theory and practical aspect of yoga

we often forget that yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory....so when a student insists on knowing the theory aspect of the poses, you are compelled to complain but how much, how deep, really. patabhi jois also said "practice and all is coming" but telling that to students, these days and age, might not be sufficient and thus, knowledge of theory including correct words and proper grammar certainly important to make ourselves understood. today's world is so demanding so it's no longer acceptable to tell the students to focus on practice without 'articulating' the reasons behind the practice which is why in US yoga is so big. Americans are simply good at talking!

everyday i thrive to be a better teacher, better practitioner and most importantly, better person. it's a lifelong conquest and i hope i'll never reach the end....amin.

healing with yoga

i can now understand how having your body cut out can really affect your perspective about life albeit for just short while. it makes you more appreciative of having a fully functional body without having to worry that some part of the body gonna rip open. it make you more creative in trying to function the body as normal as possible without other staring at you for walking funny. i was told by my very concerned gynae to take it easy and try not to harm my body by engaging myself in any strenuous activities and yoga included. wait a minute....since when does yoga qualify as 'strenuous' activity...i thought most uninitiated people are quite happy to think that yoga is way too slow for them and hence, they prefer to 'huff' and 'puff' at the gym either using weights or during 'body combat' or 'body attack' or whatever it is they call it these days...i left gym 8 years back. anyway, back to my conversation with the gynae. she mentioned that yoga has some stretching exercises that are not good for someone like me...i.e. just had about 8in cut way down my abs...hmmmmmm...but doc, i said, i'm an instructor and i teach pregnant ladies to yoga. first of all, yoga is not just exercise..don't let other yogis hear that especially those europeans that have taken residency in india coz they might get offended and sue! most importantly, there are so many poses in yoga that one can engage on without being 'strenuous'..
well, against the good doc advise i decided to start my practice with 12 rounds of surya namaskar modified for pre-natal and when on to practice basic poses without much interruption to my healing abs. i felt good. master was right as he always is...work with the breath...listen to your body...no force. that's how life should be.

attachment...no more.

a fine soul has finally found its resting place. i met him 18 yrs ago and spent last 13 yrs 'trying' not to be in touch with him...and i did, most times.
to me, he is the ideal being. it's either you adore (like i do) or you simply don't like him. for those like me (and we are huge in numbers), it was hard not to. as for the rest, how could they? you may ask...well, he has the tendency of reminding people what they should and shouldn't be, could and couldn't be...now, who would like that?? he was someone who constantly reminded you of your weakness..without saying or doing nothing....by being himself. he has set so high standards of himself that, most times, you felt so small being near him and it made you wanna run so far away as possible. and i did.

on april 6, the almighty decided he is too much for this world and took him away forever...in islam we say "from Him we came, to Him we will go"...heaven bless his soul.

How attachment works...

the word 'attachment' is almost synonym with yoga. one of the main principle of yoga is for us 'earthlings' not to have any attachment to things, people, events etc. we may say...pas de probleme. the fact of the matter is, we attach ourselves to almost everything that revolves around us including future that we haven't even see and have no clue whatsoever on how it will be but we, 'earthlings', still stubbornly or by default, manage to attach ourselves and at times, wonder why we are 'so unhappy'.
yoga philosophy isn't my favourite subject but i do practice the principle of attachment as consciously as possible. i use the word 'consciously' because being a human i am, tend to 'attach' myself in things and matters without realising my actions or my thoughts. exhibit a: i use to say that i have to have coffee to start my day. after 2 mths in india, i realised that a. i am attaching myself to coffee, b.absence of coffee or tea did nothing to my mornings. this is a rather simple example and there are many other examples in our lives that have affected us greatly without us realising. our joy, our happiness, our sense of contentment, our being...these are serious matters. i'm not saying that we should work less harder but we do have to be aware the attachment is the source of great sorrow in our lives.
happiness is the state of being. we don't need things or a person or event to be happy. these are just bonuses. we are born alone in this world and alone we go. meantime, play with the cards that you've been dealt with and make the best of it.

Early morning and yoga

I always believe that early morning yoga is a luxury that most people can't afford. for those who can, sometimes, prefer to sleep a while longer in bed..can't really blame them, early morning is a sacred time, really. the whole world in the process of awakening and here we are, packing our yoga mat into car boot and drive to class. that takes commitment and sheer dedication. in mysore, my days started as early as 4.30am. gotta to be in class by 5.30am so i need some time to drink lots of water 'and/to' empty my bowel. it is always good to drink lots of water before anything else as part of cleansing process but mostly, nothing beats water to start the bowel movement.
then again, for 'the uninitiated', getting to class in the early morning is still a challenge. yet, to see those faces is a real delight. i guess, that is what the master felt seeing us waiting for him in class each morning for 6 weeks. it makes teaching so much joy. it makes everything worthwhile. god bless to those early risers.