namaskar A VOICE FOR THE YOGA COMMUNITY
THE SIMPLE LIFE Mobile phones are as commonplace as cigarettes once were. Are they as damaging.................p17
BREAKING SELF-DESTRUCTIVE HABITS If you want a calm, peaceful life, start speaking to others and about others nicely......................p18
Cassandra Kish in Eka Pada Koundinyasana. Photo by Julia Thomas
February 2020
HISTORY OF ASANA Three women explain what’s involved in starting, owning and operating a yoga studio................p24
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NAMASKAR
NAMASKAR - FEBRUARY 2020
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, it empties today of its strength. Corrie ten Boom (1892 – 1983) was a Dutch watchmaker and writer who, together with her family, helped some 800 Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust by hiding them in their home. There is a lot of worry in our world right now. For good reason, some may say. But as Corrie observed, worrying is so depleting. Surely this is the time to be strong, for ourselves and for those around us. When worry starts to creep into our minds, let’s do as we do when practicing yoga asana. Just as concentrating on our balanced breath takes us through a long and tiring Downward Facing Dog, it can also help us stay calm through our own distress. As keeping our mind focussed on a single, calm thought, keeps our body balanced on a single leg, it will help us stay balanced through a family member’s incessant complaining. You get the idea, I’m sure. Remember how helpful it was to practice next to a really experienced yogi? Someone who clearly knew what they were doing with the poses, and at the same time exuded a sense of calmness, support and humility. Off the mat, our own calm, supportive and humble presence will similarly help our friends and family as they struggle to find their inner peace. American personal growth teacher Wayne Dyer explained - peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be. The more people who can find peace in the world, the better off we will all be. So go ahead and inspire the next person you come across. Not with your amazing handstand, but with your amazing ability to stay steady and comfortable while all around is tumbling down. If you would like to learn about how Corrie ten Boom came through World War II, there’s a short biography at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pec52qqquk)
ABOUT NAMASKAR ADVERTISING Carol Adams, NamaskarAdvertising@gmail.com KULA
Wai-Ling Tse, NamaskarKula@gmail.com
SUBSCRIPTION Angela Sun, NamaskarSubscription@gmail.com EDITOR
ON THE COVER - CASSANDRA KISH
Cassandra is a yoga teacher now living in the US.
In This Issue DRISTI - HISTORY OF ASANA HISTORY OF POSTURAL YOGA ON THE HISTORY OF ASANA THE VEDAS FORMED OUR YOGA
24 28 30
SPECIAL FEATURES THE SIMPLE LIFE 17 How to cut down on technology BREAKING BAD HABITS 18 In order to have a calm & quiet life FIRST YEAR AS A YOGA TEACHER 23 Some observations and suggestions with the benefit of hindsight REGULAR CONTRIBUTIONS KULA UPDATES, WORKSHOPS, RETREATS, TEACHER TRAININGS MUDRAS BOOK REVIEW DIRECTORY ASANA
6 33 34 37 38
Namaskar provides a voice for the yoga community around the world. The publication is an opportunity for practitioners on a yogic path to selflessly offer their knowledge, learnings and experiences with others.
Articles and photographs in Namaskar are contributed at no charge. Advertising income covers production, distribution, administrative costs and discretionary contributions to selected charities and causes.
We welcome unsolicited submissions, therefore the opinions expressed within these pages are not necessarily those of Namaskar or its volunteers.
Namaskar, is published quarterly, usually January, April, July and October. About 5,000 copies are printed and distributed for free to yoga studios, teachers, fitness centres, retail outlets, cafes and yoga-friendly outlets. Mostly distributed in Hong Kong, with 1,500 copies mailed to readers in 32 other countries.
Frances Gairns, NamaskarEditor@gmail.com
February 2020
CONTRIBUTORS
ANGELA SUN
CASSANDRA KISH
GABRIELLE MCMAHON
Angela manages distribution and circulation for Namaskar. Now back in her home town of New York, she has been practicing yoga for over 10 years. She currently teaches privately. NamaskarSubscription@gmail.com
Cassandra started Bikram yoga in 1989 and started teaching Baptiste yoga in 1995. She opened two studios in the US before launching yoga programmes in Thailand and France. After 12 years in Paris, she has returned to Pennsylvania, US. miisasmom@me.com
CAROL ADAMS
ERIC SHAW
Gabrielle is a life and spiritual coach, incorporating meditation, yoga and Ayurveda. She is based in Byron Bay, Australia. www.bebliss.com.au JAMES BOAG
JAMES RUSSELL
James has been practising yoga for 20 years and teaching yoga for 13 years. He trained in India at Yoga Vidya Gurukul (YVG) and in the UK with the Devon School of Yoga (DSY). James also holds a certificate in Advanced Yoga Studies from YVG and a postgraduate diploma in Yoga Therapy from the DSY. James is a tutor for the Devon School of Yoga and a member of the Independent Yoga Network. jamer_russell@yahoo.co.uk KRISHNAA KINKARI
Carol takes care of Namaskar administration, advertising and billing from the UK. She works from home which gives her the freedom to take care of her son. NamaskarAdvertising@gmail.com
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Eric has studied yoga and meditation for more than 30 years and taught both since 2001. He maintains a lively international teaching schedule and is the creator of Prasana Yoga and Yoga Education through imagery. He is an E-RYT 500 with two degrees in Art and a Master’s degree in Education, Religious Studies and Asian Studies. www.prasanayoga.com
James shares programmes on the integrated Yoga of Body, Mind, Heart and Soul globally. www.jamesboag.com
NAMASKAR
Krishnaa lives in London. She studied with B.K.S. Iyengar and now runs classes in London and teaches Sanskrit and mudras for yoga for the Yoga Alliance and British Wheel of Yoga. She has written 19 books on Bhakti Yoga. kinkaridasi@hotmail.com
namaskar MELISSA MAK
Now on-line at: www.issuu.com/namaskarasia
WAI-LING TSE
Dristi for May 2020:
Yoga & Buddhism Dristi for August 2020: Based in Singapore, Melissa Mak’s yoga journey started in 2007. She completed her RYT200 training at Sivananda Yoga Vedanta in Kerala, India. When not on the mat, Melissa can be found snowboarding, running or making kombucha.mel.mak.yee@gmail.com
Wai-Ling is a student at PICER The Psycheprimus Institute for Congnitum Engineering Research (www.picer.org) and is Kula editor for Namaskar. NamaskarKula@gmail.com
Seva Dristi for November 2020:
Shavasana
SOPHIE SANDERS If you’d like to contribute on any of these topics, please email NamaskarEditor@gmail.com with the idea for your article. Contributions are also welcome on other topics. Final articles are welcome before April 10 for May issue, before July 10 for August issue and before October 10 for November 2020 issue.
Sophie is a Tier 2 certified Baptiste Yoga Educator, an aspiring writer and a teacher mentor. She is living and breathing her empowered (yoga) life, moment to moment, day by day in Singapore and writes on www.sophiexsanders.com/blog
February 2020
KULA
Updates
Tao PorchonLynch, 101, the world’s oldest Yoga teacher, dies Tao Porchon-Lynch, who was recognized by Guinness World Records as the “World’s Oldest Yoga Teacher” in 2012 and who marched with both Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., died February 2020 in White Plains. She was 101.
anti-trafficking organisation Odanadi Seva Trust, a pioneering anti-trafficking organisation based in Mysore, South India. To make this event happen in your own studio or if you would like to collaborate; contact Katherine at kscamilleri@yahoo.com For more information www.yogastopstraffick.org
Book Launch – Yoga Student Handbook by Sian O’Neill
Known for her indefatigable energy and spirit, the diminutive yoga master continued to teach her students at the Fred Astaire Studio in Hartsdale, US into her last year. Porchon-Lynch lived by her personal mantra: “There’s nothing that you cannot do.” She took up ballroom dancing at age 87 and won more than 750 first-place awards as a competitive dancer. At age 96, she appeared on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” receiving a standing ovation from the show’s judges.
Yoga Stops Traffick 15 March Yoga Stops Traffic is a one-day global Yoga event created to raise awareness of and funds for the 6
The book is an accessible guide on the history, anatomy and philosophy behind Yoga, with contributions from renowned professionals in the field. It covers everything from how to use your breath and the different styles of Yoga, to what to expect from Yoga teacher training – a helpful resource for Yoga students and teacher trainees!
singingdragon.com/uk/yogastudent-handbook.html AUSTRALIA
BodyMindLife Opens Sydney BodyMindLife opened its first studio and wellness centre, Pilates and Yoga studio in Byron Bay in early March. For 2020, BodyMindLife has also pledged to become carbon positive by launching a number of initiatives to give back. They aim to reduce their annual emissions by optimising energy usage, using solar power, grey-water, energy efficient LED lighting, low water flush toilets and showers, and rainwater harvesting systems, as wellYas re-use of many building materials as much as possible. Founded by Philip Goodwin in 2003 the initial studio was created after his ten plus years trading in financial markets where he understood first-hand the transformative effects Yoga and mindfulness can have when existing in a high-stress environment. Philip spent more than seventeen years developing the concept; with five luxe purposebuilt studio spaces across Sydney including Bondi, Surry Hills, Potts Point, Redfern and now Kirrawee. For more information www.bodymindlife.com / melody@bodymindlife.com / (61) 437 677 847
For more information NAMASKAR
HONG KONG
Farmer’s Market 14 March & every other Saturday folloring For more information www.fivelements.com
Free Presentation on Medicines of the Rain Forest March Central, Hong Kong A medicine man and biotherapist will deliver a presentation on the South American tradition of healing. Participants will gain knowledge of healing qualities of medicinal pants from the Amazon jungle. For more information (852) 6432 2208 (WhatsApp) / bullpiesek@gmail.com
Self-Attunement Meditation PICER, Central For the past 20 years, this community has been assisting people to help bring about real change to their lives. Sessions held Mondays 3-4pm and Wednesdays 8-9pm; HK$100. Call to reserve a space. For more information www.picer.com / (852) 2167 8661 / @PicerHK
108 Sun Salutations with Katharina & The Yoga Room
Iyengar Yoga 2nd World Convention with Encounter Father Joe Pereira Teresian Mysticism & Interreligious Dialogue 22-26 July International Centre of Teresian and Sanjuanist Studies and The Centre of Buddhist Studies, The University of Hong Kong
23-26 April HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity, Kowloon City Daily themes to cover from addiction-related, healing protocols, meditation, free community class and movie. 22 March Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park For more information info@yogaroomhk.com / www.yogaroomhk.com / (852) 2544 8398
Currently the blog and Instagram account are live. The free App and other features are still under construction. For more information www.organicyogagirl.com / info@organicyogagirl.com
22 April - 10 June Fivelements, Causeway Bay Eight consecutive Wednesdays, plus all day retreat at Renaissance College in Ma On Shan. For more information www.fivelements.com
SPAIN
Barcelona Tribe Gathering
Organic Yoga Girl Mindfulnessready to launch Based Stress Organic Yoga Girl aims to help Reduction course people in Hong Kong find inner peace and both physical and at Fivelements mental strength through easy and cost-effective access to high quality yoga practice and healthconscious services. If you would like to register as a partner studio, freelance teacher, or as a student; visit their website and leave them your contact details.
For more information iyahk.wildapricot.org
7-10 May For the first time, Jivamukti Yoga welcomes the worldwide Yoga community to join them at their annual Gathering in Barcelona! Sharon Gannon (pictured right) will be attending and teaching, and the festival will feature classes with top Jivamukti Yoga teachers from around the world. ‘ For more information tribe.jivamuktiyoga.com/
February 2020
In times of divisions amongst cultures, interreligious dialogue becomes an urgent need. In light of this, the International Centre of Teresian and Sanjuanist Studies (CITeS) in Avila, Spain, announced a series of interreligious encounters, placing Carmelite spirituality in dialogue with other religious traditions. Following the success of the first event, CITeS decided to hold this second congress. For more information hkucbs@hku.hk / info@mistica.es / www.buddhism.hku.hk
KULA
Workshops
Exploring Hot Yoga with Esak Garcia
CHINA
Be Powerful: 3Day Yoga Enrichment Programme with Marysia Do
18-19 April Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Finding Inner Strength – An Arm Balance Workshop with Victor Chau
29-31 May Pure Yoga, Shanghai www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Gokul Yoga Weekend Workshops with Jani Jaatinen
2 May The Yoga Room, Sheung Wan info@yogaroomhk.com / www.yogaroomhk.com / (852) 2544 8398
17-19 July Pure Yoga, Shanghai www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Yoga for Childbirth Workshop with Holly Wong
HONG KONG
Moving & Thinking Outside the Box with Carrie Owerko
16 May The Yoga Room, Sheung Wan info@yogaroomhk.com / www.yogaroomhk.com/ (852) 2544 8398
20-22 March (10am-5pm) Congregation House, Causeway Bay yogacentralhk@gmail.com
Gong Master Workshops with Don Conreaux
Teachers’ Workshop with Carrie Owerko 23 March (2-5pm) Yoga Central-Iyengar Central yogacentralhk@gmail.com
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Carrie Owerko
Inversion Workshop & Backbends with Katharina
Everyday Astrology with Mrinmoyee
4 April The Yoga Room, Sheung Wan info@yogaroomhk.com / www.yogaroomhk.com/ (852) 2544 8398
4 April The Yoga Room, Sheung Wan info@yogaroomhk.com / www.yogaroomhk.com/ (852) 2544 8398
NAMASKAR
19-25 June Red Doors Studio, Wong Chuk Hang info@red-doors.com / (852) 2110 0152
Yoga Bodyworker with Jambo Truong
50-hr Immersion with Jared Mccann
26-28 June Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
31 October-4 November Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Ashtanga Yoga Workshop with Laruga Glaser
5-Day Balance Yoga Workshop with Sin Hee YeMcCabe
26-28 June Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
18-22 November Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
3-day Yoga Adjustments Training with Jonas Westring
Meridian Yoga Therapy with Rose Erin Vaughan
14-16 August Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
5-9 December Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
4-6 September Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Yoga Bodyworkers with Brian Campbell 11-13 September Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Level 1: 27-29 March Level 2: 30 March-1 April Puja: 28-29 March Shuniyah, Hong Kong Street thetaspace.sg@gmail.com
3-Day Yoga Enrichment Programme with Marysia Do
Liberation through Embodied Movement with Daniel Rojas 16 and 17 May Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Gokul Yoga Weekend Workshops with Jani Jaatinen
August-September Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
29-31 May Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Carlotta Castangia
INDONESIA
Explore the Energy Body with Carlotta Castangia 9 May Desa Seni, Bali www.desaseni.com / info@desaseni.com
Goddess Series with Carlotta Castangia 23 May Desa Seni, Bali www.desaseni.com / info@desaseni.com
www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Gong Training Level 1 , 2 & allnight Puja
1-3 May Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Anatomy Exploration, Asana Breakdown & Sequencing with Garth Hewitt
Gokul Yoga Weekend Workshops with Jani Jaatinen
SINGAPORE
Leslie Kaminoff
3-day Yoga Anatomy Workshop with Leslie Kaminoff 26-28 June Pure Yoga February 2020
Jared Mccann
100-hr Immersion with Jared Mccann 11-25 October Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
3-day Yoga Adjustments Training with Westring 2-4 October Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
KULA
Retreats
AUSTRIA
INDIA
NEPAL
Wake Up Sound & Yoga Retreat with Yoga Pilgrimage Silent Retreat Prabir Karmakar Discover Nepal 11-17 April Haus Sonnenlehen, Großgmain wkup.org/single-event/wake-upsoundsilence-retreat/
8-10 November Kerala, India www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
25 September-2 October www.nataliemacam.com
INDONESIA FRANCE
Wake Up Retreat 20-24 May Healing Spring Monastery wkup.org/single-event/wake-upfrance-retreat/
Wake Up Earth Retreat 7-14 August Plum Village. Thénac wkup.org/single-event/wake-upearth-retreat/ GERMANY
Wake Up Your Artist Retreat 30 April-6 May European Institute of Applied Buddhism (EIAB), Schaumburgweg 3 Waldbrol wkup.org/single-event/wake-upyour-artist-retreat-eiab-2020/ www.wakeupyourartist.com
Yoga Retreat with Philippa and Fabien 9-13 April Canggu, Bali www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Bali Retreat with Clayton Horton 27 June-1 July Samadi Bali www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Ubud Bali Yoga Retreat with Lisa Mak 9-13 September COMO Uma Ubud, Bali www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
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www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
27 September-2 October Baber Mahal Vilas, Nepal www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Upper Mustang “Little Tibet” Nepal Yoga Adventure
Yoga Retreat with Nicky Hadjithoma 3-7 June Absolute Sanctuary, Koh Samui www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Retreat with Yogananth Andiappan & Yoko Kikuchi 27 June-3 July Thanyapura Health Resort and Spa, Phuket www.iya-asia.com / info@iyaasia.com
LAOS
Hot Yoga Retreat with Jacqueline & Jeanie
Soul Travel with Deva Biswas
30 July-2 August Absolute Sanctuary, Koh Samui www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
28 April–3 May Belmond La Residence, Phou Vao www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Yoga Retreat with Samrat Dasgupta
4-21 October www.nataliemacam.com
THAILAND
Vegetarian GREECE Wellness Retreat Yoga Retreat with with Gloria 18-23 September Diptom Bose Adiwana Jimbawan, Ubud, Bali 4-10 April Santorini www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Himalayan Retreat with Jen Kentrup
yoga-static-apnea-freedivingretreat-2020/
Yoga, Static Apnea & Freediving Retreat with Monica Ganame & Sarah Pierroz 2-9 May Samahita Retreat, Koh Tao samahitaretreat.com/retreat/
NAMASKAR
28 September-3 October Koh Samui www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com USA
Wake Up Retreat 1-5 April Plum Village, Deer Park Monastery, California Deerparkmonastery.org deerparkmonastery.org/join-aretreat/#WU Facebook / www.facebook.com/events/USA
KULA
Teacher Trainings
AUSTRALIA
75-hr Jivamukti TT with Doug Whittaker 28 March-3 May; 4-5 April; 18-19 April; 25-26 April; 2-3 May Jivamukti Yoga, Sydney jivamuktiyoga.com.au/ CHINA
200-hr Universal Yoga TT with Andrey Lappa, Christina Cheng & Kelsey Xia 2-23 September Pure Yoga, Shanghai www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com COSTA RICA
75-hr Jivamukti 200-hr The TT with Foundation Training for Yoga Yogeswari 23 May-3 June Teachers Blue Spirit Retreat Center, Costa with Patrick Rica jose@bluespiritcostarica.com Creelman 20 April-16 May Pure Yoga, Shanghai 2 October–13 December Pure Yoga, Beijing www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
VIETNAM
17-21 June Plum Village, Blue Cliff Monastery, New York wkup.org/single-event/wake-upretreat-blue-cliff-2020 / www.bluecliffmonastery.org/
75-hr Jivamukti TT with Moritz Ulrich
May; 16-25 October 300-hr WildLotus: 15-24 Jivamukti Yoga, Berlin Advanced TT peaceyoga.de/en/teachertraining/ with Patrick Creelman 75-hr Jivamukti 2 June-30 September TT with Anja Pure Yoga, Shanghai Module 1: 2-9 June Kuhnel
Yoga, Static Apnea & Freediving at Samahita
Wake Up Retreat
GERMANY
Inversion & Adventure Retreat with Dana Lai
Module 2: 11-18 June Module 3: 14-21 September Module 4: 23-30 September www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
24-28 June Fusion Resort Phu Quoc www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
February 2020
17-26 July Ruegen Island, Baltic Sea www.jivamuktiberlin.de/ indexdeu.html
HONG KONG
Kumar
YogaWorks 200Hr TT with David Kim
18 April - 21 June Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Part 1 - 19-22, 26-29 March Part 2 - 17-20, 24-27 April Part 3 - 8-11 May The Yoga Room, Sheung Wan info@yogaroomhk.com / www.yogaroomhk.com/ (852) 2544 8398
200-hr Hatha Yoga TT (Chinese) with Ann & Keiki
100-hr Preparing to Teach with Tin Ming Lau
AntiGravity Fitness Fundamentals 1&2 TT with Tamer Begum 21-24 May The Yoga Room, Sheung Wan info@yogaroomhk.com / www.yogaroomhk.com/ (852) 2544 8398
25 April-3 May (module 1) & 2028 June (module 2) Flo Yoga Academy, Sheung Wan flotrainings@gmail.com / (852) 9888 2400
3-30 April Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
200-hr Mindfulness Yoga TT with Chris Su
200-hr Transformation with Samrat Dasgupta
29 April-26 July Module 1: 29 April-4 May Module 2: 6-10 May Module 3: 15-20 July Module 4: 22-26 July Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
18 July - 6 September Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
17 April-4 October Pure Yoga Module 1: 17-26 April Module 2: 19-28 June Module 3: 25 September-4 October www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
200-Hr Awakening: Yoga TT with Amarjit 12
23 May-2 August Part 1: 23 May – 21 June Part 2 / CET-40: 11 July – 2 August Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Raja Yoga Foundation Course 14-19 September (full time 9am5pm) Venue TBD info@hershayoga.com / hershayoga.com
100-hr Pre- & Post-Natal Yoga TT with Samantha Chan 19 September-4 October Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
AntiGravity 100-hr Yin Yoga Fitness Aerial TT with Nicky Yoga 1&2 TT with Hadjithoma Tamer Begum 24 October-29 November
95-hr Children’s Yoga TT with Karen Wightman
15-hr Hands on 30 April-10 May Adjustments & Pure Yoga The Art of www.pure-yoga.com / Looking at Bodies events@pure-yoga.com TT with Joan 85-hr Yoga Hyman Therapy TT 10-12 April (Chinese) with The Yoga Room, Sheung Wan info@yogaroomhk.com / Ann da Silva and www.yogaroomhk.com/ Keiki To (852) 2544 8398 300-hr Advanced TT with Marysia Do
200-hr Pure Air – Freedom and Light with TT
Platform Events Space, Sai Ying Pun info@hershayoga.com / kiddingaroundyoga.com
28-31 May The Yoga Room, Sheung Wan info@yogaroomhk.com / www.yogaroomhk.com/ (852) 2544 8398
85-hr Pregnancy Yoga TT with Holly Wong 20-28 June The Yoga Room, Sheung Wan info@yogaroomhk.com / www.yogaroomhk.com/ (852) 2544 8398
(Weekends Only) Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Accessible Yoga Training (CE) 5-8 November (full time 9am5pm) Platform Events Space, Sai Ying Pun info@hershayoga.com / hershayoga.com
Singing Bowl Therapist Training with Chris Su
70-hr Art of Profound Relaxation: November Restorative Yoga 27-29 Pure Yoga 300-hr WildLotus: TT with Samantha www.pure-yoga.com / Advanced TT events@pure-yoga.com Chan with Patrick Module 1: 21-30 August 200-hr The Module 2: 21-29 November Creelman Pure Yoga Foundation 18 May-16 November www.pure-yoga.com / Pure Yoga Hong Kong Training for Yoga events@pure-yoga.com Module 1: 18-25 May Teachers Module 2: 22-29 June Kidding Around Module 3: 16-23 August with Patrick Module 4: 9-16 November Yoga (CE) Creelman www.pure-yoga.com / 9 May-7 June (weekends) Flo Yoga Academy, Sheung Wan flotrainings@gmail.com / (852) 9888 2400
events@pure-yoga.com
29-30 August (full time 9am5pm)
NAMASKAR
19 November-17 January
Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com INDONESIA
Desa Seni School of Yoga 200-hr Yoga TT 10 April-6 May Bali www.desaseni.com / info@desaseni.com
Desa Seni School of Yoga Yin Yoga TT 3-14 July Bali www.desaseni.com / info@desaseni.com
Desa Seni School of Yoga 200-hr Yoga TT 2-29 October Bali www.desaseni.com / info@desaseni.com NORWAY
75-hr Jivamukti TT with Tone Overelv (in Norwegian) 5-6 September; 26-27 September; 24-25 October; 21-22 November;12-13 December Jivamukti Yoga, Stravanger www.jivamuktiyoga.no/ 75hourteacher-training/
75-hr Jivamukti TT with Camilla Veen (in Norwegian/ English) 16-25 September Nosen Yoga, Fjellhotell www.jivamuktiyoga.no
Kriya, Flow & The Art of Teaching with Kia Miller
SINGAPORE
THAILAND
200-hr Courage to Teach TT with William, Nirupan, Manider, Kiki and Azmi
50-hr Module in Depth Asana 13-19 September Study, Mount Madonna Center, CA Sequencing, and Watsonville, www.kiamiller.com Teaching Skills – Part 1 with Daniel Mantra & The Yoga of Sound Stringer 6-13 June with Kia Miller
5 May-28 June Part I: 5-25 May Part II: 2-28 June Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
Samahita Retreat, Koh Samui samahitaretreat.com/training/ in-depth-asana-study-sequencing-and-teaching-skills/
200-hr Yoga TT with Sandy Shum
100-hr Integrated 4 July-30 August Anatomy and Pure Yoga Science with www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com Arielle Nash70-hr Yin Yoga TT Degagne 14-27 June with Nicky Samahita Retreat, Koh Samui samahitaretreat.com/training/ Hadjithoma
asana-and-movement-integratedanatomy-science/
3-11 October Pure Yoga www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
19-25 September Mount Madonna Center, Watsonville, CA www.kiamiller.com
Prana & Pranayama with Meditation and The Mind with Kia Miller 11-23 October Himalayan Institute, Honesdale, PA www.kiamiller.com
300-hr Yoga TT 100-hr Pranayama with Dawn Jenkins and Your Yoga 200-hr Universal August-June 2021 Practice with Paul www.upwardfacingdawn.com/ytt Yoga TT with Dallaghan Andrey Lappa, 28 June-11 July 200-hr Yoga TT Christina Cheng & Samahita Retreat, Koh Samui with Dawn samahitaretreat.com/training/ Kelsey Xia pranayama-your-yoga-practice Jenkins 28 October-8 November Pure Yoga, Singapore www.pure-yoga.com / events@pure-yoga.com
USA
75-hr Jivamukti TT with Hachi Yu
SPAIN
21 April-1 May Jivamukti Yoga, LA www.jivamuktiyogala.com/
75-hr Jivamukti TT with Olga Oskorbina (in Spanish) 3-13 August Jivamukti Yoga, Barcelona www.jivamuktiyogabarcelona.com/ 75-hour-teacher-trainingaugust-5-14th-2019/
Radiant Body Yoga Yoga Immersion TT with Kia Miller 11 May-4 June Himalayan Institute, Honesdale, PA www.kiamiller.com
February 2020
September-June 2021 www.upwardfacingdawn.com/ytt VIETNAM
200-hr Essential Yoga TT course with Marzena Kierepka 4 May-13 June 2020; 11 September 2020 - 7 February 2021 Zenith Yoga, Hanoi www.zenithyogavietnam.com/el/ list-article/24/teacher-trainingcourse.html/ manager@zeinithyogahanoi.com
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NAMASKAR
February 2020
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NAMASKAR
OFF THE MAT
THE SIMPLE LIFE
Four ways to reduce reliance on technology BY GABRIELLE MCMAHON
I was watching a 1960’s movie the other day and it struck me everything involved a cigarette. The actors smoked as they talked in coffee shops, on the street, and in business meetings at the office or a restaurant. They smoked before and after dinner and throughout it. They smoked first thing in the morning and also in bed at night. They smoked before and after intimacies and even between kissing. Any possible situation there was smoking, and it all looked relaxed and natural, well accepted in the community. SMARTPHONE OBSESSION I look around now, and what is obvious to me is we have created the same type of relationship with our smartphones. Our technology has become an extension of many of us, always at the ready, it’s practically habitual to check our phones for missed calls, messages, posts, updates, emails. It’s like a rush of adrenalin, the impulse to check, the checking, the quick reply. You could say somewhat of an addiction. I know, I feel drawn to just have a quick look to see if a message has come in. And before I know it I have been side tracked into looking at something else. THE CATASTROPHE Have you experienced being without your phone or technology, due to loss, damage or being out of range – an unspeakable situation! When my smart phone went for a swim, catastrophizing began immediately how will I contact people, did I back it up, what happens in an emergency, how long before I can get it back and this is for someone who purposely leaves the phone at home periodically to reduce reliance! It’s hard to imagine how we coped before technology. I survived well on a prepaid phone – just calls and texts, when I bought a smart phone with Internet connection my life changed, I could check my emails anywhere, I become more mobile but I also became more accessible. AN UNBREAKABLE HABIT? So what is this, a habit to check, a habit to be busy, to be always doing something? We push ourselves to do more, find ways to be more productive and often our health suffers, as we disconnect with our body, emotions and thoughts. Is this why mindfulness, medita-
tion and yoga have been gaining popularity in the last few years? I remember the days of smoking in the office, at restaurants and bars, hanging my clothes up outside to air first, before washing them the next day. Especially in some Asian countries it has only been in the last 10 or so years that smoking in public places has started to change. Is it also possible we can change our reliance on our smartphones, be more mindful of where, how and when we use them? Challenges and tips to reduce our reliance on smartphones 1. Smart phones and technology keep us busy, both our physical and mental bodies. When do we get to have down time to just be with ourselves? Can you challenge yourself to 10 minutes, one hour or even an evening without looking at your phone? Can you pop it in a special location (some of us panic when we can’t find our phones!) and come back to it later? 2. Resist the temptation to get on the technology grid and just reconnect with yourself and nature. Go for a walk without your phone breathe in the fresh air and find a flower to smell. At home you could water a February 2020
plant , look up to the sky or cuddle your pet, take your phone out of your pocket first! Just get outside and leave the phone at home for a bit. 3. Attempt to deepen your relationship with yourself and your emotions. Instead of reaching for your phone to scroll through social media, try journaling – write down how you’re feeling, what’s working for you and what’s not. Really take some time to step back and think about what’s really going on with you right now. Not always easy, so just write one sentence. 4. Rather than texting or emailing someone, get up and go sit with them face to face, communicate with them, share your thoughts and emotions in full sentences. Even go so far as to have a ‘phone ban’ when you’re with friends and family, to make sure you’re giving each other your undivided attention. Doing this is a real expression of love and compassion for yourself and the other person. Anyway, it’s time for me to get off my technology, cycle home from this coffee shop, to check in on my worm farm and frog home as I wander barefoot around my garden looking at what small creatures have come to visit me today!
OFF THE MAT
BREAK SELF DESTRUCTIVE HABITS
To create a calm, peaceful life BY CASSANDRA KISH
One of the very socially acceptable habits that has caused me to stop spending time with many others is people complaining about their partners. By keeping a positive perception of the people in our lives, we can create happy, calm, loving relationships with them. One of the things that attracts friction is complaining about the special person in our lives. Here is what I have experienced and how to resolve it. SOCIALLY-ACCEPTABLE COMPLAINTS It has become cool to complain about our partner, husband or wife. I don’t know why it is socially acceptable to complain about the person who we chose to spend the rest of our lives with, but it is. Whether we realize it or not it has a huge negative impact on our relationship with the object of our “winging”. I don’t know if this socially acceptable practice is embedded in our DNA or whether we have learned it from television shows and media, where it is powerful to see fault in others. According to the Law of Attraction, we manifest the things we talk and think about. So complaining about our partner brings about disturbances at home. Great marriages with high hopes of longevity, can crumble, as the negative story one of the partners has been telling the world, becomes a reality. I am not even speaking of physically or mentally abusive relationships here. I am speaking about good life situations where one or both partners have chosen to speak to friends and coworkers in a negative manner about their partner. How can we complain about our partner behind their back all the day, then switch to being loving when we get home? Whatever we give our attention and energy to, grows. Hard for us to see the good in our partner if we have been complaining about them all day! When I lived in Paris I used to teach yoga to three women in one of their homes. We always had a great practice, then not five minutes off the mat, one of them would start 18
arguing about how she has three kids and her husband doesn’t help, and how she has to work full time and has no help with the kids. Then the second and third would jump in with how crappy their lives were. They didn’t realize it but they were arguing to be the woman with the worst life. One day I got tired of hearing it and I said “You know what? I agree, you three women have the worst lives imaginable”. They all quickly started blurting out the wonderful things that they have. They weren’t realizing what they were “putting out there”. They didn’t realize they were trying to prove they had the worst life situation. Now keep in mind that these were three very wealthy women. A lawyer, an executive for a multinational food service company, and a well-known journalist. They have amazing houses and cars and nannies and cleaning ladies and lovely husbands. When we complain about others I think it is important to realize we are speaking about our perception of the reality, not the reality.
go and spread the tidbit of negative information to others, compromising further your relationship status. Third, List of Positive Aspects - This is an “Abraham” technique that works wonders. Write a list of positive aspects about your partner. Start small, if you are having trouble making the jump from negative to positive. For example, He/She wears great shoes. MY POSITIVE ASPECTS LIST Here is an example of a list of positive aspects. (I will use my daughter to illustrate this example, she is emerging from her teenage years and the road is still a bit rocky for us, so I need to do this anyway) 1. She is an amazing driver, I feel safe when I am in the passenger seat. 2. She is absolutely stunning. Very beautiful. 3. She keeps up with her friends, she maintains friendships and is available to them if they need her. 4. She is so funny 5. She turned me on to “Greys Anatomy” which makes me laugh and cry and feel alive
Hard to see the good, if we have been complaining all day! HOW DO WE REVERSE THIS HABIT? First, the recognition that it is just ugly. I mean facially ugly. Considering the amount we spend on beauty products and clothing I would think a graceful, happy facial demeanor would be of the highest priority. Complaining does not create an attractive facial look. Smiling and laughing and being silly and loving your life is the most attractive demeanor ever. Second, it isn’t fun for the listener and leads them to believe your partner will soon be available. Complaining about your partner to friends, gives the friends a sense of power. I don’t know why but some people love it when others fail. When speaking to people whose self-esteem is not intact, they will definitely NAMASKAR
6. She speaks French without an accent - very cool. I could go on, but I think this is enough to give you the idea. Fourth, if you need to blow off steam, go to the gym, ride your bike, walk, do yoga, anything that makes you feel better. A quick note here. “Venting” about the situation does not make it better. Talking endlessly about it, makes it bigger, it attracts more of the same. So go do anything that turns your attention… if you don’t have a hobby or project, find one. Refocus, refocus, refocus Drishti, drishti, drishti
Photo by Michelle Kwok
February 2020
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February 2020
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FOR TEACHERS
YOUR FIRST YEAR AS A YOGA TEACHER
With 7 years’ Hindsight
lack the confidence in their newly minted teacher status. There is nothing to be shy about. To help you do the talking while you are sleeping, set up a website! Megan Macgregor of The Core Factory (Sydney, Australia) qualified in 2011 and ran some classes for friends. She soon realised she needed to actively marketing herself to studios. Megan set up a Facebook page and got friends to like her page. She also commented actively on local studios’ Facebook pages. Her online presence allowed studio directors to know her. When Megan visited, she easily landed her first teaching gig. That became other classes from networking with fellow teachers at workshops. Talk about your karma yoga classes too.
MELISSA MAK
“Teaching yoga is different from doing yoga. Being good at doing yoga doesn’t mean that you will be good at teaching it. Be prepared to have things go wrong and to make mistakes. Understand that it is part of the process of learning how to teach. Like yoga, the more you practice teaching, the better you’ll get.” Neil Keleher, yoga teacher for 15 years FEBRUARY 2013 I graduated from the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Kerala RYT200 in February 2013. We received substantive teaching in anatomy, alignment and philosophy, but nobody taught us how to find work. These tips are the culmination of my experience and that what I have learned from others along the way. TIP ONE: TALK Talk to everyone and anyone on your yoga journey. Most new teachers
TIP TWO: MOVE AND SEEK YOUR COMMUNITY Elizabeth Gay first completed her training in San Diego, in April. Hoping to gather courage to start teaching, Elizabeth worked at the front desk of a yoga studio An awakening came finally when she realised she wanted to leave San Diego. By December, Elizabeth found herself in Seoul, Korea teaching English and yoga. Her teaching voice and courage blossomed. “Use your yoga passport to move around!” Elizabeth Gay, Yoga Lizard TIP THREE: TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY. Ashley Lou, owner of Yoga, Inc studio (Singapore), suggested new teachers should take every opportunity given to them. However, it is important to know how much resources you have, when you take the plunge to become a full-time yoga teacher. Her first year considerations include – distance from studio to home; the number of backto-back lessons; waiting time in between lessons; amount of guaranteed classes; and the no-show or one-student-in-class studio policy. Studios will arrange for mock classes to try out the potential teacher. Trust yourself and ask to be paid for the mock class. Do not be shortchanged because you are new. Respect the studio’s house-rules. Each studio has its own unique vibe. You have to find a studio whose culture you fit into. A yoga teacher’s job is a job like every other, except you are now contributing to the well-being of your fellow man and woman. FLASH-FORWARD 2020 It has been seven years since I left Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Kerala. Since then, I did another 200 hours RYT. I am not teaching yoga full time anymore. I teach once a week for my practice. Before I worked full time as a physical education lecturer, with a yoga teaching side gig of five classes a week. I also ran a yoga retreat business on weekends, where we took groups once a month. It was tiring physically and it was increasingly hard to scale, as retreat bookings needed to grow bigger. Retreat investments became bigger and riskier. It came to a head when I realised it wasn’t what I wanted. Yoga is more than fitness or money. It was about me, getting closer to my inner form and my relationship to the universe. I took a step away from making it a living, and it eliminated the stress from not knowing if I could pay my bills by just doing yoga teaching, and if I was getting enough classes to make it a living for me. Today, I am a full-time fitness training lecturer in a local vocational school, and my true yoga journey has begun. I am doing my form of karma, serving the underserved students in my school. I coach students in mental and physical aspects. I have become the lead teacher for Group Fitness and Exercise. Teaching teenagers has its stressors, and my weekly yoga coaching session with adults has helped me remember why I decided to become a yoga teacher in the first place, seven years ago!
February 2020
DRISTI - HISTORY OF ASANA
THE HISTORY OF POSTURAL YOGA Synthesis of Tantra & Asceticism BY JAMES RUSSELL
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ON THE HISTORY OF ASANA..........28 THE VEDAS FORMED OUR ASANA...30
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Photo by form PxHere
February 2020
Modern Yoga is a hybrid of practices in which the physical techniques of Hatha Yoga converge with the experiential philosophy of Patanjali’s Eight limbed path. Yoga classes are often characterised by physical postures, referred to collectively by the Sanskrit term asana. “Asana derives from the verbal root ‘as’, meaning ‘to be present; to exist; to inhabit, dwell in; to make one’s abode in….;to sit quietly, abide, remain…to continue in any situation.” - (Mikel Burley) There has recently been much speculation as to origin of these postures. Some academics
HATHA YOGA - THE YOGA OF FORCE Originally Hatha Yoga was a synthesis of Tantra and Asceticism, that consolidated a broad spectrum of physical and energetic practices to contain subtle energy and the ascension of Kundalini Shakti. Within this approach, asana was expanded out from a seated position to encompass “any bodily posture that may be maintained for a prolonged period.” (Burley.) A variety of Hatha techniques were codified in texts from around the 11th century onwards, that were largely plagiarised from earlier (as yet unpublished) Tantric scriptures dating from the 6th century
Prior to everything, asana is spoken of as the first part of hatha yoga. Having done asana one gets steadiness of body and mind. - Hatha Pradipika 1.17 contend large portions of contemporary yoga are modern innovations, appropriated from gymnastics and Victorian bodybuilding in the late 19th and early 20th century. Meanwhile, others are adamant the postures belong to a much older tradition. For many yoga practitioners, asana is regarded as a timeless expression of innate human physicality, beyond the confines of tradition and localised culture. Because yoga is in essence an oral tradition, and literacy in India was uncommon for centuries, it is difficult to chart the development of yoga’s vast history purely through textural analysis. Also, a great many texts have been lost or remain untranslated. The texts we have offer, at best, a bread-crumb trail. However, if we follow the trail carefully, we can gain some fascinating insights into the evolution of the practice. Early yoga texts such as the Bhagavad Gita (200BCE) and Yoga Sutra (350 CE), typically frame asana within the context of establishing a simple seated position to meditate. It is within the later tradition of Hatha Yoga, which flourished between the 12th and 18th centuries, that asana takes on a more significant role and we find a variety of postures. Whilst there is no doubt many of the yoga postures in usage today can be traced back to this later Hatha path, it remains unclear whether an earlier asana tradition existed and we find a difficult gap of around 1,000 years between the Yoga Sutra’s one seated asana and the variety of asana found in early Hatha texts.
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onwards. Early Tantric texts typically denote an asana as a throne upon which a Deity is installed. Postures are also referred to as Karana suggesting movement and Pitha indicating a seat. Although mediaeval Hatha texts allude to vast numbers of postures and 84 classic asana, most describe a handful asana and Mudra (energetic seals) considered particularly important: “There are as many postures as there are species of beings. Only Maheshvara (Lord Shiva) knows all their varieties. Of the 8400,000 (asana) one for each 100,000 has been mentioned. Thus Shiva created eightyfour seats (pitha) for Yogins.” - (Goraksha Paddhati 1.8 - 1.9) Perhaps the most famous Hatha text is the Hatha Pradipika (Svatmarama 1450), in which for the first time, asana is identified as a key component of the Hatha system. This text was largely borrowed from earlier Tantric sources. PATANJALI’S ASHTANGA YOGA: THE EIGHT LIMBED PATH Many modern practitioners take their philosophical guidance from the much earlier tradition of Patanjali and his seminal text: ‘The Yoga Sutra’ (250 - 350 CE.) Sutra means thread and is a terse literary convention consisting of short aphorisms compact with meaning, which are often undecipherable without the aid of an additional commentary. The Yoga Sutra outlines two methods for the practitioner to reach Samadhi - clear perception: Kriya yoga - the
yoga of action; and Ashtanga yoga - eight limbed yoga.
Patanjali’s philosophy as understood and articulated by Vyasa.” - (Edwin Bryant)
Within the Ashtanga method - asana constitutes the third limb of yoga. Patanjali doesn’t describe or list a variety of postures such as those we practice today and includes just one posture - a steady, comfortable seat.
An intriguing possibility is the Bhasya and Yoga Sutra were in fact works by the same author. The word Vyasa can be translated as compiler. Scholars Michel Angot and Ande Maass have hypothesised:
So in the course of the sutra’s 196 verses, only three are given over to asana method less than two percent of the entire text. However, Patanjali’s axioms are profound and incredibly useful: encouraging the yogi to relax in the asana whilst finding poise and comfort. This approach is compatible with Hatha Yoga and the two systems have enjoyed a complementary relationship for at least five centuries.
1) There never was a Vyasa, only Patanjali, i.e. both the sutra and commentary were composed by the same author. 2) The sutras and Vyasa originally formed a single cohesive text entitled ‘Patanjali Yoga Shastra’. 3) The sutra and Vyasa commentary were originally intended to be studied together.
Although Patanjali devotes a relatively small number of verses to asana, it doesn’t necessarily mean he felt asana was unimportant and it may be he was restricted by the distilled format of the sutra convention. Similarly, in the fourth limb of yoga, although Patanjali surmises the fundamental principals of Pranayama, he does so without offering details of specific practices. It is only though the aid of a good commentary (and/or teacher) that we can begin to unpack the sutra and weave the thread of Patajanli’s discourse into a more comprehensive, practice-orientated method.
Irrespective of Vyasa’s identity, the Bhasya commentary is a crisp and knowledgeable companion to the sutra that sheds light on even the most enigmatic verses. In Sutra 2.46, in which Patanjali introduces the third limb of yoga - asana, Vyasa furnishes us with considerably more information than Patanjali’s one, seated asana, and lists a total of 12 postures, qualifying that “when they can be held comfortably, they are called yogic Asanas.’ Although the postures listed by Vyasa are predominantly seated, such an assortment of asana isn’t usually found in textural sources until several centuries later.
Asana is a steady and comfortable seated posture, Perfection is accomplished through relaxation and contemplation upon the infinite. Thereafter the yogi is undisturbed by duality. - Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.46 - 2.48 VYASA & THE YOGA BHASHYA Arguably the most important commentary on the yoga sutra is a text called the YogaBhashya ( “Discussion on Yoga” ) composed by Vyasa in the fifth century CE. Vyasa penetrated the little-known sutra text and filtered it through the lens of Samkhya philosophy. Much of our understanding of the sutra comes from Vyasa and many modern commentaries are, in effect, commentaries of Vyasa’s, Samkhya-nuanced commentary. “It is Vyasa who determined what Patanjali’s abstruse sutras meant, and all subsequent commentators elaborated on Vyasa…It cannot be overstated that Yoga philosophy is
“ Vyasa:: They (the asanas) are as follows: Padmasana, Virasana, Bhadrasana, Svastikasana, Dandasana, Sopasraya, Paryanka, Krauncha nisadana, Hastinisadana, Ustra-nisadana, and Samasamsthana. When these postures can be held comfortably, they are called (Yogic) Asanas.” (Yoga Bhashya 1.46) Some of these names may be familiar to modern yoga practitioners and are still in popular use today. However, the naming of asana in the fifth century was somewhat different from today so there may be some variance in their application. Although Vyasa lists the postures, he provides no description or guidelines: so to ascertain their method it is necessary to refer to later Hatha Yoga texts and also artefacts such as paintings and sculptures.
February 2020
Siva. Photo by form PxHere
DRISTI
ON THE HISTORY OF ASANA
Movement for Millenia BY JAMES BOAG
The Lord of Yoga, Siva is represented in many ways: as Yogisvara, he is usually sitting in a radiant example of a steady, easy classic yogasana such as siddhasana or padmasana. His spine is tall, spacious, erect. His aspect serene as he demonstrates his mastery over the tremendous powers of incarnation. He holds Ganga, the river of consciousness, so she can flow smoothly, gently, easily, to nourish the whole body of life. In this form, Siva Yogisvara can be seen to represent dynamism in stillness. Another way Siva is represented is as Namaraja, stillness in dynamism. Nataraja is the Lord of the Dance, the five act dance-drama of Creation: the expansion of consciousness, the sowing of life, srsti in Sanskrt; of sthithi, the sustenance of existence, holding the galaxies in their dance; of samahara, the drawing back in to its source of the universe; of tirodhana bhava, of the concealing or veiling of the real deeper nature of existence 28
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and consciousness; and of anugraha, grace, or the revelation and remembering of who we really are. As Nataraja, Siva is shown as a slenderwaisted, androgynously beautiful and graceful dancer. He is four-armed. In one hand he holds the damaru, the twin-headed drum that symbolises the beat, the rhythm, the pulsation of life, the sound of the creation of existence: srsti. Another hand is in abhaya mudra, the gesture signifying ‘have no fear’ - sustenance/sthiti. The third hand wields fire. The circle of flames symbolises the ever-turning, ever-changing wheel of existence. This is the circle of life, in which he is constantly dancing. The fourth arm makes the shape of an elephant’s trunk. This symbolises the unifying power of yoga as incarnated by Siva’s elephant-headed son Ganesa. The fourth hand is pointing to the junction point of Nataraja’s lifted, bent knee. This reminds us it is through yoga, through
gathering and harmonising all the members of the group of our being that we can remember our true selves. Nataraja’s standing foot is on top of a dwarf called Apasmara forgetfulness. When we reconcile all of who we really are, when we incarnate the integrated Ganesa energy that is our innate potential, we can remember ourselves. We too can come into rhythm, so we can stay steady and balanced, attuned to our constant, conscious essence, amidst the whirling wonder of life. Siva Nataraja is also depicted with the locks of his jama flying out horizontally: for the worlds whirl so quickly, he dances so quickly, yet he is serene, graceful, poised and in rhythm. Sometimes at temples dedicated to Siva Nataraja, there are sculptures or depictions of the 108 karana-s of Siva as the great dancer, the 108 ‘instrumental positions’ that can be deployed to invite a deepening of yoga in our systems. These postures are graceful, often curved. They include spinal extension and flexion (backward and forward bends), rotations, side bends and various combinations thereof. They move the limbs and orient the physical structure in space so as to activate the innate hatha technology of our pulsating bodies. Ha is the sun, the solar channel, heating and contracting; tha is the moon, the lunar channel, cooling and relaxing. Life is pulsation, a breath cycle, a heartbeat. But these are not the only ways in which our miraculous bodies pulsate. For example, if while standing we lift our right leg upwards in front of us, the front of the leg contracts, ha, while the back lengthens and relaxes, tha. Just by the way we move and orient ourselves in space we can influence profoundly the way energy and information pulsates and flows in and through our systems. Traditionally, within the Yoga Tradition, Siva himself, Yogisvara, the Lord or Master of yogi-s, Nataraja, the greatest dancer, is said to have bequeathed yogasana to human beings. Siva of course also means the kind, benevolent one. And Siva means consciousness, the container in which all the sakti - the power of consciousness to become manifest as nature for example - exists.
known since the beginning of time. The 108 karana-s of Siva Nataraja, the plentiful evidence in ancient texts of dance and martial arts that harness the innate hatha capacities of the body are to my mind adequate evidence that India, just like China, has an ancient system of health that includes movement technologies. Indeed, the 108 karana-s of Nataraja are very akin to many postures in Chinese martial arts and dance. Humans have been harnessing this in-built hatha technology for millennia. Call it dance, call it hatha yoga, call it tai chi, chi gung, subtle or internal martial arts, the aim is the same: to harmonise the bodily vehicle and optimise its capacities so that energy can flow in a cohesive, efficient way, so we can more easily stay in rhythm through the ups, downs and tempo changes of life, and we are more empowered to access the subtler dimensions of our conscious potential. Asana and hamha yoga, ‘somatic yoga practice’ is nothing new. The absence of texts with pictures or descriptions of people performing asana-s, or the dearth on Youtube of footage of people’s morning practice from before the Common Era is not evidence people had no physical or bodybased practices. After all, these practices are things one does, they are best learned by doing, they are known by the cells and channels of one’s body, not by their descriptions in a book. Physical practices are part of our human heritage. We have a body, it can move in so many ways. It is a storehouse and circuit of energy. The way we move can affect our physical, mental, sensory capacities. The Ancients knew this. I feel pretty sure people have been harnessing and developing the technologies (tantra-s) of hatha yoga in posture and movement for millennia. This is an excerpt. To read the full article visit http://www.jamesboagyoga.com/blogarticles/on-the-history-of-yoga-Asana
consciousness in focused inquiry... is the origin of yogasana
The yogasana, like all yoga techniques and teachings, are all based on the observation of nature. It is a fruit of the application of consciousness in focused inquiry. This, as far as I can see, is the real origin of yogasana. It was not the British colonisers or the American branders who recognised the way we move our body can have profound impacts on our overall experience and awareness. This is something people have February 2020
DRISTI
THE VEDAS FORMED OUR YOGA
Roots of Asana & Non-Asana Practice BY ERIC SHAW
The four Vedas (Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda, c. 1200 BCE) are the oldest books of the Indian traditions. Though these compositions do not talk about yoga directly (that would come about 700 years later) they include many ideas and practices which yoga makes use of. Here are four ways Vedic content was used or transformed for the philosophy and practice of yoga after 500 BCE. 1. AGNI AND SACRIFICE The primary religious practice of Vedic times (c. 1200 BCE) was the group practice of the agni hotra—the fire ritual. A belief in the power of sacrifice was behind the belief in its effectiveness. When people doing the ceremony surrendered attachment to lesser things—money, comfort, pride—it was understood this enticed the Gods to grant more profound boons—a spouse, healing from a disease, rain for crops, etc. With the rise of yoga, this Vedic framework was transferred to the body. The heat of unmet desire one feels when physical or psychological comforts are removed, or the heat of digestion, or the friction created when air passed over the flesh of the throat in yogic breath practices, or the physical heat felt during the body’s muscular exertion, or in the actual physical heat of sitting beneath the sun or near fires all these were identified as tapas - as a sacrificial heat that refined the awareness of the practitioner—or morally purified them. A vast range of penances and mortifications, such as standing on one leg, holding an arm in the air, or dressing oneself in heavy chains for hours or years on end, were denials of physical comfort that - like the Vedic formula for sacrifice and discomfort exhibited in the agni hotra - acted as a petition to the gods for boons, or simply granted profound powers to the person performing that particular tapasic (internal heat-building) penance. This person would be called a tapasvin. 30
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In one of the more subtle formulas of tapas, the in-breaths and out-breaths were conceptualized as moment-to-moment sacrifices to this fire. In another formula, concerning how the koshas (subtle bodies) function, it is said each of these successively subtler bodies (annamayakosha, pranamayakosha, manomayakosha, vijnanamayakosha, and ananandamayakosha) burns its own “food,” with its own specific fire (jatharagni, pranagni, manisikagni, bauddikagni and anandagni) and each sheath’s “food” (comestibles, breath, thought, effort, attention) can be fasted from (sacrificed) to stimulate and refine tapas. The tapas then eliminates impurities in the flesh, the lifeforce, the mind, the will, and the spirit. We thereby gain strength, energy, mental power, focus and awareness, and one’s operating system is optimized. 2. SPECIFIC TAPASIC PRACTICES The tapasic practices performed by the Aryan culture and described in the literature of the Vedas (c. 1200 – 800) included: 1. Fasting 2. Abstaining from sleep 3. Wearing ceremonially dark clothes 4. Isolating oneself 5. Sleeping on the ground 6. Forcing the breath into specific patterns (pranayama) 7. Mantra recitation 8. Vows of silence, and 9. Sitting near fires These diverse activities were integrated into yogic methods for relieving attachment and opening up the doors of perception to attain the enlightened state or—in the later Hatha Yoga and Tantric traditions (c. 800 – 1600 CE) - these practices were employed to awaken kundalini. 3. THE GODS The Vedic Gods evolved into different or greater Gods as the Indian traditions evolved, or they evolved into philosophical concepts as the Vedic Age gave way to the Yogic Age.
Examples: · The minor God, Rudra, became the major God, Shiva · The “first man,” Purusha, became the concept of undifferentiated awareness in The Yoga Sutras, The Bhagavad Gita and Samkhya Philosophy · The earth goddess, Prakriti, became the concept of materiality in Samkhya Philosophy · Vishnu went from being a minor god to a major one · The river deity, Saraswati, became the Goddess of art, music, and wisdom · Yama, the “first ancestor,” became the God of Death · Surya persisted as a name for the deified sun · Vac, the Goddess of speech, central to the chant-focused Vedic tradition, became the root of the word “voice” and, as the ruler of song-making and the arts, her identity was folded into that of Saraswati 4. KNOWLEDGE “Veda” is the Indo-European root for the word “wisdom,” as well as “vision,” “video” and the Sanskrit, vidya (seeing, insight, knowing). The Vedic priests (called ritvij, “sacrificers,” or ravi, “poets”) had liturgical skills that enabled them to properly lead rituals, but it was also understood each had experiential knowledge that gave them authority and even charisma that enhanced their effectiveness. More and more the tradition focused on this knowledge as a power in and of itself. It came to be seen as a force that made a person sufficient unto oneself—and perhaps godly— regardless of whether or not a person did anything with the knowledge they possessed. To know something was to possess power— even yogic power. In yogic contexts, this translated into an emphasis on pursuing knowledge as its own path to transcendence. Samkhya Philosophy took this even farther than yoga, but, eventually, yoga co-opted Samkhya practice and metaphysics for its own bodily practices (what we can call “endotechnologies”). In the bluntest sense, the yogic focus on knowledge as a practice in and of itself manifested as jnana yoga - the work of scholarship and the reading of holy texts. In a subtler sense, this focus on knowledge evolved into meditation on the meanings behind the great sayings , the Mahavakyas. The Mahavakyas function somewhat like Zen koans, and yogis are invited to chant them inwardly, brooding on their implications.
Patanjali supplies this formula when he says, “The mantra should be recited repeatedly while reflecting on its meaning” (Sutra 1:28). The eight primary Mahavakyas are: 1. Prajñânam brahma, “Prana is Brahman (the universal consciousness)” 2. Ayam âtmâ brahma, “This self is Brahman” 3. Tat tvam asi, “Thou art that” 4. Aham brahmâsmi, “I am Brahman” 5. Brahma satyam jagan mithyâ, Brahman is real, the world is illusory” 6. Ekam evadvitiyam brahma, “Brahman is one without a second” 7. So ‘ham, “He am I” 8. Sarvam khalvidam brahma, “All of this is Brahman” This emphasis on knowledge could also take the form of meditating on the meaning of any mantra. Subtler still, the singular power of knowledge implies that the “knowledge packet” of any particular mantra can be taken into one’s body tactilely - as a physical thing - to enhance or clarify the self. This could be done via vinyasa, “precise placement.” The guru would touch the student’s body and “implant” the mantra in them. Of course, mantras can be integrated by silent or non-silent chanting, too.
the oldest books of Indian traditions... include many ideas yoga makes use of. In the practice of Advaita Vedanta (“nondual”) Philosophy, this focus on knowledge became even more all-encompassing. In AV, one accepts intellectually that a supraintellectual realization of the mahavakyas -or the supra-intellectual realization of vidya (knowing) in an absolute sense - results in jivanmukta - living liberation. Along with the Epic of Gligamesh, the Illiad, and the Old Testament, the Vedas are humanity’s oldest complete compositions. They are the source point for the religious traditions of India. Though the Upanishads (c. 600 BCE to 200 CE) are the first books of yoga, they repurpose Vedic material for yogic use. If students and teachers want to know the nuances behind yoga philosophy and practice, if they want to understand how both practice and philosophy evolved—and source the tradition for their personal evolution - much will come of brooding on the holy Vedas. February 2020
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IN BRIEF
MUDRAS BY KRISHNAA KINKARI Asanas are the result of detailed observation of the varied forms of nature by the Ancients. In Sanskrit animals are embodied souls with horizontal digestive systems. Humans practicing yoga spend some time horizontal, harnessing the earth’s stability to correct their spinal posture. With improved postural, comes improved health. Practicing the asana regularly improves the flow of blood, lymph, oxygen and prana throughout our body, as well as the elimination of waste. The benefits are all the greater if we practice with a sense of gratitude to the Ancients, to the inspiration of nature, to our teachers and to their teachers.
DHYANI - MUDRA OF CONTEMPLATION 1.Sit in your best asana for meditation, with an upright spine and maintain stillness. 2. Emphasize your exhale a few times to release mind-bred intention. 3. Clasp the fingers of both hands together, place them in the lap with palms upwards. 4. Join the tips of the two thumbs with a light and sensitive touch. Here you may enjoy the subsequent balance of the body and mind as they merge into the peace that ensues. Use minimum effort for maximum effect. Inspiration and motivation can enter an uncluttered mind. Observation of the world around is no longer prejudiced. Perhaps this is how the Ancients learned so much from observing the natural world. With a clean heart they accepted completely and strived to share this wisdom with us even to this day.
We might even say the history of asana begins with the creation itself in all its multifaceted wondrousness. We must keep these gifts pure.
February 2020
BOOK REVIEW
INTRO ... to third of Baptiste’s Eight Principles BY SOPHIE SANDERS This is the third of eight articles to introduce Baron Baptiste’s Universal Principles for Stepping up to the Edge from his book “Journey into Power. Just to refresh our memories, the first two principles are: 1. We are either now here or nowhere 2. Be in the now & you’ll know how PRINCIPLE 3: GROWTH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THERE IS Growth begins with acceptance. You can only grow beyond where you are if you accept where you are in the first place. In accepting the third principle, we must acknowledge what’s beyond our edge or our comfort zone is growth and possibilities. Our edge is formed by all our fears lined up in a row. It’s scary to step closer to it, so we
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stay back where we think it is safe. We imagine that if we go up to face our fears, we will suffer heartache, sadness, frustration, failure, judgement, disappointment and other pain.
necessarily mean taking that leap. It could be staying and see what comes up. Your Edge could be just facing your fears. • Just by being brave enough to stand at the edge and being willing to see what’s possible, you are on the path of growth.
But if we look inwards, we may find we are already experiencing those pains already. So if we understand that our edge are just stories we’ve made up for ourselves, they are not who we are as human beings.
HOMEWORK When you are at your edge, it feels like your toes are up against the edge of the Grand Canyon and “you’re scared and you don’t know what you’re doing”.
Baptiste has several ideas to consider for facing our fears:
So notice this feeling whenever it comes up. There’s nothing to do but just to acknowledge the fear. You don’t have to take the leap if you don’t want to.
• Fears, your edge, are your stories and they are not who you are as a human being. • Beyond the edge is your possible new future. • Rather than dropping your fears, consider getting out of their way. • It’s your choice to move forward or stay stagnant. • If you fight for your limitations, your only prize is you get to keep them. • When you quiet down and pay attention to your fears, they will have a lesser hold on you. And you will see clearly what needs to be done. • And what needs to be done, may not
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Keep practising being at the Edge. AFTERWARDS JOURNAL 1. Locate a time when I have leapt off the edge in my practice, teaching or life. 2. How does it look like and feel like when I fully connected and growing? 3. How has leaping off the edge been a contribution to me? 4. Where in my life right now, am I sitting on and away from the edge? Where am I stuck? 5. What does it look like and feel like when I’m not growing?
You can only begin to stretch your limits if you can see & embrace them. You can never actually grow past your edge if you can’t see it clearly & willingly. — Baron Baptiste
Photo by form PxHere
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DIRECTORY
Guide to yoga studios & teachers
namaskar ANAHATA VILLAS & SPA RESORT Ubud, Bali, Indonesia s: group retreats, yoga for private & corporates. Yoga studio available for rent. l: Indonesian & English t: (62) 361 8987 991 / (62) 811 8748 910 f: (62) 361 8987 804 e:salesexecutive@anahataresort.com / info@anahataresort.com w:www.anahataresort.com
YOGAWISE -David Kim Yoga E-RYT 500+, Senior YogaWorks and YogaWise Yin Yoga Teacher Trainer; International TTs, Workshops & Retreats d: USA, Asia, Europe, New Zealand s: Yin Yoga, YogaWorks, Vinyasa Flow l: English, some Korean t: +1 310 480 5277 e: david@davidkimyoga.com w: www.davidkimyoga.com
ANAHATA YOGA 18/F Lyndhurst Tower, 1 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong s: Hatha, Ashtanga, Yoga therapy, Yin and more. Groups & privates t: +852 2905 1822 e: enquiry@anahatayoga.com.hk w: www.anahatayoga.com.hk
YOGA CENTRAL-IYENGAR CENTRAL s: Boutique studio with Iyengar Yoga classes; flexible timings for corporate wellness, schools, small groups and privates l: English, Cantonese, Mandarin, French, Malay t: +852 2982 4308 e:yogacentralhk@gmail.com w:www.yogacentral.hk
Anna Ng Privates d: Hong Kong s: Hatha yoga l: Cantonese t: +852 9483 1167 e: gazebofl@netvigator.com B.K.S. IYENGAR YOGA ASSOCIATION OF MACAU 174, Rua de Pequim, Edif Centro Com. Kong Fat, 7A, Macau s: Iyengar t: +853 2882 3210/6662 0386 e: yoga@macau.ctm.net w: yogamacau.com FLO YOGA 17A, Teda Building, 87 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan s: Hatha, Yin, Yin Yang, Prenatal & Yoga Therapy, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Privates & Corporate l: English, Cantonese t: +852 9888 2400 w: www.flo-yoga.com www.facebook.com/ yogawithanndasilva
PURE YOGA With 22 studios in Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai & New York w: www.pure-yoga.com THE YOGA ROOM 3, 4, 6, 16/F (Studios) & 15/F (Office) Xiu Ping Commercial Bldg, 104 Jervois St, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong s: Hatha, Hot, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Candlelight Yin, Yoga Therapy, Jivamukti, Hammock Yoga, Mindfulness Yoga, Detox Yoga, Pre-natal Yoga, Pre-natal Pilates, Mat Pilates, TRX, Kids Yoga and Mum & Baby Yoga l: English, Cantonese t: + 852 2544 8398 e: info@yogaroomhk.com w: www.yogaroomhk.com
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February 2020
ASANA
BARE NECESSITIES OF SUPTA PADANGUSHTASANA
As Easy as Taking a Bath 1. Keep your hips even and lower leg grounded
2. Contract the muscles above the kneecap (quadriceps) of your upper leg, as much as you relax the muscles at the back of the same leg (hamstrings) 3. Engage your abdominal muscles and pull your torso up to meet your upper leg 38
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February 2020
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