Here is a short video that deals with the relationship between the breath and the emotions. In a study, scientists discovered that when emotions are elicited in trial participants, their breathing pattern changes. But the interesting thing is that the opposite thing also happens: When breathing patterns are altered, the corresponding emotion is elicited. Let’s allow Emma Seppälä to explain it:
Breathe Better: How to Improve Your Mind, Attention, and Memory
In the video, she demonstrates the yogic breathing technique known variously as Nadi shodhana or anuloma-viloma. Alternate nostril breathing works just fine, too.
Pratyahara
David Frawley of the American Institute of Vedic Studies is, in my opinion, one of the most erudite and informed yoga pundits on the scene today. I shall share with you a link to his writings on pratyahara, the fifth limb of Astanga yoga. If you have been practising with me this winter, you will know that pratyahara has figured in my teachings. I hope that this article enlightens you on its philosophical underpinnings. Om shantih shantih shantih.
Pratyahara: Yoga’s Forgotten Limb
Summer 2017 – Yoga Classes at Hotel Altaya
I am thrilled to announce that I will be offering yoga classes every morning throughout the summer of 2017.
From 1 July until 31 August, bright and early, we will practice hatha yoga in front of the sparkling blue Mediterranean Sea.
Scheduled time is 7:30-8:30. Please get there early and bring a mat, if you have one. We will be on the very agreeable terrace of the Hotel Altaya. Here is the Google Maps reference.
Pricing goes like this: Over the course of a week, there are seven classes. If you come to one class in any given week, starting from any day, the class costs 7€. If you return for a second class that same week, the second class costs 6€. If you return for a third time, the third class costs 5€. And so on, until your seventh and final class for the week costs only 1€. I do it like this to encourage daily practice, and to reward those who have the gumption to keep turning up. But, also, because I understand that some people will only be able to come three times, or five, or whatever, and they also need and deserve encouragement.
The maximum cost of a week of daily yoga is 7+6+5+4+3+2+1 = 28€, IVA included.
We will also be doing a yoga and breakfast smoothie tie-in. Prices and details to follow soon.
So, if you are planning to spend your summer, or part of it, in Altea, please do come along.
On balance – Part II
In yesterday’s post, I hardly had time to get started. Talking about the balancing act between prâna and apâna, I likened it to the accumulation and ridding of material things. I wanted to finish the post by discussing the IN and the OUT of yoga practice.
Most of us arrive at a yoga practice carrying a lot of impressions (samskaras). When used therapeutically, yoga helps us to unpick the essential from the superfluous. Let’s use fear as an illustrative example. A healthy amount of fear, or caution, is necessary. Otherwise, we might try to fly off mountainsides, or jump into strangers’ cars at 4 in the morning. But too much fear can stop us talking to interesting strangers at parties, travelling to unknown lands or otherwise enriching our human experience. So, the continuous practice of yoga, especially challenging postures that elicit a certain amount of fear (say, backbends, breath retentions) allows us to watch our fear response, get to know it intimately and then, ultimately, control it at important moments.
So, yoga can be used to unpick the essential from the superfluous. When there is a dominance of prâna>apâna, there may be a tendency to flightiness, an abundance of ideas without the capacity to distinguish the good ones from the mediocre, and an inability to realise/materialise one’s own ideas. Somatic manifestations like headaches, twitching eyelids, tooth grinding, jaw tensing, ear ringing, panicky breathing, neck and shoulder tension, pounding heart, tingling fingers and nervous habits like skin picking, smoking and nail biting are all related to prâna>apâna. (please bear in mind that prâna and Prâna are two different things. The lowercase version refers to the vayu that dominates the upper body. Uppercase refers to the universal energy that sustains all Life.) When prâna is in balance, our thoughts are fast but not fleeting, we have good recall and can crosslink ideas as well as exercise intuition. When prâna is overactive, we are nervous, irritable and irascible. When it is underactive, we are forgetful, fretful and worried.
Of course, we need adequate prâna to sustain life. Likewise, we need adequate apâna, also. Apâna dominates the digestive organs and pelvic region. When it is out of balance, all manner of digestive troubles may ensue, as would varicose veins, swollen ankles, heel spoor and other foot disorders, cellulite or peau d’orange as well as general sluggishness or tiredness. When apâna is strong, we are able to rid ourselves of waste material (urine, faeces) but don’t excrete too much (frequent urination, irritable bowel). When it is weak, we may have flatulence, constipation, diverticules and pelvic prolapse.
Of course, should anyone out there reading this believe that yoga alone can cure any of the above named disorders, I have to do the responsible thing and state this this post is for informational purposes only and should not be used to diagnose any medical problem. Go to your doctor, FFS. But, if they can’t put a name on what ails you, as often happens, ie: you don’t have a diagnosed and named pathology, then maybe some self-care in the form of yoga can prove helpful.
How to balance prâna and apâna? Coming soon…but Krishnamacharya would probably say apanâsana and dvipâdapitam…
Namaste and may you be filled with joy. JSK.
On balance – Part 1.
I have been offline for most of the past month. Firstly, it was due to a fault on my ADSL. Latterly, because I have been staying away from home for a few days.
It is a strange thing to be semi-connected in times like these. Of course, I had my iPhone, so Whatsapp, Facebook, email and the like were a-ok. But, due to the limitations of screen size, I read more than I wrote.
This can be compared to the twin, yet opposing, forces of prâna and apâna. Prâna in the intake and upper energy, apâna is the emission and lower energy. They are inseparable, and each influences the other. In prânayama, we can modify the inhale by modifying the exhale, and vice versa.
One relationship of IN-OUT that I like to contemplate is that of material goods. We are spirits in a material world and most of us have far more things that we need. But, it is when we get to a point of having far more things than we really want that it can get sticky. You see, getting rid of stuff is hard. Apart from the sentimental value that we may place upon an item, there is also pure attachment, as well as ecological considerations. I was a pack-rat in an earlier life due to all three things. I know how hard it is to debride oneself of possessions. But it is absolutely necessary.
Think about this: When you set out to buy something, you will often invest a lot of time in choosing, comparing characteristics, price-checking and what-have-you. Whether buying online or on the High Street, you will pay for transport of some sort. It is a process that takes time and energy. Yet, conversely, we will often throw things away rashly or badly. If this is not clear to you, I invite you to take a look at the trash by the kerb of an evening. All sorts of stuff, from furniture to computer parts to recyclables will be there. We hate being told to separate our trash, or that we will be charged for its collection and disposal. Maybe, if you are reading from somewhere more evolved, like Sweden, this won’t ring true. But here in Spain, it certainly is. The funny thing is, the expats also get used to the laissez-faire attitude to waste disposal and after a few months to years living here are just as likely to leave their dog’s doo-doo on the street as anyone else. Mediocrity breeds mediocrity.
So, I need to close this soon. To sum up: prana and apana need to be in balance in order for harmony to exist. In must equal out. If it doesn’t, something is wrong. Figure out what it is and fix it. Preferably with yoga!
The Guru is in you. Practice and all is coming. Love in all around. JSK.
The 6 Branches of Yoga
Are you assuming yoga is nothing but poses (asanas) and pranayams? Hold on…it’s way beyond. You will understand better if you know the roots and branches of yoga.Yoga is not just about toning your body. It’s also about refreshing your mind. Yoga has been around more than 10,000 years ago. The word yoga was first mentioned […]
via 6 Branches Of Yoga That You Must Know[Infographic] — Spinal Cord Yoga
Ambient music for yoga
I came across this lovely offering on Youtube. If Christmas Day has been busy and your mind-body is revved up with rajas or bogged down in tamas, look for sattwa on your mat and in your heart. After you have digested your food, do a gentle practice, give thanks and be joyful. Whatever meaning Christmas may have for you, if you are reading this, you are alive, literate, connected to a vast electronic web and web of life. I am not perfectly happy all the time. That’s WHY I practice yoga, to still my mind. But I have learned to be grateful, and thankful, and appreciative of the miracle that is life, and I too have life, therefore I am part of the miracle. Be happy, dear souls. Breathe in, breathe out. Om.
ReCetA – Muesli
El desayuno es el plato más importante del día, ya sabemos. Pero leche con ColaCao ó Nescafé y galletas de trigo, a pesar de ser un desayuno muy común en España, no es la mejor opción para una dieta saludable. Sobre todo, un desayuno así tiene poco aporte en proteína, un elemento imprescindible a la primera hora.
Se llama “desayuno” porque al levantarse sin haber comido durante más de cinco horas, el cuerpo se encuentra en un estado de “ayuno” de proteína. Es importante, entonces, tener una fuente alimentaria de proteína, para impedir que el cuerpo retira proteínas de los músculos y tejidos. Para mi, la semilla de cáñamo es una de las mejores fuentes de proteína para la dieta vegetariana. He inventado la receta aquí abajo para abastecer mis necesidades proteicas y a la vez ahorrar dinero, evitando el consumo de comida industrial.
Ingredientes: Copos de avena (gruesos) (2 tasas), coco rallado (1 tasa), almendra natural (un puño), aceite de coco (3 cucharas soperas), melaza de cebada maltada (3 cucharas soperas), pasas de uva, canela , nuez moscada , cúrcuma en polvo, sales de cloruro de magnesio, sal rosa de Himalaya.
Método:
Triturar con una batidora normal y corriente los copos de avena y el coco. Machacar en un mortero las almendras, y ralla la canela y la nuez moscata.- Derrite el aceite de coco y la malta de cebada en un baño María, mezclando bien.
- Añade el resto de los ingredientes a los copos y coco, mezclando bien con las maños.
- Añade el aceite y malta a los ingredientes secos, masajeando bien para mezclar.
- Poner la mezcla en una bandeja y introduce al horno calentado a 210º por arriba.
- Apaga el horno y deja la mezcla en el horno hasta que se tueste.
- Retira del horno y deja enfriar. Añada las pasas de uva.
- Guarda en un bote de cristal tapado.
- Come con semillas de chia, semillas de cáñamo y leche vegetal (arroz, coco, avena, avellana, cáñamo etc.)
Creo mucho en la práctica de cantar mantras cuando uno cocina. Mi favorito es “Sri Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Jai Ram” ó “Ram, Ram, Ram, Sita, Ram”, pero es una elección muy personal. 
Cualquier mantra cantado con amor y intención llenará tus platos de buenas energías y vibraciones. Om.
Re-blogged: What is "beginner's mind"?
I like this article that I found over at Yogapedia: https://www.yogapedia.com/7/9543/self/self-work/what-is-beginners-mind?utm_content=bufferf99a6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Biocultura Madrid
Hey loves,
It’s BioCultura this weekend in Madrid and I am going! I have only been to this event once, in Valencia. It was very busy and most entertaining. It was there that I met the sales rep from Hyla, the amazing air filter and vacuum cleaner that I use to clean my house. I also picked up a divine 10″ cast-iron frying pan, if I do recall. Tomorrow, I am going to have a look at some very special rebounders, or trampolines. As you may have gathered, I am an expert on the lymphatic system, and rebounding in the best ever exercise for the lymphatic system. So, watch this space.
(PS Rebounding and yoga are not mutually exclusive, you know. I would actually say that they are rather complementary 🙂