looked for what seemed like a long time and the "Saviour" blew it out without hesitation and that was that. I poured on the mix, let it brown and then flipped. We all agreed they beat the stand-up place but none of us new why.

We registered for classes yesterday. Tomorrow 4:30am led primary class.

-India, Saturday

We arrived

9:24am. The smell of burning branches. Thick, warm, and refreshing air. Birds. That guy shouting something about the vegetable cart. Mysore.


-Friday, India

Mysore

The old shala, 1999.





Guruji was still back bending people on my first trip.




New shala. I guess they were washing the rugs. I wonder if the choo choo train rug will be there still.




Led intermediate at the new shala.










-Tuesday, New York

Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn Mysore / Led Class 2011 Schedule

No classes on Moon Days .

Classes are held at Go Yoga 112 North 6th Street (Between Berry and Wythe), Brooklyn, NY 11211

Subway L to Bedford Ave

Tuition is $100 for new students (first month).
Beginners are always welcome.
Current Mysore practitioners may drop in.


email: info@ashtangayogabrooklyn.com
more info: www.ashtangayogabrooklyn.com

Skirts, and Shoulders, and Knees -- Oh, My!

If the subcontinent wasn't already on the horizon, it certainly is now. After a brief and somewhat violent preview of the New York climate to come, things are back to normal (high 80s, that is) and I am suddenly reminded that I get one last chance to do what I feared I would not be able (on account of the recent scarfage) -- wear summer clothes in summer.

Explaining to my travel companion what one should pack for such a journey, we thumb through the busy clothing racks in Herald Square:

"How about this one?" I place the vibrant water blue garment with technicolor flowers in front of my torso.
"It looks like a muumuu."
"Perfect!"

For a few days more, the muumuu is just a muumuu, not my muumuu, as it very soon will be.

-Friday, New York

Where to shop: Food

Greenmarket
Saturdays, Union Ave between Driggs & N 12th Street
Fruit, veg, dairy, meat, flowers, bread, wine, and a clothing drive.

Tops on the Waterfront
89 N 6th St (between Bedford Ave & Berry St)
Good selection of organic and conventional produce, cheese, and excellent bulk section.

The Garden Food Market
921 Manhattan Ave (at Kent Ave)
Organic and conventional produce, packaged goods, deli, cheeses, bulk, bakery...

Sunac Natural
150 N 7th St (between Berry St & Bedford Ave)
Organic produce, products, and packaged goods in a pinch.

Millenium Health
241 Bedford Avenue at North 3rd
Fresh juices, vitamins, packaged goods, small produce area.

Khim's Millenium Market
460 Driggs Ave (between 10th St & 11th St)
Large selection of produce, packaged goods, and juices.

Personal Pronouns

2.12 Nor at any time indeed was I not, nor thou, nor these rulers of men, nor verily shall we ever cease to be hereafter.

The Self/Soul/Atman is imperishable.




2.13 Just as in this body the embodied (soul) passes into childhood, youth, and old age, so also does it pass into another body; the firm man does not grieve thereat.

These stages are all natural and inevitable and so the wise are not distressed.




2.14 The contacts of the senses with the objects, O son of Kunti, which cause heat and cold, pleasure and pain, have a beginning and an end; they are impermanent; endure them bravely, O Arjuna.

Sensations are relative and their processing as good/bad and tolerable/intolerable are in our minds and therefore, controllable.




2.15 That firm man whom, surely, these afflict not, O chief among men, to whom pleasure and pain are the same, is fit for attaining immortality.

The more one identifies with the connection/oneness of everything, the less the sensations are labeled by the mind.




2.16 The unreal hath no being; there is no non-being of the real; the truth about both has been seen by the knowers of the Truth (or seers of the Essence).

The only permanent thing is the Atman. Everything else is changeable.




2.19 He who takes the Self to be the slayer and he who thinks it is slain, neither of them knows. It slays not, nor is it slain.

2.20 It is not born, nor does it ever die; after having been, it again ceases not to be; unborn, eternal, changeless and ancient, it is not killed when the body is killed.






In my relationships to the world, I think of my, me, I. This vessel with stuff on the inside and outside, things that I can see and cannot see. Things that I can feel and cannot feel. This case that somewhere inside houses this thing that thinks and feels and plans is different from everything else. Where my fingertips end, something different begins - the computer keys. Where my skin on my back ends, something different begins - a chair. When I cut my nails, the clippings were me, but if I found one on the floor a month from now, I would wonder if they were mine. I would wonder if they belonged to me. My apartment belongs to me and is mine and all the things in it as well. But before they came into my possession, they belonged somewhere else. And my apartment too. When I leave, someone else will move in. It will no longer be mine. And actually, I rent it, to someone else it is not mine at all, but theirs.

With or without possessions, I am still me. With fancy items, my exterior is fancier. With purple pants, my legs are purple. Tomorrow, they could be black, or blue, or green. Without the furniture, the clothes, without my hair, I have skin that covers layers of fat and muscle and a skeleton which houses organs, etc. If my legs were shorter or longer, if I took up more space or less, I am still me. If I sat in the same spot or flew across the world, I would be the same.

Perhaps I am just my brain. A little alien creature sitting in the command center behind my eyes. But in practice, in asana, I am existing in other places. I exist in my sacrum and the joint on my left thumb. If I can exist there, can I exist in the couch? I can exist anywhere I can imagine. If in a place, then why not in a person?

Continuing like this, where do I really begin and where do I really end? If it is all impermanent, is there really an individual me at all or is really just a piece of a greater whole?

In art school the first thing people want to do when they draw is to sketch the outline of an apple. Holding an apple in my hand, it has no outline. None at all.

The world is a collection of teeny tiny things that are vibrating.

I did not make me (that I can recall). I did not pick my color or hair or ethnicity or gender. It all just kind of happened without me knowing it.

The world was here before me and will continue on after I am gone. I am not me, but you.

When I see me and mine and ours as different from you and theirs and his/hers, I become important to myself. Even if it is only to be sad, upset, in pain, I am sad and upset and in pain and that is important to me. When I see me as important, there are rules. I am the center of the universe and my thoughts, feelings, and actions, are the priority even if the thought is that I want to be nice right now. I want to be nice right now. I should be mad right now. I am sad. I am happy. I am hungry. I want this. I don't like that. I am excited. I am nervous. I can wear a lot of different emotions, clothes, professions, friends, ideas, etc.

If there is no me, if I am you and we are everything and therefore nothing, then my hot vomit frustration disappears. A deer stopped cold in its tracks staring straight into really bright headlights. Emotions, feelings, conditions, people-- everything is temporary. If everything is temporary, it not real and I can't really trust it as truth. My permanent state is not angry because it is just an emotion and what is "I" anyway? What can possibly be trespassed if I am everything and I don't exist? If I don't identify with my bike or my writing or my hair or my personality?

But what about if I see someone in pain? What if they trap me in it? Don't speak? Must I speak? Perhaps it is inevitable. Like aging and the impermanence of everything, these situations will come and the wise are not distressed. Yes, the two people are being divided into two people. Separate. The pain of the separate, of the watching pain, of the trap? Also not real.

-Friday, New York

Yellow quotes above from The Bhagavad Gita translation by Swami Sivananda 1995.

Work it, honey!

A quick note.

As a teacher, oh man, they forget to tell you that you are a walking target for people hurling samskaras. Most of the time, it comes with some warning and I'm already in a place of love and compassion. And then sometimes, of course, I am absolutely not prepared and maybe in a place of love and compassion but somewhere accidentally leave a door open or something where a large draft riddled with those hurled emotions glides right in. The feeling? Like vomit in my throat. Very hot, agitated, and yeah, vomit in my throat.

God bless primary Fridays. At first it is a whole lot of mentally revisiting the puke and then the body feels it and the breath, bandha, dristhi, asana smooth it out. And then I find myself thinking about how I'm not thinking about it. And then I'm thinking about it again. And it keeps going like this until by the end, it was like the vomit was yesterday.

So, yeah, there is that.

-New York, Friday

Inspiring TED Video

Inspirational as always, this TED talk is about a whole lot of good stuff. Thanks Malissa!

Si se puede

Inspiring as always, this TED talk is about a whole lot of good stuff. Thanks Malissa!

Asanas you start

I found myself plugging to-do items into my computer's calendar, realizing that really, takeoff is right around the corner. Diligently typing items into each day's allotted square, I also realized that I had succeeded in completely distracting my mind from what had just happened.

(This reminds me of a movie I saw not long ago about a supercomputer that went evil (of course) and the only way to stop it was to shut it down. Like any typical story, the beast had a weakness and the characters figured out a way to have one person get its attention while someone else pulled the plug.)

...What just happened was my daily asana practice. It started tamely enough, but as I waded deeper I swear I could feel something undigested from yesterday and my arms just burning, burning, burning. My mind paused for a moment to take note "sore arms are the worst kind of sore" and then I continued on to debate whether or not that was true. Perhaps the stomach was the worst kind of sore instead?

Next, I promise you that my thighs were melting off my femurs. They really were. Like runny Jell-o right onto my rug.

I carried on with practice -- breathing, moving, bandha-ing, etc., but with this really cumbersome backpack of "observations". Sometimes the bag is all one can think about. How heavy it is. If it were possible to take just one thing out, how much less suffering one might have. How ours is the heaviest pack, and wondering a) when will the bag get lighter and b) what if it never does?

And that is when the panic sets in-- "if I don't stop now, I will surely die or some equally horrific fate will certainly befall me and even if I do stop now, it will still be a disaster of the worst kind, but at least not the certain death of continuing my full practice. Maybe I should just start finishing or just rest and call it a day". Of the times where that was what I chose, I never felt half as awful as how I pictured I would. I try to remember this when the panicky freak-out moments arise.

Perhaps the scariest part is not the fatigue or soreness, it is of not knowing where to find the willpower to keep going. It is more and more clear that it is actually more simple than we make it out to be and the answer was there from the beginning: tristhana.

Defined as "three places of attention", this is a mainstay in the ashtanga yoga method. Breathing/bandha, dristhi, asana. So, when these thoughts come up (such as "oh, here comes that really tough posture that I really do not enjoy") if I keep these three things going, my mind goes there instead of to the thing(s) that are troubling my body or mind.

At first I think it is more like "distracts" the mind from the troubles, which implies that the mind places priority on the chase of unpleasant sensations. Over time, I feel that this has changed significantly. It is more often that the tristhana is the priority and the troubles attempt to distract. It isn't easy to not follow the troubles. They are sweet and salty and the sensation is something I am used to so it almost feels comforting ("I miss the comfort of being sad" -Nirvana) and I gravitate toward it until I'm stuck in it again and wondering how I got here.

I have the opportunity everyday to walk over to that edge and decide whether or not to jump and gradually, I start to remind myself of the day, week, month, years before.

Yes, this is scary.
Yes, I'm sore.
Yes, this is hard.
Yes, I'm tired.

Faith. I grab onto that tristhana and jump!

Without knowing it, I am placing my mind on something bigger than "myself" (immediate experience/the list above). I am now the possibility, image, fantasy, or dream of "me" jumping. When this lesson starts to integrate, I can apply it in order to make something happen (such as keeping the vinyasa or not succumbing to the freak-out/dropout).

And then maybe, sooner or later, it is not so much about the pleasant and painful, the can and can't, the good and bad, the backpack, Jell-o legs, or the come on just jump. Maybe it starts to become something else entirely.

-New York, Tuesday

High Range Dosa Mix

A fluffy dosa.

When combining water and mix (rice powder and lentils), the smell of dry dal in the back of the cupboard from 2008. A bit like the fresh, cool part of the smell of potting soil. 10 (?) hours later, smelling tongue-sucking sour and I'm ready to pour. The iron skillet seems to produce the fluffiest, tastiest dosa. I flick water at the "seasoned" pan and when it jumps and pops, I ladle a palm-sized amount of the sour stuff onto the center. Little Swiss cheese pancake holes appear across the surface and my heart quickens...

I wait. My feet tap, head sways, hands roll on hips.

I wait until the edges have me absolutely convinced that the underside is burning. I grip the spatula and shuffle it under the crispy edge, careful to keep pressing down toward the pan and I peek. Not burned at all. Barely golden brown. I smile smugly and flip.

-New York, Sunday

Another Go

First post. Newish blog. Hello.

Today I start a diary; it is against my usual habits, but out of a clearly felt need.

-Robert Musil

One advantage in keeping a diary is that you become aware with reassuring clarity of the changes which you constantly suffer.

-Franz Kafka

I do not keep a diary. Never have. To write a diary every day is like returning to one's own vomit.

-J. Enoch Powell

The notes I have made are not a diary in the ordinary sense, but partly lengthy records of my spiritual experiences, and partly poems in prose.

-Edvard Munch

Daily Ashtanga Yoga practice

New Photos

New photos of Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn mysore practice on the website by Matthew Spiegelman. Here are some more:

Moon Day Tuesday

Tuesday, August 10, 2010 is a Moon Day. Take rest!

See all 2010 Moon Days.

Guru Purnima: Remembering Guruji

• "Every other adult has told me to get a haircut and get a job. You are telling me to practice yoga, and all is coming. OK, I am ready!" -The tribute article for Guruji at Yoga Journal
  
  
• Namarupa interview with BKS Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois (Guruji), and TKV Desikachar.
  
  
• In Memoriam by Kino MacGregor.
  
  
• "This is a personal account of my connection with a great teacher, nothing more." -Paul Dallaghan at ashtanga.com
  
  
• "A Day in the Life" short film by John Romero.
  
  
• Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute by R. Alexander Medin at ashtanga.com.
  
  
• Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Public Talks on Ashtanga Yoga (France 1991) at aysnyc.org.