YOGA SUTRAS TO RECITE AND REFLECT UPON:
* 1.1 atha yogaanushaasanam
* 1.2 yogashchittavrittinirodhaH
* 1.3 tadaa drashhtuh svaruupe.avasthaanam
* 1.4 vrittisaaruupyam itaratra
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1.1 Now, the teachings of Yoga.
atha yogaanushaasanam
1.2 Yoga is to still the patterning of consciousness.
yogashchittavrittinirodhaH
1.3 Then pure awareness can abide in its very nature.
tadaa drashhtuh svaruupe.avasthaanam
1.4 Otherwise awareness takes itself to be the patterns of consciousness.
vrittisaaruupyam itaratra
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[Note from Alan: Here is a brief article on the "Yamas" that someone wrote for Wikipedia. To the best of my knowledge, it is very accurate. Note that although the Yoga Sutras list only 5 Yamas (which we reviewed in class), other Yoga texts list 10. The Wikipedia essay below deals with both sets of lists of the Yamas.]
Yamas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A yama (Sanskrit), literally a "restraint", is a rule or code of conduct for living virtuously. The yamas comprise the "shall-nots" in our dealings with the external world.
Ten Yamas are codified as "the restraints" in numerous scriptures including the Shandilya and Varaha Upanishads, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Gorakshanatha, and the Tirumantiram of Tirumular. Patañjali lists only five yamas in his Yoga Sutras.
Ten Traditional yamas
The ten traditional yamas are:
Ahimsa: Nonviolence. Abstinence from injury, harmlessness, the not causing of pain to any living creature in thought, word, or deed at any time. This is the "main" yama. The other nine are there in support of its accomplishment.
Satya: truthfulness, word and thought in conformity with the facts.
Asteya: non-stealing, non-coveting, non-entering into debt.
Brahmacharya: divine conduct, continence, celibate when single, faithful when married.
Kshama: patience, releasing time, functioning in the now.
Dhriti: steadfastness, overcoming non-perseverance, fear, and indecision; seeing each task through to completion.
Daya: compassion; conquering callous, cruel and insensitive feelings toward all beings.
Arjava: honesty, straightforwardness, renouncing deception and wrongdoing.
Mitahara: moderate appetite, neither eating too much nor to little; nor consuming meat, fish, shellfish, fowl or eggs.
Shaucha: purity, avoidance of impurity in body, mind and speech. (Note: Patanjali's Yoga Sutras list Shaucha as the first of the Niyamas.)
***Five yamas of Patañjali
In the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, the yamas are the first limb of the eight limbs of Raja Yoga.
They are found in the Sadhana Pada Verse 30 as:
Ahimsa
Satya
Asteya
Brahmacharya
Aparigraha: absence of avariciousness, non-appropriation of things not one's own.
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GOALS FOR OUR TEACHER TRAINING
1) To become proficient in both the performance and instruction of 30 basic asanas. You should also know the Sanskrit names of each one, even if you do not use them with your students. You should be able to show your students the modifications for each pose, and also discuss with them the anatomy of each pose, the benefits and the contra-indications.
2) To have a basic, working knowledge of the traditional yoga system, namely the 8 limbs (Ashtanga) and the purpose of each limb. Tomorrow we will review the 8 limbs together, and discuss what we need to do individually in regard to achieving some mastery of each limb.
As far as I am concerned, a good yoga class will attempt to incorporate all 8 limbs into it. For example, we will start with the very first principle, Ahimsa, and have the intention of doing no harm to ourselves in our asana practice. Then, we will practice the asanas, and from there move on to pranayama (breathwork), to be followed by sense-withdrawal (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and hopefully, absorption (samadhi). You will be taking a more therapeutic approach in our course, but as one of my teachers, David Frawley says, physical therapy can be aided greatly by the upper limbs of deep relaxation, concentration, and meditation. We'll talk about this.
3) You will submit to me an essay every other week on what you have been reading, what you found most helpful/useful from your reading, and how you will use that in what you do. Also, include any personal epiphanies, if you don't mind sharing that. If you want me to give you a more structured reading list, I can, but I thought I would leave it up to you to read what you feel you need most at any given time. I'll let you know what you absolutely must read.
4) I would like you to become more proficient in the poses that are not so easy for you. For instance, the wheel pose. That is not to say that you will necessarily master that pose, just that you will work on it and gain a little bit more ease with it.
5) I would like us all to be reading the Yoga Sutras together, and I will tell you the verses that are essential that you know.
We'll have a test each month of the program. The test will be both oral and written. The oral section will involve leading the rest of us through a short class, not imitating what I do necessarily, but hopefully drawing from your own knowledge and experience to create something original. I will also ask you certain things to check your pronunciation, etc. The written part will be partly essay, and partly short answer. It will be based solely on what we have reviewed to that point.
As part of the goal of yoga is to become self-disciplined and self-reliant, I hesitate to impose too much structure on you.I would like you to both be un-pressured and exercise your creativity as much as possible. Basically my feeling is: Find your bliss (what interests you most, what you are most curious about) and go into that. You might find anatomy most intriguing, so that will be what you focus on, and then that will lead you into other avenues. So, I give you free reign to explore... I do want you to learn certain fundamentals, but I will let you know what those are. The first month, I want you to learn the 30 basic poses, their Sanskrit names, and I also want you to learn the 8 limbs in Sanskrit and English and be able to explain them. Finally, I want you to know 5 verses from the yoga sutras and their meanings. We'll go over all of this together.
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SunShine State Yoga Academy -- CORE PRINCIPLES
3~' Namaste -- I bow to the light of consciousness within you, which also resides within my Heart/
3~' Now see that Light in everyone and everything.
3~' "If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there" -- Yogi Berra
3~' Harmony and Balance in all things ("The truth is somewhere in between.")
3~' "Nothing to do, nowhere to go" -- just Be Here Now
3~' Daily Practice -- "A little bit each day goes a long way."
3~' Be a disciple of Discipline.
3~' "No pain, no strain."
3~' That said, pain can be our greatest teacher (understand the importance of paradox)
3~' Let Go and Let God/Goddess/Godessence...
3~' K.I.S.S.
3~' "We believe that children are our future..."
3~' Whoever said "humor is the best medicine" was probably pretty enlightened (can u levitate w/out levity?)
3~' Our version of Hot Yoga: Train outside in the Florida heat! ("Asauna Yoga")
3~' "If life were perfect, it wouldn't be." (If you were perfect, you wouldn't Be) -- Yogi Berra
3~' A basic meditation practice: Be silent and listen
(put another way: "Siddown and shuddup" )
3~' "It's never too late to do nothing at all." (Allen Ginsberg)
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30 ++ YOGA POSES (YOGAASANAS) WE WILL FOCUS ON:
cat/cow
tadasana - mountain
shavasana - corpse/deep relaxation
balasana - child's
halasana - plow
surya namaskar -- sun salutation
urdhva mukha svanasana -- updog
adho mukha svanasana -- downdog
shirshasana - headstand
janu shirshasana -- forward bend
uttanasana -- standing forward bend
navasana -- boat pose
natarajasana -- dancer
sarvangasana -- shoulder stand
padmasana - lotus
virasana -- hero's pose
vajrasana -- thunderbolt
bhujangasana -- cobra
vrkshasana -- tree
prasarita padotanasana
dhanurasana -- bow pose
urdhva dhanurasana -- upward bow/wheel
pavana muktasana -- wind-relieving pose
badha konasana -- "butterfly"
malasana -- squat
chaturanga -- low push-up
virabhadrasana -- warrior poses
kapotasana - pigeon
supta-madhyasana -- lying down twist
marichyasana -- pose of the sage Marichi
dolphin -- shishulasana/shimshumarasana
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Here are some chants that I would also ask that you learn for our course. We will chant them again tomorrow.
OM, Alan
Asatoma Sadgamaya
Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya
Mrtyorma Amrtamgamaya
O Divine within and without...
Please lead us from Untruth to Truth
'' " from Darkness to Light
and from Death to Immortality
Lokah Samastah Sukhinoh Bhavantu!
May everyone, everywhere, be happy!
Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi!
Peace and Blessings to All!
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Yoga Quotes
Yoga is a way to freedom. By its constant practice, we can free ourselves from fear, anguish and loneliness.
Indra Devi
Yoga is an art and science of living.
Indra Devi
Yoga means union, in all its significances and dimensions.
Indra Devi
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SOME YOGI BERRA QUOTES/KOANS TO PONDER....
"Shut up and talk. "
"Think! How the hell are you gonna think and hit at the same time?"
"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."
"If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else."
"Do you mean now?" -- When asked for the time.
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it."
"Yeah, but we're making great time!" -- In reply to "Hey Yogi, I think we're lost.
"If you ask me a question I don't know, I'm not going to answer. "
"It's not too far, it just seems like it is. "
"If you don't set goals, you can't regret not reaching them. "
"I don't know, I'm not in shape yet." (When asked what size cap he wanted.)
"You can observe a lot just by watching."
(apocryphal) "Just because it never happened doesn't mean it ain't true."
"If life were perfect, it wouldn't be."
"I really didn't say everything I said."
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[NOTE: THIS PIECE IS FROM YOGA ALLIANCE]
Give yoga a try and discover what it can do for body and mind.
A central premise in yoga is “everything is connected.” That’s clear when looking at the health and fitness benefits of yoga that have long been reported by practitioners and are now being confirmed by scientific research.
1. STRESS RELIEF: Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body by encouraging relaxation and lowering the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. Related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the immune system, as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma and insomnia.
2. PAIN RELIEF: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing Yoga asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as well as arthritis, back and neck pain and other chronic conditions.
3. BETTER BREATHING: Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function and trigger the body’s relaxation response.
4. FLEXIBILITY: Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains.
5. INCREASED STRENGTH: Yoga asanas (postures) use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe. Yoga also helps to relieve muscular tension.
6. WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: Yoga (even less vigorous styles) can aid weight control efforts by reducing the cortisol levels, as well as by burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well being and
self-esteem.
7. IMPROVED CIRCULATION: Yoga helps to improve circulation and, as a result of various poses, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.
8. CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING: Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardiovascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.
9. BETTER BODY ALIGNMENT: Yoga helps to improve body alignment, resulting in better posture and helping to relieve back, neck, joint and muscle problems.
10. FOCUS ON THE PRESENT: Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware and to help create mind body health. It opens the way to improved coordination, reaction time and memory.
For more information, please visit www.yogaalliance.org and www.yogadayusa.org.
