I had not taken an ashtanga class, ooh, for around 18 months, as where I live there are no teachers, so I practice solo..
But, last week I stayed over in Brighton, with my daughter, and she had a free pass to her gym, and by co-incidence there was a class that morning, so... we went together.
I had forgotten how long 5 deep breaths are, I must have developed a habit of taking 2 shallow breaths, it seemed so looong, and why oh why do the teachers always hang out that last count, and go adjust someone whilst you are mentally gagging to get our of downward dog? Is it just me? Nope, it is the teacher's prerogative to torture the students, and for all you teachers of yoga out there, and those who are yet to be, revel in your power, for your time will come when you giggle silently to yourself.
The class itself actually had too many demonstrations, and it was not a counted class as such, more of a tutorial, but as a lazy man, it kinda suited me. But what did surprise me was the second series asanas that we encouraged, rather strangely, hardly anyone in the class (of about 20 students) could get even half way to doing them, and there were even a couple of students that had never done a yoga class... They must have been terrified.
One posture I have not been familiar with was the pigeon posture, and we did this 3 times each side, and I must say I loved it, a lovely warm easing into my hips, that I just wished to stay with, and one of the few asanas that I could truly relax into, but after the class... Eeek, my hips felt as if they had been nuked, and I was dreading the following day, but, funnily enough, nothing, the next day I did not even think about them... A special posture for me.
Written and published by Mark Golding - THE ORGANIC HOME
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Monday, 25 January 2010
Friday, 15 January 2010
AN ASHTANGA DIARY 2
Into the second week of practice for the year, on Friday, and the weekend approaches... But today is a moon day... A moon day is a day of the full moon or new moon, and it is traditional that no yoga practice takes place on these two days of the month.
Today is a New Moon day, so I will not practice, and a part of me is pleased that I do not have to stretch, twist and flex, but another part of me wishes that I could practice, as though I dread the commencement of my practice, once I start I love it, and when I have finished, I adore it!
So, mixed feelings today... Why do I dread it? Well, it hurts, and it is uncomfortable, painful and exhausting, so why do I do it? Well, once completed, the energy surge is astonishing, all my faculties are clear and bright, my mind is clear and focused, and I feel strong. It does take a certain type of masochism to engage in a serious yoga practice, as as one progresses, simply by engagement, one reaches variations of discomfort that one simply experiences, and endures... Choosing to encounter physical discomfort and pain, and not withdrawing, and the reason for this? To free the tensions and blockages created through over tensing and knotting our muscles, and also our internal organs over a long period of time.
As, those tensions we create within our muscular structure, will, over time distort our inner organs, and create malfunctioning systems, and the practice of yoga will relieve the pressures upon our digestive, alimentary, pulmonary and breathing systems, enabling free flow and movement.
So, why not at the moon day? I'll tell you another day...
Written and published by Mark Golding - THE ORGANIC HOME
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Today is a New Moon day, so I will not practice, and a part of me is pleased that I do not have to stretch, twist and flex, but another part of me wishes that I could practice, as though I dread the commencement of my practice, once I start I love it, and when I have finished, I adore it!
So, mixed feelings today... Why do I dread it? Well, it hurts, and it is uncomfortable, painful and exhausting, so why do I do it? Well, once completed, the energy surge is astonishing, all my faculties are clear and bright, my mind is clear and focused, and I feel strong. It does take a certain type of masochism to engage in a serious yoga practice, as as one progresses, simply by engagement, one reaches variations of discomfort that one simply experiences, and endures... Choosing to encounter physical discomfort and pain, and not withdrawing, and the reason for this? To free the tensions and blockages created through over tensing and knotting our muscles, and also our internal organs over a long period of time.
As, those tensions we create within our muscular structure, will, over time distort our inner organs, and create malfunctioning systems, and the practice of yoga will relieve the pressures upon our digestive, alimentary, pulmonary and breathing systems, enabling free flow and movement.
So, why not at the moon day? I'll tell you another day...
Written and published by Mark Golding - THE ORGANIC HOME
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Friday, 8 January 2010
AN ASHTANGA DIARY 1
Oh, missing Mysore, or not?
New Year, new resolve.. I have been practicing yoga for around 10 years. I started fairly late in life, in my early 40's, with a weekly class of Iyengar yoga, and within a month or so, I had a photocopied page of asanas that I began to practice most evenings.
At the start of this journey I am going to tell you why I took up yoga.. I had a hankering for what I thought might be a long term physical exercise, something that was not too 'pushy' as I had encountered in the gym world. So, having chatted to some slender women, I took the leap and found my first local class.
The teacher? Ann Chinn, a lovely gentle woman who taught at the Brighton Natural Health Centre, and she taught the Iyengar method. My first class? Well, I think I could just about reach my knees in a forward bend, having spent years lifting furniture and pushing weights in the gym... I was, well, inflexible...
In the class were about 20 women, and 2 men, one of whom had done yoga previously, and one who had not... Me. I found the class sedate and slow, and not really challenging, except for one or two upside down positions... yes inversions...
The Iynegar method seemed to based upon the adaption of the minutiae of the positioning of the hands and feet, almost to an obsessional point. Getting the fingers in line and level, getting the heel and instep aligned on the mat, and having my head looking in the right direction.
Simple, this was not exercise.. Is it?
Well, that is how it seemed, a stroll though the park. But, after the class I felt gratified that I had bothered to try and shrugged it off as a waste of my time... Until the next day...
Written and published by Mark Golding - THE ORGANIC HOME
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
New Year, new resolve.. I have been practicing yoga for around 10 years. I started fairly late in life, in my early 40's, with a weekly class of Iyengar yoga, and within a month or so, I had a photocopied page of asanas that I began to practice most evenings.
At the start of this journey I am going to tell you why I took up yoga.. I had a hankering for what I thought might be a long term physical exercise, something that was not too 'pushy' as I had encountered in the gym world. So, having chatted to some slender women, I took the leap and found my first local class.
The teacher? Ann Chinn, a lovely gentle woman who taught at the Brighton Natural Health Centre, and she taught the Iyengar method. My first class? Well, I think I could just about reach my knees in a forward bend, having spent years lifting furniture and pushing weights in the gym... I was, well, inflexible...
In the class were about 20 women, and 2 men, one of whom had done yoga previously, and one who had not... Me. I found the class sedate and slow, and not really challenging, except for one or two upside down positions... yes inversions...
The Iynegar method seemed to based upon the adaption of the minutiae of the positioning of the hands and feet, almost to an obsessional point. Getting the fingers in line and level, getting the heel and instep aligned on the mat, and having my head looking in the right direction.
Simple, this was not exercise.. Is it?
Well, that is how it seemed, a stroll though the park. But, after the class I felt gratified that I had bothered to try and shrugged it off as a waste of my time... Until the next day...
Written and published by Mark Golding - THE ORGANIC HOME
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
Saturday, 2 January 2010
A YOGA NEW YEAR!
Not everyone woke up with a hangover on morning of Jan 1. Taking a less beaten track were several youngsters among others who were sitting in meditation at Nityananda Dhayanampita ushering the New Year at its Shamshabad ashram on the New Year's eve from 11.30 pm to past midnight.
'Through meditation, we pay gratitude to everybody who came in our lives because we believe that gratitude is the best attitude. The doors were open to all,' said Maa Sachitananda of Nityananda Dhayanampita. Apart from the programme on the New Year's eve, the society also organised a similar session on the first day of the year from 4 pm.
And it wasn't just sunburn music fest that beckoned Hyderabadis. Around 40 Hyderabadis even packed their bags and left for a special meditation session held on Dec 31 at the Isha Yoga Centre at Coimbatore, said Chidambar Rao, meditator with Isha Yoga.
Many other yoga and meditation centres in the city organised programmes on January 1 on similar lines. One such event was held at Shwaas, Jubilee Hills. 'We are doing a screening followed by a session on 'forgiveness meditation.' The idea behind this is that it empowers one to overcome baggages of guilt and consciousness. It is more like a cleansing process at the beginning of the year,' says Salil Ganeriwal of Shwaas. He adds that since not everybody is the kind who likes to party, through such sessions, people get a chance to celebrate the New Year in a spiritual way.
'We have been aping the west but a point comes where we have to turn to something. This is the time when people look for spirituality and answers within as routine life becomes boring. Hence, people enrolling for yoga and meditation are on an all time high. With these programmes, you might start looking at situations in life which may give inner peace,' adds Salil. Rajayoga Meditation Centre will hold a meditation session on Saturday, January 2 at West Marredpally. 'The theme of the session is a new beginning for the New Year,' said a member.
By Times of India
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
'Through meditation, we pay gratitude to everybody who came in our lives because we believe that gratitude is the best attitude. The doors were open to all,' said Maa Sachitananda of Nityananda Dhayanampita. Apart from the programme on the New Year's eve, the society also organised a similar session on the first day of the year from 4 pm.
And it wasn't just sunburn music fest that beckoned Hyderabadis. Around 40 Hyderabadis even packed their bags and left for a special meditation session held on Dec 31 at the Isha Yoga Centre at Coimbatore, said Chidambar Rao, meditator with Isha Yoga.
Many other yoga and meditation centres in the city organised programmes on January 1 on similar lines. One such event was held at Shwaas, Jubilee Hills. 'We are doing a screening followed by a session on 'forgiveness meditation.' The idea behind this is that it empowers one to overcome baggages of guilt and consciousness. It is more like a cleansing process at the beginning of the year,' says Salil Ganeriwal of Shwaas. He adds that since not everybody is the kind who likes to party, through such sessions, people get a chance to celebrate the New Year in a spiritual way.
'We have been aping the west but a point comes where we have to turn to something. This is the time when people look for spirituality and answers within as routine life becomes boring. Hence, people enrolling for yoga and meditation are on an all time high. With these programmes, you might start looking at situations in life which may give inner peace,' adds Salil. Rajayoga Meditation Centre will hold a meditation session on Saturday, January 2 at West Marredpally. 'The theme of the session is a new beginning for the New Year,' said a member.
By Times of India
THE LATEST YOGA NEWS, FROM IT IS YOGA
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