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Svasti: A Journey From Assault To Wholeness

~ Recovery from PTSD & depression + yoga, silliness & poetry…

Svasti: A Journey From Assault To Wholeness

Tag Archives: yoga nidra

Yoga Nidra + a giveaway!

24 Thursday May 2012

Posted by Svasti in Fun

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Annandale Yoga, Anxiety, deep relaxations, Depression, free stuff, give away, guided meditation, Meditation, reducing stress, rest, self-love, Sevadevi, Sevapuri, Stress, Swami Satyananda, Yoga, yoga geek, yoga nidra

You guys! Have you ever heard of, or practiced Yoga Nidra before?

If not, then you’re totally missing out.

Yoga..wha? Is what most people say when they hear of Yoga Nidra for the first time. So don’t be embarrassed, you’re far from alone.

The fact is, Yoga Nidra is one of the bestest, most good for you things you can do with your eyes shut while remaining awake. I can’t think of *too* many other things you can say that about, right? 😉

Anyway, let me tell you more about it…

First of all I have to say – I LOVE Yoga Nidra! As much as I love big warm hugs and snuggling under a blankie. Maybe more.

I mean, this stuff is a top shelf relaxation technique, people. It’s also an act of self-love that you can do for yourself every day and it will yield results. That’s a promise.

So what is it again, I hear you ask?

Okay. Yoga Nidra is a guided meditation you do while lying down and its considered to be more rejuvenative than sleep! OR if you’re having trouble sleeping then it will either help you get to sleep (which is okay, too) or provide you with a wakeful-yet-restive alternative to feeling miserable about your insomnia.

Yoga Nidra is also excellent for reducing stress, depression, anxiety and generally making you feel better about life.

I wrote a little about Swami Satyananda – the founder of Yoga Nidra – a couple of years back when he passed away.

If you’re a yoga geek then I also recommend reading his book on the topic, too.

About the give-away

It was via the happy accident of blogging and tweeting about hummus, that I first came to know of the lovely Sevapuri and his wife Sevadevi.

We don’t talk a great deal, but we’ve met in person a couple of times and Sevapuri is always around on Twitter, where we regularly exchange messages.

Both Sevapuri and Sevadevi are lovely souls and personally I’m jealous of all the kirtan they have going on in Sydney!

Anyway, Sevapuri and Sevadevi now run Annandale Yoga, and the first I was aware of Sevadevi’s Yoga Nidra recording was a direct message on Twitter offering me a copy. Because that’s just the kind of people that they are.

Of course being beautiful and generous souls, not one but THREE copies arrived in my letterbox. I gave one to my neighbour (the wonderful person who made me food when I was really sick last year – she really needs some chill time right now)… and I thought I’d give the copy away here.

Just to keep paying forward the generosity and the love!

I’ve trialled Sevadevi’s CD of course. It contains a short and a long Yoga Nidra practice (23 and 32 minutes respectively), as well as a beautiful Heart Meditation that you can do in a pinch, anytime/anywhere.

Its all about creating a bit of space and calmness in your life…

As a bonus: Sevadevi has a gorgeous velvety voice that you’ll never get tired of listening to.

This is a quality Yoga Nidra and meditation CD, and YOU could be the lucky winner of a copy!

Be in it to win it!

It’s very simple. Anyone can enter, anywhere in the world.

To enter: Leave a comment below sharing your favourite thing to do to unwind and/or re-connect with the world when you’re feeling crappy.

Bonus entry: Share this give-away on Twitter or Facebook and let me know you’ve done so in the comments below.

The mission being to raise awareness of Yoga Nidra and get more people curious to give it a try!

Entries close: Friday 15th June

Lots of love to y’all.

~Svasti xxx

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Noticing and the squeaky wheel

22 Tuesday Feb 2011

Posted by Svasti in Yoga

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

breathing, Christchurch, earthquake, heels, noticing, rajas, sattva, squeaky wheel, Yoga, yoga nidra, yoga teaching

I’m kind of big on asking my yoga students to get into the “noticing” aspect of yoga: move-breathe-move-breathe-move-breathe – sit still – notice the sensations in your body, notice the activity of your mind, breathe into any tightness etc etc; it’s not what you notice so much as it is the act of noticing something, anything; you’re training your mind and body to be sensitive to what you are feeling and experiencing.

And so on.

But I noticed something myself tonight – how easy it is for me to notice the squeaky wheel instead of noticing everything/everyone equally. Huh.

By this I mean that if someone is having a hard time with the practice or their alignment or something else is glaringly in need of support, that’s what I see. It’s not that I don’t see all of my students, but I do notice that I’m paying way more attention to those who need more attention.

Which kind of makes sense in some ways, right? But not really for those students who are going along pretty well and not getting as much attention as others. Natch.

So, experienced yoga teachers out there… have you noticed this in your own teaching? And if so, how do you manage to spread your attention more evenly amongst your students?

Also, tonight I taught with a tweaky back. Went to a wedding on Sunday night and had one of my very-super-extremely-rare-evenings of wearing heels. Heels are pretty to look at – especially this dark plum coloured pair with a peep toe and a bow – but an absolute killer to wear (just ask any woman who’s willing to be honest). So most of the time I don’t wear heels at all, especially after that whole broken toe/bone graft thing (massive OUCHIES).

But for a wedding sure, I’ll get all dressed up and throw on some heels. Dang, I’ll even dance in them! Being a Greek wedding, there was even some belly-dance music playing for a while and I COULD NOT walk away while that was playing!

My back was fine yesterday but when I woke up this morning – WOW – super-tweaky! Spent as much of today as I could doing forward bends and did a mini practice before I taught my class but it’s still a little bent out of shape. A hot shower, some tiger balm (and no, it doesn’t have tiger parts in it!) and a little more stretching… I’m working on it.

The other thing I noticed in tonight’s class was my first super-duper-really-and-truly-UBER rajasic student. Someone who had trouble with the static poses, and couldn’t even lie down quietly on his back for five minutes. He also told me after the class that the music was “too quiet”  for him, and that he used to practice Yoga Nidra six years ago “to Baroque music”. Riiiight… never mind that Yoga Nidra is considered to be “psychic sleep” and is meant to be done in silence. You can NOT meditate properly to Baroque or any other kind of music, not really…

So I’m hoping that the brief chat we had registered, where I suggested that a quieter practice might be a good balance for his endurance walking and high energy music. Don’t know if it got through or not, but here’s hoping.

Because too much rajas leads to instability. Just ask Christchurch in New Zealand! Rajas is the energy of movement, and hey, look… sadly they were hit with another earthquake.

Please hold the New Zealand people in your hearts and prayers. If you can donate, please give to the NZ Red Cross appeal.

And let’s all try to breathe a little more calming sattva into the world, shall we? We all really, really need it right now.

~ Svasti

P.S. Only three more days to go! 😉

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Body image issues, yoga & Tara Stiles is a sell-out

29 Sunday Aug 2010

Posted by Svasti in Health & healing, Life Rant, Yoga

≈ 64 Comments

Tags

abundant, anorexia, Asana, BlissChick, cheap shots, Giving, Intimacy, karma yoga, Mark Whitwell, marketing, Meditation, pranayama, Puja, regenerating, Self-esteem, sell out, seva, Slim Calm Sexy Yoga, Swami Satyananda, Tara Stiles, weight loss programs, Yoga, yoga nidra

Here’s the story of a very young girl…

One day, walking home from school this coltish lass felt so good about life and about herself. She thought she was beautiful and felt like a supermodel, convinced that she looked fantastic as she pranced along the sidewalk like it was some kind of fashion runway. It was an excellent ten minutes – the length of her walk home.

Coming in through the back door, she floated to the bathroom mirror to admire her magnificence. And she was heartbroken. There was not a prominent cheekbone or feline feature anywhere in sight. She looked NOTHING like the models in her Dolly and Cleo magazines. NOTHING.

And combined with her blonde and beautiful best friend that all the boys adored, and her brother’s daily taunts about her looks, she spent the rest of her life trying to see herself clearly. Which was difficult, because every time she looked in the mirror the words “not pretty” resonated somewhere in the back of her mind…

This is my story, but it’s also the story of numerous other young girls. From a ridiculously early age our lives are spent being compared to other women – by ourselves, others or both.

Unless we hit the gene-pool jackpot, most women start their lives feeling insecure and “not good enough”. Even then it sometimes isn’t enough! I mean, a girl I went to primary and high school with was pretty, blonde and built like a bird. She was also very good at athletics, competing at a state level. She was very popular, too, and went out with the hottest guy at school. And yet this girl who seemed to have everything STILL didn’t think she was good enough, and ended up with anorexia.

Our culture places so much value on physical appearance, academic or sporting prowess, instead of emotional maturity and openness. As such, many westerners have barely any connection to their bodies. There’s so much living in the head, divorced from the heart. We think too much, we’re reliant on external gratification and live in a highly visual world where beauty is given a very narrow definition.

Finding yoga

It’s no surprise then, that when I found yoga I felt very happy and relieved. Because I discovered yoga wasn’t about how I looked so much as how I felt. How my body and mind connect and who I am when I strip away fleeting things such as labels, my job, and physical appearance. Who am I when I close my eyes to meditate and the visible world melts away? And who are you?

So I practice yoga (including asana, pranayama, meditation, yoga nidra, puja and more) and I feel good about myself, no matter what anyone else thinks. In fact, I find I don’t CARE about what anyone else thinks. Because yoga opens my heart. It connects me to myself and to other people and it’s about LOVE. It doesn’t separate and segregate and it sure as hell isn’t about what size clothes I wear.

Yet still, I struggle on and off with body image/not good enough issues. I did a guest post about such things over on BlissChick’s blog.

Yoga helps me very much with such things, and it gets a little easier every day to look in the mirror and not instantly think I am repulsive looking. Most women have this to contend with in some way or another, no matter how they look.

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to go to a Mark Whitwell workshop. Fortunate, not just because of the wonderful yoga he has to share, but because he is a dyed in the wool Mother Earth worshipping feminist. He gets it in a way many women never will, and certainly few men.

Mark writes things like this about yoga:

…Yoga is every person’s direct intimacy with reality, an entirely abundant, regenerating, and nurturing power. This is yoga from the heart, for the heart, and it promises health, intimacy, well-being, and joy…

One to one intimacy is as close and as necessary as your breath is to your body. In fact the practice of this inherent union of breath and body allows for the inherent union in all relatedness. It is an utter pleasure and unquestioned continuity with everything. It is Ha tha Yoga, “strength receiving.” Actual and natural, non obsessive practice.

Mark spreads love, positivity, empowerment and damn good yoga around the world. And he gives marvelous hugs. He’s very real and approachable. He makes yoga fun and doable for those who might think it’s not for them.

And then…

Yoga and women get betrayed – by a woman!

There are people out there who call themselves yogis, and take the most external aspects of the practice and market that as a weight loss program like some kind of meal replacement product! Unbelievably, this is being fronted by a woman!

Yes, Tara Stiles, I’m talking about YOU and your Slim Calm Sexy Yoga.

I recommend reading Linda-Sama’s post about Tara’s latest efforts. I agree with Linda whole-heartedly and I find myself enraged by Tara Stiles.

So much so that I wrote this tweet:

Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to discover that Tara had replied to that message with this piece of nonsense:

Wow. Just WOW. My reply to Tara was this (and then a whole lot more!)

I cannot tell you how frightening I find this approach to marketing yoga. Or rather, yoga-like movements that have been called yoga, but have nothing to do with the practice in any way…

Cheap shots. We’re talking cheap shots to the already fragile self-esteem most women have (and let’s face it, this is not being marketed to men!). Fired off by a so-called yogi to get people to buy her book. It makes me sick to my stomach.

I know a BUNCH of accomplished and deeply realised yogis who do NOT have a perfect body. They are not a size 00, and probably never were. You could not call them slim per se, and yet they are happy, wonderful, calm and sexy people. They are yogis with big, huge, juicy hearts and so much wisdom and compassion that you can’t help but feel better from spending time around them.

And we have wonderful men like Mark Whitwell teaching yoga in a way that’s accessible and beautiful, and more than anything, authentic and genuine.

Or brilliant yogis like Swami Satyananda who couldn’t give a flying f#ck about “Slim Calm Sexy Yoga”. Yeah, he was perfectly healthy right up until his death and look at that body! No ripped abs. No bulging biceps!

Then Tara Stiles decides to take advantage of the current fanaticism about weight loss using the name of yoga (but certainly not its philosophies) to line her pockets on the back of other women who already feel crappy about themselves. Nice way to align yourself with the sisterhood, Tara!

And nice way to sell out yoga and degrade its real benefits to those who don’t know any better.

Yoga = love = self-acceptance = giving

Just for once, I’d like to see famous yogis who are right into all this marketing business, using yoga to HELP this world. Help the planet and people in need.

I have no idea why there isn’t already an outpouring of yoga events put on purely as a benefit. I see it at a grassroots level, but not as big as something like Wanderlust for example. Imagine getting lots of wisdom masters to do dharma talks, meditation and asana practice FOR FREE. Yes, free! Anyone heard of a little thing called karma yoga or seva? Let the people pay to come and get the good stuff, and all of the profits GO DIRECTLY TO PEOPLE IN NEED.

Like the communities that lost their livelihood as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Or the Haiti disaster. Or the floods in Pakistan. Or just people who live in your community and are about to be evicted. Or whatever!

Imagine that, can you? I can. Those who came along would benefit from real teachings that aren’t in any way about physical appearance. And the money would go to people who need it. Why? Simply because they are human beings, like everyone else.

Yoga is about GIVING. Not taking. That’s how I get my calm and my sexy. I don’t need no special book and unrealistic promises to deliver that…

**More on this topic by me**

A little less ranty, and a little more rational… 😉

  • Samskaras in samsara – part 1
  • Samskaras in samsara – part 2
  • News from the anti-Slim, Calm, Sexy “Yoga” trenches
  • it’s all yoga, baby’s top 15 yoga posts of 2010

~Svasti

**UPDATE 3rd August 2011** To all the people still reading this topic and leaving indignant comments:
Please look at the date of this post. It was a year ago. My anger about this is long gone, but I still disagree with Tara Stiles’ approach to yoga very much. So do a lot of other people, both yoga teachers and non-yoga teachers. Now, if you wanna call me rude, go ahead. I consider this a highly passionate post, fueled by anger for sure. But not rude. Or unyogic. Of course you’re welcome to your opinions as I am to mine, but no matter what you write in the comments I ain’t gonna change my mind. I’d never do a Tara Stiles yoga class. This woman also runs a highly questionable yoga teacher training program that I’d never do either. So there it is. Go ahead, be a Tara apologist. I won’t stop you. But do remember this topic is over a year old and all of the main players have moved on…

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The passing of a great soul: Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati

07 Monday Dec 2009

Posted by Svasti in Spirituality, Yoga

≈ 49 Comments

Tags

Bihar School of Yoga, gurudakshina, mahasamadhi, mahasiddha, Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati, Swami Sivananda, Swamiji, tattwas, Yoga, yoga nidra

“Let the inner lamp grow brighter and brighter. Let the old leaves wither away. Lets the clouds subside. Let the great light prevail. Let the divine force rejoice in thee.”
~ Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati (Book of Rikhiapeeth 2009)

He took mahasamadhi on 5th December 2009, reportedly he was found in padmasana. According to reports, his last words to Swami Shivpur Saraswati were: “I see flowers from the cottage where I lie”.

Though I was never privileged to meet him, Swamiji (Paramahamsa Satyananda) has been a part of my life for many years.

He is my guru’s guru and as such I’ve heard innumerable tales of my guru’s time with him, and his photo is on my altar (along with my guru’s and also Swamiji‘s guru Swami Sivananda), as well as others around my house. I have many Bihar School of Yoga books by Swamiji and those of his disciples.

Swamiji was one of the greatest yogis of this era. But he was no “rock star” guru. Although he spent twenty or so years teaching in the West and established the Bihar School of Yoga, he was never in the game of becoming famous.

Instead, once he’d fulfilled his gurudakshina, he retired from public life to focus on his practice in private, for the benefit of all beings.

The stories of Swamiji’s early life are quite legendary – the sorts of things that cause skeptics to snort derisively. It is said that he had to learn to fully inhabit his physical form, unlike most humans who need to learn to work up from the densest tattwas. He spent his teen years learning Kundalini yoga and at age nineteen he met his guru, Swami Sivananda in 1943.

In 1973, Swamiji was recognised as an Adept/mahasiddha (God realized Yogi). Some people have reportedly seen evidence of this, including that of the ability to produce two physical bodies in different places at the same time. As well as touring and teaching in the West, Swamiji also established various charitable organisations including Sivananda Math in 1984.

His physical age at the time of his passing was 86 although once a being becomes a mahasiddha, it is said their birth is erased: never born, never died.

The most interesting experiences I’ve had with Swamiji have been while sitting at my altar, meditating… it’s a little hard to explain any further than that…

And of course, he was my guru’s guru. Although my guru is not a part of the BSY organisation, he benefitted directly via teachings from Swamiji as well as Swami Naranjananda. It is through those teachings that I have come to the path of the dharma.

So I have a great deal of gratitude and love for Swamiji.

Given my recent guest posts, I realised I was unclear that much of my last eight or so years studying yoga have not been strongly focused on asana. But more the other aspects of yoga – meditation and philosophy. We learned asana of course, but it was never the “main meal”, so to speak. It’s only been in the last couple of years that I decided to take a more serious interest in asana.

Despite Swamij’s lack of interest in fame, is surprising to me that so few westerners know who he was/is. That Yoga Nidra thing you might’ve heard about or even used yourself? You have Swamiji to thank for that. He ressurected it as a practice and as a result, it became well known. His book on Yoga Nidra is well worth reading if you get the chance.

Swamiji was and is a great master of yoga – a true and authentic being whose eyes always seem to overflow with love and compassion.

This video is a recording of Swamiji’s voice, singing the Shanti Path mantra.

May all beings dwell in happiness. May all beings dwell in peace. May all beings attain oneness. May all beings attain auspiciousness.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti!

It is said that when a mahasiddha takes a conscious passing, that he never really dies – make of that what you will…

~Svasti

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