$60

In a recent article, published by the New York Times, author William J. Broad wrote: “The wholesome image of yoga took a hit in the past few weeks as a rising star of the discipline came tumbling back to earth. After accusations of sexual impropriety with female students, John Friend, the founder of Anusara, one of the world’s fastest-growing styles, told followers that he was stepping down for an indefinite period of “self-reflection, therapy and personal retreat.” “Mr. Friend preached a gospel of gentle poses mixed with openness aimed at fostering love and happiness. But Elena Brower, a former confidante, has said that insiders knew of his “penchant for women” and his love of “partying and fun.” Few had any idea about his sexual indiscretions, she added. The apparent hypocrisy has upset many followers. “Those folks are devastated,” Ms. Brower wrote in The Huffington Post. “They’re understandably disappointed to hear that he cheated on his girlfriends repeatedly” and “lied to so many.” But this is hardly the first time that yoga’s enlightened facade has been cracked by sexual scandal. Why does yoga produce so many philanderers? And why do the resulting uproars leave so many people shocked and distraught? One factor is ignorance. Yoga teachers and how-to books seldom mention that the discipline began as a sex cult — an omission that leaves many practitioners open to libidinal surprise.” If, as Broad writes, practicing yoga makes one a philanderer, then a lot of politicians are practicing a whole of yoga! Come on! What does one person have to do with the whole field of self-understanding and Self-realization that is Yoga? Obviously John Friend down the road has forgotten to practice his Yoga. He did not put himself on a pedestal, (and if he did that is both insane and dangerous) his followers did and then blamed him for being who he always was! But this webinar is not about my opinion of John Friend’s actions and even Broad’s article (though I have to say he is both hilarious and ingenious; he knows yoga is popular and he knows sex sells so put the two together and you have a very profitable combination, obviously, since a newspaper with the reputation of the NY times went for it!) This webinar is for the person new to yoga and with a genuine interest in what it has to offer. Yoga is not a sex cult. What Broad is referring to is the tradition of Tantra that is one of the sources of inspiration of Yoga. “Tantra,” writes Swami Satyananda, “means to expand one’s experience and awareness of everything, to extend the frontiers of apprehension beyond the material, and hence to attain spiritual knowledge and liberation.” “Spiritual” here means a heightened awareness. Anyone who owned a microscope as a kid and has ever put a tiny little drop of blood under a microscope and was in awe to realize that what was previously thought as one thing is in fact something different has had such an expansion of awareness as described by Satyananda. What was needed was a tool, a means. Tantra and its techniques are like the microscope lens which shows us that instead of being one unit, “existence is divided into two aspects.” The best way in my opinion to demonstrate how life is seen from the point of view of, or to continue the analogy, through the lens of Tantra is to understand how our brain functions. Neuro-scientists have realized that what we think (and here there is an emphasis on the word think) we are, is the result of electro-chemical processes. How these physical processes in the brain give rise to subjective experience remains a matter scientist of all fields go back and forth about; but they seem to go in the direction of something they don’t have a specific name for yet but that the sages of old have called among other things: Consciousness (with a capital C to differentiate it from our limited individual awareness. Here is an analogy to explain what I mean by that: individual awareness is the limited view we have climbing on the side of the mountain, Consciousness is the panoramic view we have arriving at the top of the mountain, the whole 360º). Tantric sages named Consciousness: Shiva and they named the electro-chemical processes and the resulting subjective experience that we are bold enough to call reality: Shakti. What we seem to perceive as one unit or reality is the play of these two aspects: Shiva and Shakti. In Tantra (and Yoga) when Consciousness (Shiva) superimposes (samyoga) on the electro-chemical processes (Shakti) this gives rise to subjective experience (more Shakti) which includes our bodies and our personality with its idiosyncrasies and intricacies. Or as Swami Muktananda Saraswati says: “The brain is the physical mediator of consciousness, linking mind, body and emotions into one harmonious unit.” So how did the idea that Tantra and its offshoot Yoga are a "sex cult" come about? We're coming to it. In our subjective experience, Consciousness becomes very limited. The potential of Consciousness with a capital C is inside us but hidden under the cover of the subconscious and the unconscious and hindered by our suppressed conflicts, desires, memories, and neuroses. What the Tantric philosophers realized is that when specific techniques are applied on our bodies and minds, such as pranayama, mudras, bandhas, meditation, we can actually create a heightened awareness, we can reach the deeper layers of Consciousness, the inherent knowledge of the unconscious surfaces into our awareness; depending on the context, this heightened awareness has been qualified as a stroke of genius, a mystical experience, etc. Every aspect of our minds and bodies, sexuality included, when submitted to specific evolutionary techniques can be used, according to Tantra, to reach this degree of heightened awareness. "According to Tantra," adds Swami Satyananda, "sexual life has a three-fold purpose. Some practice it for procreation, others for pleasure, but the tantric yogi practices it for samadhi (higher consciousness). He does not hold any negative view about it, he does it as a part of his sadhana (evolutionary self-discipline)." To learn more about this subject, and Tantra, sign up for our upcoming webinar: Tantra Yoga

One of my Yoga teachers one day told me that the primary objective of Yoga is to help us become a witness. I had heard this teaching of being the witness in the past but did not quite understand it. I had thought it meant adopting a detached attitude in relation to the external world around me. And to me, that was impossible and in disagreement with my core belief of being connected to everything around me. That day, however, it hit me: what we are encouraged to experiment with in Yoga is to adopt a detached attitude in relation to our own internal world, our emotions, our mental imprints, and our physical habitual patterns.

From the point of view of yogic psychology, what we experience as ourselves is unconscious conditioning. With the yogic practices, we are called out, especially in the intense moments when we are thrown out of our comfort zone, to look directly at what’s showing up, mentally, emotionally and physically, in other words, we are exhorted to become aware.

Our first impulse on the yoga mat when the practice gets intense is to resist the pose, we tense up, we hold our breath; then our minds are screaming at us: “I can’t”, “I’m exhausted”, “I’m afraid”, and we want to get out of the pose; finally the emotions swell up: “I’m not good enough”, “I’ll never succeed”, “I suck”, “might as well give up”, “I’m too weak”, “I’m too old”, “I’m too fat”, “I’m always in pain”, “I’m pissed”, and we get sucked into these emotions, the self-judgment and criticism.

These are the unconscious conditionings, the ‘citta vrittis’ Yoga talks about, the automatic reactions that we fall into, not realizing that they are thinking and behavioral programs, and believing them to be true, to be part of who we are.

When our attitude is one of a witness, it is less likely that we become entangled in the stories we tell ourselves, in our programs and conditionings.

When we are asked to connect with our breath and let go of our resistance; when we are asked to step up to our courageousness on the yoga mat, we are being taught how to become a witness. As we master being the witness on the yoga mat, we train ourselves to be the witness on the meditation pillow.

As the patterns come up and we systematically release them one by one by not chasing after them, slowly the layers of conditioning, from gross to subtle, from conscious to unconscious, are being peeled.

Finally, one day, what is left is the core of who we are, the unbounded, infinite-possibilities, supra-conscious, eternal, luminous self.

“A burning lamp cannot radiate its full illumination if its glass is covered with soot. It is only when the glass is cleaned that the lamp shines most brightly. Similarly, the light or the power of the soul is within us, but it does not manifest itself in our daily lives because of the hindrance of thinking principles, the vagaries of the mind, dissipations and distractions. Meditation helps one to annihilate the sense-consciousness and awaken self-awareness. It removes the impurities of the mind.” Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati

Daya Laure Carter is a Hatha Yoga teacher, Forrest style, at Off The Grid Yoga in Delray Beach. She also hosts a series of webinars on Yoga philosophy. For more information, go to www.offthegridyoga.com

The Yoga sages claim that the very essence of who we are is Absolute Consciousness and Bliss. It this is true indeed then why are we so clueless and unaware about ourselves? Why are we living most of our lives up the high slopes of elation and down the low pits of depression? Long-lasting peace and bliss eluding us. The masters give this answer: the conditionings of the mind, the conditioned thoughts, beliefs and emotions keep our bliss at bay. A point in case is the concept that happiness lies in stability. If our life could just be stable without anything perturbing its status quo, then finally we could be happy. When has life ever been stable? When has there never been some change? Change, movement is in the very nature of life and living, yet we persist on keeping up the appearances, on supporting this fallacy, and constantly struggle against the grain of things. This conditioning that is meant to give us the key to happiness, makes us feel discontent, and dissatisfied. Another point in case is the habitual pattern of characterizing what happens to us either good or bad; as if what happens to us is personal. When something so-called 'good' happens, we take it personally as if it had anything to do with something we did or did not do. When something 'bad' happens we take it personally as well. Then we attach to the 'good' and fear the 'bad', endeavoring to have control over what is completely out of our control. And again we find ourselves struggling, wanting to figure things out, in the illusion that figuring things out, which by the way is another way of wanting to control things, is going to give us any kind of happiness and peace. The masters advise us to first become aware of our conditionings with the support of the practices of Yoga and then drop them. When we live life from the conditioning of the victim, victimization we get back; looking out, we can only see the darkness and hopelessness of the forest. The sooner we drop the conditionings, the sooner we will be able to experience life from the point of view of the masters, the 360 degree panoramic perception at the top of the hill, where the world is a spacious, exciting place, a reflection of our very being!

Laure Carter is a Yoga Teacher at Off The Grid Yoga in Delray Beach, Florida.

The Shiva Samhita, one of the classical texts of Hatha Yoga says: "When this body, obtained through destiny, is made the means of attaining divine bliss, only then does it cease to be a burden and become fruitful, not otherwise." [2:41] Practicing Hatha Yoga for the sake of the body will only lead to more suffering, frustration, self-judgement, competition mentality and ego; but practicing Hatha Yoga for its true and sole purpose: "divine bliss", happiness, joy, delight, only then will we develop a lighter, more compassionate, more patient attitude towards our bodies and their idiosyncrasies; only then will we develop some perspective towards our bodies, and not be obssessed with them. Therefore, discipline on the Yoga path is first and foremost  the discipline of the mind, because what and how we think will determine what and how we do and the results of our actions. The mind that is polluted with thoughts of scarcity, discontent, resistance, frustration, ego-centered drive and judgement towards self and others will not give us an experience of the bliss that is at the very basis of our self, so promise the sages of Yoga. We may have beat our bodies into shape before but how much joy and confidence has that given us? How much freedom from pain, both physical and emotional has that given us? How long did that last? Let's check. Only the mind that is disciplined, "rooted in truth," says Swami Chivilasananda, meaning that is compassionate, patient, all-allowing, grateful, one-pointed and focused on the highest goal, will undoubtedly give us lasting satisfaction. "When you tap into the bliss of your own inner Self," says Siddha Yoga Master Swami Chidvilasananda, "the more you experience, the more emerges. This amazing promise transforms a seeker's attitude towards his body. He no longer sees it as a burden, but as his greatest asset, the vehicle that sustains the inner journey."

During an advanced yoga workshop at Off The Grid Yoga in Delray Beach, Yoga Master Teacher Jessica Unmani King, called inversions Yoga’s happy pills. Now for those of us who have been experiencing fear around going upside down, happy is definitely not a word that we would naturally associate with inversions. However, under the guidance of a masterful and compassionate teacher, inverting can be quite exhilarating! This excitement can be felt both physiologically and emotionally. Inversions are cleansing and nourishing at the deepest levels, and thereby engender tremendous health benefits. The entire physical system, under control of the brain, is energized and nourished as the brain is washed clean and flooded with rich new nutrients. Emotionally, facing one’s fears affords a sense of courage, and inner strength. Facing my fears in the safety of my yoga mat is enabling me each time to deepen my experience of faith; the type of faith, as Alison Wright describes, that “enables us, despite our fears, to fully engage with the unknown. This trust in ourselves, the world around us, requires us to examine our lives and define our own inner truths; and it makes us willing to explore.”