ASHTANGA YOGA;
PRACTICE & PHILOSOPHY

Nea Ferrier

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It's becoming a popular trend to wear a device on

It's becoming a popular trend to wear a device on the wrist to track various body metrics such as heart rate, calories etc. I'm not a fan of these devices in a yoga class.

Firstly, if it's connected to an Apple watch the sympathetic nervous system (stress response) is triggered every time a message flashes on the screen, secondly it becomes a point of distraction to stop and look at the metrics (which users tell me can be addictive) but most importantly the device is unable to measure the most important metric (and main purpose of a yoga practice) of all - the cultivation of prana and it's smooth flow throughout the body and mind.

Here's are some important points about prana (more to come in some future posts!);

1. Prana is defined as “life force" and it's free uninhibited circulation is essential to physical and mental wellbeing.

2. Prana is what links the body and mind, and therefore prana is considered to be the link between Ayurveda and Yoga in terms of holistic wellness.

3. Prana is the motivating life force behind the three doshas and is most connected to the "vata dosha" (characterised by movement). This is the main dosha behind the disease process as it is most connected to subtle imbalance and disturbances of prana.

4. Prana can be disturbed by our emotions, which impacts our breath. Conversely we can use our breath to calm the mind, the bridge being prana. Prana is not simply breath, but breath is the main factor that sustains and circulates prana throughout the body.

5. Ashtanga yoga is a powerful tool for cultivating and circulating prana. We focus on smoothy steady breathing through the nose, with the same ratio of inhale to exhale. The breath is synchronised with movement and our priority is to keep the breath following this calming rhythm throughout the practice.

Upon finishing such a practice, the mind will feel clear and light, the body energised. Experience this for yourself and enjoy the effects of freely circulating prana. Let your own experience be your tracking device!

(notes from an article by Dr David Frawley - see link in the bio for the article).

#prana #pranashakti #ayurveda #bodymindconnection #yogapractice

🌞Summer Solstice - Om Shreem Suryaya Namah!

🌞In Vedic thought the Sun or Surya is the Atman, the Self of all, which is also the Purusha, the pure consciousness that is the goal of Yoga. The connection of Yoga with the Sun at an esoteric level is well established in the Yoga tradition. Besides the outer Sun in the sky, there is the inner Sun of Self-awareness that dwells in the hearts of all beings, our immortal essence of light.

🌞 Ancient spiritual traditions throughout the world have long marked the solstice as an important sacred day of celebrations, perhaps even the most sacred day of the year. From Native Americans, to pagans like Celts, Greeks and Romans, to the Hindus, the solstice is honored with rituals and meditation. The Sun is the visible face of the deity and Divine light.

🌞 In the Rig-Veda the ancient Hindu scriptures ‘Ayur’ is explained as Agni or fire which encompasses our soul stirrings or essence of life. The soul or reincarnating being is veiled in the body, mind and consciousness in the form of fire and Light. On the summer solstice, that energy of light is most evident.

(written by Yogini Shambavi) @yoginishambhavi

📷 via Pinterest. Image is the sun dial at the Konark Sun Temple. I can't wait to visit India again and my first trip I have planned it to this eastern part, including Orissa where this temple is located.

#summersolstice #sundial #suntemple #konark #suryanamaha
#surya #atman #purusha #vedicastrology #yogaphilosophy #yogajourney

One of my favourite non-yoga books, yet very relat

One of my favourite non-yoga books, yet very related to yoga is Flow, Psychology of Happiness by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

Csikszentmihalyi writes about "flow" moments as being key to experiencing happiness. Flow moments are periods of intense focus and mental concentration. Artist, surfers, surgeons, rock climbers and of course yoga and meditation practitioners experience "flow".

According to Csikszentmihalyi, the key fundamentals for creating a flow is for the activity being performed to increase in difficulty at a similar rate to the increase of skill of the practitioner. No challenge - the mind is bored, too hard - the mind gives up. Find that sweet spot in between and you have the environment set for a flow.

As an Ashtanga yoga practitioner, I find this to be a pretty apt description of the practice. We know that a state of yoga can be found in the very first posture "samsthiti", yet for sure learning asanas that are more challenging for us, helps keep us connected and engaged in our practice.

Most recently I've also experienced how Sanskrit chanting has a similar appeal. We could just chant AUM, yet the learning and memorisation of other chants has enormous benefits. In fact, Patanjali tells us that the repetition of AUM is the direct path of yoga right at the beginning of the yoga sutras, yet he then goes on to detail further practices for us to work with.

So whatever your practice, keep it fresh with new challenges, whether it be a new structure of the body or structure of the mind.
#flow #psychology #mindwork #tapas #sanskrit #yogaphilosophy #flowstate #focus #ekagrata #ashtangayoga #ashtangayogadubai #ashtangateacher #psychologyofhappiness

The concept of routine sometimes gets a bad wrap.

The concept of routine sometimes gets a bad wrap. It implies a mundane ground-hog day. But the fact is, our bodies and minds actually thrive in rountine.

One example is sleep. The top advice given by sleep expert Mathew Walker in his book Why we Sleep for improving sleep quality and duration is to follow a routine. Go to bed and get up at the same time each day. Similarly for improving digestion, regular eating times is also recommended.

In Ayurveda, daily routines are known as dinacharya. It can be overwhelming to implement changes into every aspect of your day. Instead, make one change, stick to it and notice the flow on effect.

This is one of the reasons I love to teach Ashtanga yoga, with it's emphasis on a daily regular practice. Just by taking the step to commit to this one aspect of routine in your day, there can be a very positive flow on effect to other aspects of your life, such as bed time, eating times and it happens often quite naturally.

Here's some tips for Ashtanga practitioners when it comes to practice routines;
- Where possible practice at the same time every day (new mums definitely excluded), even if it means some days doing a shorter practice
- End the week (day before rest day) practising primary series only
- Keep the same rest day each week (i.e. the rest day is not the day you just don't feel like getting up!)
- Add in a some self-care practices on the rest day such as abhyanga (oil massage)
- Take rest on new and full moon
- Women to rest from Ashtanga practice during the first three days of menstruation. Practice restorative yoga if desired.

Keep in mind that the purpose of following a practice routine like this, is not to create rigidity in the mind, but to nurture, support and create harmony in our body and mind, which happen to like and appreciate rhythm.

In fact maybe rhythm is a more appealing word to use than routine. Everyone likes good rhythm!

#ashtangayoga #ashtangayogadubai #dinacharya #ayurveda #ashtangis #ashtangadubai #ashtangalove #ashtangateacher #routine

With the total solar eclipse coming up on Thursday

With the total solar eclipse coming up on Thursday, (not visible from the UAE, but if it was it's when the sun appears as a ring of fire) I'm thinking about circles and cycles.

Linking a little bit back to a previous post about the two-steps-forward-one-step-back feeling in spiritual practice, I believe the problem comes from applying a "linear trajectory" of improvement to the path. It's not surprising we do so, considering the dominant paradigm for defining success in the western world is linear. In captialism markets are expected to just keep growing. However, look where that has got us!

Instead, we may considering adjusting our view point to a more feminine lens of circles and cycles. We have phases of varying intensity, phases of expansion and contraction, phases of high and low energy. We are humans, connected to the universe, which expresses itself in cycles. We can observe this in the outer moon, and as women we can follow the cycle of our inner moon.

Throw away the straight yardstick or ruler, that you are using to measure yourself up against. And definitely throw away the concept of progression measured by time, "I should be doing this by then".

Follow the circle, whereby time looses meaning, and any point around the circle is accepted and embraced.

#wayofyin #cyclicalwisdom #circleoflife #cycleawareness #lettinggo #astrology #solarerclipse #yogaphilosophy #feminine #ashtangayoga #spiritualpath #spiritualjourney #

What is the role of the yoga teacher when it comes

What is the role of the yoga teacher when it comes to student emotions?

Ashtanga yoga is a powerful practice that penetrates deeply through physical, energetic and causal bodies.

Practitioners may experience intense sometimes confronting emotions as various asanas as practised. Past memories and traumas may surface. It's not always possible to known the origin or meaning behind these emotions.

In fact it's not necessary. Using the body to process emotions, actually involves letting go of the "story" and instead observing the somatic experience with compassion and non-judgement.

Adding other stories such as "restriction in backbending means xxxxx" or "tightness in hips is due to xxxxx" is not only misguided but potentially damaging to the psyche of the practitioner, who is already in a place of vulnerability. (I decided to edit the end of the sentence so not to fall into the same trap!).

As teachers, our role is to "hold the space" in a loving and acccepting way for students to feel safe to have these experiences. It is not our job to analyse, theorise or add another "story" or intepretation onto the experience. We are not healers or therapists.

We are teachers of a method that can assist in the practitioner gaining greater clarity for themselves.

📷 @sigismondiphotography

#transformation #ashtangayoga #yogateacher #koshas #purification #somatichealing #bodymindconnection

“I would never suggest meditation, prayer, posit

“I would never suggest meditation, prayer, positive thoughts as a replacement for action.

But I know I need to connect to something bigger, repeatedly, to have the energy to keep acting.” Sharon Salzberg

#ashtangayoga #dubaiashtanga #ashtangayogadubai #dailypractice #dailysadhana #dubaiashtangis

"Sattva is sometimes translated as equilibrium. Li

"Sattva is sometimes translated as equilibrium. Literally sat means "truth" or "reality", tva means the “quality of".

Sattva is the ability to perceive things accurately and act as is appropriate in any particular situation.

Sattva is a desirable quality, the most desirable quality to have in fact, because we as individuals always need to be adapting to our environments, especially in the world of today." Dr Robert Svoboda.

Sattva is the quality we are aiming to cultivate through our yoga practice. Edwin Bryant creatively uses the verb "sattvicized" for the process of transforming the texture of our "citta" (consciousness) via yoga. Specifically it is the "buddhi" aspect of the mind that is purified to unveil the guna of sattva.

The way we "sattvictize" is to minimise the dominance of the other two gunas in the mindspace. So all those things listed before as helping reduce rajas and tamas (yoga practices, chanting, time in nature) can all be included in the list of enhancing sattva.

Become familar with these gunas. Observe them in your "citta". Learn what you need to do to minimise rajas and tamas and boost sattva. Check in whether your yoga practices are serving this purpose.

Understanding the gunas is the gateway to unlocking the body-mind connection and living a skillful empowered life.

#gunas #sattva #samkhya #samkhyaphilosphy #yogaphilosophy #yogapractice #yogateacher #ashtangayoga #tantra #mindbodyconnection

Sometimes the yoga journey can feel like one step

Sometimes the yoga journey can feel like one step forwards, two steps backwards.

Firstly when working with our bodies, a regular asana practice can reveal asymmetry, imbalances and weakness that we never knew were there. It can feel like opening a Pandoras box (or maybe a can of worms!). In Ashtanga yoga, asanas are added sequentially, and just when everything stabilises, a new asana comes along, and a new set of challenges present themselves.

In yoga, our process is to move from the gross to the subtle. So just as we have to confront certain physical imbalances and limitations, similarly we start becoming more cogniscant of the more subtle "mind stuff".

There can be a time in the yoga journey when we wonder whether this yoga is working at all, as we start noticing undesirable mental tendancies and unpleasant habitual thought patterns (samskaras).

In fact this is actually the sign that the yoga is working! Normally thought patterns are running deep down in our subconscious. We are lacking in the awareness to even notice the havoc they create. It's the process of yoga that is bringing them to the surface for us deal with.

So these periods of feeling like you are going backwards, the period that you feel like you should quit is actually the exact time stay with it! Do the work. Do the yoga. It's not meant to be easy.

Image: San Diego Museum

#yogaphilosophy #samskaras #vasanas #dothework #mindwork #yogateacher #ashtangayoga #tantra #vedanta #samkhya #yogasutras #kleshas #vasanas

I've done quite a few posts about the importance o

I've done quite a few posts about the importance of taking rest during the time of menstruation. I thought it was time to write about the polar opposite to the winter period - the summer!

What I have observed over the last few years, is that the more that I honour my winter downtime, the greater vitality and energy I have during the spring and summer seasons of the cycle (after menstruation to ovulation).

So for example, when planning this photo shoot, I specifically planned it for just near the full moon, as I knew my energy levels would be at their peak. I'm very happy to have a photo of this asana from third series of Ashtanga yoga. I've been working on it for about seven years now. When I first started I couldn't even lift my head off the ground!*

Understanding my menstrual cycle has been the greatest gift I could have given myself for my 40s. I only wish I had this information earlier!

Cycle awareness has been the doorway into a better connection with my body. It has lead to an adjustment in my diet (I now eat meat after being a vegetarian for 15 years), and my relationship with food.

I've let go of deeply-entrenched patterns of dieting, fasting, general deprivation and hunger, and instead focus on nourishment and the importance of "rasa" , with the understanding that to constantly feel fatigued and depleted is not a great formula for hormonal balance.

So my dear sisters - let yourself eat, let yourself sleep and let yourself be free!

*Asana is galvasana. See the next slide - entry is from headstand.

#hormonalbalance #cycleawareness #yogaandhormones #fabulousforties #yogateacher #rasa #eatwell #sleepwell #ashtangayoga #ashtangawoman #sthirabhaga #galavasana #ashtangaadvanceda

Self massage with oil (abhyanga) is a wonderful se

Self massage with oil (abhyanga) is a wonderful self-care practice for everyone, particularly those suffering nervous stress and tension (excess vata).

It's a particularly useful practice for Ashtanga yoga practitioners as a way to draw out excess heat from the body, tone the nerves and minimise muscle soreness.

When studying Ashtanga yoga in Mysore, we were advised by Sharath-ji to take an "oil bath" on our day of rest.

Traditionally this is done with castor oil, which is extremely effective in reducing heat and inflammation. Castor oil is very thick and sticky and people react quite differently to its application. For a great tutorial on using castor oil, see @kikisays youtube (details in stories)

I use sesame oil in winter for it's warming quality (sesame oil is also great for vata imbalances). I'm now switching to cooling coconut oil (as I think with tempretures in the mid 40s here in Dubai now we can officially say summer is here!).

Here are the simple steps;

1. Use good quality organic oil
2. warm the oil (I put a small amount in a glass jar in a pot of hot water on the stove)
3. apply the oil to your body, long firm strokes on the limbs, circular movements around the joints. Apply with love
4. keep the oil on for as long as you want, do something soothing and grounding for the mind
5. jump in the shower and wash off, no need for soap. The oil sinks into the skin.

For more Ayurveda self-care rituals check out the book by @kateodonnell.ayurveda (see stories). There are also some good places in Dubai for abhyanga. Check out Kottakal Ayurvedic in Karama and Balance in Oasis Centre.

#ashtangayoga #ashtangayogadubai #selfcare #abyanga #ayurveda #ayurvedaselfcare #abyangamassage #ashtangiselfcare #vatabalancing

"Ashtanga Yoga is a breathing practice. The rest i

"Ashtanga Yoga is a breathing practice. The rest is just a circus" Sri K. Pattabhi Jois.

This quote by Pattabhi Jois, who passed away 12 years ago this week (May 18, 2009) is so important to remember.

Make the breath your priority in your practice and you can't go wrong. The ability to breath smoothly and steadily throughout our practice is one of the best measures of progress in yoga.

The breath is the bridge between the body and the mind. As hatha yogis, we are using this breath and body connection to bring a "samatva" equlibrum to the mind.

When the breath becomes the focus in practice, the attachment to the external form falls away. It becomes inconsequential whether a certain asana can be achieved. It means you can practice in various physical states. Some of my best practices where when I was having to use crutches to walk.

Breath, (in the Ashtanga system of breathing this is combined with bandhas, energy locks) is the gateway to the subtle layers of consciousness.

Don't miss it by getting caught up in the circus!

#ashtangayoga #ashtangayogadubai #breath #breathconnection #ashtanga #ashtangateacher #sycauthorised #yogaphilosophy

📷 South Asian Society