Tree Prose

I started the first month yoga course at Agama Yoga just after the New Year. It was an intense introduction including morning meditation, 2-hour asana practice, another 2-hour, afternoon asana practice followed by an evening lecture…everyday, for a month. Over the course of the last month, I gained accurate information and practical experience regarding the chakras, yamas and niyamas, bhandas, mudras, kriyas and much more which i can’t possibly include in this blog…and this is just the beginning. This month has also been full of making new friends and becoming part of the community of strong, clear, vibrant, empowered men and women who support Swami Vivekananda’s work. Anyone who is interested in learning more about the school, can go to agamayoga.com.

Ironically the last day of the course and our final ceremony was on my birthday, February 3rd. I started the day with meditation and an inspired asana practice and was greeted by two friends at the end of class with a big bouquet of wild flowers and roses…beautiful. We went to my favorite restaurant, Big Mountain and feasted on chapati, hummus, salad, french fries, pizza, vegetable spring rolls and chai tea! yum! Then Ashley treated me to a pedicure and my toe nails went from dark purple, almost black, to gold! gold, I mean, what better color to celebrate with…I wish I had a picture…it was pretty then, but now…yikes.

I took her back to her home and picked up a bag full of homeade, raw chocolate, Bliss Balls…Ashley is an herbalist and specializes in aphrodisiacs:) I chomped down two of them by the time, Arnaud, a gorgeous, French man came to my door to pick me up for an afternoon at the herbal sauna. We met up with loads of yogis and bathed in the hot steam, chatted and drank herbal tea for several hours. Rushed home and got ready just in time to make it to the final ceremony. All dressed in white, an Agama tradition, I received my certificate and the first blessing of the night from Swami.

Immediately following the ceremony every month is a talent show where students read poetry, sing, play guitar, dance, do tai chi, tell jokes, etc…at the end of which, Ashley stood up and demanded that in the tradition of her friends and family at home, when it is your birthday everyone must place their hands somewhere on the birthday person and OM together. So more than 75 people gathered around me and blessed me with their voices and loving energy. It was so magical I didn’t have to breath and my voice was pure and clear from all of this love.

Just when I thought it was over, Swami reminded us that in Agama tradition, when it is someone’s birthday, they must come to the front of the room and receive a blessing. So then I had to stand in the front of the room while everyone, this time including Swami sent their loving energy my way…can you imagine how high I was feeling! Not to mention the Full Moon in the sky! What a day. What a blessed life.

So for all of you whose birthday’s I have forgotten this year and the years before, I am sending you, right now a special birthday wish full of love, light and laughter!

BIG kiss and hug,
love,
tiff

Geesh! Don’t be fooled. While rumor has it that tantric yoga may include some sacred, sexual practices, Kashmir Shivism, revered as the essence of tantra, is intensely philosophical and directly, at least in the beginning, focuses on the mind as in intellect, knowledge, etc. I have studied several kinds of yoga, focusing on different ‘things’…at YoHi on asana, at the monastery on meditation or dhyana, with Gangaji through satsang, on bhakti or devotion, but never have I encountered a teacher whose sheer ability to talk logically or mathematically, as it relates to the creation of the universe, for hours and hours and hours, repeating himself over and over, always in a different way, literally numbed my mind into silence. Reverse psychology?

Agama Yoga is a tantra yoga school near Pi-Pat’s. The Agamas are ancient tantric texts. The general yoga practice associated with the school, outside of this workshop, includes many aspects of yoga that are not always equally represented in schools in the west. In the first month, heck, on the first day, students are asked to look directly at the chakras, to move from them and to relate to these energetic constructions in the body. I am totally curious and inspired in yoga in a new way. What I have experienced is that when you are trying to do a posture from the movement of the muscles and bones, the mind rests in the muscles and bones. When you move from the breath, the mind rests on the breath…so clearly, when you move from the energetic centers, the mind rests on the energy. It is like discovering a new planet! Lots of energy!

The other huge revelation is this…many buddhist practices suggest that in order to attain a state of total peace, we (seekers;) must give up the physical world that inevitably leads to desire, attachment, pain. Buddhism and many other eastern religions say that householders are equally as important or spiritual in their efforts as monastics. However, in real life, the sensation is not so. My sense has always been that in order to be deeply spiritual, I’d have to go to a monastery or give up the physical world completely.

In tantra, the teaching is completely the opposite. They teach ways to use the physical world, desire, emotions, imagination, etc. in order to more deeply experience this peace. The energy of the manifested, physical world, in tantra is called shakti; also thought of as the female aspect, as in a woman…and also as in the feminine energy that exists equally in everything…this shakti, or the physical, created world is welcomed, necessary, fundamental for understanding or experiencing a state of real peace. To me, this was like a breath of fresh air…a big, big breath. You mean, I can be in this female body and celebrate and sing and dance and that is the practice, the teaching. This is good, good news.

For those of you who don’t practice yoga, I apologize that this entry is not so interesting. Please keep visiting!

Other than this workshop, I am meeting new friends, discovering the northern part of the island, and preparing for Maggie’s visit! Let this be a reminder, inspiration, invitation to meet up with me along this trip–Whenever and however it may work out in your schedule. Use me as an excuse!

Love and gratitude,
tp