Liberated Yoga
Yoga is for everyone!
Topic: Philosophy
Mind Body Connection
I think it is common knowledge now that the mind and the body share a powerful connection. The ancient Yogis had known about this and used it to achieve high physical and mental states. Asana in Sanskrit means "posture", and the way we carry ourselves, our posture, reveals volumes about our mental and emotional state. Look around you next time you are in a store, standing in a check-out line, and ask yourself what the people around might be thinking or feeling just based on thei...
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Matless Yoga
It has been a few years now that I've stopped using a Yoga mat for my practice. I still use a mat at the Studio where I teach just for appearances sake, but I prefer to step off it while doing standing poses, and I usually cover it with a blanket if I am lying or sitting down. At home I have a carpeted floor for Yoga, and I hardly ever use the mat there anymore. I understand that a mat can become a kind of security blanket for some, or an ego enhancer for others, but if you've never even consi...
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Dharma: I am a Door...
Albeit a narrow one. This entry is, in a way, about my Dharma the way I see it, or my purpose in Life, and in another way, about Chakra One, which governs our ability to feel sustained by our environment, to be provided for by the universe, to feel that we have a right to be here. By examining these things I feel aligned with the Universe, and I invite you to conduct a similar analysis of your Dharma and see how it aligns with the larger scheme of things. Let's begin with Chakra...
Body as a Sacred Vessel
The soul is sacred. By inhabiting your body, it makes the body sacred as well. It helps to see the body as a vessel for the soul - it creates a sense of reverence and a responsibility to maintain the vessel. Don't cook foul food in your vessel - it will leave unsightly gunk caked on the inside and produce a foul odor. Instead, put only wholesome food and pure water, and cook over gentle fire of your Ujjayi breath. As any pot that begins to smell of the food that ha...
Ageless with Yoga
Reading ancient Yogic texts time and again I come across statements that Yoga adepts can cheat and escape Death itself. One has to take these kinds of statements as metaphors, of course, but I do believe there is truth in this, as I have begun to feel the rejuvenating effects of my own Yoga practice - I am not afraid of getting old, as a matter of fact I look forward to it with great joy and anticipation. Being older has many benefits, such as experience, wisdom, and free tim...
Spiritualization through Yoga
What makes Yoga different from, say, gymnastics? That is not to say that a gymnast can't be doing Yoga, but there is a fundamental difference in the goals that a gymnast and a Yogi pursue, even though at times they may appear to be doing the same thing. By infusing every cell of the body with pure awareness, the Yogi fulfills the primordial need of every being, every creature, every plant - to become conscious. It is the need to become conscious that drives evolution and is the ...
Balance Yin and Yang
Visualize the human body as a little microcosm, just like the rest of the universe, with its duality of male, female, Yin, Yang, Right and Left, etc. Visualize the landscape of your bones, the oceans and rivers of your fluids, the winds of your breath, the different climates of warmth and coolness. It helps to think of the body this way when we use our Asana to bring more balance to the little world that we are. The Chakra system is a great representation, among other things, of...
Have Faith
This is my latest realization - faith is a powerful tool, but I have struggled with it for a long time. I grew up in Soviet Russia, and religion was not in my life in my formative years. I was baptized when I was 14 - just in case there is a God, but I myself was not convinced. But that is not the kind of faith I am talking about, even though my past is now a contributing factor. Now as my Yoga practice has matured, I am facing one of the Yogic covenants - Isvara pranidh...
Karma and Liberation
You probably have heard the word Karma and the concept of rebirth and liberation from rebirth. Here is an interesting take on the subject, a view of what Karma is and how to break free from it. Samskara in Sanskrit is translated as deeply ingrained patterns of behavior which have become unconscious to the point that we react to events, people, ideas etc. automatically, without thinking. Samskaras are pre-programmed patterns that are deeply ingrained, like train tracks, into our ...
Take it Easy
Sthira Sukham Asanam - Yoga Sutras instruct us that in Asana (Yoga postures) we should strive for a sense of steadiness and ease. It is refreshing to consider that one can derive great benefit from physical activity that does not necessarily make one sweat buckets or strain muscles until they hurt the next day. If in our postures, no matter now difficult, we are still able to experience a sense of alertness, steady attention, as well as ease in the body, expending minimum ...
