23. October 2009 by admin.

Yoga Class at White Lotus Center (6-8 pm) will incorporate live music, dancing, yoga and Kirtan Chanting tonight. Words elude me on the variety of feelings swirling around my head about chanting. If any of you have been in my class to hear me lead the chant “om” then you will know one feeling, as singing isn’t my natural talent.  Don’t have much time to rattle on about this, as I’m on my way to fine tune the chant selection and practice, so again bring you words written by professionals over there at the Yoga Journal:

Human longing for ritual is deep, and in our culture often frustrated,” writes theologian Tom F. Driver in The Magic of Ritual (HarperSanFrancisco, 1991). His simple observation explains the surge of interest in chant and other rediscovered rituals.Certainly, in a society where many believe singing is something done by others and purchased in the form of concert tickets or a CD, our understanding of the aesthetic and ritual dimensions of the human voice has diminished.Although we can’t prove it, chant, or sacred singing, was probably one of the first expressions of human spirituality. Incorporating a chanting ritual into your yoga practice is easy and, for many, the act of chanting facilitates a greater sense of peace than practicing asanas alone.

We are making our final chant selections today to handout at the workshop.  The handout will include their meanings as well as be posted tomorrow.  

Call if you have any questions, see you there,

Deby

907-225-4055

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23. October 2009 by admin.

Of the many benefits of fasting, clear, soft, glowing skin is the ultimate freebie.  It’s our face, smile, eyes that send signals to the world how we are doing  long before we open our mouth.  So important in our culture its confirmed by the gazillion dollar cosmetic industry and the amount of time spent digitally altering magazine covers. Yet despite these wonderful and obvious benefits, I find myself bargaining with what I’m willing to do on the cleanse. For example, I’m supposed to be drinking 6 servings of fruit and 5 servings of veggie juice, with additives like psyllium and bentonite clay, drink 5 oz. of Aloe juice, yet I’ve negotiated a deal with my alter self and have whittled it down to 4 fruit, 4 veggie and 3 oz of Aloe, so much for discipline despite how much better I’m feeling and looking.

Oh the struggle with the inner voice, is beauty only skin deep?  Here is a quick reference on what the ancient yogi’s practice to develop deep inner glow and mastery of ego, as discovered in recent Yoga Journal newsletters:

Yoga comes out of an oral tradition in which the teaching was transmitted directly from teacher to student. The Indian sage Patanjali has been credited with the collation of this oral tradition into his classic work, the Yoga Sutra, a 2,000-year-old treatise on yogic philosophy. A collection of 195 statements, the Sutra provides a kind of philosophical guidebook for dealing with the challenges of being human. Giving guidance on how to gain mastery over the mind and emotions and advice on spiritual growth, the Yoga Sutra provides the framework upon which all yoga practiced today is based. “Sutra,” literally meaning “thread,” has also been translated as “aphorism,” a tersely phrased statement of truth. Another definition of “sutra” is “the condensation of the greatest amount of knowledge into the most concise description possible.” Keeping these meanings in the mind, we might think of the art and science of yoga as a kind of magnificent tapestry that is woven together by the threads of universal truths.

Most yogis feel freer when they look inward and choose poses that are healing and nurturing—even if that means doing something different than what they originally thought they’d do. This insight is spelled out in the eight limbs of classical ashtanga yoga, which ultimately lead to samadhi, or freedom.

The first limb is yama, a group of five qualities that can be summed up as “self-restraint” or “control.” Among other things, the yamas teach us about ahimsa (nonviolence) and satya (truthfulness). So when you apply nonviolence and truthfulness to your practice—avoiding poses that don’t feel right or that might cause injury—you eventually reach a place of freedom.

Namaste,

Deby

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