by Eve Grzybowski | Jun 29, 2012 | XSutras, Yoga practices, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
(If you are irritated by every rub, how will you get polished? – Rumi)
I’m trying on being philosophical about having lost a post that took me the better part of an hour to compose. Hey, I’m slow at this, even after 2.5 yrs. on “Yoga Suits Her”.
So, the gist of what I want to say is: I’ve been resisting like crazy writing about the next few Sutra. They relate to experiences I have never had. Fortunately, Chapter One is almost complete, and Chapter Two is more the realm of mere mortals like me.
Fortunately T.K.V. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Jun 28, 2012 | XSutras, Yoga practices, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
I love my iPhone. I was an early adopter. Not because of any nifty apps I could get, of which there were few and far between back then. But I just loved the way the iPhone could display photos, and, lord knows, I have a lot of images.
I am not a luddite. I wonder, though, whether all the screens we view all through the day are serving our health. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Jun 27, 2012 | XSutras, xTmp, Yoga practices, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Source: google.com via Anna on Pinterest
I’m not sure I believe in affirmations. In fact, I think I read a study somewhere that said affirmations can work against you.
Say you pick a slogan such as, “I am happy and free”, and you write up some post-it-note messages to be placed strategically around your home. Everywhere you turn, there’s a reminder of the state of being that you aspire to as though it already exists.
But, here’s the thing that can trip you up: you don’t feel happy and free. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Jun 26, 2012 | XSutras, xTmp, Yoga practices, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Yoga teaching
Source: Uploaded by user via Paola on Pinterest
The practice of yoga can become addictive for some people, especially those personalities who have that little bit of a tendency to get obsessive about things, like me.
When I discovered Iyengar yoga in 1979, sometimes I would do more than one class a day. I would definitely be at the studio every day (except Sunday), and I even did a yoga teacher training course only five months after my first class. The course went for six months. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Jun 25, 2012 | Humour, XSutras, xTmp, Yoga practices, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Yoga teaching
I don’t know what the exact trigger is for having to go on a diet – different for different people, I suppose.
Possible reasons for gaining weight are we’ve been on the holiday of a lifetime on a cruise ship where the food laid on was deliciously irresistible. Or how about, visiting distant family and suffering emotional setbacks that could only be soothed by comfort foods. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Jun 24, 2012 | Nature, XSutras, Yoga practices, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Yoga teaching
A yoga student in last week’s class said that she almost didn’t make it. She might have been vacillating for all the myriad reasons a mind can generate: too busy, too hard, too long since the last attendance, not feeling like it, winter blues, upset in the family, or just plain slack.
She didn’t tell me why it was a close call and I didn’t ask, but I was thinking about her today when I was cycling down to Manning Point. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Jun 23, 2012 | Philosophy, Wisdom, XSutras, Yoga practices, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Over the years, I’ve done several 10-day vipassana meditation courses. I can recommend them very highly for the fact that they are conducted in silence, and usually in a quiet rural setting.
The downside of hanging out in a silent environment is that for me the noisiness of my mind (citta vrtti) becomes amplified. Eventually, my mind will get quiet but sometimes not without a struggle.
I remember the vipassana facilitator in the nightly dharma talks discussing what happens when we slow down, and, at the same time, outside stimuli are severely reduced. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Jun 22, 2012 | Philosophy, XSutras, xTmp, Yoga practices, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Yoga Therapy
Source: abeautifulrippleeffect.com via Twyla on Pinterest
A few weeks ago I was having a great deal of trouble falling asleep. Nervous about teaching 9 sessions in two days to a completely new group of students, I needed sleep, but it eluded me.
One of the yogic techniques I tried was echo breathing. I’d read about this type of breathing in B.K.S. Iyengar’s Light on Life. Here’s how Mr. Iyengar describes how to do it and what it achieves:
“Exhale slowly and fully. Pause. Then exhale again. There is always a slight residue left in the lungs. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Jun 21, 2012 | Philosophy, XSutras, Yoga practices, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Do you have a favourite quote? I was asked to fill one in on a directory profile today. I find my memory is sort of leaky and I can’t remember many adages or aphorisms. However, this one from the Ramayana has always stuck with me as a something to aim for :
When I don’t know who I am I serve you. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Jun 20, 2012 | Philosophy, XSutras, xTmp, Yoga practices, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Yoga teaching
Sometimes I feel left behind. Someone will ask me if I know so-and-so yoga teacher and more often than not these days I have to say ‘no’. It doesn’t help if I say, ‘Well, I know the old yoga teachers.”
Some of the newer kids on the block are actually quite famous and I should know their names. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Jun 19, 2012 | Gardening, Healing, XSutras, xTmp, Yoga practices, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
I am klutzy when it comes to getting around on a computer. It doesn’t come naturally to me. However, maybe like you, I find myself spending an increasing amount of time in front of this screen and keyboard.
On some level I know that I choose to be doing this, but probably at least once a day, I get annoyed with this machine.
Today I spat the dummy. For other than Aussie readers, this is a term that implies overreacting to a situation in an angry or frustrated manner. That’s a pretty accurate description of my disposition. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Jun 18, 2012 | Philosophy, XSutras, Yoga practices, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Yoga teaching
When I have guests to stay at our home, I invite them to do practice with me first thing in the morning in the Yoga Shed. People who have had no prior experience with yoga have reported that they take it up after a few of these sessions, and I attribute that partly to the inspiration of the yoga room. I’ve seen even those who used to do yoga and, for whatever reason, have stopped, get a taste for it again after practising in the Yoga Shed.
A yoga studio can be a storehouse of good energy. […]