Tadasana or Samasthiti – Mountain Pose and Standing in Balance

Mountain pose is often touted as the prime posture for experiencing the inherent poise of properly performed Asana. What is poise, first? We should perhaps consider. Poise comes when we feel present in every fiber of our being. It feels like all your inner resources are right there at your beck and whim and you can play it as cool as having an ace in the hole. Physically, it is feeling balanced and at ease to deftly move in any direction.

Truth is, lately I think about mountain pose or “the upright standing posture” of people more often outside of the yoga class. I watch how people stand everywhere. I look inside them, and see their spine.

When we stand tall our bodies naturally moves towards balance. This means that all of our postural muscles are working with the appropriate weight load and don’t become stressed. All of our vertebrae, joints, and organs come close to an internal stasis, of having equal pressure.

The lungs also move towards this stasis and breath is distributed evenly to and from all portions of the lungs. I don’t need to cite all the benefits this has for your metabolism, immunity, mental health, etc.

So why does it seem many people slouch, have bad posture, or curl over with age? They are being pulled away from their center in one way or another. Physical objects like our gadgets pull us in, social confrontations pull us to a side so we feel stronger to move in a certain feeling or direction, and gravity pulls us down. It is also accepted that many peoples’ posture is a result of cultural conditioning. We hold ourselves the way we see other people do. All the more important for us than to be a good role models!  To come back to center takes recognition, some concentration, and sometimes  more. Keep going through the process. Be aware. Recognize. Re-adjust. Notice what it feels like to be in your balance physically. Consider what it means to be in emotional and intra-personal balance. Can you still feel poise when someone is creating invasive or reactive energies.  When your in balance does it seem like there is a bigger world, more energy, or a better feeling about yourself? Keep doing it and make yourself new. This process of coming back to your physical balance center with the spine is the symbolic representation of bringing your self back to the present moment in which lay your real work and pleasure of discovering a new manifestation of your eternal soul.

Soo….to a group of readers who are probably very familiar with how to practice mountain pose, I lead you to my presentation now!

Mountain Pose – How to Stand Tall

A lot of people make a big deal out of feet in this pose. And as they should, the base affects the entire structure. We can spread our weight evenly on our feet in this pose easily. Place the feet so the big toes are touching side by side. Your heels may be slightly apart or touching. Put them in the place that makes you feel balanced in the center of your heel and you can put weight into the balls of your big toe and pinky toe.

You can also try placing the heels to the position that makes your legs face straight forward. Pay attention to the relationship of alignment from your toes, to your knees and upper thighs.When your feet are set right, your ankle joints should feel centered, or even hollow. When you are setting your feet it’s also good to lift and spread your toes as high as you can to wake up muscles and broaden your base for greater  balance. If you are set in the feet but your knees seem rotated inwards or outward it may mean you need to develop balance in hip and thigh muscles.

With your alignment set you can now create the synergistic action of engaging the quadriceps to lift the knees and push down through the axis of your legs to “root in” to your feet. This kind of synergistic action should be created in all standing poses and in a similar way, into any part of your body that touches the ground to create lift in another part or vice versa. This makes mountain pose a model for proper asana practice.  At the same time let the lower back lengthen down through the tailbone towards the floor and the pubic bone to lift slightly upwards, if at all. Here you should essentially be making the bowl of your pelvis level with the earth. All of these muscle contractions should be done to create a sense of poise but can also be engaged stronger on exhales to give you a therapeutic alignment “reset” if you will.

While you were doing all that you were probably already beginning to feel your posture growing taller. When you practice focus on the crown of your head and the sensation of being perfectly centered. You may feel slight sways in your posture. Don’t fight them, just feel where the center is, and increase your sensitivity and with practice you’ll stay there more easily. Let your breath also guide you in this. Observing the dimensions of your breath as it changes inside of you is powerful way to learn about your body and your balance. As for arms… I always say arms are for expressing so explore what feels right for your arms. I like to gently turn my palms forward to open the chest for breathing. Keep your head level and your face calm.

To me, mountain pose, and good posture in general, is as if a straight line is passing through the center of my head, the center of my hips, and the center of the earth. My body is soft and open, the spine feels comfortably suspended in the fluids and tissues of the body. I feel equally connected to the earth, aware of space all around me, and a little something extra special pulling me upwards and ever closer to my balance wth the center.

Namaste.

George Anthony

The Five Yama of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga

The five moral ethics of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga are the absolute foundation of yoga practice for people from all walks of life. Why? Because when you adhere to them your mind is a guilt free, easy going place that is ready to really focus on being and creating, two main qualities of nature. The concepts are simple and familiar and the more you practice them the more clearly the connection between behavior, beliefs, and experience stands out.

1. Ahimsa – Non-Violence

We could actually call it a day right after this one. It pretty much covers everything. Violence doesn’t work for spiritual development in three ways as I see it. First, violence is traumatic for humans as animals, and as psyches. The fear generated by it causes our energy to recoil into a dense form for self preservation, which can be considered the ego. This can happen to both parties involved. Then there is the guilt which can come, trapping us in past memories which feed belief structures that negate our being through association to the event. If that doesn’t happen, we trick ourselves into becoming “normalized” to violence and essentially numbing ourselves in our hearts. Certainly not helpful for becoming more compassionate and feeling how everything is connected. By the way, many of these Sanskrit words, when starting with an “a”, denote the opposite meaning of the following word. For example… “Himsa = violence” “Ahimsa = non-violence” Practice ahimsa with others and with your self in both your actions and mind. I think most of you reading are probably pretty peaceful outwardly but may, like I, have occasional mental slip ups. A good trick to remember is when you do something that could be considered “harmful” if your being waaay to anal, I mean like, thinking you didn’t take care of yourself well enough… just forgive yourself and practice ahimsa in your mind. No sense in beating yourself up when you can be becoming more resolute in your peacefulness right now! Another method is “Do and think nice things, or don’t do and think any things at all.” Those who practice Ahimsa at a high degree carry an influence of peacefulness around them, seemingly disarming all bad energies they encounter.

2. Satya – Upholding Truth

I once read that young children telling lies indicated a high level of intelligence. It does in a sense. There is much mental power in being able to creatively construe non-facts to manipulate others. However it falls far shy of a greater intelligence in observing the phenomenal truth of reality and tailoring yourself to sit peacefully with it and still exercise being a creative agent of the universe. That is the greatest kind of intelligence in my book; generating pure creativity out of your experience of the truth. When you practice upholding the truth in what you say, the things you do, keeping the commitments you make, or being honest about your own sensations you feel much more connected with your reality. You also don’t have some web of mess to keep hidden. Those who practice asteya to a high degree become creative agents, generating truth to be witnessed in new forms and helping those around us see ourselves.

3. Asteya – No Stealing

Stealing sets us up for a few nasty possible self identifications. The first is that we don’t have something we need and that the best way to get it is at someone else’ loss. Like violence it also sets us up for a forked road with neither choice leading to a good outcome. We can either become consumed with guilt over what we did or desensitize ourselves to the suffering of others, closing off again. We have to recognize that sympathy is an innate human skill, and when we don’t allow ourselves to feel that we are actually creating a subtle tendency to diminish ourselves. What makes stealing, stealing? Someone else’s loss. If you are using their available material without actually taking it from them(our digital age) and making something genuinely new, then this is inspired creativity and the universe smiles upon it.

4. Aparigraha – No Acquisitiveness

Most of us don’t need so much. Not really. Keeping a small and humble lot of possessions helps us to remain free of being overly attached to something that will not last. Aparigraha is also about overcoming the belief that you need “x” to be happy or more fulfilled. This one is to be practiced with attitude more than anything. Focus on the belief that you have everything you need, and that everything you acquire is for giving to others. 🙂

5. Brahmacharya – Taming Energies

So my translation on this one is a little atypical.(hey, the “a” made the opposite in an English word too!) The literal translation is something like “walking with God” or “the path of unity consciousness”. To be on such a plane of awareness to walk in that space requires a great deal of energy and devotion. So, brahmacharya is all about controlling and conducting your energies so you are always moving towards the divine. Some traditionalists insist this means abstaining from sex, indulgent behaviors and emotions, and so on, so that we may reserve energy for our spiritual practices and avoid the attachments and roller coaster ride of it all. Personally, I view the appropriate practice of brahmacharya to be highly, HIGHLY individualized in nature. Regarding sex for instance, I believe in a more Taoist philosophy, that practicing sexual prowess for most of our lives in an honest and supporting relationship aids spiritual development as well. Of course there may be a time or “attainment” in which you need no other relationship than the one you have with the divine…you’ll know what feels right. 🙂

Namaste.

George Anthony

Abdominal Breathing for good Yoga sleep

Everyone dreams of a good night’s sleep. You can fall asleep in such a way that your entire night’s rest is likely to be deeper and more restorative to your body and mind.

Going to bed still feeling fresh is the first step. A nice cool shower or even just washing your face and brushing your teeth is perfect. Then laying down on your back for some deep breathing to “power down” for a peaceful night.

Separate your feet and turn you palms up let your whole body become still and relaxed. Begin to breath slowly yet deeply, deeply into your abdomen allowing it to rise and fall. You can also gently engage the glottis, in your throat, for the first few minutes to create a quiet whisper sensation, usually called ujjayi by yoga teachers, that causes the heart rate to slow down and blood pressure to decrease. The sensation of your own breath and the reaction of the body and mind will guide you in tailoring the rhythm and depth of each breath’s movement…but breath out slowly until it just softly runs out to turn off your mind and put your body into a deep rest.  After just a few minutes you might feel a big difference and decide to roll onto your side or end up just falling asleep on your back.

This post inspired by Aoy, a motivational yoga teacher and health coach, and her status on FB tonight…

“บางทีเราก็เหนื่อยแบบไม่รู้ตัว ทุกคนรักษาสุขภาพนะคะ อย่าหักโหมมากไป ยังมีอะไรๆรอเราอยู่พรุ่งนี้อีกเยอะเลย! ”

“Sometimes we don’t even realize that we are already tired so everybody please take good care of your health. Don’t push yourself too much. So many things are still waiting for us tomorrow!”

Aoy’s FB page Boundless Bliss – Body and Mind Healing

Time for my own deep rest, good night.

George Anthony

Practice – Streaming awareness in our modern physical Yoga culture

That Present Feeling…

What makes yoga practice, yoga practice?It is the consistency of streaming your awareness to a simple aspect of your existence.  It doesn’t matter what it is, just that it is simple. What is streaming awareness? Take a deep breath in and just experience it, let all else fade away. Feel the space you change in your lungs, the movements through your body, and the immediate changes in your physiology. That’s it. Now, breath out slowly and feel the relaxation and release, the quiet mind. It’s a continuous flowing experience,  and most importantly, your perspective becomes centered and calm. This is why people practice Yoga, to touch in with the spiritual home. But it doesn’t have to be breathing. That just happens to be a really easy way. It’s just about streaming awareness.

The breath is this simple and profound magic door to understand this kind of awareness. You can enter this state without any particular technique but most people find they need time with the techniques first to tune in with it. The breath works so well.  However, if your mind is agitated the stream might slip and skip around into different experiences. So what do we do? Well…I think I know what you first thought was Yoga, and indeed it is.

Making an Exercise a Yoga Practice

It’s such a genius idea really. If you move consciously your awareness gets “anchored” in the body and keeping that stream becomes easy. You’re breath and you’re body are so close, intertwined, so do it while breathing consciously to feel their relationship and get tuned in spiritually.This is how you let your mind rest and drop off the unnecessary clutter.

Those that bash on teachers that make yoga classes like a fitness regime or ego show, and all the other problems that cropped up with the globalization and subsequent modernization of Yoga should really start being pro-active entities that make sure everyone who attends yoga classes  like ones in the picture above or teaches yoga remember the following ideas!

Tips for classes in the Physical Yoga culture

1.     The practice is streaming awareness. The most simple way to do this is continuously observe the sensations of your breath and body. If you’re having thoughts or internal chatter and judgements you’re not practicing!

2.     If you’re a teacher, don’t over complicate things! You can lead people into lots of interesting experiences beyond breath and body but remember…it’s streaming awareness, contiguous. Link from the breath to where you want to take them or even use metaphors that describe the body in different ways for a fresh experience, like a new rivulet entering the growing stream. Keep everything connected.

3.     Once you get familiar with the feeling of streaming awareness you’ll be able to notice and sustain it easily. Again, conscious breathing is always an easy way back to it but even more simply, find yourself being the observer of your life, not the actor. Then you are always just watching the show. 🙂

Namaste

~George Anthony

How to Make Dairy Free Pro-Biotic Coconut Yogurt

Today I’m going to show you how to make a really healthy, really sour coconut yogurt. This is likely one of the healthiest pro-biotic, intestinal flora providing, living foods you can possibly eat and it’s super simple to make as long as you have a magic ingredient to get your yogurt colony going…

You will need…

About 10 Young Coconuts (preferrably shaved)

If you can not get fresh coconuts you can do this with coconut milk and a thickener, such as tapioca.

 

A really serious, hefty chopping knife

Or a piece of paper with a toilet handle attached…

 

 

A good blender

…with or without iPhone (ok without)

 

 

The Magic Ingredient

EM – Pro is a pro-biotic supplement from Japanese technology that can be used for making yogurts and the like. It’s has a spectrum of different flora and boasts powerful healing qualities. You can order it from ThaiOrganicLife, or search for other Probiotic or yogurt starters.

The rest is standard kitchen fare…bowls, spoons, and a big enough tupperware for your coconut meat. Speaking of which….

How to do it…

1. Drain your coconuts – Place the coconut on a stable surface or in your palm if you don’t even need to read how to do this. Strike the top at about a 45ฺ angle. Do it in 3 or 4 chops to open it. Unless you got some friends with you to have a coconut drinking marathon, pour some of your coconuts into pitchers to keep in the fridge. It’s good for about two days. Or, add 1/2 teaspoon of your EM-Pro and let sit for about 12 hours for Coconut Kefir.When it’s fermented store in the fridge for up to a week.
2. Chop like a Samurai – Hold your knife in both hands and give a strong, confident swing right down the middle, burying the knife.My method next was to use a thick mat on my balcony and just bang the coconut a few times until the split was deep enough to pull it apart easily. I did it this way for the few times the knife went all the way through, harmlessly to the mat instead of my counter top.
3. Harvest – Now, once all your coconuts are split, scoop out the meat with as little of the brown skin from the shell coming along as possible. Wash or scrape off most of what might. this is just for texture so it’s not a big deal.
4. Purée – Blend all your coconut meat with just enough of the juice you saved to make it submit easily into puréed oblivion. Add one half teaspoon of EM – Pro or your starter. Now pour it into a closed, but not completely air tight, sealed container.
5. Let it sit – You need to keep your starter somewhere warm for it to grow. At least around 85ฺF or 29ฺC. This may mean you will have to incubate it in something. Don’t sit on your yogurt. This first batch takes about 24 hours.
6. When it’s done it will have risen considerably and be quite sour. Anytime you want to make more take about 2 or 3 tablespoons from this and add it to the puree you make the next time. Because this one has quite active flora already it will be ready in 4-6 hours depending on heat. Now, you might want to try something like this with your super yogurt…Dragon fruit with yogurt, soaked goji berries, cinnamon, and honey..Mm

ประโยชน์โยคะไทย – Benefits of Yoga Thai Style

โยคะมีประโยชน์เยอะจนบอกไม่ถุก…     Yoga has so many benefits I can’t even say! …แต่จอร์จพยายาม….                                …But, I will try….

 

๑  อวัยวะทำงานได้ดีๆ                                Your organs work really well

๒  เพิ่มปัญญาการใช้บังคับของเส้นประสาท    Use  nerve force more intelligently

๓  ลมหายใจได้ง่าย                                     Easy breathing

๔  ความสุขอื่นๆ เป็นตัวเอง                       Feel really good being yourself

๕  รู้สึกเชื่อมต่อกับชีวิต                               Feel connected with life

๖  ลดน้ำหนัก                                                 Lose weight

๗  ชีวิตยาวก็สุขภาพดีเลย                         Live long and healthy! 555

excerpt from my practice today outside MBK

เพลิดเพลินนะครับ     Hope you enjoyed!

What is Karma? How does it work and where did it come from?

Karma is an ancient Sanskrit word that literally means action. Within the backdrop of Vedantic and buddhist philosophy, and the growing momentum of us humans to experience the workings of the universe and our own spirituality, it has more connotations.  It often comes with the understanding that actions have results, not only to the external environment but also in human tendencies to create significance and beliefs from experiences. This is what shapes each ones’ own sense of  identity, or in a yoga perspective, separateness.

Technically this affect of action, or karma, is called sanskara, the impressions that influence future actions.

I believe existence started as spiritual consciousness and evolved to matter, and then eventually to what I might call “manifest consciousness” or life. This fits with the story that many people call the fall of humans, a fall from a state in which we were beyond physical bodies and unbound by the “laws” of time and space, knowing love and oneness.  Looking at this “fall” in terms of a chakra perspective of consciousness, your spirit descended down to this “Earth” plane to be able to play with more intricate forms and create new knowledge. When the knowledge that comprises you, your vibrational signature, becomes seminal to the evolution of spiritual consciousness, it goes back up through the chakra and makes enlightenment, an awakening in spiritual consciousness, something that was laying latent until your human soul popped it’s head it and said, “Hey! Wake up with me!”. Suddenly you’re breaking fast in a new dimension you can’t yet explain, nor have need to. You leave the body for awhile. Maybe you come back to this body, maybe another. Human beings represent the newest frontier in which the original consciousness can explore and study the interactions of it’s ever more subtle yet stimulating creations. You can see it in every facet of our interests; our sexual energy, emotional bonds, the hurtling speed of our intellectual and technological advancement…All of this is to make smaller actions, more refinement, and to see that while we may become disillusioned in a new complexity,  love still operates there. No matter how many ways you cut up it, everything still wants to be it, connected, and accepted. All of our karmic traces, or sanskaras would appear to be the trickle down affect of pure and complete oneness becoming twoness, then threeness, and then…Ohhh how far are we now? That’s a deeep rabbit hole. Karma is the process of the universe in multiplicity and the evolution of the human soul.

So then, do we have any options or is it just some unfathomable math equation playing out? Of course, we have choice. I feel it anyway. Human choice is always about how much we open ourselves to what is really going on, and whether we create belief in it’s relevance to our identity. The sanskara pulls similar experiences back to us, like feedback or an echo from the karma as a kind of check test. Do you still identify this way? When the manifest consciousness can recognize itself through the superficial experience of identifying, the sanskara is reduced or removed. This is one of the affects of meditation. You spend a time not identifying and some of your perceptual tendencies becomes reduced or removed. You become less committed to ego created roles and more dedicated to love and self-less, universal purpose.

Kinda like this…

The common misconception about karma is that the things you do will be the things that happen to you. While this may be the case, it is much more accurate to say it is the inner experience you create that will come back to you. This explains some of the perceived incongruity between peoples’ actions and their life experiences.

A common pondering about karma is pure bewilderment at how many perceptual tendencies we have, the complexity of their relationships, and the span of their cycles. I can only suggest have awe and gratitude for the amazing degree to which our “oneness” has made you unique, capable of the greatest of love, and adorned us with the grandness of the cosmos.

The stars are really here with us…

Whether we make good or bad karma, it still keeps us from evolving spiritually unless we are learning to look through and see that actions do not touch the true core of being.  That being said, I would like to believe that the world of form and action has a propensity towards the positive spectrum, as it is not only alluringly beautiful, but has a lightness which allows us to see through to that original being of infinite peace and love.

We can all act as karma reducers for each other.  When we receive one another’s actions without judgement, without critically self interested re-action, we can dissipate some of the sanskaras by making a space for the other to see themselves and without reinforcing their identifying processes. If we keep swapping these actions with this attitude we reduce karma and increase knowledge as well.

….a quote…

“One who is able to see inaction in action and action in inaction-he is the intelligent among men. He is a yogi while engaged in every kind of work. Others will see him engaged in activity but he will see himself as not doing any karma.”– Chapter 4, Verse 18. Bhagavad Gita

Namaste

Sacred Geometry and Departing Koh Samui for Bangkok

Hello all! I’m back in Bangkok! I enjoyed the first day back here having fun and catching up with Si, cooking, lounging, singing, entertainment and acroyoga together… and now today I’m getting all my gears changed for new projects, catching up with Tommi, who had a rewarding time sub-ing my classes, and now getting my class schedule arranged again.

At Yoga Elements this week I will be back on for Flow 7:00AM on both Thursday and Friday mornings. Look forward to seeing you all. Be prepared for core!

Sacred Geometry

Flower of Life

Sacred geometry is something very special. Out of a very few simple relationships which can be expressed in certain simple 2-d and 3-d geometry we find structures found in all creation.

The Flower of Life, also called the Genesis pattern, is created by one simple relationship. Take a circle. Create a new circle with it’s center anywhere on the perimeter of the first. Now keep making the same size circle with it’s center at each new vertex. After you’ve made 7 circles yo have the flower of life.  That simple step, repeated ad infinitum,  reveals the design for all geometric, harmonic, and virtually all creative phenomenon of the universe. Also many of the world’s sacred symbols are generated from it by drawing straight lines connecting the vertices of these circles to create the Star of David, the Merkaba(a kind of auric prism around human beings), and metatron’s cube, which contains all five of the platonic solids.

Metatron’s Cube

Platonic Solids

Platonic Solids and Representative Elements

The Platonic Solids are uniform polyhedra, the most simple 3 dimensional shapes. The tetrahedra(four sides) is the most basic, and in a geometrical logic, the first possible 3d form. When you sit in any of the classical cross legged meditation poses you most closely resemble this Platonic Solid.

Siddhasana in Tetrahedron

I am pretty nerdy about this stuff…but I get the most enjoyment from studying sacred geometry non-intellectually, through  my artistic sensibilities. Many of my mornings on Koh Samui I would happily draw the flower of life or other designs into the sand . Observing these patterns is pleasurable, and seems to inspire creativity.

The last week I spent on Koh Samui I made a painting for the owner of Vikasa Yoga, Kosta. I asked him his favorite number between 1-11 to start my idea. He chose “8”.  Eight is the first cubic number, in chinese culture represents the totality of the universe, also represents the infinite in some histories, and is the same symbol as infinity in a different orientation. I have also seen it in tarot and some numerolgy to signify financial success and I see it personally as expansion of the spiritual into the physical plane.

Manifest Spirit’s Success

It was fun. All of the background (blues and greens) I did the last day in a 5 hour speed painting session. I’ll be putting more of my art work here in the future and I am now offering sacred geometry paintings or other subjects for order.

Also, my last day I dropped off the money we raised from the charity class to the art cafe for June. She was very appreciative and had such a huge smile! Of course, so did I! Sweet as she is, she gave me a piece of raw chocolate cake. Mmm.

The day ended taking a fun walk around Fisherman’s Village’s night market and good conversations with my friends on Koh Samui long into the night.

Namaste

Last Week of Classes on Koh Samui

Hey there คน Samui!

Here is my schedule of classes for this last week on the island. Hope you’ll join for a graceful and inspired practice and to meet again before I’m off!

Monday –  9:00-10:15 @ Vikasa Yoga

Tuesday – 8:30-10:00 @ Amari Resort lawn Chaweng

Wednesday – 9:00-10:15 @ Vikasa Yoga

Thursday – 8:00-10:00 AcroYoga @ Melati Beach – free play

16:00-17:30 Charity Class @ Vikasa Yoga – by donation for Art Cafe  

Friday – 8:30-10:00 @ Amari Resort lawn Chaweng

Contact me for details or to arrange another class for Samui-ans!

082-777-2026

Namaste!

Yoga Charity Class and Healthy Food on Koh Samui

Hello everyone!

Heads up for an event I’ve organized. If you’re on Koh Samui come by for the class, check out the Vikasa Yoga Studio and the Art Cafe, and enjoy life!

Also, Vikasa Cafe is also back to normal hours of operation, 9:00-14:00 and 16:00-20:00, until the next teacher training, so come try the delicious healthy treats! After that it will be back to buffet for breakfast and dinner, 10:15 and 19:15 respectively.

Namaste