A Time To Battle Darkness and Bring On The Light.

It’s Scorpio Season! In the West, that is. Many celebrate Halloween this time of year —a holiday evolved from a Celtic harvest festival called Samhain that ushers in the darkness of winter. In the East, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs celebrate the victory of light over darkness during this season. Rama-Chandra, an incarnation of Vishnu, battled the demons, and his success is celebrated with a festival known as Diwali or 'row of lights.'

All those born under this sign of Scorpio or at a time when the constellation appeared to be rising in the eastern horizon have had to come face-to-face with the shadowside of human nature. It is what the fixed water sign of Scorpio brings to our awareness from October 23 to November 22.

The sign of Scorpio is ruled by both Mars and Pluto. Since astronomers didn't discover its co-ruler, Pluto, until the 1930s, Mars took the role as Scorpio's first ruler. Once Pluto came into view, it received all of the dark, passionate, transformational aspects of Scorpio. With its dual rulership of Mars (God of fire and war) and Pluto (God of death and the underworld), Scorpio season is not one that goes by unnoticed.

Of course, you might ask what do constellations and planets in the sky have to do with us? Well, Astrology came about like everything else does, as a belief, shaped by perceived evidence, and evolved by a story. When ancient stargazers looked into the sky, the Milky Way became the unfertilized whelm of souls. "As above, so below," is a common maxim from The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus. According to author, Dennis W. Hauck the original text is more like "That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracle of the One Thing.”

Hermes credits the Zoroastrians and the Astrology of the World for initiating the cosmology around the ever-growing body of astrological narratives. The constellations, their ruling planets, and the aspects they make to each other are said to create energetic tendencies, opportunities, and challenges. The ancients found the set of stars they attributed to a Scorpion with its stinger raised and appearing to emerge from a crack in the sky. The story that evolved associating this crack in the darkest part of the sky with the underworld - where we battle death and are reborn.

When Scorpio is on the horizon, the constellation Orion, the hunter, is in the underworld and visa-versa. Artemis, goddess of the moon (and found in the constellation of Cancer), plays the intermediary and diplomat keeping balance in nature, assuring animals are not killed for sport but only food. The constellation of Scorpio is said to have been placed in the sky as a reward for slaying Orion before it killed the bull (Taurus constellation). The epic plays out endlessly above us.

The Sun entered the sign of Scorpio on October 23. Before that Venus, the planet of love, value systems, and all things feminine went into Scorpio on October 8 and a New Moon (intense new beginnings) in Scorpio happened on October 27 (interestingly, the same time as Diwali). The month of October ends with Mercury appearing to go backward or retrograde in the sign of Scorpio. Mercury, the planet of communications, short distant travel, siblings, and neighbors - when retrograde causes a little havoc in those areas. At the same time, it brings things from the past back for us to review to help us refine our direction.

November brings us ever closer to a January 12, 2020, Pluto/Saturn conjunction, hard work (Saturn & the earth sign of Capricorn ), leading to major transformation (Pluto). This conjunction hasn’t happened in almost 38 years. All of the Scorpionic activity gives us the opportunity to put an end to the darkness in our lives and allow a cosmic planting of new light seeds into our unconscious that promise to illuminate the world by spring.

A consistent yoga practice with the practice of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutra 1.36, Visoka va jyotismati (Vee-SHO-kah-VA Joe-TISH-ma-TEA) can help. Mr. Iyengar translates this sutra as one of the ways Patañjali offers to manage our thoughts, “Or, inner stability is gained by contemplating a luminous sorrowless, effulgent light.” It’s nice to know, that no matter how dark things may appear, if we focus on the flame of a candle or hold a luminous light in our mind’s eye, we can bring forth the light of our soul.

Namaste.

By Rhonda Geraci

Wisdom is a Simple Shift from External to Eternal

The first expression of viveka विवेक, or "wisdom" is ‘I am suffering’. ~Edwin Bryant Professor of Religions of India at Rutgers University on The Wisdom Samskara.

In one of Edwin Bryant’s many talks, he tells us that the definition of asana is seat. In the West, asana is predominately our idea of yoga. The postural practice helps to train our being to sit steadily (sthira) and comfortably (sukham) and begin to learn to still our busy mind.

Bryant has studied ancient texts of India extensively and imparts to me the vast breadth and depth of this life path. These texts are far more than our “Greco-Roman” neurology can ever hope to comprehend completely or any “modern consumer society” for that matter. 

However, personally, what I am most grateful for is my experience that I do not have to understand it all. I have realized I simply have to choose to practice. Benefits reveal themselves.

My understanding of BKS Iyengar’s method of teaching yoga are that the benefits of an asana practice alone bring the inner most part of ourself and its uncanny knowing to the surface. It nudges us to continue and go deeper. As we practice more, the path of Patañjali’s yoga, which is 8-limbed, clears the lens of our being. The inner most part of us can then look outwards with more clarity and see how we have been existing.

It shows us that our existence has been veiled in an addictive cycle. As Bryant explains in this talk, we get trapped in “If” and “when” statements: If I get my degree. If I get that job. When I make more money. When I get that house and that car. When I get promoted. When I connect with that perfect orgasmic other. Then I will be fulfilled and no longer suffer. 

But fulfillment never comes.  

The external is random, ever-changing, and precarious. We see we are suffering and we’ve been chasing the unattainable. We can’t unsee that. BKS Iyengar’s commentary on sutras relative to viveka in Light On The Yoga Sutras Of Patanjali tell us, “Wisdom does not function in duality. It perceives only oneness.” Once viveka takes hold our internal radar directs us further away from the shackles of impermanence naturally —towards the eternal part in all of us. Perhaps that is why Mr. Iyengar is so often quoted as saying, “Yoga does not just change the way we see things, it transforms the person who sees.” Bryant explains we may take detours, think we can go back to the external carrot chase for lifetimes, but once viveka or wisdom imprints on our brain creating a Samskara (impression) it can not be erased.

by Rhonda Geraci

Work. The story we've told ourselves throughout history.

“I have to work.” “I’m too busy.” “All I do is work.” I heard it a lot as a child. I’ve said it to my own child. Now, as a yoga teacher I hear it even more. Most of the time, the inflection is distinct. To assure sacrifice or superiority, the “I” gets more pronounced.

While it is no secret that income is a necessity for all of us, it has been ingrained in our heads that the more “work” is hard, grueling and sweat inducing the better. In a January 2013 article in The Guardian, Jeremy Seabrook explores the language behind the word.

The etymology of all the words for "work" in European languages suggests work as coercion, certainly not for the prosperity of the worker, but as a fulfilment of human destiny. Ecclesiastes 3:22 declares: "There is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion." Words indicating labour in most European languages originate in an imagery of compulsion, torment, affliction and persecution. The French word travail (and Spanish trabajo), like its English equivalent, are derived from the Latin trepaliare – to torture, to inflict suffering or agony. The word peine, meaning penalty or punishment, also is used to signify arduous labour, something accomplished with great effort. The German Arbeit suggests effort, hardship and suffering; it is cognate with the Slavonic rabota (from which English derives "robot"), a word meaning corvee, forced or serf labour. In romance languages, words from the Latin laborare have come to mean ploughing or tilling the earth, although in Italian, lavoro also means work in general. The Latin meaning was anything accomplished with difficulty and struggle.

However, this wasn’t always the case according to Roger B. Hill, Ph.D. in his web page entitled “History of Work Ethic”. He explores times before the Protestant Reformation, where work had an idyllic quality until sin became the ultimate disrupter. Judeo-Christian work ethics have ruled the Western world ever since.

It's gotten to the point where work is the ultimate rebuttal against anyone else’s needs. The work we have defined for ourselves can stand high above everything. It can make us forget our mates, ignore our children, and detach from our friends. Yes, work can be fun and fulfilling. It’s nice to create, serve, or solve something. It feels great to work together. There is nothing like cooperation and having strong teams to get a task accomplished faster. I’m talking about when work is used to hide, cover a pain, fill a void, or excuse us from relating with others. Or when work becomes penance to pay for the debt we’ve accrued because we have to keep earning to buy more and more “things” that promise to give us the happiness we can’t get on our own. Perhaps, that is the time to re-evaluate the externalized version of it, and begin to do our inner work.

Namaste

Rhonda Geraci

The Atlanta Premier of "Iyengar: The Man, Yoga, and the Student's Journey "

Considered the Michelangelo of yoga, BKS Iyengar’s own body became the block of stone from which he created his work of art. What Michelangelo called divine perfection, could be considered the same as what BKS Iyengar called cosmic consciousness. Having the presence of mind, the determination, and courage to trust its guidance leads to the transformation of stone into art.

Anyone who is born with an affliction, endured stiffness, disease or injury, or experienced aging knows the feeling of stone within the body.

BKS Iyengar felt it early in life. On December 14, 1918, Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar came into this world and tumbled into a storm of viruses from the influenza pandemic to malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and general malnutrition. At 15 his uncle, Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya took him into his care to train him in the art, science, and philosophy of yoga. The training didn’t come consistently until BKS proved himself a worthy student. Many would consider Krishnamacharya’s tactics unsuitable for a child of Iyengar’s age. However, Mr. Iyengar says though he only trained consistently with his guru for two years, that period turned his life around.

In this writer’s mind, in those two years, Krishnamacharya’s mastery lit the internal flame within BKS Iyengar that illuminated his connection to cosmic consciousness. From that day forward, he strengthened that connection by witnessing its presence in every sinew of his being and thoroughly examining the relationship of his mind to every sheath of his body through abhyāsa, practice and vairāgya. detachment.

What BKS Iyengar created when he chiseled, carved, and hammered with the divine guidance of cosmic consciousness is the true art, science and philosophy behind Iyengar Yoga. His journey as depicted in the documentary by Jake Clennell and executive producer and senior Iyengar teacher Lindsey Clennell celebrates the expansion and extension that came from his body of work. Stillwater Yoga owner, Kathleen Pringle hosted the Atlanta Premier. The documentary offers a glimpse into infinite space BKS Iyengar dared to embark from the periphery to the core of not only his own being, but that of millions around the world. It shows how he surrendered to the task with grace and gratitude, knowing his efforts would be endless and daunting because of his indelible belief in the transformation that is available to us all. The masterpiece he created continues to evolve through his devoted students and teachers. The documentary gives us a peek into how they continue to benefit, share, and honor his work. I encourage you to attend the premier of Iyengar: The Man, Yoga, and the Student's Journey in your city, who knows it might ignite the artist in you.

Support the Atlanta Premiere of "Iyengar, The man, Yoga, and The Student's Journey."

Jake Clennell had a prophetic vision in this writer’s mind. His connection to the work of BKS Iyengar and desire to share the story behind the profound Teaching Method he developed that has become a worldwide phenomenon is a testament to how much Mr. Iyengar can transform us all.

Yes, present tense even though his body is no longer with us. His work. His message. His method’s ability to systematically and sequentially align our body and mind regardless of the color of our skin, our beliefs or physical abilities.

Kathleen Pringle owner of Stillwater Yoga will host the Atlanta premiere at the Midtown Art Cinema on July 30, 2019. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the man who developed the Teaching Method that has touched all of our lives whether in a yoga class, at the gym, in a physical therapy session, or athletic training session. It has seeped into our lives. No one has dedicated their entire life to teaching the masses the extraordinary benefits of the art, science, and philosophy of this 5,000-year-old path.

Yogaconnections.org hopes to see you there. Reserve your seat today >>

33 Reasons To Support Yoga For Mothers.

Mothers can put a lot of stress on their spine as their baby develops all the way up to the time their child is well past the toddler years. We can double that for Single moms —and many moms are single moms no matter what their partnership status may be.

Seven (7) cervical, twelve (12) thoracic five (5) lumbar, five (5) fused sacrum, and four (4) coccyx make up the 33 reasons moms need yoga. The stress on her vertebral column is affected by many situations.

During Pregnancy

The joints and ligaments begin to loosen to help the body adjust as the baby develops. This creates back pain for 50-70% of pregnant women. It’s important to distinguish the origin of the pain. There are two common origins: the sacroiliac joint better known as the SI joint, and the lumbar spine.

After Birth

We could argue that lack of sleep alone puts strain on the spine. Add the fact that a new mom is also picking a 6-10 pound newborn enumerable times a day —a newborn that is getting heavier by the week. With the joint laxity, exhaustion and stress overload new moms have the perfect recipe for throwing their back out completely.

In the sole

What moms put on their feet can contribute to back pain as well. High heels everyone knows are bad for the back. What some us may not consider is that flats can be just as bad if not worse. In a Redbook article on the subject, Michael Hisey, M.D., an orthopedic spine surgeon from Texas said, "The discs in your lower back are filled with cushiony fluid, but walking in flimsy shoes all day long wrings them out like a sponge."

Alignment Matters

In 80-90% of cases, understanding spinal pain doesn’t mean doctors can provide a solid diagnosis. That’s where Iyengar Yoga can help. With its deep understanding of proper alignment, even mothers with no physical training can find a safe way to bring strength, flexibility, and better alignment to their spine with Iyengar Yoga. The Iyengar Method of instruction begins with understanding gross actions in a progressive sequence of poses to build cognitive awareness of basic alignment of stabilizing muscles groups. Once this is achieved instruction moves deeper to more subtle actions that create communication synthesis between mental, skeletal, muscular, and nervous systems. The therapeutic effects of pregnancy yoga before and after birth, along with the effects of Iyengar Yoga specific to lower back pain are astounding.

When a pregnant mother-to-be works with a Pregnancy Certified Iyengar Instructor they can be sure they are giving their spine all the love and care it needs to support them now and in the years to come. Whether you’re a mother-to-be or have been playing Mom for a long time, Iyengar Yoga is here to support your wellbeing on Mother’s Day and every day. Namaste.

By Rhonda Geraci

Our Entanglement with Thought, Word, and Deed

Patañjali may provide insight into the epic polarizations we’ve witnessed this year through his Sutras 3:35, 3:36 and 3:37. In the Vibhuti Pada in Light On The Yoga Sutras Of Patañjali, BKS Iyengar translates these three Sutras. According to this translation Patañjali describes our tendencies of “entanglement” with what we surround ourself with. He differentiates the seer from pure illuminated intellect. He advises that the sadhaka (student) must disentangle the mutable and illusive interpretation of worldly experience through saṁyama (Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna & Samādhi [Concentration, Meditation, & Emancipation].

Sutra 3:35 hrḍaye citta-saṁvit 

By saṁyama on the region of the heart, the yogi acquires a thorough knowledge of the contents and tendencies of consciousness.

Sutra 3:36 sattva-puruṣāyoḥ atyantā-saṁkīrṇayoḥ pratyayāviśeṣo-bhogaḥ para-arthat-vāt-sva-arthasaṁyamāt puruṣa-jñānam

By saṁyama, the yogi easily differentiates between the intelligence and the soul which is real and true.

Sutra 3:37 tataḥ prātibha-srāvāṇa-vedana-ādarśa-āsvāda-vārtā jāyante

Through that spiritual perception, the yogi acquires the divine faculties of hearing, touch, vision, taste and smell. He can even generate these divine emanations by his own will.

It seems important to understand that in drawing conclusions about our thoughts, words, and deeds or those of others, that for example: my hyper-sensitivity isn’t a sign of a refined nervous system nor is someone else’s ahamkara or pride an indication of a supreme soul. The sadhaka, (and all yoga practitioners are students no matter how advanced) must go through a process of isolating the senses, mind and ego to discover and release the light of the unalterable, immutable pure intelligence.

Namaste

Source: Iyengar, B. K., & Patañjali. (2005). Light on the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. New Delhi: HarperCollins.

©2024 yogaconnections.org

We Can't Lose Touch With The Healing Ability of Touch

I wasn’t able to attend the National Iyengar Convention in Dallas this year. As with anything associated with the great works of BKS Iyengar, it proved to be legendary. Abhijata Iyengar Sridhar opened The Convention with the impeccable integrity of her legacy.

With eloquence and grace she addressed the Iyengar community and the world at large on the subject of touch. The intention behind how we touch others as teachers, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and all the myriad of roles we play with each other - is a vital to its reception. I could never give her speech justice so have included it here and encourage you to listen:

In Iyengar Yoga, we are aware that the skin is the largest organ. It covers all our other organs, senses, and systems in the body. It serves as a temperature regulator and protector with an amazing ability to transmit information. I remember hearing stories about how Mr. Iyengar could shift the direction of the hairs on his legs because he had become so aware of how to mindfully access the powers within the skin cells.

The vast network of nerves within the skin cells serve as a vital communication device between the body and the outside world. The network enables the skin to exchange energy and respond to its internal and external environment. We don’t need a thermometer to know when it is hot, cold, or wet outside any more than we need a judge and jury to tell us when an interpersonal exchange violated our well being. We know. We have all experienced this violation in some shape or form. We have also all experienced when an interpersonal exchange has lifted up, enlighten, and inspired us to be more than we thought we could be.

Abhijata has done just that. She asks of us what she asks of herself: Be aware. Be discerning. Be pure of heart. Don’t lose touch with the positive power we all have to give to one another.

Choose to heal not harm.

Namaste.

YCORG®2019

Integrity & Iyengar Yoga: A place to begin.

Leaky energy leads to lack of integrity, which I believe comes from ignorance of our highest self.

We are human, but consider the idea that we have a divine spirit in the confinement of this human form that can teach us how to navigate the earth plane with more integrity. Integrity is hard to uphold regardless of spiritual path, age, gender, race or status.

Some people adhere to strict religious dogma or other rigid authority to keep them in line. But relying on someone else to tell us how to behave has its pitfalls eventually. We want to build an internal sense of integrity.

I believe Iyengar Yoga can help us with that, here’s why: The Iyengar Method teaches you to rely on your inner teacher. Imagine for a moment learning to hear a voice that is the highest part of yourself to show you how to move in the world? The Iyengar Method is a systematic and synchronistic way to connect to that divine part of yourself.

The Method follows an 8-limbed path that does have guidelines. It encourages you to study the 196 (or 197) Sutra’s written by the Sage Patañjali to ponder over and over along the way —until you have a visceral understanding of why this over-5000-year-old-proven path has the ability to expedite your evolution. Ultimately, it eliminates the need for rules because you get to a place where you see they are a part of you instead of something outside of you.

The Iyengar Method also requires that you begin your practice by taking classes with a Certified Iyengar Instructor. The Iyengar Method of teaching yoga takes you from the ‘periphery to the core’ and then ‘the core to periphery’ and back again, bringing awareness to every fiber of your being: your arms and legs, your muscles and bones, your bodily systems, your trillions of cells, your breath, and your life-force energy. 

From awareness, you move to alignment. From alignment, you move to clarity. From clarity, you move to wisdom. All along the way you refine and evolve until you get to the essence of your divinity. That’s the part of you that innately knows how to behave in the universe.

Once you get a glimpse of your highest most authentic self, you sense freedom there like you’ve never known before -freedom from your base desires and more. Eventually, you connect right action with that sense of freedom, which seals the leaks in your energy, and keeps you centered in integrity, so your evolution can accelerate forward and upward.

Namaste.

By Rhonda Geraci, Iyengar practitioner, Certified Iyengar Instructor & freelance writer

New Years Resolution: UN-do Your Idea of a Disciplined Yoga Practice

Most of my readers come from cultures where discipline is revered yet feared. If you look up the word in the dictionary, it’s no surprise why:

dis·ci·pline/ˈdisəplən/ Training people to obey. Punishing those who disobey.

People with discipline are looked at in awe, ‘What willpower you have.’ However, those with discipline have an intimate relationship with the dangers of it. You read right. Look at the Olympic gymnasts and swimmers like Michael Phelps.

I can’t compare myself to them. I can say I have trained in techniques that celebrate discipline with almost dictatorial vigor at a very young age. I became a master at taking what felt like blows and daggers of correction and criticism from myself and o†hers without ever noticing the scars, until they surfaced and threatened to destroy me.

I read in one of BKS Iyengar’s books (I want to say it was the Tree of Life, bu† I’ve yet to locate it again) that his guru Krishnamacharya used a phrase like: ‘Let the yoga do the yoga’. That phrase coupled with ‘faith’ so eloquently explained in Patricia Walden’s infamous Taking the Next Step: Faith and the Yoga Vitamins blog are what I’d like to see shape the yoga of 2019.

Over the course of a hiatus from studio life, I worked to UN-do my idea of discipline. My mentor, Kquvien DeWeese, supported my efforts by being there for me and meeting me where I was without judgment. She helped me learn to stop judging myself. She told me there are all kinds of yoga. It doesn’t have to be a class.

Do yoga. Whatever way works for you. Start with a single pose - a pose that gives you joy. Become the pose. Let the pose become you, and you will be doing more yoga than you imagine. Have faith that whatever small part of yoga you bring into your life will take hold and light the way forward.

~Namaste