Downward Facing Blog

Hello everyone.

I know it’s been a while since I blogged regularly and that advertisements are shaky material for a blog but… I’ve been working on a new website and some new offerings coming soon. IN the meanwhile, I want to let you know of my upcoming yoga retreat outside Prague.

Come join Adrian Cox June 10 - 15 outside Prague for a yoga retreat focused on the traditional practices as written about in the mideaval yoga text, “The Hatha Yoga Pradipika” (the Light on Yoga) Only 120 Euros!

Are you ready for personal transformation?
Introducing personalized yoga and mind sessions with Adrian Cox

Blending yoga and modern psychology for total personal wellness these private sessions are tailored for YOUR body, your mind, and your lifestyle. Utilizing personalized yoga, breath-work, guided relaxation, talk therapy, and deep trance work to allow you to finally experience positive, delicious states of body and mind. We begin by taking an individualized assessment of your personality, lifestyle, and desired mental and physical outcomes. Then, by looking at the way your brain forms patterns and associations between the body, mind, relationships, and behaviors, we will work together privately to brighten your outlook and even tackle tough issues such as:

-freedom from addictions
-phobia removal
-weight reduction
-improvement of motivation and concentration
-creating positive relationships
-healthy lifestyle and nutrition
-physical alignment and improvement of health
-learn to meditate
Soon you will be healthier, feeling great from the inside and outside.
Begin today to build the foundations for a brighter, happier future!

One session: 2,500 baht
Buy ten sessions- complimentary one session free!

Appointment times are limited
Sessions are also available at your home or office, please call 02 655 5671 to inquire

Interestingly, and most importantly, shoulder pain often arises due to lower part of the neck or upper part of the back. Treatment for shoulder pain in part depend on the cause. Therefore, in order to treat shoulder pain, you need to identify the area where the pain occurs. Although the commonest cause is related to the neck (cervical spine), and treatment is most effective directed at this area, there are a few exceptions:

1. Along the top of the shoulder, radiate into the side of the upper arm into the deltoid muscle, and further down the arm (may even spread into the fingers): maybe related to nerve impingement originates from the neck.
2. Inner side of shoulder blade (the side nearest to the spine): referred pain in the neck.
3. Pains occur over the shoulder blade area: spastic of trapezius and underlying muscles, due to overuse or trauma of the muscles.
4. Pains occur under the shoulder blade: it’s a warning signal related to a pain from one of the organs in the body.

• Under the left shoulder blade: problem in the stomach or chest.
• Under the right shoulder blade: gallbladder inflammation or gallstones, or maybe related to problem in the liver or duodenum.

Shoulder is a complex musculoskeletal component. Its very stability relies on the strength of 4 muscles, which together form rotator cuff - the major player in the integrity of the shoulder joint. I am such a nerd when it comes anatomy. However, I am also well aware that it is not everyone’s cup of tea. Hence, I am not going to bore you with a elaborate anatomy lesson; a quick look at the diagram should suffice.

 There are of course many muscles involved in the mechanics of shoulder, it is however the rotator cuff that is most vulnerable to tears, strains, sprains and inflammation. This, together with upper body weakness and poor postures aggravet our shoulder; making the shoulder girdle highly vulnerable to stress, pain and injury.

Here’s a few simple steps you can perform. Not only are they good for existing shoulder pain but they are also excellent warm-ups for other forms of exercises such as weight lifting, swimming and golfing. You may even find them great poses to do during the day to break away from stressful, monotonous motions at work.

1. Shoulder shrug

With your torso in an upright position (sitting or standing),

1. Inhale and shrug the shoulder up toward your ears.

2. Hold the breath as you roll the shoulder back.

3. Begin to exhale as you squeeze the blades in together.

2. Gomukhasana (cow face) arms

 Repeat this arms position three times on each side. Remember to:

1. Keep the chin parralel to the floor, about an apple distant away from the collar bones.

2. Upper elbow should be visible from the front, not hiden by the head.

3. Both hands are pulling away in a gentle “competition”.

4. Use a belt, strap or towel if it’s uncomfortable to bring your fingers to interlock.

3. Garudasana (Eagle) arms

Make sure the two arms are tightly hugging. If possible, press the palms tight together. Start with the elbows at shoulder level:

1. Move the arms slightly to the right as you exhale..

2. Move it back to the starting position on your inhalation.

3. Exhale and bring it to the left.

4. Bring it back to the starting position as you inhale.

5. Move it up to chin level as you exhale.

6. Back to starting position and repeat 3 times for different arms positions.

These simple postures teach us to engage and strengthen the rotator cuff muscles, which is crucial to preventing common shoulder injuries for yogis and non-yogis alike. If you have a pain that is associated with neck pain, my next article teaches you  how to fix your own neck pain, as well as some asana modifications that will change your practice for good.

 I have been receiving some feedback from my last post How Did I Save My Low Back Pain. Among which are few inquiries about pain on other parts of the body. As I was reading those feedback, there’s a constant resonance from inside: I know this, I had this before…. Makes me wonder if I’m just that prone to injuries. Maybe. Nonetheless it turns out to be a blessing in disguise: not only am I more aware of my body but to read other’s more easily, too.

Since January this year, I have been fighting with this lingering issue around my left shoulder.  I tried the bone-crackling chiropractic that eased the pain but didn’t solve the problem. The pain eventually disappeared from the left shoulder after I stopped all practices for 10 days while I was in a Vipassana retreat. It didn’t last long.

I remember clearly when the right side of my neck started to hurt. It was in July, few days after we moved into the current apartment. Anyone who knows me knew I have very high pain threshold. So, trust me when I say the pain was excruciating. A simple act of turning my head while I rolled over in the middle of the night made me go “OUCH!” I started my mornings with a “OUCH!” and a “POP!” in the left shoulder. Although I am addicted to cracking my joints (wrist, ankle, elbow, spine, neck. You name it, I have it) for the sheer tension release, the awfully loud “POP!” from the left shoulder was alarming (my years of expertise in bone cracking intuitively told me so).

Under the recommendation from Mia, I met a McTimoney Chiropractic doctor. Unlike the bone-cracking treatment that is so widely available, McTimoney’s is different: instead of fixing the bone, producing popping sounds that give short-live contentment, McTimoney’s approach is gentle and yet powerful. I was in awe.

Instead of treating where the pain is, McTimoney’s look for the source. In my case, although I was troubled by my neck, the McTimoney’s doctor treated my left hip in the first session, and left wrist, left elbow on the subsequent visits, but never directly manipulated my neck nor spine. The coolest thing is he refused to treat me even though there was still pain in the right neck after the last session because he couldn’t find any structural dysfunction in me! He simply advised me to rest and observe for the next one month. 

Now, my neck has regained full range of motion; I no longer wake up at night with “OUCH!”. My left shoulder still cracks (I just did it and shocked Adrian as I’m writing this), and I’m working to restore the musculoskeletal dysfunction of my shoulder diligently.

In retrospect, I could perhaps reason the origin of this shoulder + neck episode. Back before I strained my left shoulder with heavy weight, I was trying to break my personal record and challenge Mr BKS Iyengar in building my Sirsasana into 30 minutes, first thing in the morning. I did achieve my personal best at 20 minutes but I started having neck strain since. This, coupled with a structural lumbar scoliosis and imbalance hips, served to the accumulation of what transpired.

I meant to blog on shoulder pains but as usual, I was side-tracked. In the next article, Identify Shoulder Pains.

I was once proud of Malaysia as a role country for the Muslim’s………..

Sunday November 23, 2008

Fatwa Council deems ancient form of exercise from India ‘haram’

BY MAZWIN NIK ANIS

PUTRAJAYA: The National Fatwa Council has declared that yoga is haram (prohibited) in Islam and Muslims are banned from practising it.

Its chairman Datuk Dr Abdul Shukor Husin said yoga had been practised by the Hindu community for thousands of years and incorporated physical movements, religious elements together with chants and worshipping, with the aim of “being one with God”.

“Because of this, we believe that it is inappropriate for Muslims to do yoga. The council is declaring that practising yoga, when it comes together with the three elements, is haram,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

He noted that while merely doing the physical movements of yoga without the worshipping and chanting might not be against religious beliefs, Muslims should avoid practising it altogether as “doing one part of yoga would lead to another”.

Muslims, he said, were discouraged from practising yoga even as a form of exercise as it would ultimately lead to worshipping and chanting, which is against Islam.

“In Islam, a believer must not do things that can erode one’s aqidah or faith. Doing yoga, even just the physical movements, is a step towards erosion of one’s faith in the religion, hence Muslims should avoid it,” he said.

Shukor said that once the fatwa was gazetted, it would be up to the state governments to implement and enforce the ruling as religious affairs come under their purview.

“Malaysia is not the only country which prohibits Muslims from doing yoga. Singapore and Egypt have come out with the same edict,” he pointed out.

The council, he said, came up with an edict on yoga as the matter was referred to it following growing concerns whether it would be against the religion if Muslims continued with the exercise.

Recently, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Islamic Studies Centre lecturer Prof Zakaria Stapa advised Muslims who had taken up yoga to stop practising it for fear that they could deviate from the teachings of Islam.

Shukor said the declaration of yoga as haram was done after serious and in-depth discussions among the council members who met last month.

He said that after studying the matter, including the history and purpose of yoga, the council decided that it was inappropriate for Muslims as it could affect one’s faith.

Asked if the decision would draw flak within the Malaysian community, including the non-Muslims, he said the ruling was only meant for Muslims. The rest were free to practise yoga.

He said Muslims must be careful not to do anything that could erode their faith, adding the religion strongly advocates “prevention is better than cure”.

“There are many other forms of exercise that Muslims can partake in, especially when the religion promotes healthy living and lifestyle. Performing prayers, for example, is a good form of exercise,” he said.

I could still feel the pain as I think about the low back problem I had about a year ago. I remember vividly it was a morning that called for Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga.

I rounded up the primary series in just under two hours. Having rested and meditated at the end of the practice, I stood up from Padmasana with an intense pain from the low back. The pain restrained me from straightening my torso. I had to edge to my bed and lay in prone to ease the pain.

Although the pain lessened but it still lingered: I couldn’t squat and a simple Uttanasana proved to be fatal. Did I overwork? Was is the Kurmasana? I couldn’t fathom the cause. I spent the rest of the day researching. Although I am still uncertain what went wrong, I did find a “recipe” that healed my pain. This is what I did the immediate evening:

1.    2.

I did the first two poses for 5 minutes each. When I slept, I spent 5 minutes laying on my stomach, followed by sleeping on one side (pain side leg drawn up). The next morning, I began with the first two poses as the evening before and proceed to the following gentle back bends:

3.  I alternated between  Sphinx (half Cobra) and full Cobra according to how the low back felt.

4.

5.

I lifted my leg (legs) in 4. and 5. just high enough where the pain was still bearable.

6. 

I started with a much gentler version of Dhanurasana before I attempted the full version.

I repeated the postures 5 times each, pausing for brief rest in between. To end the therapeutic practice, I ended the sequence by first resting on my stomach before I rolled over to Shavasana. I also found doing single leg-lift in cat pose (or table top), as well as Supta Padangustasana with belt (be cautious not to round the lower back) to be helpful.

I diligently practiced the above sequence for twice a day, and Voila! I was again jumping back and forth in Vinyasa on the 4th morning. I suggested a similar but much simpler sequence to my good friend, Yen Lin, because she was about to see a doctor for her low back pain. I told her to perform the sequence for two days and to seek doctor if it didn’t help. Yen Lin has no background in Yoga, neither is she a keen sport person. Nevertheless, she was ecstatic of the ease after two sessions of the sequence on her own. I congratulated her as I lectured her on the hazard of sitting long hours and carrying heavy files in a stooping back.

I must admit though that my low back pain (and that of Yen Lin’s) was probably not as serious as most people are experiencing. For instance, my friend Joshua (read Dedicated to Joshua). I email him the sequence when I heard about his condition one month ago. Due to the acute pain I advised him to stick with just 1. and 2. (on hard surface) before he felt comfortable to move on to the rest of the sequence. The last time I checked, it was still difficult for him to move on to the gentle back bends. Hopefully with the physiotherapy, chiropractor, and his strong willpower, the pain from his slipped disc will eventually subside.

As a general rules of thumb, avoid all forward bends while the low back is hurting. Although back bends usually help, they might exaggerate the pain if not executed the right way. If the pain comes from Sacroiliac joint, hip opening postures such as Baddha Konasana, Upavista Konasana, Parsvakonasana, Virabhadrasana II, etc, are to be avoided, too. At acute phase, even a simple crossed-leg seated posture is big No No.

I sincerely wish all practitioners (especially advance practitioners) a pain free life of practice.

Two weeks ago I was back in my hometown - KL - conducting workshops and attending wedding. In between of which I met up with friends and ex-students. One of which is a friend from college, Joshua.

I was sympathetic when Joshua told me the episode of low back pain that he was suffering.  After listening to his story (over a free lunch), I was inspired to write about this modern malady that is haunting so many people. Here’s how it begins:

Joshua woke up one morning, going about as usual, until an unassuming sneeze took him down. He was paralyzed in the house for 6 hours until help arrived.  Joshua was later diagnosed with slipped disc. 

I remember my cousin sister told me years ago how she was frightened by sneezing because it always gave her pain in the lower back.  I found it hard to believe how something as trivial as sneeze could contort her with low back pain?

Truth is: sneeze is not the ultimate cause of the pain; it is only the incident that triggers a painful reaction to accumulated physical, mental, and/or emotional stress and overuse. Nevertheless, sneezes do subject the torso to very high levels of torque. So next time, lean back instead of bending forward when you sneeze.

 Under the recommendation of his uncle, Joshua is now walking around in a lumbar corset. The lumbar corset compresses against the abdomen in order to unload the vertebral column. Although there hasn’t been obvious recovery from wearing the lumbar corset, we did conclude that it at  least protects Joshua against injury and acts as a mechanical reminder  - bending the knees, instead of folding from the waist, when need to.

Not only is Joshua having to deal with the pain but he also has to give up his passion: racing. Apart from the physical pain, weight gain has become a serious issue - He could hardly fit into the race car seat. It is not uncommon for people in pain to gain weight. In contrary to common belief that pain killers are the culprit for weight gain, the gain is attributable to inactivity, as it hurts to move. This weight gain can also be abrupt and extreme due to high levels of stress hormone.

When Joshua goes to his regular physiotherapy he notices surprisingly high number of young patients in the clinic. Isn’t back pain happens only to old people? I still remember hearing old people complaining about back pain caused by their “old bones”. So how do these young patients get “old bone” at such young age?

One of the obvious factors come from the sedentary nature of modern life and work, which subjects us to sitting long hours in chairs; be it at work, school, or at home.  Apparently sitting in chairs limits the range of motion in the hips. For yogis, this means it takes longer time for you to be comfortable in Padmasana. For the householders, this transpires into low back pain. Scientific research has shown people most susceptible to low back pain have the least range of motion in the hips. This is true regardless we are fitter than average or committed couch potatoes.

You may want to get off that chair you are sitting on now and sit on the floor as you continue to read my next article on how I fixed my own low back pain in just three days.

I’m creating some new courses- this one I’m really excited about. It’s very unique as far

as I know… If you are a teacher, especially if English is NOT your first language, then I highly

recommend you to come. Past graduates of Yoga Elements teacher training get %15 discount!

I created this course out of a long study of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), and related disciplines and then applied it to the art of teaching yoga. 

Radiant influence - The communication training for yoga teachers

Have you ever asked yourself why some teachers don’t really pull you in while others have a profound effect?  Is it what they teach, or HOW they teach? Bad tone, weak or boring choice of words, ineffective gesturing and worse- unknowingly create negative states of being in your students and may simply affect how many people you can draw in.

Now learn how to be the kind of teacher that students WANT to come back to. In this course you will learn the skills to transform your dialogue,  sequencing, and presentation skills to have them coming back for more! You will take away powerful information on how to positively influence your students through dialogue, tone, and energetic presence. The result will be fresh, powerful, and unique class sequences, through a blending of psychological  and physical outcomes that will blow people’s minds. Students will receive a certificate of completion after the course.

Coming the weekend of March 7-8 2009, four hour sessions on saturday and sunday.

(I borrowed this pic… it has nothing to do with the article :-p)

Admit it. You’ve always wondered about it. Looking at flexible, beautiful bodies contort into themselves into yoga postures -and thinking yoga must make for better sex. Although you’ve probably asked if,yoga would help you to lose weight,  you really secretly also want to know- “does yoga help me in the bedroom”?

When you write an article about sex and yoga, you must walk a fine line. It would be easiest to write a cosmopolitan-like headline: “Yoga for the bedroom!” or like many, take the opposite tact: swing the other way and tell people sex is something to be avoided if you want “real” spiritual progress. That’s not hard to find either. Take for example this sloka from the Bhagavad Gita:

“One should hold one’s body, neck and head erect in a straight line and stare steadily at the tip of the nose. Thus, with an unagitated, subdued mind, devoid of fear, completely free from sex life, one should meditate upon Me within the heart and make Me the ultimate goal of life.

On the subject of sex and yoga, these two attitudes stand facing off, yet, it’s the blending of the two which makes for a much more challenging, yet interesting, path to take.

Sex grabs our attention like almost no other subject on earth. Perhaps unconsciously we sense it’s central role to our survival as a species, and individually for pleasure, progeny and approval. Yet, as Sigmund Freud suggested (and perhaps overstated), all human endeavors have their basis in libido and sex connects to just about everything. Even yoga.

Yoga and its related disciplines from India recognize sexuality as a part of an individual’s needs. Vedic tradition, of which yoga is a part, recognizes four aims of life: work (artha), love (Kama), individual path (dharma), and spiritual liberation (moksha). The three domains of artha, Kama, and dharma are all meant to lead us ultimately towards the supreme goal of moksha. Still, the question of HOW love and sex is expressed on the path to moksha generates a diversity of approaches.

Some teachings say avoid it for spiritual purity, others say utilize it in the interest of higher realization. So which one do you choose?

The majority of the Earth’s population may just think of sex for pleasure or as a means of procreation. Of course this is fine, yet as you read these words , it means that you are someone who is seeking something higher. Perhaps it’s a greater sense of connection with your lover, or maybe even a better understanding of your life purpose. It depends on how you look at it. If sex is something you do as a sport and a quick release of endorphins, the yoga asanas, like exercise, will help you to physically perform better. If it’s used as platform to build more and more energy, that short amount of pleasure can escalate until you are filled with bliss from head to toe. Tantra teaches that keeping your mind running along the edge of that trance-bliss of sexual pleasure and orgasm can draw you into the bliss of samadhi and the supreme.

Let’s first back up a bit however. Sex energy, as the intrinsic life force of our being, can be held inward, or expressed outwards in one of an endless number of ways.

When this life force is held inwards due to cultural and religious repression, abuse or shame, blocked sex energy may show up inside the psyche as addictions, control issues, money problems, or simply as a lack of creativity. It will always show its force somewhere.  The real issue is to learn how to focus it consciously.

Yoga and Ayurveda considers physical orgasm and ejaculation as a strong force of downward moving energy in the body, called “Apana”. This internal prana also rules over childbirth, menstruation, and stability. It is considered to be both a person’s resistance against disease and if in excess, it becomes the force of disease itself. Like all pranas, it is closely associated with the mind. So if there is too much downward flow, it pulls the mind increasingly towards sensual gratification. Simply put, when you strive for sex as a way of “getting off” you won’t find real emotional or spiritual satisfaction. When we look at life from a larger perspective, more sensual gratification leads to more desire, then as the usual course of things ultimately ends with dissatisfaction. That is the cycle of desire as poignantly taught in the Buddhist and Hindu teachings on samsara.

 So repression doesn’t work, and chasing endlessly after brief physical pleasure may not be in-line with a holistic, spiritually focused life- so a balance must be struck.

The yoga sutras of Patanjali, like all other Vedic systems advocate one of the ground rules is “brahmacharaya”, or moderation in sex life. For those living, working, and paying bills in the real world, this means to not spread your attention around wantonly. Choose one lover at a time, in a relationship that is based on genuine love and assists each other on the spiritual path- moksha. Monks and yogis who renounce the world and its responsibilities are advised to be celibate completely and to focus the energy upwards to the spiritual orgasm, not the physical one.

Which path you take depends on personal inclination, and surprisingly, it is generally regarded that the householder path is more difficult of the two. Keeping the bills paid, your relationships strong, and a keen eye on your spiritual development is said to be so challenging that it is often described as ‘walking a razor’s edge’.

Standard religious practice segregates “spiritual life” and “material life” and suggests there are some things so impure we must rid ourselves and our lives of it to make real progress. There are the usual demons- alcohol, drugs, meat, and of course sex. Yet it’s easy to see that renunciation doesn’t always make for freedom from it. How many countless numbers of monks, priests, and gurus have gotten busted falling off the wagon? Something isn’t working fully when people renounce before they are ready, and we may want to succeed in life and develop spiritually at the same time. What is a seeker to do? Out of this dilemma, Tantric philosophy was born.

Tantra says we need to realize that there is nothing to run from or towards. There is no pure, or impure nor is there any moral code. It says we’re seeking spiritual freedom on the earth, not from the earth. Instead, we can employ all things as our launching pad for higher realization. Simply, it’s just a subtle shift of perception.

 The first shift in perception may be to consider sex as having a much greater potential than to simply get off. This starts by being less goal focused on the big orgasm, but instead ride waves of pleasure for a longer period of time. A kind of spiritual maxim is that whatever you think about, energy moves to that thing or area. Easy to see really, as whatever you focus on in life tends to expand. If you think orgasms are important, then orgasms generally become what your sex is about. If you think you want sex to be about developing your relationship, then that tends to be what you try to use it for. As the energy is focused upwards along the spine towards the higher chakras the nature of it changes as well. It can transmute into pure love at the heart chakra, higher communication and divine will at the throat chakra, deep intuition at the third eye, and spiritual connection and even moksha at the crown chakra. But how to do that?

Strangely enough, yoga asanas are a perfect place to start. Doing dynamic yoga and certain postures such as baddha konasana, upavistha konasana, and hanumanasana as well as mastery of mula bandha will strengthen the pelvic floor. This enables your pelvic floor to become like a trampoline for the inhale and the apana downward force of energy. Besides, a toned pelvic floor not only lifts and increases your personal energy; it will also allow you to have stronger orgasms and to be more orgasmic in general.  By redirecting downward moving energy to reverse and travel upwards you accomplish the transmutation of sex energy temporarily and experience more pleasure in the process.

Women can also learn to lift both the sexual energy through breath and “vajroli mudra” which is an upward and inward contraction of the vagnial walls. There are further teachings in hatha yoga on how to reverse the downward course of the ovum each month and suggests that this may be the key to the “diamond body of light”, and a very very long lifespan. Men similarly derive great benefit physically and spiritually from learning to orgasm without ejaculation in the same way. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a classic text on yoga about 800 years old, advises that to do vajroli, one must also perform “Amaroli” - the drinking of the midstream of the morning urine. The practice of amaroli sends a hormonal feedback through the body so that fewer eggs are released, and there is less apana generated.  

In addition to asanas, mudras, and bandhas you train your mind and breath to focus at higher chakras while you are making love. When you use mula bandha and vajroli mudra, focus on a higher chakra such as the third eye and breathe-in. Try it now, nobody will even see you doing it! As you contract the pelvic floor, inhale, and focus at your third eye, maybe holding the breath for a moment. Observe what you feel, and notice if the breath feels as if it is traveling up or down in the body. Inhales are guided to move energy up in the body, like a straw.  If you think of “up” as being towards God and “down” as being in the other direction then you can also bring your mind and concentration as part of the sex act. Instead of focusing only on the pleasures of your genitalia, spread the sensation out through the body and upwards to the third eye. With each inhale, see the light getting brighter and clearer as if the breath itself is fueling the energy in the chakra.

The strong upward burst of energy and desire itself then becomes generalized as a lust for life and being alive. This burns like a fire within the soul and compels one to greater and greater levels of dedication, energy, and accomplishment. How you choose to direct it is up to you!

If your lover is open to it, try these two exercises with him or her, however, in some ways you don’t even have to say you’re doing it. These Tantric techniques will greatly accelerate connection and intimacy with your lover very easily.

Belly breathing:

Let the man lay down on his left side and the woman lay down facing him on her right side. Move right up against each other so that your bellies are pressed together and the tips of your noses touch. What you will notice is, as the woman, the left nostril will become more open for breath and if you are the man it will be in the right. When the right side of the nose is open, it is said to be “solar”, or masculine in quality, whereas when the breath flows in the left it is “lunar” or feminine. Texts on the subject are adamant that a man should only have intercourse when the breath is in the right side and for women on the left. As you lay there, pressed up against each other, coordinate your breathing so that as he exhales, she inhales and keep going. Picture his solar breath entering the lunar side as she inhales and he inhales her lunar breath as she exhales. This can be intense and very sexy!

Chakra alignment:

On a discourse on the subject of “soul mates” Indian spiritual teacher Osho said that a soul mate is another person in whom all seven chakras line up and connect to each other. The best thing about this is, it can be done deliberately. With a meditative mind and some sensitivity you can read a couple’s connections by seeing on which chakra they connect or not connect. To understand the relationship as it is, consider each chakra with it’s meanings as related to relationship:

1st chakra: material stability, home, the foundations of the relationship

2nd chakra: sexuality, emotion, trust

3rd charka: power, ego, attainment in the world

4th chakra: heart, love, surrender

5th chakra: communication, will power, soul to soul communication

6th chakra: mind, psychic connection, mentality

7th chakra: spiritual connection with a higher source

Sit or lay opposite each other and have both of you direct your attention at the root chakra. Practice sending and receiving from this center, until you sense a connection has been established. It is helpful to learn some of the details of each center such as color and meaning. Use the following color visualization as you move up the spine.

1st - red

2nd - orange

3rd - yellow

4th - green or pink

5th - blue

6th - purple or white

7th - purple or multicolor

Move upwards through each chakra up to the sixth and then return to focus on areas which seem a bit weaker or less sensitive. For example, if you have been fighting, the heart chakra may feel closed down and you will definitely detect a change when you work to open it up. When all systems say “GO” then connect with each other particularly at the root chakra, second chakra, heart chakra, and third eye. Many people experience this as opening in ways that are intense, spiritual, and extremely pleasurable. With practice, you can do this over distance, simply coordinating which chakra both of you will focus on at one time. Observe the work and personal relationships around you and see if you can “see” from which center people are connecting to each other at. Each type of relationship will have it’s own unique combination where they connect or not. With your lover, keep all seven open and your relationship will outlive all the relationships you know!

In fact, you do know now. Does yoga help you in the bedroom? Yes! Does sex help your yoga? Maybe even more than you know- yet.

Planting Seeds of Change:  Celebrating the New Year

A Weekend of Anusara Yoga® with Certified Instructor Jonas Westring

Friday Jan 9
18:00-21:00 Hip Opening Heaven, Fantastic Forward Bends, Deep Meditation.

This first session clears out the old and opens your being to fresh possibilities for the New Year.

Saturday Jan 10

10:00-13:00 Freedom is truly your True Nature.
Backbends and Inversions designed to free up your energy, build courage, and strengthen your faith.

15:00-18:00 Anusara Yoga Hands-on Assisting Techniques.

Hands-on adjustments for common yoga poses using the intelligence of Anusara Universal principles.

Sunday Jan 11

10:00-13:00 Eye of the Tiger - Celebrating your Full Potential.

To complete the weekend we will do everything possible to explore and honor our fullest potential.

Full weekend workshop provides 12 Anusara Yoga credit hours.

Anusara Yoga
Founded by John Friend in 1997, Anusara Yoga is a profound, effective, and elegant Hatha Yoga system that blends the ancient art of yoga with the science of biomechanics. One of the most popular and fastest growing yoga systems in the world today, Anusara features Universal Principles of Alignment, a Tantric philosophy, and a celebration of the full potential of life as a whole. Through Anusara’s life affirming approach, effective biomechanical alignment principles, and dedication to community – students enjoy a new level of inspiration and confidence on their yoga path.

Jonas Westring, PT, E-RYT 500, is a licensed physiotherapist in his native Sweden and in the USA who began his yoga studies in 1981 at the Scandinavian Yoga & Meditation School. A multi-certified yoga instructor and yoga therapist, Jonas is a Certified Anusara Yoga teacher™ and has studied with John Friend since 1999. Formerly core faculty member for Integrative Yoga Therapy and other teacher training programs in the USA, Jonas now directs Shantaya Yoga School. Combining a background in physiotherapy with over 25 years yoga and bodywork experience, Jonas teaches at venues worldwide. He is known to transmit the essence of ancient healing arts through clarity, mindfulness and joy.   

www.shantaya.org