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This past weekend I was at the Shared Histories “The Wellbeing Experience” festival at Zoo Lake.
The Shared Histories festival is a cultural event that brings India to South Africa and as the name implies, is a reminder that the countries share history. It’s quite funny because when I was in India I found they were very unaware of this cultural connection- even of the fact that part of Mahatma Gandhi’s lifetime, and arguably inspiration was laid on these shores. Maybe we should have our version of this festival in India. Anyway, I digress.
This was the first time the Wellbeing Experience was introduced to the larger festival. It essentially was a way of presenting the healing modalities from India, focussing primarily on Yoga and Ayurveda. These are two practices that were formalised into systems by the sage, Patanjali, along with his work on Sanskrit grammar. There was a nod to South Africa here in that there was also a stand for traditional healers run by the Traditional Healers Organisation.
I of course represented the Iyengar yoga community. I’m not sure whether the event could be termed an absolute success. The information about the event was confusing to some, implying that one had to book at CompuTicket for tickets. I am not very well read in the mainstream media so I cannot be sure of how much publicity the event attracted but the showing was poor.
The show was situated in a large tent with various adjoining tents leading off from this main one. In the main tent were all the stands and the side tents was were the various classes and talks were situated. Unfortunately I missed all the Ayurvedic talks that I was attracted to because I was assisting the Iyengar yoga classes. I was also very disappointed with the food. There were very few food stalls but it has to be said, the food I did try was very delicious.
On a positive note it was great to go around and chat to other yogis from different schools in Johannesburg. I even joined a Jivumukti class which was quite a workout. There was even music by Susheela Raman and Sam Mills accompanied by two Indian artists that I did not get the names of as well as a musical interlude by the traditional healers. Hopefully this part of the festival will be back next year, with more people and more Ayurvedic talks and stalls. It really is a great way for people to be exposed to the various styles of Yoga and hopefully to find the one that suits them.
Today in class I gave the instruction “… and keep the flesh of the inner leg pressing against the bone.” I’m sure any experienced Iyengar yogi has heard similar instructions from their teacher. I’ve heard it argued that one of the reasons that the physical practice of hatha yoga came into being was in order to keep the body youthful for longer so that those aiming for the greater goal of enlightenment would have more time to achieve that ultimate state of liberation.
Some of the signs of ageing are the falling away of the flesh from the bones, the loss of muscle tone and the degeneration of bone density. This simple instruction is aimed at reversing that process by lengthening the muscle in alignment with the bone. This not only nourishes the bone but allows the student to safely practice weight-bearing standing poses that have been shown to reverse the loss of bone density, improve posture and develop muscle strength.
As fortune would have it I came home and found this video of the very cutest yoga teacher. Youthfulness is not just flexibility of the body, but in true yogic fashion, of the mind as well. So let us all keep that flame of youth burning with wonder and delight from within.
In the 8 limbs or petals of asthanga yoga, the fourth is called pranayama.
This could be loosly translated as breath retention or control. The word is a composite of two words:
“prana” which is the universal life force associated with the breath.
and “ayama” which is the nuance of suspend or restrain.
Simply put pranayama is the practise of breathing. This simple definition is the grandest of understatements because breath is life. Although breathing is an automatic function of the body, pranayama is an internal focus on that breath with the aim of observing and extending it’s capacities. In the Iyengar yoga tradition these breathing exercises are practised separately to the normal asana practice. At the beginning, they are even practised lying down, so that there is no stress of maintaining an erect spine and the student can focus wholly on the movement of the diaphragm, rib cage and lungs. The exercises are very subtle and as one is working with such a powerful energy it is advised that pranayama be practised under the consultation of a teacher.
Just as elasticity is important in the muscles and in the mind, it is also important in the diaphragm, for it allows us to take a full breath. In the rush of modern day living, the breath is often shallow and jerky as is the mind it is intertwined with. The aim is to make it long, smooth and ripe with the vitality of the moment. In the words of Sri T. Krishnamacharya, the guru of my guru, considered the grandfather of modern yoga- “Inhale, and God approaches you. Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you. Exhale, and you approach God. Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God“. So without going into anymore detail, I thought I would share a video of Mr Iyengar demonstrating a simple inhalation and exhalation. It is not the length of time that is amazing but the consistency of the tone he produces. Beautiful!
