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 Rituals Yoga

Why do I love yoga?

When I first came to this country I became very homesick for something you may not guess.  Of course while I missed the familiar warmth of grandparents, relatives and friends – and yes, let’s not forget the refined aesthetically pleasing food… all that yes… BUT what I missed the most may have been something I feel relatively new societies with little history (2-3 hundred years vs. 4-5 thousand years…) seem to lack entirely…

What is it?

Rituals… I love rituals…rituals are what makes this life … meaningful as we trip and fall over in our efforts to find our Dharma.

It’s not only food and water that nourishes us.  We nourish ourselves one slow yogic breath at a time – one replenishing ritual at a time in recognizing the miracle in the ordinary. Small rituals are the medicine prescribed by the divine.

Rituals allow us to find what’s authentic…as I pursue my home away from home through the practice of … rituals.  Incorporate it in your everyday.  Rituals are centering… grounding… and… healing.  As I see it, many of us are TOO independent and TOO alone and self-absorbed. (someone said, to be alone may be a choice we seek but “to be lonely” is … what? )

Yeah, sure, you can just do restorative yoga at home. You can do any yoga at home alone. You don’t need a teacher nor a guide – just find a “teacher” for the moment on the internet… buy a manual, a book that explains all… BUT did you know we are wired to be tribal?  While I have my home practice of yoga and there’s enough DVDs and YogaGlow recordings… I never have to step into a room full of humans again to practice yoga; and yet,  I crave the rituals shared in a community of yoga students… that’s when it gets powerful. One singular intention is just that, one; but multiple intentions of many – a group intention is so big and powerful.  That’s why when people say they have a home practice (me too – been a recluse by choice), I wonder – have you been to a yoga studio lately?  There’s a certain communal energy that envelopes us there to bring about what’s authentic is us all.

Tribal energy is greater than a single independent energy… Native Americans knew this.

Message to Mankind from a Hopi Elder (picked up during my trip to Grand Canyon) :

“You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour. Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour. And there are things to be considered….

Where are you living?

What are you doing?

What are your relationships?

Are you in right relation?

Where is your water?

Know your garden.

It is time to speak your truth.

Create your community.

Be good to each other.

And do not look outside yourself for your leader.”

Then it is said that he smiled, and went on, “This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now, very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and suffer greatly.

Know that the river has its destination. The elders say we must push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and our heads above the water.

See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history we are to take nothing personally least of all ourselves, for the moment we do that, our spiritual growth comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over.

Gather yourselves; banish the word ‘struggle’ from your attitude and vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred way and in celebration.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

-Hopi Elder, Hopi Nation, Oraibi, Arizona

While this may have been a call to “his” people, many took it as a call to all – to mankind. The messiah we seek is within us, among us… and it is comforting to know that truth.

 

Categories
Beautiful Rituals Yoga

Styles of Yoga… pick and choose…

Mix and Match … I know, I know, it’s not a wardrobe but the practice can be customized for your unique needs.  The Heart of Yoga – Developing a Personal Practice by T.K.V. Desikachar (son of Sri Krishnamachaya)… upon opening the book, this quote:  “I dedicate The Heart of Yoga to J. Krishnamurthi, who taught me how to be a good yoga student.”

***                              ***                                ***

Restorative yoga is about being compassionate to yourself so that you can be compassionate towards others.  In treating yourself in loving manner and by defogging your inner lenses with tender sweep of loving soft silken breath, you wipe away layers of  – whatever that does not serve you –  accumulated over time …

During the practice, as you take the time to look into your inner landscape, you will learn to see yourself clearly as that shining bright self that you really are.  Your essence will reveal itself through this mindful practice.

I find it to be a practice to refresh and awaken the mind while allowing the body to rest in yoga poses designed to provide certain energetic effects.  All categories of asanas are practiced –  backbends, forward bends, side bends, twists and inversions  — in a completely receptive manner through the support of bolsters, blankets, straps, blocks … as the props allows the muscles (where most tensions are held) to fully release.  We are unaware sometimes of how much tension we hold within our muscles… that unease of tightness, soreness… even pain.  Sometimes it’s in a knot; tight and unforgiving… Full release comes only when you are guided to invite it  – I see my role as that “guide” on such a journey.  Each pose is held from 5-20 minutes giving the body ample time to unwind and move into the parasympathetic nervous system leading to an experience of healing rest.  Did you know that our body can be in the state of sympathetic nervous system in a matter of fraction of a second; while getting to the parasympathetic system will take well over 10 minutes (for some, more)?  Yes, from cavemen days, we were designed to respond instantly  in  “fight & flight”  to what our body perceives as threats for survival.  In stark contrast, our relaxation response takes a bit of coaxing as we are wired to reject feelings of vulnerability, equating that feeling to state of insecurity and thus, risks of danger.  It is, however, during relaxation that our body works at its peak efficiency to strengthen and heal from within…

So when we are by design tend to be more in the sympathetic mode, we have to make a concerted effort to tend to the parasympathetic nervous system or else, over time, it’s inevitable that our nervous system will become out of balance.  In mass, resulting in a whole healthcare crisis with ailments starting even as early as in our teen years dealing with chronic stress, hypertension, hypotension, heart problems, and respiratory issues where emotional toll may also play a role … all this modern day suffering we may not have had when we were too busy toiling away on the fields for our next meal and fighting off tigers and bears so that we can see our children grow and thrive.

How often do you give yourself the gift to be away from the normal activity and focus on integrating  the body and the mind ? By re-migrating the energies of the body — air/breath, fluids/blood, solids/internal organs — through specific pathways, restorative yoga creates a deep sense of relaxation and rejuvenation.  Well designed sequences of restorative poses are each designed for a specific energetic result and complements your active practices, so that you can exercise more effectively.  Indeed, among many benefits, you can treat it as a RESET button for your muscles (physical/mental and emotional), so that it can be again turned ON to take you through the day to day with more zest – Joie de Vivre! –  To reap the benefits, “You” just have to get out of the way as my teacher would say. You don’t have to hold onto things you don’t need.  It’s nice to have active daytime sweaty yoga practices; then at the end the day, ease into graceful flow or yin and restorative… Pick and choose to match your needs.  Then it becomes a ritual. It’s ALL GOOD!

Categories
Beautiful People Beautiful Places Beautiful Rituals Healthy Food Healthy Living

Visited Rainbow Grocery after the Shojin cooking session in San Francisco.  Of course bought sesame seeds so that I can grind some sesame myself at home… have been using my Cuisinart to make Tahini sauce and pesto sauce but I am now ready to at times, embrace the inconvenience of slow foods as to quote from Kyoto Journal’s interview with the famed Chef Toshio Tanahashi to the question,

“Shojin cuisine does not strictly equate to vegetarianism. How are they different?”

Chef Tanahashi answeres:  “Shojin abides by Buddhism’s Five Prohibitions, the first of which is “don’t kill.” However, one of the most important teachings of Buddha is also to accept all suffering and pleasure with equanimity. The same is applied at the dinner table. Buddhists should receive all food that is offered, and not distinguish between meat and vegetables. So, Buddhists are in fact permitted to eat meat in certain cases. Out of choice, however, Shojin cuisine only uses vegetables. Shojin cooking may seem limiting, but actually it is very liberating. Convenience will destroy humanity. Inconvenience leads to freedom.”

So in search of that “freedom”, I might sometimes forego Cuisinart as I hear him saying “mottainai” – what a waste – in his opinion, we lose a little life, that is, small pleasures inbedded in our ordinary daily life.  What he illuminates by this comment is that there is this perfect opportunity to “experience” a precious moment, a ritual… yet, mindlessly,  you are bypassing that opportunity by the short-cut in using a modern appliance. Need not go to any temples, shrines or monasteries to find the Zen in the ordinary… in the kitchen, on the floor…To him, it’s a chance to strengthen your core with your abdominal breathing, a chance to meditate and be at present with the experience as aroma of sesame wafts through the air you breathe.  Indeed, I experienced Pranayama, Meditation and Aromatherapy all at once!  Who would have thought grinding sesame in the special mortar* and pestle** to be so Zen.  The labor of love then makes for  the gastronomic bliss…of tasting the painstakingly prepared foods for the divine.

*Mortar – It is a ceramic bowl with very narrow – 1-2mm grooves in them for grinding small seeds like sesame.

** Pestle – in this case was special wooden one made from Sansho wood. Sansho, Japanese pepper is from Japanese prickly ash, or Zanthoxylum piperitum tree… Chef Tanahashi explained that from Ancient times it was known that this wood has properties to kill poisons, and along with salt and vinegar, was used to prevent food poisoning, etc. back when refrigeration was unavailable.   So while grinding, very very fine wood oil will seep into the sesame to make the process even more beneficial.  Unlike the regular ones at home, this wooden pestle was quite big… very solid in your hands but light enough to allow continuous grinding in circular motions possible – it’s quite a trance!

Hope he will make these tools available in US as well… or we will be looking into finding a local tree that may serve as a good substitute.  Any ideas anyone? Oh, no, as tree huggers, perhaps we shouldn’t be chopping down trees?  Only if we could replace that tree with baby trees … Having said that there’s lots of fire wood on sale on our street as our neighbor just cut down a giant tree from their back yard… sigh… Mottainai?

In reality, his way of time consuming cooking may only possible in monk’s world or as for that matter a nun’s… but to bring it into today’s context with so much yearning for the mindful, meditative, peaceful way of life, we can at least have the tools to create that or teach our kids the beauty that lies in simple pleasures of the ordinary everyday.  Why do we always need to be entertained ?  It’s yoga in the true sense.

It’s a cliche nowadays but yoga is how you live off the mat… at present, listening to the inner wisdom so what’s truly within us can shine bright.  Such teaching resonates with the kind of teaching Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D. shares in her precious book filled with yogic wisdom:  Living Your Yoga – Finding the Spiritual in Everyday.