In Chennai, India at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandarim I am attending the Universal Yet Personal Program, a one month intensive for international students. There are 34 others in the class and we bring experiences of yoga and life from 12 countries. We have completed the first week of training and I now sit down with a chai to reflect upon the experience.
Today TKV Desikachar, the well-known teacher, scholar, healer and founder of the mandarim, spoke on symbols and symbolism. He began with an invocation chant honouring his father and teacher, Tirumalai Krishnamacharyca, who stood behind him in a photograph draped with a garland of marigolds. Desikachar is an inspiring speaker and delightful man with a wisdom, joy and lightness about his being. For me, he seems to exemplify the essence of yoga. Throughout his lecture he quoted Sanskrit sloka from the Yoga Sutras and used examples from his life to explain the meaning of the yamas and niyamas. It is an honour to be learning directly from this lineage.
KYM is a modest building with bamboo posts and a palm-thatched roof. It is believed a place of great spiritual significance as Krishnamacharya was here while living. There is a sense of great reverence for our guru, who is largely responsible for the resurgence of yoga in India in the 1930’s through his teachings, demonstration tours and students Patabbhi Jois, BKS Iyengar, Indra Devi and of course his son, TKV Desikachar. Our classes are taught by the mandarim’s senior teachers with lectures by Desikachar and his son Kaustub. Much different than the west, the teachers (and students) wear saris or salwar kameez and we practice on rugs instead of sticky mats. At the program orientation each of us was greeted with a garland of white, fragrant flowers and a snack of nuts and fruit. S. Sridharan, the managing trustee of KYM addressed us with a request to not judge our lessons quickly - to allow the flower to bloom. Insightfully, he knew that we all come from different cultures and traditions of yoga with various expectations.
The schedule each day consist of the following classes: asana and pranayama, theory of asana and pranayama, philosophy of yoga, vedic chanting (optional), applications of yoga (yoga therapy) and meditation. Often in the evenings there are guest lectures and entertainment.
Each day the asana practice builds upon a basic foundation, adding more complicated asanas and sequences. It is a dynamic practice with a strong emphasis on linking the mind to the breath and body. In theory class we have examined the breath in depth. Unlike many schools of yoga this tradition teaches that the inhalation should be initiated in the upper chest rather than the abdomen, which can restrict the chest and cause a curvature in the lower spine. Chanting class, taught in the Vedic tradition, is a joy and a challenge. Our teacher, Jayanthi, catches each and every incorrect note. The class on applications of yoga consists of workshops, case studies and new information regarding yoga therapy, a major focus at KYM.
Applying the lessons of the classes and the Yoga Sutras is perhaps the most challenging aspect of the course. In today’s lecture Desikachar suggested that we use our personal sun meditation as svadhyaya (self reflection). It should take 25 minutes and if it is shorter we will know that we are dealing with the guna rajas and perhaps need some relaxation exercises. If it is longer we are dealing with tamas and need to practice asanas that invigorate the mind. We can use these findings as consideration while making decisions during the day.
Here in the crowded, dirty, polluted, noisy and poverty-stricken city of Chennai I am working very hard at samtosha (contentment or acceptance of what is). Luckily I am able to spend my lunch breaks at the Krishnamurti Foundation and some evenings listening to devotional singing in the Sri Rama Krishna Temple. I will write again as the flower blooms. Om shanti, shanti, shanti-i.
My wife and I had planned to go ourselves in 2005, but we were too late in applying. The course was already full for the time we supposed to be in India. Your blog has rekindled my desire to take this course. Please keep posting, I’d love to hear more. Thanks!
Rik Logtenberg, Feb 24 at 11:09 PM
”...not judge our lessons quickly - to allow the flower to bloom”
This is a good one to ponder. Sometimes I have strong urge to learn more and more. But a hurried quest is a shallow journey. Like a stone skipping across the surface, missing all the richness that lies deep below.
I enjoyed reading your letter Trisha. Safe journeys.
Sonja Podstawskyj, Feb 25 at 07:29 PM
I am excited to hear about your experience at the Mandarim and your words convey the power and great beauty of your journey. I will be going to the KYM in the upcoming year and your words reinforce my inspiration to go. Thank you for sharing Trisha. Be well and Namaste.
Ja'net Barchard, Feb 27 at 06:54 AM
Hey Trisha, I found this post about about your blog and KYM.
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nakai, Oct 16 at 12:41 AM
France have been tagged the worst team in the tournament’s history to qualify for the showpiece match after clinging to a 9-8 win over 14-man Wales in Saturday’s other semi-final.
But New Zealand coach Graham Henry, all but vindicated after surviving calls to be sacked following the team’s shattering World Cup quarter-final loss four years ago, has tried to temper the national euphoria.
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nakai, Oct 16 at 09:14 PM
Previously, France denied the All Blacks an appearance in the 1999 final with an incredible fightback to win 43-31 at Twickenham.
While the All Blacks’ Eden Park fortress remains all but impregnable, it was France who were the last visting team to win in Auckland in 1994, sealing victory with the breathtaking ‘try from the end of the world’, one of rugby’s greatest all-time scores.
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nakai, Oct 16 at 09:19 PM
Prior to the new constitution championed by Morales and approved by voters, the legislature chose judges for the top courts.
The opposition accuses Morales of using the judiciary to persecute adversaries. Several opposition leaders are in exile after being accused of sedition.
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nakai, Oct 16 at 09:29 PM
Wheldon, who came to the United States from England in 1999, won 16 times in his IndyCar career and was the series champion in 2005.
Despite winning this year’s Indy 500, Wheldon couldn’t put together a full-time ride this season. He was racing in Las Vegas on the same team as Alex Tagliani of Lachenaie, Que.
“It’s a very sad day,” Tagliani said on his Twitter account. “He was my little brother from another mother.”
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nakai, Oct 16 at 09:40 PM
After weeks spent demanding that Congress “pass this bill,’’ Obama rolled out a new message Monday at the opening of his three-day bus tour through North Carolina and Virginia: Pass specific elements of the bill, one by one.
Speaking at West Wilkes High School, the president said that “even though they said no the first time, we’re going to give them another chance.’’
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nakai, Oct 17 at 09:15 PM
"We’re going to do our utmost to do this as quickly as we can,” Reid told reporters. He promised “one jobs bill a week.’’ Each would be financed by a version of a previously proposed surtax on people earning more than $1 million. In the case of the first bill, it would be a 0.5% tax.
Senate Republicans immediately denounced the $35-billion proposal as another bailout for public-sector workers. Past efforts to ship funding to cash-strapped states did not prevent teacher layoffs, they said.
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nakai, Oct 17 at 09:34 PM
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Olmert and the military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, were expected to arrive there to greet his helicopter and deliver him to a private room where his family would be waiting.
Israeli television showed the Shalit family leaving their home in northern Israel to be taken by helicopter to the base, Tel Nof.
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nakai, Oct 17 at 11:57 PM
A longshot candidate, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, hinted on Monday he may raise some questions about Cain’s 9-9-9 plan.
“It’s not as clean as he would like to make it out to be,” Santorum told Radio Iowa. “I give him credit for bringing some innovative ideas but just because it’s innovative and bold doesn’t mean it’s good.”
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nakai, Oct 18 at 12:20 AM
The plan was for Sergeant Shalit to be given a fresh Israeli uniform and a quick medical check before being brought to the base where an out-of-use F-15 warplane stood sentry at the entrance and signs with his image lined the road, proclaiming, “How good that you have come home.”
In Gaza, the Hamas-run government took busloads of journalists in a tightly controlled media operation to the Rafah Crossing with Egypt shortly after dawn on Tuesday. Armed members of Hamas’s militant wing, the Qassam Brigades, lined the main highway to the crossing where the prisoners were to be released. They were wearing black and green bandanas and balaclavas. Some carried Kalashnikov assault rifles while others bore rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
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nakai, Oct 18 at 12:47 AM
Herman Cain needs to avoid being glib.
Now that the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO rides atop the national polls, he’ll have to avoid looking like he’s there by accident.
He needs to offer more substance if he hopes to broaden his appeal, but steer clear of getting tangled up over explaining his “9-9-9” economic plan, as he did with David Gregory on “Meet the Press” over the weekend.
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nakai, Oct 18 at 07:18 AM
What the Texas governor needs to stay away from is canned answers that sound like he’s reading from a briefing book, and he needs to prevent Mitt Romney from besting him in exchanges where Perry himself begins with an attack — like the attempted Romneycare slam on his rival that somehow ended up as a debate about uninsured kids in Texas.
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nakai, Oct 18 at 07:27 AM
Four armed deputies were dispatched to the zoo, where they found Mr Thompson’s body and the animal cages open. Several aggressive animals found near the body were shot, he said.
Mr Lutz said his main concern was protecting the public in the largely rural area.
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nakai, Oct 19 at 12:35 AM
Nor did the mass Israeli hug upon Shalit’s return go over particularly well. The guy comes back and all he wants to do is be with his family, and suddenly he’s got Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looking over his shoulder. Netanyahu, for whom media restraint is not a strong point, conducted himself like the hiding duck in those English readers: suddenly sticking himself into the pictures and poking into the family’s intimate moments.
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nakai, Oct 19 at 01:30 AM
"The governor of Texas came across as mean, petulant and nasty,” Kaufman said.
Perry communications director Ray Sullivan suggested the sharper tone from Perry would continue, saying: “I suspect this tack will be part of future debates, will be part of the campaign, and that’s probably good for the voters.”
He explained Perry’s sharper tone this way: “I think he was Rick Perry in his approach, and that was a good thing for us.”
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nakai, Oct 19 at 08:18 PM
The executive demonstrated Google’s latest Android software launched earlier Wednesday, called Ice Cream Sandwich, which includes changes such as the ability to “unlock” the phone using the phone’s camera and facial-recognition software, adding that the new software was designed to make smartphones more intuitive than ever.
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nakai, Oct 19 at 08:31 PM