KonaYoga.com

Sending Smoke Signals

Aloha. Kona Yoga is no longer being actively updated. I'm now writing and posting at Lessons In Balance. I hope you'll join me there. Mahalo, Barbara.

 

Image: iPhone5s 

Understanding Movement

"There is a great difference between knowing and understanding; you can know a lot about something and not really understand it." - Charles Kettering

The Anatomy of Movement by Blandine Calais-Germaine, was one of the first books I bought when I started taking yoga classes.  I'd study the meticulous drawings and slowly etch the actions that my body was designed to perform, in my mind.  

Some movements were easy and those that involved my hip joints were baffling. It has taken years of practice for parts of my body to comprehend what my eyes first read. I can't stop now, though. All parts of me are progressing; I think I read that somewhere.

 

 

 Image: buechi , iPhone 4S

 

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I attended Steve Salkin's workshop on shoulders this past Sunday at Big Island Yoga Center and really enjoyed it. We went through a long list of stretches and techniques to address the muscles in and around the shoulder girdle.  If you'd like to receive notice of his next class in Kona, sign up for notices through the BIYC website.

One of the things that has always caught my eye there, is the collection of books on yoga that are for sale. It has to be the best on the island. They have always maintained a wide selection, even better than what Borders used to carry. 

A good time to go take a look would either be a few minutes before or after a class. Check their schedule and maybe you'll find a class or two. There's even a free class the first Sunday of every month.

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John Leebold sent this picture of himself seated next to Guruji, a couple of months ago and I was reminded of it while reading The Lion of Pune, Rumi and I this morning. I've heard many stories about  B.K.S. Iyengar from his students, who became my teachers and it's so inspiring to hear that he still maintains a strong practice, well into his 90s.

Now doesn't that make you want to expand your yoga knowledge and experience? There are some highly qualified teachers about to hold workshops in Hawaii that you might like to consider:

 

• Steve Salkin at Big Island Yoga Center, February 10. (Update 2/8/13, 7:48 p.m. I just called to check and there's still space available for Sunday). 
• Aadil Palkhivala at Big Island Yoga Center, February 22 to 25.
• Kofi Busia at East Honolulu Yoga Center, March 13 to 17.
• Jehangir Palkhivala at East Honolulu Yoga Center, April 11 to 14.

 

Image: Courtesy of John Leebold 

 

Kofi Busia: in Honolulu, March 13 - 17, 2013

 

Kofi Busia returns to Elaine Chung's East Honolulu Yoga Center in Hawaii Kai for a five day workshop.

Classes will be held at the Center, 6650 Hawaii Kai Drive, Suite 104 in Honolulu.

Download a combined schedule, tuition information, and registration form here.

For more information contact Elaine Chung at 808 396-2208 or at [email protected] 

 

Image: Awakening 360

 

Mantra Markings

Order is a lovely thing; on disarray it lays its wing, teaching simplicity to sing.

 -Anna Branch

The downside of moving three times in one year is that I can't rely on the permanent-marker-pen-labels on my storage boxes. One, labeled "Bookshelf Misc.", now contains a mixture of kitchen and bathroom miscellany so random searches are the real order as I'm unpacking. I've gone from my folks' home to a three bedroom house with a gorgeous view of the Kona shoreline that Tall Guy and I are renting. Boxes from our storage unit are stacked in the garage now and I'm on a mission to get rid of all of my old stuff.

Important items are also showing up. Such as my entire stock of Mother Sequence books that were on their way from India when I closed the studio. As I flipped through a crisp, new edition, I had a distinct urge to write my own notes onto the pages and to chant the twelve mantras while doing the Sun Salutations.  For the last two mornings at sunrise, I've enjoyed slowing down the pace of the Suryanamaskaras to match my chanting, and allowing the original dimmer switch that the sun is, to light up the room. My random searches do bring real order.

 

In case you're interested...

The chants and postures go something like this.

Here's how to find what time the sun is supposed to rise where you live?

Update 2.2.13: I'm still doing this but a short meditation time has begun to follow. It has now become the motivating factor for my daily practice. 

 

The Perfect Practice

Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired. -Martha Graham

I'm staying in my parents' house for now, slowly clearing away nearly fifty years of....stuff. Fred and Clara are alive and thriving at the Hualalai Regency with their Lovebird named Happy,  their meals and housekeeping handled just to their liking. A fourth floor ocean view, a short drive to the bowling alley and a swimming pool for Fred's exercises complement the cruise. I tell all this, because people usually end up cleaning out their parents' home after a death or incapacity and miss the chance of a pleasant transition. One of my brothers likened it to watching kids go off to college.

For several years now, I imagined that my folks and I would one day live on a little farm. They would have one house, I would live in another, and there would be a yoga barn in the center where I would teach or practice yoga.  Although in reality they chose to be near sea-level, instead of up in the farm zone, they are as happy as I had pictured them to be. I'd always planned to help them move out of the old house, so that part of my vision is still in tact. Every few weeks, I fly to California to spend time with #78, so I am as happy as I pictured myself to be, even more than I could have imagined.

But now that I no longer have the luxury of my own yoga studio and the discipline that my teaching schedule provided, I'm left to create and find my own place and time to practice. There is no yoga barn at the old homestead, so I keep my yoga mat spread out in front of the TV that I've unplugged (it turned on by itself several times - another story) with no more than twelve inches of clearance surrounding it. For now, it's the only space I can spare. The carpeted floor makes me wobble and I tell myself that it's good for my balance. I find no semblance of my old routine when I step on the mat and my Grumpy Girl complains.

A few days ago when I read,"Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired", I saw my choices. All of the years spent leading my body into and out of the postures while focusing on the feeling of Joy, has taken effect. My teacher said to inhale the feeling of joy and exhale a sense of peace and contentment.  I practiced doing that daily, week after week, year after year. I taught the same thing, over and over. One day, it happened. Like feeling as though you're spinning around even after you've stopped spinning, it's become a response - I feel Joy when I inhale. 

No one yoga posture did that. No single mindblowing-weeklong-workshop awakened the Joy within me. My teacher inspired a vision, I had faith and practiced, over and over again - breathe in joy, breathe out peace. Once I could honestly feel those emotions, it became my desire and the focus of my practice, and then my life. As I remember all that, I've decided that I don't need to look for the perfect practice or the perfect place to practice. I want to practice feeling Joy and be open to all of its incarnations no matter what I'm doing and where I am. 

I once saw myself living happily-ever-after on a little farm and now I'm living happily-ever-after as I move from house to house, state to state. I'm going to keep exploring the Mother Sequence and all its variations for the rest of my life, I'm certain. Whether I take my body through it for an hour, 6 minutes, or just mentally as I fly across the Pacific, I'll invite perfect Joy. That is my perfect practice.

 

 ~~~~~~~

 What perfect desire are you inviting in everytime you practice?

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Wooden Buddha from Kona Yoga

The best is always yet to come...

Whatever with the past has gone, the best is always yet to come.

-Lucy Larcom

I scored another birthday a few Sundays ago and I'd have to call it the best one yet. The songs and happy wishes began at midnight and continued all day so I decided to end the day by making some very special wishes as I blew out the cake-less candles. At this point in my life, many things that I lightly considered "nice to have", have been gift wrapped and presented to me in such profusion that I wondered what effect a ritual, huff-and-puff-and-blow birthday wish would have.

 

I brought all the candle holders I have into my living room and lit them, as you see in the photo. One candle held the wish for each person who has ever come into contact with Kona Yoga: may you find the most ideal replacement to suit your needs. It would be nice if everyone held the space open for a new yoga teacher or studio and found their next, best thing. That was my wish. That is my wish and I would love to hear from you when you settle in with a new teacher, a new class, and a new perspective. Namaste.

 

The End of the Beginning

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

-Winston Churchill

Those of you who have been attending classes this past month, already know that I've decided to close Kona Yoga at the end of August. While it may come as a surprise to some of you, it's been in the back of my mind for a long time.

 

The lease contract for the studio ended in November and it's been on a month-to-month basis ever since. The intention to close has been there for several years, the final decision, arrived a few months ago.

 

In a 2008 newsletter article, I wrote:

 

The more that I'm willing to accept and allow into my life and the wider I open my arms...the more life rushes in to fill the space.

 

Teaching weekly yoga classes for the past nine years, in one special spot, allowed me to define, and then refine, a joy-filled existence. The open-heart-centered yoga that I practiced and taught, has permeated my life and I now feel the need for more space and expression. It's time for the next best step.

   

But it's not time for "goodbyes", yet. Wouldn't it be nice to celebrate what yoga has brought into our lives during the next eight weeks and to create ways to keep allowing those gifts to flow?

 

 

 

Photo: Om and Mo, are faces on the studio floor that have been with me through every class.

Happy Father's Day 2011

There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthened and maintained.

- Winston Churchill

 

This is one of my favorite photographs from my family gathering in San Francisco during the Memorial Day weekend. It's a picture of my dad and me, sitting in the window seat of my parents' hotel room, with jackets and bags strewn on the bed. The lighting washes out evidence of the time of day and I was unaware of it being taken, so it feels like a snapshot of a memory.

Just a short time ago, at least in my mind, my dad was the one who went out into the world and brought back information and experiences to teach and entertain his children. Now that we are grown and scattered across the country, and dad no longer ventures too far from home, we bring bits and pieces of our world back to him. Although our roles have been exchanged in that sense, he is the original. We, his children, are the variant years and models. Never is it more apparent, than when we are all together. Line us up and the brand speaks louder than any of the ....enhancements.

It is my wish, that the gleam in his eye is partly due to a reflection of his own image; that he sees a bit of himself in each of his four children and that we bring bits and pieces of his world back to him.

To Fred and all you dads out there, Happy Father's Day

(June 19, 2011)

~~~~~~~~~~

Note: I love the above photo for its "my daddy and me" commentary but truth be told, I was actually showing Fred a series of adult cartoons. :D Priceless!