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Pregnancy and Birth: 29 to 31 Jan 2010
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This phrase is from the first line of Yoga Mala 2002 edition. The footnote explains the following:

“Nishkama Karma (nish – without + kama – desire : karma – action) is an action performed without a wish or desire for the “fruits” or results, of such action. The ultimate yogic ideal is to perform all actions without desire for personal gain and to offer instead the fruits of all actions to God. Performing actions with the mind directed towards results increases ego and keeps us bonded to the idea of “I” and “mine”, while offering the fruits of actions to God leads toward surrender to the divine will and liberation from the idea of a separate self.”

(page 3 - Yoga Mala, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, North Point Press paperback edition, 2002)

This week has been a real struggle to find the time to get onto the mat.

My Mum has been visiting this week which is lovely but it does take up a lot of my energy. I’ve taken time off work to hang out with her and the I thought I’d have had plenty of time to practice. But then I came down with a cold.

As I’ve not been able to get round to my morning practice I’ve done a bit of chanting – (I’m studying The Yoga Sutra and learing to chant it in Sanskrit- which I love) and some pranayama. I’ve also been reading Prem’s book “The only way out is in” which desribes the 8 limbs of Ashtanga Yoga. I’ve been thinking particularly about the 5 Yamas and how I can apply them not only in my practice but also life. (More on these when I’m feeling like writing a longer post!)

It strikes me that I can practice Yoga when I’m not on the mat. But I hope to get back to the mat next week when I’m feelilng better.

I’ve been slacking a bit on the blogging front for a while…

No doubt the new relationship and thriving business are taking their toll.
Not having internet at home also means that I’m only online at work.
So there’s not much room for casual surfing of the net.

There’s been no shortage of blogging material either as it goes.
This weekend I did a 2 day Thai Yoga Massage workshop.
It was pretty full-on from 10am until 5pm for two days.

The workshop was led by Sonja who I met on a Yoga festival earlier this year. She’s been practicing TYM for 10 years. You can read more about her on her website: Lotus Yoga Massage.

I’ve had a few Thai Massages recently as I’ve been doing swaps with two masseurs for some web design and flyer design. I love receiving TYM (who wouldn’t?) and it was really exciting to learn how to give it. It was interesting to note that you’re actually doing yoga yourself while giving the massage. The emphasis was on the breath and working with gravity and your own body to perform the stretches on the receiver.

I probably got a bit carried away with my loud Ujjayi breathing when I got into the practice. I found the experience very meditative and I’m looking forward to practicing on friends and working with different bodies. I get so much out of bodywork which is why I love the mysore practice that we do mainly in silence (bar the odd grunt or groan)

I’m a bit behind the curve this week and there’s been so much going on.

The week started with Manju’s workshop here in Brighton. The workshop included a led primary pratice in the morning, a led 2nd series practice in the afternoon followed by pranayama, chanting and a Q&A session.

In the break there was also a demo by the London AcroYoga crew which was awesome. I did some AcroYoga at a recent yoga festival near Glastonbury, so I was keen to do a bit more “flying” which was pretty cool. AcroYoga is so much fun and is actually easier than it looks. There’s a workshop at BNHC in early September so be sure to check it out!

On Sunday I only did the afternoon sessions so if anyone has any comment on how they found the led primary lets hear it! Judging from the damp patches on the ceiling I’ll bet it was a good one!

The most interesting bit for me was the Q&A session and hearing Manju talk about Yoga and practice in general. He spoke about the need to relax, breathe and enjoy practice. He also said that if you don’t want to practice then don’t, saying that forcing yourself to practice asana is not yoga. My interpretation of this is that forcing yourself to practice can be regarded as himsa (harm) and we’re supposed to be practicing ahimsa (non-violence). Bringing awareness of how we are in the moment will determine what action would be harmful or not. Basically, chill out!

Manju also spoke about it being acceptable to mix asana from different series and have a more varied practice. Again my interpretation on this is that you need a sufficiently developed practice and relationship with your teacher to gain the most benefit.

Manju didn’t learn asana in any set series but started out copying his father when he was about 7 or 8 years old. His father then gave personal tuition to him and his sister. Most of us don’t have the advantage of learning yoga in this way. To me it really points again to the importance of the relationship between student and teacher which in Manju’s case was father and son too.

Manju also emphasised a balanced approach to practice. Asana is only one of the limbs of yoga. He said pranayama, chanting and scriptures should also be practiced these would then naturally lead to the development of the other limbs of yoga: Yama, Niyama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana leading ultimately to Samadhi.

Another interesting statement was “mantra is more powerful than asana.”

The question: “What should I eat after practice” which was met with the rather sensible “Your body will tell you”.

There was lots more that I can’t recall at the moment but in the interest of getting this blog up I’m going ot post now and add comment later as stuff comes to mind.

I also interviewed Manju this week and part of the interview will be available for download next week some time.

In the meantime here’s a couple of links to interviews that I read before I interviewed Manju:

Guy Donahaye interviewed Manju in NYC, March 2008

And another excellent interview by Richard Clark, Australia 2005 available as a PDF.

Namaste