{Food} Savory Breakfast

Carrot-Tahini Spread with Avocado and Toast

2 pieces of toast
2 grated carrots
6 tablespoons tahini
splash of wheat-free tamari sauce
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 of a ripe and ready avocado, sliced

Blend carrots, tahini, and lemon juice. If more runny than peanut butter, taste and add more carrots and/or tahini (depending on the flavor you like). If very thick and dry, add more lemon juice. Add a splash of wheat-free tamari. Taste. Test consistency (peanut-butter like).

Squeeze a little of the remaining lemon juice over the sliced avocado.

Serve carrot-tahini spread with avocado and toast. I like to pile it on my toast as I eat, but maybe you want to pre-stack the goods. It is up to you!

Enjoy!

I try to stay clear of prepared/processed foods, but for gluten-free bread I usually buy Food For Life Millet Bread.

{Class} Led Ashtanga Primary Series & Community Class starts 3/27/10 in Bushwick

Led primary series of Ashtanga yoga
with Elise Espat
Mondays and Wednesdays 12-1:30pm at the Green Fitness Studio, L to Morgan Ave

$5 suggested donation
Saturdays 1-2:30pm

{Event} Ashtanga Yoga with Mary Flinn 4/25/10

Ashtanga Yoga Practice and Theory
with Authorized Ashtanga Teacher Mary Flinn
Sunday, April 25, 2010
12:15-2:30 pm

Led primary series of Ashtanga yoga followed by a discussion on practice and tasty eats. All levels are welcome and encouraged to attend. Be sure to sign up early as space is limited.

Learn more and sign up

This event will take place in Brooklyn, NY.

Surya Namaskar, Encinitas CA. Sri K. Pattabhi Jois {1989}

Drumroll

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The Mission

What we are trying in all these discussions and talks here is to see if we cannot radically bring about a transformation of the mind.
Not accept things as there are but to understand it, to go into it, to examine it.
Give your heart and your mind with everything that you have to find out a way of living differently.

But that depends on you and not somebody else.
Because in this there is no teacher, no pupil, there is no leader. There is no guru. There is no master, no savior.

You yourself are the teacher and the pupil. You are the master. You are the guru. You are the leader.

You are everything.

And to understand is to transform what is.

J. Krishnamurti

Podcasts From the Miami LIfe Center

Click for list of podcasts



























Image: Greg Nardi, Kino MacGregor, Tim Felmann of the Miami Life Center

Pattabhi Jois talks about yama niyama and pranayama

GURUJI: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students

{from the Ashtanga Yoga Shala website}

Publication Date:

Guru Purnima — July 25, 2010

Order your copies now through your local wholesaler or contact Twanna McLennon at 1-800-221-7945, ext. 5438

GURUJI: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students

Guy Donahaye and Eddie Stern

It is a rare and remarkable soul who becomes legendary during the course of his life by virtue of great service to others. Sri K. Pattabhi Jois was such a soul: through his teaching of yoga, he transformed the lives of countless people. The school in Mysore that he founded and ran for more than sixty years trained students who, through the knowledge they received and their devotion, have helped to spread the daily practice of traditional Ashtanga yoga to tens of thousands around the world. Guruji paints a unique portrait of a unique man, revealed through the accounts of his students. Among the thirty men and women interviewed here are Indian students from Jois’s early teaching days; intrepid Americans and Europeans who traveled to Mysore to learn yoga in the 1970s; and important family members who studied as well as lived with Jois and continue to practice and teach abroad or run the Ashtanga Yoga Institute today. Many of the contributors (as well as the authors) are influential teachers who convey their experience of Jois every day to students in many different parts of the globe. Anyone interested in the living tradition of yoga will find Guruji

richly rewarding.

From the jacket cover:

"The guru’s transmission of energy and knowledge is a precept central to classical yoga. How Jois handed down teachings and values and what they were, the aspects of his personality and quality of his presence, and above all how he guided and changed so many lives through yoga—these are the subjects of Guruji. Through the words and recollections of students and close relations who knew Jois for over half a century, we are given remarkable insight into the life and mind of a dedicated yogi, an astonishing wealth of knowledge about the path of yoga, and a documentary account of how one traditional school of yoga has spread around the world."

Yoga/Spirituality - 16 Pages of Black-and-White Illustrations - July 2010 - 6 x 9 - 496 pages - ISBN: 978-0-86547-749-0
- $40.00 - North Point Press

Contributors: Norman Allen - N. V. Anantha Ramaiah - S. L. Bhyrappa - Mark and Joanne Darby - Brigitte Deroses - Joseph Dunham - Heather Troud - Nick Evans - Richard Freeman - Nancy Gilgoff - Peter Greve - Ricky Heiman - Manju Jois - Dena Kingsberg - Krishnamurthi - Sharmila Mahesh - Lino Miele - Chuck Miller - Tim Miller - Rolf Naujket - Graeme Northfield - Annie Pace - Brad Ramsey - Peter Sanson - Saraswathi Rangaswamy - John Scott - R. Sharath - David Swenson - David Williams - Tomas Zorzo

Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn Flier

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New blog

Ideas, resources, and who knows what else!

What does it all mean?

As I watch videos on youtube (my cyber shala or morning inspiration, if you will), I remember last night's dream. I was with a friend. A girl, I think. We were playing maybe a card game or something trivial in a room with a bunch of tables. I think we were playing and slowly Pattabhi Jois (Guruji) started to notice us and play a bit. Last few times I saw him, he was very old, very out there, and not likely to randomly start fraternizing with me. I guess in the dream, our playing interested him and sort of brought him out of the stroke-funk. He started getting younger- like the Guruji of myth. I really wanted him to be my teacher and tell me that if I cried, he would cry (like Nicky Doane's story). There was a feeling of connection, and then I woke up.

Maybe a week ago I dreamt I was sitting at a communal picnic table with a bunch of friends including one who was killed (in real life) much too young. I was confused because she was supposed to be dead, but here she was -- alive.

Not sure if they are connected outside of the table and resurrection thing.

Except that they were both smiling a lot and trying to talk with me.

And the warm fuzzy feeling of peace and joy surrounding them.

I don't need you

It is a strange thing. If you stop needing things, then what do you do? Things become very simple. You are just you, doing things. But what do you do?

I don't have to go to practice. I can practice right here whenever I want. I don't have to prove it to anyone. So I know if and when I practice and that is it. Strange. Liberating.

An adjustment becomes an assist. But really.

I don't have to go to school. I can read a book right here whenever I want. I don't have to prove it to anyone. So I know if and when I read and that is it. Strange. Liberating.

Learning is learning. But only. ?

Do we only do things because of output. No matter how much we resist acting towards "a means to an end" are we going to do it anyway? Do we almost need it?

And even as bold and brave as this could sound right now. As self-contained and confident, after some time, we eventually start to need someone to hold us accountable.

(just musing.)

There is no teacher; you are the guru

"what we are trying in all these discussions and talks here is to see if we cannot radically bring about a transformation of the mind. not accept things as they are, but to understand it, to go into it, to examine it, give your heart and your mind with everything that you have to find out a way of living differently. but, that depends on you and not somebody else, because in this there is no teacher, no pupil. there's no leader. there's no guru. there's no master, no savior. you yourself are the teacher and the pupil. you are the master. you are the guru. you are the leader. you are everything... and to understand is to transform what is..." Jiddu Krishnamurti

NY: Stinky Armpit or Steamy Tropical? (Under pressure)

The good, bad, and ugly post.

Right now, New York is a bit like both. It is a little too hot to feel comfortable walking more than a block but instead of having the permission to just bask in the steamy goodness, one feels compelled to pummel through. I find myself constantly echoing "so good" "yay summer" and "shorts!" It is the only way to find balance between the two worlds.

But really, right now I am a bag of excuses that should probably be stuffed into a sack with "sorrys". If I can't go to the early practice shift, I don't want to go at all because it is just so darn hot and sweaty. I admit it. I like the AC. At my house it gets the room to a bearable 80 (on a good day) with a lot less humidity. I've got a mild case of asthma, so I feel like I really feel that mush humidity/heat. I get annoyed with all the people heaving themselves around me. All that sweat (mine and theirs) gets thrown all over the place and when it is time for Mukta Hasta Sirsasana C I get agitated because my hands just slip all over like I'm giving the floor a massage. I just want to do my practice! I get mad a Guy for trying to get me to reach my full potential. I'm just happy I'm on my mat! I worry about my sternoclavicular joint, so I'm trying to be hyper-precise in my vinyasas. I feel like I don't have enough time in the day. I'm mad that I have to work...

What it comes down to is I am a little ball of cranky right now because I am a little stressed out about an upcoming GRE exam. I know it isn't that big of a deal, but I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself when it comes to academic achievement.


photo: http://thelittlechimpsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/sweaty.jpg

ugh facebook

so easy to get sucked in.  leads to googling ex-boyfriends.  daydreaming about getting the old crew back together.  ick.

Dear God,

It's me.  Are you there?

I'd pray when I was younger when there were things that felt completely out of my control.

A dog please.

Friends please.

Not to get caught please.

And yet, perhaps praying to God is a way of controlling the situation.  If I ask God, then clearly I have delegated a task to someone/thing who can get things done.  I've tossed a statement into a jar and sent it out to sea.  I have written a letter to Santa for presents and they better be the right ones otherwise I'll be stuck with a bunch of crap I don't want...

Asking God for stuff is making a choice that something is what I want.  At the time (back in the day) I'm sure I was talking to God the dude in the sky with the beard and I was this super-powerful earth goddess that totally connected with him.  I could talk to animals too.  Obviously.

I don't really pray like that anymore.  I think about God, but it is less like God my Big Brother and more like God the world is an amazing place.  I think about people and now and happiness and sadness and suffering and blessings.  I think about all this stuff crashing into each other in the middle of an intersection and that explosion in the center is God.  I think.

But today was different.  I had these intense internal moments during practice where I was there but then also sort of consciously decided to day dream that actually I was floating up to the sky and in Mukta Hasta Sirsasana C on a surf board zipping through the clouds.  And then I was thinking about blue bursts of light shooting up my guts and spine the color of blue 1980's dance/aerobics video lighting.  And then I was up in space flying around.  I just took my mind to this crazy place and giggled inside that no one in the room could have imagined that I was thinking about this stuff.

And it was also God.  It started with "God, I think that maybe today is the day that this crazy stuff is just going to snap my body in two".  And it turned into just "God".  God. God. God.  It gave me something to think about so I felt like I was busy or something.

But then after class as I dodged last night's puke on the sidewalk and hopped over puddles of dog pee, I thought about praying (or whatever).  "Um, so, hey God (or whatever).  Here's where I am at.  Give me a sign or something.  Okay, thanks."

I think that is it.

Kamikaze Practice -- from the crazy mixed up files of second series

stuff that should probably be marked as really private but whatever

... and some days I get this feeling of just... just dead.  Everything is dead and pointless and meaningless and a whole lot of complete bullshit and I really really just want to keep connecting with truth, reality, god, whatever.  

Drishti, flying, drugs, cliff jumping, tattoos, sex, heights, extreme sports, dancing, kamikaze practice.

Those headstands at the end of second are like that.  Some people are more suicidal than others.  I get a sick thrill out of just falling and then last second --bam!  Hands on the floor.  Bam!  Hands on the floor!  Bam!  That was loud!  Bam!  Fuck everyone in the room!  Bam! Alive! Bam!  Bam!  Strength, concentration?  Maybe just a whole lot of just me.  Just getting real small and sitting inside this body and laughing at all the crazy shit it does.  Getting a wild joy out of riding it into the sunset.  Trying to wear myself out so that everything else get in perspective or a little bit quieter and a little less immediate and important.  A bit like Fight Club...

"After a night in fight club, everything in the real world gets the volume turned down.  Nothing can piss you off.  Your word is law, and if other people break that law or question you, even that doesn't piss you off."

Miss you

I miss blogging. I do.

There are many truths to why I am at the bottom of the mountain with all my gear just paralyzed and unable to take that first step...until now? No guarantees. The truth is that I don't want to feel that I am writing for anyone. I don't want to feel like I am doing anything just to report back or bring to show and tell. I am at a place where I really want to share stuff but also want to keep it to myself. I want people to read but I also want to pretend that no one reads it at all. I want to be anonymous, but also I don't.

I want to say where I am in practice, how it is going, and that my scalp sheds like a snake skin. I want people to reply that that happened to them too from the headstands. But I also don't want to say that I am doing them. I want to say that I am teaching a little again, but I don't want word to get around and get into "trouble" with whomever.

It is really weird. I have been writing a bit on a completely private blog. I don't check the grammar, I just kind of write whatever. It is so much different when you know that it is possible for people to read the bullshit that you write. I feel like I really have to say something.

Here it is: I don't know what to say.