Maui Weekend Workshop- The Three Goddesses September 28, 2009

Well I am writing two blog posts in one night which is unheard of but I am up so here we go. I am going to summarize the weekend in one go.

Jayantri and the coconuts

Sjanie, Janna and Geordie- cheers!

How to eat a coconut with natural spoon

Me and my coconut- yum!

Mama Maui at her best

Paia swing

If you can tell me what it is I would appreciate it….

Day One Morning

John opened with a talk on Navaratri. It is the 9 sacred nights of the Goddesses- three Goddesses in three incarnations.  He talked about the deep orderliness of the universe. The krama or order of life. You plant a seed in the dark and the roots go down and the stalk goes up and the stalk bears branches and the branches leaves, then fruit and the fruit ripens and falls and goes back into the earth and the cycle starts again. The dark is not necessarily bad or empty- in actually it is one big blank slate full of potential. It is full of anything you want to dream.

We started out our practice with Kali. Kali is raw- she comes from dark where you plant a seed of intention. She is the muscle energy of the pose. We hugged in tight and did really strong poses that need stability. It was a morning of long standing poses and things like press handstand and half lotus handstand- which I had never even thought of let alone tried! It rocked pretty good though and we came out to see the Laulima Farms gang and a truck full of coconuts! For the screaming deal of $3 we had Jayantri open a coconut for us and after drinking the milk he would make us a bowl of the nut and even a little spoon to scoop it with. Oh so good……

We took off during the long break  ( 10am to 4pm) and hit the south side of the island going to Makena and big beach. We had our first swim at the beach in front of the Maui Prince but the lifeguards came by and showed us a portuguese man of war which were in the water. The sting is apparently excruciating so it kind of put a damper on the swim time. We had lunch from the Jaws Taco truck in the Big Beach parking lot and then sat and watched the waves at Big Beach. There is finally a lifeguard tower there which is a longtime coming. The have 90 spinal injuries every year at that beach due to the high shore break which dashes people head first into the sand. I had a bad toss there once and it scared me very badly and I am not a weak swimmer.

We finished the south side with a drive further down the road but the clouds were rolling in from the north- which we had come South to avoid!- so we headed back to prep for afternoon practice.

Day One Afternoon

We started the afternoon with questions and one of them group asked why we ( the Anusara community?) chant so softly. I know why we do, but it was interesting to hear John phrase it. He said it related to integrity in relationship of all of the parts. Can you hear yourself but also hear across the room? Can you blend rather than stand out? I have to say the group took it to heart because day two’s afternoon chant was one of the sweetest I have ever heard- it just rode the flow of the island itself. So good…..

John also talked more about the Turiya state ( see my blog on the Dancing Shiva) as being the “ground of being”, the undifferentiated universal place from which the Goddesses arise. I don’t think I have ever thought about it in that way- like this primordial soup of all potential but it makes sense in the thinking of Spanda or Divine pulsation and where that comes from.

One of the other questions was on why a teacher made the Australians role to the left after savasana. Apparently it really threw the practitioners. John gave an explanation of why we roll to the right. It is not about anything anatomical- as some teachers may say- but it is following what is called “pradakshina”. Pradakshina literally means right in Sanskrit and it is in line with moving clockwise which is considered the movement of nature. In temples in India one always keeps the diety on the right side of the body as the circle the diety in prayer. Pradakshina therefore can also mean circumambulation. If you therefore chose to roll left you should know why. That’s what I love about this method- know what the origins are and why we do something and then choose. Being the southern hemisphere, I guess that teacher thought it more in line with nature to go left.

We had a totally fun practice of being spacious and listening and Ty Burhoe  ,who is one of the foremost tabla players in the world, came in and joined the group. I met Ty in Japan a few years ago and I was pretty stoked when he set up his tabla right in front of Sjanie and I . We had randomly picked a new area in the room and plop- there Ty sat playing right in front of us during our practice. We really had a practice of Sarasvati, for she is the first sound and she is really the goddess of all sound “nada”. John and Ty both explained that we recognize sound from not the sound itself but from the space in between the sounds. I know- ponder that one for a while…..

The physical practice was  full of very deep hip openers, half standing lotus, deep pigeon, yogidandasana, and for the garnish we did firefly which- thank god- Sjanie had introduced to me about a year ago. I got in from the standing entry but John also taught getting in from yogidandasana. I opted out and went for the known but Sjanie decided to rock it out with the new entry and had success. Cool.

Day Two Morning

Day two ended on the last day of Navaratri and we had a very “juicy” practice.  We talked about the higher octaves of the middle three elements: air, fire and water. The higher octave of air is prana- it is charged by sunlight and has the ability to move. Fire’s higher vibration is Tejas- a luminosity. It is the flash of light at the beginning of conception. The higher vibration of water is Ojas- the juicy power of life itself, the nectar of our life force.

John took the juiciness into a curvy spiraling practice of backbended forms of trikonasana and pincha mayurasana and of course the matrix backbend. It was all about keeping all the goddesses in our form: Kali in our strength, Sarasvati in our awareness and then letting Lakshmi pour her delight into the vessel of the body. This is really important to note because you can have all these curved fluid forms without muscle energy and then the juiciness just drains because you have not first created a strong vessel to hold it. Sjanie and I both have found we need a little more play in our practice- we are both strong enough that the rigid forms take away our juice. It can dry you out if you move too quickly and too rigidly. You have to build strength first- that is essential – but then you have to have some flow and play in there once that is established.

We did handstand with our legs revolving around in both directions- thank you Chris Chavez for introducing that to me- and dropbacks with one hand on the collarbone assists. We then finished the practice with a pose I have never ever attempted- mandalasana. It was so juicy by that time it actually seemed easy. I realized that pose would be impossible if you tried to stay rigid or muscle your way through it. It had to be this playful delight that just kept running your feet around your head. We finished the morning in seated meditation and was surprised to have a little voice whisper in my ear,” Breathe deeply” and was delighted by a sudden hit of fresh gardenia under my nose. It seemed super powerful after the morning practice. Tiff, Kelly and a few others softly made their way around the room with scents of the island for all of us to delight in with our eyes closed and hearts open. Sjaine and I were grinning like idiots at the end of practice and we kept it juicy with breakfast at Colleen’s in Haiku. Hawaiian spiced bread french toast seemed oh so appropriate.

We hit the beach for the afternoon in the most amazing weather and managed to finally “be one with nature” during the trip. The wind and water were perfect and the sun felt exquiste…everywhere!

Day Two Afternoon

The afternoon purnahuti ( final celebration) was a deep talk by John on how to really live your life . It was about the four cornerstones of how to live: arta/kama/moksha/dharma. How to keep the juicy delight but have resources to support yourself and be in line with nature and have a sense of pleasure about what you are doing. Many of us get stuck in careers or relationships that literally drain us. You can’t necessarily just run away for that may be adharmic ( against dharma)  if you have a family to care for or responsibilities to others. The key is to find ways to increase  the others to find balance.

We had a practice of discharging excess vata in the body. Vata is usually the first dosha to go out of wack and it’s home in our body is the lower region which regulates elimination in the body. If energy is not moving down naturally ( apanavayu) then it can create discomfort and illness in the body. By releasing vata and getting this to move more naturally the ojas goes up and we get that juicyness back again. 

Getting you thigh bones back helps calm vata and we did lots of poses with that intention. We also did headstand and shoulderstand. Now that might not sound like much to you but John hardly ever teaches those two poses. It was actually really great to get the King and Queen poses ( Headstand/shoulderstand) taught by him because, done well , they can be super healing poses. The whole system responds so well to shoulder stand and it can energize you if you are down or slow you down when you are feeling anxious. It has amazing recuperative effects on the body. I love it for flying because it just feels so good to get upside down when you are in another time zone. Those two poses, handstand and a good walk, makes life pretty good on the other side of the planet.

It was a full and fulfilling workshop. John was really in sync with the island and all of us were really there with him. It seems so funny to look back three years ago to Maui where I first met John and see how far I have come, not just as a student or a teacher, but as a human being. John commented on my luster and I said “I feel so good, I feel so right. I just keep my vessel strong and let the shakti fill me up.” Life is good~

mana mahalo~ thank you spirit of the islands

Day 3 – Ram Dass and John Friend Intensive Maui September 28, 2009

The Bhakti yogi Hanuman

The theme of day three, the last day of the intensive, was ” Faith, Devotion and Grace”. We covered the last 6  chapters of the Gita- except for chapter 15. (Don’t ask) It was really the emphasis of the Bhakti path or devotional path of yoga which was contained in the last chapters of the Gita.

The Bhakti path is not really unfamiliar to us in the West as the worship of Christ is a bhakti path. Many people worship God but the figure of Christ as the embodiment of God and his attributes makes it easier for us to understand than the disembodied divine spirit. As we are manifested in physical form it is hard for us to understand and conceive that which is beyond form and so we take manifested objects and our love for them is what triggers our love and understanding of the universal. We need form or a name in order to have that opening.

I often think of my Dad that is no longer alive and my love for him takes me straight into that place where abstract thought cannot take me. My love for him teaches me about devotion. It takes the absolute realm of the universal and manifests it into something that I can understand. Love is in relationship. You need to love something to understand love- you can’t understand love from a book or from a lecture- it is experienced in relationship.

John asked us all to write down what was the secret of the Gita that Krishna gave to Arjuna- the highest teaching. This is what I wrote, ” That God is in everything and everything is in us. Knowing this, live skillfully with love in your heart”. It is amazing that it takes 18 chapters to get that but you know how we are…..Arjuna keeps asking and doubting and Krishna has to keep explaining and going into more detail….I am wondering if Krishna was a wife….hmm.

We had a rockin’ practice of love in the morning which culminated in hand stand drop over to urdva dhanurasana. I know we did some other cool stuff like a dwi pada with an assist that had our foot in our partner’s back-( I actually adjusted Sjanie’s spine….*pop* ) but we were so blissed out that I forgot. I practiced right beside the Hanuman banner and Maharaji’s picture and it was like Maharaji and the monkey were really digging our practice.

Ram Dass came back for the afternoon and I got brazen enough to ask him to sign my book. As I walked into the room he was in I signaled a bewildered Sjanie and had her grab her book. This is not something Sjanie would normally do, so I kind of cajoled her into it, but I don’t hesitate to say she has no regrets. Ram Dass was very sweet to us and I told him how my daughter loves the monkey ever since we had Satsang with him. He was very pleased about that. Sjanie and I returned to the yoga room with our books clutched to our chests and a little misty trying to soak up Maharaji’s shakti and lookin’ like we just had our favorite movie star autograph our book. Yup- yoga geeks…..

Ram Dass gave the most uplifting and warm talk and he spoke for two hours. He talked about his stroke which was very moving. He said it was like his chapter 11 in the Gita when Krishna reveals himself in the universal form. Before that Arjuna didn’t have faith- he had belief ( which comes from the mind) but he didn’t have faith ( which comes from the heart. When he has his stroke he said he lost faith- he said to Maharaji, ” Hey- did you go out for lunch??? What is THIS?” He was completely depressed in the hospital  and he stared at the picture of Maharaji on the wall. People would come in and say ” How could Maharaji let this happen to you”. It was ” all very sad” he said.

Over time though he started to realize that the stroke wasn’t from Maharaji- it was from nature. It was his karma.  His abilities that he was left with were Maharaji’s Grace. It was fierce Grace, but still Grace. Because Ram Dass had slowed down his audience had to slow down too. His wheel chair and paralysis softened people to him and he was better able to open their hearts. These positive things Maharaji supplied. Maharaji used to say to him, ” I love suffering- it brings me so close to God”.  That’s not saying that suffering is optimal, but isn’t it usually in our darkest times we seek out answers?

Ram Dass explained that devotion cannot be done by intellect. It is done by the heart. A devotee is one whose heart has been opened. He explained that he loved Maharaji and was his devotee but what he really loved was the God within Maharaji. You cannot fall in love with the God in you, your atman, but you can fall in love with the God in someone else.

John had a great quote that went, “ When I don’t know who I am I serve you- when I know who I am I am you.”  It really summerizes the path of the bhakti yogi.

Maharaji used to tell Ram Dass to meditate like Christ. ” Lose yourself in love” he would say. This puzzled Ram Dass so Maharaji showed him and, as Maharaji meditated, tears rolled down his face. Meditation can become like a ritual that is empty of love- this is what Maharaji was trying to explain. Ram Dass said, “You can sing hymns like you are reading the shopping list- but these are the beautiful words of Christ- you need to sing with love”. Ram Dass’ name means servant of God. It also is another name for Hanuman.

This segued into Ram Dass giving us a mini synopsis of the Ramayana. He kept saying he was talking too much and apologizing and we were all ” NO- please, please continue.” His assistant said he hasn’t talked that long to a group since his stroke. His assistant figured our attentiveness was feeding his desire to share. It was so very special.

Ram Dass finished his time with us by telling us his mantra- “ I am loving awareness“.  John sweetly gifted a shawl made from cashmere to Ram Dass and wrapped it around his shoulders. It was so obvious to us that it was like Maharaji’s famous blankets. It all just seemed so right. The perfect way to thank him and honour our time together.

After Ram Dass left,  John took the mantra Ram Dass told us and we used that as our japamala mantra for the afternoon. We also turned our mats and faced one person who we did  a meditation and a partner exercise with. We had to look at them and tell them what we liked about them~ what we saw. It was fun and brought back memories of doing that with Christina Sell many years ago.

We ended the whole day by making a huge circle and taking the whole three days and summarizing it into a few words or a phrase. We went around the circle saying our personal summary. There were some classics. Some of my favorites were, ” Be the loving dude I actually am” ” Love everybody” ” love makes us one” ” Hare Krishna” “Hare Ram” ( back to back no less… ) and “Yum, yum, yum” which is what Ram Dass would say every time he talked about getting to that deepest part of your soul.

I asked Ram Dass only one question during the intensive. I said, “Ram Dass, can faith and love in us awaken it in others?” He emphatically hit his good hand on the arm rest of his wheel chair and said, “YES! Absolutely!” 

My dharma thickens…….

Day 2 -John Friend and Ram Dass on the Bhagavad Gita September 25, 2009

How does a child know a flower is beautiful?

It’s intuitive. You don’t have to tell the child what is beautiful the child knows. Part of our mind is like this  and part of our mind is much more logical and looks for order and difference. We have an intelligence that sees diversity and another that sees unity. We need both. 

That seemed to be the opening flavour this morning. How to use your mind- all parts of it. John themed around fire and put the heat and the light right in our mind to help “light it up” so to speak. He said you have to have a fire in you to “live full on and have no regrets. Full on sweetness, full on sensitivity. We don’t really know why we are here but in time it will be revealed and we don’t know how we will affect the world.” So basically- go out there and live! Be passionate and dharmic about how you lead your life. It was great- he was pretty passionate about it.

We spent the rest of the morning going through chapters 6- 10 and talking about the teachings that stood out to us. Though I have studied the Gita a few times before I learned a new little gem. When Krishna says ” I am” in Sanskrit it is “Aham” – which sounds pretty close to “a” and “ham” which is the sound of the breath. The “a” is Shiva and the “ham” is shakti. There is something that my teacher friends can ponder for a while.

We talked about balancing the Gunas and then took that starting point into balancing the gunas in asana. Our practice was trying to figure out which part of the poses was more Tamasic ( heay, dark, moving slowly) and which part was more Rajasic ( fast moving, upward inertia) and then make the pose more Sattvic ( the place of the middle). Now the interesting thing is that we are always looking for the place of the middle and we think of that as “good” and so sattva is “good” and the other two are “bad”. The reality is that you need the other two to even find the middle. So nothing is bad per se- it can be good if used in a way that is life enhancing.

We spent the afternoon talking a lot about time. Some good questions arose about the new age of thinking of just being in the present and forget your past. John was pretty clear that we need our past- we need to remember- our teachers, how we got here, what informs us nad live in the present. What in your past has helped you reveal the light of your heart now? How did you get here sitting with Ram Dass and John Friend? ( or why are you reading my blog….)

We also need to pay attention to the future. He talked very openly about the melting glaciers he saw this year and how much they have retreated in just the last few years. If we only live in the present then we are not going to be able to be custodians of the future. We have to be aware of all three but not get caught in the sorrow of the past or the fear of the future. Be present- remember the past and look to see what your responsibilities are for the future. This is how we live full on~

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna,  Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare-

This was the Mahamantra that we did around our Japamalas today…..I first learned it in 1976 at the Honolulu Airport from a man that gave me a book with a lot of blue people in it. I was 6.

Day One- Ram Dass and John Friend on The Bhagavad Gita September 24, 2009

The puja

What are you a disciple to?

This was really the first question of the day. I am still puzzling as I write this what I am a disciple to. The problem is really that the logical mind wants to make the decision for you but I think the whole purpose of this intensive is that the heart is really what needs to decide.

John started the day by contextualizing the Bhagavad Gita. The Gita is part of a larger text called the Mahabharata which consists of 18 volumes…and the Gita is 18 chapters. The Gita is then divided into three 6 chapter sections. Each becoming more detailed in their teachings. One of the most important things that both Ram Dass and John reiterated is that the Gita is a living text- it not “just a book”. It is Krishna. That will make me think twice about resting my coffee mug on it so I don’t make a ring on the table.

The Gita describes three paths or margas to God- aka Krishna- which are Body , Mind and Heart. In Sanskrit we know them as Karma, Jnana and Bhakti. John has the room set up as a mandir or temple so we enter the room with certain gestures and rituals and we observe silence in the room. His idea is that rather than teaching the margas separately that we blend them all together in the teachings so that no marga is more superior to the other.

This was emphasised when we hit the morning practice and we would do a full backbend and then pick up our books and read a quote. Then backbend again and read a quote. I mentioned to Sjanie how much we like to stay in the body when we are in the body ( asana) and how we want to stay in the mind when we are in the mind(studying) and how John’s approach really rocked the boat in a way. Really at its essence that is Anusara and our method because as teachers we are trying to teach all 3 margas at the same time…we chose to call them the 3 A’s ( Attitude ( bhakti) Alignment ( Jnana) and Action( Karma) ).

We did a writing exercise today as well that I liked. Rather than hastily scribbling in your note book your intention( sankalpa) you made it matrika ( words holding power or shakti) by incasing your writing with symbols and words. I used little om signs and the word “shanti” above mine but it could be anything. I am wondering if that is why “Be Here Now” by Ram Dass is so powerful- it is matrika- all the pictures are not just a trippy hippy experience but really something much more. They are the imbedded shakti of Maharaji ( Neem Karoli Baba) delivered through Ram Dass.

The next thing that John talked about was the use of tapasya or austerities to clean the mirror so to speak. During the three day period we will be performing purification and restrictions. I have given up coffee and sugar for the intensive, committed to a 9 pm bedtime and a 5 am wake up ( which is killer without coffee) and to eat only non-processed food. Thank God Sjanie is here because she is doing the cooking so that is easy! The last one is “to tell the truth”. This is an internal restraint and I liberally stole it from Ram Dass’ experience with Maharaji but it works for me. That means I have to tell myself the truth too….not always easy.

John Friend and Ram Dass

We spent a lot of time talking about dharma. How do you find your dharma? Ram Dass had  a great point where he said you know you are in your dharma when it feels intuitively right. John said that whatever expands the light is dharmic and when the dharma goes up so does the karma- the responsibility goes up. Karma are actions that keep us in the web. For example if you give someone a gift and you are waiting for thanks for something in return that is karma- it makes impressions in the web. If you are dharmic you just give for the delight of it; no expectations of thanks or something in return- just give.

Karma is the very basic of all action, it creates ripples and patterns on the web. The Gita is telling us that the Divine- Krishna in this living text- is acting but making no ripples. That action is called kriya. So the idea is to keep acting but to become more dharmic and move from karma to kriya. We never stop acting, doing our work so to speak, but we offer it all as a gift to the Divine. It is much harder to be in and of the world and hold this mindset which is part of Arjuna’s problem and therefore our problem. How do we live life fully and effect change if we stop acting? If we stop fighting? We cannot just leave the battlefield, though some have I suppose by leaving society, but we cannot fight blindly either. We fight from a place of deep wisdom, from the depth of our heart where the seeker is the witness. Arjuna fights from the place where he is Krishna- we act from the place where we are Krishna. This is how the karma becomes kriya I think.

I believe that is what Ram Dass was getting at when he said the jivatman- the soul inside of us- needs to be where we act from. He said, ” When you identify with your soul you see other people as souls. Be one to see one.” He said we get very tied up in our roles: ie. mother, father, flight attendant, teacher, friend, etc. but they are not who we are. That dosen’t mean we can stop being them. I mean I can’t stop being a mother; that is my dharma. But there is something deeper there that I can act from, something that could make my “role” more dharmic. This is a thought that needs further contemplation but hopefully you get the drift.

It was so special to once again sit with Ram Dass and hear his teachings. The same beautiful Hanuman banner was up that I remembered from satsang and the only thing missing was my husband who so loved being there with Ram Dass. I hope that he gets the chance to do satsang again next time we are on the island. I silently thanked him and my children for making it possible for me to be present for these teachings and I felt the responsibility of being there.

 ”You are the next generation, you are the custodians of the lineage.” John said this to us with such sincerity and intensity. Maharaji and Mukatananda are gone and Gurumai is in retreat and Ram Dass’ health is precarious. I might be one the teachers that says “Yes- I was with Ram Dass and John Friend on Maui in 2009″ and that will be something significant. I am not sure. It doesn’t really matter. It is significant to me.

Hare Krishna~

Mercury’s Messed Up Weekend September 15, 2009

It’s official. I have been accepted into the Anusara Certification process. I now have one year to complete a 30 hour written exam and submit a video that passes the certification requirements.  With 550 hours of training behind me in Anusara and almost 3 years as an Anusara Inspired teacher you think I should be ready for this, and I am in many ways, but in others it feels like the whole playing field kinda shifted. I am excited and scared all at the same time.

I had an interesting weekend where I combined my flying with my yoga. unfortunately it didn’t quite go as planned. I had a 24 hour Toronto layover and thought I could maybe get in a yoga class with some of the TO kula while there. My friend Josie Houpt mentioned that Martin Kirk was in town for a Master Class and Anatomy training so I decided that maybe I could catch a small part of that. I phoned to register and pay my money and looked forward to a fun layover. The fact that Mercury was in retrograde didn’t really phase me…then.

I woke at 5am to get ready for work and was heading out the door in full uniform when scheduling called to tell me there was an 1:40 delay. Great. That would make me possibly late for the workshop and I started to stress a little but thought “yeah- I will be fine.” I phone Toronto and made arrangements in case I was late and headed off to work. I was chatting to the agents at the airport when their radio went off. I could clearly hear the words, ” Flight cancelled”. The agents looked at me and I pulled out my phone to call scheduling. They weren’t sure what they were doing with me yet and asked me to call back. The rest of my crew walked by a few minutes later and informed me we were dead heading ( aka going as a passenger) to Toronto now.  That was strange but hey- I was just going with the flow. It ended up only 3 of us made the flight and I sat for 5 hours as a passenger but got to read more Ram Dass and watched Star Trek- which was actually really good! We got in to TO during rush hour and after a long drive to the hotel I quickly changed and had to pay a crazy amount of money to catch a taxi to the venue.

I arrived one hour late and walked into the Master class as they were doing bound parsvakonasana, to bound trikonasana to bird of paradise. Bound poses? You have got to be kidding me! 5 hours in a seat plus 1.5 hours in a cab= no hamstring mobility and stiff shoulders. So without even one down dog or sun salutation, I rolled my mat down and joined the class. I was feeling strange and out of place until the two yogis next to me smiled and said, ” Hi Leanne!” Jenn from London ON now in Toronto and her best friend Elyse. They looked so happy to see me that I just immediately felt better and all my crazy day softened away. We had a rockin’ practice and then a few of us went for dinner and had some great laughs.

We rejoined early the next morning and Martin led us through a really great anatomy workshop. I was only able to do 4 hours of training but what we did cover in that amount of time was in-depth. Martin’s passion for the mechanics of the body is clear, but what I found interesting was that his new roll of parent( Jonathon is 9 months) has made him even more fascinated with how the human form actually manifests and grows. He gave a great talk on embryonics which I loved and it all just seemed to so seamlessly fit into the metaphysics and philosophy of Anusara.

I had a quick bite with Josie and then headed back to my hotel, got changed and rode back to the airport. My colleague and I sat chatting at our gate waiting for our aircraft when they announced a gate change. Ok- no problem. Then I looked at the screen- delayed two hours and a downgrade of the aircraft. So once again the cell phones come out and once again crew scheduling is not sure if we are even leaving. Two thoughts arise ” Crap- I have a yoga workshop I am teaching tomorrow” and ” Well, if I had known I could have stayed for the second part of the workshop with Martin!“. Damn Mercury. At this point I realize I am starting to believe all this Mercury in retrograde nonsense and shoot my mind forward a week to my Japan flight: which is immediately followed by my 6 year olds hula birthday party which is immediately followed by a 3am drive to Seattle to catch a plane to Maui. Double crap.

Well the good news is we did leave finally and I got home too late to review my workshop and too tired to practice early in the morning. I did a few handstands, lunges, down dogs and then headed out the door to Newport Yoga where I arrived on time ( unbelievable after the rest of the weekend) to a lovely bunch of yogis who all learned to balance on their hands or balance better in some cases. After all the craziness it felt so wonderful to just be doing what I truly love- share yoga.

I hope that Mercury has finished messing with me…….

A Summer of Transformation August 31, 2009

I laughed when I read Sjanie McInnis’ blog because I know exactly how she feels. What a crazy, outrageous, glorious summer!  Like the wild fires that burned through the mountains of B.C. all summer, a fire blew through the Anusara Yoga community of B.C. as well.  The fire that raged through the kula was like Shiva’s hand of flame- everything became clear in that light and the fire transformed and tempered what was there before.  We now have 4 teachers in the certification process and over 100 students that have completed an Anusara Immersion. Elissa Gumushel kept the embers burning, Sjanie McInnis and Christine Price Clark  stoked the fire to a warm brilliance,  Todd Inouye  brought our teacher to see our light and I just made sure everyone helds hands and sang Kumbaya…or something like that.  Our Inspired teacher community  now includes Lauren Hanna , Shelley Tomczyk, Brent Kuecker, Trisha Wilson , Bree Greig, Carol Wray, Lara Luer, and  Josie Houpt who is joining us from Toronto. If I neglected to mention someone I apologize~ we are getting so numerous now and new Inspired teachers will be stepping into the light with rapid speed over the next few months.

Sjanie is prepared

 

The event that topped the whole summer off was John Friend’s visit to Vancouver during his Ultimate Freedom Tour. Vancouver hosted a two day weekend workshop and a 3 day therapy training.  To be quite honest I remember very little of the training because I was too busy running around helping. ( warning to those of you that host….) I am not saying that was a bad thing- it was actually the BEST thing. There is a time and place for everything and this training was not about the studying of the technical aspects of the method but of studying the dynamics of the greater community, the kula, and seva. I was especially happy to see so many of my students and friends having such amazing awakenings in the method. My favorite was running in at the last minute to see John drop back my husband into full wheel! Seeing those you love enjoy themselves is better than doing it yourself I swear! We had quite a few emails after the event saying how well it was run and how warm and supportive the Vancouver Kula was. It was good to hear.

Cp and Sjanie

We had a few surprises, twists and turns during the week- the biggest one being Todd’s ruptured appendix! Poor guy!  Christine stepped up to MC  and her sincerity and warmth could be felt by all.  We were all a little worried about the location of the event as John likes lots of natural light . The venue was the performance hall of the Roundhouse Community Center and basically it is a big black void ( I kept calling it the heart of Kali…). If that wasn’t worrisome enough, poor John came in to preview the venue and found a technician with a head wound lying on the floor and an ambulance on the way! Let’s just say… not a good start. 

The Vancouver Puja

Ganesha rockin it out

Thanks to Carol Wray, her husband Lori, and many other hands and feet , the room was transformed a few hours later into a radiant  Indian tent of gold, orange and red with dozens of murtis watching over our practice. It was quite funny to hear Christy Nones- certified teacher from Miami and one of the Anusara tour staff-  come in on Monday and say it was one of the loveliest venues she had seen. Amazing what a little shakti can do!

Carol's magic

 

The training was also my first opportunity to meet Chris Chavez and his wife Ozlem who have been in Vancouver teaching workshops and Immersions at YYoga. Originally from LA, they are now traveling and teaching all over the world. I was immediately struck by Chris’ openness and warmth- he has a soul of extreme generosity and Ozlem is no less beautiful inside and out.  We celebrated Chris’ 39th birthday during the workshop and John did a big spiel about the significance of 39 and I listened with great attention as it is my 39th year as well. Seems like a good year to start certification…..

And on that note Robin Golt will be my mentor teacher for my video during the certification process. Yes folks- I sent in my paperwork. I am hopeful that I will be accepted into the process but I will not assume. There may be areas that John wants me to work on before I go forward and I totally respect that.  Many people have emailed me and asked me, “How do you know when you are ready?” I can now see me asking that question to Christina Sell a few years ago. Her response was,  “Have you ever thought that the process will make you ready?”  I have the hours, I have all the requirements, I have read all the books, but I had that months ago~ what changed? Somehow a sense of natural progression brought me to apply- it was just the next step in the journey. I look at the process as a way to become an even more dedicated student and to learn even more- to go DEEPER. I think that is what Christina was trying to explain to me. It also helps that Sjanie and CP are swimming in the current and yelling “JUMP IN! THE WATER IS GREAT!”

…so here I go ….”SPLOOSH!”

Story of the Nataraj: Dancing Shiva July 23, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I promised a month ago I would write about the Nataraj and some of John’s interpretations he gave us in Montreal. I will add some more information I have gathered from research and hopefully it will give you a fuller picture of this iconic statue.

My first encounter with the dancing Shiva was as a teenager reading William Deverel’s book called ” The Dance of Shiva” . It opened with a tale of Shiva’s dance of creation and destruction and then becomes this disturbing Jones-town like murder suspense novel. Let’s just say I didn’t see Shiva as the guy I wanted to worship…..

As time has gone on, Shiva’s story as the Nataraj has become one that I now have a better understanding of. In some ways it is still as disturbing and brutal, but when one sees destruction as destruction of ignorance and evil, and death as the natural cycle of life, then there is a fuller comprehension of the Nataraj as a symbol of the whole realm of the manifested world, which by default we sometimes see as disturbing and brutal. In Anusara, we look for the good, so I chose to now see Shiva in his dancing form as destroying all that keeps me from knowing my true nature and that when I have a revelation of Grace I too dance in bliss like Shiva. ( Well, maybe I dance in my heart rather than around the room but you get the point….) Shiva is like a guy who is a bit of a bad ass, the wild guy your mother dosen’t want you to date,  but has a really good heart.

The story of Shiva in his form as Nataraj has many different mythological origins. One of the more common ones is that Shiva becomes embroiled in a flight with a group of rishis living in the forest. During the fight the rishis create different weapons one being in the form of a tiger. Shiva quickly slays it and wears the skin as clothing. They then create a serpent which Shiva slays and wraps around his neck three times like a garland. It is said in this tale they also create the demon dwarf- Apasmara- purusha-which he slays by stepping down and breaking his back. Other stories say that Apasmara was terrorizing people who then prayed to Shiva to save them.

As the Nataraj, Shiva is shown in the Anandatandava- the dance of Bliss.  Even in Indian dance today a tandava has the following elements:

‘Shrishti’ – creation, evolution

‘Sthiti’ – preservation, support

‘Samhara’ – destruction, evolution

‘Tirobhava’ – illusion

‘Anugraha’ – release, emancipation, grace

In Shiva’s form as Nataraj, all these elements are present: they are the 5 acts of Shiva.  First he is surrounded by flames. These flames represent wisdom and truth- that which sheds light. In the upper right  hand, Shiva holds the drum known as damaru which represents the creative input of the universe. From the stillness comes the first sound, the rhythm that accompanies Shiva’s dance. It is the pulsation of the universe -Spanda. I have also read that the drum being shaped like two triangles with their points touching represent shiva and shakti and their relationship which manifests the material world. The drum is the primordial sound that emanates from the stillness.

Shiva’s upper left hand holds a flame representing destruction, dissolution or dissolving.  Notice how both the upper left and the upper right hand are on the same line so that creation and destruction are both equal to each other. The second right hand is in the form of a mudra called Abayamudra- the non-harming mudra. It can be interpreted as showing Shiva as a protector- one that you can take refuge in. The second left hand is crossing the heart and the hand is pointing down to the lifted foot. It reminds us that the heart has the power to remind us of Grace. The lifted foot represents anugraha- the revelatory power of Grace. It is in the forefront which shows us that it is more primary and holds the greatest significance.

 The standing leg sits at the exact middle of the figure- it is stittihi- the middle- it represents preservation and it’s power holds down the demon of ignorance and forgetfulness, Aspamarapurusha. Shiva’s dreadlocks are wild and outstretched in the Nataraj ( this photo dosen’t represent that as well as others) to represent the ongoing pulsation and wave like movement of the universe. If you look carefully at his face though, in opposition to his whirling body, it is completely serene. With his eyes half shut , Shiva is in the Turiya state of pure consciousness of spirit. Yet even in this state, he is moving wildly. He is in the hub and the periphery simultaneously. This is the ultimate goal of the yogi- to be both at the same time.

One of the things that John mentioned that I had never heard of is that Shiva is very anglular in this form and that the bends in Shiva’s dancing form represent Maya. Maya we mostly come to  think of as illusion or the ” magic mirror” but originally it  meant the power to measure and John pointed out that all forms are in ratios of 1.168- the golden measure. The perfection of the universal is shown in the manifest. As Carlos Pomeda once said, “the world is telling me about the divine”. 

 Shiva’s manifest form as the Nataraj therefore is telling us about the divine. We see the 5 acts of Shiva in the form, but it is even richer than that. It begins to show us the deeper meanings of yoga and yogic life. I like to think that the Nataraj is a re-enforcement of chosing to stay in and of the world while still maintaining a higher awareness and doing appropriate action. Can I be whirled around in the dance of life and still hold to the centre? I am trying.      OM NAMA SHIVAYA………

Montreal Intensive Day 3: The Picnic June 26, 2009

Day three happened to fall on St.Jean Baptiste day which is a provincial holiday in Quebec. Illias(sp) from New York via Mexico, suggest that we all bring our lunches and have a picnic on the lawn of Dawson college as most stores would be closed.

Well, what I thought would be just a little sharing turned into the most gorgeous array of food and abundance I have ever seen come together in a short time. We found a group of picnic tables to set up food on and then laid our blankets, mats and shawls around the lawn. We laughed, talked, shared and even played Frisbee. We really were a merry band.

Day three also fell on Gurumayi Chidvilasanada’s birthday. John spent the morning in a really playful and celebratory mood and the Guru principle led our practice through the morning. He said that the Guru is really a tattva- a principle of existence even though it is not on the chart. It is the revelatory power of spirit that is found in every one of us. The teacher’s dharma is to show the student the teacher within them; the students grace (chali-kripa) allows the teacher to take the seat of the teacher. In the practice of sadhana ( spiritual practice), we awaken in relationship. We learn to see the Absolute in others and others show us the Absolute in ourselves. This revelatory power is found in every one of us, even if we don’t believe it.

John told a great story about being very down and after just a short visit from Gurumayi he was completely changed. Those with a high vibration of light can lift the dark from us. We can also learn to do this ourselves. Tantra is a science- it is alchemy- it is the process of turning the impure into gold. We learn to turn negative situations and emotions into positive ones- it is not just a simplistic changing of your mind but it is through skillful means and practice.  When you are going up into backbend number 12 with John, I know he is not joking, and no matter how my body responds, my heart sings with the possibility that this next one might be the big one that changes and illumines everything. Every moment- especially the intense ones- is a gateway. It is a chance to do alchemy.

Alchemy happened. For the first time in my life I rocked up from urdva dhanursana to drop to my knees and then rocked back to urdva. I spent a minute going tick-tock smoothly back and forth laughing- it was so powerful. I realized all my skillful means of doing ustrasanadrop backs ( thanks again SJ) had now prepared me for this pose I had never even tried…or thought I could do. It literally “rocked” my world! (get it? tick tock… rocking…I know – it’s a groaner….)

In the afternoon we went back to basics: what is our vision? How is Anusara yoga different than other hatha yoga systems?

1) We see everything as a manifestation of Spanda. Tantra can literally mean the “loom” on which we weave- it is a philosophy that sees the world as an interconnected tapestry. Nothing is separate- nothing is discarded- it is merely woven back into the new fabric of understanding. We assimilate what has gone before- we do not forget the past- it is useful as a reference for that we chose to emphasise or not emphasise. We serve the present in life enhancing ways and we plan for the future so whatever we do now counts.

2) We use technology, a methodology that aligns with nature that we call the Universal Principles of Alignment.

3) We work in community. We bring everybody up- we are all members of the same orchastra. We celebrate each others success and we have great picnics together.

We ended the afternoon lecture with a very deep question: If the world is supposedly intrinsically good, why do evil things happen? I think that may be a blog unto itself after I do I little more reading that John has suggested.

The afternoon practice finished with giddy laughter trying to think of how many ways we could theme iccha, jnana, kriya and we ended up tying the whole Wizard of Oz to every possible notion. I had the tin man iccha- heart, the scarecrow as Jnana- mind and therefore the Lion as kriya – courage, but John started going on about Oz being the manifested word in all it’s colours and the downward shape of the tornado being in the shape of shakti’s downward pointing triangle and it just got really funny and silly. Ami beside said “Ok- let’s do Starwars now…..” . At least I have lots of themeing ideas for the next little while!

Well, the next time I will see John will be Vancouver in August 2009 and though I will be busy during the event as a volunteer, I hope to blog that training as well.

A bientot! Merci Montreal!

Montreal Anusara Intensive: Day two June 26, 2009

Myself, Lynn from Winnipeg, and Karin from North Van

Learning how to assist more difficult poses

Masa and Primo

A beautiful view from Westmount

The ultimate in Indian takeout…

Good food and company in Montreal

 

 

On day two we dove deep into metaphysics first thing in the morning and discussed the Malas. The malas are like impurities. The dust that covers the mirrors of our hearts. It creates confusion and suffering and yoga is then the means to clean the dust , the malas, away and allow the true heart to shine through. We used the following chart to look at how the malas work.

Top 5 Tattvas                               Malas                                            Elements                               Dosha

Shiva                                                                                                         Sky

Iccha                                              Anava                                              Water                                      Kapha

Jnana                                             Mayiya                                             Fire                                         Pitta

Kriya                                               Karma                                              Air                                          Vata

Shakti                                                                                                        Earth                         

When Iccha ( you also can use the term Sat) gets covered by Anava-mala then our sense of fullness becomes impure. We suddenly feel we are lacking; we feel fragmented.  The natural outcome of anava-mala is to then to increase the water element and increase Kapha which can cause depression.  When Anava-mala is then lifted by polishing the mirror through practice, we feel our natural state of Iccha which is peace. We are full again.

When Jnana ( you can also use Chit) gets covered by Mayiya-mala our sense of connectedness becomes impure. We see difference- we become prejudiced. Mayiya-mala is related to the fire element and when it increases then Pitta increases and we become angry. When Mayiya-mala is lifted we feel love.

When Kriya ( or Ananda) is covered by Karma-mala, then we lose the agency to act- we feel powerless. Kriya is related to Air and when it becomes out of balance then Vata is increased and we experience anxiety. When Karama-mala is lifted we feel joy.

The malas then in some way help move the spanda back and forth between these states of emotions. The yoga practice helps create longer periods in the higher vibrations of peace, love and joy but we all feel the negative emotions sometimes too. It is very natural. What is really amazing about tantra metaphysics is that they have a method to get from the lower, darker, vibrations to the higher ones. We don’t have to stay angry, we don’t have to stay depressed. We can learn to recognize that as part of the spanda and use techniques to help us get back to a more desirable plane of being.

In the afternoon of day two we touched on intention. Intention can be conditional or unconditional . Unconditional is like children at play- why do they do it? Just for the fun of it- it is not dependent on conditions. Conditional is more like ” I do this to be free”: free from pain, free from suffering.  A yoga practice can have either of these intentions. In Anusara, we always make our intention the highest- we desire to be free. Sometimes we just like to play though….

John had some encouragement to give us too about being our unique selves. We have to all find our own unique frequency- how can you make music with one note? At least that’s how I looked at it. It is not a free for all- you are all in the same orchestra but we all play different instruments and our notes blend in harmonies. In a room full of very different practitioners, I could truly appreciate that we all had something unique to offer. The Spanda needs these differences to be able to pulsate. I like that I am part of a group yet unique. As John said, “do not diminish yourselves”.

If Spanda is everything, then even the difficult things that happen in our life are Spanda. If we never had difficulties, most of us would not appreciate the blessings in our life. This is a great lesson from many of the Hindu mythologies such as the Ramayana- do not ask the Absolute to take away your problems- ask the Absolute to give you the strength to deal with them. We learn and grow from the difficulties in our life- they can be wonderful gifts that, when we emerge from them, give us greater awareness. The Spanda is greater sometimes in those really intense situations- if we learn to work with the spanda it can bring us openings faster than ordinary situations.

It was a crazy asana day and I got to do a great demo with John- well it was  great according to everyone that saw it. It’s weird- John just says do and I do. Total trust and back I went into what I think for me ( aka stiff girl) was a pretty deep standing backbend. Maybe someone in the kula has a pic but of course I have none…

We ended the day with a lovely dinner and gathering of the growing Canadian Anusara teachers. It was a wonderful night to share and chat and feel a little more connected to the Eastern side of Canada. There is some really beautiful, bright, spirits in the group and I was blessed to get to know them better.

How to Breathe on Maui June 3, 2009

Local fishing at Baby beach....

Yes- I am alive. I have been extremely busy lately and I have been putting my blog last on my to do list. I was supposed to be practicing this morning but I have a weird virus of some type that has left me weak and achy and so rather than sit on the couch I decided to sit at my computer. Lucky you.

Part of my crazy schedule was flying back to back crazy so I could manage a week off work and secretly take my two kids to Maui. They thought their father had left to vacation without them- which he did on my insistence- to Haiku , Maui.  Haiku is located on the north side of the island on the road to Hana and it is a slice of heaven to our family. My husband practices Ashtanga with Nancy Gilgoff when he is there and I usually hang at the Studio Maui if I am practicing Anusara. Yes- we only take yoga vacations….

Because of my flying, we couldn’t take a two week holiday all together so I sent my husband without us. He thought he was going to be alone for two weeks but I spilled the beans to him- and swore him to secrecy- that I was going to surprise the kids and take them to join him during week number two. He was extremely pleased as he misses the kids when they even go for a sleepover! I secretly packed bags for weeks and surreptitiously snatched various vacation items from my unsuspecting children’s rooms. On D-Day ( departure day) I told them we had to drive their Grandma to the airport- which was true- and then we were going out for lunch after I stopped at my airport office. As I parked in the employee lot and got out I asked them if they still wanted to go for lunch. To which they responded with resounding choruses of “YES!!!” I said ” Well we can go for lunch,” I then dramatically pulled a blanket off the suitcases in the back of the truck, “ Or we could go to Maui?”.

I think my son literally stopped breathing. My daughter lit up like a little sun and they both starred at the suitcases. “Mom!!! We are going on the plane? I think I am going to explode!” Words of joy out of a nine year old boy. My daughter couldn’t believe I had everything- she kept asking me if I had her bathing suits. She is five and is going through a stage where she changes every five minutes and gives us a fashion show- her latest one being her swimsuits. In order to keep the secret I had to go out and buy two new ones for the suitcase!

Over to the airport we went and I was so glad as I checked in that my husband carried a cell phone and that I did not keep the trip a surprise from him. Apparently you can’t take your kids on a plane out of the country if you are one parent…you need a letter from the other parent giving permission! Yipes! I made a call my husband who happened to be not far from a fax machine and voila- 30 minutes later we were at the boarding gate. After a lovely flight to Maui- my kids were so good on the plane- we arrived to a very happy husband and father.

I was dissapointed to find out that I would not be doing much yoga with a teacher as Skeeter Tichnor was out of town teaching an immersion, but I made the most of self practice which consisted of many handstands in the playground with my kids. I don’t know if I will ever be able to kick up without a wall or a spot but I have to say I feel much more comfortable on my hands than I used to . There is a familiarity to handstand now that has come over the last few years and I can hold away from the wall now for a while. It really is such a playful and joyous thing to do! Chris managed a daily practice with Nancy which was great. There is lots of yoga on Maui no matter what your style and no matter where you are on the island: the other islands have lots to offer as well.

Practicing on Maui always seems so effortless to me. There is something in the air there that is just conducive to practice. I feel like I can breathe more deeply there. I remember when I was in Maui for an Anusara Immersion with John Friend, he talked about how you could feel the island breathe: the island itself was alive with pulsation. One of the local teachers commented saying ,  “Polynesians call non-Hawaiians  “Haole” -which actually means one who can’t breathe.”   Yup- us white folk really don’t know how to breathe. We rarely breathe deep into our bellys and are breath is short and fast. When the breath slows, we slow, and therefore we get to enjoy the present moment that much more. That’s how I feel on the North side of Maui.

Haiku Heaven- Max and Tracey's

I wanted to tell you about some of our favorite places on the North side if you ever give Maui a visit. First of all is Max and Tracy’s place. Our little studio cottage that is home on Maui is one of two studios you can rent year round. The property is beautiful with 180 degree view of the water. There is an abundance of fruit trees on the property and they always have a basket of what’s in season waiting for you when you arrive. Lychee was just about in season when we left but my son managed to find a few ripe ones to try. The avacados, apple bananas, mangos and oranges are some of my families favorites. You might have to compete with Buttercup, the golden lab, for ripe bananas. My kids call her a banana retriver and she is our rent a dog on Maui. If you really want to get a feel for what it’s like to be a local check it out: ludwig@maui.net.

We do most of our shopping in Paia town which is down the road a few miles. Mana Foods is a local legend and all your organic, health, specialty foods can be found there. I recommend buying the cotton shopping bag which doubles as a great beach bag/purse. Most of the saleable fruit from the property we stay at goes to Manna so they really help support the local farmers. Support them during your stay.

We always pick up a few shorts and T’s and sandals when we are in Maui and our favorite place by far to buy these things is the Hana Highway Surf . They carry all your basic beach needs and they have really great t-shirts with their logos on them. My husband and son love their hoodies.  Jud and Kelly Lau, the husband and wife that own it are really welcoming and Uncle Squidy- the owners uncle and local surf legend- has wave reports for Maui at (808) 871-NALU ( 6258).His absolutely hilarious advertisment on local radio is what sent us searching for them many years ago.

We tend to make our own dinner but there is nothing better than breakfast after primary series in the morning so check out Colleen’s in the Haiku Cannery Market near the Studio Maui. The french toast and fresh squeezed OJ is to die for…

Colleen's in Haiku french toast

Swimming and beaches on the North side are limited. The far west side of Baldwin Beach is located close to the residential area of Spreklesville and contains a small lagoon- perfect for family swimming without the shore breaking waves. The locals call it baby beach.  Of course famous Ho’okipa Beach is located on the North side just past Paia near the equally famous- and expensive- Mama’s Fish House. Hanging out at Ho’okipa during a good wind is a real North shore experience- some of the best windsurfers, kite surfers, and just plain old surfers are there all day for free entertainment. It really is amazing to see the talent and althleticism out in the water.

My son investigating the reef at Baby Beach

 If the weather is wet on the North side- which it often is- we suggest driving down into Makena area and checking out the beach  in front of the Maui Prince Hotel. It is a public beach with washrooms and a shower and the waves are great for boogie boarding. We do not recommend swimming at Big Beach in Makena with children. The wave break is very high and very close to shore and in water no higher than your knees you could be picked up and dashed into the sand. People with broken bones are taken off the beach daily. The locals call Big Beach “ Killer Beach” for a reason.

Having a yoga vacation on Maui dosen’t have to cost you a lot and it really is a fabulous place to practice.

I am looking forward to going back to Maui in September to study with John Friend andRam Dass. Let’s hope I get accepted and if I do I promise to blog during the training!!

Haiku Heaven- Max and Tracey’s

Haiku Studio

The Haiku cottage two studios in a duplex cottage

Hana Hwy Surf- on Hana Hwy in Paia

Entrance to the shop

Kelly Lau of Hana Hwy Surf

Entrance to Baby Beach off the Hana Hwy just before Paia

My son investigating the reef at Baby Beach

Local fishing at Baby beach….

My water baby

Baby Beach- near Paia

Colleen’s in Haiku french toast