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.

108 sun salutations and Janai Pernima

The full moon on the 14th of this month brought about the festival of Janai Pernima, this is when all high caste men must change their ‘Janai,’ their sacred thread, which they wear looped around their left shoulder, until the next year. This tied in with my ritual of 108 sun salutations which I normally perform at full moon time with my fellow yogis in Kuala Lumpur; we would meet around 7am at sun yoga KL, and reach that meditative state during 108 salutations, feeding energy from one another and sharing our practice. Well this full moon brought much change, no longer in KL and practicing alone on my mat in my little shala on the roof. Imagining the mighty Himalaya surrounding me (they are still blanketed in cloud at the moment) certainly helped me through, as I reached Tadasana after every salutation I felt elated, rooted in the earth and lifted at the same time. So why 108? 108 is a sacred number in Sanskrit; 1 representing overcoming our ignorance and new beginnings, 0; emptiness and 8; infinite energy. I find doing this practice a way of cleansing, its not easy to complete, especially I found this at a higher altitude to what I’m used to, but the feeling of humbleness and thanks one receives on completion is well worth the effort. Then after a hearty breakfast of bean soup, a Nepali favourite at this time of year, my husband and myself headed down to the Kumbeshwar Temple in Patan to join in the celebrations. It was so colourful, so joyous and we were welcomed warmly to join in, receiving blessings from the priest, joining with worship to Lord Shiva, hands painted with henna and watching the boys energetically jumping and diving into the two ponds where a silver and gold lingam is set up for devotes to take a ritual bath in the water that is said to come from the holy lake at Gosainkund. It was a wonderful day listening to the tiny bells tinkling in prayer around this enigmatic time. This 108, I dedicated to my friends and family for their happiness and to Raymond and Dhemeri who were celebrating their birthdays close to this day.
Om Namah Sivayah
Smiling from the heart OM.

Sri Ganesha Namaha

Sri Ganeshaya Namaha
Jaya Ganesha Jaya Ganesha Jaya Ganesha Pahe mam
Sri Ganesha Sri Ganesha Sri Ganesha Raksa mam

Homage to Lord Ganesha, oh Lord Ganesha save me, Lord Ganesha protect me.

Lord Ganesha the elephant headed God, son of Siva and Parvati, the remover of all obstacles and granter of success, the bestower of wisdom and fulfiller of all desires, he rides on or is attended by the rat and he loves to eat modak, which is a sweetened rice dumpling filled with coconut and jaggery.

He is the first God worshiped before any other God, an ancient deity elicited for his immense strength and wisdom, he is worshiped to enable our path to be clear of obstacles, his trunk sometimes turning to the left sometimes to the right, corresponding to the two ways obstacles can be got round and the supreme goal reached. He is endowed with a gentle and affectionate nature, protecting his devotees and it turn he is revered and loved by them.

You are Language
You are consciousness
You are supreme bliss
You embody knowledge
Both earthly and divine.

This morning from the rooftop of my new flat in Kathmandu I saw a glimpse of the snow capped Himalaya before the cloud fell and kept them covered whilst we are in monsoon season still. What a wonderful sight before I entered my little shala on the roof for my morning meditation, as I repeat my mantra to Lord Ganesha the image of those mountains formed at my third eye centre and I felt an energy resonate through me. Moving to a new place, meeting new people creates mixed emotions, being here only two weeks there have been many obstacles to get around, a leaking ceiling, where to find basic things one needs and learning a new map of a new city, but I take refuge in the fact that Lord Ganesha will help me overcome those obstacles and will help me find the knowledge and learn all the new things that are all around me here. As a yogi, we are meant to be able to be happy and content in every situation knowing we are here due to our karma, knowing that it is what the divine wants for us, and this morning I smiled at the prospect of the huge learning curve I have in front of me. My wonderful GuruJi in India says the best teacher is the best student, well a student that is absolutely what I am, I have so much all around me to learn from, so bring on the journey and lets do yoga!
Sri Ganeshaya Sri Ganeshaya Sri Ganeshaya Namaha

Om shanti shanti shanti smiling from the heart.
Peace to all Love to all
Om and Prem.
nicky

Wisdom

"Be Childlike. Be simple. Be humble. The portals of the temple of wisdom are open unto the humble and simple." Sri Swami Sivananda.