MorningMysore

Hi all,

So many of you have already heard, but I wanted to officially let everyone know that Saisha Peterson will be co-teaching with me starting Jan 2nd. I will be away 1/4-1/10 and Saisha will teach alone for that week. Then we will co-teach again til I leave for India near the end of the month. We are working on details to have Dominic Corigliano join her for the month that I am away for a special workshop, and will let you all know details as things are finalized. If you have any requests for the workshop with Dom, anything you would like us to add, please don’t hesitate to speak with or email myself or Philippe.

Happy New Year,

Anne

At the request of person’s interested, I asked Betty if we could order some of the Alex Medin “Urban Yoga” calendars directly. She’s going to pass on 20 calendars to me tomorrow, and persons interested can have them on a first come, first serve basis, starting on Monday. The calendars will be $22. Let me know if you are interested in one, either over email or in person.

Cheers,

Anne

Dear all: You are invited to a Christmas/Holiday potluck brunch at our house in Mountain View this Sunday, Dec. 18. The festivities will begin after practice, so around 10 or 10:30.

I will have Rooibos Chai, an eggy dish, and some sweet/dessert kind of thing.

Please email me at amytigner @ yahoo.com to let me know what you would like to bring.

My address is:

729 Cottage Court

From the studio, go right on Church, right on Shoreline, left on Middlefield, right on Rengsdorff, and then take an immediate left onto Rock. We are in the first complex. Turn into Cottage Court and park any spot that doesn’t have a number. We are halfway down on the right (Red door, christmas lights, and geraniums).

See you then. Amy

So Ruth is up for doing an informal PT/movement therapy session this Saturday afternoon, for those people interested. This is a great session for bodyworkers, teachers, students, and those who just want to know more.

I think we spend a lot of time looking at things from a yogic point of view, and sometimes it’s good to put on a different hat, as they say. Towards that end, Ruth has offered to play with some poses looking from a western point of view, ie what’s physically and movement wise going on in the body. While it isn’t our untimate goal or aim in yoga, it can be very helpful in the process of keeping us practicing, and understanding our own bodies in the practice of yoga.

If you are interested in coming please email me, annefinstad at yahoo.com, or tell me in person that you plan to come. It will be this Saturday 2-5 pm, and the suggested donation is $20. If this is something people like doing, Ruth will be doing a longer workshop in January, and more of these less formal sessions before she leaves in April. So please support if you are interested and able to come.

Sutra II-33: “To be free from thoughts that distract one from yoga,
thoughts of an opposite kind must be cultivated”

=> Bhavani spoke of ‘Samskaras’, which are the patterns imprinted upon
our consciousness. Some are good patterns, some are not so good. When
we observe a not-so-good pattern, it is not sufficient to simply notice;
we should actively replace/overwrite the old pattern with a new.

=> The act of replacing an undesired thought with a desired one seems
to resemble the practice of affirmations.

=> Modern psychology has shown that cognition affects emotional state and
that emotional state affects cognition. By consciously changing our
thought patterns, replacing undesirable thoughts with desirable
thoughts, we can bring about a change in our emotional state.

=> One interpretation of this aphorism is to “replace bad thoughts with
good thoughts”. Another interpretation would be to (a) notice the
counterproductive thoughts, (b) recognize the fallacy of those thoughts,
and (c) replace them with a truth. For example, if the negative thought
is “I’m never going to be able to do this asana!”, the first approach
might be to simply replace the thought with “I will be able to do this
asana”. The second approach mentioned above would be to notice the flaw
in the negative thought, and replace it with something that rings true
to you: “It doesn’t matter if I ever do this asana. I am simply here to
practice, and see where the path leads”. Or maybe your truth is “I am a
child of God, whether or not I am able to do this asana.”

=> Sometimes a particular sutra “doesn’t ring true” to a particular
student. Does that mean the sutras are flawed? should we toss them
aside and find another path? dig another spiritual well? One should
keep in mind that the sutras were written for all: the beginner, the
intermediate, and the experienced practitioner/voyager. If a sutra
doesn’t ring true for you, maybe it was meant for someone less
enlightened than yourself — or maybe you are not yet enlightened
enought to appreciate it!