1 month at the shala- $600
1 coconut- 10 rupees.
Being in Mysore with a good friend- Priceless.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Moments
1 month at the shala- $600
1 coconut- 10 rupees.
Being in Mysore with a good friend- Priceless.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Spring Cleaning
I've come back to Canmore into open arms and a loving community whom some of, I think, are the world's most super people. However, coming back from travelling still poses it's challenges.
Not so much the yearnings for the past, or for new experiences, but for noticing how quickly one falls back into old habits and patterns in a setting of familiarity. After studying yoga and philosophy in India for a few months I am even more aware of my patterns and relapses, which adds an extra challenge... a little more stickiness.
How does one go down, down into the rooms and chambers of the mind and sweep out all the eddies of dust? The lingering wisps of insecurity and the cobwebs of regret? Or the chambers of the heart even? Maybe one goes bravely. "Getting down to the ick..." as a dear friend calls it. We are convinced that we will have to enjoy that space. Put on the music and start cleaning.
Speaking of getting down to the ick, I have been feeling a close approximation to this in my physical practice lately. Inspired by Marci Naujokat to focus on eradicating bad habits in my body that I inadvertantly befriended in Mysore. This has made my practice a little more of a sobering experience for the last couple of weeks.
Yesterday, with a little help from a great teacher (and an even better friend) I stood alone in a posture that is incredibly difficult for me, a posture that I didn't see myself achieving for a few years, and for a moment I was free from doubt.
Maybe effort isn't pointless and the result of working and cleaning could be standing (extremely happily) alone.
(wink)
Don't give up.
Not so much the yearnings for the past, or for new experiences, but for noticing how quickly one falls back into old habits and patterns in a setting of familiarity. After studying yoga and philosophy in India for a few months I am even more aware of my patterns and relapses, which adds an extra challenge... a little more stickiness.
How does one go down, down into the rooms and chambers of the mind and sweep out all the eddies of dust? The lingering wisps of insecurity and the cobwebs of regret? Or the chambers of the heart even? Maybe one goes bravely. "Getting down to the ick..." as a dear friend calls it. We are convinced that we will have to enjoy that space. Put on the music and start cleaning.
Speaking of getting down to the ick, I have been feeling a close approximation to this in my physical practice lately. Inspired by Marci Naujokat to focus on eradicating bad habits in my body that I inadvertantly befriended in Mysore. This has made my practice a little more of a sobering experience for the last couple of weeks.
Yesterday, with a little help from a great teacher (and an even better friend) I stood alone in a posture that is incredibly difficult for me, a posture that I didn't see myself achieving for a few years, and for a moment I was free from doubt.
Maybe effort isn't pointless and the result of working and cleaning could be standing (extremely happily) alone.
(wink)
Don't give up.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Being With Yoga
Hey There.
So I just spent 2 hours creating my first post... and lost it. Now I am letting it go through gritting teeth... teeming with amazement at the way things are. I can't help laughing at myself. Here goes a somewhat anticlimactic effort.
This is the beginning of documenting my life as a yogini and an instructor of yoga (although this terminology I always find flawed, I like to view it more as an exchange).
I have never kept a journal, taken photographs or held on too tightly to the past. My nature has been to forge through life with the desire for novel experiences and the present moment. Being with yoga for 7 years now has taught me that life is a delicate balancing act, and a new experience that I would like to have is documenting the inspiration that passes through me to others. Some things are worth hanging on to, this is for friends and family old and new. Make me a conduit!
After just returning from a 3 month trip, the bulk of it being in India, my eyes feel big and open.
I studied with Sharath Rangaswamy at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute http://www.ayri.org/, Narasimhan and Jayashree for chanting, meditation and Eastern Philoshophy www.anantharesearch@yahoo.co.in, Ashtanga with Rolf and Marci Naujokat http://www.yogabones.org/, and spent a 8 blissful bouldering days in Hampi.
For anyone who is aspiring to travel to South India for Ashtanga Yoga email me at lydiazamorano@hotmail.com with any questions and I will do my best.
After all this getting up at 4 am and sitting still and sweating and backbending, my body hasn't changed that much. Who I am and what I look like is still relatively the same. But the way I look at myself is slightly tweaked. My hopes is that more and more I can stay awake in this awareness.
I will.
My boyfriend Sonnie and I are heading to Canmore. I'll be teaching at The Yoga Lounge http://www.theyogalounge.ca/ until June, and then to Boulder, Colorado to take a teacher training with Richard Freeman http://www.theyogaworkshop.com/ for a month.
Stay connected and I will let you know how it is for me to study with Mr. Freeman.
"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you; Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want; Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep.” Rumi
Lydia
So I just spent 2 hours creating my first post... and lost it. Now I am letting it go through gritting teeth... teeming with amazement at the way things are. I can't help laughing at myself. Here goes a somewhat anticlimactic effort.
This is the beginning of documenting my life as a yogini and an instructor of yoga (although this terminology I always find flawed, I like to view it more as an exchange).
I have never kept a journal, taken photographs or held on too tightly to the past. My nature has been to forge through life with the desire for novel experiences and the present moment. Being with yoga for 7 years now has taught me that life is a delicate balancing act, and a new experience that I would like to have is documenting the inspiration that passes through me to others. Some things are worth hanging on to, this is for friends and family old and new. Make me a conduit!
After just returning from a 3 month trip, the bulk of it being in India, my eyes feel big and open.
I studied with Sharath Rangaswamy at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute http://www.ayri.org/, Narasimhan and Jayashree for chanting, meditation and Eastern Philoshophy www.anantharesearch@yahoo.co.in, Ashtanga with Rolf and Marci Naujokat http://www.yogabones.org/, and spent a 8 blissful bouldering days in Hampi.
For anyone who is aspiring to travel to South India for Ashtanga Yoga email me at lydiazamorano@hotmail.com with any questions and I will do my best.
After all this getting up at 4 am and sitting still and sweating and backbending, my body hasn't changed that much. Who I am and what I look like is still relatively the same. But the way I look at myself is slightly tweaked. My hopes is that more and more I can stay awake in this awareness.
I will.
My boyfriend Sonnie and I are heading to Canmore. I'll be teaching at The Yoga Lounge http://www.theyogalounge.ca/ until June, and then to Boulder, Colorado to take a teacher training with Richard Freeman http://www.theyogaworkshop.com/ for a month.
Stay connected and I will let you know how it is for me to study with Mr. Freeman.
"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you; Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want; Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep.” Rumi
Lydia
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