Namaskar - Oct 09

namaskar 

A VOICE FOR THE YOGA COMMUNITY OF ASIA OCTOBER 2009 

Contentment 

Yoga & Emotions 

Iyengar

2

Inside 

OCTOBER 2009 

Dristi Santosha 

Enjoying the Now, , 9 

Kim shares reflects on how she reminds 

herself to be happy. 

Santosha is Balance, 11 

Yogesvara takes the Tantrik view of 

contentment. 

On Contentment, 13 

What it means to Cat to be content. 

Content not Complacent, 

14 

Sankirtana explains the difference between 

these two often interchangeable words. 

Be e Your 

ourself 

elf, , 16 

Sara suggests we try to be ourselves. 

Regular Contributions 

NEWS, WORKSHOPS, RETREATS & TEACHER 

TRAININGS, 5 

TEACHER’S VOICE, 21 & 23 

ANATOMY, 27 

WORKSHOP REVIEW, 33 & 34 

RETREAT REVIEW, 38 

BOOK REVIEW, 44 

DIET, 42 

RECIPE, 43 

HATHI YOGI, 44 

CROSSWORD, 45 

TEACHER & STUDIO LISTINGS, 46 

Special Features 

Art2Healing Project, 17 Joanna 

introduces to a new non-profit aimed at 

helping women sold into sexual slavery. 

Yoga for Peace, 19 Ting Ting and 

two other teachers led a yoga celebration for 

peace recently in Hong Kong. 

Green Yamas & Niyamas, 21 A set 

of affirmations from Clayton to bridge 

Patanjali’s teachings and environmentalism.. 

Feeding the Yoga Monster, 28 

Teachers have contributed to a generation of 

yoga practitioners focussed on asana, 

according to James. 

Yoga, TCM & Emotions, 29 How 

do yoga and traditional Chinese medicine 

view emotions, and what can we do to 

manage them? Peggy explains. 

Being Spiritual in the Real 

World, 32 Leah tells us about one lady 

who’s combining spirituality and a new online 

business. 

Meeting Iyengar, 36 Yogaraj’s 

account of his meeting with a yoga legend. 

From Body to Mind, 41 A basic 

explanation from Allen of how yoga 

connects body and mind. 

Shradda, 44 A yoga poem by Wendell. 

About Namaskar 

Namaskar provides a voice for the yoga 

community around Asia. The publication is a 

vehicle for practitioners on a yogic path to share 

their own knowledge, learnings and experiences 

with others. 

Namaskar, is published by Yoga Services Ltd, 

quarterly in January, April, July and October. 

We welcome unsolicited submissions, therefore 

the opinions expressed within these pages are 

not necessarily those of Yoga Services Ltd. 

Namaskar is distributed at no charge through 

yoga studios, fitness centres, retail outlets, food & 

beverage outlets and other yoga-friendly 

locations throughout Hong Kong and elsewhere. 

For more information, to contribute or to order 

Namaskar, please contact:: 

Carol, News Editor & Administration 

kambotam@netvigator.com 

Wai-Ling, News Editor & Copy Editor 

wailing.tse@gmail.com 

Joanna, Copy Editor & Writer 

jomwilliams@hotmail.com 

Frances, Editor 

fgairns@netvigator.com /+ 852 9460 1967 

Deadline for January 2010 issue: 

December 15, 2009 

3

Santosha, contentment, is the dristi of this issue. Wait, you might ask, didn’t you cover 

that already? Yes in October 2007, apologies for the repetition. It wasn’t until after we’d 

emailed everyone that someone reminded me. And when so many lovely new articles on 

the subject came in, I thought why not just use it again. Afterall, who wouldn’t benefit 

from more suggestions on being content. 

Kim, Yogesvara, Sara, Sankirtana and Cat each share a different perspective on this second 

of Patanjali’s five Niyamas. Lots of practical advice we can adopt into our own lives. 

namaskar 

As we grow more content as a community, we are better able to share with others. The 

Art2Healing Project, to rehabilitate trafficked women, an outdoor yoga practice to celebrate 

the International Day of Peace, and a new online platform called TheSourceAsia.com, for all 

things spiritual, are three examples of yoga practitioners sharing their love to make the 

world a better place. Thanks to Joanna, Ting Ting and Leah for bringing us these inspiring 

stories. 

Personal thanks to Paul and Suzee Grilley for coming to Asia to host a yin yoga workshop 

at True Yoga in Singapore last month, and to Jo for her two-year campaign to bring them 

here. You can read the first part of Rani’s review of this workshop on page 33. One of the 

Grilley’s main teachings is that we are born with different bone structure which influences 

the shape of our asanas, as much as diligent practice. Just have a look at Simon on the 

cover, Shyam on page 6 and Yogaraj in an advertisement on page 37. All are doing scorpion 

pose, but how different they look! I’m sure no one thinks Simon’s spectacular 

demonstration is wrong, just because his feet don’t touch his head like Shyam or Yogaraj. 

They are all dedicated practitioners and we admire the fruits of their labour. So why are we 

so hard on ourselves when our poses don’t look like our teacher’s or friend’s? 

Valerie’s article on elbows also points out some intrinsic differences, which if taken to heart 

can help us avoid injury through practice. 

Rounding out this issue are some lovely contributions from Allen, Clayton, James, Moosa, 

Paul, Peggy, Steve, Tanya, Tia, Wendell and Yogaraj. Together with Carol, Wai-Ling and 

Joanna working behind the scenes, a lot of people have poured their love and experience 

into Namaskar. We hope you enjoy reading this issue and learn something positive from it. 

Finally a boring, but important, housekeeping note - as this is the last issue of the year, 

teachers and studios who want to list their details at the back throughout 2010, please send 

us your new details and cheques (HK$500 for teachers, HK$1,000 for studios). 

I hope the rest of your 2009 is filled with Santosha. 

FRANCES GAIRNS 

Editor 

SOMETHING TO SHARE? 

IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE WITH THE YOGA COMMUNITY IN ASIA AND ELSEWHERE (WE 

DISTRIBUTE AROUND THE WORLD), PLEASE EMAIL FGAIRNS@NETVIGATOR.COM 

4

NEWS 

HONG KONG TEACHER TO LAUNCH 

NEW YOGA LINE 

Yoga teacher Tanya Boulton’s 

passionate desire to design her 

own clothing line and a textile 

goddess with 18 years of 

experience, have come together 

with one mission: to design and 

delivery quality and innovative 

clothing for an inspiring lifestyle. 

The new line, called tanya-b, 

launches this Fall with a 2009 

Fall/2010 Spring collection of 

six pieces. Amongst the 

collection are three different dipdye 

tricolor halter tops and a 

stylish reversible bag. 

Yoga students look for clothing 

that fits comfortably, moves 

with her body in any yoga pose 

and makes her look and feel 

great! tanya-b design is creative 

and elegantly stylish; the fabric is 

soft, breaths and is supportive. 

It feels like a smooth second 

layer of skin. tanya-b will 

hosting a trunk show December 

14 th at Campos Collective, 171- 

177 Hollywood Road, Central, 

Hong Kong. For more 

information info@tanya-b.com 

or (852) 6448 7310. Pre-trunk 

show orders are accepted! 

ASHTANGA YOGA IN BHUTAN 

Yoga teacher Kim Roberts will 

be in Bhutan this Fall offering 

daily yoga and meditation at the 

Zhiwa Ling hotel in Paro from 

October through December. For 

more information 

papayayoga.com/ 

zhiwalingretreats or email 

papayayoga@gmail.com 

KIRTAN YOGA FOR THE HEART, 

PURE YOGA HONG KONG 

Every last Friday of the month 

from 7 – 9 pm, Pure Yoga, 

Central Studio is sharing Kirtan 

(Mantra chanting with music) 

with the Hong Kong 

community. A monthly practice 

of Yoga for the Heart and 

emotions. Bring your friends 

and family it’s open to all, 

and it’s free, and children are 

most welcome too. Preregistration 

required. For more 

information (852) 2971 0055 

PURE KIDS YOGA AUTUMN & 

WINTER PROGRAMMES IN HONG 

KONG 

Developing healthy bodies, 

healthy minds every Sunday 1 st - 

29 th November. This bilingual 

programme is designed for kids 

between 5 to 11, conducted in 

English & Cantonese. For more 

information pure-yoga.com or 

events@pure-yoga.com 

2010 TEACHER TRAINING INFO 

SESSION WITH GANESH MOHAN, 

PURE YOGA HONG KONG 

A three-week Teacher Training 

Course on Yoga Therapy will be 

held at Pure Yoga by Ganesh 

Mohan March 2010. Join the 

complimentary information 

session, meet Ganesh and know 

more about the course! Get 

yourself enough time to be 

prepared to the training. 

Questions are welcome! For 

more information www.pureyoga.com 

or email 


NEW TEACHERS AND CLASSES AT 

YOGA CENTRAL, HONG KONG 

Hong Kong’s first yoga studio, 

Yoga Central welcomes some 

new teachers: Karen, Gloria & 

Stan for Yoga Basics, Hatha 

Flow & Sivananda Yoga. Free 

Meditation class by Phil. For 


yogacentral.com.hk 

THIRD BALISPIRIT FESTIVAL 

Mark 31 st March – 4 th April, 2010 

in your calendars now. A 

celebration of Yoga, dance and 

music at Ubud, Bali. For more 

information 

balispiritfestival.com 

TRI-COLOUR HALTER TOP BY TANYA-B 

NEW YOGA CENTRAL TEACHER, STAN 

NEW AT YOGA CENTRAL , GLORIA 

5

WORKSHOPS 

ADVANCED WORKSHOPS WITH 

SUDHAKAR, PURE YOGA HONG 

KONG 

Advanced: 24 th & 25 th October 

Introduction of Dheesan Yoga 

“Dheesan” in Sanskrit is to be 

granted with intelligence. This 

school of yoga is designed to 

improve your flexibility, 

strength, control, and endurance 

by obtaining intelligence of 

yoga.For more information 

pure-yoga.com or email 


YIN YOGA INTENSIVE WEEKEND 

WORKSHOP AT ANAHATA YOGA, 

HONG KONG 

25 th & 26 th October Yin Yoga 

teacher Victor Chng will be 

leading a Yin Yoga Intensive 

Weekend Workshop at Anahata 

Yoga on. For more information 

anahatayoga.com.hk or call (852) 

2905 1822. 

THREE-WEEKEND IMMERSION WITH 

SHYAM NARAYANAN, PURE YOGA 

HONG KONG 

31 st October – 15 th November, 

this immersion is an 

introduction to the four major 

paths of Yoga – Jnana Yoga, 

Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga and 

Karma Yoga – the perfect tools 

for creating a deeper positive 

transformation in all of us. 

Open to all levels. For more 

information www.pureyoga.com 

or email 


YOGA FOR KIDS BASICS, AND YOGA 

FOR TEENS BASICS, HONG KONG 

31 st October, two 3-hour back 

to back experiential workshop 

perfect for parents, teachers or 

anyone who would like to learn 

tools and techniques to share 

Yoga with children. No yoga 

experience necessary! For more 

information yogakids-asia.com 

RAMANAND PATEL IYENGAR 

WORKSHOP, TOKYO, JAPAN 

30 th October – 3 rd November at 

Shizen Yoga Studio. For more 

information shizenyoga.com/e/ 

heightening awareness and 

sensitivity of our body and 

mind. Stephen Thomas will be 

leading the Asana and 

Pranayama sessions. For more 

information 

www.withinspace.com 

IMMERSION I, YOGA ELEMENTS 

BANGKOK, THAILAND 

10 th – 15 th November with Jonas 

Westring (E-RYT 500), certified 

Anusara Yoga instructor, and a 

licensed physiotherapist in his 

native Sweden and in the USA 

who also specialize in 

therapeutic bodywork in the 

Thai tradition. Maintaining a full 

worldwide teaching schedule, he 

dedicates part of the year to 

Chiang Mai, Thailand. Pouring 

into his teaching almost three 

decades experience in yoga 

and the healing arts, you 

are in skilled hands 

all the way 

through. For 

more 

information shantaya.org or 

yogaelements.com. 

40-HOUR ASHTANGA INTENSIVE 

WITH CLAYTON HORTON, PURE 

YOGA, HONG KONG 

16 th -22 nd November, this 

Ashtanga Intensive will address 

Asana technique and alignment, 

the history of Ashtanga Yoga, 

Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras, 

Bhagavad Gita, Kirtan 

Chanting, injury prevention, 

core strength development, basic 

adjustments and the internal – 

energetic practice and simple 

meditation techniques. A 

grounded and comprehensive 

view of Yoga Philosophy will be 

presented. Manuals and 

certificates of participation will 

be received. This 

Intensive is 

designed for 

beginners, 

intermediate 

students 

and 

DEEPEN YOUR PRACTICE 

WORKSHOP, WITH KATHY COOK, 

HONG KONG 

4 th November, Yoga Central, 6 th 

November, Ladies Recreational 

Center. Kathy Cook is a certified 

Iyengar teacher who has studied 

with the Iyengar family and has 

over 16 years experience. For 

more information call Yoga 

Central (852) 2982 4308, or LRC 

Sports Desk (852) 3199 3500. 

AYURVEDA AND YOGA WORKSHOP 

AT SPACE YOGA, TAIPEI 

6 th – 8 th November, with Rachel 

Tsai. Learn how to use this 

healing science of Agni, which 

teaches the knowledge of self 

understanding, as tools for 

6 

SHYAM NARAYANAN

JONAS WESTRING 

teachers. For more information 



INSIGHT YOGA WORKSHOP WITH 

SARAH POWERS AT SPACE YOGA, 

TAIPEI 

27 th – 29 th November Insight 

Yoga is a yogic path that 

facilitates awareness. A weekend 

workshop of integrating yin 

yoga and mindfulness to your 

regular practice. For more 

information withinspace.com 

YOGA THERAPY, TRADITION, 

FUNCTION, FITNESS WITH GANESH 

MOHAN, PURE YOGA HONG KONG 

27 th – 29 th November, Join 

Ganesh Mohan in these five 

workshops to explore different 

facets of yoga practices, drawing 

upon authentic yoga tradition 

and modern science. This can be 

a door to deepen your yoga 

studies, or simply to get a clear 

and authoritative picture of the 

topics. For more information 



WEEKEND YOGA ANATOMY WITH 

CHRIS KUMMER, PURE YOGA 

TAIPEI 

4 th – 6 th December, the 

workshop series is designed for 

a weekend of yoga anatomy 

exploration. Beginning on 

Friday evening with Yoga and 

the Nervous System, each 

subsequent day has a slightly 

longer lecture before lunch and 

one after lunch. Each topic can 

be attended on its own, or in a 

series. No prerequisites, except a 

regular yoga practice. Sessions 

include: Yoga and the Nervous 

System, Anti-gravitational 

Support from the Limbs, 

Joints, Moving from the Core, 

Breath, Movement and 

Awareness. For more 

information pure-yoga.com or 

email events@pure-yoga.com 

YOGANATOMY WORKSHOP WITH 

MICHEL BESNARD, SINGAPORE 

4 th – 7 th December, a must 

attend course for all yoga 

teachers and serious 

practitioners. For more 

information yogasana.com.hk or 

call (852) 25118892. 

FUNDAMENTALS OF YOGA 

THERAPY WORKSHOP WITH DR. 

ANANDA BALAYOGI, HONG KONG 

11 th -13 th December, Dr. Ananda 

Balayogi, a medical doctor and 

yoga exponent, will be giving 

lectures and workshop on 

various topics of Yoga Therapy. 

For more information 

anahatayoga.com.hk or call 

(852) 2905 1822. 

ANUSARA IMMERSION PART II, 

TAIPEI WITH DESIREE RUMBAUGH 

9 th – 13 th December, part II of a 

three-part Immersion. The 

Immersion training is for any 

level of yoga students seeking a 

deeper understanding of their 

yoga practice. For more 

information visit 

withinspace.com 

THE WAY OF THE HAPPY WOMAN 

YOGA, CHIANG MAI, THAILAND 

16 th – 24 th January 2010, with 

Sara Avant Stover, Tanya 

Boulton & guests. Discover 

how to move beyond body 

image hang-ups, relationship 

challenges, and career 

frustrations to unlock your inner 

radiance now! Spend a week 

with like-minded ladies in a 

beautiful mountaintop location 

surrounded by nature while 

enjoying lovely, modern 

facilities. For more information 

HappyWomanRetreat.com 

PETER SCOTT WORKSHOPS & 

INTENSIVES, YOGA CENTRAL, 

HONG KONG 

23 rd – 28 th January 2010, For 


www.yogacentral.com.hk 

ANUSARA YOGA IMMERSIONS IN 

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND 

29 th January – 5 th February 

Immersion I, & 7 th - 14 th 

February 2010 Immersion II at 

Kaomail Lanna Resort with 

certified Anusara Yoga instructor 

Jonas Westring in Northern 

Thailand for one or two retreat 

weeks. The Immersion 

curriculum, invites committed 

students, teachers and aspiring 

teachers to deepen their practice 

in a supportive, playful, and 

welcoming environment. For 

the sixth year in northern 

Thailand, the charming venue is 

a boutique resort is only half an 

hour outside Chiang Mai. For 

more information shantaya.org 

or email thaiyoga@gmail.com. 

7

TEACHER TRAINING 

10-DAY HOT YOGA TEACHER TRAINING PURE YOGA HONG KONG 

23 rd October – 1 st November, this 200-hr Yoga Alliance Certified 

Programme Bilingual Course consists of 10 days full-time training 

and an additional 50-hr Internship. Suitable for dedicated students 

and aspiring teachers, the programme is designed to immerse you 

into the study of yoga. For more information pure-yoga.com or 

email hotyogatraining@pure-yoga.com 

100-HOUR YOGA TEACHER TRAINING, YOGASANA, HONG KONG 

9 th October – 29 th November, Yogasana & AASFP team up to offer 

a 100-hr Yoga Teacher Training Course to deepen your practices & 

transform your life. Open to students who have a sincere desire to 

study in depth of asana, pranayama, anatomy and more. 

Recognized by Yoga Alliance USA. For more information 

yogasana.com.hk or info@yogasana.com.hk or call (852) 25118892. 

UNIVERSAL YOGA 12-DAY TEACHER TRAINING – PART 2 PURE YOGA, 

SINGAPORE 

31 st October – 11 th November, 100-hr Yoga Alliance Certified 

Programme with Andrey Lappa. The Part 2 Universal Yoga Studies 

intensive will focus on different aspects of Universal Yoga with 

practices that challenges experienced students and are accessible to all 

levels of practitioners. Students will be challenged to explore & 

expand upon their personal yoga practice and will be encouraged to 

develop creative, conscious & intelligent teaching techniques. For 

more information pure-yoga.com or email events@pure-yoga.com 

YOGAKIDS FOUNDATIONS TRAINING, HONG KONG 

4 th - 7 th December An overview of YogaKids poses, techniques, 

concepts and methodology developed by yoga-for-children pioneer, 

Marsha Wenig, There are no prerequisites for participation in the 

Foundations Training except a desire to help children by teaching 

about the benefits of yoga for children. For more information 

yogakids.com 

ADVANCED HATHA YOGA TEACHER TRAINING WITH YOGANANTH 

ANDIAPPAN, HONG KONG 

Advanced Hatha Yoga Teacher Training early 2010 at Anahata Yoga. 

The intensive training takes teaching yoga postures to new limits 

and let students set new heights in advanced Hatha Yoga practice. 

For more information anahatayoga.com.hk or call (852) 2905 1822. 

100-HOUR TEACHER TRAINING WITH MICHEL BESNARD, SHENZHEN 

22 nd January – 6 th February 2010 100 hours Teacher Training in 

Shenzhen, China. For more information yogasana.com.hk or call 

(852) 25118892. 

HATHA VINYASA YOGA TEACHER TRAINING, KOH SAMUI, THAILAND 

2 nd - 27 th February 2010, with Stephen Thomas (E-RYT 500). If 

you’re looking to go deep, expand your practice and become a yoga 

teacher, join Stephen Thomas for a 200-hour Yoga Alliance course 

centered around the in-depth studies of the authentic study of 

yoga. For more information TeachHathaYoga.com 

VINYASA YOGA TEACHER TRAINING, KOH SAMUI, THAILAND 

1 st – 29 th March 2010, with Michel Besnard (E-RYT 500). With over 

30 years of practice and teaching experience, Michel stands out as 

one of Asia’s most-experienced and knowledgeable voices. He 

combines the power of Ashtanga and alignment of Iyengar to 

deliver a solid foundation for aspiring teachers. 200-Hour Yoga 

Alliance Course. For more information yogasana.com.hk or 

TeachVinyasaYoga.com or call (852) 25118892. 

RETREATS 

YOGA AND MEDITATION RETREATS WITH KIM ROBERTS AT THE ZHIWA LING 

HOTEL, PARO, BHUTAN 

28 th October - 1 st November, 25 th – 29 th November, 23 rd – 27 th 

December “Change Your Mind” retreats allows both newcomers 

and seasoned practitioners to deepen practice in an environment 

highly conducive to spiritual study. Single & Twin share from 

US$1,795 to US$3,300 per person. For more information 

papayayoga.com/zhiwalingretreats, or email Kim Roberts 

papayayoga@gmail.com 

SALESIAN RETREAT HOUSE, CHEUNG CHAU, HONG KONG 

30 th October – 1 st November, Yoga Retreat with Kathy Cook a 

certified Iyengar teacher who has studied with the Iyengar family 

and has over 16 years experience. The retreat house is at 21 Don 

Bosco Road, and is a lovely 20 minute walk from Cheung Chau 

Ferry Pier. For more information email Kathy at 

Kathy@yogawithkathy.com. 

YOGA BODY, BLISSFUL MIND RETREAT CHIANG MAI, THAILAND 

7 th – 14 th November, with Will Senn Lau & Lisa Mak at Tao Garden 

Health Spa & Resort. Take a well-deserved tranquil respite from 

your fast-paced city life. Enjoy a weeklong mind-body makeover 

and be ‘zensitised’ in the beautiful countryside of Chiang Mai. For 

more information pure-yoga.com or email retreats@pure-yoga.com 

NEW YEARS RETREAT FOR JOY & WELLBEING 

28 th December – 4 th January 2010, A Path to the Light Within at 

Ananda Cottages - Ubud, Bali . Led by two Kundalini Yoga 

teachers Gurudass Kuar Khalsa and Rebecca Pflaum, programme 

includes group experiences full of yoga, meditation, music, mantra, 

contemplation, games, philosophical discussion, sun, fun and 

more! For more information balispirit.com. 

8


ENJOYING THE 

NOW 

Kim Roberts 

Here’s the truth: I am not always 

content. I sometimes feel dull, 

dreary and dark. Like all of us, I 

often don’t get what I want. Just as often, I 

get what I don’t want. And even though 

mostly I wander around with a wry smile, 

frankly, sometimes life feels cruel and coldhearted. 

In these moments, I forget to be 

happy. 

This morning when I walked outside and 

looked over the high peaks outlined in 

bright blue brilliance, I noticed my breathing 

deepen, my mind relax. A momentary calm 

settled in, inspired by the awesome beauty 

of nature showing her finest. The contrast 

to the darkness where I sometimes live is 

striking. How easy it is to get caught in our 

own little world, to focus on nagging details 

and negativities; to rest in a state of 

discontent, or rather to run after anything 

we think will help us alleviate it. 

The more we seek contentment, the more it 

eludes us. A peaceful mind is our natural 

state, and yet due to our inability or 

unwillingness to remain fully in the present, 

we wander in endless pursuit of happiness, 

only to have it elude us. This peaceful mind 

is in the experience of fully, consciously 

experiencing the present moment. 

Standing there staring into the immense 

space created by sky and mountain this 

morning, it seemed silly to waste a precious 

instant of this extraordinary life 

complaining about an injustice, an 

unfulfilled desire, an unwanted intrusion. 

How insignificant these phenomena seem 

in comparison to the utter stillness created 

by the forces of nature. So today, I decided 

to ally with the stillness, instead of the 

chatter. 

If we can take a step back to see the larger 

picture, our complaints become 

insignificant. Tomorrow, next year, in 100 

years, will it matter? What we take to be so 

important, if viewed from a larger 

perspective, is but a wrinkle in the fabric of 

time. Events unfold in a time-frame, or 

return again and again, only to be consumed 

by the stillness, the vastness of space. We 

spend our lives fixating on particular aspects 

of phenomena that we either want or don’t 

want. Caught up in the appearance of 

reality, we ignore the real, which is simply 

the spacious clear awareness of that 

appearance, without any of our opinions 

added. And immediately, once this 

awareness is recognized, there is peace. 

Some of the happiest moments of my life 

have been to the outside onlooker quite 

banal, read: boring. Walking on a mountain 

trail on a brilliant blue day, indulging in my 

favorite food, sharing a quiet moment with 

someone I love. What makes us believe 

there is anything better to attain? What 

keeps us striving towards an illusory 

happiness and away from the true gift of 

contentment that is right under our noses? 

In a word: desire. We mistake desire for 

contentment. We have this mistaken belief 

if we would only get what we want, we 

would be happy. But guess what? It’s not 

true. Quite often attaining our goals brings 

more suffering than before we had attained 

them. 

If we would abandon our incessant desire, 

we glimpse our natural birthright: a 

constant state of contentment. But try to 

tame any unruly mind and ask it to remain 

joyful, satiated and jolly, and it’s like asking a 

raccoon not to have fur. Or a tiger not to 

gorge on the bloody prey before it. It’s our 

nature, the original sin, if you will. 

Yet this downfall is also our boon. Because 

of this whiny undisciplined mind that 

claims to know what is right for us, we have 

freedom to choose. We have consciousness. 

And so these very distractions and 

diversions into the darkness become the 

alarm – the wake up call to rise from our 

communal slumber. Wake up. To what? 

To the timeless beauty of this moment. To 

contentment. When we notice our whiny 

mind, it is the signal to wake up, take a step 

back and look at the big picture. 

Circumstances are elusive, changing, and 

impermanent. Contentment means not 

being swayed by these external shifts in 

circumstance. We already have everything we 

need to be content inside; our state of mind 

is absolutely independent of our 

surrounding environment. But we have to 

9

THE INSPIRING STILLNESS AND BEAUTY OF NATURE 

10 

recognise this. We have to practice not 

getting caught up in the drama of the 

moment. 

It’s no consolation that some of the 

greatest visionaries have been notorious in 

their discontent: suicidal, depressed and 

institutionalized. These philosophers and 

artists and saints were often rebellious and 

sought untraditional ways of expressing the 

reality they experienced. How often do we 

hear of someone attaining the heights of 

awakening that played by the rules? 

In polite society we are often taught to feel 

shame over our emotions. “Cheer up,” we 

are told - don’t dwell on the unpleasant. We 

are ashamed of anything untoward or 

inconvenient: jealousy, sadness, anger, need. 

Vulnerability. We despise our vulnerability. 

Yet it is those who are brave enough to face 

the unpleasant emotions that are rewarded 

with their transcendence. 

Some try to escape the darkness through 

numbness or distraction or blatant denial. 

But moment by moment, coming back to 

the breath and the now, it is possible to 

transcend the outer world, and rest in the 

quiet inner. This does not mean avoiding 

the outer world, it means acknowledging 

the unpleasant aspects, and allowing them 

to show us what is true - and relaxing in 

that. 

What makes us revere the great artist or 

visionary is they point unflinchingly to that 

state that we are all familiar with – man’s 

discontent. And yet it is precisely in naming 

it, speaking of it and fondling it that the 

visionary (or the yogi or the poet or artist or 

writer) performs his or her service. For that 

brief moment when we are absorbed in 

something, whether it is meditation or a 

painting or a great passage of literature, or 

that inexplicable bliss of a moment of 

oneness with nature, a moment of ecstasy 

with our lover or a luscious peach at the 

peak of summer, and for that moment we 

are indescribably, deliciously and undeniably 

content. 

Sometimes I think this spiritual seeking is 

for the birds. What are we looking for? For 

that moment – that timeless moment of 

being one with whatever is happening right 

now. And do we really need all this 

searching to get there? We are already here! 

If only we would drop our seeking and 

striving to stop and smell the flowers, listen 

to the birds, look our fellow beings in the 

eye and smile like we mean it! 

But the problem is that we don’t always 

remember. We are not always able to rest in 

that timeless moment of peace and 

contentment. So we have to practice coming 

back. Whether through yama, nimaya, asana, 

pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana or 

Samadhi, we practice returning to our 

brilliant spacious peaceful loving Original 

Nature. We practice returning to acceptance. 

And here is the beauty of practice – when I 

am merged with my breath in yoga or in the 

timeless moment of meditation, there is no 

cruelty or injustice or discontent. There is 

only pure, simple awareness, without the 

baggage or burden or struggle. Then I am 

content. 

Kim teaches yoga and 

meditation in Bhutan. 

papayayoga.com


Jnanagni Kula precept 18: “The precept of contentment: Recognise the essential fullness 

and completeness. If you know you are missing nothing, the virtue of santosha or 

contentment arises. Essence is always full – situations are up and down. Contentment 

rests in the realisation of the innate wholeness of your essence.” 

Having taken initiation into a community of non-dual Tantrik practitioners I have vowed 

to sincerely dedicate myself to the expression of 21 precepts. I find that expressing the 

precept of contentment is always a choice I have, no matter what the circumstances of my 

experience. As we say, “pain in life is inevitable, but suffering is optional.” 

SANT 

ANTOSHA IS 

BALANCE 

Yogesvara Sarasvati 

However, as a scientist of my own experience I have clearly noticed my ability to both make 

this choice intellectually and to actually express and experience it without hypocrisy, denial, 

arrogance, or aloofness is directly related to my physical state of health. Of course, a more 

advanced practitioner is able to fully express enlightened virtues no matter what their bodily 

condition – the great Sri Ramana Maharshi comes to mind as he always remained in the 

state of santosha despite the terrible pain of bone marrow cancer, etc. But, for a beginner 

like me it is plainly obvious: when I am tired, depleted and somewhat sickly it is harder for 

me to find the simple contentment with life. Conversely, when I am replete, well rested 

and feeling limber, not much can get me down. 

Thus, in addition to the 21 precepts we all work hard to follow, there are the “three 

essential hallmarks of an authentic spiritual practice: 1. Primacy of the body, 2. Constant 

Awareness of one’s energy state, and 3. 

Practice where you are at, not where you 

want to be, or think you should be.” All of 

these hallmarks are intimately linked to the 

experience of santosha. 

As yogins we must know our bodies are the 

gateway to our freedom, or if treated with 

disregard, they are self-created prisons for 

our spirits. Knowing this, we practice 

“primacy of the body” and treat our bodies like the divine vessels they are. Therefore, not 

only do we avoid polluting ourselves with various poisons, toxins and other junk we like 

to call “food,” but we also don’t buy into the misinformation that abounds about crazy 

austerities, aggressive purification cleanses, and various other junk we like to call “yoga.” 

A Tantrik yogin must be juicy; with a full store of a quasi physical/spiritual substance we 

call “ojas.” To speak in very oversimplified terms, ojas is a rarified form of the water 

element. Our human experience consists of a delicate balance of the five elements: earth, 

water, fire, wind and space. Quite simply, when these elements are in harmony and 

balanced santosha arises naturally and effortlessly. And the opposite is true: when our 

elemental make-up is off kilter, no matter how hard we push and try, or “know” that 

contentment is always available, we simply won’t feel content. Santosha is balance and 

balance is santosha. At some point we just can’t fake it. 

Furthermore, while it is important to have all elements in harmony, the one element that is 

very specifically linked with santosha, contentment, is the water element. The water element 

is responsible for our sense of taste, our enjoyment of life, our sensuality, and quite 

importantly, it is intimately linked with our self-image formation and our emotional 

reactivity. Thus, we can short cut the whole five-element balance thing by going straight to 

the water element. If it is balanced, we will be healthy, content, at ease and enjoying the 

simple pleasure of being alive. 

However, it is because of this life-embracing philosophy that new-age tantriks have gotten 

yoga means taking a nap, sometimes it means 

skipping a meal, sometimes it means not caring 

about the rules and eating a hot dog 

11

the water element. If it is balanced, we will be 

healthy, content, at ease and enjoying the simple 

pleasure of being alive 

all crazy and given the authenticity of this tradition a horrible name to due their gluttony in 

the guise of spirituality. Balance means balance, not indulgence. So, as tantrikas we 

understand we must enjoy life, good food, sensuality, sexuality (all things which increase 

the water element). And, we know stupidly heroic “yogic” practices just make us angry and 

dry - as does spiritual arrogance, or an anal approach to purity (i.e. inflexibility with special 

“clean” diets, etc). But, we also understand discipline is an essential aspect of life, and quite 

enjoyable provided one’s water element is 

balanced! We know over indulgence in food 

and/or sex is simply gross and disrespectful 

to self and others, as is over-emoting, 

having a super strong/needy ego image, or 

always wanting life to be “fun.” 

A proper balanced view of reality is that life 

is about 70% hard work, 20% is a bit more 

pleasant, a few percent might be kind of 

non-descript, and a final small percentage is the ecstatic moments we all crave for constantly. 

As well trained consumers we seek to find contentment in a constant pursuit for more, 

better, faster, funner. We seek to be entertained! But, as those with self-reflection know, 

contentment is not to be found in the fulfillment of our cravings. In fact, chasing desires 

in this way depletes the water element and creates more craving. 

But, through the yogic disciplines (primacy of the body) of meditation, asana, mantra, 

pranayama, etc. we can make ourselves juicy and our energy will be replete. Then, 

automatically, santosha will be our reality and not just some high philosophy we read 

about and jive with. As yogins, we hold a constant state of awareness of our energy 

(hallmark 2), so we know immediately when we are not feeling well and balanced. By 

practicing where we are at (hallmark 3), we can apply whatever we need in that moment, to 

come back into balance. By practicing this way we become sensitive instruments and we 

know sometimes yoga means taking a nap, sometimes it means skipping a meal, 

sometimes it means not caring about the rules and eating a hot dog, and sometimes it 

means waking up every single morning to practice at the same time even if we are tired and 

don’t feel like it. 

BABIES, LIKE JULIAN, CAN BE SEEN AS THE 

EPITOME OF CONTENTMENT - JUICY WITH LIFE AND 

COMPLETELY IN THE PRESENT 

No matter what, it is silly and prideful to try to fight, kick and scratch to be happy. 

Santosha is not something you can try to be. Many of the world’s traditions might have 

their ways and means to achieve this state we all want to experience. I am not here to 

comment on them and I am sure they are all fine and appropriate for the people who 

practice them. But, as a yogi, I am here to say that santosha is balance and balance is 

santosha. One cannot exist without the other. So, let’s do whatever we must to find 

harmony and balance and let’s not care what it looks like, what others think, what rules we 

are adhering to or breaking, or any of those trips that do not matter. Each of us has our 

natural appetites and it is up us to find them, enjoy them, live our lives to the fullest, be 

kind to each other (especially those whose appetites are different than ours), and let 

santosha arise all by itself. It cannot arise any other way, anyhow, so we might as well all 

just relax! 

Yogesvara is a student of Tantracharya Dharmanidhi Sarasvati. He 

lives at their retreat center, the home of Adi Yoga, in Northeastern 

Thailand: adiyoga.com. Yogi is also the co-founder of 

energyofmindtherapy.com, and is running group and individual 

retreats in Thailand for those interested in Tantrik psychotherapy. 

12


On Contentment 

Cat Kabira 

When I heard this issue was 

focusing on contentment, I had 

to laugh. As a teacher and 

practitioner of yoga, I thought: when am I 

truly content? What does it even mean to 

be content? 

I don’t know about your mind, but mine is 

constantly dissatisfied. No matter where I 

am, my mind tells me I should be 

elsewhere; no matter how amazing the 

moment is, my mind searches for what 

could be better or different. My mind is the 

ultimate critic. 

I think back to the first time I ever got on 

the yoga mat. I was 18 years old and 

anorexic, starved down to 90 pounds. I was 

definitely not content with myself, my body 

or my life on this earth. And I remember 

my experience that first time on the mat, 

although I was self-conscious because I had 

no idea where my body parts were and I 

wasn’t strong or coordinated enough to do 

half of what the teacher was suggesting, I 

enjoyed myself. And it wasn’t even the 

poses themselves I enjoyed, but the rests in 

between, that pause when I could feel the 

effects of the pose. I felt magical tingling 

sensations I’d never felt before and it was 

the first time in a long time I was 

appreciating my body. I loved yoga in the 

beginning because I was a beginner. I didn’t 

have to know how to do the poses, I felt 

like I had full permission to fall and all that 

mattered to me was that I did my best. I 

got on the mat because I could let go of the 

rest of my life, turn my mind off and go on 

this exploration of delightful sensations 

and vibrations in my body. 

So it’s funny to me now, as a teacher who 

has been practicing for over 12 years, how I 

don’t allow myself the freshness, the 

presence, or the “beginner’s mind” to occur 

as much. I put expectations on myself, on 

the duration of my practice, on what I 

should be able to do, or how I should feel 

on the mat (and off the mat). 

Where’s the loving-kindness or compassion 

in that? The moment my yoga practice 

begins is when I get on the mat and while 

my mind wants a deep rockin’ practice, my 

body asks me for sleep or a deep yin pose; 

and when I step out of the rules and 

expectations of myself. Will I get real with 

myself and give myself what I need instead 

of what I think I need? 

Of course, it’s not even the asana that 

matters (I constantly remind myself, “Does 

the Dalai Lama care how open his 

hamstrings are?”) It’s not the asana that 

enlightens you. Asana’s the preparation for 

meditation – though what is meditation? 

It’s that moment we forget ourselves, we 

forget that we’re trying to do anything, to 

achieve or create anything and instead, we are 

in it, spontaneous, and “it,” no separation. 

And even if we get these revelations on the 

mat or cushion, it’s life outside the retreat 

centre that matters. 

A few years ago I was painting and so taken 

over by the need to express what was in me 

that I forgot who was the painter, what was 

being painted, I was simply color, color, 

color! Or there are the times when I’m 

dancing and I close my eyes and I have no 

idea what’s coming next and I don’t even 

care, all I feel is my foot lifting off the 

ground, my toes spreading, and the beat 

vibrating through my core. 

It’s easy to be present when something is 

new and exciting. Think about when you 

first fell in love. How present you are, how 

remarkable the person is in front of you, 

how lovely the sensations are between the 

two of you. Or the delight a baby has in 

discovering the earth for the first time, the 

first walk, the first bite of chocolate, how 

amazing a water fountain or a train is. 

The practice most of us have now is, how 

to be present with what is seemingly 

ordinary. That same walk or drive we do 

every day. The lover that was once so 

magical and is now our husband we wake 

up next to everyday. A yoga pose we think 

we’ve mastered, such as downward dog. Or 

how about ourselves? 

I have been scared most of my life to settle, 

to commit to one thing, fearing I’ll get 

bored or I’ll miss out on all the other 

amazing opportunities. One thing I’ve 

realized, with relief (and still, sometimes, 

fear) is that I am constantly changing. We 

are constantly changing. It’s one thing to 

think it, but to know it, to feel it is a whole 

different experience. My partner is different 

every time I see him, and if I place the 

expectation that the old him or I is there 

instead of the evolving ones, I am limiting 

the expression of his and my true selves. 

So to be present is to be real with what’s in 

front of us, not the memory, not the 

expectation, but to see and feel the freshness 

of it. And that’s what makes practice on 

and off the mat so fun; we don’t know 

what’s going to happen. If I were to be real, 

I don’t even know who I am. And right 

when I think I can define myself, I will 

change anyway. 

And so to be content with ourselves or with 

the moment, is not out of defeat or 

resignation, it’s to be real with what is. 

Maybe it’s not about having the half-smile 

of the Buddha observant of whatever 

happens around him, maybe to be content 

is to simply be authentic. Think of the 

word content, there’s the obvious 

definition: to be satisfied, but then think of 

it as content, as in, the substance, the depth. 

To be content in life isn’t to be satisfied 

with what we think we should be satisfied 

with or to stay on the superficial experience 

of it, to be content is to have the guts to go 

deep into the quality of what really is going 

on and see it and experience of it for what it 

is. How boring could that ever be? 

Cat is a yoga instructor 

and craniosacral therapist 

based in Bali, Indonesia. 

catkabira.com 

13


Con 

onten 

ent, , not 

Complac 

omplacen 

ent 

Sankirtana Das 

PHOTO BY KELLY CHAN 

Patanjali Muni in Yoga-Sutra 2.32 lists santosa as the second of five observances 

(niyama). Such observances regulate our habits and improve our character. In the 

same chapter he explains the result of contentment: purity of mind; onepointedness; 

control of the senses; fitness to have the vision of the self and supreme 

happiness (2.41-42). 

Patanjali lists contentment as a discipline. He lists it right after sauca, cleanliness - not only 

cleanliness of the body, but also of the mind (the mind must be purged of all impurities 

like lust, anger and greed — kama, krodha and lobha). Next he lists tapas, which literally 

means “generating heat”, but means voluntarily accepting some inconveniences 

(austerities). The remaining two observances are svadhyaya (self-study) and Isvara pranidhana 

(surrendering to the Supreme). Each of these five items involves a proactive stand; thus 

contentment necessitates endeavour, spiritual endeavour. 

Contentment does not equal complacency. After all, even an animal appears content. The 

classical examples are the dog and the ass. An animal does not know how he is in danger 

of being killed by the very person who looks after it, nor does it know how to check the 

repetition of birth and death. If we remain contented like a dog or an ass then we live an 

animal life. Yet, as in many other areas, there are also things to learn from the animal 

kingdom. In the Niti Sastra, Canakya Pandit says: “Contentment with little or nothing to eat 

although one may have a great appetite; to awaken instantly although one may be in a deep slumber; 

unflinching devotion to the master; and bravery; these four qualities should be learned from the dog. 

Although an ass is tired, he continues to carry his burden; he is unmindful of cold and heat; and he is 

always contented; these three things should be learned from the ass.” 

You likely know people who are “content” (complacent); just ask them how they are and 

they say they are fine. Such contentment is often the result of self-enforced blindness. 

Pretend a problem does not exist, and likely you feel happy. Blind and lazy so-called 

spiritualists go on assuring people, “There’s no need to worry. Just be happy. Everything is 

all right.” But actually, living in this world is becoming ever nastier and although people are 

secretly worried about their future on this planet, they tend to deny that the problem could 

have something to do with their own complacency. 

14

Because humanity has regressed to the animal platform, the law of the jungle - survival of 

the fittest - prevails. Typically, in such a society people ignore others’ sufferings to only strive 

for their own advantageous position. Just as peace is impossible in a jungle, peace - 

individually and collectively - remains evasive if one is selfish and indifferent to others’ 

wellbeing. Genuine contentment is distinct from inactivity and indifference; contentment is 

coordinated with selfless action. A good example of contentment, selfless service and 

humility is undoubtedly more inspiring than lofty precepts. Let us learn contentment from 

animals in a way that yields true benefit. 

Contentment, peace and happiness are interlinked. “How can there be happiness without 

peace?” says Bhagavad-Gita (2.66). And to be peaceful we must be content with the 

situation we are in, whatever it is. We accept our lot in life and are happy even if not 

everything is perfect. “One should be satisfied with whatever he achieves by his previous 

destiny, for discontent can never bring happiness.” (SB 8.19.24) There is no element of 

chance in the circumstances of our life - they are the result of a law that cannot err; they are 

our destiny created by our past activities (karma). There is no gain railing against our 

misfortunes and there is no meaning toiling to increase our pleasures. A content person 

makes changes in his or her life by following the path of dharma with a desire to advance 

spiritually - not because of dissatisfaction with his present situation. “For spiritual 

advancement, one should be materially satisfied, for if one is not materially satisfied, his 

greed for material development will result in the frustration of his spiritual advancement.” 

(SB 7.15.21) 

Besides acceptance of one’s status quo, one should be alert to one’s emotional condition 

(sauca and svadhyaya). For instance, many persons bind themselves to misery by holding 

grudges. Thus the ability to forgive (which does not necessarily mean approval of the act 

that caused the problem) frees one from this bondage. By learning to forgive we achieve 

contentment that makes one peaceful and happy. The first person to forgive is oneself; we 

are able to honestly forgive others when we have the courage to acknowledge our own 

shortcomings. By sincerely trying to improve we acquire a healthy self-esteem, the necessary 

foundation for forgiveness. Consistent and skilled endeavour leads to steady progress so to 

ultimately reach a state in which, even if externally poor like a beggar, one feels internally 

content like a king. This state is ultimately achieved by the grace of the Isvara, implied by 

Patanjali with Isvara-pranidhana. 

We accept our lot in life 

and are happy even if 

not everything is 

perfect 

In the Srimad Bhagavatam (1.4.27-33) we find the example of Vyasadeva at the completion 

of his writing the Vedas to further illustrate the meaning of Isvara-pranidhana and its 

relation to santosa. He converses with his Guru, Sri Narada Muni, “O Lord, no doubt I 

have realised all the truths you advised, still my soul, I know not why, finds no 

contentment! O son of Brahma, be kind to tell me the unimaginable and indescribable 

secret that lurks behind it. I beg this of you, being greatly troubled at heart.” Then Narada 

Muni replies, “O Vyasa, you have not striven to give a vivid picture of the pure spiritual 

pastimes of Bhagavan (Isvara)...It is due to this shortcoming of yours that you enjoy no 

contentment.” 

In my own experience, my best moments in life are the times when I’m deeply conscious 

of - and engaged in rendering service to - that Isvara. From these experiences I can verify 

Narada’s point. An identical observation is given by Suta Gosvami to Saunaka and other 

rishis elsewhere in the same literature, “The highest dharmic principle is that by which 

causeless and uninterrupted devotion to the Supreme Lord is developed. Such devotion 

brings true contentment to the soul.” (SB 1.2.6) The word ahaituki means “unmotivated 

by any selfish desire,” or “spontaneous.” By Isvara pranidhana, surrendering to the Supreme 

Being, I feel I’m protected from the peril of futile worldly endeavours and irresponsible 

complacency. This protection is vital, because as a practicing Yogi I have clearly realised the 

more I’m addicted to selfish pleasures the more I’m dissatisfied. (Bhagavad-Gita, 5.22) 

Sankirtana holds a 

degree as Yoga 

teacher from the 

Vrindavan Institute for 

Higher Education. He 

works with a travel 

agent in Beijing to take 

Chinese yoga students 

to Risikesh, Bodhgaya 

and other holy places 

in India. 

Sankirtana.lok@pamho.net 

15


Be Yourself: 

Santosha & Self 

Acceptance 

Sara Avant Stover 

“I am an expression of the divine, just like a 

peach is, just like a fish is. I have a right to be 

this way…I can’t apologize for that, nor can I 

change it, nor do I want to… We will never have 

to be other than who we are in order to be 

successful…We realize that we are as ourselves 

unlimited and our experiences valid. It is for the 

rest of the world to recognize this, if they 

choose.” Alice Walker 

Let me begin with the disclaimer that I 

often need to follow my own advice. 

Maybe that’s why I write about these 

things. To remind myself. No more fixing 

yourself, Sara! 

It’s frightening for me to think about how 

many years I have spent trying to fix myself 

(or being in relationships with people who 

told me I needed fixing). Whether it was 

what I ate, how and when I ate, what kind 

of yoga I practiced, what my body looked 

like, how my body felt, how I felt. The list is 

endless. Nothing was exempt. I get 

exhausted just thinking about it. 

Now, thank Goddess, I’ve gotten to the 

point of radial acceptance. Who knows 

I have a friend who has a two-year-old 

daughter named Cecilia. I love going to 

lunch with them. Her mother always asks, 

“What do you want to eat, Cecilia?” 

And she always knows. Sometimes she 

asks for beans, rice, and chocolate. 

Sometimes, salad. Other times: “Fish 

would be just great.” 

The world would certainly be a happier, 

more harmonious place if it had more 

Cecelias. But it’s not too late for the rest of 

us, either. We need men, women, and 

children who are brave enough to follow 

their impulses rather than conform to some 

external standard of “normality.” Did you 

ever notice that the people whom you find 

Just relaxing into who you are is one of the 

bravest, wisest, and most generous things we can 

ever do for the world 

when or how that happened, but now, 

whatever I’m feeling, whatever my 

experience, I know it’s 100% okay. It might 

not always feel good; but I’m not wrong, 

weird, or unlovable because of it. 

We can get jumbled up, confused, led astray 

on these paths we call life. Whether it’s 

being swayed by swanky magazine covers, 

the woman next to you in a yoga class who 

seems to do every pose just right, or the way 

one of your colleagues always shines 

brighter than you, opportunities abound 

for ways that you can convince yourself that 

you’re just not good enough. 

The world’s fully of beautiful, talented, and 

creative women. We can’t always be the best 

at everything we do, but we can be 

ourselves. This we have control over. This is 

more reasonable. In yoga we call this, 

santosha, or contentment. 

most beautiful in your life are the ones who 

are unabashedly themselves? 

For today, just do it. Dare to be yourself. 

And see how much people love you for it. 

Sara is a yogini, writer, 

and yoga instructor based 

in Boulder, Colorado. She 

specialises in empowering 

women to lead more 

radiant, confident lives. 

Formerly living in Thailand, 

she returns to Asia yearly 

to teach, among other 

things, Women’s Yoga 

retreats. HappyWomanRetreat.com or 

TheWayoftheHappyWoman.com 

Just relaxing into who you are is one of the 

bravest, wisest, and most generous things 

we can ever do for the world. 

16

Karma Yoga 

The Art2Healing Project 

Joanna Pearce 

While contemplating the drishti of contentment for this 

issue, I was inspired to share the experience of my friend 

and fellow yogini Lydia Tan. Lydia has been working with 

trafficked women (women sold into sexual slavery) in Asia since 

2005 and has recently started an Australian registered non-profit 

organisation called ‘The Art2Healing Project’. 

She teaches yoga, meditation, women’s menstrual health and art 

therapy workshops with trafficked survivors. It is truly humbling to 

consider what contentment means for these women and children. 

Lydia says “Since coming home to Australia in April 2009, I have 

felt so grateful to be supported by an amazing community of 

sisters and powerful women, and for all the blessings I have 

received. This includes the little things, like a beautiful home to live 

The Art2Healing Project is about to start a one-year training project 

with Shakti-Samuha, a Nepali anti-trafficking non-government 

organisation. Shakti-Samuha is unique as 85% of the women who 

work there are survivors of trafficking, including its Director who 

was sold into sexual slavery at the age of five. Their commitment 

and dedication to the eradication of trafficking is both touching and 

inspiring to witness. However, the women are untrained in victim 

support techniques and are still addressing their own personal 

issues, having received no counseling themselves. 

journey towards contentment is one 

we must share to strengthen each 

others resolve to reach it 

Through this training the staff will be encouraged to explore their 

emotional, physical and spiritual selves to strengthen their own 

mental health and, together with art therapy tools, be able to 

support other vulnerable women and children at risk. They will be 

provided with basic counseling training, art therapy skills and reeducation 

on women’s health. Art therapies include visual arts, 

dance and movement, drama and creative writing. They will also be 

taught awareness practices such as yoga and meditation. 

Each of us has our own definition of contentment but all of us are 

united by our desire to achieve it. The personal journey to 

contentment is often influenced by circumstances in this life. For the 

women of Shakti-Samuha the pathway to contentment will differ 

from that of many of those reading this article, yet we are all 

connected by our drive to take the journey. Seeing the artwork and 

reading about the experiences of the survivors touched my heart so 

deeply and reminded me of the strength of the human spirit in the 

quest for contentment. Despite our different personal 

circumstances, the journey towards contentment is one we must 

share together to strengthen each others resolve to reach it. 

Lydia has a vision where the global community of women provides 

support to those who have suffered discrimination and are 

powerless to help themselves. She hopes that those with the power 

to act are inspired to help their fellow sisters reach contentment. 

YOGA IS PART OF THE HEALING FOR THESE TRAFFICKED WOMEN & GIRLS 

in, the freedom to have a job that I love, the emotional support 

from my friends, being able to cook a nourishing meal for myself 

and the financial security to take workshops and classes that interest 

me. These are things that the trafficked women that I’ve worked 

with in Asia do not have the chance to ever experience. I live with a 

burning passion to love and to serve others less fortunate than 

myself. We can all share our gifts and many talents, meeting with 

folded hands to inspire and learn from each other.” 

The Art2Healing Project is a volunteer-based organisation. They 

use volunteers in the administration, facilitation of workshops and 

training, fundraising, research and communication 

and program development. Interested art 

therapists must be qualified art therapists with 

suitable experience working with individuals at 

risk. Creativity, flexibility, commitment and an 

understanding of culturally diverse populations is 

essential. theart2healingproject.org 

Joanna has recently completed a yoga teacher 

training and is a volunteer writer and copy editor 

for Namaskar. 

17

18

Yoga Event 

Yoga for Peace 

Ting Ting Peng 

As Typhoon Koppu stormed through Hong Kong on 24 th 

September, exactly one week before the International Day 

of Peace, the energy in the city felt anything but peaceful. In 

the days that followed, rain continued to drench the streets and 

contingency plans were being carefully made at Cyberport, for Peace 

International Foundation’s second annual Peace Day celebrations. 

As the organiser of the kick-off event Yoga for Peace, I, along with 

my fellow teachers Peggy Chiu and Vincent Hewitt, hoped our 

intention for a day with good weather would manifest as timely as 

possible. In the meantime, the word spread about the free 

community class we were offering and people began to learn about 

the story behind 21 st September. 

It all began in 1999, when filmmaker Jeremy Gilley tirelessly set out 

to document his efforts to establish the first annual day of global 

ceasefire and non-violence. Two years later, the 192 member states 

of the United Nations unanimously adopted 21 st September as the 

UN International Day of Peace and it has been celebrated ever since 

by various organisations worldwide. Similar to Jeremy, Maria 

Ying-Matthews, Founder and Chairperson of the Peace 

International Foundation, also sought different communities in 

Hong Kong to observe of an end to conflict and an awakening of 

consciousness, inner peace and compassion on this very day. I met 

Maria a couple of months earlier over coffee and was deeply 

inspired by her mission to create a grassroots effort in peace 

education and children’s outreach in a place seen by many as a city 

of excess and extremes. At the time I was looking for ways to start 

up community yoga classes and so we joined hands and Yoga for 

Peace was born. 

Fast forward to 20 th September, 8 am on a partly sunny Sunday 

morning and the birds are chirping in the trees of the Cyberport 

Outdoor Podium. Peggy, Vincent and I, decked out in our bright 

yoga gear sponsored by lululemon athletica, began welcoming our 

first participant arrivals. People signed in, collected their free yoga 

PRACTICING YOGA FOR PEACE AT CYBERPORT, HONG KONG. PHOTO BY KELLY 

CHAN 

accessory and yoga journals (also sponsored by lululemon), and 

rolled out their mats onto the grass, some strategically scouting the 

best spots for a shade or a breeze before settling down. Within 

minutes, the grassy steps of the podium were a rainbow display of 

colorful mats, eager participants of all ages and ability levels. Peggy, 

who happens to be the latest lululemon ambassador, led the group 

to three soulful Om’s to commence this year’s Yoga for Peace 

community event. 

Asking participants to each set their own intentions for making 

peace with at least one aspect of their lives, Peggy reminded us of 

the importance of breath in connecting to our inner stillness as she 

flowed through a series of Sun Salutations. She transitioned 

seamlessly to Vincent, who continued to playfully challenge the 

crowd with poses such as garudasana, ardha utkatasana, and 

bhakasana. Finally, I invited the participants to try out some 

balancing poses, vrksasana and uttitha hasta, in pairs, encouraging 

them to share in the positive vibes of their neighbors and friends. 

Closing the practice with a short meditation, I encouraged everyone 

to find a place of silence within, to carry their intention through the 

remainder of Peace Day and to inspire to have their inner stillness 

eventually reflect outwardly onto all aspects of their lives. 

Despite moments when it felt like sunbathing on a hot summer 

day, Yoga for Peace turned out to be great fun. I found it 

tremendously rewarding to be able to share the experience with 

Peggy, Vincent, and all of our dedicated participants. We hope to 

continue this tradition in some form or other because connecting 

to peace isn’t something to be done just once a year, it is a journey 

of self discovery and a way to contribute to our community 

through all that we do each and every day. 

Ting Ting is a freelance fitness trainer and 

certified yoga teacher who specialises in sports 

conditioning and yoga for stress management. 

19

20

Eco Yogi 

Teacher’s Voice 

Green Yamas & Niyamas 

Clayton Horton 

In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the first and second limbs of 

Ashtanga Yoga are the Yamas and Niyamas. They are suggestions 

for virtuous and correct living for spiritual practitioners. The 

Yamas and Niyamas act as a set of foundational ethical guidelines to 

reduce suffering and to assist practitioners on the path to self 

realization and liberation. Affirmations are statements to support 

the manifestation of your beliefs. 

Traditional Yogic teachings, Earth-based spirituality and 

Environmentalism all share a deep respect and reverence for nature. 

The following affirmations have been created to act as a bridge 

between the Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali and the present day 

Environmental movement. These affirmations are for personal 

inspiration and may be used, edited, copied or redistributed by yoga 

schools and teachers to encourage intelligent living and responsible 

planetary stewardship. 

Yamas 

1. AHIMSA: NON VIOLENCE 

• I observe the results of my 

actions so I may discontinue 

tendencies that are hurtful to 

myself, other human beings and 

all creation. 

• By eating a plant-based diet, I 

minimise global warming and 

world hunger. 

• As I recognise divinity in all 

creation, I recognise the 

sacredness of fragile ecosystems, 

all beings and myself. 

2. SATYA: TRUTHFULNESS 

• I observe the need for 

widespread environmental 

education and action to 

maintain responsible 

stewardship of planet Earth. 

• I pay attention to the media 

and environmental research so I 

will be aware of the 

Environmental health and 

condition of our planet. 

• No matter how urban or 

industrial my life is, I recognise 

my connection and 

interdependence with nature. 

• I honor the wisdom of 

traditional cultures as well as 

modern science. 

3. ASTEYA: NON STEALING 

• I give thanks for the food I 

eat, the water I drink and for the 

blessings I receive from the 

material world. 

• I support Fair Trade 

agricultural and manufacturing 

policies and philosophies when 

trading and working with 

underdeveloped areas of the 

world. 

• Acknowledging that I 

consume and receive so much 

from Mother Earth, I try to give 

back something, however I can. 

4. BRAHMACHARYA: MODERATION 

IN ACTION, DIRECTING OUR VITAL 

ENERGY TOWARDS THE INTERNAL 

DIVINE. 

• I reprioritise my constant need 

to gratify my senses with a more 

reasonable agenda that includes 

taking care of others and the 

health of our planet. 

• I conserve my energy by not 

overindulging in work, sex, 

eating and sleeping so I have 

time and energy to do my Yoga 

practice and get outside to enjoy 

Steve Merkley 

WHAT IS YOUR MOST DIFFICULT ASANA AND WHY? 

Seated forward bends are by far the most difficult asana. Tight 

hamstrings and a chronic low back injury make it so that pushing 

the thighs back (down) and wide into the hamstrings (neutralise the 

pelvis and naturalise the position of the low back) takes supreme 

concentration and continuous effort. 

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM THIS ASANA? 

This has deepened my connection to that part of my body, 

improved my ability to concentrate, expanded my awareness 

of the line between effort and over-effort, and taught me what it 

means to find ground. 

WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING ASPECT OF YOUR PRACTICE? 

To maintain my ground through the other 22 1/2 hours of the day. 

Steve has been teaching yoga for almost 10 years. He was, until 

recently, co-owner and Director of Yoga at Yaletown Yoga in 

Vancouver. Steve is also co-owner of Raw Canvas, a living foods 

cafe and art house in Vancouver. 

nature with friends and family. 

• I recognise the environmental 

impact of a growing world 

population when planning the 

size of my family. 

5. APARIGRAHA: NON- 

POSSESSIVENESS 

• I unsubscribe to the ideology 

that consumerism, urban sprawl 

and materialism equals 

happiness and progress. 

• I commit to taking only what 

I need, whether it be at the 

buffet line, supermarket or the 

shopping mall. 

• I recognise that if we all 

shared a little bit more and were 

not so greedy with natural 

resources and financial wealth, 

there would be less suffering on 

the planet. 

• I support responsible and 

sustainable methods of forestry, 

farming, hunting and fishing so 

our natural resources and certain 

animal species do not become 

extinct. 

Niyamas 

1. SHAUCHA: CLEANLINESS, PURITY 

OF BODY, MIND AND 

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22

ENVIRONMENT 

• I recognize and maintain the 

purity and health of my physical 

body and mind by eating a 

healthy and plant-based diet. 

• I support sustainable 

methods of organic farming 

and Earth-friendly alternative 

energy to minimize the toxicity 

of the natural world. 

• By smiling and being kind to 

all creation, I am helping to 

break the chain of negativity and 

destruction on Earth. 

2. SANTOSHA: CONTENTMENT 

• I am satisfied by realising I can 

incorporate earth-friendly 

products and practices in my 

home, workspace and natural 

environment one step at a time. 

• By not being attached to the 

results of my vigilant work 

towards creating a healthier 

environment, I create a work 

ethic with less suffering and 

expectation. 

• I do my best to develop 

myself and preserve the 

environment and I am satisfied 

with whatever results arise. 

3. TAPAS: DISCIPLINE, INTENTIONAL 

SUFFERING FOR DEVELOPMENT 

AND PURIFICATION 

• I am disciplined in my efforts 

and contributions towards 

eradicating pollution, war, 

hatred and violence. 

• By buying organic goods and 

refurbishing my home and 

workplace with earth-friendly 

products, I am helping to co 

create a healthier and more 

sustainable world. 

• If the Green goods, services 

and products I buy are a little 

more expensive than others, this 

is my sacrifice as I lead by 

example. This is a way for me to 

“cast my vote” for the changes I 

wish to see in the world. 

• I wake early to do my yoga 

practice with the rising Sun so I 

may connect with and be in 

harmony with the natural 

diurnal rhythms of the Earth 

and Sun. 

4. SVADYAYA: STUDYING THE SELF 

• By observing myself, I 

recognise my patterns and 

tendencies which are polluting 

my body, the environment and 

contributing to global warming. 

• I pay attention to what I buy, 

consume, eat, and promote in 

relation to its environmental 

impact. 

• I look inwards, study yogic 

texts and commune with nature 

so someday the nature of reality 

will be revealed to me. 

5. ISHVARAPRANIDANA: 

SURRENDERING OF THE EGO / TO 

THE INTERNAL DIVINE 

• I surrender the fruits of my 

labour to the collective whole by 

donating money, time and 

energy to environmental 

organizations and other nongovernmental 

groups working 

for, health, non-violence and 

peace on earth. 

• I listen and pay attention to 

the wisdom, research and advice 

of others who know more than 

I about the health of our planet. 

• I realise I may not have all the 

answers and solutions to 

creating a healthier and 

sustainable world, but I am 

willing to be guided by those 

who are leading by example. 

Clayton is the 

director of 

Greenpath 

Yoga in San 

Francisco. 

www.greenpathyoga.org 

Teacher’s Voice 

tremendously while in it and it’s also a very new pose for me. 

WHAT HAS THIS ASANA TAUGHT YOU? 

The pose has taught me “soo” much. Most importantly is that you 

can still enjoy and have fun with postures that make you shake or 

ones that you fall out of. Side plank helps me not take myself so 

seriously. It’s wobbly and playful and every time I do that pose it 

takes on a different dimension. I remind myself in this pose that 

we are practicing not perfecting in yoga. 

Tanya Boulton 

WHAT IS YOUR MOST CHALLENGING ASANA AND WHY? 

Side plank - any and all variations. The reason being is I shake 

WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING ASPECT OF YOUR PRACTICE? 

The most challenging aspect of my asana is feeling safe in it even 

though I’m wobbling, shaking, and falling out of it. It’s trusting in 

a moment when things might not seem so stable or safe. Very 

parallel to life’s moments and that is why I love taking on this 

challenge when the pose presents itself. It’s one that requires growth 

and discovering new parts of myself. 

Tanya is a freelance and private yoga instructor in Hong Kong and 

is launching her own yoga/casual clothing line. 

tanyaboulton@gmail.com 

23

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26

Anatomy 

Elbows and Yoga 

Valerie Wilson Trower 

The elbow may seem a strange part of 

the body to write about in 

conjunction with yoga however, after 

backs, knees, shoulders, and wrists, this 

joint commonly causes pain in a yoga 

practice. The purpose of this brief article is 

to introduce this joint and five common 

conditions which can arise. 

ELBOW ANATOMY 

The elbow is the joint where the upper arm 

bone (humerus) and the two lower arm 

bones (ulna and radius) meet. Elbows move 

in two dimensions: bend and straighten, 

and turning the forearm palm-up or palmdown, 

where the radius appears to cross the 

ulna. 

The shape of the elbow is gender sensitive: 

when the arm is extended, as it is usually is 

down the side of the torso, the forearm 

does not form a straight line with the upper 

arm. The angle formed is called the ‘carrying 

angle’ and is greater in women than in men 

because women generally have wider hips. 

Their elbows need to bend in order to 

accommodate their hip width. 

1. TENDONITIS 

Tendonitis is an inflammatory condition of 

the tendons, which connect muscles to 

bone. It is a common overuse injury, 

especially in people in their 40s and 50s. 

Tendonitis at the outside of the elbow 

(Tennis elbow), is caused by excessive 

gripping, lifting, and extension movements 

of the wrist when the elbow is straightened 

– as in a backhand tennis swing. Yoga is 

unlikely to cause this because fingers are 

usually spread when the elbow is straight – 

in Up and Down Dog, for example. 

Tendonitis at the inside of the elbow (also 

known as Golfer’s elbow) is caused by 

excessive gripping of the thumb and 

fingers, clenching the fist while the palm is 

facing up, or stressing the elbow whilst it is 

bent outwards in the carrying angle. This 

occurs in Chaturanga, Up Dog, and the 

Cobra when the hands are shoulder-width 

apart but the elbows are tucked in towards 

the mid-line of the body. People with 

narrow ribcages and waists experience this 

more because their elbow is tucked further 

inwards relative to their hands. 

Many people, who have never played tennis 

or golf, suffer from one of these problems. 

Treatment apart from rest, is not easy. It 

generally consists of anti-inflammatory 

medication, ice, stretching and strengthening 

exercises, massage, ultrasound, acupuncture, 

homoeopathy, or cortisone injections. 

2. POSTERIOR IMPINGEMENT 

Another common elbow injury is Posterior 

Impingement is and is felt at the back of 

the elbow when the elbow is straight. It is 

caused by compression of the elbow bones 

when they over-straighten or hyper-extend. 

This occurs when students lock their 

elbows, rather than use their muscles to 

support their weight. Incorrect practice of 

Vashishthasana (straight arm stretch pose), 

Up Dog, and Utplutihi (Tolasana, or Scale 

pose), may cause this. In Up Dog and 

Utpluithi, practice pushing hands in to the 

mat and supporting your weight on your 

muscles, try not to hang off your shoulders. 

Treatment includes anti-inflammatory 

practices as for tendonitis, and 

strengthening the elbow to reduce the 

weight on the joints. 

3. ULNAR NERVE ENTRAPMENT 

Ulnar Nerve Entrapment is a common 

result of the nerve becoming pinched or 

trapped. This can be caused by sleeping on 

one side, with one or both elbows bent, 

causing numbness in the little and ring 

fingers, which can be helped by raising the 

arm. This is a problem for many people and 

is not related to yoga practice. 

4. CERVIAL SPONDYLOSIS 

Arm pain can also be caused by problems 

with the cervical spine: cervical spondylosis 

will cause tenderness on the side of the neck 

beside the disk affected - this can be 

confirmed by an X-ray. Treatment means 

avoiding poses which cause pain for two to 

six months whilst it heals, and practising 

with care afterwards. These can include 

headstands, chakrasana (the backwards 

somersault), and any pose in which the 

weight is taken on the neck and shoulders. 

5. REPETITIVE STRAIN INJURY 

Lastly, Repetitive Strain Injury (R.S.I.) is a 

long-term psycho-social problem, which is 

unlikely to affect yoga students. 

Thanks to Virginia Brooks for her help in 

compiling this article. 

SMALLER CARRYING ANGLE AT ELBOWS FOR THOSE 

WITH NARROWER HIPS 

LARGER CARRYING ANGLE AT ELBOWS TO 

ACCOMMODATE WIDER HIPS 

Dr. V holds a docterate in 

Historical and Critical 

Studies, from The London 

College of Fashion, The 

University of the Arts, 

London. She practices 

Ashtanga yoga, Mysore 

style and leads Hatha yoga 

stretches for the Siddha Meditation Path. 

27

For Teachers 

Feeding the 

Yoga Monster 

James Figueria 

Arrrh! Eat Yoga! Sleep Yoga! Speak 

Yoga! Think, think, think. When can 

I do a back bends? How do I hop 

through like the guy on the video? How’s 

my breath now? Is it deep enough? Is this 

the right way to do Trikonasana? (I heard 

someone say something else). Meat? No 

meat? My dosha’s are all off! I’m too Kapha 

or is it Pitta? Am I using my Bandas? 

Stop for a second. Does this all sound 

frighteningly familiar? 

I have been a yoga teacher for almost a 

decade and increasingly I have come to 

believe that with the popularisation of yoga, 

partly the result of teachers being eager to 

spread the wonders of our yoga experience, 

we have been slowly and unwittingly 

creating yoga monsters. 

how did we become so 

obsessed about 

physical practice 

Let me start with some of my background. 

I am an authorized Ashtanga teacher and 

before you get ready to knock me off my 

high horse I must add that yes, like most 

teachers I did teach before I was authorised 

and yes I even taught in a gym and yes, I’ve 

done my share of workshops around the 

world as well. 

I was a fitness trainer and a gymnastics coach 

for 20 years before I started on my yoga 

journey. (I trained people for competitions 

and did rehab for injured gymnasts) During 

that time, I thought I had met some of the 

most obsessive people ever. 

They ate only boiled food, measured their 

body fat everyday, worked out like crazy and 

28 

thought about their bodies 24/7.Which all, by the way, had nothing to do with being fit. 

But they where just amateurs compared with some of the yoga folks I have met over the 

last decade. 

If yoga is to make us more aware of our behaviour and our habits and enable us to bring 

about inner stillness and calm in our lives, how did we become so obsessed about physical 

practice and why does it seem to be only getting bigger. 

Who is responsible? Is it the people travelling the world and doing workshops and teacher 

training for people they hardly know? Is it the fault of the consumer yoga and yoga 

“lifestyle” being fed to us in the slick yoga magazines and on the Internet? Is it our 

teaching? Or is it just a natural consequence of this world-wide explosion in yoga? 

A few years ago, my teacher, Sri K Pattabhi Jois, was asked about yoga becoming so 

popular in the West. 

First, he said he was not happy about it, but then he said at the least now more people are 

saying and thinking the word yoga than ever before so it’s not so bad. (Just to say the word 

yoga can help begin to bring good changes in people). 

So what am I trying to say? What is my point you ask? Well it’s very simple. Let’s spread the 

word but stop feeding the monsters! 

Now I say this because I have had theses sweet little monsters come into my classes and 

think, think, think, about every thing else but doing their practice. That’s why the dialogue 

at the start of this article is so familiar. 

If yoga is state of mind, and to achieve that state of mind we must practice nonattachment 

to the fruits of our efforts, which includes non-attachment to the idea of 

reaching a perfect state in the practice of yoga asana, then why are we teachers sometimes 

more concerned with promoting the perfect yoga pose thereby giving students more to 

think about in their asanas than inspiring them to practice? 

I hope over the next few months share some things I have noticed and ideas on how we 

can continue to promote yoga without getting too far away from the main point of 

teaching - which is passing along correct knowledge of yoga, to encourage and inspire 

people to want to deepen their own self awareness, and ask deeper questions of 

themselves more than “should I jump through straight legs or crossed legs”. 

Now before you send me hate mail, I must add that I write this as a direct response to my 

own students whom I have somehow turned into little yoga monsters. 

It has made me re-think what I say as a teacher in my classes and workshops. 

As my teacher says”before thinking one way now thinking different”. 

In the end we are all really just students and I don’t think anyone can really teach yoga but 

rather we give the tools to help and support others with our own 

experience. It is the practice itself that is the real teacher. 

James is Director & Principle Teacher of The Yoga Shala in Singapore. He 

has over 25 years of teaching experience behind him. Previously he was a 

US National Gymnastics Coach. Originally from Hawaii, James has taught 

and held work shops in Malaysia, USA, and Africa, as well as Singapore. 

www.theyogashala.com.sg

Synergy 

How Yoga & Traditional Chinese 

Medicine address Emotions 

Peggy Chiu 

Six years ago was the first time I experienced my emotions on 

the mat. Would people think I was weird because I couldn’t 

stop tearing? Was something wrong with me? And why did I 

do something so embarrassing in a yoga class and not when I was 

alone? I did not understand how the feeling of peace could turn 

into something so intense in just seconds. Although I could not 

articulate my feelings at all at that moment, I realized that 

something significant had happened. 

I spent the next few minutes trying to hold back on my tears and 

eventually gave up fighting just allowed tears to flow down my 

cheeks. Earlier in class, I had set an intention allowing my practice 

take me to a place where I could forgive a close friend, which I had 

waited years to do. During Child’s Pose, with my head bowed and 

attention focused inward, I could sense the emotions had been 

stuck with me whenever I thought about this person. In 

hindsight, I knew the blockage and guilt I had put myself through 

was gradually covering and hardening my heart. As I morphed 

from poses to poses, I began to visualize sending mental apologies 

to this person as if she was standing right in front of me, listening 

to change ourselves into a better 

person, we need to meet ourselves 

where we are 

with full attention. Picturing 

her full acknowledgement and 

positive response towards my 

apology had allowed me to 

forgive myself in return. 

My physical body at this point 

became lighter and the release 

of these pinned up emotions 

had somehow made my 

breathing easier even when I 

had my diaphragm anatomically 

twisted to one side in 

Trikonasana (triangle pose). 

Everything was fine until it 

came time to relax into Savasana 

just before the end of class. I 

THE SMALLEST THINGS ARE ENOUGH 

had no idea I had an emotional 

TO MAKE US HAPPY WHEN WE’RE 

cleansing experience until much 

YOUNG 

later. When I practice yoga since 

this experience, I’d pay more 

attention to how I felt and what I thought as my body held 

different shapes. 

We often hear that yoga helps promote our body-mind connection 

or awareness but what does it mean and how does it work? The 

mind-body connection is a delicate invisible communication system 

that sits inside our body. There is no separation between body, 

mind and soul. In other words, what happens to the mind is likely 

to show up in the body and the soul, and vice versa. 

According to the tradition of energy studies that originated 

thousands of years ago in China, emotions are expressions of our 

life energy called qi (prana in India or ki in Japan or Korea). This 

energy flows through 12 primary meridians in a similar way as artery 

carries blood. Each of which is associated with a major organ 

system: lung, small intestine, large intestine, kidney, bladder, 

stomach, spleen, liver, heart, pericardium heart, triple warmer and 

gall bladder. Each of these meridians governs a particular set of 

physical, emotional and mental characteristics. When problems 

exist within the organ, certain emotions may arise, and vice versa. 

When someone is sick or weak in the lungs, the emotions of 

sadness or depression may occur. Overheating or congestion of the 

liver can cause anger or moodiness. When the heart overheats, it can 

cause impatience, hate, and cruelty to rise. Weakness in the heart can 

result in a lack of warmth and vitality. 

Whatever our psychological propensity, a balanced yoga practice is an 

excellent tool to bring awareness to our emotional states. While the 

actual mechanism is still unknown, yoga asanas are designed to 

affect the physical body and even more on the subtle body. 

From a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective, each 

meridian is associated with two or three groups of major muscles 

in our body. Elongating and stretching muscles tend to open up 

29

30

meridian lines, stimulating the release of blocked areas by 

replenishing it with blood and providing an opportunity for stored 

emotions to release. This explains why after a yoga class, we often 

feel a great sense of ease and space in our body. 

According to Dr. Candice Pert, author of Molecules of Emotions, 

the cells in our body keeps a record of every emotion we have had 

since birth. Whenever something happens to us as a kid or as an 

adult, our body is involved. Depending on your life experiences, 

each person has his/her own set of emotions to work through. 

Perhaps this explains why no two people feel the same after a yoga 

practice. And in your own practice, have you noticed that each pose 

brings you a different feeling and this unique feeling is never the 

same? Compare downward facing dog in the beginning and end of 

class and you will know what I mean. In general, there are postures 

that seem to initiate emotional responses more than others. 

Backbends invite more joy and strength because of they expose the 

heart; hip openers help release vital feelings such as anger and 

frustration; inversions train us to be more courageous in situations 

when we (or our world, metaphorically) turn upside down. 

We need to educate ourselves on how to work in a healthy way with 

our emotions and there are numerous tools that can guide us 

through this process. 

In terms of yoga practice, there are many styles of yoga available and 

a majority of them are yang-based where the focus is on 

strengthening our muscles. In my experience, practices that are more 

yin and restorative based tend to encourage deeper release of strong 

emotions as our focus turn inward. Adding pranayama to your 

practice can help restore and re-balance your inner energy system. 

The classic ones are alternate-nose breathing or breathe of fire where 

you may find instructions online. Mudras are another good option. 

There are also resources to complement your practice, such as: 

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also known as “needleless 

acupuncture for emotions” is a great self-taught tool to work on 

negative emotions. EFT teaches that negative emotions are caused 

by disturbances in the body’s energy field, and tapping on the 

meridians while thinking of a negative emotion alters the body’s 

energy field, restoring it to balance. Basic instructions can be 

downloaded for free at www.emofree.com. 

Any simple self-energy cleansing technique can be performed each 

night before bedtime to help remove negative thoughts in your 

system. One of my favorite 

books is called Energy Medicine 

by Donna Eden. 

THE EMOTIONS OF A LIFETIME 

ETCHED ON THE FACE 

The process of dealing with 

thoughts and feelings may 

become intense and challenging 

at times. Remember, what 

works for one person may not 

work for another. You cannot 

demand release and expect a 

response, although you can 

certainly listen to your body and 

discover where it needs to untie 

an emotional knot. The best 

way to find out is to explore 

what suits you the most. 

When timing is right, you will 

know exactly what to do. In 

order to change ourselves into a 

better person, we need to meet 

ourselves where we are. The combination of willingness, 

commitment and determination is powerfully healing. 

Peggy teaches yoga in Stanley and Happy Valley. 

She is also an energy medicine practitioner who 

helps clients address emotional issues through 

techniques focusing on mindfulness. She welcomes 

any questions or comments. www.chiuonit.com. 

31

Yoga Business 

Being Spiritual in the 

Real World 

Leah Kim 

THESOURCEASIA.COM’S VIVIENNE TANG 

32 

Most people might be surprised to 

hear that Vivienne Tang resigned 

from her enviable post as Fashion 

Editor of Prestige Magazine during this 

economic crisis to start TheSourceAsia.com, 

a website that doesn’t sell memberships or 

products, but offers information…for free. 

These days, yoga and other sacred practices 

have been turned into lucrative businesses. 

According to Yoga Journal, Americans spend 

$5.7 billion a year on yoga classes and 

products, and a yoga clothing company 

estimates the Hong Kong yoga retail apparel 

industry is a HK$28 million market. With a 

yoga outfit easily costing HK$1,000, and an 

average drop-in yoga class costing HK$250, 

it may seem the modern-day quest for 

spiritual abundance requires financial wealth. 

But what about Patanjali’s teaching of 

aparigraha, nonpossessiveness, which 

reminds us to free ourselves from greed, 

hoarding, and collecting? 

To journey along a spiritual path and adhere 

to this and other yamas and niyamas in 

contemporary times in a contemporary city 

like Hong Kong is not easy. Rents are high 

and quality foods are expensive. The rat race 

is in full force and the competition is fierce. 

The modern-day yogi might think, “There 

isn’t enough time to practice shauca, santosha, 

or ishvara-pranidhana (the niyamas of purity, 

contentment, and living with an awareness 

of the Divine); I need to work long hours 

at a stressful job I don’t really like in order 

to make enough money to be spiritual!” 

A few years ago, Tang found herself at a 

spiritual and professional crossroads. She 

had been interested in alternative 

perspectives such as astrology since she was 

a teenager, but has also had a passion for 

the more mainstream fashion industry. 

After attending fashion school in 

Switzerland, Tang moved to Hong Kong 

and first joined the South China Morning 

Post, followed by Prestige. She loved the 

opportunity to be creative, but wanted more 

than to live in the bubble of fashion. 

“Fashion is definitely creative, but the 

industry can be superficial, and in the end, 

fashion isn’t real. It’s something we play 

with. I wanted to be connected with 

something more substantial, real and true.” 

Rooted in this desire to cultivate more satya 

(the yama of truth) in her life, Tang saw the 

need for an all-inclusive platform to 

promote all things spiritual, and so created 

The Source Asia.com. “I realised there needs 

to be a platform where practitioners and 

centres can promote themselves and where 

information can be shared. I want to make 

holistic living and wellness accessible to 

everyone. So I created a website where 

everyone has access and you don’t have to 

pay to be a member. This is my 

contribution to the community, particularly 

to smaller companies and single 

practitioners who don’t have the budget to 

promote themselves. We list them in our 

free A-Z Directory. Additionally, we offer 

articles on a variety of topics, including yoga, 

alternative medicine, eco lifestyle, and 

environmental issues. All of the articles are 

archived, so you can inform yourself at 

anytime about whatever you’re interested in, 

whatever resonates with you.” 

Tang now devotes all of her time to The 

Source Asia. She weaves her publishing 

experience into the practicality of running 

the website, with banner space for conscious 

advertising as the main source of income. 

“We promote people and companies who 

are about compassion, love, freedom, 

integrity, and caring for the environment.” 

Tang believes it is possible to find true 

balance here and now, to be spiritual in the 

real world. “My main intention is to 

empower people to make the right, healthy 

choices for themselves. With every decision 

we make, we’re paving our path. It’s not 

necessarily about choosing to live a spiritual 

life or a practical life. They’re not mutually 

exclusive. Empowerment, nurturing, 

wellness, truth, and spirituality come in 

many ways, and I want to offer the 

community a hub of resources so everyone 

can make their own conscious choices.” 

Leah is a native 

Californian yogini living 

and loving in Hong Kong. 

She loves exploring the 

planet, connecting to Big 

Mind, breathing in and 

breathing out. 

www.beyoga.org

Workshop Review 

A journey into Anatom 

omy – with Paul and Suz 

uzee Grilley 

Rani Kamaruddin 

In this, the first of a two-part 

workshop review, Rani 

introduces readers to the 

anatomy of yoga as taught by 

Paul and Suzee Grilley at True 

Yoga in Singapore 25 th - 30 th 

September. Part two - “Yin 

Yoga: Theory & Practice” will 

follow in the next issue. 

PAUL & SUZEE GRILLEY 

As glossy pictures of asanas fill 

pages of yoga magazines, the 

descriptive annotations to them 

ease the visualization of how a 

pose should ‘look’ like. These 

aesthetic descriptions (with or 

without the pictures) are often 

mistaken as a standard of 

achievement, the norm for 

posture alignment or a 

measurement of the right and 

wrong of a shape. It presents a 

picture-perfect pretzelicious 

pose, but rarely pays attention to 

the functional purpose of the 

pose or the anatomical range of 

motions for each unique and 

individual body, as is 

predetermined in the womb. 

To understand the functional 

purpose of a pose, we must 

understand the anatomical range 

of motion. At the workshop we 

learned the anatomical range of 

motions can be analyzed 

through 14 body segments. 

Each segment is limited by a 

number of possible 

movements. While there are 

numerous yoga poses and 

variations, all poses find their 

functional purpose in these 

segments, one at a time, or 

combined. 

The 14 segments are scapula, 

humerus, ulna, radius, wrist, 

fingers, cervical, thorax, lumbar, 

pelvis, femur, tibia, ankle and 

toes. 

Paul took a pragmatic approach 

to analysing the range of 

motions in each of these 

segments by having us 

experiment with each other to 

feel at which point the 

compression of the bones 

started to limit the range of 

motion. Many times I wished 

for super x-ray glasses so I could 

look through my partner’s skin 

and muscles and recognise her 

body as a walking skeleton! 

It’s not so much about 

someone’s persistence, wanting 

to go beyond the edges, 

stamina, focus, ability to endure 

pain, taking a deeper breath or 

number of years of practice that 

determines whether the person 

can do a pose or not; it is the 

compression of the bones and 

tension in the muscles that limit 

the range of motion. These 

experiments certainly peeled 

away the layers of concepts of 

how a pose should be aligned or 

whether a pose is advanced. 

Take, for instance, seated spinal 

twist (ardha matsyendrasana). The 

placement of the arm has 

nothing to do with the degree 

of the twist itself. Whether or 

not the elbow could be placed 

against the outer edge of the 

knee had to do with how much 

the femur could adduct, the 

more the knee could move 

across the midline of the torso, 

the easier it is for the person to 

place the elbow against the outer 

edge of the knee. Neither did it 

matter if the placement of the 

foot was closer to the buttocks 

or further away, right next to the 

straight leg or slightly away from 

it. The straight leg and the foot 

on the leg that is bent serve the 

purpose of anchoring. The arm 

serves as leverage to twist the 

thoracic spine. The limbs are 

completely of secondary 

importance. The functional 

target of the twist is the thoracic 

spine. How deep the twist is, is 

a measurement of the thoracic 

spine relative to the pelvis, not 

to the floor, the edges of the 

mat, or the placement of the 

limbs. One student who could 

not bring her knee across the 

midline of her torso (as a result 

she wrapped her arm around her 

knee to pull it into her chest), 

had a twist of 75 degrees. 

Another student who, from 

appearance looked to have a 

deeper twist (her elbow was 

against her knee) had a twist of 

70 degrees. The average twist is 

70-75 degrees; both students 

were average and normal. 

Through these experiments, 

Paul and Suzee brought us 

valuable insights into the 

anatomy of yoga and completely 

turned the approach we take to 

our own yoga practices upside 

down. It brought the focus of 

the asana practice back to its core: 

what functional purpose does a 

pose have? Which area in my 

body does this pose target? The 

functional purpose of a pose 

could also be different to each 

of us: where someone may use 

downward dog to stretch the 

hamstrings; someone else may 

use it to stretch the spine. If we 

work from the basis of looking 

at the functional purpose of a 

pose, we are able to work 

compassionately 

in our practice. 

Rani is forever 

thankful to the 

teachers who 

introduced her 

to yoga. 

33

Workshop Review 

Surf 

urfing the Vin 

inyas 

asa a Wave 

Leah Kim 

As impressive as Simon Park’s Vrischikasana is on the 

advertisement for his workshop (and on our front cover), 

there is a noticeable fluidity, grace and ease in his inverted 

and backward-bending pose. Similarly, Julia Horn’s yoga and 

Tripsichore-inspired performance piece, which starts off their 

workshop, is a display of incredible physical talent, and (more 

importantly) an expression and offering from her heart. 

Their story together began in New York City, where they saw each 

other in Dharma Mittra’s class. They soon realised that they are two 

peas in a pod. “We’re two very different peas, but we’re definitely in 

the same pod,” Julia explains. Perhaps more complementary than 

different, the two have a similar essence in their view of yoga and 

life, but there is a yin/yang unifying duality about them and their 

presence together as teachers. 

They share their balanced embodiment of, and approach to, yoga on 

their first world tour, teaching in seven countries in seven weeks, 

with Hong Kong their first stop. While it is Julia’s first time in 

Asia, for Simon it is a return home to his roots. Born in Korea, he 

moved to the States at a young age; this is his first trip back to Asia. 

the globe. People just seem to understand the language and 

movements of vinyasa; it’s inherently universal. It’s a reflection of 

today’s fast-paced world. What’s especially powerful about vinyasa is 

its accessibility. You can bring in a lot of different elements from 

different practices. It’s not about constricting yourself to a label to 

say who you are, where you’re from, and whom you belong to. Life 

is universal, meaning there is a guiding energy that is beyond 

human that informs us all. It’s not about limiting yourself to one 

guru. Yes, I have teachers and will love and embody them eternally 

in who I am. But evolution is key. Dharma always teaches that God 

is right here in the centre of your heart. He is devoted to his guru, 

but in his own practice, he creates.” 

Julia adds, “the sacred part of the practice is the right brain stuff. 

This is where creation happens, and where you connect to the 

Collective Consciousness. I believe in the art form of yoga, sacred 

lines and geometry of the poses. But anything is and can be yoga, 

based on the intention and presence. Having a teacher or learning a 

particular style is kind of like being in your family. Your family is 

your heritage; you love and respect them and you abide by their 

rules, but then you grow up and become a very unique individual. “ 

Their teaching philosophy is evident in their workshop, “Surfing 

Simon still felt his Asian influence growing up, “playing karate” 

with his brothers and eventually enrolling in proper karate classes. 

Later, wanting to assimilate more to American culture, he moved 

towards sports, playing rugby and basketball through college. A 

motorcycle accident led him to yoga. “I was at UCLA at the time, 

and a friend suggested yoga as a way to rehab my injuries. I looked 

at the curriculum and signed up for a class called Yoga for Dancers, 

taught by Shiva Rea. It was Shiva’s first class as a yoga teacher at 

UCLA and my first yoga experience.” Simon studied with and 

assisted Shiva for several years, and considers Shiva and Dharma his 

main teachers and influences. 

For Julia, “mom did yoga, so as a baby, I was already crawling 

around her yoga classes. I started dancing at a young age, so I have 

always been in my body. I was blessed with amazing circumstances 

growing up. We lived in a small town in the mountains of North 

Carolina where I was always running around, jumping off of 

things, swinging on ropes into the creek. Acrobatic actions became 

second nature to me. I danced in college and worked at a gym, 

where I met Dana Flynn of Laughing Lotus. That’s when I realised 

dance and yoga are an amazing fusion.” 

As far as their teaching style, Simon is hesitant to use labels. “I 

don’t want to have a label to my style, but for survival as a yoga 

teacher today, it’s kind of a necessity. I think of how Bruce Lee said 

to learn from everyone, and then to create your own style.” So 

Simon loosely dubs his style Liquid Flow Yoga, which falls within 

the general framework of Vinyasa. “I have taught in the States, 

Paris, Barcelona, Costa Rica, and now being here in Hong Kong, 

what strikes me the most is how similar the styles of yoga are across 

34 

JULIA & SIMON

the Vinyasa Wave”. Their sessions are well-designed for the task at 

hand, whether to inspire and stimulate the creative spirit within, or 

to loosen the mind in preparation for flight. Through “The Artistic 

Process within Creative Sequencing” and “Artful Assists” sessions, 

they offer a balance of the traditional and the more creative and 

contemporary. The “Jai Hanuman!” workshop on handstands and 

arm balances starts with wild animalistic arm movements to build 

heat, rather than Surya Namaskar. 

his birthplace to his itinerary. “Shiva is always encouraging me to go 

back to Korea to teach, and to go find a medicine 

man in the mountains and dig for ginseng.” 

For more information, visit: ww.liquidflowyoga.com 

Leah is a native Californian yogini now living and 

loving in Hong Kong. She loves exploring the 

planet, connecting to Big Mind, breathing in and 

breathing out. www.beyoga.org 

Not that they don’t practice Surya Namaskar. Julia explains, “for the 

student looking for outside stimulation, it’s easy to get distracted 

and caught up by all the yoga tricks and fancy sequencing. Having an 

unexpected collage is good to keep you present, but it’s also 

important to have something by rote for the meditative quality, to 

release your mind further. In a practice, we might be playing and 

creating, but then we’ll go through some rounds of Surya 

Namaskar to go back to internal concentration.” 

About their plans, Simon says, “We have an inner excitement of 

where it’s all going. We’re ready to come into our own and show the 

next evolution is beginning, is happening. We want to contribute to 

the full dialogue, artistically and creatively, and share it for free.” 

And so they continue on their journey, which for now includes 

Singapore, Bali, Greece, and Iceland. Simon hopes to someday add 

SIMON PARK 

35

My Story 

A Journey to my Guru 

Yogaraj CP 

Gurur Brahma 

Gurur Vishnu 

Gurur Devo 

Maheshwaraha 

Gurur Saakshaat 

Para Brahma 

Tashmai Shree 

Gurave Namaha 

Guru Mantra 

Yogaraj with B.K.S. Iyengar 

36 

Pune, India: A city of green, a city of 

riches. The journey to Pune from the 

airport was through dense green 

forest and lovely mountains. A two-hour 

flight from Chennai took me to Pune and 

the cool breeze welcomed me with fond 

memories. I was on my way to Pune to 

meet my yoga Guru Mr. B.K.S. Iyengar. 

Yogacharya K.S.Iyengar (Guruji) is a living 

legend who has taught yoga in a unique way 

to each of his students. He finds the 

meaning of the yoga sutras through his 

practical search and regular practice of yoga. 

He has helped all his students experience the 

wisdom of the yoga sutras. His style of 

teaching yoga is called “Iyengar Yoga” and it 

is followed by certified teachers across the 

world. The bus was heading towards central 

Sivaji Nagar in Pune. My memories traveled 

back in time to when I first met my Guru. 

I first met him in Calcutta in 1998. The 

World Yoga Society was conducting an All 

India Yoga Competition. The previous year 

I had won the competition and was 

awarded the prize by the then Chief 

Minister of Bengal Mr. Joyti Basu. This 

year, the main goal of my trip was to meet 

Mr. Iyengar, I had read a lot about him 

in books, magazines and newspapers. Since 

then it had been a burning desire to meet 

him in person or at least get a glimpse of 

him from a distance. I met him on the stage 

with the dignitaries. He looked like an 

emperor sitting on his throne in casual 

wear. His face was lit with a divine glow. I 

was introduced to him and he blessed 

me. Although it must have been a 

very casual act for him, I felt as though my 

inner self was transformed from the 

moment he touched my forehead, a change 

which cannot be explained in words. From 

then on I started to believe Mr. Iyengar was 

my Guru and I seated him in the highest 

throne of my heart. The very same day I also 

pledged in my mind that before I met my 

Guru again I must accomplish some 

achievement in Yoga. What other joy could 

I give to my great Guru? 

Ten years later, I got an opportunity in 

Hong Kong to perform a Guinness world 

record of 28 hours non-stop 

Yoga with 1019 asanas. Upon receipt of the 

award for the successful completion of the 

Guinness feat, my mind was flying to Pune 

to salute my Guru. He was the inspiration 

for this achievement. To get an appointment 

to meet Guruji I approached Ramamani 

Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) 

in Pune and expressed my long term desire 

to meet Guruji. I told them about the 

Guinness world record and his secretary 

gave me permission to visit Pune. 

The bus stopped. It had arrived at the 

Institute. The Institute had a serene 

atmosphere, a perfect platform for 

practicing Yoga. I was told Guruji usually 

spends more time in the library. He has 

stopped teaching yoga over the past couple 

of years, but even at the age of 91 he 

continues to practice yoga and never 

misses even a day of practice. Mr. 

Elavalagan, who teaches yoga in the 

Institute, was kind enough to share his 

experience with me. He explained during 

practice Guruji is an artist at work. He is 

always at ease in any posture he performs. 

Precision and beauty mark the asana. The 

regular practice he advocates integrates the 

body, mind and emotions. I met my Guru 

in the library. I saw him sitting there and 

noticed time had done nothing to him. He 

looked exactly the same and still had the

same divine glow. His words came to mind: 

“When I Practise I am a Philosopher. When I 

teach I am a Scientist. When I demonstrate I am 

an artist”. 

I went to get his blessing again, the same 

touch. It was ecstasy for me. It was a 

journey into the Yogic Cosmos. The feeling 

was so strong it cannot be explained in 

words. It sent a pleasant shock wave 

through me. 

I showed him my Guinness certificate 

and the photographs of all the asanas I had 

performed. He read all the words in the 

certificate carefully with patience. He showed 

excitement as he was going through the 

photographs. I felt like a child, who 

was proudly showing his high scores in the 

school merit records to his parents. My 

whole body was filled with joy every 

moment I spent with my Guru. He 

admitted some of the asanas looked new. 

He also advised me on a few modifications 

for some of the asanas. 

After the meeting I requested permission to 

stay there for a week to observe the classes. 

He asked his secretary to make all 

arrangements for my stay in the Institute. I 

was lucky to witness classes conducted by 

Guruji’s son Prashanth Iyengar and 

daughter Geetha Iyengar. Both of them 

have devoted their lives to yoga. Prashanth 

Iyengar was teaching advanced level yoga. 

He taught a meager seven asanas in the twohour 

session for 70 people. Every asana was 

explained in minute detail with the 

philosophy behind it. Geetha Iyengar 

taught the early morning 7 am class to a 90- 

strong group of students, among which 

only around 40 people were local Indian 

students and the rest were all from overseas. 

Her class was more interactive and students 

were able to ask questions and discuss any 

issues with her. Like a school teacher she 

was reviewing the previous classes and when 

the students were unable to remember what 

they had learnt she clearly expressed her 

dislike. Medi-Yoga classes are also popular at 

the Institute. This type of class is a 

methodological approach of curing ailments 

using Yoga techniques. A large number of 

people with health problems attend these 

classes. Exclusive classes for women are 

being conducted in the Institute, but no 

children are allowed as students. 

“Next time you visit Pune you should study 

with us for at least a month” was the 

command of my beloved Guruji when I 

met him to ask permission to leave Pune. 

This was what I had been waiting for and 

it had been a wonderful trip. As I left Pune 

with a heavy heart, I wondered when I 

would next visit him again. 

Yogaraj started learning yoga at the age of 

five. He has more than 10 years teaching 

experience, teaching in India, Hong Kong, 

China and Taiwan. Yogaraj now teaches in 

Hong Kong at The Yoga Room, City 

University and Living Yoga. 

37

Retreat Review 

Revealing the 

Spiritual Heart 

Tia Sinha 

It is a tale told by an 

idiot, full of sound and 

fury, signifying nothing 

Through college and later, to an angst-ridden generation growing up in an Indian 

metropolis, these immortal words penned by Shakespeare in his tragedy, Macbeth, 

seem an apt description of Maya, the seemingly real yet illusory world we live in. Life 

seems pointless. What is the point of it all? All the struggle, for what? For an eventual, 

inevitable, inescable death? Yet, in resignation, most of us stick to the norm and do what 

is expected of us. We acquire a higher education, good jobs, conventional relationships and 

plan for retirement. 

In May this year, at a ten-day, silent meditation retreat organised by Agama Yoga on the 

paradisiacal island of Koh Pha Ngan in southern Thailand, Shakespeare’s words acquired a 

new meaning, to be revealed towards the end of this article. The purpose of this Hridaya 

retreat was to reveal the spiritual heart. 

The spiritual heart is an inner mystical chakra not to be confused with the anahata (heart) 

chakra. This spiritual heart is considered by mystics across traditions, to be the seat of 

universal consciousness, the seat of the universal, intuitive wisdom that resides in the 

region of our heart. This wisdom is considered the Guru Haridya Manas or inner Guru or 

Teacher. Sometimes referred to as the fountain of wisdom, sometimes as the seat of 

universal compassion or spontaneous, unconditional love for all beings with no ulterior 

motive, no strings attached, the spiritual heart gets activated when the mind bows down to 

the heart, in other words, when the thinking process and actions flowing from the thinking 

process are governed not by the imagined, separate self but by this divine, universal 

wisdom that we all have access to. The spiritual heart propels untold saintly acts of 

kindness and willing self-sacrifice and is the true source of creativity that has inspired great 

writing, music and art though the ages. 

In essence, throughout the retreat, we were being trained to bring the mind down to the 

heart and live from the heart. The Hridaya retreat has been designed and was led by the 

gifted, highly experienced Rumanian mystic and teacher, Claudiu Trandafir who has 

completed several solitary cave retreats. 

The teachings at the Hridaya retreat were based on Advaita or the non-dual nature of 

existence, the essence of the Upanishads. The primary technique of meditation taught was 

based on the teachings of India’s beloved jnana yogi, Ramana Maharshi on ‘Who Am I’ 

and how to dissolve the deceptive ‘I’ thought. Claudiu also drew upon the Buddhist 

technique of ‘capturing the uncouth mind’ by counting the breath in increasing multiples 

of seven to calm the mind and prepare it for enquiry into its own nature. The exquisitely 

beautiful lectures between meditation sessions drew upon the Upanishads, Adi 

Shankaracharya’s Atma Bodh and Viveka Chudamani, Kashmir Shaivism, particularly the 

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, Sayings of the Fathers of the Desert and the immensely inspiring 

poetry of Ravya and Lala and of Rumi, Hafeez and other Sufi saints. 

We also practiced Hatha Yoga (as taught at Agama) twice a day, led by Claudiu in the 

morning and a self-practice in the hall in the evening. The pithy, oft-repeated quote, ‘Yoga 

in, ego out; Ego in, yoga out’ left an impression. Yoga asanas practiced without a keen 

awareness of the entity that is practicing can lead to a strengthening of the false idea of a 

separate self. Among other instructions, we were encouraged to witness our own yoga 

practice and, from time to time, ask ourselves who was practicing. 

In the earlier meditation sessions, the technique of asking ‘Who Am I’ was frustrating, to 

say the least. My mind would throw up readymade answers remembered from our 

scriptures. We were supposed to be ‘That’, right (?), from the Vedic Mahavakya or great 

saying, That Thou Art? Though what the ‘That’ was, the sheer magnitude of it, escaped 

me. Or, no answer would come whatsoever. I would draw a complete blank and would 

find impatience or sheer boredom creeping in and taking over. 

38

The breakthrough came with an old 

childhood joke and a mantra. Anything can 

happen when one meditates! My sister and 

I were big on jokes when growing up, quite 

notorious, inventing some, memorizing all. 

The joke that came to mind was, How high 

is a Chinaman? To which there would be 

various attempts at a guess or our friends 

would disdainfully deign not to answer 

such a silly question. The joke lay in the fact 

that this was not a question but a 

statement, (Hao Hai is a Chinaman!) that, 

by virtue of being a statement, merited no 

answer. Perhaps, similarly, ‘Who Am I’ was 

really a statement and not a question that 

could be answered by the normal, everyday, 

coarse, thinking mind. I also remembered 

one of the 1000 names of Lord Vishnu, 

one of his abstract or transcendental names, 

is ‘Kah’ meaning ‘Who’ (and also joy and 

happiness) in Sanskrit. Could ‘Who Am I’ 

or, in Sanskrit, Kah Aham or Koham really be 

a statement that comes from a realm beyond the normal, thinking mind? Could the 

statement itself signify our divinity which is our real nature? 

spiritual heart propels untold saintly acts of 

kindness and willing self-sacrifice and is the true 

source of creativity 

Towards the end of each hour-long meditation session, Claudiu would remind us to 

surrender. That was perhaps the hardest part for me. The word ‘surrender’ had always been 

a googly. What does it mean to surrender? It seems an essential ingredient of any spiritual 

practice and it’s such a grand and glorious word. At the word ‘surrender’, my mind would 

get super agitated. An unending stream of questions would crop up and I’d often end the 

meditation feeling exhausted. 

The breakthrough came in a session when we were asked to meditate on the Sanskrit 

Mahavakya Tat Tvam Asi (That Thou Art). Thoughts of the following nature, pertaining to 

That Thou Art arose, who or what is 

saying these words? To whom? What is 

That? We speak of a world of apparent 

duality, but there seem to be three, not two 

elements here, namely the one who is 

saying ‘That Thou Art’, the entity to 

whom this statement is addressed and 

third, That which this entity is supposed to 

be. This was day eight and I felt my entire 

retreat had been a waste and I had 

understood nothing. My mind desperately grappled with this contradiction till it finally 

admitted defeat and gave up. It was such a relief to just sit without expecting answers, 

without expecting light bulbs to go off. Perhaps to surrender is to give up and to stop 

wanting to figure things out, to stop wanting to be in control. There must be degrees to 

which one can surrender, but if even a small act of giving up control can bring so much 

relief, total surrender must be wonderful beyond belief. 

I love learning languages, the sound of words, stringing them together, playing with 

words, rules of grammar, exceptions to rules. Sometimes, words and grammar have come 

to my aid during meditation. The French word, reveiller, for instance. The root verb veiller 

39

means to stay awake. But reveiller means to wake up or awaken. This came as a little 

revelation! To awaken is to awaken to something that is already there. Perhaps to awaken is 

to reveal something that is already there! 

In the region of the spiritual heart, a wonderful balance can be created between the 

transcendental and the mundane. The anahata chakra and the deeper, mystical spiritual heart 

lie mid-way between the three higher chakras that seem to have the power to transport us 

beyond the mundane world and the three lower chakras that keep us stuck in the mundane 

world. Over the years, in my own spiritual practice, I have found often when my aspiration 

for the Divine has been strong, some kind of hostility or, for want of a better word, ‘fedupness’ 

has developed towards the world I inhabit and towards some of its denizens. 

At other times, I seem happily caught up in worldly activities and my aspiration for the 

beyond seems weak. The Hridaya meditation showed how a balance can be created between 

the two worlds till unity between the two worlds is experienced, a balance that reveals the 

mundane is not devoid of the sacred and ultimately, that the mundane is sacred. Life is 

worth living because it is already and completely infused with the Divine, with the sacred. 

Perhaps nothing from Shakespeare’s opening quote refers to ‘no thing’, no substance or no 

form, all of which point to the divine essence that is formless yet pervades all, all beings 

and all things. So, life, though an illusion, no matter how dark or badly lit it may seem, 

points to the Divine. If we could remember this every moment of our lives, this illusion, 

dream or movie of life would become a song and a dance, a sacred celebration, to be lived 

with honor and reverence, mirth and joy, intensity and passion. The following Sufi words 

seemed to point to this truth - when you possess nothing, nothing possesses you. 

The Hridaya retreat was truly heartwarming. These words came up during meditation: 

The mind thinks. And the heart? It sings. 

As in Buddhist retreats before, unresolved 

mental and emotional stuff came up 

constantly. Claudiu’s observation that the 

ocean doesn’t say damn, that weed is still 

there, rang true. There was recognition that 

the mental and emotional stuff had every 

right to be there. Above all, plumbing the 

shadowy depths of my psyche didn’t seem 

scary any more. The retreat transformed my 

meditation practice from a self-imposed 

chore to a game of discovery to be 

approached with a sense of wonder. 

For more information: agamayoga.com/ 

hridaya (66) 89 233 0217 or 

info@agamayoga.com 

Tia writes from 

Dharamshala in the 

Himalayas, where she is 

studying Buddhist texts, 

Tibetan and scripts at the 

Library of Tibetan Works 

and Archives, completing a 

writing project and 

painting mandalas. 

40

Yoga 101 

From Body to Mind 

Allen Fu 

For most practitioners yoga starts off as a physical exercise. So 

how do these postures help us be calmer, happier people? 

Here are a few simple examples of the connection between 

body and mind. 

ACTION & REACTION 

Have you ever been scolded for accidentally stepping on someone’s 

feet? Or have you been praised by your boss for doing a great job at 

work? Everything we do creates a reaction we enjoy or suffer from. 

Similarly when performing asana like Adho Mukha Svanasana 

(downward facing dog), if we step our feet further back than usual 

we feel more weight on our shoulders and if we shave a closer step, 

we feel more weight in our legs. 

Through our yoga practice we learn to observe our actions and the 

fruits they yield. 

DISTRACTION 

When performing balancing poses like Vrksasana (tree pose), we 

may be easily distracted by 

others, especially when the one 

in front of you can not hold the 

pose firmly. When they fall you 

also fall. By finding a point in 

front of you (not another 

practitioner) to focus on can 

help to still your mind. Light on 

the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 

(I.13, page 59) “tatra sthitau 

yatnah abhyasah” continuously 

practice in effort to still 

fluctuations in mind and attain a 

steady mind. 

Through this we learn to keep 

our own dristi instead of being 

distracted by those around us. 

EGO 

Asana can be physically exciting, 

especially balancing postures like 

Adho Mukha Vrksasana 

JONAS WESTRING, HANDSTAND IN 

(handstand) and can be an egobooster. 

We often compare our 

LOTUS 

performance with others and 

even judge others. But comparing and judging rarely help us get 

better at these challenging postures. In fact it’s usually once we can 

still our minds, that we start to feel the improvement. Light on the 

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (I.2, page 46-48) “yogah chittavritti nirodhah” 

says whatever form of yoga is being practiced, it is the fundamental 

purpose for the practice to eliminate mental agitations and 

emotional reactions. 

When practicing asanas, we learn how to put aside our external egodriven 

motivation in favour of a quieter internally-focused mind. 

BALANCE 

Most of us are not balanced on both sides. We may be stronger on 

our right side and weaker on our left. We can turn our head or twist 

our spine farther in one direction than the other. We can cross our 

legs with the right leg on top, but not the left. We can bend forward 

with ease but not backward. 

Practicing yoga helps increase symmetry throughout our whole 

body. Asana like Tadasana (mountain pose) requires balance of our 

body weight on the feet and with equal power between the left and 

right, front and back, and the upper and lower 

parts of our body. 

Through practicing this asana we discover that 

unless our mind concentrated yet at ease, we 

cannot balance in this asana. 

Allen is a certified personal fitness trainer and has 

attended yoga teacher training in Hong Kong and 

India. 

41

Diet 

Yoga, Health & Your 

Diet 

Paul Dallaghan 

He who takes medicine 

and neglects to diet 

wastes the skill of his 

doctors Chinese Proverb 

42 

The intrinsic message of yoga is to 

create wellness. It is an holistic 

approach taking into account our 

physical, psychological, mental and spiritual 

state. The goal of yoga is perfect balance, all 

artificiality removed, our true nature shining 

forth, overall wellness predominating. 

Yoga has a complete message for Humanity. It 

has a message for the human body. It has a 

message for the human mind. It has also a 

message for the human soul Swami Kuvalayananda 

Yoga offers many techniques to achieve this 

balance and wellbeing. It is impossible to 

separate the physical from the psychological, 

they are always linked. Taking care of the 

body is integrated with control and mastery 

of the mind and senses. 

One of the key teachings in yoga is how to 

manage food with the advice “eat in 

moderation”. Never over eat nor starve 

yourself unnecessarily. Food has a 

tremendous emotional impact. Advice 

regarding modern nutrition is strongly 

focused on food for health. Both systems 

of yoga and modern nutrition apply 

techniques to maintain strength and vigor 

of body along with a positive mental state. 

In order to move further in inner growth 

and peace of mind, the state of the body 

and subsequently its diet must be looked at. 

In the modern world we come across so 

much abuse of food personally and 

globally. Food is wasted in one area while 

people go hungry elsewhere. Even in the 

land of the plenty the modern state of food 

has led to a form of under-nourishment. 

The quality and composition of food has 

vastly deteriorated and moved away from its 

natural state. Today we have to navigate 

through processed and refined foods along 

with chemically structured and polluted 

foods. With the modern lifestyle so 

pressured and stressed we typically opt for 

the simplest solution available. 

As a result, we feel a lack of wellness because 

we are stressed and improperly fed. This 

makes it difficult to progress internally and 

can leave us dissatisfied in day-to-day life. 

Our observation over years of teaching yoga 

is people’s digestion and elimination is out 

of balance and their intake is over active. 

Their consumption of food and drink is 

often based on habits, cravings and a lack of 

discipline. In the language of yoga, there is a 

malfunction of both prana and apana. 

Many people are not educated on how to 

breathe correctly, which foods can benefit 

them the most, or the quality of water they 

should be drinking. It is the responsibility 

of those in the field of yoga and wellness to 

inform, educate and empower. We consider 

it our direct duty to offer this. 

An initial step in yoga is cleaning out in 

order to build up our system. We begin 

with a physical practice but ultimately we 

progress mentally. Based on our diet and 

lifestyle we might need more than just a few 

asana practices a week. In fact, one can feel 

blocked and unable to make progress while 

doing the asanas if our system is having a 

hard time detoxifying. The combination of 

modern food leaves a residue of undigested 

matter, ama, as it is termed in ayurveda, in 

our system. We feel heavy, stiff and 

lethargic. We experience poor concentration 

and dissatisfaction with life. A yoga practice 

is important, and in my opinion should be 

supported with a focused detoxification 

programme. It should be supplemented 

with education on how to take care of 

yourself through diet, physical practice and 

maintaining mental well-being. 

Yoga and wellness are inevitably linked. The 

body is nature’s greatest gift so take care of 

it. By so doing, there is a natural impact on 

our psychological state and our peace of 

mind. The only way to achieve this is to 

work on ourselves. 

Paul is director of Yoga 

Thailand and Centered 

Yoga on Koh Samui. yogathailand.com 

/ 

centeredyoga.com Part of 

Yoga Thailand, Samahita 

Wellness provides a 

combined approach to 

yoga and wellness.

Recipe 

A Raw Mexic 

xican 

Summer 

Moosa Alissa 

This dish combines my love of 

Mexican food with the freshness 

and energizing power of raw 

food in a style of wrap often 

enjoyed in Chinese cuisine. This 

fusion vegetable wrap is super 

crispy, spicy, rich and refreshing. 

The outer wrap may be lettuce, 

kale, cabbage or any green that is 

flexible enough to wrap a filling. 

The mole sauce in this recipe is a 

raw version of the traditional 

Mexican cooked sauce made 

with chocolate. 

INGREDIENTS 

Mole Sauce 

1 tomato, large chopped 

¼ cup raw cacao, whole or nibs 

½ cup raisins, soaked in water 

for an hour and drained 

½ cup organic pumpkin seeds 

¼ cup red onion, chopped 

1 Fresh jalapeno pepper, halved 

and seeded 

¼ tsp dried red pepper 

2 tbsp dark miso paste 

½ tsp cinnamon powder 

2 cloves garlic minced 

1 tbsp fresh oregano 

1 lime, juice and zest 

½ cup fresh orange juice 

¼ cup agave syrup 

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil 

Salt to taste 

Filling and wrap 

Sweet potato peeled and grated 

Carrot peeled and grated 

Red pepper, halved, seeded and 

thinly sliced 

8 Lettuce or green leaves with 

any hard stalk and tough veins 

removed 

PREPARATION 

1. In a blender or food 

processor add all ingredients and 

blend on medium speed until 

ingredients become a smooth 

puree. Transfer to a covered 

container till service. 

2. Using a cheese grater grate the 

carrot and sweet potato into a 

medium stainless steel bowl. 

3. Toss the grated vegetables 

with enough mole sauce to 

thoroughly coat vegetables. 

4. Place each leaf, outside down 

and place ½ cup vegetable filling 

in center of the leaf. Fold 

bottom edge over the mixture 

then fold the two sides of leaf 

across the filling in the centre 

leaving top of the wrap open 

5. Place each wrap folded side 

down on a plate with garnish of 

pumpkin seeds, sprinkle of 

paprika and fresh green salad 

with a citrus dressing. Serves 4 as 

a light lunch or dinner 

Moosa is 

Managing 

Director and 

Executive Chef 

of Life Café, 

Hong Kong’s 

original ecofriendly 

organic whole 

food restaurant. 

lifecafe.com.hk, (852) 2810 

9777, 10 Shelley Street, Soho, 

Hong Kong 

43

Poem 

SHRADDA 

Wendell John A. Frando 

I am drawn towards You, 

like a wave’s retreat to the source; 

for such a whisper is hard to ignore, 

such silence is gravity, undefeated. 

In my heart there is union - 

for it speaks only of You, 

in my heart there is no fear, 

just a deep yearning of connection. 

I am speaking with my heart then, 

of your invitation to this acquaintance; 

of this moment of blissful realization, 

from which all dualities and space, 

weave in intricate patterns of the gunas. 

I see but not everything still - 

I know, but I am not certain. 

But I have come to receive shradda, 

and from which I chant OM. 

I have come to embrace my nature, 

and I have come to this, for a reason - 

So, like a caged bird who have come to 

freedom, 

let it be, 

that with all this yearning, 

allow me to fly to your elusive mystery. 

Wendell recently 

completed a teacher 

training. This poem was 

written during this time, 

and he dedicates it to his 

teachers and classmates 

for the inspiration. Wendell 

is from the Philippines, but 

is currently working in 

Hong Kong as a dancer. 

CROSSWORD SOLUTION 

ACROSS 

1. Brahmadatta, 5 & 12 DOWN & 15 ACROSS. Vikranta-gami-shri, 8 & 10 DOWN & 15 

ACROSS. Suparikirti-tanama-shri, 13. Ratnachandra, 13 & 40 ACROSS. Ratnachandraprabha, 

14 & 5 ACROSS & 15 ACROSS. Su-vikranta-shri, 15. See 8 ACROSS & 33 

ACROSS & 40 ACROSS, 16. Ratnagni, 17. Smritishri, 19. Brahmajyoti (rvikriditabhijna), 

21. See 11 DOWN, 22. See 25 DOWN, 23. See 39 ACROSS & see 37 DOWN, 24. See 39 

ACROSS, 26. Prabhasashri, 27. Narayana, 28. See 37 DOWN, 29. Vimala, 31. See 34 

ACROSS, 33 & 15 ACROSS. Kusuma-shri, 34 & 31 ACROSS. Ratna-padma (vikramin), 

35. See 37 DOWN, 38. Nageshwararaja, 39 & 24 ACROSS. Shailendra-raja, 40 & 15 

ACROSS. Chanda-shri, 41. See 13 ACROSS 

DOWN 

1. Brahman, 2.Ashokashri, 3. Amoghadarshin, 4. Anantaujas, 5. Yuddhajaya, 6. 

Vajragarbhapramardin, 7. Shakyamuni, 8. Padmajyoti (rvikriditabhijna), 9. See 8 

ACROSS, 10. Varuna, 11 & 21 ACROSS. Varuna-deva, 12. See 40 ACROSS, 18. Ratnarchis, 

20 & 30 DOWN & 36 DOWN & 15 ACROSS Samanta-vabhasa-vyuha-shri, 21. Dhanashri, 

22. Shooradatta, 23. Bharadrashri, 25 & 22 ACROSS Vira-sena, 25 & 32 DOWN. Viranandin, 

30. See 20 DOWN, 32. See 25 DOWN, 36. See 20 DOWN, 37, 35 ACROSS, 28 

ACROSS & 24 ACROSS Indra-ketu-dhwaja-raja 

NAMASKAR LISTING AND DISPLAY ADVERTISING RATES FOR 2010 

Outside back cover HK$20,000 210 mm x 297 mm 

Inside front cover HK$2,500 210 mm x 297 mm 

Inside back cover HK$2,000 210 mm x 297 mm 

Full page HK$1,500 210 mm x 297 mm 

1/2 page HK$900 188 mm x 130.5 mm horizontal / 92 mm x 275 mm vertical 

1/4 page HK$500 92 mm X 130.5 mm 

1/8 page HK$300 92 mm x 63 mm 

Teacher listing HK$500 (January - October 2010) 

Studio listing HK$1,000 (January - October 2010) 

Advertisements should be submitted as high resolution .tiff or .jpg format(no .ai files please). Advertising fees are payable in Hong Kong 

dollars only to: Yoga Services Ltd c/o Frances Gairns, G/F Flat 1, 12 Shouson Hill Road West, Hong Kong 

For more information call (852) 9460 1967 or email: fgairns@netvigator.com 

44

Tia’s Crossword 

This crosswprd pays homage to the 35 

Buddhas mentioned in the Triskandhaka 

Sutra, also known as the Sutra of Three 

Heaps or the Confession Sutra. The grid 

contains the names of all 35 Buddhas in 

Sanskrit. The clues contain rough English 

translations of the names of these Buddhas. 

Some knowledge of Sanskrit would be 

helpful in solving this puzzle. 

ACROSS 

1. The One Who is Blessed with Purity. (11) 

5 & 12 DOWN & 15 ACROSS. The 

Glorious One Who Has Transcended by 

Vanquishing. (8-4-4) 

8 & 10 DOWN & 15 ACROSS. The One 

Whose Glorious Name is extremely 

Renowned. (11-6-4) 

13. The Jewel Moon. (12) 

13 & 40 ACROSS. The Jewel Moonlight. 

(12-6) 

14 & 5 ACROSS & 15 ACROSS. The 

glorious one who utterly vanquishes. (2-8-4) 

15. See 8 ACROSS & 33 ACROSS & 40 

ACROSS 

16. The Jewel Fire. (8) 

17. The Glorious One Who is Mindful. (10) 

19. The One Who Understands Clearly 

Enjoying The Radiant Light of Purity, 

……. rvikriditabhijna. (11) 

21. See 11 DOWN 


23. See 39 ACROSS & see 37 DOWN 


26. The Glorious Light. (12) 

27. The Son of Passionlessness. (8) 


29. The Stainless One. (6) 

31. See 34 ACROSS 

33 & 15 ACROSS. The glorious flower (6-4) 

34 & 31 ACROSS. The Jewel Who Subdues 

with a Lotus, ……...- vikramin. (5-5) 


38. Ruling king of the serpent spirits (14) 

39 & 24 ACROSS. The King of Powerful 

Mount Meru who is Firmly Seated on a 

Jewel and Lotus. (10-4) 

40 & 15 ACROSS. The Glorious 

Sandalwood. (6-4) 


DOWN 

1. The Pure One. (7) 

2. The Glorious One Without Sorrow. (10) 

3. One who is meaningful to behold. (13) 

4. The One of Unlimited Splendour. (10) 

6. The One Who is Utterly Victorious in 

Battle. (10) 

7. The Great Destroyer with the 

Adamantine Essence. (20) 

8. The Completely Perfected Buddha, The 

Able One from the Shakya Clan. (10) 

9. The One Who Understands Clearly 

Enjoying the Radiant Light of the Lotus, 

……. rvikriditabhijna) (10) 


11. The Water God. (6) 

11 & 21 ACROSS. The God of the Water 

Gods. (6-4) 

12. See 5 ACROSS. 

18. The Jewel Radiating Light. (10) 

20 & 30 DOWN & 36 DOWN & 15 

ACROSS. The Glorious One Who Totally 

Illuminates. (7-7-5-4) 

21. The Glorious Riches. (9) 

22. The Giver of Glory. (11) 

23. The Glorious Good. (12) 

25 & 22 ACROSS. The Leader of the 

Warriors. (4-4) 

25 & 32 DOWN. The One Pleased to be a 

Glorious Warrior. (4-6) 




37, 35 ACROSS, 28 ACROSS & 24 

ACROSS. The King of the Victory Banner 

Crowned with Faculties. (5-4-6-4) 

45

Yoga Teachers & Studios 

Michel Besnard 

Yogasana 

s: Ashtanga 

l: English 

t: (852)2511 8892 / 9527 6691 

e: info@yogasana.com.hk 

Tanya Boulton 

Privates 

s: vinyasa, core 

l: English 

t: (852) 6448 7310 

w: tanya-b.com 

Kathy Cook 

The Iyengar Yoga Centre of 

Hong Kong, LRC, Privates, 

workshops 

d: Hong Kong 

s: Iyengar (Junior Intermediate 

Certification) 

l: English 

t: (852) 6292 5440 

e: kcinasia@netvigator.com 

w: www.yogawithkathy.com 

FURLA YOGA 

FURLA Aoyama Boutique 4F, 

Kita-Aoyama 3-5-20, Minato-ku, 

Tokyo, Japan 107-0061 

s: Hatha, Anusara-Inspired, 

Prenatal & Postnatal, Meditation 

e: yoga@furlajapan.com 

w: www.furla.co.jp/yoga 

IYENGAR YOGA CENTRE 

INDONESIA 

Ruko Simprug Gallery 

Jl. Teuku Nyak Arif No 10W 

Jakarta 12220, Indonesia 

s: Iyengar 

t:(6221)739 6904 & (6281)110 

7880 

e:info@iyengaryogaindonesia.com 

w:iyengaryogaindonesia.com 


OF HONG KONG 

Room 406 New 

Victory House, 93- 103 Wing Lok 

St., Sheung Wan, Hong Kong 

s: Iyengar 

t: (852) 2541 0401 

e: info@iyengaryogahongkong.com 

w: iyengaryogahongkong.com 


SINGAPORE 

149B Neil Road 

Singapore 088875 

s: Iyengar 

t:(65) 9052 3102 & 6220 4048 

e:info@iyengaryogasingapore.com 

w: iyengaryogasingapore.com 

Hari Amrit Kaur (Kaldora) 

Privates, workshops 

d: Central, Discovery Bay 

s: Kundalini Yoga, Radiant Child 

Yoga 

l: English, Cantonese 

t: (852) 6428 5168 

e: kaldora_lee@hotmail.com 

w: kaldora.wordpress.com 

Ming Lee 

Privates, workshops 

s: Iyengar Certified teacher 

l: English, Cantonese, Putonghua 

t: (852) 9188 1277 

e: minglee@yogawithming.com 

LIFE MANAGEMENT 

YOGA CENTRE 

Non-profit Classical Yoga School 

d: Tsim Sha Tsui 

s: Patanjali yoga, Kids yoga, 

Seniors yoga, Corporates 


t: (852) 2191 9651 

t: 6349 0639 (Chinese) 

e: life@yoga.org.hk 

w: www.yoga.org.hk 

Ursula Moser 


Hong Kong 

d: Central 

s: Iyengar certified 

l: English, German 

t: (852) 2918 1798 

e: umoser@netvigator.com 

MYOGETSU-BO YOGA 

STUDIO 

2381 Sannai, Nikko-City, Tochigi, 

Japan 321-1431 

s: Hatha classes, retreats, weekend 

packages 

t: (81) 02 8853 1541 

t: (81) 03 3452 0334 

f: (81) 03 5730 8452 

e: info@econikko.com 

w: www.econikko.com/e/ 

Anna Ng 

Privates 

d: Hong Kong 

s: Hatha yoga 

l: Cantonese 

t: (852) 9483 1167 

e: gazebofl@netvigator.com 

PURE YOGA 

16/F The Centrium, 60 

Wyndham Street, Central, Hong 

Kong 

t: (852) 2971 0055 

25/F Soundwill Plaza, 38 Russell 

Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong 

t: (852) 2970 2299 

14/F The Peninsula Office Tower 

18 Middle Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, 

Kowloon, Hong Kong 

t: (852) 8129 8800 

9/F Langham Place Office Tower, 

8 Argyle Street, Kowloon, Hong 

Kong 

t: (852) 3691 3691 

9/F Langham Place Office Tower, 

8 Argyle Street, Kowloon, Hong 

Kong 

t: (852) 3691 3691 

4/F Lincoln House, TaiKoo Place, 

979 King’s Road, Quarry Bay, 

Hong Kong 

t: (852) 8129 1188 

391A Orchard Road, #18-00 Ngee 

Ann City Tower A, Singapore 

t: (65) 6733 8863 

30 Raffles Place, 04-00 Chevron 

House, Singapore 

t: (65) 6304 2257 

151 Chung Hsiao East Road, Sec 

4, Taipei, Taiwan 

t: (886) 02 8161 7888 

s: Hot, Power, Hatha, Yin, 

Ashtanga, Dance, Kids 


e: info@pure-yoga.com 

REAL YOGA 

545 Orchard Road #08-01 

Far East Shopping Centre 

Singapore 

s: Hatha Yoga, Power Yoga, 

Ashtanga Yoga and Gentle Yoga 

l: English 

t: (65) 6734 2853 

e: contactus@realyoga.com.sg 

Linda Shevloff 


Hong Kong 

d: Sheung Wan 

s: Iyengar Certified (Senior 

Intermediate I) 

t: (852) 2541 0401 

e: linda@ 

iyengaryogahongkong.com 

SPACE YOGA 

26 F, No. 27, An-Ho Road, 

Section 1, Taipei 106, Taiwan 

s: Hatha, Ashtanga, Anusara 

Inspired, Flow, Yin, Restorative, 

Power, Hot, Meditation, 

Pranayama, Virya Sadhana, and 

Yoga Dance 

l: English and Mandarin 

t: +886 2 2773.8108 

e: info@withinspace.com 

w: www.withinspace.com 

THE YOGA ROOM 

3/F Xiu Ping Building, 104 

Jervois Street, Sheung Wan, Hong 

Kong 

s:Hatha, Ashtanga, Kids yoga, 

Meditation 

t: (852) 2544 8398 

e: info@yogaroomhk.com 

w: www.yogaroomhk.com 

YOGA CENTRAL 

4/F Kai Kwong House, 13 

Wyndham Street, Central, Hong 

Kong 

s: Iyengar, Hatha Vinyasa, 

Acroyoga, Mat-based Pilates, 

Privates, Corporate and Studio 

rental available. 

t: (852) 2982 4308 

e: yogacentralhk@yahoo.com 

w: yogacentral.com.hk 

Wan 

ant t your details 

listed here in 

2010? 

IT’S HK$500 PER TEACHER AND 

HK$1,000 PER STUDIO FOR THE 

CALENDAR YEAR. PLEASE MAIL US 

YOUR CHEQUE NOW TO CONTINUE 

YOUR LISTING OR START A NEW 

LISTING. FGAIRNS@NETVIGATOR.COM 

46

47

48

Namaskar - Oct 09

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