Farewell 2011, Namaste 2012

My view of the sunset at the Historical City of Malacca
December 2011

As the sun sets on the last day of 2011, I take a personal inventory of the highs and lows of the past 12 months. My heart overflows with gratitude, as I reflect on the abundance of love, friendship and happiness that came my way.


As I bow towards the earth in Uttanasa in my last evening practice of the year, I am humbled by the many lessons learnt on and off the mat... lessons that free me from the ego... lessons that allow me to strengthen my passion in yoga... lessons that allow me to stretch my wings and take yogic flight into a state of grace.


As I step onto my mat tomorrow morning at 7am for 108 rounds of Surya Namaskar, my celebration of the First Day of 2012 would be a celebration of the mind, body and spirit.  


(If you're not too hung over from the NYE's partying), do join me in spirit as I meditate in motion to 108 sacred rounds of Surya Namaskar at sunrise. 


Thank you for all your love and support. Here's wishing you a beautiful, magical and inspiring 2012!


Blessings of love, light and peace always.

2011, A Year of Blessings

As I wrap the remaining presents for this Saturday's Christmas Eve dinner with relatives far and near, I find a moment to reflect on how quickly 2011 has flown by, and how much I dedicated the year to my practice.


There were workshops....

With Peter Scott, Senior Iyengar Teacher

Partner Work, at an Arm Balance workshop
with Jani Jaatinen

Arm Balance and Inversion Workshop
with Belinda Wong

And there was the Malaysia Yoga Festival... 

Assisting in the Malaysia Yoga Festival

Then, there was the grueling, asana-intensive 500 Hours Tripsichore Vinyasa Teacher Training with Edward Clark... 

Graduates of the 500 Hours Tripsichore Vinyasa Teacher Training
with Edward Clark and Nikki Durrant

Even on holiday, my mat was the first thing on my To Pack List, and my travel agenda was built around yoga classes in Melbourne...

Have Mat Will Travel

2011 has been a year filled with being present on a student's mat, and I feel extremely blessed to have crossed paths with many talented and knowledgeable teachers.


As I left the studio last evening after my last Vinyasa class for the year, I was asked to take a bookmark from the basket, a thoughtful, handmade Christmas gift from the studio owners.


I randomly reached in for one, and on it were the beautiful words from the late Vincent Tam...

"You don't want to be remembered as a person who can bind your leg behind your neck (when you die)...that's meaningless.  As a yoga teacher, you want to be remembered as a person who contributed happiness to the lives of many" - Vincent Tam


Nobody could have said it better, and I could not have asked for a more meaningful, yogic gift. The gift may be small, but the message.... PRICELESS. Thank you, Vincent, for the amazing Christmas blessing (and thank you, Michelle for being his angelic messenger).

2012 will be a Year to Give Back.... to share what I've learnt, and to spread the precious gift of yoga.

Watch this space for upcoming Workshops (the first will be on 11 Feb 2012) and Teacher Trainings.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays. 

Love, Peace, Joy and Light always.

xxx

Y is for YOGA

Y is for YOGA is my creative palette for all things yoga-inspired and the love of looking at the world the other way up. The first burst of creativity is a collection of quirky t-shirts for the yogini.

Inspired by my Tripsichore Yoga
practice this year

Made from quick dry, moisture-wicking fabric, this soft V-neck tee is suitable for your yoga practice, or as a modest cover-up over your bra top, perfect for the walk from the car park to the studio.  It easily accommodates the deepest of stretches, while keeping you dry and cool during a hot, sweaty yoga practice. Side slits allow easy movement without clinging at the hips. 


The Y is for YOGA t-shirts are 95% Polyester, 5% Spandex, measuring 33cm (Shoulders), 40cm (Chest) and 62cm (Length). 
Retailing at only RM42 each (excluding postage if you're not based in Kuala Lumpur), they are sold exclusively at Journey Within Studio.


Choose from 2 designs, available in 8 different colours.

The Yoga India 200H TTC comes to Malaysia

I am delighted to announce that my master, Yoga Acharya Bharath Shetty of Yoga India, Mysore will be coming to Kuala Lumpur next year to teach the 200 Hours Teacher Training Course. The Yoga India 200 Hours TTC is recognised by Yoga Alliance, and Bharath has completed over 28 TTC's to-date (and counting). This one month intensive course is aimed to train aspiring yoga teachers to a competent level of teaching beginners and intermediates.  The TTC will be in collaboration with Journey Within Studio. Module 1 will begin in 2 April 2012, and Module 2 in 2 July.  The course is limited to a maximum of 20 teacher trainees. 

My Guruji, Bharath Shetty, with
his Guruji, B.K.S Iyengar in Mysore

I feel truly blessed to share Bharath's teaching in Malaysia, as well as the opportunity to assist him in the TTC, in areas of Asana, Teaching Practicum and Anatomy.


There is no better way to learn, than to teach.
Om Shanti, love & light to all.

For more info, visit www.journeywithin.com.my

The Oxymoron of Yoga

Presenting the Simple Supreme vinyasa sequence. What an oxymoron.... typical of Edward Clark's dry humour. It's like asking someone to give you an exact estimate or declaring you're a social smoker! Supreme yes, like the pizza with everything on top, but there is certainly NOTHING simple about this sequence. And this is just ONE of the vinyasa sequences from our 500 Hours Tripsichore Teacher Training. And there are 14 sequences in total. Wondering why I signed up for this, still wakes me up in the middle of some nights.


As I got onto the mat this morning, I glanced at the red circle on my calendar... 24 October. With Module 3 of the TTC just 3 weeks away, how will I remember all of this??? 


Love, Practice and Sweat from,
A Moron on the Mat

Making Peace with My Practice

"Your light is to work only but never with its fruits. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, let you not be attached to inaction. Be steadfast in yoga, O Arjuna. Perform your duty without attachment, remaining equal to success or failure. Such equanimity of mind is called yoga". (Bhagavad Gita 2:48)


As a yoga teacher, I create the arena for people to explore possibilities and discover their potential. It is "my yoga"... "my dharma"... to inspire, to guide and to nurture students along their yogic journey, to my best ability. 


It takes a long time to get good at things.... a really, really, really long time. The late Pattabhi Jois said, "Practice.... and all is coming".  Yeah, and being the wise yogi, he never mentioned 'exactly when all will be coming'. Module 3 of the Tripsichore Yoga TTC starts in exactly 3 weeks.  Me and the Handstand version of the Tripsichore practice? Nope, the Handstand will definitely not be 'coming'.... not anytime soon... not in a Sthira Sukham Asanam way (Sadhana Pada 2:46)... not even when I wake up on Christmas morning and peer into my stocking! (and I've been a really good girl this year too!)


Life and yoga, is, but a work-in-progress.  And like the Gita verse above, if we start caring less about the destination, and instead, enjoy the discoveries of the journey, and start looking at how far along we've come from Day One, we would have made peace with our practice.


Monday night's Vinyasa class for Intermediates had a few 'Brave New Entries'. The Brave New Entries were from my Beginner's class, making their debut in a 90-minute class.  Not wanting to intimidate them, and yet trying to balance attainability with challenge (for the regulars), I backed off from long(er) holding postures, and instead had them breathing one breath per movement. Alignment was not so much the highlight of the evening, but body-mind-breath connection was.


Lining up 4 blocks against the wall, the new practitioners were kept busy with the baby steps to Sirsasana.  Fascinated with learning what the 'older kids' were doing, thuds and giggles could be heard as they tried kicking up against the wall and staying up.

Image from Essential Yoga

I then took the opportunity to wean some of the Regulars off doing the headstand against the wall.  Letting the breath lead, and with the uddyana and mula engaged, the Regulars got into the Headstand Split, and stayed stable for 8 whole breaths.  Those who could already hold a steady Headstand, were presented the challenge of different arm and leg variations in the pose.

Headstand Split, Tripsichore style

Classical styles of Yoga always taught the Headstand with both legs straight up in the air - the final pose.  But today's practitioners often find this very intimidating especially when they were to do the asana in the centre of the room after being so used to the crutch of wall support. But by getting them to do the Headstand Split first, the inversion suddenly becomes more accessible, they fight fear face on, actually get the feel of the inversion, thus getting the best of both worlds. Eventually, as their confidence increases with constant practice, the Headstand "will come". 

In my personal yoga practice, the 'getting there' may be the icing on the cake, but mindful exploration on letting the breath lead to what works for my body and letting the practice naturally unfold, certainly is the cherry on top.

Teaching Beginners Yoga

Even after 3 years of teaching practice, the very idea of teaching a Beginners Yoga class is still challenging... even more than teaching a bunch of Intermediate Eager Beavers who can't wait to sink their hands on the more funky stuff like inversions and arm balances. Perhaps this is because Beginners, like all practitioners, come in different shapes and sizes, and are a very diverse group. You can come to the mat with a pre-planned sequence, ready to get them moving and breathing, but almost always, a spanar is thrown in the works, and you'd end up thinking on your feet, and teaching something else because there IS a need to do so.

Size does not matter in Yoga

Trained by my many years in a regional corporate marketing portfolio, I tend to group my Beginners into 6 different segments.  You might recognise some of them.


The Newbies
The Newbies are what I like to call 'yoga virgins'.  They're totally new to everything yoga, and while some have hamstrings so tight you can pluck a tune on them, others have a natural flexibility that they themselves aren't even aware of.  Newbies are often seen in loose, huge t-shirts and sweat pants in a yoga class.  Some of them have little or no connection to what their body is doing, and as they are quite intimidated by their lack of yoga'ness, they are often backbenchers, mimicking the person's postures in front of them (which isn't always the right thing). However, they've made the first move to come to your class, so make them fall in love with yoga, and you will reap the rewards of watching their practice blossom and deepen as time goes by.


The Lapsed Practitioner
The Lapsed Practitioner is someone who's probably done about 6 months of yoga, and then due to various reasons, disappeared off the yoga radar for a few years, only to suddenly resurface in your class.  Due to being MIA for so long and having an irregular practice in the first place, they will claim to have "done yoga before" but it's best to wipe the slate clean with this one, and reclassify this practitioner as a Newbie.


The Real Beginner
Aaah, the Real McCoy.  The Real Beginner is, well.... a beginner.  He or she has probably done a few weeks or up to 8 months of yoga classes with you, and comes to class on a regular once-a-week basis.  A basic understanding of Sun Salutation this practitioner has, but due to the huge gap between classes, still suffers from muscle soreness after each class. Some body awareness has already been established.


The Ugly Duckling
As the fairy tale goes, the ugly duckling eventually transforms into a beautiful swan.  Practitioners who fall in this category come to class twice or thrice a week, and has probably been in a Beginners class for the past 3 years. Reluctant to move on to an Intermediate class due to fear of "not being able to cope", The Ugly Duckling does not realize that she already has established a pretty strong basic practice, and has so much more beautiful potential to transform the breath, body and mind in a deeper practice.


The Geriatric
The Geriatric chooses a beginners class as your studio probably does not have a special class for Senior Citizens.  This practitioner is a retiree, loves the idea of still keeping the body and mind active, but has a host of health issues related to people of their age.  The enthusiasm factor could be high but be prepared for things like osteoporosis ("No, dear I can't do the Half Moon, I might fall and shatter my elbow"), hearing aids, high blood pressure, knee pain, slip disc, the works.  


The Pregnant Practitioner
Not to be grouped in the same Beginners class as the other 5 categories, the Pregnant Practitioner is also worth a (separate) mention. The Pregnant Practitioner (in Malaysia, at least) has never practised yoga in her life, and comes onto the mat, only because of having read a myth that Prenatal Yoga guarantees open hips and natural childbirth! 


Imagine the challenge of a teacher, when 3 or 5 segments turn up in your class?  How do you then keep the flow going so as not to exhaust the Geriatric, bore the Ugly Duckling and The Real Beginner, yet spark the level of interest for The Newbies and The Lapsed?


Basically there are no hard and fast rules to approaching this challenge, nor is there a right or wrong answer.  Here's my take on this :

• In a 60 minute class, apply the 5:30:15:10 ratio of Pranayama and Tuning In (5 mins), Sun Salutations and Standing Postures (30 mins), Seated Postures (15 mins), Restorative and Savasana (10 mins).

Image of Jason Crandell, Yogaglo

• Come to class with a plan, but be prepared to shift gears and put on your creative thinking cap when the need arises.
• Get the practitioners moving, so that they get familiar with body and breath coordination. 
• Slow things down a bit if you notice their breath becoming ragged.  In other words, keep a close eye on them.

• Refrain from using every prop available in the studio - beginners get alarmed and intimidated when you introduce wall ropes, straps, blocks, chairs AND bolsters, all in a single class. At most, pick 2 and stick to those for the entire class. Eventually wean them off the prop as their practice improves.
• Introduce the basic techniques of alignment, to ensure safety during practice and to prevent injuries.
• Do not bore them with long holding postures.
• Do not be too quick with hands-on adjustments - some practitioners do not like to be touched. Balance off with verbal adjustments, to train the practitioners for body-mind awareness.
• Use basic words and simple instructions - there is no real need to articulate your Sanskrit and anatomical knowledge here.
• Once the basic techniques have been broken down, charge up the class a bit for the regulars, but always show alternatives to the asanas for the others.
• If it's sweat that they want, make 'em sweat!
• For the Pregnant Practitioners, convey to them the facts and benefits of Prenatal Yoga. You're not God, you can't guarantee anything. Neither are you their Doctor, so you can't claim to have the fix-it for all of their discomforts.
• Keep the atmosphere lighthearted - inspire them, encourage them to have fun in discovering where their practice will lead them... push them to their limits, maybe a little more, but always within a place where they'll know it's safe to go to. However, also know when to play hardball when you spot recklessness and disrespect amongst the practitioners.
• Last but not least, teach from your heart. Their progress is your success.

Happy Teaching!


(This post was inspired by the batch of Teacher Trainees currently studying for their TTC with Sun Yoga KL - May The Long Time Sun Shine Within You. Sat Nam).

7 Ways To Prevent Yoga Injuries

A dear friend, and founder of Journey Within studio in Malaysia posted this great article up on Facebook. Wishing you all a safe, pain-and-injury-free practice!

Did Kitty get hurt doing the Downward Dog??
(Image from myveryworstroommate.com)

SEVEN WAYS TO PREVENT YOGA INJURIES
Yoga students and teachers can reduce the risk of injury by paying attention to the following :-
1) Attitude – “I have observed that injures happen less often when people have an attitude of devotion, surrender, acceptance and honesty,” says Louise Ellis, an Ashtanga Yoga teacher. “Injury is more likely when there is an attitude of competition, greed, insensitivity, hurrying and attachment to the results of the practice. When the ego gets involved wanting results, that’s not really Yoga-that’s exercise.”

2) Alignment – “Yoga is risky because you’re asking the body to move into the greatest range of motion possible,” notes John Friend, founder of Anusara Yoga. “Without a focus on good alignment, we’ll continue to see a lot of injuries.”

3) Previous Injuries - Past injuries, particularly to joints, are vulnerable to reinjury. Teachers should ask new students about injuries, and students should communicate special needs to instructors- before class if they’re embarrassed to mention concerns in front of a group.

4) Danger Signals- “If your breath gets exaggerated or you have to open your mouth to breathe, this can be a sign that you’re going past your thresholds,” says Edward Modestini, who notes that an individual’s thresholds may vary from day to day depending on diet, sleep, emotions and other factors. Other danger signals, he notes, are “shaking beyond control or when the pose feels as if it’s collapsing instead of ascending.

5) Transitions – “People forget that two-thirds of the practice is going in and coming out of poses with control,” says Ana Forrest, founder of Forrest Yoga Circle. “These are two places where people often don’t pay attention and can tweak old injuries or create new ones.”

6) Individual “Edge” – An essential part of practicing Yoga is developing the awareness to know when to reach and when to rest. In a mindful practice, the act of nonharming self backing off and resting is really the true yoga.

7) Finding a Good Teacher – “What makes a good teacher is his or her deep respect for the student, not their students getting their palms on the floor,” says yoga teacher Judith Hanson. “Trust your gut. If the teacher isn’t willing to create an environment where individual differences are respected, I wouldn’t study with them.”

Did Someone Order the B.L.T?

Everyone wants choices - step into a deli, and a bacon, lettuce and tomato sarnie (BLT) comes with a choice of wholemeal, rye, ciabatta, toasted, untoasted, and the whole nine yards.

BLT Sandwich
Image from happyyonder.com

And the same goes for yoga.  Call it Hatha, Vinyasa, Hastanga, Flow, Dynamic, Strength and Balance, or just plain ol' Stretch and Tone Yoga.... say Balasana or Child's Pose or Pose of the Child... sometimes, you just need to be a little 'creative' and give the practitioners what they (outwardly) want.... a firm Butt, toned Legs and a bikini-worthy Tummy (even though all roads lead to Downward Dog and the paths of yoga eventually meet at a single destination).
C'est la vie!

Yoga for BLT (Butt, Legs and Tummy)
at Journey Within studio
Wednesdays, 6.45pm and 8pm

Once Upon An Elephant's Tale

Most of us are familiar with Lord Ganesha, one of the most popular worshipped divinities in India.  With its elephant head and a rat as its 'vehicle' (yes, try picturing a huge, rotund Ganesha sitting on a tiny rat, circling the Universe!), the deity is often seen at the entrances of Indian homes and businesses.

Lord Ganesha

I love stories, myths and legends, and the story of Ganesha is one of my favourites.  Lord Ganesha is the son of Lord Shiva and the Goddess Parvati (Shakti).  Legend has it, that Lord Shiva went away for battle when Ganesha was born, and Parvati gave little Ganesha, the manly duty of guarding their home.  One day, as Ganesha was guarding the entrance to the river where Parvati was taking her daily bath, he was approached by a strong warrior, demanding access to Parvati. The warrior was none other than Lord Shiva, but Ganesha has never seen his father while growing up (as Lord Shiva was away in battle for many many years), so standing true to his duty to protect his mother's safety and modesty, Ganesha stood his ground and refused Lord Shiva entry.


Lord Shiva, who did not know Ganesha was his own son, flew into a rage, and chopped the lad's head off! Parvati's grief knew no bounds, and Lord Shiva swore to bring the boy back to life. Unfortunately, when he went back to retrieve the boy's head, it was nowhere to be found. A quick fix was sought, and it was decided that the first available head would be used instead.... an elephant's!


And because of his role as protector and guardian at entrances, Parvati issued a royal decree that Lord Ganesha (also known as Ganapati) will be known as the Remover of all Obstacles, and will be worshipped first before any other divinity.


I'm thoroughly enjoying my week off from teaching, as Muslims in Malaysia celebrate the Aidil Fitri festivities after a month-long of fasting during the holy month of Ramadhan. 
As I stepped onto the mat this morning, accompanied by a fresh, cool breeze and the sound of persistent raindrops, I gazed onto the image of Lord Ganesha on my little yoga altar, and am reminded of a bigger energy source.... the Universe. As it has been scorching hot with hardly any rain for the past few weeks, I visualise that (perhaps) the Remover of Obstacles has given the heat wave a solid elephant's kick, rode around the Universe on the back of his trusty lil' ratmobile and brought some rain clouds back with him.


As I prepare for my evening practice, I am grateful for having the time off to concentrate on my practice, see it from a renewed perspective... and to notice the smaller (yet still significant) stuff on and off the mat.


Take a breath, and close your eyes the next time you step onto your yoga mat. Visualise Ganesha removing the obstacles in your life with his mighty trunk, and bringing your yoga practice to a daily threshold of new beginnings.
Now, open your eyes, exhale... and begin your practice.


Om Shanti, Love and Light.


(wishing my teachers and friends in India, a Happy Ganesha Chaturthi which falls on 1 Sept 2011)

Will the Real Yoga Please Stand Up?

I was teaching a Beginners class Bakasana this morning, and when I finished the demonstration, a student said, "you make it look so easy".

Bakasana (Crow Pose)

After class, as we were sipping our cups of organic tea, the same student approached me and asked, "what is your most challenging asana?"


Hmmm... where do I begin? A string of advanced asanas, starting with Handstand and Kapotasana, was immediately at the very tip of my tongue. But I paused. There are so many asanas that I find challenging and that I'm still working on. But I think of Yoga as a process... a continuous work-in-progress, where the inability of getting into the full pose, is in fact, the "Yoga" itself.


I mean, what happens when we're "there"? Do we then get complacent in our practice, because the learning has stopped?


Not being able to do the full pose means practice, practice and more practice. It helps to keep me focused and grounded, and to stay true to vairagya (non-attachment) to any specific or desired outcome.



When I step onto the mat, either for some self-practice, or in front of a class, I leave all the craziness and demands of life momentarily behind, and immerse myself into a cocooned state of 'yogasm'. Nothing beats a foreplay consisting of Sun Salutations, leading up to a body-heating vinyasa practice, and climaxing to a well-deserved Savasana. 

As I drive home from class, weaving in and out of the crazy Friday lunch hour traffic, I feel that the most challenging aspect of my yoga practice is to consistently practise my Yamas and Niyamas. Trust me, I'm no angel (though I'm named one!) and I am just as flawed as the next Billy Bob! Living in the city is stressful, and I have other responsibilities as a wife, daughter, business partner and mum to 2 adorable but clingy cats. Everyone and everything is always trying to push my buttons. To stay mindful, composed and non-reactive at all times, is a huge challenge.


Perhaps the "real Yoga" starts when we step off the mat and deal with life's tsunamis in the real world, yeah?


(I apologise if the play of the word "yoga" in this article is offensive to any reader. It was borne purely out of creative copywriting and has no intention to insult the age-old practice).

A Pinch(a) Salt

Being obsessed with the outcome of your yoga practice, is exactly what the ancient yogic texts teach us not to succumb to. However, as a result-oriented society, many of us tend to look for a desired outcome after putting in the effort, and this insistence, more often than not, sets us up for frustration. So much energy is spent on focussing on what we can't control, instead of staying grounded to our true intentions to the practice.  


What amused me the other day, was when a yoga teacher bumped into another, and the first thing she asked was, "Hey! Can you do the handstand yet???" 


Excuse me for being old-fashioned, but what happened to the "Long time no see, how are you?", or even "How are your classes going?"


Has the yoga society gone so competitively mad, that the handstand is perceived as the creme de la creme of yogasanas, and that achieving it puts you on a pedestal amongst the League of Extraordinary Yogis?  


Is progress in one's yoga practice defined by the ability to (eventually) do an advanced asana?


When my Tripsichore Yoga Teacher Training came with a huge serving of Pincha Mayurasana, garnished with arm and leg variations, my heartbeat accelerated and my first reaction was, "how the heck am I going to do ALL THAT by November?"  I googled for tips and techniques, and drooled at images and videos of LA-based yoga rockstar, Kathryn Budig, who eat forearm balances for breakfast!


I YogaGlo'd and zoomed in on as many online classes I could find on the Pincha. I printed out a picture of Kathryn Budig in an effortless funky Pincha Mayurasana for motivation. And I practised, and practised, and practised, keeping one eye on Budig, and the other eye on the October 24 deadline.


My shoulders collapsed whenever I tried to maintain vertical stability, and my arms were sore. Never mind I now have the ugliest elbows on this side of KL, as the skin got scraped off and re-scraped off.  And the final posture couldn't be further away. The more I stressed about "getting up", the more I fell down frustrated.


And so, blessed with tight shoulders, a dented coccyx from a previous bad accident and the love of going upside down, I tore down Budig's picture (sorry, Kathryn, but I still love you!), chucked my deadline out of the window...and continued to practise. Some days I can hardly get my head off the ground, and on other days, I lift off effortlessly with a 'woohoo', and encounter some stability.


One of today's great masters of yoga, B.K.S Iyengar, said, "Transformation is sustained change, and it is achieved through practice".

Start with the Headstand.
Stabilise and press the wrists and
forearms down firmly.

Slowly, flatten your palms,and
shift your forehead onto the mat.

Eventually, lift your head off the mat.
(A good indication of tight shoulders, is
when your forearms aren't totally straight)

Progress in your yoga practice should not be gauged by milestones and a timeline to achieve perfection.


To me, progress is defined by my highest point of my practice TODAY.  I still can't claim that I nailed the Pincha Mayurasana (as evident in Pic 3)... and there are days where I crash, boom and bang more than I stay up effortlessly... but I believe, you are only as good as your last practice.


So, sprinkle a pinch of salt, a wink and a laugh on deadlines, and enjoy the ride. It's much more exhilarating than the destination.

A Yoga Practice Fit for Two

Every Tuesday and Thursday evening, I hop over to Fit for 2, a mum-and-child fitness studio, to teach Prenatal Yoga.  A typical preggers yoga class with me entails a blend of active and dynamic movement and yoga postures, pelvic floor exercises, breathing and light meditation.  As it is a mixed class, the ladies are gently challenged to be as active as they can be, in a practice that is modified to suit the different levels of personal fitness and pregnancy.

Assisted Camel pose for gentle backbends

Here are the Top 6 reasons why I love and salute my Prenatal Yoga practitioners.
1.   They're extremely focused. 
9 out of 10 of the pregnant women who come to yoga, have never practised yoga prior to their pregnancy, yet their focus in mind-body connection is astounding. They sign up for classes with the intention of getting fit(ter), to better prepare them for childbirth.


2.   They're very dedicated to their practice.
Most of them are new to yoga, so they're not at their peak in the strength and flexibility department..... but they diligently turn up for class twice a week, albeit after a long, tiring day at the office.


3.   They're good breathers.
(Yes, I meant 'breathers' and not 'breeders'. LOL!) As yoga prepares the mind and body for childbirth through the building of strength, stamina and flexibility, these mums-with-bumps breathe well with the flow of the practice, in order to assist in the huge physical, emotional and hormonal changes that the body is going through.

Open Sesame : a shoulder opener pose

4.   They never complain.
Tight shoulders, tight hips, even tighter hamstrings, puffy ankles and wrists, eczema, borderline diabetes, perpetual morning sickness, or more serious cases like Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction.... collectively, they have a whole shopping list of discomforts that are often associated with pregnancy, but they never complain about the postures, nor about how much their muscles ache the next day.


5.  Their commitment is amazing.
Most of the practitioners continue coming for yoga, right until the very last minute, until they 'graduate'.  My favourite moment is when I receive a text message, saying they've safely delivered their prince or princess, just 3 days after their last yoga class with me.


6.   Practice, practice and all is coming.
They rejoice at the improvements made in strength and flexibility.
I rejoice when they tell me they actually practise some of the postures at home.

Supta Virasana : increases the flexibility
in ankle and knee joints, as well as
lengthens the quads and hip flexors.

Being pregnant is such a special time in a woman's life, and practising yoga helps one to nourish, connect and embrace with the wisdom behind childbirth. I feel extremely blessed to share my yoga space with these wonderful, strong women.


Love and Light.

Ignite My Fire

Inversions.... I absolutely love them.


Once you find your tipping point and stay effortless in an inversion, there's just something so endearing yet quirky, in looking at the world the other way up.

The miles you put into staying in an effortless inversion don't come free. You wouldn't believe the number of times I've fallen down from Sirsasana straight into Savasana, when I first started my yoga practice!  The countless (and frustrating) times you fall down, is just part of the journey of awakening, to what is happening within the body and the mind.


This feeling of awakening, is what is called "tapas" (or heat). This is not necessarily a physical heat but more of a metaphorical burning.  


"When people first experience tapas, there is often a sense of discomfort, a desire to squirm away from the situation because it is so authentic; it is as if a border of life is being eaten away by fire.  But if we stick with the observational practice, if we do not run away when we reach the juncture where tapas first arises.... there is a residue of clarity and relief that is discernable in the breath and is actually felt in the body.  Our very own body, which is immediately available to us, becomes a laboratory of consciousness, a field of exploration into the truth of our own existence, so that, our body becomes a temple for open awareness" - Richard Freeman, in The Mirror of Yoga.

Do you remember your first tapas experience?

108 Surya Namaskar : A Karma Yoga Project

There's no nicer way to welcome the second half of 2011 with a session of 108 Surya Namaskar.  As part of an ongoing Karma Yoga Project hosted by Sun Yoga Kuala Lumpur to raise funds for selected charities, this practice also marks a farewell to a dear friend, and Sivananda yoga teacher, Nicky Zammit.

Nicky, Raymond and me

And just like the 108 sacred beads on the japamala, which are used in prayer and the repetition of a mantra, we will be practising 108 rounds of sun salutations, where each asana will be finely woven on the thread of the breath.


Come join us for a beautiful and energizing practice, and do your bit for charity.
Time : 7.00am to 8.30am
Date : 9 July 2011 (Saturday)
Venue : Sun Yoga, 145B Jalan Aminuddin Baki, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Map and directions : please visit www.sunyogakl.com


See you there!
Namaste.

Standing Asanas & Arm Balance Workshops by Jani Jaatinen

Jani Jaatinen hails from Helsinki, Finland, and has been an Ashtanga and Hatha practitioner and teacher for over 10 years.  Jani's passion and commitment to yoga and his strong spiritual practice has brought him the privilege to receive intensive training from various international gurus such as B.N.S Iyengar, Cle Souren, Dwarka Das, Brahmachari Rudradev and more. He has been highly sought after for workshops in the EU as well as in Malaysia, India and Indonesia.

Jani Jaatinen

This summer Jani heads over to Malaysia and China, and on the weekend of 2nd and 3rd July, Sun Yoga in Kuala Lumpur is proud to host two of Jani's workshops.


2 July - 2pm to 4pm
Hatha 4 Groups of Standing Asanas Workshop

In this workshop, we will study standing poses and how you can divide them into 4 groups.  The standing poses teach and allow us to move the spine in all directions : forward extensions, back extensions, side to side extensions, and lateral, or twisting motions. We will exemplify both basic and advanced forms with step by step instructions on the execution of poses. This prepares the body for all categories of asanas. Standing poses are beneficial for strengthening of the legs, hips opening and improving sense of balance.

3 July - 10.30am to 1.30pm

Arm Balance Workshop

This workshop will provide in-depth instruction and guidance with challenging arm balances. We will also examine techniques on how to protect your joints by using various bandhas. Create freedom and strength in hip, neck and shoulders. Strengthen and lengthen the muscles around these joints and create space in these areas. Come learn a pathway to channel these postures into your everyday practice with ease and excitement!

For registration, fees and information, kindly go to www.sunyogakl.com or www.janijaatinen.org

See you there!

My Tripsichore Module 2 : Things Fall Apart, So That Other Things Can Fall Together

For the past 3 years now, since I'd gotten onto the teacher's mat, having a well-maintained, strong physical body has been the source of my well-being, income and the anchor to my personal practice.


Imagine my horror, when I over-strained my intercostal muscles during my practice of the Khonundrum sequence just a WEEK before Module 2 of my Tripsichore Teacher Training!  Every inhalation felt like someone had stabbed a knife into my left rib-cage and in slow, deliberate motion, continued slicing the knife's blade down the rib-cage towards the kidney.  Even lifting my left arm backwards to an arc felt excruciatingly painful.


The injury left me somewhat frustrated, but it also left me thinking. A sprained wrist and an asthma attack accompanied my Module 1 of the Tripsichore Training but I worked within the boundaries of my limitations (and pain), and sailed through a tough but enjoyable training session.  But with the intercostal sprain, my range of motion seemed more limited, and total rest was the only alternative.  How now brown cow???


Because the 'me' had always felt tied to physicality as far as yoga was concerned, the injury left me somewhat disoriented, when the training started on 29 May.


The first 3 days took me on a roller-coster ride of challenges... physically, mentally and emotionally.  I tried to sought out the 'peace' in the vinyasa practice and found none.  As this was, as Edward Clark put it, 'one of the world's toughest yoga teacher training', it felt very much like Asana Boot Camp as we were pushed right to the precipice of our individual breaking points of the practice by more complicated and advanced postures and sequences.  It also didn't help when some tension between the training faculty openly reared its ugly head.

Edward Clark playing 'peek-a-boo' in
an inverted Garudasana

If the breath sets the tone of my practice, then the 'tone' for the first 3 days was one of anger mingled with a foggy perception of my commitment to the practice.  I started to question if I was on the right path, and if this was the yoga journey I'd wanted.  Or was the physical limitation a test of perseverance? 

Just breathe (painfully)

Day 4 came around, and with it, a calmer frame of mind (perhaps also due to fact that the pain had subsided tremendously....amazing what anti-flammatories and pain-killers can do).  The self-anger I had felt for the past 3 days got channeled to a different kind of energy... a positive one.  The frustration was used to refine and improve my practice, and the fog that had misted over my decision to embark on the training, slowly dissipated.  As the breath got calmer, I started to detach from what I could achieve at the end of each day, and instead focussed on doing one thing at a time without being presumptuous to what's coming next.

According to yogic texts, the Sanskrit word 'vidya' means wisdom or knowledge - the wisdom that is earned through deep (self) practice and experience.


In the "texts" of Edward Clark, the Tripsichore Teacher Training is a physically and philosophically intensive and complicated practice.  During my chat with him, he revealed that, the purpose of the course is to work purely on the yoga...because he truly believes that the intrinsic techniques of the Tripsichore vinyasa practice outweigh the need to merely train a teacher in order to teach the practice.  He goes on to say, "there's a huge difference between a good teacher with a good practice, versus a good teacher who's just good at being a teacher but has a weak or bad practice".


So where, then, is the 'peace' in the practice? Can such peace be found in an 'Asana Boot Camp' of a highly demanding, week-long, 6-hour daily drill? 


As I journeyed through these past 8 days of ups, downs and intensiveness, it dawned on me, that if yoga is defined as "evenness of mind" (Bhagavad Gita 2:48), then the peace in the practice is found when one is able to bring a tempestuous mind and situation into a place of calm.

To acknowledge this, is the vidya, where one increases the ability to be conscious of the present, and by tuning one's awareness inward to help the true self lift the veil that clouds the purity and beauty of yoga.  And only the practice (lots of it) and the application of yogic philosophy to the practice, can bring you to this realisation.


And knowing the vidya from the avidya (its opposite), will help to distinguish the difference between perseverance and stubbornness.  


Wishing you peace in the breath, and honesty in your practice.
(a big thank you hug to those who have sent me your love and healing energy during this time, without judgement nor influence).


xxx