Competitive Yoga?

Is the Spirit of Competition in the Soul of Yoga? ~ The New York Times

This article emailed to me by a friend highlights a recent yoga competition put together by Bikram Choudhury’s wife Rajashree and their organization, The United States Yoga Federation.

I really have no idea what to think about a yoga championship of sorts.  Yoga at least from the perspective I find myself most aligned with has little if anything to do with getting your legs behind your head.  But there’s different strokes for different blokes eh.

I don’t forsee any yoga competitions in my future.

How about you, what’s your take on competitive yoga?

Free Yoga!

Phish is coming to Syracuse this Sunday, and a pre-concert indoor party is in the works and  I was contacted over the weekend to teach yoga classes at it.  It’s being held from 9am to 7:30pm, at the Oncenter Convention Center, admission is free, and I’ll be offering free yoga classes throughout the day!  Feel free to stop by, and get your Om on, while seeing some music

Yoga is…

… the settling of the mind into silence.” ~ Sri Dharma Mittra

This past weekend was the first of four long weekends of Sri Dharma Mittra’s 500 Hour Life of a Yogi Advanced Teacher Training.  I honestly don’t even know where to begin, word’s cannot describe the beauty and transformative power of the experience’s over the weekend.  Sri Dharma Mittra in his Life of a Yogi Teacher Trainings is imparting the complete classical teachings of Hatha-Raja Yoga.  This isn’t a training to be a fitness instructor; this is training to become a life scientist, a friend to all, a Yogi.  Sri Dharma and his senior teachers in the humblest of studios with the humblest of manners guide you on a journey into your very heart, lighting the way for you to discover your true and divine nature.

Compassion is Dharma Mittra Yoga’s core teaching atop the foundation built on the Yama’s and Niyama’s.  Dharma has said on numerous occasions,  “There can be no success in Yoga without the Yama’s and Niyama’s”.  The full eightlimbed yogic path is illumined through the Life of a Yogi Trainings, you not only get to see the path, but are trained by one who’s already reached the goal, Self-Realization.

Apart from numerous asana classes, there were pranayama and meditation sittings, workshops on the Gita, Sutra’s and yogic philosophy, training to aid one be a better teacher and even a Kirtan with Krishna Das.  This weekend was simply amazing.

Click here for more information on the Life of a Yogi Teacher Trainings.

And so it begins…

Happy Wednesday!!!

The weather in Syracuse has been beautiful the last few days, especially considering it snowed Friday apparently.  I say apparently because Yvette woke with a fever Friday morning, that continued to climb throughout the day to a high of about 103.  We spent the whole weekend in, drinking Ginger Lemon Honey tea, Thieves oil tea, coconut water and green smoothies loaded with Camu Camu Powder (200% of Daily Vit. C/Serving), Echinacea and Goldenseal.  By Saturday morning her fever was gone, but she was rather exhausted, so we just continued with the tea, smoothies and coconut water.

Her sickness turned out to be a blessing in disguise, we essentially just cleansed all weekend, which is wonderful considering tomorrow is the start of the Dharma Mittra Life of a Yogi 500 Hour Training in New York City.  The first of four long weekends studying with Sri Dharma and his incredible disciples!  From what I can tell there is going to be an amazing group going through the training, including Chelle, another instructor from CNY Yoga; not to mention we’re blessed to have Lorie our beloved friend and director of CNY Yoga Center working as staff for this training.

The journey that lay ahead is sure to be an interesting one, I know not what to expect.  I do however know that God will be guiding me throughout the entire process; may He lead me home.

Om Om OM!

~ Raw Yogi

“Develop universal love. Wherever there is love, there is peace and wherever there is peace there is love.” ~ Swami Sivananda

 

Dr. Gabriel Cousens on Yoga and Raw Food

Dr. Gabriel Cousens, author of Conscious Eating, Spiritual Nutrition, and Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine (Probably the Raw Foodie we find our raw philosophies most aligned with)

Dr. Cousens strikes upon a number of important concepts regarding the synergysm of Raw Foods and Yoga.

He touches upon the nadi’s, the 72,000 psychic and energy channels within the body, which become clogged by a multitude of means, such as sensuous living, lying, etc.  The nadi’s must be strengthened and purified through yogic practices so that we are prepared to handle the increased vibrations of higher states of consciousness.  You wouldn’t plug a 100 volt appliance into a 220 volt outlet would you?

He also touches upon Isvara Pranidhana, recognizing your body and mind as mere instruments to the hand of the Lord.

If you’re into Raw Foods and Yoga, how have the lifestyles intersected in your life?

~Raw Yogis

It’s been a while…

My appologies for having taken so long between posts.  Life is always finding ways to fill itself; lately it’s been the college application process and preparing for the Dharma Mittra Yoga 500 Hour training which begins in just a few weeks.

Last night after dinner I sat reading Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi’s For Pacifists; a beautiful little book originally published in November of 1949.  For Pacifists is pieced together from a number of Gandhiji’s writings expounding Satyagraha, his philosophy of non-violent resistance.   Ahimsa, the foremost Yama of Yogic Philosophy serves as the root of his philosophies on non-violence.  Though not even a third of the way through, the brilliance of Ghandiji’s treatise shines bright.

Here are some of the highlights thus far:

Non-violence is a term I had to coin in order to bring out the root meaning of ahimsa.  In spite of the negative particle ‘non’, it is no negative force. .. but a force superior to all the forces put together.  One person who can express ahimsa in life exercises a force superior to all the forces of brutality.

It is not through strife and violence but through non-violence that man can fulfil his destiny and his duty to his fellow creatures.

The real love is to love them that hate you, to love your neighbour even though you distrust him… Of what avail is my love, if it be onl so long as I trust my friend?  Even thieves do that.

Let there be no can’t about non-violence. It is not like a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseperable part of our very being.

Non-violence is not an easy thing to understand, still less to practise, weak as we are.  We must all act prayerfully and humbly and continually ask God to open the eyes of our understanding, being ever ready to act according to the light as we receive it.

May you find peace in these words, peace in your hearts and peace in your world.  May you be ever and always open and receptive to the grace of God.

Namaste

~ Raw Yogi

Seasons Change… Chill is in the air

Already we’ve noticed a shift in not only the weather, and seasons but our diet as well.  Our diet lately has shifted away from cooling fruits and vegetables and into the realm of fats and warming foods.

As the seasons change, our bodily needs change.  Now that the heat of summer is gone, no longer are cooling foods being called for by our bodies.  Watermelon just doesn’t make sense in 40 degree weather.  So as the weather cools, discover the foods that warm you up from the inside out;  our favorites are ginger & cayenne.

In November, we’ll be hosting a Raw Foods for Cold Weather Workshop at the CNY Yoga Center.  Be on the lookout for a finalized date in the coming days.  Until then, warm yourself by warming up some water and making this warming morning tea.

Lemon Ginger Tea

1/2″ of Ginger Minced

Juice of 1 Lemon

Dash of Cinnamon

Cayenne (optional)

Agave (optional)

In a pot add water, minced ginger, dash of cinnamon and warm; you don’t have to bring it to a boil.  When desired warmth is reached add lemon juice and cayenne and pour into mugs through strainer.  Enjoy as is, or if you need some sweet add some agave if you wish.

Until next time.  Be compassionate & Be Receptive to the Grace of God.

~ The Raw Yogi’s

Hemp Seed Maca Brownies… and a trip to NYC

Namaste!  So lots has happened since our last post… and yes, I will be including the recipe for the brownies at the end of the post.  They’re incredible and fueled the drive to and from NYC for Bhagavan Das at Dharma’s.

It’s amazing how much what one gets excited about changes over the years.  You’d think we were kids on Christmas coming home from Yoga Thursday night to find a Tierra Farms package at our door filled with 20 pounds of raw nuts and seeds.  I must say though, it is a beautiful thing!

I spent Friday playing in the kitchen, making Hemp Seed Maca Brownies for the trip to NYC the following day.  We then spent the evening at the Roji Tea Lounge, reading and doing school work.  A great atmosphere, hip music, incredible tea, and still quiet and peaceful enough to do work at without distraction.

Saturday was an incredible day!  After teaching class, a group of 6 of us left from the CNY Yoga Center to make way for New York City.  The whole trip was spearheaded by Bhagavan Das’s performance at Dharma Mittra’s Studio, which was incredible by the way.  He’s amazing, a beautiful example of Bhakti and devotion.

On the way down, everyone had plenty of energy… this is what happens when you get a group of Yogini’s and a yogi at a rest stop….

Chelle's rest stop Pinchamayurasana

The Gang and their food at Quintessence!

Shortly after arriving in Manhattan we got lunch and then some at Quintessence.  I don’t know how long we were eating for, but my goodness, it was incredible!  Though we arrived shortly after they stopped serving brunch, we were allowed to order a couple items off their brunch menu, they’re awesome like that.  Everything we had was absolutely delicious.  The Fofu Benedict I ordered was out of this world, I don’t know how they make their fofu, but it is beyond.

After lunch we headed over to Union Square, passing Jivamukti on our way over to Lush, the girls had to get their soaps, bath bombs etc.  After Lush, we headed over to Lululemon for some Yoga gear.  I think they had their suspicions that five of us were Yoga Instructors and wanted to sign up for their research and development discount.  That’s right instructors, you can sign up with Lululemon to get 15% off purchases for yourself for feedback a couple times a year.  Pretty awesome, but I still didn’t have 100 extra dollars to spend on a pair of yoga pants.

Finally, we made way up to Dharma’s for an incredible 2 1/2 hour Kirtan with Bhagavan Das.  For those of you who love Kirtan and chanting the names of the Divine, do yourself a favor and experience a Bhagavan Das led Kirtan.  It was beautiful, to see all the Dharma crew packed in there chanting the names of the beloved.  The Hari Krishna chant that ended it had the whole house up and dancing, clapping, full of bhava and light.

We then ended our day in the city with a trip to One Lucky Duck for shakes and treats.  Yvette and I split a “Spanking” a delicious shake with banana, cinnamon and other such things; a “blue grape” which is grapefruit juice with blue-green algae, and a “mallowmar” a delicious chocolate covered graham cracker type thing covered in a creme reminiscent of marshmallow.

The drive back was a long one, traffic getting out of the city was pretty nasty for midnight.  Rain was coming down pretty solid for most of the drive, but thank goodness for those brownies and all that cacao, which kept me alert and awake, getting all those Yogini’s back to Syracuse about 4:30 in the morning.  And without any further delay… the recipe you’ve all been waiting for…

Hemp Seed Maca Brownies

1 C Grated Cacao Butter

1 C Cacao Powder

1 C Hemp Seeds

1/2 C Maca

1/2 C Dates (soaked)

1 Tbs Vanilla

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Mesquite (optional)

Directions:

Measure out the grated Cacao Butter, and place in a bowl in the dehydrator to melt into a liquid.

Soak the dates in water until soft (30 mins – 1 hour), then put dates and soak water in the food processor and process into a paste.

Mill the hemp seeds into a flour in a coffee grinder, then add to the food processor along with the rest of the ingredients and process.

Scoop out the batter and form into bite size brownies and place on dehydrator trays.

Tip: Use any of the leftover Cacao Butter in the bowl to coat your hands, so the batter won’t stick.

Dehydrate at 105 degrees overnight or until desired chewiness is achieved.

Try not to eat them all at once, and remember, Cacao and Maca are both stimulating to the body, I wouldn’t reccomend eating these after dark.

Enjoy! Om Namah Shivaya!

~ The Raw Yogis

Ch-ch-ch-Changes!

A tip of the hat to Mr. Bowie for the post title today.  Switched the page’s appearance a little, this setup seems a bit more user friendly, allows for better searching of the posts, easier to single out the recipes.

Also I changed up the Recipes category, adding two sub-categories; Easy, and Complex.  The easy category is reserved for those recipes that are less time intensive and don’t require the use of any not commonly found kitchen tools, such as a dehydrator.  The Complex category is for the more labor intensive recipes, and recipes requiring less commonly found kitchen tools, aka dehydrator.  The idea here is to offer the opportunity of experiencing raw foods and the radiance it brings into one’s life to everyone.  A lot of raw books are filled with delicious recipes, but require a dehydrator and other specialized kitchen tools than not everyone has access to.

As for life, it’s going well.  We took a wonderful two hour advanced Dharma Mittra Yoga class with the humble and inspiring Lorie Bebber last night.  The energy was incredibly different than usual.  Everyone was very talkative before class, as opposed to the stoic  meditative energy that usually preceeds class; perhaps it was something with it being the equinox and all.

I spent the morning at Wegmans drinking kombucha and cleaning up my application essays for Syracuse University, before making my rounds through the produce section for bananas, blueberries, mangoes, young Thai coconuts and a yellow pepper.  I did also wander over into Nature’s Marketplace, the natural & organic section for some more of the Living Intentions Cacao Crunch Raw Cereal it’s chock full of Raw superfood goodness.

This afternoon, and every Wednesday from 4-5:15, I’ll be teaching a Dharma Mittra Level I class at the CNY Yoga Center downtown, located at 719 E. Genesee Street.  Also, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to teach another class, Dharma Mittra Level II, on Thursdays from 4-5:15.  So if you’re in the area, come on down and take a class; or better yet, sign up for a whole six weeks of unlimited yoga.

Anyways, it’s about time to get playing in the kitchen preparing dinner for this evening… having already soaked and dehydrated sprouted seeds on hand is mighty handy and a huge timesaver when it comes to making raw.

Until next time, Hari Om!

~ The Raw Yogis

Oh yeah, this Saturday at the Dharma Mittra Yoga Center in Manhattan Bhagavan Das will be performing.  We’ve got a car full of yogi’s and yogini’s headed down just to experience the bliss of Bhakti Kirtan with Bhagavan Das.

Global Mala Weekend!

What a great weekend, the Global Mala events at CNY Yoga Center were amazing!  Hot House Friday night with DJ Depth spinning and Chelle leading class was a hot, sweaty, purifying vinyasa flow class, that definitely gave anyone that took part the “yoga buzz”.  90 Degree heat, live house music and an intense two hour asana class will do that to you.

Saturday night again saw DJ Depth spinning; this time for Trance Dance, led by Co-Director of the center Lorie Bebber.  Though the room wasn’t heated, participants once again left the room sweaty, purified, and feeling free.  Trance Dance if you haven’t experienced it is a beautiful free-form blend of dancing and exploration of movement; just think the “cave rave” scene from the Matrix movies, and you’ll get the idea.  It’s an incredibly freeing practice and invites one to explore the primal roots of movement from within their very heart and being.

Yesterday, as part of Global Mala, I offered to lead 108 Minutes of Meditation for Peace.  I however had no idea what I was going to do as far as guiding this meditation.  I had over the winter been offering morning pranayama and meditation sittings, they only lasted an hour or so, and I wouldn’t so much guide the meditation.  I’d lead the others through pranayama practices and it just so happened as a result of pranayama that the mind was quiter and more easily focused facilitating a gentle transition into concentration and meditation.

In preparing for guiding this meditation, I sought out what it means to be at peace.  Repeatedly I came across the same resonate truth: Our external experience is just reflecting our internal “reality”. This reference to reality is in quotations because it is just that, a false sense of reality.  What we deem as real is in fact the unreal, the illusory.  We falsely identify with our mind and body, by which we miss out on our peaceful, bliss-filled truth, the Atman, or Supreme-Self.  This ignorance of our true selves is the cause of all pain and suffering in the world, and until we come to know and identify ourselves with that true Self we will never know lasting peace.  When we ourselves know the peace that comes from within and take refuge in the Self, then will we know peace on earth.  For only then: Our external experience, will be a reflection of our internal Reality. Essentially, to know peace, you must know thy Self.  I sought to guide those to dive deep, into the chamber of their heart investigate their true nature, and to catch but a glimpse of the peace and bliss that is the inner-most Self.  By which in bringing peace to themselves they may bring peace to the world.

Anyways, after the meditation for peace, came Maha Sadhana; Sri Dharma Mittra’s Great Eternal Practice, an hour of psychic development and purification followed by two hours of asana.  Tara led the program, bringing with her some of the teachings and wisdom imparted to her by one of Sri Dharma’s senior teachers Chandra Om during her workshops last weekend in North Carolina.  Maha Sadhana is such a beautiful practice.

After Maha Sadhana many of us stuck around for a vegan potluck.  There was lots of good food to be had.  We brought raw curry and diced up pineapple and veggies, there was watermelon, guacamole, fruit and raw chocolate sauce.  It was a beautiful way to keep the Sangha, and to wrap up a beautiful weekend.  I’m certain there was lots of money raised for the Humane Association of CNY.  Thank you to all those of you who participated, those who volunteered their time in making everything run smoothly.  Hari Om Om Om!

May all be free to live, to love, to be.  Be Receptive to the Grace of God.

Namaste!

~ The Raw Yogi’s