Category: Beautiful People

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Sharon Gannon is coming!

Who is Sharon Gannon? She is the co-founder of Jivamukti Yoga Studio and School in New York. I had been drawn to their practice in the past and have really enjoyed some of the classes taught by Jivamukti teachers. I especially enjoyed classes taught by Giselle Mari who teaches in San Francisco-Silicon Valley- Bay Area. Her cues are perfect, her playlist is joyful… but unfortunately, having developed this weird vertigo in recent years, I have been shy about going back out of fear of inversions – lately, any highly flowy or faster paced classes make my head swirl and whirl… and who needs a spinning class rather than yoga, when your head is indeed spinning enough – apparently too much fluid in my ear – triggered by air travels, high sodium diet (no more soy sauce on sushi, et al), inordinate stress. Yet for the rest of us, that is, for anyone in good health, I highly recommend her class for the pure joy, sunny positive energy, that exuberance she brings with her charisma, intelligence and kindness.

Her mentor, Sharon Gannon’s book on Vegan Cooking is hot off the press and to promote it, Sharon Gannon, herself is coming to San Francisco for a book signing engagement. While I understand that the book signing and practice on October 18th is sold out; because it’s sold out, there may be a session added on Sunday, so don’t give up hope:) What a treat:)as I have heard about her and seen her on videos but have never directly had the chance to take a class from her – figuring Giselle channels her beautifully; but I love cooking (Eating more so) and have been exploring Macrobiotics cooking from some of the finest local Japanese teachers (Fumi Arao-sensei, Fumi-sensei, Shinobeau-sensei) and Yukie Kawase-sensei, Japanese Vegan cooking from up and coming Rising Star, Ryoya-sensei, I am so ready to study her book and give her recipes a try!!! If I can’t go all out for the asana practice due to my head swhirling with dizzy spells – makes for an interesting psychedelic-ish practice – I am going to definitely give these recipes a try as soon as I get my hands on this much talked about book next Saturday:) SO exciting. What kind of non-vegan gets so excited about a vegan cook book? An aspiring or just an admiring one iThink.

sharonshrink

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Beautiful People Beautiful Places Beautiful Rituals Yoga

Recalling the majestic … Mt. Shasta…
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My apologies. I said tomorrow night is New Moon at tonight’s class. Like one of those people with a jet lag, I was a bit off – New Moon evening is TONIGHT (or more like tomorrow morning) not tomorrow night! I was looking at my Japanese lunar calendar but realizing now that Japan’s time zone is almost a day ahead (i.e., 18 hours to be exact) so it’s tonight. No worries though, even if you set your intention tomorrow night, I learned that it’s better within 24 hours AFTER rather than before – doing something like setting an intention before its time is apparently too desperate. It is the law of Universe that if you chase too much, if are too needy and grasping and attached to the idea of getting and possessing, you will not catch “it”, hold “it” or realize “it”.

Key words for New Moon is … seeds, detox, fresh new start, ending and a beginning, a new beginning in the cycle, intuition.

Great time to review a Bija mantra – or what’s known as seed mantras.

First of all for some of us – What is a Mantra anyway? A sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered “transformative”. The Sanskrit word mantra consists of the root ‘man’- “to think” (also in manas “mind”) and the suffix, ‘tra’ meaning “instruments” or “tools” … So a literal translation would be “instrument of thought” encapsulated into a phonetic phrase or sounds.

Then, what is “Bija” Mantra? Bija means seed. A seed is the origin of life where growth is founded on. “The Bija mantras are one-syllable seed sounds that, when said aloud, activate the energy of growth in the chakras. That sound travels to purify the mind & body. When bija mantras are used, you resonate with the energy of the associated chakra that Bija strums. Bija mantra, strikes a chord of that specific chakra region.

What is a chakra? In Sanskrit, chakra translates into “wheel”. These “wheels” can be thought of as vortexes that both receive & radiate energy. There are 7 major energy centers (aka chakras) in the human body. They run from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. Mind and body balance & mental clarity is determined by how open or unobstructed chakras are to let the flow of prana travel, filtering the energy, nourishing the body and mind – prana flow. Just like “energy” cannot be seen, chakras cannot be seen – its in the astral body energy flows (or the case may be, stagnates or dissipates).

In traditional Hatha Yoga, the 7 bija mantras associated with the chakras are:

“LAM”- chakra 1 (root)
“VAM”- chakra 2 (sacral/navel)
“RAM”- chakra 3 (solar plexus)
“YAM”- chakra 4 (heart)
“HAM”- chakra 5 (throat)
“U” (as in “U”ber) chakra 6 (third eye/brow)
“OM”- chakra 7 (crown)

Chanting or recitation of the bija mantra associated with each energy storehouse can allow you to detox the built up impurities that may be blocking the clear flow of prana. There are methods in chakra cleansing which greatly improves your meditation practice. Combining body scan, visualizing the kundalini rising up the spine, stopping at each chakra… reciting bija mantras… is an exquisite cleansing practice when we are in the darkness of a New Moon. Start the practice with intention setting. Try it – or we can try in our class as done of group, energy felt is…something else.

Happy New Moon… May all your intentions, allow you to sow the seeds of hope and affirmations. All it takes for the seeds to grow and sprout is… FAITH:)

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Beautiful People Yoga

BKS Iyengar

(Dec. 14, 1918 – Aug 20, 2014)
Biggest news in the yoga community – B.K.S. Iyengar, 95 year old legendary yoga master passed away today.

We lost a giant…Luckily, there are so many of his students teaching around the world – like my teachers Judith H. Lasater and …there are many…as his brand of yoga spread around the world to some 70 countries. He made yoga accessable to all – sickly and weak with many physical ailments Iyengar suffered many challenges from an early age, but the turning point came when Iyengar trained under a renowned yoga guru as a teen. He, then over 4-5 years, healed himself through the dedicated practice of yoga. Not only did he heal himself to ultimate vitality of health and fitness but he went beyond to become strong and masterful. Having started from a very weak and sickly state, using yoga as a therapy, he is all about customizing the practice, individualizing the sequence according to each unique student’s needs – in a way, he was that old fashioned doctor who prescribed doze of yoga for each ailment that plagued the suffering student – headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, mental fuzziness, aches and pains… the list goes on. His entry and introduction to yoga came from a slightly motivation than his contemporary, K. Pattabhi Jois (July 26, 1915 – May 18, 2009), another legend who spread the Ashtanga style of yoga in the West. It’s all good, whether focused on vinyasa or flowing movement or precision & alignment in poses that are held.

“ Illuminated emancipation, freedom, unalloyed and untainted bliss await you, but you have to choose to embark on the Inward Journey to discover it.”

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It was reported that he continued to practice as much as he could remarking, “practice is my feast” and apparently still able to do the sirsasana – or the headstand – for half an hour until last year. It is also reported that he used around 50 props! (Yes, there are ways to do inversions without ruining your cervical spine and still get all the anti-aging, gravity defying benefits.)

On his website, this gem – he lived a full life of service – may he rest in peace:

I always tell people “live happily and die majestically.”

Thank you BKS Iyengar – your book, Light on Yoga (one of the textbooks used in my teacher training), shed so much light. It will remain a go-to textbook for anyone studying yoga forever. Whatever “style” you practice, he’s all about the foundation – grounded and yet uplifting, whether he’s defying gravity or not. He knew all about lavitation and floatation … now he’s truly liberated and up above in the sky, probably smiling and laughing, having a time of his life as life is eternal post death.
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BKS Iyengar (himself comes from family of 12 kids!)and his wife Ramamani, together had 6 children(!) even though they were struggling financially and life was not easy for the couple…
In the Big Apple, on Wall Street… truly shows that today yoga is not some exotic esoteric Eastern practice but an inclusive practice, embraced by all people, beyond religious divide or fixation on Eastern or Hindu roots – Iyengar contributed a lot to bring about that acceptance of yoga for modern life, for anybody and everybody. As Mind & Body connection is made, East – West connection is made – it’s separate and different but at the same time, oneness and wholeness prevails when we transcend that duality.

Child rearing can be challenging – Family Yoga available at Trinity on Wall Street – how about that? Christian church offering yoga practice to bring people together, strengthen ties and turn up the …JOY:) Pure Joy – it’s all good – Nice!