Page 260 – Yoga Beautiful

Dear Yogis,

Inadvertently Covid has brought me back to the yoga school I used to have and love. Lots of people, lots of classes, lots of lectures. Lots of doing it my way – very philosophical, very “Jo March” (Louisa Alcott’s Little Women”). We do yoga (asanas) to prepare the mind. The perfect asana is not the goal.

You might want more philosophy in the mornings, but for the time being, this newsletter is the main way that I can let you know what is happening day-to-day. We do now have our Sunday morning Teacher Training (every Sunday at 10) which is jam packed full of philosophy (and students), then we have Tuesdays teachings at 7.30pm. This week we are starting with IDA/PINGALA AND SUSHUMNA. There is no repeat of this and no recording….. this is an ongoing series of lectures, three at a time. We have just finished considering Hypermobility. Look at the home page of the web site to see all the classes and times. There is so much to do.

Payment is easy peasy. We have PayPal – just go to the Home Page on the web site, click on Donate at the bottom of the page, and make one-off payment for the amount of the course. PayPal very cleverly sends me a receipt. We even have PayPal credit (for 50 years I personally have provided this facility and it’s time for a change). So you can pay for a course, and when necessary organise to pay over time with PayPal.. Handy for even our shorter courses. You don’t even need a PayPal account.

On Fridays we have CAFE YOGA. This is a surprising success. A ‘girl time”. You can bring tea (“hard tea” as the ad says), something to nibble and something for “show and tell”. Knitting, a book, a craft. Anything. We only have an hour. Last week when I said I knitted on toothpicks people didn’t believe me, but I do, and I can show you the tiny T-shirts I knit as egg cosies.

ZOOM RESTORATIVE YOGA – Gentle , or with weights and straps. I now have eight classes a week. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Your choice. I would love to see you there.

BHAGAVADGITA.

One day not far away, we are going to consider the Bhagavadgita together.

The word actually means “The Lord’s Song”, and around the world about a BILLION people accept this to be so. This ancient text looks at the eternal questions – Who am I? How can I be happy? Where does everything come from? Who are our real teachers and where do they come from?

A brief(?) Sanskrit text of seven hundred verses, the Bhagavadgita forms a part of the Bhisma-parva, the sixth book of the Mahabharata – a vast and complex sacred history. Widely recognised as a work of spiritual and philosophical genius which I began exploring it in my early (unfinished) years with Sanskrit, and with my teacher Margrit Segesman. I have all but forgotten my Sanskrit, but I remember Margrit every minute of every day – without her I would not have found my true purpose. It was she who introduced me to the Gita and real yoga.

The great mathematician astronomer Arya Bhata concluded from archaeo- astronomical data in the middle of the Mahabharata that the Kuru-kesetra War, the setting of the Bhagavadgita, took place approximately 5,100 years ago. Modern scholars disagree and doubt the historical accuracy of most Mahabharata events.. but east or west, all accept their history and antiquity – who is right? We do know that the ‘Gita has inspired and illumined a huge and growing number of souls.

Let Us take advantage of its profound wisdom.. The Gita shows us that God’s relationship with fallen souls is mediated by the laws of karma.. and it is said that awakened souls approach and relate to God through Yajna Yoga– devoted offerings. Let us go on this journey together.

Get out your text books, clear the decks – this is a biggie.

Live long and PROSPER.

NAMASTE JAHNE

Dear Yogis,

What a fabulous yoga philosophy class we had this morning. I was worried that I would not able able to see, or speak to the students because of the number – but it was fine. If you were not able to be here, and would like to catch up with it, I am repeating today’s talk on the Purushatras again next Sunday at 10am. So every week we will have a class at the same time, but repeated twice. That will mean if you can’t come to one, you can come to the other. The class is $20 same as in the studio. Go to the front page of the website, click onto DONATE and make a one-off payment for the amount of your class. EASY. You don’t have to have a PayPal account. You can pay by debit or credit card, or if you have a PayPal account you can use that..

I am also introducing two YOGA NIDRA MEDITATION CLASSES. One at 5.30 on a Tuesday and the other 3pm on Friday. They will run for 45 minutes and cost $57.50 for 10 classes – one or two per week. If anxiety or depression are an issue for you, then this might be just the classes you are looking for. Everyone welcome.

The RESTORATIVE YOGA CLASSES are progressing well. They are so satisfying and I get so caught up in the teaching that the other day I found myself sanitising my hands after class!!!

If you would like to join us at the ZOOM YOGA CAFE on Friday at 11 (no charge) please bring your (strong) tea and maybe your knitting. I knit on toothpick needles and have promised to bring my work to class. “Show and Tell” all over again. Please let me know to expect you – email me on yogafirst2@bigpond.com

My potential “BUILD A HERB BUSINESS” classes I have left a space for on Mondays at 6pm. If you would like to do this class, but the time is wrong – let me know and maybe we can adjust. You really can create a beautiful business, or tart up your pantry, with a small amount of herb knowledge in a short time. You just have to want to! In this time of shortages and plain “not there’s”, you can even assist the family and fill the pantry with little or no cost.

WHAT YOU CAN DO IN COVID…

A very “easy” thing is to get the handyman in your life (or you if you are handy) to make a STREET LIBRARY/PANTRY to put near your front fence in an accessible spot so that the passing neighbours can access or leave your “donations”. A box with a lid, a window in the front and a roof with eaves to keep the rain off. People can give or take food from your “pantry”, (and books after covid).

I have always considered community gardens and pantries to be valuable – never more than at this time. It could be a fabulous mum and kids project.

MEDITATIONS

You are made of the stuff called GOD. Of course you are rarely aware of it, but that makes no difference at all. Whether you are aware, or unaware, asleep or a wake – you are still DIVINE. Those who are asleep one moment can be awake the next. Better not to judge.

If we understand even one drop of water, we can understand the entire body of water on the planet. We can understand any water existing anywhere. We are a raindrop of God. If you understand you are a raindrop and made of the same reality of the whole of existence then there can be no death, no fear, no greed, no lust. Then (as I have teaching my Sunday students), one lives in absolute freedom, and bliss.

ENJOY THE WEEK. I WILL SEE YOU ON ZOOM.

NAMASTE – JAHNE

Dear Yogis,

As you read this we will have begun our first Sunday Morning Teacher Training, which starts at 10am to accomodate students joining us from places as far away as Texas in the USA. I do not plan to do a big newsletter here, as I have been working on our 2 hour class which will be repeated next Sunday. I am not recording it. Why? because I am making every effort that we can have an actual, spontaneous class. With two classes, available please make every effort to zoom with us.

A WORD ON MEDITATION

The point of watching the breath is only to bring your mind to neutral, to pull it SLOWLY away from the whirlpool of your worldly thoughts, and begin to focus within. Watching the breath itself is not the goal which will free us. Think why you are here. You are seeking The Path. Decide now that the answers to the big questions cannot be found outside of meditation. People often ask me the big questions, but they really don’t want the answers, they aren’t listening. Decide here and now to meditate even starting at 3 minutes a day. You don’t need to sit on the floor, but you do need to meditate at the same time and in the same place every day.

Do not waste your life, do not even waste a few moments concentrating on lesser goals.

ZOOMING

We have many and increasing ZOOM classes, and would like to see you. Restorative Yoga, Philosophy, Anatomy and Physiology, Herbs and more…..

Look at the front page of our web site www.yogabeautiful.com.au. If you want to join us, there is a charge, (like you I have to pay the rent…buy food and teaching you is my work) and you can most easily pay by deciding which class you want to join, to pay, click on DONATE on the first page, and make a one-off donation of the class fee. We have a PayPal facility and a PayPal credit facility (not that you’ll need it). It’s quick. It is easy, and PayPal lets me know you have paid. You do not need to have a PayPal account. You can pay with a credit or debit account through the PayPal facility.

I look forward to seeing you at our SUNDAY SCHOOL. It is going to be good – our teacher training sessions always are.

HAVE A LOVELY DAY.