Archive for the ‘asana’ Tag
review:Sivananda TTC in Austria
Filed under: ashram, diary, religion, teaching, TTC, yoga | Tags: asana, ashram, sivananda yoga, teacher training, yoga
Leave a Comment Can you really learn yoga in Austria ? During my stays in India I have been terrible ill and that is the reason why I went to the yoga teacher training in Austria. Sleeping on health mattresses and eating food featured in the Michelin guide proved to be a winner. If you are looking for ascetic living and military discipline you have come to the wrong place. What you will find is open minded teachers in a picturesque setting .
staff versus students. According to Swami Atmaramananda football is part of the vedic lifestyle photo: Alessandro Califano
The teachers, swamis are approachable at all times and there is room in the schedule for your personal questions. If this is your first time in an ashram, a religious hermitage you maybe find the theory part of the course abstract and hard to grasp. This is not a course to deepen your Sadhana, personal practice but rather to deepen your knowledge around yoga philosophy. Each day you are to hand in a handwritten summary and by the end of the course there is a 3,5 hour exam.
Different experts in Astrology, Philosophy and Cranial Sacral Massage
Sri Venugopal Goswami reading from the Srimad Bhagavatam. photo: Katalin Kurko
gave guest lectures. The most scientific one was Dr. Annika Waldmann, nutritionist lectures on the health benefits of a vegetarian diet. In the breaks there was a chance to get personal counselling/treatment from, an astrologer, a physiotherapist and a massage
therapist. I got a very good treatment from a physiotherapist specialised in yoga.
One evening there is a movie night and we get to see Swami Vishnu-devananda, “The Flying Guru” and when the swamis talk about him they come alive. They talk about his flight over the Berlin wall and the great preparation that went int
o the project. The essence of the teaching is that we are ambassadors of peace.
The yoga lectures are taught in a way that suits me perfect. The teacher walk around during class and give the students help/corrections to find the right alignment.
The only issue I have with this way of teaching yoga is the chanting in sanskrit in the beginning and at the end of the class. Swedish and Sanskrit are miles apart and it reminds me of the time when the church had all the prayers in Latin. Why not start the yoga lesson with words that an ordinary citizen can understand ? Words in his own language that have the same meaning.
swami Keshavananda is demonstrating Neti - nasal cleansing. photo: Alessandro Califanos
Without people dedicating their life to serve others this education would not exist. The swamis have made the choice that the whole world is their family and when you see what Swami Vishnu-devananda did during his lifetime you get a clear proof what dedication and love can accomplish.
Diary: the Anatomy of Yoga
Filed under: ashram, diary, teaching, TTC, yoga | Tags: anatomy, asana, exercise, sivananda yoga, teacher training, yoga
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during lectures we sit in the traditional Indian way, without chairs. photo: Katalin Kurko
Harvard University did a classification of different body types and how they utilise their bodies. This technique was adopted by Swami Vishnudevananda who took it a step further with a more precise classification. We use a plumb line to look at our posture in profile. Both in the beginning and in the end of the course we take photographs of ourselves against a grid. My mother commented that my posture was very straight once I
Plumbline photo week 4.
came back from a 3-months yoga retreat in Sweden . This time it was really intersting to view people who are relatively new to yoga and how much 4 weeks affected them !
Today we discussed sitting postures and how important it is with flexibility in the hips if you are going to sit in a meditation posture, especially in full lotus and half lotus. If one have big strong thigh muscles there should be a big cushion under the buttocks so that the knees comes down to the ground WITHOUT STRAIN ! One has to be careful since in the beginning of a sitting your knees may touch the ground. Later on in the sitting you start to feel pain in the knees and then it is really a signal that your buttocks should be higher up on a cushion. There should never be any pain in the knees when doing meditation !
Keeping the muscles and tendons flexible throughout life can be done with yoga and that will slow down the aging process. Yoga can be a very gentle way to keep a good health and when I saw my grandfather doing the bridge position at an old age it made an imprint in my head that exercise will give you a long and healthy life.
yoga is to go with the body and accept limitations and to come back to a natural state of well being.
High Altitude Yoga in Austria
Filed under: diary, TTC, Uncategorized, yoga | Tags: asana, sivananda yoga, teacher training
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photo: Katalin Kurko
photo: Katalin Kurko
When the weather is good we do asanas and pranayama outside. The view of mountains and the fresh air makes it easy to feel good and healthy. I remember the Sivananda ashram in Uttarkashi, India as a very positive experience. Now it feels like visiting an old friend, this school is part of the same organisation and I get the same good feeling. After many years with different types of yoga I understand why they do as they do here. The teacher make a joke sometime and everybody is laughing and the next moment everything is serious again. I used the possibility to consult with a Swami, spiritual teacher, yesterday and this was a very nice experience. The teachers address the problems you may encounter as a student or as a teacher. They pinpoint it accurately and we, the students , cannot help but to laugh about it. I am very happy with my TTC ,teacher training course, here in Austria !
10 Great Reasons to Use a Camcorder in Yoga
Filed under: diary, idea, review, teaching, Uncategorized, video, yoga | Tags: asana, learning, review, yoga
Leave a Comment - Professional athletes have done this for years to improve performance.
- Make it look graceful. You will see all these small movements you do which takes away from the grace. Trust me it will look better and feel better when you do not wiggle your toes in the lotus pose
- You can notice any imbalance in your body and correct it. As long as it is not in the skeleton and than it was good you saw it anyway so you can talk with a doctor
- Having a personal trainer costs a lot of money and camcorders are constantly dropping in price and even a webcam will give you some feedback.
- You have the possibility to upload to sites like Youtube and get comments from all over the world.
- You can very easily go back and see your own progress over time.
- It is a chance to accept yourself on how you look and the way your body is.
- A cheap way to get an out of body experience
- Share your experience with your friends and family
- It is fun
video: shoulder stand sequence
Filed under: diary, exercise, video, yoga | Tags: asana, exercise, learning, yoga
Leave a Comment this is part of my morning ritual and consists of the following asanas:
shavasana / corpse pose
sarvangasana /shoulder stand pose
halasana / plough pose
pashinee mudra / folded psychic attitude
pindasana ? / foetus in womb pose ?
kandharasana / shoulder pose
shavasana / corpse pose
video: ordinary headstand/sirshasana
Filed under: diary, Uncategorized, video, yoga | Tags: asana, exercise, learning, yoga
Leave a Comment Me doing an ordinary sirshasana/headstand pose, the first asana in my morning program. This asana should be followed by tadasana/palm tree pose and I will record this in another video.
video diary: backbends against wall
I continue my journey towards learning backbends. Practice … practice … practice …..
video diary: backbend training
This practice will make my wrists stronger and more flexible so they do not get a shock when I come down backwards in the full backbend.
my first yoga instruction video
Filed under: teaching, video, yoga | Tags: asana, exercise, pranayama, satyananda
Leave a Comment Most of us probably associate yoga with postures that takes years to master and you have to be born with a rubber body. Yoga is for everyone and this practice may look simple but it will take a long time to master. The most important thing is that you do it with awareness.
feedback is welcome
At an early age I got interested in Buddhism and the prince who left his kingdom in the search for truth. How can I apply this story to my own life ? to be able to sit I took up the study of yoga. Is there a contradiction between yoga and science ? Sure we can get a theoretical understanding through books, but without the experience we are stuck. Why is it so hard to practice non-violence when the mosquito is landing on my neck ?
