MahaMondo

For the Love of Led Primary : Bobbi Jo

The Confluence Countdown as I have mentioned previously is a daliy read for me.

Bobbi Jo & Steve are co-practitioners at Omkar108 YogaShala & I regard them as fellow-travellers on the road of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga.

Bobbi Jo is a teacher , and I find her recent post entitled '" For the Love of Led Primary " genuine , authentic & traditional .And I did happen to be in attendance at last Friday AM's Led Class which inspired her .

Where most bloggers are focusing on the lower rungs of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga  ( Ekam , Dwi ,Trini , I still can't bind in Marichi , hehe ), ( or just being an airhead about them ; see previous post from Elephant Journal ) , this entry uses the magic word " transformative ".

" I still look back on that time as precious. I learned something every single class, and each thing I learned was transformative. I remember the day I learned ujjayi breathing. I remember the class I learned to follow it rather than have it follow me. I remember finding mula bandha by pressing down my big toes, the class I learned to push into my head in prasarita, and the day I learned the opening prayer (my teachers said it along with us–including Tim). All of these things were because of encouragement that came from a led class.

The most important thing I learned from all those led classes was that beat. My first Ashtanga teacher told me there is an exact number of breaths in the Primary. Every practice has the potential to have the same number of inhales, exhales. The breath is time. The time is the string that holds the beads of the poses together. Beautiful. "

This is what traditional vinyasa yoga is about , the " Work-in " vs. the " Work-out ". More on that in a succeeding post. Working in towards the Ashta of Ashtanga Yoga :  Samadhi / Bhakti Yoga .

Elephant Journal : Top 10 Reasons Why Ashtanga Yoga Is The Hardest Yoga Practice

While browsing 99% Practice 1% Theory on Tumblr , I came across a link to the above list from a feature in Elephant Journal.

You can read it in its full entirety & unintentional hilarity via this link :

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/10/top-10-reasons-why-ashtanga-is-the-hardest-yoga-practice--karmela-lejarde/

My favorite 2 reasons from the list are , " The freakishly long  chant " & " The length of the series ". Yup , all a yoga blogger needs nowadays is a yoga mat as cred to spout their knowledge ( or apparent lack ) of the 8 limbs of Ashtanga Yoga. And the use of the words "awesome " & "freakish " in any yoga blog are so enlightening & spot on , hehe.

This EJ article ranks up there with that other illuminating feature from them entitled " Bhakti Yoga Gets You High ".

Now you know why Guruji is smiling ( or cringing ) in the pic on the left.

Ashtanga Yoga App : Michael Gannon

I finally caved in & got an iPhone 4s after being a Blackberry loyalist for the longest time. It must have been those consecutive series of outages that tipped me over when I was in Vancouver.

One of my biggest hesitations about switching over to an iPhone was the facility of typing emails on the B'berry.Turned out to be not such a big deal with the 4s as the keyboard is quickly mastered , just like a smaller version of my iPad 2.

And there's Siri , the virtual assistant , who takes dictation for emails & texts easily , sometimes with very amusing results. No comparison to my for-real-life-assistant at work though , hehe.

The camera res is incredible & the browsing & playback speed for YouTube vids are great. I have bookmarked Kino MacGregor & Jock Estonia's as favorites to reference for the Primary Series.

And I just downloaded Michael Gannon's Ashtanga Yoga app as a companion to my self-practice when I am on the road or can't get to class.

It is pretty well narrated ( focus on appropriate drishti , etc. ) & illustrated. I use the term "illustrated" as I was expecting Michael to actually film segments of the series on the app ; in lieu of that we have static images of him illustrating & guiding us through the various asana & vinyasa.

Since the app cost of $ 2.99 won't break anyone's budget ( it is def cheaper or as my grandparents would phrase it , "more reasonable " than a drop-in class or series ) ; I am not going to complain about the lack of motion. 

If I do want to see ( & learn ) fluid asana & vinyasa though , there are my bookmarked ( & free of charge ) YouTube vids from Kino & Jocke. Hari Om Tat Sat.

Bhakti Yoga : Damodar Astaka

Damodar Astaka , as sung here by Shabda Hari Das, is a beautiful prayer that is sung everyday during the month of Karthika ( Oct - Nov ) . It is accompanied by the lighting & offering lamps to the Lord. These 8 verses describe the unique pastimes of Lord Damodara.

In.gredients Austin : Packaging Free & Zero Waste

I've previously posted that one of my biggest pet peeves is the preponderance of wasteful & unnecessary consumer packaging . 

The Nov. issue of Monocle mentions that it accounts for a majority  of the world's unrecyclable waste. Is the Eco-tote just a band-aid on this gaping ,open sore ?

In.gredients Austin , opening this Fall 2012 , will be the 1st package free and zero waste grocery store in the United States. Jai ! Build them & we will come -

Here's the link to the rest of the article from the Austin Business Journal :

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/print-edition/2011/09/23/grocer-bans-packaged-products.html?page=all

That's one of the founders , Christian Lane in the image above. Their mission mantras are :

Organic & natural , local & community , reduce , reuse THEN recycle -

 

Ashtanga Yoga Vancouver : Afternoon Mysore

Flying into a rainy Vancouver last Tuesday evening was almost a relief after being in an almost winter-like Calgary the previous day.

I got to thaw out & sweat at Geoff & Jane's Thursday afternoon Mysore class @  Ashtanga Yoga Vancouver in Kitsilano.

Geoff asked me how my practice was going since I had last seen him in June. My response was that because of my travel / work schedule , I wasn't really able to practice on a daily basis.

The best I could do to attend class with my teacher would be on weekends ( and not at all if I am on SEVA duty for Maharaja ). His advice to me was to at least do Surya Namaskars A & B in the mornings ; which I will endeavor to carry out.

I'm glad I dropped in that afternoon as Geoff will be heading to India for 3 months.

Since it was Diwali week , I got to try out Vijs Rangoli , also in Kitsilano , which clients in Calgary had been raving about. And the thing to do on a rainy fall afternoon in Vancouver is to head to Thomas Haas by Point Gray for the best hot chocolate in North America.

I am also very humbled that Gurudev , Maharaja , expressed how pleased he was by my sponsorship of the Govardhan Puja feast last Sunday on his behalf. So pleased , that he had it posted on his website . Ki Jaya !