We hope you enjoy our Newsletter. Be well in 2013 and we look forward to seeing you at the Yoga House in January.

Sincerely,

Kelowna Yoga House

Upcoming Events

Early registration by Jan. 20, 2013 

KYH Members:$80.00 

Non-members:$90.00

After Jan. 20, 2013 all fees increase by $15.00

For more details, please click the link below.

Join Melissa for an energetic, fun, one-hour class just for kids ( ages 9-13) Saturdays, February 2, 9, 16, 23, 11:15 am - 12:15 pm.

Reflections on Life in India

Krisna and Deborah outside the Ramamani Institute

 

It is definitely a different perspective here on the other side of the world. Even the phases of the moon look different. Did you know that when you look at the new moon here, it fills out from the bottom rather than the side? India has a way of seeping into your veins without you knowing what is happening. The environment and all the yoga has an effect of turning all of your ideas upside down as if you were living life in a perpetual headstand. For instance, here I am sitting on our little enclosed balcony that looks out into another balcony just like this one. So our view is mostly of the neighbors's lives, the pigeons and folks washing their cars. There is the constant background hum of traffic, pigeons cooing, crows squawking, stainless steel dishes being washed and just the general cries of humanity. All of the greenery is covered in a thick black dust so it looks more gray than green and there is often a bad smell in the air from burning plastic or some other kind of toxic waste. If I were in Kelowna, I would hate this . It would be far too noisy for me, too close to the neighbors, too cluster phobic, too stinky and all together irritating but here I feel so fortunate to have a balcony at all and to have a relatively quiet space. So some kind of acceptance happens that brings a sense of wholeness. 

I can see how this has to happen in our lives and yoga practice and that it is an ongoing process. When we are in class, and Mr Iyengar is reprimanding us for being so dull, I know what he is talking about. There is nothing dull about India, it is full on life on the edge. Now if we could practice like this , there might be a chance to gain some kind of freedom from identifying and from being attached to those perceptions of ourselves as being this or that. Ajahn Sumedho says that when we begin to realize that the disabilities, the flaws and the strange things that we each have are not obstructions then we are seeing them in the right way. we can respect them and be willing to accept and use them to get beyond our attachment to them. So for the enlightened mind, it is not a matter of having the best, it is not that we need the best health , the best conditions , the best of everything to really make it because that just feeds a sense of ourselves that can only operate from having the very best of everything.

Geeta gave a great talk last Sunday evening on the ninth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. She said that it was an auspicious time as it was Gita Jyanti Day which is the birthday of the Gita. This chapter is entitled " Confidential Knowledge of the Ultimate Truth " Arjuna has been depressed as he sees what he is facing in the battlefield. He is being asked to fight and destroy his relatives. He doubts that this can be a useful action. So Krishna comes to explain to him that this is his svadharma and he has to perform his duty with the highest good in mind. It does not matter that they are his relatives but it is more a case that something has to die, it is bad cosmic energy that has to die.

There is good and bad in each of us and it is our duty to penetrate ourselves as the avidya( ignorance ) is greater than the knowledge. The penetration has to be intense and as Krishna tells Arjuna, not everyone is ready for this highest form of knowledge. If we examine our actions and the intention behind the actions and train ourselves on the right path, then we will gain mental stability and peace of mind. If we don't practice then we become unstable as Arjuna did who couldn't even hold his bow steady because of his doubt and depression. The sutras tell us that self realization is near at hand for those who practice keenly but as Geeta said in her talk that we are fools if we think that this is a casual occurrence . First we have to know what the self is and then we have to understand what realization is and for that the sadhana has to be sincere , pure and intense.

When I see Mr Iyengar come into the practice room day after day without fail, I am moved almost to tears. I feel that it is such a privilege to bear witness to this kind of sadhana. It is obvious by his fierceness, his attention and his confidence that he has practiced intensely with a pure mind and heart.

Class Sequence from India

Adho Mukha Svanasana 

Uttanasana ( feet wide) 

Prasarita Padottonasana 

Uttanasana ( feet together) 

Adho Mukha Svanasana 

Utthita Hasta Padasana. Wrists over ankles, top rim of buttocks down Utthita Trikonasana. Feet aligned on front edge of mat . 

1) keep front leg in line with front edge of mat (long side of mat) and stepped back foot to center of mat, Press inner thigh of front leg more towards the front , trying to get it over the line of the mat. 

2) now repeated with both feet aligned on front edge. Maintain the front inner thigh moving over the line of the front edge of mat going into pose."Do not let let front inner thigh stray from that line" 

Utthita Parsvakonasana repeated as in Trikonasana.  

Parsvottonasana stand of front edge of mat, step leg back, stand on back edge of mat, take leg forward. How is it different? 

Ardha Chandrasana (standing on long side front edge of mat as in Trikonasana.) Move into pose trying to keep the inner thigh moving over that line of the mat as in Trikonasana. 

Uttanasana feet apart, concave back, get length in sides of trunk but keep hands under shoulders, arms and legs parallel to each other but roll the deltoids strongly from inside to outside. Sit bones move forward directly over heels. 

Ardha Chandrasana repeated trying to get same length in sides of trunk as in Uttanasana. Keep the front arm parallel with the standing leg. Usually we take the hand too far forward. Maintain buttock bone over heel same action as in buttock of standing leg in Trikonasana Salabhasana lengthening inner thighs, feet together, lift legs from front of thighs not ankles. 

Chaturanga Dandasana, opening back of legs, pressing front thigh bones to back thighs.  

Virabhradrasana I, feet wide apart, right hip and outer ankle in line, left hip and outer ankle in line, back is broader. Relates more to outer body Virabhradrasana I, classic position feet in line using long line of mat for good alignment. Inner thigh of back leg to heel, outer knee of back leg forward or down towards floor. Front leg outer thigh must roll down Uttanasana feet apart. Take heart to legs, not head.  

Virabhradrasana III stepping forward from Uttanasana with feet together, lifting leg from front thigh, do not over lift the heel, like Salabhasana Repeat Salabhasana, Chaturanga Dandasana trying to get correct action in legs.   

Virabhadrasana III from Uttanasana feet together, again lifting leg as in Salabhasana. Raised leg very straight and weight on standing leg as we did in Uttanasana. Sit bones stay directly over the heels not behind. Pascimottonasana,  Upavista Konasana stamping back thigh down, making back of knees lighter.  

Pascimottonasana heart to legs not head to legs.  

Vinyasana  Halasana, Malasana, Pascimottonasana, Urdhva Hastasana in Dandasana, (repeated many times). 

Brick Setubhanda (coming out of Setubhanda with knees bent and together, feet wider than sit bones) low back can rest better. 

Savasana (very short).

Bonesy's New Year's Message

 Bonesy's    New  Year's  Message,  in  Which  He  Shares  his  Thoughts  with  you  for  2013    (Bonesy  is  the  skeleton  who  usually  hangs  about  in  the  corner  of  the  large  studio).     

 

1 cup walnuts or pecans

 

Courtesy of Blaire Strate (Vida Chiropractic)