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| Commentary by Eknath Easwaran |
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Know the Self as Lord of the chariot, the body as the chariot itself, the discriminating intellect as the charioteer, and the mind as the reins. The senses, say the wise, are the horses, selfish desires are the roads they travel.
– Katha Upanishad
The Upanishads say that your body is like a chariot drawn by five powerful horses, the five senses. These horses travel not so much through space as through time. They gallop from birth towards death, pursuing the objects of their desire. The discriminating intellect is the charioteer, whose job it is not to drive you over a cliff. The reins he holds are the mind – your thoughts, emotions, and desires.
This image is packed with implications. For one, the job of the intellect is to see clearly. The job of the mind is to act as reins. When everything is working in harmony, our highest Self makes all the decisions. The intellect conveys these decisions to the mind, and the senses obey the mind. But when the senses are uncontrolled, they immediately take the road they like best: personal satisfactions, mostly pleasure. Then we are not making the decisions; the horses are.
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click here for more Thought for the Day
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Dear Friends,
As yoga becomes more integrated into pop culture, images of people doing asana can be found in cartoons, on tv shows and tv commercials, even in the New Yorker magazine. Its easy to understand why people think of yoga as a primarily physical practice rather than a primarily spiritual practice.
Yoga is the world's oldest holistic system of self-development concerned with integrating body, mind and spirit. The science of yoga began its development in India over 5,000 years ago. As it is practiced today, yoga is in danger of being cut away from its roots as it continues to evolve into a contemporary mind / body health and wellness system that emphasizes physical practices over the other philosophical and spiritual ones. There are people practicing yoga today, even yoga teachers, who know very little about the historical and cultural influences that created this amazing system. Can you benefit from yoga anyway? Well, yes. However, context can provide guidance for experiences that occur during asana practice, in particular emotion and energy releases.
The Thought for the Day describes a yoga philosophy beyond the physical body, to the five koshas and the five senses. We are reminded that we are not just this body, but all five bodies. Wherever we go, five bodies go with us:
* Annamayakosha - physical body
* Pranamayakosha - pranic, energy body
* Manomayakosha - psycho-emotional body
* Vijnanamayakosha - wisdom body
* Anandamayakosha - beyond the bodies
The yoga message from Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati provides a wonderful context for understanding what yoga is and how it can help us to become better human beings. (more below)
Please check out the kirtan offerings listed below. If you've never tried it, I encourage you to do so. It's fun and uplifting.
If you listen to NPR, you may have heard some of the "This I Believe" segments. I was moved to tears when I heard the one by Muhammad Ali. I've included the link below.
I'll be travelling a few times during the next few months to visit with family and present some workshops for yoga teachers. Last month I presented a workshop in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Never been there before and I had a wonderful time. Soon there will be more adaptive yoga classes for people who have multiple sclerosis and health challenges. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is fund raising this month. I hope that you will support your local chapter. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is a major donor for research initiatives that will one day find a cure for MS. www.nationalmssociety.org
Blessings for a wonderful spring. Peace and love, Karen
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| Satsang at Rocklyn Ashram, Australia, April 1995 |
| by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati |
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I would like to mention some things in relation to our practice, our understanding and our approach to yoga. We believe that yoga is a set of practices, confined to asana, pranayama, mudra, bandha, shatkarmas, and techniques of meditation. Apart from these practical aspects, the rest of yoga is purely philosophical, whether bhakti yoga, karma yoga, jnana yoga or any other form of yoga. We tend to start mental analysis of these different yogas. If karma yoga says this, how can I, with my present mentality and understanding, incorporate it? If bhakti yoga means this, then how can I, in my present environment, try to understand it? We fail to observe one very important point.
Yoga is not a philosophy, nor is it a practice. There is a part of yoga which is practice, but the other aspects of yoga only give us the message to think and live properly and get our act together.
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click here to read the whole article
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New session begins next week:
Mondays, 11 - 12 p.m.
Adaptive Yoga for MS
Independence Physical Therapy, Mystic, CT
Tuesdays, 5 - 6:15 p.m.
Gentle Yoga for Every Body
St. James Church, Preston, CT
Wednesday classes are cancelled for May 6th. These classes will be made up at the end of the session.
All other classes are still in session.
Summer Session begins July 6, 2009: Please let me know if you would be interested in summer classes on Mondays or Wednesday evenings. I will be offering classes on one of those nights, depending on interest.
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click here for current class schedule information
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| Resurrecting the Self: A Journey Through the Chakras |
| A workshop for students of all levels |
Saturday, May 9, 2009
1 - 5 p.m.
This workshop is an opportunity to deepen your yoga practice and experience the transformative work of self-discovery and personal growth as we journey through the chakras using postures, breathwork, chanting, visualization, affirmation and meditation. Students are invited to bring a journal and water. Dress in layers.
Learn how your biography relates to your biology, how we manifest our destiny with and without intention, and how to create change through self-knowledge.
Special price $45 paid by 5/3, $54 at the door.
Location: St. James Church, 95 Route 2A, Preston, CT 06365
Contact: yogahealsus@yahoo.com or 860.204.0797
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| Workshops for Yoga Teachers Schedule |
Pensacola, Florida
Sunday, May 24, 2009
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Beyond Asana: Koshas, Chakras and Mudras
Hosted by Breathe Yoga Studio
Location: 503 Adams Street, Pensacola, FL
Information: http://www.yogahealsus.com/workshops.html
Birmingham, Alabama
Friday, May 29 - Saturday, May 30, 2009
8:30 a.m - 5:30 p.m., 8 a.m. -4p.m.
Teaching Adaptive Yoga for Multiple Sclerosis
Hosted by the Alabama Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Location: Lakeshore Foundation, 4000 Ridgeway Drive, Birmingham, AL
Information: http://www.yogahealsus.com/TAYMSAL.html
Southlake, Texas (Dallas / Fort Worth)
Friday, June 26 - Saturday, June 27, 2009
9 a.m. - 6 pm., 11 a.m - 6 p.m.
Teaching Adaptive Yoga for Multiple Sclerosis
Hosted by Divine Yoga Center
Location: 3280 W. Southlake Boulevard, Southlake, TX
Information: http://www.yogahealsus.com/TAYMSSTX.html
Southlake, Texas (Dallas / Fort Worth)
Sunday, June 28, 2009
9 a.m. - 3 pm.
Yoga Therapy in Practice: A Multi-dimensional Approach to Therapeutic and Adaptive Yoga
Hosted by Divine Yoga Center
Location: 3280 W. Southlake Boulevard, Southlake, TX
Information: http://www.divineyogacenter.com/events.htm#yogatherapy
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click here for more information
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Bhakti yoga - the yoga of devotion. Chanting and kirtan (call and response form of chanting) is heart opening and transformative. We are blessed to have kirtan being offered locally and close by.
Here's where to find it:
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.
Washington Depot, CT
Snatam Kaur, GuruGanesh & Manish Vyas (www.snatamkaur.com)
Contact: 860.482.9076
$30 advance, $35 door. Premier seating $45, $50 door
Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 7 p.m.
The Dragon's Egg, 401 Shewville Road, Ledyard, CT
Shymdas, Kirtan Walla
Information: http://www.mysticpaperbeasts.org/
First Sundays at 5 p.m. (cancelled 5/3, resumes 6/7)
The Dragon's Egg, 401 Shewville Road, Ledyard, CT
Barbara McKenzie, Kirtan Walla
"This past Sunday evening at 5PM I went to a fabulous Kirtan at the
Dragons Egg! I don't know if you know about this one. It is lead by
Barbara McKenzie (also works at P&G) who plays the harmonium. A
good percussionist was also there. B's voice and style was just
amaziing. I thought to myself, we have our own Krishna Das right here!" Deirdre
Second Sundays at 6:30 p.m
Blissworks Yoga & Healing Arts, 328 State Street, New London, CT
Mason Lucas will be playing and singing a mixture of sacred music
drawing from the traditions of India/Nepal and the Amazon/Andes on
sitar and classical guitar. He will be accompanied by Anna Lucas
(Vocals/Sruti Box) and Jason Curland (Percussion). Attendees are invited to join in singing. All are welcome to this don-denominational celebration.
Information: http://www.blissworksyoga.org/event/5/86
700 Voices Sacred Music Festival Campout
July 10 - 13, 2009
A celebration of Peace through Yoga for the entire family.
Hosted by the World Peace Prayer Society
Location: The World Peace Sanctuary, 26 Benton Road, Wassaic, New York 12592
Special guests include: Wah! and Durga Das,
Information: http://bretduback.com/HOMEPAGE.php
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click here to read what Krishna Das says about chanting
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| A This I Believe Essay by Muhammad Ali |
I have always believed in myself, even as a young child growing up
in Louisville, Ky. My parents instilled a sense of pride and confidence
in me, and taught me and my brother that we could be the best at
anything. I must have believed them, because I remember being the
neighborhood marble champion and challenging my neighborhood buddies to
see who could jump the tallest hedges or run a foot race the length of
the block. Of course I knew when I made the challenge that I would win.
I never even thought of losing.
In high school, I boasted weekly — if not daily — that one day I was going to be the heavyweight champion of the world.
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click here to read or listen to Ali's moving essay
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Yes, You Can Yoga!
Stretching,
toning and relaxation in a special exercise program led by yoga teacher
Karen O'Donnell Clarke, a person with multiple sclerosis, to benefit
people living with multiple sclerosis. All of the participants in this
video have Multiple Sclerosis. VHS Format. Program length: 50 minutes
Produced by the MS Awareness Foundation
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click here to shop
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Karen O'Donnell Clarke
860.204.0797
yogahealsus@yahoo.com
www.yogahealsus.com
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Contents
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Kripalu YT1195
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Got plans to go to Kripalu this summer? Please give the reservationist my KYTA referral number - YT1195.
Thinking
about going to Kripalu but you'd like to have a familar face there
too? I'll be going to Kripalu from September 5 - 17, 2009 for
Integrative Yoga Therapy, Module 2. If you are planning to visit
Kripalu during those dates, 9/5 - 9/17, you can join my group, Yoga
Heals Us, and save 20% on your dorm or standard room. You can attend
almost any program during the group dates and save. I will be happy to
give you a tour of Kripalu and show you some of my favorite spots. If
you are interested in joining my group, please send me an email at
yogahealsus@yahoo.com so that I can give you more information.
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Frog and Lotus photo by Karen
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