I invite you
to offset the winter chill with a warm cup of tea and enjoy an article
on the inspiring and supportive power of showing up for yourself
through regular practice; as well as a little news forthcoming on
a few items- there's an upcoming Chanting workshop, and the new
class at PCC Thursday has been extended to 7:15-8:30AM.
I highly recommend taking in a week of Yoga and beaches in Mexico
with Iyengar instructor Jane
Freedman during February 2-9 at Milagro
retreat center, or April 26-May 3 in Trocones at Hacienda
Eden if your Spirit feels called to the South!
Also in the Spring : Details for the March 22-29 Arizona Beauty
Way Navajo traditions, Anasazi sites and yoga journey are up.
Up ahead: Details for the 2008 Yoga journey to Crete and Santorini
are now accessible here.
Wishing everyone Peace, a strong practice and good self-care this
winter!
~Phoenix
Chanting Workshop
THIS SUNDAY Dec. 9 at Therapilates, in Capitola !
$30 includes materials and a practice
CD
$25 with pre-registration
All proceeds benefit Tibetan refugees through F.O.T.S.I. (Friends
of Tibetan Settlements in India)
UPCOMING
December 9th workshop will cover:
Nirvana Satakam of Adi Shankaracharya (new)
Shiva Gayathri Mahamantra (new)
Vaidika Shanti Mantra- a Salutation to the
Elements This
workshop is a great infusion for teachers and practitioners alike.
We "warm-up" by chanting the Sanskrit alphabet, understanding
phonetics, and then move on to selected chants and mantras in
their original melodies, from the ancient Yogic language. Chanting
and learning with the welfare of the people in mind who receive
donations from this workshop increases our awareness and experience
of Bodhicitta, the will-to-good on behalf of all beings.
Effort
(Abhyasa) and detachment
(Vairagyam)
Remaining inspired to keep a consistent practice -
the most powerful activism in a beleagured world
When we come
to or practice, whether it is asana or meditation, dance, art
or any of the thousands of techniques for centering, there is
often a kind of yatra or pilgrimage in just getting there!
A yatra involves making sacrifices in order to reach
a place of purity that rewards us with an immutable vision of
peace and energy that we can draw from, and we don't have to go
to the Himalayas to find it (although I highly recommend it!)
Obstacles surface even before we physically arrive at the space
we define for inner work...a busy schedule full of commitments
to people and deadlines to prove yourself to, or emotional difficulties
cause us to reach out desperately for things to stabilize ourselves
that can, paradoxically, distract and prevent us from being where
we truly need to be, showing up consistently for whatever discipline
has chosen us. Sometimes we forget about our basic self-care,
the little things that count like eating regularly, keeping company
with people who inspire us and uplift us, and spending time in
nature. We can turn to food or drinking or numbing activities
to "fill up the void" or get waylaid by worldly people
and situations, then wonder where the time and energy for our
practice went. Throughout all of these permutations of samsara
there is a common way back to peace and a view of the world around
us as full of innate wisdom and enlightened substance---we can
stop where we are, take a breath, and recognize the choice we
have: to continue following those habits which lead us into more
confusion, or to remain still inside if even for just a moment
and see what happens.
Practice
irregardless of how you feel in the moment
Yoga addresses
the body and mind together as indivisible and provides so many
techniques for diving deeper into the Self, the center of wisdom,
empathy, and love in all things that is always guiding us to respect
ourselves and each other and take the right action when it is
called for. Whether you do formal Yogic practices or something
else, practice comes down to the pure action itself of what we
do to center ourselves, be it sitting meditation, pranayama, asana,
mindful walking in nature, dance, chanting, or whatever it is
that we do. Showing up is the most important thing. Ironically,
everything else that was hounding us up until that moment we decide
to show up simply falls away. By just coming to our mat, zafu,
or some quiet place of creative introspection, the energy of a
consistent practice will suffuse everything that truly needs to
be resolved, everything that is truly worth your attention, with
clarity and purpose. The flotsam and jetsam of worries and anxieties
about things which we are imagining to be real--conversations
with people we have going in our heads, or things that haven't
happened yet that are fraught with uncertainty--take their place
in the dark, moist earth of a stable, quiet mind and rest until
they can re-emerge as clear directives for us to follow when the
time is right. A humorous teaching from the Buddhist tradition
points out that we often treat our practice with an allopathic
attitude, as if it is a source of health like a doctor to whom
we go to desperately when we feel out of balance, but forget about
acknowledging when we feel alright or great. Whether you "have
stuff going on" or feel absolutely fine, keeping a consistent
practice grows reserves of stability, mental and emotional flexibility
and wisdom for the times when you need it the most, with surprising
availability as the strength of your sadhana increases.
The problem
of external motivations daunting regular practice are real for
many in the beginning. At first it is difficult for a person to
understand why and how a regular practice is so important. We
come to see that the practice, even when we are doing it with
someone else's well-being in mind, is really intrinsically developing
along the lines of some very subtle marks that only we can discern.
Practice itself has no standard of accomplishment or measurement,
and is often is struggle to stay with when we are conditioned
to value our time according to what we have "done" or
"accomplished". Particularly in America, we have been
taught to accept a standard of self-worth that is based on an
idea of accumulation and attainments, certifications and standardized
testing based on passing certain benchmarks in life that overlook
and preclude us from experiencing the journey as it is. To practice
without regard for acquiring anything, or padding our sense of
self with an "accomplishment" mentality, is a real achievement
along developing a sensitivity to the immeasurable qualities of
Life as opposed to a standardized "quality of Life".
It is painfully, obviously, not consistent however to measure
the worth of our efforts by the standards that exist in our world.
Despite the deceptive appearances of success in our world where
people doing dishonest things receive fame, money, and privelege,
people who work honestly and "by the rules" also fall
to depression, frustration, and a sense of meaningless in their
achievements despite their varying levels of material success.
And how many people with good hearts and ethics do we all know
who struggle with the basics, bearing a burden that seems undue?
The Bhagavad Gita says,
"Karmanyevadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadacana ma karmaphalaheturbhuma
te sango'stvakarmani" (Chapter 2, V.47)
W e have the right to action- but not the fruits of those actions.
So often when we decide to do something it is with an external
result in mind, whether it is material (an assumption of the "value"
of what we are doing, and thus relative "value" of what
others do); or psychological in the form of some acknowledgment.
We feel good about ourselves when we do something to grow our
spiritual awareness through practice, and sometimes beat ourselves
up if the motivation isn't there to arrive. Further, we fall into
rebellion and despair as we come to let the negative attitudes
overwhelm our ability to detach from the obstacles and let them
literally get the best of us. By simply showing up no matter what,
we can arrive with greater compassion for ourselves in the process,
and relax the grip of the Ego.
It is no surprise
and nothing short of a miracle whose time has come that Yoga has
arrived en masse to the mainstream, globally, to heal and guide,
because Yoga is concerned not with what we "believe"
but with what we understand about ourselves and
our relative place in existence. This begins with self-awareness.
So practice
continues. The portrayal of the Universe as Perfectly imperfect,
Justly unjust, so far as the limited human consciousness of ethics
goes, is because we have established our self-interest first and
have become geared towards believing in what we see with our eyes,
rather than feeling what there is in our hearts, which is where
the real riches of existence lie in plain view for us all the
time! Keeping a simple regular practice can clear our eyes and
give the heart's view a way to surface. Keep dedicating it, wherever
you are or whatever you happen to be doing--we are always influencing
something far greater than our individual selves, whether you
think along the lines of generational healing in each habit we
transcend, or the inroads to tolerance we find in better communication
with each other through surviving painful misunderstandings. Dedicate
whatever joy that comes or success you experience for the upliftment
of the whole, without looking back at whether you believe it will
really make a difference. In this the great teachings tell us
to take secret delight and Joy, and to keep looking with humble
eyes for the Beloved in everything.
Schedule
of Public Classes
***MONDAYS***
5:45-7PM Bare Yoga
Mixed Levels Vinyasa
New
class!
***THURSDAYS***
7:15-8:30AM PCC
"Rise up Wise" morning practice
Chanting, Pranayama intensive, Sun Salutations w/ mantra
This
class has a drop-in fee of $10
and PCC passes are not usable, but
those with a series through Phoenix
may use their passes for it.
One
Yoga Center
846 Front Street, Santa Cruz oneyoga.org
200 Hour Teacher Training
in India
September 15-October 10, 2008
at Parmarth Niketan
Ashram, Rishikesh
with Phoenix Artemisia and Sadhvi Abha Sarasvati (Mataji)
Cerificated by Yoga Alliance and IHYRF
(Indian Heritage Yoga Research Foundation)
Application, registration details
and course syllabus available here
COME
HOME to the source of Yoga on the banks of the Ganga river... where
the Rishis left these teachings for us preserved in their purity
and universal salience.
The 200+ hour course takes place over one month at Parmarth Niketan's
beuatiful Yoga Hall which has the Himalayan foothills to the East
behind it and the Ganga River outside in the West. This certificated
course covers required modules in Anatomy, Asana, Pranayama, Yoga
Nidra, Shat Karma, Philosophy, Teaching methodology and Vedic
Chanting. In addition, you will be able to experience the benefit
of living in a spiritual community and immerse yourself in the
holy environment of Yogis from time immemorial. This intensive
includes several trips to potent sites of the sages whose work
will be referenced in the course.
Yoga
Pilgrimage:
Yoga
retreat intensive
and tours of Northern India
October 4-19, 2008
Slideshow of a prior Journey to
India
Registration opens on Nov.1 for 2008 trip
A week of our retreat will be held at Parmarth Niketan Ashram,
located on the banks of the sacred Ganga river in Rishikesh, Uttaranchal--in
the foothills of the Himalayas. At this time of year the weather
is at its' best, with warm days and breezy nights. Explore Yoga
at its' source by the Ganga with morning sadhana and instruction
in pranayama and meditation, 2 daily asana classes, Yoga Philosophy,
and Yoga Nidra, led by Phoenix and Mataji (Sadhvi Abha Sarasvati).
Every night there is Kirtan (devotional singing) and Aarti (offering
of Light) at the Ganga at Parmarth's beautiful ghat (pier). We
will visit several temples and a cave sacred to the sage Vasistha.
In Rishikesh you will also receive a 2 1/2 hour Ayurvedic massage
treatment and shirodhara, to be scheduled at your convenience...
Two days and nights will be spent in Haridwar, an ancient city
sacred to Lord Shiva. This very special gathering places of saints
and teachers over time is also a tirtha, or holy place, where
the massive spiritual gathering of Kumbh Mela meets every 12 years.
In Haridwar there is an optional excursion to a Shiva temple,
evening Aarti at the Ganga and a day trip to visit one of India's
wildife preserves. We will stay at a renovated Maharaja's mansion
on the banks of the Ganga and have our classes on their rooftop
balcony.
~Come for one week to Crete only, June 21-28th
or two full weeks in Crete and Santorini, June 21-July 5th...
(details)
Join us on a journey that will nourish your Spirit through twice-daily
practices of pranayama, asana, and meditation, in sight of the
lapis blue Aegean and Libyan seas bordering Crete, and the stunning
cliffs of Santorini. This Yoga retreat includes seminars on Minoan
culture and guided tours during several excursions for those coming
on the two-weeks session. In Crete we will visit the Minoan Palace
of Knossos, which was a center of trade between ancient peoples
of the Mediterranean, as well as the epicenter of Minoan religious
activity, culture and government; and the incredible National
Archaelogical Museum of Crete. In Santorini will visit Nea Kameni
volcano by boat and the adjacent ocean hotsprings and see the
Minoan settlement of Akrotiri and Akrotiri Museum.
We arrive in Heraklion, a historic Minoan port and the capital
city of Crete, on June 9 and shuttle to Triopetra Yoga Center
for a weeklong immersion in the practices of Ashtanga (8 Limb)
Yoga on the Libyan Sea. Located in the south of Crete, Triopetra
has an oceanfront Yoga room with open glass wall to the sea, and
views of the sea from the balconies on all of the rooms. Enjoy
2 daily classes, optional morning and evening meditation, special
classes on philosophy and deepen your application of the eight
limbs of the Yoga practice in daily life. Swim, go scuba diving
or snorkelling in the incomparable, warm Mediterranean waters,
enjoy organic vegetarian Greek cuisine at the tavernas... Through
informal beach seminars and walks you will learn about Minoan
civilization and their influence on art, culture, and economics
of the Mediterranean of 3500 years ago.
During the second week, we continue on to spend 2 days sightseeing
in Heraklion with a full practice session each morning, visiting
the Palace of Knossos and Archaeological Museum in the afternoons.
Then, we depart by ferry for the island of Santorini, where we
will stay for 4 nights and days on the cliffs of the crescent
island that was once called "Callisto" ("the Beautiful")
before it's current incarnation as a crescent took form after
the eruption of it's still-active volcano at the center of the
island, Nea Kameni. We will visit the volcano on a boat trip and
dabble in the ocean hotsprings bordering the volcano's rim. We
will also visit the ruins of Akrotiri, a Minoan settlement on
the southern tip of the island, and the small but impressive archaeological
museum which has cult statues, pottery and beautiful reconstructions
of frescoes from the site. We return to Heraklion overnight and
have a closing circle before our departure on the 5th.
