Yoga Therapy
Private & Individualized Yoga Sessions
Various Locations
Viniyoga + Vinyasa
Wednesday 5:15-6:30 pm
Bindu Yoga Studio
Therapeutic Viniyoga
Thursday 8:00-9:00 am
Jupiter Inlet Beach Club
Members + Guests Only
Integrative Yoga Practices
August 2010 – 5 Session Series
Attaining Yoga Studio
Jupiter, Florida – Read details here
2010 Yoga Journal Florida Conference
November 11-14, 2010
Hollywood, Florida
Assitant to Emily Large
September 2
The affairs of the world will go on forever. Do not delay
the practice of meditation.
-Milarepa
The human being simply does not have enough fuel in one
lifetime to explore every byway that presents itself. If we
had a thousand years to live, we could explore every
roadside attraction, doing all the little things that appeal
to us, and still have time left for realizing the goal of
life. But even the most long-lived of us will be given a
hundred years at most – and but a fraction of that time
before vitality and resolution begin to wane.
People approach spiritual growth in one of two ways: there
are the “locals” and the “express” trains. The “locals” stop
at every little station along the way to sample the food and
enjoy the local color. But the “express” goes straight
through to the destination. Fortunately, there seems to be
an inner law: we start as “locals” but become “expresses” as
we make progress on our journey.
When we take to meditation and put all our heart into
practicing spiritual disciplines, we find ourselves speeding
towards the goal.
more from IYM interview with Gary
IYM: What about using asana to treat psychological issues?
GK: Asana is only a part of the process for working with emotions. Our approach isn’t: I’m depressed, so I do some kind of supported backbend. From a yogic perspective, emotion is a general term consisting of various parts including: physiology, mood, cognition and behavior. . . . . When we use Yoga to work with emotions, asana is only a part.
There are many going afar to marvel at the heights of
mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the long courses of
great rivers, the vastness of the ocean, the movements of
the stars, yet they leave themselves unnoticed!
-Saint Augustine
Today many people who enjoy traveling are not content with
visiting London or Paris; they want to travel by camel in
the Sahara, or kayak in the Antarctic. But no matter how
exotic, this is horizontal travel, where we stay on the
surface of life. Much more fascinating is vertical travel
- that is, meditation, which takes us to the Land of
Love in the utmost depths of consciousness.
For a long time we may not get very far, but if we insist on
traveling deep, meditation will become a daring adventure.
We will pass through level after level of consciousness,
just the way one travels from one country to another. There
is this difference: when we pass from the United States into
Mexico, we know when we have crossed the border. We must
stop and speak to the guard. Then the language changes. We
know we are in a new land. In meditation, it is rather
different. The changes are likely to take place so gradually
that we may not even be aware of it immediately. But slowly
and surely we will begin to have a strong feeling of coming
home to our native land.
psychcentral.com
more from IYM interview with Gary
Asana as a Tool: The Viniyoga Approach . . . .
We use asana as a mirror, to see what’s going on with our
spines, to see if our joints are stable or hyper-mobile, if our
muscles are contracted, weak, or developed asymmetrically, etc. Then, we adapt the forms of asana to improve skeletal
alignment, stabilize hyper-mobile joints, restore muscular
symmetry, strengthen weak muscles, create functional
movement patterns and so on.
Asana as a Tool: The Viniyoga Approach . . .
Our detailed science of sequencing, known as vinyasa karma, enables practitioners to create different sequences for different needs. Finally, we think of using asana in the service of pranayama—to help prepare the mind for meditation, which prepares the heart for prayer.
By two wings we are lifted up from things earthly: by
simplicity and purity.
-Thomas a Kempis
To soar to the heights, the soul needs two wings. One is
purity, which enables us to keep our eyes on the one thing
in life that matters: awareness of the divinity within every
human being. The other is simplicity: of lifestyle, but also
simplicity in our desires.
This raises a worry that many serious-minded people have
today. Living in the workaday world, surrounded by all
manner of influences we cannot control, can purity and
simplicity ever be anything for us but beautiful
abstractions? It is one thing to grasp intellectually how we
want to live; it is quite another to put our ideals into
practice.
Yet, it is possible to learn to tug our attention away from
lesser things, and focus on what really matters. And, to our
great surprise, we will actually hit on some remedies. One
person may start with his teenaged son, discovering a way to
give him support that hadn't occurred to him before.
Another may mobilize help for children dying of hunger in
Ethiopia or help the homeless in the inner city.
Our detailed science of sequencing, known as vinyasa karma, enables practitioners to create different sequences for different needs. Finally, we think of using asana in the service of pranayama—to help prepare the mind for meditation, which prepares the heart for prayer.
you can view the full article as a pdf file by going to
http://www.viniyoga.com/?cn=wh
The test of a man or woman's breeding is how they
behave in a quarrel.
-George Bernard Shaw
When tempers are frayed, and an argument is in progress, it
is very difficult for anyone to listen with courtesy to an
opposing point of view. If we could ask the mind on such
occasions why it doesn't listen, it would answer
candidly, "Why should I? I already know I'm
right." We may not put it into words, but the other
person gets the message: "You're not worth
listening to." It is this lack of respect that offends
people in an argument, much more than any difference of
opinion.
But respect can be learned – in part by acting as if
we had respect. We show respect by simply listening with
complete attention. Try it and see: the action is very much
like that of a classical drama. For a while there is
"rising action." The other person's temper
keeps going up; language becomes more and more vivid;
everything is heading for a climax. But then comes the
denouement. The other person begins to quiet down: his voice
becomes gentler, his language kinder, all because you have
not retaliated or lost your respect for him.
Beauty is all very well at first sight; but who ever looks
at it when it has been in the house three days?
-George Bernard Shaw
Often we try to build relationships on what is pleasing to
us, particularly on physical attraction. But if there is
anything sure about physical attraction, it is that it has
to change. We cannot build on it; its very nature is to come
and go.
Physical attraction is a sensation – here one minute
and gone the next. Love is a relationship. It is pleasant to
be with someone who is physically attractive, but how long
can you enjoy an aquiline nose? How long can you thrill to
the timbre of a voice when it doesn't say what you
like? It's very much like eating: no matter how much
you are attracted to chocolate pie, there is a limit to how
much of it you can enjoy. Beyond that limit, if somebody
merely mentions chocolate, your stomach stages a revolt.
If you want to build a relationship, build it on what
endures. To build on a firm foundation, we have to stop
asking, "What do I like?" and ask only,
"What can I give?" Then there is joy in
everything, because there is joy in the relationship itself
- in ups and downs, through the pleasant and the
unpleasant, in sickness and in health.
living yoga radio show with robin rothenberg
http://www.essentialyogatherapy.com/living_radio.html
direct link to interview with gary kraftsow:
http://c2.libsyn.com/media/19223/Living-Yoga-08-06-10.mp3?nvb=20100820003446&nva=20100821004446&sid=9d3ee7cda58ed8892f39cbe37bb439a8&t=0390d55fed19383a85451
