BARBARA BORIS Yoga

TADASANA (Mountain Pose): As a Blueprint for Yoga and Life
or…. How to Improve Your Posture

FRANCIOS IS RETURNING TO WOODSTOCK!

OCTOBER 2 & 3, 2010
Saturday and Sunday
9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. both days with a light lunch break

Held at
Mountain View Studio
20 Mountain View Avenue
Woodstock, NY 12498

$220 for all 10 hours of teaching
$125 for single day (Saturday preferred)

In the Fall of 2008, I attended an Iyengar Intensive with FRANCOIS RAOULT in Rochester, New York. I was so inspired and excited by his teaching that I immediately invited him to come to Woodstock to present to you his knowledge of Iyengar Yoga. Last Fall’s workshop on Pranayama and Ayurveda was well attended. Here’s your chance to see him again… or for the first time.

I realized then that many Woodstock students have a limited view of yoga. We are a small town. But the power of following a strong system like Iyengar Yoga is that the lineage is CLEAR. The beauty of the teaching comes though as you study with different teachers. François is a master teacher:  in Yoga and the related Indian arts and sciences.

For those of you who were “scared off” by previous weekend intensives, this seminar is for you! The majority of the work will be on Tadasana (Mountain Pose) “just standing around!” In this yoga seminar we will practice postural awareness and alignment in daily life postures as well as in standing and sitting yoga asanas. The yoga and the asana will be presented clearly. It will not be a difficult class asana-wise. But I assure you that you will come away from the weekend inspired for your fall practice season of yoga. NON-IYENGAR STUDENTS are WELCOME TO COME. This will be a very inclusive workshop.

We will also look at François’s internationally acclaimed slide show on Posture. (more…)

Saturday Market in Goa

Sunday Class is ON, General Level, 9:30-11

Monday Class is ON, General Level, 10-11:30

After both classes: TRUNK SALE – ITEMS FROM INDIA!
Cash, checks, PayPal accepted (I’ll have my computer so you can pay me)
Clothing, Shawls (light wool, raw silk, Rajasthani Tie Dye Cotton),
Cloth, CDs, Misc., All reasonably recession priced!

It is becoming known among musicians from India that there is a core group of devoted and artistic listeners here. Some artists who are accustomed to large halls and large concert fees are now coming to perform in the intimate confines of Woodstock because of the people who come out to hear them and the reputation that Woodstock has as a music town.  Tejendra Majumdar is one such artist.  A concert by him is a special event anywhere in the world. (more…)

DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE STRIKES NEAR CHOGYAM TRUNGPA’S MONASTERY

Buddhism 101. OM. Even as Yogis, you should all know who Chogyam Trungpa is and why he was important to Buddhism in the west. Then please support the rebuilding and relief effort in his home monastery. Here is the latest news on the disaster there.

http://www.konchok.org/earthquakeinTibet.htm

A huge earthquake struck Jyekundo yesterday, the closest city to the Surmang Dutsi Til monastery, where Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche was the supreme abbot before leaving Tibet. The initial quake of 7.1 magnitude was followed by several aftershocks of magnitude 5 or more. Most communications with Jyekundo are now down but first reports indicate heavy damage and large numbers of people killed or injured. Reports say that possibly as many as 90% of the homes in the city have been destroyed. Trungpa Rinpoche’s brother, Damcho Tenphel Rinpoche, often resides in Jyekundo. It is not known if he was in Jyekundo at the time of the quake. He was not living in the city a month ago. At this time, it is unknown how the monastery itself has been affected. There are confirmed reports that buildings at nearby Thrangu Monastery have collapsed, and several people have died there.

The Konchok Foundation — started by Chogyam Trungpa’s eldest son, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, his widow, Lady Diana Mukpo, and others to rebuild the monastic college at Surmang and provide support there — is gathering information on the disaster. Also working to gather information is the Surmang Foundation, of which Lee Weingrad, a senior student of Chogyam Trungpa, is the director, which provides medical care in the region. Both organizations are setting up funds for disaster relief and will work closely with people in the region.

Trungpa’s Books I recommend:

• Journey Without Goal
• Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
• Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior
• Meditation in Action

© Martin Brading

Happy Hanuman Jayanti!

Hanuman shows us the unlimited power that lies unused in each one of us if we have faith & belief in “God.”
(I write it in quotes, so you can use the “God” of your choice.) JAI SHRI RAM!

http://hinduism.about.com/od/lordhanuman/a/hanuman.htm

Video of our President saying how much he likes Hanuman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KQIWVw2RPA&feature=player_embedded

Contents of Obama's Pocket 2008

And a picture of what he carries in his pocket (from 2008, if you haven’t seen it yet!)
http://www.time.com/time/politics/whitehouse/photos/0,27424,1811278,00.html

Is Barak Obama a Secret Hindu?
From my favorite India commentary site
http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005238.html

JAI HANUMAN!   JAI SHRI RAM!   JAI BAJARANGA BALI!

Back in good ‘ol Woodstock, but very jet lagged. Sleeping is off and on, but the brain cells are barely turned on. What to do? Go upside down again I think. I WILL teach something tomorrow, but don’t expect genius…. still processing Pune. Class is at 10. See you then.

Well, no posting or tweeting for a week now.

Everyone we know is OK from the blast, except for a friend of Vasant R’s, who is also here in Pune doing a meditation retreat out by the Osho Ashram near the German Bakery. Her friend Nadya, who was part of the intimate meditation group she is in, was the Italian who died. I spoke with Vasant the day after the blast. She had been visiting the hospitals and spoke stunned of the disaster and mess she saw there of bodies and injuiries. The thing was, although the German Bakery is an international spot, it was mostly young Indian kids who got hurt. College kids on their Saturday night out. The really horrible thing is that the bag was under a table, so most of these kids are burned very badly on their legs, or worse yet, had to have them amputated because the were so destroyed by the blast. 11 dead now. Over 50 injured. But rest of Pune goes on like nothing happened, only with slightly heightened security at sensitive areas like movie theatres. At the colleges there are candlelight memorial services for the kids who died. We at the Institute are instructed not to congregate by the coconut wala, (the man who sells coconuts from his cart) where we ususally hang out after class drinking coconut water and eating the tender malai (insides)…. lest the Institute itself becomes a “soft” target. But, it won’t, it’s “off the radar” in most guide books. The German Bakery is a famous spot, the blast was just to create a scene. Who knows who really did it and why. It’s India. All sorts of things are going on. Today’s report is that the bag was probably remotely detonated and there are 2 suspicious men spotted on the security cameras from the hotel across the street. Someone will get arrested, someone will take blame or credit, and probably nothing will change. The Bakery will rebuild, just like the Taj and Leopold’s in Mumbai.

Me, after Saturday’s disaster, I got a cold on Monday night. I hate getting sick in India. Because even the smallest illness hits me hard. Real hard. Today (Friday) is the first day I’ve been out of the room. And I’m only down one floor in our hotel where there is somewhat intermittent internet service. Being sick in India, whether it is stomach or sinus or chest is a drag. It’s hot(ish)- is it fever, hot flash, or the heat? Flipping through Hindi movies on tv w/o subtitles, endless news accounts about the blast and the Naxal (communist) violence in the North Eastern states (456 died since 2009 from terrorism, 1012 died from Naxals), and movie ads. No good movies on. Trying to sleep, feeling horrible physically, feeling horrible mentally about missing classes… etc. etc. etc.

I’ll try to make it to the Institute this evening for the Friday night class. But not sure. Do I go in the back and do the “sickie” sequence? (After a week of already doing the mensturation sequence last week, oh so boring) or sit on the stairs and watch? and what about the swine flu warning? Am I non-contagious enough to even be there? Cheryl got my cold already from either Sunday’s or Monday’s brief hello. Darn. I don’t want to give it to the Iyengars prior to the wedding party next week.

And then about the classes!! (At least the ones I have attended). They have been a combination of amazing and disappointing. Amazing in all the teaching, still disappointing in how angry Geeta is and all the shouting. Such a bummer. I mean, she has reason to be angry: retiring and still seeing the same stupid mistakes from people. How frustrating that must be. The teaching has been about working more intellingently in the asana, more than do this and do that. Which is good. And Guruji: still amazing.

OK, I need to lie down and rest. I’m hot. It’s just heat and illness flush, not fever. But still need to be horizontal. I’ll post more soon. Thanks to all for your email concerns, but connection is too slow to email you all back individually. I love you all.

For some really nice detailed updates about classes and things going on here, go to the New York Iyengar Teachers Pune Blog. Mostly written by Richard Jonas and Bobby Clennell.

http://iyagnyinpune.blogspot.com/

Yes, there was a bomb blast of some sort in Pune. At the German Bakery, which is out by the Osho Ashram… some 7 miles away from where we are. So far all yoga students are accounted for. They are not sure if it was a real bomb or just a gas cylinder explosion. News still coming in. But we are fine. No worries.

Stuck in the new modern Domestic Terminal. Flight super delayed because of Fog. Delhi Fog in January is notorious. Had originally a 5 hour wait; now delayed by at least 2 more hours. Waiting in the Premium Lounge: $20, all you can eat, free WiFi, nice chairs, Lavazza Coffee. But bad Muzak. Ouch! And now the cricket match, which I thought I could watch ont he nice super TV has been suspended because of bad visibility.   I’ve been up for untold number of hours. Do not envy me for going to India. It’s a true travel effort. I left at 3:30 am Saturday morning… What day/time is it? I have no idea. And that was with no sleep. (!) I won’t arrive at my final “beachy” destination for at least 5 more hours. I just hope the staff wakes me for my flight as promised.

Boo hoo, but it’s time to get out of “Dodge.” See you this evening:

LEVEL I-II CLASS, 4:30-6
Mountain View Studio

I’m tired, so half the class will be restorative. I always restore myself teaching YOU restorative! See you then, or in March.
OM