I took Nina Pileggi's level 2 class today - so many make ups to do. Nina suggested I donate them to friends and employees. Any takers?
Today was all about twists and pulling back and twisting around from the navel. That is hard work - I was sweating and my shoulders have become tight with lack of practice so they hurt when I do twists in standing poses, especially Uthita Trikonasa which is exceptionally painful. She transitioned from that to Uthita Parsva Trikonasa, a trikonasana with a twist.
And then there are those tough variations. She asked us to move the raised hand back, , lift the sternum and pull it back from the navel and raise and turn the head back, then bend the arm to touch the head so the elbow was not visible to the eyes. Easier said than done - she does these poses with such perfection.
I tried, many tried and you could hear the grunt and sigh of pain. She immediately recited a yoga sutra in Sanskrit and I believe it was: "Heyam dukham anagatam". She explained that it meant that we should plan for avoiding pain. In the pose she demonstrated we had to make sure the blocks were lined up correctly and in advance to avoid the pain. How true!
I was immediately drawn to her words, and it got me completely off balance and my mind recoiled back into the pain I have been suffering for many months. How can you plan to avoid pain when you have no control over the pain? I could see the physical manifestations of it with my tight shoulders and my lack of practice lately.
I was completely disheveled at that point and the pain in my mind subsumed me. My sugar levels dropped and I felt shaky. I had to take a short break to drink several cups of water. I have been avoiding pain I have been experiencing by blocking it out. I struggled through the other poses - shavasana didn't seem as relaxing. It took tremendous strength and effort to finish the class.
It occurred to me that there seems to no end to my mental pain despite all the attempts I take to deal with it. So when I came home, I decided to look up this sutra and really understand what Patanjali was talking about. So here are some excerpts from Guruji's book Light on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
Heyam Dukkham Anagatam
The pain which are yet to come can be and are to be avoided.
Past pain is finished. Pain that we are in the process of experiencing cannot be avoided, but can be reduced to some extent through yogic practice and discriminative knowledge. Unknown future pains can be prevented now by adhering to yogic discipline.
Patanjali says that yoga is a preventative healing art, science and philosophy by which we build up defenses in our body and mind to counteract painful afflictions that are yet to attack us. It will help us to face the spiritual bliss if and when thanks to our good actions in former lives, the spiritual gate is open.
I am immediately reminded of Gehlek Rimpoche's philosophy of maintaining positive emotions and actions and how they carry through our incarnation and I see the connection with this sutra. Patanjali says that spiritual light can be shattering, so we should stabilize our body and mind with yoga to help with our spiritual growth.
Reading this sutra brought me some peace of mind, a little less pain and realization that I cannot afford to get off the path of yoga no matter how much pain and obstacles come my way. It is yoga that has helped me navigate through painful times in the last many months. I must be true to this path, no matter what!
Thank you Nina for enlightening me today and helping me bring some relief to the pain I deal with every day. I am looking forward to creating a video blog with you so you can enlighten us more with your knowledge and understanding of yoga and these wonderful sutras of patanjali.
Namaste
The Yogi.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Views inside and outside the "Pacific Soul" Ucluelet BC
Pacific Soul, Eion Finn and Insiya Rasiwala's heavenly abode in Ucluelet, British Columbia, Canada
O' Canada! - A trip to Eionn Finn and Insiya Rasiwala's heavenly abode in Ucluelet, BC
A few weeks back I found Eion (pronounced Ian) Finn's bliss blog on the net; one of the links on the yoga blog glob http://www.itsallaboutyoga.com/. His life mission on his blog states the following :
"My life mission is simple but crystal clear: to fill my heart and soul completely with the energy of Nature, to absorb it into my being and to radiate it out into the world as Positive Energy. Teaching Yoga is one of the forms that this Positive Energy is spread, but mostly what I am sharing is a Lifestyle... a way of being where Body and Mind are in harmony with Nature and Community. Enjoy all of these offerings."
It totally captured my attention. Turns out Eion is an expert Vinyasa Yogi and an avid surfer. He teaches a form of power yoga in Vancouver BC along with his wife Insiya (what a beautiful name!) Rasiwala who is from Mumbai India and an expert in Ayurveda and Vinyasa style yoga herself. She is also a surfer. Coincidentally, Eion is a graduate of the same university as I, Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada. Eion is also an avid surfer and combines yoga and surfing. He has developed a number of great yoga videos, including yoga for surfers. He is a well known yoga personality in Canada and does many workshops. He and Insiya also own a heavenly place appropriately name "Pacific Soul" in Ucluelet B.C. Its on the pacific coast of Vancouver Island, the surfing capital of Canada and known for its winter storm waves. They offer yoga retreats in Ucluelet, Costa Rica and Bali. Pacific Soul is available year around as a vacation rental when Eion and Insiya are not residing there.
I drove up to Vancouver B.C. followed by a long but gorgeous trip to Ucluelet from Vancouver this weekend. It included a 2 hour ferry ride from the beautiful Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, and then a scenic drive through the mountains, valleys and rivers into Ucluelet. The weather cooperated yesterday and gave me a chance to hike around Pacific Soul. I took many pictures of nature surrounding the area, including a deer and the bald eagle that perches on a tree across from the living room. Though I didn't get a chance to practice yoga with them, as they were not in Ucluelet, I did get a chance to relax, breathe, read, meditate with my photography, and simply observe the nature around Ucluelet and Tofino BC.
Tomorrow I will return home. Despite the long drive, it was worth the trip. To see the the majestic and tall snow capped mountains of B.C. made me very nostalgic. It reminded me of a trip to Whistler B.C., the ski capital of Canada, some years back with the family when my older daughter was just one and the younger one was yet to arrive. It was a heavenly trip and I remember feeling uplifted as we drove through the Canadian Rockies.
Eion and Insiya's Pacific Soul's interior is something out of a home interior design magazine. The aesthetics and design corresponds to their perfection in their yoga style. Its very modern yet very simple. There are yoga books and videos everywhere in the house. I took a lot of pictures. Enjoy the slide shows and Eion is right -Yoga is a way to radiate the positive energy we can absorb from Nature. Being with Nature is being in harmony with the body and mind. That is the essence of yoga!
Namaste
The Yogi
"My life mission is simple but crystal clear: to fill my heart and soul completely with the energy of Nature, to absorb it into my being and to radiate it out into the world as Positive Energy. Teaching Yoga is one of the forms that this Positive Energy is spread, but mostly what I am sharing is a Lifestyle... a way of being where Body and Mind are in harmony with Nature and Community. Enjoy all of these offerings."
It totally captured my attention. Turns out Eion is an expert Vinyasa Yogi and an avid surfer. He teaches a form of power yoga in Vancouver BC along with his wife Insiya (what a beautiful name!) Rasiwala who is from Mumbai India and an expert in Ayurveda and Vinyasa style yoga herself. She is also a surfer. Coincidentally, Eion is a graduate of the same university as I, Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada. Eion is also an avid surfer and combines yoga and surfing. He has developed a number of great yoga videos, including yoga for surfers. He is a well known yoga personality in Canada and does many workshops. He and Insiya also own a heavenly place appropriately name "Pacific Soul" in Ucluelet B.C. Its on the pacific coast of Vancouver Island, the surfing capital of Canada and known for its winter storm waves. They offer yoga retreats in Ucluelet, Costa Rica and Bali. Pacific Soul is available year around as a vacation rental when Eion and Insiya are not residing there.
I drove up to Vancouver B.C. followed by a long but gorgeous trip to Ucluelet from Vancouver this weekend. It included a 2 hour ferry ride from the beautiful Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, and then a scenic drive through the mountains, valleys and rivers into Ucluelet. The weather cooperated yesterday and gave me a chance to hike around Pacific Soul. I took many pictures of nature surrounding the area, including a deer and the bald eagle that perches on a tree across from the living room. Though I didn't get a chance to practice yoga with them, as they were not in Ucluelet, I did get a chance to relax, breathe, read, meditate with my photography, and simply observe the nature around Ucluelet and Tofino BC.
Tomorrow I will return home. Despite the long drive, it was worth the trip. To see the the majestic and tall snow capped mountains of B.C. made me very nostalgic. It reminded me of a trip to Whistler B.C., the ski capital of Canada, some years back with the family when my older daughter was just one and the younger one was yet to arrive. It was a heavenly trip and I remember feeling uplifted as we drove through the Canadian Rockies.
Eion and Insiya's Pacific Soul's interior is something out of a home interior design magazine. The aesthetics and design corresponds to their perfection in their yoga style. Its very modern yet very simple. There are yoga books and videos everywhere in the house. I took a lot of pictures. Enjoy the slide shows and Eion is right -Yoga is a way to radiate the positive energy we can absorb from Nature. Being with Nature is being in harmony with the body and mind. That is the essence of yoga!
Namaste
The Yogi
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Advanced Yoga with Nuvana - My yoga is getting rusty
I have been travelling the last two weeks and therefore missing yoga classes. Yesterday was a once in a month advanced yoga session with Nuvana at Sunset Yoga. Lets call it a level 4 class. I bombed in every way. I have lost the ability to push up into adho muka vriksasana, my sirsana was not the best, I was balancing using my back. I have become rusty.
"You are thinking too much!" said Nuvana as I struggled to get up on my hands and arms. The class was all about working the glute muscles and creating space around your lower waiste to peform perfect adho mukha svanasana. Its wonderful to understand this concept of creating space. There was an aha moment for many when she commented that when you point your feet upwards while in sarvangasana you are in water - a relaxed pose. But if your feet and legs are waving too much - you are asked to point your feet down, which is earth! This provides more stability to your sarvangasana. I presume it wouldn't be as relaxing.
What an amazing interpretation. I have to fix this gradual loss of practice. I have to overcome the daily torments, insanity and rage impeding my life and give yoga priority. This afternoon, I drove through one of the most beautiful places on earth. I stopped to watch the roaring rapids of a river in the mountains of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Surrounding these rapids I saw pools of calm water and a raven quietly searching for food. There was serenity despite the roar and rage around it.
If nature can have calmness and contentment to exist amongst turmoil and rage - so can we! May peace and calmness be around you despite any turmoil and rage. You have to remain in the calm pools and be indifferent to the rage and an insanity that may surround you. As I drove down the mountain I watched the flow of the river change from raging waters to a calm flow in the valley. I have to remember there will be another valley coming soon in life bringing with it some peace and calmness.
Namaste
The Yogi
"You are thinking too much!" said Nuvana as I struggled to get up on my hands and arms. The class was all about working the glute muscles and creating space around your lower waiste to peform perfect adho mukha svanasana. Its wonderful to understand this concept of creating space. There was an aha moment for many when she commented that when you point your feet upwards while in sarvangasana you are in water - a relaxed pose. But if your feet and legs are waving too much - you are asked to point your feet down, which is earth! This provides more stability to your sarvangasana. I presume it wouldn't be as relaxing.
What an amazing interpretation. I have to fix this gradual loss of practice. I have to overcome the daily torments, insanity and rage impeding my life and give yoga priority. This afternoon, I drove through one of the most beautiful places on earth. I stopped to watch the roaring rapids of a river in the mountains of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Surrounding these rapids I saw pools of calm water and a raven quietly searching for food. There was serenity despite the roar and rage around it.
If nature can have calmness and contentment to exist amongst turmoil and rage - so can we! May peace and calmness be around you despite any turmoil and rage. You have to remain in the calm pools and be indifferent to the rage and an insanity that may surround you. As I drove down the mountain I watched the flow of the river change from raging waters to a calm flow in the valley. I have to remember there will be another valley coming soon in life bringing with it some peace and calmness.
Namaste
The Yogi
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Yoga - A unison of faith, purpose and suffering to create positive energy
The massive earthquake in China has caused tremendous destruction and pain. In some cities most of the human population has been wiped out. In this destruction today a young girl was found alive. Why was she singled out to live while so many died? Many questions arise in my mind as I try to understand this destruction.
I look to the Buddhist philosophy for answers. Buddha says life is full of suffering. So the end of the life means end to that suffering. Was the destruction from a spiritual standpoint caused by anger and ego, the negative emotions? Could this destruction in China been prevented somehow? Was it fair for this little girl to survive and continue to face life suffering or did she survive because she had positive emotions around her? All those who sadly passed, how many carried the negative emotions with them on to their next incarnation? All these questions propel my mind into deep thought.
Watching this destruction gives me reason for thought and reflection of the turmoil we face every day. We spend so much energy and time on these negative emotions - building them up with ego and anger, which empowers us to become destructive and vengeful. What we forget is that this sense of empowerment is not permanent. A destruction like this earthquake will end that empowerment in an instant. All that would be left is a dead body, a physical relic of oneself and the prana, the conscience, the life force will leave only to be re-incarnated with all the negativity that the mind will carry.
So why do we waste so much energy in negative emotions? I don't have an answer for that. What I do know is that if I can channel that energy into a positive action or thought, I have put one negative karma off my carry list to the next life. So with that thought in mind I am going to practice Adho Mukha Vriksanasana (hand stand) at home tonight and put all my energy to re perfecting it and getting my legs to kick up effortlessly by holding my arms straight and strong. The wall will be my support and guide. I will hold myself up for as long as I can by putting in all the extra effort and energy I have. I will attempt it several times till I tire my body out and then get ready for Savasana. At the conclusion of Savasana, I will pray for those departed souls. I will pray that they carry more positive energy into next life, which is then full of more positive energies and love - as at the end that is all that matters. That is all they will carry to the next cycle of their lives. Everything else material will all be left behind to decay. Thank you Gehlek Rimpoche for enlightening me with your book!
Namaste
The Yogi
I look to the Buddhist philosophy for answers. Buddha says life is full of suffering. So the end of the life means end to that suffering. Was the destruction from a spiritual standpoint caused by anger and ego, the negative emotions? Could this destruction in China been prevented somehow? Was it fair for this little girl to survive and continue to face life suffering or did she survive because she had positive emotions around her? All those who sadly passed, how many carried the negative emotions with them on to their next incarnation? All these questions propel my mind into deep thought.
Watching this destruction gives me reason for thought and reflection of the turmoil we face every day. We spend so much energy and time on these negative emotions - building them up with ego and anger, which empowers us to become destructive and vengeful. What we forget is that this sense of empowerment is not permanent. A destruction like this earthquake will end that empowerment in an instant. All that would be left is a dead body, a physical relic of oneself and the prana, the conscience, the life force will leave only to be re-incarnated with all the negativity that the mind will carry.
So why do we waste so much energy in negative emotions? I don't have an answer for that. What I do know is that if I can channel that energy into a positive action or thought, I have put one negative karma off my carry list to the next life. So with that thought in mind I am going to practice Adho Mukha Vriksanasana (hand stand) at home tonight and put all my energy to re perfecting it and getting my legs to kick up effortlessly by holding my arms straight and strong. The wall will be my support and guide. I will hold myself up for as long as I can by putting in all the extra effort and energy I have. I will attempt it several times till I tire my body out and then get ready for Savasana. At the conclusion of Savasana, I will pray for those departed souls. I will pray that they carry more positive energy into next life, which is then full of more positive energies and love - as at the end that is all that matters. That is all they will carry to the next cycle of their lives. Everything else material will all be left behind to decay. Thank you Gehlek Rimpoche for enlightening me with your book!
Namaste
The Yogi
Monday, May 12, 2008
The Inconsistent Yogi - I need more practice!
I missed yoga all last week. I blogged, reflected and enjoyed every moment I had with the kids, but physcially there was no yoga, not even a short walk or stretch. So today was the day to get back into the yoga class. Monday nights is advanced class with Nina at Sunset. But today it was Terry Peterson substituting. Its been a while since I attended his class, so it was a pleasant surprise. Terry has a very unique style - gentle but firm, with lots of Iyengarisms blended in. His demonstrations are Nuvaneseque - highly precise and you can see it all in the book "Cool Yoga Tricks" that both he and Nuvana have been photographed in as models.
Today's class was mostly forward bends, but with a twist - they were longer and supported with props like blankets and chairs. My favorite was the supported Uttanasana. I immediately went into calm mode and it is excellent for my high blood pressure. His words "let go of your thoughts and simply observe yourself in the pose" helped me be calm and perform the poses without feeling like I had to bend more than I should. I simply enjoyed what I could do given the tightness I have developed over the last two weeks. I balanced on my head for the longest I can remember - a good 2 minutes off the 5 minutes.
On the way out Terry and I chatted briefly about my time with Nina and Manu Shahani in Pune. Terry had stayed in their holistic heaven twice before I did. I found out about this place next to the RIMYI center through Terry last summer. He asked if I enjoyed the food. "Enjoyed" was an under statement. I simply loved it I said! I can't thank enough the old lady who so humbly made the daily meals and walked up a flight of stairs to serve it to me on a tray or in a container called tiffin. She would also make a bowl of fresh yogurt every morning and remind me to finish it or it would become sour! Its the best yogurt I have ever tasted.
I came out of the class feeling like I had a new family - familiar faces, with greetings and hellos. I felt a sense of calm and relief from the turmoil I face every day - at least temporarily. I savored every moment of that calmness as I drove home. I was really enjoying the moment and truly in it. I am not sure what tomorrow holds. Whatever it is I hope to handle it with a calm, thoughtful and pleasant disposition. There is no other way. I need to practice my yoga every day so I can get better at being more observant of my life, so I can accept what it has to offer with calmness and contentment. I hope you will too.
Namaste
The Yogi
Today's class was mostly forward bends, but with a twist - they were longer and supported with props like blankets and chairs. My favorite was the supported Uttanasana. I immediately went into calm mode and it is excellent for my high blood pressure. His words "let go of your thoughts and simply observe yourself in the pose" helped me be calm and perform the poses without feeling like I had to bend more than I should. I simply enjoyed what I could do given the tightness I have developed over the last two weeks. I balanced on my head for the longest I can remember - a good 2 minutes off the 5 minutes.
On the way out Terry and I chatted briefly about my time with Nina and Manu Shahani in Pune. Terry had stayed in their holistic heaven twice before I did. I found out about this place next to the RIMYI center through Terry last summer. He asked if I enjoyed the food. "Enjoyed" was an under statement. I simply loved it I said! I can't thank enough the old lady who so humbly made the daily meals and walked up a flight of stairs to serve it to me on a tray or in a container called tiffin. She would also make a bowl of fresh yogurt every morning and remind me to finish it or it would become sour! Its the best yogurt I have ever tasted.
I came out of the class feeling like I had a new family - familiar faces, with greetings and hellos. I felt a sense of calm and relief from the turmoil I face every day - at least temporarily. I savored every moment of that calmness as I drove home. I was really enjoying the moment and truly in it. I am not sure what tomorrow holds. Whatever it is I hope to handle it with a calm, thoughtful and pleasant disposition. There is no other way. I need to practice my yoga every day so I can get better at being more observant of my life, so I can accept what it has to offer with calmness and contentment. I hope you will too.
Namaste
The Yogi
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