Month: March 2018

Accompanied Crystal Bowl shopping …

Post author By Kay T. Ananda
Post date March 28, 2018

There are only few dealers of high quality crystal bowls in California – one in LA and another … here at Mt. Shasta. So thrilled to witness a true artist/musician finding the right sound … to add to her repertoire and provide greater range of ethereal sounds… Her strumming is so … breathtakingly beautiful.

Feeling honored to witness all these spiritual manifestations … Ms Naoe Amano is an accomplished musician, sharing her gift as a pianist, vocalist, crystal bowl player and a composer. She has released 2 CDs so far and she came all the way from Japan to perform her crystal bowls sound baths at Mt Shasta’s private label brand gathering. (Then she is off to 3-4 other cities on the Northwest to perform). I was amazed she brought her own 4-5 very crystal bowls as carry on luggage. So precious they never left her sight. They are very fragile and just one little crack could ruin the sound quality so … it’s a labor of love to travel with them in tow … She said she had to leave behind as many as she brought since she was limited on how many she can lug over on an international flight.

She is so adorable with her sweet smiles and gentle laughs; quite delicate in appearance but you can tell that at the core, she is strong and … passionate about her music – Unphased by a jet lag or a long drive, here she is considering yet another addition to her crystal bowl collection. Luckily this shop had someone named Scott who can really speak her language (and I don’t mean Japanese- language of sounds and music 🎵 is an international language!), she even carried in her 4-5 bowls from our van to show him what she felt was amiss to explain what she was seeking to add. She wanted certain key/scale that balanced out the ensemble.

These alchemist bowls creates such magical enticing sounds, how can she resist getting yet another:)

I can’t wait to find out what she creates next with her range of sounds so expanded !

Healthy Living

To Know Our Needs

Post author By Kay T. Ananda
Post date March 23, 2018

Yoga is the Journey of the Self through the Self

to the Self – The Bhagavad Gita

This quote was on the cover of a graduation gift from Tianna Meriage-Reiter, one of our esteemed teachers from Niroga Institute’s advance yoga therapist training. Tianna is well versed in physiology and anatomy as a physical therapist but … what sets her apart is her understanding of our needs.

Please revisit this post from my first year yoga therapist training HERE:)

One of the most valuable learning we did during our 2-year Yoga Therapist training was not only the top-down from a dozen+ esteemed master teachers, but even more essential was the deep learning we did through each other, being that each of us brought our yoga experience (some very seasoned teachers with extensive experience!:), life experience and skill-set to share at the circle. Every month we had a yoga philosophy reading and a write up on that reading; then we also had the practical homework of designing a sequence with justifications and insights based on what we learned the preceding month which we shared and took turn leading a class of presenting a case and/or research. The critiquing by self and from others were unforgiving and could say, harsh, but helpful. It was not the 200 hrs. TT where we just said nice things to each other for we did not want to judge, criticize in any way – but just be liked. Uh uh, not here – the critiquing, while very tactful and kindly delivered, it was sometimes a bit harsh BUT we learned from it. A lot:) Then we learned from each other – there were several cohorts who excelled in writing and somewhere in their essays, there was reference to just that – the title above. She believed that a certain style of yoga was not what she needed and it turned out … much to the contrary, the yoga style she thought she did not need was ultimately the practice the guru prescribed and she needed the most. Like the harshest critic, that practice you avoid because, let’s face it, you are not “good” at it – that, in fact, was what she needed the most. That conclusion she arrived at after deep and unflinching self-study where the guru is the dispeller of darkness.

Enjoyed subbing tonight’s restorative class. Had a break from teaching weekly restorative class for couple of years and … by returning to teach it by fluke, I realized how much I owed my healing to that particular practice. I had been blessed with such knowledgeable teacher (Judith Hanson Lasater) and I am filled with gratitude that the teacher appeared when I needed that teaching. Release of endorphins through a sweaty practice is beneficial – maybe you feel you are burning calories by sweating but … after the bliss, what if you are drained and depleted even more? In fact, a scientific studies have shown that reduced cortisol level leads to most effective weight loss if that is your intention for your yoga and exercise program … not merely mindlessly running the treadmill watching yet another screen. The bitter the medicine the most effective a guru knows and she also knows nothing wrong with that elixir of bliss – so – take the medicine and the elixir – BOTH.

Anyway, I mix-&-match my yoga practice and that blended style works for me. What about you? Are you intentional in manifesting the desires and needs we have to connect with our higher selves?

Whether you are a runner, dancer, spinner/cyclists … any athletic endeavors – any sports you are passionate about – you will be better at it if you incorporate yoga in the training or the warm up or in recovery. The healing comes with more ease and speed. Namaste:)