Dear Yogis,

IN THE STUDIO:  The second hand Paul Grilley DVD’s have sold and have been posted, but I do have some new DVD’s available.  If you would like a Yin Yoga or a Yoga Anatomy by Paul Grilley, please contact me.  I will sell them for $47.50 each plus $5 postage each.

What an unsettling time we are going through.  Nothing much to hang on to except for our yoga and our spiritual practice.  With that in mind, and wanting folk to come back to the REAL studio, no zoom, no computer stuff – we need real people – I am thinking of holding a Sunday morning practice.  Yoga Ninja at 10 (to let go of the week), followed by a Dharma Talk (to explore what is up ahead) , followed by a share lunch (to just be with others in a Buddhist way)?  Any takers – all by donation.  Can’t have many in the studio during Covid,  and in spite of this I would do it EVERY Sunday if I had enough interest, probably starting from the second Sunday in July..

The whole idea would be to help people improve their lives and mental states, rather than to give information about yoga and Buddhism merely to fuel an intellectual interest.

It would be important not to approach this time merely as an opportunity for study, but rather “talking the Dharma” an essential and time-honoured spiritual practice that (when completed well) develops wisdom, creates spiritual community, and gives us a context in which we can work on our habitual ways of being.  Put the big words away.  This is an opportunity to reframe our yoga (and our ego) so we can more intelligently interact with the world.  Know your purpose in this moment and there is no difficulty in knowing what to do!

Talking the Dharma is as important as meditation, it is not an optional extra. In the Pali Canon there are more cases of people breaking through to a new level as a result of exposure to the Dharma than as a result of meditation!

Dharma Study is the way that we develop wisdom – traditionally there are three steps..

*Wisdom which comes from hearing and learning

*Wisdom which comes from thinking and reflecting

*Wisdom which comes from meditative development

The last of these we recognise as REAL wisdom, but for just about all of us normal human beings, the others are essential steps without which the last wisdom never develops. We follow the precepts because it is what our heart wants us to do, fully acknowledging that we will frequently fail.   Sometimes it feels like sweeping a path in the middle of a dust storm, nevertheless less we keep on sweeping.

Working regularly with a group (a Sangha)  is supportive, challenging and constantly reminds us that our reactions are there to be transcended, not indulged.   It can become an exercise in mindfulness, communication and transcending our traditional ways of being – and at its best becomes a powerful way of practising the Dharma, creating harmony and a place of shared inspiration.

In our Sangha time we do not necessarily seek solutions to life problems, rather we will discover a new view of life which arises when the blocked energies within us find a way of release.

Join me.  Please email and register your interest.  It will be a small class due to covid, but useful and powerful nonetheless. The most effective way of helping others is to make spiritual progress oneself, and the best way to make spiritual progress oneself is to help others.

 

Have a wonderful day. and keep me in a bubble of wonderfulness as I negotiate buses, trams and people in my journey to the CBD today. I will be singing as I go.

NAMASTE.  JAHNE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Yogis,

Just to bring you up to date.  Have computer probs, but nothing that would make a difference to you – but makes me consider if I really, really want to do my yoga (or anything) on line via ZOOM.  The answer is easy.  No.  Once I have got my new camcorder, I will be loading every class I can onto VIMEO.  Seems a way that is more compatible with ME.   Re yesterdays newsletter.  If you want Paul Grilley videos – let me know.

On the technology note.  I considered a new printer.  The guy in my local store said wait at least a month.  All the good printers are unavailable due to the fact that so many more people are working at home, and hardly any commercial flights are coming from China.  The same goes for camcorders (mine was the last in its class in Victoria), and anything else technological.  There are a lot of industries suffering, but stores selling tech are booming.

With regards to classes.  Like every yoga studio we are not booming in this time of covid… but we are still here.  I am loving the new personal class structure.  Consequently,   I am  reinstating a floor exercise (with stretch bands)  class on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays at 6.30. and Saturdays at 10am.   I can take a maximum of four persons in my space… the classes will not require authentic ability, but they will not be easy. For ALL  classes, all the covid requirements remain valid as per the web site.  We need pre-payment for a ten week consecutive class pass- no casuals.  If you miss a class, you still are responsible for paying for that class. Unless there is an unexpected vacancy in the week you miss, you can’t do a make up class.  That’s the way it is during covid, we need to keep the class communities stable.  Go to “Classes” on this web site for details.  The photo above is of a poster available on etsy www.myyogabooks.etsy.com of the entire poem “ON BEING HUMAN”.  Also available on “www.jahnehopewilliams.net”

THE THERAPY OF YOGA…

The life of yoga is a life of continually, in each moment,  liberating ourselves from ourselves by engagement with the reality of the world around us however uncomfortable that may be initially.  It is a Bodhisattva path which puts the spiritual needs of the world first as it manifests in each concrete situation.  Therefore, it is a PATH OF THERAPY. (Unless of course you choose to see it as a fitness regime which many do). It is not simply the therapy of an individual –  client by client – but the mind of each client which seeks the healing of EVERY ENCOUNTER.

The yoga approach is to see whatever is happening as an opportunity for liberation.  To know what is happening, when it is happening.

The Master Dogen wrote:  “When one studies Buddhism one studies oneself; when one studies oneself one forgets oneself; when one forgets oneself one is enlightened by everything and this very enlightenment breaks the bonds of clinging to both body and mind not only for oneself but for all beings as well.  If enlightenment is true, it wipes out even clinging to enlightenment”.  

Yoga therapy as we do it in this studio sees the dilemma which brings a client to the therapist is some manifestation of the client’s Buddha nature calling to the client to liberate themselves from that conditioning.  It is an opportunity on the path to enlightenment.  None of us are “there yet”.  The client and I set out together.  Eventually they will have to walk the path alone, and for themselves.  Like learning to ride a bike,  in Buddhist training – yoga training, we benefit from having a “good friend” beside us.   (PS a good friend is not someone who tells you what you want to hear and takes you home the pretty way – a good friend loves you enough to tell you the truth, sometimes the difficult truth for both the giver and the receiver).

To begin your path at this studio, please enquire to me personally:  yogafirst2@bigpond.com

Have a wonderful day..

Namaste:  Jahne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Yogis,

Before we start I have some Secondhand Paul Grilley DVD’s for sale, donated by a client with the money to go to the Foundation.  Anatomy, Chakra Theory and Yin Yoga.  $100 for the three or $45 each.  Normal Australian price $65 and more, each.  Email if you are interested: yogafirst2@bigpond.com

Let us talk about MUDRA, rather than the engaging dream I had last nite – more of that later…. I began by thinking that Mudra was another weird Indian “thing” and a Western way to make more money.  I was wrong about the first and probably right about the latter – unfortunately.

Put simply, Mudra is a gesture or touch which has an effect upon our state of mind…Since body and mind are a unity, the attitude of the mind and the body reflect each other.  This can work in cause and effect in either direction. To put it simply, a Mudra is a hand gesture that guides the energy flow to specific areas of the brain. There are many types of Mudras designed to bring different benefits, depending on what we specifically need. They are done in conjunction with breathing to increase the flow of Prana in the body. By practicing a particular mudra, a connection is developed with the patterns in the brain that influences the unconscious reflexes in the different areas. The internal energy is, in turn, balanced and redirected, creating an impact on the sensory organs, tendons, glands and veins veins.

Think about this.  When you are feeling tired, your body slumps, and when you are feeling on top of things you straighten up.  Our language reflects these attitude “putting your back into…”, “keeping your feet on the ground”, “putting your heart into…”.   When we talk about emotions we most usually speak in a language reflecting the body.  Being “close” to someone even if we are physically not.

When we meditate in the Buddhist way,  we endeavour to keep our back straight.  This attitude is not just symbolic.  The body needs to be stable, balanced and close to the earth so our mind can harmonise with the body.  Take the image of the Buddha sitting in meditation with the fingers of one hand touching the earth, grounding his energy.  A mudra.

 The mudras found in Buddhist iconography are related to the meridians of acupuncture and to flows of vital energy.  It is beyond the scope of these newsletters to delve deeply into  the theory and practice of amma (acupuncture) points and meridians in detail.  It is most generally acknowledged  that touch plays a very important part in the in the restoration of body and mind with which yoga is primary concerned.  We have always acknowledged the mind and the body are a single conditioned state – and the conditioned state of mind is always the consequence to  some degree of  a separation having opened up between the mental and physical states of our being.  One way of  understanding this seeming disharmony is to realise the extent to which we are “out of touch”.  Mudras bridge this energy gap.

That is one thing we are missing in covid.  Touch.  We touch another person as Buddha touched the earth,  The Earth Grounding Mudra.  Doing a mudra we feel a flow of energy which warms us.  This touching reduces stress and develops mindfulness.

In therapy, we have found that a light touch can do more in conveying love and caring than a more forceful gesture.   Gentle touch conveys love.  The wellbeing we feel is in proportion to the love we give out.

Try using the mudras as you sit quietly, notice the changes, journal the changes… like everything it takes time.  Don’t dismiss them as “for other yogis” until you have spend some time exploring their subtle energy.

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER

NAMASTE JAHNE