Here is a picture of B.K.S. Iyengar doing head stand pose on January 26, 2014, morning. He is 95 years old. I obtained this information from Facebook.
B.K.S. Iyengar doing head stand pose on Jan 26, 2014 Morning
27 Jan 2014 Leave a comment
in Uncategorized Tags: age 95, B.K.S. Iyengar, Iyengar Yoga, jan 26 2014, sirshasana, yoga
The Yoga Bridge, Week 13, The Practice of Detachment
26 Jan 2014 Leave a comment
in YOGA Tags: Detachment, impermance, Iyengar Yoga, yoga home practice
The yoga class schedule changes month to month. Sometimes good change. Sometimes inconvenient. Teachers also change their schedules. Students come and go. I understand this and I am okay with people pursing their lives.
Last year, I had a hard time dealing with change, favoring teachers. Today, as a way of coping with change, I am using the class, teacher, and student relationships as a practice in detachment.
As a general rule, I don’t want to be dependent upon one teacher, place, or thing. The focus is on home, self practice. The world we live in is in constant change, a fact. Just as at the yoga studio and outside of the studio, I live the same way. I will survive the teacher change, change of times, and the new student moving back to Idaho. When at the studio and I am with the yoga instructor, I want to use the time as best as possible because change will occur. For now, I believe the development of the home yoga practice to be very important.
The Yoga Bridge, Week 12, The Eight Steps of Yoga Applied to Swastikasana
20 Jan 2014 Leave a comment
in YOGA Tags: eight limbs of yoga, eight steps of yoga, swastkasana, yogarosa
On Monday, at noon, I attended a level one yoga class. This was my third time to a level one class. The year before, I could mostly attend multilevel classes because of the lack of courses offered and time conflicts.
This week I thought it was informative how the yoga teacher tried to apply the eight steps, limbs, of yoga to swastikasana, the basic sitting pose. The instructor coached us into the correct posture for swastikasana. Now close the eyes and go inward. Then she began to talk about the eight steps of yoga as applied to swastikasana. Printed on the south side and west side upper corner of the room near the ceiling are the eight limbs in Sanskrit. She told us about 1) Yama and 2) Niyama as something we need to work on. Lifestyle, Yama has five principles, non violence, freedom from greed, chastity, truthfulness, and freedom from desire. Lifestyle, Niyama was cleanliness, contentment, study of ego. Then, the 3) posture, swastkasana, 4) breathing, focusing on the inhalation and exhalation without stopping, and 5) detachment to the external world, try to ignore the senses. 6) Concentration, not moving in the posture and going inward. 7) advanced concentration, not our skill level and finally, Super advanced, 8) when you lose the sense of your separate existence. Nothing else remains except the core of one’s being, the soul.
The Yoga Bridge, Week 11, Sit bones? What? Excuse me, do I have sit bones?
12 Jan 2014 1 Comment
in YOGA Tags: awareness, balance, Coconut Grove, consciousness, Florida, Miami Science Museum, Miami Science Museum and Planetarium, sit bones, swastkasana
When I was ten, in the fourth grade, we talked about stars and planets in science class. Everything was in the book. It wasn’t until I was a middle aged adult at the Miami Science Museum and Planetarium, Coconut Grove, Florida, where an employee showed everyone Jupiter through the roof top telescope. The Miami Science Museum and Planetarium had opened the observatory every first Friday of the month, probably still going on. Then, without the telescope, the naked eye, he showed us other planets that were visible in the night sky. All this time, they were right there and I had never noticed. Sad. But I have enjoyed them ever since. I guess what I find so fascinating is that when I look up to the stars and planets, I feel that I am part of the universe and the 9 am to 5 pm work routine, Monday thru Friday, human life plays, a very small place in the universe.
Swastkasana, basic sitting position, my first time. The instructor called out to me, ” Where are you sitting on your sit bones?” Up til that point, I have been sitting everyday of my life. This was kind of a revelation that I had sit bones and somehow position matters. “Sit bones, I have sit bones?”, I thought to myself. I couldn’t find them. I had never thought of them. I looked at other people in the class. I wanted to know if they knew anything about these sit bone things. At that time, everyone was turning inward and getting ready for the Invocation to Patanjali. Just like the stars and planets, and sit bones, I was very out of balance. A drone.
Today, I am very conscious of how I am sitting in Swastkasana. I am very conscious of how I stand in Tadasana. I know that I am not perfect but I still try my best; however, I am closer to being balanced. A declaration, I am no longer seeking profit. I have enough. I had my first delicious vegan meal on Friday in Hollywood, Florida, Hara. I ordered a book on vegan-ism.
The Yoga Bridge, Week 10, Is Amen really Om?
09 Jan 2014 Leave a comment
Amen
exclamation
1.
uttered at the end of a prayer or hymn, meaning ‘so be it.’.
How do you know Amen means” so be it?” What root language is Amen?
Try this out. Say amen aloud, pronouncing it as (ah-men). Next, say Om aloud. Note, Om is pronounced Aum. Similar, isn’t? Not exact.
For the record, I am a Christian. Don’t worry! I’m not at all fanatical nor do I speak about it much. In my youth on Sunday mornings, I would hear this word, Amen, after a prayer and not anyone could give a good explanation of the meaning nor it’s origin.
The sound OM, is the sound and name of the creator discovered by ancient shaman priests of India. Please note, I’m not speaking with real knowledge but pop culture information I found on YouTube and the internet. Be free to write a comment to object or confirm.
There seems to be different theories on the origins of the word Amen. Could Amen and Om be the same. I do believe it is possible.
The Yoga Bridge 