The power of Yoga

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T16:38:00.001-08:00

Its thanks-giving today and I am thankful for my life experiences, my children, my health, my friends and family. Every step I take into the next moment, I become more aware of my own self building on this self awareness that I am nothing but myself....

Namaste

Passion Makes Perfect

2011-10-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

While my yoga practice might be waning recently, my blogging nearly extinct, my passion for life isn't and I have been redirecting a lot of it to my work, my children and helping young entrepreneurs seed companies.

I know I am off balance on yoga but I do try to keep up the practice anytime I can make it to the gym and can attend a class from Nuvana. The practice will return but the passion for yoga remains.. So let passion drive the practice for perfection... my wish for you..

Love you An and Sel..

D
Namaste

The might me..

2011-06-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

As we get older and 'wiser' notice how we inflate both in body and mind! To keep the body deflated we are told exercise and eat less. Do we? And for the mind - we hardly do anything. Just as food and laziness to exercise can become a lifestyle, so can the inflation of the mind. Its the ego, the elevation of self over others.

Ego becomes a weapon of offense and self defense and self feeding i.e. the ego only feeds on itself to become larger and larger. Large enough to expand like a balloon and to a point where a little prick will burts it. I am stuck in this egoflation. Yoga is a way to help but I am still stuck in the muck and struggling to get out... hoping for the balloon to burst asap :). Realization and acknowledgment is the first step to a recovery and that gets you that mental pin to prick the ego-balloon. I am ready for my 3 miler and then a yoga class at IYISF. And for others around you who suffer the same, perhaps you can leave some healthy ego in yourself to prick their ego-balloon as well.

Namaste

Silence all the noise...but the music!

2011-04-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been extremely noisy... I have had no break, not a moment, as my mind has been running faster than my body.. Two dear friends in act of kindness offered to take the munchkins swimming so I could focus on my pending taxes, but I realized as soon as I walked in the door was I need to just not focus on anything and lie in shavasana with my old favorite Thievery numbers on my ipod.

I know the Iyengar method of shavasana involves no music, but what the heck, I modify. The eclectic beat music fused with Indian tabla, sitar and all forms of other instruments actually helps me become silent. And silence for me is the music in the background with no other though, no other noise, quietness except the rhythmic chirping of the smoke detector in one of the rooms, which at 14 feet I can't reach, even with the tall ladder. But my brain is able to deflect that noise and if that is possible, I am sure the rest of the noise can be ignored so my brain can rest for a bit. I look into the nothingness behind the random lines drawn by my munchkins in this work of art, and I see silence in that darkness, peace, tranquility and that is all I want in this moment....

I hope you too can get that tranquility.....

Namaste

Jump start my yoga practice with Neeta Dutta's workshop

2011-04-02T10:22:00.001-07:00

Sometimes when a car has not been driven (or battery continually charged with a drip, as I do to my two seater) the battery goes cold. My yoga practice went cold for nearly 8 weeks as the work, travel and stresses of life took over. One would think a committed yogi like myself would remain consistent and true to his practice. Nada.. I let it slip....the vegan approach didn't work for me, loss of energy combined with all the balls we juggle to survive results in exactly the opposite of what you want to do. The learning (its a re-learning for me) is that we are just not in control of ourselves, and we gravitate towards our habits of extremes. It also affirms that we never were in control and never will. So why fight it. There is a more powerful force that exists beyond us, in every sense, physical and spiritual that we must surrender to and live in the moment and be cognizant of the moment, so when the opportunity presents we reset to become calm, and understand how to get re centered and try to achieve what Patanjali describes in his yoga sutras. By giving up control, The Effort becomes effortless. That is what I learned (or relearned) last night from a two hour forward bending Iyengar yoga session with Neeta Dutta at Sunset Yoga. It was the jump start my cold battery badly needed after two months of winter hibernation. The new studio is awesome, full of light and energy. There is more (re) learning all day today and part of tomorrow. I expect to be physically worn out by then, but I am certain my mind will be refreshed...Thank you Neeta! Namaste

Cutting knives with forks, vege diet, exercise, pranayama and yoga

2011-01-16T22:47:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I saw a documentary movie "Forks over Knives". It was an eye-opener, a new wake up call, a eureka moment! The last time I had this moment was exactly 5 years ago as I stood on the side of a cold, smoggy New Delhi road puking my guts out after a severe asthma attack. I thought I was going to die and it started me on the path of yoga. "Forks over Knives" inspired me to go "cold turkey" vegetarian only since last Sunday. I had anxiety pangs, meat withdrawals and on two occasions I cheated a bit, but all in all I stuck with the plan of mostly plant diet.

I have had several shorts stints of vegetarian diet since last year in May when I had the pleasure of meeting Geetaji (Ms. Geeta Iyengar). The Iyengar family is strictly vegetarian. But each time I would give up. Today is my 9th day and I remain committed to remaining vegetarian and I think I can keep going at it.

I have also been practicing pranayama and my second class with Jen on Thursday evening felt even better. I realized I had been practicing Ujai 4 for the last many days on my own. I would say that makes me feel the best. I also increased my exercise regime, with short bursts of intense cardio, interspersed with brisker walking and more yoga stretches at gym.

On Friday I went for my physical exam and my blood pressure was was 98/68 from the typical 140/90 type. My pulse was 88, when its usually in the high 90s. The nurse was shocked. The doctor checked it again and it was 98/70. He suggested dropping dosage or stopping one of my BP-meds all together. I suggested waiting.

I am not sure if its just one thing, but even a few weeks of diet, regular exercise and yoga practice is making a difference in my health. My energy levels are higher and stress levels lower. "Long interrupted practice", is my mantra for diet, exercise and yoga! I will keep repeating this in my head as I travel to Hawaii/Maui tomorrow AM. I will be packing my own fruit salad as lunch to take on flight - a first!

Change happens slowly - one step at a time. A deep inhalation, a pause, followed by a deep exhalation - Shubh Ratri, Good night - Namaste!

Exhale out your stress in Ujai 2 - Begining of Pranayama

2011-01-08T07:46:00.000-08:00

Finally, a formal 8 week pranayama class arrived at Sunset Yoga Center to be taught by Jen! I have been waiting for such a class and I wouldn't miss it for the world. The catch, no make ups or walk-ins. That will break my walk-in mode of attending yoga classes in Portland. I had become a walk-in drone for the last two years. Everything is sporadic when it comes to yoga, except when I am in Pune, when I can get to yoga for 2 hours a day.

I arrived to the class promptly, right from the gym and to my surprise found a small group with none of the regulars (those who attended level 3) around. Jen started with a great intro and some supine poses as preparation for pranayama and then in the last 20 mins of the class we practiced Ujai breathing - 1, 2, 3.

I found Ujai 2 the most relaxing and meditative, as those deep exhalations lead you to that empty space between the exhalation and the next inhalation. Its the nothing space, where you have let go for a moment every thought, desire and distraction and your mind is at peace and calm with yourself. I practiced it again last night before I went to bed and slept well.

A quote from Lord Krishna to Arjuna from the book "The Yoga of Bhagvad Gita"" perhaps best describes the feeling of Ujai 2: "O Partha, (Arjuna)! when a man completely relinquishes all desires of the the mind, and is entirely contended in the Self, by the Self, he is then considered to be one settled in wisdom".

There was great wisdom of being content for those few moments in Ujai 2 on Thursday night. I look forward to many more. Thank you Jen for a great class.

Namaste

Are you awake?

2010-08-21T08:27:00.000-07:00

On my way to an Iyengar yoga class on the L muni line.
Attending a class with David Sirgany, an Iyengar teacher I had the pleasure of meeting at Gurujis 90th birthday celebration in India. I am thinking how my life has evolved in the last 4 years. What has yoga done to my life?

Yoga simply has brought me some clarity of thought and mind. Perhaps I deal with my stress and pain better. Perhaps I'm more compassionate. Perhaps more tranquil. But I'm just me. I just want peace and neutrality but then at the same time I don't want "anything" - I just want nothing.

What is nothing? Empty space ? That space between inhalation and exhalation or space between the vertebrae in my spine. Or the space in the sky filled with zillions of stars. I don't know what nothing means but I want it but then I don't want anything either. So here I am hanging in "space" and I'm wide awake.

Namaste

P.S. The class with David was energizing. A lot of chest openings through back bends..Then a couple who recently starting doing Iyengar Yoga and drove all the way from Sacramento to take this class, pulled me into the dumpling place after the class. It was delicious and divine and the conversation was wonderful...I was fully awake and in complete bliss.

Light on your feet with Iyengar yoga props

2010-06-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

One of these days I have to post some pictures of props that are now in place at Sunset yoga center. Yesterday evening a level 3 with Nuvana was an amazing class. She subbed for Nina and since this was the last day of the session, a request was made of poses people liked and didn't like. I gasped when someone asked for Parivrata Trikonasana (revolved triangle) and Parivrata Ardha Chandrasana (Revolved Half Moon) and Vrksasana (Tree pose). All of the three I am unable to do well, ever since I discovered my lower back issues. But Nuvana made an amazing experience out of it by using props and spending nearly half of the class time in doing the first two revolved poses, using the stressler (horse), chair(s), blocks with wall support and the front desk table with the chair for support. Each time you had a different experience and it became challenging and exhausting (in a refreshing way). I felt like I had run a mile....

This was followed by the Vrkasana. I immediately went into it with my left leg standing and could feel the strength in my upper inner thighs to hold the right foot and balance. An attempt to do the same with the right leg standing didnt work, my left hip is tighter I said, but Nuvana had other thoughts. She asked me to turn around so my right side was along the wall and viola up went the left leg and I was in the pose. The unconscious mind is afraid of falling on the side with the leg is raised she exclaimed..made sense!

And finally a Tadasana where you could really feel "light on your feet" with energy in your thighs and hips to lift you up.. I felt like I could fly.... no back ache, no sciatica, I felt refreshed and energized - so much so that I woke up this morning at 6 am and went for an hour of walking up and down the gorgeous hills. Its been a while since I have experienced what I experienced this morning - perhaps the 25 pounds will finally get a chance to peel off once again and perhaps I will be able to fly once again.

Namaste

Yogi

Restart Refresh Unblock

2010-06-15T22:26:00.000-07:00

I have been away for sometime. I locked up my blog for a while. I apologize for shutting the door suddenly. Sometimes you need to shut the door so you are safe from the outside. Nearly a month ago the Iyengar family which included Geetaji arrived in Portland for the US national Iyengar yoga conference. I had the pleasure to serve them. I had never spoken to Geetaji till now, though I have taken classes with Abhi, guruji's grand daugther, who was also here along with Sunitaji and her better half Parthaji. It was great to see some of my teachers from Pune including Rajlakshmi and Gulnaz and reconnect with Mondira and Zubin.

I had always maintained a respectful distance with my teachers in Pune, but during their stay I had a chance to open the doors of my heart, spend time with them showing them around our beautiful, and absorb the amazing positive energy that was all around this family and teachers from Mumbai and Pune. I was blessed that my munchkins had a chance to spend time with them as well. It was truly and honor and we all felt very blessed to have their presence for a few days. It was great to make new friends including Chris Stein and Gloria Goldberg.

Namaste

Happy Diwali

2009-10-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Diwali, the Indian celebration of lights. My children spent a whole day creating these beautiful crafts as decorations and parting gifts for close friends we had invited for an evening of dinner, pooja and lighting of diyas (clay lamps from India) and candles.

There was a gathering at my house. The pooja mandir was set, dinner was cooked (well made by a generous friend who has the gift of healthy cooking), the house was scrubbed clean, old keep sakes and lamps of diwali taken out, new keep sakes and diyas purchased - all the traditiona of Diwali I experienced from my childhood repeated. It started a week ago and the day before spent with children preparing for the auspicious evening the next day. So much of my childhood repeated but with some modifications of my own. Even though I am no longer in India, that spirit and joy of recreating my own life as a child repeated with and through my children.

It was a magical evening, something that has now become somewhat of a tradition in my household since the children were born. Its a tradition I inherited from my own parents.We had hoped to save one of these crafts, but the children just handed them out to everyone who came till nothing was left for them to keep as a memory. A school book report and a show and tell at her class was interrupted as a result younger one had nothing to take anymore.. Suddenly her desire and inspiration was gone. But this was such a pure and generous gift to our guests, that I now realize that there is no better book report or show and tell than the generosity and giving expressed by my children in that moment.

Perhaps it is this virtue of unadulterated giving that is the true spirit of Diwali, even though the history tells us it is the day of the win of the good over the evil and the return of a king to his homeland (amongst many other reasons and traditions).

Yesterday there was joy, laughter, music, lights in my household. Tonight, there is silence and quiet and yesterday feels like a distance memory. The only evidence left in the house of yesterday is the pooja mandir created by my kids and the sweet incense they loved to burn, and the colourful moong bean rangoli the children created with help from a friend "Kaye". I had no idea what she meant by making rangoli by gluing "beans" to paper - but it was simply divine. It created a new tradition in my family.

The makeshift pooja mandir will be left in its place and will stay for a while, till it is respectfully put away in its historical place on a kitchen nook. But this is a memory I will cherish always in my heart, because there was a lot of love and joy that was shared last night. I am wiser for it, because despite my loneliness and sadness of not having my munchkins tonight with me, I am comforted with the knowledge that they deeply share my joy and love of giving and the love of Diwali. These seeds are well planted, along with the seeds of yoga and when my young ones grow up from little seedlings to trees, this value shall blossom and I will have done my part of imparting my culture, language, tradition, and love of yoga to them, so they then can perhaps carry the same family tradition and history.

My hired help Erika left with her own special keepsakes of Bean Rangoli from the children had the most inspiring parting words.. "It was a magical evening!"... Yes Diwali is magical but not just for children, but for anyone of any age as it inspires you to spark that light in yourself and allowd you to experience the joy of giving so you too shine your own light in your unique way...

Happy Diwali to you all and I hope you too can shine your light with others...

Namaste

The Yogi

Fight the pain!

2009-10-04T05:13:00.000-07:00

My writer's block has continued. It has been hard to motivate myself to collect my thoughts and put the "electronic pen" to the "electronic paper". I had prepared a synopsis of my India trip, especially 5 days I spent in Pune where I had the opportunity to visit Abhay's studio and get 2 hours of yoga every morning. It did wonders for my sciatica and lower back. I also took a very fun "Sports yoga" class where we did "fast poses" and the whole class.

I arrived in India and spent the first week in excruciating pain and the last 5 days were bliss despite long hours and nights at work. I got a chance to say goodbye to some friends from Chile, who had not only spent a year in Pune practicing at the institute, but travelled extensively and absorbed the culture to the fullest. I highly recommend this to folks who want to come and practice at the institute. I know many come for a month and have a packed schedule. But experiencing the people and culture is as important as 5-6 hours of yoga at the institute where you live in a bubble.

In addition to being in Pune, I had the pleasure to connect with my past from 28 years, my classmates from grade 10 and visiting the place I grew up. I left with a profound message from Abhay as I struggled with chronic back pain. "Don't try to avoid it, fight it"! I am fighting it..

Namaste

Docked with the mother ship - India

2009-08-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

I landed in Mumbai very early this morning. Getting out of the Mumbai airport was a breeze and a pleasant surprise to see a lot of the outside of the international airport reconstructed.. I could smell the musty air - monsoon is in full swing but the rain gods have not been too generous leading to a drought. "Mumbai only as 200 days of drinking water in reserve" says the driver of the car who picked me up. Hundreds of people are walking the streets barefoot at 2 am in the morning. Its Ganesh Chatruthi on Monday - the celebration of Lord Ganesh and thousands will walk to the Sidhi Vinayak Temple mid town Mumbai barefoot, a walk that may take them an entire day. I will seek spiritual blessings from a distance, as I will be recovering from jet lag. Thousands of colorful effigies of Lord Ganesh will be immersed in the Arabias sea and rivers all over. Its symbolic... but with scarce drinking water and pollution I wonder the logic behind it in the present time.

My yoga has been scarce. I had two yoga sessions with Nuvana. All to work on my sciatica and back ache, which she has helped dissipate. I tried to get into a class in Bandra with Jawahar tomorrow, but its to early in the AM. I will have to wait till I get to Pune next week. In the meanwhile the Swine Flu scare hype has really been blown over the top. The airport had a whole horde of masked medical examiners sitting at a desk, just collecting a form which we were required to fill out on the plane. We were warned of a 5 min medical check when we landed to see if we had symptoms of swine flu and could be quarantined for 5 days. The list of suspect countries included USA. You had to mention if you were coming from a country experiencing Swine Flu epidemic. Guess what everyone answered that as!!!! I wondered what the logic was - India is one of them now.

So I hope that the swine flu hoop la will subside soon. I plan to reconnect with my yoga practice, detach from the stresses of life in America and have a productive trip. There will be lots to write about, so hopefully I will have more frequent posts. I expect to connect with interesting people and have a challenging task of getting my Pune work force out of the Swine Flu fear and back to productive work. There are milestones to be met thanks to the Obama Health Care Technology Incentives.

Namaste

Another day another _________________

2009-08-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been hectic and full of travels and trips. I call them escapist trips, but incredible time with my children. I was in Hawaii last week for work and attend a coworkers wedding on the beach. I also had a chance to practice yoga at the Hatha Iyengar Yoga center of Honolulu. My sciatica had returned (the biking I think) and Ray Madigan was amazing in his instructions to help with it. It was a fun class. I wish I was there longer to take more. I learned a few new tricks in addition to what Nuvana had taught me on how to take care of it.

Then the nightmare began. I flew to Maui and took a class on the beach (a wet uneven grassy yard) organized by my coworker. The teacher was of a different style, one of those fusions of Iyengar and others. One student collapsed by the heat. I twisted my back and the showers of pain came from all directions. I have been in pain since. I had resisted going to this class, as I know I cannot handle Vinyasa, but fell to temptation. So I deserved this pain.

So here I am back to square one. Another reset. But tomorrow is my session with Nuvana and I expect some relief. My battles with pain and stress begin, especially since Pune is now the epicenter of Swine Flu in India and I have tickets to travel on the 21st.

Namaste

The balance is back - 7 days of yoga and counting

2009-07-09T22:40:00.000-07:00

It was imminent that I would wake up one day and realize that I had gone astray. I had let myself go again! Over the last six months I had become complacent and let the stress consume me inside. Outwardly, I was starting to eat my stress out and had let my physical practice or yoga and walking slip to the sidelines. I was starting to balloon.

I had the usual excuses - too busy, too much work, travel, bad food. It all hit me at once, when I hit 210 pounds in June 2009 and then by June end I was 214 pounds. I couldn't fit in my pants, my asthma returned, and I was starting to slip into the hole of depression.

Finally there is a realization and eureka moment! "Just take care of yourself first"! In that awareness I made a pact with myself. I had planned Munoso's intense one week workshop in the first week of July in San Franciso at Abode of Yoga. I couldn't attend it as one of the days was a day with my children. That was more important that any yoga in the world. So I made a promise to myself - I would practice yoga every day I was denied time with my children starting July 1. That was a 14 day stretch. Not only would I practice yoga, but I would restart my walking, watch my food intake and let the stress go away from within.

It has been 9 days. I have taken a yoga class for the last 7 days. I have walked 2-3 miles every other day and I have restarted the healing of my mind, body and soul. I went on the scale today. I am down to 210 pounds. The soreness from the first few days has dissipated. I have gone back to the path of centering myself. It has been a re-learning of what I learnt for the last 3 years - how to calm your mind and how to connect to your mind and soul through your body.

Everything I learnt is steadily coming back. There is no more sadness as much as there is no more happiness . There is no more an expectation of where I "should" be in my life right now. I am where I am, and I couldn't be at any other place. So I accept where I am, and I just go with the flow of life, with the only one end goal and that is to remain in my neutral space. Everything else including the weight will simply melt away. The balance is slowly returning and I felt it in my sirsasana yesterday. I can really balance on my head now, better than I had ever before.

That was my realization today and with it melted away my writing block......I am back to blogging.. slowly but surely!

Namaste

The Yogi

Great Video Homage to Guruji from Russia

2009-05-30T08:36:00.000-07:00

I ran accross this on Youtube.

Strengthen Shoulders? Hike 10 miles with a 20 pound back pack

2009-05-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

I went on a camping trip as a chaperon with my kids' class earlier this week to a heavenly place called Opal Creek. A 2 hour drive into the foot hills of the Cascade Mountains south of here, this is an old growth forest reserve. From the entrance of the park its a 3 mile hike. Imagine that in the middle of pouring rain and carrying about 25 pounds of camera equipment, including the heaviest tripod you can ever carry. Add 3 layers of clothing and protective rain clothing, you're talking some serious weight being carried up the mountain.

It was an exhilarating experience, both in physically and mentally. Along with the sponge brained 6-9 year old kids, I too learnt about the flora and fauna of the area, including a valuable lesson on how important it is to preserve the forests and the associated wildlife. I had no idea how inter dependant the ecosystem is. I learnt about OWLS including the spotted ones....

It was three days of hiking, walking, listening, picture taking - I was exhausted by the time I returned. I was looking forward to a restorative yoga session with Nuvana. Nothing like that. She wanted me to work on my Adho-mukha vriksana instead, once I told her my shoulders were sore from carrying all that weight. "You never know how this may help you finally overcome your recent loss of ability to get into hand stand" !. After a few rounds of AdhoMukha Svanasana, with head firmly on support, which allowed me to experience the stretching back of the shoulders, I made the first attempt to kick up. With just a little tug to my thighs, there I was back on my shoulders, with enough strength to stretch up and get my elbows straight.

This accomplishment after nearly 9 months generated enough excitement that all kids too were up on their hands! So there were 4 more successful attempts interspersed with shoulder work, including half head stands and using weights. I finally had broken the barrier and I was right, it was not the hips, it was my shoulders that were the Achilles heel.

Connection to nature and your surroundings is extremely important to recycle your energy, your mind and your body of the junk we put into our selves every day. 3 days at Opal Creek made me realize I didn't need to travel two hours from home to do that. I live in such a paradise, right here in a place called Forest Heights. I just need to put on my rain gear and restart my daily hiking and walking, with a caveat - I need at least 20-25 pounds on my back and keep my shoulders rolled back. Its all interconnected to my ability to get back on hands and my favorite pose AdhoMukha Vriksasana.

Namaste

The Yogi

Keeping it real - yoga or not!

2009-05-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

Recently I connected with school friends of mine, graduating high school class from St. Joseph's Convent in Faridabad India, a suburb of New Delhi. The year was 1981. I cannot forget that time and even though faces were forgotten, some names were forgotten, we kids all had a bond, and its amazing how those connections come right back after a deep sleep. The internet has connected us again, and the folks who connected were folks who you were connected with then, your circle of friends and some enemies, but at the end of the day they were all friends. Of all them most changed was me... no one could recognize my picture.

My connection to yoga started in that school. We would have a yoga class once a week in PT. Simple poses, like padmasana, not simple anymore for me... but the seed was sown. In grade 8, I wrote a play based on a yoga show that would come on TV every week. A Swami Dhiren Brahmachari would run it - he would rattle off the asanas, their benefit and two demonstrators would show them. My script was based on that show, and one of these circle of friends, Arun became Swami and two others become the demonstrators. The play was a hit and it one an award. And then yoga became history as other sports became more important.

As I connected with these friends the last few days and went down the memory lane, I realized those seeds of yoga never left me, just as these friends never left me. We started right back virtually and through pictures. Nothing has changed, but everything has changed. Those memories remain. It was a time of my life I cannot forget, and its a time I share with my children in form of stories, so they can then share it and the stories become family legends. That is so reminiscent of how yoga has evolved too. Passed down from generation to generation.

To the memories of times gone by....

Namaste

The Yogi

Tadasana is standing up for yourself to withstand adversity in life!

2009-04-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

One of the most amazing poses of Iyengar yoga is tadasana and how you are taught to execute and perform tadasana. The instructions flow in the following manner:

1. Join your feet together and firmly plant your feet evenly on all your toes, the ball of your feet and your heels
2. Pull your knees up (or in Pune speak "suck up your knees")
3. Roll your shoulders back to open up your strenum and pull your trapeziums down
4. Your head is straight in a neutral position
5. Your fingers pulling down and straightenyour arms all the way.
6. Your glutes tightened

Tadasana translates into the mountain pose. You are standing tall, sturdy like a mountain, that can withstand storms, rain, snow even when it blows its top off, the raging lava just flows down, it doesn't stick. Tadasana translates to that inert strength we have to stand up and withstand all adversity, and helps us be fearless and calm.

So if you are ever being beaten down in life, you feel overwhelmed, you lean too much on one leg or the other in stress and lethargy, just remind yourself to get into Tadasana and let all that negative energy, fear and lethargy, flow out of your body, from the tips of your fingers, the crown of your head, the gaze of your eyes, the opening of you chest, soles of your firm feet, and even spread of your toes. Then let your intelligence just permeate through and little you know it you will find that spark to withstand any adversity and help you to stand up and withstand it. This is how you stand up for yourself and your rights!

This is the power of Tadasana, the king of standing poses.

Namaste

The Yogi

Fighting the battles - learning to conquer Adho Mukha Vrksasana

2009-04-21T06:11:00.001-07:00

Well folks my bloggers block has persisted though I have been writing but on other blogs and for other reasons so that preoccupation has taken away time from this blog. I am continually challenged by the loss of the ability to perform arm balances, such as Adho Mukha Vrksasana. My sessions with Nuvana have been all about building the strength in the arms and upper back needed for the lifting, but the added weight of about 20 pounds mostly around the belly has been restricting the lifting of the hips. But something interesting happened in class the other day. She had me go to the ropes instead and jump up holding the ropes in Sirasana form. You are upside down, but holding the upper ropes in your hands, and you are in lying down prostrate position flat against the wall, but inverted.

There is tremendous pull on your arms as you literally stand upside down, but the head is in the air. After a few seconds, your legs come down to the floor, over your head, like a high angle dog pose. You are ready for lift off again.

Believe it or not my legs went right up, just as if I was performing an Adho Mukha Vriksasana. The hips felt light, and the inversion was almost in slow motion. What helped? It was the support of the hands and arms with the ropes. That provided the energy and the support to lift off.. Eureka! Its not the hips, its probably not the weight, it is the ARMS and SHOULDERS! That is my nemesis.

Imagine if you could do the same in life, clearly understanding and identifying your challenges, how much more access you have to resolving them. Ironically I am on a parallel track of another challenge, a fight, a battle.... I need a similar exercise to find the source of the problem that is creating this battle and how to overcome. I think I have a good teacher to help me with that, but at the same time I have to keep trying....

Namaste

The Yogi

Where has been the yogi been???

2009-04-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

I am sure many of the regulars are wondering what has happened to my blog posts. I am suffering from writers block I think in addition to a very hectic travel schedule that included a week of R&R with my munchkins for Spring Break in San Diego and Disneyland. My yoga practice has deteriorated to once a week. My weight is up 10 pounds adding to my struggle with arm balance poses. My hips are just not moving, yada yada yada... and I have been spending more time reading blogs, including that of the a famous Indian movie star Amitabh Bachchan and a Mumbai based writer Shobhaa De, whose book Superstar India I read last year.

Amongst all this I end up in San Francisco for a trade show and it opens up an opportunity to find the best Iyengar yoga studio in town. I had already done that research when I met Rita Manuso, Manos Manuso and two other teachers from Abode of Iyengar Yoga. I had to take a class from Manuso, now matter how intimidated I was made to feel by others. And what a class it was. It reminded me of Pune and the intensity. This was an experience I will not forget. I introduced myself ahead to him and he basically encourage me to absolve myself and take it as it comes. This class was all about shoulders and neck and he made us do some very interesting poses, including a paired up Shirsasana on a pole. Manuso gently corrected me a few times. I had already warned Rita I had trouble with lifting up on arm balances, so when it came to Pinchmayurasana, she was right there assisting. me.

Instructions were rapid fire, blankets and blocks were Punesque and the studio large, airy, aesthetically designed with a great sun roof, natural light, even though it was cold and windy as hell outside. The class couldn't have been more perfect, we were all huffing and puffing, and some guys stripping of their shirts, which was a first as the heat emanated out of our bodies going from pose to pose. It was an amazing class to say the least. I would highly recommend anyone visiting SF to take one of Manuso's public level 2-5 class. Show up early, he turns away late comers.

I had promised David I would come to his class next day at 7 am. I couldn't make it, I was sore as if I had 3 days of uninterrupted weight training. I am still sore, so I am resting again today. Maybe I will go tomorrow afternoon.

Off to my trade show now....

Namaste

The Yogi

A new post finally - new yoga props.. new level of experience ....

2009-03-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

What a struggle its been to write the last few weeks but today I mustered the energy and write. My last post was nearly a month ago on Feb 17th discussing "Igomania" and a snapshot of my one on one session with Nuvana. I took off for Pune the next week on a very short 5 day trip for work. I packed three private sessions with one of my intermediate teachers Abhay at his studio in his house and what an amazing experience it was. He read my body and my mind without me saying much. I have been unable to perform handstands and pinchmayursasan for the last many months. He had me in Pinchmayurasana in minutes. I grabbed the rope hooks at the base of the wall, he pressed my right lower arm with his foot and off I flew.
"You need to feel light in the hips" and "I want your calves to be soft"! We did a lot of hip work and leg work, lots of variations of uttanasana, adhomukha svanasana, navasana, pagangusthana, wall, floor chairs, round blocks, ropes, Abhay standing on my back while I was in a restorative adhomukha virasana. There was a lot discourse on yoga philosophy, my doshas, improving my tejas etc etc etc. Three sessions of complete enlightenment. I had little jet lag on this trip. I packed in 15 hours of work per day and I mustered the courage to bring back some great props, including my favorite "Viparita Dandasana Bench" in lieu of luggage. I travelled light and that allowed me to replace baggage with props. All made it back in one piece.

So finally it all got assembled last Friday with Nuvana's assistance. I am still learning to use them, but 15 minutes on the bench was amazing and well deserved... there will be more coming in the future but enjoy the following pictures for now.

Life has been its usual self for me lately, it seems like there is no end to my misery and pain, but that is the test of the universe and it the test of my resolve to bear it, take it, all for my two munchkins, who I care about and love the most. As Nina said in her tough level 3 class today "try to be still in the pose a bit longer and try to bear the pain as the sutras say..."! I am trying ... my best... In the meanwhile Iyengar yoga keeps moving forward and not look back and the props just make this journey more interesting than ever. I do know one thing for sure, it has given me strength to bear and not react, but observe, be still and try to be neutral.

Namaste

The Yogi

Engaging in Meaningless Battles - Unyogic Igomania!

2009-02-17T20:15:00.000-08:00

War is nothing but a battle of selfish and mindless egos that loose sight of compassion love and care for others. At the end even the winner loses - the destruction is bi-directional as war spares no one! Yoga teaches us to deflate our egos by going inwards to the I and beyond.

But occasionally going to the "I" sounds selfish to me. Should we not be going inwards to "us" which I term that as SMS - Shared Memory Space. I started using this term back in 1993. I picked it up from my software programming vocabulary and I first wrote about the idea of SMS in my personal journal. I lost the journal in a computer crash, with no backups. I have yet to learn my lesson of making regular backups - I still dont! Shame on me as I am a certified computer geek...

Shared Memory Space was my way of describing the notion of collective consciousness. In my world the notion of ego, self and collective consciousness are all interlinked. It is easy to break this link and simply let the "I" become the major ahamkara - ala the freaking mayhem causing devil in our lives which I call "Igo" rather than ego. It leads to utter blindness, failure and misery in our lives. We all suffer from Igo-mania. Why do some engage in such meaningful battles and conflict ? I am still uncertain, but Igo has a major play in it. But does Igo have physical manifestations?

Despite some expert opinions I don't believe knee and back aches are physical manifestations of inflated Igos. They are purely physical and generally posture related or for instance when you blow up your knee through a bad slip on a ski slope which I VERY much avoid.

You wonder why I write much about Igo and war. Well last I checked it's a daily occurrence in my life. I deal with battles daily and its a challenge to keep my Igo in check.

War has been a cornerstone of the history of the world right from the great epic of Mahabharata described in the bhagvatgita. We want peace. But peace is impossible unless we are peaceful inside with our Igos and negative reciprocity in check and deflated, while love and compassion is inflated. Unless you keep your Igo in check, you cannot bring the love and compassion into yourself and start seeing "Clearly". You will remain clouded till the war destructs you and who you engage the war with. Its a vicious cycle of negative reciprocity. You see that daily in the war in the mid east. Its simply never-ending.

Yoga helps you connect with the collective conscious - your SMS. The more you are connected to the SMS, the more likely you are to be thoughtful, calm and able to withstand dysfunction in your life. You get the power to understand not only yourself, but the universe around you. That understanding can be helpful in you respond to battles and attacks. Rather than reciprocate, sometimes pulling your sail down and not showing up for the battle may be the best diffuser. But that requires a major check of your Igo value. It needs to be at its lowest point.

So, when I am attacked or have a strong desire to let my love and compassion be blocked by my Igo and negative reciprocity, I rely on some of the following postures that help me it keeping it in check and restrain me from engaging meaningless battles:

1. Half uttanasa

2. Paschim uttanasana

3. Adho mukha paschim uttanasana. This is great to do at 35000 feet on a cramped seat of a zooming jet.

4. Supported backbend - Viparita Dandasana This will open up the well of tears in your eyes and gush those emotions out. You need that once in a while.

5. Adhomukha Svanasana - This has lately become my favorite pose. Be a relaxed dog and stretch your tailbone up to make a perfect triangle out of your body! Here is a near perfect rendition from my teacher Nuvana...

Namaste

The Yogi

Watch it from the expert herself....

Hang upside down and let your aches and pain dissipate...

2009-02-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I attended Nuvana's back care class at Sunset Yoga after a Friday evening back care regiment in private session with her. We determined that forward bends were aggravating it, so there were a number of supported back bends performed, along with twists. She avoided the traction with belts. My back pain was isolated to the lower left and heavy lifting was responsible in aggravating an old injury many years ago playing racquetball. Nuvana has no background in human physiology or anatomy, but she has a knack for isolating the area and using her skills to twist, stretch and turn you to relax the area. It is interesting to observe and feel your back pain slowly disappearing albeit for a short while.

Back to Saturday morning. The pain had moved to the center of the lower back and any forward bending would aggravate it. It was bearable. The class had many who were in some sort of pain. We started with some sitting poses and I could feel my shoulders tighten. Did I sleep wrong. The class was hard and eventually we ended up at the ropes. The best 10 minutes were hanging down in sirsasana. I had done rope sirsasana in some time and that just relaxed me completely. I would highly recommend it....

Namaste

The Yogi

Lower back pain - A revisit

2009-02-04T21:59:00.000-08:00

I received a nice comment from an anonymous reader on an earlier lower back pain post - his lower back melted away I guess!!! Well little did he or she know that my lower back pain re-appeared on my left side. There was heavy lifting of 60 pound munchkins and that did the trick to my lower back. Old injuries have an interesting way of re-appearing when you think yoga took care of it. Coincidentally my knee pains disappeared. Its like a see-saw. Knee pains goes Back pain comes and vice-versa.

Monday night advanced yoga was hard, I failed miserably on the arm balancing poses, the poses I love the most have become my nemesis and my back hurt horrendously. Its been a horrendous three days till this evening. But I have chosen not to be miserable and didn't give permission to my backache to make me miserable nor the person who threatened to make my life miserable in utter mindless behavior. I rejected the pain both in my back and landed in my Wednesday night class with Nuvana at the gym. There is back ache, but there is resolve to get through the class.

I cannot bend to properly complete Uttanasana, so I bend as far as I can. The poses are challenging, but I choose not make them my nemesis, especially revolved triangle pose. Nuvana is great in moving the class along, there are many new yogis, all jazzed by her precision. The class has ballooned from about 10 to 25. I manage a good Vriksasana on my left foot, but not the right. It was an hour class - there were several variations of the triangle poses from Adhomukasvanasana. We ended with a small resting pose. I had kept my backache at bay, but it would appear in sharp intervals. So I checked in with Nuvana at the end of the class.

"Get into Adhomukhavirasana" she remarked! "Now!" Yeah right now she said. So off I went in the middle of the class dismissing itself. She walked over and stretched my spine. It felt good. Then she asked me to grab her ankles and while holding my lower back down she pulled her legs back. It It resulted in an intense stretch of the spine and the back. She asked me to get up and asked if it helped. "Of course it did!" I let out... The backache just melted away...it was a 30 second yoga therapy session with long lasting effects.

I learnt another lesson - by not giving permission to the pain and misery I have permission to myself to be relieved from the pain. Fear of pain is the cause of misery in life - I freed myself from it today.

Namaste

The Yogi

Bad Knees equate to bad posture....

2009-02-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

The clicking and pain in my knees while performing standing poses returned after the new year. My right knee is especially bad. Any sort of step climbing or squats makes my brain automatically go into protection mode and my leg avoids extreme pressure. The knee clicking got bad enough, that it was time to get a yoga therapy session for knees this Friday with Nuvana.

We did several modified poses. The whole idea was to relax the knee and there are several poses such dandasana, supta padangustasana, badha konasana and a half form of dhanurasana that Nuvana combines with traction using belts and ropes to achieve relaxation of the knee. The stretching of the calf muscles and the muscle at the back of your leg right behind the knee lets the knee reposition. She also observed my bad posture. I was putting more weight on the right leg and it was possible that my really bad knee was the left one, forcing me to use more of the right and overwork it. She based it on another interesting phenomena. After the first round of knee traction, my painful right knee felt better, but the left knee became tight. I was reminded of an earlier post on bad knees I wrote in August 2008.

A balanced standing posture is important in maintaining balance of work our body has to do including the knees. I am very aware of it, and ever since I started practicing yoga, I make efforts to maintain a balanced standing posture described in the Tadasana pose in Light on Yoga. But its easy to fall back to the old habits, so its important to observe yourself standing. I guess there is a life lesson in what I just wrote - "be observant of your bad habits and make ongoing efforts to correct them or avoid them!"

Back to the Friday session, by the end of the 90 minutes, I was climbing stairs with no pain in either knee. This is the magic of Nuvana's Iyengar yoga therapy. Its been three days, no pain in the knee, and I am very observant of maintaining a balanced posture while standing.

I have re-learnt another life lesson. To get to a balance sometimes requires gentle tugging. You may think you have the bull by the horns, but sometimes gentle tugging is required on both sides to tame a rowdy bull.

Namaste

The Yogi

A year later - where is my yoga journey?...

2009-01-17T13:39:00.001-08:00

On Jan 5th last year I wrote my first post entitled the Power of Yoga. I finally share why I started this blog. It was on a whim and in reaction to an attack to my ego - very un-yogic I say. I was appalled to see a celebrity trying to teach overweight folks yoga, more specifically "Power yoga" on her blog. So that was my inspiration - not to teach yoga but share my journey and possibly inspire others.

I have to admit, that inspiration has transformed into an avenue where I can express myself and how I see the world, with yoga becoming the filter I put in front of my camera lens. I gave up many things in the last year, but I have to say with pride, I have not given up yoga and it has stuck with me like a loyal friend. Yoga has made me more aware and made the idea of pratyahara real for me, where I am able introspect and withdraw myself from the noise around me, by first simply becoming aware of through observation and then slowly becoming tranquil and start disconnecting by going inwards.

It has made an amazing transformation in my life and my ability to deal with stressful situations and individuals who create stress in my life. This blog has helped articulate and understand that better.

Despite this transformation, I am not above anything - I am as vulnerable as anyone else. I have my demons, and there are days when these demons come to life and start attacking me and distracting. Just tonight in my advanced class with Nina, I was distracted by thoughts that caused me to lose my concentration and with that you lose your physical strength and will to stay in poses. It is these stress missiles that are hard to get away from and I have found that back bends and inversions tend to bring these out even more.

But despite these distractions, I remain firm and committed to my yoga practice, my growing interest in the interpretation and understanding of sutras and most of all to get on the path of clarity and acceptance of my life the way it is now with a sincere hope for happiness to return someday to me and my two girls, who along with me sustain grief and struggle with the marginalization and deprivation they have been subjected to from my life. Nothing could be in their worst interest than marginalization of their loving dad from their lives.

Yoga has helped me tremendously to deal with this loss and I know deep down, some day the universe will change it. In the meantime we make the best use of the time we have together with a hope to a better future, as life can only get better when we have optimism and determination to sustain the pain with a smile.

I have been out of my posting frenzy for a few weeks. This is my restart - slowly but surely to write again. Thanks Nina for a great class tonight! And thanks to all of you readers who come frequently and the ones who send me comments. Thank you Karin Payson for the great picture with the Bellur School Kids. Its inspires me to write more..

Namaste

The Yogi

You are my gods - BKS Iyengar on Dec 14th 2008

2009-01-01T12:45:00.000-08:00

As promised Guruji's address on Dec 14th evening at Govinda Gardens. It was touching and inspiring.... Happy new year to all of you. Theyoginme blog is completing 12 months. Thank you all for visting, reading and commenting.

Namaste

The Yogi

Back to Reality - 18 inches of snow

2008-12-27T06:50:00.000-08:00

I arrived home to a magnanimous pile up of snow everywhere your eyes can take. I had called my neighbor from Mumbai and he told me there was 18 inches of snow piled up on our street and it was impassable and my long uphill driveway resembled a ski slope.

The side and back yard of my house was being used by neighbors as a passable escape route to their vehicles parked in a make shift parking lot behind my house. The next door neighbor had cordoned off his yard with strings and a sign "Donot Trespass - Private Property". But what about the poor deer, who trespass every day?

There was no way I was going to be able to get my car out of the garage. Chains were required on all cars - life in the city had come to a grinding halt, there was not enough equipment to clean the roads and the city had shut down a few times. I can't even describe the chill down my spine when I heard this news. I was missing my munchkins and couldn't take any further marginalization, now at the hands of nature. I needed to see them and spend time with them.

What irony? People in Portland crave for a white Christmas. Now the universe had given them more than their fair share - as if to penalize us green conscious citizens for all wrong doings humanity has performed to nature in form of global warming. Ironically I have been reading "Hot, Flat and Crowded" by Thomas Friedman and ironically he discusses the wrath of nature coming in form of extreme climate changes. His words were prophetic. This was the most snow Portland had ever seen in recorded history and some dumbo justified it as "well it occurs every 100 years"......

Nevertheless, I was able to rent a not so gas guzzling 4X4 and drive up 1000 feet to the back of my house and drag nearly 60 kilos of luggage down the hill to my back door. All that shrubbery underneath, I hope they survive. I then had to climb up a 4 foot pile up of wet snow to open the door and finally I was "home". Luckily no water pipes had burst. I was in a daze as I had hardly slept and I was still recovering from the shock of how I breezed through customs this time with only one question "Are you bringing any jeera?" .. "No" I said with a smile and understood the humor in it... I controlled my laughter as I dragged myself out to the bus and freedom. I can buy plenty of Jeera at the local grocery store... I don't need to smuggle any from India.

So here I was finally home and in a winter wonderland. The Christmas tree had dried out and the timer on the lights had reset to turn on during the day, as there had been a power outage for many hours... I felt disoriented as I had not yet completely disconnected from Bangalore and Mysore. My mind was awake, but my body felt like it needed to crash and sleep.

It has now been four days since my return and I am still jet lagged. This always happens. Its not a new routine. Life is still not normal, the snow is still around and finally melting, but the cabin fever is atrocious. My munchkins and I had a nice Xmas day and my older pushed me to take them out - they had had enough of being trapped in the house the last seven days. We saw a movie "Bedtime Stories" and it brought so much joy to all of us, as we too make up stories at night, all from real life experiences.

I am still processing my experience from the trip from India. And then there are many balls in the air at home, more than I care to deal with, some I wish could just disappear. Its amazing to see how some things will just linger and fester and never seem to want to end, an infinite grind of reality of life. So the videos will need to wait some... there seems to be a surge of readers looking for guruji's 90th birthday celebrations. Please be patient. I must say it was worth the trip and for those who missed it, I promise there is more to see and there will be a lot more from RIMYI I am sure, as the entire 2 weeks was filmed by the second :)

In the meantime, I must say, I have gained a new respect for nature. I am more aware of the atrocities we have committed with the indiscriminate burning of fossil fuels and waste of energy. I am guilty as charged. The book I am reading has made an impact on me - the question now is what am I going to do about it? We all need to get serious about global warming and act NOW!.....

Namaste

The Yogi

The music from picture slides

2008-12-24T01:49:00.000-08:00

I have turned off the music from the picture slides. I apologize for the annoyance!

BKS Iyengar "Guruji's" 90th Birthday Celebrations - Visit to his former yogashala in Mysore and bus trip back

2008-12-22T07:50:00.001-08:00

After much searching we found his old yoga shala where he practiced under his guru Krishnamacharya. All the buses converged to the old residence of the King of Mysore in the heart of the city, which is now an Art Gallery. Our guide Mr. Rao found the school, which has long since been converted to a Catholic school. The school staff was kind to let us in and spend some time there and take pictures. It was back on the buses to head back to Bangalore to conclude the trip. The last two hours on our bus number 6 involved some singing and entertainment. A few clips that I was able to capture will be cherished...

Namaste

The Yogi

BKS Iyengar 90th Birthday Celebrations Parting Video

2008-12-21T08:15:00.000-08:00

I am posting this final parting video in a series of videos that will appear in reverse chronological order from Dec 19th to Dec 10th. This is the final evening of Dec 19th, 2009. It was a long and fun bus journey from Mysore to Bangalore. I was on bus number 6. This was the chanting bus as the last 2 hours of the journey involved singing and chanting by the members of this group. I must say the Israeli contingent outshone everyone. Hava Nagilla is my favorite. Many thanks to Sania Sheik our tour bus guide, for inspiring us and Swati Chanchani to get us in the chanting mode. We practiced in the bus what appears in this final video before Guruji leaves the hotel in Bangalore. We all parted the next morning back on to our respective life journeys. Hope you enjoy these momentous moments and forward to them others.

Namaste

The Yogi

BKS Iyengar 90th Birthday South India Tour Dec 18th

2008-12-20T07:52:00.000-08:00

This was day two of our trip, that included a 7 hour journey from E-Inn in Bangalore to the two 11th century stone temples in Halebidu and the other Bellur spelt "Belur". The morning started a bit chaotic, but once everyone was settled in the buses (I in bus number 6), we were on our way. Little did I know I was amongst some of the luminaries of the Iyengar yoga world including Swati Chanchani, Faeq Bria, Patricia Walden, John Schumacher .. and more... I sat next to Wolfgang, an Iyengar yoga teacher from Cologne who enlightened me about many things about yoga and Germany and we remained bus companions for the next three days. By the end of this momentous trip Bus number 6 became a world community.

Guruji followed us with his family on this trip. It was an exhausting journey till 11:30 pm at night, but worth every minute. I have so much to share - it will be several days and weeks till I complete my entire journal of this trip, and believe me, I will!!!! I have tons of video footage documenting this trip in addition to pictures. I met some amazing Iyengar yogis throughout this trip and am very thankful I had the opportunity to be part of this wonderful experience we all shared with Guruji. His presence was felt all throughout - though my most momentous experience was my short but important discussion with Faeq Bria, one of Guruji's most important students, an educator, a spiritual scientist and Vedologist, an expert in Hinduism, Yoga, Sutras, Indophile extraordinaire. He sat across the aisle and I don't remember a moment where he was not discussing something with someone in the bus, mostly in french. It wasn't until we arrived back in Bangalore and shared an elevator down, that I finally got a chance to speak to him. Wolfgang had mentioned about his amazing workshops and I had to talk to him about my strong connection with Sutras and desire to take more pranayam. In summary, I wanted to be re inspired to focus my practice back on the asanas but integrate pranayama into it as well.

I told him I felt very connected to the Sutras. He said "its not surprising, its in your blood". I almost fell to the floor when I heard those words. It is in my blood I realized or why I else would I be in it. He advised that I should start integrating pranayama into my practice right away and that a strong integrated practice of asanas and pranayama is the way to really connect with the Sutras. He added that it is too easy to intellectualize the Sutras and simply be stuck in that realm, without the pragmatic experience of asana and pranayama. His words have been resounding in my head every since.

I will have much more to share in my next few blog posts. The tour concluded this morning (2oth). I have to plug the new Bangalore (Bengaluru) International Airport. It is one more leap forward and nothing like any other airports - its world class. So those of you who maintain a critical view of things in India, well we Indians eventually do get it, through long hard struggles of thousands of years of making mistakes and the beauty of our character lies in those mistakes we make, the many times we fall, we just pick ourselves up and keep plugging away till we finally get that perfect asana and the deepest breath. There are still 500 million of us who remain downtrodden, but its those 500 million that we strive to uplift will change the world. Guruji has taken a small step in transforming the children of his native village Bellur, and I made a generous contribution to that effort as a gift for his birthday. I hope you will do so as well. That is the best gift you can make to him and the children of India. There are many such efforts underway..... I am determined in my own way to be part of that change. As Gandhiji said "To make a change you need to become a part of it....".

Enjoy the pictures and thanks to everyone who sent their nice comments and thanks to all my new friends on this trip who shared their thoughts and experiences with me. I am truly inspired by each one of you. How amazing is this connection of Iyengar yoga and Guruji!!!! If you would like to remain updated, subscribe to the blog via email, as I will be posting pictures and videos from this occasion for the next few weeks.

Enjoy the pictures and I end with the following words from an earlier post - Change and see the world change around you! I am now yearning to return home to my two little munchkins who I love dearly and missed alot during this trip and so wished they were with me to share in this experience. There were many kids they would have loved to have hang out with ...

Namaste

The Yogi

BKS 90 th Birthday Celebrations in Bellur Village - Dec 17th 2008

2008-12-18T17:04:00.000-08:00

Here is a slide show of some of the pictures from Dec 17th, the first day of the South India tour. It was a crazy day yesterday. We had a 7 hour drive from Bangalore to another town called "Belur" to visit two ancient temples. I sat next to an Iyengar yoga teacher from Germany, Wolfgang and had interesting chat about globalization. I have been reading a book called "Hot, flat and crowded" by Thomas Friedman.

Imagine shunting 300 people in 9 buses over 200 km through dusty and bumpy roads. We arrived back at Mysore at 11 pm. Amongst the chaos of rooms and herding the group, there was a lot of meetings with interesting people who are Iyengar students from around the world. And of course Guruji and his family were with us throughout.

Enjoy the pictures. Please, if you find the music annoying, click the speaker icon to turn it off. I will not be able to post videos which are far more interesting till later in the week.

Namaste

The Yogi

BKS Iyengar 90th Birthday Celebration - Trip to Belur on Dec 17th

2008-12-17T10:54:00.000-08:00

The celebrations in Southern India commenced today with a trip to Belur, Karnataka, a 90 minute drive from Bangalore. Three of us, that included two iyengar yoginis - Karen, an amazing artist and architect from San Francisco and Elizabeth, an accomplished yoga teacher from Bellingham Washington were picked up from our hotels in Bangalore and zipped down to Belur in a nice van, while the rest of the three hundred travelled by buses later from the hotel central in Electronic City.

All three of us had a nice conversation about India, both Karen and Elizabeth are touring Kerala and Tamil Nadu after this trip with their families. Both are certified indophiles and have visited India 10 years prior. It was an honor to meet them and hang out with them the entire day.

We arrrived early in Belur and were greeted by Mr. Raghu, Guruji's son in law, who runs the Belur trust. Belur reminded me the hill country of San Antonio. The weather was cool, mildly humid, but had the arid feel to it. You can see a smattering of rocky hills around flat land. We were driven to the "Ashram", the facility that hosts a Senior School, Hospital and a guest house belonging to the Belur trust. A huge cultural event was planned in the afternoon with performances from the school children. The senior school has 3 grades of 8,9 and 10 and about 300 students. Its absolutely free and open to any child from the village or neighboring village. The facility looked impressive, clean and you could see smiling and curious kids all around asking your name. I enjoyed the time I spent with them.

We walked over to the guest house for breakfast and got a whopping surprise. Guruji had already arrived and was sitting right there in the room with us. We just sat down and simply absorbed this moment. None of us pulled out our camera - we simply just cherished these very close moments with Guruji as we devoured a delicious and filling carb packed breakfast along with coffee.

After sometime we were asked to leave to check out the school, and facility. This was a polite way to tell us, times up... :) It wasn't long before the buses arrived with the rest of the entourage. I think the crowd was 70-30 foreigners vs local Indian students. While the rest of the crowd was being fed, I had a chance to really get to know Karen. She is an amazing person. She is a seamstress, an accomplished artist and sketcher, a great photographer, a world traveller, and to top it an avid Iyengar practitioner and a student rather than a teacher. We spent a lot of time talking about indian culture and share life experiences. Throughout the day she sketched out various parts of the events, that included people, and the colorful tents under which all the cultural events were held. And of course she was agile and always ahead to take amazing pictures. I was envious of her brand new Nikon D-90.

After the crowd was fed, we were bused for a short ride to the village of Belur, where Guruji was born and where he had built a primary school, which is now run by the government and the patanjali and hanuman temple. He was given an amazing welcome at the entrance of the village and then there was flower laden procession to the temple. I was in photography heaven, but I never could match Karen's speed in being ahead of the procession. I imagine that by the end of this tour there will be more footage of Guruji than ever recorded or documented by both professional media and hundreds of attendees. Even one of the Sadhu's from Bangalore was out taking video on his phone cam.

There were a series of pujas conducted at the Hanuman and Patanjali temple and the event lasted several hours. Guruji gave a speech and Sunita Iyengar recited the patanjali sutras. Every time he was garlanded the crowds would stand up to take pictures, leaving others who sitting viewless. That certainly got under the skin of some, especially one lady who was outspoken and asked many to sit down, so everyone could see the events. Her name was Dhuan Khandala, a very old student of Guruji. She said she had been his student since 1972 and told me how he had transformed her life and also of her friends. She described Guruji as a tall handsome man, who was extremely dedicated to teaching yoga to the Bombay students. He would come on a train every weekend to Bombay, come rain or shine, or storms, nothing would stop him. It was rare therefore for any Bombay student to miss the class. Guruji put all of himself into these classes. She remembers how he would hold her leg up to help her with a pose, while instructing others to perform another set of poses. She remembers how he would quietly come over to her and sit on her back while she was in Adho Mukha Virasana, in order to improve her flexibility in performing that pose better. She said Guruji taught her and others that yoga was not just about performing asanas, it was a way of life and showed them the way of life, and by example. In all the years he came to Bombay to teach he always stayed in a cheap hotel at the train station. Never did he heed to requests by his fairly wealthy students to stay at their house. His dedication and simply way of living is what the students received inspiration. There were many more touching stories, but Dhaun most deeply touched my heart. It was all so real about how Guruji has transformed so many people.

We returned back to the Ashram from the village and that was followed by a heavy spicy lunch and then the cultural event of kids performing yoga and dances. Then there was some felicitation by various VIPs, including a famous swami. It was an exhausting day, but being around the children and getting to know other fellow yogis, along with Guruji's words of inspiration and thanks, made it all worthwhile. Tomorrow we head to Mysore. I hope to blog from there and I hop to post the pictures from today in my next blog. Its late, I am exhausted and the day starts back again at 6 am.

Namaste

The yogi

BKS Iyengar's 90th Birthday Celebration finale in Pune Dec 14th 2008

2008-12-15T05:33:00.000-08:00

It was a magical evening with over 500 attendees converging at Govinda Gardens in impeccable pageantry of traditional indian garb, color and music. A shloka was chanted upon Guruji's arrival. It was followed by fecilitation of Guruji by some of his oldest students that included Jawahara Banga, Faeeq, Munos and then Prashant and Geetaji. Guruji's address to the students was touching and heart warming. Many tears flowed as he addressed that gathering as his children. I will let the video speak for itself.

Afterwards there was a mad attack to the food stalls :) whilst the announcers that included Abhi requesting the crowds to not shower guruji with gifts and give him space so he could give his blessings to everyone. The food was really delicious and worth the wait in crowded lines. Guruji walked around to thank everyone for attending. I had many opportunities to get close and even ask for a picture, but something inside told me to respect his grand daughters wishes. Of course rules were broken, and there was a stream of well wishers around Guruji wanting his blessings and pictures - India is full of contradictions and Iyengar yogis can't be excluded.

I remained a silent observer - there were many people who I had email contact with that I wanted to interview for the blog, but I decide to "unblog" and reflected upon his words and reflected upon the conglomeration of people from around the world who had come all the way to be part of the celebration of the life of this great man. We all have been blessed in some way by his teachings, physically, mentally and emotionally, as we all took a leap of faith into the world of his yoga.

I left Pune for Bangalore this morning, probably much less stressed than the day before. There were the customary hugs and good byes with Neena and Manu Shahani. Neena commented I looked a lot let stressed this time. Of course I am destressed! I have been in holistic heaven for the last four days with the peace and tranquility of her house and the birds chirping every morning to wake me.

She gave me a Ganesha statue as a parting gift and remarked "This is for your protection!" I turned away teary eyed ... Ganesha is my savior - How did she know? Faith, I recall her words is every where here on Hanuman Mandir Road. Its this faith that keeps drawing me to her place, over fancy hotels. Enjoy another batch of pictures from the event last night. Another post will follow with a video.... If you find the music from the earlier posts annoying please unselect the speaker icon from both posts.

Namaste

The Yogi.

BKS Iyengar Pune Celebrations

2008-12-15T03:22:00.000-08:00

Over the course of the last few days I have had a chance to attend some of the celebrations for Guruji. It was a UN affair, with many attendees from all parts of the world. I have never seen so many non Indians dressed in traditional and elaborate Indian dresses. The celebrations began on Dec 10th with the puja and then moved to Yashwant Auditorium in the heart of Deccan (Pune) where an exhibition was put together by his students chronicling his life. The evening of Dec 11th a movie on Guruji's life called "Leap of Faith" was shown. It chronicled his life from childhood, his struggles as a disciple of his guru in Mysore and then on to his path of creating his unique style of yoga in Pune and his subsequent impact on the world.

On Dec 12th we had the pleasure of experiencing the beautiful flute ragas of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasias. I captured some pictures from the exhibition and there is subsequent video footage that I will post in a future post. This trip has been jam-packed as I squeezed a few hours of attendance along with an intense work schedule. I finally met up with my friend Felipe a yoga student from Chile, who I met on the Iyengar group on facebook, and who read my Pune blog posts from April to help him guide through his stay in Pune. I was glad to hear that those posts helped him to get settled in his yoga practice in Pune.

I am now Bangalore and will be joining the next part of Guruji's celebrations in South India on the 17th. Last night was the grand celebration of Guruji's birthday. It felt like a big Indian wedding! Videos and pictures to come soon.

Namaste

The Yogi

Fear of death - an update

2008-12-10T16:53:00.000-08:00

I have had a chance to speak with numerous folks about the events of 26/11 in Mumbai. There were numerous innuendos of conspiracies and how they could have been more than 10 terrorists that landed on the coast. One said maybe as many as 100 and how this was all political and timed to be right before elections in India. I heard two comments that made my heart stop:

One was from Najeeb. One of his private students was in the Oberoi hotel with a group that was gunned down on the 18th floor. He survived by staying still and pretending dead and apparently his Iyengar yoga experience helped. He took a bullet in the leg and one grazed his leg. He spent 16 hours in a vent along with two others drinking water dripping from an AC unit. They were eventually rescued by the commandos. It was a remarkable story of being fearless and calm in a very difficult and stressful situation.

The second came from one of my managers. He said "when you have no fear of dying" you can be extremely destructive. The terrorists in Mumbai had no fear of dying, so even a small group of 10 was able to achieve such destruction. How empowered that feeling became. These guys had no fear of death. Wow, that was a chilling realization! The sutras teach us to not have that fear, and if you can achieve it, you have achieved a level of courage that can be very constructive, but I never thought about the destructive forces that such lack of fear creates, especially of dying. I realized I had encountered situations myself where the lack of fear simply made someone so empowered and as a result extremely destructive. There is always a dark side to the bright side. I fear the dark :)

This is a great question for the Sutra experts? Is eliminating fear always the best?

Namaste

The Yogi

BKS Iyengar's 90 birthday Celebration - the journey to Pune begins

2008-12-10T01:09:00.001-08:00

I arrived in Pune this morning into my holistic home away from home on Hanuman Mandir Road. The journey from the Mumbai airport was uneventful. The airport has been redone, remodelled, redug once again, and the journey from the gate to the exit got longer, though much more visually appealling.

There was chaos at the end, as none of the luggage belts showed flight information and as soon as luggage arrived, the crowds swelled and it became impossible to get out with lines backed up on Xray machines at the "green line". Why call it a green line, if you are going to check every passenger for contraband and harrass them for money anyway? I went to kind lady customs officer at the completely empty red line and remarked "I had nothing to declare". She said "go" as she got swamped by another group of 5. I tried to go, but was immediately confronted by a policeman with an old rifle. I stepped back and just went around him. I had been "Cleared".

Then came the long walk with no clear signs if I should left, which is where I always turned in the past or go right. They will work this out eventually. As I walked down this long alway with no visual sign of an exit, I was looking for armed guards and commandos - all the security that I had read about. No none at all other than a sea of humans waiting outside for their loved ones. Just one cop at the exit with an old 50s rifle. I could sense negative thoughts come into mind, so I had hurriedly detach from those thoughts and started dialing the cabbies number. I couldn't imagine how I would spot my name amongst the hundreds of sign carrying cab and limo drivers. But before I could touch the dial, there it was and then the blast of heat hit me. I needed water.

The whole front of the arrival area has been dug up. Pot holes everywhere but it felt like an ocean of calmness at that hour. No honking horns, just quiet and occasional yelling of waiting folks calling up on their arriving relatives. It was hard to say that just about 2 weeks ago Mumbai had suffered its own version of 9/11. The roads were quiet and the highway to Pune had trucks, but all seem to be quietly dragging them up the hills. It was surreal.

I was welcomed by Manu at 5 am into my digs. This time I am at the "outhouse". I wish they all knew what an outhouse means in American.... :) This is an annex to the main house. It was a book storage shed Neena Shahani had told me last time which was converted into a quaint cottage for yoga students. I immediately crashed after trying to call my munchkins, and then a couple of calls back to the office.

Its the shortest sleep I have had as on the dot at 6 am I could hear the sweeping of floors and a strange pungent smell. Someone was burning their garbage. I recalled the open sewer than runs by the park. It didn't matter, and I kept my eyes shut and finally was awakened by the alarm in a couple of hours.

3 cups of chai and I was ready to start the day at work with a stop on the way at Govinda Gardens where Guruji's birthday celebrations had started bright and early around 7 am. There must be hundreds of people there. I ran into Najeeb, one of the teachers from Mumbai and a good friend of Nuvana. She had called him - I was on the way and I had already a request to carry something back. And then familiar faces started to appear. Najeeb asked me to go eat first. While I was grabbing some quick South Indian breakfast, Geeta Iyengar walked right by me and I could just clobber a quick Namaste. Here was my chance to approach her as she hung around in this makeshift kitchen quiet and away from the masses and loud chanting outside. I should tell her about the going inner part from her audio class. I must introduce myself. Something held me back... its the damn fear - what am I afraid of?

Outside this calm eating area, I can't even begin to describe the pageantry, and chanting of hyms by a group of priests who sat around Guruji. There was at least 3 camera guys, making professional videos and hundreds of foreign contingent all dressed in colorful Indian garb with bindis on their forehead and henna feet. It felt like an indian wedding. It all felt unreal - I became a silent observer and amongst hundred that had their cameras out taking pictures. I spotted more familiar faces including Zubin and my teachers. It was an amazing event - especially the part towards the end when Guruji is given a bath by his family in the grassy knoll outside. A priest sings and the music is most touching. I didn't know what it meant but I instantly thought of my two girls, and overcame with emotion and love for them. I missed them. I wish they were with me experiencing this beautiful and heart touching event, where the family pours blessed water on their through a cloth full of jewellery from the family. A lady offers her gold bangles that she takes off from her hands and is firmly told that it was not necessary. I was touched not just by the offer but the firm refusal to accept such gifts. Cameras were clicking away non stop. I am certain this event will have been captured as a very important event in the history of yoga. A guru turns 90 and is wished another 90 years.

As I stood there observing I could only think of my two munchkins and how much I loved them unconditionally and that my devotion to yoga exists only because I am so devoted to them. I continue to strive to plant the seeds of my belief systems, culture and tradition all culmination into my passion for yoga and I know that nothing in the world can stop that from growing. In those feelings I continue to understand the message of yoga and patanjali - its eventually about achieving this unconditional love!

Here are some pictures from the event. I will be attaching videos in the next few days, as I find time to edit the videos.

Namaste

The Yogi

Going inwards with a shout from Geeta Iyengar

2008-12-09T02:09:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder how asanas allow us to get inwards and explore the depths of our minds? This question burns inside me every time I get into a yoga practice in class. While I am focused on being in the asana, awakening those untouched and unused muscles, I frequently question how it is helping in my inward journey.

On Dec 6th Sunset Yoga organized a 2 hour class where a recording of Geetaji's class from August 1 was played, as we followed her instructions. It was the most intense class I have ever taken. The after effects of a 2 hour intense yoga practice where you have been subjected to being in asanas much longer than you normally experience, not by choice but because once she put you in that pose, she spent another 5-10 minutes bantering with loud lectures, corrections, reminding these yoga students who themselves are teachers and experts that they are still on the journey of going inwards. Was the journey in those two hours inward or simply trying to absorb everything that comes out of her mouth? Was it the fear of being caught not following her instruction or simply trying to understand her instructions and the philosophical dissertation that comes along with?

What does come out is incredible! Its incredible how she observes every student and how she can correct them and get them focused on the “right way”. She is self cynical in her banter – BUT after this two hour audio journey of her class, I realized how much inwards the class took me. I only realized it after I woke up the next morning. I could barely move. It was the best damn two hours I have ever spent in a yoga class, with 3 teachers demonstrating and one correcting. It woke up muscles I didn’t think I had. I learned how callous I have been with my yoga practice and how amazing, powerful and inwards focused Geeta Iyengar really is – despite her bantering and really very humorous style.

There was huffing and puffing, grunts and moans – now that is my kind of yoga class. I was thoroughly exhausted – but I relished every moment and it gave me confidence that despite myself I could survive a Geeta Iyengar class – or not! And I only have 3 years of yoga on my belt.

I now know how I can motivate myself to restart my home practice. I need to purchase a CD set of her classes and get started once a week of my own 2 hour practice. It is like being with Geeta without being spotted. Yes all the yelling and shouting along with her really great sense of humor is all worth the journey of going inwards.

My plane journey has been horrible. I am numb on my feet and arms, with non stop pins and needles attacking me. Sitting doesn’t help and carrying 40 pounds of camera equipment and electronic junk on my back makes it worse. I have to endure, but I need to get smart and find a cart at Frankfurt Airport.

In the meanwhile I look forward to arriving in Pune in a few hours... There will be numerous posts and pictures of Guruji's birthday celebration. Dec 10th is his real birthday. So please return frequently :)

Namaste

The Yogi

FEAR = FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL.

2008-12-08T12:42:00.000-08:00

A very wise person told me last night "Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real".... It made it all real for me about the current state of affairs inside and outside my life. We are being gripped by fear - not necessary and uncalled for fear. What are we really afraid of? Our own shadows? Our own insecurities?

So as I take off for Mumbai (and then immediately to Pune), I say goodbye to my fears, I have to ... that is the only way to move forward. I arrive on the 10th, Guruji's 90th birthday and hope to attend a few functions while being at work. It will be intense and I expect little sleep. I hope to practice yoga with one of my teachers privately. I will be thinking of my munchkins. I am not taking any books, no reading, just long shavasanas on the flights.

Watch for posts, pictures and possibly videos from my trip.

Namaste

The Yogi

What does it mean to be detached?

2008-12-04T12:51:00.000-08:00

I continue to explore and deepen my understanding of "detachment" through my yoga practice and real life experiences by increasing my awareness of this concept - in a nut shell i have become much more aware of the need to detach from situations that create imbalance in my life. Its in this exploration, awareness and experimentation that I feel I am approaching a deeper understanding of it.

But this exploration also leads to more questions and concerns in my mind. What does it really mean to be detached? Does it mean that when I detach from something or someone have I become cold and dis compassionate? Does detachment means "avoidance"? Does it make me weak and meek? Does it prevent me from fighting back when I need to fight? Does it mean I become a victim and victimized, when I feel the need to detach from situation where I may feel oppressed and at the losing end of some battle. When do you detach and what do you detach from? All these questions brew in my head, every time I find myself in a situation where I simply detach from.

Yesterday I found myself in a situation, where my detachment compelled me to be unresponsive. I was put into a situation where I was to compete with someone for a position, that I had no desire to seek or asked for, but was compelled to be in the situation to avoid a worse situation. I had no desire to win, so I lost because I simply detached from the need to win. Winning would have been great for my ego and ego of others, but losing meant keeping peace and neutrality. But who likes to lose? In the past I would have never inclined to put myself in such a situation - I would rather just walk away or duke it out. I didn't fight and I chose to simply detach and not even participate in voting or canvasing. I lost, but did I really lose?

It concerned me and I questioned if I should have taken a different path. If I was put in the fray wasn't the right thing to fight and put my best foot forward to win vs becoming detached? Once it was all over, I was relieved I lost, but was it really over for me as I maintained my detachment from the whole process including not participating in the rejoicing emails that followed. I clapped for the winner, as I truly felt that was the best outcome, but if I was detached, I wanted to detach in completion and not be part of the winning or losing, the rejoicing or the disappointment. I had to remain neutral by not voting and not seeking and finally not rejoicing for the winner as a good loser. It did concern me and question - was this truly detachment and essence of Patanjali's yoga sutra or simply an avoidance of hurt.

I questioned if at the end in such instances, was there really a winner or a loser? Does it really matter who wins or who loses, if the goal at the end for us is to merge our soul with the higher power. My happiness and contentment comes from observing and experiencing what comes at me in the present and then let that present moment dissolve to the next moment. The less I judge it, the less stressed I feel. Is that the true essence of detachment?

Terror in Mumbai - do I fear death!

2008-11-30T13:22:00.000-08:00

It was the evening before thanksgiving and as I drove up North with my munchkins toward Seattle, I received a text message from one of my employees "Did you hear about Mumbai"? I replied "No" and she replied "Terrorist attacks"! I was numb, but this was not an unusual news, its happened many times before - I could only reply "Ok"!

Once I arrived at the hotel and flicked the TV on to Larry King Live, I realized the gravity of the terror. Two major hotels that are major South Mumbai landmarks are bombed and attacked and many innocent lives lost. I was stunned and shocked. I could only watch it for a bit - my kids were ready for the night at the water park, I couldn't help but detach.

I remained detached for most of the weekend. I would go on the net and read through the sites on what the status was. It was incredible to see a group of 10 take on hundreds of police and commandos. It was war live on TV. I could only imagine the sinister planning that went into this. The Taj Mahal Heritage Hotel is a maze, most wonderful maze of rooms and floors with amazing antique furniture and wooden finishes. Just two years ago I spent and afternoon there with my family, lunch at the pool side restaurant. I just visualized it being gone. I was also at the Oberoi a few years back visiting a family member who stays there on every trip. His suite becomes a congregation of many family members who come visit. This was all to spooky and frightening and hit home, but I remained numb. I started questioning my own trip next week, where I fly into Mumbai, though only for a few hours, and then drive to Pune. What if the airport is next?

This whole 3 day ordeal affected me, but not until I went onto the times of India obituary section and then it became all to real and unbearable. It was unbelievable to see pictures of folks, couples, fathers, mothers who died in this ordeal. They all seem to have the date of 11/28/08 as their date of demise. Somehow 11/26 and 11/27 was skipped. I guess it was the day they were turned to their families. This whole incident has become overwhelming for me and I started questioning if I should travel to India at all.

I feel fearful, but then I recall the Sutra discussion from the week prior where the Sutras teach you be fearless, especially fear of death. So, I have decided to dispel my fears and move forward with my trip to India next week. How can I fear death? How can I fear destiny and how can I let the terrorists hold me back?

I will be flying to Mumbai next week and then will be in Pune for work and also attend Guruji's 90th birthday celebrations. The class on Sutras last week have given me much strength and a pathway to continue move inwards and find strength in dealing with trials and tribulations of life. Being in the present gives me the ability to stay calm and focused on whats most important in life - to shine your light and let your love and compassion lead you on while you leave your anger and ego behind.

Namaste

The Yogi

A Sutra Class with Chris Saudek

2008-11-22T12:35:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of taking a two hour Yoga Sutra class with Chris Saudek, a well know Iyengar yoga teacher, who was conducting a work shop at the Julie Lawrence Yoga Center this weekend.

I walked into to find many of my fellow students from Sunset, along with Nina in the class. Everyone except for me had the Sutra book and a note book - I guess there was a required reading of certain Sutra's but somehow I missed that part. It wasn't really intimidating though - I was there to learn about the Sutras, even though I have made invaluable attempts to read through the Light on Sutra's book by Guruji, most of my learning has been through listening many of the teacher's especially Nina refer to the sutras in class and the one that I have been most impacted by is the sutra that tells us to be "indifferent, tranquil and detached".

It was a very interactive class, as Chris went through some selected Sutras and there were some interesting discussions and thoughts presented. Though I don't claim to be an authority on the sutras, but here are some of my interpretations of some of the essence of some of the Sutras that have had an important impact on me and my life and have changed my view of the world in the last three years:

1. The purpose of Asanas: Chris asked the class about their interpretation of the asanas, why asanas were important as one of the eight limbs of yoga. I didn't get a chance to put my two cents in, as I had already in some way challenged the notion of long, interrupted practice of asanas as a way to develop detachment. Asanas are invaluable in helping you go from "the outer to inner self", slowly and thoughtfully, but in a highly physical manner. It is the physical mechanism to activate your body to allow you to deep into your inner mind. Understanding of your inner self allows gives you a pathway to achieving detachment and neutrality.

2. Detachment : Detachment is really about being neutral and balanced. I feel we cannot be completely detached, complete compassionate, or dis compassionate, desired or undesired. Anything in extreme is unbalancing for our mind, body and spirit. Detachment allows to simply step away from situations and events and allows to experience and observe events that are distractions to our mind, disruptive to our lives, in a neutral manner. Detachment allows us to express the love and compassion that is seeded in our soul. Detachment gives us the ability to balance all the virtues and vices that are also seeded in us. It allows us to deal with our fears and insecurity.

3. The inner mind: Chris asked everyone to describe a picture of our mind. I answered "circle". She said a circle implies your mind is bound and restrained. I thought about some more and I think our minds are circular, but with a twist, they are really spirals, as a spiral is an evolutionary symbol. I think yesterday I was looking at spiral from the outside in, from the top view of a spiral. Mind evolves and circles like a spiral. To get to your inner mind is an evolution and the essence of the mind is really connected to your soul, what ties all of us together to form the collective soul, the higher being that we are all part of.

There were many other aspects of Sutras that captured my attention in the class, but the essence of what I took back was that we are on a journey, I am on a journey and yoga has helped me make this journey a lot more thoughtful and introspective, allowing me to experience life with a lot more calmness and detachment despite the constant storms and tribulations I face every day. I don't know the outcome of all this, I quite honestly no longer focus on the outcome.

I simply try my best to live in the moment and experience and observe every moment of life as it comes to me with as little malice, judgement, ego and remorse I can. I try not to look back or forward. I just try to remain in the moment. It doesn't mean I don't have visions, desires or purpose - but I make my best efforts to have the balance in order to remain in that moment. That is the essence of detachment and neutrality. That is what I have learnt from the little I have learnt about the Sutras in my journey in the last three years.

Namaste

The Yogi

Change and the world will change around us!

2008-11-18T11:41:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have not been able to post on here as regularly as I have been in the past. I have really been quite busy with out of town travel and conventions and they can be most taxing in terms of time and energy. I have procrastinated on my yoga practice, but it is slowly coming back as Nuvana has returned from her one month in India and my one-one practice with her commences this week. I have been able to squeeze in my personal training sessions with Nick, and these are really unique as they combine strength training with yoga poses in mind. He has a back ground in body mechanics and yesterday we worked on a number of core strength work outs with weights that hopefully will assist me in a variety of standing poses.

The last few weeks have been taxing on everyone, with the economic meltdown and folks cutting back everywhere. I attribute this meltdown to greed, fear and insecurity. Many of us didn't buy risky mortgages and have regular jobs that didn't need to be impacted by such greed. Greed leads to fear and fear leads to insecurity and that leads to rash decisions, the very opposite of what we are taught in yoga. If we all just took a deep breath and remained calm through all this chaos, the world would not have been any different than what it was 3 months ago. Its amazing how a change in people's thinking about the world and the economy can leash such a calamity that in a matter of a few weeks, the entire world is in the middle of an economic meltdown.

So its time to change our thinking and our stand and being. Its to walk away from the darkness and the goom and doom, and time to walk outside to be under the bright sunny day. Its time to be more compassionate and giving and be less greedy. Its time to be more centered and detached from the chaos and fear, and think more positively about the future. Its time extend our hand out to others and see how we can help them, vs how we can take from them.

Its that simple of a change. And if we can bring that change in ourselves, I am sure the world will change around us! That is an essence of what I have learned in the last 3 years by practicing yoga. Last night I saw a small glimmer of that..... and I continue on this path of change one asana and one breath at a time. I wish the same for you.

Namaste!

The Yogi

Release yourself from pain and hardship!

2008-10-29T21:18:00.001-07:00

Over the course of this blog I have written about the pain in my life but never discussed what this pain really was. Today a friend, or actually a group of friends asked me finally the "Question" - and I finally answered ... it was cathartic and I finally came to grips with my impending divorce and destruction of my family. These last 18 months have been most painful and my devotion to yoga has helped tremendously in dealing with this pain - but the pain is systemic - how do you deal with the destruction of your family and your life as it stands and how do you deal with the impact on your two little kids whose life is completely wrecked and destroyed. How do you deal with the marginalization of your time with your kids, who you love and adore and want to be with the most in such a turmoil in their life.

The family law system in the US and many western countries "marginalizes" loving and active fathers from their children's lives because it percieves it being in the best interest of young children. There is no consideration to the feeling of fathers and the children foremost, who are caught in the middle and cannot express their true feelings as they are torn in the middle. The pain and hardship is so severe that no yoga in this world can help manage or reduce it. You simply have to detach from it. The problem is systemic in this country, its like a disease and the worst form of discrimination as fathers are marginalized from the lives of their children. The children are mentally and psychologically damaged. I am a victim of this disease and so are my children. I only pray to the universe that some day this discrimination and disease is eradicated from the society. In the meantime I focus on my yoga and do my best to detach from the pain and put my energies in making the best use of my limited time with my children.

This evening with these wonderful and supprotive friends finally gave me the courage to open up. They have been silent and supportive all this time. I couldn't have asked for any more. I realized tonight that yoga helps you detach from pain and hardship, but the only way you can eliminate it from your life is to just release yourself from the pain. Guruji says "in pain there is salvation", but the real salvation lies in not just the detachment, but complete release from it. It means breaking all barriers that lock the pain inside you and let it out completely. I took my first small step this evening. Maybe you can try it as well.

Namaste

The Yogi

Its been quiet at the Yogi front

2008-10-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

I am sure some of the readers are wondering what happened to my posts... I am here, I still exist, but I have been very preoccupied with travel and other commitments which have kept on the go for the last two weeks. Nevertheless I have tried to keep up with my yoga class at least once a week and some bare bones practice in hotel gyms. I also was exposed to two great sessions on wellness at executive retreat in San Antonio. The first one was by a Dr. Sushil Bhatia, a chemist by profession, but an entrepreneur and practitioner of yoga and meditation. He did a session on laughing yoga and also talked about stresses in the world of business right as the stock market was tanking.

He talked about meditating for 20 minutes at 2 pm in the afternoon. He will suspend his meetings and business to get this 20 minutes for himself. I have considered shutting my office door and trying some restorative Setu Bandh, but never a 20 minute meditation. He is a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation. It was an eye opener for many attendees and an affirmation for me - I am on the right track. My gym routines for strength building are working well. Today I had an hour session and then later I will be in a 90 minute level 3 yoga class. I can definitely feel more strength in my core and arms. I have also started focusing more on my diet. I have been adding more fruits and vegetables for lunch, as a matter of fact, today's lunch consisted of only a home made salad, fruits and a berry energy bar. I will pass on the berry bar next time. I feel peckish now, so had a banana. Feel more peckish, so there will be another fruit snack. Meals now consist of mostly Indian lentils, okra, rice and yes there is an occasional pizza with the kids. Thanks Skeptic Yogi for inspiring me to make an effort.

Namaste

The Yogi

Augmenting your yoga practice with strength training

2008-10-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

I have recently started a personal training program at the gym. My trainer (Nick) has also been a fellow student in Nuvana's classes at the gym. He has since started teaching yoga at the gym. I picked Nick because of his yoga experience, though I cringe at the thought of how one can become a certified yoga teacher in 6 weeks. Only "Yoga fit" could answer that! :-)

I have had two sessions with Nick. His yoga background has really helped in putting together this program for me, though in a number of exercises, he gently reminds me not too keep my chest open so much, especially in pull ups. It is an interesting paradox and contrast to how we do poses in Iyengar yoga.

There is about 10-15 minutes of cardio such as walking or biking, which allows a more gradual increase in heart rate and then the rest of the time has been spent on mostly isometric exercises to work the muscles. These include sit-ups, pull ups, and some light weight training that is working muscles in the arms, stomach, legs, calves, and the core etc. The movements add some cardio to it as well.

I think a program like this is a perfect augment to my yoga practice. I need to build up strength in my shoulders, arms and core in order to do some of the more challenging inversions and shoulder stands. The cardio work out is important to continually strengthen the heart. For the last 12 months I have not been focused on this, and mostly yoga and have since gained some of my weight back, which has impacted my yoga practice as well.

So I am returning back to my old program of yoga, cardio (walking) and strength training to get my weight down, improve my strength and feel more energized. And I cannot forget about the "cleansing diet" that Skeptic Yogi has gone through. It is on my list, at the right place and right time, I plan to try that and see how it impacts me. The diet component is as important in the overall wellness. So I shall attempt it one step at a time.

Julie Lawrence graciously sent me the shlokas she recites from Bhagvat Gita at the end of her class:

Loka samasta sukino bhavantu.
Loka samasta sukino bhavantu.
Loka samasta sukino bhavantu.
Om. Shan’ti, shan’ti, shan’ti.

May the entire world be filled with love and peace!

Namaste!

The yogi

An insightful class with Julie Lawrence!

2008-10-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

My friend Care, a fellow Iyengar Yogi invited me to attend a level 3 class with Julie Lawrence, director of the Julie Lawrence Yoga Center in Portland. Julie has been teaching Iyengar yoga for a very long time and many of my teachers were her students. Wednesday nights are becoming my yoga adventure nights; to try a different class with a different teacher. This class was quite different and Julie is a legend amongst the Iyengar Yoga teachers in the community.

The class was packed. Her yoga center is in the heart of downtown Portland near the Max-line, packed with restaurants, including my favorite Indian called East India Grill. It was a warm evening, probably the last warm evening of fall and the windows were open and you could hear the hustle and bustle outside as it was end of the day office hour and the restaurants were turning on their stoves with the wonderful smell of food being cooked gently floating in...

Julie had a sign up on a small whiteboard in front of the class. It had a quote from Yoga Sutras about friendship. She asked the class to make that the theme of the class this week. The invocation was done in Virsasana style and this pose was carried through many of the initial poses in the class. Additionally we performed an Adho Mukha Svanasana with arms flat in the Pinch Mayurasana form. All in preparation for poses such as Eka Pada Bhekasana (one legged frog pose).

I had a stiff neck and stiff upper back from an introductory personal training session at the gym- yes I am back on the dark side again to improve my fitness level, strength and cardio vascular training. Just a kick in the pants to get me back on my walking track.

I couldn't get into Adho mukha Vriksana, but I did get into Pinch Mayurasana twice. Julie's instructions were similar to Jen's on how to position your index finger and thumb on the blocks, along with rolling your wrists from the outside to inside. Up I went, but no balancing. Push your feet together .. I heard in the background. That's hard with my tightness.

We then migrated to Supta Virasana which I did just fine. There was not much adjustment needed and then onto the One Legged Frog Pose. That was my first time in this pose. I think I got a real appreciation of being able to push the sacrum down while raising yourself in that interesting contortion. Then it was onto Dhanursana - back bend. One of my readers mentioned that back bends connect you to your past as it gives you a chance to observe your past while you are in back bends.

In that moment I was so sweaty and exhausted, I was really only focused in the present. Julie said earlier yoga helps you be in the present - that made so much sense as I didn't seem to have any connection to my past. I wasn't thinking much in the class and neither was I feeling the pressure to grunt or groan or not. It was a challenging class, but I didn't feel like I needed to prove anything to anyone, including myself.

I was truly feeling myself and enjoying every moment of the warm breeze flowing in from the open windows. I was reminded of RIMYI, in Pune with the open windows with a lot less noise. But who cares about the noise - this is just part of the ambiance... there was no focus on the noise, external or internal as it really didn't matter. I was more focused on enjoying the poses and the pain that you are in when you are in long virasana position. Wait! Wasn't that mentioned in the sutra at the start of the class?

The last major pose was Halasana (with some variations). Since I had to use the chair, I couldn't do the variations. It was harder than usual, as my upper back was really hurting and I had frequently bend my knees which needed correction from Julie. She walked the whole class and there were lots of questions being asked. Once out of Halasana we went into a longer than normal Shavasana.

My eyes couldn't shut initially, so I just stared with a blank mind in the darkness and eventually the eyes shut. I was not asleep but I was out - I didn't hear the bell ring. It was very quiet. Julie then chanted another heart warming sanskrit shloka.. I don't recall all the words, but the last few were Bhavantu, Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti! Peace is what that implies and peace is what I got at the end...

I enjoyed the class very much. Julie invited me to come back again which I will. My friend Care and I then walked across the street to the best Indian restaurant in town and I broke my 3 day vegetarian diet with my favorite Rogan Josh.

The lesson I learnt that evening was that being yourself is the best thing you can do for you. By focusing on yourself, you empower yourself to be who you are and try not to be who you are not. I realized that I have to strive to be present in the moment and not worry too much about the past, though I cannot forget my past. Being in the present means being surrounded by what helps you to who you are and not what others expect you to be. That is what yoga teaches you the most - Just Be Yourself! Thank you Julie Lawrence, I will be back! For more information on her yoga center visit jylc.com

Namaste

The Yogi

Back bend'est week of my yoga life

2008-09-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

It was back bend mahem all this week. Starting Monday with Nina's back bend class, where I could barely raise my head in Urdhvadhanurasana and completely collapsed in Pinchmayurasana. Then on to Wednesday in Jen's class where there was some progress. I could pull off a pinchmayurasana without any help. Finally to this Friday with Nuvana for a serious back bend immersion.

A one on one session that involved practicing many intermediate steps for being able to lift my head up in that pose. And I finally did it. I could finally lift beyond the crown of my head which included a finale at the gym this morning with Nuvana... It was all about back bends..... Back Bends! Back Bends! Back Bends! I am completely savoring them now.

Back bends have mean't being up later than I need to every night. Seriously its hard to fall asleep. But all in all its been an awesome learning and experience. Friday was a great class with Nuvana. We went through various poses to get to the ultimate - UrdhvaDhanurasana.. and finally today I was able to do it without any assistance. Mission accomplished. I am including some practice shots. Small baby steps shown. I have still a long ways to go....

But the best news of all - I was able to secure a place to the Bangalore trip with Guruji on his 90th birthday celebration... all the back bends were worth it! It was an exciting back bend'est week of my entire yoga life!

Namaste

Yogi

Some pictures of some of the steps I learned in the practice all week....

Back to Level 2 - Jen is a Gem!

2008-09-24T22:07:00.001-07:00

A number of my fellow yogi friends at Sunset Yoga have been raving about Jen Shonk, a fairly new teacher at the center (well she has been there for sometime now). Today I decided to take a level 2 class from her as I will be missing my regular Monday night class next week which Jen attends as well. So a make up in advance....

I must say that this was one of the best classes I have recently taken. Jen started with the patanjali chant in a virasana position; a new variation for me. I had forewarned her that back bends and pinch mayurasana were my nemesis. I mentioned my back problems but forgot to mention about my knee problems. Her class felt like more of a level 2/3 rather than a level 2 and it reminded me of the Saturday morning level 2/3 with Nina, which I am no longer able to take.

After a series of Uttanasana and Adho Mukha Svanasana poses we moved into hand stand(s). Today was not my day for Adho Mukha Vrksasana, despite a fair amount of practice last Friday and then in class on Monday night. But I managed one with some assistance. I think this happens when I am thinking too much on how to get into the pose. Jen encouraged us to try to balance. This was a small class so Jen was able to give each one of us personal attention. She suggested trying with both legs - I usually go up with my right leg. My left leg refuses to lift up... practice practice practice, those words from Enlighten up! echo in head. Detach Detach Detach I had to tell myself ...

Next there were was a shoulder and arm strengthening exercise prior to one of my nemesis - Pinch Mayurasana! I have only been successful a few times in performing this pose and mostly in intense practice with Nuvana. Jen explained the pose in intricate detail including how to position your thumb and index finger around the blocks that are flush against the wall. There has to be a gap and the wrists firmly bent inwards, and upper shoulders pushed back. Revelation! I always had them flushed with the block. Up I went on my first try and I could even balance.

There were no sighs, no grunts or groans, as I have become conscious of them since Monday. I was simply relieved and overjoyed as I had miserably failed in performing this asana on Monday along with the back bends. "Thanks Jen" is what came out. I tried a second time and it worked. I was tired by the third try - my heart is racing.... I drop back and held back my groan, but hey everyone else is groaning, so why was I picked out on Monday :) ! There is a whole blog post coming on groaning in class ....At least I didn't fart or exhibit bad body odor....but groaning, how can you not, especially when you have tight hamstrings and you are pushing yourself to really get into the pose...Detach, Detach, Detach from these thoughts, I had to repeat to myself!

We moved to Trikonasana and the revolved version next, with the back foot flush against the wall. I asked Jen why my neck felt so tight. She got me back into the pose and showed me how to avoid it. Just let go of your head and keep it in line with your body and not raise it, just rotate it as you rotate your chest... what a revelation and several in class had the same problem..

We eventually moved to back bends, Urdhva Dhanurasana, and started off with inclined blocks on the wall along with a bolster. Back bends are the least practiced poses for me. My experience today and in Monday's class tells me I need to start practicing this more often. I actually did better than Monday. I could get raise with the crown of my head and felt the strength to raise higher still in my second attempt. I couldn't go beyond the head without the blocks and bolster, so Jen had me switch positions. She asks me to grab her legs and she pulled me up into the real pose.. At the same time I am hearing groaning from another fellow victim of tightness..I feel the thoughts around groaning coming back into my head again, I am developing a groan/noise complex.. I quickly had to detach to another more joyful one..

Wow I said to myself.. that felt good. I used to do this easily when I was 10. And now at 43, years of lethargy, bad posture, sitting at a desk all day in front of computer results in tight shoulders, hips, back, hamstrings.. u name a body part and I can claim the tightness. Somewhere in the sequence of back bends there was a wall supported Ustrasana and Viparita Dandasana on chair. Serious work out...

The shavasana at the end felt great even though my eyes remained wide open and I had a slight cough. Next time I need to raise my head a bit. I liked Jen's style. I told her I would be back again next time I need a make up. I think its great to try different teachers. Nuvana encourages me to, as every teacher has a unique way of teaching. You get a different perspective on different poses, and sometimes those unique "gems" in form of instructions can overcome your nemesis. But nothing beats "practice, practice, practice".. and "just being yourself"... and yes I am getting there...

Namaste

The Yogi

Energy flow into an asana - Its the breath!

2008-09-21T11:44:00.001-07:00

This Friday with Nuvana was eye opening. My yoga practice goes through these up and down cycles every few months. I am currently in a down cycle - though for once I could perform an Ardha Chandra Asana (Half Moon Pose) completely balanced in my Monday night class with Nina. I received many corrections from Nina for which I am very grateful. How can you not know your knees are bent in Uttanasana? I guess when your brain is disengaged and deep in thoughts that happens ! :)

In this session I wanted to just focus on improving my inversions - Adho Mukha Vriksasana and Sirsasana - just these two poses. We started off with an interesting variation. A transition to Uttanasana (Intense forward bend) by spreading the arms out sideways, rather than the Urdhva Hastasana pose, and the gradually bending forward to get into the pose. I could touch the floor immediately....She remarked "observe how your energy and breath as you get into this pose". As you breath out, the energy starts to gradually dissipate, just as you turn on the tap on a water bucket. I had to try it a couple of times to really understand this concept. Eventually she said you will feel more energized rather than tired after an intense asana.

Quickly we moved into some very intense Adho Mukha Svanasana. The idea was to help me increase my energy levels while I performed such intense asanas, especially in the inversions, where you need incredible amount of energy and abdominal strength to stay up and balanced. Having your hips and tail bone completely uplifted and backs straight help provide the space and energy to maintain the length in your body and room to kick up. Aligning of your breath along with it, and release of breath as you try to remain in the asana controls the energy you need to maintain in order to stay in the asana.

It will be sometime till I experience the re-energizing post asana. I was completely spent in the dog pose (variations) and panting like a dog. A stump pose break was necessary to get my breathing in control.

Next thing I know I had kicked up into the hand stand and my older kid started clicking pictures. It was the first time in a few months since I have done this pose and stayed up for more than 5 seconds. It felt good and we did it at least three times. Then there was an intense leg spread forward bend against the wall. It really helps stretching out those tight hamstrings.

It was on to Sirsasana balancing after that. Face towards the wall, with a distance of the feet and hips. We normally face away from the wall, if trying a sirsasana with wall support. This is the opposite and it prevents one from bending their backs, as the body tends to do that knowing there is a wall for support. I am able to balance much better with this practice.

Practice, practice, practice - that needs to be my mantra if I am to improve my inversions....

Namaste

The Yogi

Enlighten Up! the movie - Up Close and Personal with Kate Churchill and Nick Rosen

2008-09-14T16:10:00.001-07:00

This past Friday night, I had the pleasure of attending the Boston premiere of a beautiful movie about yoga - Enlighten Up! It is directed by writer, documentary film director and fellow yogini Kate Churchill. The premise of this movie comes from a local Boston couple Ted and Jeanne Hagerty who met yoga guru and indologist Norman Allen in Hawaii in 2003. They were inspired by him, which sparked a passion to create a movie on yoga, their first movie production. Ted and Jeanne connected with Kate to create the concept behind the movie "A skeptic's journey into the world of yoga".

Kate found Nick Rosen, a journalist by profession who had recently quit his job, He was mountain climbing in Europe when Kate offered him the opportunity to be the subject. Nick was a yoga novice, a skeptic, but at the same time a very intelligent and thoughtful man, who had grown up on a farm in Quebec and exposed to eastern philosophies and religious movements of the 70s. Kate was hoping to transform Nick by putting him on this 6 month journey of exploration and learning of yoga by connecting him to some of the great yoga luminaries in the US and India. She hoped that some of that transformation at the end would rub on her and she would gain some enlightenment from that experience as well.

The six month adventure started in New York City where Nick was introduced to yoga through classes at a variety of yoga studios in the city. Nick's struggles to get into the various contortions and poses are funny and reminiscient to many of us die hard yogis, as it reminds us of our own struggles, the challenges, the fears and the exhaustion we faced when first took a yoga class.

Nick tries several classes including Hatha, Vinyasa, Bikram, Dharma Mitra, Jivamukti and Kundalini. His conversations with the teachers and fellow students are honest. funny and real as he as he attempts to understand the true meaning of yoga. He is struggling with his understanding and feeling pressure to develop this "transformation". He is constantly being questioned and challenged by Kate, who expects him to continually evolve on this path of enlightenment. He describes Kundalini - Kundalooney, causing the audience to break into laughter.

Nick is on a compressed journey and his first "true yogic experience" occurs in Hawaii when he travels to the big island to experience yoga with Norman Allen. Norman is the inspirational character behind the movie. He spent many years in India studying Indian Religion and History and is a gold medalist from Mysore University. He also brought Ashtanga yoga to America. Nick is challenged in many ways, both physically, intellectually and spiritually by Norman.

From Hawaii, Nick and Kate travel to Mysore, India to experience Ashtanga Yoga at the Yoga Shala of Shri Pattabhi Jois. Nick is physically challenged by this practice but he finds little spiritual connection. "Practice Practice Practice" says Guru Jois when asked about how to find this path to enlightenment. Nick finds himself out of place at the Yoga Shala - though later he admitted that he liked the Ashtanga style of yoga.

From Mysore Nick and Kate travel to Pune, India to meet the grandmaster of yoga, Shri BKS Iyengar at his institute, RIMYI. He gets an audience with Guruji and I think this is probably the time where some of the confusion in Nick's mind is resolved. Guruji tells him he didn't even think of the spiritual aspects of yoga till 1960, nearly 30 years after he started doing yoga. It was all physical for him prior to that. That hit a chord with Nick and he describes Guruji as "cool". There several scenes from the insitute with Nick on the ropes in Prashant Iyengar's class and the interview in the library.

This was a touching moment for me, as it was reminicent of my own experience in Pune and bringing back memories of own experience at RIMYI. I saw Nick practicing next to Abhay, one of the teachers I took classes from in one scene. A most poignant moment was when Nick slowly and cautiously glided his legs up into a balanced Sirsana. Three months prior Nick struggled with keeping his legs up; he crashed down while being instructed by Dharma Mitra.

This was a physical transformation that Nick experienced. I am uncertain if he realized that as he was still questioning and trying to find the pathway to enlightenment. All through the movie Nick was experiencing a transformation that he continued to challenge and question and butt heads with Kate. Nick mentioned in the Q and A later that the Iyengar style definitly connected with him, especially in his mountain climbing experience.

There are many such poignant moments. There was one towards the end of his time in Mysore when Kate questions him about his experience in Mysore. Nick was missing his family by then and had missed thanksgiving with them. He gets emotional and tears rolled down his cheeks as he remarked that the healing atmosphere of Mysore somehow reminded him of his mother and the yoga experience in Mysore connected him back to his mom.

My tears rolled down at the same time, it was too close to heart, as I am many times reminded of my mother and family when I practice yoga, especially in India. I think many of us have experienced some strong connection back to our family and home during that time. I think that was a transformational point for Nick.

The journey then moves to Brindavan in North India, where Nick experiences Bhakti Yoga, the most devotional aspect of yoga. Nick has a guide "Shyamdas" an American he met at Jivamukti, who has lived in India for 30 years and can speak Hindi and Sanskirt. Shyamdas connects Nick with many Sadhus and Yogis, who are much more absorbed in the spiritual aspects of yoga rather than physical. The most inspiring and telling experience was with Guru Sharan Anand. Nick asks about the path and practice to enlightenment; to which he responds "Its inside you, you are the mostest important person under the sun, happiness is within you, whether you believe in god or not, practice yoga or not".

Guru Sharan's simple but powerful discourse and conversation with Nick summed up this intense and challenging but most inspiring adventure of Nick and Kate. Towards the end, there is a quiet scene with Nick, Shyamdas and Kate on a boat on the river Yamuna. Nick is reflective and doesn't know what to say, when Kate asks him what he was thinking. Shyamdas remarks "sometimes you don't need to share or say anything to preserve the moment".

The journey to India ends when Nick leaves home for New York at 190 days from the day he started. He missed his family and it was time to go. The music all through the movie by composer Krishna Venkatesh was uplifting and inspiring.

Nick's life journey had only begun. He came back to New York confused and challenged. He decides to move to Boulder, Colorado, where he starts a new life as a writer and documentary film maker for rock climbing. He admits he is no longer practicing yoga regularly, though occassionally he will gear up and attend classes when his back his hurting and feel better and then the pressures of life take over. Nick feels there was some tranformation and enlightenment. His mother visits him regularly in Boulder.

This movie is a must watch for anyone and everyone whether they do yoga or not. There are some very special and inspiring moments that have been captured from these amazing spiritual gurus. I was very engaged by the movie, as there were many moments during the film where I personally could relate and connect with both Nick and Kate, including the skeptisicm, along with the burning desire to transformation. His connection to his mother in Mysore hit home with me in a very deep way.

His conversations with Guru Sharan were incredible and simply inspiring. There are lots of funny moments and many where you reflect on yourself and reflect and reminice your own experiences in life. This truly is a beautiful creation and believe it or not there is 485 hours of footage that has not been shown. It took 4 years for this project to be completed. Nick and Kate started filming in 2004.

There are so many pathways to experience yoga, sprituality and enlightenment and it all starts from within, from you, as you take a journey from the outside to inside to discover yourself and who you truly are. Enlighten Up! tells a story about this so personal and profound experience. So please go watch it and if its not yet scheduled to come to your city, lobby for it.

Thanks again to Kate and Nick for letting me interview them. The movie will play at MFA through Sunday and then play at Kendall Square through September. Kate tells me there are definite plans to take the movie to many other major cities including Portland. We hope to see you there. Please visit the Enlighten Up movie website for more information.

Namaste

The Yogi

Video: Upclose and Personal with Kate Churchill and Nick Rosen

Part 1 of 3

Part 2 of 3

Part 3 of 3

Enlighten Up! Trailer

Out Takes from The Movie

Yoga is going from the outer to the inner deep within

2008-09-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight was my first class for the fall term at Sunset Yoga Center. Advanced class with Nina. I went in apprehensive about how the one month in Pune would have changed Nina's teaching - I was expecting some strenous poses. I have been out of practice and tight.

We started the class with Nina describing some of her experiences in Pune and a few questions. What was one thing you brought back I asked - "Better Back Bends"... She was glad to be back home. Her experience in India was not to different from what many have in their very first trip.

She decided to give us a "Geeta lite" class. It was a light version of what she experienced with Geetaji in her first class with her at RIMYI. A combination of basic standing poses, starting with Adho Mukha Svanasana, Trikonasana, VB 1, 2 and 3 and Uttanasana. Then we transitioned to Supta Badha Konasana, a lying down Urdhva Hastasana and then a Sirsasana. I went right up and balanced - I was thrilled. I had had no practice since I got back from India, but my Sirsana balancing lesson with Nuvana paid off. It didnt last too long, but I was happy with my Sirsasana. I got a lot of confidence. We then transitioned to Setu Bandha on a black. All along there were instructions to subtly adjust the poses to get the maximum effect of the pose. We ended with a chair Sarvangasana.

Nina talked about how in Pune the ending "a" is rarely pronounced after any of the asan(a) name such as Tudasana, so she was going to try to use that pronunciation. A fellow student commented its asana in sanskrit and asan in Hindi. Right I said to myself, and Tudsana is really Taarrhdasan (a heavy r and d sound)... you say Tudasana, I say Taarrhdasana - at the end of the day we all are trying to achieve the same goal, and in Nina's final words "from the outer to the inner".

War Mongers - An idle mind is a devils workshop

2008-09-07T12:38:00.000-07:00

I wonder sometimes about people who are constantly waging war and cannot seem to reconcile or maintain peace within themselves. Over the last many years I have developed some understanding of people who constantly wage war on others. Why do they do that and why can't they seem to stop? What is the root cause? This cycle of war doesn't seem to stop for many of them. The middle east seems to be in a constant flux of war. In India there are constant battles along religious or cultural lines, the nationalists, the extermists....

Ever wonder who these people really are? My theory is that people who wage war are one's that have deep insecurities in themselves. These insecurities maybe related to their own identity, their self esteem - it maybe something that is passed on to them from prior generation and most importantly I have found that these people having nothing else to do in life - their minds and lives are empty and full of nothingness. They are idle spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally. All their attention then goes to battling others to prove their superiority. But the process they engage in is not to rise above others through good will and compassion. It is by waging meaningless battles to bring others down to their level. Had they been busy and had real meaningful and productive work on their hands, I wonder if they could even find the time to think, plan and execute such battles.

As a child I went to a catholic school. Now this may sound a bit corny, but we had a class in elementary school called "moral science". Irrespective of our religion we were taught by many examples and stories that taught instilled moral values of goodness, work and compassion. Many stories were from the Bible. We covered a lot of common sayings - One that comes to mind is "an idle mind is a devil's workshop". I think it is these idle minds that have the time and engergy to engage in meaningless wars, battles, violence and hatred. Rest of us are just too busy to have time to even focus on such matters..... My approach in dealing with such war mongers is to not deal with them at all. But this morning I received another merciless attack by a war monger, and I am wondering should I offer this idle mind some work in return? I invite thoughts from readers on this subject.

Namaste

The Yogi

Forward bends and chest openings - Poses for relieving stress and tension

2008-09-06T07:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of those days where too many things just come at me at once at work. I have learned the hard way not to get too comfortable with peace and calmness in my life - the evil spirits of stress have a remarkable way of coming in my face when I least expect them, no matter how yogic I claim I have become. With wonders of modern technology of instant communication we are more likely to get more stressed, more quickly - IN AN INSTANT :-) . We convince ourselves of changes and transformations within to handle stress with calmness.... but there is a reality check when it all blows up on your face in an instant.

It was my good fortune that this wave of stress and anxiety came right before my Friday yoga family session with Nuvana. I packed the kids into the car. We were so late. Yes! we will have ice cream after this, but I do need my yoga practice kids! You will have a swell time screaming and jumping all over me with your two friends, while I lie strapped in some supine pose trying to relax.... Off we drive down hill as Guruji's words "Change has to take place! Transformation has to take place" echo in my ears from the trailer of the movie EnlightenUp . Have a I really transformed? My old demons are back to haunt me. It had been such a peaceful Friday earlier.

We get to Nuvana's house.... I'm profusely apologizing for being late, as we have dovetailed into the dinner time of kids. No problem she says. I just need lots of restorative, my head is going to explode - I remark. Her kids had been eagerly awaiting our arrival, so in no time all four were in their best behavior. I need to bring ear plugs in the future. Somehow we calmed them down to do our OM invocations - but the quietness was immediately interrupted by slapping noises between two, which immediately transformed into massive giggling.

I was immediately instructed into a half Uttanasana on her window ledge. That didn't last for too long either. I was moved into a chest opening with Setu Bandh next. In included for a change a folded a blanket between my legs and the legs strapped around it and the edge of the sand bag on my forehead to push it towards my eyes. We couldn't find the eye pillows. That lasted for about 10 minutes.... all through this I'm un-silent. I am verbalizing my stress. "Evil spirits" exclained Nuvana. They come from your past lives her grandmother told her. You need to get a puja done. I will do anything to get rid of these stress demons I reply. In that moment I am ready to do anything , I believe in everything that could get rid of these demons from my life.

I think you need to try some forward bends, she remarked and I moved to a sitting position of Upavishtakonasana with my arms and head on the Halasana bench that was padded with blankets and two additional blanks one each side for my arms. I am still rambling... between the work problems and my experience of reading the book "First there is a mountain". I need to be quiet, but for some reason, I can't seem to be quite there today. We talked about our personal humorous experiences in Pune.

One topic was of how students are addressed, especially the foreigners, as many I think are challenged by the culture and environment. The teachers' at RIMYI frequently refer to students as "You people". The writer Elizatbeth Kadestky had made her own sarcastic interpretation in the book of the term "You people". I won't quote the words, but I couldn't stop laughing as I read it. We determined that if you don't know hindi, it would be hard to understand that "You people" meant no disrespect. The teachers in Pune think in Hindi or Marathi, or their native tongue and translate to English. "Aap log" is how folks are addressed in Hindi in group settings, which is a very respectful way of saying "You all". "You people" sounds so terse and derogatory. Somewhere in the discussion of Elizabeth Kadestky's book and experiences in Pune, the stress started to dissipate. My mind was distracted to another place, away from the demons.

I wasn't able to get the forward bend I needed with Upavishtakonasana. "Some people can get better bends with Baddha Konasana", Nuvana says. So we switch over to that pose and eventually to Janusirsana poses. All through this there was the screaming of the kids in the background. We decided to empower my oldest to oversee the younger, supervise them - a skill she is learning in school as her class welcome the newcomers (first graders) with whom they as second graders will be partnering with and guiding them through their first year in lower elementary. She too has been "really stressed" in all the preparation work that is required for welcoming these newcomers next week... Ahhh! all this "work", we are being programmed to be stressed at such a young age. That class needs to restart its yoga with me.

I must have been in these variations of sitting forward bends for an hour. The conversations about Pune took my mind completely away from my demons and by the time I was done, the head was no longer exploding and a sense of calmness had returned. We were invited to stay back for dinner. I volunteered to get some "Chole Bhature" from the Indian restaurant we had planned to visit after. The phone buzzed.... the stress never seems to leave me alone, but I handled it fine.

It was a stress free evening from there on, though I know the demons were still lingering around and will for some time, till the next wave of peace and calmness in my life. I recall something I wrote in a earlier post and wish to add the following : "Life is meant to be full of suffering and then we die"..... This elusive happiness we seek is just an illusion, a hope....we should not give up hope, but at the same time, balance hope with action, by going through life the best we can and then change might happen and transformation might happen. There is nothing but a sine wave in the cycle of life.

Namaste

The Yogi

One journey ends to start a new one....

2008-09-04T17:29:00.000-07:00

Iyengar Yoga legend Mary Dunn passed away peacefully in her sleep amongst her family today, the day after Ganesh Chatruthi. May her soul carry the peace she was in. Following is the last post on her blog....

Dear Friends,

It is with great sadness that I am writing to let you know that our beloved Mary has left her body to continue on her journey. She died peacefully in her sleep on September 4th at home with her two daughters, Louise and Elizabeth in Westchester, New York. There will be a memorial service, and we will let you know when those specifics have been determined.In addition, we are planning a celebration of the life of Mary Dunn for early 2009 at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of New York. We will keep you informed as those plans progress.At Mary's request, in lieu of flowers donations to support IYAGNY and its continuing mission of teaching Iyengar yoga may be sent to:

IYAGNY
150 West 22nd Street 11 Floor
New York, New York 10011

First there is a mountain

2008-09-04T08:58:00.000-07:00

My cold and sore throat got worse and I finally had to see my doctor yesterday. Antibiotics! Yesterday was extremely painful. I needed to be at work and by the end of the day my whole body was aching and I had extreme discomfort on my sitting bones and sacrum. I tried to stay away from Tylenol all day to see if I could just withstand the body ache. At the end of the day I hit the gym sauna and steam room to relax. I tried some hot - anatasana. All I got were uncontrollable burbs! I tried some hot soup at a vege only fusion Asian place. No relief! It was time for Tylenol (1000 mgs) and an early night. I noticed a book at my door step when I got home... "First there is a mountain" by Elizabeth Kadetsky, a former Iyengar student and a journalist. I couldn't keep it down.... I read it from start to finish...more to come...

Namaste

The Yogi

Being one with Nature - Mary Dunn's incredible strength

2008-09-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

"My outer world is shrinking as my strength goes down. But as I look into my window sills laden with flowers and beyond into nature’s sculpture of the barks of timeless oaks, I am again in an inner world that expands and satisfies. Nature from which we come and to which we return, holds out her arms. I am content with this beginning and resolution."

Mary Dunn on her blog August 30, 2008

Ganesha - The lord of Buddi; learning and intelligence

2008-08-31T12:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I walked the aisles of my local Indian grocery store and walked right into a colorful collection of Ganesha statues. It immediately dawned on me that this was the sign of the upcoming Ganesha Festival week in India, especially Mumbai and Pune.

I recalled seeing hundreds of large Ganesha statues being made on the street sides of the neighborhood of Wakad in Pune as I would drive back to my office from my daily morning practice at RIMYI. So obviously a blog post in honor of Lord Ganesha was in order. How could I have not thought about it earlier - but then most of my blog posts are not thought through or planned in advance - they have a way of simply coming to me and yesterday Ganesha came in all his colorful glory in all sizes and shapes.

Lord Ganesha has a special place in my life, both past and present. The front doors to my old home opened to a statue of Ganesha, that I had brought back from one of my trips from India. The elephant and elephant god has always had a special meaning. There are images of the elephant images sown through my entire house, including the table top that I am writing this blog on. Ganesha has represented the calmness and intelligence in my life. He has been my spiritual protector and guide. I left the statue behind in the old house. He is the part of the yoginess in me.

This week thousands will gather in Pune - the whole city will shutdown as they will take effigies and statues of Ganesha and immerse them in every waterway around Pune.

So other than being the son of Shiva, a god with an elephant head and a broken tusk - what is so unique about Ganesha? Well, he is a very unique diety. Ganesha is probably one of the most universally worshiped god in the hindu religion and its offshoots. The Buddhists and Jains worship Ganesha as well.

According to comments in Wiki, Ganesha is widely revered as the Remover of Obstacles and more generally as Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles (Vighnesha, Vighneshvara), patron of arts and sciences, and the deva of intellect and wisdom. He also represents the symbol "OM". Intelligence and OM are connected to the practice of Yoga.

So, I am trying to connect this all together on what has Ganesha represented for me as his presence has been woven into my life for many years - ever since I heard some relatives greet me with "Jai Ganesh". Despite such strong presence I have had challenges to my intelligence. I have had moments where my buddhi (mind) was completely destroyed. But Ganesha has remained in my life.

He takes central place in the little temple I maintain in my home. Not above, not below, just right in the middle. He represents the calm, the peace, the mind and body connection I strive for every day. There is not a day I don't visualize Ganesha in my mind. In moments of strife and stress, especially when I am challenged by anger and folks who have destroyed their own intelligence with pettiness and ego, it is the image of Ganesha that comes to my rescue and inspires me to remain calm and strong - not some ubiquitous yoga pose.

Yoga gives me the ability to self learn and heal. Ganesha gives me the courage to stand up and focus on my intelligence to remain calm and still. His broken tusk represents that there is beauty and art in imperfections. It represents that even the strongest can be broken, but the broken can stand up and become the strongest with their mind and intellect and compassion. Next time you see an elephant - you will see Ganesha.

I want to wish Skeptic Yogi all the best in her upcoming great day. next week.... let that be for eternity. Her last post was inspiring. I also discovered another great blog. Visions of Cody - by an ashtanga yogi in Boston. Its funny and thought provoking. I had an immediate connection to his posts. There are so many of us on parallel paths - its comforting and inspiring.

Namaste

The Yogi

Yoga for Cold, Sore throat and Cough - Back to Basics

2008-08-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was back to the basics with my personal yoga session with Nuvana. The knee problem is under control but I have been off yoga for a week while I as away to Chicago. We focused our attention on my lost ability to kick up to Adho Mukha Vrksanasana. We tried several arm strengthening positions and then hand positions as well, looking at ways to focus the weight on the palms and off the wrists, which get painful quickly. No kick up luck - I was thinking too much.

Then we worked on the sirsasana balancing techniques. I have yet to experience this in any of the classes I take at Sunset. We practiced away from the wall and Nuvana went through the subtle positions of the hands, the little fingers, the wrists, and pushing the shoulders in. I never kicked up. The legs were in half sirsasana position with feet firmed against the wall and I spent time just holding firm in the tripod position and just using my arms and shoulders. We ended with a chair sarvangasana and supported halasana...

I have been suffering from a cold and sore throat for a week. She told me to practice Sarvangasana and Setubhand for my cold and Ananta Asana for cough. I need to get my halasana bench assembled and start my home practice again.

Namaste

The Yogi

If you are angry count to ten before you speak - Thomas Jefferson

2008-08-26T20:08:00.001-07:00

If you are really angry, count to a hundred, before you speak ! I read this quote on the wall at the Hindu Temple in Grays Lake, IL, a suburb of Chicago. I was attending a puja in remembrance of my mother who passed away on August 25th, four years ago. It is a tradition in our family to remember our loved ones who passed away on their birthdays and the death anniversary.

Recently I was challenged by someone who said this tradition was not "Indian". Remembrance is not just an Indian tradition - its a universal tradition. This was one of the oddest comments I have ever heard. It had bitterness and anger like hot lava flowing from a volcano. I wonder if the commenter had a loved one to miss? How can you not afford to remember your loved ones and not recognize those important days? It is a tradition I want to pass on to my children, just I learned from my own parents and grandparents. Every weekend I drive by a beautiful cemetery and its full of flowers left by loved ones of those who lie in the beautiful west hills of Portland. I was reminded by Guruji's interview in the upcoming movie Enlighten Up, where is he describes yoga as universal in the words of Patanjali.

So coming back to yoga - I was very intrigued by this quote and how anger can allow us to become so insane, that we lose all objectivity in life and let selfish and bitterness engulf us. We lower ourselves to a level that is inhuman and the vitriolic words come out of our mouths as painful as any actions that may result of anger. Both in business and personally I encounter anger nearly every day. I used to react to anger with anger... but as I become more attuned with my yoga practice, I have slowly learnt to remain detached from it. Its not that angry feelings don't come my way, I think it is natural to become angry when you are provoked. But becoming detached to the provocation or the provocative behavior allows you simply hold the reactions.

I can't even describe how less stressful that is.. So Jefferson is right counting a mindless 100 maybe the best you can do in order to hold your speak and calm down or take a time out from the anger. Or, you could try a yoga pose. Several come to my mind that I have tried, which includes a half uttanasana, with every attempt to open my chest and breathing deeply. Sometimes at home I will attempt the AdhoMukhaVriksasana. Focusing all your attention on your arms and shoulders puts all that energy into lifting you up vs pouting anger.

Readers' please give me your ideas and input through comments on how "count" when you get angry. Lately, when I am angry or upset, I have gone to read Mary Dunn's blog. She gets so many wonderful comments from so many people. Everyone of these wonderful souls ends with "I love you" or "With love" to Mary. How many souls she has touched. It is uplifting and inspiring and it always warms my heart. I wish that love on everyone.

For the last several days I have been in the Chicago area to visit my brother and his family, that includes a new born son. My little yoginis are in heaven with their cousins and it has been sheer joy and nothing else. All the anger, the hurt, the pain, the wars and the battles seem distant. There has been no yoga but I have experienced my older one do back and forward flips under water, like a dolphin and self taught. I call them water back and forward bends. She pulled off a shirsasana-2 in the play ground for me. Its just pure joy to see her do such things as she becomes a yogi at heart...

Namaste

The Yogi

Sights and Sounds of the Park near RIMYI

2008-08-21T23:05:00.000-07:00

I discovered this footage I took in April while staying with the Shahani's next to the park by RIMYI. It brought back memories of the birds singing and chirping and the early morning walk through the park. Its quiet and peaceful, and the songs of the millions of birds is relaxing and heart warming. I watched the seniors practice yoga and meditation and residents of the area on their morning walks. It was the most peaceful and relaxing and rejuvenating to take these walks.... I miss them. Enjoy the footage and enjoy the music which I listened to on my walks. I was in a swing at the end, hence the up and down camera movement....

Namaste

The Yogi

Mary Dunn - A legendary Iyengar Yogi

2008-08-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

Over the last many months I have been contemplating starting a serious of blog posts to highlight Iyengar Yoga masters and teachers, their yoga practice, their style of teaching and how they impact their students. By bringing to light these highly skilled yoga masters, I feel folks who come to this blog will be inspired to practice Iyengar Yoga.

We know the three legends in Pune, Guruji, Geetaji and Prashantji under whose guidance many many of these amazing people have become legends of their own. I have mentioned several of my teachers both in Oregon and Pune, but there are so many legends I am coming across as I read about them, or communicate with them via email, that I feel compelled to write about them.

Highlighting them in a post is my way to honor and respect them for the contributions they make to share their knowledge and teachings of yoga with others.

As I was researching some of the Iyengar yoga sites, I came across Mary Dunn's blog. She started this blog sometime last year when she found out she was suffering from cancer.

Mary has been on a courageous journey ever since. She has had to face the pain of multiple surgeries over the last year, chemo and all the challenges that come with facing such grave illness. But as she mentions in many of her posts, she has kept up with her yoga practice and even attended a retreat right after her surgery in January.

Throughout this experience she has continued to write in her blog to keep her friends and students in touch and inspire them. She certainly inspired me as I myself faced my own life challenges during the same time. Reading her blog posts gave me strength and inspired me to be true to my yoga practice and to remain calm and centered. I was most touched by two posts. In the first one from Dec 2007 where she writes :

We reflect on the year at this time, and it has been a big one, with both big challenges and great joy. There was a celebration at the Institute of the Iyengar Yoga Association of New York’s coming of age. As part of the festivities, I was honored to learn that, among other things, I was “the champion of stiff people.” In the spirit of the year’s end, I want to enlarge my championing-- and will work on that in the coming year.

I am one of the stiff ones, so these words simply hit home. Along with big challenges there are great joys and we should not forget those great joys as she continues to live in those joys. Mary has been a practitioner and teacher for a very long time. Her mother was a follower of Guruji probably even before I was born. She was instrumental in the formation of three Iyengar institutes in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. She is the director of the Institute in New York. Reading through the hundreds of comments on her blog I can tell she is truly a legend in the Iyengar Yoga community and Yoga at large and has trained and inspired thousands to practice yoga.

Mary is a yoga master and its truly an honor for me to write about her. Her most recent post on August 18 was quite touching. She writes:

Before I left Memorial behind today, I had a wonderful call from Prashant Iyengar and was able to speak with him and with Guruji. Then, my daughters, a wonderful friend from California, and I made our way Elizabeth’s home in Westchester. The Bronx River Parkway broadens into a woodland ribbon of park meandering from the Bronx into Westchester. Trees, birds and little wild creatures welcomed us into the timelessness and cycles of nature.

Soon I was settled into a bright, cheery, second-story room nestled in the trees. Everything is here and thought through for my comfort and care. I spent the evening enjoying the memories and thoughts that come from rereading your cards and letters. I wish I could thank you and respond individually to what you wrote. Know that I smiled and sometimes laughed out loud learning about what is new with you and your thoughts about life --- each thought a treasure and gift to me. Know also that your unwritten prayers and ideas are reaching me and warm my heart as well.

These words touched me deeply as I was reminded of my late mother, when she became very ill. She didn't get a chance to come home, to be with family but rather had to suffer the pain, sometimes alone in a nursing home. She had to suffer from tubes stuck into her body in an ICU when she became terminal. I could never said goodbye to my mother. My children could never said good bye to their grandmother and that hurt me tremendously. I was depressed for two years and it took me a long time to forgive myself for putting her through that pain, even though she was sedated .... It was one of the reasons that compelled me to seek out yoga to bring some peace and closure.

As I read that post, I was comforted that Mary is with her family and her grandchildren in the comfort of their home, listening to the birds chirp in her room nestled in the trees, as she courageously fights the battle with cancer. I am heartened to read the hundreds of comments her well wishers, students and friends have written to warm her heart and make the pain less bearable.

I learn't a very important lesson today. Life is too short to be stuck in pain, anger and suffering. We prolong our own suffering with negativity, conflict, ego and vindictive behavior. It hurts our body, mind and soul. Legendary yogis like Mary Dunn can withstand the pain with a smile, continued dedication to their yoga practice and all the while continuing to inspire others to warm their hearts and in that stand and being they in turn warm their own hearts. Thank you Mary, you are truly an inspiration. May you continue to be blessed with your wonderful smile, courage and compassion. I don't know you personally, but I know I am connected to you......you remind me of my mother.

Please visit Mary Dunn's blog and honor her by leaving her a comment like the many birds who sing in trees by her bedroom window. She is truly a living legend.

Namaste

The Yogi

Note: I have borrowed Mary's picture and comments from her blog without permission. Its my sincere hope that she will not mind.

Inflate detachment and deflate your ego to avoid stress wrecks!

2008-08-17T07:48:00.000-07:00

I took a two hour level 4 rope class from Nuvana at Sunset Yoga. A combination of backbends, standing poses and inversions on the ropes - I was thoroughly exhausted and so was the class. Most of them were senior students and teachers themselves. I realized how much of my ego I have let go in these last two years. I was most challenged as I am most tight everywhere - except for my head I hope. I didn't push to hard - but I did scrape my ankle while attempting a hand stand while holding the ropes. The sharp edges of the wood planks that hold the ropes the culprit. I left energized but tired at the same time.

There was a stress management class at work right after and I couldn't have picked a better time - immediately following a yoga class. I have been encouraging my employees to take yoga and have only been successful in convincing one - she takes Nuvana's back care class. Our medical insurance company United Healthcare offers free classes on wellness and despite themselves, this is probably one of the best things they do for their members.

I have taken stress management classes in the past, but this one simply brought it all together - summed it up for me. Everything we learn in Iyengar yoga, the whole body-mind connection, it all made sense. The instructor talked about the stresses in life. Most of us are stressed by work. Isn't that incredible. We get stressed by this very crucial activity in life and its caused by what she described as myths we live by. Do these sound familiar ?

- I must never make a mistake
- I must never fail
- I must never look foolish
- I must work hard all the time
- I must never get angry
- I must always play safe
- The customer is always right!
- I must live up to expectations of my _____(wife, kids, father, mother, boss, employer, customer)
- I must always deliver on time
- I have to be the best _____________(worker, mother, father, husband, son, daughter)

These myths haunt us in every aspect of our lives and it is these myths that have been ingrained in us since we were children, is why we get stressed. Stress is unavoidable. Experts discuss "good stress" and "bad stress". Any stress will increase the amount of endorphins in our bodies. Stress is addictive and we are addictive to our routines by nature. It went on.... I was listening with rapped attention till the question came up about what caused the most stress in our work place. My answer "when there was an unhappy customer on the phone". That is when the blame game starts. Egos are inflated, fingers are pointed, customers are wronged and stress levels rise to incredible levels.

There are many other events, especially for me, as I sit on the top of the pyramid - all roads end in my office and with me. This is not an ego statement - just reality of someone in a position as the head of the business. My head is only the chopping block when things go wrong. I can't blame anyone but myself. I used to be bogged down by stress - employees, investors, customers, board members. Even a benign phone call from an investor would stress me out. I had set myself for a burnout.

As I sat listening to this instructor talk I realized how much I had changed in the last two years. She talked about how to handle stressful situations, about breathing, tightening your muscles, about a short timeout to calm down. All these concepts were so familiar - I was practicing them without being aware of them and I attribute this all to the yoga practice and the readings of books by Mr. Iyengar and others. I finally had something to say to my employees and that had nothing to do with inspiring them to work harder, faster and make more money. It had to do with dealing with anger, emotions, our addiction and infatuation with success and abhorrence to failure. The instructor put the final word in my mouth; "DETACHMENT"!

We are addicted to adrenaline and the rush that comes with it. This causes stress. Whether its anger because of failure or unmet expectations, or the rush we get from success. They are both culprits. Why can't we just be neutral I asked the group! Why be addicted to anger or happiness? Why not detach from both? I am not suggesting we don't try to be happy, but isn't being happy all the time stressful. How can you be happy and pleased constantly. But we spend enormous energy and time seeking "happiness". I realized how much of "I am not happy" I had heard in the last 12 years and how sick that had made me. If you can't be happy, why not just detach from the damn happiness and take a deep breath for a change. Your quest for happiness without learning how to detach will drive you crazy and everyone else around you. That has been my experience, now that I have developed some clarity of mind and thought.

So today, I don't seek happiness - I just seek less stress. Less stress means more detachment, less ego which results in more neutrality in life. So many of us are constantly chasing happiness and the meaning of our lives. In the most animistic words and this is with utter humility and respect - the purpose of our life is to "live", reproduce and then die. To live means to survive and survival comes with stress. It is no different than the lives of the mice that have moved in my basement, and visit the garbage can every night for food. There lives have been disrupted by the construction and deforestation. We are in constant battle, they want survival, I want them out. Living is stressful. And stress can kill us before our time is up. It can destroy all the work we put into our survival and will never make us happy. So why not live our lives in ways that doesn't cause too much of it! We will be healthier and more peaceful. There will be less war!

I watched Michael Phelps win 8 gold medals at the Olympics. I am certain it gives him utmost happiness. He deserves it. He has worked for it as a child. You see his mother weep on TV every time he wins a gold medal. I am sure they are tears of joy and happiness and accomplishment. His father is absent. Where is he? Why isn't he part of the success? I went on the net and found out that he is no longer speaking to his father. That must be stressful and bigger stress than the expectation the world set for him to win these 8 gold medals. I am uncertain how this will impact Phelps in his future... but I had to detach from those thoughts. I watch the destruction in Georgia and the troops from big brother Russia destroying a small country. Why? Because of Ego, power and inability to remain neutral. All this stresses me out! I have to detach; fast.....

Many of these stress management trainers, therapists and experts tell us to breathe. The instructor did the same. She concluded with words like time out and breathe! What she didn't offer was how do you breathe. All of the attendees were sitting slouched over the table. How could you breathe properly when your chest is folded and lungs collapsed. I gave a small tip (and thank you my Iyengar Yoga gurus for constantly reminding me of this...)

- Lift up your sternum and lift from the sides of your chest
- Straighten your spine
- Roll your shoulders back and pull your shoulders down to create the space to open your chest
- If you are on your chair - straighten your arms
- clasp your hands and stretch your arms back to create even more space
- Now close your eye and BREATHE!

At the end of the class I asked the group how many of them would be interested in taking an easy yoga class at work that included breathing. All hands raised! I felt I had made a difference. Thank you BKS Iyengar for guiding me and making me more neutral. Two years of yoga had also taught me something else of great value that I share - it was on how to breathe!

Namaste

The Yogi

Day to be inspired and re-inspired - Recent TV Interview of BKS Iyengar

2008-08-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

I found this video on You Tube. Its a TV appearance of Guruji in May of this year on NDTV, one of the news channels in India. Though there maybe thousands of Iyengar Yoga Centers worldwide - there are just handful in India listed on bksiyengar.com, the latest on in New Delhi which he inaugurated in May.

I had a moment of re-inspiration watching this video. It took him three days to transform Yehudi Menuhin. It took me one 90 minute Iyengar yoga class with Nuvana in a Gym one sunday in January 2006. I hope more vibrant youth of India is inspired to take up Iyengar Yoga.

I feel the irony in all this. Iyengar Yoga had to come to the west to go back to India and I feel lucky to be part of this movement. The world has taken heart to Iyengar Yoga. They have studied it further, practiced it, researched it, analyzed it, and enhanced it. Every year nearly 1000 of these amazing teachers and students go to Pune India and invest their time, energy, money and most importantly invest their faith and love for BKS Iyengar at RIMYI. They then come back and spread the knowledge and what they learn in Pune at RIMYI to the rest of the world.

My hats off to all of you, my teachers, as you have transformed me and my life and I am fortunate to be part of that world.

Namaste

The Yogi

Our biggest fear

2008-08-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

- Marianne Williamson

Shed the excess weight to relieve your joint pains

2008-08-11T07:38:00.000-07:00

I think my persistent knee joint pains are not just as a result of bad posture, lengthy air travel or my over-indulgent ego while performing yoga asanas. There is another reason!

Its my expanded weight - I have put on nearly 15 pounds in the last 6 months - as a result of over indulgence in rich foods. I can't avoid them, especially when I am in India. Every trip brings back an extra 5 pounds. I indulge in my favorite dishes which are rich in calories including some of the sweets such as gulab jamun. Breakfast, lunch and dinner all include dessert. I will eat as if that was going to be my very last meal and very last trip to India.

Yesterday I had another epiphany. Not only was I accumulating fat around my belly, but over the last 13 years I have been accumulating every piece of clothing I purchased or was gifted to. They hung in my closet as mementos of year after year of expanding waist line. I was hanging on to them for reasons inexplicable, procrastination I guess! But the last two years as my expanding waist shrunk, I hung on to them so I could eventually get them right sized and save money buying a whole new wardrobe. BAD IDEA! I was awaken to this excess by my house cleaner who remarked "You have too many clothes". I only wore a fraction of them. Finally comment from Nuvana's husband "I never get rid of my old clothes as they are part of my memories" simply made it all the more real. I am an accumulator like him!

Argh! It was time for action. Yesterday it finally happened. The result -- three extra large garbage full of my memories! There were two shirts gifted to me still in their original packing. The total weight - Nearly 250 pounds! It hurt my knees to lift these monsters into the back of my car for a trip to Goodwill. I could have had a garage sale and collected a pretty sum. No way! Let that be a problem for someone else. It was time to shed this excess weight in my life and be light on my mind. Now its time to work on the 15 pounds and relieve my knee joints of the excess weight. Now here's the irony. The same afternoon I took my munchkins to the Nike Employee Store - a privilege for friends of Nike Employees to buy the latest from Nike at discounted prices. It was an invite from Carolyn - a friend and fellow yoga student at Sunset Yoga. The first words out of her mouth as she came out to receive us - "Hey you look trimmer - looks like you lost weight in India".

I simply smiled without replying and said to myself "Oh yeah and there is 250 pounds of it in my car". I must confess that I did add a small amount to my Nike collection after that.....

Namaste

The Yogi

Restorative poses for bad knees - Restart of yoga practice with Nuvana

2008-08-09T05:38:00.000-07:00

I arrived home after a long journey from Frankfurt. The return journey from India is most unpleasant, as it is difficult to get any sleep. Next time I will try Tylenol PM. For the first time in 6 years I had no trouble at customs. I was first to pick up luggage and first to be directed to the bus at PDX (Portland International Airport). I was prepared to explain the yogs props, including a bolster, halasana bench, belts and ropes. But no questions except for the usual "do you have any food items?". I had none to declare, so I received a simple directive to the exit.

Historically, I am part of the crowd usually from India and other "third world countries', that is directed to extra checks including opening and Xray of all bags to ensure we are not carrying banned food items, drugs or anything that may interfere with national security .

I have had a word or two with customs and the city of Portland a few years back when I and several of my Indian employees who used to live in Portland were given a difficult time at PDX. "Third world, developing nations, Aliens" - I hope some day these terms would just melt away from our society. For now I keep holding on to my indifference, but coming through US customs at PDX is one of my most stressful moments.

I returned to my usual jet-lag, where around 6 pm I am out like a light. The break in Frankfurt helped, as the nap lasted just a couple of hours and I was frequently woken by my kids, which helped. My knee pains returned. They started 8 weeks ago and have become worse, especially my right knee, which I had injured nearly 20 years ago in a skiing mishap. Walking up and down the stairs is excruciating.

I decided to skip yoga classes and wait till my Friday session with Nuvana. I am certain now that long plane rides of more than 4 hours hurt my knees. There is only so much "sucking up of my knees" I can do throughout the day. For those not familiar with this term, it is frequently used by Pune Iyengar teachers to instruct you to pull your knees up.

Nuvana started with a Dandasana, by the window. It is a built in bench at the base of the window in the room we practice. Its high enough to get my arms on the bench to allow me to pull up straight, with my back and behind completely touching the wall. Then some blankets between my knees and a hard push on my feet to get the legs completely straight. This puts pressure on the glute muscles, the calves, and the back of the thighs, stretching the back parts of your legs to release the knees. You can see a portion of this window bench in the pictue.

Next was a Viparita Karani , with my legs strapped at various parts and the buckle directions alternating. The picture says it all. This pose lasted for nearly 15 minutes and ended once my legs were pretty numb. "You achieve a different kind of blood circulation" remarked Nuvana and it is actually helpful re-aligning the ligaments on the knees that get mis-aligned as we live our life in bad posture hell.

I felt immediate relief, not to mention increased blood in my brain, making me more alert. Usually this is a relaxing pose - it seemed to make me more alert and aware. We followed this sequence with a BadaKonasana, sitting high on blankets and then Nuvana wrapped the ropes around the knees, and I had to pull those ropes out, while tightening the loops to give space between the knees. It was followed by a supported Navasan, with my back on the steps of her stairwell and legs at an angle supported by a chair, shoulders rolled back, with the steps for support. Its interesting how objects and items in her house become props.

We ended with a "knee traction". I lied down on my stomach with the knees on a blanket and then a rope is wrapped around the knee and pulled back while my foot and calf was pushed down towards my back. This traction is simply amazing and can release locked knees. Its brilliant. After several iterations of this action, I was done. As I rose up I could hear the crackle of knees being released. It was a good crack! I could immediately feel the relief. There seem to be some feeling of pressure, but the pain was gone.

I imagine my knee pain is mostly due to bad posture which over time can cause the pain to build up in the knees. I could get into some life analogies here but this time I shall refrain. The readers are invited to draw their own analogies, and if you do have some please comments.

Comments are always welcome; though I have come to know the regulars on here and I thank you all for visiting and spending time. I hope these posts help you. They certainly help me. If you haven't, please do try an Iyengar yoga class from a certfied Iyengar Yoga Teacher. Next week my classes at Sunset will resume. I have heard good things about Nina's substitute Jen. I am looking forward to taking a class or two from her in Nina's absence. Nina is blogging her experience in Pune at Nina's Yoga Life.

Please visit another interesting blog called Yogue Style by Insiya Rasiwalla Finn from Vancouver, Canada.

Namaste

The Yogi

One night in Frankfurt - Summer heat and no sleep

2008-08-04T22:59:00.000-07:00

The Lufthansa strike forced me to overnight in Frankfurt yesterday. I left India one day early in order to ensure I arrived home by August 5th and avoid further delays. I surely would have missed my connection otherwise.

What a break! I was put in a hotel in town. The Euro is twice as expensive as the not so mighty dollar now. My last experience with spending money in Germany was in 1991, when we had a fair advantage. No More! Frankfurt is a small city with one of the biggest and busiest airports in the world. I didnt realize how small it was and how dead it was. Its a financial hub of Europe - the downtown is simply full of banks.

The hotel called "Victoria Hotel" was at average the best. For the same rate not only did I enjoy a very modern and airconditioned room in Pune, but a free ride to work every day and service to my beck and call. This hotel had no concept of service. I was asked to come down to get a US style plug - which turned out they didnt have. Yesterday was one of the warmest days in Frankfurt. The concept of airconditioning is quite different here. Its just a gentle buzzing sound of the vent, with no cool air. The heat was unbearable. When I called to complain I was told - "this is not America sir, we don't require much airconditioning". Aha... Incredible Germany! I should remember.

The hotel was located in a cultural hub. Bars, restaurants, food stores, cafes representing every culture. Indian, Turkish, Lebanese, Chinese, Japanese - you name it and it was there all around the block. That was the saving grace but at the same time the death knell for peace and tranquility - not to mention several Beer Pubs. I have never seen so many BMWs and Mercedes parked in one spot. I walked around to the center of town. The only place where I could see some crowds. All you can hear is the noise of speeding cars - people drive aggressive here. A city very different from Munich.

I tried to find a yoga studio but none to be found - what I found instead was a row of Indian restaurants and grocery stores. I skiped Indian and tried Turkish and Thai food instead. So for a change I simply spent the day walking. The train station was amazing and you could just walk into the center of the universe for every European city. This is where you experience the culture. Cafes, stores, people and yes - Starbucks and McDonalds. I needed that! Interestingly enough other than the noise of cars whizing by, you couldn't really get a sense of the crowds, everyone relatively quiet.

The real action started after 10 pm, when the bars opened. I must have dozed off at 10 pm, with windows open to let the breeze in. And then around 2 am I was woken up by violent screaming and yelling. I thouht I heard Indian, but no it was either Turkish or German. A male was screaming bloody murder which could be heard accross the block and then wailing and screaming of a famale. It was non spot. I was frightened, but at the same time I wasn't sure if I should call the front desk. Sounded like a drunken brawl. It must have continued for an hour. I lost track of the time and the room felt like an oven.

I dozed off at 5 am and then the alarm woke me up at 6 am. It was time to get going to the airport and home. At check out the front desk person asked how my stay was - I said fine except for this fighting and noise last night. He responded "don't have the same problems where you come from"? I wasn't sure if he was refering to my country of birth or my country of domicile. I said well - depends but I am not used to such noise in the middle of the night. Breakfast was not ready as promised at 630 am. The waitress rolled in around 645 am, but promptly brought coffee and the cold breakfast was great. I took the whole experience in a stride. I didn't get much sleep, but it was a nice short break.

This will not be my last trip to Frankfurt, as it is where I usually change flights, but am not sure I will voluntarily spend another day outside the airport. Maybe Zurich, Berlin, Munich or Cologne or Stuttgart. I have a long list of cities I want to visit.

I am on my way back home finally and can't wait to see my two munchkins who I dearly miss. Yoga in Pune did me really good.

Namaste

The Yogi

Incredible India!

2008-08-04T03:26:00.001-07:00

My journey back to Oregon started at 10 pm last night. Mumbai International airport has been ripped up as all international and domestic airports undergo facelifts. It was crazy, the traffic was bad and I saw more crowds outside bidding their departing loved ones good bye. The airport was packed - with many more flights and airlines flying out that evening all at once. Things felt chaotic, but once I was checked in I simply had a long walk to the gate. I had to switch to Swiss Air as Lufthansa flights were cancelled due to a strike in Germany - yes they cancelled flights to India, one of their most promising and always full market, but not the US flights.

As I went through immigration and was waiting to take the escalator down to the gate, I saw a big sign hanging in front "INCREDIBLE INDIA". I also simultaneously heard one of the Swiss flight attendants heading to the gate make a snide comment on that sign. She probably didn't see what was so incredible about India - the noise, chaos, upheavel, poverty. That is all she could see. I had a strong desire to respond back, be defensive, but I stopped. I realized that was her view and I had to show indifference, thanks to the advice some time back by Nina Pileggi. The sutras tell us to be indifferent. I had to be indifferent.

As I walked through the maze of construction towards my gate within minutes the sight of the airport changed from Chaos, to a modern terminal. Only part of the terminal had been finished, but boy what a contrast. Suddenly the dusty, musty chaos has changed to sights I am familiar with at other international airports. Nice cafes, clean restrooms, well organized sitting areas. There were crowds, but everyone was lined up in queues to get to theri flights. There was buzz, no different than any busy airport. I felt I was in another world......

The Jet Airways crew looked the smartest - they reminded me of Singapore Airlines crew - young vibrant and most fashionably dressed. Anyone flown Jet Airways lately? They are ready to take over the world with their incredible service at the global level. They have literally revived the Brussels airport and the defunct Sabina airlines, but making Brussels their international hub. This year Jet Airways made a huge profit, despite rising oil prices, while other airlines stuggle with losses. Jet is flying every where. There were at least five Jet flights that night to Bankok, London, Brussels, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Jet is part of the Incredible India. For years they have had an incredible domestic service, setting new standards in quality and service. Now they are emerging into the global scene and their goal is to displace Singapore Airlines as the number 1 airline in the world for service.

As I settled myself in the Swiss Air aircraft - a half empty plane that looked aged and haggard. No wonder they went bankrupt and got acquired by Lufthansa. I realized they were no Lufthansa, but they certainly were no Jet Airways. I had trouble getting the seat to adjust and the same flight attendant profusely apologized.... "we will be having new seats next year"... I smirked and said to myself - Incredible Swiss! The universe strikes back!

As I settled myself, I took out a book I had just purchased - "The Elephant, the Tiger and the Cellphone" by Shashi Tharoor. Imagine t0 my surprise - the entire theme of the book was about the incredible transformation that is happening in India today. I am still reading it but I was quite enlightened.

India is a bundle of contradictions - there is extreme wealth right next to extreme poverty. This year India had more billionaires on the Forbes list than any other nation other than the US. More than Russia, Japan and China. Number one in the emerging economies. At the same time 212 million Indians live below poverty lines. 50 years ago 350 million did. 50 percent of Indians are below 35 years of age - an incredible demographic of 500 million people. Suddenly what was India's biggest weakness, is suddenly being viewed as its strength - the largest middle class in the world. The largest English speaking nation in the world.

The country is going through a gigantic transformation both economically, socially and culturally. It is the biggest democracy in the world but at the same time about 100 of the 500 elected members of its parliament have criminal records and three recently had to be released from jail for 3 days to vote on an important matter of keeping the current government in place. What a contradiction - but despite these problems, the counrty is growing at at tremendous pace, approaching 10% GDP growth a year. It has reserves of $300 billion. Contrast this to 20 years ago, when it had to mortgage its gold reserves to pay its debt. The country was bankrupt.

So what is so incredible about India? Whats incredibe is that despite itself, India is going to become an incredible nation and a world power in the next 5 years. By 2015 India will be the number 2 economy in the world after China. After 300 years of British rule and 40 years of being suppresed in closed walls, India is breaking through the seams and racing ahead. All of this chaos is needed for the calmness to appear. But what is life without some chaos? It has to go through the pain to achieve its past glory, as a peaceful, spiritual and vibrant society where yoga originated 5000 years ago.

India is country of many cultures, languages, ideologies. Shashi equates India to a thali (plate) of many curries and they share one thing in common, the incredible spices. I think the government PR needs to change the slogan from "Incredible India" to "Incredibly Spicy India". Its the spices, the culmination of so many flavors and tastes, the dust, the noise, the sweat, the contradictions in the coexistence of calm with chaos that makes India so unique. All of this is what makes India incredible!

Namaste

The Yogi

Mainting Inner Balance - A recipe for contentment in life

2008-08-03T04:28:00.000-07:00

Skeptic Yogi's post on "Remembering who you are" inspired me to write this post as I wrap up my last evening in India. I am writing this while I watch from the calm quietness of my hotel room - the mist and monsoon rains approach my window as the waves of the Arabian Sea crashing at the sea wall of my hotel. Its one of my most favorite view of Juhu Beach in Mumbai.

I think we all aspire for peace, happiness, wealth, success, power etc - this list is never ending for all the things we aspire for. How many of us aspire for inner balance in life? That never quite makes it on our priority list.

Maybe once we are burnt out it may be something we would consider. Sometimes I wonder if we truly ever maintain inner balance, as even the quest and aspirations to achieve inner balance may cause us to lose it in the first place. When are we truly "balanced" in our mind? I wonder...

I read another interview with Guru Iyengar where he discusses a time in his life he felt uninspired, empty and resigned to disappointment with his yoga practice. It lasted for a month and he certainly was off balance I imagine. He got back into that balance state after practicing back bends. Today when I watch him practice, most of his practice is based in back bends. So do back bends help us achieve inner balance? I think so.

Back bends and inversions are essentially physical reversals of what we practice in our every day - our daily actions, everything being pulled down by gravity. I think these poses give our bodies a chance to get back into balance, physically, mentally and emotionally. The heart in back bends and inversions moves about the head or mind causing our emotions to open up as more blood gushes to the brain to energise it. Certain parts of the organs and muscles finally get a well deserved respite, while other parts are awakened.

So this morning at the hotel gym I practiced some great back bends along with head and handstands. They were invigorating and energizing. For a change the Bollywood stars working out beside me, stared at me rather than the other way around. Maybe some of them will be inspired to try yoga instead of grinding their knees on the treadmill.

Namaste

The Yogi

Adios Pune - The Calm within storms!

2008-08-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

As I struggle to wrap up my trip to Pune I am consumed by many things - the blunders and the mistakes I made, the learning I achieved and not the least the work challenges - phone calls back to the office in Portland with arguments with a senior staffer on miniscule items, keeping my high maintenace sales people focused and off their ego, countless meeting with my Pune staff to inspire and challenge them.....

I dealt with many challenges, including sleepless nights, jet lag, sleep deprivation with 4 am phone calls and last but not the least my flight from Mumbai being cancelled due to a Lufthansa strike. I have no idea if I will get home on the 5th. I am now awaiting to hear back from my travel agent - its 1130 pm. I have been awake for nearly 18 hours and I feel like I could go on for another 8. And with all this craziness I held on to my yoga practice commuting 30 mins to an hour every day to RIMYI since July 22nd, except for the last two days, as the sacrum pain required I just rest.

Somehow I got the energy to do all this. To top it all off, I just read my earlier post and realized what blunders I made in my writing. The last paragraph on Skeptic Yogi says it all - I simply lost control of my writing. I was embarrassed first and then just laughed my head off. I made desperate attempts to change the post, but blogger will not let change. I could have deleted the post, but I am just tired of fighting with blogger to fix the words. My apologies if anything in that post is offensive. Please just see the humor in it.

So on this note, I sign off from Pune. My staff asked me when I would be back next - I replied "I going to leave that to my karma"!

Namaste

The Yogi

What is your Karma? A talk by Geeta Iyengar on Bhagvat Gita

2008-08-01T02:08:00.002-07:00

My last visit to RIMYI was last evening to attend at talk by Geetaji on Bhagvat Gita. I could only be there for an hour, and had to leave early, but I learnt something very important about Karma.

What is my Karma? Its a question I ask frequently of myself. We hear about Karma in so many different forms. Anytime an event happens either good or bad in your life, especially something bad or unpleasant the Indian way of explaining it away is "its your karma". It implies its predestined. It seems like Karma is used interchangeably as destiny by many. It only adds to my confusion about the true meaning of this word. Readers please enlighten me with your interpretations of Karma.

Karma is also used as another word for "action" and we are born with many Karmas. That is what Geetaji discussed in the context of Arjun's reluctance initially to wage war against his family of cousins and uncle. Lord Krishna told him that as a warrior it was his Karma to fight in war and fight injustice. I listened intently as she described how every action in your life, including bodily functions are "Karmas". There are good Karmas and there are bad Karmas.

She talked about "Prakruti", which I equated to our nature, or state of being. We are born with Karmas and Prakruti. The ask question I ask is are we born with the Karma that is predestined? Do these Karmic actions drive the destiny? Is Karma both action and consequence of random events? Does Karma drive destiny and kismat? Are fate and Karma the same?

These thoughts about Karma stimulated my mind, as I left the talk prematurely last night. I just couldn't stay past an hour, as I had another predestined Karma, a short walk from the center at the Shahani residence. It included bringing a box of American chocolates for my former hosts and foster family, a chance to see them again, and not the least to get some badly needed home cooked Indian food. I wish I could have stayed longer to listen to the complete talk but my next Karma was equally important.

I wish I had some time to chat with my teacher Nina Pileggi, who had just arrived in Pune. It looked like she quickly immersed herself into India with the Indian dress she wore. Nina, you looked like a pucca local! We sat next to each other, but never spoke a word. We both seemed to be constantly interchanging in various sitting positions such as Sukhasana and Badakonasana and some new and improved variations as I desperately tried to avoid a flock of blood sucking mosquitoes approaching my face for dinner. I guess filling their stomachs with my blood is part of their karma. The only way I could deny them was to escape.

That was our only communication Neena and I had in Pune. It was not my in Karma to speak to her - to get her first impressions of India and Pune. I had to leave, and I hope I didn't offend anyone or break any unknown rules. I had no idea Geetaji's talk would go beyond an hour and I had commuted for nearly an hour to get their on time that evening. It was in my Karma though to introduce myself to Suneeta Iyengar earlier, to touch her feet and thank her for making it possible to take classes in April which were life changing. Her smile was infectious and she ranted out her new email id to me.

I had a great Marathi dinner with my former hosts Neena and Manu Shahani - enjoyed the meal, the company, and a great conversation on Life, Yoga, Spirituality and Philosophy. Its home away from home, and I missed not staying at their holistic place. "You look much more relaxed in this trip" remarked Neena. Yes I was, as I have really gained strength to detach, de-stress and endure challenges, but at the same time be centered and accomplish what I planned to do at work while getting a chance to practice yoga every day.

"Chithavriti-Nirodha" is the ultimate goal. Its a possibility that can be achieved with the power of Iyengar Yoga and the learning I get from all my teachers. Along with all this serious stuff, lets not forget to add some humor or laughing yoga along the way. Skeptic Yogi you are right, some tongue and cheek humor about blowing your ex - "the office cube" goes a long way. I have to stop taking everything so seriously.

Namaste

The Yogi.

Downward facing dog pose - An ode to Koko!

2008-07-29T23:03:00.001-07:00

"Downward facing dog" - after nearly 30 years that was the very first yoga pose I was asked to do in class. I had never heard of that pose before and I performed it miserably, with bent knees and a round back. So whats up with this "Dog pose", Downwards and Upwards? Has anyone wondered why this pose has such a special place in Yoga.

As I got more proficient and regular with classes, I realized that these two poses give you a whole body experience of stretching and can be both restorative and but give you a tremendous work out. We learnt this pose from our dogs and humans love for dogs extended into yoga centuries ago. There is reason why dog is considered man's best friend as dogs teach us many valuable lessons including some very important yoga poses. In Iyengar yoga this pose is performed in nearly every class, along with Tadasana and Sarvangasana. But is it just the stretch, or is it because of our love and attachment to our dogs, even 4000 years ago? You be the judge!

Many times when I do this pose, I remember my pooch "KOKO" my long gone friend and companion when I was a teenager. KOKO was my best friend. I raised him from a cute puppy to a rambunctious teenager and then a mid aged dog. KOKO loved to play chase and hide and seek. He loved to cuddle at our feet in bed to keep them warm, because as a Lhasa Apso his lineage was bred to do that for the Tibetan Monks in cold winters.

He was the fourth child of the family. He loved his garden chair with his favorite cushion. His one stare would be telling enough for you to relinquish, so he could immediately jump in and take his place to bask in the sun. He loved to dig out carrots and eggplants from the vegetable garden and eat them like he was chewing on bones or a nice peace of meat, where the skin of the eggplant was left as tasteless fat. There would be purple patches of eggplant skin scattered all over the yard. He was truly a vegetarian dog. His technique to devour carrots and eggplants was legendary.

His memories remain with me in form of pictures of him performing the perfect "begging pose with a hat and a tie". He could stretch better than other dogs. He could get his back legs stretched all the way back in a sitting position and he could perform the most perfect Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upwards facing dog). I pass his memories to my kids by telling them stories about KOKO. A few years back while on a family trip to India, we visited the house I grew up in as a kid and went to the park where he was buried unknown to me, as I was not present when he passed way. My kids called for KOKO and out came a stray dog from behind the bushes wagging his tail. They got a fright, but I knew KOKO's spirit was still there out in the park.

KOKO loved his stray dog friends and despite our best efforts to keep him at bay, he would take every opportunity to run off the moment the gate opened at the driveway to play with them. One day he didn't return. I had left home for college and no one was there to chase him and get him home safe. He got lost and "kidnapped" to another town. He came back three months later very sick, with a broken leash around his collar.

He must have made a brave effort to escape to come home to his family. It was unconditional love that brought him back. No matter how you treated KOKO, he loved you unconditionally with his wagging tail and Slurpee licks. KOKO never recovered from the illness. He died peacefully in his sleep one night on his favorite cushion. I was unaware and not present, having moved to another continent. I didn't find out till a year later. He was gone, but his memories have remained and will pass on through memories I have shared with my children.

I miss KOKO and most of all I miss his unconditional love. Even in heaven where he lives now, I know he is wagging his tail and performing the most perfect dog pose for me....There is so much we can learn from our dogs, what unconditional love really means and not the least some important aspects of yoga!

Namaste

The Yogi

Push for perfection or accept status quo - Are some battles worth fighting for?

2008-07-29T23:03:00.000-07:00

Just as I was about to write this post about my experience in class yesterday (it was painful and unbearable!), my human resources manager walked in to complain how the tax department in India had not given her a refund she was owed for the last two years. She will lose the entire amount if it is not refunded to her before March 2009. By paying a 20% bribe she could get it all back, but she is reluctant to do it as she feels the company owes her that money (even though technically it was not the company's fault).

What does one do in this situation? I couldn't encourage her to pay a bribe, but at the same time, some battles are not worth fighting for. In the end no one wins. Without being judgement about the state of affairs of the Indian Tax Department, this battle I know will result her in losing the entire amount. So I asked her "Would you rather lose 100% or get at least 80%?". Her response was "I just want all 100%" implying the company give her a 100% and take the loss.

This didn't seem like a fair transaction to me. So I shared some personal experiences where I settled for something less than what I deserved, because I knew if I fought for that 20% more, I wouldn't get the 80% no matter how unfair it felt. At the same time I have engaged and seen other folks engage in meaningless battles, where there was no winnder. I am not sure if she got the message completely, but it certainly re-assured me of my decisions in the past to not engage in certain battles in life. Its better to accept "status-quo" in order to move forward vs fighting battles that you know you can't win. They result in unwanted pain and suffering and there is no learning from that pain. Some battles are just not worth fighting for!

So here is the connection back to my class yesterday. It was with the lady who I described as awesome from the class on Thursday as she so diligently focused on ensuring we spent time in executing all the small steps to get into poses. She also teaches the Tuesday AM class (yesterday). I was glad to see her. The theme was restorative and forward bends mostly in sitting down positions, Adhomukha Virasana, Sukhasana with forward bend, Badhakonasana in forward bend with head resting on bolsters.

These poses can be painful if you have not done some warm up stretches prior. She pushed us to extend and push down the sacrum in order to get the thigh muscles down to get extensions in the spine. It was a repeat of the class from yesterday, except that I had already tired myself out from walking for an hour prior to the class. I didn't ease into them, such as using a chair to rest my head on vs a bolster and blankets. In this quest to push, I was battling against my body and my body was telling me "NO"!. Was it Ego, was it intimidation or was it the quest to fight my own body that made me not get up and just get a chair. I went against my own gut feeling, because the teacher was pushing everyone to go for the maximum stretch.

Did I ever lose this battle! My glute muscle pain around the sacrum returned this morning with a vengeance and so did my right shoulder pain. I overextended myself as I fought the battle against my own body for the sake of perfecting the pose and showing the teacher that I could meet her expectations. I didn't let go of my Ego! Was it worth it? - NO! Will I suffer the consequences - YES! Do I expect to fully recover - YES! But, I expect to be in pain for the remainder of my time in Pune and then some.

Some battles are just not worth fighting for - that was my lesson for today!

Namaste

The Yogi

Extension of the spine is an extension of your brain

2008-07-28T00:59:00.000-07:00

After a weekend of take-it-easy Ala no yoga, lots of good Indian food, some shopping at the crazy Laxmi Road, it was time back to class. Today was the older and a very skinny yoga teacher who must weigh all but 100 pounds. I dare ask his name or age, in case I ruffle any feathers or break any rules, I have developed a paranoia about rules at the institute. Irrespective, this teacher is amazing in demonstrating and using students as his guinea. Today's class was all about extending the spine through a series of forward bends, that started with wide-legged Uttanasana with variations and looooooong poses. My grunts and have huffs couldn't end.

I am part of the stiff group, that includes "older and seniors". I found that comment very funny. He moved me to the ropes when it was time for Adho Mukha Svanasana. He talked about extending the trunk from the side chests and the hips to get the spine extension. My neighbor became the guinea pig, as he literally pulled him up from the back of his shorts to show the extension of the spine by raising of the hips, and opening up of the back of the knees. These poses lasted 10-15 minutes each.

Then it was time for Adho Mukha Virasana by placing the forehead at the edge of a bolster and then pushing your arms out and pushing your hips down. It was my turn - He literally climbed up my back and pushed my butt down with his knees. I could barely feel anything, he was light as feather, but strong enough to get me that long extension, and then he just remained as he demonstrated to the class how "stiff" I was and how much I needed to push down to get the proper extension. I must have grunted in pain for a few seconds and it felt like it lasted for many minutes.

But it felt good. I know I am getting better extensions in all my forward bends. I can touch the floor with my palms in Uttanasana, which I have never been able to do. I also had a new appreciation of my muscles and my spine after the anatomy class by Laura Allard, an anatomist and a teacher from the Iyengar Yoga Center of Boulder, Colorado.

Our spine is wrapped around by ropes of paraspinal and paravertebral muscles that provide support to spine and also assist in spinal rotation. I will have a separate post on this class. I had a new appreciation for my body and appreciation of how yoga poses are assisting with enlightening up all these muscles, that we never think of working out in the gym routines. According to Laura having knowledge of your anatomy is one more step to the better understanding of the self, that we can achieve through yoga.

We ended the class with a long elevated savasana, with a bolster and focusing on the breath. I felt energized after the class and I felt clarity in my head. My brain kicked in high gear, while my body felt the good pain. I could conquer any pain with this feeling. And the universe immediately brought me a mini emotional crisis right after. I needed to be still, I needed to be in samasthiti, and I performed one while sitting down in the back seat of the car as I was being driven back to work. I didn't know if that was even possible, but I guess you could establish samasthiti while sitting down - my own sitting down Tadasana.

I had no choice - as I dealt with one crisis on the phone and one visually as I drove by a family of four huddled under the overpass in pouring rain wrapped in garbage bags, with concrete as their bed and sharing it with street dogs. That is their home and I drive by it every morning while they are asleep.

My instinct was to stop the car and get out and give some money to this family. I had seen the two kids play with rocks, under this overpass around a very busy intersection on Saturday. The mother and father were toiled in back breaking hard manual labor, laying down the pavement with concrete. No one was supervising or paying attention to these young children. I always get anxious at that sight, as they remind me of my two girls who I was trying to get on the phone with after repeated unanswered attempts to call.

Its emotional, and I got anxious because they were playing in the middle of heavy and noisy traffic. One misstep and there could be a tragic accident. I struggle with what I could do about it. I could give them some money, I could stop and yell at the parents, but they have to work and their choices are limited. Such is the contrast and dichotomy in India. You take the good with the bad. You have to accept it all without judgement and complete stillness. There was not much I could do to stop and solve this problem. This one I had to accept. Some battles just can't be fought. You have to be paient and pray the ride of change will eventually make things better for people. I have done my share of effecting change, which I will write about in a future post.

I needed to disconnect and I had to be still as that was the only way I could react in order to absorb and get over these two events occurring simultaneously. So in addition to indifference and detachment, which I practice religiously now, I learnt this morning that stillness can be your shield to stressful and emotional crisis. That was my lesson for today and I think those spine stretches helped me with my ability to be still and upright. Stay tuned for the post on Anatomy and Yoga.

Namaste

The Yogi

The asana is me and I am the asana - BKS Iyengar

2008-07-25T01:32:00.001-07:00

The last two days of classes at RIMYI have been intense and full of learning. Today was my fourth class in a row. I cannot even describe what that feels like. Yesterday's class was amazing. The teacher was incredible. I will report her name next week - but her style of instruction was precise, encouraging with the theme of focusing on the steps involved in completing a pose. So attention was given to the interim steps and putting time and energy on those interim phases as you transform from lying down position into an Urdhva Dhanursasana for example. It was obvious this teacher was seasoned both in age and experience.

The asana theme involved pushing down the trapezeus muscles, working the band of muscles below the back of the neck and above the shoulder blades, positioning of the arms to do Gomukh asana, rolling the shoulders back to get additional extension of the arms, adding forward bends, extending the hips as you bend down, extending the shoulders in downward dog position, and pushing from the upper thighs to get the height and the leg extensions in downward dog. All of these leading to a much better and well performed Urdhva Dhanurasana. I was reminded of Prashantji's words from his Tuesday class I observed - "Show less and do more". I don't think I have ever felt an asana as I have felt asanas the last two days.

Today's (Friday) class was conducted by one of my favorite teachers Gulnaaz. I had been looking forward to her the jokes and wise cracks all week. I got plenty and a few planted at my direction as she worked us hard by performing some poses in fast action sequence, especially the Halasana, Sarvangasana sequence. None could handle, we all had an amazing workout that was fun none-the-less. She gave two valuable instructions - one on how to "take off" from a Virbhadra Asana I to III. The key is the distance between the legs. You have to keep increasing and adjusting as you turn to maintain the distance in order to be able to bend the knee properly in VB-I to then push yourself out with your arms and then rise on your bent leg into the flying pose of VB-III.

The second set of instructions pertained to performing a Vriksasana. She told the class to not worry about raising the hands up. She said "focus on the strengthening the roots of the tree and the branches will eventually grow". This meant get the foot rooted well in the leg/groin region and get the balance. Once you have that the arms will go up naturally. She showed how to best root the foot. I have been been able to do this before. I was able to root my right foot perfectly and with some wall support I was in Vriksasana heaven. I still have work to do on the left side, but it will come.

Thank you Gulnaaz you are the best! Time just flew today. After class I had my daily dose of Coconut water and had a chance to speak with some fellow classmates from abroad. One was a lady from Dubai who had been to Portland and then a German guy named Martin. He plans to attend classes for 3 months. He has been performing these perfect poses in his practice before class and certainly garnering attention from the locals.

But when in class no one is perfect - we all are subject to correction and wise cracks from Gulnaaz and that just makes this the best class for me. It is not about perfection - it is about being in the asana and becoming the asana as Guruji states in one of his interviews. He cannot separate himself from the asana. That is the ultimate progression of yoga becoming an integral part of your life. It could take 50 years of your life but "You are the asana and the asana is you" is something very achievable for anyone if you can be the doer and be doing more and focusing on learning and understanding the asana. I realized I have been experiencing it all week. That was my invaluable lesson for today and what I love about being at RIMYI Pune.

Namaste

The Yogi

Back Bends - Circular Rythms to Energize You

2008-07-24T03:17:00.001-07:00

My second class was Wednesday evening. The teacher was familiar from my spring visit. His style is quite relaxed and his Patanjali chanting is amazing, with his resounding and perfectly toned voice. His instructions are fast, and he cracks a lot of jokes with his students in Marathi. Almost every class I have taken at the Institute has a theme. Mr. Chandru's insistence on my taking classes at the beginning of the month also makes a lot of sense. There is a sequence to the classes as well.

Each teacher has a sequence of classes, where the first class may start with a sequence of standing poses and then evolve to a class with back bends. Us "foreigners" have the added privilege of 6 classes a week, which the local students are not allowed in order to create room for us to pack in the classes in a short period of time.

We started with Uttanasanas and quickly moved into Adho Mukha Svanasana, Urdhva Mukha Svananasna and Chaturanga Ds. Then came the rapid fire instructions to switch between the three and a lot of emphasis on the Urdhva Mukha pose (upward facing dog). This must have lasted for 15-20 minutes. I was huffing and out of breath, as I had already spent an hour prior to class walking and then did my share of Chaturanga Dandasanas to build my arm strength. My uttanasanas had greatly improved. One class had brought a lot of my flexibility back.

Then came Sirsasana. I did well, between the wall and balance on my own. I wanted to do ropes, but I am learning as I go that the only way you get to the props and the ropes is to get their first and anticipate what your teacher is going to do next. He showed us the three steps to do Sirsasana without wall support. I did step 1 with my legs folded. Wow! From Sirsasana the class split into two, half went to the ropes to perform back bends using the ropes, the other half into Viparita Dandasana on a chair. These were not 5 min poses. They lasted for nearly 20-30 minutes.

I must admit this is the least of my favorite poses and I along with several middle aged men, were repeatedly coming of the pose, hoping to switch to the ropes soon. The teacher kept pushing us to get back into the pose. Though I don't understand Marathi, but his yells to get back sounded quite funny. The back bend cycle concluded with Ustrasana, Urdhva Dhanurasana, and then he instructed us to get completely calm , calm the mind to conserve all the energy that was created with the back bends in a calm child pose. He then discussed the benefits of the circular patterns of the back bends with did in the class. Back bends improve circulation and create energize the body. It was also important it is to conserve this energy with calming poses at the end.

I had a new appreciation of Back Bends. I have a long ways to go to with my back bends. They will come in time, but I have learnt new tricks and techniques, especially performing a Sirsasana without wall support. There is a process and technique. Every time I take classes in Pune, I learn new techniques, which is most rewarding. Looking forward to this week. I went back to work very energized.

Namaste

The Yogi

Walking into a firestorm - Yoga is your shield

2008-07-24T01:11:00.001-07:00

My last post concluded by the brief mention of the fire storm I was just about to walk into. Here is the complete episode. I finished my observation of Prashantji's class from the stairwell and walked out to see Mr. Chandru little I knew what a grave error I had committed. It now feels like he was just waiting for me to come out. He immediately pulled me aside and asked "which floor were you instructed to take class in?" and took me to his office. I was confused but overcome with intense fear. I replied "2nd floor". Then I added that the class got over at 8 instead of 830 am. "That was the wrong class" he replied.

Then came an earful on how I had committed a grave blunder by sitting on the stairwell to watch Prashantji's class. I was given a schedule and I was expected to follow the schedule. If my class was on the second floor I had no permission to observe anything from the stairwell. No one was allowed to do that. That must have been a new rule I said to myself. I had no idea as I had watched classes before with others sitting in the stairwell.

I got 30 minutes of lecture of how rules need to be followed at the Institute. It was very disarming but at the same time I realized what a blunder I had committed by not checking first with Mr. Chandru. Ignorance is as bad breaking rules. The message I got was "please take permission" if you are to do anything at the institute outside of stepping in and out of class and the 2 hours of library access. I profusely apologized and realized why these rules were necessary - they have 1800 people in the institute taking classes every week. Rules are important to be followed - I just didn't know where to find the rules. So you learn as you go.

Remarkably I handled this with grace and strength. And this was not a closed door reprimand - people outside could hear everything. To some this would be quite humiliating. The drill down didn't bother me, I had found strength from what I had learnt from the teachings of the institute. I had heard about such reprimands from others, so it was my time to learn a lesson and I did.

As I waited for my car to pick me up I cooled down with two delicious drinks of coconut water and "malai", the soft white flesh of the coconut seed. Today was a big test of what I have learnt in the last two years from practicing yoga. I think I passed it.

Namaste

The Yogi

Show less but do more - Prashant Iyengar

2008-07-22T06:16:00.000-07:00

I arrive in Pune yesterday morning very tired and extremely jet lagged. The direct flight from Frankfurt was great, but an 8 hour layover was something I didn't anticipate being so tiring. I saved the hassle of driving from Mumbai to Pune in the wee hours, but there is always a price to pay - EXHAUSTION and LACK OF SLEEP!. I arrived in my hotel at 5 am (its about 20 km from RIMYI, but right next door to work) and crashed. I woke up at 3 pm. Had to rush to the Institute to meet Mr. Pandu.

As always he had graciously allowed me to take classes, though I have been advised to take them in the beginning of the month rather than end. So that will be the plan next time. I finish formalities with Mr. Chandru. The place is buzzing. I got a few minutes in the stairwell to watch the medical class. I looked forward to my schedule for the next 10 days. 7 am - 830 am on most days is how I saw the schedule.

I woke up bright an early today. I need to take my walk in the park. A 15 minute ride to Hanuman Mandir Road. I missed staying at the Shahanis. They and apparently most of the housing around the Institute is rented out this time. I did remember Neena's comment about being back in August. Faith brought me back.

I spent a little time walking in the park. The laughing yoga group was there under the canopy as usual. I couldn't hear the sewer water running, but there was something new. There was sitar and tabla music being piped through speakers through the entire park. It felt like it came from the trees. It was amazing. I had planned to work my arms prior to class. I needed strength for handstands. No time for that, I was busy taking some pictures and absorbing the serenity of the music and chirping of the birds. It was nice to be back.

A short walk back to the center to be a bit early at the class. Everything was familiar, but there were lots of unfamiliar foreign faces this time. I was one of the first and I immediately got into action. The rope colors had changes to pink and black. Interesting choice of colors I say. This is India - full of vibrance and colors. I practiced stretches a bit with the ropes, along Chaturanga Dandasanas for arm strength.

The class started sharp at 7 am. It was Raya today - oh yeah tuesday morning is Raya and then a sinking feeling! Was I in the wrong class? The class went great. We did standing poses with feet spread apart. He talked about strength and how this was different than spending an hour at the gym. He talked about Guruji's discourse on Guru Purnima about the need for white color workers to stretch and build strength. The class seemed very advanced, but there were no familiar intermediate students. New faces and for the first time majority men. Something was missing - but I couldn't tell.

I did a great Halasana without a chair and I think I had good control of my poses. It all seemed to be coming back. We ended with a Setubandh Sarvangasana. The class then ended - it was only 8 am. The sinking feeling came back, but Raya said nothing. Did they shorten the Intermediate class to 60 minutes? So I have half an hour more. I walked down the steps through a stream of students for the next class. They all looked familiar. I guess I did it again. I was in the beginner's class. But I was so sure the schedule said 7 am - 830 am on tuesday!

I stopped to see Prashantji teaching his class. I couldn't resist to hear his discourses in the middle of his class. I had an hour to kill as my car was not to arrive for at least an hour. So I sit and watch and absorb his wonderful discourse about Yoga kriyas and his signature yell to "change fast" as groups of nearly 100 students switched between posses on the floor, chair and ropes. Some day I will be in the class I say to myself.

As he instructed some of the students to get into Urdhva Dhanurasana, out came words that have resonated with me for the entire day. "Show less but do more" he said. We all want to show that we are doing more - when in reality we maybe actually doing less". He wanted the class to "show less but do more" in the poses he was instructed. I guess he meant he didn't want the students to put out a show of perfect looking poses, but rather focus on being in the pose and really understanding the pose. He said that was more sincere.

Those were powerful statements, as they apply to our lives as well. We put so much emphasis on the outwards, the showman ship, the projection of perfection. Whats inside maybe completely different to what is being shown on the outside. That one statement from Prashantji set the tone for my day. What a wonderful experience to hear such great words from a great mind and experience this great yoga. Little I knew the firestorm I was just about to step into a minute as his class ended and I walked down the steps to see Mr. Chandru. All my learning as a yogi was about to be tested. Please return for the completion of this episode of my first day of yoga in Pune.

Namaste

The Yogi