It’s a bit like trekking up these steps … it gets steeper and steeper – my training program.
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The 500/800 hrs. program and the coursework is getting more and more demanding as expected. SO what am I doing blogging? Get to work – finish your homework; work on the project; go assist; go out and spread this goodness ! Hearing my inner voice but I come here to gain perspective and pin down my wondering mind. The program started out with …
Yoga History & Philosophy – some review – yes, sure we covered this in 200 hrs. but that was a very broad brush strokes of an outline. This subject can go on and on – but the core “essence”, we can come to know better. Of course I am nowhere near full understanding even after reading books after books + … you can probably read and study for a lifetime but again, this is ENOUGH. More than enough at this point in my life. Let’s experience it by doing …practicing.
The program is very methodical, reflected in the gradual progression in our course materials.
Ayurveda and Yoga
Foundation laid, we proceed to:
Skeletal System
Muscular System
and … this weekend is the Respiratory System
then next month is Cardiovascular system … then Endocrine System … Nervous System … Immune System … Digestive system … it’s a vast universe within the Cosmos, us humans … and so the journey inward continues.
The program is so so so about service while we engage in learning. Ultimately, it seems to be about healing through promoting
inter-connectedness … what we do when we are off the mat.
It can simply mean, being kind and loving. To recognize our capacity to give love and receive love. We can’t ask this from others if we haven’t ourselves.
It’s always a work in progress, isn’t it? There are small sense of milestones and completions as we take baby steps and sometimes a leap – each time pausing and celebrating small nano-transformation with gratitude. Sometimes, it flows though … swells into a big wave, gathering and collecting strength … then crashing onto this beach with a cryptic message drawn on the sand. The big wave wipes away the past and its residues – samskara – that no longer serves us. We then see our true reflection unencumbered and fresh, glistening in the light, from our shadow. It’s liberating.
By a family chef who shall remain nameless but … want to try baking myself. Loads of BUTTER. I have taken a few macrobiotics and vegan cooking lessons but Akiko-sensei’s words are stuck in my head. She passed away with invasive cancer but perhaps the last 10 years, she was apparently on mostly vegan diet. She said she had already consumed tons of mercury laden tuna in her youthful days and that she had her fill of meat and so no longer felt like a sacrifice to give them up. YET. I remember at her class she would wistfully say … unfortunately, there just is no substitute for … BUTTER. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is just fine. How about coconut oil. It’s a good thing to be able to think about different ways – Gratitude for the choices.
