Kaivalya's Page

“Remember, Yoga practice is like an obstacle race; many obstructions are purposely put on the way for us to pass through. They are there to make us understand and express our own capacities. We all have that strength, but we don't seem to know it. We seem to need to be challenged and tested in order to understand our own capacities. In fact, that is the natural law. If a river just flows easily, the water in the river does not express its power. But once you put an obstacle to the flow by co… Continue

“When the mind is focused on a concrete object, that is called savitarka samadhi.” - Sri Swami Satchidananda “The principle of meditation is simple: You are what you think. By meditating on words that embody your highest ideals, you drive them deep into your consciousness. There they take root and begin to create wonderful changes in your life – changes you have wanted to make, but have not known how to bring about.” - Eknath Easwaran One of my goals in January was a return to my… Continue

With the end of January WoYoPracMo, I will no longer be cross-posting my Ashtanga-related posts to this space. If you would like to read about my adventures in Asana, you can find them here: The Reluctant Ashtangi.

I've decided to update this blog on Saturdays, my day off from Ashtanga practice. As my goal for the month is Swadhyaya, I will be sharing some thoughts on the reading I've been doing.

My daily reading is going well… Continue

Last day of WoYoPracMo 2008! I woke up very, very early and did the full Primary Series, zipping through in an hour and 20 minutes. The early start gave me time for a leisurely shower and breakfast before doing my Karma Yoga, volunteering at the soup kitchen. Musical Sirsasana was Sean Paul's 'Punkie [Español]' (3 min, 45 sec).

I successfully met the two goals I set for the month of January:
1) The full Primary Series every day
2) Daily meditation

I learned many t… Continue

A few people have asked why I'm the 'Reluctant Ashtangi'. Why 'reluctant'?

I was reluctant because I had some very bad experiences with the Ashtanga practice early on. Years ago, I started practising yoga without a teacher, using a video. The video I used was based on the Iyengar system of yoga: lots of focus on alignment, longer holds, not a lot of vinyasa. When I did start taking classes, they were in classical Hatha yoga, which is more gentle and less vigourous than Ashtanga (Hatha i… Continue