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namaskar<br />
A VOICE FOR THE YOGA COMMUNITY OF ASIA OCTOBER <strong>2012</strong><br />
Handstand by Chris Chavez, photo by Eli Castson<br />
Death How to Om Happiness
2
Inside<br />
OCTOBER <strong>2012</strong><br />
Dristi Death<br />
At the time of Death, 12<br />
What we are thinking when we die is most<br />
important, explains Clayton.<br />
Serenity or Serendipty<br />
13<br />
Danny shares the lesson he learned from a<br />
cemetery and his dogs.<br />
Death & Dying, 14<br />
How we live is vital to how we’ll die, says<br />
Yogi.<br />
Postponing Death, 15<br />
Mihaiela says practicing Pratyahara can help<br />
us prepare for death.<br />
Teaching vs s Realit<br />
ality, , 16<br />
Nitai found what he learned about death<br />
had little bearing when he actually faced it.<br />
On the Cover<br />
CHRIS CHAVEZ<br />
photo by Eli Castson<br />
Chris Chavez first began practicing Iyengar<br />
Yoga in Ireland, where he was touring as a<br />
professional musician in the mid 1990’s.<br />
In 2001, he landed in Los Angeles,<br />
California, where he submerged himself<br />
into yoga and began to teach. He was<br />
certified as an Anusara Instructor between<br />
2006 and <strong>2012</strong>. In addition to teaching<br />
yoga around the world, Chris maintains a<br />
music career. www.chrischavez.com<br />
Special Features<br />
Om: What’s all the Fuss, 18<br />
Andy explains Om and how to chant it.<br />
Kriya Yoga, 22 Allen traces a brief<br />
history of kriya yoga.<br />
Yin Yoga, 25 Dona watches some<br />
parts of her die in her Yin practice.<br />
Who reads <strong>Namaskar</strong>?<br />
4,500 copies are distributed for free to<br />
teachers and studios in:<br />
1. Australia<br />
2. Cambodia<br />
3. China<br />
4. Czech Republic<br />
5. France<br />
6. Finland<br />
7. Germany<br />
8. Hong Kong<br />
9. Iceland<br />
10. India<br />
11. Indonesia<br />
12. Ireland<br />
13. Israel<br />
14. Japan<br />
15. Macau<br />
16. Malaysia<br />
17. Netherlands<br />
18. Philippines<br />
19. Singapore<br />
20. South Korea<br />
21. Taiwan<br />
22. Thailand<br />
23. Turkey<br />
24. UK<br />
25. USA<br />
26. Vietnam<br />
If you would like to offer <strong>Namaskar</strong> to<br />
your students or customers, email<br />
fgairns@netvigator.com<br />
Regular Contributions<br />
NEWS, WORKSHOPS, RETREATS & TEACHER<br />
TRAININGS, 5<br />
TEACHER’S VOICE, 16<br />
MYTHOLOGY IN A MINUTE, 20<br />
POETRY, 20<br />
RETREAT REVIEW, 26<br />
CONFERENCE REVIEW, 31<br />
LECTURE REVIEW, 32<br />
FESTIVAL REVIEW, 35<br />
BOOK REVIEW, 36 & 39<br />
RECIPE, 40<br />
SSRF, 42<br />
TEACHER & STUDIO LISTINGS, 45<br />
About <strong>Namaskar</strong><br />
<strong>Namaskar</strong> provides a voice for the yoga<br />
community around the world. The publication<br />
is a vehicle for practitioners on a yogic path to<br />
share their knowledge, learnings and<br />
experiences with others.<br />
<strong>Namaskar</strong>, is published quarterly in January,<br />
April, June (coinciding with Asia Yoga<br />
Conference) and <strong>Oct</strong>ober.<br />
We welcome unsolicited submissions, therefore<br />
the opinions expressed within these pages are<br />
not necessarily those of <strong>Namaskar</strong> or its<br />
volunteers.<br />
<strong>Namaskar</strong> is distributed at no charge through<br />
yoga studios, fitness centres, retail outlets, food<br />
& beverage outlets and other yoga-friendly<br />
locations.<br />
For more information, to contribute or to order<br />
<strong>Namaskar</strong>, please contact::<br />
Carol, Administration<br />
carol@caroladams.hk<br />
Wai-Ling, News Editor & Copy Editor<br />
wailing.tse@gmail.com<br />
Frances, Editor & Publisher<br />
fgairns@netvigator.com /+ 852 9460 1967<br />
Deadline for January 2013 issue:<br />
December 15, <strong>2012</strong><br />
3
namaskar<br />
As we go to print with this issue, Hong Kong mourns the death of 38 people in the<br />
worst maritime disaster in over 40 years. What started out as cruise to watch the fireworks,<br />
ended in tragedy as two ferries collided. We dedicate the energy of this issue to those who<br />
lost their lives, their families, friends and to the staff of the two boats involved. Perhaps as<br />
you read this, you will respect a minute’s silence for those less fortunate.<br />
Regardless of our fortune, death is something all of us are destined to face. When it will<br />
come is less certain, as is how each of us will face it. The articles here by Clayton, Danny,<br />
Mihaiela, Nita and Yogi offer different perspectives on preparing for this certainty. The dristi<br />
also influenced Tia’s choice of book for review, Dona’s choice of style of yoga in<br />
comparing Yin and death, as well as Spiritual Science Research Foundation’s Dr. Zubin’s<br />
article. Even the cover image of Chris Chavez, taken by Eli Caston, speaks to this dristi. Its<br />
ethereal quality prompts me to ask ‘what’s the light on the other side?’<br />
There are also many life affirming articles here too: Andy’s on Om is a must-read and a<br />
great lesson in yoga basics; Allen offers an outline of how Kriya yoga has been past down<br />
over the generations, I found the photos of the old yogis really interesting; Amy recounts<br />
her experience at the 10-day silent Vipassana retreat; Vicky shares her notes on Lama<br />
Marut’s Hong Kong happiness talk; Rachel reviews this year’s Asia Yoga Conference; Inna<br />
introduces us to a new yoga coffee table book and; Moosa makes our life a bit sweeter with<br />
his recipe for raw apple crisp.<br />
On a less sweet note, I want to tell you our advertising rates will increase just under 3%<br />
from January 2013. Our advertising principle remains the same - to provide individual<br />
teachers and small studios with an affordable avenue for communicating with the yoga<br />
community. Let me assure you <strong>Namaskar</strong> remains a volunteer-run magazine and operates<br />
on a break-even basis. All contributors, including Carol, Wai-Ling and I, donate our time<br />
and efforts freely.<br />
Frances Gairns<br />
Editor<br />
4<br />
SOMETHING TO SHARE?<br />
If you have something to share with the yoga community, please email<br />
fgairns@netvigator.com
NEWS<br />
YOGA TEACHERS WANTED<br />
Hong Kong<br />
Inspire Yoga is expanding its<br />
team of teachers. They are<br />
looking for certified instructors<br />
on a part time and full time<br />
basis, particularly those<br />
experienced in Yoga therapy<br />
and Iyengar Yoga. To apply,<br />
email your resume and teacher<br />
training certificate to<br />
info@inspire-yoga.com.<br />
For more information<br />
www.inspire-yoga.com<br />
GREEN FROG YOGA CLASSES FOR<br />
KIDS & FAMILIES<br />
Hong Kong<br />
Green Frog Kid’s Yoga 1<br />
(Age 2-3)<br />
Hong Kong Cricket Club<br />
20 September - 20 November<br />
Thursdays 10:45 - 11:15am<br />
HK$1,500 for members;<br />
HK$1,650 for non-members<br />
For more information contact<br />
Samson Lam on +852 3511<br />
8614/ 3511 8668.<br />
Green Frog Mummy and Me<br />
Yoga (Age 1 - 2)<br />
Bodywize Yoga, Hong Kong<br />
Fridays 11:30am-12:30pm<br />
For more information +852<br />
2838 5686;<br />
yoga@bodywize.com.hk<br />
Green Frog Family Yoga<br />
(Age 4 and up)<br />
Parkview Spa / Clubhouse,<br />
Hong Kong<br />
Saturdays 9:30-10:15am<br />
Members: HK$250 per class;<br />
Non-Members HK$325 per<br />
class (up to 4 family members)<br />
For more information +852<br />
2812 3945<br />
For more information on<br />
Green Frog Yoga<br />
www.facebook.com/<br />
greenfrogyoga; laura<br />
@greenfrog.com.hk;<br />
+852 9229 7785<br />
BUMP 4 JOY PREGNANCY<br />
PROGRAMME<br />
Maternity services expert A<br />
Mother’s Touch and health<br />
coaching provider Inspire<br />
Health have teamed up to<br />
create a new and unique<br />
pregnancy programme called<br />
Bump 4 Joy.<br />
The programme, suitable for<br />
any stage of pregnancy, includes<br />
a 2.5 hour interactive workshop<br />
held at White Lotus Centre in<br />
Central, Hong Kong which will<br />
teach expectant mothers how<br />
to manage, enjoy and thrive<br />
from conception through to<br />
birth. Loaded with tips, tools<br />
and ideas, Bump 4 Joy will<br />
empower mothers to gain<br />
confidence around the process<br />
of pregnancy, and support<br />
them in enjoying the pregnancy<br />
they have always envisioned –<br />
or never thought they could<br />
have. The first workshop took<br />
place on 22 September.<br />
For more information<br />
www.bump4joy.com; program<br />
@bump4joy.com;<br />
+852 9769 2701/ 6341 3858<br />
COMPLIMENTARY CLASSES WITH<br />
LULULEMON<br />
lululemon, a yoga-inspired<br />
apparel company, offers<br />
Saturday complimentary class<br />
and bi-weekly run club. In<br />
addition, they hold events for<br />
all types of fitness lovers. In<br />
September, they hosted an 8<br />
km Bowen Road Fun Run for<br />
all running fans as well as a<br />
post workout yoga session to<br />
stretch out racers’ muscles. In<br />
<strong>Oct</strong>ober the lululemon Hong<br />
Kong Showroom will enter its<br />
four year in Hong Kong.<br />
For more information<br />
www.lululemon.com.hk<br />
NEW INSTRUCTORS JOIN ANAHATA<br />
YOGA TEAM<br />
Four new instructors<br />
Mariappan, Yoko Kikuchi, Felix<br />
and Melissa joined Anahata<br />
Yoga, Central, Hong Kong.<br />
Mariappan started his yoga<br />
journey at the age of 5. He<br />
completed his Bachelor and<br />
Master in Yogic Science from<br />
Asana Andiappan College of<br />
Yoga and Naturopathy,<br />
studying under worldrenowned<br />
yoga masters Dr.<br />
Asana Andiappan, Swami<br />
Gitananda Giri, S.<br />
Sanmugasundaram, Yogacharya<br />
B. Dinagaran, and Yogacharya<br />
Kumaran, among others.<br />
Yoko Kikuchi moved from<br />
Tokyo, Japan to Hong Kong in<br />
1999. It was in 2009 that Yoko<br />
started doing yoga as training<br />
for a full marathon.Yoko has<br />
accomplished the 200 Hours<br />
Yoga Teacher Training<br />
Certificate Course accredited by<br />
India’s Tami Nadu Physical<br />
Education & Sport University,<br />
as well as Yogananth<br />
Andiappan’s 300 Hours<br />
Advanced Hatha Yoga Teacher<br />
Training. She won the<br />
International Yoga Gala <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
Felix has 500 hours of teacher<br />
training experience under the<br />
guidance of Yogananth, he also<br />
completed the MSc in Yoga and<br />
Naturopathy from<br />
Manonmaniam Sundaranar<br />
University of India and<br />
training with Dharma Mittra in<br />
New York and Swami<br />
Vidyanand in Hong Kong.<br />
Melissa began practicing Yoga<br />
while attending university in<br />
the US in 2005. She underwent<br />
200 hours of foundation<br />
teacher training and another<br />
200 hours of advanced training<br />
at Anahata Yoga.<br />
For more information<br />
www.anahatayoga.com.hk<br />
BUMP-2-BUMP<br />
White Lotus Centre, Hong<br />
Kong<br />
5 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
An evening for bumps of all<br />
sizes to meet! Enjoy yummy<br />
healthy snacks and massage<br />
tasters, learn about different<br />
techniques to support yourself<br />
Yoko joins the Anahata team<br />
Felix brings a wealth of<br />
knowledge to Anahata<br />
Practicing since 5, Mariappan<br />
is now at Anahata<br />
New at Anahata is Melissa<br />
5
throughout pregnancy and<br />
birth and ask our supportive<br />
team of doula’s, coaches, and<br />
therapists all the questions you<br />
have had since your pregnancy<br />
test showed up positive!<br />
Cost: HK$100<br />
For more information:<br />
info@whitelotuscentre.com;<br />
www.whitelotuscentre.com<br />
For more information +852<br />
2544 8398;<br />
www.yogaroomhk.com; info<br />
@yogaroomhk.com<br />
THE YOGA ROOM EXPANDS<br />
The Yoga Room will expand in<br />
<strong>Oct</strong>ober with the addition of a<br />
new studio on the 6/F, Xiu<br />
Ping Commercial Building, 104<br />
Jervois Street, Sheung Wan.<br />
considers sound and music’s<br />
universal appeal to be key to its<br />
broader acceptance among yoga<br />
lovers, “We’re already familiar<br />
with the transformational<br />
power of Kirtan and mantras.<br />
Sound healing widens the<br />
scope.”<br />
For more information<br />
www.soundhealingbali.com<br />
FREE TALK ON SOMATIC<br />
MOVEMENT EXPLORATION<br />
White Lotus Centre, Hong<br />
Kong<br />
15 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
What is Somatic Movement?<br />
The word “somatic” means<br />
“of the body”. In Somatic<br />
Movement Education, a<br />
practitioner guides you to a<br />
deeper, lived experience of your<br />
posture, your organs, the flow<br />
of fluid, breath and energy in<br />
your body, how your body<br />
moves the mind and how your<br />
mind moves the body.<br />
For more information:<br />
info@whitelotuscentre.com<br />
CLASSES AT SOL WELLNESS<br />
Hong Kong<br />
Kundalini yoga class Tuesdays<br />
7-8:30 pm by donation;<br />
Saturdays 10-11:30 am HK$180<br />
drop-in class; HK$1,500 for 10<br />
classes. Medical Meditation on<br />
the first Wednesday of every<br />
month 7-8 pm by donation.<br />
“The tremendous power of<br />
medical meditation can heal not<br />
only the body but also the<br />
mind and soul. I strongly<br />
recommend it.” Deepak<br />
Chopra, MD.<br />
For more information +852<br />
2581 9699; info@solwellness.com<br />
YOGA ON THE BEACH<br />
Repulse Bay, Hong Kong<br />
21 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
Organised by The Yoga Room,<br />
this free class is suitable for all<br />
ages (Members and nonmembers<br />
welcome). 5-6 pm.<br />
Deadline for registration: 19<br />
<strong>Oct</strong>ober.<br />
6<br />
For more information +852<br />
2544 8398;<br />
www.yogaroomhk.com; info<br />
@yogaroomhk.com<br />
INFANT MASSAGE COURSE WITH<br />
LING-YEE LIU<br />
The Yoga Room, Hong Kong<br />
10 <strong>Oct</strong>ober-7 November<br />
Infant massage is an enjoyable<br />
way to help parents<br />
communicate and bonds with<br />
their baby. It promotes health<br />
and well being for the baby and<br />
the parents. This class is based<br />
on IAIM (International<br />
Association of Infant Massage)<br />
technique and is suitable for<br />
parents with infants below one<br />
year or mums to be. Held on<br />
every Wednesday 2:30-3:30pm;<br />
Cost: HK$1,600 for 5 classes.<br />
For more information +852<br />
2544 8398;<br />
www.yogaroomhk.com<br />
SOUND HEALING ENLIVENS BALI<br />
YOGA COMMUNITY<br />
An alternative method of<br />
supporting physical, emotional<br />
and spiritual wellbeing, the<br />
practice of sound healing is<br />
growing in popularity<br />
worldwide, notably in Bali.<br />
One of the island’s yoga and<br />
healing arts center, Yoga Barn,<br />
recently unveiled a new Bali<br />
Sound Healers Collective to its<br />
list of offerings.<br />
Instruments for sound healing<br />
incllude: Tibetan bowls, sacred<br />
instrument journeys, mantra<br />
chants, Naad and Japa yoga,<br />
Zen flute, and multiinstrumental<br />
harmonizations.<br />
Daphne Tse, a member of the<br />
new Sound Healers team<br />
NAMASTE – INTERNATIONAL YOGA<br />
FESTIVAL<br />
The Sultan Hotel, Jakarta,<br />
Indonesia<br />
23-25 November<br />
Join the bazaar, music, and<br />
cultural performances, healing<br />
clinic, kids and family program,<br />
special yoga, healing & well<br />
being classes. There will be 12<br />
yoga classes, 8 healing classes, 4<br />
wellness classes, and 5<br />
community classes per day. As<br />
well as daily music and cultural<br />
performances, green living talk<br />
shows, Yoga demos, healing<br />
and wellness sessions. Plus an<br />
array of healthy food<br />
merchandises at the Bazaar.<br />
Private healing consultations by<br />
Indonesian master healers will<br />
be available for general public.<br />
Kids activities – kids yoga &<br />
meditation, kids martial arts,<br />
story readings and mappings,<br />
arts and crafts.<br />
For more information<br />
www.namastefestival.com; info<br />
@namastefestival.com<br />
COMMUNITY KIRTAN TO SUPPORT<br />
YOGA CLASSICS INPUT PROJECT<br />
Cloud 9 Studio, Hong Kong<br />
16 November<br />
Join Natalie Macam,<br />
accompanied with<br />
percussionist, composer,<br />
producer, Mitu Tupas,<br />
and Jason Canoy in an<br />
exploration of passionate art,<br />
rhythm and chanting the divine<br />
names from the Bhakti<br />
Tradition.<br />
By donation only, proceeds<br />
collected will support the Yoga<br />
Classics Input Project whose<br />
goal is to identify, document,<br />
digitize, and freely distribute,<br />
Punnu Wasu, Bali Sound<br />
Healers Collective co-creator<br />
Natalie Mcam leads a kirtan in<br />
support of the Yoga Classics<br />
Input Project in Hong Kong<br />
the rapidly disappearing<br />
Sanskrit manuscripts of Yoga’s<br />
ancient Indian heritage.<br />
For more information<br />
www.tigerwaveyoga.com;<br />
natrageous@gmail.com;<br />
+852 6408 4248<br />
FAMILY YOGA COMMUNITY<br />
CLASS<br />
Lullaby Yoga, Bangkok,<br />
Thailand<br />
1 December<br />
Open to all kids aged 3-9 with a<br />
parent or caregiver. From 4-<br />
5pm, an exciting hour of Yoga<br />
poses, games and adventures.<br />
By donation. All proceeds go<br />
to a local charity.<br />
For more information<br />
www.lullaby-yoga.com;<br />
info@lullaby-yoga.com; +66<br />
22525824-5
WORKSHOPS<br />
KUNDALINI WORKSHOP SERIES<br />
WITH AMIR JAAN OF I-SKY UK<br />
SOL Wellness<br />
26-30 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
Amir will explain the subtle,<br />
sophisticated but potent way<br />
Kundalini Yoga opens you up<br />
to the potential for deep<br />
physical, mental, emotional<br />
and spiritual transformation.<br />
1. Take a Deep Breath (26<br />
<strong>Oct</strong>ober 6:30-8:30pm)<br />
2. Channel Zero (27 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
10am-1pm, )<br />
3. Just Be “You’tiful! (27<br />
<strong>Oct</strong>ober 10am-5pm for Young<br />
adults Tentative venue: Island<br />
School hall, Borrett School<br />
4. The Time is NOW (28<br />
<strong>Oct</strong>ober 10-noon)<br />
5. The Divine Romance (29<br />
<strong>Oct</strong>ober 6:30-8:30pm)<br />
6. Samadhi Now (30 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
6:30-8:30pm)<br />
Sebastian Pucelle offers a Yin &<br />
Meditation workshop in KL<br />
Cost: 1 workshop HK$400; for<br />
2 workshops HK$752; for 3<br />
workshops HK$1,116; for 4<br />
workshops $1,472; for 5<br />
workshops HK$1,820 and; for<br />
6 workshops HK$2,160<br />
For more information +852<br />
2581 9699; info@solwellness.com<br />
BUMP 4 JOY WORKSHOP<br />
8 & 12 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
White Lotus Centre, Hong<br />
Kong<br />
Bump 4 Joy presents a new<br />
interactive workshop for<br />
pregnant mums. Loaded with<br />
tips, tools and ideas so you can<br />
make this your best pregnancy<br />
ever, we have developed this<br />
unique 2.5 hour workshop to<br />
empower you to take your<br />
pregnancy into your own<br />
hands, and to support you in<br />
enjoying a pregnancy you have<br />
always envisioned – or never<br />
thought you could have. Cost:<br />
HK$800 (early bird HK$750<br />
one week before / bring a<br />
friend HK$700).<br />
For more information: info<br />
@whitelotuscentre.com;<br />
www.whitelotuscentre.com<br />
YIN YOGA & MEDITATION<br />
WORKSHOP WITH SEBASTIAN<br />
PUCELLE<br />
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia<br />
19-20 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
The practice of Yin Yoga is<br />
naturally evolving toward<br />
meditation, as our effort on the<br />
path tends to go toward an<br />
understanding of the nature of<br />
the mind. Yin Yoga bring us<br />
closer to this understanding.<br />
The asanas are designed mainly<br />
to open the lower body which<br />
enable one to sit for longer<br />
time and lessen discomfort.<br />
Early Bird: MYR550<br />
For more information<br />
www.yogshakti.com;<br />
shilpa@yogshakti.com;<br />
yogawithsebastian@gmail.com;<br />
www.sebastianpucelle.com<br />
FULL MOON KUNDALINI YOGA<br />
WORKSHOPS WITH NEIL IRWIN<br />
Shakti Healing Circle, Central,<br />
Hong Kong<br />
27 <strong>Oct</strong>ober - Full Moon in<br />
Taurus - Green Energy &<br />
Opportunity - the Yoga of<br />
abundance and prosperity.<br />
24 November - Full Moon in<br />
Gemini - Mind &<br />
Communication<br />
22 December - Full Moon in<br />
Cancer - Lunar Wisdom - yoga<br />
sets for the 2nd and 6th chakras<br />
All workshops 2-6pm; Cost:<br />
HK$500<br />
For more information<br />
www.shaktihealingcircle;<br />
+852 2521 5099<br />
PRASANA PRACTICE: CREATIVE<br />
APPROACHES TO VINYASA YOGA<br />
WITH ERIC SHAW<br />
Pure Yoga Singapore – Ngee<br />
Ann City<br />
26-28 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
Prasana has two meanings: The<br />
“fulfilment” (pra) of asana, and<br />
“to throw” (prasana). Asana’s<br />
potential is fulfilled through<br />
creative exploration of poses<br />
and the “throws’” that link<br />
them. Prasana Yoga workshops<br />
provide principles for creating<br />
new asanas, transitions, and<br />
sequences in flow yoga.<br />
For more information<br />
www.pure-yoga.com;<br />
events@pure-yoga.com<br />
INFANT MASSAGE COURSE<br />
White Lotus Centre, Hong<br />
Kong<br />
9, 16 & 30 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
Learning infant massage is a<br />
parenting skill that not only<br />
enriches the life of your baby,<br />
but also enriches the lives of<br />
your whole family. This course<br />
is ideal soon to be parents, for<br />
parents, grandparents and/or<br />
carers. Cost: HK$1,750<br />
For more information:<br />
info@whitelotuscentre.com;<br />
www.whitelotuscentre.com<br />
SOMATIC MOVEMENT<br />
EXPLORATION<br />
White Lotus Centre, Hong<br />
Kong<br />
10, 17 & 24 <strong>Oct</strong>ober – 7, 14, 21<br />
November<br />
Somatic means of the body. In<br />
Somatic Movement Education,<br />
a practitioner guides you to a<br />
deeper, lived experience of your<br />
posture, your organs, the flow<br />
of fluid, breath and energy in<br />
your body, how your body<br />
moves the mind and how your<br />
mind moves the body. The<br />
result is long-lasting<br />
improvements in your physical<br />
function, health, selfunderstanding<br />
and selfsufficiency.<br />
A sense of being at<br />
home with your body. Cost:<br />
HK$2,400<br />
For more information<br />
info@whitelotuscentre.com;<br />
www.whitelotuscentre.com<br />
TOOLBOX FOR BIRTH BY A<br />
MOTHER’S TOUCH<br />
White Lotus Centre, Hong<br />
Kong<br />
12 <strong>Oct</strong>ober & 9 November<br />
This class focuses making<br />
labour and birth as easy and<br />
safe as possible, and gives you<br />
plenty of time to explore ways<br />
of responding positively to the<br />
body’s urges using a variety of<br />
positions, movement and<br />
breathing, and other strategies<br />
such as acupressure, reflexology<br />
and massage, Homeopathy and<br />
Aromatherapy for coping with<br />
contractions with less reliance<br />
on drugs. You will learn about<br />
the part the baby plays in its<br />
own birth, and how to avoid<br />
the things that can be a<br />
hindrance. Cost: HK$1,000<br />
For more information<br />
info@whitelotuscentre.com;<br />
www.whitelotuscentre.com<br />
COMPLETE CHILD BIRTH<br />
EDUCATION BY A MOTHER’S<br />
TOUCH<br />
White Lotus Centre, Hong<br />
Kong<br />
14 & 21 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
A childbirth class is a great way<br />
to prepare for labor and birth.<br />
These interactive and practical<br />
5x 2.5 hr antenatal sessions for<br />
you and your partner, will<br />
empower you to go through<br />
birth calmly and with<br />
confidence. The ideal time is<br />
from 22 to 34 weeks, though<br />
later is okay. Cost: HK$2,800<br />
For more information<br />
info@whitelotuscentre.com; w<br />
ww.whitelotuscentre.com<br />
INDIAN HEAD MASSAGE COURSE<br />
White Lotus Centre, Hong<br />
Kong<br />
4, 11 & 25 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
Traditional Indian Head<br />
7
MORE WORKSHOPS<br />
massage is a wonderful relaxing<br />
therapy based on the ancient<br />
Ayurvedic healing system.<br />
Cost: HK$1,750 (group<br />
discount for 2 people,<br />
HK$1,500 per person)<br />
For more information<br />
info@whitelotuscentre.com;<br />
www.whitelotuscentre.com<br />
THERAPEUTIC YOGA SERIES WITH<br />
MELISSA VALENTINE<br />
White Lotus Centre, Hong<br />
Kong<br />
every Wednesday 10 <strong>Oct</strong>ober-28<br />
November, 7:00-8:30pm<br />
Enjoy this “hands-on” Yoga<br />
class where you will be able to<br />
learn more about your<br />
strengths, your weaknesses and<br />
how to improve your postural<br />
alignment for healthy and safe<br />
participation in Yoga and other<br />
recreational activities. Cost:<br />
HK$250 per 90 minute<br />
session, or HK$900 for 4<br />
sessions<br />
For more information<br />
info@whitelotuscentre.com;<br />
www.whitelotuscentre.com<br />
PERSONAL POWER WORKSHOP<br />
WITH LINDA FANCY<br />
White Lotus Centre, Hong<br />
Kong<br />
13 <strong>Oct</strong>ober (Part 1); 20 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
(Part 2)<br />
The Personal Power workshop<br />
is designed to awaken people<br />
to their power of choice in how<br />
they respond to life. Linda<br />
Fancy introduces the<br />
heightened state of awareness<br />
called “MetaMind” that enables<br />
you to understand the<br />
foundations of your behaviour<br />
from a disassociated state.<br />
Cost: HK$3,300<br />
For more information<br />
info@whitelotuscentre.com;<br />
www.whitelotuscentre.com<br />
THE SECRETS OF HAPPINESS<br />
WITH VALERIE ARPEAU<br />
White Lotus Centre, Hong<br />
Kong<br />
every Thursday 1 November–<br />
20 December<br />
Secrets of Happiness (8-12<br />
years) – supporting the selfconfidence<br />
of your child<br />
This 8 week program presents<br />
age-old wisdom about<br />
happiness and is introduced to<br />
children in a playful and creative<br />
manner. Cost: HK$2,500<br />
For more information<br />
info@whitelotuscentre.com;<br />
www.whitelotuscentre.com<br />
HOT YOGA IMMERSION WITH<br />
COPPER CROW<br />
Pure Yoga Hong Kong – Tsim<br />
Sha Tsui<br />
3-11 November<br />
Hot Yoga is one of the most<br />
popular forms of yoga being<br />
practised and offered in studios<br />
today. Having the skills<br />
necessary to lead solid Hot<br />
classes will not only create new<br />
possibilities for teaching, but<br />
will also empower you with<br />
proven techniques to make a<br />
difference in the lives of others.<br />
For more information<br />
www.pure-yoga.com;<br />
events@pure-yoga.com<br />
ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY OF THE<br />
GROWING CHILD WITH GECKO<br />
YOGA<br />
White Lotus Centre, Hong<br />
Kong<br />
10, 13 & 17 November<br />
Introduction to the motor<br />
development, anatomy and<br />
physiology of children. Taught<br />
by Helen Binge, a chartered<br />
physiotherapist and<br />
developmental specialist from<br />
the UK. There are 3 courses:<br />
Course I: Development of the<br />
Child from Birth to Walking;<br />
Course II: Development of the<br />
Child from 1 to 7 years; Course<br />
III: Development of the Child<br />
from 8 to Teens.<br />
For more information<br />
info@whitelotuscentre.com;<br />
www.whitelotuscentre.com<br />
CAESARIAN SECTION COURSE<br />
WITH A MOTHER’S TOUCH<br />
White Lotus Centre, Hong<br />
Kong<br />
11 November<br />
Cost: HK$900<br />
For more information<br />
info@whitelotuscentre.com;<br />
www.whitelotuscentre.com<br />
INSIGHT YOGA INTENSIVE WITH<br />
SARAH POWERS<br />
Spirit Yoga Studio - Osaka,<br />
Japan<br />
3-4 November<br />
For more information<br />
spirityogastudio.com/en/<br />
event/workshop/post.html<br />
GO DEEP WITH YIN WORKSHOP<br />
SERIES<br />
Beyond Yoga, Manila,<br />
Philippines<br />
3, 10 & 17 November<br />
A 3-part series that allows us to<br />
experience a counterpoint to<br />
our active lifestyles and our<br />
regular dynamic practices<br />
through Yin Yoga. Led by<br />
Dona Tumacder-Esteban.<br />
Module 1: Yin Yoga, Yin Yang<br />
Theory and the Physical Body<br />
(3 November)<br />
Module 2: De-Stress, Rest and<br />
Renew (10 November)<br />
Module 3: Exploring the<br />
Energy Body (17 November)<br />
For more information:<br />
www.igobeyondyoga.com<br />
ASHTANGA YOGA WORKSHOP WITH<br />
JOHN SCOTT<br />
Yoga Mala, Hong Kong<br />
6-9 November<br />
99% Practice 1 % Theory, Is<br />
Asana alone Yoga? Ashtanga<br />
vinyasa yoga is more than<br />
exercise and producing more<br />
than a feel good factor. When<br />
practiced as per the teachings of<br />
Shri K Pattaabhi Jois, it is a<br />
transformative practice. Space<br />
will be secured upon first come<br />
first serve basis.<br />
For more information<br />
www.yogamala.com.hk;<br />
info@yogamala.com.hk; +852<br />
2116-0894<br />
A wealth of knowledge &<br />
compassion - Ganesh Mohan<br />
will be at Pure Yoga in<br />
November<br />
INSIGHT YOGA WORKSHOP<br />
Under the Light Yoga School -<br />
Tokyo, Japan<br />
8-11 November<br />
Insight Yoga: The four jewels<br />
of an enduring practice: Asana,<br />
Pranayama, Insight Meditation<br />
and Compassion Meditation<br />
For more information<br />
www.underthelight.jp/news/<br />
<strong>2012</strong>/05/1811_<strong>2012</strong>16.html<br />
INTRODUCTION TO BHAKTI YOGA<br />
WORKSHOP WITH NATALIE<br />
The Yoga Room, Hong Kong<br />
10 November<br />
Natalie will lead a Bhakti Yoga<br />
Workshop and Bhakti Vinyasa<br />
Flow Yoga Class. 9:30-12.30pm<br />
Morning; or 2-5pm afternoon.<br />
Cost: Regular HK$688 (Early<br />
bird HK$588 before 27<br />
<strong>Oct</strong>ober)<br />
For more information +852<br />
2544 8398;<br />
www.yogaroomhk.com<br />
SVASTHA YOGA THERAPY WITH DR<br />
GANESH MOHAN<br />
Pure Yoga Hong Kong – Tsim<br />
Sha Tsui<br />
16-25 November<br />
In this professional<br />
programme on yoga therapy,<br />
the aim is to bring you the<br />
most effective aspects of<br />
traditional Yoga and Ayurveda<br />
8
combined with the discoveries<br />
of modern science. This<br />
programme is designed<br />
especially for Yoga teachers. Sign<br />
up before 15 <strong>Oct</strong>ober to catch<br />
the early-bird discount!<br />
For more information<br />
www.pureyoga.com;<br />
events@pureyoga.com<br />
ENJOYING THE THERAPEUTIC<br />
USES OF YOGA WITH CHRIS<br />
KUMMER<br />
Pure Yoga Hong Kong – Tsim<br />
Sha Tsui - 24-25 November<br />
Pure Yoga Taipei – Pure Tower<br />
- 30 November-2 December<br />
In this series of workshops<br />
Chris will look from an<br />
integrated perspective at<br />
posture, yoga asana,<br />
movements and myofascial<br />
connections. Examining their<br />
component muscle action,<br />
bone, joint, nerve and ligament<br />
positions, and fascia directions.<br />
As well as how the different<br />
ways of utilising these<br />
components affect other<br />
functions of the body<br />
(digestive, neurological) and<br />
general health. Sign up before<br />
27 <strong>Oct</strong>ober to catch the earlybird<br />
discount!<br />
For more information<br />
www.pureyoga.com;<br />
events@pureyoga.com<br />
Sarah Powers is holding<br />
various workshops around Asia<br />
DEATH AND DYING: TANTRIK<br />
TEACHINGS ON DEATH<br />
26 November – 2 December<br />
Kailash Akhara, Phu Ruea,<br />
Thailand<br />
It is said in Tantra that you will<br />
die as you have lived. Any<br />
spiritual practice should<br />
practically prepare us for the<br />
only certainty that we all must<br />
face. Death is a powerful and<br />
mysterious force but it need<br />
not be such a great unknown.<br />
Fear of death is one of the<br />
main roots of suffering in its<br />
myriad forms. Yet, the yogin<br />
considers Death her greatest<br />
ally. Why?<br />
By going into our fear of<br />
Death we can unleash infinite<br />
amounts of power and energy<br />
previously bound up in this<br />
fear. When we encounter our<br />
fear of death through the<br />
practical, methodic and proven<br />
teachings and practices of<br />
Tantrik Yoga we become<br />
fearless in all aspects of life.<br />
Come learn how to navigate<br />
the death and dying process<br />
and how to empower your life<br />
to the fullest so you can die<br />
with peace and contentment.<br />
This training will give you a<br />
map of the territory of the<br />
dying process plus the realistic<br />
tools to traverse this territory<br />
for yourself. Through these<br />
teachings and practices you will<br />
also learn invaluable skills for<br />
assisting others in their dying<br />
process and become a<br />
grounded source of love and<br />
compassion for others. Cost:<br />
24,000 THB<br />
For more information:<br />
contact@dharmainc.org ;<br />
www.dharmainc.org<br />
ALIGNMENT & THERAPY<br />
WORKSHOP WITH KELLY HAAS<br />
Pure Yoga Hong Kong –<br />
Central<br />
27–29 November; 1–2<br />
December<br />
In each of the Mixed Level<br />
weekday classes, Kelly will<br />
explore how to use your yoga<br />
practice as a tool to create<br />
deeper connection, and clear<br />
out old seeds and patterns to<br />
positively manifest your<br />
highest intentions for the new<br />
cycle.<br />
This course is based on<br />
Anusara Yoga’s Universal<br />
Principles of Alignment geared<br />
for teachers and/or dedicated<br />
students who want to go<br />
deeper in their understanding<br />
of healthy alignment of bones<br />
and muscles, and/or to heal<br />
from injuries through applying<br />
this knowledge to their yoga<br />
practice. Sign up before 27<br />
<strong>Oct</strong>ober for early-bird discount!<br />
For more information<br />
www.pureyoga.com;<br />
events@pureyoga.com<br />
YOGA FOR THE SPINE WORKSHOP<br />
WITH ANN DA SILVA<br />
The Yoga Room, Hong Kong<br />
15 December<br />
Come and learn how to obtain<br />
relief from pain and nurture<br />
your spine to better health.<br />
Cost: HK$599 regular, (Early<br />
Bird HK$499 before 1<br />
December)<br />
For more information +852<br />
2544 8398;<br />
www.yogaroomhk.com<br />
INSIGHT YOGA INTENSIVE WITH<br />
SARAH POWERS<br />
Jivamukti Yoga, Sydney,<br />
Australia<br />
16-20 January 2013<br />
For more information<br />
mindfullifeyoga.com.au/<br />
insight-yoga-workshop-withsarah-powers/<br />
INSIGHT YOGA: A YOGA AND<br />
MEDITATION INTENSIVE WITH<br />
SARAH POWERS<br />
Pure Yoga Hong Kong – Tsim<br />
Sha Tsui<br />
25-27 January 2013<br />
This weekend intensive will<br />
incorporate Sarah Powers’<br />
unique approach: a practice of<br />
passive Yin poses balanced by<br />
an active or Yang flow practice,<br />
followed by Mindfulness and<br />
Loving-kindness meditations.<br />
Drawing from Buddhist<br />
teachings, Sarah will give brief<br />
talks before the sequences to<br />
encourage a greater capacity for<br />
emotional maturity and open<br />
awareness. We will also practice<br />
present moment awareness<br />
meditation, both with<br />
instruction and in silence<br />
throughout the weekend. Sign<br />
up before 2 January to catch the<br />
early-bird discount!<br />
For more information<br />
www.pure-yoga.com;<br />
events@pure-yoga.com<br />
WORKSHOPS AT AGAMA YOGA<br />
Koh Phangan, Thailand<br />
Tantra 1 - 17-21 December.<br />
Their most popular workshop<br />
exploring the basics of Tantric<br />
sexuality.<br />
Kashimiri Shaivism - 11-15<br />
January 2013. Enjoy these very<br />
rare to come by teachings about<br />
this almost extinct spiritual<br />
philosophy.<br />
Tantra 2 - 28 January-1<br />
February 2013. Reach a<br />
profound level of spiritual<br />
sexuality.<br />
Vira Training - 25 February-1<br />
March 2013. A training for men<br />
only. Become a real vira<br />
(spiritual hero)!<br />
Complete Femininity - 25<br />
February-1 March 2013. A<br />
training for women only.<br />
Explore the divine Shakti<br />
aspect!<br />
Art of Dying - 25-29 March<br />
2013. The spiritual preparation<br />
for death, one of life’s greatest<br />
passages.<br />
For more information<br />
www.agamayoga.com;<br />
info@agamayoga.com;<br />
+66 892 330 217<br />
9
RETREATS<br />
YIN & YANG OF LIFE<br />
Lombok, Indonesia<br />
11-15 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
Join Kate and Donna as the<br />
sole guests at the beautiful<br />
Sepoi Villa in Lombok. Enjoy<br />
the beach side villa complex<br />
and stunning pool area. Staff<br />
will attend to every request and<br />
prepare meals based on the<br />
freshest food available locally<br />
every day. A combination of<br />
yin/yang classes, taught by<br />
Kate and Donna around the<br />
beautiful pool. Experience the<br />
deepening of your yoga practice<br />
as we increase your flexibility,<br />
strengthen your core.<br />
For more information<br />
www.KatePorterYoga.com;<br />
MyMat@KatePorterYoga.com;<br />
+65 9781 3403<br />
PO LIN RETREAT FOR CHARITY<br />
20-21 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
A fund-raising charity Retreat<br />
will be held at the famous Po<br />
Lin Temple (Lantau Big<br />
Buddha) to benefit children<br />
requiring treatment for lifethreatening<br />
congenital heart<br />
disease (CHD). In recognition<br />
of this urgent need, Po Lin<br />
Temple, in cooperation with<br />
China Star Light Charity Fund<br />
Association, will for the first<br />
time ever, open its doors to<br />
host a weekend retreat<br />
providing accommodation and<br />
offering special activities such as<br />
teacher-led Yoga and<br />
meditation class at sunrise at<br />
the Big Buddha podium;<br />
10<br />
lectures on special topics related<br />
to Buddhism and Society; plus<br />
a special sponsored fundraising<br />
nature walk (pledge per<br />
distance walked - $10/km).<br />
All funds raised from this<br />
weekend event will be whollyused<br />
to provide financial<br />
assistance to needy children<br />
with CHD. Your participation<br />
in the Po Lin Retreat or<br />
donation in any amount can<br />
provide a lifeline.<br />
Fee for Retreat: HK$888 per<br />
participant (accommodation<br />
and vegetarian meals provided).<br />
Any amount will be welcome<br />
for the Sponsored Fund<br />
Raising Walk.<br />
For more information<br />
www.chinastarlight.org.hk/<br />
home.php; Emmy +852 9877<br />
0099; Mr Yau +852 2868 5399;<br />
emmysfchan@yahoo.com.hk<br />
MASTERS OF MEDITATION<br />
WITH VIKAS MALKANI<br />
Soul Centre, Singapore<br />
22 <strong>Oct</strong>ober-15 November<br />
This training is for everyone<br />
who wishes to live a life of<br />
freedom, inner power and<br />
celebration. Vikas will take you<br />
on a journey of wisdom that<br />
will reveal truths like never<br />
before. You will understand<br />
how we create our own reality,<br />
how thoughts affect our whole<br />
lives and how to effectively<br />
create change in any aspect of<br />
your life. Effective techniques<br />
Historic Po Lin Temple, Hong Kong opens it doors for a rare<br />
weekend retreat with yoga practice in front of the Big Buddha<br />
Mosquito-free practice shala at Kamalaya<br />
to create your own reality will<br />
be taught. You will enjoy a<br />
sense of inner power, freedom<br />
and celebration. The training<br />
will involve 10 weekly meetings<br />
for 2.5 hours each.<br />
Vikas Malkani is an<br />
internationally renowned<br />
meditation teacher with<br />
students worldwide. He has<br />
been trained in the ancient<br />
wisdom lineage of the elusive<br />
Himalayan Masters that<br />
involves the disciplines of<br />
meditation, spiritual<br />
philosophy and learning based<br />
on actual experience. He is an<br />
expert at maximizing inner<br />
potential, and teaching people<br />
how to live lives of happiness,<br />
joy and fulfilment.<br />
For more information<br />
www.soulcentre.org;<br />
soulcentresingapore<br />
@yahoo.com.sg;<br />
+65-98752372; +65-81287418<br />
WOMEN’S ZEN RETREAT<br />
Avani Resort & Spa, Sri Lanka<br />
23-28 <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
Daily Yin Yoga and<br />
meditation, workshops,<br />
kayaking, hiking, visit to caves<br />
and temples.<br />
For more information<br />
jules@mountainhighme.com<br />
THAILAND YOGA RETREAT<br />
Kamalaya Koh Samui<br />
27 <strong>Oct</strong>ober-2 November<br />
Join teachers David Kim and<br />
Jo Phee for a week’s long retreat<br />
in award winning spa resort,<br />
Kamalaya. Retreat includes<br />
twice daily Yoga - Vinyasa Flow<br />
and Yin and lots of free time<br />
to explore Koh Samui. Open<br />
to practitioners of all levels.<br />
Cost is USD1,625 per person.<br />
For more information<br />
www.davidkimyoga.com;<br />
info@yinspiration.org<br />
YOGA FUSION RETREAT<br />
Chiang Mai, Thailand<br />
10-17 November<br />
An Immersion into a fullspectrum<br />
of yoga practices<br />
including Anusara, Philosophy,<br />
Tantra, Pranayama, Meditation,<br />
Ritual, Mandala, Kirtan, Music,<br />
Voice, Touch and more with<br />
Jonas Westring, Emil Wendel<br />
and Geoffrey Gordon.<br />
For more information<br />
www.shantaya.org<br />
YOGA RETREAT WITH HEIDI CHEN<br />
Pure Yoga Taipei<br />
12-16 November<br />
Join this 5-day yoga retreat in<br />
Buluowan, Hualien City. It will<br />
provide an escape from life’s<br />
hustle and bustle, immersing<br />
you in the musical harmony of<br />
nature. With each breath, regain<br />
tranquility of mind and<br />
body.<br />
For more information<br />
www.pureyoga.com;<br />
retreats@pureyoga.com
TEACHER TRAININGS<br />
KUNDALINI YOGA TT KRI - LEVEL<br />
ONE (I-SKY, UK)<br />
Cheng Chau, Hong Kong<br />
1-6 November<br />
This training is open for<br />
everybody. It is an adventure in<br />
personal consciousness and for<br />
those seeking personal<br />
development and growth. This<br />
level 1 training imparts<br />
everything needed for practicing<br />
and teaching Kundalini Yoga.<br />
Cost: HK$24,800; or before 21<br />
<strong>Oct</strong>ober HK$22,000.<br />
For more information +852<br />
2581 9699/ 9189<br />
8050; info@sol-wellness.com<br />
HOM YOGA 200-HOUR TT<br />
Singapore<br />
3-23 November<br />
Hom Yoga, Singapore<br />
This is a comprehensive course<br />
which will transform your<br />
practice and deepen your<br />
understanding of yoga. The<br />
program is ideal for students<br />
looking to further their<br />
knowledge of yoga, aspiring<br />
teachers and curious<br />
practitioners. The training is a<br />
foundational program, which<br />
comprises 5 areas of study:<br />
Yoga Philosophy, Anatomy<br />
and Physiology, Teaching<br />
Methodology, Teaching<br />
Techniques and Practical. Cost:<br />
S$4,990<br />
For more information<br />
training.homyoga.sg;<br />
Training@homyoga.sg<br />
RAINBOW KIDS YOGA (RKY) TTC<br />
Lullaby Yoga, Bangkok,<br />
Thailand<br />
30 November-2 December<br />
This RKY TT is a<br />
comprehensive, intensive and<br />
practical certification course. The<br />
course is<br />
for<br />
anyone who loves working<br />
with kids, and loves Yoga. It is<br />
for Yoga teachers wanting to<br />
specialize, and educators<br />
wanting to bring the benefits<br />
of Yoga to their classrooms.<br />
It’s also great for parents to<br />
find new ways to connect with<br />
their children and family, and<br />
share a healthy, fun, and noncompetitive<br />
movement-based<br />
activity. It is also for anyone<br />
who wants to expand a current<br />
related profession, or learn a<br />
new one! You do not need to<br />
be a Yoga teacher to take the<br />
course.<br />
The training is led by Lei<br />
Sadakari, a senior RKY trainer.<br />
The RKY certificate is<br />
recognized by the UK Yoga<br />
Alliance and is eligible for<br />
continuous education credits by<br />
the US Yoga Alliance.<br />
Cost: THB18,000 early bird<br />
before 9 November; regular<br />
THB21,000<br />
For more information<br />
www.lullaby-yoga.com;<br />
info@lullaby-yoga.com; +66<br />
22525824/5<br />
UNIVERSAL YOGA TT WITH<br />
ANDREY LAPPA<br />
Pure Yoga Taipei – Pure Tower<br />
- 4-19 January 2013<br />
Pure Yoga Hong Kong –<br />
Langham Place - 20-31 January<br />
2013<br />
This TT is the second 100<br />
hours (Part 2) of the full 200-<br />
hour RYT Universal Yoga<br />
Teacher Training Programme.<br />
Through daily yoga asana<br />
classes, Shiva Nata practice and<br />
lectures, we will explore yogic<br />
concepts and methods to create<br />
a new approach to this ancient<br />
practice. Students will be<br />
challenged to explore & expand<br />
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TRAININGS AT AGAMA YOGA<br />
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Wai-Ling compiles and edits this<br />
section of news, workshops,<br />
retreats & teacher trainings.<br />
Email her directly on<br />
wailing.tse@gmail.com<br />
11
Dristi Death<br />
What to Do at the Time of f Death<br />
ath?<br />
Clayton Horton<br />
Yoga teaches us to be present, non-attached, awake, clear,<br />
conscious, aware of the results of our actions and aware of the<br />
eternal Self within. A lifetime of yoga practice prepares us for the<br />
moment we leave our physical body. Many spiritual traditions and<br />
sacred texts say the content of our consciousness at the time of<br />
death determines our fate in the afterlife.<br />
What happens when we die? Do we have a choice to be born again<br />
or can we be liberated from the cycle of birth and death? We can<br />
look to many Eastern traditions for instructions, teachings and<br />
advice on what to do at this auspicious time.<br />
The Tibetan Book of the Dead encourages a fearless, clear and calm<br />
mind as one travels through the trials and tribulations of the<br />
afterlife. Instruction is given for skillful navigation through<br />
different lokas (celestial landscapes) and encounters with demonic<br />
and divine beings in the afterlife. Positive attributes learned and<br />
gained through spiritual practice could be forgotten in this<br />
transition if one is distracted by earthly attachments, has fear of the<br />
unknown or is numbed by pharmaceutical medication.<br />
The Vipassana meditation tradition of S. N. Goenka teaches the<br />
practitioner to reduce and thin their personal attachments and<br />
aversions (samskaras) by letting go of and not reacting to the<br />
content the mind that arises during the waking state of<br />
consciousness. Goenka explains in his teachings that this reservoir<br />
of samskaras can rise to the surface of the conscious mind, and is<br />
no different than someone’s “life flashing before their eyes” at the<br />
time of death or near death. If one has worked adequately to<br />
reduce their personal collection of attachments and aversions, this<br />
paves the way for a calm, clear, and peaceful mind at the time of<br />
death. An individual with an equanimous and peaceful mind is<br />
capable of focusing their awareness towards the divine, and<br />
consciously directing their soul in the afterlife without distraction<br />
or interruption.<br />
mind completely stilled, free of<br />
selfish passions and concentration<br />
fixed at the third eye, you will<br />
realise the supreme Lord<br />
The Bhagavad Gita’s eighth chapter is perhaps one of the most<br />
popular and well-read instructions on ascension. Here, Lord<br />
Krishna instructs Arjuna on what to do at the time of death,<br />
before he goes to war on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.<br />
Krishna tells Arjuna, “Those who remember me at the time of<br />
death will always come to me. Whatever occupies the mind at the<br />
time of death determines the destination of the dying. Therefore,<br />
remember me at all times. When you make the mind one-pointed<br />
through the practice of meditation, you will find the supreme glory<br />
of the Lord. With your mind completely stilled, free of selfish<br />
passions and your concentration fixed at the third eye between your<br />
eyebrows, you will realize the supreme Lord. Close down the doors<br />
of the senses and place your mind in the heart.<br />
“Then, while absorbed in meditation, focus all energy upwards to<br />
the head, repeating the sacred sound of OM, the sound of the<br />
eternal Godhead. You will go forth from the body and attain the<br />
supreme goal, union with me. At the time of death, there are two<br />
paths the soul may follow Arjuna. One, the path of darkness and<br />
rebirth, the other is of light and liberation. Attain this knowledge<br />
through perseverance in Yoga and you will never be deluded<br />
again.”<br />
In a similar tale of divine instruction from the Katha Upanishad, a<br />
young man by the name of Nachiketa asks Yama (the lord of<br />
death) what happens when one leaves the physical body. Yama<br />
explains the mystery of death. He tells Nachiketa, “Eternal peace<br />
and freedom from rebirth is attainable to those who recognize the<br />
Self in their own hearts.<br />
The wise, who still the mind and senses no longer chase after the<br />
objects of the senses and the world of change. Established in the<br />
Self, they enter the unitive state, never to be separate from divine<br />
source again. When all desires of the heart are renounced, mortals<br />
become immortal, free from the wheel of birth and death.”<br />
Yama continues, “the Self abides in the human heart in a form<br />
about the size of a human thumb and from this heart area, there<br />
are 101 energetic pathways (nadis) leading from the heart. One leads<br />
to the crown of the head. This pathway leads to immortality. The<br />
other pathways lead to death and rebirth. At the time of death,<br />
draw the Self up towards the crown of the head and out of the<br />
physical sheath. Know thyself to be pure and immortal!”<br />
The time of death is a great mystery. Spiritual traditions suggest we<br />
stay awake and alert, with our awareness in the unitive state and our<br />
mind focused on the divine. We must be prepared to let go of a<br />
lifetime of attachments and desires as our life could end at any<br />
moment. Such a task is ultimately challenging and could be<br />
considered the spadework of our soul.<br />
The Winter solstice (December 21) is a time for rebirth, a<br />
celebration of the days getting longer, symbolizing coming out of<br />
darkness and moving into light. Looking ahead to this years’<br />
solstice, it is said to be an end or death of a larger time cycle in our<br />
planet’s evolution. We have the opportunity to create a new and<br />
12
SERENITY OR<br />
SERENDIPITY?<br />
Danny Pui-Lung Lau<br />
I have been living in this neighbourhood<br />
for five years. In the Summer, birds chirp<br />
from 5 in the morning till 9 at night. In the<br />
Fall, they start slightly later and finish an<br />
hour earlier. And all Winter and Spring it<br />
rains like a Banshee. This is Vancouver, BC<br />
afterall! Between the rain there’s the fog,<br />
which can make things spooky. But even<br />
more spooky, my neighbourhood is next<br />
to a cemetery.<br />
Vancouver has a huge Chinese population<br />
but my neighbourhood has only a handful<br />
of Chinese or Asian families. I guess it is<br />
because of its proximity to the cemetery.<br />
Chinese people prefer not to live close to<br />
the dead.<br />
When I first moved here with my partner, I<br />
was a little apprehensive of going to the<br />
cemetery. I felt I was disturbing them when<br />
I walked around their territory. But my<br />
dogs, possibly the most intuitive beings on<br />
the planet, love going into the cemetery.<br />
They play and run like wild animals, like the<br />
coyotes we hear howling at night.<br />
So I thought ‘dogs are intuitive and have<br />
heightened senses, so they would sense any<br />
negative energy. There is nothing to be<br />
scared about.’ Soon I learned to appreciate<br />
the serenity of this cemetery, and realized<br />
the people laying here were really good<br />
souls. In fact most of them sacrificed their<br />
lives during the wars, they were heroes.<br />
In the Bhagavad Gita death is portrayed as<br />
a process of rebirth. A soul does not just<br />
go away after the physical body is gone.<br />
That soul may have unfinished business<br />
which needs to be dealt with on his/her<br />
journey. Hence the soul may influence the<br />
journey to the next life.<br />
As a yogi, I learn to be aware of the<br />
presence of other being. I am also learning<br />
how to channel spirit guides when I need<br />
to communicate with others. Every time I<br />
am in the cemetery, I speak to “them”. I<br />
say hello when I come across a name on the<br />
stone. And sometimes, I sense their<br />
presence. I watch my dogs and how they<br />
behave when they are here.<br />
They stop to pee of course, thankfully<br />
mostly on the grass! I do my best to stop<br />
them peeing on tombstones, as I find it<br />
disrespectful. However, sometimes I sense<br />
a spirit saying “it’s okay. They are just being<br />
dogs”. In my heart, I apologize and thank<br />
them for letting us pass through. From<br />
this I have learned something of coexistence.<br />
Just like the co-existence of wild<br />
lives and humans in the city of Vancouver.<br />
The role of yogis with regard to death, as<br />
described in Bhagavad Gita, is to be<br />
mindful of the process of dying. Our<br />
mind can direct our consciousness to move<br />
from our physical bodies back to our souls.<br />
In the Yoga Sutras Patanjali says “yogis die<br />
at will”. (Bhagavad Gita, Chapter Eight).<br />
So we have the control.<br />
It is serendipity I ended up in this<br />
neighbourhood to discover the meaning<br />
of death and to realize it is a controlled<br />
passage. I have learned to appreciate the<br />
serenity in death. I have also learned to<br />
walk my path with an open mind and to be<br />
present with my mind. I have some control<br />
Danny’s dogs are at ease in the cemetery<br />
of my consciousness and can direct my<br />
mind to walk different paths. As long as<br />
my intention is directed by my heart, it’s all<br />
okay.<br />
Danny (E-RYT 200,<br />
Studio Owner, Local<br />
Radio Personality, Dog<br />
Lover) was born and<br />
raised in Hong Kong;<br />
educated in Hong<br />
Kong, China and<br />
Canada; and has been<br />
in radio broadcasting<br />
for almost 20 years, in<br />
Hong Kong and<br />
Vancouver. He owns<br />
SpiRe Wellness Yoga<br />
Studio in Vancouver. He has a Puggle, a<br />
German Shorthaired Pointer and a husband.<br />
beautiful world by focusing our attention on that which is centered<br />
in harmony, peace and unconditional love. The content of our<br />
minds during this period of transition is incredibly important:<br />
with our collective thoughts, we have the ability to co-create a mass<br />
evolution of planetary love, peace, unity and happiness for all<br />
beings.<br />
A verse from the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad is an appropriate prayer<br />
for our times:<br />
Om Asato Ma Sad Gamaya<br />
Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya<br />
Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya<br />
Om Shantih Shantih Shantih<br />
Oh Lord, Lead me<br />
From the unreal to the real<br />
From the darkness to the light<br />
From death to immortality<br />
OM Peace Peace Peace<br />
Clayton is director of Green Path Yoga. He<br />
teaches workshops and teacher trainings<br />
around the world. clayton@greenpathyoga.org<br />
13
Dristi Death<br />
DEATH & DYING<br />
Yogesvara Boyle<br />
My grandmother just died. So this issue’s topic is near and dear to me right now. Speaking with my mom during my grandmother’s<br />
passing she perfectly encapsulated the essence of the dharma teachings on death by saying, “You know, your Nonna is dying like she<br />
lived… hard. She’s fighting. And your Papa, he died like he lived: open and surrendered.” And there you have it. This is the key to the<br />
death and dying teachings from the yoga perspective: as you live, so shall you die.<br />
Death, personified as Lord Yama in the<br />
yoga tradition, teaches us the value of<br />
sobriety. It is very useful to re-evaluate our<br />
life through this lens. What are our<br />
priorities? Why do we do what we do?<br />
Where are we going? Where did we come<br />
from? Who are we? What do we really want<br />
out of life?<br />
I don’t want my face to wear a look of horror [at<br />
my time of death] that scares my loved ones,<br />
who are hopefully by my side<br />
Yogins of the Sakta-Saiva Dharma keep<br />
“remembrance of death” as a daily, living<br />
precept. The intent of this practice is not<br />
drudgery, nor is it’s fruit contrived guilt and<br />
darkness. Rather, this practice of<br />
remembering enriches and enlivens life,<br />
while lending us the courage to detach<br />
from the aspects of ourselves that are not<br />
congruent with our purpose and direction.<br />
One of the hallmarks of authentic spiritual<br />
practice is “practicing where we are at” and<br />
not where some highbrow philosophy says<br />
we should be. Where most of us “are at”<br />
in regards to death is scared shitless. Being<br />
real with this fear and preparing for what is<br />
inevitable is not a drag. It is practical and<br />
honest.<br />
Or at least I think so, because I really don’t<br />
want to panic when my time comes – and I<br />
don’t know when my time is coming. I<br />
don’t want to be flailing in terror like my<br />
Nonna has been. I don’t want my face to<br />
wear a look of horror that scares my loved<br />
ones, who are hopefully by my side. Forget<br />
what the teachings say about what happens<br />
after death. Before it, I don’t want to live<br />
my life with an undercurrent of anxiety<br />
about something so natural and certain.<br />
So, then, there are things I need to<br />
confront, accept and perhaps transform<br />
about my situation right here and now.<br />
There are things I need to deal with. I<br />
cannot run away from any aspect of life…<br />
because I know… as I live, so I shall die.<br />
How do I show up in life?<br />
At the moment of death will I be relaxed,<br />
surrendered, and at peace? Am I going to<br />
be at ease? Am I going to be in a state of<br />
love and grace? All of that depends. Am I<br />
in that state now? How often have I been<br />
in that state recently? How about as a habit<br />
throughout most of my life? What about<br />
in stressful situations when the shit hits<br />
the fan? Do I crumble in fear, freeze in<br />
panic, run away, deny, avoid, look for<br />
something to not feel the pain, to buffer<br />
the discomfort?<br />
Or, do I remain in state of peace and love<br />
even when things are hard? I have to ask<br />
myself these questions because, frankly, I<br />
don’t always like the answers. I have to<br />
keep it real. Because if I am not so<br />
surrendered when I can’t pay my bills, or<br />
when my child’s fever spikes, or when I am<br />
filled with regret for things I did, or didn’t<br />
do… then how can I expect the measure of<br />
contentment I hope to die with? How can<br />
I hope to not be as terrified as I think I<br />
might be?<br />
These are questions the yogin ponders as<br />
she must. This is why the “Cremation<br />
Ground Siva” is an Icon of Essence we<br />
look to with reverence. This is why the<br />
practice of living fully in every moment, or<br />
realizing our ultimate human creative<br />
potential is the same thing as saying every<br />
moment is a practice for death and dying.<br />
I am so grateful every Autumn our school<br />
of Sakta-Saiva Dharma makes it a priority<br />
to revisit the teachings on death and dying.<br />
We can never answer all our rational<br />
questions about something as mysterious<br />
as death. But, there are a lot more answers<br />
than most people think. We can learn<br />
about how we dissolve - body, mind and<br />
spirit - and how to best prepare for and<br />
navigate that process. There are tools for<br />
practicing now, which simultaneously<br />
enhance living and serve as trial runs for the<br />
moment of dying.<br />
There are even very practical views and<br />
methods we can learn to better assist<br />
others, our loved ones, who are living their<br />
final moments and might otherwise suffer<br />
in a state of confusion and fear. Certainly,<br />
we can never control a force such as death<br />
and any conscious efforts to work with it<br />
are best practiced with humility. But there<br />
are things we can do. We are not helpless.<br />
We are empowered beings endowed with<br />
greatness and responsibility. What good is<br />
a spiritual practice if it is not giving us the<br />
best chance we’ve got to experience<br />
everything about life, most especially death,<br />
with a masterful touch?<br />
I am grateful for the taste of sobriety reawakened<br />
in me in the wake of my<br />
grandmother’s death. May all beings be free<br />
from the fear of death and in so becoming,<br />
be truly and fully alive. And may my<br />
Nonna rest in peace.<br />
Yogi is co-founder of<br />
Energy of Mind<br />
Therapy<br />
(www.energyofmind<br />
therapy.com), works<br />
with clients online and<br />
at Kailash Askhara<br />
retreat<br />
(www.adiyoga.com) in<br />
Northeast Thailand.<br />
14
Postponing Death<br />
Dr. Mihaiela Pentiuc<br />
It may seem as if we can write easily about our passions, hopes,<br />
dreams, expectations, life. But when it comes to death, words<br />
escape us and inspiration seems beyond reach. It does not matter<br />
how certain death is, we keep on postponing its reality in our<br />
minds. It does not matter how often we have met death – through<br />
loved ones who have left, or even events in the news – we keep<br />
thinking: It’s not about me. In order to live happily we build an<br />
entire coping system that takes the mind away from the frightening<br />
certitude of our own deadline.<br />
Medical books describe a very rare disease that causes people to<br />
think they are dead or that parts of their body are missing or<br />
rotten. It is called Walking Corpse Syndrome (Cotard’s Syndrome)<br />
and its source can be partially found in a disconnection between the<br />
areas in the brain that process information from the sense organs<br />
and the site of their emotional processing. It is like seeing, feeling,<br />
tasting the body, but being unable to appreciate this is me, mine, or<br />
normal. What does the mind do when confronted with this odd<br />
separation? Usually it makes up a story, an explanation that will<br />
solve the dilemma, but most commonly does not match reality.<br />
Generally speaking, when our sense of identity is not associated<br />
with our sensory perceptions, we feel as if we are dead.<br />
to live happily we build a coping<br />
system to take the mind away from<br />
our own deadline<br />
In Yoga, pratyahara, the fifth of the eight stages of Patanjali’s<br />
traditional system, advises the sadhaka to train in the “withdrawal<br />
of the senses,” the voluntary separation of the internal activity of<br />
the mind from external disturbances. In this practice smell, taste,<br />
sight, touch, and hearing are not processed anymore in their<br />
respective centers in the brain; the sense organs are totally<br />
functional while the brain does not acknowledge their activity.<br />
Pratyahara is the essential turning point that takes the practitioner<br />
to the superior levels of yoga – dharana (concentration), dhyana<br />
(meditation), and samadhi.<br />
Stretching the analogy a little, we can say before reaching samadhi the<br />
yogi must change the habitudes of his brain activity, which is in a<br />
way like undergoing death. It is very common before entering<br />
samadhi to experience a certain amount of fear – either a fear of<br />
death or fear of insanity. Many practitioners stop at this point,<br />
while others spend a lot of time roaming to the edge of this range,<br />
which reveals the extinction of the ego. Unfortunately there is no<br />
other way to gain passage to greater depths but by passing through<br />
this gateway, a necessary step that changes the psychological focus<br />
but also imprints on our biology. The brain has to be trained; our<br />
body has to face what will normally be translated as death and<br />
destruction in order to accommodate the higher stages of sadhana.<br />
How does the yogi know he or she is not going mad, is not<br />
damaging the brain, and won’t become a zombie like the severe<br />
sufferers of Cotard’s Syndrome?<br />
It is a common procedure in neuroscience to observe pathological<br />
conditions in order to understand the function of the normal<br />
brain. For a yogi it is even more fascinating to recognize the effects<br />
of yoga practice in what science describes.<br />
Yoga and meditation change both our body and brain. Pathology<br />
and disease are also based on sometimes similar changes of the<br />
brain. Why does one lead to bliss while the other to misery? Are<br />
there signs that tell us clearly in which direction we are heading?<br />
If I want to taste the exquisiteness of infinity I have to accept the<br />
need to courageously look into the face of death. On the verge of<br />
extinction’s abyss, is there something that can reassure me of an<br />
afterlife of samadhi? Unfortunately the answer is no. Facing death<br />
means facing no compromises, no half-doses, and no selfcomforting.<br />
From outside, the guru or teacher can appreciate the<br />
signs but inside it is just that: a solitary confrontation with the dark<br />
night. The only real, reliable, guiding light is gradual consistent<br />
practice: pratyahara – withdrawal from the ongoing processing of<br />
external sensory stimulation – and one-pointed concentration of<br />
the mind leading to deep levels of meditation.<br />
This is no easy step and dreaming about bliss without the courage<br />
to confront death is like suffering from thirst while being averse to<br />
drinking. Speaking about abhinivesha – the fear of death, or the<br />
excessive attachment to life – Patanjali himself acknowledged this<br />
describing it as being “deeply rooted even in the sages.”<br />
All those who hold the ambition to reach the highest yogic<br />
achievements are bound to bear witness to the very deep<br />
transformation brought about by one’s confrontation with death.<br />
It starts with the effort of the mind to redirect its attention and<br />
concludes with physiological changes of the brain. Meanwhile a<br />
wide range of emotional and philosophical challenges can surge up.<br />
We do need to apply new processing terms, to learn new<br />
translation skills or new emotional values. Seeing must be replaced<br />
by inner vision, external consistency exchanged for the certainty of<br />
internal perceptions, permanent sensorial bombardment easily<br />
turned into awakened calmness.<br />
This is how the advanced stages of yoga become the realm of<br />
heroes, men and women with determination and real longing for<br />
truth and freedom. From this perspective we can understand why<br />
Shiva, the archetypal image of the yoga guru, also received the name<br />
Bhairava, the terrible one.<br />
Some who initially feel an enthusiastic attraction to yoga may feel<br />
discouraged at this point. Isn’t there an escape, a shortcut, a<br />
“happy-go-lucky” path to samadhi? We want the bliss but not the<br />
confrontation. Let’s look around: Is there a place where death can<br />
be avoided? Is it possible by facing it courageously we can stop<br />
fearing it and understand death as transformation? Yogic wisdom<br />
provides answers and practical solutions, showing again how this<br />
ancient system is reliable for much more than healthy stretching or<br />
relaxation.<br />
Mihaiela is a senior yoga teacher at Agama<br />
Yoga, Thailand. mihaiela@agamayoga.com<br />
Agama Yoga offers its ‘Art of Dying’ workshop<br />
25-29 March 2013 www.agamayoga.com<br />
15
Dristi Death<br />
Death: Teachings vs Reality<br />
Nityananda Rama Das<br />
Pot Pot was showing signs of pain, she became less active and no<br />
longer had an appetite. We took her to our veterinarian and her test<br />
results were not good. I knew this day would come since the first<br />
time she snuggled up on my chest purring and resting her paw on<br />
my chin, she always reached out to touch people.<br />
She was a rescue cat, along with her two siblings. We offered her a<br />
life of love and affection, and given the chance I would do it all over<br />
again. The vet gave us her options - to prolong her life with surgery<br />
and medication, or accept that she lived a full life.<br />
According to my upbringing as a yogi I should have never become<br />
involved in the first place, yet the act of kindness many years ago<br />
felt right. In Gurukula I was taught to detach from worldly life<br />
intellectual philosophy had no<br />
weight next to the heart<br />
forms to avoid becoming karmicly entangled and thus limit or even<br />
halt spiritual progress. It seems the teachings I learned were mostly<br />
to avoid suffering through detachment or simply by avoiding<br />
involvement all together to prepare for transcending the material<br />
plain of existence. Yet, building and maintaining awareness of the<br />
divinity within all is our main goal. Thus involvement, connection,<br />
love and affection to all is the recommended conduct of a yogi, and<br />
what feels right in the heart.<br />
The vet gave me some time to be with Pot Pot as she passed away. I<br />
prayed for her, offered Mantras and blessings only to realize none<br />
were needed. What comes to be is what’s meant to be. The intensity<br />
of the emotions did not mix with the teaching of scriptures and<br />
knowledge of the Spirit Self, Higher Self as well as the Afterlife did<br />
not matter. The intellectual philosophy and cold detachment had<br />
no weight next to the heart and my sadness in witnessing the<br />
departure of a loved one, or gratitude for all we shared.<br />
According to Krsna within the Bhagavad Gita “ the Self or Spirit<br />
Soul is consciousness, bliss and truth, unchanging, eternal, present<br />
everywhere, immovable and can not be harmed in any way, it is not<br />
bound to the material world”. Karma being action-reaction, is<br />
limited to the material world and is impartial. So according to these<br />
teachings the Eternal Self is not of this world, whereas karma is the<br />
guiding principle of this material world. Since karma and the<br />
experience of pleasure and pain do not change the Self, karma is not<br />
important in the context of the Self. So perhaps we could allow the<br />
mind and body to live out its biological purpose, fulfilling our<br />
family and cultural evolution by fully embracing each aspect of this<br />
existence, instead of hiding behind detached spiritual-afterlife<br />
concepts as a method of avoiding the unpleasant times.<br />
Embracing the fullness of the emotions and experience, honoring<br />
and cherishing in my heart, feels right. Being conscious of the<br />
divinity within all, in truth, in life and death I allowed the fullness<br />
of emotions to wash over me and the tears<br />
of sadness mixed with joy flowed freely.<br />
Nitai is a second generation Vaishnava and<br />
Yoga Teacher. He grew up following the<br />
Vedic teachings and later found the balance<br />
of Veda and Tantra. Now as a family man he<br />
draws his inspiration from loved ones and<br />
life’s lessons. Nitai teaches at Pure Yoga.<br />
richard@pure-yoga.com<br />
Teacher’s Voice<br />
Ardash Williams<br />
WHAT IS YOUR MOST CHALLENGING<br />
ASANA AND WHY?<br />
The asanas that have given me<br />
the most challenge have to be<br />
balancing postures, especially<br />
16<br />
Sirsasana (headstand). Sirsasana<br />
took two years for me to<br />
become proficient in (i.e. not fall<br />
over) and was the source of so<br />
much frustration as a yoga<br />
beginner.<br />
Unlike some postures,<br />
headstand does not require a<br />
huge amount of flexibility but<br />
it does require a successful<br />
organization of the various<br />
body parts - especially an<br />
awareness of the center (dan<br />
tian). My challenge was in<br />
finding my center and “putting<br />
in all together.”<br />
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM<br />
THIS?<br />
The process of learning<br />
headstand taught me many of<br />
the yoga lessons I remind<br />
myself of everyday; themes like<br />
patience and perseverance,<br />
concentration and the balancing<br />
of opposing forces.<br />
The biggest thing related to<br />
asana is the idea of mastering<br />
small things. For example,<br />
moving into headstand requires<br />
many of the same techniques<br />
found in Tadasana (mountain<br />
pose). The trick is to put it all<br />
together while upside down.<br />
WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING<br />
PART OF YOUR PRACTICE?<br />
The most challenging part of<br />
my practice is finding time to get<br />
it all in. I really enjoy practicing<br />
yoga and want my session to go<br />
on forever! However, I always<br />
have to finish on time, even if<br />
that means cutting it short. So, I<br />
wake up very early every<br />
morning to get everything in -<br />
asana, pranayama, meditation -<br />
then I need to finish up and<br />
begin teaching early Mysore class.<br />
On top of that, my two small<br />
children keep me on my toes, so<br />
life is always busy.<br />
Adarsh is a faculty teacher at<br />
Samahita Yoga Thailand, Space<br />
Yoga Taipei and director of the<br />
Monterey Yoga Shala in<br />
California.<br />
www.smartstretch.com
17
Yoga 101<br />
OM: What<br />
hat’s all the Fus<br />
uss s about?<br />
Andrew Willner<br />
“Aum iti evam dhyayat atmanam….Svasti va paraya tamasah parastat”<br />
Meditate on the Aum as your inner self….may you cross over the darkness to the other<br />
side. Mandukya Upanishad<br />
Your Om is too loud, your Om is too soft, your Om is too short on the ‘mmmmm’, in<br />
fact your Om really sucks! So is there a right way to chant Om? Will I be a more<br />
enlightened being if I can just get my Om spot om?<br />
Aum is the sound of<br />
creation...quantum<br />
physicists are now<br />
confirming...as all<br />
things are energy<br />
vibrating<br />
Let’s start by going back in time to identify the roots of this mantra and then try to<br />
comprehend its meaning and determine whether there is any basis of argument on how<br />
an Om should sound.<br />
SOME HISTORY<br />
Om or Aum, as I shall henceforth refer to<br />
it being more correct, does not appear in<br />
the Vedas other than indirectly in the Yajur<br />
Veda. Also there have been no examples<br />
found from the Indus civilization of the<br />
Aum symbol on any seals or cave drawings.<br />
(Some scholars have argued that, just as the<br />
ancient Hebrews would never express the<br />
word “Yahweh” as it was too holy to<br />
speak, similarly maybe Aum was too sacred<br />
to be spoken of or written about). So the<br />
first direct reference is found in the<br />
Upanishads (800BCE-200CE) and in<br />
particular the Mandukya Upanishad which<br />
is devoted to this one topic! Thereafter we<br />
find plenty of references in the Puranas, in<br />
the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita and<br />
other Vedantic texts.<br />
WHAT IS IT?<br />
Aum is called the Mahat (great) Mantra. It<br />
symbolizes everything. It is the sound of<br />
creation and ultimate reality. It is the<br />
cosmic vibration behind all of the manifest<br />
universe, which quantum physicists and<br />
super string theorists are now<br />
confirming… as all ‘things’ are just energy<br />
vibrating . It is Brahman i.e. it’s a pretty<br />
important and far out concept.<br />
18
the point above the<br />
crescent moon<br />
represents pure<br />
consciousness<br />
Unlike all other sounds, which require air<br />
movement to create their sound, in the case<br />
of Aum the fourth syllable is silent, the<br />
unstruck sound (anahat nada), and we shall<br />
come back to this when we examine how<br />
to chant Aum.<br />
The pictograph of Aum, which is familiar<br />
to most yogis (and anyone who happens<br />
to have seen the tattoo on my back) also<br />
symbolizes different aspects of our<br />
consciousness a) the waking state : jagrathaavastha<br />
“A”, b) the subconscious dream<br />
state: svapna-avastha “U” and c) the<br />
unconscious state: susupta-avastha “M’ and<br />
these states are represented by the three<br />
curves that combined look a bit like the<br />
number 30.<br />
Now for the really interesting bit - the<br />
point (bindu – which in metaphysics<br />
represents the point where multiplicity<br />
merges back into unity) above the crescent<br />
moon represents the unstruck sound I<br />
referred to earlier in this article. It represents<br />
the fourth state of consciousness called<br />
Turiya which is pure consciousness and<br />
transcends the other three states. In Turiya<br />
there are no thoughts and no “I” and no<br />
relative existence.<br />
The crescent moon below the bindu<br />
represents maya, (which in Vedanta is the<br />
illusion of the ‘reality’ of the manifest and<br />
in Tantra is the veil that cloaks the absolute<br />
from the relative). But let’s move on to<br />
consider how to chant.<br />
HOW TO CHANT AUM<br />
So once we are sitting comfortably we can<br />
commence our Aum japa. The first syllable<br />
is the “A” and is pronounced as ‘ahhh’<br />
somewhat like the sound made when the<br />
doctor wishes to inspect your tonsils! It<br />
should come from the back of the throat<br />
with the lips in a quite wide horizontal<br />
elliptical shape akin to a wide-mouthed<br />
frog (if you ever happen to have spotted<br />
one)! It refers to the gross world i.e. the<br />
physical world.<br />
Then comes the “U” as the second syllable<br />
and is pronounced somewhere between an<br />
‘oo’ and an ‘or’ with the lips closing slightly<br />
into an oval shape and resembles the<br />
sound you might make if the doctor then<br />
took your temperature using a very cold<br />
rectoral thermometer! It refers to the subtle<br />
astral world.<br />
Then comes the third syllable, the “M”,<br />
pronounced ‘mmm’ with the lips gently<br />
closed (which intensifies the vibratory<br />
resonance in the brain per Sri Dharma<br />
Mittra, whom many readers will know as a<br />
remarkable teacher of yoga with over half a<br />
century of experience). The sound is similar<br />
to that made after your first sip of hot<br />
coffee on a cold winter’s day. It refers to the<br />
causal realm and can be imagined as the<br />
canvas on which the subtle and gross<br />
realms are painted.<br />
Finally, last but by no means least, we arrive<br />
at the fourth syllable referred to earlier,<br />
which is the unstruck sound of silence,<br />
which does not sound like any other sound<br />
in the manifest world, wherein the<br />
practitioner may experience absolute reality<br />
which encompasses all three of the prior<br />
realms above. This last realm is the most<br />
esoteric and probably the one most<br />
students will take time to fully appreciate,<br />
but during the silence the practitioner can<br />
still experience the vibration of the mantra<br />
in the higher chakras, particularly in ajna<br />
(third eye) and sahasrara (crown) chakras.<br />
RATIOS<br />
There does not appear to be any scriptural<br />
text that defines the ratio of time of each<br />
syllable of the mantra, but typically most<br />
gurus and swamis (e.g. Swami Jnaneshvara<br />
Bharati), who have commented on this<br />
topic, suggest the “M” should be longer<br />
than the “A” and “U” but to varying<br />
degrees. Personally I think after practicing<br />
for a while, one develops a sense of what<br />
feels right for you, although in a class<br />
situation it is respectful to follow the lead<br />
of the teacher. Typically beginners with<br />
limited lung capacity may find their “M” is<br />
too short because they run out of breath,<br />
so unless you are an ex-deep sea pearl diver<br />
then try not to get carried away with the<br />
“AU” parts.<br />
DECIBELS<br />
So is there any guidance on how loud the<br />
Aum should be? Again, different traditions<br />
seem to have different approaches from<br />
soft to loud. In Sanskrit the word japa<br />
(repetition) derives from the root ‘jap’<br />
which means ‘to utter in a low voice, repeat<br />
internally or mutter’, so that would suggest<br />
a softer Aum is appropriate. However, a<br />
louder chant can be invigorating and (per<br />
Omved) gives the practitioner a sense of<br />
the omnipotence of the Supreme. I would<br />
also add that chanting silently does not give<br />
me the physical experience of feeling the<br />
vibration of the sounds, not to mention in<br />
a group setting it would seem a bit solitary!<br />
So the only conclusion I can draw on this<br />
point is that the fourth syllable, the<br />
unstruck sound, should be silent, no<br />
matter which tradition you follow.<br />
FINAL FOOD FOR THOUGHT:<br />
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna highlights<br />
the importance of chanting Aum at the<br />
time of one’s death: “Repeating in this<br />
state (of meditation) the divine name, the<br />
syllable Om that represents the changeless<br />
Brahman, you will go forth from the body<br />
and attain the supreme goal.” (Ch 8.13)<br />
But for those of you in more of a hurry to<br />
reach samadhi, I should like to refer you to<br />
the Shiva Purana which apparently states<br />
1,080,000,000 recitations of Aum purify<br />
our mind and lead us automatically to<br />
salvation. By my calculations, assuming 30<br />
seconds per Aum, if you chant 12 hours a<br />
day uninterruptedly for just over 2,000<br />
years you will have reached the requisite<br />
number of recitations!<br />
Off I go….1,2,3….oh darn, there goes my<br />
Blackberry again!<br />
Andy is an<br />
enthusiastic yoga<br />
practitioner and now<br />
teacher too with a<br />
background in<br />
aerobics and martial<br />
arts. Outside work as<br />
a headhunter and<br />
practising yoga, he<br />
plays the saxophone<br />
for pleasure...his,<br />
rather than the<br />
neighbours’!<br />
19
Mythology in a Minute<br />
Pleased with all of Yudhishthir’s answers, the Yaksha revealed<br />
himself to be none other than Yudhishthir’s father, Dharmaraja,<br />
Yama, the Lord of Death. Yama restored the four brothers to life.<br />
He then granted three boons to Yudhishthir. The brahmin’s<br />
implements were returned. The five Pandavas princes were granted<br />
the boon of a safe year in exile when no one would be able to<br />
recognize them. And finally, Yudhishtir was granted his wish of<br />
victory over greed, anger and delusion and<br />
constant abidance in generosity, austerity and<br />
truth.<br />
This story comes from Veda Vyasa’s<br />
Mahabharata.<br />
Tia, a yoga teacher, writes from India.<br />
Poetry of Yoga<br />
Flying At Night<br />
Krishna Das<br />
Questions from a Crane<br />
Tia Sinha<br />
Yudhishtir, the just king, was thirsty. He and his four Pandava<br />
brothers had been chasing, in vain, a deer that had run away with<br />
implements stuck on its antlers. The brahmin ascetic to whom<br />
those implements belonged had appealed to the Pandava brothers<br />
to retrieve them.<br />
The youngest brother, Nakula, spotted some cranes from the top<br />
of a tree in the forest and went towards them in search of water.<br />
Upon reaching a beautiful lake adorned with lotus blossoms,<br />
Nakula ventured close to quench his own thirst and fetch some<br />
water for his brothers. Suddenly, a voice rang out, asking him to<br />
stop and answer some questions before drinking from the lake.<br />
There were only cranes in the lake. Overcome with thirst, Nakula<br />
disobeyed the command and promptly died. Soon after, one by<br />
one, Yudhishtir sent his three other brothers to investigate the<br />
delay and to fetch water. The same fate befell each of the brothers.<br />
When Yudhishthir himself reached the lake, he was distraught to<br />
find his four valiant brothers lying dead on the shore. Realizing<br />
that this was the handiwork of no ordinary creature, Yudhishthir<br />
pleaded that the murderer reveal himself. Then, a crane asked<br />
Yudhishthir to answer some questions. The crane then revealed<br />
itself to be a gigantic and frightening Yaksha whose questions<br />
Yudhishthir was prepared to answer before quenching his thirst.<br />
The Yaksha asked dozens of philosophical questions. When he<br />
asked what was surprising, Yudhishthir replied that everyday<br />
people die, but everyone believes they will live forever. In short, no<br />
one is prepared to die. No one is prepared for death.<br />
From up here, I can see clearly.<br />
Faint flickering lights hint at the path of a winding road<br />
That stretches out across the land.<br />
Dice thrown on the table of the night.<br />
The light of a town glares in the distance,<br />
A burning ember held in the black palm of the night.<br />
People are drawn to this cold fire<br />
to live near others of their kind.<br />
I can see their lives from here.<br />
Another faint spark flickers<br />
in the dark distance.<br />
An outpost at the edge of what men know...<br />
Let me live there,<br />
on that edge that swallows men<br />
and their electricity.<br />
Embracing all in silent wonder.<br />
Fearless.<br />
Gigantic.<br />
Invisible.<br />
From Poetry of Yoga, A Contemporary Anthology,<br />
Volume 1 Edited by HawaH, 2011<br />
Reproduced with permission<br />
20
Steve Merkley<br />
21
Yoga Styles<br />
God-Realiz<br />
alization ation through Kriya Yoga<br />
Allen Yao<br />
“You are walking on the earth as in a dream. Our world is a dream within a dream; you must realize that to find God<br />
is the only goal, the only purpose, for which you are here. For Him alone you exist. Him you must find.”<br />
Paramahansa Yogananda<br />
22<br />
In the Katha Upanishad (one<br />
of India’s most widely read<br />
ancient scriptures), Yama, the<br />
Lord of Death, explained to<br />
Nachiketa, the teenage spiritual<br />
aspirant, that the Self (God)<br />
cannot be known through the<br />
Kriya Yoga takes one to God by the<br />
universal highway: the spine<br />
study of scriptures nor<br />
through the intellect, nor<br />
through hearing discourses<br />
about it. He asserted, “The Self<br />
cannot be known by anyone<br />
who desists not from<br />
unrighteous ways, controls not<br />
his senses, stills not his mind,<br />
and practises not meditation.”<br />
Paramahansa Yogananda, the<br />
famed author of the spiritual<br />
classic “Autobiography of a<br />
Yogi”, described meditation as<br />
the science of God Realization.<br />
He said, “It is the most<br />
practical science in the world,<br />
and most people would want<br />
to meditate if they understood<br />
its value and experienced its<br />
beneficial effects. The ultimate<br />
object of meditation is to<br />
attain conscious awareness of<br />
God, and the soul’s eternal<br />
oneness with Him.”<br />
He once explained, “You can be<br />
in a room 20 years, trying to get<br />
out through the walls, the<br />
ceiling, the floor. It is when you<br />
finally discover the door that<br />
you find your way out. That’s<br />
how it is with the soul. The<br />
average devotee may struggle<br />
his whole life trying to escape<br />
the bodily limitations by<br />
unscientific means, and by the<br />
paths only of devotion or<br />
discrimination. By Kriya Yoga,<br />
however, if he is sincere, he can<br />
escape quickly. Kriya Yoga takes<br />
one to God by the universal<br />
highway: the spine.”<br />
Kriya Yoga is a powerful and<br />
scientific meditation technique<br />
for spiritual evolution.<br />
Yogananda said the Sanskrit<br />
word Kriya derives from the<br />
root “Kri”—”to do, act and<br />
react”. Yoga derives from<br />
“yuj”—”to unite, join,<br />
connect”. Yogananda stated<br />
Kriya Yoga is the supreme yoga<br />
science for the attainment of<br />
union or oneness with God.<br />
This technique focuses on the<br />
growth of inner awareness and<br />
the experiencing of the<br />
indwelling Divinity, and leads<br />
ultimately to God-realization.<br />
Sri Yukteswar (1855-1936),<br />
Yogananda’s guru, asserted<br />
human evolution could be<br />
accelerated through the practice<br />
of Kriya Yoga. He said the<br />
ancient yogis discovered the<br />
secret of cosmic consciousness<br />
to be intimately linked with<br />
breath mastery. By this method<br />
of calming and stilling the<br />
ceaseless demands of the<br />
breath, the life force ordinarily<br />
absorbed in maintaining heart<br />
action, would be freed for<br />
higher activities.<br />
Its roots go back to antiquity,<br />
as saints and sages had been<br />
practising this technique since<br />
time immemorial. The ageless<br />
Mahavatar Babaji reintroduced<br />
it in 1861 to the illustrious sage<br />
Lahiri Mahasaya (1828-1895)<br />
with instructions to<br />
disseminate it for the benefit<br />
of mankind.<br />
He told the sage, “The Kriya<br />
Yoga I am giving to the world<br />
through you in this nineteenth<br />
century, is a revival of the same<br />
science that Krishna gave<br />
The Direct Lineage of<br />
Kriya Yoga Gurus<br />
Mahavatar Babaji, date of birth<br />
and death unknown<br />
Lahiri Mahasaya 1828 -1895<br />
Shriyukteshwarji 1855 - 1936
Sanyal Mahasaya 1877 - 1962<br />
Paramahamsa Prajnanananda<br />
1960 - present<br />
millenniums ago to Arjuna,<br />
and was later known to<br />
Patanjali, to Christ, St. John, St.<br />
Paul, and other disciples.”<br />
Kriya Yoga was transmitted<br />
directly from guru to disciple,<br />
and passed down to<br />
practitioners through the Kriya<br />
Yoga lineage of masters. It is<br />
taught in this manner by<br />
properly trained and authorised<br />
teachers to pupils to this day.<br />
Yoganandaji 1893 -1952<br />
Swami Satyananda 1896-1971<br />
Kriya Yoga is particularly<br />
suitable for householders or<br />
laypersons with worldly duties<br />
and responsibilities. The<br />
technique does not involve any<br />
forced or unnatural<br />
withholding of breath, or<br />
putting the practitioner<br />
through torturous or<br />
uncomfortable bodily postures.<br />
It teaches a simple and easy<br />
method of breath control<br />
based on natural inhalation and<br />
exhalation, for purifying the<br />
body’s internal mechanism,<br />
bringing thought under control<br />
and attaining stillness of the<br />
mind and inner peace.<br />
Regular practice enhances health<br />
through the increase of oxygen<br />
flow to vital organs and better<br />
blood circulation, resulting in<br />
more efficient bodily functions<br />
of assimilation and digestion.<br />
This technique also prevents<br />
the accumulation of venous<br />
blood thereby lessening the<br />
decay of tissues.<br />
Hariharananda 1907- 2002<br />
Allen is a member of Kriya<br />
Yoga HK www.kriya.org<br />
23
24
Yoga Styles<br />
Dying from the<br />
Yin-side<br />
Dona Tumacder-Esteban<br />
As a child, part of my fervent prayers was<br />
to die ahead of everyone else in my family.<br />
I didn’t fear dying as much as I feared<br />
being left alone dealing with the remnants<br />
and the changes that came with it.<br />
When I began to explore the spiritual path<br />
through dance, yoga, and meditation, I<br />
found myself praying for death once again<br />
– this time as an escape from the mundane<br />
daily grind into “something more” that I<br />
thought existed only when the physical<br />
body dies.<br />
One day, after months of taking sanctuary<br />
in the dynamic silence that followed<br />
meditative dance and asana practice, an<br />
energy seized my belly and grew from there<br />
into a spontaneous explosion I could not<br />
contain. I got out of my bed, ran to my<br />
mother’s room and exclaimed, “I close my<br />
eyes and I see God. I open my eyes and I<br />
still see God. Am I going insane?” It was a<br />
glimpse of “something more.” I knew<br />
right there, heart pumping and all, that<br />
something inside me had died.<br />
And something inside me had also been<br />
born again.<br />
Since then, life has been a constant stream<br />
of deaths and rebirths. Sometimes death is<br />
painful like broken hearts, lost friendships,<br />
and unfulfilled dreams. Sometimes death is<br />
a welcome refuge – the death of each and<br />
every moment which, just as inevitable as<br />
death itself, gives way for a new and<br />
hopefully better moment to be born.<br />
Without a doubt, each “death” was<br />
transformative.<br />
GOING DEEP WITH YIN<br />
The idea of death as a transformative force<br />
became more concrete when I dove deeply<br />
into the practice of Yin Yoga, a healing and<br />
calming practice where we come into asanas<br />
with relaxed muscles and stay in stillness<br />
for 3-5 minutes. Through Yin Yoga which<br />
fuses both yoga and Taoist philosophy<br />
with the practice of mindfulness, I witness<br />
the process of death and birth happening<br />
in the different layers of my being.<br />
The Taoists were great observers of nature<br />
and its birth and death cycles – from<br />
seasonal changes, to the movement from<br />
day to night and back to day, to the<br />
sprouting of a seed and the falling of its<br />
fruit. They noticed how each phase reflected<br />
the forces they called Yin and Yang.<br />
Moreover, these ancient sages noticed that<br />
rather than absolutes, yin and yang energies<br />
are contained in each other in varying<br />
degrees depending on where they are within<br />
the cycle. Eventually, one gives way<br />
seamlessly to the other. Human beings, as<br />
part of nature, go through the same birth<br />
and death cycles.<br />
The word Yin by itself is closely linked with<br />
death. As the counterbalance to the more<br />
active, dynamic, and creative Yang energy,<br />
Yin is contracting, passive, dead still.<br />
But to say that Yin is death is incomplete.<br />
Professor Mac Cueto, a therapeutic<br />
consultant and Traditional Chinese<br />
Medicine practitioner from Manila, explains<br />
“death of the physical body can be seen as<br />
the separation of yin and yang. The yang<br />
gets liberated as shen or spirit, and the yin is<br />
consumed and begins to consolidate,<br />
getting ready for the next cycle of<br />
embodiment and rebirth, hopefully this<br />
time more refined.”<br />
Victor Chng, Asia’s leading Yin Yoga<br />
teacher and teacher trainer, states it clearly.<br />
“Yin is not only about death. Yin is about<br />
renewal. It is an opportunity for the old to<br />
die and the new to be born. This is how we<br />
heal and how we obtain new energy.” In<br />
the Yin state, energy is conserved and<br />
preserved in a state of pure potentiality,<br />
ready for new growth.<br />
This is most apparent in the physical body,<br />
for example, which renews itself fully every<br />
seven years. The deep connective tissues<br />
which are the focus areas of the Yin practice<br />
are no exception. As we stress the tendons<br />
and the ligaments through Yin Yoga’s<br />
passive stretches with relaxed muscles, we<br />
create micro tears which allow the connective<br />
tissues to continuously regenerate and<br />
remain young resulting in more suppleness<br />
and flexibility in the body.<br />
According to Dr. JP Prado, a medical doctor<br />
and osteopath in Manila who advises his<br />
patients to cultivate a Yin practice to<br />
complement dynamic exercise and help heal<br />
the body, these micro tears are akin to cells<br />
dying giving space for new cells to be born.<br />
He adds no two cells can occupy the same<br />
space so the old has to die to give birth to<br />
the new. Even in the living body, death is<br />
necessary for life to flourish.<br />
Although in the beginning of a Yin Yoga<br />
practice, physical sensations are the most<br />
noticeable, these sensations subside and<br />
other layers of our being take center stage.<br />
Yin Yoga done in the spirit of Svadhyaya or<br />
self-inquiry allows us to keenly observe our<br />
thoughts and emotional reactions within<br />
the inherent stillness and silence of the<br />
asana. Just as our cells die and renew,<br />
thoughts and emotions also come and go.<br />
Through this witnessing, we are able to<br />
authenticate our experiences and cultivate<br />
awareness of habitual thinking and feeling<br />
caused by impressions deep in our<br />
consciousness. Without the distraction of<br />
movement, we are confronted with the<br />
truth of who we are at this moment, giving<br />
us a blessed opportunity to let go of habits<br />
that no longer serve us, to make space for<br />
new and better impressions. Yin Yoga has<br />
helped me drop my tendency towards<br />
reactivity. In its place came responsiveness.<br />
Again, death and rebirth.<br />
YANG BECOMES YIN, YIN BECOMES YANG<br />
Yin and Yang is a cycle without a beginning<br />
and an end. As we move through Yang, we<br />
consume and eventually destroy leading us<br />
towards death. As we move through Yin,<br />
we repair, renew, regenerate, and prepare the<br />
ground for new embodiment. While Yin is<br />
death, it is also a passage so that life can start<br />
anew. Everything changes is the inherent<br />
promise of this cycle.<br />
Yet even with this promise, we so<br />
desperately hold on to that which are<br />
transient in life, that which are continuously<br />
changing. As a teacher and practitioner of<br />
Yin Yoga, I perceive this desperation as<br />
muscles refusing to yield, almost as if the<br />
validation of its existence only happens the<br />
tighter it grips the bones. I feel it in practice<br />
each time I latch onto a thought and follow<br />
its story until I am entangled in events that<br />
have been, or stories that have yet to be.<br />
For this reason, I find solace in chanting this<br />
mantra as I surrender into a Yin asana.<br />
Asato ma sat gamaya<br />
(From the unreal to the real)<br />
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya<br />
(From darkness to light)<br />
Mrtyor ma amrtam gamaya<br />
(From death to immortality)<br />
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Just as death of the physical body is<br />
inevitable, coming into the light of truth is<br />
also unavoidable with abhyasa - devoted,<br />
consistent practice. Yin Yoga has helped me<br />
examine myself and the different layers of<br />
my being, courageously shedding off<br />
untruths, embracing shadows with<br />
compassion, shattering continuously, dying<br />
constantly unto my own self so I can, in<br />
this lifetime, constantly transform and be<br />
born again.<br />
Retreat<br />
The Power of f Silence<br />
Amy Doffegnies<br />
The technique you are learning here is called the art of living, and life can<br />
only really be lived in the present. S.N Goekna<br />
The cultivation of awareness that comes<br />
with the yoga practice, both Yin and Yang,<br />
ultimately allows us to observe the<br />
impermanence of life and its contents.<br />
And with this knowledge comes the death<br />
of ignorance, a movement from the unreal<br />
and constantly changing to the real and<br />
unchanging. And when this ignorance –<br />
avidya – dies taking with it the fear of death<br />
itself – abhinivesah – we are closer to resting<br />
in peace with that which is unchanging and<br />
immortal, that elusive something more.<br />
Dona is a Manila-based<br />
stress management<br />
consultant, yoga<br />
instructor, student at<br />
the Institute for<br />
Integrative Nutrition,<br />
volunteer for the Art<br />
of Living Foundation, a<br />
wife and a hands-on<br />
mom. She co-founded<br />
OneSpark,Co., the<br />
holistic partner of organizations in igniting<br />
and aligning their human capital through<br />
integrated, innovative, and fun wellbeing<br />
and team development programs.<br />
dtesteban@yahoo.com<br />
Ominous? Life changing? Stunning? Excruciating? So did it live<br />
up to expectations? I found its message essentially affirmative,<br />
helpful and loving. I came away believing the technique is a real<br />
tool to enhance one’s ability to encounter everyday life. Vipassana<br />
blew open up my faculty for awareness and responsiveness - to<br />
myself, the world around and other human beings.<br />
The word Vipassana has become synonymous with a mysterious<br />
vow of silence and an intensive 10-day schedule of disciplined<br />
meditation. This 10-day course has proven to be the experience<br />
people find most unimaginable about my year spent in Asia.<br />
Amused whispers ripple throughout my friends as the first<br />
question people seemed to ask upon my return became ‘How did<br />
you not speak for 10 days?’ Funny, I thought, and touching in a<br />
way- that 10 days without communication strikes such universal<br />
fear in people’s hearts. Perhaps it is surprising then; that I came out<br />
of Vipassana feeling more responsive to the power of<br />
communion with others than ever, even in relationships that were<br />
nurtured in silence.<br />
‘The participant learns how to free the mind of the tensions and<br />
prejudices that disturb the flow of daily life. By doing so one<br />
begins to discover how to live each moment peacefully,<br />
productively, happily.’<br />
I will not attempt to detail what Vipassana course entails here, as it<br />
is in its very nature an experiential practice, structured over a 10-day<br />
period. I entered it with a vague understanding of what I was<br />
undertaking …I knew I would not be able to speak for 10 days, or<br />
read, or write, or do anything but meditate. I was pledging to get<br />
up at 4 am every day for hours of meditation. And I also knew<br />
several of my most trusted friends had done Vipassana, and hated<br />
every minute.<br />
Still, Vipassana, as taught by S.N. Goenka, draw in a steady flow of<br />
anybodies, from hippies to high flyers, year round, in 90 countries<br />
the world over. With trepidation I entered it seeking a bit of an<br />
antidote to the mania of the city. Frenzied but happy, at the start<br />
of Vipassana, I was more than ready for an injection of peace and<br />
mindfulness. For what a friend once described as a heavy handed<br />
grounding and a boatload of peace.<br />
My journey to the Centre in New Territories of Hong Kong<br />
comprised the strangest taxi ride of my time here. The driver spoke<br />
animated English through a massive smile…until I told him<br />
specifically where I was going. Unsuccessfully, he tried to mask his<br />
alarm. Upon arrival my new friend avidly helped me out with my<br />
bags and kissed me on the cheek…as if a blessing. His worry was at<br />
once affecting and absolutely alarming. Suspicion of the course<br />
seems oddly widespread.<br />
26
27
To give one example, the root teaching of anicca strives to instil the<br />
truth that everything, good or bad is impermanent. Rather than<br />
freak out in the face of duress, Vipassana encourages you to calmly<br />
remember it will pass, and remain more level, competent and able<br />
to deal with situations of stress. A few gems of<br />
understanding such as this seem to have remained<br />
with me, resurfacing at odd and unanticipated<br />
moments. Goenka’s technique is held up as the way<br />
in which the Buddha attained enlightenment, but is<br />
determinedly stripped of any religious doctrine or<br />
‘ism’ to offer a universal path to happiness.<br />
Essentially, I’m not sure if the course left me<br />
feeling wonderful because I spent 10 days in the<br />
quiet appreciating and reflecting, or because the magic of<br />
Vippassana brings old students back to the course time and time<br />
again. One of the most incredible outcomes of the experience was<br />
the family of strangers it forged. The end of the course involves<br />
time to reconnect with people before being let loose on the outside<br />
world. This metta day (loving kindness) is most vivid to me now.<br />
The laughter and humanity were almost tangible in the air, such<br />
mass relief that 10 days were over, but so grateful they had<br />
happened.<br />
Hours upon hours of meditation left me especially sensitive to<br />
sounds, tastes, touch and people. Retrospectively, I think the basis<br />
for connection occurred surreptitiously throughout the course.<br />
I want to finish with a little anecdote about a lovely Hong Kong<br />
lady on my course. The bond was first forged when a spider bit me<br />
on the leg in the meditation hall. Sitting down for what felt like the<br />
millionth time, I flinched at a sharp pin in my leg. Looking around,<br />
the lady sat behind me, about 20 years my senior, was brushing<br />
away the spider. I smiled. This began a conspiracy of smiles and I<br />
was met with a huge grin every time our eyes met over breakfast.<br />
Vipassana is free, made possible by<br />
students who have such an<br />
experience they dedicate money or<br />
time to strangers for the course<br />
photos of our families. Such a strange and beautiful circumstance.<br />
I am massively grateful for the chance I got to do Vipassana and<br />
although its trial should not be underestimated, it sent me back<br />
out into life<br />
feeling<br />
recharged and<br />
reawakened<br />
and<br />
reaffirmed.<br />
Vipassana is<br />
free, it is<br />
made<br />
possible<br />
entirely by students who have such an experience they choose to<br />
dedicate money or time to the food and care of strangers for the<br />
duration of the course. Every person’s response seems to be<br />
different, and I am certainly happy I did.<br />
the root teaching of anicca strives<br />
to instil the truth that everything,<br />
good or bad is impermanent<br />
Amy has just moved back to Edinburgh from<br />
Hong Kong to complete a degree in<br />
International Relations. She is loving being<br />
back in sunny Scotland and continues to<br />
practice Ashtanga Yoga.<br />
amydoffegnies@gmail.com<br />
Vipassana Information in Hong Kong<br />
G.P.O. Box 5185, Hong Kong<br />
t: +852 2671 7031<br />
f: + 852 8147 3312<br />
e: info@hk.dhamma.org<br />
w: www.hk.dhamma.org<br />
Although any communication is forbidden, I reasoned to myself<br />
that these few tiny gestures of warmth, surely, cannot be<br />
detrimental to the aims of the course. The lady took on a motherly<br />
role, when on the last day over breakfast she took the plate out of<br />
my hands- to my bemusement, and washed it for me. After nine<br />
days of no human contact, this small gesture of kindness reduced<br />
me to the brink of tears. When the silence ended I eagerly<br />
wandered over and was received in her huge embrace, but we didn’t<br />
speak a word of each-others languages. Later, with our possessions<br />
returned, I offered her a little key chain of a Buddha which<br />
someone had given me once…The ripples seemed to be felt<br />
around the camp…suddenly a cackle of Cantonese greeted me as<br />
ladies congregated and looked at me as I bumbled to the<br />
bathroom. Later she came to me with a red packet and a new friend<br />
translated some sentiments between us. We showed each other<br />
28
29
30
Conference<br />
A Reminder on Yoga & Happiness at Asia Yoga Conference<br />
Rachel Jacqueline<br />
“Am I happy with what I am doing? Is<br />
what I’m doing contributing to confusion,<br />
to happiness, to peace? What will I be<br />
remembered for when I die?” questions<br />
Danny Paradise to a group of budding<br />
yogis on a Saturday afternoon during the<br />
Asia Yoga Conference in June.<br />
His long, greying hair - pulled forward over<br />
his blue tie-dyed shirt and swept off his<br />
face with a fading bandana – is the only<br />
physical sign he’s been practicing yoga for<br />
over 36 years. He speaks and moves with a<br />
childlike energy of someone half his age.<br />
Danny Paradise<br />
Along with 40 other students sitting on<br />
odd yoga mats – splashes of colour against<br />
the gray of Hong Kong’s Convention and<br />
Exhibition Centre – I quietly contemplate<br />
the words of the vibrant yogi.<br />
To be honest, happiness was not my first<br />
reaction to the inconceivable number of<br />
yoga offerings in the AYC schedule.<br />
Instead, I was overwhelmed. How was I<br />
going to make the most out of the<br />
weekend of yoga from the mind-boggling<br />
selection on offer?<br />
Bernie Clark’s Yin Yoga, or Scott Blossom’s<br />
Shadow Yoga? Or listen to Bo Forbes<br />
speak on Yoga Therapy? What is Jivamukti<br />
Yoga, Karma Yoga, OM yoga, or the<br />
Kaivalya Method? And how could I miss<br />
Shri Rajpal’s final lecture outside of India?<br />
For those of you not in the know, the<br />
AYC offers four days of inspirational yoga<br />
practice, philosophy and psychology in<br />
Hong Kong each year. One may choose to<br />
attend single days or indulge in a full<br />
weekend emersion into everything yoga.<br />
This year 46 yoga teachers gathered from<br />
around the globe to share their love,<br />
passion and insights over 7 - 10 June.<br />
The brilliance of the AYC is it brings the<br />
world of yoga in its differing forms and<br />
interpretations together in one place over<br />
one weekend: Hatha, Ashtanga, Vinyasa,<br />
Sivananda, Bikram, Anusara, Vini,<br />
Kundalini – the list goes on.<br />
The frustration, however, is the volume on<br />
offer, forcing choices and sacrifices. In some<br />
ways, it also seems like the world of yoga<br />
has become divided, commercial and, well,<br />
at times a little confusing.<br />
Reading the AYC schedule also reinforced<br />
just how little I seemed to know. Yoga has<br />
always been in my life since the age of ten<br />
when my mother (now an Iyengar yoga<br />
teacher) started practicing, but I hadn’t even<br />
heard of or contemplated some of the<br />
classes and teachings. I was curious, but at<br />
the same time, there was a silly, ego-led<br />
anxiousness in my stomach: would I be<br />
out of my depth amongst a sea of yoginis<br />
on another plane of consciousness?<br />
My worries had quickly dissipated during<br />
my first session: a talk on Yoga Philosophy<br />
by Carlos Pomeda. No knowledge was<br />
assumed – only one’s passion for yoga - as<br />
Cindy Lee<br />
Carlos led us playfully through the world<br />
of yogic Gods. He explained everything in<br />
an engaging and insightful way, with a<br />
humour and approachability entwined into<br />
his teaching like his neatly folded legs.<br />
Bernie Clark’s session on Yin Yoga further<br />
melted my concerns. Bernie took us<br />
through the most inspiring and soothing<br />
two hour journey through the world of<br />
Yin Yoga – the opposite of the more<br />
intense yoga our busy lives tend to gravitate<br />
towards. We created balls of energy with<br />
our hands and relaxed into a calm space not<br />
often possible when practicing higher<br />
energy Yang forms of yoga.<br />
And Cindy Lee’s Om Yoga, which lead me<br />
through a very mindful yoga practice,<br />
brought me back to the fundamentals: the<br />
breathe and remaining ever in the present.<br />
The AYC unifies the many possibilities of<br />
yoga in one forum, allowing for play and<br />
discovery. While it may seem that there are a<br />
myriad of teachers, teachings and practices<br />
on offer, each practice I attended was<br />
another way to unlock and tap into another<br />
layer of myself. Though the mediums may<br />
be different, the messages were universal.<br />
Danny’s parting words that afternoon were<br />
full of encouragement and gentle<br />
reminders:<br />
Happiness is something<br />
that you create within<br />
yourself<br />
But, leaving the weekend equipped with<br />
new yogic chants, balls of energy in my<br />
palms to tap into at any time, the feeling of<br />
lifting from prasarita into a handstand<br />
(assisted, thanks Danny!) and a smile, I was<br />
also reminded of the importance of having<br />
yoga along for that inner journey. Yoga –<br />
whichever way you like it – is always there<br />
to lead a helping hand towards the creation<br />
of happiness and, ultimately, a better you.<br />
Rachel threw in the<br />
life of a lawyer earlier<br />
this year to pursue<br />
her passion for<br />
writing, the outdoors<br />
and a healthy<br />
lifestyle, which she<br />
believes includes a<br />
regular yoga practice.<br />
www.hkadventurebaby.com<br />
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Lecture<br />
Can<br />
an’t Buy Happiness<br />
Vicky Wong<br />
Lama Marut’s book, A Spiritual Renegade’s<br />
Guide to the Good Life a blueprint for<br />
creating and sustaining happiness in this<br />
modern age of consumerism, selfabsorption,<br />
and stress.<br />
He recently came to Hong Kong and gave a<br />
talk on the subject of happiness. “Hong<br />
Kong is full of talented, educated, driven<br />
accomplishment-oriented people who are<br />
depleted and often depressed,” Lama<br />
Marut says. “Because there is no correlation<br />
between money and happiness.”<br />
If happiness cannot be found in a good<br />
job and money, nor in exotic holidays,<br />
nights out or expensive dinners, then<br />
without having to look far, happiness lies<br />
in satisfaction. “We achieve contentment<br />
only when we stop being discontent,” he<br />
says. “Who is not content with<br />
contentment?”<br />
Only you have the power to make yourself happy. Real happiness is not a series of ethereal<br />
pleasures connected to the five senses. We cannot find it in consumer capitalism which is<br />
the mainstream ideology that rules the world: the heart and soul of capitalism is to keep<br />
you dissatisfied and miserable.<br />
Lama Marut described the YouTube clips, “Will it Blend?” as consumer capitalist<br />
pornography in which Tom, the presenter, blends the latest iPad and iPhone. He basically<br />
speeds time up because every gadget will eventually become a piece of junk anyhow, so why<br />
are people so crazy about them? He claims renunciation is the key to happiness. “Let go of<br />
things that hurt you and that can’t deliver. Nothing lasts forever. Get wiser and hipper and<br />
don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” he says.<br />
Happiness comes from generosity. The essence of a spiritual life is to stop thinking about<br />
yourself and start thinking about what you can do for someone else. The real causes of<br />
things are: if you want something, make sure someone else gets it first. Nothing goes<br />
around, nothing comes around. Work for others and their happiness; don’t do harm to<br />
others. Selfishness has been hardwired in human beings and is exacerbated by<br />
consumerism; if you want to keep something, share it, give it away and keep it in<br />
circulation.<br />
If there is less selfishness, there will be more selflessness. The best thing you can do for<br />
yourself is to stop thinking about yourself, stop thinking about your own happiness,<br />
which is the opposite of capitalism. True love is possessive, i.e. “you’re mine!” but, real<br />
love means “I just want everyone to be happy.”<br />
Lama Marut, and many others believe, the secret to happiness is loving kindness. Both<br />
misery and happiness love company. We must achieve that state first in order to help<br />
others. Some of the top regrets people have when they die are: having worked too hard<br />
and lived the life others expected them to. Love and compassion is the morphine to our<br />
suffering because we are focusing on others’ happiness and not our own. “Actions done<br />
for others have a momentum when done with enlightened self-interest.”<br />
Lama Marut says we can start to be happy<br />
when we can say ‘I have enough’<br />
As a spiritual goal, we desire the end of<br />
desire, as opposed to making happiness a<br />
condition of ‘if only I have XYZ, then I’ll<br />
be content’ because we will always want<br />
more. Lama Marut offers us a mantra,<br />
“Om, I have enough (______).” He claims<br />
we have no excuse to not say we have<br />
enough when billions of people are<br />
illiterate and starving. “No one is bombing<br />
us, so what’s your problem?” he asks.<br />
When we look for happiness externally like,<br />
money, jobs, relationships and someone<br />
who would make you happy, you are<br />
setting yourself and others up for failure.<br />
LAMA MARUT’S 10 THINGS TO BRING HAPPINESS<br />
1. Do at least one good thing and keep track of it. For example, be a secret agent and sneak<br />
money into someone’s purse if you know they need it, but don’t wait around for<br />
acknowledgement as it undercuts the virtues.<br />
2. Every night, get a good night sleep or you will wake up cranky.<br />
3. Wake up without an alarm clock.<br />
4. Lull around in bed upon waking and think of things that you are grateful for: your<br />
prosperity, friends and education. Log onto www.globalrichlist.com, punch in your salary<br />
and you will realize you are better off than most people in the world.<br />
5. Remember your own mortality: we don’t know when and how we are going to die, so<br />
what is going to matter when we die? Live as though it is your last day everyday, and one<br />
day you will be right. This way it saves you stress and makes you happy.<br />
6. Meditate for 15-20 minutes a day.<br />
7. Spend some quiet time alone – no phone, no music.<br />
8. Every three hours or 6-times-a-day book, write down the negative and positive actions<br />
you have taken and what actions you could take to neutralize the karmic effect.<br />
9. Do ‘coffee meditation’ – think about what it would feel like when<br />
you are completely happy – with your heart open, wishing all beings<br />
well. Visualize your own utopia.<br />
10. Study a sacred text everyday, be it the Bible, the Koran or Dharma.<br />
Vicky has been a journalist since 2003. She specialised in travel and<br />
lifestyle journalism, then she shifted her focus on social and<br />
environmental issues. Since she started practising yoga in 2008, she<br />
documents teachings on Tibetan buddhism and yoga as she attends<br />
the classes. wickyvong@gmail.com<br />
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33
34
Festival<br />
Yoga, Music & Magic in the Mountains<br />
Frances Gairns<br />
Krishna Das at Wanderlust<br />
Festival Whistler<br />
YYoga Northshore Elements’<br />
Nico Luce<br />
By winter Whistler is one of<br />
the top ski resorts in North<br />
America. By summer, it’s a<br />
wilderness adventure<br />
playground for mountain<br />
bikers, runners, climbers, with<br />
just enough spas, restaurants<br />
and shops to keep the less<br />
active partners very happy. The<br />
permanent population is<br />
10,000, but with its proximity<br />
to Vancouver, this number can<br />
increase tenfold for special<br />
events or 15 cm plus powder<br />
days.<br />
There are just four small yoga<br />
studios in Whistler. The oldest,<br />
NeoAlpine Yoga (now part of<br />
the YYoga group) was founded<br />
about 13 years ago by Patrick<br />
Creelman and Stephen<br />
Thomas. Initially Whistler<br />
seems an unlikely venue for a<br />
Wanderlust Festival, but with<br />
the large and enthusiastic yoga<br />
community of Vancouver just<br />
two hours down the road, it<br />
becomes an obvious choice for<br />
the first Wanderlust Festival<br />
outside the US.<br />
Wanderlust was created by<br />
husband and wife Jeff Krasno<br />
and Schuyler Grant, and Jeff ’s<br />
business partner Sean Hoess. It<br />
aims to bring together yoga<br />
teachers, musical acts and DJs,<br />
speakers, chefs and winemakers,<br />
in settings of natural beauty.<br />
left Chris Chavez<br />
below Eoin Finn’s workshop is a<br />
big bliss party<br />
There are already Wanderlust Festivals in Vermont, Colorado and<br />
California. As well as Wanderlust in the City events in Los Angeles,<br />
New York and San Francisco.<br />
The Greater Vancouver area has a population of about 2 million<br />
people, is home to ubiquitous yoga brand lululemon, at least 100<br />
yoga studios and an estimated 20,000 regular yoga practitioners.<br />
Combine that with all the fitness centres offering yoga classes and<br />
freelance teachers, and you’ve got a sizeable market of aspiring yogis<br />
close by.<br />
Teachers at the Whistler event (23 – 26 August <strong>2012</strong>) were mostly<br />
North American - headliners like Krishna Das, Baron Baptiste, Sean<br />
Corne and local yoga teachers, like Whistlerite and former Hong<br />
Kong-teacher Julia McCabe. While yoga asana classes are the<br />
definitely the mainstay of the Festival, there’s also lots of fun and<br />
alternative classes like hoola hoop, paddle board and slack line<br />
balancing, mountain walks, live music, DJ music, lectures, debates,<br />
meditation, food and wine!<br />
For such a wide offering, I was surprised to find the ticketing<br />
options quite limited - one, three or four-day passes only. Great for<br />
single festival goers, but not so for a mother-of-two. It’s priced at<br />
US$160 a day which includes up to three classes or activities, and<br />
US$475 for all four days, which is about half the price of an average<br />
Yoga Journal three-day conference pass. And compared with Asia<br />
Yoga Conference, it’s a little bit less than their early bird price.<br />
I started off at 8 am to the dulcet tones of Nico Luce. An<br />
Argentinian who teaches at YYoga Northshore Elements in<br />
Vancouver with wife Chloe. It was a mellow class, with music and<br />
inspiring readings interspersed in the asana sequence. Nico’s<br />
assistants were very attentive and generous to the needs of the class.<br />
Immediately after, I attended Chris Chavez’ intermediate/advanced<br />
class. A striking contrast to Nico’s gentle approach, but just as<br />
rewarding. There was a live cellist on hand to accompany the intense<br />
practice. We did a fun assisted handstand exercise which focussed<br />
on pushing down through our arms to lift up to handstand from<br />
Prasarita, rather than hopping up. A good reminder how much<br />
strength that transition requires. And the third class I took was<br />
with surfer/yogi Eoin Finn. A very well known and loved British<br />
Columbia teacher. His class started with lots of free form<br />
movement around the hall. He took us off our mats (shock,<br />
horror) connecting with nature, imitating animals and water, before<br />
segueing into a more traditional vinyasa practice. I thoroughly<br />
enjoyed all three classes and would recommend all three teachers.<br />
That connection to nature and the best of all things yogic<br />
continued into the evening for me at an outdoor Krishna Das<br />
concert. Sitting with Philippe on real grass under a clear night sky,<br />
filled with more stars than you could count, our children running<br />
around freely and happily, a community of like-minded people<br />
chanting and swaying to the beautiful music – a magical moment<br />
which I hope to hold in my heart long after I return to the city.<br />
photo by Ali Kaukas<br />
Frances is editor of <strong>Namaskar</strong>.<br />
35
Book Review<br />
Dialogue with Death<br />
by Eknath Easwaran<br />
When the gods want to<br />
punish us, they grant us<br />
our desires<br />
Tia, a yoga teacher,<br />
writes from India.<br />
Reviewed by Tia Sinha<br />
We begin to take life seriously when we take<br />
death seriously. Otherwise, as Thoreau said, we<br />
run the risk of discovering, when we come to die,<br />
that we have never lived. Eknath Easwaran<br />
Dialogue with Death is not really a book<br />
on death and dying. It is a book about life<br />
and living: what life is for, who we are as<br />
human beings, why we are here.<br />
Easwaran says the first part of our lives<br />
merely sets the stage for the drama we were<br />
born to play. This is the time for<br />
experimentation, when we play with life’s<br />
toys – money, pleasure, power,<br />
possessions, prestige – and learn for<br />
ourselves what they are worth.<br />
Many never go beyond this phase. Nothing<br />
in modern civilization, with its cult of<br />
youth, encourages us to look further. But it<br />
is only when we throw these toys away and<br />
begin to search for answers to those<br />
essential questions – Who am I? Why am I<br />
here? What is life for? – that we really begin<br />
to live.<br />
For these are the years in which each of us<br />
is meant to grow to our full stature as a<br />
human being. These are the years when<br />
profound personal discoveries and great<br />
contributions are made, which can only<br />
come when a person turns inward. For<br />
those who take up this challenge, life holds<br />
unique promise - the fulfillment of living<br />
for a lofty goal, and of finally discovering<br />
within themselves, a deathless presence.<br />
Dialogue with Death is a commentary on<br />
the Katha Upanishad. It also carries the late<br />
Eknath Easwaran’s translation of the<br />
Katha Upanishad into English.<br />
The dialogue is between a teenager in<br />
ancient India called Nachiketa, and the King<br />
of Death, Yama, whom he approaches to<br />
learn the meaning of life. Nachiketa was a<br />
seeker of tremendous courage, keen<br />
intellect and rare discernment. He could see<br />
right through superficial behavior and the<br />
passing pleasures of this world that<br />
promised satisfaction but only brought<br />
pain. He was willing to go all the way in<br />
search of truth.<br />
to liberation in a way that is easy to relate to<br />
and often humorous. Only by learning to<br />
meditate can we actually get inside the mind<br />
and begin to clean things up. On the other<br />
hand, when we live in a world of<br />
appearances, we think appearance is the<br />
whole of living. Easwaran also touches<br />
upon the pitfalls encountered in<br />
meditation and discusses ingenious ways<br />
to overcome them.<br />
Easwaran points out that we live in a sea<br />
of media conditioning that reflects back to<br />
us what we value, and the false message we<br />
are saturated with is: “You are your body.<br />
The human being is a purely physical<br />
creature whose needs can be satisfied on the<br />
physical level.”<br />
The Katha Upanishad talks of the struggle<br />
between preya (worldly desires stemming<br />
from the false self) and shreya (aspiration to<br />
discover our true divine nature).<br />
Modern civilization believes the purpose of<br />
the body is to enjoy pleasure. The idea<br />
pleasure brings security is a cruel illusion.<br />
The ancient Greeks had a saying: “When<br />
the gods want to punish us, they grant us<br />
our desires.” Where has the religion of<br />
pleasure taken us? Has there ever been a<br />
time in history when it was followed with<br />
greater fervor? Yet there has never been a<br />
time such as now when human beings felt<br />
more alienated, more desolate, more cut<br />
off from those around them. For the same<br />
force that fulfills man’s desires, points out<br />
Easwaran, brings also all the fruits of<br />
selfish craving: loneliness, alienation,<br />
broken relationships, the inability to love.<br />
It is of utmost importance, therefore, that<br />
we have some control over what we desire,<br />
and the key to desire is will.<br />
Real higher education, according to<br />
Easwaran, should develop the higher<br />
mind. It should teach us how to choose,<br />
how to master desires and strengthen the<br />
will, how to protect the mind from<br />
insecurity and the body from stress.<br />
Instead, the young still leave universities<br />
essentially the same as they were when they<br />
arrived – the will no stronger, vision no<br />
clearer and no better idea of how to<br />
transform anger into compassion and<br />
hatred into love.<br />
36<br />
Peppered with examples from modern<br />
living, this book lays down the entire path<br />
Dialogue with Death is eminently readable<br />
and thought provoking.
37
38
Book Review<br />
Yoga In India<br />
A Journey to the Top 24 Yoga Places<br />
by Otto Stricker & Coni Horler<br />
Reviewed by Inna Constantini<br />
In a market flooded by an array of books<br />
on yoga – from practice based guides to<br />
philosophy and anatomy books – Yoga in<br />
India has found its niche.<br />
Photographed over the course of six<br />
months in India, the book is an up to date,<br />
comprehensive and informative overview<br />
of some of the ‘top places to practice in<br />
India’. Whilst it can obviously not include<br />
every single retreat or ashram in the sub<br />
continent, the authors selected a wide range<br />
of locations (both in terms of geography<br />
and traditions), to offer a fairly honest<br />
insight into the many methods of yoga in<br />
India. In a further jest of authenticity they<br />
designed a website (free to access)<br />
associated with the book, where many<br />
more places for quality yoga courses,<br />
retreats or workshops are listed in detail.<br />
This is a wonderful source of information<br />
for yoga enthusiasts and those curious<br />
about the practice in India.<br />
With a foreword from BKS Iyengar<br />
himself, Yoga in India starts on a high note.<br />
The master himself says of the book: “It is<br />
heartening to note that the authors are in<br />
touch with almost all yoga ashrams and<br />
yoga institutes in order to present Yoga in<br />
India to the rest of the world. As yoga is<br />
taking people like a gale, lots of people call<br />
themselves ‘yogacharyas’. In this<br />
environment maintaining the purity, clarity<br />
and sanctity of the subject of yoga is<br />
essential. Herein, the authors present<br />
genuine yoga centres of India…”<br />
This is a beautiful coffee table book that<br />
honours the traditions of yoga at its very<br />
source. Going beyond the aesthetic imagery,<br />
travellers and seekers alike will find some<br />
useful information to guide them through<br />
their journeys. More practiced yogis will<br />
most likely value the non-dogmatic and<br />
open-minded vision this book provides.<br />
After all, we are all on the same path, the<br />
methods may differ, but the minds are in<br />
unison. As BKS Iyengar re-iterates, ‘the<br />
trunk (of a tree) is one but the branches are<br />
many, bending and moulding in different<br />
directions. It is the same with yoga. The<br />
root of yoga is the same as the trunk but<br />
One of the top 24 yoga places in India - the Iyengar Centre in Pune, India. Shown above, a<br />
class being taught by Geeta Iyengar<br />
the branches have grown in different<br />
directions. Today this is how yoga has been<br />
understood: to have many diverse<br />
branches.”<br />
So whether one simply wants to discover<br />
more on the various branches of yoga in<br />
India or find the ‘right’ place to learn or<br />
practice, this book tackles both.<br />
As a visually stunning guide to the some<br />
of the best places to study yoga, the book<br />
includes all the key travel information for<br />
visitors, as well as an honest and accurate<br />
view on each center.<br />
‘Yoga in India - A Journey to the Top 24<br />
Yoga places’ is indeed a must for any<br />
dreamer who seeks spiritual truth and a<br />
taste of a truly Indian experience.<br />
It is available as an e-book or as a paperback<br />
via amazon.com<br />
Inna is a yoga teacher<br />
and freelance writer<br />
currently based in<br />
London. With a<br />
background in media<br />
and PR, she<br />
experimented with a<br />
variety of yoga paths,<br />
before deciding to<br />
trade her desk for a<br />
yoga mat, and embark<br />
on an intensive Yoga &<br />
Ayurveda teacher<br />
training course in India.<br />
innayoga@gmail.com<br />
39
Recipe<br />
Raw Apple Crisp<br />
Moosa Al-Issa<br />
Raw, gluten free, sugar free and delicious!<br />
INGREDIENTS<br />
2 Granny Smith Apples, cored and peeled<br />
3 Gala Apples, cored and peeled<br />
½ cup Dates, chopped and soaked in warm water<br />
1 Vanilla Bean, split and seeds reserved<br />
1 teaspoon Cinnamon powder<br />
1 cup Almonds, coarsely ground<br />
1 cup Walnuts, coarsely ground<br />
2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar<br />
1 cup Raisins<br />
1 pinch of Sea Salt<br />
PROCEDURE<br />
Place the almonds and walnuts in a food processor or blender and process till coarsely<br />
ground. Add raisins, two to three tablespoons of water and salt and process further until<br />
mixture comes together into a firm dough, remove and reserve on a plate.<br />
Fill a medium bowl with water and one tsp of apple cider vinegar. Thinly slice apples and<br />
place in water so they don’t discolor.<br />
In a blender combine half of one Gala apple, the cinnamon, dates, vanilla bean seeds and<br />
four tablespoons of the water the dates soaked in and process till the mixture is a smooth<br />
puree.<br />
Drain the water from the apples and return to the bowl. Add the puree to the apples in<br />
the bowl and carefully toss the apple slices with the puree till evenly coated<br />
Moosa is Executive<br />
Director of Life Cafe<br />
and Director of Just<br />
Green Convenience<br />
Stores in Hong Kong<br />
In a square-baking pan lay down the apple slices in overlapping rows<br />
When all the apple slices are in the pan, spread the nut mixture evenly over the apples and<br />
then lightly press the mixture down to create the crust.<br />
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours so the crust sets and the flavors come<br />
together. Enough for 6. Store refrigerated for up to two days.<br />
40
41
Spiritual Science Research Foundation<br />
Life after Death<br />
Dr Zubin Nalladaru<br />
Most humans are so busy with their everyday they fail to address a<br />
very important question ‘What happens after one sheds this<br />
physical body?’<br />
Scriptures and traditions have something to say. They prescribe<br />
rituals or prayers for departed family members. For example,<br />
Parsees offer prayers for their ancestors for a fortnight in the month<br />
of August and Catholics celebrate All Souls Day when they pray for<br />
their departed loved ones. But the inquiring and doubting mind<br />
requires proof of the type of existence after death. If one<br />
contemplates the issue, one realizes the way one lives today,<br />
determines one’s tomorrow. If we are good students, we will most<br />
probably have good careers; if we are good to people they will likely<br />
be good to us.<br />
The Divine created the laws of nature which operate irrespective of<br />
our faith in them. We are part of nature and nature’s laws also<br />
apply to us. However what baffles the mind is when doing good<br />
leads to bad consequences, which is when good people suffer. The<br />
only answer is there are accounts from previous lives that have to<br />
be settled. That is why we see good people suffering in this life.<br />
SUBTLE BODY AND REGIONS OF EXISTENCE<br />
Members of the Spiritual Science Research Foundation who have<br />
an activated sixth sense have found when a person dies, only the<br />
physical body ceases to exist. However, the rest of his existence or<br />
consciousness continues. The existence of the person minus the<br />
physical body is known as the subtle body (linga deha) and<br />
comprises of the mental, causal (intellect) and supra-causal (subtle<br />
ego) bodies. (These bodies are similar to the layers of an onion.)<br />
After death, this subtle body goes to one of 13 subtle planes of<br />
existence, other than the Earth plane, and depending on the deeds<br />
and desires of the individual during their lifetime. There are seven<br />
negative planes and seven positive planes. The Earth plane is the<br />
only physical plane of existence and also the first plane in the<br />
hierarchy of positive planes.<br />
The subtle bodies of individuals who have done righteous deeds<br />
and engaged in spiritual practice for God-realisation go to one of<br />
the positive planes of existence. On the other hand individuals<br />
who’ve indulged in unrighteous acts or spiritual practice for the<br />
control or detriment of others, go to one of the seven negative<br />
planes of existence. Subtle bodies that go to any of the negative<br />
become ghosts.<br />
The importance of the Earth plane of existence<br />
Earth is the only plane where we can make rapid spiritual growth<br />
and settle our give-and-take account of previous births, because<br />
having a physical body enhances our spiritual growth.<br />
WHAT DECIDES WHERE WE GO AFTER DEATH?<br />
At the time of death the physical body becomes inactive and the<br />
vital energy used for the functioning of the physical body is<br />
liberated into the Universe. This vital energy at the time of death<br />
propels the subtle body away from the Earth. Just as the weight of<br />
a projectile decides how far a rocket will propel it, similarly the<br />
weight of the subtle body decides which plane of existence it goes<br />
42<br />
to after death.<br />
The following characteristics add to our weight and increase the<br />
probability of our going to one of the lower regions of existence:<br />
• Excessive attachment to worldly things and selfishness<br />
• Abundance of unfulfilled desires<br />
• Feelings of revenge<br />
• Too many personality defects such as anger, greed, fear, etc.<br />
• A large ego wherein a person identifies himself with his body,<br />
mind and intellect as opposed to the soul within.<br />
These characteristics can be reduced with sustained spiritual practice<br />
according to six basic laws of spiritual practice. Psychological<br />
improvements with self-help books or trying to be nice are<br />
temporary.<br />
Acts to attain positive planes of existence are those done with the<br />
objective of God-realisation. They are acts done:<br />
• Without doer-ship, i.e. doing activities in life with belief that<br />
God Himself is getting it done for me and hence I cannot claim<br />
any credit.<br />
• Without expectation of appreciation.<br />
• Without expectation of results.<br />
• More than the acts themselves, it is the attitude or outlook<br />
behind the acts that count.<br />
• The mental state at the time of death<br />
If a person is actually doing spiritual practice such as chanting the<br />
name of God at the time of death, then the influence of desires,<br />
attachments, ghosts, etc. are minimal compared to his state when<br />
not chanting. This makes his subtle body lighter. Hence, if he<br />
passes away while chanting, he attains a higher plane of existence.<br />
Also, if at the time of death the person is in a state of surrender to<br />
God’s will, then he attains higher plane of existence. This is<br />
because the person who is in a state of surrender on earth is less<br />
likely to increase his ego after death. Also, the responsibility of his<br />
well-being in his life after death is undertaken by his spiritual guide<br />
or Guru.<br />
Due to lack of spiritual practice, most people in the current era go<br />
to either the Nether world or one of the lower planes of existence<br />
after death because the proportion of demerits (incurred due to<br />
wrong doings on Earth) is approximately 30%. Demerits typically<br />
include malice towards others and an over abundance of desires.<br />
Hence following a path shown by an evolved spiritual guide<br />
removes or reduces suffering in this life and ensures we go to a<br />
plane conducive to continuing spiritual practice until we reach the<br />
final goal of merging with our Creator.<br />
As we go further into the current Era of Strife (Kaliyug), there is<br />
less likelihood of people going to the higher planes of existence.<br />
Once we go to the lower planes, we stay there and experience severe<br />
unhappiness for centuries until we completely pay for our demerits<br />
and get a chance to be reincarnated on Earth.<br />
Dr Zubin is a member of the Spiritual Science<br />
Research Foundation, a non-profit<br />
organisation in the US and Australia which<br />
aims to educate society on the spiritual<br />
dimension and how it affects our lives.<br />
dr.zubin@spiritualresearchfoundation.org/<br />
www.SpiritualResearchFoundation.org
43
44
Yoga Teachers & Studios<br />
AGAMA YOGA SCHOOL<br />
& ANANDA WELLNESS<br />
RESORT<br />
42/4, Moo 8, Srithanu, Koh<br />
Phangan, Surat Thani 84280,<br />
Thailand<br />
s: Tantra, Kundalini, workshops,<br />
retreats, meditation<br />
l: English<br />
t: (66) 892 330 217<br />
e: info@agamayoga.com<br />
w: www.agamayayoga.com<br />
AMICO STUDIO<br />
2/4/F, 167 - 169 Hennessy Rd,<br />
Wanchai, Hong Kong<br />
s: Hot, Hatha, Ashtanga<br />
l: English, Cantonese<br />
t: (852) 2827 9233<br />
e: studio@amico.com.hk<br />
w: www.amico.com.hk<br />
ANAHATA VILLAS &<br />
SPA RESORT<br />
Ubud, Bali, Indonesia<br />
s: group retreats, yoga for<br />
privates & corporates. Studio<br />
rental available.<br />
l: Indonesian & English<br />
t: (62) 361 8987 991 / 8987 992<br />
f: (62) 361 8987 804<br />
e: sm@anahataresort.com /<br />
info@anahataresort.com<br />
w: www.anahataresort.com<br />
ANAHATA YOGA<br />
18/F Lyndhurst Tower, 1<br />
Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong<br />
Kong<br />
s: Hatha, Ashtanga, Yoga<br />
therapy, Yin and more. Groups<br />
& privates<br />
t: (852) 2905 1922<br />
e: enquiry@anahatayoga.com.hk<br />
w: www.anahatayoga.com.hk<br />
B.K.S. IYENGAR YOGA<br />
INSTITUTE OF MACAU<br />
174 Rua de Pequim, Edif. Centro<br />
Com. Kong Fat, 7A, Macau<br />
s:Iyengar<br />
t:(853) 2882 3210 / 6662 0386<br />
e:yoga@macau.ctm.netw:<br />
www.iyengar-yoga-macauchina.com<br />
BEING IN YOGA<br />
4 Turf Club Road, Singapore<br />
s: tradition of Krishnamacharya<br />
and TKV Desikachar (Chennai,<br />
India). Accredited by KHYF<br />
(Krishnamacharya Healing Yoga<br />
Foundation). Offers yoga<br />
therapy (customized home<br />
programs), teacher training, yoga<br />
studies, group classes for children<br />
and adults, family program, pre<br />
& post natal yoga, sound<br />
meditation, Vedic chanting, free<br />
lectures, evening sanga.<br />
t: (65) 9830 3808<br />
e: valerie@beinginyoga.com<br />
w: www.beinginyoga.com<br />
BODYWIZE YOGA &<br />
DAY SPA<br />
G/F & 2/F, 1 Wong Nai Chung<br />
Road, Happy Valley, Hong Kong<br />
s: Private and group classes, Yoga<br />
for stress management, Couple<br />
yoga, Tantra yoga for couple,<br />
Jivamukti, workshops, retreats,<br />
spa, wellness consulting, holistic<br />
therapy, nutritional advice.<br />
l: English<br />
t: (852) 2838 5686<br />
e: yoga@bodywize.com.hk<br />
w: www.bodywize.com.hk<br />
Dario Calvaruso<br />
d: Hong Kong, Bali, Thailand,<br />
Europe<br />
s: Hatha, Vinyasa, Detox, Yoga<br />
Therapy, Yoga for Stress<br />
Management, Partner Yoga,<br />
Tantra Yoga for couples<br />
l: English, Italian<br />
t: (852) 9247 3938<br />
e: info@dariocalvaruso.com<br />
w: www.dariocalvaruso.com<br />
Kathy Cook<br />
Retreats, workshops, privates<br />
d: Hong Kong, Bali &Thailand<br />
s: Iyengar (Junior Intermediate 2)<br />
l: English<br />
t: (852) 6292 5440/(62) 811 387781<br />
e: kcinasia@gmail.com<br />
w: www.yogawithkathy.com<br />
Misa Derhy<br />
Yoga teacher and life coach in<br />
Dublin & worlwide<br />
Classes, retreats, workshops<br />
s: Hatha, Yin<br />
l: English, French, Czech,<br />
Spanish<br />
t: (353) 427 9117<br />
e: freehugyoga@yahoo.fr<br />
w: www.freehugyoga.com /<br />
fhytimes.com<br />
FLEX<br />
1/F Regency Centre (Phase II),<br />
43 Wong Chuk Hang Road,<br />
Aberdeen, Hong Kong<br />
s: Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin Yang,<br />
Core Power Flow, Kids Yoga,<br />
Yoga for special needs<br />
t: (852) 2813 2212<br />
f: (852) 2813 2281<br />
e: info@flexhk.com<br />
w: www.flexhk.com<br />
IYENGAR YOGA<br />
CENTRE INDONESIA<br />
Kemang Centre, Jl Kemang Raya<br />
No. 18 D, Jakarta 12730,<br />
Indonesia<br />
s: Iyengar<br />
t:(62) 21 739 3101 / (62) 21 3582<br />
1000<br />
e:info@iyengaryogaindonesia.com<br />
w: www.iyengaryogaindonesia.com<br />
IYENGAR YOGA<br />
CENTRE OF HONG<br />
KONG<br />
Room 406 New Victory House,<br />
93- 103 Wing Lok St., Sheung<br />
Wan, Hong Kong<br />
s: Iyengar<br />
t: (852) 2541 0401<br />
e: info@iyengaryoga<br />
hongkong.com<br />
w: www.iyengaryoga<br />
hongkong.com<br />
IYENGAR YOGA<br />
CENTRE SINGAPORE<br />
149B Neil Road<br />
Singapore 088875<br />
s: Iyengar<br />
t:(65) 9052 3102 & 6220 4048<br />
e:info@iyengaryogasingapore.com<br />
w: iyengaryogasingapore.com<br />
KUNDALINI YOGA @<br />
SOL WELLNESS<br />
16/F Tin On Sing Commercial<br />
Building, 41-43 Graham St,<br />
Central, Hong Kong<br />
s: Kundalini Yoga, Detox, Raw<br />
& Living Food Nutrition,<br />
Holographic Health Scan,<br />
Ultrasonic Acupuncture,<br />
Corporate Wellness, Children’s<br />
Health, Body treatments,<br />
Homeopathy, Counselling,<br />
Kinesiology<br />
t: (852) 2581 9699<br />
e: info@sol-wellness.com<br />
w: www.sol-wellness.com<br />
Ming Lee<br />
Privates, workshops<br />
s: Iyengar Certified teacher<br />
l: English, Cantonese,<br />
Putonghua<br />
t: (852) 9188 1277<br />
e: minglee@yogawithming.com<br />
LIFE MANAGEMENT<br />
YOGA CENTRE HK<br />
Non-profit Classical Yoga School<br />
d: Tsim Sha Tsui<br />
s: Patanjali yoga, Kids yoga,<br />
Seniors yoga, Corporates<br />
l: English, Cantonese<br />
t: (852) 2191 9651<br />
t: (852) 6349 0639 (Chinese)<br />
e: life@yoga.org.hk<br />
w: www.yoga.org.hk<br />
Ursula Moser<br />
The Iyengar Yoga Centre of<br />
Hong Kong<br />
d: Central<br />
s: Iyengar Certified (Junior<br />
Intermediate II)<br />
l: English<br />
t: (852) 2918 1798 / 9456 2149<br />
e: uschi.moser51@gmail.com<br />
Anna Ng<br />
Privates<br />
d: Hong Kong<br />
s: Hatha yoga<br />
l: Cantonese<br />
t: (852) 9483 1167<br />
e: gazebofl@netvigator.com<br />
PURE YOGA<br />
Hong Kong<br />
16/F The Centrium, 60<br />
Wyndham Street<br />
t: (852) 2971 0055<br />
25/F Soundwill Plaza, 38 Russell<br />
St, Causeway Bay<br />
t: (852) 2970 2299<br />
14/F Peninsula Office Tower, 18<br />
Middle Road, Tsim Sha Tsui,<br />
Kowloon<br />
t: (852) 8129 8800<br />
9/F Langham Place Office<br />
Tower, 8 Argyle Street, Kowloon<br />
t: (852) 3691 3691<br />
4/F Lincoln House, TaiKoo<br />
Place, 979 King’s Rd, Quarry Bay<br />
t: (852) 8129 1188<br />
Singapore<br />
391A Orchard Road, #18-00<br />
Ngee Ann City Tower A<br />
t: (65) 6733 8863<br />
30 Raffles Place, 04-00 Chevron<br />
House<br />
t: (65) 6304 2257<br />
Taiwan<br />
151 Chung Hsiao East Road, Sec<br />
4, Taipei<br />
t: (886) 02 8161 7888<br />
Jenny Rockowitz<br />
Group and privates at Flex<br />
d: Wong Chuk Hang<br />
s:Yin Yang, Vinyasa, Hatha<br />
l: English<br />
e: info@flexhk.com<br />
w: www.flexhk.com<br />
Jenny Smith<br />
s:Children’s Yoga teacher: Hatha<br />
RYT200 & Radiant Child Yoga<br />
Program (RCYP) Facilitator-<br />
Kundalini<br />
l: English<br />
t: +852 6973 1792<br />
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e: info@geckogyoga.com<br />
w: www.geckoyoga.com<br />
SHAKTI HEALING<br />
CIRCLE<br />
3/F 34 Wyndham Street, Central,<br />
Hong Kong<br />
s: Kundalini, Qigong, Guided<br />
Kundalini meditation, Yoga for<br />
beginners, Restorative<br />
t: (852) 2521 5099<br />
e: info@shaktihealingcircle.com<br />
w: www.shaktihealingcircle.com<br />
SPACE YOGA<br />
16/F, 27 An-Ho Road, Section<br />
1, Taipei 106, Taiwan<br />
s: Hatha, Ashtanga, Anusara<br />
Inspired, Flow, Yin, Restorative,<br />
Power, Hot, Meditation,<br />
Pranayama, Pilates, Sivananda,<br />
Jivamukti and Yoga Nidra<br />
l: English, Mandarin<br />
t: (886) 2 2773 8108<br />
e:<br />
teachertraining@withinspace.com<br />
w: www.withinspace.com<br />
THE BREATHING ROOM<br />
42A Joo Chiat Place,<br />
Singapore 427766<br />
s: Prenatal, Vinyasa, Yin, Kids,<br />
and AromaYoga.<br />
t: (65) 8112 5827<br />
e: ashley@sacredfunk.com<br />
w: www.sacredfunk.com<br />
THE YOGA ROOM<br />
3 & 4/F Xiu Ping Commercial<br />
Bld, 104 Jervois St, Sheung Wan,<br />
Hong Kong<br />
s:Hatha, Ashtanga, Yin, Yin<br />
Yang, Hota, Vinyasa, Asana &<br />
Pranayama, Yoga Therapy, Pilate,<br />
Pre- & Post-natal, Mom & Baby,<br />
Yoga Kids, Belly dance & more<br />
t: (852) 2544 8398<br />
e: info@yogaroomhk.com<br />
w: www.yogaroomhk.com<br />
TRUE YOGA<br />
Singapore<br />
9 Scotts Road, Level 4, Pacific<br />
Plaza 228210<br />
t: (65) 6733 9555<br />
10 Collyer Quay, Level 4, Ocean<br />
Financial Centre 049315<br />
t: (65) 6536 3390<br />
Taiwan<br />
563 Chung Hsiao East Road,<br />
Section 4, 1st & 2nd floor<br />
Taipei<br />
t :(886) 22764 8888<br />
337 Nanking East Road<br />
Section 3, 9/ & 10/F, Taipei<br />
t: (886) 22716 1234<br />
s: Hatha, Power, Ashtanga,<br />
Vinyasa, Yin, Gentle, Flow, Yoga<br />
Dance, Pre-natal<br />
e: operations@trueyoga.com.sg<br />
w: www.trueyoga.com.sg /<br />
www.trueyoga.com.tw<br />
Wai-Ling Tse<br />
Privates and Groups<br />
d: Hong Kong<br />
s: Sivananda certified, Hatha,<br />
Svastha Yoga, Therapy, Yoga<br />
Nidra, Yin, Pranayama and<br />
Meditation<br />
l: English, Cantonese<br />
t: (852) 9465 6461<br />
e: wltse11@yahoo.com<br />
YOGA CENTRAL<br />
4/F Kai Kwong House, 13<br />
Wyndham St, Hong Kong<br />
s: Hatha/Iyengar clases, yoga<br />
teacher training workshops,<br />
private group classes, corporate<br />
health programs.<br />
t: (852) 2982 4308<br />
e: yogacentralhk@yahoo.com<br />
w: www.yogacentral.com.hk<br />
YOGA on CAINE ROAD<br />
@ COSMO KIDS<br />
1/F Jadestone Court, 138 Caine<br />
Road, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong<br />
s: Kids, Privates, Meditation &<br />
healing, studio rental<br />
t: (852) 2915 8138<br />
e: ask@cosmokids.net<br />
w: www.cosmokids.nets<br />
Yoga with YoYo<br />
Yoga Alliance ERYT200 &<br />
RYT200. Offering asana,<br />
pranayama, meditation and<br />
scripture study.<br />
d: Sai Kung, San Po Kong<br />
s: Sivananda and YogaPrasadinfluenced<br />
asana, pranayama,<br />
meditation and scripture study<br />
for small groups and privates<br />
l: English, Cantonese<br />
t: (852) 9302 3931<br />
e: info@yoyoyoga.net<br />
w: www.yoyoyoga.net<br />
To list t your details here e for all four issue<br />
sues s of f 2013 (January<br />
January, , April, June & <strong>Oct</strong>ober<br />
ober),<br />
pleas<br />
ase email Franc<br />
ances on fgairns@ne<br />
gairns@netvigat<br />
vigator<br />
or.com<br />
om<br />
Cost is unchanged HK$530 for individual teacher & HK$1,050 for studio.<br />
NAMASKAR LISTING AND DISPLAY Y ADVER<br />
VERTISING RATE<br />
TES S FOR OR 2013<br />
013<br />
(IN HK DOLLARS)<br />
Sizes & Prices<br />
Outside back cover $21,200 210 mm x 297 mm<br />
Inside front cover $2,880 210 mm x 297 mm<br />
Inside back cover $2,370 210 mm x 297 mm<br />
Full page $1,850 210 mm x 297 mm<br />
1/2 page $1,100 horizontal - 188 mm x 137.5 mm<br />
vertical - 90 mm x 275 mm vertical<br />
1/4 page $590 90 mm x 137.5 mm<br />
1/8 page $380 90 mm x 63 mm<br />
Teacher listing $530 (January - <strong>Oct</strong>ober 2013)<br />
Studio listing $1,050 (January - <strong>Oct</strong>ober 2013)<br />
Notes<br />
Advertisements should be submitted as high resolution (300 dpi) tif<br />
files (no pdf or ai files please).<br />
Payment<br />
Advertising fees are payable in Hong Kong dollars only to:<br />
<strong>Namaskar</strong><br />
c/o Carol Adams, 1/F 46 Leung Fai Ting Lower Road,<br />
Clearwater Bay, Hong Kong<br />
Information<br />
Carol (852) 9137 9992 /carol@caroladams.hk<br />
Frances (852) 9460 1967 / fgairns@netvigator.com<br />
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