There have been quite a few books published on the topic of doing yoga “off the mat”. Click here for an example. The idea is that we practice yoga on the mat with a certain philosophical approach in mind and we take what we learn into our everyday activities. So thus, yoga off the mat is informed by new wisdom.
Today, I was felt nicely chilled out from my early morning practice (despite very chilly winter temperatures outdoors). […]
Wisdom
So Happy!
First of all, this post has nothing whatsoever to do with Kookaburras, but they are so darn cute that I thought you would like to see them. There were 5 of them hanging around in the trees back of the house, not making a sound. Perhaps all the wet weather dampened their intrinsic mirth.
What I really wanted to say today is how happy I am to be back in the saddle, that is, teaching. I have a really lovely group of people coming along already. […]
Equanimous?
A yogini has to be detached in any circumstances; that is what she is cultivating: equanimity.
In this view, I probably let the team down this morning when I went out to the Yoga Shed to practice. I got a shock and I might have even said, “What the f#@*” in reaction to the mess I discovered.
By now, I should be prepared for certain wild events, living in the country as we do. Last weekend we were threatened with minor flood warnings which very nearly eventuated, but didn’t. We have been isolated before, only for a day. […]
A Tidy Mind
One of Patanjali’s niyama – precepts – is Saucha (which translates as purity or cleanliness). When I was training yoga teachers in Sydney, I would test the trainees to see if they could recall all 10 of the yama and niyama. Saucha often would be the one left out. I thought maybe, as precepts go, it was not so cool as Satya (honesty) or Ishvarapranidhana (devotion to a higher power).
How many these days would want to be considered pure? I like Donna Fahri’s interpretation of Saucha as wholesome. […]
Two Kinds
Two kinds of Intelligence