Hello Folks,
This coming week we have the Pranayama Intensive, part 2. The classes will be held Monday thru Friday from 7-8am EST, and will be followed by One Hour Ashtanga Yoga on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and One Hour Asana practice on Tuesday and Thursday (each from 8-9am). You are welcome to come to the combination of
both practices, or if you prefer, only the pranayama or just the asana practices. Also, you do not need to have attended the first week we did to attend this one. The link to sign up for the week is here. The classes will be recorded if you can't make it live, and the recordings will be subtitled in Spanish.
Pranayama helps to balance the functions of the nervous system and create a quiet and serene mind. The practices also initiate a change in our fundamental mental character traits, shifting away from chaotic states of mind to enduring traits of calm. Pranayama uses the breath to do this, which is why they are often referred to as breathing practices. However, our breath is only the gross form of prana; the nervous system is the inner
mechanism that influences our gross breath, and the mind and emotions are the subtle counterparts of the breath that we are truly working on with these practices.
For example, imagine my room is really messy with stuff everywhere and I am becoming increasingly inefficient. The stuff isn't the problem—I am the problem because I haven't cleaned up. The mess is just the outcome of my mind. So, if I clean the room up both my mind and the outcome of my mind (the mess of the room) are orderly and I can get stuff done. Plus, the room is clean. So, disordered breath or a chaotic nervous system is an outcome of
a mind that is not calm. Calm the breath, and the nervous system and mind follow. Another problem with the chaos is not just that my room is messy (some people operate well in a mess) it's that our physiological systems and mental capacities begin to suffer for it and begin to breakdown.
So, this week we will be focusing on practices that work on the subtle body which is composed of prana, mind (sensations, emotions, thoughts, images, memory) and the intellect. These practices are said to develop our spiritual nature, which means those parts of us that we feel but cannot see, and that give shape to our inner life. They are straightforward practices, can be done by all levels, and do not require long
breath holds, ice baths, or anything extreme. The class will start with 10 minutes of preparatory movements, 30 minutes of pranayama, a short rest, and 10 minutes of discussion. These are practices that I use on regular basis, and are some of my favorite practices to do.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions.
Yours,
Eddie
PS Starting Sunday, October 24th, Robert Moses will be leading an online yatra, or pilgrimage, through holy sites of India. You can sign up here - guest speakers include Dr. Robert Svoboda, Radhakunda Das, and me :) It will meet Sunday mornings until December, and will
also be recorded. This is bound to be super cool.
PPS During the week of October 25th-29th, my friend Ashley Turner is hosting a free online conference called the Yoga Teachers Conference, with an excellent selection of teachers, including Arpita Roy, who is a double amputee accessible Yoga teacher, Reggie Hubbard of Active Peace Yoga, Trans Activist Alle K, Rolf Gates of Yoga and Recovery Conference, and about 19 other awesome
teachers. You can check it out here. (I'm speaking at the conference too, but it's nothing from me you haven't heard before.)
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