linda's yoga journey

moving day

2011-08-01T13:59:00.003-05:00

I've moved to Wordpress...click the Vajrayogini to continue reading the ramblings of a yoga subversive. If you have LYJ blogrolled, please change your link to http://lindasyoga.com Thanking all my readers since 2005...see you there!

yoga miscellaneous: healing

2011-07-19T23:55:00.001-05:00

A letter from Sri.K. Pattabhi Jois to Yoga Journal, Nov. 1995 "It is unfortunate that students who have not yet matured in their own practice have changed the method and have cut out teh [sic] essence of an ancient lineage to accommodate their own limitations." "Spiritual Madness and Compassionate Presence" -- healing of mental suffering through the philosophy and practice of Yoga ‎"One of

Trauma Sensitive Yoga: breathing the walking wounded, part 3

2011-07-01T16:10:00.001-05:00

breath + movement = roots Psychologist Babette Rothschild has said: "Breath is a reminder of trauma. Sensory messages from muscle and connective tissue that remember a specific position, action, or intention can be sources of triggers. Accelerated heart rate and increased respiration can be implicit reminders of that same reaction that accompanied the trauma." As we talked about the breath

Trauma Sensitive Yoga: the walking wounded, part 2

2011-06-28T16:37:00.004-05:00

A trauma survivor can be an adult survivor of childhood abuse, a domestic violence survivor, a survivor of sexual assault, someone who was in a horrible car wreck or natural disaster, or a returning soldier with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD.) Basically, anyone who walks into your class. As teachers, we never know what a student's story is, either physically or psychologically. A “

Trauma Sensitive Yoga: the walking wounded, part 1

2011-06-28T08:11:00.000-05:00

"The body keeps the score." - Dr. Bessel van der Kolk According to the teachers at my recent Trauma Sensitive Yoga training, 70-80% of the population have experienced some type of trauma, whether being in a war or a catastrophic car accident. This statistic comes from a collection of the clinical literature currently out there. Keeping that statistic in mind, think of your yoga class. In

wisdom from my teacher: "Statics and Dynamics of Asana"

2011-06-03T09:23:00.000-05:00

Another newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami....enjoy When I was a student I had to study a course in Mathematics (or was it Physics or Engineering?) titled, “Statics and Dynamics.” That was the time Mathematics left me but I liked the name of the course which I am using as the title of the article. When I was young I used to be called “Soni Ramaswami” by many relatives,

we are not the Yogis, we are the Yoga

2011-05-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

Read this. And be awed. addthis_pub = 'yogagal60510';

what is your yoga truth?

2011-05-24T14:06:00.002-05:00

Hanumanasana is Overrated "From a standpoint where the purpose of Hatha yoga is to facilitate and maintain a healthy functioning body, there is no reason why a person would ever need to be able to do Hanumanasana. However unattached we may be in working towards it, the goal belies our better purpose. Touting images of flashy classical asana demonstrations as examples of “mastery” has led to a

the dharma of doo-doo

2011-05-23T14:00:00.001-05:00

It always does my heart good when I hear a student talk about how yoga has helped them in their life. Most of the realizations I've heard are more about the non-physical than the physical, things on a deeper level than achieving an arm balance or handstand. I sit back and say to myself (or sometimes out loud), yes, they get it, someone has been paying attention! I've always said that yoga

it bears repeating

2011-05-16T10:50:00.000-05:00

late July gardens, 2010 Last week on my birthday I listened to Mark Whitwell's talk on the new website Yoga Teacher Telesummit. I have to admit that I did not finish listening to his talk because my birthday arrived with gorgeous weather and I was compelled to practice my other yoga -- gardening. A beautiful day is wasted sitting in front of the computer even if it is spent listening to

"Houston, We Have a Problem"

2011-05-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

(thanks to the genius of Diane Arbus) Why doesn't awakening happen just like that? [visualize a finger snap.] Because then you would never know the pain and the joy of it. ####### "Houston, we have a problem. What’s that? you say. I listen to these advaita newbies who have suddenly awakened and think, “What part am I missing here?” I know my teacher would fall down laughing if it weren’t

wisdom from my teacher

2011-05-02T17:00:00.002-05:00

Yes, even my yoga guru shuts up to do his practice: "...[the] English translation of my Guru Sri Krishnamacharya's Yoga Makaranda (I have the Tamil translation of the book for over 45 years and refer to it even today whenever I want to just shut up and listen to my Guru, Sri Krishnamacharya.)" Note: that's called humility...one of the aspects of a true yogi. Click here if you want to

the B.I.T.C.H. is back

2011-04-27T22:35:00.002-05:00

B = Brave I = Intelligent T = Tenacious C = Creative H = Honest "Embracing your inner bitch...means that you're being strong and honest with yourself and those around you, and I think that's a good thing." Thanks to Tabatha for that! Yeah, you heard me. I'm back. But on a very limited basis. Since I stopped writing in February I can't tell you how many readers left comments on Facebook or

dropping the curtain

2011-02-13T12:00:00.008-06:00

original art Karin Bartimole "When you are truly genuine, there will invariably be people who do not accept you. And in that case, you must be your own badass self, without apology." (Katie Goodman) "Yoga is not for people who are interested in staying the same." (David Life) My decision to stop writing this blog came to me in India. I returned from India just last Thursday and my

The Call

2010-12-28T10:57:00.002-06:00

upon first seeing Gangakondacholapuram, 2008 My first OM was in 1973 with Beat Poet and Buddhist, Allen Ginsberg, and I drifted in and out of yoga during the ‘70s. It was only when I returned to a serious yoga practice in the mid-‘90s that everything clicked. I began yoga teacher training in 2002 at a traditional yoga studio in Chicago. I was a sponge soaking everything in, I could

reflections on 2010 and ruminations on the future

2010-12-27T22:00:00.001-06:00

My oh my, what a blessed year 2010 was...no apologies, no regrets, and always moving on. I started out in South India at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, flew to Kolkata where Kali Ma knocked me down, traveled to Bhubaneswar to meet the 64 Yoginis, and then spent 9 days at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Hardiwar where I jumped into the Ganges on Mahashivratri and met a swami of the highest order.

here we go again, part 2

2010-12-02T19:24:00.011-06:00

yogis I want to say from the onset that my writing is not meant to be a scholarly history of Hinduism and I won't get into any debates about what Hinduism is, who is a Hindu, etc. I am more than cognizant of the various Hindu gods and goddesses and know the difference between a Shaivite and a Vaishnavite (I'm partial to Murugan who is also known in Mahayana Buddhism as Skanda.) But all that

here we go again, part 1

2010-12-01T22:18:00.008-06:00

Hindu blessing of cow, Rameswaram beach, 2006 Getting on the yoga merry-go-round again of the old debate on "who owns yoga?" and whether yoga springs from Hinduism. There's lots of stuff going on in the world but it must be a slow news day when the New York Times publishes another article with a dramatic title on the Hindu group that is stirring up the debate over yoga's soul. Then there

yoga and the evolutionary process

2010-11-04T23:20:00.005-05:00

No, not yoga and evolution. Yoga and YOUR evolution. Change. I've been thinking a lot about what my student said in class the other night, about what she thinks "real yoga" is. It was her belief that mainstream yoga caters to this culture rather than trying to change this culture. To this student "real yoga" is about change on the micro- and macro- level. Or as I've heard Desikachar say,

just an old-fashioned girl

2010-11-03T11:30:00.004-05:00

Last night in class I only had two students. Believe it or not, this no longer bothers me -- I show up and I teach. Despite how "mainstream" yoga people love to believe yoga is nowadays -- and I would really like someone to explain to me what mainstream is -- the number of students in class is diminishing. I'm not the only teacher in my area who finds this to be true. So since it was a

save Tibet, free Tibet

2010-10-22T22:26:00.000-05:00

"In saving Tibet we prove the existence and power of the human spirit." Play this video forward on October 23. OM MANI PADME HUM addthis_pub = 'yogagal60510';

stick a fork in it....

2010-10-18T00:14:00.003-05:00

...I'm done. For now. The Yoga Ink Saga. Not as important as writing about the current state of yoga, but I'm tired....turning inward and slowly checking out. addthis_pub = 'yogagal60510';

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

2010-10-01T09:46:00.003-05:00

I am a survivor.That is why my seva is at my local domestic violence shelter for almost 10 years now. It is my favorite class to teach because my students are also my teachers. Someone you know is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or both.Consider these facts --Domestic Violence:Half of all married women in the United States are physically abused at some time in their

listen. and then listen again.

2010-09-27T12:59:00.001-05:00

"(The Atma) is not even in name different (from the Brahm.) It is not hidden in the high words (of the Vedas.) O Friend! How can I call it uniform or varied? I am by nature Eternal Freedom beyond all ills." Avadhuta Gita, 4.13"Know me to be free from one and all. For me there is neither the Maya nor its opposite. How can I be said to have anything to do with the Sandhya and other

because yoga cooks us

2010-09-26T23:26:00.001-05:00

Chickpea to Cook~Jalaluddin Rumi(translated by Coleman Barks)A chickpea leaps almost over the rim of the potwhere it's being boiled."Why are you doing this to me?"The cook knocks him down with the ladle."Don't you try to jump out.You think I'm torturing you.I'm giving you flavor,so you can mix with spices and riceand be the lovely vitality of a human being."Remember when you drank rain in the