Yoga at UH!

practice for your body not your ego.

"Don't turn your head from side to side in shoulder stand, look up!!" It's amazing how many times I repeated that while teaching at a popular power yoga studio in Honolulu, and still nobody listened. Shifting eyes would look at their neighbor or themselves in the mirror. "Turning your head while in shoulder stand can injure your neck by adding strain to the muscles, vertebrae, and ligaments of the cervical spine"... still the mirror or the neighbor more interesting...
"Don't force yourself into a pose"
"use a block"
"use a strap"
Teachers say these things for a reason.

Yoga is becoming popular- more practicioners, more teachers. Everyone wants to challenge themselves (which is great) but everyone doesn't want to take it easy. Yoga is not a workout, it is a healing practice. Maybe a gentle Iyengar, Hatha, or Yin class is better for your body than a fast pased vinyasa class. "You have many lifetimes to do yoga" one of my teachers says, and he is right. Slow down, tune in, give your body what it needs, and seek out an experienced/knowledgable/educated teacher to help you!


Great Article from the NY Times on how yoga can wreck your body, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/how-yoga-can-wreck-your-body.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&emc=eta1

Yoga by Donation in Honolulu!

Power Yoga Hawaii is turing into a donation based studio in January 2013.

This is going to be awesome. Check out their schedule/website: www.poweryogahawaii.com

A Mantra for Peace

"Asatoma sad gamaya.

Tamasoma jyotir gamaya. 

Mrityorma amritam gamaya" 

lead us from falsehood to truth. from darkness to light. 

from death to immortality.

This mantra is from the Upanishads. Chanting it diminishes negative thought patterns, helps to seek out truth, and brings an understanding of what is real.

Is 2013 your year to become a Yoga Teacher? This was the first official training I did in the summer of 2009, and it catapulted me on to the yoga teacher path I am now on. Nadia is a wonderful teacher and mentor. Her knowledge of yoga is vast and she is a true living example of REAL YOGA. She allows yoga to be fun and playful while maintaining its traditional purpose and values. Not only does this training deepen your knowledge and practice of yoga, but it allows you to connect with the natural beauty of Maui. Nadia loves waterfalls and beach days. Yoga is all over Maui, and Maui Yoga Shala is its epicenter. Maui Yoga Shala not only has Nadia but also Sammy Seriani, Karin Kuhn, and other inspiring teachers to learn from. I practiced with Sammy while I was in TT and her class is still one of the ones I try to make it to when on Maui. The vibe at Maui Yoga Shala is one of pure yoga and pure love. It's a perfect place to begin your path as a yoga teacher. Check out www.maui-yoga.com for more info. 

Yoga at the RNC & DNC

Off The Mat Into The World set up a "Yoga Oasis" sponsored by the Huffington Post at the RNC & DNC... to change structure you have infiltrate structure.

This article: http://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/09/off-the-mat-into-the-fray-yoga-at-the-rnc-dnc-marianne-elliott/  raises a few good points....

1)  "Awareness, connection and participation are core elements of yoga and that they can also be core elements of how we organize ourselves as democratic societies."

2) Yoga & Politics? Silly. Go out and make a difference, do something. 

Yes, true, but with the $40k OTM received for their participation at the conventions they were able to find projects such as The Empowered Youth Initiative. 

3) Just like politicians would need to understand the deeply profound science of yoga, yoga needs to understand the deeply institutionalized structure and science of politics. 

Can Yoga help if it doesn't understand? No. 

4) Is there hope for politicians to learn from the ethics of Yoga and voters to evaluate politicians more ethically? Are we so deep into our system that there is no way to create change and incorporate mindfulness? Or do the people in charge just need to jump on the path of yoga and meditation, find inner peace, and then better our world? Is it even that easy. I'm still trying to figure this one out. 

5) Yoga of Service is different than the Yoga of Action. 

Yoga is...

Yoga is the intentional calming of all the binding, Self-limiting attachments of the citta (mind), which is our deepest place inside the consciousness. It is not the attachment to the practice of Yoga or the desire for liberation that brings progress on Yoga path. Instead, it is from detachment and uninterest we progress in Yoga. Yoga is complete freedom. When the citta becomes free enough and the true self is realized, then we live in Yoga.