For those of you who don’t know what a harmonium is, you have probably been touched by it’s music.  It is the organ like sound that you hear in Indian kirtan.  If you have heard Krishna Das’s music in yoga class, you have heard the sound of a harmonium.  Kirtan is devotional chanting.  Just like the path of  yoga, kirtan is a way to find union with the universe.  The harmonium has a hand operated bellows and a keyboard.  It’s sound is rich and vibrant.  Geoffrey introduced me to his harmonium on which sits a photo of his Guru, Neem Karoli Baba and then we played.  Here’s what I learned.   You can pick music apart, understand the mechanics, the science, how to find a major scale anywhere on the keyboard, but ultimately you need to feel it.  Apparently I sing in the key of B flat.  We started with a drone of B flat and F and I learned to sing and play the simple chant.  Lokaha, Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu.  May all beings everywhere be happy and free.  So simple, yet so profound.  I’m still buzzing from the experience.   Tomorrow is lesson number two.  Perhaps I can record something for to share soon!  If you would like to learn more about Geoffrey Gordon and his amazing musical career see the link below:

http://www.geoffreygordon.com/id3.html

I’m not just buzzing, I’m vibrating.  Daniel took us on an amazingly powerful journey of transformational breath.  All I can say is that after an hour of lying on our backs and intense breathing, no one in the room was the same.  My entire body was buzzing with a powerful energy that surged through my body until my limbs just shot up from the floor.  I’m still wired.

On top of all of this energy shifting, my mind has been shifting.  We’ve had three sessions of Tripsichore Yoga with Edward Clark.  Tripsichore just rocked my whole world of Vinyasa.  Edward is deconstructing everything I thought about vinyasa and is giving it a whole new meaning.  In vinyasa we pair movement with breath.  In Tripsichore every movement comes from the breath.  Ujjayi breath, a proper ujjayi breath pushes you into each movement, to lift your body off the earth.  Sun salutations no longer have jump backs, but lift backs.   A simple sun salutation has a whole new meaning with every movement coming from your diaphragm, pelvic floor and abdominal wall.   I’ve had to throw out all of my muscle memory and think through every step, every breath, every movement.   We have all been floored with the simplicity that creates such complex movements and breath.  You need to see it to truly appreciate it.  Edward and his assistant Nicki gave a demonstration of their newest work, a yoga performance art piece.  Dance and yoga combined into one.  I’ve included a link to the Tripsachore website so you can experience the beauty for yourself.

www.tripsichore.com

Wow that was a lot, yet just the tip of the iceberg.  We’re diving deeper.  More will keep coming.

Blissfully Yours

Janet

After you practice agni sara, use our online forum to tell me what you think.

Shanti,
Jane

Kapala means “skull,” and bhati means “that which brings lightness.”

TECHNIQUE:

1. After finding a comfortable seated pose, take a few deep breaths.  Notice if your diaphragm is moving properly.  With inhale, the belly fills and the diaphragm descends.  With exhale, the diaphragm moves upward and pushes the lungs up, the belly empties and naturally draws in toward the spine.  Focus attention greater on exhalation than inhalation.

2. Begin with one deep inhalation and ten or fifteen expulsions/ rapid contractions.  At the end of ten expulsions, take a deep inhalation and hold the air as long as possible.  Exhale fully.  Between rounds, breathe normally for necessary rest.

3. Try staring with three rounds of practice (each round is one deep inhale and ten expulsions).   With time increase practice to five or six rounds.  After practicing kapalabhati regularly for three-four weeks, increase to twenty or twenty five expulsions.

International Sivananda Yoga School teaching: “[Kapalabhati] will add oxygen value and bring a peculiar, pleasant vibration throughout the body, as though you are bathing every tissue of the body with energy. A few days’ practice will convince you of its wonderful, stimulating sensation.”

Enjoy the many benefits of the enriching breath technique.

Tip: Blow your nose before you begin!

Notice how you can invite feeling good into each pose; yoga is about coming to your edge and relaxing into it so that this skill is available to you always.  When you are being challenged most, find your breath, soften, and ride the wide of sensation.  It will change.

Through yoga, take agency in your life and also open yourself to limitless possibility.  Hatha yoga begins first with the physical body, establish proper form and rhythmic breath.  As your body begins to align, open, and strengthen,  so too does your mind and spirit.

Throughout the day, the ups and downs, recall your yoga and deeply know: this too shall pass.  Within you exists balance, breath, and peace.

Shanti!

Jane

And everywhere I turned there were Cheerios and watercolor paint plops.  On the car seats, the sofa and the patio stones. Goings-on included a naked child trying to pee in the yard or soak me with tub water.

I was tired. So I took a break to walk my dog in the woods.  After a few mindless steps, I stopped in my tracks to say to myself, “God, give me more than I think I have inside.”

I looked around as my consciousness expanded to embrace the surrounding deep, peaceful greenery. My heart grew beyond my own fatigue as the forest hugged me.

As we go within, our consciousness begins to extend beyond the body and mind and take into itself all that it encounters. The self becomes the greater Self. The result is peace, amidst the Cheerios.

Email Andrea

Morgan Merrihew, Wednesday Kripalu I/II 6:30-7:30 am

I have learned quite a few things about our July pose of the month, Vasisthasana from our wonderful Evolution teachers.  Tips that seem to be most helpful: In full side plank, flex and stack your feet as if you are in standing mountain pose for full alignment.  As you settle into the balance of the posture, find ease and return to a relaxed yogic breath, sending it throughout your body.

From standing mountain pose, we forward bend and then come into plank pose.  The next movement of lowering to knees-chest-chin represents prostration or surrender to something greater than ourselves.

After this offering, we come into cobra pose. In the yoga tradition, cobra corresponds to releasing the kundalini or divine energy in the body. Oh yeah, that again. Surrender to the unknown first, then receive clarity and serenity.  We finish with Downward Facing Dog, an overall rejuvenating stretch.

Just as we move through the physical Surya Namaskar, enjoying each breath and each movement, we can move through life savoring each surrender,  revelation and rejuvenation. It’s a process meant to bring us great joy.

So next time a problem in life arises (usually we don’t have to wait too long), try applying the process of the Surya Namaskar. It’s not a problem; it’s divine methodology!

-AOC

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Tracing back Earth to its origins as a water planet and our own life, to our mother’s womb,  one can see how the ocean sounding breath is the oldest and most soothing sound we know. The best part: peace and patience available to you from this breath technique are contained within and no one can take this away from you!

Here’s how to practice Ujjayi:

• Sit or stand with long spine, shoulders relaxed.
• Place one hand on your belly, the other on your heart.
• Through your nostrils, inhale a slow and steady breath.  Direct this breath toward the back of your throat slightly so the breath is audible.  Imagine, though your lips are sealed, that you are making the sound “SSS,” as you draw breath in evenly through both nostrils and that you are fogging a mirror at the base of your neck.   Feel the expansion of the abdomen, rib cage, and chest.
• As you exhale, it’s as if you’re making the sound “HAA” or saying the word “home,” through sealed lips.  This time, imagine you’re fogging a mirror at the base of your throat.  As you push all of your air out with the exhale, draw your navel in and up toward your spine.

Work toward a smooth and steady rhythm which will come to sound like ocean waves crashing on the shore.  Breathing in a calm, balance, and timeless way is restorative on many levels.  Enjoy!

The wise teachers and great yogis of our world suggest that if we can still our minds, even for a few moments each day, we can obtain a peace of mind which normally eludes us and begin to relieve stress and prevent frustration.

Though turning on the television or surfing the net (even if you’re reading yoga blogs) may help you unwind, these activities are not in themselves restorative.  They may focus your attention, but they do not still your mind.

To access the inner wisdom locked deep within our subconscious we must first learn to still the restless mind.  The true goal of meditation is to get beyond the ego and the illusion of separation.

Along the way, meditation leads to a positive attitude and calm disposition.

Basic Principles of Seated Meditation

• Try to create a routine and establish a habit of meditation
• Choose the same time each day to practice
• Choose a place without distractions, turn off your phone, computer, television, etc.
• Sit in a comfortable chair to prop the spine straight or sit in a yoga posture with your back, head, and neck in a straight line
• When thoughts arise, do not let them distract you- observe thoughts with indifference
• Return to the anchor of your breath (count breaths if it helps in groups of 3 or 10)
• You might try to focus your gaze on a still object like a flame, mandala, or use your minds eye to visualize a white dot
• Above all relax
• Don’t try too hard, it gets easier with practice!

To quickly and easily relax yourself, lengthen your exhalation.

Rather than trying to eliminate stress, try to flow within the stress of the moment.  To find peace and grace, imagine you are an island of tranquility in a sea of chaos.