Weekend Yoga Retreat October 26-28

Many of my students are thinking about coming to the yoga weekend retreat up at the ashram with me October 26-28. I encourage you all to come. When we did this in February, we had such a good time that our students requested that we do it again. I co-host the weekend with Kristina Lanuza and Rikard Skogberg, both fabulous Anusara teachers.

Ananda Ashram is 1 hour out of NYC, by bus at the Port Authority.

Dorm room: $330
Semi Private room: $375

Prices includes your accommodations, yoga classes, vegetarian meals, meditation, sitar concert, ashram programs, fire ceremony etc...

see previous posts on this blog for more info or email me. We would love to have you join us.
Namaste

Fitting Spirituality into Everyday Activities

Here is an interesting website for you. Check out the e-courses with spiritual teachers such as Thich Nhat Hanh....

http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/

If you like my blog, please pass my blogsite address on to your friends.... and feel free to leave a comment !

Fall Allergies ?

I found this homeopathic remedy -- and it really works !

it's called Pollen/hayfever Relief by BioAllers.
about $8 for 1 oz bottle

available at health food stores and Whole Foods.

Non-slip yoga mats....

There is a heavy, black yoga mat that is the king of non-slip mats -- but I am allergic to it !!! I need something to prevent me from sliding off my mat during vinyasa practice -- so the search was on this summer for the "perfect" mat --- well, I'll spare you the expensive details, but many disapointments and returned merchandise transactions later, my conclusions are as follows :

1) Hemp mats don't work -- the idea sounds good, but I ended up with hemp stuck to me, head to toe, and all over the studio. Very annoying.

2) Yoga rugs work in theory -- but they are heavy to drag around town with you. And they are too bulky to fit in your yoga bag. Once it gets wet, then you are dragging a wet and even heavier yoga rug around. Slow to dry. And too bulky to throw in the laundry machine.

3) I resisted buying this but the Yogitoes Skidless towels work well. Thin. Lightweight. Dries quickly. Easy to throw in the washing machine. Should have bought this in the first place and saved a lot of aggravation. Note: the bumpy side goes down onto the mat. Secondary use is that it is a clean barrier between you and a maybe not so clean mat. Cute colors too .

4) Surya Towel by Prana. it is a super thin and superlight cloth to put over your mat. It fits in your yoga bag. I just got this, havent had the opportunity to use it yet, but I think it looks like it will work. It is weightless -- and that is important when you are dragging your yoga gear all over NYC .

I must mention that Prana was one of the sellers to which I needed to return/exchange merchandise -- and that they were absolutely wonderful. They stand behind their products, no questions asked, and they shipped the new merchandise to me free of charge. They want you to be happy. Very yogic.

If you like my blog, please pass my blogsite address on to your friends --- let's build a NY yoga community.

Satsang
In the Indian tradition, groups of people get together for Satsang. Basically, it means a group gathers to listen to a teacher (guru) speak words of wisdom on how to think, how to live your life. It might sound boring, but I go pretty regularly, and there is always something to learn, something to think about --- and quite often, it would seem that by some magic, the teacher addresses the exact problem that you have been facing. so many people leave feeling as if the whole evening was designed exactly for them.

anyway, here is my paraphrasing of a recent satsang.

Why do we keep thinking about the past? past regrets? past relationships?

Obsessing about the past instead of focusing on the present is nothing but a habit. We need to break free of old tendancies. It is your ego that is involved in this and your ego is pulling you down instead of allowing you to move on. Observe yourself. Your ego will fight you. Your ego wants to hang onto the past. Observe that too.

Life is a play and we each have our part to play on stage. Just play your part. Nothing is real. No need to identify with the part that you play -- just witness your part in the drama.

When you become established in meditation, you can become established in witnessing yourself. When your mind becomes quiet, that is when you can gain some distance and objectivity.

What will change your destiny is a change in your understanding. To evolve, you have to come out of the person you have grown to be.