Adapt, Adjust, Accommodate.

“Adapt, Adjust, Accommodate, if you can do that everything will be ok.” The words of Swami Sivananda. I have really been thinking about this over the past few weeks, especially being a yoga teacher, watching your student’s progress into the practice and over coming their difficulties as they are physically adapting, adjusting into the posture and accommodating within it, or accepting it. I feel a sense of wonder when I see a student really accepting and surrendering, especially when they may be having difficulty and once they have done this, the progress starts, they are an inspiration to me. We can’t fight the postures, we improve in yoga by that acceptance and relaxing into the asnas, both physically and mentally, not by pushing or forcing the muscles and joints when they aren’t ready, learning to use the breath to control the mind into adjusting correctly, accepting where we are on a daily basis and accommodating to what is going on around us. Then the magic starts to happen. As I think about Swami Sivananda’s words, he didn’t just mean from a yoga asna point of view, but from a whole life point of view. So many times when we would like something to happen and we try and force it, it just goes against us, but when we accept the position we are in and try to adjust to that instead of the other way around, things seem to go much more smoothly. We are bound by karma to our life situations here on this planet, but by tuning into those 3 little words from Swami Sivananda we can make what might seem like not such a good situation, into one where maybe we will end up blossoming, as he said if you can do that then everything will be ok!

A Winter Warmer, Almond Milk

10 almonds
1 cup of fresh warm milk or Soya milk
1 teaspoon honey
Pinch of cardamom powder
Pinch of fresh ground black pepper

Soak the almonds overnight, remove the skins after soaking, put all ingredients in a blender, blend on high speed and drink right away. If you don’t have a blender the almonds can be bashed quite easily with a pestle and mortar, and this is better for the environment- no electricity needed!!
This is a really tasty drink that is great in the mornings after meditation and before practice; it improves general energy and ojas (spiritual force or life energy.)

Om shanti shanti shanti :-)

Om Namo Narayanaya - homage to SwamiJi

Swami Vishnu-Devananda was born in Kerala, South India on December 31, 1927. He is recognised as a world authority on Hatha and Raja yoga, author of many books including the all time best selling, The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga, and Meditation and Mantras, dedicated to the teaching of yoga and the Sivananda yoga teacher training courses, and dedicated to spreading the message of peace, I feel as if I owe this man so much, although I never met him in the flesh, but through my practice, I feel him with me. Feeling his heart beat as he gave the greatest gift of opening my heart deep and wide to this wonderful gift of yoga. This enigmatic man left his physical body on this day, November 9th, 1963. Reading the stories of how he was known as the “flying Swami,” as he flew over the troubled areas of the world, in a small plane one of his disciples gave to him, dropping flower petals and messages of peace, inspired me so much. He was a very close disciple of Swami Sivananda whom he called his Master, he would say; ‘My master touched me and opened my eye of intuition, and all this knowledge returned to me from past lives.’ In 1953 Swami Sivananda sent Swami Vishnu to the West with the words ‘People are waiting,’ to spread the word of yoga, here he taught so many students, setting up Sivananda Centres in Canada, USA and the Bahamas. His dream was also to revive the ancient teachings of yoga in his homeland, India, where he inaugurated the Ashrams in kerala and up in the Himalaya on the banks of Mother Ganga, which became the place of SwamiJi’s Jala Samadhi.
He worked tirelessly to instil a strong and practical understanding of yoga and Vedanta into the people who came to him, and after a very strong vision he began The True World Order, which aims at promoting Peace and understanding.
Please join me in spirit tonight when I honour and give thanks to SwamiJi for all that he has done for the world and for me personally, when at 7.30pm Kathmandu time I will light many candles in his honor and repeat for 1 hour his personal mantra, OM NAMO NARAYANAYA; prostrations to Lord Vishnu, the preserver of the world.
Om Namah Sivaya Swamiji
Thank you so much for all that you have given us
Om shanti shanti shanti.

Savasana

Savasana, the posture we always begin and end the class with. After my class at The British School, Kathmandu on Tuesday, a new practitioner came to me at the end and said how much they needed 'that' and how relaxed they now felt or 'spaced out' in their words, and it made me think again on how important Savasana really is, maybe in todays society it is the most important asana of all, and one that we all can do. I focus a lot on teaching shcool teachers, for one reason they have a very stressful job, but also with the thought in mind that if I can share peace with them, if I can bring more peace to them, it will vibrate out through them to the students and children they are teaching, in hope of a more peaceful world. Today there are so many different types of Yoga, but we really musn't forget the root of why the ancient sages of India developed the practice in the first place, to reduce or prevent suffering both physical and mental to the human existence, not to create more stress to the body and mind trying to reach impossible goals due to social pressure and pride. We simply must relax.
When the body and mind are constantly overworked and over stimulated the natural efficiency of the body to rejuvenate is diminished, today it is very hard for people to relax properly when there are many stresses and stimulations from all angles forced upon us, especially for those of us living in a city. Proper relaxation is natures way of recharging one's energy, it rejuvenates our cells, skin, hair etc and allows our mind to find peace. Even while trying to rest the average person expands a lot of energy both physical and mental through tension, in fact we don't realize how much tension we are holding until we are properly relaxed. In a day so much energy may be consumed in just a few minutes by frustrations, anger, bad moods or irritation, this has a disastrous effect on both the body and mind. During Savasana we mentally work through the body starting with the toes up towards the head mentally relaxing each part, then messages are sent to every internal organ which in turn relax, and to the mind which becomes calm. Then we can begin to let go of any problems one has been experiencing. Savasana also allows the prana, (vital energy) to flow freely within the body, which is very important after asana class when you have produced this energy, it heals every part of us. So lie back in Savasana, turn your mind inward and relax...... relax........ relaaaaaaaax
1. the body should be straight making sure the head is not twisted to the side.
2. the back is flat on the ground or on your mat.
3. legs straight but not tense about 1/2 a meter apart.
4. toes relaxed and falling out to the side.
5. arms about 45 degrees angle from the body.
6. hands relaxed and palms face upward.
7. try to relax the entire body no tension held.
8. focus the mind on your breath.
9. try not to dwell on external activities.
10. breathing is quiet and always through the nose.
11. never strain the breath.
12. try to stay in the exact present moment and enjoy!

take this time for this ancient special practice in savasana, recharge yourself, take this time just for yourself, it wont be long until you really do feel the benefits I can promise you that, and I really can't stress enough how important it is.
Om shanti shanti shanti
smiling from the heart
nicky.

Happy Deepavali

Happy Deepavali, the festival of light, Jai jai jai victory
let us all rejoice in the inner light
wishing you all a very joyous, healthy and peaceful Deepavali
love and much light
Om shanti Om

The lamp on the path

I take this opportunity to offer my respectful and humble gratitude to Swami Vishnu-Devananda, direct disciple of Swami Sivananda, who personally designed the Sadhana Intensive course I have just returned from; to introduce serious practitioners and teachers to the intensive techniques of Hatha Yoga Sadhana. I take this opportunity to offer my thanks to all the Guru's, Sat Guru Swami Sivananda, Swami Govindananda who put me on the path, and the many people who have appeared in the form of Guru's to me, including other great yogi's be them teachers of students, whom I have learnt from and will continue learning from. I was born in the darkness of ignorance and my spiritual masters are opening my eyes lighting the lamps on the path.
Sadhana Intensive undertakes the daily life that ancient works describe that a yogi is expected to live. We should rise at 4am having his or her Guru in mind and chosen diety in heart. We should perform our abolutions and cleansing practices, then seated in padmasana, our meditative pose, mentally salute our Guru, then make our sankalpa; a prayer to help us with our daily practice and our daily resolve to the practice. We should offer salutations to all the great yogi's and to Sesa- the king of serpants,so we can successfully go through our asanas. After completing our meditation we can begin. The practice takes us through our suryia namaskar and our 12 postures, then we begin with intense pranayama (breathing techniques) of 2 hour sessions, 3 times a day. 10 pranayamas have to be completed increasing by 5 everyday, until reaching 80. Bandhas (energy locks) and Mudras (energy seals) are used to lock and direct the energy within the body. After completing each session one should sit in padmasana and concentrate on the inner sounds (the nada) and at the end of the days practice at 9 or 10pm one should offer it all to Iswara, (God.)
Om Namah Sivaya Guruve Satchidananda Murtaye
It is hard to put in a simple little blog post exactly what happened in those 15 days of intense practice, getting up at 4.20am, beginning practice at 5, and going through the whole day either in asana practice, pranayama, meditation or kirtan, with two breaks to eat. What happened to the body, and more importantly to the mind. What was it that changed in me, or became illuminated to me. It was a time to journey deeply within, and to try to overcome the darkness filling our hearts with divine virtues, still the mind waves and find peace.
Yoga meaning unification, unification with what? With the universal consciousness , or we can say God. Maybe in society today we have forgotton our eternal relationship with this universal consciousness, every one of us is full of anxieties because of this material existence. Our activities have to be purified, and practice brings purification. The Bhagavad Gita teaches that we have to purify this materially contaminated consciousness, one must become free and one who wants to become free has to practice with sincerity and an open heart.
"The action of a person, who has abandoned all desires is freed from desire. Indifferent to ownership or sense of possession and free from any sense of ego, he attains peace." 2:71 Bhagavad Gita
I asked Mother Ganga, of which we were sitting right beside, take my ego, wash it away, burn it in the fire, let me find peace. I asked Mother Ganga to help me, I asked Lord Siva and Saraswati to guide me, be with me. During those 15 days I felt Joy, my mantra become very strong, the moon came to me. My hearing became so acute to even hear things that weren't there. I was able to observe the different emotions I was going through and the realization came that often when we have a problem of some sort or irritation, the problem is not external as we see it, but lies within us, within our own minds, and only by changing the way we think can we overcome the problem.
It is a blessing to be a Yogi, and I feel incredibly grateful. I have found more peace, more bliss, and feel that I am coming closer to that universal consciousness. Yoga can mean to walk in the path of God, to feel light, feeling a change in ones attitude to life, more healthy, more happy, more focused and more content. Yoga can bring you to be like the shinning sun and it is for all humanity no matter who you are, where you come from, and if you have faith what faith that comes from. And oh how we need this yoga now in todays world, I feel truly blessed I can teach yoga in hope of making people feel better and to bring more and more peace back into the world.
Now I am back from Sadhana, back to the life of noise and traffic, what now? The hard part is coming out of the practice, one has to be in the right place with an experienced Guru to practice so intensely, but it doesn't stop, the peace is still there, it is deep in my heart and I continue with my practices as I was before, meditation, asna and pranayama, keep up my studies and keep teaching, hoping that the vibrations are spreading. And lets see where the next part of the journey takes me and when the next lamp on the path is going to be lit. From a small seed, great things can grow.
Shanti- peace for your eternal self
Shanti- peace to all living beings and entities
Shanti- peace to Mother Earth
love and light and OM
nicky.

please feel free to contact me regarding course details, however you need to have taken the Sivananda teachers training course before embarking with Sadhana Intensive. Images above are of the Sivananda Netala Ashram, Utterkashi, India where the course was held. Om.

Sadhana Intensive

I am very excited as my rucksack comes out of the cupboard, my Sivananda teacher training uniform gets a fresh iron and I start packing a few things ready for my departure to Delhi on 5th of September. I am embarking on a journey, and not one merely of geographical matter but a deeper journey within. I am heading to the Sivananda Ashram, Netala, Utterkashi up in the Himalaya in India, to join the Sadhana Intensive, (intense spiritual practice) for 16 days. As described in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika; from watering the plant, eventually you will get flowers and fruits, well I am hoping to go and water myself so to speak, and maybe through intense practice my flower will bloom! There is no fast or easy method on the journey that this yoga takes us on, to find the absolute, to find bliss absolute, we all have to find our own pace, this is the first time I will be undertaking this course and I am very excited and slightly nervous of the prospect. We will be rising at 4am and engaging in practice until 10pm for the duration of the course. I feel privileged and honoured that I am able to go and experience this exquisite practise of intense pranayama, (breathing techniques,) meditation and advanced asana’s (yoga postures) in the place where Swami Sivananda found his enlightenment. At the moment I’m not quite sure what is in store for me, I have experienced the Ashram life before during my teacher training down in Tamil Nadu at the Meenakshi Sivananda Ashram, which was a wonderful, beautiful, testing and life changing, I am hoping from this next experience that my practice and understandings will deepen still, and therefore enable me to become a better yoga teacher and share this beautiful thing on a deeper level. No more blog posts for the next month, as I am aloud no contact during the course time, so looking forward to sharing with you all once I return. Classes have started in Kathmandu already in my living room which my husband so graciously aloud me to turn into a little studio and at The British School Kathmandu, but I will post a substantial time table once I am back.

Sadhana Intensive is open to all graduates of the Sivananda teacher training course, you can find course dates as well as yoga vacations and locations on the official Sivananda site; www.sivananda.org

For now to my practitioners keep your mats out and keep up the practice, and I will see you all soon,
Om shanti shanti shanti
Smiling from the heart
Om

The Yogi Diet

“We are constantly being bombarded with stimuli, and these make up the diet of our lifestyle. From the food we eat, the air we breathe, the things we see, feel, hear and touch, our environment is formed and this in turn profoundly influences and shapes our internal environment. We are what we eat literally, for the mind is constructed out of the subtlest parts of our diet and the body from the rest. To achieve the goal of life, to find contentment and perfection requires a peaceful and focused mind. To control the mind is difficult since it is in reality very much under the control of our physical body. It is therefore suggested that we first discipline and control the physical body and the mind may be easily controlled. Diet plays an important part of the process.” Swami Visnu-Devananda.

The yogi diet is traditionally a vegetarian and lacto one, mainly consisting of grains, pulses, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and dairy products. It follows a simple, natural and wholesome ethos bearing in mind the subtle effects food has on the mind and the prana (vital energy.) There are many health reasons to become vegetarian, as well as psychological, spiritual, moral and macro-economic.

In my own experience and coming from a big meat eating family, I thought it was going to be a difficult task, however cutting down gradually and then eliminating all meat products wasn’t hard at all, and I can truly say that I have never felt so healthy in my life, this is definitely due to diet and all the asana’s, pranayama and meditation practice combined that I do each day. My body feels clean, and now after two years of following this diet I could never go back. One thing I noticed after some time of being vegetarian, maybe after 3-6 months that my flexibility increased and certain asana’s (yoga postures) were becoming easier than I had found them before.

There are so many benefits of following the yogi diet, just from a health point of view, we can reduce the risks of high blood pressure, heart attacks, hardening of the arteries, arthritis, gout, constipation, cancer, kidney diseases and osteoporosis to name but a few! The American Medical Journal states that a vegetarian diet can prevent 90% of our thromboembolic disease and 97% of our coronary occlusions.

As a Yogi, we take a lot of our prana (vital energy) from the sun, hence in our diet we like to eat foods that have taken maximum energy from the sun and nutrients from the earth, the closer our food is to the source the more potent the energy. Therefore eating plants that create protein and avoid undesirable elements, i.e. large amounts of antibiotics, pesticides and residue of tranquillisers that are found in meat, is best for the yogi.

In yoga philosophy the mind is formed from the subtlest portion or essence of food, if the food is pure, the mind has proper building materials for the development of a strong and subtle intellect and a good memory. A yogi diet is one that brings inner peace to the body and mind, pure foods that increase vitality, energy, vigour, health and joy, that are delicious and wholesome are best. Foods should be fresh and natural as possible, organic, not processed and eaten in the most natural state as possible, raw, steamed or lightly cooked.

You should include, grains, wholegrain breads, which supply the carbohydrates needed, pulses, nuts and seeds provide the proteins. Fruits have the foremost importance in the yogi diet; the curative effects of fresh juicy fruits are astonishing. They fill the body with vitalising life-giving minerals, vitamins and fibre. Leafy vegetables, squashes, cucumbers eaten raw or as lightly cooked as possible are wonderful yogic food. We also have to think about what veggies we are taking in, some are quite stimulating and therefore not good for the quiet and calm mind, such as chilli, onions and garlic, so try to omit these as much as possible.

My lunch today, apple, melon, cucumber, cashew nuts, carrot and some rye crackers, with a fresh watermelon juice, yum yum!


Om shanti shanti shanti
Smiling from the heart.