Posts belonging to Category 'How To Do Yoga'

How do you use yoga accessories ?

Question:

Hi, Do you have any references on how to use yoga belts and other yoga accessories ? Thanks in advance. Herv

Category Categories: How To Do Yoga | No Comments »

no walk today

Question:

…I just did an hour on my yoga mate…

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that sounds a bit dirty…? Paula, *really*! — Succorso OF

Response:

…I just did an hour on my yoga mate… Is it just me, or does anyone else think that sounds a bit dirty…?

naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…..it’s just you, Suc….shame on you…. <g Sally *so how was the yoga mate, P?* OF+ – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Paula, *really*! — Succorso OF

Response:

sp00ki: … still no cigarettes and i sleep so much better not worrying about what those sharp stabbing pains in my chest are, because i dont get them when i dont smoke. brilliant. power to y’all

To you, too! You’re doing beautifully, Jane —– Maddie, 5 months

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – …I just did an hour on my yoga mate… Is it just me, or does anyone else think that sounds a bit dirty…? naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…..it’s just you, Suc….shame on you…. <g Sally *so how was the yoga mate, P?* OF+ Paula, *really*! — Succorso OF

LOL you two! Minds in the gutter… Sally…the yoga mat was wonderful Suc…shame on you Paula

Response:

because i have walked for five days in a row, up and down sand dunes walking walking walking. today i had to work until lunchtime and i am having the rest of the day off as a reward. my knees are a bit sore from all the walking but i can already feel my legs getting stronger. I want to get at least a bit fitter for summer which is approaching fast… still no cigarettes and i sleep so much better not worrying about what those sharp stabbing pains in my chest are, because i dont get them when i dont smoke. brilliant. power to y’all wrangler jane

Response:

Hey Jane Ain’t that great? Glad you are sleeping better…and those pains have stopped! It’s so cool when someone sees the benefits – I just did an hour on my yoga mate (well..I was doing yoga, not just laying there lol) and it was great. I feel so good. Keep it going ya beauty! (bit of aussie talk for ya) Paula

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – because i have walked for five days in a row, up and down sand dunes walking walking walking. today i had to work until lunchtime and i am having the rest of the day off as a reward. my knees are a bit sore from all the walking but i can already feel my legs getting stronger. I want to get at least a bit fitter for summer which is approaching fast… still no cigarettes and i sleep so much better not worrying about what those sharp stabbing pains in my chest are, because i dont get them when i dont smoke. brilliant. power to y’all wrangler jane

Response:

…I just did an hour on my yoga mate…

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that sounds a bit dirty…? Paula, *really*! — Succorso OF

Response:

…I just did an hour on my yoga mate… Is it just me, or does anyone else think that sounds a bit dirty…?

naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…..it’s just you, Suc….shame on you…. <g Sally *so how was the yoga mate, P?* OF+ – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Paula, *really*! — Succorso OF

Response:

sp00ki: … still no cigarettes and i sleep so much better not worrying about what those sharp stabbing pains in my chest are, because i dont get them when i dont smoke. brilliant. power to y’all

To you, too! You’re doing beautifully, Jane —– Maddie, 5 months

Response:

LOL you two! Minds in the gutter… Sally…the yoga mat was wonderful Suc…shame on you Paula

Response:

Category Categories: How To Do Yoga | No Comments »

DON"T FOOL YOURSELF

Question:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – You mean Power Yoga Opinion. Perhaps you are confusing me with someone else. What has Power Yoga to do with me? I do not practice "power" yoga. I have never been to a "power" yoga class. The closest I have come to "power" yoga is looking at a book with said title. I don’t recognize your advice. (Aside: Egad!!! I’ll have to work on my drawing skills: Mike did not recognize the caricature of himself. Perhaps the shell is too thick.) How could you recognize it? It is beyond your experience and you have probably not read about hearing the "sound" of pranava internally in any of your favourite books? It is really ironic that you rail against those that take some aspects of Yoga as allegory while you consider OM to be mere allegory or symbol. The Rishis did not just make the word up. They heard it. It is not for nothing that Om is considered the seed sound of creation, considered the initial vibration concurrent with the manifestation out of Nirguna state to Saguna. but you have to be there to hear it. On several past occasions I have suggested it would behoove some to refine their written presentations. The preceding paragraph of mine is sloppy writing. The ideas are not presented in the best order, and some of the wording is very sloppy. Better would have been I find it ironic that you rail against those that take some aspects of Yoga as allegory while you consider OM to be mere allegory What kind of crap is this? OM is one of the most important tools in yoga. I have said this many times. Apparently you are thick-headed. Thanks for pointing this out early in your delirium so I can disgard the rest. Why don’t you find someone that takes your balony intersesting or likes to argue with you on your nonsense. Mike Dubbeld

Still stuck on your allegory, it seems. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –

Response:

What kind of crap is this? OM is one of the most important tools in yoga. I have said this many times. Apparently you are thick-headed. Thanks for pointing this out early in your delirium so I can disgard the rest. Why don’t you find someone that takes your balony intersesting or likes to argue with you on your nonsense. Mike Dubbeld or – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – symbol. It is not without reason that Om is considered the seed sound of creation, considered the initial vibration concurrent with the manifestation out of Nirguna state to Saguna. The Rishis did not just make the word up. They heard it. You have to be there to hear it. Perhaps it makes no difference to anyone else, but I find the second version to be of higher quality. picky picky picky

Response:

On several past occasions I have suggested it would behoove some to refine their written presentations. The preceding paragraph of mine is sloppy writing. The ideas are not presented in the best order, and some of the wording is very sloppy. Better would have been I find it ironic that you rail against those that take some aspects of Yoga as allegory while you consider OM to be mere allegory or symbol. It is not without reason that Om is considered the seed sound of creation, considered the initial vibration concurrent with the manifestation out of Nirguna state to Saguna. The Rishis did not just make the word up. They heard it. You have to be there to hear it. Perhaps it makes no difference to anyone else, but I find the second version to be of higher quality. picky picky picky

Response:

Sorry HB I seem to have confused you with Biker! Your right I am doing too much/can’t keep up. sorry, Mike Dubbeld

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – You mean Power Yoga Opinion. Perhaps you are confusing me with someone else. What has Power Yoga to do with me? I do not practice "power" yoga. I have never been to a "power" yoga class. The closest I have come to "power" yoga is looking at a book with said title. I don’t recognize your advice. (Aside: Egad!!! I’ll have to work on my drawing skills: Mike did not recognize the caricature of himself. Perhaps the shell is too thick.) How could you recognize it? It is beyond your experience and you have probably not read about hearing the "sound" of pranava internally in any of your favourite books? It is really ironic that you rail against those that take some aspects of Yoga as allegory while you consider OM to be mere allegory or symbol. The Rishis did not just make the word up. They heard it. It is not for nothing that Om is considered the seed sound of creation, considered the initial vibration concurrent with the manifestation out of Nirguna state to Saguna. but you have to be there to hear it. The high pitched sounds you are hearing in both ears (probably sounds like a field of crickets, high pitched, slightly distorted, or tuning fork) is a beginning. I am sure there are tons of people you can find to agree with you on whatever dribble you have below. Dribble? Sorry, I am not much interested in basketball. I think the word you are looking for is "drivel." But hey, if lots of people agree, that’s empirical evidence. You might try clicking your heels 3 times to see if that helps with your expected miracle. Mike Dubbeld I am not expecting, or needing or wanting, any miracles, tin man. But hey, thanks for your concern. An alternate opinion. Don’t fool yourself Mike. You have been doing your so-called yoga and meditation all these years, and still you are chanting OM without hearing it internally. If you are not hearing the OMkara full blast by now you are doing something wrong and are wasting your time. Your so-called teachers will not and cannot tell you how to achieve this state because they do not know anything about it. Don’t waste anymore time on useless practices. Do not let your life pass by without any real progress in yoga. Go get a real Guru.

Response:

Sorry HB I seem to have confused you with Biker! Your right I am doing too much/can’t keep up. sorry, Mike Dubbeld

no problemo.

Response:

Sorry HB I seem to have confused you with Biker! Your right I am doing too much/can’t keep up. sorry, Mike Dubbeld

No kidding. — ~Stu

Response:

You mean Power Yoga Opinion.

Perhaps you are confusing me with someone else. What has Power Yoga to do with me? I do not practice "power" yoga. I have never been to a "power" yoga class. The closest I have come to "power" yoga is looking at a book with said title. I don’t recognize your advice.

(Aside: Egad!!! I’ll have to work on my drawing skills: Mike did not recognize the caricature of himself. Perhaps the shell is too thick.) How could you recognize it? It is beyond your experience and you have probably not read about hearing the "sound" of pranava internally in any of your favourite books? It is really ironic that you rail against those that take some aspects of Yoga as allegory while you consider OM to be mere allegory or symbol. The Rishis did not just make the word up. They heard it. It is not for nothing that Om is considered the seed sound of creation, considered the initial vibration concurrent with the manifestation out of Nirguna state to Saguna. but you have to be there to hear it. The high pitched sounds you are hearing in both ears (probably sounds like a field of crickets, high pitched, slightly distorted, or tuning fork) is a beginning. I am sure there are tons of people you can find to agree with you on whatever dribble you have below.

Dribble? Sorry, I am not much interested in basketball. I think the word you are looking for is "drivel." But hey, if lots of people agree, that’s empirical evidence. You might try clicking your heels 3 times to see if that helps with your expected miracle. Mike Dubbeld

I am not expecting, or needing or wanting, any miracles, tin man. But hey, thanks for your concern. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – An alternate opinion. Don’t fool yourself Mike. You have been doing your so-called yoga and meditation all these years, and still you are chanting OM without hearing it internally. If you are not hearing the OMkara full blast by now you are doing something wrong and are wasting your time. Your so-called teachers will not and cannot tell you how to achieve this state because they do not know anything about it. Don’t waste anymore time on useless practices. Do not let your life pass by without any real progress in yoga. Go get a real Guru.

Response:

I didn’t find anything. You see only your nose/what you want to see/I do not recognize your opinion. Mike Dubbeld

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Mike, Its all very interesting how you revel in your extremes, but you are constantly off-balance, oscillating from one extreme position to another. I guess we have found another yoga tradename, how about Xtreme Yoga? That should attract all those Power Yoga fools. Wade

Response:

Mike don’t be a jinanii (intellectual) yogi – that is just technical mental ability. It is not intelligence – divine inspiration..

Response:

Mike, Its all very interesting how you revel in your extremes, but you are constantly off-balance, oscillating from one extreme position to another. I guess we have found another yoga tradename, how about Xtreme Yoga? That should attract all those Power Yoga fools. Wade

Response:

You mean Power Yoga Opinion. I don’t recognize your advice. I am sure there are tons of people you can find to agree with you on whatever dribble you have below. You might try clicking your heels 3 times to see if that helps with your expected miracle. Mike Dubbeld

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – An alternate opinion. Don’t fool yourself Mike. You have been doing your so-called yoga and meditation all these years, and still you are chanting OM without hearing it internally. If you are not hearing the OMkara full blast by now you are doing something wrong and are wasting your time. Your so-called teachers will not and cannot tell you how to achieve this state because they do not know anything about it. Don’t waste anymore time on useless practices. Do not let your life pass by without any real progress in yoga. Go get a real Guru.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – For people not simply doing yoga for health benefits. Don’t let your life roll by not making any progress in yoga. Yoga is not about analogies. The experiences are real and waiting for you. If you are not getting them you are doing something wrong. Do not wait to find out what your local Teacher Training certificate hatha yoga teacher knows. It is most likely they know very little at all. Do not put your head down and dig in and think — next year. You dream night and day allowing your mind to wander as it pleases. Should it come as any surprise you wish to do this and call it meditation too? Life hardens us so we build a shell around us. We have our ‘personal space.’ It should be called our ‘ego space.’ We form habits that de-sensitize us to experience because some experiences we get are not pleasant. We wear blue jeans and faded colors. We want to fit in. Not rock the boat. Not attract too much attention. We want to be accepted by other people. Yoga is not about that. Yoga is your becoming independent of others. Attachment to things and conditions in the world is not sought. In your dealings with others you use yama/niyama with selfless action as tools to shrink your ego and increase your will to be used in concentration/meditation. You do fit in with others but it is not for the sake of acceptance of others. It is to lead a life as close to normal as possible so that you can continue your inner life uninterrupted. If you attract attention to yourself and cause un-do attention disturbs your mind and is an unwanted condition for concentration and meditation. By inner life I mean you should be living as close to the Eternity of the moment as possible. Paying attention to what you are doing instead of daydreaming. Watching your thoughts. Pranayama is for the tearing down of the walls/shell we build around us. It is the re-sensitizing of you/opening you back up to experience. As a child you look at the world with wonder (and fear) because you do not know the nature of cause and effect/never know what might happen next. Growing up and learning you then disgard them altogether and no longer wonder if the car can drive in the trees. God is a simple experience. But you have to be open to experience. I keep finding people that are wasting their time. They have come to accept their condition and believe yoga has to do with analogies – the experiences are not real. Justify them having not achieved them after many years. DON’T DO THAT. You are doing something wrong. You can not believe in the ‘theory of yoga’ any more than you can believe in the theory of fairys. YOGA IS ABOUT EXPERIENCE. If you are not getting experience you are doing something wrong. You can deny it for a year or 30 years. Once someone asked my guru Subramunia if he thinks they can achieve Self-Realization in 10 years. He said no. He said he did not think they could do it in a 100 years. Or a hundred lifetimes. Self-Realization is not about getting – like after I get my airconditioner paid for I will get my 3′rd TV and then I will get Self-Realization. Doesn’t work like that. It doesn’t take time. It takes WILL. If you had the will you would not add 10 years on to it. It does not matter what other people thing — ‘In 10 years…’ If you were going to do it you would be telling me ‘I am going to be Self-Realized.’ Period. And I would be believing you because I could feel your very will exuding from you telling me this was going to happen. This is a story he relates in his Master Course. Judging by things said in this NG, I consider myself most fortunate having found so many people wasting their time for so long. It is one thing not to have the will to do it. It is pathetic however having the will and applying it to usless activities. Concentration is the ONLY means to acquire success in yoga except for health benefits. All else is GARBAGE. If you want to alter your consciousness, eat some food, drink a beer, take some aspirn, but don’t expect to progress in yoga without concentration as you will be wasting your time. Because you have become hardened – and the older you are the more hardened you are as a general rule, you need to purify your nadis. To do this you need to practice Alternate Nostril Breathing (ANB) for 3 years on average twice a day every day. While it is true that you can have Self-Realization by other means, this is an exception. Not the rule. Some left the world as Siddhas in their last life and were reborn with psychic powers and so forth. I can not say ANB is required for all but you should realize that it is highly unlikely you were a Siddha in your last life. You must learn to move energy in the body and apply the locks (bandhas) and mudras with hatha yoga. If what I said was not true, you could simply chant audible and loudly OM in long drones and go to samadhi. But you can not and you will not even know what to do with what little energy you can muster from such an activity. When your nadis are purified OM has a dramatic effect on you. Your hatha yoga teacher can not help you. They can not help themselves. The reason they do not tell you what you want to know is that they do not know themselves. ANYONE can be a mentor. Hatha yoga teachers can teach you things but it is as likely they will teach you wrong things as not. Power Yoga is a JOKE. To learn to move energy in the body holding the extreme position and resting are absolutely necessary. You can find out now or in 10 years of its uselessness. You can daydream for 10 years too – and find truckloads of daydreamers like yourself that also believe psychic powers and Kundalini are ‘analogies.’ You can rationalize failure by any number of means. And by far you will find yourself surrounded by truckloads of others in the same boat you are. Get off that boat. Do not say, well, I have done this for 2 years now, I guess I may need a couple more years. Maybe by then my teacher will tell me something about yoga besides the correct way to hold my head for the snake. Do not say, well, I did this for 2 years, so it can’t be wrong. There are people in this NG that have done yoga for 19-30 years and still are clueless. You must admire their persistence but persistence, as difficult as it is to find someone that has it, is not good enough. It is possible for someone doing Power Yoga to be successful also. Just like lightning striking me dead at any time. Anything can happen. Just think if you were soing yoga 20 years from now. How could you be wrong? You did it for 20 years. So if you think doing something wrong for 2 years is wrong, you have some idea of what you may be saying in 20 or 30 years. If you think yourself foolish after 2 years and are reluctant to change, how foolish and reluctant will you be in 20 years. Yoga is about experience. If you are not getting them it is time for you to change. have to go Mike Dubbeld

Response:

An alternate opinion. Don’t fool yourself Mike. You have been doing your so-called yoga and meditation all these years, and still you are chanting OM without hearing it internally. If you are not hearing the OMkara full blast by now you are doing something wrong and are wasting your time. Your so-called teachers will not and cannot tell you how to achieve this state because they do not know anything about it. Don’t waste anymore time on useless practices. Do not let your life pass by without any real progress in yoga. Go get a real Guru. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – For people not simply doing yoga for health benefits. Don’t let your life roll by not making any progress in yoga. Yoga is not about analogies. The experiences are real and waiting for you. If you are not getting them you are doing something wrong. Do not wait to find out what your local Teacher Training certificate hatha yoga teacher knows. It is most likely they know very little at all. Do not put your head down and dig in and think — next year. You dream night and day allowing your mind to wander as it pleases. Should it come as any surprise you wish to do this and call it meditation too? Life hardens us so we build a shell around us. We have our ‘personal space.’ It should be called our ‘ego space.’ We form habits that de-sensitize us to experience because some experiences we get are not pleasant. We wear blue jeans and faded colors. We want to fit in. Not rock the boat. Not attract too much attention. We want to be accepted by other people. Yoga is not about that. Yoga is your becoming independent of others. Attachment to things and conditions in the world is not sought. In your dealings with others you use yama/niyama with selfless action as tools to shrink your ego and increase your will to be used in concentration/meditation. You do fit in with others but it is not for the sake of acceptance of others. It is to lead a life as close to normal as possible so that you can continue your inner life uninterrupted. If you attract attention to yourself and cause un-do attention disturbs your mind and is an unwanted condition for concentration and meditation. By inner life I mean you should be living as close to the Eternity of the moment as possible. Paying attention to what you are doing instead of daydreaming. Watching your thoughts. Pranayama is for the tearing down of the walls/shell we build around us. It is the re-sensitizing of you/opening you back up to experience. As a child you look at the world with wonder (and fear) because you do not know the nature of cause and effect/never know what might happen next. Growing up and learning you then disgard them altogether and no longer wonder if the car can drive in the trees. God is a simple experience. But you have to be open to experience. I keep finding people that are wasting their time. They have come to accept their condition and believe yoga has to do with analogies – the experiences are not real. Justify them having not achieved them after many years. DON’T DO THAT. You are doing something wrong. You can not believe in the ‘theory of yoga’ any more than you can believe in the theory of fairys. YOGA IS ABOUT EXPERIENCE. If you are not getting experience you are doing something wrong. You can deny it for a year or 30 years. Once someone asked my guru Subramunia if he thinks they can achieve Self-Realization in 10 years. He said no. He said he did not think they could do it in a 100 years. Or a hundred lifetimes. Self-Realization is not about getting – like after I get my airconditioner paid for I will get my 3′rd TV and then I will get Self-Realization. Doesn’t work like that. It doesn’t take time. It takes WILL. If you had the will you would not add 10 years on to it. It does not matter what other people thing — ‘In 10 years…’ If you were going to do it you would be telling me ‘I am going to be Self-Realized.’ Period. And I would be believing you because I could feel your very will exuding from you telling me this was going to happen. This is a story he relates in his Master Course. Judging by things said in this NG, I consider myself most fortunate having found so many people wasting their time for so long. It is one thing not to have the will to do it. It is pathetic however having the will and applying it to usless activities. Concentration is the ONLY means to acquire success in yoga except for health benefits. All else is GARBAGE. If you want to alter your consciousness, eat some food, drink a beer, take some aspirn, but don’t expect to progress in yoga without concentration as you will be wasting your time. Because you have become hardened – and the older you are the more hardened you are as a general rule, you need to purify your nadis. To do this you need to practice Alternate Nostril Breathing (ANB) for 3 years on average twice a day every day. While it is true that you can have Self-Realization by other means, this is an exception. Not the rule. Some left the world as Siddhas in their last life and were reborn with psychic powers and so forth. I can not say ANB is required for all but you should realize that it is highly unlikely you were a Siddha in your last life. You must learn to move energy in the body and apply the locks (bandhas) and mudras with hatha yoga. If what I said was not true, you could simply chant audible and loudly OM in long drones and go to samadhi. But you can not and you will not even know what to do with what little energy you can muster from such an activity. When your nadis are purified OM has a dramatic effect on you. Your hatha yoga teacher can not help you. They can not help themselves. The reason they do not tell you what you want to know is that they do not know themselves. ANYONE can be a mentor. Hatha yoga teachers can teach you things but it is as likely they will teach you wrong things as not. Power Yoga is a JOKE. To learn to move energy in the body holding the extreme position and resting are absolutely necessary. You can find out now or in 10 years of its uselessness. You can daydream for 10 years too – and find truckloads of daydreamers like yourself that also believe psychic powers and Kundalini are ‘analogies.’ You can rationalize failure by any number of means. And by far you will find yourself surrounded by truckloads of others in the same boat you are. Get off that boat. Do not say, well, I have done this for 2 years now, I guess I may need a couple more years. Maybe by then my teacher will tell me something about yoga besides the correct way to hold my head for the snake. Do not say, well, I did this for 2 years, so it can’t be wrong. There are people in this NG that have done yoga for 19-30 years and still are clueless. You must admire their persistence but persistence, as difficult as it is to find someone that has it, is not good enough. It is possible for someone doing Power Yoga to be successful also. Just like lightning striking me dead at any time. Anything can happen. Just think if you were soing yoga 20 years from now. How could you be wrong? You did it for 20 years. So if you think doing something wrong for 2 years is wrong, you have some idea of what you may be saying in 20 or 30 years. If you think yourself foolish after 2 years and are reluctant to change, how foolish and reluctant will you be in 20 years. Yoga is about experience. If you are not getting them it is time for you to change. have to go Mike Dubbeld

Response:

For people not simply doing yoga for health benefits. Don’t let your life roll by not making any progress in yoga. Yoga is not about analogies. The experiences are real and waiting for you. If you are not getting them you are doing something wrong. Do not wait to find out what your local Teacher Training certificate hatha yoga teacher knows. It is most likely they know very little at all. Do not put your head down and dig in and think — next year. You dream night and day allowing your mind to wander as it pleases. Should it come as any surprise you wish to do this and call it meditation too? Life hardens us so we build a shell around us. We have our ‘personal space.’ It should be called our ‘ego space.’ We form habits that de-sensitize us to experience because some experiences we get are not pleasant. We wear blue jeans and faded colors. We want to fit in. Not rock the boat. Not attract too much attention. We want to be accepted by other people. Yoga is not about that. Yoga is your becoming independent of others. Attachment to things and conditions in the world is not sought. In your dealings with others you use yama/niyama with selfless action as tools to shrink your ego and increase your will to be used in concentration/meditation. You do fit in with others but it is not for the sake of acceptance of others. It is to lead a life as close to normal as possible so that you can continue your inner life uninterrupted. If you attract attention to yourself and cause un-do attention disturbs your mind and is an unwanted condition for concentration and meditation. By inner life I mean you should be living as close to the Eternity of the moment as possible. Paying attention to what you are doing instead of daydreaming. Watching your thoughts. Pranayama is for the tearing down of the walls/shell we build around us. It is the re-sensitizing of you/opening you back up to experience. As a child you look at the world with wonder (and fear) because you do not know the nature of cause and effect/never know what might happen next. Growing up and learning you then disgard them altogether and no longer wonder if the car can drive in the trees. God is a simple experience. But you have to be open to experience. I keep finding people that are wasting their time. They have come to accept their condition and believe yoga has to do with analogies – the experiences are not real. Justify them having not achieved them after many years. DON’T DO THAT. You are doing something wrong. You can not believe in the ‘theory of yoga’ any more than you can believe in the theory of fairys. YOGA IS ABOUT EXPERIENCE. If you are not getting experience you are doing something wrong. You can deny it for a year or 30 years. Once someone asked my guru Subramunia if he thinks they can achieve Self-Realization in 10 years. He said no. He said he did not think they could do it in a 100 years. Or a hundred lifetimes. Self-Realization is not about getting – like after I get my airconditioner paid for I will get my 3′rd TV and then I will get Self-Realization. Doesn’t work like that. It doesn’t take time. It takes WILL. If you had the will you would not add 10 years on to it. It does not matter what other people thing — ‘In 10 years…’ If you were going to do it you would be telling me ‘I am going to be Self-Realized.’ Period. And I would be believing you because I could feel your very will exuding from you telling me this was going to happen. This is a story he relates in his Master Course. Judging by things said in this NG, I consider myself most fortunate having found so many people wasting their time for so long. It is one thing not to have the will to do it. It is pathetic however having the will and applying it to usless activities. Concentration is the ONLY means to acquire success in yoga except for health benefits. All else is GARBAGE. If you want to alter your consciousness, eat some food, drink a beer, take some aspirn, but don’t expect to progress in yoga without concentration as you will be wasting your time. Because you have become hardened – and the older you are the more hardened you are as a general rule, you need to purify your nadis. To do this you need to practice Alternate Nostril Breathing (ANB) for 3 years on average twice a day every day. While it is true that you can have Self-Realization by other means, this is an exception. Not the rule. Some left the world as Siddhas in their last life and were reborn with psychic powers and so forth. I can not say ANB is required for all but you should realize that it is highly unlikely you were a Siddha in your last life. You must learn to move energy in the body and apply the locks (bandhas) and mudras with hatha yoga. If what I said was not true, you could simply chant audible and loudly OM in long drones and go to samadhi. But you can not and you will not even know what to do with what little energy you can muster from such an activity. When your nadis are purified OM has a dramatic effect on you. Your hatha yoga teacher can not help you. They can not help themselves. The reason they do not tell you what you want to know is that they do not know themselves. ANYONE can be a mentor. Hatha yoga teachers can teach you things but it is as likely they will teach you wrong things as not. Power Yoga is a JOKE. To learn to move energy in the body holding the extreme position and resting are absolutely necessary. You can find out now or in 10 years of its uselessness. You can daydream for 10 years too – and find truckloads of daydreamers like yourself that also believe psychic powers and Kundalini are ‘analogies.’ You can rationalize failure by any number of means. And by far you will find yourself surrounded by truckloads of others in the same boat you are. Get off that boat. Do not say, well, I have done this for 2 years now, I guess I may need a couple more years. Maybe by then my teacher will tell me something about yoga besides the correct way to hold my head for the snake. Do not say, well, I did this for 2 years, so it can’t be wrong. There are people in this NG that have done yoga for 19-30 years and still are clueless. You must admire their persistence but persistence, as difficult as it is to find someone that has it, is not good enough. It is possible for someone doing Power Yoga to be successful also. Just like lightning striking me dead at any time. Anything can happen. Just think if you were soing yoga 20 years from now. How could you be wrong? You did it for 20 years. So if you think doing something wrong for 2 years is wrong, you have some idea of what you may be saying in 20 or 30 years. If you think yourself foolish after 2 years and are reluctant to change, how foolish and reluctant will you be in 20 years. Yoga is about experience. If you are not getting them it is time for you to change. have to go Mike Dubbeld

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Concentration/Meditation/Hatha Yoga/Subconscious-karma/Yogic metaphysics/brain spheres

Question:

Smile, All that from one who cant grasp black reflects like a mirror were white start laughting as all anyone ever wrote first was there was a lifting effect after a prior descent but that was millions of copycats ago blabberin about the GHOSTLY white trail they never observed cant say if its white or pink actually can they or invisible or its maya to them……thats why i love yoga when they start on the three coils of the serpant at the base of the spine i know i am going to laught again funny man you are…….jd

Response:

I was responding to a biologist who was needling me for how things in yoga could account for certain phenomena observed in science and discovered I needed to re-account for my explanations in greater detail. Unfortunately, although I am sure the cohesive pieces are there to one extent or another for an even better picture, I could not recently resolve them all in any single stroke of genius/ultimate simplicity that I currently have. Such as karmic seeds as related to DNA. Another force called lifeforce unique in its ability for the feature ’strive to survive.’ (but it is at the cellular level anyway) Below is nothing new to me as I attempted to explain things in yogic terms I realized that although it is simple, it is long. The explanation took me down a concentration and meditation road in terms of consciousness (what is it) and thought/mind metaphysics. This whole thing is a spinoff from that effort. Also I started to simply answer Stu’s response on concentration so I guess I will cut this in there. Concentration Concentration is the purpose of all yoga and all religion in its entirety. Concentration is sought for. All else follows. You can not try to meditate. That is like trying to go to sleep. You can only set up conditions for sleep to take place. That is why I did not say meditation is the purpose of yoga. If you have successful concentration, meditation flows out of it effortlessly. Controling the mind to concentrate is an objective activity. You know when your mind has wandered. You know when your mind has wandered when you meditate as well, but prevention of wandering of the mind is accomplished from concentration. Success in the other stages follows dependent on concentration. All the dreamers can not pipe in how it is better to let their minds drift all over the place and call it meditation with no effort to concentrate. You can lie to yourself for years, and justify your activities very easily with all the other people who are fooling themselves and would like to justify dreaming. You do not ‘let go’ until you have something to let go of. If you start with nothing you end with nothing. All yogic activities are tied to this single activity of concentration. Holding at the extreme position forces the mind to pay attention to the body – interrupting its never-ending idle dreaming. Mind and body are forced to merge. When you do yama/niyama, it takes will to do it and this will increased from sadhana decreases ego and then to force the mind to concentrate. But it is not just during the period just before ‘letting go’ in concentration that concentration should be practiced but at all times – paying attention to what you are doing instead of dreaming of of things while you wash the dishes – pay attention to everything about the dishes makes it an active form of concentration. For fast progress and lots of will this can be done all day long. Sweeping the floor – doing every single thing you do WELL – programs the subconscious mind to form the habit of doing every single thing that you do well – better than you expected – in such a way that when you do sit down to concentrate the mind easily cooperates. The entire purpose of sadhana is concentration. The gauge of success in ALL yogic activities is measured by concentration and concentration alone. But again, since this is not easy, I can hear the wailing now about letting go and simply daydreaming and calling it meditation. Hatha yoga’s specific purpose is concentration. The first rule in concentration is relaxation. It is not a tense or stressful activity. By stretching and relaxing along with deep breathing, the mind is made tranquil as well as awarness moving out of the ida and pingala currents into sushumna – the detached spiritual current. Observation practice during the day is also extremely helpful. On Mondays my observation things are say blue/water/glass/ reflections. So on that day I attempt to find the bluest blues, shiniest surfaces and so forth. Observation awakens the superconscious/intuition. I don’t feel the need to clear things with Patanjali.Concentration is the purpose of yoga because unless and until you do, you are wasting your time as nothing else will lead to either meditatiton or samadhi. That concentration can be on anything but the prefered things are things that do not excite the mind (like a picture of your favorite movie star of the opposite sex) and lead awareness to the spiritual channel of sushumna and for that reason, a lot of people use the picture of someone holy. I do not however. I use the yantra of Ganesha found in Tools for Tantra by Johari Plate 3. The mind is nature/the universe as subtle matter. It is the deliberate withdrawl of awareness from matter that is specifically called for. If you think of San Francisco, you are not San Francisco. When, through concentration practice you are able to withdraw awareness from all thoughts in the mind, it is free to turn inward on itself to uncover its own essence – the Self-God within. Liberation means freedom and that freedom is specifically freedom from nature/the universe – the ultimate goal of yoga. This means mastery over nature/control over nature and is very difficult to do. This is because every hour of our lives awareness is allowed to run free as it pleases almost – we cater to every whim of the ego. The ego seeks power for itself to acquire security and safety for its existence. For this reason it spends incredible amounts of time thinking over the past so as to predict and control the future. Driving to work we think about what time the first meeting is or what we need first etc. At work we scheme for contolling what happens after work. We experience little except thinking/dreaming and scheming. Awareness is allowed to go where ever it likes and when any attempt to bring it under control is attempted, the ego rebells. It does not like being told what to do. So it will ensure that you will not have enough time to concentrate and meditate. It will secretly scheme to make you too tired to meditate such that you not want to meditate. It will schedual events during concentration and meditation time. There are thousands of antics at its disposal to ensure your concentration attempts of any sort are thwarted. But if you practice selfless service/sadhana and force more will and shrink ego and feel good about yourself. If you start a task, and concentrate on it and finish the task and do the job well all day long, the subconscious is programmed to do the same when it comes time to sit down and concentrate and meditate. If you exercise you literally use the physical body to increase your will. Willpower, energy an awareness are all the same thing. Today, it is also popular to call awareness consciousness. Consciousness is not something you are aware of. But except for consciousness/awareness you could not do a single thing except for things like instinctively pulling your hand back from a hot stove – and that is subconscious and unconscious (brain stem). Mould the subconscious like clay into good habit patterns to concentrate. To finish every thing you do well. To be successful in concentration and meditation, both the conscious mind and subconscious mind must be concentrated. To look at an eclipse you can punch a small hole in one paper and the same in another. Then separate the 2 sheets of paper by a short distance and line up the holes. In the same way, the conscious and subconscious mind need to be lined up. The subconscious mind (right brain) is the habit mind. It has no sense of humor whatsoever. What you think consciously it interprets literally ever single time – whether the conscious mind is simply joking or is being ironic or not. The subconscious will never understand a joke much like animals do not laugh. Unlike the conscious mind, the subconscious mind works 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It never rests. Not even in so-called deep dreamless sleep. There is also something called the sub of the subconscious. The superconscious or intuition works through the subconscious. Discursive thinking 1 + 1 = 2 takes place in time and space in the conscious (left brain) mind. But not in the subconscious when intuition comes through in a ‘flash’ of insight. This flash comes through the subconscious because it does not deal with reified things (words) to understand something. Words are far too limiting for intuition. Words are of the conscious/right brain/mind. The subconscious follows the coscious mind around like a puppy dog. My Meditation technique By the simple activity of resting your eyes on a candle flame or other object – not staring at it as in tatrack to bring tears, but rather the gaze pointed in the objects direction with no real conscious attention of any of the details of the object, while thinking about anything else you please, a point will be reached at an ebb in the ebb and flow of thinking such that new information is allowed to come in from the senses, the eyes in this case and the conscious mind sees the candle for a few very brief moments – and then the mind goes back to its usual dreaming and scheming. If you simply hold your gaze on it/have the eyes pointed in its direction, you do far more than you might imagine. The subconscious is becoming programmed to see the object. It is an effortless activity. But since it is the minds natural tendency to jump from one thought to another dreaming and scheming, that very fact should be used to your advantage. Let the mind jump from dreaming and scheming (DS) to the candle when it feels like it. In the 2 papers with the holes in them we have one sheet of paper held steady and the other one occasionally lining up with the hole. With no effort on your part, a part of you has a desire to findout ‘what is on the other side of the 2 holes when they are aligned?’ – or this candle looks really interesting. This jumping from candle or yantra to a thought I call ‘this that’. There is the yantra and all else. … read more »

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hello/help please

Question:

Autobiography of a Yogi (1946 Edition), by Paramhansa Yogananda (http://www.crystalclarity.com/books/ay_book.asp) Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga, by Swami Vishnu-devananda (http://www.sivananda.org/la/boutique/yogastore/books/ciby.htm) Science of Being and Art of Living, by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (http://mumpress.com/p_a05.html) Yoga Journal’s Practice Series, featuring Patricia Walden and Rodney Yee (http://www.yogajournal.com/shop/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=113) So get yourself a nice mat and start! That is all you need for now. Brother Brahman-Atmananda http://www.onegreatpower.org – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello- I am new to Yoga and everything about Yoga. Everything. I would like some reading to help me set up a routine I can do at home. Any suggestions? Reading? Routines? thanks in advance- MB

Response:

Beginners articles and a discussion forum are available at www.yoga.com . Please visit the enlighten and connect areas and learn more, like what style of yoga is right for you. Check out teachers in your area and see the studio/teacher directory there. Video instruction is also helpful. Yoga Journal’s Patricia Walden has some nice ones at Yoga.com too. Shannon – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am new to Yoga and everything about Yoga. Everything. I would like some reading to help me set up a routine I can do at home. Any suggestions? Reading? Routines? thanks in advance- MB

Response:

OM Can only repeat what Mike already said: http://www.sivanandadlshq.org By the way – Yoga is not standing on your head. Try to read what Yoga is. There’s plenty of material on this site. Kartik vashishta OM

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello- I am new to Yoga and everything about Yoga. Everything. I would like some reading to help me set up a routine I can do at home. Any suggestions? Reading? Routines? thanks in advance- MB

Response:

Hi, I recommend Swami Vishnu Devananda’s Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga and his other book Meditation and Mantras. Both only about 10$ each. Also there are a whole bunch of free books from one of the greatest men that ever lived – Swami Sivananda at – http://www.sivanandadlshq.org/download/download.htm His books are very uplifting and not the words of a mere scholar. His organization worldwide is the Divine Life Society at – http://www.sivanandadlshq.org/home.html

Hello- I am new to Yoga and everything about Yoga. Everything. I would like some reading to help me set up a routine I can do at home. Any suggestions? Reading? Routines?

For routines see the Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga if you are going to do it on your own. If you are intrested in concentration and meditation or pranayama let me know and I will send you info on that if you want. Good luck and congratulations! Anyone that managed to find yoga obviously has something going for them! Mike Dubbeld – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – thanks in advance- MB

Response:

Hello- I am new to Yoga and everything about Yoga. Everything. I would like some reading to help me set up a routine I can do at home. Any suggestions? Reading? Routines? thanks in advance- MB

How to Use Yoga by Mira Mehta. This is a practical guide with excellent illustrations and good sequences. <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0754808300/qid=10347449… 8-3/ref=sr_8_3/103-4384534-5057438?v=glance&n=507846 — ~Stu

Response:

Hello- I am new to Yoga and everything about Yoga. Everything. I would like some reading to help me set up a routine I can do at home. Any suggestions? Reading? Routines? thanks in advance- MB

Response:

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Yoga is the greatest thing.

Question:

I just started taking Yoga, and it is great!

WELL. JUST REMEMBER THIS.. ITS"ONLY A VEHICLE". its gets you from point "a" to point "b".. what is it in POINT "B’" THAT YOU WANT??

Response:

Greetings, wisdom at its finest Nite jd <snip I just started taking Yoga, and it is great! WELL. JUST REMEMBER THIS.. ITS"ONLY A VEHICLE". its gets

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stuck out at work

Question:

hi sunshine, seems to us if you want to be more, that means you’re on your way to becoming already. you know stuff. you have dreams, even if they aren’t goals yet (or maybe they are, dunno.) anyway, you gotta start somewhere. seems you’ve started. anyway, hope work goes ok. got any pepto? know it tastes gross, but the chewable pills aren’t as bad. they have ones you don’t have to chew either, just take like tylenol. they take care of most tummy things, except woman time pain. that takes naproxen or ibuprophen m!dol, or wine (white-ish, we like white zin, ourselfs). take care of yous. peace from our pieces, embies. p/e (dunno what you see first.) um, i’m sunshine, and i’m not sposta be at work, but i’m here and i’m stuck, and i don’t want to be here and i’m scared. and it’s not like immediately bad that i’m here, but i’m supposed to be working, but i’m scared. i don’t feel good and my tummy hurts. i feel bad. like all i am is a little pet to be played with, and to make people smile, and … *sigh* i want to be more than that. Sunshine, of dyenths

Ask me about HOPE for kids. No, really, *ask* *me*!!!! http://www.hopeworldwide.org — For info about this service, see http://anon.twwells.com/help/ or e-mail:

Response:

um, i’m sunshine, and i’m not sposta be at work, but i’m here and i’m stuck, and i don’t want to be here and i’m scared. and it’s not like immediately bad that i’m here, but i’m supposed to be working, but i’m scared. i don’t feel good and my tummy hurts. i feel bad. like all i am is a little pet to be played with, and to make people smile, and … *sigh* i want to be more than that. Sunshine, of dyenths

Response:

am depressed. cuz lotsa things. and tummy hurtin’s just from being anxious. it’s the physical expression of our anxiety. some wise guy decided, many years ago, to start paying attention to our physical cues about stuff like being hungry, etc., so now we have physical symptoms that we’re aware of that signal emotional distress. i’m not so sure this is better. but i guess it is. but i’m depressed cuz i can’t have something i think i want real bad. and i can’t remember the rule: "When I’m upset because I can’t have ____, it means I’m ____." This time I think maybe it’s "avoiding feeling sad about issues" or "feeling lonely for some part of myself." but what if I really *am* sad cuz I can’t have what I think I want real bad? what if I’m *not* just distracting myself from something more? …sad… and i’m allergic to pepto, but thanks. sun(dyenths) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – hi sunshine, seems to us if you want to be more, that means you’re on your way to becoming already. you know stuff. you have dreams, even if they aren’t goals yet (or maybe they are, dunno.) anyway, you gotta start somewhere. seems you’ve started. anyway, hope work goes ok. got any pepto? know it tastes gross, but the chewable pills aren’t as bad. they have ones you don’t have to chew either, just take like tylenol. they take care of most tummy things, except woman time pain. that takes naproxen or ibuprophen m!dol, or wine (white-ish, we like white zin, ourselfs). take care of yous. peace from our pieces, embies. p/e (dunno what you see first.) um, i’m sunshine, and i’m not sposta be at work, but i’m here and i’m stuck, and i don’t want to be here and i’m scared. and it’s not like immediately bad that i’m here, but i’m supposed to be working, but i’m scared. i don’t feel good and my tummy hurts. i feel bad. like all i am is a little pet to be played with, and to make people smile, and … *sigh* i want to be more than that. Sunshine, of dyenths

~ Ask me about HOPE for kids. No, really, *ask* *me*!!!! http://www.hopeworldwide.org

~ — For info about this service, see

http://anon.twwells.com/help/ or e-mail: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – help message administrator

Response:

am depressed. cuz lotsa things.

you, yous or both? and tummy hurtin’s just from being anxious. it’s the physical expression of our anxiety.

yup. we gets now. we have get this as the physical expression of our womanhood today, so that’s where we were looking from. could you tell at all? some wise guy decided, many years ago, to start paying attention to our physical cues about stuff like being hungry, etc., so now we have physical symptoms that we’re aware of that signal emotional distress.

is a good thing to know. but understand sometimes is nicer feelin for the time to diss out of it all. i’m not so sure this is better. but i guess it is.

something…blah…long run…blah…blah…yup. but i’m depressed cuz i can’t have something i think i want real bad. and i can’t remember the rule: "When I’m upset because I can’t have ____, it means I’m ____." This time I think maybe it’s "avoiding feeling sad about issues" or "feeling lonely for some part of myself."

always the same exact things. that would be a great chart. do you have it written anyplace that you can look? but what if I really *am* sad cuz I can’t have what I think I want real bad? what if I’m *not* just distracting myself from something more?

always possible. is there any input (from you or internals or externals) about how likely this scenario is? …sad…

sorry to hear. but you are definately more than a doll or amusement who is only worth talking to when smiley or cheerful. so that’s ok. and i’m allergic to pepto, but thanks.

ah well, probably wouldn’t have done anything anyways. how’s your yoga? can you get up and take a walk/stretch? can you take 15 min and go for a run around the building? sometimes all that adrenaline can be siphoned off physically. sun(dyenths)

hope you feel better soon, but not required. peace from our pieces, embies – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – hi sunshine, seems to us if you want to be more, that means you’re on your way to becoming already. you know stuff. you have dreams, even if they aren’t goals yet (or maybe they are, dunno.) anyway, you gotta start somewhere. seems you’ve started. anyway, hope work goes ok. got any pepto? know it tastes gross, but the chewable pills aren’t as bad. they have ones you don’t have to chew either, just take like tylenol. they take care of most tummy things, except woman time pain. that takes naproxen or ibuprophen m!dol, or wine (white-ish, we like white zin, ourselfs). take care of yous. peace from our pieces, embies. p/e (dunno what you see first.) um, i’m sunshine, and i’m not sposta be at work, but i’m here and i’m stuck, and i don’t want to be here and i’m scared. and it’s not like immediately bad that i’m here, but i’m supposed to be working, but i’m scared. i don’t feel good and my tummy hurts. i feel bad. like all i am is a little pet to be played with, and to make people smile, and … *sigh* i want to be more than that. Sunshine, of dyenths ~ Ask me about HOPE for kids. No, really, *ask* *me*!!!! http://www.hopeworldwide.org ~ — For info about this service, see http://anon.twwells.com/help/ or e-mail: help message administrator

Ask me about HOPE for kids. No, really, *ask* *me*!!!! http://www.hopeworldwide.org — For info about this service, see http://anon.twwells.com/help/ or e-mail:

Response:

yep, at least for us it was (is). We used to have _lots_ of problems with physical stuff but we just ignored it or didn’t even notice it in the first place. We ended up with several serious type problems because of this (like I have a fake knee cause we trashed it like three times in one year and ignored it each time until it got _really_ bad, then we had to have surgery to put in a fake one). So, paying attention to physical stuff is a _very_ good idea in the long run. Probly one of the best things that happened here due to t’py and healing. but i’m depressed cuz i can’t have something i think i want real bad. and i can’t remember the rule: "When I’m upset

Can you figure out how to get something good enough or close enough? Or maybe you can figure out what is behind or underneath and get that? Like for me closeness is important cause we didn’t have it growing up so now it is important for me to have someone(s) in my life I feel close to. But ‘close’ is a pretty vague term and at least one inside here used to think that ‘close’ meant ’s*x’. Now _that_ sure caused some problems!!! Then several of us said ‘no more of _that_!’ and then that insider didn’t get to feel close until sie learned that ‘close’ can mean hugs, or chatting or just being or… So maybe what you think you want you can have but in a different way. Unless it is chocolate of course. We have _never_ figured out a substitute for that *huge grin*. because I can’t have ____, it means I’m ____." This time I think maybe it’s "avoiding feeling sad about issues" or "feeling lonely for some part of myself." but what if I really *am* sad cuz I can’t have what I think I want real bad? what if I’m *not* just distracting myself from something more? …sad… and i’m allergic to pepto, but thanks. sun(dyenths)

Do you know more specifically what is wrong with your stomach? I mean like it is muscle tension or too much acid or what. I have a friend who has an ulcer and gets stomach pains and her solution is milk. _I_ have a problem with what is called a ’spastic col*n’ (sort of like irritable bow*l syndrome [splatted for search engines]). Now there are all sorts of fancy drugs I could take but I found that all I need is the equivalent of 3 grams of fiber in my diet each day. Of course eating 3 grams of fiber would make me explode so I take fiber pills (wheat fiber tablets I get at g n c, they also sell them other places). I’ve done it since about 1982 and have absolutely no stomach problems since starting it. Maybe you have the same sort of thing and can find some simple solution to it. Holding anxiety/stress in certain parts of the body is annoying until you figure out how to sort of get around it. Like a person who always carries their hands in fists and has stiff wrists/fingers from it can learn to do relaxation to fix that. You don’t actually have to learn how to move the stress or get rid of it, just how to fix the symptoms as they come up. Rainbow Colors (Jill) — The colors blend, the edges soften. Swirling and mixing we are becoming white light.

Response:

hiya

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – am depressed. cuz lotsa things. and tummy hurtin’s just from being anxious. it’s the physical expression of our anxiety. some wise guy decided, many years ago, to start paying attention to our physical cues about stuff like being hungry, etc., so now we have physical symptoms that we’re aware of that signal emotional distress. i’m not so sure this is better. but i guess it is. yep, at least for us it was (is). We used to have _lots_ of problems with physical stuff but we just ignored it or didn’t even notice it in the first place. We ended up with several serious type problems because of this (like I have a fake knee cause we trashed it like three times in one year and ignored it each time until it got _really_ bad, then we had to have surgery to put in a fake one). So, paying attention to physical stuff is a _very_ good idea in the long run. Probly one of the best things that happened here due to t’py and healing.

yes. we know this, too. hunger was a real big one for us. then we figured out the difference between tired and depressed, and that was really cool. and now that we see Dr. Tim (the chiropractor), he’s helping us to recognize when the body hurts, and that it doesn’t have to. and that’s good, too. cuz then pretty stuff can feel pretty. but that’s hard. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – but i’m depressed cuz i can’t have something i think i want real bad. and i can’t remember the rule: "When I’m upset Can you figure out how to get something good enough or close enough? Or maybe you can figure out what is behind or underneath and get that? Like for me closeness is important cause we didn’t have it growing up so now it is important for me to have someone(s) in my life I feel close to. But ‘close’ is a pretty vague term and at least one inside here used to think that ‘close’ meant ’s*x’. Now _that_ sure caused some problems!!! Then several of us said ‘no more of _that_!’ and then that insider didn’t get to feel close until sie learned that ‘close’ can mean hugs, or chatting or just being or… So maybe what you think you want you can have but in a different way. Unless it is chocolate of course. We have _never_ figured out a substitute for that *huge grin*.

*hee* um, we’re doing the things on the list of things to do when feeling a craving today. felt cold, so we’re wearing sweater and slippers and got the big blanket wrapped around us. and we ate breakfast – went for comfort foods, because why not? and took meds, in case meds are low (they are), and am thinking about taking a nap, cuz we’re warm now and getting sleepy and didn’t sleep enough last night. food, meds, sleep are the big ones for me, and being cold is another one. being in pain, like low-grade chronic, makes us feel yuk too. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – because I can’t have ____, it means I’m ____." This time I think maybe it’s "avoiding feeling sad about issues" or "feeling lonely for some part of myself." but what if I really *am* sad cuz I can’t have what I think I want real bad? what if I’m *not* just distracting myself from something more? …sad… and i’m allergic to pepto, but thanks. sun(dyenths) Do you know more specifically what is wrong with your stomach? I mean like it is muscle tension or too much acid or what.

um, when i was little…? um, i didn’t have any words to be able to say "i feel scared. something’s not right. i feel anxious." but i got hugs and hair ruffling and comforting if i said my head hurt or my tummy hurt. "head hurt" was sort of defined as "sinus pain" or got bonked on head recently pain, so that was physical pain. but tummy hurt was "I feel yukky and need hugs." feelings. so even though my tummy actually *does* hurt, there’s nothing wrong with it. i’d say muscle tension’s probably the closest. and i’m sunshine, and for whatever reason, the tummy’s always where i am. the stomach, specifically. if i get scared now, the bigs put the hands on the tummy, over my stomach, like they’re holding me, and i feel better. the tummy stops hurting when i stop being scared. and if it still hurts a little bit, then we just take a deep breath and let it out like a sigh, and we feel better. thank you for writing to me. Sunshine, for dyenths – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I have a friend who has an ulcer and gets stomach pains and her solution is milk. _I_ have a problem with what is called a ’spastic col*n’ (sort of like irritable bow*l syndrome [splatted for search engines]). Now there are all sorts of fancy drugs I could take but I found that all I need is the equivalent of 3 grams of fiber in my diet each day. Of course eating 3 grams of fiber would make me explode so I take fiber pills (wheat fiber tablets I get at g n c, they also sell them other places). I’ve done it since about 1982 and have absolutely no stomach problems since starting it. Maybe you have the same sort of thing and can find some simple solution to it. Holding anxiety/stress in certain parts of the body is annoying until you figure out how to sort of get around it. Like a person who always carries their hands in fists and has stiff wrists/fingers from it can learn to do relaxation to fix that. You don’t actually have to learn how to move the stress or get rid of it, just how to fix the symptoms as they come up. Rainbow Colors (Jill) —

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The colors blend, the edges soften. Swirling and mixing we are becoming white light.

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What do you think makes a good yoga instructor?

Question:

I have practiced for about 25 years and have worked under probably a dozen teachers.

A great carreer! Have you thought about sharing your experiences and becoming a teacher too? Class size: the smaller the better. I have been in a large room with about 40 students and the teacher never moved about, but demonstrated asanas and talked. My best class was with four other students in a small room and we received constant personal attention, observation, demonstration and hands on correction.

That’s interesting. I can support your observations from most of my experiences too. As a teacher I sometimes even had 1 person classes – and these classes didn’t have been the badest, very intense, focused, direct. But I also experienced very intense, inspiring and energetic classes with 60 ppl and more – this time as a student. To me not only what the teacher did or say was important – but the enormous amount of supporting energy that builds up in a larger group that makes you – for example – work yourself through 31min. of Sat Kriya with joy (!) while the sweat is running all over your body – that’s for example a very special elevating Yoga group experience that I didn’t want to miss. It is my experience that a group often works as a catalysator. Class turnover: I have been to a class where anyone could attend, regardless of level of experience. This constant churn was counterproductive, no one really learned and I left out of boredom.

That’s indeed a difficult topic. I do have a class like that myself. Its a mixed class of beginning and advanced students and I wish it would be able to split the class into 2. (It’s impossible now because of the club I teach in – they don’t have more time / rooms free to offer another class) Now I do 5 weeks a beginning and 5 weeks advanced class topics. But it is also my experience that that it was good for the beginners to see the advanced students – some of them come regularily to the class now for 6 years – so that the beginners can lower their expectations regarding how fast they have to achieve what they expect. That’s also the reason why I do ask in the beginning of every new class the beginners what they do expect from practicing Yoga and I ask the advanced students what it is they still have difficulties with Class structure: some teachers’ routines can be predicted to the last syllable and movement. A great teacher varies each class. My favorite teacher would structure each class around work for a particular area of the body.

Kundalini Yoga classes do have a structure but we are able to offer a large variety of exercises and meditations. Mostly I do offer a different Yoga set every week. But after 6 years I bet some students have repeated some of the exercises And sometimes repeating 8exercises) wouldn’t be bad to in order to see the personal differences one encounter while practicing the same set. Class atmosphere: I prefer a dimly lit room to any other setting.

Yes, atmosphere is very important, ppl should be able to relax! Class rapport: over time, the other three students and I became fast friends and we became very comfortable in discussing personal stiuations after the class. Our teacher was our equal and never attempted to counsel.

That’s indeed very nice! Unfortunately, this teacher had knee surgery and is not teaching this year. I still try to follow the routine she gave for home practice. Val

It seems you made great experiences with her. I wish I would be able to uplift her, that a damaged knee shouldn’t stop her from teaching. I do have a damaged knee since my early childhood days that hinders me from sitting cross-leged, but I do teach and wouldn’t want to miss it. Maybe you can invite her to be with your group without joining the knee dangerous exercises? I can imagine that your teacher would miss the classes and beeing with the group too. Just an idea … Good luck and much joy while practicing! Sat Nam – Hari Har Singh

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[...snipped a bit ...] A very deep but relevant topic, Hari Har. Thank you for bridging it! Truth is its name!

Truth is your identity! – Sat Nam, dear Sahaj Ji, I hope I understood everything you wrote You disagree with what is stated about the student / teacher relationship above because of your personal experience you made with your teacher – right? I just want to add that to me having a "professional relationship" to the student does NOT mean that my relationship is not a heartfelt one. In fact a true professional relationship can be very heartfelt because you are not anymor blinded and limited by your own personal projections and are able to truely see the beeing that it is sitting in front of you – see this human beeing through and with the clear sight of your heart. One of the qualitys of the heart is clarity. There is a difference between (even neurotic) emotionality and love … The statement does also do not mean that you are not allowed to have a relationship with a student – when ppl come together they start to have relationships, there is no way to communicate without having one, right? – even it is not "forbidden" to have a heartfelt and deep private relatioship. I know a Yogi who fall in love with a student and married that woman. This is about "avoids any relationship with a student that could impair his or her professional judgment…." – I understand this as a warning – to both students and teachers – not to have abusive (neurotic) emotional and sexual relationships. And we both do know that there are western and eastern spiritual teachers who indeed missuse the relationship to their – mostly female – students in an abusive way. This is absolutely not about beeing "put on the throne", or "not eating with the students" – that would be very difficult to explain for a Yoga path often teached by Sikhs who f. e. invented langar (to anser your question: I have these "rules" from the 3HO code of ethics for kundalini yogateachers) You stated yourself how the traditional yoga teacher/disciple relationship should be – and I agree to many what you wrote. "If the relationship were truly based on yoga (a heart relationship) there would be no need for any rules at all." – indeed, because the heart is the ruler. Thank you for your statement / contribution to the threat. Wahe Guru! – Hari Har Singh A western Yogi said: Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. Carl Jung

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I have practiced for about 25 years and have worked under probably a dozen teachers. Class size: the smaller the better. I have been in a large room with about 40 students and the teacher never moved about, but demonstrated asanas and talked. My best class was with four other students in a small room and we received constant personal attention, observation, demonstration and hands on correction. Class turnover: I have been to a class where anyone could attend, regardless of level of experience. This constant churn was counterproductive, no one really learned and I left out of boredom. Class structure: some teachers’ routines can be predicted to the last syllable and movement. A great teacher varies each class. My favorite teacher would structure each class around work for a particular area of the body. Class atmosphere: I prefer a dimly lit room to any other setting. Class rapport: over time, the other three students and I became fast friends and we became very comfortable in discussing personal stiuations after the class. Our teacher was our equal and never attempted to counsel. Unfortunately, this teacher had knee surgery and is not teaching this year. I still try to follow the routine she gave for home practice. Val

Response:

Hello Bryan You’ve given a lot of thought to this. Like you, I like the instructor to talk about the asanas. Some of my teacher’s sayings that I like are: Remember to breathe; You are not struggling if you are breathing You can hold it if you are breathing Be in the moment, with the posture, feel what’s happening in your body. Focus to balance The body is strong, the breath is relaxed, the mind is still Don’t be concerned with what anyone else is doing Find YOUR starting place Don’t worry about where you can’t go; Find a place your body CAN go, and work from there Respect your knees Let any tension go Exhaling…relaxing…releasing…letting go Feel GOOD about stretching your body! Alignment is more important than how far you go Her tone of voice is loud and clear. She moves around the room really looking at people. These affirming messages are really easy to accept. The are repeated often, which is essential for me in order to learn them. There is also lots of praise for people. Unlike you, I do like it. It makes me happy. Amy http://amygreenblatt.home.att.net

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TEACHER / STUDENT RELATIONSHIP It is the responsibility of the teacher to maintain a professional relationship with students. This also applies to anyone assisting the teacher or engaged in any related activities. 1. A teacher recognizes the trust placed in, and unique power of the student-teacher relationship. A teacher avoids any relationship with a student that could impair his or her professional judgment….

Hari Har, Namaste! I am prompted to comment on this long list of rules for teachers. I would like to ask where did they come from? Secondly do you share these opinions? I have seen some similar "rules" that have been suggested by some yoga associations (such as the California Yoga Teachers Assn), but it appears to me that such an approach has many draw backs. Foremost, I wonder who can act as an authority in these matters stating yoga teachers "Should" or "should not" act in such and such a way? This position seems untenable especailly for any Western organization. Similarly I was somewhat startled at the cultural myopia when I first witnessed such proposals because it seemed to contradict the traditional yoga teacher/disciple relationship that I had been exposed to where the teacher simply acted in his/her natural capacity to share teh teachings from his/her heart to one who was a sincere searcher (a student of the path and thus a worthy vessel). In this relationship, the student and the disciple very often live together in a very open and intimate daily way. The relationship is better than being closest friends, rather the teacher acts as a spiritual friend whose only task is to turn the student on to the Sat Guru (the inner wisdom and teacher who lives within) without any regard to material profit or selfish gain. Now this was what I was taught, i.e., that the teacher is not to act aloof from the student, or to be treated any different )our teacher refused to be put up on a throne, eat separately from us, etc., yet he was of course oneointed in his own interest which was of course yoga, where most of the disciples were still easily distracted. The point is that the idea of "professional" relationship is entirely foreign to such an authentic and natural teacher/student context as described above. Professional relationships such as described by the CYTA and the Yoga Journal and as listed by you are in a context opf making a living like a doctor, lawyer, accountant, and so forth. i.e., profiting from selling services for a monetary fee in order to materially profit while in turn offering some sort of contractural moral obligation (not to abuse the relationship according to these "rules". Any one should be able to see that teh above descrinbes two very diffrent ways of teacher/student realtionships, ja? It seems to me that it is natural for the teacher to be our best friend, open, honest, and spontaneous. It seems that part of an authetntic teacher’s responsibility is to awaken the teacher within and as such an authentic is aware from teh beginning of the student’s potential tendency for transference and projection of authority unto the teacher and is both skiled and desirous of nipping such tendencies in the bud and reversingt hem always pointing the student back into their own inner dialogue and process of self awareness (where the yoga is intended for self realization). It is plain to me (and it is confirmed by my personal experience) that if the teacher maintains this loving and natural focus in mind, then glorification of the teacher (by the student) would not occur in the first place, nor would there be any danger of people misplacing trust or being abused or exploited. In this context the teacher is merely acting as a faciliitator, a vehicle, or channel sharing their own experience of self realization and inner growth with some one less experienced — it being given freely out of natural and spontaneous friendliness, compassion, emapathy, and transpersonal natrural sharing while affirming the universal Source of teh teachings. In other words a long list of contractural codes or "professional" ethgics seems foreign as compared to the above context of yoga (as union with creator.creation as "self"), hence such rules appear to belong to the fragmented realm of economics, business, or rather more exactly within the corrupt context of modern economics and capitalism. For example, I teach yoga to my FRIENDS and I would not want to give up my friendly and egalitarian relationship with them because of that, so when I see such proposals (unfortunately they are all too common) I like to juxtapose an entirely opposing context which may reveal a more functional possibility or at least provide an alternative to the Western idea of a "yoga teacher" as vocation, a profession, or as a way of surviving and making money. A very different approach, ja? Yes, the other points you made (you invited the discussion in the latter part of the list cover some of the points above, so I am mainly commenting on your point #1 specifically, but it seems that if the relationship were truly based on yoga (a heart relationship) there would be no need for any rules at all. The teacher is inside and is to be known by the student intimately. This is the teaching of yoga as self awareness, self study, self empowerment, the realization of one’s highest potential while in the body (Jivamukti), the activating of one’s creative/evolutionary potential (activating the kundalini), the coming into their true nature, self realization, and samadhi. This seems to be the goal of yoga as traditionally described and so one who teaches yoga should be focused on this without distraction, other wise they are not teaching yoga, ja … or put more simply anyone who teaches other wise is not a yoga teacher. Ok some teachers may say that this is too heavy fior them — that they merely teaxch asana practice. Good, then for clarity;s sake and to avoid confusion they could call themselves exercise teachers, but not yoga teachers, or call it by another name so thewords do not further obscure (and the word, yoga and its practice, is not demeaned in the context of a Western vocation or capitalistic profit motivated venture) ? Otehrwise without a context of integrity, the words will only further confuse. A very deep but relevant topic, Hari Har. Thank you for bridging it! Truth is its name!

Response:

Hello fellow yogis! I’ve been doing hatha and asthanga style yoga for the past 3 years and have taken classes from about 10 different instructors before settling into a routine with my 2 favorite instructors. It is amazing to me how different the yoga experience is depending on the teaching style of the instructor. Some teachers love to talk about their personal philosophy of life throughout the class and mix in inspirational talk with techinical yoga instruction. Other instructors talk about the asanas only and tell you how to do them and what they do for your body. Some teachers will say, "Good job, you are getting better at that pose", on the other hand I’ve had teachers who never give praise during your practice allowing you to be the only judge if you are getting better at the practice. Some instructors are constantly trying to motivate you by saying things like, "C’mon, you can do it" and the class seems like a mixture of aerobics and a motivational seminar. Other instructors never try to verbally push you harder but prefer to use the tone of their voice to get you fired up. I am curious to know what it is that people like about the instructors that they have stuck with over time. For me, the teachers that I am dedicated to do not mix in philosophical talk during practice and stick to talking about the asanas and how to make the little changes in your technique in order to get the full benefit of the postures. My teachers also pretty much never give direct praise to individual students. I appreciate that greatly because I feel that if you get praise from the instructor then you may strive to get praise all the time rather than be internally motivated. I’m not a very good writer but I hope you can and idea of what I am saying here. Basically, what I am asking is this – What do you think makes a good yoga instructor, specifically what does your instructor do or not do that makes you stick with that instructor. namaste Bryan

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Where can I purchase yoga tools in New Jersey?

Question:

If you have no objection to online purchases Living Arts.com or Giam.com have a nice selection to chose from. They are very reliable and also have a catalog you can order from if you don’t like the idea of ordering online

Response:

Hello; Does anyone know of places in Jersey that sell yoga tools? Thanks

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Hello; Does anyone know of places in Jersey that sell yoga tools? Thanks

Yoga tools? This brings to mind the joke: Q: How many Iyengar yoga teachers does it take to screw in a light bulb? A: One, but you will need: a sticky mat blocks ropes pulleys etc…. and, of course, a certified Iyengar teachers certificate.

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food dreams-why?!?!

Question:

I love crossword puzzles- the New York Times has the best ones. We do not get it very often, but we always save the crossword puzzle when we do. -Trillian 204/158/150 – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – thanks for the hug, Trillian. i don’t know what is eating me (pun intended) even though i can think of dozens of things that could be. did you know you can do crosswords and word searches at the CNN website? (at least you used to be able to) i don’t know if that interests you, but that is always a good diversion for me if i am just plain annoyed with stuff. Julie

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thanks for the hug, Trillian. i don’t know what is eating me (pun intended) even though i can think of dozens of things that could be. did you know you can do crosswords and word searches at the CNN website? (at least you used to be able to) i don’t know if that interests you, but that is always a good diversion for me if i am just plain annoyed with stuff. Julie – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I believe I know the frame of mind you are in. Sometimes it happens to me that I am just flat bored with everything- my favorite books are not interesting, don’t feel like knitting, and so on. In that case, I have in the past turned to food just to find something that interested me. It sneaks up on me, too, so I do not realize it is happening. For some reason, one of the best remedies for me is to go swimming. This is difficult where I am now- there is no public swimming pool available. I hope that you find out what is troubling you. Have a big hug from me, anyway. -Trillian 204/159/150

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I believe I know the frame of mind you are in. Sometimes it happens to me that I am just flat bored with everything- my favorite books are not interesting, don’t feel like knitting, and so on. In that case, I have in the past turned to food just to find something that interested me. It sneaks up on me, too, so I do not realize it is happening. For some reason, one of the best remedies for me is to go swimming. This is difficult where I am now- there is no public swimming pool available. I hope that you find out what is troubling you. Have a big hug from me, anyway. -Trillian 204/159/150

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julie, your c/o food dreaming is quite common when folks are food you eat and you are taking that to "rest" with you! what else does your day comprise of? are you exercising? how about some yoga? — read and post, rosie Indeed life is much like a game-both a deadly serious one and one that demands laughter, relaxation, and the ability to play., Either way, life demands attention. -hegarty http://www.everdream.com "Everdream. . .saving business from computers."

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – don’t you hate this. you wake from a not so good night’s sleep and you realize that you are having a snack craving at 7am! you take a nap because the gym and the oh so very dry text book you are reading exhausted you and you wake up because you’re dreaming of food again! it’s as if they are haunting me, yet i don’t really want them. my air conditioning is getting fixed and the dealer gave us a loaner. since the car i was given was a brand spanking new one (all of 123 miles when i drove it out of the lot), hubby just HAD to drive it. he disguised his wish of driving it with an offer to the ice cream shop taking the long way (read: lots of twists and turn to test the new suspension). we get to the shop, i get my usual in a small version and pick at it. i let him eat the rest of mine….i didn’t want it. i suppose i could speculate that it has to do with my favorite dessert no longer being at the menu at a restaurant….i had been wanting it for weeks and finally broke down and went there only to find out it was no longer a menu item. i don’t know what it is. i wish i did. perhaps i should just stop thinking woe wise and just go with it. whatever happens happens. and one other rhetorical question: why is it that the days go by so slowly, but time seems to fly? thats it from me for now Julie

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don’t you hate this. you wake from a not so good night’s sleep and you realize that you are having a snack craving at 7am! you take a nap because the gym and the oh so very dry text book you are reading exhausted you and you wake up because you’re dreaming of food again! it’s as if they are haunting me, yet i don’t really want them. my air conditioning is getting fixed and the dealer gave us a loaner. since the car i was given was a brand spanking new one (all of 123 miles when i drove it out of the lot), hubby just HAD to drive it. he disguised his wish of driving it with an offer to the ice cream shop taking the long way (read: lots of twists and turn to test the new suspension). we get to the shop, i get my usual in a small version and pick at it. i let him eat the rest of mine….i didn’t want it. i suppose i could speculate that it has to do with my favorite dessert no longer being at the menu at a restaurant….i had been wanting it for weeks and finally broke down and went there only to find out it was no longer a menu item. i don’t know what it is. i wish i did. perhaps i should just stop thinking woe wise and just go with it. whatever happens happens. and one other rhetorical question: why is it that the days go by so slowly, but time seems to fly? thats it from me for now Julie

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