Moon Day Cometh

Saturday, June 26, 2010 is a Moon Day. Take rest!

Also a partial lunar eclipse.

See all 2010 Moon Days.

Healthy Eating Tips for Yogis

Healthy Eating Tips for Yogis

by Kino MacGregor
originally published in Living Mysore July 2008

1. Be conscious of your emotional state before, during and after eating. If you are angry, sad, anxious or depressed before or during your meal you will not digest your food as well as when you are peaceful, relaxed and happy. If you notice that you feel worse after you eat it’s a good sign to take a deeper look at your food choices.

2. How you feel about what you eat is as important as any dietary rule, dogma or guideline. A peaceful state of mind is crucial to a sattvic lifestyle and your relationship with food is a great place to start. Let go of any rules that cause you stress or create rigidity and allow them to soften and be replaced with more relaxed attitudes about your body, food and health.

3. When you eat anything you say an internal “yes” to the entire means of production of that food item. This tacit “yes” includes the agricultural system, the food production system, the distribution system, the marketing behind the products, the preparation and everything that goes into the production, creation and delivery of the food that you eat. In a sense, eating is a highly complex method of consumerism and your food stands for what means of production you support.

4. Food is one of the most intimate relationships you make with world. What else that you interact with actually passes through the semi-permeable membranes of your body and literally becomes you from the cellular level and up? Your dietary choices are the building blocks of your body, mind and soul.

5. The brain is as affected, if not more affected by the chemicals in food as the rest of your body. The same receptor cells for neurotransmitters that evoke happiness, anxiety, depression and anger respond to the molecules of food as they are digested and transported throughout your bloodstream. What you eat really makes a lasting impact on how you feel, think and act.

6. If you want to live a peaceful life take notice of the principle of Ahimsa or non-violence in your eating habits. Notice not only whether your food choices cause other beings like animals pain, but also whether your attitude towards food causes you or other people pain. A vegetarian person can be very violent towards other people about their non-vegetarian food choices. While a vegetarian diet certainly helps establish you in a more peaceful relationship with other beings, reacting violently towards those who choose a different path violates the deeper purpose of ahimsa, that is, that of creating and living a more peaceful life.

7. The definition of food as molecules such as fats, proteins and carbohydrates belies a more subtle reality of our eating habits. Food often has a very poignant emotional reality that far outweighs the sum total of its molecular structure. In the most simple way of understanding food, it is a way for us to receive nourishment for our universe and the energy that supports it. In the deepest sense it is an expression of love.

8. Food will nourish you to the extent that you’re open to being nourished and it will pollute you to the extent that you’re open to being polluted. How you think, feel and act about food opens doors to your ability to truly assimilate its power. Just as a great deal of the world in the yoga practice is about surrendering, a great deal of health is about receiving and when you eat you must literally surrender and open yourself up to receive the gift of health from the nourishment of food.

9. The body rebuilds itself constantly on a molecular level and over approximately seven years your body will have replaced most every cell throughout itself from your hair all the way down to your organs. When you eat you have the chance to transform the cellular structure of your body.

10. Your body can be thought of as the home for your spirit. Just as you would thoroughly clean out your residence a few times a year, it’s also a good idea to clean out your body a few times a year. The old tradition of spring cleaning can also be applied to your body. After the holiday season and the winter diet of heavy foods it might feel good to fast, cleanse and eat lightly for a few days to keep everything flowing along the inner channels of your body.

Kino MacGregor is the founder of Miami Life Center, a space for Ashtanga yoga, holistic health and consciousness on Miami Beach, where she and her husband Tim Feldmann teach together. She is the youngest woman out of a select few people in the world to receive the certification to teach Ashtanga Yoga by its founder Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India. Both teaching locally on Miami Beach and traveling internationally, she leads classes, privates, workshops, yoga conferences and retreats in traditional Ashtanga yoga and total life transformation. In her unique, inspirational and playful approach, Kino helps her students expand and deepen their understanding of yoga and life.

Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn Mysore Class Summer 2010 Schedule

Summer 2010 Mysore Schedule

Monday - Friday 6:45 am - 9:30 am
Monday - Thursday 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm

No classes on moon days July 26 (Mon), August 10 (Tue), August 24 (Tue).

Classes are held at 112 North 6th Street (Between Berry and Wythe), Brooklyn, NY 11211
Subway L to Bedford Ave

Tuition is $99 for new students. Beginners welcome.

NYC short-term visitors with a current Mysore practice may drop in.

email: info@ashtangayogabrooklyn.com
more info: www.ashtangayogabrooklyn.com

Ashtanga Yoga 2010 Moon Days

Ashtanga practitioners take the day of a full and new moon as a day of rest from asana practice. To learn more, click here.
To view current moon phase, click here.

January 15 Friday
January 30 Saturday
February 14 Sunday
February 28 Sunday
March 15 Monday
March 30 Tuesday
April 14 Wednesday
April 28 Wednesday
May 14 Friday
May 27 Thursday
June 12 Saturday
June 26 Saturday
July 11 Sunday
July 26 Monday
August 10 Tuesday
August 24 Tuesday
September 8 Wednesday
September 23 Thursday
October 7 Thursday
October 23 Saturday
November 6 Saturday
November 21 Sunday
December 5 Sunday
December 21 Tuesday

{Event} 5/16/10 Ashtanga Yoga + Chakras with Mary Flinn

Sunday, May 16, 2010
Ashtanga Yoga + Chakras with Mary Flinn

10:00am-11:45am
Bandhas & Breath + Half Led Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga

12:00-2:00pm
Chakra exploration

Location:
Greenpoint/Williamsburg, Brooklyn
1 Monitor Street, L to Graham Ave

Register here:
Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn

Moon Day Theory #3 {Shri K. Pattabhi Jois}

Next Moon Day: Friday, May 14, 2010.

From Shri K. Pattabhi Jois at the Ashtanga Yoga Shala:

"That day is very difficult day. Two stars one place (conjunction) is going. New moon also, full moon also. That day very dangerous day. You (take) practice (on that day), anyone can have a small pain starting. That pain is not going very quickly. Long time he is taking. Some broken possible. That is why that day don’t do." read on

Recycle!

Sunday, May 2nd, head over to Williamsburg/Greenpoint's McCarren Park for the Go Green! Greenpoint Earth Day Festival. The event will run from 11 am - 4pm and will feature:

• Education Displays & Vendors
  
  
• Children’s Center
  . . . ever heard of Box City?
  
  
• Greencycle Swap
  Drop off your clean and gently used clothes, shoes, bedding, toys, and books. They'll also take your bikes & electronics (working) and computers (non-working okay). Take what you want and what's left gets "Goodwilled".
  
  
• Sensitive Document Disposal
  
  
• Art, Science & Writing Contests
  
  
• Blood Drive
  
  
• Live Music & Performances
  

Want to do some donating/swapping and can't make it on Sunday? Town Square holds Greencycle Swaps every 2nd Saturday.

Moon Day Theory #2 {Richard Freeman}

Next Moon Day: Wednesday, April 28, 2010.

From Richard Freeman at the Yoga Workshop:

"Observing this restraint to practice can be helpful in not becoming too attached to practice and routine. It also provides time for the body to rest and recuperate."

read on

{Photos} 4/25/10 Event with Mary Flinn

Photos from Sunday's Ashtanga Yoga Practice and Theory with Mary Flinn.

Click to view album

What is Ashtanga yoga, Mysore, and what can a beginner expect?

{Schedule} Afternoon Mysore starts in May

Monday-Thursday 3:30 - 5:30 pm afternoon Mysore begins May 3rd, 2010. Beginners are welcome! Classes take place at 112 North 6th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Take the L to Bedford Avenue. Monthly tuition is $99 for new students.

More information.

Ashtanga Books - Essential Reading

See it at Amazon (We also carry it at AYB)
Yoga Mala : Sri K. Pattabhi Jois
Also Surya Namaskara : Sri K. Pattabhi Jois available through the KPJAYI.




See it at Amazon
We also carry a translation at AYB
The Yoga Sutras




See it at the Sri Ramakrishna Math
We also carry a translation at AYB
Bhagavad Gita : Swami Tapasyananda










See it at amazon
Hatha Yoga Pradipika

{New Students} $99 Unlimited Month

New students can sign up for a month of unlimited classes for $99 (regular $180). Register in person. Click for more information.

{Event} 5/23 Ashtanga for Vinyasa Students with Elise

Ashtanga Yoga for Vinyasa Students and Teachers:
An Introduction for the Mysore-Curious

with Elise Espat at Go Yoga

Sunday, May 23rd
4pm - 6pm

As we move deeper into our understanding of yoga, we often find ourselves wondering where our practice comes from and where it might be going. We find ourselves digging a little deeper into the subtle aspects such as bandha and dristhi and possibly even entertaining the idea of learning more about and beginning an Ashtanga yoga practice.

This two-hour introductory workshop led by Ashtanga yoga practitioner Elise Espat is intended to give the vinyasa student a window into this traditional method. Anything but your typical led primary class, this will be an opportunity to learn more about the lineage as well as to dip your toes in the Mysore practice. Participants will explore the fundamental postures of the primary series (Yoga Chikitsa), delve into the tristhana (breathing/bandha, posture, dristhi), and have a taste of the history and theory behind Ashtanga yoga.

A perfect way to jump-start your Mysore practice, gather tid-bits to chew on in your vinyasa classes, or immerse yourself in the lineage for an afternoon.

All levels of experience are welcome and invited to attend.

$25 Advance / $35 Day-of
Please register at Go Yoga


Elise leads the Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn program hosted by Go Yoga which is focuses on the traditional Mysore-style practice of Ashtanga yoga as taught in the lineage of the late Shri K. Pattabhi Jois.

Please visit the Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn website for more information and resources. www.ashtangayogabrooklyn.com

Moon Day Theory #1 {Tim Miller}

Next Moon Day: Wednesday, April 14, 2010.

From Tim Miller at the Ashtanga Yoga Center:

"Both full and new moon days are observed as yoga holidays in the Ashtanga Yoga tradition. What is the reasoning behind this?

Like all things of a watery nature (human beings are about 70% water), we are affected by the phases of the moon. The phases of the moon are determined by the moon’s relative position to the sun. Full moons occur when they are in opposition and new moons when they are in conjunction. Both sun and moon exert a gravitational pull..."

read on

{Quote} The Six Poisons

The six poisons: A vital aspect of internal purification that Pattabhi Jois teaches relates to the six poisons that surround the spiritual heart. In the yoga shastra it is said that God dwells in our heart in the form of light, but this light is covered by six poisons; kama, krodha, moha, lobha, matsarya, and mada. These are desire, anger, delusion, greed, envy and sloth. When yoga practice is sustained with great diligence and dedication over a long period of time, the heat generated from it burns away these poisons, and the light of our inner nature shines forth.

This forms the practical and philosophic basis of Ashtanga Yoga as taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.

KPJAYI.org

Allergies, practice, and you

Spring is in the air and everyone is sneezing. So should you practice? The general rule for Ashtanga practitioners is to practice at home if you are sick (all those tissues are just gross plus you don't want to get anyone else sick if it is more than allergies) and to rest if you have a fever.

The use of a neti pot is recommended to lessen symptoms and here is a list of foods that might help. A neti pot tutorial below:




More tips:

Ashtanga yoga practice, sick and you

Ashtanga in the movies (not just practice)

Whether you wish to be inspired or have a laugh, here's a list of some films featuring Ashtanga.

Ashtanga, NY - A Yoga Documentary


Guru - Documentary Chronicling the 90th Birthday of Yoga Guru Pattabhi Jois



Enlighten Up


Yoga Unveiled: The Evolution and Essence of a Spiritual Tradition




Yoga Inc.




ORIGINS OF YOGA: Quest for the spiritual

Yoga Mat. But which one?

One thing that I really love about Ashtanga yoga is that you really only need yourself in order to practice. Practice on a wood floor or on the grass loosens things up while practice on carpet seems to just never work out. While there are certain advantages to going "en plein air", most people are going to use a yoga mat and sometimes a rug too. It is of course more hygenic (if you keep your mat and rug clean), there is something about the bond one creates with a mat after hours and hours of urdhva mukha svanasanas, and in certain postures more padding is essential. But which mat? And why use a rug?

The Typical
Most people (myself included) started with an inexpensive PVC yoga mat. Usually around $20, one can find these mats just about everywhere from Barnes and Noble to the local pharmacy. Slippery and stinky at first, this will dissipate over time. Usually the go-to mat for yoga studio mat rentals because of the very low price, these mats shred over time. They are often thick, but not firm (a quality that beginners often mistake for a good thing). I do not recommend purchasing a PVC yoga mat. There are many health concerns regarding PVC and it is usually not recycled. These days, with a little effort, you'll definitely be able to get your hands on an eco-friendly mat at a comparable price point. Search Gaiam for mats around $20. I haven't tried any of them, let us know!

The Eco
The common eco mats ($40-$70) are the Jade Harmony mat and the EcoYoga Jute mat. When you first roll it out, it has a strong rubber smell, but that goes away. I found mine (Jade) to be incredibly sticky from day one. So sticky, that certain maneuvers on the mat had to be rethought on account of the non-slippage. That said, other people have told me that it was slippery for them. The Jade mat also attracts dust and hair at the beginning, so be prepared to wipe it off a lot if that kind of thing bothers you. After over two years of use, mine had yet to shred. Other people had shredding within a year. Thickness varies, medium to firm. While the non-stick and eco aspects are positive, for people learning jump throughs I definitely recommend considering a mat with a different textured surface or placing a rug on top for seated postures. Other natural mats can be found through Hugger Mugger, Prana, and Manduka. I've tried the Manduka Eko Lite. It is super light (great for travel). It has two sides: slick and sticky. Extra padding is in order for certain second series postures.

The Classics
The Manduka Black ($90) mat is an Ashtanga classic. Slippery, thick, and firm. Ideal for Ashtanga practice, but not necessary for beginners. Does not shred. These things last forever, but to my knowledge are not eco-friendly. They are heavy and travel with them is not fun at all. David Swenson has come out with a yoga mat which appears to attempt to out-do the Manduka. I haven't tried it. Have you? Is it eco-friendly? Shraddha has also been cooking up a mat...


The Rug
I don't really know why other people use rugs, but here's why I like them.

1. Practice seems less daunting when I'm staring at a rug instead of The Mat.
2. Rugs come in many fun colors and patterns and can liven up any mat.
3. Instead of worrying about cleaning my mat all the time, I just have to wash my rug.
4. Soaks up moisture.
5. Doubles as a resting blanket.
6. Good surface for learning jump throughs.
7. Extra padding for certain postures.
8. Some say they help with slipping.

If you aren't going to India tomorrow, you can find a Mysore rug at many Ashtanga shalas, studios, and online. Many people also use "mat towels". I prefer rugs.

How/where to get a mat
- Online (new-stores, new/used-craigslist)
- At a yoga studio (new/used)
- Health food stores (new)
-Through Ashtanga Yoga Brooklyn or our Amazon store

What to do with an old mat
Tips from Elephantbeans
Tips from Gaiam



What do you practice on?

Beginner's Guide

You're Ashtanga curious. Here are some tips on how to get started and what you can expect.

• Observe a Mysore class before beginning practice for the first time.
  
  
• Commit to at least one month of practice.
  
  
• You do not have to know the primary series or anything about yoga to join a Mysore class. Although you will be practicing to your own breath, your Mysore practice will be highly supervised by the instructor. You will be taught individually one posture at a time. Your first classes will be short and will eventually be around 90 minutes. Slowly as these postures integrate, more postures will be added by your teacher and you'll continue to refine previous postures and techniques.
  
  
• All ages, shapes, body types, genders, ethnicities, etc. are welcome to attend. You don't have to be strong or flexible or a dancer or a gymnast. The only requirement is an enthusiasm for practice.
  
  
• The Mysore-style of learning and practicing is different than most other types of yoga practice because:
  -it is made of set series of postures which you practice daily
  -you develop a practice over time
  -the student-teacher relationship is very important
  -students practice with one teacher
  -it is less about catering to what we are accustomed to and more about challenging ourselves to transform
  -Students can take their time, work at their own pace, and are encouraged to marinate in certain postures if there is a therapeutic indication
  
  
• There are six series of postures in the Ashtanga yoga system. Primary series is called yoga chikitsa which means yoga therapy. This practice tones, increases flexibility, and detoxes the body and mind. Everyone starts their Mysore practice by gradually learning and practicing the primary series.
  
  
• You can arrive to practice any time that is convenient for you within the designated practice times as long as you are finished before the end. For example, if your practice is 35 minutes long, you should begin before 8:55am if class ends at 9:30am. So, no, your practice isn't 3 hours long and you do not have to arrive at the beginning of the Mysore class.
  
  
• Bring a clean towel, a yoga mat, wear clean clothes, take a shower, be barefoot, and arrive on an empty stomach. Do not drink water or other liquids during practice.
  
  
• Ashtanga yoga is a daily practice. Really, if we are talking the full spectrum of practice, it is 24/7. In terms of being on a mat, students practice 6 days per week. Saturdays or Sundays are a day of rest as are the first three days of the menstrual cycle (called ladies' holiday). Moon days (full or new moon) are also a day of rest. If this isn't possible for you at first, do what you can.
  
  

Got a question you want answered? Send it to info@ashtangayogabrooklyn.com

Also see:


David Robson interview video on what to expect in a Mysore class
how to pick a yoga mat
essential ashtanga reading
2011 Moon Days