The Yoga Upanishads describe five sheats, or five bodies: annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, jnanamaya, and anandamaya. These equate to the food body, the energy body, the mind body, the wisdom body and the bliss body. Just like the chakras, the koshas (Sanskrit for sheath/body) are on a spectrum of subtlety. The lower the body (the earlierContinue reading “Universal Consciousness and Bliss”
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Om and Om
April has raced by and I am bringing this blog to you rather late in the day. As we spend our final moonth on the sixth chakra and start to focus on the seventh, we begin to approach the sea of universal consciousness and bliss The primordial sound, Om, is a bridge between the worldContinue reading “Om and Om”
Veg Bolognese
Simple and easy, this nutritious dish brings some of my favourite flavours together: black beans, tomato and mushroom. If you don’t like soya mince this recipe uses whole, vegetable ingredients only. The greens ensure you have a portion of iron and the black beans up the protein content. It takes an hour on the hobContinue reading “Veg Bolognese”
What Do You See?
Two birds of beautiful plumage, comrades Inseparable, live on the selfsame tree. One bird eats the fruit of pleasure and pain; The other looks on without eating. Shvetashvatara Upanishad IV.6 The ajna chakra is another name for the third eye. Its powers of introspection can be awakened through meditation and asana. Ajna chakra is atContinue reading “What Do You See?”
The Arrow of Devotion
Take the great bow of the sacred scriptures, Place on it the arrow of devotion; Then draw the bowstring of meditation And aim at the target, the Lord[/Lady] of Love. The mantram is the bow, the aspirant Is the arrow, and the Lord[/Lady] the target. Now draw the bowstring of meditation, And hitting the targetContinue reading “The Arrow of Devotion”
Sat-chit-ananda: Finding Truth, Consciousness, and Bliss in Gandha Bherundasana
The peak pose of this moonth’s routine is the advanced pose Gandha Bherundasana. It relies on core strength to enter and exit the pose, and is challenging even using the wall as support. The weight of the body is on the chest and chin with legs in a locust variation. The pose is a throatContinue reading “Sat-chit-ananda: Finding Truth, Consciousness, and Bliss in Gandha Bherundasana”
Two Keys of Awareness: Proprioception and Interoception
Two essential concepts in the yoga world: proprioception and interoception. Both terms relate to a process of turning inward. Proprioception means awareness of the physical body, as it moves through space. Interoception means having awareness of the spiritual, or mind, body. Both in proprioception and interoception, rather than looking at our body we sense it.Continue reading “Two Keys of Awareness: Proprioception and Interoception”
Love and light, between the heart and the crown
From the heart there radiate a hundred And one vital tracks. One of them rises To the crown of the head. This way leads To immortality, the others to death Kathe Upanishad [3.16] (1) This moonth I am working on the throat chakra. It is connected to the heart below and the ajna chakras above.Continue reading “Love and light, between the heart and the crown”
Chant and Be Happy: The Fifth Chakra
In the way that water needs earth to be carried and shaped by it, sound needs air to travel and be heard. In the presence of ether, sound cannot travel. Many people believe that the elements of sound and ether are interchangeable at the fifth chakra, but they are in fact mutually exclusive, sound dependsContinue reading “Chant and Be Happy: The Fifth Chakra”
The Fifth Chakra and Restoring the Primary Curve
In Anatomy, the primary curve relates to the natural curve of the head, neck and spine as found in the faetal position. We develop secondary curves in the neck when we learn to look up as babies, in the lumbar spine when we leanr to sit up and in the legs when we learn toContinue reading “The Fifth Chakra and Restoring the Primary Curve”
Sarasvati Flow 