Gratitude

Satyananda Ashram - October 2010

I love the word Gratitude. Its such a big full bodied word. Saying it makes me feel so happy and contented.

Here is a beautiful quote for the weekend:

"In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy."

Bother David Steindl-Rast.

Nice.

Namaste.

Yoga - to prop or not?

During my recent couple of months teaching I have noticed a need for Yoga props.

There are a few Yoga props that I think are valuable for Yoga practice.

These are:

Bolsters (big sturdy sausages)
Belts (great to loop around legs and feet: not to keep your pants up!!)
Blocks (many uses)
Blankets (lets raise our hips guys and gals)
Eye bags (do I really need to say anything?)

In the Yoga Sutras Patanjali refers to each posture being steady and comfortable (Chapter 2: 46). Props can be the difference between being comfortable and straining a muscle. I know which one I choose!

I choose to say "yaye" to props and just sent my order to www.iyogaprops.com.au. I want my Yoga peeps to be steady and comfortable Patanjali!

Namaste.

Mr Iyengar - Light On Life

Today I picked up a great book called Light on Life by Mr B K S Iyengar, one of the Grandfathers of Yoga.

He's amazing! I am continually spellbound by the insights of the Yoga community. I previously spent a huge amount of time trying to be ok with who I am and to learn how to handle my "difficult" people. I literally stumbled across that personality a dozen times and each time they left me miffed, perplexed and usually in tears.

So.... getting back to Yoga, well the view is that you are fine the way you are. Its how the mind operates that mucks you up. You were born a shining wonder, yes, each of us. Can you believe that, your actually ok just the way you are!

On page 11 Mr Iyengar writes "Asana maintains the strength and health of the body, without which little progress can be made. It also keeps the body in harmony with nature. We all know that the mind affects the body, for example "You look down in the dumps", or "He was crestfallen". Why not, suggests yoga, try the other way round - access mind through body. "Chin up" and "Shoulders back, stand up straight" express this approach. Self-cultivation through asana is the broad gateway leading to the inner enclosures we need to explore. In other words, we are going to try to use asana (postures) to sculpt the mind.

Wow, use the mind to lead the body. Makes sense to me. Yoga asanas take you to places you might not feel like going to, but it opens up the body in ways that need.

Thanks Mr Iyengar!

Namaste.