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Who’s in Charge?

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Who’s in charge? Written May 30, 2020 I remember when 9/11 happened and President Bush addressed the nation. I watched and listened, and his words gave me some kind of comfort.  As a middle schooler, I feared what would happen if we lost our leader when President Reagan was shot. When the Vice President addressed the nation, my fears were quelled. I remember President Obama addressing the nation after 9 church goers were killed in South Carolina. His presence, his emotions, and his words, gave me some kind of comfort. These memories are not in order, and I am sure there are many more. These are just moments in time when our leader stood and gave us some kind of comfort after tragedy struck. Their words helped to make sense of the senseless acts. They have us hope in the light of hopelessness. As a mother of three daughters, I have been the leader of the family for almost 29 years. In our lifetime, there have been school shootings, hurricanes, and many other trag
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Remembering Geetaji

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Remembering Geeta Iyengar on the first year anniversary of her passing... My first encounter with Geetaji was at Guruji’s 80th Birthday. It was my first time in India, and actually my first time traveling by myself without my family. I was very much a beginner, and had never heard of her. I had only heard about BKS Iyengar. On the first day, I was in the back of the class, and for those of you that were there, you may remember the venue was put together last minute because of flooding at the original venue. The yoga hall was built beautifully on the grounds of a place named Ambrosia. My mat ended up on an uneven surface caused by the root of a tree. Guruji was teaching Tadasana, and he said something about the foot I didn’t understand, so I stood up on my tippy toes to get a glimpse of the screen, which I could barely see above the tall man’s head in front of me. While I was on my toes, Geeta caught me. I quickly learned that in this place you are being watched ALL th
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Location: Pune, Maharashtra, India
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Day 3 RIMYI Teachers Programme Pune, India

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Day 3 RIMYI Teachers Programme Pune, India Prashantji AM class What is the education in the prayer? Education begins right now, if you want to learn. Education is possible even without learning. Someone does not need to be learning to get an education. When you start to settle down for prayers, get your education with great awareness. How is the breath moving? With Yoga Software, the body and mind come together. Start with your breath in getting prepared moment by moment. Getting educated is more important than learning. If you don’t like the teacher, you won’t learn. Your awareness of the: -breath  -mind -body -embodiment -you  -yours Don’t just be aware of your breath. Your breath also has awareness. Like a “gastroscopy”. A camera goes in revealing everything in you. Everything on the monitor, “alimentic” canal, food pipe, as it goes, you see how everything is working. The breath has a “scopic” head. What interactions are taking place? How do you p
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Day 2 RIMYI Teachers Programme Pune, India

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Class with Prashantji Notes Learning begins in the invocation.  We must involve the heart.  The heart is such an organ that can involve all the organs like a queen bee and bees. Not the case of all other organs. Not all organs are “liverized”, but all organs can be “heartisized.” All organs are involved in the state of love. I love from the bottom of the heart.  Whole hearted actions. The heart has such a gravity, that is 100% involvement, such as the state of being in love. Guruji gave 100%, and made is give 100%. All organs getting connected for connected unified conditions. That is yoga. We can all speak, but we can not speak in such a way that there will be clarity for all who listen because of human doubt. Get clarity. It’s like having worms for vrittis. Let me apply a pesticide to those worms. We all have thought processes. When we practice, don’t just do the pose like Light on Yoga. That book was written for those to be introduced to the subj
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Iyengar Yoga Certification Assessment

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Day 1 RIMYI a Teachers Programme Pune, India Iyengar Yoga Teachers who mentor students from around the world were invited to this special program December 7-15. It took place at the private club PYC Hindy Gymkhana in Pune. The program will be very full, and we were asked not to schedule appointments during this event, as most days would begin in the morning and end in the evening. As we were awaiting Prashant, Abhijata asked us if we were jetlagged. We all said yes. She asked if we wanted her to teach a 5 minute class. We laughed. She said, no I’m serious, Parsva Swastikasana, Twist to the right! Open eyes. Open the outer corners of the eyes and look up, roll the right shoulder back! Uttanasana same Sirsasana head placement. Recover! Stand up. Padmasana right leg up. As many started to sit down, she said, no, standing! Now you will not be sleepy! Wake up! Eyes at the horizon level. Paschimottanasana Namaskarasana open the chest!! Sit down.  After we greete
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Location: Pune, Maharashtra, India
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The Treasure Within

If you know what Supta Baddhakonasana is, and the effect, recall how you feel in class when the teacher announces it in class. In my 20+ years of teaching, it is the second Sanskrit name of a pose my students recall (first one is Savasana!) So imagine how I felt this morning, when I arrived for Prashant’s class, and the thick black cushioned mats were out instead of our regular sticky mats. That could only mean one thing. Restorative and pranayama class. YES!! It’s just what the doctor recommended. After I settled into my space with my pranayama pillows and blankets, I embarked on a Prashant expedition.  We started with rope Sirsasana or supine poses. Our choice of supine poses. (When I have a choice, I find myself asking , body, which one do you need?) Since I had extra blankets and pranayama pillows, I gave some away to share with some of the latecomers, as sometimes the props are not enough for all. It is expected for those who need less props to practice aparigrahah (non atta
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