New Year

It is always good to get back to our yoga after a break.

In the new light of a cold January we make our new year resolutions. Let us be hopeful for the future.

To have hope we must be strong in both body and mind, this enables us to break old habits or traditions although at first we may be reluctant to do so.

Our yoga practice offers us the opportunity to work at keeping our body and mind strong. Each week we work through breathing and stretching techniques that benefit us. If we put some time aside for ourselves for some practice at home these benefits can be increased.

Some ideas

Take time out to sit and quietly focus on the breathing and observe it as it settles into your natural breathing pattern, then begin to lengthen the out breath. Aim to sit for 5 to 10 minutes, the breath should always remain comfortable, never forced.

Standing side stretch, arms up over head, then lengthen right side and side bend to right, breathing into the extended left side, back to centre then repeat other side.

Easy Breathing, 1 step forward, inhale and take arms over head as front knee bends, exhale, front leg straightens as arms come down, repeat 3 times each side.

Rag doll forward bend, drop chin onto chest and let the back roll down, bending the knees if needed until the back is completely released and you are hanging upside down like a rag doll, slowly roll the back up until you are standing upright.

Runners start  for working the legs and toes. Medium stride forward, bend the knee of the back leg to the floor. Keeping the knees working in a straight line raise and lower the knee, this should also stretch the toes of the back leg. Change legs and repeat.

Dog pose for working the toes and legs.  Starting from cat pose take the bottom back to the heels then lift the knees, keeping the knees bent.  Then lengthen the right leg, taking the heel towards the floor, then release the right leg and lengthen the left leg.

Back stretch using chair to support arms.  From standing fold forward reaching the arms forward to rest on the seat or the back of the chair, (depends on the flexibility of your hips and height as to which feels right for you) bend the knees as much as needed until you feel a stretch in the spine.

Have fun

How Yoga Arrived in the West.

During a lifetime that spanned more than 100 years, (he was born in 1888) Krishnamacharya devoted himself to the study, practice and teaching of yoga. Krishnamacharya studied the ancient classical Indian texts and Ayuvedic medicine, his thirst for knowledge earned him the equivalent of seven PhDs. He then added to this and studied for seven years with a yogi master in a cave at the foot of Mount Kailash. At the end of the seven years it is customary to ask what payment the yogi master wants. He was told to take a wife and raise a family and to teach yoga. His education to that date was such that he could earn a good living, but to teach yoga at that time was the lowest position of status and virtually a sentence of poverty. He followed the instructions given and he and his new wife were quite poor for the next two years. Then his reputation for knowledge in yoga and healing spread and the Maharaja of Kholapur, who had health problems, asked Krishnamacharya to become his yoga teacher. From there, with the backing of the Maharaja, Krishnamacharya set up a yoga school, and yoga was encouraged to be taught to children in schools. Krishnacaharya taught yoga to BKS Iyengar, who was his brother-in-law, and who had poor health. BKS Iyengar’s health improved and he then became a devoted yoga teacher and was responsible for founding more than 200 yoga schools around the world. It is often Iyengar’s name that will be recognized when looking at the introduction of yoga to the west.

Krishnamacharya’s son Desikachar studied with his father for thirty years and has been a renowned authority on the theraupeutic uses of yoga.

If you would like to read more about Krishnamacharya and Desikachar

Health, Healing and Beyond, TKV Desikachar with R H Cravens

The Heart of Yoga, TKV Desikachar (This includes Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras which Desikachar studied seven times with his father).

Patanjali's Sutras

Another classical Indian text that plays a significant role in defining yoga is Patanjali’s Sutras. Its date is estimated to be between 200 and 800 years BC.

Patanjali introduced the first comprehensive system of yoga. Patanjali presented his work in the style known as a sutra. A sutra has very few words, is free from ambiguity, is full of essence, universal in context and affirmative. Patanjali’s sutras are clear statements. It is still unknown as to whether it was one person or more who are responsible for the Sutras.

The sutras are presented in four chapters. In the first chapter yoga is defined and then the focus is on looking at the mind, it presents yoga as the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind. The second chapter discusses the qualities that are necessary to change the mind from distraction to attention, it is in this chapter that the eight limbs of yoga are introduced. In the third chapter Patanjali describes the mind that is free from distractions, and in the fourth chapter, Patanjali describes the mind as a servant for the individual to reach ultimate bliss, which is the ultimate goal of yoga.

Of the eight limbs of yoga that are introduced in chapter two, the first five are tangible and are practices that will prepare the practitioner for the last three which are internal and cover all aspects of mind control. The first five are known as disciplines, and the last three are classed as attainments of yoga. All eight limbs are interlinked and can develop simultaneously. The first five practices are yama, which is ethical behaviour, niyama, which is personal discipline, asana, the practice of postures, pranayama, the breathing techniques and pratyahara, which is the control of the senses. The last three limbs are concentration, meditation and the ultimate state of yoga which is called Samadhi.

Patanajali’s Sutras are recognized by all schools of yoga and are the base of many subsequent works.

In the hustle and bustle of modern day living, it is easy to lose contact with what is relevant in life. If we remain focused with an intention to stay present in each moment, our mind will remain clearer. We may then have a clearer perspective on our lives. This would be classed as living your yoga by Patanjali. Yoga practice can be as simple as keeping the mind uncluttered, to keep the mind in a focused and steady state.

References to the sutras were taken from

Patanjali's Yogasutras,

Translation and Commentary by TKV Desikachar

Week 7 The Upanishads

The Indian Classics go back 4,000 years. The first books to refer to yoga are the ancient Tantras, later the Vedas and then in the Upanishads yoga takes a more definable shape.

Upanishad means sitting down near, and the Upanishads are records that were kept of sessions of teaching where the student would be sat at the feet of the teacher. Each Upanishad is complete and their purpose was to inspire.

The sages of the Upanishads peeled away personality like an onion, layer by layer and they found nothing permanent in the mass of perceptions, thoughts, emotions, drives and memories. Yet when everything individual was stripped away, an intense awareness remained –this was what they studied -I think we may acknowledge this as our essence.

Today the main focus is on 10 principal Upanishads

The Upanishads look inward, they focus on knowing the mind, meditation, pure concentration

Yoga was defined as a complete integration of consciousness

For the sages Self realization meant health, vitality, long life and a harmonious balance of inward and outward activity.

The sages of the Upanishads learned to make a science and art and craft of insight, something that could be mastered and then taught to others.

There is a still world that is always present in the depths of the mind. It is the deepest, most universal layer of the unconscious. It you can become aware of this state, then the teaching from the Upanishads claim that you will be who you truly are, free from the conditioning of body and mind, not limited by outside influences.

A famous Upanishad that you may have heard quoted

'You are what your deep driving desire is

As our desire is, so is your will

As your will is so is your deed

As your deed is so is your destiny'

Bhihadaranyaka IV 4.5

The Upanishads have been translated many times, This extract was taken from The Upanishads introduced and translated by Eknath Easwaran.

September 14

It is good to be back to classes. Although it is always sad to say goodbye to the summer holidays where we have a break from routine, with time to refresh and re-charge batteries. With our yoga class we can carry on re-charging the batteries every week with our stretches, breathing exercises and relaxation.

A challenge this autumn will be to take at least one thing away from the class each week to use in your daily life. It might be something as simple as an awareness of good posture, or perhaps taking the focus to controlling the breath, making it slow and deep.

In relaxation there was a short reading

Touching Peace

If you think that peace and happiness are somewhere else and you run after them, you will never arrive. It is only when you realize that peace and happiness are available here in the present moment that you will be able to relax. In daily life, there is so much to do and so little time. You may feel pressured to run all the time. Just stop! touch the ground of the present moment deeply, and you will touch real peace and joy.

Have a good week

Transforming Compost

It is a beautiful time in the garden this time of year, which links well to an interesting extract from a book called Touching Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh.

"Traditional texts describe consciousness as a field, a plot of land where every kind of seed can be planted - seeds of suffering, happiness, joy, sorrow, fear, anger, and hope. Store consciousness is also described as a storehouse filled with all our seeds. To practice mindfulness means to recognise each seed as it comes up from the storehouse and to practice watering the most wholesome seeds whenever possible, to help them grow stronger. During each moment that we are aware of something peaceful and beautiful we water seeds of peace and beauty in us. The length of time we water a seed determines the strength of that seed, for example, if we stand in front of a tree, breathe consciously, and enjoy it for five minutes, seeds of happiness will be watered in us for five minutes, and those seeds will grow stronger. During the same five minutes, other seeds like fear and pain will not be watered. Any seed that manifests in our mind consciousness always returns to our store consciousness stronger. If we water our wholesome seeds carefully, we can trust that our store consciousness will do the work of healing."

So whilst you are enjoying the sunshine, flowers and the beauty of nature all around you, you are giving yourself a gift that money cannot buy.

Enjoy the summer.

Seetkari Pranayama

We talked at the Monday class about a cooling breathing practice, here it is.

Seetkari Pranayama is also known as the hissing breath. It is a cooling breath

Sit in a comfortable meditation posture. Close the eyes and relax the whole body. Hold the teeth lightly together. Separate the lips, exposing the teeth. The tongue may be kept flat or folded against the soft palate. Breathe in slowly and deeply through the teeth. At the end of the inhale close the mouth and keeping the tongue either flat or folded breathe out slowly through the nose in a controlled manner. Practise 9 rounds

This practice cools the body and the mind. It encourages muscles to relax, and brings tranquillity to the mind. It helps reduce blood pressure and acid in the stomach.

It is not practised in winter.  It is not for people with low blood pressure or respiratory disorders.

Ujjayi Pranayama - Week 2

A closer look at Ujjayi breathing, taken from Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha. ' Sitting in a comfortable position, take the awareness to the breath in the nostrils and allow the breathing to become calm and rhythmic. After some time, transfer the awareness to the throat. Try to feel or to imagine that the breath is being drawn in and out through the throat and not through the nostrils, as if the inhale and exhale are taking place through a small hole in the throat.

As the breathing becomes slower and deeper a soft snoring sound like the breathing of a sleeping baby is produced in the throat. There may also be a simultaneous contraction of the abdomen, this happens by itself. The sound should be audible to the practitioner only.

Do not contract the throat too strongly, try to relax the face as much as possible. Ujjayi is classified as a tranquillising pranayama and also has a heating effect on the body.

The Sanskrit word ujjayi means victorious.'

Ujjayi can be practised sitting, lying down or even standing.

If the throat is sore lengthen the breath without the sound from the throat. If the mood is low, lengthen the inhalation to create more energy.