Oxymoron - a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction eg. Ecofriendly Microfiber [insert yoga product here] I would guess that not many yoga practitioners in the world would spend their time Googling Yoga Towels to see what comes up in the search results. I'm guessing there are even fewer Ashtanga practitioners that also sell Organic yoga rugs that would be doing the same thing. In fact there is a really good chance I'm the only one who would care about such a thing and then be looking into it which is why I'm the only one (I think?) who noticed one very interesting fact. There is actually no such thing as an Organic Microfiber Yoga Towel. I...
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...
"To be in the quiet and to extract from their life and their phones, and their computers, and as much as they can do that. It's a pretty quiet place." - Annie Pace on her shala in the small town of Crestone Colorado. That was all in that era of like the 90's, I would go to Mysore and stay until I didn't have a Rupee in my pocket. While I was there, for these extended periods of time, of course, you meet people from all over the world. So it was a very informal thing where people invite me to come teach in the UK, or Europe, or Australia, all places in the world.I'd have some gig lined up...
The computer machine analogy. As soon as I hear it I cringe. I'm sure you have heard it before. "Your mind is like a computer" or "Your body is like a machine" I used to use these same comparisons and the make choices based on them. It wasn't until I started to question some of my basic assumptions that I noticed how incorrect these statements were. Your body is not a machine and your mind is not a computer. Those are man made mechanical systems. Your body and mind, which are not seperate but one, are complex mysterious organic living creations. Why does this matter? I'm sure there is many reason's which I haven't thought of or noticed but the...
"Unless ye become as little children ye cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven" - Jesus Christ. We spend an hour and half in our yoga practice putting ourselves into different shapes. Then what about the rest of the day? What shapes is your body in and how is it affecting your health, mental state and your yoga practice? While there is plenty of information on the next way to jump into [insert whatever latest posture here] I'm going to talk about a part of our lives not discussed. Resting. Jesus never ate Twinkies. Apparently there is a part in the Bible that says if you are a guest somewhere and the host offers you food to never refuse it. I heard about this...
