My corporate yoga class. This Tuesday I had 7 students. In a matter of an hour, we clear everything out of the conference room, set up & get in some YOGA! I’ve come to the conclusion they will do anything I tell them to do. I feel so powerful!

These 3 students (L-R Joanne, Kristin & Ray) have been doing the weekly corporate class with me for over 3 years. They sit at desks mulling through numbers all day, so turning upside down clears out the “stuff” from their brains so they can go back to their desks with a fresh clear mind.

Blogged on Amma’s iPhone with LOVE!

One of the least mental things we’ve done here is to learn Sanskrit script and the sounds associated with each character. Not that this is an easy thing to learn, but we’re having a lot of fun learning it. The picture above is my first attempt at doing this.

We’ve spent many hours in the auditorium chanting, learning philosophy, and doing Asana (poses) and Pranayama (breath control).

Friday’s schedule ends at noon, and I’m looking forward to getting home and putting into practice all that I’ve learned.

Another highlight of my week is that my cottage is only about 50 feet from the stable where there are two horses and a tackle shed nearby with carrots, and I’ve been able to feed them. The horse on the right is on top of things. He moves quickly to the gate when someone approaches with carrots. The horse on the left is a little more shy and it takes some coaxing (but not a lot) for him to come out of his shelter. They like the carrots.

I’ve been so busy I only realized tonight that I missed Nati’s with Bill, and wondered if anyone organized it???

Blogged on Amma’s iPad from Lake Arrowhead with LOVE!

I have this little cabin all to myself (not counting the spiders). The inside is small, but I don’t have to share the bed with any dogs.

They’re feeding us really good here. I’m worried I’m going to come home 5 lbs heavier than I left. They’re not used to cooking for a bunch of vegetarians, so most of the meals are heavy carbohydrates. This was one of my lunches – baked potato with vegetarian chili & cornbread.

This was by far the best dinner we’ve had – salad, orange rice with stir fry veggies and spring rolls.

Today I got tricked into eating a beet, which I thought it was a purple fingerling potato…

Sunday night around 10 pm we had an earthquake centered near Big Bear (which is close), and today it rained, complete with thunder and a power outage.

It’s been quite a week so far. We found out Monday that Guruji was in the hospital, not doing well, and that his family had been called. We spent a great deal of time chanting on his behalf. Yesterday, a portion of our workshop was set aside to do some more chants. We finished at 2:45 pm our time, and immediately following our session, we learned that Guruji passed away at 3:15 am Pune time. Coincidentally, this was the exact time we completed our chanting.

These words were sent to the press yesterday from Geetaji, Guruji’s daughter:

“Only his body has ended. One person’s efforts from inside out changed the acceptance of yoga throughout the world. Nothing was hidden, from the time he began to practice, to his illness and death. Even last night he was telling Abhijata, “I have shown you all these things, now realize them for yourself.” What he has given cannot be encompassed by words. If a disciple is more developed, then that person will understand. What can be said in words is that he was precious to us.” (Abhijata is Guruji’s granddaughter)

He has written many books and his teachings have touched people of all ages, races and gender around the world. There was a recent effort to have him nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

When I was in India, Guruji was 95 and still actively practicing and (indirectly) teaching yoga daily, always present in the practice room.

I am grateful for the many blessings I’ve received through Guruji’s teachings.

Above – a recent photo of Guruji with one of my senior teachers, Gloria Goldberg, who studied with him for about 30 years.

Blogged from Lake Arrowhead with LOVE!

Sri B.K.S. Iyengar, fondly known as Guruji, passed away at 3:15 am in Pune, India August 20, 2014. He was 96.

I feel so fortunate to be in Lake Arrowhead among my peers in the Iyengar Community at this time.

Blogged on my iPad with LOVE!

What was I doing all weekend?

Rita Lewis-Manos, a senior Iyengar Yoga teacher who developed scoliosis as a child, and who has been a long-time student of BKS Iyengar, gave a 3-day workshop on scoliosis using props and the physio ball, which I attended. Being a certified Iyengar yoga teacher comes with a responsibility of having some therapy knowledge because many students who come to us have medical problems.

Although the workshop focused on scoliosis, these therapeutic applications can be used for other medical conditions – neck, low back, shoulder, etc. Hmmm. Let’s see… I have all of those problem areas (osteoarthritis in my neck, three herniated discs in my sacral/lumbar, post-rotator cuff surgery in one shoulder and chronic pain in the “other” shoulder). So I not only learned about how to treat someone with scoliosis, but I also learned some tricks for my own practice.

This workshop was not only for teachers. There were several students with scoliosis. One was a young girl (probably 14-15), and ages went up from there to a man who may be in his late 70s. One lady who I believe to be in her 70s is also one of my regular students at the La Mesa Institute. I got a lot of hands-on experience working with these students.

Here are a couple pictures of me. Of course, you may not understand the purposes of these poses, but at least you’ll get an idea of what I’ve been up to. These are only three of the poses we worked on, and there were many more.

The first pose, being strapped to the tressler, is meant to help even out & distribute the weight more evenly in the legs, and then to extend the torso up from there from the base of the spine to the crown of the head, adjusting the spine from there. The second view you can see my lordosis (curvature of the sacral/lumbar spine where the low back “dips”)

Below is a modification of Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (a form of back extension/chest opening) using a “heart bench.”

In the photo below, I’m in a forward bend sitting on the ball using the tressler for extension. The upper arms are in line with the shoulders extending to the elbows while the elbows lift away from the floor, and at the same time, I’m lengthening both sides of the torso evenly.

Although the above photos are those poses that appear to be more “restorative,” many of them (not shown in photos) required more strength and balance.

This was my forth scoliosis workshop – time well spent.

Blogged on my iPad with LOVE!