Namaskar Oct 2015

NAMASKAR - OCTOBER 2015
LETTER FROM
THE EDITOR
The Universe gives us what we
need, not what we want.
I experienced this recently on a flight back from
Scotland. An hour-long flight delay resulted in my
missing my connection to Hong Kong.
Overbooked flights meant I had to stay overnight in London, then take a flight to Paris the next
morning to catch another home. Definitely not what I wanted! However on the trip to France I
happened to sit next to a spiritual teacher, Ernesto Ortiz, who spends over 200 days a year on
the road. This just as our dristi for this issue is The Travelling Yogi! Surely this was the flight I
needed to be on!
Three contributors share their experiences and suggestions. Very different perspectives: Ana
gives her tips for staying healthy and grounded while travelling away from home; Liza shares
her thoughts on how yoga connects us and; Inna offers a student’s perspective.
Special features herein are diverse: Donald writes about the similarity between yoga and scuba
diving; Chloe finds out how yoga and Steve Jobs inspired a Hong Kong director to produce a
play about contemplation and personal growth; Clayton introduces us to the tireless work of
one dedicated yogini bringing yoga and much-needed aid to a small Philippine town and; Gaelle
interviews senior Iyengar teacher Carrie Owerko about the importance of play in our practice.
We welcome a new contributor to Namaskar, Dr Harsh, an Ayurvedic doctor in India. He talks
about a possible cause of depression being the build up of ama (mucous) in our systems.
Thanks as always to the contributors of our regular features, and to Namaskar’s tireless
volunteers Wai-Ling, Carol and Angela for this issue and this year.
As distribution is our largest cost, next year Namaskar advertising rates will increase to keep
pace with the 6.5% increase in postage announced by Hongkong Post recently. We hope
individual teachers and smaller studios will still find Namaskar a competitive option for your
communication needs.
And I hope even more of you will make time to share your yogic experiences and observations
through these pages in 2016. I know I’ve learned as much from my friends on the yogic path as I
have from teachers. If you have learned something, if you have grown as a result, chances are
someone else out there can too.
Finally, I wish you all very happy end to 2015 and look forward to connecting with you again in
the new year.
On the cover - Slackline & AcroYoga teachers Raquel
Hernández-Cruz (top) and Sam Salwei (above) are
coming to Flex Hong Kong in November.
In This Issue
DRISTI - TRAVELLING YOGI
ON THE ROAD AGAIN 32
Taking care of yourself while travelling
INSTANT CONNECTION 35
Yoga unites travellers
PROS & CONS 36
What does it mean for the student of the
travelling yoga teacher
SPECIAL FEATURES
POST-TYPHOON PHILIPPINES 17
One yoga teacher’s efforts to keep helping a
small Philippine community
PLAY FOR TAPAS 19
Iyengar teacher Carrie Owerko talks about the
importance of play in yoga
YOGA & DIVING 23
More similar than different
WHY AREN’T YOU STEVE JOBS? 25
Hong Kong theatre performance inspired by
yoga and Apple’s founder
REGULAR CONTRIBUTIONS
KULA UPDATES, WORKSHOPS,
RETREATS, TEACHER TRAININGS 6
PHOTO ESSAY 14
AYURVEDA 28
MUDRAS IN BRIEF 39
MYTHOLOGY 39
BOOK REVIEW 40
RETREAT REVIEW 43
RECIPE 47
DIRECTORY 48
ABOUT NAMASKAR
ADMINISTRATION Carol Adams, carol@caroladams.hk
NEWS EDITOR Wai-Ling Tse, wailing.tse@gmail.com
CIRCULATION Angela Sun, angela.sun@gmail.com
EDITOR & PUBLISHER Frances Gairns, fgairns@netvigator.com
Namaskar provides a voice for the yoga community in Asia and
around the world. The publication is an opportunity for
practitioners on a yogic path to selflessly offer their knowledge,
learnings and experiences with others.
We welcome unsolicited submissions, therefore the opinions
expressed within these pages are not necessarily those of Namaskar or
its volunteers.
Articles and photographs in Namaskar are contributed at no
charge. Advertising income covers production, distribution,
administrative costs and discretionary contributions to selected
charities and causes.
Namaskar, is published quarterly in January, April, July and October.
About 5,000 copies are printed and distributed for free to yoga
studios, teachers, fitness centres, retail outlets, cafes and yogafriendly
outlets. Mostly distributed in Hong Kong, with 1,500 copies
mailed to readers in 32 other countries.
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