Namaskar Oct 2015

More documents

Recommendations

Info

community from the disaster they have just experienced. If you like teaching yoga for kids, Batug Primary school is always welcoming travelling teacher to share their skills to this tiny village in Leyte. Batug is on the banks of the lovely Daguitan river and the beach is just moments away. If you are inspired to volunteer for the Mud House Project, teach yoga for kids or if you would like to donate money or yoga mats please contact Ambikha at: ambikhadevi@yahoo.com www.oneblockforbatug.org Facebook: Ambikha Devi Karma Yoga, One Block for Batug Ambikha brings the Pure Yoga donated mats to the Philippines Volunteers - If you have spare time and you’re looking for something to do that involves selfless service (Karma Yoga) then we welcome those who are interested to volunteer to build houses for the typhoon victims to come and visit Batug village in Leyte province Philippines. You will have the opportunity to connect with the community, exchange cultures ideas and experience living in simplicity with the local villagers. Your stay can help raise the spirit of the Ambikha leading the kids through some AcroYoga 18 NAMASKAR
INTERVIEW PLAY AS THE SOURCE FOR TAPAS Interview with Carrie Owerko BY GAELLE FOULON DAFFNER Her sold out workshops bear whimsical titles such as “Permission to Play” or “The Careful Farmer”. She amassed an international fan base to make a rock star pale and she once performed live for BKS Iyengar at the New York City Center, during his 2005 national book tour. Carrie Owerko, New York based senior Iyengar teacher talks about her practice, her inspiration and how we can all have more fun following a workshop at Yoga Central in Hong Kong earlier this year. WHEN DID YOU START YOGA? WHY IYENGAR YOGA AND WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO FOCUS ON PLAY IN YOUR PRACTICE? I did it a little bit in College but really started in 1990. I was curious about Indian culture so I started going to Jivamukti classes. I was also working at the Laban Institute (analytical movement) which was more mental than physical work so I went to yoga to relax my mind and tune into my body. With my background in movement I got very curious about the structure of the pose and it was actually my Jivamukti teacher who recommended Iyengar as I kept asking questions about form and alignment. Iyengar reveals the deep patterns of yoga and our embodiment. I love the observation of patterns so I got hooked! As for play, it was a big part of my education. My parents would always teach me though play and experiment. Play became a way to understand the world. Later, in my theatre work I continued to play through improvisation. One of the rules of improvisation is to say “yes, and” to anything that gets thrown at you. And, when something is challenging we think how can I play with this. Play is a way into things, a way forward, play loosens the grip of fear. At one point I felt I was becoming too caught in the form of the asana so to free my practice I reverted to what I know well: Play! HOW DO YOU STAY TRUE TO THE GURU AND YET BE YOUR OWN SELF? Iyengar teaching is our canvas, the discipline, a frame. But we need to be the crayons and the color in our practice. Since everything is affected by context, we cannot practice or teach through dogma. We need to understand the when, what and why of any given situation, accept and adapt to the complex and fluid nature of it. If not, our approach might become fixated, hard, and stagnant. BKS Iyengar transmission was multi-faceted, he threw things at us and expected us to explore in our practice. When he practiced, he explored, he played too! It was obvious! He wanted us to deeply question everything including our own approach. And I do not think he was afraid of other’s perspectives. I attempt to teach what touched me about Guruji: his smile, the light in his eyes, and his enthusiasm. I attempt to teach from a place of clarity. HOW DO YOU BRING PLAYFULNESS IN CLASS? First of all we have to bring play in our practice. Play through challenges for example: some day I tell myself to use two blocks for everything, some days chairs only, some days rope, I throw things at New York-based Iyengar teacher, Carrie Owerko myself and I say yes to it, I give myself playful assignments to push myself out of habitual pattern and move into new territories. Through this I get organic directions or internal direction. I trust this process. I trust that it is ok “not to know” and from the practice of playing I know that it Yes— I can relax into the unknown. Another value I try to bring to class is of treating everybody as an equal. I am not above my students in any real sense and teaching for this perspective, allows my students to connect to their own intelligence. I encourage the process of trial and error that I cultivate in my own practice. I listen to my students, I engage them in a type of dialogue. I find they teach me so much, and by listening to their take of things teaches me other ways of saying things, of looking at things, of trying things, and then it becomes an amazing exchange. They also become confident, confident to play too! YOU ARE SO FLEXIBLE, ANYTHING LOOKS EFFORTLESS ON YOU! DO YOU FIND ANY ASANA CHALLENGING? Any binding pose is challenging due to my morphology. Poses like full pasasana, and full malasana. But I see my physical limitations as an opportunities to play again! We must befriend our body as it is, and work with affection, because the poses that are harder pour light on our process and they can teach us so much about ourselves and the way we handle life. The is important because it is is the process that continues while the form dissolves (age). We must be honest in our approach, and give ourselves permission to be enough just as we are. We are enough, we must practice from the ground of this understanding. Then ask ourselves what we have to contribute. We must come back to the following question for teaching, for practicing and even for life: what is my deepest intention. Stay true to it and have fun on the way. <strong>Oct</strong>ober <strong>2015</strong> 19
Page 1 and 2: namaskar A VOICE FOR THE YOGA COMMU
Page 3 and 4: NAMASKAR - OCTOBER 2015 LETTER FROM
Page 5 and 6: her desk for a yoga mat. innayoga@g
Page 7 and 8: YogaSlacker Raquel Hernández-Cruz
Page 9 and 10: to review the anatomy of the low ba
Page 11 and 12: Patrick Creelman 7-17 January 2016
Page 13 and 14: the four paths of Yoga, namely Raja
Page 15 and 16: PHOTO ESSAY YOGA IN INDIA It’s al
Page 17: KARMA YOGA YOGA & HEALTH IN TYPHOON
Page 21 and 22: October 2015 21
Page 23 and 24: SPORTS YOGA & SCUBA DIVING? More si
Page 25 and 26: COMMUNITY STEVE JOBS & YOGA? Local
Page 29 and 30: AYURVEDA WHAT CAUSES DEPRESSION? To
Page 33 and 34: Inna Constantini in Headstand varia
Page 35 and 36: DRISTI INSTANT CONNECTION, JUST ADD
Page 39 and 40: MYTHOLOGY KUMBHAKARNA What you can
Page 43 and 44: Orange bands are for epics and myth
Page 47 and 48: RECIPE BLACKENED CAULIFLOWER WITH L
Page 49 and 50: t: +65 6238 9320 e: namaste@sadhana

Namaskar Oct 2015

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?