Sweet Collaboration

As I posted several days ago, I'll be hosting our 2nd annual Ashtanga Yoga Retreat in Salento, Italy and collaborating with someone who I feel is a pioneer when it comes to the matters of the heart. I introduce you to, Sati Chmelar, or who many know as, Shannon Sati Rose Chmelar. A beautiful and stunning yogini from the inside out. I am beyond excited to work in conjunction with another woman who exudes such passion and enthusiasm with an open heart in all that she does. An inspiring woman indeed. I have to say, there aren't many out there like her and is one of the main reasons I jumped at the chance to work with her.

Join us for an exciting week this coming September! For more info scroll down below, or visit my website at www.larugayoga.com.

 For booking info contact, info@yogainsalento.com.

Shannon Rose Chmelar (Sati) is an American yoga teacher who teaches the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga system and various philosophical traditions including Classical Yoga, Vedanta, and Mahayana Buddhism. She is also a writer, massage therapist, and multi-media performance artist. Sati teaches in the United States, Europe, and Asia and is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. She is the Founder and Director of Vasudhaiva, an educational institute and retreat company dedicated to the study of classical Indian thought, Buddhism, and Yoga. In all of her work, she strives to illuminate how ancient wisdom teachings may help us overcome our daily struggles and cultivate a more compassionate existence.

To learn more about Sati:

Website: www.satiyogini.com

Vasudhaiva: www.vasudhaiva.com

Email: satiyogini@gmail.com

Sati also has a collection of insightful podcasts. Take a listen, click here.

Sati's blog:

www.satiyogini.wordpress.com

Richard Freeman Talks on Mula Bandha

Richard Freeman talks about the deeper, more subtle aspects of the elusive, mula bandha. 

Matthew Sweeney circa 1995

Photography and Yoga - Urban Yogis

Yoga Lesson with Eddie Stern

Learn To Float with David Robson

Govinda Kai Talks Ashtanga Yoga

David Robson, ONE Day Workshop, Saturday, Oct. 22!!!!

We are so happy to have David Robson back in Stockholm for a one day, jam packed, exhilarating workshop! He brings with him an amazing passion and insight for the practice of Ashtanga yoga. This is not to be missed! Personally, I feel he is one of the most talented and committed teachers of his generation in the world. To have built what he has in the Toronto yoga community is something that is never easy, and is a testament to his sincere vision and energy. However, don't take my word for it, experience for yourself. There will be something to be learned no matter what level in the practice you find yourself in. All levels welcome. 

Saturday, October 22, 2011 at Yogayama

Led Primary 9:00 - 11:00AM
Join David Robson for the Led Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga following the traditional Sanskrit count. All levels of practitioner are welcome to attend.

The Practice and Philosophy of Vinyasa
12:00 - 2:00PM
In Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, vinyasa means moving/breathing system. More specifically, it also refers to counted movements that are done in our practices. The vinyasa system, when followed correctly, makes the Astanga practice a moving meditations. This workshop will explore the philosophy and practice of vinyasa as it is traditionally taught in Ashtanga Yoga. It's open to all levels.

Arm-Balancing 3:00 - 5:00PM
In the Astanga practice there are many movements that require us to put all of our weight into our hands. Jump-backs, jump-throughs, and the particular vinyasa from certain poses are all moments of arm-balancing. This workshop will teach you the principles of alignment and technique that are common to all arm-balances, and will help you find more ease in the air. This workshop is open to practitioners of all levels.

Bio
David Robson lives in Toronto, Canada, with his wife, Stan, his daughter Mercedes, and son Holden. He is the co-owner and director of the Astanga Yoga Centre of Toronto, where he leads one of the world's largest Mysore programs. In 1998, while completing a degree in Comparative Religion, David began a daily yoga practice. He made his first trip to India in 2002, where he initiated studies with his teacher Sharath Jois. Since then, David has returned annually to deepen and enrich his practice and teaching. He is Level-2 Authorized by the Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute.

Website 
Blog

Peter Sanson

Embarrassingly, I've been really behind on my postings. There's been plenty to talk about, write about, complain about, whatever, but I just haven't had the focus or inclination to sit still long enough. Blah. Yeah, I've been nagging about this for sometime now. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record. Repeat. Repeat. At any rate, I might as well get some of you out there, that is, if you are STILL out there, an update on what I've been up too.

Granted it's early July, but let's rewind back to early May. When I had the pleasure of practicing with Peter Sanson, one of the few Certified Ashtanga yoga teachers, for the second time (pictured above). Can you believe he'll be 50 next year! Amazing. I won't go on and on with accolades, but truly, Peter Sanson is one of the best. Radically humble, unassuming, totally focused. It seems to me the better the teacher, the worse their online presence is! I was actually talking to a colleague about this. You just can't seem to find much about Peter online. He doesn't participate in marketing and all that, not that it's bad, but well, when you meet him you truly feel his heartfelt sincerity in regards to his time with Guruji and what it means, down to the very core, to do this practice daily. I just can't say it enough how essential he is to the greater Ashtangi community. The simplicity of his message speaks loud and clear. BREATHE. Relax. Let the breath and movement be your guide. Be aware of what arises in that. That is the practice. That's the yoga.

As a person he beams. He's grounded. He's just real. No airs at all. I think that is what makes him exemplary. He's just damn normal. Thank God! When you practice under his guidance it's ultimately about you, not him, and guiding you through the integrity of the practice in a way that softens the practitioner, not hardens. He has a real gift in that. It's all about quality, not quantity. Not how far, but how deep.

I had to jump at the chance to practice with him when the opportunity arose in that my practice life is solitary. Yes. I'm a home practitioner and have been for a LONG time. Working with an experienced practitioner/teacher such as Peter is invaluable. Simply being in the presence of it is enough.

Peter's stories in regards to his encounters with Guruji are truly special. Often he was the only Westerner practicing in the shala among a sprinkling of Indian practitioners. His life for over 20 years entailed of annual, extended trips to Mysore to practice with his teacher. It's an inspiring story, and one I don't want to spoil or taint with my own words. It's his story to share, and one worth hearing.

Thank you, Peter (though a little bit late!)

Lino Miele {Navasana}

Effortlessness.

Ashtanga Yoga Workshop with David Robson at Yogayama

Saturday, Sept. 11th 

Session 1: 10:00-12:30 

Learn to Float 

When breath and movement are in perfect unison, we achieve floating vinyasa. This workshop will look at ways to bring "floatiness" into your Sun Salutations, with a special emphasis on lifting and landing the jump-backs and jump-forwards. 

Session 2: 14.00-16.00 

Floating in the Primary Series 

The Primary Series (Yoga Chikitsa) detoxifies and aligns the body. David will lead you through the traditional Sanskrit count for the Primary Series with a special emphasis on floating in the vinyasa.

Sunday, Sept. 12 

Session 3: 10.00-12.00 

Pain-free Backbending 

Backbends don't have to hurt! Learn techniques and exercises that will help you safely deepen your backbends. 

Session 4: 14.00-16.00 

Intro to Intermediate 

Ashtanga's Intermediate Series is known as Nadi Shodana, or "nerve cleansing." In this workshop we will take a close look at the first half of the asanas and vinyasas from Intermediate series.

350 SEK per session

1100 SEK for the entire workshop

David Robson, is a phenomenal, highly devoted student/teacher in the practice of Ashtanga yoga, and one of the few who have built a Mysore program with over 80 students daily. Talk about dedication! Deepening his study of the practice, David has taken annual trips to the KPJ Ashtanga Yoga Institute, in Mysore, India, since 2002, and is Authorized to teach Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga from the source. David lives in Toronto, Canada with his family where he is director of the Ashtanga Yoga Centre of Toronto. Stockholm is extremely lucky to host a teacher of his caliber and sincerity. This is a workshop you won't want to miss.

For more information and for registration, visit www.yogayama.se

Ashtanga Yoga, Nicki Doane

Bless, Bless {Goodbye Iceland}

"Bless, bless." How Icelanders say goodbye.

Time moved by so quickly my last week in Iceland I didn't even get a chance to write all that I wanted to. Ahhh. It's crazy. The Midnight Sun! The financial crises! The recent election in Reykjavik! Pool etiquette. Baby carriages parked outside coffee shops with babies in them! Too much to write, too little time ... and most importantly, the wonderful students at Yoga Shala Reykjavik.

What a blur. Already back in Stockholm, I felt the past week pass at lightening speed. Lots to do. Getting settled. Cooking again. When the plane touched down in Arlanda International it honestly felt like coming home. A welcome surprise, for it's still a new place for me in many instances. Everything completely green and fresh. All the trees!!! It was like I had seen them for the first time in my life. Trees are the one thing Iceland does not have very much of. I was in sensory overload I tell you. Sensory overlooooad. The trees and greenery of Sweden during this time of year truly make it special.

I'll tell ya though, Iceland did a number on me in a good way. I don't even know how to explain it. Even my boyfriend has told me over and over again how it feels as if I've changed or shifted. It was a combination of many things. This is my sense. There's a current of energy that courses through Iceland like no other place I've been. I felt it then. I feel it now. One must step out of the environment to feel the affect. I know I'll go back. I'd love to see more of the country. Mystical. Mysterious. Alive with energy. There isn't quite anything like it. I know. I know. I've said this many times, but it's true! My experience there will continue to live in my heart for a long time to come.

The next day back in Stockholm I attended the very last day of the Peter Sanson Workshop at Yoga Shala, Stockholm. What a treat. Peter Sanson, certified by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and relatively unknown is many circles, and very known in others, is yoga teaching at it's very best. He doesn't seem to partake in marketing when it comes to teaching, and does it all in a sincere, quiet manner balanced with utmost attention and intensity. What a lovely human being. Truly humble, low-key, unassuming, and totally devoted. This is the energy I crave in a teacher.

Starting day one of his Ashtanga Yoga practice with Guruji, he has steadily continued keeping it real, by living it in his heart. You can't help but feel it. There's no sense of showiness. Nothing. I felt myself wishing I had more time to spend practicing under his guidance, however I was grateful to have the little bit of time I had. If you ever by chance hear his name, and he is hosted by a yoga studio nearby, run, don't walk, and register. This is authenticity at it's best. Nothing added. Nothing fancy. Real. Unprocessed. Totally pure. Absolutely lovely.

Somehow I've been inspired by the power and energy of Iceland. Subtle yet strong. Back home there is much to take in. Setting wheels into motion. Challenges are a foot, but it's all good. I am thankful for the offerings to learn and grow in every instance. It feels good to be in this place. It feels good to be back home with DF.

Bless, Bless.

AYCT

More on Practice

"A daily practice brings about a gauge in your life. For me, it’s been a way
to know who I am in the moment. And it’s the only thing in my life that
is something I do every day; it’s the same practice. So no matter what
else I’m doing—I’m traveling, if I eat differently—every day the practice
being the same repetitive practice gives me a way to judge myself in a
nonjudgmental way, a way of seeing. “How am I doing? How am I holding
up to the stresses of daily life?” It’s also the only time for me that I
can take my mind out of my daily life and become free in a spiritual
sense to investigate myself, my true Self."

(Nancy Gilgoff)


"My experience of practicing yoga now for about twenty-three years is
that it keeps me connected to a process that is life-giving, light-giving,
and health-giving. The rewards of yoga are tangible and immediate, and
especially in the beginning. Staying connected to the practice for me just
ensures that this evolutionary process continues to unfold itself in some
kind of organic way, creating greater health, greater wealth, greater possibility,
greater opportunity, greater things.

I think it’s very important for people to develop patience in the process.
Things may not come at quite the speed that people would like them to come and oftentimes people become attached to the physical progress in the poses, using that
as sort of yardstick to measure how well they’re doing in the practice. I
suppose everyone goes through that phase at some point, and maybe
some people never get out of that phase."

(Tim Miller)



"After ten years, one starts to get a bit of a grip with the mula bandha. After twenty years, I realized this was the real strength of yoga. Now that it has been more than thirty years, more than ever I realize the real strength of the yoga is in what’s invisible. I tell
people, “What’s invisible is what’s important.” The breathing and mula
bandha; the name and the form, namarupa, is maya; it’s an illusion. And
the people who give too much emphasis to the name and form miss the
real importance, which is the mula bandha and the breathing, the invisible
internal practice."

(David Williams)


"On Guruji’s first trip to America, his English was pretty pitiful. He explained as best as he could in English, but if he could see you weren’t holding mula bandha
correctly, he had no qualms whatsoever about reaching behind you and
just putting a little squeeze on the rectum. The reflex is to pull it tight
immediately, to tighten up. When teaching pranayama, he was very strict
about uddiyana bandha. He would have each person sit in front of him
and he would press in very hard on that section you need to hold very
tight to keep the air locked properly. People who don’t do pranayama
don’t understand the importance of uddiyana bandha a lot of times. It’s
locking up the energy so it goes to the right places. That and the chin
lock are very important, and using the three together is like playing the
piano and using the pedals. To make the music come out properly, it’s absolutely
vital that some degree of mastery be attained. And it’s hard during
asana because you are moving and shifting position. It’s much easier
when you are sitting in lotus. Like you were saying, kukkutasana would
be a great place to practice nauli because it’s challenging. So after learning
pranayama, control of the bandhas comes more easily during asana
practice and as you shift position [vinyasa]. Mula bandha is vital. That’s
one thing that separates ashtanga from most other systems. If you are
holding mula bandha properly and keep breathing, you can try to pick up
a piano. Either you will be able to pick it up or you won’t, but the likelihood
of hurting yourself is very slim. It’s a protective device; it prevents
hernia and all manner of displacement of organs. It’s vital. The system
wouldn’t work without it, and teachers who don’t concentrate on it are
not doing their students a favor. Their students will progress in spite of
the lack of knowledge, but it will be nothing like the pace they could
achieve if they had a little instruction. It’s the cornerstone of the practice,
really."

(Brad Ramsey)



Why Asana first?

"Asana? I think it is because he wants us to understand the physical effort
which gives us tenacity, willpower, in order to be able to develop discipline.
He inculcates discipline so that we understand that we should be
attentive to other people and practice the first two limbs. But you haveto
go through the physical to understand the two limbs which come before.
You have to be peaceful in your head, you can not go immediately to the
first two limbs. That’s why he makes us start with asanas."

(Brigitte Deroses)

"When you inhale, it works on the sympathetic nervous system. When
you exhale, it works on the parasympathetic nervous system. This is why
we have to bring it into balance all the time. All effort is initiated by
the sympathetic nervous system, while sleep or relaxation is more the
parasympathetic nervous system. Pranayama is how we control the nervous
system. When we inhale, you have to make an effort. Exhale is just
happening, you don’t need any effort. But to inhale deeply you need to
make an effort. When you make an effort everything becomes tense. If
you say “Inhale,” a person may screw up his eyes, raise the shoulders,
move the head up—it creates that action. In pranayama when we inhale,
we move the head down and look into the heart. You don’t raise the
shoulders. You just inhale peacefully. So you are breaking the pattern.
When you exhale you don’t fall into tamas, you keep the back straight.
Otherwise, you would naturally collapse the back on exhalation. When
you exhale, you engage mula bandha, you support the spine and avoid
falling into this heaviness [tamas]. In this way, you change the nervous
system, you gain mastery over it. And this is probably how Krishnamacharya
was able to stop his heart from beating."

(Tomas Zorzo)


"In a lot of schools of yoga, if it hurts you are doing
something wrong. And if you were a perfect physical and mental specimen
already, then I can see how that might be true. If you are altering
the status quo in an unpleasant way, you might want to stop if you were
already perfect. But if you feel growth coming from it, and see things
changing that need to be changed . . . the series is just a mold toward a
body that meets the requirements for spiritual advancement, I believe. I
don’t think you can get there without pain. I never met anybody who did.
For me, it hurt from the first day to the last, at least something. There’s
always something."

(Brad Ramsey)


"First, you keep your body strong. Life demands that you have to be strong
and healthy. Also, when the person starts to practice, they change their
habits in a healthy direction. At the psychological level, you start to develop
willpower, which is also necessary in life. When you practice every
day, you develop willpower. When you relax in the asanas, you are developing
the quality of relaxation in life. So the asana practice is giving you
strength and relaxation and also the possibility of reflection. You can see,
according to your state of mind, how the practice will be affected by what
you are eating. So the practice is a mirror. You can see many things. When
life is falling apart, you still have your practice: it brings you balance."

(Tomas Zorzo)


"Every Saturday would be neti day.
When I got there he was using his old neti string, a really old one, a piece
of bicycle valve tube, what we call surgical tubing, but black like bicycle
inner tubes are made out of, and one of his old Brahmin threads. He’d
double it and roll it on his leg and spiral it real tight, and it felt just like
sandpaper—it was, of course, linen. So every Saturday we lined up at his
little sink in the yoga shala and he would make some of the Indian people
come, too. If they were snorting in class or blowing their nose or
something, they’d have to come and they were the first in line. We always
got there as early as we could because the sink was just cold water. The
first time I went there this little Indian kid, I think his dad made him
come because he had a kind of asthmatic sound to his breathing, really
clogged up, and the kid was practically crying, “No, no,” and they were
rattling back and forth in Kannada and Guruji was like, “Hey, you get up
here!” and the kid is crying and screaming and Guruji says, “Open!” So
he puts the tube up the kid’s nose and reaches into his mouth to grab it,
and “Aargh!” throws up all over Guruji, who jumps back and starts yelling
at him. So he does the other side on the kid, and I’m next. “Oh, no, don’t
worry,” [says Guruji] and runs his hand over it like that [to clean off the
neti string]."

(Brad Ramsey)

(Extracted from, Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students, by Guy Donahaye, Eddie Stern)

Practice and Life

"The purpose of our spiritual life as human beings is to pass through the
difficulties that life brings us, and to allow these things to pass through
us without getting hooked—to become more like a witness to the events
without craving, just to be aware of them. That is the difficulty. Life is
just change, and maybe your wife passes away. To see Guruji’s wife pass
away was very interesting. He felt attachment toward his wife. And I remember
him telling me something in Sanskrit like, “Time is being eaten
by a rat, you have to accept that, everything has its expiration date.”
You have to accept that everything is changing, everything is passing
away. I remember Guruji crying and telling me that. “Yesterday Amma was
here. Today, is gone. Yesterday here . . .” And he was crying so strongly. He
was not pretending. He was in the middle of suffering this attachment to
his wife. He was not going to see her anymore, and he was suffering. And
at the same time, he surrendered himself completely to this suffering
and it was interesting to see how he recovered. He was smiling again one
month later. He was so happy. And he was not happy because his wife
was gone. He could express his love toward her but he could accept that
things were changing. That is detachment. You have to say goodbye to
things that are living. You cannot control that. Life is bringing you so
much, especially if you have a family. All the time things you want are
not coming, and things that you don’t want are coming. You see the attachment
and the aversion and desire and everything right there."

(Tomas Zorzo)

(Extracted from, Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students, by Guy Donahaye, Eddie Stern)

Guruji and the Depth of Practice

"I don’t think what he’s imparting can be said. But I think there’s nothing
else really worth talking about, because he is teaching a kind of openness
of the mind and the heart which is so stunning that, at least at times, you
don’t know what to say, you are awestruck and can’t put it into words.
That’s why there is such an art, I think, to teaching. Krishnamacharya
once made a comment to a friend of mine: yoga is not mechanical. I
think Guruji is always teaching that through a very formal system. You
have to follow the form very carefully, in fact you have to pour your being
into it with intensity to create tapas, internal heat. But then you have to
be completely not attached to it. And somewhere in that changeover,
where you are able to follow form precisely but then not identify with it,
the real yoga comes out."

Is it a spiritual practice?

"Yeah, I think it’s spiritual in the way most people use that word. You
could also say it’s beyond spiritual. If someone has a concept of spirituality,
this is much more interesting than anything they could imagine. But
it’s definitely a totally spiritual practice. However, if someone comes to it
and has no interest in what they believe spirituality to be, if they just take
up the practice for improving their health or fixing some biomechanical
problem in the body, it’ll prove effective but it will also put them in touch
with their core feelings. And just by touching those core feelings they
will start inquiring into what is real. They’ll start to ask: “Why am I suffering
all the time?” “What is true?” And so they’ve come to the right
place. And so yoga in a sense is like a fountain. People will go to it, for
many different reasons but because they’ve gone to the source they start
to get a taste for it, and they might not really understand why they like it
but they’ll keep coming back to the source and eventually they’ll just
jump right back in."

It is spiritual in the sense that the Atman, the soul, is revealed, but at the
same time there is a methodology as well, so is it somehow a fusion of those
two things?

"Exactly. If we say that what is of most interest to the open mind, to the
open heart, is beyond expression, beyond words, also therefore beyond
technique, our first reaction is “I won’t do anything.” But the fascinating
thing about practice is that what is manifesting as the body and the mind
is composed of strings and strings of techniques, and so yoga is actually
the art of using techniques with incredible skill and through that one
naturally arrives at a place where there is no technique anymore but freedom.
This is one of the major themes of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the
extremely illusive themes, that the truth is ultimately formless because it
generates all forms. How can it be approached? How can you realize it?
It’s actually through seeing forms with an open mind and allowing the
body and the mind to complete their natural tendencies to complete
their forms, and in that you release form." 

(Richard Freeman)

(Extracted from, Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students, by Guy Donahaye, Eddie Stern)

Guruji and the Practice

"You learn that there is a wisdom contained within the practice, if you are
paying attention. Learning to listen is key. The form of the practice and
the method of the practice contain a teaching. I believe that if you are
paying attention, if you can look below the surface and ask: Why do we
start where we start? What do we do first? What do we do next? How do
things link one-to-one through the sequence? There is something informative
that teaches you something. You learn how one pose will teach
you about another. You work from the outside to the inside. You are basically
working on clearing the way and clearing the physical blocks in the
body, which are related to clearing mental blocks in the mind.
Yoga philosophy teaches that what we are doing is uncovering, cleaning,
and Guruji said over and over again, if you listen, “This is not physical
practice, this is mental cleaning.” He talks about cleaning the nadis,
clearing the tubes that energy flows through. I really do feel—maybe this
is not unique to ashtanga yoga, maybe any yoga practice has the ability to
clear the way—but Guruji’s method does it so methodically, so systematically,
with the sequence set for us, and not relying on just doing postures
as you choose. This, I think, is really difficult. It’s hard not to fall into biases,
taking a practice where you just do whatever it is you want to do, or
what the teacher wants to do at that point in time. It’s hard not to fall
into tendencies for what your preferences might be, or for staying away
from things that you don’t like. You have a sequence that is set, and
whether you like it or not, you are going to do navasana and marichyasana
D, janu shirshasana C and supta kurmasana. There is something
about putting yourself up against that which challenges you in a way that
I don’t think you would challenge yourself normally.
I remember seeing poses in the first class I watched like janu shirshasana
C—I swore in this lifetime that I would never do that pose.
It just looked impossible to me. Kukkutasana I was convinced, literally,
never in this lifetime would I do that posture, and within a couple of
weeks I was doing it. It is a tremendous thing for a person to get, to realize,
that the things that we set as extreme limits for ourselves are just in
our mind, and we have to be careful of the limits that we impose on ourselves.
As human beings it’s amazing how prevalent this is in our society."

(Chuck Miller)

(Extracted from, Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students, by Guy Donahaye, Eddie Stern)

Guruji

"He’s like the whole orchestra. He doesn’t just have one way, he can find
a way for everyone. So he sees you and your spirit and the aspects of your
character that are competent and good and that may be lacking and
not so rounded, and he seems to be able to do that with everyone. He
doesn’t overcomplicate it, he keeps it really simple. There are three really
powerful techniques: the breathing method, coordinating the movement
with the breath; the drishti; and the squeezing, the bandhas. He doesn’t
get extremely technical, he doesn’t talk about anatomy, he doesn’t talk
about complicated energetic concepts. He keeps it incredibly simple. It
takes a brave person not to appeal to a person’s, particularly a Westerner’s,
need for information. You know, that kind of information, it’s incredibly
simple: “Breathe!” “You breathe!” “You do!” “No, no, no, don’t
think, you do!” And it’s so effective."

- Nick Evans

(Extracted from, Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students, by Guy Donahaye, Eddie Stern)

The Ashtanga Method

"Yoga is a scientifically based technology that gives us certain techniques
by which we can awaken or uncover our inherent spirituality. The idea is
that we are inherently spiritual but that there are perceptual blocks to
our realization of that. I look at yoga as a way of removing the obstacles
to a perception of our true essence.

It’s what Patanjali talks about in The Yoga Sutras: yoga, chitta vritti
nirodhah—yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of consciousness.
When that happens then: Tada drashthu svarupe avasthanam—then the
true nature of the seer, the inner being is revealed. So yoga is all about
techniques for removing the blocks to our true perception of ourselves.
It’s a scientific method for the realization of the fact that we are spiritual
beings. In that sense it’s obviously a spiritual practice."

"For me it’s been a long process of recognizing the value of the yamas
and the niyamas, the process of making yoga real in my life, how it affects
my relationships with other people, my relationship with myself.
You’re only on the mat for, at best, a couple of hours a day. What are you
doing the rest of the time? You can’t practice yoga for two hours and then
go out and act like a jerk the rest of the time. I mean, I suppose you
could and people do, but I can’t see the point in that. Ultimately, one
needs to—especially if one’s a teacher—one needs to set some sort of
example."

(Tim Miller)

(Extracted from, Guruji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Through the Eyes of His Students, by Guy Donahaye, Eddie Stern)