Author: Kay T. Ananda

Yoga brings Joy!
Joy to your body, heart, soul and allows your mind to settle all the debris to the bottom of the lake, ripples gently subsides so that like that shining water, your lake in your mind is still and crystal clear. Only then, you can find your truth... when your mind clears and all distractions are gone, leaving you - stillness and clarity. Peace.
Dog is doing yoga all the time and brings you laughs!
Anger is borne out of fear; how do we find that fearless path of inner peace?
Why Bark when you can Wag to express your JOY Joy joy !!!???
無心でしっぽをふる喜びを表すあの子犬のようなJOYを糧に無理ない、各自のコンデイションに寄り添いながらもチャレンジ精神をとりかえす…そんなヨーガを：）
全米ヨガアライアンス公認ヨガ講師養成コース修了、リストラティブヨガ指導者認定登録、アメリカRYT500登録インストラクター、800hrsヨガセラピーIAYT今現在一瞬ThisMoment&NOWをCELEBRATEするカリフォルニア＊ライフ！

帰国子女としてニューヨーク、テヘラン、カリフォルニアと転々、いずれ東京に帰る意識で日本語高等部卒大卒後シリコンバレーにとどまる。ヨガはカリフォルニア州立、バークレー大学時代、ストレス解消に効くと教授に教わり試してみるが... 合わずジャズサイズ、ウェイトトレーニング、エアロビックスのクラスに移転の２０代、３０代、産後、過労で体調を崩し大病も治癒。死ぬかと思った～大病後、久しぶりに足を踏み入れたヨガスタジオのヨガが大学時代のスローでポーズごと器械体操ごとく、つまらなーいヨガとはまったく違い進化していた。流れる踊りの振り付け的なヨガに魅せられる。数々の流派があることを習い、数種類のスタイルを試す。ビクラム、ホット、アイヤンガー、ヴィンヤサ、アシュタンガ・パワー、などなど。数年前サンフランシスコにて、ヨガアライアンス認定インストラクター養成を経て、インストラクター証書習得。同じ年にキッズヨガインストラクター証書ゲット。リストラテイブヨガ、インストラクター認定、陰ヨガのインターン、アシスト後、陰とヴィンヤサ、レギュラーハタクラスを教える。又プライベート、セミプライベートレッスンをクライアントのニーズの合わせ、ヨガセラピストとしてセラピー集中ヨガ提供。その為に２年間のアドバンスコースに挑みｃ－IAYT証書習得！ヨガ療法士としてIAYT(国際ヨガセラピスト協会）認定のヨガセラピスト、C-IAYT(Certified-IAYT) １０年以上、ベイクラブ、ヨガスタジオ、シリコンバレー社などで子育て中週４－５回レギュラーレッスンの講師を務める。３月２０２０にあの頃は最後とは知らずの週２教えていたスタジオにてのインパーソンヨガクラスを後に…遠方介護ニーズとコロナ禍を機に当分はパブリッククラスリードからはリタイア。
自分自身が心と体の調和で得た平穏…日常の小ちゃな事に見出す喜びをヨガ愛好者のどなたとでもと共有できたらと願うばかり。ジョイを共有し、ジョイフルライフを。そう、もし犬に例えるのであれば、恐れや威嚇で吠えまくる犬ではなく、シッポふりふり笑顔で愛と喜びに満ちた心持をヨガを通しシャア。恥じる気持ち等恐れず誰でもできる自身ジョイフルヨガを肝に銘じりたい。LOVE LOVE LOVE:）Shanti Shanti Shanti:)

Categories
Beautiful People Beautiful Places Beautiful Rituals Healthy Food Yoga

Happy Easter:)

Tonight, for our class, I read a passage which was also featured in my blog awhile back when I was upset over the hospitalization of Thich Nhat Hanh. Then later tonight, timely for it it Easter holiday, I did catch the last 30 minutes of that Japanese documentary of faith in Nepal that I referred to yesterday. It was a very on-hand, on-sight gritty* look at how people deal with human-ness in Nepal – believing in resurrection, Renewal, Resurgence … prayers of Hope and Faith play a large part in the day to day living there – it was about something universal, whether Buddhist, Hindu, Christian – whatever the faith, whatever we believe, it’s that innocence and purity of being able to BELIEVE – that’s probably what sets us, humans, apart from other species of life on this earth… Our ability to “believe” in something and find what’s sacred… and take solace from suffering. So once again, sharing when I get attached to the idea of sadness in saying “good bye”s. I hate saying good byes and not being able to see someone anymore so …sharing the sentiment again:

“This body is not me; I am not caught in this body, I am life without boundaries, I have never been born and I have never died. Over there the wide ocean and the sky with many galaxies All manifests from the basis of consciousness. Since beginningless (stuttering…) time I have always been free. Birth and death are only a door through which we go in and out. Birth and death are only a game of hide-and-seek.

So smile to me and take my hand and wave good-bye. Tomorrow we shall meet again or even before. We shall always be meeting again at the true source, Always meeting again on the myriad paths of life.”

― Thích Nhất Hạnh, No Death, No Fear – Believe this to be true:)
ox

With under-aged little people, so just passing by to get to Cheese Board…
Making a lot of detours …because we are lucky:)
sm_IMG_6318A solution for the California drought problem – I love Berkeley:)
sm_IMG_6322A bubble bath?! ha ha ha – it’s the tub:)
sm_IMG_6324What’s on the outside can be deceiving… step in.
sm_IMG_6323This is what you see… inside the building … No, it’s not Napa, it’s Berkeley for you.
sm_IMG_6314It’s the best pizza I ever had…freshest pesto – flavors are just so SO vibrant!sm_IMG_6313This area is called Goumet Ghetto for a reason… sm_IMG_6312Gourmet Ghetto street scene during lunch with yoga-mat slinging passer-by…wish I had brought mine… I have to get my “yoga” in or …iUNHAPPY…
sm_IMG_6311a lively band playing inside and right outside alfresco dining on the street.We were actually seated right in front of the drummer on that bench but scooted out to take this photo during their breaksm_IMG_6317But actually my favorite is this hole in the wall Juice Bar from the 70’s(!) where line forms for their vegetarian scrumptious lunch that reminds me of Wolf House Coop kitchen manager days… loved cooking for some 30 people back then – don’t know how I did it. Guess anything is possible if you have a commercial kitchen. Was a good training ground to deal with any kind of chaos? Then run over to Shattuck YMCA for yoga…to find the nature of the beast…sm_IMG_6330Polenta with black beans and salsa option for vegans, or with cheese otherwise. Reminds me of my college years whenever I drop in this area… Nostalgia:) Memories come flooding back – for me – through sights, sounds and … scents of … food. Ha ha. Um, so who was trying to lose 10lbs to get back to that college-days body mass ? It’s all plant based; no meat so there’s hope?
sm_IMG_6243Haahhh a big sigh … some day:)
sm_IMG_6245Beautiful wisteria blooming framing their menu… a bit in awe – birthplace of California cuisine.

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Beautiful People Beautiful Places Beautiful Rituals Uncategorized

Easter… and then…

It does not seem likely in the near future nor in my lifetime to get to Nepal – the Himalayas, so all the more finding this Japanese program fascinating. Here’s a clip from this documentary that airs tomorrow night on TV Japan. Click here.

This facebook page has a preview video of a documentary that aired in Japan last year …titled “Death and Eros in Nepal”… that would be the straight English translation. Even though it’s in Japanese, I think anyone can appreciate the visuals and be intrigued.

In fact, after it aired in Japan, one of the comments on Twitter was …
(さすがNHKBS、グルメも娯楽もない。) “Shout out to NHK (similar to NPR in Japan), no gourmet foods; no leisure travel entertainment but a sobering documentary…”
(ハードボイルドですね。) “so hard-boiled.”
as the documentary is a look at Birth, Death and Creation concept in the land of the Buddha. The travel guide in this documentary is an actress who later touches on the similarities and differences between Tibetan customs and Japanese customs as far as Buddhist worship (esp. in funeral customs) is concerned. When it comes to religion, Japanese practices Shinto at birth; Christian when getting married and Buddhist at death – a joke but… it’s a bit that way… probably weird from the perspective of Westerners who are steeped in Christian ideas of birth, and then you die and go to heaven, if you were good and hell, if you were bad during your lifetime.

By the way, there was no country called “India” while there was country called “Nepal” at the time when the Buddha was born. Turns out Buddha was born in a small kingdom called Kapilavastu, where his father was the king, which was situated on both sides of today’s Indian-Nepalese border. His actual birthplace, Lumbini, is today in Nepal. So birthplace of Buddha is Nepal … while Nepal is part of Indian subcontinent so guess you can say that he was born in India. Buddhist teachings spread mostly Eastward through the Chinese continent and then even to Japan … so it is noted in the documentary how there are many similarities shared in the practice BUT shocking rituals unthinkable　in today’s Japan …where there’s no clear dividing line between birth and death and the grieving for the dead is also a time of great celebration – that is something so distant in our modern life. The documentary reminds us how it used to be and how it really is: that celebration of new life is as valued as celebration for the grieving for the life parted…SA TA NA MA…It’s all a full circle into Oneness… interconnection we have sort of lost touch with as death is a taboo and scary subject best be avoided.

“Death is not the opposite of life but an innate part of it. By living our lives, we nurture death.”

― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

I might be accused of being morbid again… so here’s sharing of an upcoming birthday party we are invited to:) It’s Flowers-Festival – a celebration !
sm_IMG_6199 Buddha’s birthday coming up! Celebrated at a local Buddhist temple… Party time:)

What’s real; what’s an illusion?

Categories
Beautiful Rituals Healthy Activities

Full Moon & Lunar Eclipse

Golden Milk anyone? (use coconut, almond or soy milk & sweeten with honey if not vegan and with dates or Agave if vegan:) Here’s a nice blog with the recipe – not too different from mine… you can improvise a little but of course the key ingredient is the … turmeric.
sm_IMG_6343

Tonight … such beautiful full moon hanging so low, hinged to hover right above the skyline. Glowing like a big ball of a lamp lit to cast a shadow …In North America, the eclipse will begin at 3:16am tomorrow. Per NASA, it will only last for a little less than 5 minutes … happening before sunrise the morning of April 4th…(Per earthsky.org) Not sure if I could stay awake or rise that early…speculating the full eclipse would be more like 4-5am?
fullmoon
A full moon represents wholeness and empowers us with positive energy to overcome fears. It is said that the full moon is the time where we gather strength and courage in finding truth and fining life in its fullest expression. The divine truth becomes clearer as the moon’s light illuminates the darkest spaces and even brings into full view, what’s hidden in the dark crevices … the light brings into full view what had remained lurking, hidden, suppressed …and sometimes, that illumination can be disconcerting. Physically, mentally and spiritually, one is literally shown the “light” through the divine guidance. Full moon is said to represent the power of abundance, an offering of the universe … in all its glory.

When we feel the arrival of the full moon, it is said that our psyche undergoes a shift – often times, our emotions become volatile and one may experience mood swings; energetically, there may be a surge and bursts of stamina or feeling of wakefulness, to the point of feeling overwhelmed by such shift in your own intrinsic energy.

For the vigorous yoga style of Ashtanga, practioners traditionally refrain from practicing on the full moon day, calling it a day of rest. Yet for other styles, such as kundalini yoga practitioners, the practice is seen even more important and more needed on a full moon day. This kind of yoga helps us stay clear from the negative unstable effects and allows us to replenish ourselves with positive energy while staying grounded and calm. There’s a tradition of yogis who opt to cleanse the body and mind on the day the moon is full; detox practice, such as refraining from eating solids, helps sharpen our senses so that we can more deeply tune in to the sacred light of a full moon’s night – where all is illuminated, even what we do not want to see.

Turning to our yogic tools of meditation and lifestyle reassessment, we can use the full moon’s power to our benefit. Instead of relating on an emotional and chaotic level, we can devote ourselves to practice yoga more deeply through meditation… Some may also engage in making a dietary change… It can be simple as choosing one thing to cleanse yourself of; perhaps it is sugar, or salt, caffeine or nicotine …or maybe it is an emotion like anger and judgement. Whatever it maybe, taking the time to consciously eliminate what no longer serves you, you lighten your burden … empty … then allowing the universal abundance, the goodness to fill you up. Are you more grounded without the sugar? Less bloated without salt? Are you feeling more centered and breathing with more awareness and clarity? Does meditation help you uncover what’s toxic in your life?

Experience the gifts that a full moon brings; instead of dwelling in the negative or the past, dwell in our happiness found in the “now”, with a sense of gratitude we have for this life we were given. Realize, where your attention is directed towards, your prana (life force) flows. So let’s take a leap of faith and envision the darkness become the light and the light become the darkness, where the divide is no longer … where duality disappears and there’s just ONE … abundance … wholeness…we call truth or … love.

An herbalist shares this moon “medicine”:

Ingredients:

1TBS Edible Rose petals (fresh or dried)
1TBS Chamomile Flowers
1TBS Nettle leaf
Filtered water

Directions:

Fill the 32oz jar with filtered water about half way. Place all ingredients in the jar and if needed add more water until the jar id full. Close the lid. Place it under the full moon for the whole night. In the Morning strain and refrigerate up to 5 days. Drink either like hot cup of tea or cooled like lemonade:)

Or for those with compressed time, find a drink like this and place it under the full moon over night …(EASY:)
sm_IMG_6306 Reading about Ayurvedic healing (ironically in Japanese so the interpretation might be a bit different)… very interesting … a lot of commonality with what I grew up with …My mother was always doing herbs because she always suffered from a headache or a stomachache or … you name it, she had that ailment …acupuncture for this and that – that is Chinese medicine, however… every healing modalities seem to be adapted to the the culture and the people of that land… all good:) We are all earthlings:)
sm_IMG_6344sm_IMG_6345 detox time…cleansing.