| Welcome |
|
Purna Yoga teaches the mind, the body and the emotions how to be at home with the spirit.
|
| Quick Links |
|
 |
|
|
Dear students and friends on the path of yoga, 
We've just returned from a trip to India with a number of Purna Yoga teachers. First we went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, and then spent a week in Pondicherry, the home of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. We are revitalized, renewed, and recharged with Light.
Looking forward to seeing you in class,
Mirra and Aadil
Founders of Purna Yoga |
| Asana and Pranayama |
|
The Difference Between Yoga and Excercise
 What happens when you are practicing yoga and only concerned with "getting the poses"? What happens when you cultivate alignment in your body without a corresponding alignment with your soul? The result is that you align your body with your ego, but not your body with your soul. When you focus only on physical alignment, you are actually helping your ego to grow. Then when you try to go inward to a truer reality, the ego becomes afraid. Such a fear indicates that you never really did yoga in the first place-you never united with your soul. Though you may have become accomplished, fit, and firm, you have not done yoga, but just exercises.
-Mirra |
| Meditation |
|
 The Power of Breath
If you are reading this, you are alive, and if you are alive, you are breathing. No matter how busy you are, you somehow always manage to find time to breathe. So if you learn to use your breath to meditate, you will always have time to connect with your true self! When breathing, make a conscious choice to connect with Light. Connect with a higher vibration, a higher energy, and that will energize your body to become more of what it is meant to be. We are like instruments that are meant to run on a higher voltage, but we are now plugged into a common current that is of lower voltage. As a result, we are sluggish, and not living up to our full potential. Our potential is so much more. Plug yourself into the Light.
-Mirra |
| Applied Philosophy |
|
 The Gift of Duality
In the performance of asana, we can create unity only by first creating duality. It is only when we have two movements, one movement opposing another, that we can create a synergistic third that unites the two in a whole that is far greater than the sum of the parts. A rubber band, like a muscle, does not stretch when we push both its ends in the same direction simultaneously, yet it does when we pull the two ends away from each other. Similarly, when two ends of the body move in the same direction, there is no stretching, only collapse. However, when they move in opposite directions there is a sense of expanding and lifting. Opposition is required to create expansion.
Whenever we create space and expansion with opposing movements, we also will create mindfulness because our consciousness must be fully in the present. Indeed, it is only the duality of action that can bring us to such a singular state of mind-we are forced to be focused, unified, creative, moving in ways we have never moved before. As we work, there is a sense, "If I do this, I cannot do that simultaneously, yet I must!"
-Aadil |
| Nutrition and Lifestyle |
|
 Eyesight
To help maintain good eyesight for life, nutrition plays a crucial role with berries being of particular benefit. Also, certain simple precautions and methods will help prevent strain in your eyes. Number one, always read sitting up. Don't read lying down or in awkward positions. Ideally, the eyes are to look downward and the document is to be placed at approximately 45 degrees below eye level. If possible, adjust your computer monitor's level. As you are reading, consciously relax your eyes (as if you are about to fall asleep) and make your upper eyelids slightly heavy. Instead of reading the letters, observe the background and let the letters spring out at you. This takes the fight out of reading.
-Aadil |
| Mirra Recommends Movies |
|
Sicko 
This movie reminds us of the importance of voting and exercising our power of choice, or the consequence will be that others will choose for us, people who are often motivated only by personal greed. Definitely watch the special features on the DVD. |
| News from Yoga Centers |
|
The early registration deadline for the June 200-hour Purna Yoga month-long teacher training is coming up next month (on April 27th). This truly transformational program is ideal for those seeking to deepen their practice of Purna Yoga, gain inspiration for teaching, and awaken the joy of living from the heart. For more information visit www.yogacenters.com.
| |
|
|
|
