Arriving and Settling In: 1/31- 2/2/2014 Has India changed? No, and yes. The aroma in the air is familiar even before the plane lands, it is distinctive. I find I recognized the airport and how to negotiate through customs while bleary eyed and jet lagged. This can be no small feat; trying to keep ... Read More »
A View Into The Window
Each week in my classes I try to introduce a quote or thought that is relevant to yoga practice. This ‘blog’ is a place for me to expand on the ideas and for community participation. The philosophical concepts underlying yoga are complex; I certainly have no claim to understanding them well. But as a group perhaps we can come to a deeper level of knowledge. Sue
Coordinating the Mind and Body
Stand in Tadasana. Then bring the arms to Gomukasana, first holding the palms with the fingers pointing downwards. Stay there. Keep the shoulder bones relaxed and rolling forward, the elbows relaxed for now. Press the palms together evenly and spread the wrists, lengthen the thumbs. After a few ... Read More »
Today’s Practice
"A paradox is only the truth standing on its head to attract attention." - - - G.K. Chesterton ... Read More »
Effortless Effort
Sutra I.47 prayatna saithilya ananta sampattibhyam Perfection in an asana is achieved when the effort to perform it becomes effortless and the infinite being within is reached. B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on the Yoga Sutras p 159 Earlier in the fall our classes looked at the second ... Read More »
Winter Solstice
What a joy it is to come to the Winter Solstice and know that the sun is returning. The short, days can be hard to live through, often we feel that there isn't enough time to get done what we want and the short daylight only exasperates the feeling. I think there is also an inner need to hibernate ... Read More »
Stillness
Be in Adho Mukha Virasana (child's pose), supported well with your head and buttocks on the same level, rest your hands next to your hips. Let yourself go. "All movement is derived from and returns to stillness. The quiet breathing body folded over itself in a forward bend is an expression of ... Read More »
“If the root is weak, the tree cannot be strong.”
"When you are over stretching somewhere to get the optimum movement, have you ever noticed that you are also giving too little attention to other parts of the body? That disturbs the body and makes it shake. If the root of a tree is weak, the tree itself cannot be strong." _ _ B.K.S. Iyengar The ... Read More »
Conation
Conation: Effort, volition, impulse Last week we looked briefly at a definition of yoga and of Mr Iyengar's translation of Sutra I.2. In that he says that consciousness has three functions, one of which is 'conation'. It is not a well used word. So this week I thought to clarify it a little, and ... Read More »
What Is Yoga?
What is yoga? Why do we bother to practice, to tangle ourselves up, to overcome the tightness, to grip the looseness? We are beginning our fall session and with that we will look at the question of "what is yoga?" The best way to begin is to look to the source, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and ... Read More »
Abhinivesa: Clinging to life
This is the last of the Klesa's and the last of the entries for the Summer 2011 session. Abhinivesa: Clinging to life, fear of death Self-preservation or attachment to life is the subtlest of all afflictions. It is found even in wise men. -- B.K.S. Iyengar. Light On The Yoga Sutras, p116 ... Read More »
