The Approach to Yoga
Three Paths of Practice
Ayurveda
Pilgrimages
The Approach to Yoga
I work with Yoga as an art and science with two objectives: the health and union of mind and body, and the merging of the self with the Divine.
I teach a dynamic, focused, and deeply experiential approach to the eight limbs of classical yoga. The method of practice, the teaching and the philosophy are grounded through my own studies in both the Ashtanga Vinyaysa lineages and the powerful, traditional Hatha Yoga practices based in non-dualistic philosophies (Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism /Tantra).
The Yoga, in its many forms (asana, pranayama, kriya, mantra, etc.) is a tool for remembering our essential nature and developing a way to stabilize that recognition. But the key is the direct experience that the practice itself reveals within each student. Yoga integrates an individual's body, breath, mind and spirit and is one of the oldest known methods of developing our full human potential.
The practice of Yoga allows us to more clearly see the workings of our minds and bodies. It helps us understand the karmas (and samskaras) that have created our condition. We use that awareness to find our experience in the present moment and to have a compassionate and clear understanding of those events which create our daily lives.
"Hatha Yoga is a science of Spirit. It encompasses principles that govern the fabric of Creation that manifests as our physical world". Through the ancient teachings, we have been given a roadmap that connects us with the Supreme Divine Power and creates a truly integrated personality."On physical level, Yoga can relieve us from trauma and pain and makes us strong and healthy, improving our flexibility and bringing our body into harmony. The Hatha practices are difficult and demand focus, willpower and surrender, which ultimately enables us to face the challenges and stresses of life and allows us to live calmly and with equanimity."
But the wisdom of a non-dualistic approach of Yoga is that there is NO place to get to. There is no need to reject this life or wait for some transcendental experience to carry us away to another place. Our liberation is available right here, right now! Our quest for enlightenment and for health, happiness and abundance is achievable within this lifetime. Not in some distant place or time.
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Three Streams of Practice
Pranayama/Meditation
I have been a student of O.P. Tiwari since 2003. Tiwari is an accomplished yogi from India, head of the Kaivalyadham Yoga Research Institute, in Lonavla. He is one of the few remaining sources on pranayama and the true practice of yoga. The yoga practices of pranayama (breath practices - the extension of our life force) are done in conjunction with deep awareness which leads one towards deep state of meditation and inner growth. I have studied and experienced first hand this work and I teach pranayama, meditation and the cleansing kriyas. I also teach meditation and inner awareness under the study with my Tantric teacher, Dharmanidhi Sarasvati who provides guidance in my spiritual life and has inspired my practices through his teachings of non-dual Hatha Yoga and the life affirming philosophies and practices of the Kasmir Shaivism.
Hatha Vinyaysa Yoga
This is my main teaching and practice tool for working with the "body" into a place of harmony and health. Hatha Yoga works by purifying, balancing and conditioning. When we say "body" in Hatha yoga, we mean working with our own individual condition.
This Yoga is a powerful practice that teaches students to integrate their body, breath, and heart. The asanas I teach are based on the classic traditional postures and are built around dynamic vinyasas (flow sequences) and focused alignment that move one to greater depths of strength and flexibllity in an intelligent manner. The sequences are also intended to awaken and move the shakti (kundalini energy) using the principals of alignment, bandhas and breath and deep awareness. On a more subtle level, Hatha Yoga includes specific breathing exercises, cleansing practices, and philosophical approaches that make it a truly holistic way of living. Done correctly, it creates light bodies, clear minds, and open hearts.
Ashtanga Vinyaysa Yoga
I have also been training since 2000 in the Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga, as taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.
I have had the good fortune to study with him and his grandson, Sharath in Mysore, India.
I am also indebted to Paul Dallaghan at Yoga Thailand,
who has guided my Ashtanga practice since we met in 2003. The practice is demanding and full of challenge,
but this has taught me how to teach and it has grounded me with a deep understanding of the execution and nuance of the asanas.
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Ayurveda
Ayurveda, the science of life, provides us with a lens to see how Mother Nature (Prakriti, the primordial creative power) operates in the microcosm of human beings and the macrocosm of the Universe. Ayurveda also gives us tools to develop and maintain a harmonious relationship within self and with all others in Nature, reducing disease and dis-ease of all kinds.
The ultimate purpose of any Yoga system is balance and the reunion with "our" essential nature - ultimately a merging with the Divine. By "living" Ayurveda we utilise our body and mind as a laboratory to observe the relationship between cause (food, thoughts, emotions and activities) and effect (state of health and balance). The result is a heightened level of awareness and clarity. The discipline itself is a meditation practice. Ayurveda nourishes the body and helps to channelize the mind. When practiced in conjunction with our Yoga, it takes us to a space where joy and freedom are blossoming in life.
I work with two excellent Ayurveda specialists, as consultants to my own practice and as teachers for my own growth and understanding. Rachel Tsai holds qualifications in Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy with Wellpark College of Natural Therapies of New Zealand, a leading education establishment dedicated in the sciences of natural healing. She also has an advanced Sanskrit and Jyotish (Hindu Astrology) studies through teachers she sought privately.(www.matipatha.com). O.P.Tiwari is my pranayama master and accomplished researcher in the field of Ayurveda and Yoga.
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Pilgrimages
In 2002, I moved from my studio and life in Canada, to be closer to the source of yoga and the Himalayas. Each year, I dedicate part of my practices as time in study and retreat. I visit India every other year and spend considerable time in retreat at a beautiful centre in Sri Lanka which has become a second home to me. I hold retreats and workshops at Ulpotha once or twice per year.
In 2007 I fulfilled a long dream to make the difficult pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash in remote western Tibet. Kailash is long revered as one the world's most sacred places. According to Hinduism, Shiva, the great Yogi and destroyer of ignorance, resides at the summit of this legendary mountain, where he sits in a state of perpetual meditation along with his partner P'rvat', the daughter of Himalayas.
Kailash is regarded in many sects of Hinduism as paradise, the ultimate destination of souls and the spiritual center of the world.
The Tibetan Buddhists believe that Kailash is the home of the Buddha, who represents for them, supreme bliss.
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