Bhoga Blog

This is lesson five of Advanced Hatha.

OM SAHA NAAVAVATU, SAHA NAU BHUNAKTU

SAHA VIRYAM KARAVAAVAHAI

TEJESVINAAVADHITAMASTU

MAA VIDVISHAAVAHAI

OM SHANTI, SHANTI, SHANTI

OM. May That protect us both, teacher and pupil.  May That cause both to enjoy the bliss of liberation. May we both exert to find out the true meaning of the scriptures.  May our learning be brilliant.  May we never quarrel with each other.  Om, peace, peace, peace.

Brahmavidya: [Braah-ma-vid-y] Learning pertaining to Brahman or the Absolute Reality.

Brahman: [Braah-man] Absolute Reality; the Truth proclaimed in the Upanishads; the Supreme Reality that is one and indivisible, infinite and eternal; all-pervading, changeless Existence; Existence, Knowledge, Bliss Absolute; Absolute Consciousness.

Guna: [Goo-na] Quality or attribute.  One of the three qualities of nature (Prakriti): sattva, rajas and tamas.

Prakriti: [Prak-ri-tee] Mother Nature, Primal Nature; causal matter; Shakti

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA!

Blessed Selves,

We continue our exploration of Vedanta philosophy diving deeper into the concept of the Absolute as well as introducing the yogic theory of Prakriti and her innate qualities, the three gunas.  The concepts of the Absolute and Prakriti can be challenging to grasp.  But remember from Lesson 1, much of what we learn in yoga is merely a planting of seeds.  With time, when the mind is ready, more understanding will come to fruition.  For now, do not trouble yourself if you are having a hard time grasping these concepts.  Take more focus into the latter half of this lesson for practical application towards cultivating a lifestyle that empowers you.  A review of lesson 4 (Yoga: A Universal Path) may also be helpful to refresh your memory about Vedanta philosophy.  Read More

This is lesson two of Advanced Hatha.

OM NAMAH SIVAYA!

OM SAHA NAAVAVATU, SAHA NAU BHUNAKTU

SAHA VIRYAM KARAVAAVAHAI

TEJESVINAAVADHITAMASTU

MAA VIDVISHAAVAHAI

OM SHANTI, SHANTI, SHANTI

OM. May That protect us both, teacher and pupil.  May That cause both to enjoy the bliss of liberation. May we both exert to find out the true meaning of the scriptures.  May our learning be brilliant.  May we never quarrel with each other.  Om, peace, peace, peace.

Blessed Selves,

For many of us, we have spent the majority of our lives identifying ourselves with and defining ourselves from the material world that surrounds us. Great masters who have transcended the material world have taught us that the tools we use to collect information, namely, the mind, intellect, and senses are limited. Therefore, these tools cannot answer the deeper transcendental questions in life such as: What is the purpose of life?  Where am I going?  What happens to me after death?

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We have made a number of changes to our yoga schedule. Many of these changes are based on our students’ feedback and should offer greater access to different teachers and class types. Your feedback is always welcome at any time.

The following changes are effective starting January 2012.

• Mon / Wed at 6:15am are now Hatha Flow with Kimi
• Community Classes are cancelled (last class is Dec 22nd)
• Mon / Fri at 10am now taught by Scott
• Tue/Thu at 10am now taught by Shannon
• Tue/Thur at 3:30pm now taught by Ben
• Fri 3:30pm Stretch & Restorative now taught by Alice
• Mon / Wed at 7:30pm now taught by Amy
• Tue / Thur at 7:30 pm now taught by Emily Light
• Sun at 9am now taught by Amy
• Sun at 1pm is now Yin and taught by Leigh

(Prenatal Yoga is changing to a periodic 4 week series)

• Sun at 2:30pm now taught by Kimi
• Sun at 4:30 is renamed Yoga Foundations

We’re celebrating the New Year by offering a workshop series called 40 days to Personal Transformation. Kiara Boch leads this series from January 9th through February 20, 2012. Weekly meetings on Monday night (7:30pm to 9pm) anchor the program.

Baron Baptist pioneered the 40 Days concept and we use his teachings combined with other influences to present our own unique version of the program.  Read on for answers to some common questions about 40 Days To Personal Transformation.

What is the 40 Days series?

Baron Baptist observed “Many of us are searching without knowing exactly what we are looking for. Some of us go on a diet to lose weight and try all kinds of programs and workshops to make ourselves feel better, or perhaps we throw ourselves into our work and seek wealth and status to fill the void, but underneath, an emotional emptiness remains. No matter how much we try to gloss over that yearning with temporary fixes, it is still there, whispering the truth: that what we need isn’t another quick fix, but a rather a rebirth — a whole-life revolution. “

40 days to Personal Transformation is a breakthrough program to radically change your body and awaken the sacred within your soul. A daily combination of asana practice, meditation, diet, journaling and personal reflection will cultivate a solid foundation from which students can live and grow.

Why is 40 days an important length of time?

“The number 40 holds tremendous spiritual significance in the realm of transformation.  Jesus wandered in the desert for forty days in order to experience purification and to come to a greater understanding of himself and his mission.  Moses and his people traveled through the desert for forty years before arriving home to the holy land.  Noah preserved the sacredness of life by sailing his ark for forty days and forty nights.  According to the Kabbalah, the ancient Jewish mystical text, it takes forty days to ingrain any new way of being into our system, and that is what we are aiming to do here: wipe out the old and welcome the new. In forty days, you can shift into a whole new way of living and being.”   -Baron Baptist

What goes on at the weekly meetings?

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In mid October we had the pleasure of hosting  Jason and Chelsey of the Yogaslackers for a weekend workshop. A strong showing of Portland’s AcroYoga community turned out to learn and practice the “Acropy Portland” flow which was fun and challenging. After six hours of practice the first day and five hours the second, we took a breath and started filming.

This first video is a montage of the students performing the flow.  The second video is of Jason and Chelsey performing the same flow. This was a great workshop and with a super inspiring group of people!

For some time I thought the studio needed a proper altar table. After all, this is Shiva we’re talking about, destroyer of the world and maybe one day your ego, and Shiva’s current table was a far cry from godly. So like any sensible yogi, I went to the Ikea catalog and looked at tables, but it just seemed weird to buy an altar. Thinking about it more, I decided to build one myself, an altar that symbolized the practice of yoga in a deep and personal way.

That’s a tall order and I was thinking about this design off and on for about a year. I came upon the work of George Nakashima. George was among other things a graduate from the University of Washington, an architect, an early disciple of Sri Aurobindo, and a master of Japanese style woodworking.  Interestingly, it was George’s dream to create seven “altars of peace” with one residing in each continent. The first of these tables were made from massive pairs of matched walnut for the table top. These tables bore George’s signature style — a split down the middle of the top that was joined by inlaid butterfly dovetails.

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