vidya = knowledge, wisdom, got it?!

Om Shanti.

The Gayatri Mantra is addressed to the eternal Divine light and the light within us – it is a prayer to that inner light, may it guide us on our path. While chanting, listening to or silently repeating the mantra, you can, on a physical level, embody that mantra by practicing sun salutations and poses that lift and stretch the chest.

How lucky we were to do this practice outside in the sun, blue sky above and green grass below. Fall in SoCal is special..

The Gayatri Mantra translated, explained, interpreted, in Sanskrit, the whole thing… :     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayatri_Mantra

Om bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ

tat savitur vareṇyaṃ

bhargo devasya dhīmahi

dhiyo yó naḥ pracodayāt

 To answer that question we need to go back to India’s philosophy and discuss terminology a little bit, so that we know what we are actually talking about.

 Hinduism is a term coined by Western scientists who meant to cover all religious expressions rooted in the Vedas that they could observe in India. The Vedas are the sacred scriptures on which all „Hindu“ religions are based. There are many different expressions of Hindu religion so the term Hinduism is relatively unspecific and general. You could instead of Hinduism also say Sanatana Dharma, the eternal religion.

 Yoga is one of the six classical, philosophical systems of India’s philosophy. You can read more about them on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_philosophy:

1.      Samkhya, a strongly dualist theoretical exposition of mind/consciousness (purusha) and matter/nature (prakriti)

2.      Yoga, a school emphasizing meditation closely based on Samkhya

3.      Vedanta, the logical conclusion to Vedic ritualism, focusing on brahman, the all-encompassing Divine.

4.      Nyaya or logics

5.      Vaisheshika

6.      Mimamsa

Just like any other cultural technique Yoga had to use the language, imagery, concepts and cosmology that were available at the time of its creation. There is no cultural product that can exist completely outside language and cultural references! Of course, Yoga uses the imagery, concepts and cosmology that were prevalent at the time which are Hinduism, Samkhya and Vedanta and probably a few more. Every cultural technique is influenced by its culture of origin.

 So, the first part of my answer is yes, the metaphors and imagery that were available at the time found their way into Yoga scriptures. Yoga concepts are deeply rooted in Hindu, Vedanta and Samkhya concepts. The use of Hindu imagery however does not mean that Yoga and Hinduism are the same.

 Is there a relationship to Samkhya, Vedanta and Hinduism? Certainly. Consider the following facts:

• The first complete Yoga system is mentioned in the Maitrayani Upanishad, a Vedantic scripture: “Such is the method: restraint of breath, withdrawal of the sense organs, contemplation, fixing of the organ of thinking, self examination, immersion, those are the six parts called yoga.“ (Maitrāyanī Upanishad VI 18)
• There are also numerous references to Yoga in other Upanishads such as the Shvetashvatara Upanishad and the Taittiriya Upanishad.
• Yoga is explained in depth in the Bhagavad Gita, one of the core scriptures of Hinduism.
• The Yoga system presented by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras is based on his understanding of Samkhya philosophy which for example shows in his use of the terms prakriti (nature, matter) and purusha (consciousness).
• Asanas are named after Hindu Gods: e.g. Natarajasana.
• Many yoga masters have based their teachings on Advaita Vedanta.

 But do all these facts mean that Hinduism and Yoga are the same? No. They document a very deep relationship. Yoga clearly uses tools from other cultural practices such as Hinduism or Vedanta, but those tools are only tools nothing more than that. No further value is placed on them.

  Yoga is a spiritual technology, a discipline and technique for body, mind and soul which stems from a certain cultural background. It uses cultural metaphors and images to clarify certain concepts, to make it more accessible to the people at the time. But as recent history has shown, Yoga can easily be adapted to other spiritual, religious and cultural traditions worldwide which shows that Yoga can be applied independently from Hinduism.

The goal of yoga is to realize oneself and to realize God. The whole set of mind-body techniques of Yoga lead to that goal. This goal of yoga, self-realization and God-realization, is very personal. It is in fact such a fundamentally personal experience that no religion or culture can claim to own it. It is beyond language, imagery, concepts and cosmology. Yoga masters describe it as ananda (=bliss), but that’s about it. There is no further description.

 Of course, religions can afterwards put such a personal experience in words, but it is up to the individual yoga practitioner to put his or her own experience in words and those might be Jewish, Muslim, Christian or Hindu or anything else.

 So, that’s my answer.

Om Shanti.

And I also believe that yoga itself has to be seen as just one tool of many. There are many paths to self-realization and to the realization of the Divine, Yoga being just one of them. But the experience itself is greater than all of the paths to get there and ultimately greater than any culture or religion.

The very insightful blog post addresses the situation of yoga teachers in times of recession and ‚Occupy Wall Street’:

„Yoga has not been immune from the recession (which I argue is a present, not past, tense situation). Discretionary income that might once have gone for yoga classes might now go to buying a loaf of bread. If I weren’t a teacher myself and thus granted teacher rates for classes, I couldn’t afford to do what I teach. I couldn’t afford to do what I teach.“

Barbra Brady addresses the current economic situation from the perspective of a yoga teacher who can’t afford the classes she teaches. But then there are many professions who can’t afford their own products – pricy hair stylists, make-up artists, massage therapists, many gardeners and chefs, the list goes on. It is an economic reality for many people that they deliver something to their clients that they can not take advantage of themselves.

Regarding the yoga community it simply is reality that there are more yoga teachers and studios than people who regularly take yoga classes. With all the yoga teacher trainings constantly training new teachers it has gradually become an over-saturated market. Couple that with a recession and here we are. 

However, it is in exactly these times that yoga is so necessary! Exactly in times of crisis and fear yoga is most needed and effective. I’d like to see people storming the yoga studios asking to be taught how to focus and be strong in the midst of crisis! Right now, people should be lining up to get a spot in a yoga studio!

Focus and mental strength in the midst of a crisis are likely to turn around people’s lives and help them find the solutions they are not be able to see right now, because they are stuck in depression, fear and lethargy. That after all is what a crisis is, being stuck in a very uncomfortable situation. If there is one thing yoga teaches you for sure, it is handling an uncomfortable situation! Finding joy and positive thinking amidst anxiety and stress. Getting some relaxation to free up your mind-  just enough to make a difference.

But that’s not what’s happening. People are not – or not yet! – storming yoga studios.

There is a very interesting discussion related to that going on on Yoga Modern:

http://yogamodern.com/categories/featured/only-fit-white-women-in-yoga-i-beg-to-differ/

„Only fit white women in yoga? I beg to differ. – There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the lack of diversity in the yoga community.“ Author Lauren Znacho’s post on the non-diversity of the yoga community received many diverse comments, that’s for sure. One of them being:

„Another thought on the socio-economic factors at play. Minorities are under represented in all aspects of health and wellness. Just as they are proportionately over represented in the numbers of afflicted with diabetes, heart disease, cancer, obesity, smoking, etc. How many Whole Foods stores are located in the inner city? How many Yoga Works? How many Lululemons? Coincidence? I think not.“
So, why are people not storming yoga studios in the midst of crisis? Because of the segregation of the yoga community? I am not so sure.. I think it has more to do with seeking a solution.

Remember how yoga came to the West in the first place? Lots of hippies and late-hippies backpacking to India in the 60s and 70s trying to find something other than the meaningless life in post-war suburban paradise. They were searching for a solution. And for sure they brought diversity to the beforehand exclusively male-Indian yoga scene.

Maybe another one of those shifts will happen, if more people begin seeking solutions to the economic and social challenges they are facing. Yoga gives more strength in crisis than any other technique I have experienced. Maybe more people will turn to yoga and realize its value on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level.

Om Shanti.

Yogi Bhajan spoke, explained and told stories, but during the exercises there was no music playing. There was a lot of chanting and talking, but there was music only at the end of the class. That has changed a lot and it is a change worth documenting. It is a shift in the history of yoga not only a random observation. I am clearly seeing the implications.

Now there is nearly no complete silence during class but most of the time mantra music is playing. Lots of uplifting, beautiful mantras have been recorded by the Kundalini Yoga community. Apparently Yogi Bhajan approved of the music but still, it makes me think. He also recognized people’s inability to meditate silently and as one possible solution recommended ‚Celestial Communication’ which is a series of arm movements in tune with a mantra. Celestial Communication was supposed to keep the body-mind busy and thereby making  concentration easier. Yogi Bhajan deemed silent meditation too challenging for many people. And he seems to have been correct.

However like him none of the great yoga masters had music playing during the exercises. There was always an opportunity for silence, for undisturbed awareness. No matter how wonderful the music is, it is a little distracting, simply because we listen to it and that takes some focus away from what we are doing. We are in fact creating our own disturbances by playing music in the background. Maybe we are too challenged by the silence? By having to listen to our own thoughts?

There is a bit of a discussion in the global yoga community about playing background music in class. Even the most uplifting, high energy mantras are a distraction if you are practicing postures or breathing exercises at the same time. However, the majority of classes seems to have arrived in the music age. I am wondering when exactly that shifted. Did anybody document that?!

Anyway, this seems to be the age of distractions, multi-tasking and interrupted focus, not only in yoga classes but in general. The scattered, preoccupied, absentminded mind – age. And that is even more true in large cities like Los Angeles where so much is going on all the time. In the country-side, there is more silence. Observing the difference between the little city my parents live in and the metropolis LA is very enlightening.

Another thing, we have invented: Levels!

Yogi Bhajan never spoke about level 1 class, beginners class, level 2 class or any of that. He never differentiated the exercises like that. They were just what they were and you were supposed to do the best you can. Do the best you can.

Imagine not being rated and categorized by a level of achievement but being accepted for simply doing the best you can at any given moment. That is a completely different mindset.

Sat Nam.

Now that’s very cool! My book found its way to mother India! Om Shanti.

 ”The third part, chapter six, contains details about reviews conducted by the author to ascertain from the practitioners, their experiences. Chapters seven to nine present the results of the analysis of these interviews. These have been extensively covered and present a new type of study, which deserve a deeper presentation and study. It should be of interest to students of Indian Psychology. The book closes with a short chapter about the influence of this type of practice on one’s own personality and lifestyle. This book, although meant for a western reader, should be of interest to an Indian reader also. “

“The author should be complimented for providing so much of valuable information, within the covers of a small book.”

And here is the link to the full review:

http://www.ijoy.org.in/article.asp?issn=0973-6131;year=2011;volume=4;issue=2;spage=102;epage=102;aulast=Swamy

Swamy N. Review of ‘Yoga in Modern Society’ by Verena Schnäebele. Int J Yoga [serial online] 2011 [cited 2011 Oct 5];4:102. Available from: http://www.ijoy.org.in/text.asp?2011/4/2/102/85494

Here you go:

Roasted Vegetable Quinoa

(Recipe submitted by luxlady06 (http://vegweb.com/index.php?action=profile;u=146171), 02/23/11)

Ingredients:

   3-5 small yellow potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces (I used multicolored potatoes, red&blue&white)
   1 large red onion, bite sized
   1 cup cauliflower florets (I used butternut squash instead of cauliflower)
   1 cup brussels sprouts, halved (chose to skip the sprouts)
   1 beet, sliced
   2 parsnips, bite sized
   1 cup mushrooms, sliced
   1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
   1/4 cup balsamic vingear
   1/2 cup olive oil
   1 clove garlic, minced
   2 tablespoons brown sugar
   ground black pepper, to taste
   2 cups vegetable stock 
   1 cup quinoa     
        

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread the vegetables evenly out onto a baking sheet (if some of them overlap a little bit, it’s okay, just try to mix them up evenly!)

2. Whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, oil, garlic, sugar and pepper in a small bowl and drizzle evenly over the vegetables, coating as many as possible.

3. Cook the vegetables for about 1/2 hour-45 minutes, or until they are a light golden brown and a little crispy on the edges.

4. Meanwhile, bring vegetable stock to a boil. Stir in the quinoa, turn down the heat and cook at a light simmer for 20-25 minutes.

5. Once the vegetables and quinoa are done, gradually fold the vegetables together with the quinoa in a large bowl.

That’s it! Feel free to leave in the heated oven if you are waiting on any of the other dishes to finish.

Source of recipe: I love quinoa, and I love roasted veggies. Together they are the perfect combination!

Makes: About 4 servings, Preparation time: 10 minutes, Cooking time: 30-45 minutes

Yoga for your Core,

Core Work,

Core Yoga…

It seems that most yoga studios advertise some form of core strenth class. Especially since moving to LA, I have found that label to be pervasive. But what does it really mean? And most importantly in the context of back health, how is it related to the prevention of back pain?

Web MD, the fantastic website on all things health related, featured the following story of a golf player with severe back pain:

“I played as frequently as I could,” says Dunn. “Since then I’ve been told that golf is about the worst thing you can do if you have a back problem. Soon I was having back spasms that left me incapacitated for a day or two at a time.” Dunn was referred to the sports medicine program at Life-Bridge Health and Fitness Center, part of a regional health network in Maryland overseen by medical director Michael Kelly, MHSc, a certified neuromuscular therapist. Kelly soon found that, although Dunn was very fit for a man his age, he’d neglected some areas of his body. “The muscle groups I was using were in good shape, but then I’d isolate other muscle groups, and I could barely lift the weight. I was like an infant,” Dunn says.

(http://www.webmd.com/back-pain/features/relieve-back-pain-with-core-strength-training)

Regarding the prevention of back pain, working isolated groups of muscles creates imbalance and misalignment. Even though Dunn had some core strength, it wasn’t balanced and therefore couldn’t prevent back pain. Obviously, you can be very fit (or appear to be very fit) but still be hurting badly. In fact, I find that Southern California is the perfect place to observe that: so many fit looking people hanging out here, but they aren’t necessarily healthy and pain-free.

Yoga tends to be so effective and energizing because it is a comprehensive approach addressing the whole body, mind and spirit. Yoga does not feature any exercises working on isolated muscles groups, no mindless repetitions either. No watching TV while working out. No distractions. Yoga always brings body and mind together by virtue of conscious breathing.

But in addressing “core strength”, even a well-rounded approach can fail if it doesn’t address what the core actually is. So what is the core?!

There was an interesting article in the online NY Times on core strength and abdominal exercises a while ago (in 2009). I am surprised that it wasn’t discussed more within the yoga and fitness community. It basically traced back our understanding of core work to physiotherapy research in the mid-1990s. It states that

“the “core” remains a somewhat nebulous concept; but most researchers consider it the corset of muscles and connective tissue that encircle and hold the spine in place. If your core is stable, your spine remains upright while your body swivels around it.“ (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/core-myths/)

Other definitions of the core are:

„Core-strength exercises strengthen your core muscles, including your abdominal muscles, back muscles and the muscles around the pelvis.“

(http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/core-strength/SM00047)

Like most other approaches, this one includes abdominal muscles, back muscles and muscles around the pelvis. But what about muscles attached to the lowest ribs? Isn’t the famous transversus abdominis attached to rib cartilage of the lowest ribs? What about muscles attached to the pubic bone? Muscles attached to ribs, sternum and pubic bone definitely hold the spine in place and should therefore be considered part of the core.

Online directory about.com delivers the following definition of core:

„When someone talks about the core, they’re referring the muscles deep within the abs and back, attaching to the spine or pelvis.“

(http://exercise.about.com/cs/abs/a/corestrength.htm)

Why only the “deep” muscles? It is true that the spinal muscles such as the rotatores hold the spine in place. But don’t we also need the outer layers of muscles to hold the spine within a healthy range of motion while we move? And what about leg muscles like quadriceps and hamstrings: If you want to hold your spine in place you have to exercise your legs and lengthen the muscles and connective tissue around hips and legs so that they don’t pull at your spine.

Basically, core work is very hard to isolate. It involves strengthening and lengthening exercises for muscles that influence the core but aren’t counted as core (upper back, legs, chest area…).

Regarding actual core exercises there are a few more things that don’t make sense to me: If we are talking deepest spinal muscles = core muscles, that’s completely inconsistent with what we exercise. The expression “core exercises” is usually used synonymously with abdominal exercises, like crunches or pilates matwork exercises. But those exercises train the abdominal muscles not the deepest spinal muscles. If you are talking spinal muscles, you must train them by movements like jumping, vibration or rotation. The deepest musles attached to the spine are best exercised by rotation not crunches.

All these inconsistencies in the definition and application of “core strength” led me to believe that that expression is rather useless when it comes to yoga therapy or back pain prevention. Apparently, “the core” is some sort of label and advertising slogan for fitness classes that is not really thought through.

There is even a fellow blogger who reviewed a few medical studies and concluded that core exercises are pretty much useless when it comes to pain prevention. He also states some pretty interesting numbers (which I didn’t check myself, so please believe/disbelieve or verify if you really want to know):

“…most of life requires only minimal activation of the core musculature.  During walking, the rectus abdominis has an average activity of two percent of maximal voluntary contraction, and the external oblique operates at five percent.  During standing, trunk flexors and extensors are estimated to fire at less than one percent.  Add more than fifty pounds to the torso and they fire at three percent.  During bending and lifting muscular activation is similarly low.  Given that daily life seems to require so little core strength, perhaps it is not surprising that research interventions to increase core strength have little effect on pain.”

(http://toddhargrove.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/back-pain-myths-posture-core-strength-bulging-discs/)

So, what’s core strength about?

Is it about great looking abs?

Or is it really about a healthy spine?

If it’s about a healthy spine (which is my interest ), then you for sure need a more comprehensive approach addressing the whole body and mind. In yoga terms you could talk mula bandha and uddiyana bandha, muladhara chakra, svadhisthana chakra, manipura chakra, all abdominal muscles and back muscles, spinal muscles, leg muscles and connective tissue, upper body & anahata chakra, sattvic twists, deep breathing, meditation, relaxation and so much more.

If it’s about spinal health, I’d say balance strengthening, lengthening and relaxation. I’d say make sure that your back doesn’t compensate for weak abs and vice versa. I’d say don’t forget about your upper body, extremities and most of all your breath. I’d say focus on reducing your stress level and increasing your happiness.

Om Shanti.

nutrients and oxygen into the cell, energy out!!!

To fire that process up cells generally need oxygen. So we have to breathe to sustain pranamaya kosha. Prana, life energy or breath, sustains cellular respiration..

 Prana obviously is not an abstract concept if you consider that it is based on cellular respiration. The energetic body (pranamaya kosha) is not just some random fantasy.

Lets assume you all of a sudden decide to go running A LOT, so the cells in your legs need a lot of energy, right, to support your weight and also to let you push yourself forward. Your bones will adjust to more weight-bearing activities by increasing bone density. The energetic body affects the physical body: more running, higher bone density, more muscle mass.

 When you change the flow of energy in the body, the physical body also changes… It is very inspiring to think that these yogic concepts are rooted in biological reality. Back then when these concepts were written down, hundreds of years ago, there was neither a microscope nor an x-ray. And yet, yogis knew.

Prana, vital energy, flows through nadis (energy channels) and accumulates in cakras (energy centers) in the body. Western medicine does not acknowledge the existence of such an energy body and only works with the physical body, but in yoga it is generally accepted that there is a energy body that has to be taken care of, whether we can see it with our eyes or not. No matter where you stand on that debate, nourishing your pranamaya kosha (energy body) doesn’t hurt and you can potentially only benefit!

Classical yoga says that pranayama is what you use to raise the energy level of the body. Especially breathing techniques that involve breath retention after inhaling fully are said to be very efficient in raising the vibrational energy of the body.

Yoga masters even claim that you can direct the prana in the body to send energy to areas of the body that need it. To be able to do that you need to learn breath control. However there can also be areas in the body that are so tight, that the flow of energy is simply blocked. Asana practice can help to remove those obstructions, free the flow of breath and ultimately the flow of energy.

 It all comes back to unobstructed, smooth breathing… I find it very fascinating how much of yoga practice when you look at it on a deeper level is tied to the breath: control of prana, control of the sense, concentration, complete focus, meditation…

On cellular level, breathing obviously is essential:

Breathing brings oxygen into the body which is then supplied to each and every cell via the network of blood vessels and the lymph liquid. The cells then use the oxygen to burn the nutrients and release their energy. Without breath we die. Without breath no life energy in the cells. So, even if we don’t think about it often, the physical body depends on breath.

Frequency, rhythm and depth of our breathing decides how much and how regularly our cells are fed with oxygen. Long slow deep breath: consistent ample supply of energy. Shallow short breath: little, irregular supply of breath. Cells that don’t get enough oxygen are more prone to sickness than cells that are nourished. Deep regular breathing is pretty damn important from that perspective.

 And what is breath? A give and take. Inhale and exhale. We share the same air with all those other living beings around us…

Everything in this world, both visible and invisible, constantly vibrates. – Swami Sivananda