News — Sharmila Desai RSS

"As we observe our own cycles and those in nature through the practice, we come to understand that our bodies are influenced by the earth, the moon, and the sun; our bodies are also influenced by other women around us." - Sharmila Desai     Practicing Ashtanga yoga as taught by Shri K. Pattabhi Jois , R. Sharath Jois and Saraswati Rangaswamy was and is indeed Sadhana in its purity. In following the daily rituals inclusive of observing moon days and ladies holidays by not practicing the asana sequence, my body naturally flowed with the biorhythms and respected as well as supported feminine rites of passage such as menstruation and later on pregnancy.  As women our monthly cycle mirrors the...

Yoga is a Life Path by Sharmila Desai When we were children, my grandmother used to translate Namaste as the God in me welcomes the God in you. I loved to look at her smile as she placed her hands together even though I could not fully grasp the meaning of her words. Years later, it was only when I discovered Ashtanga Yoga, as taught by Sri K Pattabhi Jois, R. Sharath Jois and R. Saraswati Jois in Lakshmipuram, Mysore that I began to understand what the God in me meant. Yoga as a spiritual science connected me to a process of inner perception and living principles, cultivating who I am, and who I am becoming in alignment with...