More book recommendations …
Here’s one – a life long practitioner … nothing like doing a Surya Namaskar to his chanting of the Sutras. You realize then that it’s about the entirety of lifetime of dedication, everyday, honoring of your body and mind at one’s own temple alter where movements synchronize to your breath. It’s such a buzz to hear the mantra as we move … each sound strikes a chord; it’s a rush.
Not only to have the Sutras – Vedas verses memorized, but to chant them along with breath regulation moving through one Asana to next sequence … is no easy feat – a masterful and daily practice is reflected. Amazing feeling when your mind is crystal clear, blood veins and arteries flowing as they should, there’s this alertness and clarity but there’s calmness. It’s how we wish to feel every single moment – fully ALIVE & AWAKE 🙂
“Asana practice should ultimately lead to the ability to be seated for a long time, so you can do pranayama and meditation, and so the body is not a source of distraction. Meditation cannot be done without proper preparation.” – so true … unless of course, the asana practice also weaves in a degree of “light” version meditation …i.e., my Yin/Yang fusion practice. When time for self-care is scarce and limited, efficient and practical means to do all three – anasa, pranayama, meditation – in one session – a way to compensate that’s only effective if you string together each class, as though a peal bead, one after another into a beautiful long strand of a well rounded personal practice. It’s kind of like those acupuncture sessions – one time does nothing – we have to repeat over and over and relatively SAME so that there’s a way of noticing any changes in one’s body and mind. If the sequences kept changing weekly, then, there’s no way to notice any subtle changes for the bettter.
Sir Srivatsa Ramaswami used to teach 200hrs TT but now he only offers 100 hrs. Few years ago, had a weeklong workshop series having the 200 hrs already- as just continuing education I had the honor of attending.
Today wishing to learn direct again from this master teacher – while he’s still able. He’s a very humble man – 80 years old teaching teachers. It’s so ridiculous that he’s just 500 hrs. experienced yoga teacher ? He’t too modest – how about maybe thousands of lifelong hours … his experience and training is beyond these current 200 hrs. 500 hrs. stuff – he’s above and beyond – how about Teacher Emeritus status – it’s just so ridiculous that he should even be in the same category …as me ( right?) in the directory – and I guess that’s why some teachers find Yoga Alliance to be irrelevant. Can you believe it? Srivatsa Ramaswami is like a PhD professor of yoga and … he’s e-500 hrs.? It’s ludicrous … It’s like bestowing? BKS Iyengar that he’s e-500 hrs. certified … it’s like a joke. It’s a joke when yoga teacher’s organization promoting yoga teacher’s training and education is unable to recognize the Master Teachers as a class of their own … a teacher who publishes a book that can be considered a textbook is … just 500 hrs. – ah… for Sir Srivatsa Ramaswami, simple math tells me at least 20-30,000 hours. It’s a crazy world we live in where marketing and promotion is so part of this commercialization of yoga. And true yogis, really don’t care – they all show up to his workshops and seminars as we know – We know who’s real vs an impostor …guess, that’s what counts – those who care to receive his gifts, the lineage to somehow be passed on will …show up. For the discerning practitioner, we know who the real teachers are and we seek them out.
An authentic teacher, with so much knowledge to be teaching yoga at a University but still willing to travel to humbly pass on what he learned from over 30 years under the father of modern yoga (i.e., Master teacher to BKS Iyengar & P. Jois, both), the legendary Krishnamarcharya.
“In Hindu philosophy, life is determined by the number of breaths you take. If you slow the breath down, you live longer,” per Ramaswami … and interestingly, modern science has proven that basic yoga principal to be true. That is, if you manage your stress through various yoga techniques, including all 8 limbs of yoga, then, it’s no longer anecdotal but true evidence based science. To get out of the fight, fright, freeze modes to really value balance – the importance of balance in our nervous system and to that end, the power of breath is … all.
