tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26934073344021071372024-02-07T20:12:51.432-08:00Swan MichelleMichelle's personal insights as she travels, in and out. A yoga teacher, energy practitioner, mantra singer, musician, lover... this is an offering of personal revelations on teaching yoga, singing, offering bhakti, meditating, practicing yoga, energy work, ritual and spirit. Michelle is a lover of the Divine, community gatherer and world roamer. Born on Saint Valentines Day, her most humble goal is to ignite, inspire, adore, offer and to be Love itself.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-55630485482987029482016-04-17T08:20:00.004-07:002016-04-17T09:06:38.573-07:00Yoga Nidra...Yogic "Sleep"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">YOGA NIDRA… Yogic “Sleep”</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As I set off on my journey of yoga in 1996 with the obvious physical predicament of severe scoliosis, having worn a back brace throughout my teens, my yoga practice gave me the first realization that I do not have to be a victim to my circumstances and my emotions if I so choose.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In high school I had an epic and progressive nurse that led me once per week through guided visualizations to heal my scoliosis. Right away I was enchanted by this concept. Right away I also realized my lack of patience, focus or belief that I could be healed at all, let alone do it myself. I saw that I was quite provoked by the drama of my unusual physical limitations then and whirling of teenage emotions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As a yogini, having been solid in the practices of yoga directly for exactly 20 years now (it’s my 20 year yoga anniversary this July!), I find I am not so likely to give permission to the suppression of feelings or to overlook my inner dramas or discomforts. I honestly don’t want anything to "have” me at all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">My journey in yoga began at the Sivananda Ashram in the Catskills of NY. We use to practice something called “Yoga Nidra” once per week with a lovely Indian women that would come to visit the ashram. Her guided visualizations brought me back to my “nurse” in high school. We went through very similar withdrawal of the senses inwardly as to strengthen my inner body and redirect the flow of Prana. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I didn’t know it then but through getting reacquainted with the power of my own mind and in a better inner personal relationship with my mental and emotional habituations, I have been able to release a great deal of the cause of what my scoliosis or the suffering that was formed in the mental roots. I went from avoiding it to enjoying stillness, self examination and the chance to strengthen my mind because I was feeling the happiest I had ever felt in my life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In the practice of YOGA NIDRA, we first make a conscious decision to withdraw all of our organs of action and commit to comfortably take our “seat” of stillness, overcoming the stresses and strains that actions often bring and safely lie down as to “wake up”. In Nidra, similar to the practice of “pratyahara”, which means to withdraw the senses, we solidly vow to stop working, moving, exercising, talking, texting, socializing, attending to others, worrying, planning, stressing or “doing” any one thing in particular.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In this way, Yoga Nidra becomes a “de-focusing” practice of outer stimuli as to go on a retreat, drawing back. Translated as “union to sleep”, Yoga Nidra is not really about sleeping, but activating the waking state. Deep sleep insinuates repression, separation from our true nature and forgetfulness of our innate joy. Yoga Nidra is quite the opposite. It means that you are solidly established in the self, that you know yourself and that you can control your dreams.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Yoga Nidra is also not really about “relaxation” quite literally. It could take on the shape of "lying down", but it is much more than that. In Nidra you are not napping or checking out but instead checking in, enjoying inner stilliness. Any drama that we have attached ourselves to creates an inner instability as it draws us further away from our nature. Separation is unsettling. Our Divine Self senses this and it is disturbing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In Nidra, the intention, or “sankalpa” is “direct” perception. We focus on true self confidence, a strong present mind, healing ourselves and knowing ourselves. This puts us at ease. This of course can in turn assist the health and homeostasis of our body, relieve stress and maybe even help us to sleep better at night but it is not for just those 8 hours alone. It really unifies us to everything that we do in creation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In Yoga Nidra you realize you can control the dream to the extent that nature will provide for you in this lifetime with all that you have access to now. It releases victimization and mental toxicity, which affects the overall health of your being. This level of suffering comes from separation where Nidra clears the subtle body, drawing us closer to holding more love and light in our field. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I have appreciated Nidra on my healing journey as it is very self empowering. If I feel like a victim, I am disempowered and then I become inwardly afraid. This triggers my flight or fright mechanism and shuts down my chakra system. Fear and anything that seems out of our range of ability is debilitating and lowers our frequencies, creating discord, where we are weak. This will disturb and distort all of our organs, tissues and cells, not to mention obscure our lens and affect every experience and relationship in our lives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In Yoga Nidra, we hold a safe conscious space to remove deep, unattended to blocks that we have taken on as being real even if they are distortions to our health or wellbeing. In this practice, available to anyone that can lie down and apply focus, a stable and nourishing space is held to invite blockages to resurface and allow for anything unresolved to come up. Again, anything unresolved blocks the flow of prana. When unstable memories resurface we are given a self empowering chance to digest and eliminate them, clearing the experiences of resent or fear. This leaves emptiness and the room for the creative potential of new patterns. This places creativity back into your hands. What a dream!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">All of us can relate to not wanting to be disturbed or allow certain agitations to trigger us. All of us can relate to when the body does not feel healthy, injured, under stress, fatigue or the immune system feeling compromised. In these states we will always feel vulnerable as it blocks the flow of prana (life force) and our channel to inner wisdom, beyond these whirlings. In Nidra, we lie down in our seat of trusted union. Union creates a state of calm where the mind is lucid and clear. Everything else is a blockage of love and light. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">As yogis and simply as human beings, we can create a state that is extra-ordinary in the “ordinary,” where we transcend time and space, where you are very much awake and aware. Resting in awareness is the most authentic state. Resting in awareness does not have veils, discomforts and confusion. Your senses become heightened and liberated no matter what your external circumstance may be. In Nidra, you may choose to “rest” from worry instead of create further suffering.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> This practice activates the power of the<b> inner teacher</b>, called</span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> “Guru”</b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> in the yoga tradition quite affectively, as no one is "doing" </span>anything<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> for you. Rest well in your inner teacher. A “guru” is unprovoked by dramas. One calm within their nature carries a bliss in and beyond their body that is unshakable and not </span>reliant on things on the outside<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">. Even if the body goes through it’s natural process, of which it will, these teachings leave the union to You untouched. Rest in it. It is within you.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Yoga Nidra is a mystical practice that is very much grounded in a healthy, practical lifestyle that is accessible to most humans, even if they are not interested in “yoga”. It is not a forced practice and is practices in many traditions and cultures. I hope you choose to participate in your self healing process as to witness everything that lies in creation and within you. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yoga Nidra will be offered once per month on Tuesday evenings from 7:30-8:45pm with Michelle Baker at Swan River Yoga beginning in May. </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Check listings for this practice that invites living in a body that is conscious & unsuppressed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This will include a small lecture on the philosophies, history and origin of Yoga Nidra, 45 minutes of Yoga Nidra Practice and space held after for any questions, council, comments, spaciousness or silence.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Although we have all of the props and tools that you might need, feel free to bring your favorite items that help you to feel cozy, such as personal blankets, pillows or prayer shawls.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An Introduction to Yoga Nidra is April 17th at 4pm-6pm.</span></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-87523309103866068082016-03-25T08:17:00.002-07:002016-04-07T05:21:23.272-07:00Ayurveda Yoga Therapy in New Orleans<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b> Balance and Heal Your Life with the oldest self-healing medicine in the world.</b></h3>
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<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">New and fresh to Swan River Yoga is the natural life daily practice and medicine of Ayurveda. Michelle has permission and certification as an Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist from the Ayurveda College of California as directed by Dr. Marc Halpern at the Sivananda Ashram. Marc wrote the epic book on Ayurveda called “Healing Your Life” and has a bestselling Yoga Nidra. He is the President of the Ayurveda Association in The United States. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">She became exposed to the healing arts of Ayurveda most extensively in South India in Kerala and Bali, Indonesia where she went on a full retreat of learning the various arts of Ayurveda in the f</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">orm of diet, purification techniques, cooking, marma/massage points and oiling the body, called "Abhyanga" and oiling the third eye, called "Shirodhara". Noting that in India, Ayurveda is offered along side Yoga and often Reiki in all yoga studios or wellness facilities, she found very little support or education in this natural healing art and means of healing our life beyond the mat in our own country, as popular as yoga is. </span></span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For this reason she went on a quest to unify the 2 together, making the practice of Ayurveda/ Yoga a 24 hour practice in everything that we do. Ayurveda reveals this in a very practical way and is accessible to everyone. It brings your inner medicine guide back to you and calls upon you to heal your life. It is also the original means and creative way to live, invoking deep, self guided and empowering life transformations that are in reach in every moment.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Background: What is Ayurveda?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ayurveda, the science and medicine of life, is thought to be the oldest form of medicine in the world. Originating from India, it is the Mother of yoga (our lives), and a constant facilitator and reminder of the nourishment and harmony in everything that we do and experience. Called “<i>Ojas</i>,” Ayurveda brings out the maximum life force that we contain within us as protection of our immune system so that we can access spirit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ayurveda is a science that we have very practical, palpable access to, so that we can heal at any moment. It reminds us to be mindful of every action, from physical maintenance, life duties, work, recreation, and exercise to our spiritual practice, as THE medicinal remedies. Ayurveda examines our lifestyle habits and routines to bring us back into harmony with our original state. It utilizes all of the elements that reside within nature and our own bodies by examining our strongest imprints and tendencies that have imposed as a part of our nature.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The alchemy of natural medicine can be found within us and in our daily lives. Lifestyle practices and daily routines as an antidote can bring our well-being back into balance emotionally, mentally and physically instead of throwing us off with further imbalance and into disconnect or even disease. This naturally brings us back to the original joyful spirit that we are and into a state of homeostasis that resides within us all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is empowering to embody every aspect of our lives as means of joy and upliftment instead of further draining our life force and creating more stress and blockages. Ayurveda is a recalling back of our life and health.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Applying Ayurveda:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After learning and applying the Ayurvedic principles, we can sense and move energy to its optimal capacity, remove blockages that separates us from our natural state, holding, like a container, greater health, clarity, increased capacity, nourishment, adaptability, creativity, intelligence and enthusiasm. With this life medicine, we reawaken our fortitude and awareness to heal our life within everything that we do, be it work, family, traveling, eating, sleeping, changing, exercising, loving, interacting, taking care of business, or of course, even our yoga asana practices. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">From the moment we wake up, we can use Ayurveda to address what habits are best suited for us within all of our five senses: <b>taste</b> (specific diet, the means of digestion and tongue reading); <b>touch </b>(specified yogic practices, marma and ayurvedic massage, Thai massage, the quality of the skin); <b>smell </b>(aromatherapy, oil therapy, cleansing the energy currents); <b>sight</b> (eye health, color therapy, meditation, visualization & beauty hygiene); and <b>sound</b> (ear health, music therapy, speech quality, listening and silence). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Other habits include the pace and clarity of our mind and physical body, the time of day we operate best at, the way we sleep, our relationships, our daily environments and the reason why we do everything that we do. It also helps us to understand the things that will throw us more easily off balance, which is personal to each individual.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Detoxify Extreme Imbalance:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ayurveda addresses very specific and extreme imbalances or changes in our lives, such as aging, toxicity from food or the environment, stress, digestive issues, menstrual imbalance, sexual incontinence, infertility, trauma, accident recovery, insomnia, weight gain or loss, disease recovery and dying. Also extreme emotions, including grief, loss, lack of self-acceptance, depression, anger, impatience, jealousy, fear, anxiety, worry, lack of focus or lacking in feeling or motivation. Most importantly, proper expression and embodiment of Ayurveda assists in releasing “<i>Ama</i>,” which are toxins, or the inability to digest things, release attachments that block the life force, access inner motion, inflammation or stagnation. All of these are addressed for means of purification.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A Consultation will include:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A personal survey with very extensive questions will take place to create a diagnosis of your possible constitution. This will allow us to learn about the ways you operate so as to better understand how you get out of balance and into possible distress. Called “<i>dosha</i>,” our personal constitution is a very specific recipe to us of percentages of the elements that reside within us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Each person is a very unique mixture of constitutional elements. For this reason, a personal, hands-on assessment of your bones, skin, face, hair, tongue and digestion is observed from the moment of your birth as is your current and personal state. After a physical assessment, a psychological assessment is done to assess your mental abilities and emotional tendencies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We will discuss the relationship you have to your senses, your physical patterns of eating, daily activities, exercise and sleeping/dreaming patterns.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">From this a very specific recipe of the three <i>doshas</i> (your unique constitution) that you embody will be offered with further wisdom offerings in relation to the five senses (touch, taste, smell, sight, sound), offering basic insight on what can assist to balance your specific dosha or dosha combination, be it <b>Kapha, Pita or Vatta or a combination with exact measurements.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For the initial consultation, two hours is required to determine your long-term natural state, called <b>Prakriti</b><i>.</i> From there, you may check in from time to time to determine your current imbalance that you are going through at the moment, called your<b> Vikruti.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Please note: </b>One does not have to be a yoga practitioner at all to receive a consultation. There will be no yoga at all in the consultation. One does not need to know a thing about Ayurveda or Yoga. If you are interested in accessing and getting inspired by this means of self-healing within your life and learning more about yourself through a deep examination, this is for you, all ages, all stages of any cycle that you are currently in. If there is an intense case that requires further and more in-depth consultation, you will be referred to a qualified Ayurvedic counselor or doctor so you have a reference of further guidance.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Investment:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Initial 2 hour Consultation:</b> $140 (required)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>1 hour Consultations:</b> (after the initial) $108</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Special Beginners Package: Consultation & Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3-hour Combination Ayurvedic Consultation with Ayurveda Yoga Therapy Private Session: (2-hour initial consultation with a 1-hour yoga session specific to balancing out your specific dosha imbalance): $210</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Book your consultation and register now: </b><a href="mailto:Nancy@swanriveryoga.com"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;"><b>Nancy@swanriveryoga.com</b></span></a></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy Private Session:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This choice, unlike the Ayurvedic consultation, is <b>very specific to yoga practitioners. </b>It is an in-depth examination of the way in which the doshas are affected in specific asanas so that you can take your prescription home with you and practice further on your own, safely and with the most personalized efficiency possible. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you are feeling current energetic or physical imbalances in any way, this will help us to come up with the appropriate yoga asana and pranayama (breathing exercises) diagnosis for you to bring you back to harmony, based on the diagnosis of the constitutional make up (dosha) that you are or are currently experiencing at the moment. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">With yoga becoming increasingly popular and accessible, it is important to be aware of the Ayurvedic side of this ancient healing art. Certain types of yoga classes, styles or specific poses may increase an imbalance within you and some may be the exact prescription you unknowingly need if you are in pain. Often we have access to deep self-healing in yoga, moving the energy out of us on our own to the place that nature allows, yet it may be hard to fully access this depth in the more popular or general classes that are attending to a generalized population. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is yet another understanding of the way in which you can heal yourself so as to examine the ways the energy, called <i>vayus</i>, move in each yoga asana pose and how this affects your chakras, emotions, physical body and mental state of clarity or lack of it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some poses build more heat, some less; some build or lift more energy, some less—all related to the digestive fires of the body, the way energy moves and your chakra system. A specific prescription of a yoga class sequence from this perspective is quite complex and personal yet renders very specific healing effects on you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The asanas in this session will be presented free of any yogic style or level of experience but more so based on <b>exactly what it is that you currently need </b>according to where your constitution, dosha, is imbalanced. An initial consultation must take place first to determine what Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy session is needed for you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A Yoga Therapy class tends to be for very specific ailments, purpose, or intention. This type of class will pacify the exact dosha or current imbalance in the constitution that you are experiencing. A yoga therapy class may include restorative yoga, slow flow, quick flow, basic beginners, fast paced vinyasa, reiki, mantra or meditation, depending on exactly what it is that you need.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy Private Session:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1 hour: $108</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1.5 hour: $130</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Package of 3 one hour sessions: $300</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Book your consultation and register now: </b><a href="mailto:Nancy@swanriveryoga.com"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(4, 99, 193); color: #0463c1;"><b>Nancy@swanriveryoga.com</b></span></a></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">*Note, Michelle may offer suggestions on specific books, body oils essential oils or life style and hygiene that is specific to you. Many of these things can be found in our Swan Boutique.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">*Michelle has permission and certification as an Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist from the Ayurveda College of California as directed by Dr. Marc Halpern at the Sivananda Ashram.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Om Danvantra Murtaye Namaha. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Om Danvantra Murtaye Namaha. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Om Danvantra Murtaye Namaha. </span></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-78384613458622199812016-01-04T17:03:00.004-08:002016-01-20T10:47:08.141-08:00Swan School 2016. 400 Hour Yoga Teacher Training.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Swan School 2016.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: center;">
400 Hour Yoga Teacher Training </div>
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Swans Take Flight</div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b><u>Union, Community, Flow, Form, Integrity & Creativity</u></b></span></div>
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<b><u>Swans Take Flight!</u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our 9th year and running and offering yoga full time in the city of New Orleans since 1998, we
are honored to be a part of numerous adults taking flight into their lives and serving their
community. With 109 beings that have graduated thus far, in support of our growth and the
growth of yoga overall, we now have 8 staff and faculty to serve you and 2 mentors that will
assist in this life changing and deeply moving adult immersion.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />
This training is an offering of community, called “satsang” as it’s first tenet. It has brought
numerously powerfully charged relationships together into the community, all of them proficient,
creative, intelligent, diverse and forward thinking. Each of them has grown into levels of being
the most optimal version of themselves imaginable and have worked very hard to do so. Each of them continue to offer their best afterward as free, independent, compassionate and liberated examples of service in their homes, neighborhood, schools, hospitals, work environments, yoga studios and
communities.</span></div>
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If your desire is to deepen the impact of your offerings within your life (even if it is not just a yoga class), find an outlet to do so that
is trustworthy and reliable, have a chance to delve into a university type educational setting
where deep philosophical discussions will take place, this swan set up is for you.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Perhaps you have wished to gain inspiration to delve into your diverse skills and talents, such a
learning another language, playing music and mantra or a new instrument, getting more into the
stillness of the workings of your mind in meditation, writing, learning energy clearing techniques such as
Reiki, ancient indigenous medicine such as Ayurveda, conscious diet and care of the earth, or healing touch techniques in the art of assists with Thai Yoga. This too is for you! In India, these are the all inclusive parts to yoga.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And there is the obvious, a large portion of this training in on the Hatha Yoga path, that of
Asana, or the postures, where will will get into it’s history, anatomy, alignment, articulation of
form, skillful and creative sequencing, verbal and physical adjustments, eagle eye and demonstrations and taking your seat as
the teacher in a classroom setting in an Open level class. Your practice will improve and regulate due to the required repetition. You will also learn the mechanics of
what goes into every class at Swan River Yoga, such as Beginners, Slow Flow, Quick Flow,
Ageless, Restorative and Advanced levels so that you are well rounded. </span><br />
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This training is meant
in it’s length and duration to be sure that you are directly ready to teach yoga upon graduation
as you will gain a lot of experience leading what you learn with constructive feedback. This trainings also requires nothing further upon
completion and opens you up to the entire community in your offferings, free of being asked to
conform to one brand or studio but instead offering you serious experience, quality and intelligence in and of itself.
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Truly sophisticated in it’s 2,000 year old system and authentic to the origin of yoga are the
“Margas”, or “paths of yoga”, which is a very large portion of the first half of the training. Sound,
philosophy, meditation, practices of devotion, serving others and in depth physical experiences of breathing
exercises and physical postures will all be there for you to learn and learn to teach as a true
renaissance and diversified yogi. To us, these radiant paths of yoga simply can not be left out if we are to be true about offering what yoga is. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />
This training is also provide as a means to show us that to offer yoga is to serve. And in serving,
it is assisting us all to remain deeply connected to our roots, origin and interconnectedness of all
of the beings and things within our lives as to do all that we can to uplift the lives of others.
Since the original meaning of yoga is “union to the Higher Self”, this concept will be addressed again and again as a means of activating your Self realization, innate wisdom, and unconditional
ability to Love in a Real way in the the depth of skill, technique and intelligence that already
resides within you.
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.000000pt; font-weight: 700;"><u>A history of Swan School
</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Swan School was born from the ashes of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It began 2 years later in 2007. Each
year, numerous beings from around the Gulf Region have attended and graduated in
hopes to better serve their personal purpose, enrich their lives and serve their communities. Swan School
was the very first Yoga Teacher Training in New Orleans and one of the first in the region.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Co-directed by Michelle Baker & the blessings of Grace, the primary purpose of Swan School is to create
and activate the importance of Satsang, to build and develop like-hearted and creatively expressed family
and relationships in our lives, and then to walk each other hOMe.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Michelle Baker, the River guide of this upcoming 9 year and running Life Immersion and University,
assisted in making Yoga Teacher Trainings legal in the state of Louisiana. She is committed to activating
the dharma (purpose) of all beings magnetized to live their Truth.
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Of primary importance in Swan School is that the teachings remain honest and respected, so that we may
offer others all of the foundational components of what yoga really is in our modern lives. We assume that
other beings are highly intelligent. For this reason we wish to never dumb down the teachings, but strive
to remain clear and transparent in offering real yoga with high aim.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">We have also noted that not everyone wishes to be a yoga teacher. What they crave is the permission
and means to grow and to continue the adult “Life Immersion”. Come one, come all. This will instigate
growth and deep self reflection in the curriculum, where evolution is inevitable. If you want the real and
deep deal, this life college is for you as we will do our best through many years of experience and
transmission to encapsulate the essence of yoga.
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Yogis were historically considered radical beings. The word radical means “forming the roots.” We find it important to respect the roots of the teachings. The Bhagavad Gita also states that the very first attribute that is to be
embodied as a “yogi” is courage, having valor and boldly dropping all that one has been taught to get the unveiling of the Truth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">For this reason, some key components to the teachings of this training are all of the primary “margas,” or
roads, namely Bhakti, Raja, Jnana, Nada, Hatha and Karma/Seva, or practices in devotion, meditation,
the study of scriptures, sound, asana, and selfless service without the expectation of result. Each of these
paths will be studied and practiced.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Unique to some western teacher trainings, knowledge and articulation of each will be required to
graduate from Swan School as Swan School will continue to share yoga’s tradition free of sterilization.
The key lectures, inspirations and books in this training come from direct and hands on influence, inner
and outer travel, lineage and teachers in our family tree. It is an honor to be connected to numerous
deeply steeped forces still present in our lives.
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Integration is another translation of yoga, stemming from the root integrity. The Swan School will be a
purification process and is meant to integrate yoga into our every day lives, diminishing separateness or
self-serving motives, self interpretations or lack of Self acceptance within us. If you desire to be creative
and honored for your unique expression of the Whole, you are in the right place. Waking up is the goal of Swan School.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">The word Apocalypse can be translated as “the uncovering”. It is stated that if you are even at all
interested in the yogic teachings, then you have been a yogi for many lifetimes and may just now be
re-membering. Congratulations on your recognition! You have been through so much to get here and now here you are. Your
luminosity is ready to be revealed after so much concealment.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Just as a star in the constellation of the sky, may these teachings contribute to lighting up the Whole in all of its many parts (which are YOU) as YOU too tell the story of the Divine.
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Welcome to the starry teachings. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 700;"><u>What you will be teaching:
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">The main focus of this Teacher Training is to give you a basic background as to then teach an </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Open
Level Asana class, called A Swan River Yoga Class. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">This is an integration of numerous backgrounds
and direct teachings for the purpose on being non-dogmatic. It is not meant to be a training asking you to
conform but to activate the Highest and most reliable quality within you through various direct association
with lineages that are trustworthy, respected and will known in the yoga community at large. This training
gives you a shelter of solid foundation, background and experience.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Some of the lineages that are very first and hands on over a long period of personal time that influence
this training are Sivananda, Jivamukti Yoga and personal association with Sharon Gannon since 1998,
Initiation in Ram Dass’ lineage with Neem Karoli Baba, personal association with Radhanath Swami
including Bhakti Yoga, numerous trips to India and the teachings of the Motherland, Tibetan Buddhist
lineages, direct Anusara trainings, Reiki Trainings, Thai Yoga Massage in Thailand and the US, Ayurvedic
Trainings and Council, Restorative Yoga Trainings, Ashtanga at the source in Mysore, India with Shri K.
Pattahbhi Jois and his entire family, Sanskrit with Jaya Shree and numerous other humble beings.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Please note, that after completing this course, no graduate is expected to continue with studio- centric implications or
licensing renewal. You are encouraged to spread the teachings for and wide free of conformity or dogma.The definitions of a Swan River Yoga class are implicit to Swan River as being an abode, committed to uphold or set standards of quality. This is based in many years of hands on experience. What you will learn will assist you in maintaining consistency in the
boundaries of proficiency and professionalism. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">If you call your class a Swan River Yoga Class, it is asked that you respect the following the definition and ethics below. If you do
not, you are also respected in gathering all of the information cultivated in this training and long line of lineage wherever it is that
you may teach. You are also encouraged to teach and serve in as many places as you can, getting good
at your trade and reaching as many beings as possible.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arialmt";"><b><u>A Swan River Yoga Class defined:</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arialmt"; font-size: 10pt;">Here is a basic translation for the public from our website </span><span style="color: #000099; font-family: "arialmt"; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold;">www.swanriveryoga.com</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">.
</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">“A Swan River Yoga Class is a unique creative fusion inspired by many backgrounds and teachers. This
class is open to all levels and will offer numerous choices for both the beginner and seasoned
practitioner. Along with an artful flow-based sequence, specific detailed alignment attention will also be
included to bring you a well-rounded, authentic experience of yoga.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small; font-style: italic;">Be ready to listen to traditional yogic teachings and personal story-telling, observe the mind in movement
and meditation, bring awareness to the breath, sing mantras in Sanskrit and/or English, and optimize the
body’s health in challenging physical poses using disciplined strength and flowing movement.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: italic;">A Swan River Yoga class will always have the following:</span> <br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Theme: a reference to the ancient and modern philosophy of yoga to inspire higher purpose (Jnana Yoga)</span>
<span style="font-style: italic;">Song: mind-clearing mantra to set an elevated mood (Bhakti Yoga)</span> <br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Physical asana: a flow-based (vinyasa) practice with emphasis on physical alignment and breath (Hatha
Yoga)</span> <br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Meditation and/or breathing exercises known as pranayama. (Raja Yoga)</span> <br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">Level: OPEN”
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 700;"><u>5 Elements of a Swan River Class:
</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">1. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Dharma Talk</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">. Inspire their mind. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Air/Vayu<br />
</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">2. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Chant/Devotion</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">. Stoke their heart. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Fire/Agni<br />
</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">3. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Breath and/or meditation. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Give them grounded tools of independence. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Earth/Prathivi<br />
</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">4. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Equal balance of alignment instruction and flowing asana. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Neither one nor the other is to be left
out. This creates a balance of Shiva/Shakti. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Water/Jala<br />
</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">5. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Theme infused 3 times throughout the class. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Tell them </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">why </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">they are doing all of this.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">*You will also be given very clear transcriptions and instruction in this book comprised by the director and
many senior swan teachers on teaching numerous classes that we offer at Swan River Yoga.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">This list includes very carefully laid out transcriptions that have come through years of experience, skill
and technique for effectively teaching </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Beginners Yoga, Slow Flow Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Open
Level, Prenatal Yoga, Advanced Level Classes and Private or Specialized Yoga Classes </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">of which all
will be important in a growing yoga community. Our goal at Swan River Yoga is that in the clear and steep
incline of growth in the world of yoga, that we do not water down the teachings or lessen our quality. Each
of these types of yoga also lends itself to encouraging a greater yoga teacher population and many fields
from which to specialize in and grow.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLf-zezh0RVrUapSCohLS8v391IYQ8DPwct6DU-Rtxm38ZIQXkxCIpReVa_ZIK7Fo8NO9TbBXMtLNP6kvPoRs5w17dMCjcyXP3UochYYNOIvkBJv1JUlQJeWyySX-B1h1tsI-oVcKiOkU8/s1600/12339133_10208479492891176_7647540867159356521_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLf-zezh0RVrUapSCohLS8v391IYQ8DPwct6DU-Rtxm38ZIQXkxCIpReVa_ZIK7Fo8NO9TbBXMtLNP6kvPoRs5w17dMCjcyXP3UochYYNOIvkBJv1JUlQJeWyySX-B1h1tsI-oVcKiOkU8/s400/12339133_10208479492891176_7647540867159356521_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 700;"><u>Swan School Faculty:</u><span style="font-size: x-small;"> * To find out more about these teachers go to www.swanriveryoga.com
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Michelle Baker</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">; </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Director and River Guide. Introduction to all of the Margas (Paths) with in depth lectures
on the yoga of Sound (</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">Nada)</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">, Mantra Meditation & Receive a personal Mantra </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">(Raja)</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">, Philosophy
</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">(Jnana)</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">, Devotional Practices from India </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">(Bhakti)</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">, The Bhagavad Gita, Mythology, Basic Sanskrit
Pronunciation, Mantras, Harmonium, Ayurvedic Medicine & The Doshas, Ayurvedic Counseling, Serving
Others Selflessly (</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">Seva)</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">, The Laws of Karma, Asana and Yoga History (</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">Hatha)</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">, Our lineage, The
Systems of Yoga, The Art of Sequencing, </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">How to Teach A Swan River Yoga Class and Restorative
Yoga</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">, Yoga Nidra, Shavasana & Thai Therapeutics, The Art of Hands on and Verbal Assists, Energetic
Cleanliness & Reiki, Business Ethics, Leadership Ethics and Taking Your Seat as a Teacher, Conducting
a balanced class, in-class practicum, life counseling and homework feedback. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Infinite hours
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Brigitte Martin; </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Teacher Training Staff, Esoteric Anatomy of the Chakras. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Infinite Hours. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Robert Dill; </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Teacher Training Mentor. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Infinite Hours.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Kelly Haas; </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Asana Alignment, Injury Prevention and Yoga Therapeutics, including specific ailments, common injuries and degenerative diseases. How to Teach </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">Beginners Yoga
and Prenatal Yoga. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">26 hours
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">John DeMahy; </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Yoga Anatomy, Safety, Functions & The Systems of the body, along with interesting ways to memorize these systems</i></span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">. 10 Hours. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Valerie Viosca; </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Integrative Anatomy, Safety, Contraindications. </i></span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">4 Hours.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Keith Porteous; </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Introduction to Buddhism, Dharma, An Introduction to The Yoga Sutras and the 8 Limbs
of Patanjali. How to teach & experience </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">Slow Flow Yoga. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">6 hours
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">JackSun Slaughter; </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Introduction to Seva, Liberty and CommUNITY. How to teach and experience an
</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">Advanced Level Yoga</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">4 hours.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Thomas Q Sims; </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">I</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">ntroduction to Veganism, a compassionate life style and the Niyamas. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">How to teach
and experience a </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">Quick Flow Yoga Class</span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">. NEW </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">2016 Teacher Training Mentor!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Tim VanDerKamp: </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Introduction to Ageless Yoga. 2 hours.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arialmt"; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Code of Ethics & Dharma:</span></u><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Also quite unique to </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">Swan River Yoga is our Code of Ethics. </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">It is a very thorough and concise list
comprised through years of observation of where yoga communities can, in all humanness, lower or dilute
the teachings or diminish the experience into disappointing, self serving, self interpreted choices and
behavior. Taking the seat of a teacher is a very High responsibility. It is stated in the laws of karma too
that taking advantage of ones seat or “power” plays on other reaps a very low karma. Quality,
intentionality and integrity are vitality provoking, like lamps getting plugged into a wall.<br />
This code of ethics is available to you at any time for review and you will be asked to sign in before we
get into our public integration where you are a part of the director, Michelle Baker’s public classes.
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 700;"><u>In Class Observations:
</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">This is a very unique part of the Swan School Yoga Trainings. After the summer break, you take up
offering a class with Michelle, where you observe and offer parts of the class, be it a meditation, breathing
exercise, standing sequence, etc. This is rarely done in beginner Teacher Trainings but shows you our
level of trust and readiness in YOU due to the level of proficiency we will offer you with our stellar faculty.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">The standards that we wish to uphold at Swan River and the level of practice and observation you will
receive in a public setting will indeed make you very ready to teach a class right away after these 7
months and 400 hours, where many trainings will ask that you later do apprenticeships or do not have
enough time for this type of feedback with so much curriculum to cover.
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u><span style="font-weight: 700;">Level of Homework/Tapasya</span><span style="font-weight: 700;">:</span></u><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Like being at a University, 100 hours of this training is considered in the high level
of homework you will have. This will steep the teachings into you and give you very personal and hands
on feedback from the Director and mentors from all of their numerous years of care and experience. You
will be expected to write papers of the books that are required to read, to memorize the asanas in
Sanskrit and learn Sanskrit mantras, to create a complete transcribed class sequence that will be graded
and refined, to offer an accepted video of an Open Level Swan River Yoga Class, take a Take Home Test
that is similar in collegial standards and you are required to pass a final exam. Think of this as a Life PhD! It is your personal class that gives you permission to truly dive in, contemplate the teachings, access them and invite change.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;"><u>Weekly Personal Practice & Austerities:
</u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Meditate 10-20 minutes each day<br />
Chant 20 minutes each day<br />
Practice asana 4-5 times per week, 3 of which must be at Swan River Yoga so that you understand what
you will be learning to teach.<br />
Commune with nature<br />
Be kind to others (humans, other wild animals or all sentient beings) and write about this 3 times per day
so that it is clear that yoga is the natural state. It is our very lives.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Before we begin our life immersion and transformational journey, I would like to offer you these 4 pillars,
called “The Four Agreements”. They will assist you as you develop and unfold so that you remain upright
as a pillar for your surroundings and community. Growth for all things in nature can be uncomfortable, yet
yogis are not looking to be comfortable. They are on a quest and personal walk about to remember their
True Luminous Self and to be available to share this with others.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">These four personal and simple commitments I make to myself on a daily basis and I find them very
pertinent to being a yoga teacher and community leader, especially in more challenging situations. One
quote I like from an old teacher is “keep your eyes on your own paper” and really just be willing to get
your hands dirty, doing the deep and true work, free of your personal preferences or ego needs of
exclusion alone. That is all that we can do, is to Be Love.
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arialmt"; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 11.000000pt; font-weight: 700;"><u>The 4 Agreements by Miguel Angel Ruiz
</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">1.Be impeccable with your word.
2. Don’t take anything personally
3. Don’t make assumptions<br />
4. Always do your best
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-style: italic;">“Love not anyone, for your picking and choosing bring nothing but misery. Instead, Love God. Instead, be
Love itself.” </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Swami Nirmalananda
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Welcome aboard your Swan flight. Be sure to place your own oxygen mask on before assisting
others... Namaste! Michelle Baker
</span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 700;"><u>Investment. What you are paying for:
</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Another unique part of our training is that you may pay monthly over an extended period of time so that it
is accessible to all beings. Our hope is that no being is turned down for this reason. We are also honored to pay our staff and faculty for their hard work.<br />
We offer a suggestion of an 8 month payment plan of $400 per month so that you may continue to live
your life during the training. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">What you will be paying for is an incredible amount of feedback and graded
homework, 1 four hour lecture per week in general, some weekend workshops, 1 visit/stay to Florida for a Teacher Training Gathering, 1 newly edited Swan
School Flight Manual that is not offered to the public, 1 DVD, 1 Chant Book of Swan Songs, kirtan
concerts, life therapy and more.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arialmt"; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrQFRVYU_7O1oSgtRwZbqpllw_oJfGWnpup4BItO1zYntCFPU9-8CqxGcnL0mw9lYkDYh3rlPH8ULt9YMlfJkKlLgmKRJwCe5-wJD_7fTDkwdti0Z9WCi2tnz9XFfWs8K8oibsVTMSelE/s1600/11950399_10153516228352226_6081050905944295703_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrQFRVYU_7O1oSgtRwZbqpllw_oJfGWnpup4BItO1zYntCFPU9-8CqxGcnL0mw9lYkDYh3rlPH8ULt9YMlfJkKlLgmKRJwCe5-wJD_7fTDkwdti0Z9WCi2tnz9XFfWs8K8oibsVTMSelE/s400/11950399_10153516228352226_6081050905944295703_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arialmt"; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 700;"><u>Dates and Meeting Times:
</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">*Meeting May 12- December 8, 2016<br />
*400 Total Hours (twice as long as most beginning Trainings, this is still meant to be very accessible to
living your regular life and is spread out steadily and evenly in a week)<br />
*Over a 7 month period with a 4 week summer break (where no attendance at all is asked of you)<br />
*1 Thursday per week from 5:30-9:30pm.<br />
*1 month break is July 22- August 25, 2016<br />
*3 other full weekends. These dates are: July 15-17 Yoga Anatomy with John DeMahy, August 26-28
Yoga Alignment with Kelly Haas and Sept 16-18 Yoga Therapeutics with Kelly Haas.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: 700;"><u>Registration:
</u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Go to www.swanriveryoga.com Trainings Page.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">To interview for a space, email michelle@swanriveryoga.com, Swan School’s creator and Director to see
if this is a good fit for you.<br />
To hold a space, a non-refundable deposit of $650 is required.<br />
8 Monthly installments of $400 will then apply beginning May 12 and due at the middle of each month.
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452573678719_13570" style="background-color: white;">
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7540">
<span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7542" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-decoration: underline;"><b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7544">Required of You to Graduate:</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7546">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">*Attend 3 classes per week that are signed at Swan River Yoga, 1 with Michelle, the Director. 1 with another Faculty member or Mentor.</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7546">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7548">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">*Meditate, chant, commune with nature and be kind to others daily</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7548">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7550">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">*Read all required books at write 3 page, single space, 10 font papers on them</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7550">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7552">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">*Hand in all homework assignments on time, such as the Anatomy coloring book, Asana/Sanskrit flashcards, Dosha diagnosis and more</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7552">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7554">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">*Write a paper for missing lectures and missing no more the 4 to graduate</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7554">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7556">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">*Approved Open Level Swan River Yoga video accepted</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7556">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7558">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">*In class observation attendance after the break where public offerings of dharma, bhakti pranayama ext are offered</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7558">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7560">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">*1 Seva/Selfless project complete and written about in a 3 page essay</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7560">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7560">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">*350 question take home test completed</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7560">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7560">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">* Final Exam Passed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">*Payment in full to receive certification upon payment plan completion</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452573678719_13570" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452573678719_13570" style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452573678719_13570" style="background-color: white;">
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7243" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7245" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-decoration: underline;"><b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7247">Michelle’s personal Timeline; A Swan School Background:</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7249" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">1996: Exposure to yoga</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7251" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">1998: Certification in <b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7253">Sivananda </b>Yoga</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7255" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">2002: Certification in<b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7257"> Jivamukti </b>Yoga and <b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7259">Reiki </b>Master Level III</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7261" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">2006: Initiation into <b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7263">Neem Karoli Baba’s</b> lineage through <b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7265">Ram Dass</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7267" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">2007: Swan River Yoga Opens. The First Swan School Teacher Training emerges.</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7269" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">2008: Inspired status certification in <b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7271">Anusara Yoga</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7273" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">2010: First Journey to <b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7275">India</b>, the Motherland.</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7277" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">2011: Introduction to Bhakti Yoga, ISKON and <b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7279">Radhanath Swami</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7281" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">2012: Certification in Vedic <b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7283">Thai Yoga Massage</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7285" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">2013: Acceptance at <b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7287">Shri K. Pattabhi Jois’ Shala in Ashtanga.</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7289" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">2014: Introduction to Jaya Shree, world-renowned <b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7291">Sanskrit </b>teacher in India. </span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7293" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">2016: Certification in <b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7295">Ayurvedic Medicine</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7297" style="font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 8px; min-height: 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7299"></b><br class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7301" /></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7303" style="font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 8px; min-height: 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7305" /></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7307" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7309" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-decoration: underline;"><b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7311">Our Family Tree</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7313" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">Our personal family tree at Swan River Yoga includes personal initiations, certifications, and gatherings with chosen company at the feet of a Master. You are now a part of this lineage:</span></div>
<ul class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7315" style="list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 2px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px;">
<li class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7317" style="margin: 0px 0px 8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7319"></span>Swami Sivananda and his current lineage of Swami Swaroopananda</span></li>
<li class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7321" style="margin: 0px 0px 8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7323"></span>Ram Dass (initiation in the Neem Karoli Baba lineage)</span></li>
<li class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7325" style="margin: 0px 0px 8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7327"></span> Shri K. Pattabhi Jois ( the direct disciple of Krishnamacharya) and his grandson, Sarath Jois)</span></li>
<li class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7329" style="margin: 0px 0px 8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7331"></span> Sharon Gannon and David Life of Jivamukti Yoga</span></li>
<li class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7333" style="margin: 0px 0px 8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7335"></span> Anusara Yoga teachings</span></li>
<li class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7337" style="margin: 0px 0px 8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7339"></span>Radhanath Swami of the ISKON movement ( International Society for Krishna Consciousness) </span></li>
<li class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7341" style="margin: 0px 0px 8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7343"></span>Amma, the hugging Saint</span></li>
<li class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7345" style="margin: 0px 0px 8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7347"></span>Jaya Shree, the Sanskrit scholar</span></li>
<li class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7349" style="margin: 0px 0px 8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7351"></span>Tibetan Buddhist lineages and teachers</span></li>
<li class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7353" style="margin: 0px 0px 8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7355"></span>Ayurvedic Studies & Reiki Energy Healing Studies</span></li>
<li class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7357" style="margin: 0px 0px 8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7359"></span>The numerous silent Sages encountered in all travels and on a daily basis.</span></li>
<li class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7357" style="font-size: 10px; margin: 0px 0px 8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7361" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7363" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-decoration: underline;"><b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7365">Required Reading for essays:</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7367" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7369"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">One 3 page, 10 font, single space paper is required for each book below.</span></b></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7371" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">1. <i class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7373">Jivamukti Yoga</i> by Sharon Gannon and David Life</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7375" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">2. <i class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7377">The Journey Home</i> by Radhanath Swami</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7379" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">3. <i class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7381">Paths To God</i> by Ram Dass</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7383" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">4. <i class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7385">Yoga Sutras</i> translated by Barbara Stoler Miller</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7387">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7389">The Anatomy Coloring Book</i> * coloring this is required.</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7391" style="font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 8px; min-height: 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7393" /></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7395" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7397" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-decoration: underline;"><b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7399">Required Reading for Topics of Discussion</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7401" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7403">Swan Songs; The Bhakti Book</i> by Michelle Baker</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7405" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7407">The Bhagavad Gita Translated</i> by Eknath Easwaran or Juan Mascaro</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7409" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"> <i class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7411">The Four Agreements</i> by Miguel Ruiz</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7413" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7415">Yoga Therapy</i> by Kelly Haas</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7417" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7419">Restorative Yoga Teacher Training Manual</i> by Michelle Baker and Kelly Haas</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7417" style="font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7421" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7423" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-decoration: underline;"><b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7425">Suggested Reading to Enhance Your Life Immersion Experience</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7427" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7429">Hatha Yoga Pradipika</i> translated by BKS Iyengar</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7431" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7433">Yoga Mala</i> by Shri K. Pattabhi Jois</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7435" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7437">The Wheels of Life</i> by Anodea Judith</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7439" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">*Any book by our above family tree teachers will highly benefit you.</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7441" style="font-size: 10px; margin-bottom: 8px; min-height: 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7443" /></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7445" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7447" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7449">Suggested Listening</b></span><b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7451"> to enhance your experience in this course:</b></span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7453" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">Suggested listening tools <b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7455"> to hear mantra, Sanskrit and kirtan recordings</b> (a part of your requirement in a Swan River Yoga Class), Jaya Shree Sanskrit scholar, Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Bhagavan Das, Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits, The Mayapuris, Bhakti Caravan.</span></div>
<div class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7457" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">Go to the <b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7459">Swan River Yoga Bhakti Club Channel</b> with Michelle Baker and Keith Porteous on YouTube to view simple harmonium instructions with mantras.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">Suggested listening for good <b class="yiv5045041435" id="yiv5045041435yui_3_16_0_1_1452607289532_7463">Dharma Talks</b>, a part of your requirement in a Swan River Yoga Class (found on Sound Cloud or YouTube), Ram Dass, The Dalai Lama, Radhanath Swami, Sharon Gannon.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8DZBZJV-EJOJ_EQTI0ynCjnIZu8u45T4Xz94LwIKoIbZGVtgB6VBfRbMPTufZ2lM2qLAY7_69Gxf470YrqkJAnTSfnPyywMi-Yl_1RSfckYzVTdNkvGxvdwj8hNMs6WnRyv-tX0OAbDC/s1600/12294622_10153688896407226_996387237622188957_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8DZBZJV-EJOJ_EQTI0ynCjnIZu8u45T4Xz94LwIKoIbZGVtgB6VBfRbMPTufZ2lM2qLAY7_69Gxf470YrqkJAnTSfnPyywMi-Yl_1RSfckYzVTdNkvGxvdwj8hNMs6WnRyv-tX0OAbDC/s400/12294622_10153688896407226_996387237622188957_n.jpg" width="310" /></a></div>
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<div class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2533" style="color: #141823; direction: ltr; line-height: 18px; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2535"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><b><u>What You Benefit After Graduation:</u></b></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2537" style="color: #141823; direction: ltr; line-height: 18px; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2539" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">*</span><span style="font-size: small;">As a graduate, who has thoroughly turned in all homework assignments & payments, you will be added</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span class="yiv7487626340"> to the Sub list </span>right away at Swan River Yoga</span></div>
<div class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2541" style="color: #141823; direction: ltr; line-height: 18px; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2543" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">*You will receive the teacher rate and a discounted teacher rate once placed on the schedule for life</span></div>
<div class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2545" style="color: #141823; direction: ltr; line-height: 18px; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2547" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">*You will receive numerous discounts on Events and International Retreats for life</span></div>
<div class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2549" style="color: #141823; direction: ltr; line-height: 18px; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2551" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">*You will attend the yearly Swan Teachers Gathering in FL</span></div>
<div class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2553" style="color: #141823; direction: ltr; line-height: 18px; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2555" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">*You will be offered opportunities to perform Seva in Mid-City, Arabi and our outreach programs.</span></div>
<div class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2557" style="color: #141823; direction: ltr; line-height: 18px; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2559" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">*You will be interconnected to numerous and some of the most epic beings you may ever meet right here </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="yiv7487626340" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">in your </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> community. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2561" style="color: #141823; direction: ltr; line-height: 18px; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2563" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">*You will have a lovely Sanctuary to always call home and to continue educating oneself in.</span></div>
<div class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2565" style="color: #141823; direction: ltr; line-height: 18px; position: relative; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span class="yiv7487626340" id="yiv7487626340yui_3_16_0_1_1451951086242_2567" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">* You will have the opportunity to accept classes as well as eventually being a part of our</span><br />
<span class="yiv7487626340" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"> Seva Arabi Yoga Teacher Training or</span></div>
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<span class="yiv7487626340" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"> Swan Staff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span class="yiv7487626340"> on our Private Facebook Teachers</span> Page along with daily inspirations to keep you </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">refreshed in your practice and life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">*You will be a new and improved version of you, so we all benefit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">In steeping into the teachings, </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">it will establish a more present, steady and resilient mind, of which
affects everything that we do. An aspiring yoga teacher or community leader or epic being must do all that
they can to preserve the innate sweetness of the mind with thoughtfulness and authenticity of heart by
working hard, walking our talk so that others are moved and might hear the inspiration that depth and Self acceptance brings. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Group gatherings and trainings also elevate your frequency through entrainment. Be the change you wish to see in the world. Offer your best version of
yourself. You are exemplifying what yoga is in your very practices, experiences, words, thoughts, actions, training and being.
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Especially as a yoga teacher, since your art medium is your voice, what you say matters. May you naturally liberate whomever you meet!
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">There is no time like Now in serving your community. Every experience you have had before ha lead you
to this point here and now. Now, you are ready to begin and to share, taking your seat as the teacher.
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt; font-weight: 700;"><i><u>Atha Yoga Nushashanam.</u></i> </span><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Now this is Yoga as I have perceived it in the natural world.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;"> Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras 1:1
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;"><u>About Michelle Baker; Director and Founder.
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Michelle came into yoga in 1996 with severe scoliosis and a back brace and got so lit up she
became a Certified Sivananda Yoga Teacher in 1998, a Restorative Yoga Teacher in 2000, a Reiki Master in 2001
and a Jivamukti Yoga Teacher in 2002 in NY.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">She has trained exclusively under Ram Dass, the author of "Be Here Now", initiated in his lineage with Neem Karoli Baba.
She has studied very closely at the feet of Sharon Gannon & David Life since the year 1998. She honored Radhanath Swami in the year 2012 as a teacher in Bhakti
Yoga and Jaya Shree in Sanskrit. She has extensively studied numerous forms of yoga, including Anusara Yoga
and Ashtanga Yoga. She has studied with Shri K. Pattabhi Jois himself as well as both his daughter Saraswati Jois and his grandson Sarath Jois in both the United States and India. She bows to each of these </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">teachers and founders of all of the styles of yoga in which she has had the extensive chance to be very
close to all of her teachers and observe deep learning from them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">She is the Founder of Swan River Yoga in New Orleans, co-creator or the Swan Seva Center in Arabi, and of the Swan Sanctuary Annex in Gulf Breeze Fl. She is the Founder and director of the Swan School Yoga Teacher Training, The
Swan Reiki Attunements Modules, Advanced Swan School, The Swan Mentor Program, Bhagavad Gita Course & The Restorative
Teacher Training. Michelle created the concept of the unique "Sound Bath" offered at Swan River Yoga and around the world. She has traveled the world since the year 2000 offering healing modules and Teacher
Training Modules to many communities. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">She has a background in studying Sanskrit, Mantra, kirtan and Indian music, Ayurveda, Restorative Yoga
and Bhakti yoga in India for Sound Therapy purposes. She has studied Bhakti Yoga with The Mayapuris, numerous Krishna devotees and with Radhanath Swami in India in such places as Rishikesh, Mayapur and Vrindavan. She is the founder and lead vocalist & harmonium player in the group Bhakti Caravan. Bhakti Caravan is in the midst of recording a C.D!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">She is the founder of Good Karma Cafe, plant based cuisine and sanctified food. She assisted for numerous years in it's resurrection and in raising funds with the Berg family for one of the first vegan restaurants in New Orleans, LA.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">She has completed all 3 Levels of the traditional Usui Reiki Training for clearing energy, The Kabbalah
Tree of Life Energy program, various Shamanic practices and has her own solid and consistent practices
of asana, meditation, mantra recitation, singing, praying, daily energy clearings for both herself, others
and atmospheres.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">She has completed over 400 hours of Thai Yoga Massage Therapeutic course trainings both with the
Vedic Conservatory and in Thailand at the Sunshine School as well as learning different energetic healing
techniques & psychic awareness from Shamans in Bali Indonesia. She has taken Yoga Therapeutics trainings over 1o times, completing over 300 hours in the style of Anusara with Kelly Haas.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">She has also studied Ayurveda and will become an Ayurvedic counselor and therapist in March, 2016 at the Sivananda Ashram and Ayurvedic Institute of California with Marc Halpern, offering Dosha specific council in psychology, philosophy, exercise and diet.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Michelle has produced DVD's, written numerous books and Training Manuals and a mantra book, called "the Bhakti Book". She has creatively delved deep into
healing her own body from a degenerative disease, thus inspiring her to be a healer and advocate of Self
rule and an expansive imagination.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.000000pt;">She travels the world doing this in such places as Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Indonesia,
Nepal and India. She also provides services of healing ceremonies and pujas for those leaving the body,
being born into the body and in the union of marriage. She has also studied "Vastu", learning to properly clear out spaces and environments so that they are sacred.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 10.000000pt;">Michelle's greatest joy is to experience life, to travel, to serve, to be kind to others, to understand the
challenges of the human condition and to sing and dance in the joy of the abundance of life. Being born
on Valentines Day, her greatest desire is to offer and to be Love itself. </span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-42628515738720596052015-07-02T07:45:00.000-07:002015-07-02T07:54:03.501-07:00BE FREE. Living Large and Liberated<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: -apple-system-font; line-height: 16px;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"> BE FREE. Living Large & Liberated.</span></b></span></h2>
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"May you naturally liberate whomever you meet." Ram Dass</div>
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My first gig, according to my Mother, was selling sea shells. I have always adored the ocean and beach. Each summer I use to visit the Oregon Coast with my Grandmother. We would go on long silent walks. Nothing was expected of us. We mutually loved one another. I remember it feeling so powerful & immense… a world of total abundance, my love of the ocean and of her. The size of it made me feel free, so I always wanted to take the ocean home with me as it was my first experiences with something boundless and immense. I realize now that I wanted to BE the ocean. I wanted to Be, and to be free, just like the powerful depth of Divine Mother Ocean. And if not, I dreamt of being a mermaid.</div>
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I consider her an entity, a Super Soul in a Mother form, and a very magical one at that. I feel very large & young around her and her reflection. I feel boundless at her side, totally undomesticated and unplugged. But I realize now, even if I was quite innocent then, that continuing to take from her is not liberating for her, nor me. Really, if I love something, or someone, I would do all that I can to make them feel supported, honored, acknowledged and free, giving and giving. They can’t make me happy or free anyway. I do my best not to put pressure on anyone for that. <b>The Sanskrit word “Niralambaya”</b> comes to mind…. meaning unsupported, IN- dependent, or not trying to find a smaller version of comfort, solidarity, Infinity or God replacement on the outside. This is an easy way to set up victimization mentality or prisoner co-dependentancy, looking for freedom on the outside, which all has measures and limits and will set within us seeds of inner war and struggle.</div>
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Have you ever had a relationship that makes you feel less free, more constricted, diminishes you, your dreams and possibilities, or is mixed in motive, scarce in measure and uneven? Have you ever given what you thought was love that was actually binding a person or thing further to who you think they are or should be or benefiting mostly you, keeping them small? There are leaders of Nations that do that also…. religions do it, family members do it, many humans do it and often unintentionally. Living acts of liberation means that others feel empowered because of the selfless way in which we love them and respect them. They feel more empowered and not less. They become a hero to us… and all we want to do is fearlessly give back, as it reminds us of living large in the vast, big picture with them. This big mentality annihilates inner war and inner terrorism, defeating the real enemies that keep each one of us small. This is the entire story of The Bhagavad Gita… that each one of us needs to be a “hero” for the other, just like the David Bowie Brian Eno song.</div>
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Now each time I get around the ocean, since she is so large and condition free, offering so much, I sit and ask her what it is that I can do to serve her more, to act big and to give the ocean, the earth, the lives upon a greater sense of freedom, not an inhibited scarcity exchange. I ask her how it is that I can also ACT like I am free so that “others” are free.</div>
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Actions are expressions and exchanges. If exchanges aren’t clear something is already beginning to make what could be immense smaller…. a social distortion. Clutter, drama and self aggrandizement never feel good or remind us of potentiality in any way. Making some things large that are not meant to be is also constricting and distorted. A narcissist will always attract victims… fear attracts more polluted paranoid fear… and the 2 will feed off of each other because somewhere the balancing scale needs to come back to the middle. Judging, taking things personally and separating things we do not understand also leaves us feeling small. It is disproportionate. It is too outward so naturally there will be a contraction inward in the division. Any exchange that is simply off gets confusing because truly, Love is “suppose” to remind us of liberation and not contraction. Love’s nature and our nature is to BE. To be be BIG.</div>
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Other things that come from the media and internet often keep us cluttered and small, as do certain unquestioned laws and “normal” sedated ways of thinking and being, often very far from our large innate origin or intuitive ethos. Many of these laws are innocent in nature, some not. But at some point it must all get questioned. Anything that perpetually creates confusion & distress to our nervous system and natural, innocent, playful state of being is dulling our grandness. There is no imagination, Self rule nor creativity there. We are often afraid of our immensity because of being taught to be comfortable, as well as the effort and revelatory nature of anything big and the undoing that it takes to get there, even if it be our destiny. Evolution is inevitable. Yet, we are not always taught how to access it or have any sort of 3rd eye training so we perceive something being unfamiliar or uncomfortable as suffering.</div>
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Often at check in points while I am on annual pilgrimages or retreat I access an inner check list of mental seeds that arise once out of my comfort zone that might possibly keep me afraid, avoidant, habituated, obsessed, worried or small, which is unnatural and makes me feel limited and very unlike myself. It will eventually eat away at me and that is unacceptable to me. This could be emotions, vulnerabilities, unfamiliar circumstances, old demons, unpleasant memories, old seeds arising, uncertainty of things to come, expectations, disappointments, etc. I then also have an ongoing and pretty solid list of things that REALLY make me feel free that have truly worked and things that seem to activate my kindness, friendliness and intuitive capacities so that an evolution is happening within me, free of the need of something on the outside of which to activate it. I am not looking for things that feel free for the moment in this check list, but a freedom that strikes primal Soul needs of dharma, interconnectedness and deep Soul satisfaction. We must get to a place where we trust our intuitive and not label it as ridiculous or afraid. Great courage is needed for this. If I do not know where my mind is weak, due to these practice’s feedback and downloads, I could still possibly be very shackled and imprisoned and have no experience whatsoever of my intuition.</div>
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Anything that keeps our transmission down is a problem. We are psychic beings by nature, with lucid dreams, deep sleep and super human traits. This is not a big deal really. We all have this within us. Divine Shakti is within us all. It is not personal to just a few. But it takes work to access and to keep going on a daily basis. Anyone that appears large in any way has done the work somewhere to keep their transmission clear.</div>
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It has always been interesting for me to dig and be honest about what is actually “right” for me because it makes me feel like myself, which helps me remember our infinite measure. This formula doesn’t work for everyone, as what helps me feel in touch with my wild, large nature may be someones else’s discomfort or prison. How am I to say? And, some things that look good on the outside and look liberating…., listen and have good contact with your Soul needs or you may find yourself boxed in again and distracted on your path. I have come across a few of those seductive temptations.</div>
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They say that there are infinite amounts of Souls waiting to get a body to experience their consciousness so that they understand what freedom actually means, yet each Soul’s dharma can not be simulated nor replicated into some fake version of ourselves. This means we have to discover within ourselves what fills our Shakti levels up, lights us up like the sky on the 4th of July, and inspires us to continue expanding. It all comes from the same Source in the end, so we all have access to it, but how we get filled and fulfilled is really quite different, according to our Universal blueprint of past karmas which help drive us into all of the places we are still small in this lifetime. Remaining small is unnatural. It doesn’t serve anyone and it goes against the serious blessing it is to have the chance to be a Soul in a body and to be free.</div>
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I can love someone because I don’t want to be lonely. I could do yoga asana because I want to look good. I could give something very special to someone because I expect a result from it. I could have friends because they make me happy.I could make love to someone because I want my physical needs filled. I could sing to get attention on a stage. I could take full credit for everything that I do. Then the “sankalpa”, intentionality, of something meant to be quite large and moving like the Universe is still very binding and distorted, even if behind a thin cloudy veil. Very far from being a hero. Unfortunately that very sacred thing is not quite so sacred anymore. Nor have we protected it or given back to it, which is not liberating at all. This is where joy falls short, is unsatisfying and feels plastic.</div>
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The eco system is a wonderful example of being… thus being large. Trees don’t judge other trees as in “why are you a Spruce, I like Sandalwood trees", they just continue to provide shade and oxygen and to be, which naturally gives as a result. The ocean’s wave continue to move in synchronicity with the moon. The moon is not better or worse than the ocean. They are both immense. Mutually beneficial symbiotic connections and honoring everyone’s unique experience and purpose is magic. Real magic is authentic shift in perception where the mind breaks open. Original magic is innocent and non selective. It is available to anyone with readiness and capacity.</div>
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<b>"Mukti" or "Moksha” means liberation in Sanskrit.</b> <b> </b>We all like the sound of this but are we really advocates of it? Freedom is really quite provocative. It is not packaged. It doesn’t belong to a group, one sexual preference, religion or one country or flag. These are all ego groups in the end. It is totally boundless. There is an infinite supply and it is free in every sense of the word. Prioritizing what really gets us to remember we are free on a larger scale than what we are typically conditioned to think of is forward thinking… a true trailblazer. </div>
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The mind and the ego tend to fluctuate with the greatest measurements and this was what most of us were taught to perceive with along with the need to get or have but not necessarily give without receiving. The ego and mind will waver and often contract and weaken, needing to receive to get fed. To fluctuate is the minds nature. Operating from a larger, less cluttered, fractured and infinite place will give us the most clear, liberating exchanges possible. </div>
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<b>Once you taste true freedom you know it because that is what you really want for everyone else, not for them to all think and live like you and for you. For me, that has been the art of living large. </b></div>
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FREE.</div>
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“Be glad that you are free. Free to change your mind. Free to go most anywhere anytime. Be glad that you are free. There is many a man who is not. Be glad for what you have and what you’ve got.” PRINCE</div>
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And a line from the band Public Enemy…. “The real revolution is the evolution of the mind. Revolution means change. Don’t look at me strange. if you don’t stand for something you fall for anything. Lifes a beautiful thing. Don’t believe the hype”</div>
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"I want to BE.... as deep, as the Ocean. Mother Ocean. Not talk and all action." Janes Addiction</div>
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<b>Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah. Save Santu Niramaya. Sarve Badrani Pashyantu. Ma Kashied Dukha Bag Bhavet. May ALL beings be free some sorrow. May all beings be free from sickness. May all look for the good of others. May there be no beings that are unhappy.</b></div>
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<b>Photos: all taken in Pensacola Beach, FL where we will host our first Annual BE FREE. Real Liberation Retreat at our Swan Sanctuary for the 4th of July. Be free.</b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-87180465898234216802015-04-27T18:13:00.000-07:002015-04-27T18:13:25.896-07:00Swan School .... An offering for Spirits to Soar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Shastras for Swans</b></div>
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Saraswati, the Swan and Superluminal service.</div>
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Swan School, An Offering for Spirits to Soar</div>
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Our Swan School, erected in 2007, soon approaches and soars for take off into the sky. Please enjoy an overview of it's teachings, the "Shastras" that will take place over the course of a 7 month period. The very first Yoga Teacher Training ever in New Orleans, It has inspired over 200 plus beings to participate thus far and the sweet swan Sanga continues to grow, to feel immaculate and to further spread luster and radiance. Whether for personal growth, to brake chains, to move your life forward or to teach yoga classes and serve your community, your "Sankalpa", intention, will activate your surroundings and you too will naturally liberate whomever you meet.</div>
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<b>Inspiration and Invocations:</b></div>
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<b>Mantra: So Ham. I am That. This is the Swan Song.</b></div>
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<b>When a mirror is held up to it, it reads "Hamsa", the Swan, the reflection back.</b></div>
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<b>The Goddess Saraswati</b>, the Sky and pearl white river muse of music and learning, may your bless and Grace our Swan School Teacher Training so that we might more optimally serve the Great and Cosmic ways. Like the nadis of individual consciousness flowing through us, may we bathe with refined eloquence and Grace in places that do not yet swim in Real knowledge. </div>
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Just like the Ganga River is considered the Supreme Shakti consciousness of the world, we too honor the The Mississippi, The Sushumna of our continent in North America and our very own super highway of light within us, as all rivers are channelling and being lead back to the great Mother Ocean and her Divine nectar of <b>Amritaa.</b></div>
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As an aspiring <b>Swan, “Hamsa”</b> in Sanskrit, the vehicle of Saraswati, may I too have personal vows and loyalties to serving with the eloquence of my voice and the Vishhudha Chakra, the medium of a teacher, free of idle chatter or demising gossip so that my teachings resonate with crystal clarity. Like the long throat of a Swan, may I too rise up in wise and bold beauty, swimming and serving actively in Maya but never bound by mixed motives, emotions, delusions, the need for credit, for attention or pride. Naturally residing in my beauty, may others feel inspired by my presence and moved to actively swim and bathe in their purpose and true Light also, which is always beautiful and never mixed or stained with selfish purposes.</div>
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<b>So ham…. I am That,</b> unconditioned, deprogrammed and eternally Superluminal, beyond even light, sound, faster than the concept of velocity to serve, I am boundless and free of the discriminations of the mind while still honoring the discernment and imagination of both of my minds in unification.</div>
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<b>So ham is the seed mantra for the throat and related to the Swan.</b> Hamsa is the reflection back to the Divine of our commitment to re-member the Whole by honoring the parts and serving them. So Ham. HamSa. I am That.</div>
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Just as a star in the constellation of the sky, may these teachings contribute to lighting up the Whole in remembrance of the Holy in all of the many parts.</div>
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May these teachings and readiness to serve inspire, illuminate, spark and shed light in radical radiance as a part of a constellation helping to light up the Sky.</div>
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<b>A Swan in the making....A history of Swan School...</b></div>
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Swan School was inspired from the ashes of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and begin 2 years later in 2007. Each year, numerous beings from around the Gulf Region have attended (over 200 to date) and graduated in hopes to better serve their personal purpose, enrich their lives and serve their communities. Swan School was the first Yoga Teacher Training to ever seed itself in New Orleans. Co-directed by Michelle Baker and directed by Grace, this primary purpose of Swan School is to create and activate the importance of Satsang, building and developing like hearted family and relationships in our lives and then to serve others with more of the same. Michelle Baker was a part of making Swan River Yoga Teacher Trainings legal in the state of LA and is committed to activating the dharma (purpose) of all beings that come her way.</div>
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<b>Of primary importance in Swan School is that the teachings remain authentic and respected</b>, offering all of the foundational components to what yoga really is in our modern lives. Yogis were historically considered radical beings, as in respecting the roots. The Bhagavad Gita also states that the very first attribute that is to be embodied as a “yogi” is courage. One must have valor and boldly drop all that one has been taught in any conditional way whatsoever to get the unveiling of the Truth.</div>
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For this reason, some <b>key components to the teachings of this training are all of the primary “margas” or roads, namely Bhakti, Raja, Jnana, Nada, Hatha and Karma, or practices in devotion, meditation, the study of scriptures, sound, asana practice and service. </b>Each of these paths will be studied, practiced and required to graduate from Swan School.The key books in this training come from the numerous influences and teachers in our family tree, as well as <b>The Bhagavad Gita and Yoga Sutras. </b>The translation most common to yoga is “union”. We will practice the union of each path as a means to delve into the most important Union of all, the union to our Highest Self and to Grace. Very important to this training also are upholding <b>integrity</b> in everything that we do. Integration is yet another translation of yoga, stemming from the root integrity. The Swan School will be a purification process and is met to be integrated into our every day lives, diminishing separateness or mixed self serving motives within us. If you desire the Real deal yet want to be creative and honored for your diversity, this is the goal of Swan School and this is for and calling you. <b>Our swan song is all about community (Satsang) and lifting one another up.</b></div>
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The word <b>Apocalypse can be translated as “the uncovering”. </b>It is stated that if you are even at all interested in the yogic teachings, then you have been a yogi for many lifetimes and may just now be remembering. Congratulations! You have been through so much to get here and now here you are, the luminous one is ready to be revealed after so much concealment.</div>
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<b>What you will be TEACHING:</b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: -apple-system-font;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">You will learn to boldly and skillfully experience and share Dharma talks, Devotional Mantra, Flow based asana with verbal alignment cues due to your anatomy, safety and therapeutic understanding, physical hands on </span></span></b><span style="font-family: -apple-system-font;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><b>assists, breathing exercises and meditation skills.</b></span></span></div>
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<b>A Swan River Yoga Class by definition is: </b></div>
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A unique creative fusion inspired by many backgrounds and teachers. This class is open to all levels and will offer numerous choices for both the beginner and seasoned practitioner. Along with an artful flow-based sequence, specific detailed alignment attention will also be included to bring you a well-rounded, authentic experience of yoga.</div>
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Be ready to listen to traditional yogic teachings and personal story-telling, observe the mind in movement and meditation, bring awareness to the breath, sing mantras in Sanskrit and/or English, and optimize the body’s health in challenging physical poses using disciplined strength and flowing movement, with a dharmic theme tied throughout.</div>
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A Swan River Yoga class will always have the following:<br />Theme: a reference to the ancient and modern philosophy of yoga to inspire higher purpose (Jnana Yoga)<br />Song: mind-clearing mantra to set an elevated mood (Bhakti Yoga)<br />Physical asana: a flow-based (vinyasa) practice with emphasis on physical alignment and breath (Hatha Yoga)<br />Meditation and/or breathing exercises known as pranayama. (Raja Yoga)</div>
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Oldie but goody with Shri K. Pattabhi Jois in 1999.</div>
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<b>The Family Tree of Guru/Disciple to which you are now connected:</b></div>
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<b>Our personal family tree at Swan River Yoga due to personal initiations, certifications and chosen company at the feet of a Master of which you are a part include:</b></div>
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Swami Shivananda and his current lineage of Swami Swaroopananda, Ram Dass (initiation in the Neem Karoli Baba lineage), Shri K. Pattabhi Jois ( the direct disciple of Krishnamacharya) and his grandson, Sarath Jois, Sharon Gannon and David Life of Jivamukti Yoga, Anusara Yoga teachings, Radhanath Swami of the ISKON movement ( International Society for Krishna Consciousness) Amma, the hugging Saint, Jaya Shree, the Sanskrit scholar and various Tibetan Buddhist lineages and teachers such as Geshe Michael Roach as well as numerous journeys and pilgrimages to India, The Motherland.</div>
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An outline of <b>WHAT YOU WILL BE</b> <b>TAUGHT:</b></div>
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<b> Systems of Yoga: </b>Pre-classcial Vedic Period, Advaita Vedanta, Classical, Buddhism and Modern day overview and history.</div>
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· <b> </b><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429716271040_75703"><b>Family Tree:</b> Profound influences that have shaped yoga as we know it today, as well as the very personal influences of this training and the background of the presenters, such as Ram Dass, Radhanath Swami, Sharon Gannon, David Life, Geshe Michael Roach, Jaya Shree, and anonymous Sages.</span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429716271040_75810">·<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429716271040_75865"> <b> </b></span></span><b>Basic Sanskrit history, pronunciation and recitation</b> teachings as per Manorama D’Avilia and Jaya Shree, both renowned teachers in the field of Sanskrit Studies. </div>
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· <span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429716271040_75781"><b>The Paths, or <i>Margas</i>, of Yoga:</b> A major part of our training will be devoted to delving deeply into each of these Margas: <b>BHAKTI, JNANA, RAJA, KARMA, NADA and HATHA yoga.</b> These margas form the structure of a Swan River Yoga class. In BHAKTI, you will learn basic devotional rituals, basic harmonium skills, basic call and response chanting, getting comfortable with your voice, the art of vocalization, mantras, and the tenets of Bhakti such as Satsang, Shraddha, and Seva. In Jnana yoga, you will be required to give an appealing and affective dharma talk at the beginning of each class. The means to do this will be broken down. Every dharma talk will be based on the require readings. Discussions about how to transmit the teachings will take place in class. RAJA yoga will entail learning how to offer simple meditation techniques with mantra and japa. We will discuss the both importance of in-class meditation and personal daily meditation. KARMA yoga is often linked to Bhakti and included selfless service and being kind to others. NADA Yoga is the yoga of sound. We will invite you to play music in your classes if you wish and to honor the healing, transformational benefits of sound and healing vibration through the Nada Bramha.</span></div>
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· <b>YOGA MYTHOLOGY:</b> learning the meaning and the stories of the various deities and their avatars that come from India and are often included in many of the Sanskrit chants.</div>
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· <b> ESOTERIC ANATOMY: </b>Prana, the Koshas, and the Bandhas, The chakra system, including the nadis and the marmas.</div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429716271040_75807">·<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429716271040_75806"> <b> </b></span></span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429716271040_75783"><b>AYURVEDA:</b> Basic teachings on the constitutions, or doshas, and how this understanding can give a teacher better comprehension about the students the teacher in order to better counsel them or prescribe for their daily habits, diet and tendencies.</span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429716271040_75805">·<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429716271040_75804"> <b> </b></span></span><b>ETHICS: </b>Taking your seat as a teacher, upholding your role, finding your voice, remaining neutral, techniques in how to keep your energy clear and your reactions to students optimal, doing our best to never breed contempt, competition, insecurity and fear. Being a pillar in your community with harmonic leadership skills. The art of business in yoga, the yoga of money and your relationship to energy and money, upholding harmony in your community, even beyond your specific location, will be addressed.</div>
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The location for the Bali Indo Yoga Retreat 1 month course in Chandi Das.</div>
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· <span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429716271040_75801"><b>HATHA Yoga: </b>A major part of Swan River Teacher Training involves extensive work with asana. We will go through an the history of asana, practice memorizing the Sanskrit names and backgrounds of each pose (required to pass), differentiate between Gross form and Alignment, work on “Eagle Eye,” and staging from a micro personal level of each student as well as a global scale within the classroom. Michelle has created a “Holy Grail” Blueprint for Teaching that is a very useful guide for prioritizing and check-listing your efficacy. We will work on proper staging and demonstration of the poses in a classroom setting, and will break down into finite details the alignment of asana, moving safely. Included is a section on anatomical YOGA THERAPEUTICS.</span></div>
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· <span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429716271040_75789"><b>ART of HANDS ON ASSISTS:</b> Due to Michelle’s background in Jivamukti and Ashtanga, a great deal of guidance will be given in learning how to comfortably and effectively assist others verbally and physically. This is one of Michelle’s specialties. </span></div>
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· <b>THE ART OF SEQUENCE:</b><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429716271040_75785"><b> </b>Learning creative, bold yet safe sequences that keep your classes fresh and new, finding your voice to do so, and shifting from poses safely with breath as the linking mechanism.</span></div>
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· <span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429716271040_75787"><b>SPECIALTY CLASSES:</b> Very basic introductions to Pre-Natal, Restorative Yoga, and teaching diverse populations in Beginners, Slow Flow, Rigorous, and Advanced Levels of Hatha Yoga classes.</span></div>
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<b>Because of the nature of the background of Swan School, your REQUIRED READING for this training is:</b></div>
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Jivamukti Yoga by Sharon Gannon and David Life</div>
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The Journey Home by Radhanath Swami</div>
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Paths To God by Ram Dass ( with a suggestion to read a translation of the Bhagavad Gita beforehand)</div>
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Yoga Sutras translated by Geshe Michael Roach</div>
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The Anatomy Coloring Book * coloring this is required.</div>
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<b>Suggested Reading for the purposes of Anatomical Understanding:</b></div>
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Yoga Therapy by Kelly Haas</div>
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Hatha Yoga Pradipika translated by BKS Iyengar</div>
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Yoga Mala by Shri K. Pattabhi Jois</div>
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*Any book by our above family tree teachers will highly benefit you.</div>
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<b>Suggested listening to hear mantra, Sanskrit and kirtan recordings, a part of your requirement in a Swan River Yoga Class:</b></div>
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Jaya Shree Sanskrit scholar, Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Bhagavan Das, Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits, The Mayapuris, Bhakti Caravan.</div>
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Go to the Swan River Yoga Bhakti Club Channel with Michelle Baker on YouTube to view simple and live harmonium with mantras.</div>
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<b>Suggested listening for good Dharma Talks, a part of your requirement in a Swan River Yoga Class </b>found on Sound Cloud or YouTube:</div>
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Ram Dass, The Dalai Lama, Radhanath Swami, Sharon Gannon.</div>
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<b>About your co-pilot, Swan Michelle Baker:</b></div>
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Michelle Baker is the Founder and co-owner of Swan River Yoga, the director of the Swan River Yoga Teacher Training, member of the musical kirtan group Bhakti Caravan and a co-owner of Good Karma Prasad Cafe. She has been blessed with teaching yoga full time in New Orleans, the entire Gulf Region, NYC, the U.S. & internationally since 1998.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7OPc-jKx60f5QDTy3KiYWPiiaMM87drU13g1rjKF_sfxUaPJBay_A907I1K322vFDVLqsTlA_Y8Age4jrcl_LrNPxJfYl73VasMb_MmSc-fCyXX4L410zHvJ-jZs0nBgYC7-2tNqdLh1R/s1600/Ganga+River+dip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7OPc-jKx60f5QDTy3KiYWPiiaMM87drU13g1rjKF_sfxUaPJBay_A907I1K322vFDVLqsTlA_Y8Age4jrcl_LrNPxJfYl73VasMb_MmSc-fCyXX4L410zHvJ-jZs0nBgYC7-2tNqdLh1R/s1600/Ganga+River+dip.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> Swan Michelle dipping her feet into the Ganga River, the </span>Sushumna of the world.</span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Her primary certifications are with Jivamukti Yoga, Anusara Yoga & Sivananda as well as being a student of Ashtanga in Mysore, India. She is also a Reiki Level III Master and has a certification in Ayurvedic Thai Yoga Massage from Sudevi Kramer and from The Sunshine School in Thailand. She also takes numerous trips to India to learn the ecstatic in the form of mantra singing, harmonium & Sanskrit studies.</span></div>
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Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of love and devotion and practiced by singing, dancing, ritual,art, serving & feeding others is her main path of passion. She is a member of the mantra group Bhakti Caravan with many Krishna Devotees, leading vocals, dance, crystal bowl concerts & gong. She offers lessons in mantra & harmonium.</div>
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She share's her teaching globally, beyond the U.S. to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Thailand, India and Indonesia.</div>
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She honors all of the beings that have influenced her deeply & of whom she has studied with personally & extensively, including Ram Dass, Sharon Gannon, Radhanath Swami, Shri K Pattabhi Jois, Geshe Michael Roach, Jaya Shree, the trees, the ocean, the stars, the sentient beings, the humble ones around the world. It is deeply important to her to honor, live, share, uphold & celebrate the true, authentic teachings of yoga, which is our lives.</div>
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Photo: Kelly Haas, offering Asana Alignment, Asana Therapeutics, Contra-indications and safety.</div>
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<b>Swan School Contributors:</b></div>
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The 3 key contributors of Swan School are Michelle Baker, John DeMahy and Kelly Haas.</div>
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Other assistants may include Keith Porteous, Tracey Duncan, Thomas Simms and all of the Swan graduates.</div>
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Just as a star in the constellation of the sky, may these teachings contribute to lighting up the Whole in remembrance of the Holy in all of the many parts.</div>
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May these teachings and readiness to serve inspire, illuminate, spark and shed light in radical radiance as a part of a constellation helping to light up the Sky.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqNQxG_2s6WSvmNii7sl1A1cqyaqYF4fsO28h-8V1r2j91cpXyKHHHPDFzJfJmn6kwsLs3TRw7GHlIw9-J6vjpYgRdG71zPUchXomrSlYyh4LtLUarqHYYZlF3bxsjpjDv5IPoxDQfTsJ/s1600/1916436_185414597225_6770928_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqNQxG_2s6WSvmNii7sl1A1cqyaqYF4fsO28h-8V1r2j91cpXyKHHHPDFzJfJmn6kwsLs3TRw7GHlIw9-J6vjpYgRdG71zPUchXomrSlYyh4LtLUarqHYYZlF3bxsjpjDv5IPoxDQfTsJ/s1600/1916436_185414597225_6770928_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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With Ram Dass, 2006. </div>
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Swan School was erected in 2007. Welcome to the context of the starry teachings. Hari om, Michelle Baker.</div>
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"May you too naturally liberate whomever you meet." Ram Dass</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-90676727905962303472015-03-17T12:47:00.001-07:002015-03-17T12:47:52.128-07:00Swan Michelle: Rishi's, Radiance & Renaissance. The Roads of Yoga...<a href="http://swanmichellebaker.blogspot.com/2015/03/rishis-radiance-renaissance-roads-of.html?spref=bl">Swan Michelle: Rishi's, Radiance & Renaissance. The Roads of Yoga...</a>: Rishi's, Radiance & Renaissance. The Roads of Yoga Hatha, Bhakti, Nada, Raja, Jnana, Karma &...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-7996150788215949702015-03-17T12:42:00.002-07:002015-03-17T19:44:41.668-07:00Rishi's, Radiance & Renaissance. The Roads of Yoga<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Rishi's, Radiance & Renaissance. The Roads of Yoga</h2>
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Hatha, Bhakti, Nada, Raja, Jnana, Karma & Dharma Marg's.</h3>
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The original yogis, called <b>“Rishis” </b>where progressive and radical in their practices of radiance. They created art and beauty from and for all things as a gateway to commune with nature, thereby transcending the illusory fabrications of it. The concept of <b>“renaissance”</b> as an artful life fits the perfect description of the original yet ever-evolving modern day yogis (us!). <b>Related to the words “reassurance, reconnaissance, resistance, resonance”</b> the paths of yoga are a radiant re-sounding of nature that we can get into & have the courage to continue with dynamic foresight.</div>
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Our yoga "practice" is to remember our origin, which diminishes all delusions, doubts, fears and worries, “re-sounding” & revolutionizing the renaissance. “Resonance” means to re-sound. When something is sound it will both organically beautify and attract beauty. To offer our diverse talents and strengths and to share them is to be a yogi without being shy or needing attention over it, both adversarial. True yogis look to artfully generate more connection. To grip to one thing, or time itself, or isolate ourselves, creations or our purpose creates vectors of separation in existence. It is the opposite of yoga, called “ayoga”, which means to pull apart.</div>
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Many roads in India are called “margas”<b>. Marga means “road”</b>. There are Universes of paths to explore in yoga. For us in the west, asana is the most branded understanding of what yoga is. Even though yoga itself is 5,000 years old the systematized, organized components of asana both structurally & in transcribed sequences have really come into being in the past 200 years. The path of asana is called “Hatha Marg”, which means physical balance of the energies of sun and moon. Hatha yoga is very tactile and tangible, yet within it it creates a greater sensitivity as a gateway to experience on deeper levels, not just the physical alone.<br />
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<b> Hatha Marg</b> trains us to experience & refine all of our senses, uplifting our taste for all things. It also helps us to get into & respect our body (and others). Often our practices or lifestyles can be unsettling, getting us further out & unaware of what is right in front of us or how we are upholding it. All things physical means how we treat our body, what we put into it, how (and what) we breath, who we live with, how we live in the physical world with others and how the world is treated physically due to our physical choices. </div>
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Anything that can activate a spiritual atmosphere in a physical form is hatha yoga. <b>Hatha Marg is spiritual activism</b>. It also means balance. An imbalance could mean materialism or even spiritual materialism. Balance advocates what is simple & honors physical forms infused with Spirit, the "atma". The symbiosis of the 2 brings more steadiness emotionally, a clear mental cognition and the capacity to be physically kind to others. Anything that gets us to remember that we (and all others) have a body and we are a Soul is Hatha. Hatha Marg is a merge of the two. It is not Hatha if the physical is isolated, imbalanced or acting separate from the spiritual. We have been given a body as a gift to do great things. Doing so with gratitude for this body we give back reminds us we are Soul’s having physical experiences in communion with natural world.<br />
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In traveling to India and many places in Asia, I have found the most obvious & popular form of yoga to be the<b> “Bhakti marga” or the path of devotion</b>. Bhakti literally means to share love. It is stated in the Bhakti Sutras that yogis are to be generators and generous with Love as to activate, provoke and invoke more of the same. </div>
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Bhakti’s are also in love with the physical experience as an offering to God. There are numerous key ways to practice this marga, including <b>“Satsang”</b>, which is the practice of hand choosing good company with care and ethics that you wish to portray. Another is “puja", which are daily rituals which give site to a physical presence of offering in humility and gratitude, keeping and preserving our sweet nature. </div>
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Service, or going out of our way to give freely to others, called <b>“Seva</b>", in acts of loving kindness and without any expectation is a key component in the Bhakti Marg, as stated in the Bhagavad Gita. It is important in the Bhakti Marg that a devotional practice is always there, keeping us humble and in loving adoration to others.<br />
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Singing to God in recitation of the Holy names, called<b> “Harinam”</b> is one of my favorite practices in the Bhakti Marg to shift and elevate my mood quickly so I don’t get caught up in diminishing ideas. Chanting in a devotional setting, much different than what we were taught in the West, can get us out of feeling selfness, self consciousness or the idea performing for others, all ego based.</div>
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The Sanskrit mantras are thought to be codes that we are attracting and then encoding into our very being, down to our DNA, cells and koshas. Call and response chanting, also called <b>“Sankirtana”</b> is a quick way to change our mind and to free perpetual programs of worry. Worries are also repetitive mantras. Choosing uplifting mantras in their place is a practice of undoing bad mental constructs & dropping the energy into the heart.<br />
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<b>“Bhav”</b>, another Sanskrit word often used in the Bhakti Marg, means to set an atmosphere or attitude, in or out, that is elevated. A Bhakta will sing, dance, serve, pray, cook out the static to get to the ecstatic. Being a practitioner of the Bhakti Marg gives us the chance to positively affect, in a very sweet & sincere way, everything that we come into contact with, oozing with the essence of our true golden nature.</div>
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Eternal Sound, called<b> Nada Bramha</b>, is the first marg that came into existence, called<b> Nada Marg</b>. The ancient yogis believe that we all came from sound and that each of us is a note or verse of an entire song or verse in the Uni-verse. These individual sounds then began to slow down their frequencies to become a variety of names and forms (all of us!) . The Vedas say sound is first sense to form in the womb and the last sense to go when we leave our bodies. Because of this, sound carries potent subtle body energy.<br />
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Sound is related to the element ether, thus it is related to all things ethereal and celestial. It is more subtle than yet can permeate all of the other senses of tasting, touching, seeing & smelling. The Rishis like to honor sound as a means of connecting to our Higher Wisdom, angels & what they call the “celestial dancers”, or “<b>gandharvas”</b>. Call me crazy but who doesn’t what celestial dancers whispering the sweet mysteries of the Universe into their ears, if only we pause to not always speak but to listen?</div>
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The <b>“nadis”</b> within our physical bodies are subtle streams of energy and are the mini rivers of sound within us. The “chakras” are the merge of light and sound. Everything in the horizon of nature is sound. The<b> Goddess Saraswati, </b>depicted as the muse of Sound is plucking the strings of a vina much like we are to pluck the strings and finely tune our own instruments as to truly listen.<br />
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The Rishi’s say that the most important quality of a yogi is to be a good listener. In this way all yogis are musicians. A quote I love from Iyengar….”how do you know if a body is tuned just right? By it’s ability to listen.” And a quote from our teacher, Sharon Gannon….”how can you tell if a student is advancing in yoga? By the sound of their voice.”<br />
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<b> “Raja” is translated as “king”</b> in Sanskrit. The Raja Marg is the road of meditation, where deep listening becomes activated in profound stillness, calm and rest of the mind. I often get many questions & concerns from students about meditation, stating that they are not doing it. Patanjali has a way of breaking down meditation for us to better understand the path of becoming more of a king or queen of our minds and not fooled nor ruled by the seeds in our own minds alone. It is important for a yoga to consider not believing everything that they think, or what everyone else thinks for that matter.</div>
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In <b>Patanjali’s 8 limbs, called “Ashtanga”</b>, the last 4 can help to lead us to an approachable meditation practice. To first begin the process of withdrawing the stimulus or multitasking of our lives, called <b>“Pratyahara”,</b> creates a readiness for the mind and body to pause. Then we can apply the last 3…. <b>1. Focused 2. Fixed 3. Perfect. or 1. Dharana 2. Dhyana 3. Samadhi.</b><br />
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To jump to doing nothing and being in total and perfect absorption of nothingness, which sounds pretty out there for most humans, one can first work on focus and concentration as a practice which will begin to weed out the chaotic, mixed or dull imprints within us. There are many forms and practices of meditation for the Raja Marg. </div>
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In an active practice, the gap of lack of ability to focus lessens, a fixed period that is elongated in absorption occurs & a yogi is getting “in” to all things more. Deprogramming memories that are a problem & have misinformed an originally clear lens is greater freedom and absorption of presence. Being present is a clear sign of someone actively engaged in their free consciousness & will. These qualities are all mind stuff... all related to the mind.</div>
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“Perfection” in this case means absorption or cessation from holding the agitation. This might be a new definition of perfection for many of us as often airbrushed media, movies, Facebook & pop culture can persuade false imagery on a mind that doesn't question whether if what is popular leads us from to or further off the course of our Higher Selves. Perfection doesn’t mean that revealing challenging circumstances in and out won’t occur, but that you are a king or queen (or both!) of them, no longer sedated, ruled or mislead by them. </div>
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<b> The Raja Marga is the “all seeing” marg.</b> You’re beginning to consistently see the big & Cosmic picture & less tricked by the myopic videos the seeds in the mind inflate and create. Knowing where all phenomena comes from, unconditioned states of calm & lucidity are activated in re-cognition. A yogi wishes to have trained in the Mastery of their minds at the snap of a finger as an art form, available instantly for what is clear and here now.<br />
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These are a few of many Margas on the Yogi’s road.<b> “Jnana Yoga Marga”</b>, which is the practice of studying the sacred texts and holy books, originally done orally alone yet now it is Universally accessible. <b>“Karma Yoga Marga”,</b> living a total life devoted to serving others without asking for money or anything in return. It is said this is done most potently when it is anonymous & when we can share the dharmic teachings.<b> “Dharma Yoga Marga”</b>, to uphold personal ethics, purpose & live true to one’s purpose here on the planet, each individual & personal, yet always considering the whole. These are other margas that can be focused on and highlighted as art in life.</div>
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As a personal practice & daily personal goals, I do my best to keep the practice creative, multi-faceted and consistent. I practice praying, thanking my influences and teachers, singing, learning new Sanskrit mantras & playing my harmonium everyday, typically in the morning with a puja & offering to a beautiful altar that is easy on the eyes & reminds me of beauty. I always think of a few others that may need assistance at that time.</div>
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After, I meditate with my mala beads and do japa for a good 20 minutes I make no sounds at all outwardly, remaining still in silence and <b>“mauna”</b> (no speaking) . I talk very little in the morning as it is a sacred time still partially in the dream state where I receive many messages as to how to interact with more refinement, new projects & work ideas, and improvements to who may need my assistance. I had a teacher recently say on my Asia trip to be sure to get all of the serious spiritual things taken care of in the morning and as the day transpires, get more physical and lighten up a bit, getting less serious. With this natural routine, my offering is then to hope to act with more care and skill throughout the day and to contain enjoyment, laughter & sweetness in my interactions.</div>
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I also do asana for 1 hour and a half 4-6 days a week. The moment I am complete I feel more friendly, more clear, uplifted & inspired by the imaginative qualities that move me and feel more like me. <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I also make it a personal goal that I must go out of my way to acts of loving kindness 3 times per day, so that I experience yoga is a lifestyle, checking in with the honesty of</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">how “good” I am at it really.</span><br />
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I also suggest reading uplifting scriptures or books and articles from time to time & to visit one new place each year on a sacred pilgrimage, called a <b>"Yatra"</b>, retreat or travel. I become very challenged in new settings in pilgrimage, trekking, circumambulating, etc as an offering of where I personally struggle within. These sojourns to be travailed have cleared all kinds of deep blocks within me that tend to arise in unfamiliar settings and have opened my eyes and heart to all kinds of ways of being that have influenced my practices. </div>
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Yogis are meant to be renaissance & super human, living up to our heightened potentials, activating purpose and fulfillment on the planet by many different means. Be a yogi! There is Unity in diversity and trying new things. What can be more fulfilling than to move and inspire others on the many marg’s that bring a congealed, dynamic Oneness? There are strands of eternity happening now in each of these margas, inviting us to walk the talk in creative perfection and really be it. Be a yogi! Walk the road. Enjoy the roads less traveled and bold enough to travel your own, the one that resonates with you…. There is profound reassurance & radiance there.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-36771633241925527862014-09-09T16:25:00.001-07:002014-09-09T16:25:25.452-07:00Swan Michelle: "Prasad" Savory Soul Food.<a href="http://swanmichellebaker.blogspot.com/2014/09/prasad-savory-soul-food.html?spref=bl">Swan Michelle: "Prasad" Savory Soul Food.</a>: "Prasad" Savory Soul Food. Sharon Gannon, the co-founder of Jivamukti Yoga will be in New Orleans Oct 10th presenting ...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-41630534735003318672014-09-09T16:24:00.003-07:002014-09-10T11:31:41.274-07:00"Prasad" Savory Soul Food.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><i>"Prasad"</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> Savory Soul Food.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6UoUrkcNEhkf1LMyR4uLS3NIdliIfTm0QqKWExIy9eI3FvYm5PjirMub3SF2qxPvdFj2p52MXteZMpLg6NoQoCp1aVIN4dZNeFiofkuezFHP_v_aoy1uAHQeBkd8zi77bmo7FL_g0IIO/s1600/1218_R_Sharon+in+kitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6UoUrkcNEhkf1LMyR4uLS3NIdliIfTm0QqKWExIy9eI3FvYm5PjirMub3SF2qxPvdFj2p52MXteZMpLg6NoQoCp1aVIN4dZNeFiofkuezFHP_v_aoy1uAHQeBkd8zi77bmo7FL_g0IIO/s1600/1218_R_Sharon+in+kitchen.jpg" height="271" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sharon Gannon, the co-founder of Jivamukti Yoga will be in New Orleans Oct 10th presenting her new book "Simple Recipes For Joy."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 19px;"> I stayed at my first Yoga Ashram after being introduced to yoga in 1996. An Ashram is a dwelling place for like hearted groups working and practicing together.</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> I remember </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">a yogi there at the time that was notably ill. They had been through a devastating break up & were clearly emotionally distraught. Although cooking was their Seva assignment (selfless service), the Swami’s asked that they not enter into the kitchen as to give their gross and emotional bodies time to heal & not cook their disharmony into the food we would all then eat, both literally and energetically. It was the first time I had considered this concept & it make me reflect that even my thoughts go into the meals I prepare. I pondered times I ate food that seemed poisonous in some way, more so emotionally and this directly explained it. The food was toxic because it had no love in it at all and plenty of negative seeds. Now I do all that I can to practice cooking as a love/medicine ritual. It is nothing separate from yoga at all. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> Michelle Baker, Co-owner and Founder of Swan River Yoga making a vegan meal for her parents.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> After years of visiting Ashram's consistently, I see that yoga is a complete life style that can not be segmented.Yoga is also a linking of the physical into the spiritual in everything we do. What could be more physical than what we eat & how it is prepared, done at least 3 times a day? Perceiving it’s value will help us see it less as a chore and more a way to connect with nature, all Divine. Asana, another physical practice, has helped me to view all of my actions more thoughtfully, including meals, of which I have become more sensitive to. Being more selective on many accounts, I have also become far more selective of the food I eat, not only in the physical quality of it, but the energetic intention of it, from seed to mouth, start to finish. I sense each layer of my being and how it is affected by food choices, be it physical, energetic, emotional, or mind oriented. If the food is energetically toxic in some way, from the very first seeds of intention in the earth all the way to the cook’s attitude, I can taste it. This is often what yogis refer to when they state you begin to develop a Higher taste for all things. Some yogis I know take it as far as to only eat sanctified food because it is difficult for them to eat it otherwise.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> The way in which one eats is a yogic practice also. In</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19px;"> the yogic atmospheres I have trained in </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I learned how to eat in a more thoughtful manner, from quantity, to pace, to approach, to the company, to what is being spoken while eating. At the Ashram for example, they would not allow us to read magazines, computers or cell phones at the table at all. They asked us to keep our conversation elevated and inspiring as we would then begin to chew on our words and then digest them. They explained that some Swami’s will even get sick if the speech at dinner is profane due to their sensitivity. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #141823; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Certified Swan River Yoga Teacher Cynthia Krizo cooking up a vegan feast for her teachers in training.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> Ayurveda, the first medicine practice from India, references food as our main source of health. It prescribes eating 6 times a week as a means of medicine for the body and one day a week as a means of pleasing the taste buds. This keeps us in balance and compassionately connected to the plants and minerals that nourish us & provide nutrients To a yogi, health is wealth and the body a gift. At the Ashram, no one was allowed to eat until we expressed gratitude in Sanskrit Mantra and sang praises around nature's ambrosia. It was always presented as a work of colorful art & compassionate in consciousness.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> Another story that gave me food for thought came from Ram Dass. He was known to have lead many people to his Guru, Neem Karoli Baba. At one Satsang, he asked his Guru on behalf of them all... "Babaji, how do we get enlightened? We want the fast track. What is it?" They were mesmerized and remained still. No one moved. They were waiting for the light show. It was silent for a long time as though the Guru were in deep contemplation….and finally Babaji said…”It’s quite simple. Love everyone and feed people.” "Feed people?” Ram Dass thought. "That is ridiculous. It must be a metaphor." It’s quite literally what he meant. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> Certified Swan River Yoga Teacher Donisha, a full time physician and mother, cooking for her family.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> Feeding sanctified food is a Hindu tradition in India. Food is a Universal need and quick way to get close to people, so serving them tricks you into good karma. Souls are hungry. Serve all beings blessed food that has elevated thought and praise in it and they in turn eat loving kindness and compassion. Love is addictive. Now in their system, they will come back for more. Culturally Indian Hindu's are known to make tremendous sacrifices to go on sacred pilgrimages, called “ Yantras”, seeking out spiritual food as blessings from high teachers, hoping to swallow the direct blessing of Grace through transmission.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> Now when I cook I see it as my spiritual sadhana and I really look forward to cooking as a means of profound connection, celebration & something very beneficial to myself and all beings on many levels. I do my best not to hurry through it just as I would not hurry through my asana practice. I prepare myself for the ritual as though I were doing yoga by making the kitchen an elevated atmosphere, good music, good smells good company. I catch myself and make sure to chant while cooking. I look at the things that are in my food and connect with them. I enjoy getting into contact with the mineral and elemental kingdoms. I have found greater appreciation and non-violence in cooking as forms of medicine. I enjoy feeding the soul or souls of those I am cooking for if I do. I do my best to remember I am "feeding” God, or God pouring God into God eating God becoming God letting go of God and all over again. I get connected to nature’s cycles.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> Mary Glackmeyer, Swan River Yoga's Manager & Certified Jivamukti Yoga Teacher, looking over our teacher, Sharon Gannon's new book, Simple Recipes for Joy at her training in Woodstock, NY.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The word <i><b>Prasad</b></i>, or <i>Prasadam</i> in Sanskrit means blessed or sanctified offering or a gift, most commonly in the form of food or sweets. Prasad is often in the context of a ritual, cooking, or the mind itself. Yogis want to preserve the sweet parts of the mind stuff, free of getting involved in it's ups and downs for once discord can settle in, we often become disrespectful & disregard our surroundings and nature herself. I have taken part in many pujas/ rituals in India & my yogic studies enough to recognize the imprint Prasad makes in recognizing blessings and where these blessings come from. Prasad invites us to pause & offer back before overly consuming and taking in very large proportions. In our fast food American nation & the fears of corrupt agriculture, these daily steps have assisted me in recognizing my relationship to all physical matter. Examining all of my relationships as a level of ecstatic, enthusiastic devotion is Bhakti Yoga. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In resonating with <b>Bhakti </b>so deeply, the most specific teachings I have received about Prasadam came to me, after witnessing it in many Ashrams and India, right here in a little old town in Mississippi! On a country drive one day, while chanting loudly in my car, I suddenly found a group of women in full Indian Saris walking down the street & could hear mantra singing and tribal drums off in the distance. I delightfully aligned with this little farm community and those running it as part my spiritual family. <b>The "Krishna Farm”, called "New Talavan" of ISKON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness)</b> felt just like home here in the south, where yoga use to be obsolete, let alone chanting or being a vegetarian. They are living Bhaktis. Their practice of bhakti includes religious cooking, praying/singing, dancing and serving. Not too foreign from our New Orleans practices!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> Sughosh and Mohini Berg, co-owners of Good Karma Prasad Cafe, opening in late September at Swan River Yoga.... all vegetarian sanctified prasad food, the first in New Orleans!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The family at the<b> </b>Krishna Farm taught me more in depthly about the rules of Prasad. Years later, their family is now opening the first prasad concept based restaurant in our city and in our yoga studio, Swan River Yoga, called<b> Good Karma Prasad Cafe.</b> This is delightful timing for us as also our teacher, <b>Sharon Gannon, the founder of Jivamukti Yoga, is coming (October 10th)</b> right around the same time to share her new book, <b>“Simple Recipes For Joy”</b>, which has fun recipes that advocate eating with compassion, kindness and non-violence. If we had the chance to eat with total kindness, why not apply the kindest choice? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The spiritual cooking practices as a means of savory importance this family have taught me will be applied in our new and only<b> sanctified cafe in New Orleans coming at the end of September, 2014</b>. Some of these practices include honoring the kitchen as the heart and temple of the home by discerning what is allowed in it. They also spiritually clean and bless all of the utilities and cooking-ware to be used and they do not even taste the food until it is offered. They feed God first at as an offering before they take, thus setting the priority straight. In their eyes, since God would not accept violent food, it is never fed to God our any others.. This way God is pleased and fed, which feeds us all. It is thought that once a portion of the food is offered to God, all of the food ready for serving is sanctified, kind in nature and resonating high, the Soul is never left undernourished…. true savory soul food is here. Do all that you can to feed your Soul and the Soul's of others. There is no sweeter or more savory gift.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Bhakti Caravan Kirtan and catered event by Good Karma Cafe at Swan River, where soon Prasad will be served!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> There are many ways to bless the food from a yogic standpoint. One of my favorite chants that I learned at the Ashram was from the Bhagavad Gita.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Brahmarpanam Brahma-Havir / Brahmagnau Brahmana Hutam /</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Brahmaiva Tena Gantavyam / Brahma-Karma-Samadhina</i></b><br />See God everywhere: God is the ladle; God also is the food; God is the fire; God is the preparer; and God is the eater of the food. God is the reason for eating and God is the goal to be reached. Bhagavad Gita 4.24</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Lokah Somasta Sukhinoh Bhavantu</i></b>…. May all beings everywhere be happy and free is another one I often use, helping to spark and attract light into the body and soul being fed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><span data-reactid=".3h.1:3:1:$comment721215307927733_721220941260503:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.0">"When God is fed--ul</span><span data-reactid=".3h.1:3:1:$comment721215307927733_721220941260503:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.3">timately we all will be fed the food we need that can heal us from the disease of self-centered greed. We human beings are suffering from spiritual malnutrition. Prasad is medicine that can heal this illness.” Sharon Gannon</span></i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A sample of delectable vegan food made with love to go or stay in good company at Swan River Yoga Mandir in Md-City 2940 Canal street.</span><br />
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<span data-reactid=".3h.1:3:1:$comment721215307927733_721220941260503:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.3"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>*To learn more about and experience Prasad, <b>please visit our new cafe in Swan River Yoga, called Good Karma Prasad, coming soon at the end of September.</b></i></span></span><br />
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<span data-reactid=".3h.1:3:1:$comment721215307927733_721220941260503:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.3"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>*To learn more creative and compassion cooking recipes, I suggest our teacher's <b>new book “Simple Recipes for Joy” by Sharon Gannon.</b></i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>*To learn more about compassion and non-violence in what we eat and all things physical, please come to our teacher, <b>Sharon Gannon, the founder of Jivamukti Yoga’s workshop at Swan River Yoga October 10th in New Orleans, LA. </b></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> A day at Jacksun Slaughter's (Certified Swan River Yoga Teacher) home with her family where they cook and garden together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Register at our website for Simple Recipes for Joy Book release and Jivamukti Yoga Class at www.swanriveryoga.com</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Schedule:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4pm-6:30pm Jivamukti Yoga Class with Sharon Gannon, co-founder.<br />6:30 Vegan Food is served from Simple Recipes for Joy<br />7pm Talk with Sharonji and Q & A<br />7:30-8:30pm Book Signing</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“Sharon is my Guru—I like eating anything she’s dishing out. Her teachings on yoga and veganism have positively transformed my life. She is not only an example of someone who walks the talk, but she excels in so many areas, teacher, philosopher, activist, artist, musician and cook, showing us all that through devotion to God one can become a divine instrument and with God’s great love all is possible.” Russell Simmons</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> Sharon Gannon is the Guru to co-founders Michelle Baker and Keith Porteous as well as Swan Manager Mary Glackmeyer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A sample menu of Good Karma Prasad Cafe opening in Swan River Yoga the end of September:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Good Karma Cafe Sample Menu coming soon!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enjoy....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fruit Salad: a variety of seasonal fruits served with a side of honey.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coconut Cream Bowl - Seasonal fruits topped with coconut cream crushed walnuts and a side of honey</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">tofu scramble ( not sure yet) or a breakfast sandwich</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sandwiches/Wraps</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BBQ - Tofu Sandwich: grilled BBQ tofu an option of melted cheese with veganaise spread, lettuce, tomatoes, and grilled bellpepper.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Curd Sandwich: grilled Curd fresh cheese, veganaise spread, chipotle sauce, lettuce, tomatoe, and pickles. (BBQ option available)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bhima Veggie Burger: Veggie Burger dressed with vegainaise and ketchup, luttuce, tomatoes, Pickles . melted cheese is optional.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Antuna Wrap: Antuna(chickpea spread garnished with red bellpeppper, celery and spices), lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and sprouts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Veggie Griller Wrap - Fresh Broccoli, Bell peppers and matchstick carrots grilled with olive oil and spices, lettuce, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts and vegan chipotle Sauce</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-all sandwiches and wraps come with a side of nutritional yeast popcorn</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hot Plates</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Malaysian Curry Bowl: Soy Chunks and Potatoes drenched in a coconut milk, lemon grass, tomatoes sauce seasoned with a rare Malaysian spice blend.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good Karma Plate: Soup of the day, House Salad,spiced Veggies of the day, and your choice of white or brown rice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rice and Dhal Bowl: Basmati or Brown Rice(your choice) with an Indian spiced bean soup</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drinks/Chillers</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teas (selection of a variety of teas)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coffee Chai</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mango Lassi<br />Mint Lemongrass House drink<br />Green Mango Chiller: Green mango, lemon, and honey blended with ice. Rasbery Chiller: Rasberries and lemon blended with ice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Desserts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mini doughnuts(gluten free and dairy free)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">chocolate chip cookies(gluten free and dairy free)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">chia seed pudding: cacao powder, almond milk, and shredded coconut with chia seeds.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">chocolate cake(gluten free and dairy free)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Salads</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good Karma House salad Antuna goodness Mama's love<br />Quinoa Salad</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And much more in the works!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Sughosh Berg, co-owner of Good Karma Prasad Cafe, co- founded with Michelle Baker. We would both like to thank all of those beings that have contributed to our fundraising efforts through Kickstarter and our band Bhakti Caravan!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>May all beings everywhere, be happy and free, including the food that we eat and the way we prepare it! Namaste, Michelle</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Swan River Yoga teacher Jacksun Slaughter's son in their garden where they cook much of the produce they grow in the 7th ward.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-27333704784823841542014-08-22T14:18:00.001-07:002014-08-27T05:06:59.972-07:00Uphold Your Dharma. It is a Cycle Buster<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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UPHOLD YOUR DHARMA </div>
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It Is A Cycle Buster.</div>
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Your dharma is the red pill in The Matrix. It can be exquisitely frightening until we realize we are finally beginning to live in "vidya", seeing true view. Dharma translated can mean purpose, job or task or more literally translated as “upholding” or “ethic”. Ethic comes from the greek word “Ethos” which means “character", meaning our ethos characterizes a person or group. Dharma is a form of action and it reveals the tone of our ideology. It is related to karma/action.<br />
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In the Vedic times, karma originally meant a "ritual physical offering”. This means every action is an offering to get us closer to God. It did not imply taking action was bad. It is a link. It did not originally mean “action” alone but a very specific one which activates greater freedom and a remembrance of it. Ethos, the original root of ethics, does not mean it is socially imposed from outside of us but called upon from within. Ethics is very radical. It is a tool to get to the root of ethereal where ether or space becomes real and actualized. Our aligned, congealed actions of dharma also draw attention to the Ethereal. The purest dharma does means we do not attach to the result. Can you imagine an action so pure? This also means we are free of the reaction that cycles out, according to Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. That is really far out.</div>
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The ancient yogic texts imply that dharma comes from within and above, or where we arrived from here on the planet. Dharma, as a remembrance, is a act of inference. It is a mile marker for the possibility that perhaps something greater is at work too and is going on of which we can align with and recognize. Realigning into the original greatness, it becomes less daunting to know and actualize clear actions and reactions that are not mixed with selfish intents. In true dharma, we do not need attention or credit. Dharma generates a social and mutual working & serving class. It is a tool of connection to get closer to the Source. The mere feeling of absence of purpose and dharma, which many humans feel, implies there is one or we wouldn’t yearn for it so and brings tremendous emptiness and suffering. Dharma can clean us of dominance or self absorption as we refine our yearnings to want the whole upholded and not just ourselves.</div>
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Our "job", if we see dharma as such, from a personal blueprint before we arrived, has Universal clues for us ALL in the "Yamas". The Yamas are the first ingredient of the 8 limbs prescribed by Patanjali or to Krishna's continued plea to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. There is sustainability in the act of sharing and upholding dharma that is settling to the soul. It is no longer entangling. These types of actions are a good gauge for true dharma at work coming through you. If our actions continue to inert us or entangle us it is a very good barometer for us as to wether our actions are purifying and uplifting ourselves and others. It is the remedy for curing all karma and personal curriculums. This is deeply moving and fulfilling as we feel more substantial trust and order form in experience and relationship. Even actions that on the outside look good can be quite mixed within. This is not dharma.</div>
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To practice dharma is the deepest fulfillment and soul purpose on the planet. It is beyond form but form is the tool for it's activation. Many students and especially the ones in our teacher training at Swan River Yoga have eons of questions when the topic of dharma comes up. Many ask how it is that you know if you have found it, or how to get it. I do my best to answer that it is really not like that, finding the "right" one. Our eyes, often being the most dominant sense habituates us into looking for it on the outside. It is not about the “form” of the work even if some appear more glamorous, important or pious than others. Full-fillment is the opposite of clinging to form, appearance or outcome. Clinging implies by principle that there is not enough nor enough trust or worth in the current role or task that is before us. It implies it is not full but more limited and less than. </div>
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“Vairagya" in Sanskrit is non attachment, so the trick is to not attach to the roles, identity or traps of trends of the masses but to think big and progressively by undoing. Radical yogis must questions trends and identities constantly. By undoing, the idea is that the tasks and jobs at hand will reveal themselves naturally, not by the jurisdiction of a law or popular standard or hierarchal caste at all. Non- attachment (as a side note, detachment or lack of enthusiasm or lack luster is much different) shakes us to our core and shakes off our fear and selfishness/aversions so that we compassionately consider & uphold all beings, usual or unusual. </div>
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Honoring all customs and ways humans can be has been a tricky practice for me when I travel. It is the exact reason that I travel. I like to connect with the locals and endigenous peoples and animals. I like to learn how I will respond to the unimagined, to the variance of religion, culture, lifestyles or the misunderstood. In the places I go that are way out there and unfamiliar, I have seen that is easy to draw fear or aversion or even judgement, all a trap. “Caught”, I too get uncomfortable. </div>
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“Upholding" cleanly and well, as though we are doing it for God gets us closer to God. If we are sharing something with God, we do our best and face our fears. Then, naturally, many others are moved. I like to ponder here and there…”has my courage been tested”? Good. This is actually the first thing Krishna tells Arjuna he must have to be a Yogi. It means getting out of my own paradigm via experience so that the same agitation over and over again, called “Samsara”. My Soul, if I go deep and identify with it, does not want to continue to generate more fear. Having a deep enough sense as to whether my Soul or ego are at play can give me the sense of if what I am "doing" draws me further from purpose and order or is aligned from within. My duty then, in the moment, each a new one, must remain clear so that I can sense the called upon order at hand. This is not a law or rule. It is much more innate and organic than that. Even if what is called upon in upholding purpose is challenging, it is still full, and feels "right"..<br />
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My last trip across the world, especially Morocco was that. I felt I had to really step “out” and consider new ways of being as a woman and a “spirited” being. And I learned a lot. I softened tremendously and developed greater compassion and appreciation to hardship and new ways of viewing God and social interactions. For me, stepping towards the teacher is that same thing, as I am doing now here in Woodstock. Stepping towards intimacy, sentiment and love is that for me too, all important parts to our evolutions. Sometimes, there is trepidation. I find trepidation to be a sign of respect. Fear is different than trepidation because I still move forward. Fear is a sign of stuckness and the false comfort of ego, getting me to further delude. That is when I stopped sharing and it is time for me to check in.</div>
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The “kleshas", obstacles or torments can be either major road blocks that inert us or speed bumps that inspire us to deeper greatness depending on our lens, willingness and readiness to get free and generate dharma. True freedom of Divine expression is wild and radical and takes tremendous harnessing of the more unrefined wild qualities of our senses, emotions and thought forms. True freedom comes from being able to handle and take responsibility for freedom and wish for this to be upheld for others.</div>
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The 5 kleshas are:</div>
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AVIDYA -not knowing (the cause of the rest of the kleshas and all suffering)</div>
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ASMITA- ego based life. All about I me mine.</div>
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RAGA- attachment (excessive unrefined desire)</div>
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DVESA aversion (excessive judgement)</div>
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ABHINIVESHA fear of death ( the only thing that dies is the ego)</div>
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I like to call kindness, sharing, good company, happiness & love cultivation, yoga, chanting the holy names, meditation and respect for nature the Real "weapons of mass destruction” that clean out the Malas… the obscurations and pain.</div>
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Sharing, which is the roots of dharma, is expansive and delightful. Unhealthy veils drop. In sharing, we will see direct results of what we share. Sharing, be it a vulnerable stance, aligns us with the Universe and is less painful than grasping. The kleshas are painful. Pain generates more pain. Fear more fear. They are confusing. They can turn on you and against you. This to me comes from not upholding dharma in the first place.</div>
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Dharma is a way to get out of ourselves. It extends outward. It is the opposite of being self absorbed, caught and bound by personal gain and motive again and again. Dharma is often not what we “think” so it is not something to think about in order to find it. It will come spontaneously. It is our origin coming out into the world. Upholding it invites us to see the sacred in our daily lives and get the scared parts of us out that are simply not real or true. </div>
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"Remember, all I am offering you is the Truth." Morpheus.</div>
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(Photos from my excursions in Morocco, August 2014)</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-13864790651672959992014-04-11T05:34:00.002-07:002016-09-12T08:08:29.118-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-59382846745943463162014-04-11T05:34:00.001-07:002016-09-12T18:34:18.614-07:00 Asana Lab: Alignment Observation, Eagle Eye, Verbals Assists and Physical Assists<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b> Asana Lab </b></span></span><br />
<b style="text-align: left;"><u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">Alignment Observation, Eagle Eye, Verbals Assists and Physical Assists</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b> Intelligence, Stability and Connection</b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> 3 things are taking place in all observation in a yoga class</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">…</span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Approach.. </b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>The " A" of Aum (OM) is <u>Intelligence</u>. </b>Proficiency, Technique, Efficacy & Skill, Understanding, Sensitivity in approach.</span></span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Remain. </b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>The "U" of Aum is <u>Stability.</u> </b>Direction, Certainty, Reliability, Anchoring, Informing.</span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">Depart. </b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The "M" of Aum is <u>Connection. </u> </b><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Understanding, Clarity, Trust, Art, Nurturing, Care, </span>establish<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> a deeper connection with the student.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>OmOmOm.</b></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> This is a simple guide for asana yoga teachers for numerous styles of yoga that provoke & inspire the use of verbal assists eagle eye & hands (feet, knees, head, etc) on assists as a means of healing, informing and getting students into the potential of their unique body while you as the teacher are sure to understand & become sensitive to just what that is.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> Asana Lab takes place in every classroom setting. It is the unique way in which a student clearly observes what the present is for the overall classroom as well as the individual student as being unique, conditional, seasonal & ever-changing.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><u> The means in which an Asana Lab can be expressed is:</u></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">1. <b>Global Eagle Eye:</b> observing the current mood of the overall setting due to the energy of the day, the alignment of the stars, news in mass media, holidays, time of week, time of day and type of population of class. Adjust accordingly. This is where a teacher begins to sense the group collective as well as to move the energy of the room, looking from all angles and corners of the room without touching anyone but thoughtfully making the approach inward, closer to their energic boundary as to begin shifting the energy of the room.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">2. <b>Personal Eagle Eye: </b>observing the current mood of each student from the neutral canvas of <b>Tadasana</b> <b>mountain pose</b> (or seeing mountain pose in every pose), move sequentially in order, free of preference in students. In eagle eye observation, a teacher observes the state of a particular student from all angles, getting side profiles, sensing their mood of today, what their body is saying today, where their patterns are in the way in which they hold their body up and what they need to address. Note if they have injuries or are going through clear life changes. A body is like water. It changes daily. Adjust accordingly. This is where you respect and understand their particular canvas & begin to develop compassion and empathy as to have taken the time to notice them specifically.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">3. <b>Verbal Assists:</b> Working sequentially, this is where you opt to give verbal cues and clear articulation to a student as to assist them in feeling a pose for themselves and making the correct adjustments. This invokes greater Self awareness. This is a very empowering tool. It is done in positivity, sequential clarity and directness so that you have time to move on to the next student. As a teacher, work on editing your language so that you are succinct and concise as to be sure your message is understood. Once you find language that fires up a response, repeat it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">4. <b>Physical Hands On Assists:</b> Working sequentially, this is where you assess that touch would be informative or helpful as to offer them greater depth and clarity. This is done with the permission of the student. It is never the same, robotic assist after assessing what they need that day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"> Most humans, due to past suffering of the pains of relationship, sexuality, intimacy, or even trauma, can possibly have many barriers and walls that a teacher must perceive and have great sensitivity to. Always give the student the free will and power to choose or not choose touch. Use assist cards to place the power into the students hands.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"> In a classroom setting, when given permission, it is a profound and sacred opportunity to break those walls down so that they are unveiled. The "art" of hands-on assists, when appropriate, can be mutually beneficial, getting us all more open & alive more quickly. All relationships should be mutually beneficial and symbiotic. The teacher will get the chance to learn just as much about you and body types in general by getting in there with you as you as a student learn from the information the hands of the teacher wish to convey to you without speaking. Often, no talking is what a student needs, dropping out of the mind and into their body.</span></div>
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<i>*Note...Think sequentially. What is the priority and what are common anatomical mis-alignments in the many diverse body types and variance of poses....Here, the pelvis has a tendency to tilt forward in Virabhadrasana II, so broadening spiral of the legs outward creates a space that informs the top of their pelvis back to move back, realigned. Working things out sequentially, they can then lower their hips so they are straight across from the forward knee, as Virabhadrasana II is a wonderful pelvic alignment pose.</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><b><u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"> Why Alignment Observation, Eagle Eye, Verbals Assists and Physical Assists?</span></u></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">I have found I learn faster and can work with greater depth and focus on my unique canvas, the body, with these 4 considerations that we call <b>Asana Lab.</b> I have also found as a teacher that I get closer to the students, get into a deeper level of compassion for their struggle and all human struggle, and unite in more profound relationship when they see me working hard to be with them and assist them, be it energetically, verbally, or with hands on assistance. </span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The focus on these <b>4 components of Asana Lab </b>in a classroom can inform students quickly of both obvious gross forms of poses & micro alignment details of various asanas without using so many words. </span></span><span style="font-family: '"georgia"', '"times new roman"', serif;">There is something strikingly profound and honest about economy of our words and speech, being succinct and cutting out chatter, editing what does not need to be said all together and just being in the physical experience with them. </span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> I also enjoy & we will discuss the art of vocalization, articulation, positive speech & direct speech with 5 Bindhu's that we utilize to call out the names of all poses quickly with a dynamic & creative voice. Voice comes in many forms in yoga, be it singing, mantra, philosophical discussions and dialogue, inwardly and outwardly. Verbal assists are perfect spearheads of thoughtful triggers for narrowing down the needed energetic release in each asana.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> In my teaching experiences of all various cultures, ages, abilities and body types (all physical things), physical understanding & communication is an approach that often gets the students into their bodies more quickly. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b> Hatha Yoga</b> and the path of asana is a “marg” (path) is a physical experience. As yoga teachers, get in there physically with the students and actually do something... “act” with them in their efforts. As students work on their physical poses, energy and memory is activated or released. </span>This<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> means these accessing these tools as a teacher also becomes </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">psycho-kinetically, karmically liberating and spiritually enhancing experience. Our Asana Lab tools can be a gateway for weaving into all of the sheaths, or koshas of the body, beginning with the thickest, most gross form layer, the <b>“Annomaya kosha", the “food” body.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Yoga itself means to yolk and to create union. Yoga is the art of relationship. All things are in relationship. The art of Asana Lab gets both the student and the teacher into right relationship and to work out relationship barriers or fears as it is far more intimate and therefore must be far more respectful, committed, sensitive and thoughtful. Coming into a circuitry of symbiosis with another being in healing endeavors is very liberating for both parties. It can help bring all things into right relationship within our physical lives, all of us benefitting.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Most humans perceive, relate and understand experiences through their minds alone so the energy is often very activated in their heads where they are unable to disperse nor relate the experience throughout the full conduit of the body (a microcosm finite version of our lives). Healing the physical experience can access specific emotions, thought forms, subtle energy body shifts, intelligence, detailed alignment, karmic patterning, memories, habits, imprints & profound connection in the entire reservoir of the body. Noting just what they need by understanding Universal alignment due to your sensitivity encourages their growth and evolution.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>* Note...Uttita Hasta Padanghustasana.</b> Do what best serves THEM. Do not be tentative in their balancing pose. Instead, either move out of the way or get in there right away with grounded confidence. Balancing poses are about strengthening our focus. Since they are concentrating more, if you are nervous, the thought waves are felt and it will throw them off. Like a Mother, get in there </span>and assist whatever they need right away without thinking about it.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">These 4 components of Asana Lab conveys a <b>“Mother energy”</b> as we call it in Thai Yoga Massage. It offers a stable nurturing care and urgent concern, telling the student, free of words, that you are there for them in every possible way. Conscious awareness of what a student needs in their asana to undo discordant patterns is a supportive and nurturing biological need. This Mother energy goes past the physical body and into the energy body, or "</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">nadis"... small river streams of pulsation flowing through you. These rivers and their points, called "marmas" begin to flow again more quickly when activation is assisted by another.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The Asana Lab 4 ingredients enhance the nervous systems communication of the mind/body connection as well as revealing a deeper sense of happiness, self esteem, being needed and fulfilled. Observing the unique canvas of the body finitely daily give longevity to a students capacity, slow down the aging process, undo unskillful lifestyle choices, offer them mastery of their habits, will strengthen the immune system, settle the nervous system, increase in endorphin levels, help one sleep better, decreased blood pressure & activate dormant or atrophied muscles for greater ability & mobility. Beings lacking touch can be susceptible to neurological disorders, an incapacity for brain neurons to fire up & often suffer from depression, memory recall & lower intellectual abilities.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> In regards to touch and skillful hands on assists specifically, this may be an appropriate teaching tool if listening does not seem to evolve a student as of yet. It can heighten great depth and understand if and when a student gives permission for this and when they are ready. Consider this when approaching a student with this teaching tool. Our s</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">kin is the main boundary to our inner world and touch relates most directly to the nervous system, connecting it with the outer world. In the chakra system, touch is related to the heart chakra, the Anahatam. This is the realm of unconditional love, interconnection, humanity and service. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This is the best place to approach our sincere offering and profound understanding of asana to a student and just how transformative it can be, to serve them with the sensitivity of the heart. The proof is then no longer in the words alone but in walking the talk, in actually feeling it in every cell of our body. With these tools in our Asana Lab, the compassionate jewel of the heart is actuated in being closely with another in full trust. As yoga teachers, being committed to this physical activation adds a whole new level of fulfillment to the experience of teaching as it does to the student's practice when they are ready to receive.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span>* Note...Virabhadrasa</b></i></span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Virabhadrasana I.</b>.. The assist is not always the obvious one. Work in a sequential order from the foundation up with your eagle eye drishti. You must look at their skeletal frame and not just their physical flesh and musculature to note if they are in proper alignment. If you have assessed their foundation to be secure and correct to the best of their current ability, then begin to move up to more peripheral parts of the body, as in this case, the arms. Even here, I am taking her thigh back by sitting on it when lifting her up.</i><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">na The assist is not always the obvious one. Work in a sequential order from the foundation up with your eagle eye drishti. You must look at their skeletal frame and not just their physical flesh and musculature to note if they are in proper alignment. If you have assessed their foundation to be secure and correct to the best of their current ability, then begin to move up to more peripheral parts of the body, as in this case, the arms. Even here, I am taking her thigh back by sitting on it when lifting her up.</i></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u>Guide line for teachers…</u> ( encouraged at Swan River Yoga)</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Understand your presence and it’s affect on the environment.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Your vibration as a human resonator is what you bring to class. Powerful teachers that take their “seat” (“asana” in Sanskrit) in a classroom have done many personal acts of physical purification so their temple of body is well received in the physical experience. In general, I do my morning puja offerings & rituals, mantra singing, </span>meditation & asana BEFORE I teach so I am as clear as possible & have no fear or barriers within me so that I too can get close to others right away.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">An important factor before entering then in with them is to align your breath. Be a wonderful example of proper breathing in the classroom setting, particularly when entering into their personal space, yoga mat, and energy field.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u>Purpose of Eagle Eye:</u> To remember the big picture first as to see every detail with a Shiva Drishti.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. Walk entirely around the room and entirely around/near each and every person. *Notice the mood, ability & level of ALL the students.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. Notice their breath.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. Look for their dosha (Ayurvedic constitution favoring either air, fire or earth/water)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">4. Take clear actions or no actions (also purposeful) at all.<br />
*Notice overall <b>(global) and individual </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>Gross Form</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b> </b>misalignments Example: they are on the wrong leg or wrong pose</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5. Notice common, entire classroom (<b>Global) & individual anatomical misalignments </b>(imbalanced hips, shoulders, spinal curvatures, lordosis, hyper-extenders, flat necks, rib cage sticking out, leaned to one side, weight in knees, size of ankles)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br />6. Notice <b>common/global & individual </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>misalignments </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">(Alignment is more detailed than Gross form & takes an even more keen, refined eagle eye. See their skeletal system. Not just their flesh or periphery) of individual poses. Example: Trapezius shortening the neck. Chin (hyoid bone) popped forward. Leg hyper-extends with knee in front of ankle.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">7. <b>Look at Alignment according to how your dharma talk relates to a specific body part </b>or where it is you choose to focus your alignment awareness for the day as to narrow down the infinite possibilities. Example again: Dharma talk on Prema. Alignment of heart. Look at all of their shoulders, biceps, forearms, wrists, hand placements.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u>Purpose of Staging:</u> For you to position yourself properly so you can see them and they can see you in physical dialogue.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b>1. Stay interactive with the students. You are in conversation. Do not sit down. <b>Be sure when addressing them with sequence and transition, whenever possible, they can see you </b>before you make a personal hands on assist. Example: Side plank, Vashistasana Right side: Walk over to the right side BEFORE this pose happens so once then get into it they see you talking to them face to face.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />2. Just like a theatre performance rule, <b>do not turn your back on them </b>as a whole. It would be such a rare case that you would need to do this.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />3. See them. When using your eagle eye, from time to time walk to places where you can <b>see the best view of all of their bodies </b>just as though you were watching a demo of a yoga pose.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4. When they are balancing, do not move and get out of their peripheral vision/drishti.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>When you personally have set a stable foundation for yourself it will be safer for both you and them. Then you will have the confidence required to take them deeper into things and more advanced poses. They will sense this too. They must trust your grounding & skill for optimal efficacy. Your job is to notice when it is time for a student to advance and how far to take them. They are counting on you to notice this and to be the one to guide them securely.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><u>Sequential Order of Hands on Assists:</u><br />
</b>1. <b>Gross form misalignments are first. </b>Example: serious safety issue, wrong leg or</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">wrong pose. (Gross form mis-alignments are always address first before micro detailed Alignments)</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. <b>Eagle eye the foundation. If the foundation is off. Go no further. </b>It’s like building a house on swampland.</span></span></div>
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3. If the first 2 are in check, <b>determine </b>BEFORE your class starts and as part of yourthe link to your dharma talk, <b>HOW your dharma talk will relate to an anatomical theme. </b>Example: A love SuPrema is my dharma talk. I will focus on heart alignment in my verbal instruction. I will focus on heart alignment for my hands on assists.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4. <b>Once the body part is narrowed down</b>, eagle eye each person individually. They do not all need the same heart hands on assist. <b>Look first and then decide what will optimally serve them specifically the most so it is never a mechanical adjustment.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5. <b>In general, go from Gross to Subtle and from the Source </b>(mid-line, shoulders and hips) to the periphery of the body. Example: Do not adjust the arms and hands if the shoulders (the Source of the shoulders and hands) are out of alignment, rolled forward.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">6. <b>Move in order. </b>One person at a time in each row, one person followed by another. Then there is no preference, specialness or self consciousness of the student. Provoke order. Go in order. Remember and go back to the other side, in order.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Understand the effect your presence has on them and ensure them of a symbiotic, empathetic approach. <b> Parsva Utitta Hastapadanghustasana. </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u>“Vikeka”; Practice Discernment:</u></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">First, see where the “Tadasana” (mountain pose)/Samasthiti (equal standing pose) canvas is in every pose.</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">There is great intelligence in nurturing. The greater skill you have the greater freedom they have the chance to embody.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b> Here is a check list:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b>1.<b>Discern your economy of time. </b>The goal is that everyone gets touched or personally addressed energetically in some way. This is my personal goal and I am always a bit disappointed if someone is left out. If you were the Divine Mother, would you leave even one sacred precious being out?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">This will help you determine how much time you give each person so that you do not get too extravagant in your giving to a few.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />2. <b>Know what bests serves them</b> beyond what you wanted to offer or want to give them. It is all about them. It is their time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />3. <b>Over time, get to know their bodies and individual needs in keen, detailed observation. </b>Do not approach everyone the same way.<b> </b>Know who has a shoulder injury. Know who has scoliosis, or a kyphotic spine... this type of thing. Then when you get to them, you already know what to do and not to do.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />4. <b>Note mood and attitude</b>…see when someone is in a particularly unusual mood.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />5. <b>Note particular body types…Organic or Muscular</b>… for possible injury prevention. In general, more organic or flexible yogis injure themselves far more easily. In general, Vatta Dosha (those with a lot of air in their constitution) are sensitive to touch due to their nervous system and have thinner skin. Because of this, do not push vattas quickly.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />6. <b>Discern right away if you are actually assisting them or throwing them off.</b> If their breathing changes, if they contract, if the energy shifts with many walls up, back off immediately. Remain humble and caring.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />7. <b>Discern if they need you to actually assist them</b> into it more or if what serves them is to make it more challenging. Beyond being incorrect assists all together according to a good understanding of anatomical alignment, I also often receive assists that I do not really need nor do I understand what they were trying to tell me.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">8. <b>Discern and know correct use of props</b> and prop suggestions. Often they will not know until you tell them. Props bring the earth to the practitioner. Just like anything in the earthly realm, they come and they go.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />9. <b>Are they getting it?</b> Discern whether they are actually getting what your hands are saying. If not, you may need to either adjust your assist or verbalize something (as little as possible and by being direct) with them so they understand.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> 10. <b>Note when someone does not want to be touched</b> and simply do not touch them at all.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>10. Discern yourself. Break out of standard routines</b> that you may have habituated.<br />
*Ask yourself... WHY am I doing the assist that I am doing? Am I going through motions or is this purposeful? Be sure you have a good answer that serves the student in the Highest.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Types of Assists:</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. <b>Quick informative tap. </b>Example: Tap the quadriceps instead of constantly repeating verbally “activate your quads”. Example: tap the right leg when you articulated “right leg forward but they brought their left leg forward. Example: Tap the knee if it rotates in/out in in Warrior II.<br />2. <b>“Vayus” </b>(winds) of the body. Know how energy flows in the pranic body(the <i>pranamaya kosha</i>)... down, side to side, spirals, up & all pervasive). Remember, the Energy sheath is the next less dense sheath or kosha interweaving into the physical.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. <b>Moving with the energy.</b> Some physical assists move with the practitioner. These assists typically bring them more deeply into the pose. Example: grounding their thighs into the earth and pushing their spine <b><i>where it the most stuck </i></b>forward in a seated forward bend.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4. <b>Moving against the energy.</b> Some physical assists push against the practitioner.<b> </b>These assists are typically to challenge them more. Example: Pushing into their foot in Virabhadrasana III. *NOTE: Many assists that push against them need verbal cues or you are doing nothing but making it extremely difficult for them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5. <b>Getting down to get up.</b> In general, you will need to root something down to lift something up when moving WITH and you will need to verbalize when pushing AGAINST.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>There are many ways to assist one pose. Be careful to not fall into your own personal set ways of doing things by default. Engaging the scapula and lifting the arms for a broader chest and heart opening.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u>After teaching:</u></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Keep your energy clean. </b><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Honor techniques for clearing your energy after class and every day. Keep your intention high, integrity consistent and trust of great worth. I often wash my hands right away after teaching to clear them energetically. At home a use sage, fire ceremonies and epsom salt scrubs on my hands so that I do not pick up the energies of another with mixed energy. Our Sadhana is also our greatest protection so that we are able to continue to assist sustainably.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Our teachers have taught us that our bodies are the shape of our thoughts, speech & karmas. By <i>assisting </i>(never “trying” or “helping”) a connection a being can become more liberated & flexible to their experiences. This will generate greater joy & sweetness (<b>Sukham) </b>of their lives. By encouraging & challenging students to be strong & aligned <b>(Sthira) </b>a steady, palpable, real life experience of the Divine takes place.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Remember, hands on physical assists is an entirely deeper level of interaction. Sometimes words can break the magic of moving the energy and shaking it off. The relationship of touch is intimate & sacred. Approach every being with an elevated mood (“bhava”) and you have the chance to assist in breaking many karmic binds of pain & suffering. Then they too can practice and BE the Ultimate Love, “Prema” in the vehicle they now carry. Nothing in maya is fixed. Just about every day, somewhere in India I here the phrase, “All is possible”. Show them this is true by the use of your hands, an extension of your heart. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here is a library of ideas for personal hands on </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>assists. *</b><i>For more detailed explanations on how the energy is moving and how to perform the assist, come to or schedule a lecture & workshop "The Art of Hands-On Yoga Assists". (a manual is coming soon)</i></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Vinyasa Sequence Within Surya Namaskar:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Sun Salutations where traditionally created to bow in connection with the life & light giving Source as we recognize something so stunning rising above us that we are humbled, lowering ourselves onto the ground in respect and gratitude. It is a moving prayer that we flow through too clean up our thoughts, speech and hearts. It is a full prostration using the entire body we have been given, moving any small, densely cloaked energy off of us to better align with the magic and light bearing life force that sustains us all. This helps us to remember our connection and the connection of all things in our lives to this Source, committed to it. Our bodies can then be fully embodied conduits, useful in the process of our happiness and in serving others. Surya Namaskar is a warm up. You are meant to flow and get out of our critical mind into the full body of your experience. </span><br />
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Tadasana</div>
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Kumbukasana</div>
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Chatarangadandasana</div>
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Urdhva Mukha Svanasana</div>
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Adho Mukha Svanasana</div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Some standing poses:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Standing poses are meant to ground us and establish a deeper connection to the earth. They activate the downward flow of energy within us, the "Apana" so that we are more consistent, reliable, well established and trustworthy. Standing poses build confidence, mobility and agility. They require great strength in our foundations, sequentially where it all must begin. Standing poses often require balance so focus is increased, bringing the thinking mind into the full body. This invokes more security and courage, both needed as a yogi and yogini.</span><br />
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Parvrtta Trikonasana</div>
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Parvrtta Ardha Chandrasana</div>
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Eka Pada Uttanasana</div>
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Prasarita Padotannasana C</div>
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Virabhadrasana I</div>
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Ardha Chandrasana</div>
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Ardha Chandra Chapasana</div>
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Vrschasana</div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Some Forward Folds:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Forward folds open the back body, known as the Universal Body, as it is less individualized. They strengthen and tonify the front body and internal organs, giving them a good squeeze. Forward bends slow the energy down and bring the energy in for deeper contemplation, groundedness and steadiness.</span><br />
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Dandasana Prep</div>
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Dandasana</div>
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Paschimotasana</div>
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Paschimotasana</div>
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Paschimotanasana</div>
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Badha Konasana</div>
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Badha Konasana</div>
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Janu Shirshasana</div>
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Parvrtta Janu Shirshasana</div>
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Marichasana A</div>
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Marichasana C</div>
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Upavista Konasana</div>
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Purvotanasana</div>
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Some Back Bends:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Back bends open the front, individual body, where our features are more personal and more fully exposed into our outer experience, moving us forward. The back body and spine is predominantly strengthened. The energy of backbends goes faster, goes up and goes out, thus back bends tend to activate the nervous system. Backbends are governed by the leg and come from the base of the heart. The heart represents the Wisdom mind and the entire "body" consciousness we reside in.</span><br />
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Setu Bandhasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWe76ZC5H0BuA1QrA9pzoYSomagp8zV-R7I5odaom0clNg74R8-mAeZVnOdQF7ABaLcvV1-ODtOIF4Ub-mZEjV4JTs8GnrBD6d1Va-0736DyV_J6yRWMfQ4258j61oPFexufpgcZBQ7jsO/s1600/IMG_2555.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWe76ZC5H0BuA1QrA9pzoYSomagp8zV-R7I5odaom0clNg74R8-mAeZVnOdQF7ABaLcvV1-ODtOIF4Ub-mZEjV4JTs8GnrBD6d1Va-0736DyV_J6yRWMfQ4258j61oPFexufpgcZBQ7jsO/s1600/IMG_2555.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Setu Bhandasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimHsbkXRWgEp3VufLcL-ZOGMq7BqyHo7d3W_3EhMBcowZEfPIWnFeR7PjjiruUuvzPTeMMqhyVhuiWQ9jGYaq3Vr859TzTP88As0BqU58m0zWJQcQHFp87NcisNgdzchT1pA2RAG9l_F_8/s1600/IMG_2552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimHsbkXRWgEp3VufLcL-ZOGMq7BqyHo7d3W_3EhMBcowZEfPIWnFeR7PjjiruUuvzPTeMMqhyVhuiWQ9jGYaq3Vr859TzTP88As0BqU58m0zWJQcQHFp87NcisNgdzchT1pA2RAG9l_F_8/s1600/IMG_2552.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Setu Bhandasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGVc6sYes4SAc7__uuITVElyN8yWnNrcjFO7F6R_8njdpeG41WQ5DMEuv3doXsIF61QDh58UsynmKs_uwFFmtzfBcEXXBmQ0aoMIlkKSzWkwj4ND2qYQX_rmlQJT7TsX2KpDsUOYjQTTw/s1600/IMG_2563.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGVc6sYes4SAc7__uuITVElyN8yWnNrcjFO7F6R_8njdpeG41WQ5DMEuv3doXsIF61QDh58UsynmKs_uwFFmtzfBcEXXBmQ0aoMIlkKSzWkwj4ND2qYQX_rmlQJT7TsX2KpDsUOYjQTTw/s1600/IMG_2563.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Urdhva Dhanurasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUIId6MvuuwPXOp01vF4gZLoShF6oRlX2lER00RwFC7GNI9Jrt-jNRou0CdoSP7OmzqagE3HEHvaMPHMUG7rGoniSmlDly2CRJiWPmec9HM6yEpkoKeZGADr6D_qD9ngg5IGhcf5YP5zcR/s1600/IMG_2571.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUIId6MvuuwPXOp01vF4gZLoShF6oRlX2lER00RwFC7GNI9Jrt-jNRou0CdoSP7OmzqagE3HEHvaMPHMUG7rGoniSmlDly2CRJiWPmec9HM6yEpkoKeZGADr6D_qD9ngg5IGhcf5YP5zcR/s1600/IMG_2571.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Eka Pada Urdhva Dhanurasana</div>
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Shalabasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Z0NjuCSWB22F76nNpTIYkuZgcGZLhn8TZnc0OWQqgw4adQq-4DnAtNF02R6kQrBTJUt9qiZviDUaXuEQUQrWHz4HBNqfNdbHf-8vqe3EcNJpuJSWmZdzVFBTlg-Dt59PNHR26GtG2nxO/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Z0NjuCSWB22F76nNpTIYkuZgcGZLhn8TZnc0OWQqgw4adQq-4DnAtNF02R6kQrBTJUt9qiZviDUaXuEQUQrWHz4HBNqfNdbHf-8vqe3EcNJpuJSWmZdzVFBTlg-Dt59PNHR26GtG2nxO/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_009.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Shalabasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Kf0IpQtQF7YcdQ2eZ-MyYOx7b7DhifkxhqSQ5Iws_xrI39z-NCAaQE9AHofnD8V9XSYJh6g9smoAuIcOdnQVW6nhPjFt6xKMresfWbob8oH3ONED2eTuXsFTd5aZad6gmnI0Vaf5v0gn/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Kf0IpQtQF7YcdQ2eZ-MyYOx7b7DhifkxhqSQ5Iws_xrI39z-NCAaQE9AHofnD8V9XSYJh6g9smoAuIcOdnQVW6nhPjFt6xKMresfWbob8oH3ONED2eTuXsFTd5aZad6gmnI0Vaf5v0gn/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_015.JPG" width="311" /></a></div>
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Shalabasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMobN7Ps80_S_x1zqc2GLocK1_ej248XinIXaXI1RRTyFrtafIdZfLTxHP0mFrhfHYjioWcNAT80g4vRJIOkF08M6n7l2Mspsa0e3VOyzCCpR0FSYUDjA60yh1tU9RV-rLp4qrfnyCvk7-/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMobN7Ps80_S_x1zqc2GLocK1_ej248XinIXaXI1RRTyFrtafIdZfLTxHP0mFrhfHYjioWcNAT80g4vRJIOkF08M6n7l2Mspsa0e3VOyzCCpR0FSYUDjA60yh1tU9RV-rLp4qrfnyCvk7-/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_023.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Bhujangasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-a-la3E40rVcGAIQF-7BOJOmRkq_HCWkzLo9fhBB6-ukCVAOQiojulsTv9XKT5Z3vSwSAMTwRgMmm-m7IrVQ7nj12ctzGx9RwVdrNZGFvdKIrO1OmhSlpqqe-UTRMnhyphenhyphenbSfSOpPD1t2bw/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-a-la3E40rVcGAIQF-7BOJOmRkq_HCWkzLo9fhBB6-ukCVAOQiojulsTv9XKT5Z3vSwSAMTwRgMmm-m7IrVQ7nj12ctzGx9RwVdrNZGFvdKIrO1OmhSlpqqe-UTRMnhyphenhyphenbSfSOpPD1t2bw/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Bhujangasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStxgxjSjHwXwaUSnaBoei6B9Bhr7JGYiwuklfaSZCNMbj6rX4n_kxiDTMRsGTBTCMth3SXWincuj4T69Ld54ZdDsTQWSXzIChfEvp7BitIdsyGEqa3FMfiuX2SLR7AykrZzVzyJaucjfz/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStxgxjSjHwXwaUSnaBoei6B9Bhr7JGYiwuklfaSZCNMbj6rX4n_kxiDTMRsGTBTCMth3SXWincuj4T69Ld54ZdDsTQWSXzIChfEvp7BitIdsyGEqa3FMfiuX2SLR7AykrZzVzyJaucjfz/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_019.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Bhujangasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7rBPBJYZujwWnmDV_YyMGd3V3Tc8vLzxv86jc5zlvIFWiE0774KzFpzDBif74h29FUhaADUBp4w1TTLm8iCd2KjY4Xb10VQl-BBtKSFv4jbh6nop24mtT7pDrHo2BycRJkQZEUgPhLiDg/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7rBPBJYZujwWnmDV_YyMGd3V3Tc8vLzxv86jc5zlvIFWiE0774KzFpzDBif74h29FUhaADUBp4w1TTLm8iCd2KjY4Xb10VQl-BBtKSFv4jbh6nop24mtT7pDrHo2BycRJkQZEUgPhLiDg/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_037.JPG" width="267" /></a></div>
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Dhanurasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx0xUNoCJkpYD06NQHjw9AuysdKMmOOI3wf0_UeWy9decdk7KnsS5mGTWYalODrGT4WoeqUQYV7n9Nx_Sg64efIYhSkYclaHTdi65jtQ3UZ9ZIY6KI6OHHBfYeLxS7kb4IESC-0yQAsfxD/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx0xUNoCJkpYD06NQHjw9AuysdKMmOOI3wf0_UeWy9decdk7KnsS5mGTWYalODrGT4WoeqUQYV7n9Nx_Sg64efIYhSkYclaHTdi65jtQ3UZ9ZIY6KI6OHHBfYeLxS7kb4IESC-0yQAsfxD/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_041.JPG" width="274" /></a></div>
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Dhanurasana Variation</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0TXucS_ke2WrniOSekffPuo_3nEpW09p_4ihiC9ds4E6CDqAFJwgbzCSyisLwSa8_3aWw6ipU7kiaXR5coxR2kS5ypl69Bcx3wHHs3fr5I0bldn-Z1FdxGNdpyBoj6cpAqZuaakBq91kb/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0TXucS_ke2WrniOSekffPuo_3nEpW09p_4ihiC9ds4E6CDqAFJwgbzCSyisLwSa8_3aWw6ipU7kiaXR5coxR2kS5ypl69Bcx3wHHs3fr5I0bldn-Z1FdxGNdpyBoj6cpAqZuaakBq91kb/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_042.JPG" width="296" /></a></div>
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Bhekasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9FSYLS27MKYN9eSqhRNuY9eyGXwY_5iWsiSEBLU0yT8OsEdxSpBQZyKdlRMR71JjthbzboL7JLDR35ha8vOhUM2pRreL78Pb1OUzxso7XDRN7NMZc8VCb5yAJ8bR7ZDLq44U17DD7Yk1Y/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9FSYLS27MKYN9eSqhRNuY9eyGXwY_5iWsiSEBLU0yT8OsEdxSpBQZyKdlRMR71JjthbzboL7JLDR35ha8vOhUM2pRreL78Pb1OUzxso7XDRN7NMZc8VCb5yAJ8bR7ZDLq44U17DD7Yk1Y/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_049.JPG" width="268" /></a></div>
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Ustrasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjwZYrKIiTNy3CIUc77H83Nz1ZtdVWRXQ-s0LtfkxQCE_J6Q7ZUQqRk5sQz8nAv72-J7M96zwulJLf8JEI06heJ0UAk8xN6R37a1A95efKFIsbkXOxjtUR3V6c_zlUKojOPMoDB99HDQUF/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjwZYrKIiTNy3CIUc77H83Nz1ZtdVWRXQ-s0LtfkxQCE_J6Q7ZUQqRk5sQz8nAv72-J7M96zwulJLf8JEI06heJ0UAk8xN6R37a1A95efKFIsbkXOxjtUR3V6c_zlUKojOPMoDB99HDQUF/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_052.JPG" width="304" /></a></div>
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Ustrasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjnCvakNQMnMH7Ue6xj-Tulwo_lhXh25WEpEgvcxOvONhcjoHGmb6Gz8T8MAAKTdaJ3pGZDfLe5ys0cetFwtei8j9xx9ou7x_Cubh_cVV5pY7hH2Z9Gl0AB9AXn9feefYlxZfTwA9FNlYM/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjnCvakNQMnMH7Ue6xj-Tulwo_lhXh25WEpEgvcxOvONhcjoHGmb6Gz8T8MAAKTdaJ3pGZDfLe5ys0cetFwtei8j9xx9ou7x_Cubh_cVV5pY7hH2Z9Gl0AB9AXn9feefYlxZfTwA9FNlYM/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_055.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Virasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvy3DZypjNbV1u2S3mlAM8abzz_X2gKDahUmWHzecRpxT8T5WGemvMX3jfiJ0rjuZrTaXLnUB5E3AJZ28HuQZ0aeVg4f1vNgp62sSL9lo2z14b-eziGZox1gPn81ImnVZazpcErg-bn4Yc/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvy3DZypjNbV1u2S3mlAM8abzz_X2gKDahUmWHzecRpxT8T5WGemvMX3jfiJ0rjuZrTaXLnUB5E3AJZ28HuQZ0aeVg4f1vNgp62sSL9lo2z14b-eziGZox1gPn81ImnVZazpcErg-bn4Yc/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_057.JPG" width="319" /></a></div>
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Kapotasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLCdOidqUNqK-7PVGemE_14d6NkujNq1TGEYBHtY7l5BquoOTEaPMf12fh2exJ2fmhgkzto-ATM-31skPTkl4T6NJuPfcHgFerJaKx0q1T7Pi68fA1-xuPeHJ-VfisTWZqC6DCMkNuihUM/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLCdOidqUNqK-7PVGemE_14d6NkujNq1TGEYBHtY7l5BquoOTEaPMf12fh2exJ2fmhgkzto-ATM-31skPTkl4T6NJuPfcHgFerJaKx0q1T7Pi68fA1-xuPeHJ-VfisTWZqC6DCMkNuihUM/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_059.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FvukbslKNczFu6ykAPwARXXEUuoFfaHllZ_j2o80l20Vy0EnU83GbOFOY1yqKdwRGCpEkx2k6Gufvi2QbDWR0Wgvyoj-8S8n5LxoNKzqHzESnpaq20TADyGPTRW6Git_eo3HQp8WT2cS/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FvukbslKNczFu6ykAPwARXXEUuoFfaHllZ_j2o80l20Vy0EnU83GbOFOY1yqKdwRGCpEkx2k6Gufvi2QbDWR0Wgvyoj-8S8n5LxoNKzqHzESnpaq20TADyGPTRW6Git_eo3HQp8WT2cS/s1600/Swan_River_Adjusts_067.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Hanumanasana</div>
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Hanumanasana</div>
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Preparing for Drop Back</div>
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Drop back into Urdhva Dhanurasana</div>
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Preparing to come up from Urdhva Dhanurasana</div>
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Coming up from Urdhva Dhanurasana</div>
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Getting behind them in Adho Mukha Vrschasana</div>
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Stabilizing for Vrschikasana B</div>
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Dropping into Vrschikasana B</div>
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Bending legs for Vrschikasana B</div>
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Vrschikasana B</div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: bold; text-align: left;">Some Inversions:</span></div>
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Inversions flip our world around on purpose. They activate the sympathetic nervous system just slightly so we have a chance to practice "flight our fright" in a safe setting while still remaining calm. The provoke a more daring, adventurous idea & our attitude of capability within us. They represent those times in our life when things get shaken up and give us skillful means to respond. The energy in inversions go up, in and the velocity of the energy gets faster just like the upper chakras.</div>
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Look Mom no hands (such a strong assist the hands come off the ground!)</div>
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Salamba Sarvangasana</div>
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Baddha Konasana in Sarvangasana</div>
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Padma Sarvangasana</div>
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Pincha Mayurasana</div>
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Pincha Mayurasana</div>
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Pincha Mayurasana</div>
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Vrischikasana B</div>
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Padmasana in Adho Mukha Vrschasana</div>
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Padmasana Variation in Adho Mukha Vrschasana</div>
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Adho Mukha Vrschasana Variation</div>
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Adho Mukha Vrschasana descent to Urdhva Dhanurasana</div>
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Adho Mukha Vrschasana descent to Urdhva Dhanurasana</div>
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Lifting from Prasarita Padotanasana A to Sirshasana II</div>
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Sirshasana II Split Variation</div>
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Lifting from Sirshasana II to Adho Mukha Vrschasana</div>
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Lifting from Sirshasana II to Adho Mukha Vrschasana</div>
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Lifting from Bhakasana to Adho Mukha Vrschasana</div>
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Lifting from Bhakasana to Adho Mukha Vrschasana</div>
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Sirshasana</div>
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Sirshasana Core strengh variation</div>
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Hanumanasana in Sirshasana</div>
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Salamba Sarvangasana</div>
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Salamba Sarvangasana</div>
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Halasana</div>
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<b>Supine Poses</b></div>
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Supine poses tend to be more restorative and calming since so much of the back Universal body is on the ground, connecting the back of our heart with the Universal Earth pulsation. The energy will tend to slow way down so they are nice to place at the end of our sequencing. Most Supine poses also tend to be forward bend variations but there are nice restorative backbends also. Restorative poses with the use of blocks and bolsters can be held for longer durations of time, more like 10 minutes or more, for a very profound affect of linking the pace of the mind with the pace of the body.</div>
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Supported restorative back bend with bolster</div>
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Supported restorative supta badha konasana</div>
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Supta Virasana</div>
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Ardha Ananda Balasana</div>
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Supta Parsva Padanghustasana</div>
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Supta Hasta Padanghustasana</div>
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Supta Eka Pada Shirshasana</div>
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Shoulder press in Shavasana</div>
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Applying shoulder loop in Shavasana</div>
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Skull press and Reiki in Shavasana</div>
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Shavasana therapeutics</div>
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Shavasana Therapeutics… End in Pranam to them.</div>
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The most important component and attitude in hands on assists is the teacher and student's mutual respect for one another, neither one greater than the other, but both committed to upholding the depth that the role playing and intimacy brings. </div>
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Below is a protection mantra found in the Upanishad's for teachers and students in a classroom setting. It is a teachers greatest "weapon of mass destruction" of misunderstanding, lack of respect, lack of compassion, anger, jealousy, arrogance, shyness, "pedestalness", fear, & disregard of all that is sacred. It works! Sing this mantra on your way to class & you will be far better received by the students that come.</div>
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<i><b>Saha Na Vava tu. Saha Nau Bhunaktu. Saha Viram Karavavahai. Tejas vi navaditam astu ma vidvishavahai. Om Shantih shantih shantih.</b></i></div>
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I offer pranams to ALL students after I teach a yoga class. Thank you. Each of you. I would be nothing without all that I have learned from them in our togetherness.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-17592003714805872842014-03-21T10:53:00.001-07:002014-03-21T10:53:36.686-07:00Swan Michelle: Giving an Effective Dharma Talk in Your Yoga Class...<a href="http://swanmichellebaker.blogspot.com/2014/03/giving-effective-dharma-talk-in-your.html?spref=bl">Swan Michelle: Giving an Effective Dharma Talk in Your Yoga Class...</a>: Giving an Effective Dharma Talk in Your Yoga Class. Theme: “Your Beliefs are Pointless.” At Swan River Y...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-32281152818375550312014-03-21T10:50:00.000-07:002014-03-22T06:48:27.840-07:00Giving an Effective Dharma Talk in Your Yoga Class. Theme: “Your Beliefs are Pointless.”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b> Giving an Effective Dharma Talk in Your Yoga Class.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b> Theme: “Your Beliefs are Pointless.”</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> At Swan River Yoga, there are a few integral aspects of our Hatha yoga asana based classes that you will find that may be new or unique to you, especially as yoga grows and becomes ever popular, with many new trends and styles emerging.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">One key aspect of importance we have found in offering deep, authentic yogic teachings is to include a dharma talk in every class. In this case, “dharma” means “to uphold the truth, purpose & teachings” as well as be committed to it. Our goal is to actually implement many of the “margas” or paths in one well rounded public class. Dharma, often spoken at the beginning, offers an activation of your mind with short but poignant philosophical discussions that you can then steep, cook and brew in as you move.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> There is quite an art to communication. I adore this art. I love hearing public speakers. As a “teacher” (and more so a student) I have found myself constantly editing my words and searching for more effective language that hits the mark of receivers. I want to be concise and succinct. I also want to mean what I say without the insecure use of filler or confusion of my own doubts or thought forms. There is also such an art to know whom you are speaking to so that it is well received. I may know a topic extensively and be really into it, but it does not mean those receiving the talk are and may be turned off by my wild passions. It is my intent to invite the ears of those listening to perk up and open just slightly more than before by getting their attention, yet not allowing it to get so “out there” that I loose the relatable and thus loose them. I do also wish to push things just a bit. I am careful not to diminish or dishonor the depth of yoga since I have made a personal commitment to it. Often fear of what others might think of me or a lack, economic based consciousness of loosing a more "pop based" or populated, trendy classes can be how a class is navigated. It is a tricky blend, offering these teachings just so, being both bold and available to the masses. I consider these goals each time I offer a dharma talk… I want to know their concepts are challenged. I want new ways of perceiving thought forms to be recognized. I want them inspired. I want them to feel uplifted when they leave the classroom. I am to be bare bones hones, moving and compelling. t I want to establish connection.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Below is a list of 5 Bindu (seed) points recommended for an effective, compelling, memorable dharma talk:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px;"> I often access our Jivamukti Yoga themes of the month for inspiration. It is also my suggestion to also align with what is already going on in the world when searching for themes, the community, to nature or deeply moving lessons or teachings you are currently working on so that your dharma talk is authentic and less scripted. It is not moving to read things nor speak of things you haven’t “got” on some level yourself. This is why experience and experienced teachers are indeed so valuable. This way it is far more likely to be received. This will also set the tone for your theme infusion throughout the class, give you ideas for your sequencing and a possible peak pose and allow this to all be threaded together, related to the title. The dharma talk is given at the beginning of class and a suggested length is 3-7 minutes and NO MORE as in the end students came to move and not listen to you talk the entire class.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> <br /> I am going to give a dharma talk here and now based on the 5 bindu requirements. I hope you enjoy it! Please note, I would never read this in class. This is my diagram for becoming a good story-teller from the heart. It is an outline to base my dharma talk from.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>DHARMA TALK: <u>Your Beliefs Are Pointless.</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> <b> “Your beliefs are pointless!”</b> I heard my teacher, Sharon Padmaji Gannon, founder of Jivamukti Yoga proclaim while we were in India on my most recent “Yatra", or pilgrimage. “Has she lost it?” I thought. “What in the world does she mean?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> On one of my journeys to India I went to Vrindavan. This is thought to be the “forest of Krishna”, where many of his stories and pastimes took place with the Gopis. There is a </span>profound<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> stunning statue of Laxmi, or Radha just outside the village, on the other side of the bank of the Yamuna River. (*Note…we just sang to Radha in this opening chant... "Jaya Radhe. Jaya Shri Radhe"). In looking up the etymology of Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth, abundance, health, value and generosity, another key root to the meaning of her name is “Aim.” Just outside of Vrindavan, this Radha/Laxmi statue is deeply focused Krishna’s forest. It looks as though her focus and aim are just that, somewhere distant and forward. She is known to have unrelentless focus. She could be stripped down, in deep despair and agony, in so much pain, yet her focus and poignancy is stable and unwavering on her point.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> The statue doesn’t mean what it might look like to some. Her aim is not about the future nor something beyond her. It is not a projection. She is not projecting a future outcome or “believing” some “thing” better is going to eventually happen later for her. She is the full embrace and embodiment of her aim being clearly here and now. That is the point! Her unwavering devotion and faith has allowed her to fully embody and experience the now. She has not missed the point at all. It is her role and she cherishes the value of being present. She IS total sensual ecstasy and beauty. Her senses have become refined. All she desires is the point of it all. Her essence is a clear statement that<b> “beliefs” are pointless,</b> and a true embodiment of faith, called “”shraddha” in Sanskrit gets us to “point less”. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Many words can get lost when translating them from english to Sanskrit. Faith, from a yogic point of view, is very different from belief. Faith is the opposite of blind. It means you have tested it all from all angles and sides and that you have sought out deep and rich experiences of it. It is said too that once you get it, once you really do step into the river of Real faith, there is no going back and you really do get that "<b>beliefs are pointless</b>", but until then, as we develop and it is refined, it wavers, yet EXPERIENCE (or the physical NOW) is the key to it’s infusion within you.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Even in India, pointing with the index finger, the mudra for our individual self, is rude. When using mala beads, the index finger is not to touch your malas. In chin mudra, the index finger is to touch the thumb (representing the Higher Self) so that there is a merge. It is not about pointing nor projecting, nor is it meant to be so personal, where we could easily disconnect from sharing and participating in the great abundance that we are currently surrounded by. In an individually based lens, we can easily hoard and believe in lack consciousness. Here we really miss the point of it all. Radha, or Laxmi, is getting us to point less so that it all, the here, does not become pointless to us.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> While I was in India, there was an evening that I experienced the essence of Radha in the form of a flower petal ceremony, called a “Pushpabishek”. For 2 days my Jivamukti brothers and sisters and all of the Indian devotees plucked 1.3 TONS of flower petals. It was truly almost too much to conceive of. These flowers were to be tossed over the deities and then all of us after. Many of the flower petals were roses from Vrindavan. I was utterly thrilled to participate in this!</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Once it began I had out of body experiences of such tremendous joy and ecstasy that it felt as though I no longer had a body. I also had moments of wondering…”ok is this almost done. This is almost too much. I am not sure how many flowers I can handle. It is like a flower petal blizzard. I can’t see. How much more beauty and abundance can there be?”…. and then I caught myself hearing myself, as in the end, I want to be able to handle as much as possible!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> A key aspect of our yoga practice is just this point. It is priming us in readiness to be able to handle more. We will and can only handle as much as we are full at this very moment. We can’t force anything else right now. The asanas are a wonderful way to empty our container so that we can receive more. Then our desires, practices and relationships too will also become refined quite naturally, as there is always more. Things might especially come that were totally out of your radar before and you would have never known of their existence otherwise. This idea also means that we will become less distracted by things that have less value or devalue. All we seek will become more sustainable, imbibe longevity & activate even more consciousness. We will truly embrace, not as a belief but a real life experience that there is so much beauty, magic and order. It is all perfectly orchestrated, this curriculum of your life. Expecting less and trying to predict (and then often ruin) the outcome of everything will in time cease. You will point less and less and less you will no longer foster the inert attitude of lackluster and pointlessness that is so painful on a daily basis. To me, this just sounds horrible and I do not want to wake up everyday like this.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> We will practice this in actual form in our bodies by really rooting into the foundation of every pose, grounding all 4 corners in pose and transition. By pushing down into the earth we will feel the value of everything in our bodies with hands and feet and rooting the base of the pelvis and tailbone down. We will also work on hip openers to get the “apana vayu” (downward moving winds) to flow. Go out of your way today to establish a connection in every pose and anchor into the now, no matter what the foundation is. Consciously work on being HERE by also watching the mechanisms and responses of the mind. Now, like faith, must be felt and embodied. Never allow the practice to be shallow, on the surface, self absorbed nor pointless. Allow your asana practice to instill true riches and worth so that you do not miss the point. <b>So… point less!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> We will now begin. Please apply ujjayi breath, </span>your<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> drishti (keeping focus, which helps rekindle our ability to narrow things down into the point, and come into downward facing dog. Push down through the 4 corners of the hands and feet, </span>connecting<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> to the body and the surroundings of now. Become aware of the value of your breath... "Inhale, exhale 1...."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Quote used within class: <i> </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><i><b>"Your idea of what is possible limits your possibilities." </b></i>Sharon Gannon and David Life</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-27789245823575646252014-03-17T13:05:00.001-07:002014-03-17T13:05:05.073-07:00Swan Michelle: Be Like A Child. You Chose Your Family<a href="http://swanmichellebaker.blogspot.com/2014/03/be-like-child-you-chose-your-family.html?spref=bl">Swan Michelle: Be Like A Child. You Chose Your Family</a>: Be Like A Child. You Chose Your Family. Foster Home at Govardham Eco Village, India. We...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-53035940228097231592014-03-17T12:58:00.002-07:002014-03-17T13:02:41.196-07:00Be Like A Child. You Chose Your Family<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Foster Home at Govardham Eco Village, India.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #134f5c;"> We had the chance to do Seva (community service free of result expectation) for <i>Yoga Stops Traffick</i> here in New Orleans with all of the local yoga studios and teachers. This is an organization based out of Mysore, India to stop Human Trafficking of young children that are often sold into labor or sex slavery trades at a very young age. On this day, we dedicated our entire day to children.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> I lived directly across from an orphanage for my month stay in the Gokulum neighborhood of Mysore, India. I read a sign on the gate while walking to my morning yoga practice "Do not kill your baby. Leave it here". There was an actual cage with a metal bab</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">y cradle inside of it where you could. It had a plaque of Jesus Christ on one side and Krishna playing his flute on the other. On my first night in my new apartment, I heard an infant crying for hours quite late. I was disoriented thinking "who lets their baby cry all through the night like this?" Then I realized someone had left a baby just that very night inside of the cage.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #134f5c; display: inline; line-height: 18px;"><br /><br /> Have you been in desperate situations in your life, ever? This touched home for me as the Universe orchestrated my month long stay across the street from this sign. I read it everyday. I too am adopted, from my dear father and did not know until I was 21 when who I thought were my parents sat me down to tell me the news. It is funny, growing up before this I was always angry, rebellious and would scream haunting accusations at my parents like "I am not listening to you. I am adopted. Don't tell me what to do." I didn't mean it. I was just saying it to really get to them. I later found out instinctively I was right. I went through a few years of acceptance, abandonment, truth, anger, trust and self image after this that yoga really helped me work through. And it truly has. I love my family and would do anything for them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;"> After really sifting through it I came to the conclusion that I had the "privilege" of being placed into good care and with a family that worked very hard to provide for me, love me and accept me, doing the best they could with all they had to work with and knew. This is truly how I feel now and if placed in the same desperate situations, who is to say how any of us would act. They say in the laws of karma that you choose your family. It is said you are actually really lucky if you get a human birth at all. I use to very much dislike this one particular "law" of karma and would think to myself. "that is a bunk law. I don't believe that one. No one "deserves" some of the things they get put through in their families." As I mature I see karma doesn't mean "privileged, special, sin, guilt, someone who gets to judge nor judged." It is far more neutral than that, even much like the laws of science of cause and affect. I actually realize now that I am very fortunate. I have traveled the world to realize this. Yet I want to be careful to never act "privileged". I think it important that we remember. </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">This sign reminded me everyday.</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> Each morning after passing the sign I would head to Ashtanga practice at the Shala. I will admit it was tough some mornings and quite rigorous even though nothing changed about on the outside and it was the same sequence everyday. I kept things pretty light for the most part, joyously moving through it, especially after having spent so much time with my teachers Sharon Padmaji Gannon and Radhanath Swami, but towards the end of my month I was getting angry as it all got deeper. I couldn't pinpoint what from and was a bit shocked by it. Currently I am in probably one of the most stable, least dramatic and joy filled parts to my life to be honest and haven't felt anger boiling up inside of me in a very long time. I was even cursing Sarath, our Ashtanga Yoga teacher, inside of my mind as I was moving through the poses. I hadn't done that since I first began yoga, where I would often inwardly rebel, not liking the sequence or pose just for the sake of immature adversary like many youth (and still some adults) that are angry do. Suddenly, well into womanhood, this young rebellious little girl was appearing, feisty & red in the face. I then began to put it all together. After walking by the sign at the orphanage again and again, it all clicked. I was venting the last of a very deep seeded anger within me from a past long forgotten of severed roots. I had really worked on forgiving it entirely but there was still some residual that needed attending to.</span><br /><br /><span style="line-height: 18px;"> At the orphanage there were always guards there, tall fences, gates, locks and adults watching over the children all the time. The children were asked to not get too close to the foreigners because we come and go so much and it best they not get too attached. But, the main reason for the lock down was because in India there are so many babies and children stolen from orphanages or streets and sold by desperate mothers all the time, sold as labor or sex slaves, often drugged to make them as despairing as possible. Many of them are especially women as it is still quite custom to congratulate a family that bore a son that will be heir to the caste system they were born into and a woman will one day leave the family and cost the family their entire life savings in the form of a dowry.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br /><span style="line-height: 18px;"> Observing many children drugged, malnourished & visibly tortured with fake parents in the same state in the streets of Mumbai, Jaipur & Delhi just like in the movie "Slum Dog Millionaire", coming up to me for money, a "privileged one", I became extra cautious as to how to respond to this. How does a conscious being respond to this really? Do you give people money anytime they ask for it? I was doing my best not to get angry at the "Lord" that owned them nor to myself treat them like dirt. I clearly couldn't give them money. They didn't get to keep it. What could I do? I often would sing to them. That always got us connected. Even though they were being watched, I could tell some part to their Soul was like "WOW"!... very turned on by the anomaly. For the children at the orphanage, since they were not allowed to talk to me, I began singing to their liberation from my balcony that overlooked their bedrooms in the form of mantra with my harmonium. In time, due to any child's curiously unstoppable nature, I would catch glimpses and sneak peaks of them dancing as though they were in a Bollywood flick while I sang to Durga or Sita and Ram. They had pretend lovers and roles in the dramas they would make as I sang. Ahh! We connected! It was my way of showing them that we were unified and maybe less different from one another than they might have thought. It also healed me of my abandonment and sadness over it from a time long ago as my real father is no longer living. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #134f5c;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Today I feel privileged and at some point, getting over our roots and adding to our genealogy and ancestral karma's to plant new seeds of evolved tribal settings instead of blaming must be our aim. It is just a perpetual suffering we will continue to experience again and again otherwise. What we are born into is a primary test and curriculum of the exact situation we need to have karmic resolve. I feel this down to each DNA cell of my being. The total embodiment of this understanding has been a primary incentive since I began this yoga journey. I also know that I am lucky so I am committed to acting on my privilege.</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Please act on your "privilege" today if you feel you were born into or somehow got into a good family that did the best they could. Even if you feel they did not, still commit to it with more profound compassion than someone who had it easier in their family set up. If your roots challenged you growing up, the seeds clearly offered fruit in your garden if you are reading this. Not all children currently get this chance at present. You have the chance to free your immediate family and ancestral family tree of deeply imprinted group karmic bonds by simply freeing yourself.</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> Today I am a child and feel younger than ever yet with the added bonus of being in a wiser, more experienced stage setting of the body I am currently in now. Often I have seen good yoga teachers that will trick students and say "come to yoga. It is the fountain of youth. You will look younger. You won't even need plastic surgery or botox." Even BKS Iyengar said this to a group in L.A. I remember reading it in Yoga Journal some years ago and was surprised at the time. It grossed me out at the time. I laugh at this now. It is a good trick as our culture is programmed to be afraid of and hide aging and dying. You rarely see anyone over 30 on most magazine covers and they are airbrushed virtual beings at that. In our country, funeral processions are behind hidden walls where we wear black and don't talk about what really happened. (accept for New Orleans, I must add) These subliminal statements grab our programmed attention and it is hard to escape it. I live by a mausoleum that is often somber. Ancestry is often not advocated in the West. I never watch t.v. but if I go out in public at all, even if it is to stand in line at the grocery store to buy my organic non-GMO locally grown vegetables, it is there. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> "I" actually do feel and look younger. I do cartwheels quite often, laugh, sing and dance more. My face is softening. Most of us will age at some point (unless we leave this existence earlier than expected). It is nice to have good role models & adults that don't hide it and aren't jaded. I want to be new, know nothing, be more adventurous and daring, more curious and less "know it all". I admit more freely that I too am vulnerable just like a child and I want to be loved, cared for and accepted. All children are relying on us for this. I also want to own up to my role and abilities to be a provider of all of the "children" of the earth whenever I have the space and room. And I do. Most of us do. If you are reading this, you do.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> This is the idea in the classic photo of Gopala, the baby Krishna stealing ghee (stealing our hearts). It is a reminder that we are all children. It is a plea of commitment to providing for all of the Earth's children (the elements, all animals, all humans). It is a reminder that Grace (God) also needs US. We can't blame it on our roots any longer, nor God. God needs us to care for, never abandon but to nurture and do all that we can to support sustain and protect everything that is to be cherished, not as our "property" but a borrowed, fragile, exquisite gift. It is equally important to truly grasp the Truth...we are not threatened, unsafe & have no reason to feel insecure. We are provided for, never abandoned and loved more than we can ever know.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><b>Gopala... Gopala... Devaki Nandana Gopala.... "I am both the child and the caretaker of all children."</b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-11518745245974142582014-03-14T21:19:00.001-07:002014-03-14T21:19:56.255-07:00Swan Michelle: Flight or Fright?... The Yatra Of Our Lives.<a href="http://swanmichellebaker.blogspot.com/2014/03/flight-or-fright-yatra-of-our-lives.html?spref=bl">Swan Michelle: Flight or Fright?... The Yatra Of Our Lives.</a>: Flight, or Fright? I woke up this morning a bit confused, still somewhere between the dream and waking state and not sure...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-15686677561059938952014-03-14T10:02:00.003-07:002014-03-14T20:57:37.477-07:00Flight or Fright?... The Yatra Of Our Lives.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I woke up this morning a bit confused, still somewhere between the dream and waking state and not sure where I was. I had very deep and poignantly informative dreams about shiny empty homes and Universities where I would begin new curriculum, new understanding, relationships and ways of being. I was gazing into my new rooms that had infinite amount of storage facilities yet none of them were used. They had been left unnoticed for infinite years and where just being recognized for the first time by "me". I wondered "why in the world have these storage units of information not been accessed before? What have I been doing all this time?" Possibly my consciousness was emptied to an entire new level of being so that I could finally, really begin, where before I was to full or plugged into something else. After a 2+ month pilgrimage to India and Indonesia I looked around my bedroom on the bayou in New Orleans… “where am I? This place is so nice, so lovely! Where have I landed now? I just love it here and can't wait to explore!” It was as though I was reaching my most familiar destination for the very first time.</div>
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<b>It reminded me of a favorite quote by T.S. Eliot…."We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.</b><br />
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After some groggy Sadhana I opened my email to read that the Malaysian flight from Kuala Lumpur was still mysteriously missing. It is simply no where to be found. This has never happened before in aviation history. 300 people were on this flight. I was on a Malaysian flight headed to Kuala Lumpur over the Indian Ocean myself the very exact day it disappeared. I missed the other flight by just a few short hours. I remember on that flight thinking that the airline attendants were unusually nervous. At one point in our flight the air was the bumpiest I had ever experienced on all of my flights. It was a wild one. So turbulent that our drinks flew up into the air and spilled everywhere and we were not to move from our seats for the duration of the trip. I considered even at that moment that this was unusual and that something might happen. I was strangely calm about it. Once we landed and entered the airport I saw the headlines about the flight number, just a few numbers different than ours. I looked around and everyone realized this slight by chance fate. It was as thought we were looking at a lottery board and won, but it was a flight departure board and many were missing. I must say it was a bit unnerving and I held hands with those around me in touching gratitude. We could feel and we were still here. The edge of our lives sometimes reveals itself to be quite near, in this case, by just a few simple numbers.</div>
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I thought to myself, “well if I had left my body today I would have had a much smoother flight to the next adventure than ever before, having just experienced deep resolves within myself and others, having close association with many Saints and doing very seriously deep work and sadhana on myself, so stripped down and emptied out.” There might be a thing or two that I still truly desire to experience for a deeper fulfillment of my life’s mission and personal need to evolve, yes, and I am working towards this with full focus now, but truly, I feel the best I have ever felt. It was interesting contemplating even these thoughts as a Jivamukti Yoga teacher/brother that I met in Mumbai on this exact trip, who also was just with Saints and full of memorable laughter unexpectedly left his body right after our pilgrimage together. I learned about his passing while in Bali. I was just with him. His Soul is now in flight and we will miss the body we remember him in.<br />
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<b> A pilgrimage, quest or exploration, called a “Yatra” </b>in Sanskrit, is thought to be a very important part of our personal spiritual journey. I never quite grasped it’s efficacy until making treks to India, as India really can takes it toll on you by deprogramming you. It is quite a bit of money to save, time to get there, long waits in many lines and layovers and couldn’t be more different culturally in every way. The amount of people that live there, the customs, the space, the water supply and quality, the cultural nuances from Caste systems to the treatment of women/Goddess to poverty to animals to the earth’s cleanliness is enough to keep many Westerners home or on edge and overwhelmed as you really have to embody surrender. It is work to get there and be there as it works on "you", or in other words, works your karma out of you. I have dealt with qualities of humility, self image, being female, being in relationship, abundance, "spiritual" and being patient and overwhelmed in India on major scales. I also always come home with deeper appreciation and more profound insights as each time I get deprogrammed to what I got “use to” here. After being put through the washing machine (and not on the gentle cycle) I always yearn to go back for more. It may be because I also experience the most unreal, unimaginable insights, teachings, people and experiences of my life as I set out on these adventures. These explorations have gotten me to shift dramatically (inwardly) each time. Even if every time I am somewhat nervous to go, the overwhelming sensations become an imbibing elixir of overabundance and ambrosia that I remember each time I return home, as though my Soul is happy and yearned for it. </div>
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A teaching we had with one of Radhanath Swami’s key disciples while at the Govardham Eco Village was an “order” to our Soul’s craving to have experience.</div>
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<b>For our Soul’s journey to latch itself into the physical experience so that it sticks and becomes real, one must first:</b></div>
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<li><b>Hear it. </b>The teachings were traditionally passed on through an oral tradition. There is a reason for this. It is thought we all came from sound. The teachings are best absorbed orally, not visually be reading it or by seeing it. This is exactly why sound and Sanskrit (thought to be the first language) are so sacred and important to us.</li>
<li><b>Observe it.</b> Next we take the time to assimilate what we heard and what it means. Observations also including reading from spiritual texts or philosophies.This is where we begin looking for it in our everyday experience, all around us.. We try to see if others are doing it, research it, "see" if it is possible, if we can do it and if we really believe it our not.</li>
<li><b>Live it.</b> Next we do out best to actually live it once we have decided on an intellectual level that it does seem to make sense, so here, we test it out through trial and error. </li>
<li><b>Experience it.</b> Through action and following the guidelines we have heard, the way it gets infused into our being, is through an actual experience. Until then, it is not fully lodged in and is still a concept. It is still a bit shaky and unwavering within us. Experience itself is THE WAY into actualizing our meditations, the books we read, the people/role models/teachers in our lives that we look up to. </li>
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<b>You see how the first letters are H-O-L-E… sounded out to be Whole.</b></div>
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Our Soul desires to have experience, which means all of the teachings must become physical. The two must link for us to finally “get it”. (not just one) This is the reason why getting out of everything we are use to, going on personal explorations and treks, as a spiritual practice, is very important. You may have a Sadhana ( spiritual practice) that does include meditation, yoga & mantra. Have you considered “Yatra” as one of your Soul’s desires, in the form of an exotic retreat, or personal inner silence retreat, near your home or the other side of the world? It is a vital ingredient to establishing the order of your aim. In India, after all familial obligations are fulfilled, each person is to make this trek and flight, both in and out. It is part of the standard workings of the Culture.</div>
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On each flight I take, I have a deeper understanding of fears instilled within me from within or from my culture or surrounding, of opportunities I overlooked to be kind, of my availability to serve, to love and to ask for and be loved. Without pulling out completely, how are we to know? It is like the classic Zen koan…"ask a fish how the water is". On personally imposed adventures, whether they look exotic on the outside or not (as some are deep meditations or periods of mauna, silence) I give myself the chance to unplug, whether I think I enjoy being plugged into what I currently am or not. There is thought to be a very deeply ingrained, innate remembrance of being enlightened within us. If we are plugged into falsehoods of any sort, consciously or not, this memory pulls further away from our Soul’s fulfillment and purpose and it is more difficult to access. I personally do not want to let fear rule my experience. I also personally want to be bold enough to live my life fully and wake up like I did this morning, thinking…”where did I land today? It is so exquisite and beautiful.” </div>
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I want to wake up like this every day and each time I go on a “Yatra”, I find a complete cycle ascending into a new brilliant one, with less gaps of lackluster, uncertainty & imbalanced restraints in my life. What if each day, every day, you woke up wondering “wow, where did I land today? It is so brilliant!"</div>
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Yatra helps us to step back and consider…”am I living in flight, or in fright?”. Please choose flight, and if you are uncertain as to how to begin to pull out as you may be afraid of what will indeed be sustained and remain once you begin “undoing", find a well versed, well intended flight attendant that wants you to find your inner guide. If each day becomes a Yatra, you will know it because you will find yourself in the flight attendants role with your Soul saying "Welcome aboard. Fasten your seat belts. In case of emergency, place your mask on first before assisting others, and most of all, Enjoy your trip!"</div>
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What are you waiting for? I am talking to you. Love someone new now. Tell someone you love them. Give someone a secret service or offering without them knowing it was you. Tell them something. Forgive someone. Make love to someone you love. Let go. Move on. Let them Be. Face your fear. Walk your dream into being. Befriend your Soul. Live up to your purpose. Be Real. Be bold, wild and joyfully humble. Be a lover. Enter and be love itself. When did you plan to start living? Do you wish to live in flight, or in fright? We just don't know when it all could change on this particular life pilgrimage we are on. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-61626573359685245312014-03-08T12:35:00.003-08:002014-03-08T12:35:26.952-08:00Swan Michelle: Silence, Science & Samskara's. My Experience with ...<a href="http://swanmichellebaker.blogspot.com/2014/03/silence-science-samskaras-my-experience.html?spref=bl">Swan Michelle: Silence, Science & Samskara's. My Experience with ...</a>: "Whats Your Hurry?" Personal Experiences With Ashtanga, Yoga and Mysore, India Stories of our yogic roots, my beginn...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-72996770824064892572014-03-08T12:35:00.001-08:002014-03-08T12:35:09.487-08:00Swan Michelle: Silence, Science & Samskara's. My Experience with ...<a href="http://swanmichellebaker.blogspot.com/2014/03/silence-science-samskaras-my-experience.html?spref=bl">Swan Michelle: Silence, Science & Samskara's. My Experience with ...</a>: "Whats Your Hurry?" Personal Experiences With Ashtanga, Yoga and Mysore, India Stories of our yogic roots, my beginn...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-23831965904932408202014-03-08T12:34:00.000-08:002014-03-09T10:19:46.636-07:00Silence, Science & Samskara's. My Experience with Ashtanga & Mysore, India.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>"Whats Your Hurry?" </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Yoga</b></span></span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; letter-spacing: 0px;"> and Mysore, India</b></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i> Stories of our yogic roots, my beginning in yoga, the beginning of yoga in New Orleans, yoga trends & modern yoga,…..to experiences in Mysore, to India, to intention, S<u>ilence, Science, Samskara’s,</u> the Guru, fire and beyond. Enjoy!</i></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I can still hear him (the Guru, Sarath Jois) testing the Ashtangi’s from all over the world…”whats your hurry?” each time he offers a lead class early Friday morning. It is both funny and clever, invoking self-inquiry. “Yes, indeed, what is my hurry exactly?”. I can’t help but lift my head…”is he talking to me?”</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I am here in at the busiest time of year that Mysore experiences along with 400+ other yogis from every corner of the world…Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Canada, The United States, Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico. Ashtanga Yoga is the reason why we are here and Shri K. Pattabhi Jois is the Guru & roots to our lineage of my certification as a Jivamukti Yoga teacher. It is also why every Hatha yogi has heard of Mysore, due to Guruji’s studentship at the Palace here with Krishnamacharya, the well respected Grandfather of Hatha Yoga. Now in the year 2014, Gokulum, the neighborhood that we practice in is quite a wealthy affluent one due in large to the growth and popularity of yoga. Many yogis here say this was destined since Guruji made his first trip to the United States, invited by Tim Miller, in the 70’s.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Ashtanga was the first type of serious asana based yoga that I practiced in New Orleans after my very first certification in Sivananda Yoga in 1998. I was introduced to Mysore style Ashtanga, which is unique as it is not vocally lead. It is a silent self practice within a group where poses are memorized and you do not move forward in the sequence until you are able to do each of the poses in order by yourself and correctly. To be honest, perhaps because of age or evolutionary readiness, it was too “quiet” for my active, rajasic mind at the time since there was no instruction with words.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> At that stage as a yogini, I had a serious amount of agni/fire and no understanding of how to temper it. So, for this reason, the affects of my personal Ashtanga practice were also still a bit immature, unharnessed & underdeveloped. I was ripe but had so much shakti releasing from me that the fire of impatience and residual anger of my youth ( I was a punk rocker & grew up in Seattle, so to me, anger was justified) was really amplifying. I have been known to be a bit of a rebel.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Now here in Mysore, one day while I was practicing, I remembered Ram Dass saying when we were swimming with him a few years back in Maui that “if any of those emotions come up, they are all from the ego, remember this…”, but, I was in my early twenties when I started Ashtanga. I didn’t know that at the time. No one told me anything. There wasn’t much yoga in New Orleans or people to ask about the pyscho-kenetic depth and affects of yoga where I lived. My kundalini was quickly altering & expanding. It wasn’t just a physical experience for me. I was hitting new levels of ungrounded euphoria that were quite addictive but untamed. I was also going on a deep Samskaric purge quickly. I needed some guidance. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> My prior experience with Sivananda was basic but had philosophy (Advaita Vedanta), meditation and bhajan chanting (melodic mantra love songs). Those additional introductions of the various paths of yoga helped me to remember to cultivate a high purpose as I excelled pretty quickly physically in the beginning of my yoga introduction even though I wasn’t interested in exercise in my youth. Practicing these paths along with my asana practice got me interested in a greater purpose, cooled me down and centered me so that I kept in mind the reason for it all. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> In Ashtanga back then, I felt like a child with lots of fuel and a large stack of wood. Without close supervision I was confused, so I kept looking. This was when I met Sharon Gannon and David Life, the following summer, in the foothills of the Catskill mountains of NY, where I was a lifeguard for a place they held one of Sharon and David’s first yoga retreats at a Jewish Bungalow Retreat. They offered dharma that really resonated with me and took great care to promote kindness and ahimsa. I was both mesmerized and intimidated by them so I knew I was onto something life altering. Their teachings helped me to stay in the constant practice of purifying my heart and intention, “sankalpa” in Sanskrit. It was just what I needed.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> It is interesting to come back to the roots (and the roots of Jivamukti Yoga) after so many years of tasting numerous flavors of schools, styles and approaches, which is one of many priceless gifts in co-owning a yoga studio. Now I have a deeper understanding of alignment, the benefits of practicing over a long period of time & experience in the whole history of the yoga explosion in the west. I can now better discern what is effectively good, some not so good, some pretty far off the mark lacking depth and what I need to get me to evolve. My intention has also finessed itself a bit according to need and where I am at in readiness. The shape of my body is also a bit cleaner as </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started with pretty serious scoliosis in my spine.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> As a result of </span>straightening<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> that out it feels as though I also have less unsteady samskaras that needed channeling.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I got inspired to consider Ashtanga again when David Swenson, one of the original Ashtanga practitioners, taught a workshop at our yoga studio, Swan River Yoga, hosted by Jessica Blanchard of Balance Yoga. You will find me at Balance 2-3 early mornings a week religiously studying in silence under their impeccable guidance. Those mornings have changed my life pretty noticeably. They have cooked me and simmered me down and brought quiet to my mind. My body feels great because of my dedication to those magical mornings, actually the best it has ever felt. Even better than my 20’s. It feels lighter, brighter, younger & more consciously alive. I also feel myself noticeably evolving once again. There was a short while in my practice where I wasn’t feeling much of anything but maintenance. I don't feel like that right now.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Since I go to India once per year, I decided to test the source of Ashtanga out full on since I have been enjoying it’s affect on me. I am now in Mysore in the state of Karnataka, steeped in the original sequences of Krishnamacharya, now taught by Shri K. Pattabhi Jois’ grandson, Sarath Jois and his daughter, Saraswhati Jois. I have been personally curious as to how I would respond this time, some 14 years later, doing the same thing 6 days a week with hundreds of others that are quite serious about Ashtanga for an entire required month. I decided to apply to study with Sarath and I was accepted.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Ashtanga seems to have a few strong reputations. One is that it is too hard for most people. Another is that many say you will get injured in due time. I have not witnessed either of these things to be so. I do not consider myself an Ashtanga practitioner alone and I do not teach it, but I find myself appropriately challenged by it and have discovered radical transformative shifts. I was yearning for a push in my asana practice for quite some time now. Ashtanga is orderly and I have not found Sarath to encourage anyone into something they are not ready for or jump ahead, which is often something I would do. In fact, he himself, like BKS Iyengar, did not have a healthy body growing up and so he tends to wait and practice serious caution to the point that people complain because they (or their ego, I should say) wants it all to go faster. I haven’t seen or heard of any unskillful adjustments from him. I have heard of unskillful practitioners that push themselves. I feel very safe. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> As for the challenge to others, it is difficult, so it requires commitment free of gap, but the system in and of itself doesn’t push you beyond your means. It is also interesting to practice the same asanas over and over again so on can intimately observe the direct progress of dedication & the medicinal affects of each particular pose.There is an art to keeping something exciting after the novelty wanes, just like anything, any place or one you love. I enjoy the chance to cultivate enthusiasm as a spiritual practice in doing something the same way regularly. I also love shaking things up creatively. Doing something the same way though often pushes my buttons. I enjoy more than ever getting my buttons pushed. The older I get, I want all the triggers out in a deep innate yearning to embody equanimity. There is simply more room for light to enter in.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> I adore being a student of yoga. Even if yoga seems trendy now, it hasn’t been a trend for me or the teachers I continue to surround myself with. They are all still going at it pretty full on. It was very esoteric & mysterious in the West and especially the Dirty South when I first started. I have enjoyed having new company in a shared love & growth of this ancient art that we have probably all done together before. I purely love yoga and the more I rededicate to it I continue to discover new unveiled wonders about it. It works for me and has been the path that has brought to me all of my most cherished experiences, awakenings and blessings. I love being around groups of adults (animals and all ages) that want to keep learning, </span>remaining<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> adventurous and are willing to be child like together.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> After our practice here at the Shala here in India, we can come and observe the more intermediate levels in the hallway. I like to do this because it becomes vivid that I really and truly am a beginner and I want to be reminded of this. My practice is not advanced at all physically. Watching some of the students in the second or third series has really revealed to me an entirely new level of masterful physique and sculpting of the body as such a beautiful art form.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> In all of my years of studying numerous styles and being around thousands of yogis from remote obscure villages in the Himalayan’s doing very trippy things to their bodies to the trendy Yoga Journal or other various wander lust conferences which I tend to not be so drawn to now, to giant styles of yoga rising and falling, here I find myself amongst the most physically advanced yogis I have ever seen. Hands down. The art of the breath, fluidity and focus ( drishti) is a spectacular art form.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Another consideration of Ashtanga is that you are requested by Sarath to go to India if you really want to get into it. India itself, as much as I love her, is not easy. It is my opinion that every yogi should make the trek here if the means are possible. India is a very different, complex culture for most Westerners. I have watched many of them have pretty difficult times here and understandably. Coming here reveals to you that yoga is a deeply embedded cultural practice where behind it lies a thick spirit that can not be described nor compared to practicing yoga anywhere else. The air here is literally thick with history and a pantheon of realms and spirits. Also getting here is a serious “tapasya”. (applied discipline or hardship for a greater goal), pulling you out of everything you are use to and giving you the chance to change deep patterns. If you are really into something, why would you not want to come to it's origin? I have felt a stronger, more well established foundation within me by going to the literal, physical source of yoga here in India that I didn't understand until I came. It would be like being really into or teaching say Spanish Culture (art, music, history) but never going to Spain to steep in it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Now, back to Ashtanga specifically, please note that I did say that the Ashtangis are “physically” advanced. I have no idea if they are advanced in any other way because in Mysore style you do not really talk. I assume it is just like any other style. Some are in it to go all the way, and deeply, some are in it more on the surface. A thing I enjoy here is that for the first half of my day, until I get to Sanskrit & philosophy class, (which you really have to seek out due to the asana emphasis) I talk to no one and practice mauna (silence). If you do talk a lot, as do a few, it just seems somewhat out of place & insensitive to the environment we are currently in, and in the Shala, there is no talking, even outside. I kind of like it. The more Ashtanga/practice of silence that I do I think we humans talk far too much. We tend to lose an incredible levels of shakti coming out through our mouths. Silence in the practice is helping me to really notice the art of listening with greater spacial sensitivity. I have found myself desiring less words. It creates greater potency to the dialogue. I also find myself editing my words altogether. This is important for a teacher. I truly appreciate clarity and economy of words. The quiet has been profound and informative for me.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The focus here for yogis, having traveled many places in India as a comparison, is predominantly physical. It is nice to have the time to address and really investigate the physical body and container. I desire to be healthy and understand where I hold my energy and karma's in my body so that I have an optimal ability to serve, to be kind, and to be happy. This is something that is unique about Mysore. It is why we all came. How often will you be in an entire international city devoted to this? I have appreciated having the single pointed focus to delve deeper into my physical practice. I know it is a rare gift to have the time. We all work quite hard here in our sadhana & I am learning a lot about my physical body & personality. As an “adult” (whatever that means), there have been numerous new discoveries this past month.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> As I watch interactions with Sarath, the students are here also for another reason, him. You must apply and qualify to study with him in the Shala. Not everyone gets to be here ( where the energy/shakti level is packed and through the roof due to it’s history of sadhana) and you must win his respect to have approval to teach Ashtanga if that is part of your incentive, which often takes at least 3-4 visits here with him for at least 1 month each time and getting through a good portion of the second series ( no small feat in and of itself as I personally witnessed). To have approval to teach Ashtanga is not easy. This is also a good thing. I do like that about this lineage. I also do not have interest in his approval so that has taken some pressure off of my enjoyment of the series as a pure student.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I also think to myself often here that the whole yoga charade might look a bit funny as a bystander from the outside looking in. We do wait fervently outside until there is space for quite a long time. Nothing is on “accurate” time but on “shala” time. There are days I get no adjustments at all. It is a bit on the higher end in terms of investment from an Indian/Rupee standard. It is unbelievably crowded even from a NY city perspective and sometimes that practice is in the bathroom. My very first day this is what he told me, “you, practice in the bathroom. Go.” I think since I was new it was my initiation. There is a seniority here that we all fall into and he remembers the order. Having come all this way, there are no special privileges. I couldn’t even see him and of course did not get one adjustment from him or anyone as all the helpers are male. And again, this too revealed to me personal work and tapasya.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Since my start time was the latest one when I first came, which starts at 4am, Sarath was reading the newspaper (still common in India) on the stage and stopped adjusting by the time I arrived. I simply didn’t see him moving about any more. I got a bit confused by this. Can you imagine me or any of the teachers doing that at Swan River? . But thats just the thing, we are not in the United States and he has been into this thing called yoga far longer than I have. He still had everything under total control and didn’t seem to miss a mark. He was very sharp, aware, concerned and present. We are in a different culture all together and that is indeed a part of the teaching in coming to India.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> My attitude and pace have softened tremendously. I too am a bit less impatient, edgy or critical internally. In my practice, I have delightfully had the time to notice new nuances I hadn’t considered in each of the asanas before even in doing yoga pretty consistently since 1996. I have also really found this new level of harmony in my approach, somewhere in the dance of the middle of effort and effortlessness, neither one greater than the other…. just enough of both so it is more elegant and fluid, moving in graceful waves. I have been able to notice when I just fly through the practice with my ego, acting like it is so easy, but missing the juicy details that are fun to recognize and work on. In the transitions and I have noticed my tendency to over- effort at times, where I then get tired more quickly. It has been quite a treat to have the time to step back and observe myself intimately “doing” yoga for such a long immersion.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> It’s also quite a game doing the same exact sequence each day for the mind too. Sometimes my mind is thinking “this again. Can’t we do something different today. Why am I so crazy to keep doing this, and with all of these crazy, type A ,over the top ,extreme people?” Again and again. Or “can he please give me a new pose? I already know how to do all of this.” Which by the way, he gave me one (yes only one) new pose the entire time I have been here, even though I can physically do all the poses. “Whats your hurry…”</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I am beginning to realize there are so many layers to this thing, this Sadhana, that I am just scratching the first layer even if I think I can do it all and have done yoga for a few years now. Just this week even, I felt a new block in my mid -thoracic spine that I have never tapped into in all of my years of asana. It is my new focus. I am delighted at the assignment of releasing this. Now when I flow from up to down dog my spine feels more like an undulating snake. It just glides and leads the rest of the body into the movement. It is an incredible feeling I have never felt in this body before ever. My body already feels so light and emptied out I was surprised to discover this. I thought I knew where all of my blocks were. And it was funny, it was that day that I discovered it that Sarath came up to me and said “you are blocked here…” and pointed to it. “you must get this open to do all of the backbends well.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Now that I am working on this newly discovered block, there is a deep emergence of emotions freeing. Deep anger, qualities of pride and needs of acceptance that I had the chance to work through. For the first time in a long time I was cursing and swearing inside this week as I practiced. I haven’t done that in years. I was tapping into some old grips of “egoness”. I remember in one Swan River Teacher training someone coined that “the inner shitty committee”… Loved that one. If I hurried through all of that I might have overlooked this entire new teaching and layer of release. Being in each fluid moment, the same one you have done, again and again, yet allowing it to be different, is quite a teaching.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Working with asana and pranayama is such an incredible release, ascension and purification of our samskaras. The science of yoga is often forgotten but it is important to remember and respect. You are doing some serious manipulations to your karma, history and future by moving the energy at this accelerated yet grounded, visceral rate. Ashtanga requires 6 days a week from you at 6am if you follow the tradition fully. And many do. I have witnessed them. It is pretty inspiring. I like being around people that are driven, revealing care for what they do. Work is love made visible. I truly do bow to their level of discipline. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> They say that the first series of Ashtanga is all about purification. It really takes your ego on a trip, because once you uncover a physical block, you are not allowed to go any further. Your block is not taken lightly by a good teacher. If it is a led class (which happens once per week), you sit and humbly watch everyone else do inspiring, picturesque poses that you can’t do yet and you are told to stop. Now, with a healthy attitude, you realize the amount of work it took for all the able others to get there, yet there is no self aggrandizement here and Sarath is not trying to win your approval, impress anyone or fluff any words (which are little). I do like that about him. The little he does speak is direct and commanding, yet, when you leave the Shala each day after getting stripped down in a drenched, tattered, fresh mess, he looks at you in kind, caring understanding. When you turn around to bow to Guruji’s, his Grandfather’s altar, he notices that you have done so, and he makes an effort to clearly look at you in the eyes and smile at you, no matter what he is doing, every day, and even if you feel like a hot mess, of which I did often. He does this to everyone while assisting and running the whole show. It is quite remarkable. It is a sweet, sincere smile. It is obvious how much he cares.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Today I go for what Guruji would recommend doing once a week for Ashtangis… a full Ayurvedic castor oil bath, where your entire body is dipped in a pure freshly ground thick castor seeds and 2 well known nick-named “Sisters” climb all over you, hanging by ropes, pushing your excess heat out with their strong feet. One of the “sisters” was the only Indian female in the first Primary Series Ashtanga video shown with Guruji. She has also practiced along side our teachers, Sharon Gannon, David Life & Lady Ruth. The whole web is connected. I enjoy being connected to this story and following in my teachers footsteps, being in their literal location or shared states of consciousness.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><i>Vande Gurunam Charanaravinde. Sundarchita Svatma Sukhava Bodhe. Nishreyase Jagalikaiyamane. Samsara Hala Haalaa Mohashantyai. Abahu Purushakaram. Shankachakrasi Dharinam. Sahasra Shirsam Shvetam. Pranamami Patanjalim. Pranamami Patanjalim. OM.</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> In the Tibetan Book of the Dead it is stated that when one is dying, the elements of the body are the first signs to look for, as they too become imbalanced. The excess earth will make you feel more heavy, the water will dry up, the fire will burn you, the winds unruly, unless tempered. Something in me has died in the commitment of my Ashtanga practice here and a tremendous amount of fire like traits has harmonized as I recalibrate my elements and connection to the earth. I felt it this last week especially. I am grateful. I must say I feel very very different.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> In Mexico, where I go each year to lead a yoga retreat, we have meditative bon fires to learn how to be a “keeper of the fire” and meditate on the fire for 10-12 hours with the indigenous Huichole there, lead by a fire Master, called a Maracame. The practice is for innate understanding & relationship with fire’s nature and it’s “rasa” ( essence). We are not to move at all, trying our best to not lie down or move but to just fixate on the fire alone with our drishti as our Source of inspiration. Once “seen”, anything damaging about fire is no longer. It is instead illuminating and light shedding on deeper levels unknown before, be it toxic emotions or gripped memories that created fire like habits or qualities in our bodies. Without this light & depth, even our spiritual practices can remain superficial or inflate our tendencies. I want to be sensitive and miss no-thing…so in the fire, the spark of our lives, I will remember Sarath…”whats your hurry” with gratitude for the teachings this experience has brought in a full cycle.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-88900760067081904902014-02-17T23:00:00.002-08:002014-02-18T07:38:28.388-08:00Thunder Hug. My Experience With A Saint... Amma.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">February 14, 2014. Full Moon.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Passing cashew, Eucalyptus, Rubber Tree groves and coffee plantations, I had heard of your thunderous embrace. Passing green Muslim mosques calling to Allah, mysterious women in black burqas, endless Durga Temples protected by golden lions, rickety rickshaws with swasthika stickers, oxen pulling to large of barrels of hay, rows of old growth coconut trees, women in elaborate sari’s carrying bright clay pots on their heads… families of 6 on motorbikes & free roaming cows blocking the streets we approached you. We went through it all, the unknown, and many life times it </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">feels… to find you on this Indian pilgrimage… a “Bharata Yatra”.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Mamamamama. I can hear you screaming into my ears. You are somewhere between the clamor pushing out discord and a resonant harmony so striking it penetrates my core, my pores, my being as I leave the Arabian coastal city Mangalore and write about you… Sarva Mangalam! Jai Durga! I am still light on my feet. I barely stand on the earth. You, “she”… a powerful Saint in a very small, ambrosia smelling Indian body. She is “Amma”, whom many people feel to be the living embodiment of Kali in all of her honey. Amma’s mission is to hug each “child”, all over the world. I too received the ego shattering embrace. I was thrusted (quite literally) into her bosom and heart. I trembled. I felt like a little girl. She had adopted us all. There was no self consciousness. We were rattled with comforting Mother energy. I am an innocent child, bewildered & enraptured by the shakti moving through Matha Amritanandamayi , (pronounced aMA) the fierce warrior hugging Saint. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I heard she would be just hours away from us on a very auspicious, “Guru Poornima” day ( a full moon, Valentines Day & my birthday) and although India can be very intense when Saints visit, it felt clear the trek would be made. It was estimated that 1 “lok" (100,000) people would come over the course of 2 days to Mangalore alone in 100’f heat and a full moon. India often feels like a beautiful catastrophe. From my Western conditioning that I am here “unconditioning”, this is not ideal conditions that I can quickly change and make more comfortable by dropping down some money or karmic merit. So, I breath. I am determined. “Jayanti” I keep telling myself, which means “personal victory over the mind”. Yes, Jayanti. I like this pursuit. I do not want to live with a reckless, immature, unruly mind. Lady Ruth told me one time she had to take a canoe and then swim to see Amma many years ago to see her in Kerala. I can do this. I will do the best I can.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Each time I come to India I feel a particular lesson disproportionately presented since proportions here are multi-faceted and over the top. The one this trip has been the patience & more refined reigning of my mind. I remember our Yoga Sutras philosophy teacher here, Nrisimha saying, “you are only unable to experience contentment (Santosha), which is our natural state, when you rely on the external conditions alone to gauge your happiness. By doing so you are always dissatisfied or pushing time forward to get out of that which you thought would make you happy, as well as reverting back to a past memory which is no longer”. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The patience tests, which have been challenging me each morning at the Ashtanga Yoga Shala with Sarath in Mysore, worked their way into me at her ashram too, where we waited 10 hours with unbelievably unreal amounts of other humans in serious heat & no movement. There were many times that my mind, currently in training, wanted to collapse, to give in. There were indeed a few times I felt as though I would faint. We had gotten there so early. We did not eat all day. Water was hard to come by. So was a restroom, or moving out of the crowd, or your spot. All the things on the “outside” were not “perfect”. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span>With<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> the help of my "Sadhana", spiritual practices, understanding the nature of my ego has assisted me with programmed restlessness. Also, in traveling, you get to know yourself well. The ego mind is really quite predictable once you catch onto it. Harnessing it continuously </span>poignantly<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> that day, the mental grips became weak. Things were not so inflated with life and death anymore. (the ego is so dramatic, isn’t it? Also, another obvious predictable sign it is trying to play lead role. It makes such a big deal out of everything). </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> In India and in the Hindi language, often things are repeated twice for emphasis . I have been doing it here. It helps. I repeated “Jayanti. Jayanti” “Victory over my mind. I have victory over my mind”. It’s quite a game to start really getting in their with your mind once you stop all the external stimuli that distract you from what you mind defaults to amidst challenge or discomfort. Jayanti.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Amma, the “hugging Saint” is said to speak all languages and dialects. Her devotees say there is not a language that she can not speak. Even at the Satsang talk itself she spoke 5 tongues in two hours & stayed until everyone was hugged, far into the next day. Her well rounded teachings emphasized the importance of loyal, trustworthy leadership, claiming that our world has very little of it at this time, and that it was up to us to provide it. She also stated that children with mental disorders comes from lack of love in their homes and that loving is the most important act we can offer an intelligent society. She spoke of how unruly our minds have become and how this leaves us so susceptible to being mentally disturbed. She also stated we must move beyond skin and culture and that even a rainbow is not the beautiful various colors that we see. It is actually one color and that we are all rivers, lakes and streams entering into the ocean together. Amma herself travels the world offering Seva. I was very impressed with her education & intelligence amidst the enveloping love of the atmosphere.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Steeped in a love sedated vibration she lead us in bhajans (love songs) to Kali. At first my mind was thinking…”oh boy, we are calling on Kali? Here we go! This is going to be quite a ride!” I have often found that when being around beings with extremely high vibrations the level of “stuff” that comes pouring out of you is also quite shocking. The shock quickly subsided though as the “taking over” became utter benevolence. I was in the essence of captivation. How could one resist? I felt I was “held” captive by overwhelming electrical currents of force. The “stuff” (mind fluctuations), while singing, would come up strongly, and then melt into nothingness. Into Love we went. I was thrown into surrender, unattached to anything, nor concerned about it. I melted into Kali and for the first time found that energy to be utterly effervescent & delightful. I (small i, the ahamkara & “manas" mind) was knocked out. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Amma had asked us to “please be warriors of Love. Sleigh and overcome your demons. Be victorious over them.” She said “please”, but then it wasn’t like we had a choice. We were sitting there, under a spell. One of the Kali songs was so intense that I felt uneasy & out of my skin. Something heavy was building like a pressure vacuum and then it lifted into such airiness. I was suddenly “in” and felt no separation from anything. I was inside all of the colors, people, sounds & her. There was no such thing as fear, impatience or worry there at all. I was done for at that point. Utter ananda. Yes, there is Sat-chit-but mostly Ananda!</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The way Amma would sing and throw up her arms and the way she would scream, (or more so screech to many realms of known & unknown plains of existence) “Kali Ma” so loudly… it was like no other I have experienced. It felt a bit prickly. like walking into a dark, unknown space alone. It was clear she had a relationship with the Divine Mother and was really calling her in. Kali was coming. And then she was here. I could feel the atmosphere thicken & we were bathing in it. We were sedated, elated and swooning in Kali like all of the pictures you see of Kali Ma/Durga Ma as she stands naked, drunk, enraged and free.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> After the 8th hour, it was our allotted turn to go stand in line for a hug after very beautifully moving dharma talks and kirtan from Amma. I slightly came back to my senses enough to realize this. I could barely stand at that point, let along “understand” anything. My legs were shaking. I was light headed, out of my body and in an altered state, yet I hadn’t even received the purpose of the event yet…. the “darshan" (close interaction with a Saint, as to “see” as they do, and in this case… the “hug”.)! Standing there, trembling, many “helpers” of Amma all in white gave us loving pushes. There was much urgency after such a drawn out day out of time…. and then suddenly I had a Swami’s hand on my crown and was thrusted into her chest, were I collapsed. I felt so instantaneously expansive that I sobbed with pure love, not for my own personal suffering at all (which was so </span>insignificant<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> at that point) which was long gone, but for any being suffering or having had suffered overall. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Before this happened, I had a “plan” to the proper way to approach a high teacher but what came spilling out in the moment was simply an organic “thank you. thank you. thank you”. My voice was of such a deep young essence as I heard the words come out. I shook in raw, unadulterated, uninhibited sincerity.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"> In English she said to me…” you are MY child. you are MY child. you are MY child. You are always protected, never threatened, never unsafe, my child. Continue to be love my child”. It was just what I needed to hear for many personal reasons to a story long forgotten but still there deep and past. Many of us often have issues about growing up, don’t we? I felt completely accepted and whole. Then as forcefully as I was thrown into her with poignant, direct purpose I was peeled out of her heart in a drunken child like mess of gooey goodness.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The helpers grabbed me again to help me walk and find my steps. I didn’t know where my feet where, my company, my belongings, my shoes, my mind… and they kept saying “stage. stage. take her to the stage. Amma wants her to go to the stage”. It suddenly seemed so very official and organized where I was just in ecstasy and wanted to return. My body, light as liquid and still out of this world (and really loving it) was escorted and directed to sit just behind Amma, “Amma’s orders” I was told. “Sit on the stage close to her.” So of course this was what I did. She does this to guests sometimes, has them get closer to her, so I sat down. I somehow figured out how to cross my legs into a lotus position with my white sari on, seated right behind her. Once my mind figured out what was going on every ounce of my being was smiling in pure joy. “How did I suddenly get here”? I thought. I was like a child in candy land….Amrita land….purely delighted and very drunk. As I looked around me at those near her also, it was unanimous.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I was behind the entire scene now. Those of us there were on “the other side”, on the stage. It was quite a light show. In Sanskrit, they call this the “Lila Avalokam”, which means “behind the workings of the great play of matter”. I watched every moment of Amma and how she handled each child. Each one so differently and purposefully, and with no “I” to her. It wasn’t really “her doing” anything. I watched how each person approached her. How they looked at her. What they needed. Where they hurt. When they felt insignificant. When they felt underserving but still yearning for that love. I saw what they suffered. I had many spontaneous convulsions of cries and grief for the same sufferings we humans all feel and how vivid it was in that moment. I saw what they were grateful for. How they respected her and needed a true Mother to respect and trust. How youthful and joyous they became. My satisfied Soul, so thrilled, suddenly swelled too. Any rigidity had gone from us all. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I watched it all from a different angle this time. It was all very obvious and clear. I watched deeply how someone offering pure love affects others so strongly. I watched how much it meant to them to offer her a gift for the gift she gave and how that all got cycled right back into her giving again because she didn’t take anything or need anything except for each of us to know that we are loved.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> In being around "super humans" in our perception as such, I think it worthy and valuable to also discern ("Viveka" in Sanskrit) and question any teacher or Saint. I have been around numerous effective spiritual leaders that truly have done their work and are kind, intelligent and inspiring....living the teachings. I have also been around some leaders/teachers more concerned with themselves & the powers they are cultivating than serving or generating the impersonal teachings for everyone to exceed. There was no denying the lucid, brilliant level of shakti I was surrounded by as I had the direct chance to observe it so closely. I needed to know it was this possible. There was no room for doubt. The actual "beingness" of Grace there. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I think one thing to also remember in bathing in the transmission of rare beings such as this, that although she (or any "one" person) was not the Source of Divine Love, Divine Love was by far the most all consuming, moving, powerful thing moving through her. It was honestly the most Love I have felt from any living being or human. She was a channel of Divine love and it flowed right through her and into us, hitting us all by storm.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I was so intoxicated at times I would become confused & my logical mind would try to intervene. “Do I need water? Do I need to find a bathroom? What am I suppose to be doing here? Why do I deserve this? I feel strange… overtaken… is this actually real and pure?” followed by the far more all pervading thoughts of “this is Supreme Love. This is what it feels like when you don’t need anything. This is what it feels like when you realize you lack nothing…when you merge into the Source of all things, when you are One (not just understanding the concept). And this is what you do when you get there, when you feel you are Love itself. This is exactly what that looks like when it is pure…” </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Aha… this is why I was there. Suddenly I felt tapped into some kind of teaching of Divine orchestration. “This is what you do when you get there, dear swan... this is Love in full embodiment. Remember... keep none just for ourselves. Share it. Be generous. Generate more of the same. It is not an idea. It is Real." There is no question of trust at this point. I was watching the possibilities and the power behind Real Love at it’s very essence… and it is not personal. It was a “nirguna”, Highest level but impersonal experience. She loved everyone, all beings beyond their form & with great compassion for their struggle. Everyone cracked to their degree of readiness. None of us had a choice, no matter what our karma was that day, Saint or laden with the guilt of wrong acts, stricken by pain or lack of worth. This was a grounded merge of Divine & matter.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Being on the stage with her for hours, physically at arms reach, right by her, directly guided, new ideas started to consume me. New desires of hope, encouragement, service and greater love swelled within me with pure delight. Love is clearly more powerful and bountiful than hate and must be circulated. I could “see” it more clearly and from a perfect angle, more than ever before. And humans really want to trust, deep down. We need to be a loving source that others can trust. That is true “darshan”. I really got the darshan. The currency of Love fills us, all consuming and beyond the beyond.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> It was a thunder embrace. I am still embraced, I am flying from it. Getting thrust into the bosom of Grace was not something I thought was coming when I booked my flight for India , but when I get home, I too want to develop my skills and practice the art of profound thunder hugging. Of course, in humility I also await, in due time to evolve this because the more work I do I see the work it takes to be consistent, well established, grounded & truly effective. I also know the work, which is love made visible, magnetizes the experiences of something Real our Soul craves & desires to share. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I remember Sharonji quoting Shyam Das on our Jivamukti Yoga & Bhakti Yoga trip in Mumbai with Jules Febre & Radhanath Swami…”Whatever you do, do not go to that river of thrust and flow that is Love (the Yamuna River as she was speaking of in this case, in Vrindavan) or you will never come back. It will have you.” And Amma kept hugging, and giving, and crying and embracing the world, on and on, endlessly. There was no limit to it. The Love kept going and going and pouring out, all into the night. We were struck by thunder with the Love Embrace. Sat-chit-but mostly Ananda. Thank you Matha Amritananda Amma.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-80476000569836193512014-02-08T00:19:00.003-08:002014-02-18T07:41:28.680-08:00I Am Rich. From Slum City to Flower Petalled Saints.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;">I Am Rich.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: large;"> From Slum City to Flower Petalled Saints.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> A visit to Mumbai is not for the faint or one that is easily overwhelmed. Home to the largest city if all of India, the “wealthiest “city in India, home to Bollywood, the largest film industry and the largest per capita slum in the world, coined “Slum City”, also popular in many movies, like “Slum Dog Millionaire. To give you a scope of the conditions that pour out of this part of the world, it is the 4th most densely populated city in the entire world. Can you imagine this? Have you ever been in a place where there is so much of everything? After being in deep seclusion in a small village at Godharham Hills in nature, often off the grid at night with the stars and moon lighting up our nights in Satsang with 2 Saints and waking up at 4am for the hour of Brahma to go to Mungal Aarti with the local Indian devotees… entering the city in and of itself was shocking. It was a catastrophe of the senses, which became overloaded. Even one sense… that of sound for instance….the infinite potential of noises from horns to screams to packs of wild dogs howling to Indian techno rave parties to street sellers shouting was enough to get you to remember your drishti or start remembering pratyahara… focus on one thing alone or get lost in all of the possibilities.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> After our Jivamukti bhakti pilgrimage we experienced the ultimate ceremonial abundance ritual, called the Pushpabishek. 1.3 TONS of flower petals that we have plucked all day long, many of them sweet nectar roses from Vrindavan (the forest of dwelling place of Krishna) were tossed upon thousands of devotees and visitors for hours as we sang and danced in total ecstasy. I often lost myself so completely as I danced that any inhibition I may have conjured up and grasped was forced to drop out of me. I was totally enraptured, submersed and intoxicated with shakti, so much so that it frightened me at times as I felt so expansive and would forget where I was. I was totally out of my body. There are very few other times in my life of epic experiences that I can remember being so far out of form. I am sure for most of us, unless it was really good sex with a meaningful partner or really good trip on some psychotropic, few other times can one remember bathing inside of nectar itself to such a degree that every construct was graphically blown up into a state of shree. It was oozing from my every pore and that of everyone there… Indians and many foreigners from all over the world. We were baptized in the glories of nectar. In my experience of India, perhaps so many possibilities exist due to the population or the need to be colorful due to so much “poverty” ( from a Western definition of it). From our lens, Indians really know how to go over the top with embellishment, colors, flavors, touch and sounds, yet often, there is something so refined about the appreciation of it, from music to spices to fabrics to spiritual practices. Sometimes I am bathing delightfully in all of this. Sometimes it is a bit too much for me.There is just so much!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> This puja (ritual) honoring flowers/Radha) exceeded anything I could imagine. I actually felt like I had a hangover the next day from the flower shower, and a shakti hangover at that. I was exhausted by the amount of wealth, generosity and pure honey like beauty, “Amrita”, that we experienced that night. I will never forget it. I do remember wandering a time or two while being completely submersed and about to go out of my body in flower petals, “when will this stop? Surely soon or I will faint in this swoon! I am about to really loose it, more than ever before (which I have done a time or two)! How many flowers can there be? There can only be so much. How far out of ones mind can one truly go?. How much is there?” And they just kept coming, these fragrant flower petals dripping all over me. And I lost my mind completely at some point. I had no choice. I was in the NOW. The “I am” Ramana Maharshi and so many other Sages have spoken about. We were all oozing in the sensual, yet it was so simple. It was “pointless… or ‘point less” a Sharon Gannon said in one of our asana classes. There was no aim or striving to get things to be better or more. Totally “ in”. Total Santosha. It was truly pointless, and being pointless drew us closer to the Divine.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> After the overflowing abundance that drunken night revealed, many of my Gurubhai left and a few of us continued on to listen to more lectures given around Mumbai by Radhanath Swami. Somehow I had the cherished humble fortune of driving in the vehicle of teachers that I adore, Jules Febre, Shri Sharon Padmaji Gannon and Maharaj Radhanath Swami to the venue and to the home of Shrila Prabhupad. On our way home back to the Radhanath Gopinath Temple, Radhanath Swami asked if we would like to see the wealthiest, most expensive home in all of the world. Who could refuse? And at that, a Saint asking us? How interesting. What dichotomy. “Of course we do”, Sharonji chimed in in youthful joy and curisousity, all inhibitions down. On the way there he told us of a story of an extremely expensive home of that of a diplomat. The diplomat invited a Swami to come do a puja and vastu ( spacial energy flow orientation). The Swami did a reading on the home and ended up telling the Diplomat that if he ever moved into this home he would experience great tragedy and misfortune due to his greed in past lives. He never chose to share his wealth before so great discord lie ahead for him. The Diplomat to this day has never moved into it and opted to live in a much smaller humble space near it even though this much more lavish home that he watches from afar contains marble floors, gem walls and riches beyond believe. “The only beings that can stay in it”, the Swami said, “are Saddhus and Swami’s those that have renounced all riches”. This still exists to this day. Even Radhanath Swami stayed in it. Treating riches with skill… now there’s something to practice being victorious about.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> After hearing the story we arrived at the most expensive city in all of the world. It was a giant sky scraper. It looked nothing like a home. It over towered all of the other homes in this wealthy Mumbai neighborhood (and there are many). I would have never recognized it to be a home. In fact, it was so expensive that there were armed forces surrounding the entire structure. It was no longer safe and had to be guarded. From outside you can see that there were many giant balconies overlooking Mumbai on the edge of this cliff for this family of 4. There were movie theaters, pools, and 108 giant stories with who knows what else. The irony of it was that it was overlooking the largest slum, called “slum city”, in all of the world. It towered over it like an ostentatious monster.It seemed to be a bit much. And this is India. The extremes are all in your face the the largest degree you can imagine in the earthly realm.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> I admit I was curiously fascinated by the difference and awe that the whole thing inspired. Yet, as I looked up to the sky at this home, and down into my reality at both Radhanath Swami and Sharon Gannon telling me this story and experience with me, what struck me was that I felt so rich as to have their company, “Satsang”, that if given the choice this is what I would choose hands down, (or full body down in dajda praam, optimizing a chance to be pride free!). Beings that have finally figured out, due to many life times of hard work, how to actually engage in the world and with the Divine as to have whatever they want, yet do not actually take or have whatever they want, in my definition of “free” or “moksha”, are the most free of all. They are no longer bound by so many “things” (be it literal, karma or mind stuff). They are free and still in it all, still in the world of many conditions and really not renouncing anything. To some it may look as though they are, yet, they really are experiencing everything it is that they want. They are steeped and in satiated with it, totally satisfied and still evolving and sharing. Sharing is all they do.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Nrisimha, our philosophy teacher here in Mysore, India said something in a “shastra” (teaching) about dharma that struck me in terms of wealth, which according to the laws of karma, only comes by being directly generous, be it this life time, or some life time we can not see. He said<b> “The richer and more successful you are, the more you are to share the riches and success.” </b>It is the natural law. Many beings that are wealthy do not remember this key law to karma. It doesn’t mean giving up anything at all. It means to give more.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> The word “Bhagavan” (a word for Krishna as is Nrisimha) actually means “ the generous one”. It is implying that to take on characteristics of our Source, being a generator of Real abundance, (not more' things's) gets us closer to God. Another wonderful monk that spoke to us at the Eco Village said to us “Artha (wealth) is one of the human goals of life in Hindu philosophy (there are 4. Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha). Artha doesn’t mean that you have to give up money. That is not the sanskrit translation. But what do you picture when you hear the word wealth? <b>A good way to know how wealthy you are is to measure all of the things you have that money can not buy”.</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Nrisimha stated that part of the laws of dharma is to be sure to pay nature and God back. This is part of upholding society and our role as a human (since you are not an animal if you are reading this). As humans, payments are to be made. You are not free nor will you have true riches until you pay back everything you have been given. Remembering this will help us to get from a narrow vision (poverty conscious/lack lens) to an expanded (over abundant) life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> Laxmi or Radha represent abundance and wealth in the Hindu culture. One word for Laxmi in researching etymology is “aim”. Sharonji told is this story….”In Vrindavan, Laxmi sits on the other side of the Yamuna River. She is looking over at Krishna’s forest, praying incessantly on her goal, her aim. Yet, her aim is in front of her. She has it. It is right there. It is so clearly there that nectar and ecstasy are just waiting to be experienced from her. She is oozing with it. The now, so sensual, is dripping with it. Drop the aims. It is all pointless. Point less. Your wealth is here now. Now has to do with </span>who<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> much time you think you have. Now is free. Free of time or lack or worry of too much. The Atha. Here, the Aim turns into ‘I am” and "I am" becomes your eternal currency.</span></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-62896671481162322802014-01-31T04:00:00.001-08:002014-03-11T03:54:38.943-07:00 Satsangatve…Get In Good Company.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">In my recent studies in India both Sharon Padmaji Gannon and Radhanath Swami emphasized again and again the importance of Satsang. This topic seemed to find itself into just about every lecture. I have always found this to be a simplified instruction. The more they spoke of it I contemplated it’s depth. We really lived it while here, surrounded by so many people in one of the most populated places on the planet. The quality, humility and devotion of the beings I was surrounded by blew my mind wide open as it dropped into my heart. It was so humbling for me to have such company, as it is also where I live. It is often hard to believe in fact. I thought I would write about the affects it had on me and has in my practice over the years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In our yoga studio, Swan River Yoga, community is everything to us, upholding it and offering a space that upholds integrity and acceptance for the individuals in the whole to feel encouraged to flourish. We hope the yoga studio to be an “oasis”, example and reflection of sorts as to how it could be all the time, everywhere, from our work place, schools, streets and homes. With the level of value our teachers give to it, it helped me to realize even more how something so simple is actually everything. Saints say it is so valuable that it can’t be bought. Satsang is a profound reflection of your riches.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">According to many yogic texts, being around others is a very high spiritual practice. It has always been a quest of devotees…yogis and yoginis to uncover inspirations in actual forms. In the art of purposefully practicing Satsang we yearn to find actual consciously upright beings that boldly desire creative lives in ways unknown and unimaginable, discovering new ways of being, thinking, operating and living with intentionality. Satsang refines our intentions with greater dignity, flexibility and understanding of the human condition and our role in the whole. Being closed off, disconnected or myopic steers us further from the big and the real picture where we feel more dislocated from our source as it seems virtual and unreachable. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I became so delighted to hear that seeking out a network of diverse, evolved inspiration is actually a spiritual practice in the yogic teachings. “This”, right now, is Satsang….Look around you at this very moment. You are the company you keep be it lifting you up or holding you back. Satsang is thought to be one of the most important aspects for any aspirant wishing to devote their lives in service and to experience a profound cleanse of the heart in the most expansive Love and fulfilling way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In an active, conscious seeking out and gathering of Satsang, our ability to learn, see and have a tactile understanding within our daily, regular life is revealed so that we never build false spiritual materialisms. Compassion, appreciation, kindness, friendliness, beauty, laughter, joy, playfulness, forgiveness, patience, passion, justice, non-violence, skill, honesty, integrity, courage, enthusiasm, clarity and intuition are actual. One can not read about these things, find them on the yoga mat nor meditate on them alone. Satsang gives us an active karmic opportunity to become stronger, more intelligent, more talented, more dynamic, more well rounded and more beautiful in a Cosmic unconditioned way. Satsang give us the chance to feel cared for and accepted so that we do not build bad (inner) company and buy into guilt, resentment, jealousy anger or degrading thoughts about ourselves and then impose it onto others.In Satsang we learn where we are blind, where we can grow and what parts about ourselves we have not yet accepted as we see those aspects in “others”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> “Recognition”, a key concept to Satsang, (called “Pratyabijna in Sanskrit but with no comparable definition in our language) typically means “to exceed above others” or “prideful” in our western structure & english translation. In Sanskrit, recognition means that an inner perfection is reflected, sparked and turned on in and out, congealing the one to the other, even if all the while the outside appears quite different and very conditioned. Pratyabijna is to “Re-member” where the periphery unifies & congeals to the nucleus Whole without simulating, following, imitating or homogenizing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Satsang is the harmony of both a spiritual practice in action in our physical experiences and collectives. It is the perfect anecdote for yoking together energy and matter, often called Parusha and Prakriti in a Classical Yoga System. This symbiotic harmony is what ignites the fire or elixir of inspiration. It sheds light on a Higher attitude and level of enthusiasm like that of the Divine, which is all attractive, moving and compelling. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A daily cultivation of enthusiasm sets a foundation of a more reliable consistency (a fractal aspect of the Divine). To be consistent and well established is “Abhayasa”. Consistency is the threshold to trusting “others” and being trusted. It breaks barriers and stitches us into a sacred tapestry of togetherness. When others trust you and see that the teachings work then they also want to do the work. When the work is no longer work because you are no longer the “doer”, it enlightens you up so that action/work is quite enjoyable, playful and celebratory when in good company. Even if on the outside it appears as though you are doing mundane things, when in charged company nothing is mundane as you are in love. It is much easier to get into something if others around you are into it. It does not feel as valid or authenticated if these yogic principles and teachings remain only a concept because there is no witness. This means we are relying on you and one another.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Satsang… “in the company of Truth”…. implies a quality of radicalism. It is not the normal program and may not be what you were born into. It is a reaching out. If you do not go beyond what you know, it is hard to always see what a Higher taste or conscious lifestyle could look like, let alone a fervent desire to uphold it (Dharma). It states in the Bhagavad Gita that very few are born into high satsangs. Often we do not know what a human looks like with High desires or how they live their lives. It sounds like a story. We need to see and be these examples in our lives so we know how it looks in a human, limited form and how we can describe it to others, how we can accept it and be it even if we are still working through our karmic seeds and have our shortcomings. It can be quite confusing being of a limitless nature in a limited form. If we and those around us start acting more free and more like ourselves, this IS living Satsang.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Role models in every aspect of relationship are golden gifts for communities. It is stated in the Bhakti Sutras that “Satsang is the practice of opening us to Cosmic Love/Prema (the highest love) . The point of Satsang is that every type of love will have the chance to be practiced within a dynamic tribe experience. In Satsang we work on being the very essence of a role model friend, a role model teacher, parent, child, lover, partner, student, community member. Living the practice of Satsang teaches us that all things with conditions have expiration dates and we can see into them and beyond them. For this reason, the Bhakti Sutras also state that “bad company” ( I like to say those that impose conditions or diminish light) is to be dropped and in time it naturally is as such. Those that impose or create more limitation, isolation and separation draw us further away from our nature and back into the idea of “otherness”. Otherness is very confusing. It can even be dangerous if one is not well equipped. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Our Soul desires to embrace an experience of interconnected, interactive expressions of Love that is both ecstatic and still…. a perfect unity of the experiencer and the one witnessing the experience. To do this Love has to be expressed and we must actively seek out being in it’s presence. Love, our nature, is not meant to be withheld or there is no witness. And if you have it around you, you are blessed. Appreciate it. Gasp in awe and wonder at it every day. Many beings on the planet do not. I have seen it in all corners of the world. The more beings I meet, the more I feel so Graced and wish for the same of others. Everyone and everything desires this… to be Loved and accepted. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">If someone is operating at a High frequency, through contagious entrainment, we will all be, sooner or later, so get enlightened and get comfortable with high quality company. Draw it out of them because it is just to hard to resist being really good. Respecting all of creation (which has many names and forms and is not all like you) will diminish our dissolutions. Black brown yellow white Hindu Parsi Sikh Buddhist Muslim Christian All sexes and ways of having sex or no sex at all… In your home, your practices, your yoga studio, your work, your guests at dinner and your bedroom. Often our first limitation is trying to see God with our eyes. “Keep curiosity so that you can see with Divine eyes. Otherwise you will fail to see the Divine in all things.” Shyam Das</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I had the chance to hear Radhanath Swami speak at the Radhanath Gopinath Temple in Mumbai. He stated that “Satsang is THE MOST important practice of the Kali Yuga (the period of delusion). And in fact, so important, it can help you forget that the Kali Yuga is even occurring at all!”. High and tangible connections are pleasing to the Soul. It is where the “I” turns to “we” and I-ness to wellness for all beings. You want to feel free? You want greater opportunities, ideas and experiences to enter your life? You desire the most optimal, unconditional love possible? I am quite sure we all do. Well, act like you are free so others can see and be reminded of it. Be generous. And then get yourself around others who act like it , that are better than you at it, and wish for the same. It is all attractive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i><b>Satsangatve Nisangatvam. Nisangatve Nirmohatvam. Sisangatve Nirmohatvam. Nirmohatve Nischala Tatva. Nishcala Tatve Jivanmukti. Bhaja Govindham. Baja Govindham. Baja Govindham mudha mate. </b></i></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> "Being in good company gives rise to non-attachment. where you realize the all attractive in your heart." Shri Bramhananda Saraswati.</span></span><br />
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"Mudha Mate, typically translated as "oh deluded one".... becomes 'oh wise one' when one hears the Truth from one IN Truth." Sharon Gannon on Shri Bramhananda Saraswati.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2693407334402107137.post-27076641933475016092013-11-06T08:28:00.002-08:002013-11-06T08:48:48.801-08:00The Art of Pause & Restorative Yoga<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
Restorative Yoga is a crucial part of a balanced yoga practice. If all we push ourselves toward is a rigorous practice, there is a danger of feeling overworked, overbearing, rigid & uptight if we do not balance this with the soothing, nourishing, watery, spacious qualities of stillness & quiet.</div>
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Belief it or not, restorative poses can be challenging even if the pictures make it look so savory. Although the body is set up in gentle long held pauses, the mind can be fast at work, doing it's habitual best to avoid checking in more deeply & slowing down. The mind receives training in a restorative class also. It too gets tamed with the reigns of "being" just like a meditation practice does.</div>
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Viparita Karani. Inverted lake pose.</div>
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The winter is an especially comforting time to give the body moments of relief after the possible fatigue of an active summer, as is anyone in intense seasons of their lives consumed by busyness and the weight of daily responsibility. It is also vital for those going through minor sickness, the need of a cleanse & rest of all the systems and organs of the body, for major illness, for injury recovery, or addiction recovery. I have found some of the most profound affects on yogis were those recovering from addiction. We are all addicts really . Once we check in, settle and slow down we realize this. Restorative yoga will give one the chance to go deeper & operate more methodically with profound, effective and supportive means as we discharge anxiousness and an over active nervous system/mind. This can free oneself of restlessness, repressed energy, a current grief, or a future worry.</div>
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I suggest one Restorative Yoga class per week to give yourself the renewal and release you need to support everything else you do. The energy freed up in restorative yoga is like getting a massage. Often for most, getting ourselves in a setting that is quiet, more introspective & healing is the perfect medicine we need for balanced life, free of all the outer stimuli, social expectation or distraction. I also suggest one restorative pose per day, which you will learn by coming to class with the use of various props. This will balance your asana practice and help support your meditation, dharma, and bhakti practices where stillness of the body is often required, as is sitting for long periods of time without being uncomfortable.</div>
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Restorative Yoga helps to teach us how to be receptive in a culture that is often training us to export tremendous amounts of output . Our restorative yoga classes at Swan River also offer Thai Therapeutics with the healing power of touch. There are numerous studies that go into the enhanced mental health of a human by daily healing, loving touch. Restorative Yoga reminds us how crucial it is to free ourself of smaller holdings in the body & deeper imprinted discomforts so that we can work them out carefully, thoughtfully & slowly, freeing their roots. In time, the mind will stop rambling, you will fidget or pick your cell phone up in your life less, & be more present to the moment. You will be sensitive & receptive in all situations, but most importantly the present one, which is all you really have.</div>
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The Art of Pause.</div>
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Swan River Yoga has 3 regular Restorative Yoga Classes:</div>
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*NEW: Sundays 6:30pm-7:45pm</div>
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Wednesdays 5:15-6:30</div>
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Thursdays 4-5pm</div>
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*Once per month Sundays 6:30-8:30 FULL Sound Bath</div>
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Teachers: Kelly Haas & Michele Baker. These teachers have training in Thai Yoga Therapeutics and Yoga Asana Therapeutics. Michele's classes will also offer the healing benefits of sound with mantra, crystal bowls & gong in every class.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05595294247407030621noreply@blogger.com0