On the Meaning of Yoga...
One of my closets mentors used to take me on long drives through the wilderness areas of Montana. After one such drive Ray suggested I spend some time looking out over the mountain range. Even though the view was extraordinary, I began to balk at the discomfort of sitting in the freezing wind, numbed to the bone with cold. For what purpose had we come so far simply to sit and look at a mountain?
It took many years before I understood the message he wished to impart on me that early spring day: You are this vastness. This vista you see, this grandeur, this enduring strength - if you go deeply enough inside yourself, you will find not something small but something immensely spacious. This is the essence of the human spirit. This message, imparted so simply and yet ineffably etched into my experience of myself and the world, had an enormous influence in shaping what I came to see as the purpose of yoga - to reconnect to the original vastness and silence of the mind
~Donna Farhi from Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit
Virtual Live Class Schedule
(live classes keep expanding...stop in and visit me from your home)*
Sundays 4:30pm
www.bhaktibarn.com
Mondays at Noon
www.unwindyoganj.com
Tuesdays 11:15am
www.bhaktibarn.com
Thursdays 11am
www.yogaessencestudio.com
Thursdays 6:30pm
www.unwindyoganj.com
*Virtual live classes need preregistration. Please check out the studios website to sign up and you can practice with me live at home.
I hope you are enjoying the excerpts, quotes and poems I have been sharing with you. I must have read the one above at least a hundred times. It is a beautiful reminder of the power of this practice.
The vastness that Donna Farhi describes above is often called Spacious Awareness in meditation practice. Over time, as we practice both yoga and meditation, we learn to create gaps in between thoughts. And that is where the vastness resides. The more we practice, the more we are able to access it. I can say from my own personal mediation practice that it is a place I want to visit daily to rest and restore in if just for a small moment.
The pose I am in here is called Viparita Karani or Legs Up the Wall pose.
It is a passive supported variation of Shoulder Stand
Notice how I have used blankets and pillows to support my low back, head and even one across the abdomen which can offer a very grounding sensation in the body. Wonderful pose to calm the mind and even meditate in.
Suggested Meditation Songs
~The Southern Sea by Garth Stevenson
~Shanti by MC Yogi
Two new classes now up on You Tube.
See the links below and enjoy!
Thank you for your generous donations to my teaching and to FLAG (Front Line Appreciation Group). My friend Katie Darcy started this charitable organization in Summit to support local restaurants, the ER and ICU staff at Overlook Hospital. With the money those of you have donated so far we have been able to feed well over a 200 health care professionals a meal.
Donations are greatly appreciated and half of your donation supports FLAG
Venmo @Jenny-Hoffman-11
NAMASTE
