http://www.yogabeans.com/
Taught by Nero to Enterprise crew members.
Students who are attending the Art of Teaching class on January 16 should go to the website and study the classes, especially the GI Joe Sigma 6 Force class on Parsvakonasana.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Swami Satyananda Mahasamadhi Dec 5
Swami Satyananda Saraswati passed away on December 5, 2009. He was the founder of the Bihar School of Yoga of Munger, India. The Bihar School has published many books about the practical and philosophical aspects of yoga and conducted medical research about the benefits of yoga. Swami Shankardevananda, who visited Yoga East and taught a workshop in 2003, was a student of Swami Satyananda. Swami Satyananda's teachings have been influential on the modern development of yoga. For more information about Swami Satyananda and his life and work, see the link below.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Group Workshop Excursions?
Jim suggested organizing a Yoga East group to go to yoga workshops here in the US since many students are not able to go to Mysore. Amanda went to TX for David Swenson and Nancy and Marcia went to Toronto for Sharath. It needs to be planned several months in advance to let people get it on their calendar, figure out airfares, etc. Suggestions anyone? I noticed that David Swenson will be in Cincinnati in May. Manju Jois will be in Fla in March. Many Ashtanga workshops with certified teachers are listed on Ashtanga.com.
Hymn from Gandhi's Ashram
O Thou, dweller in my heart.
Open it out, purify it,
make it bright and beautiful,
awaken it, prepare it, make it fearless,
make it a blessing to others,
rid it of laziness, free it from doubt,
unite it with all, destroy its bondage.
Let thy peaceful music pervade all its works.
Make my heart fixed on thy holy feet,
and make it full of joy,
full of joy,
full of joy.
Believe in Love (2000 South Fallsburg, NY) Now out of print.
Open it out, purify it,
make it bright and beautiful,
awaken it, prepare it, make it fearless,
make it a blessing to others,
rid it of laziness, free it from doubt,
unite it with all, destroy its bondage.
Let thy peaceful music pervade all its works.
Make my heart fixed on thy holy feet,
and make it full of joy,
full of joy,
full of joy.
Believe in Love (2000 South Fallsburg, NY) Now out of print.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Saturday Ashtanga classes
Several students have asked us to continue the Saturday Ashtanga class.
There were three reasons for cancelling it: (1) Sharath, who is now the Director of the KPJ Ashtanga Yoga Institute, directed those of us who are the authorized teachers to stop having Ashtanga classes on Saturday. Saturday is a nontraditional day and considered inauspicious for yoga practice and many other other activities. I kept the class anyway because this is Kentucky, not India, and many students want to attend on Saturday due to being off work. (2)Unfortunately the class was poorly-attended. On Nov 28 - the last day of class - 11 students came. Until that day, no more than 6 students ever attended the class, and usually fewer. Only 1 student came on November 14. (3) That kind of attendance is very discouraging, and after the Nov 14 class, Tom asked me to take it off the schedule.
We have a limited budget to pay teachers for classes. We need to pay teachers to teach classes where we have the greatest need. Very few Ashtanga studios in the world offer both morning Mysore and evening led classes. It takes a great deal of effort just to offer morning Mysore classes, and except for the Saturday Hatha Yoga class at Holiday Manor (usually 35 students), Mysore classes are our largest and most consistently-attended classes (25-30 students every day).
We need to have some classes on the schedule, even if they're not well-attended, like prenatal yoga, which serve a specific need. However, when we have 11 Ashtanga classes 6 other days of the week, any other Ashtanga class we add has got to be well-supported by students. This also applies to the afternooon and evening Ashtanga classes. I recently moved the Monday and Wednesday classes to Holiday Manor and added back a Friday afternoon class in hopes of boosting more regular Ashtanga attendance. If they fail to draw consistent support from students, I'll have to take them off the schedule at the end of February. I hope that students will attend these classes on a regular basis. Regular practice is the most important feature of Ashtanga yoga. It's not how many poses you get or how deeply you can go - maintaining a consistent practice gives you the benefits of Ashtanga.
There were three reasons for cancelling it: (1) Sharath, who is now the Director of the KPJ Ashtanga Yoga Institute, directed those of us who are the authorized teachers to stop having Ashtanga classes on Saturday. Saturday is a nontraditional day and considered inauspicious for yoga practice and many other other activities. I kept the class anyway because this is Kentucky, not India, and many students want to attend on Saturday due to being off work. (2)Unfortunately the class was poorly-attended. On Nov 28 - the last day of class - 11 students came. Until that day, no more than 6 students ever attended the class, and usually fewer. Only 1 student came on November 14. (3) That kind of attendance is very discouraging, and after the Nov 14 class, Tom asked me to take it off the schedule.
We have a limited budget to pay teachers for classes. We need to pay teachers to teach classes where we have the greatest need. Very few Ashtanga studios in the world offer both morning Mysore and evening led classes. It takes a great deal of effort just to offer morning Mysore classes, and except for the Saturday Hatha Yoga class at Holiday Manor (usually 35 students), Mysore classes are our largest and most consistently-attended classes (25-30 students every day).
We need to have some classes on the schedule, even if they're not well-attended, like prenatal yoga, which serve a specific need. However, when we have 11 Ashtanga classes 6 other days of the week, any other Ashtanga class we add has got to be well-supported by students. This also applies to the afternooon and evening Ashtanga classes. I recently moved the Monday and Wednesday classes to Holiday Manor and added back a Friday afternoon class in hopes of boosting more regular Ashtanga attendance. If they fail to draw consistent support from students, I'll have to take them off the schedule at the end of February. I hope that students will attend these classes on a regular basis. Regular practice is the most important feature of Ashtanga yoga. It's not how many poses you get or how deeply you can go - maintaining a consistent practice gives you the benefits of Ashtanga.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
More on Ashtanga Class Changes
A couple of people have wondered if it would be okay to combine attendance in both the Mysore classes and led classes at Holiday Manor. It's okay to attend both. I want students to be able to maintain a regular Ashtanga practice and I know some students find it hard to attend the morning Mysore everyday due to work schedules and so on.
In case anyone is wondering why new students can't use the Intro card to attend Mysore classes -- the intro card is to introduce new students to all our classes. I've found that new Yoga East students who try to come to Mysore classes burn out pretty quickly. Most new students just aren't prepared for the intensity of a prolonged Mysore practice. What I've found is that most new students can keep it up for about a month and then that's it - they disappear into other classes. The people who seem to do best in Mysore classes are students who have already established a regular yoga practice. A few rare people can start out in Ashtanga classes and do fine, but that's not the norm. New students should try other classes and go to several Ashtanga led classes to make sure they can maintain an Ashtanga practice. Ashtanga, especially in the Mysore format, doesn't require any special ability, flexibility, strength etc..., but it does require steadfast intention. New students need to develop that.
In case anyone is wondering why new students can't use the Intro card to attend Mysore classes -- the intro card is to introduce new students to all our classes. I've found that new Yoga East students who try to come to Mysore classes burn out pretty quickly. Most new students just aren't prepared for the intensity of a prolonged Mysore practice. What I've found is that most new students can keep it up for about a month and then that's it - they disappear into other classes. The people who seem to do best in Mysore classes are students who have already established a regular yoga practice. A few rare people can start out in Ashtanga classes and do fine, but that's not the norm. New students should try other classes and go to several Ashtanga led classes to make sure they can maintain an Ashtanga practice. Ashtanga, especially in the Mysore format, doesn't require any special ability, flexibility, strength etc..., but it does require steadfast intention. New students need to develop that.
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