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UPCOMING EVENTS The Dance of Relationship 3 Workshops with Bruce and Elizabeth (ULTIMATELY, ALL RELATIONSHIPS ARE REALLY ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSE.) The Beauty and the Mask Sunday, October 15 The Shadow Unveiled Sunday, October 29 The Battle of Wounded me Sunday, November 19 Attend any or all Life in Motion Yoga Center 2744 B’way @ 105th (212) 666-0870 Sunday nights 6:30-8:30pm. Admission only $15 (per night) or use your class card. Teachers free. *** RETREAT IN PARADISE *** February 22-27,2007 With Bruce and Elizabeth Andes-Bell *** Mark Your Calendars *** Join us at the Good Hope Plantation, Jamaica for yoga, pranayama, meditation, developing your siddhas (high sense perception) and more. 6 hrs./day of classes in adept training, room, 3 gourmet vegetarian meals per day, transportation to and from airport, gift bag. Airfare not included. Retreat size is limited to 24. Reserve your spot today. All levels welcome. | |
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What’s new at Namaste?
Sacred Circle/Women Gathering with Katie Adams (Reiki Master) Meditating, moving, discussing, sharing, creating, inspiring, listening, rejoicing, caring, witnessing. Sundays 7:35pm $15 or 1 punch off class card Please bring a small contained candle. New Class with Lisa Trivell beginning Monday, November 6th, 9:30am* *Tuesday (2:15) Kundalini Yoga with Lisa is cancelled as of October 31st | |
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Autumn at Namaste
Autumn is the Harvest season, when we take stock of what we have built all year long. To the Taoists, autumn is the season of the lung/large intestine. These organs govern what we take in and release, our ability to be fluid and to be in the moment. The energetic focus of autumn is the relationship between chakras 2 and 5. Chakra 2,located in the pelvis, is connected to your sexuality and your passion for life. Chakra 5, located in the throat, translates that passion as your true voice in the world. Your personal passion as it speaks Truth that resonates with others. This can take the forms of art, service and justice.
In order to get the Shakti to rise up the body and blossom into acts of beauty, charity and wisdom, we must be willing to let go of what keeps us back and to open to the greatness we contain. This is the work of the warrior who is willing to do what it takes, to walk the razor’s edge, to stay present and undefended. The defenses I speak of are the vast array of unconscious physical and energetic armorings we carry to support our limiting thought forms . Staying present means being open so that we can read energies as they are forming as well as being grounded, supported and connected. What has changed is that the relationship that provides safety is your relationship with the universe rather than your relationship with your personal history. Your actions are no longer solely for personal gain but for the greater good. To paraphrase Gandhi; you become the change you want to see in the world and your transformation is the force that ushers change in others. With palms together, Elizabeth | |||
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Featured Asanas The Warrior Poses (Virabhradrasana I, II and III) One of the greatest teachings in yogic literature, the Bhagavad-Gita, is the story of Krishna’s instruction to Arjuna, the great warrior, on the eve of battle. The central message concerns the necessity to develop the capacity for actions performed with compassion but without attachment to emotion; to act from a centered focus that athletes refer to as the zone; to understand the greater good and place that above all else; and to integrate the spiritual dimension with the material. This path requires courage to move out of history, vision to lead and inspire (to literally open and fill the lungs to move forward), and the agility to be light, quick and strong all at once. All the standing poses are used to build stamina in the warrior practice but, these 3 poses are the classic examples of the combination of strength, stamina and composure (or actionless action) that the warrior practice demands. They give us the experience of a force, stronger than ourselves, moving through us and demanding that we release all the personal resistance that gets in the way.
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Warrior 1: It is a lot safer to enter this pose from a carefully constructed Monkey. Take care not to over or undershoot the front foot. You want a straight front foot with your ankle and knee at 90 degrees. Rotate the pubic bone to 12 o’clock so the hips do not torque. Reach the arms forward to ear level and extend forward through the spine, almost back bending to open the front body. Then come up. This method is much easier on the knees because you have stabilized your base first. Many people enter this pose from Parsvottanasana (legs open and straight, body facing front foot) and bend the front knee. This can create a lot of strain on the knee, in the same way that stepping into a lunge is more problematical than a lunge in place.
Warrior 2: These poses are meant to invigorate, not tax the system. You find this by working your energy field. Root through the feet, align the body, spin the feet, legs, arms and perineum so the energy lifts you and the lungs open. Then you rise along the vertical axis through the throat and head and finally out the crown. Use the wall as a guide to align the upper and lower body, not as a crutch. If your thighs hurt too much to explore the pose, put blocks under your front thigh but do not collapse on them. It is important to keep both legs equally engaged. Imbalances will cause us to displace the weight to the front or back foot. Only when you are centered do you have the agility to move in any direction as the moment dictates.
Warrior 3: Optimally, this pose is executed without excessive muscular gripping in the quads, buttocks or back. Placing one foot to the wall, squaring the hips and resting the arms on blocks allows you to find a number of access points to get in the flow. Make sure your standing foot is saggital, the ankle is at 90 degrees, the knee is not locked, and that you are centered on the hip. The raised leg is only hip level, toes point down. The hips must be square. This set up allows you to spin the feet and legs, extend the front body and shift the lungs and gaze forward while still holding your ground. You are at once dynamic and stable. The gaze is also a point that can be mapped. This brings the energy up into the 6th chakra (third eye) and eventually into the crown. At this point, the warrior is not the minion of some warlord. The warrior achieves mastery the Germans call “freiheit”. This is a level of morality that arises spontaneously when one understands the distinction between manmade law and eternal Truth. Mahatma Gandhi was such a man.
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Namaste Yoga Center 371 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York 10024 |