Newsletter
Wednesday August 17, 2011

Dear Visitor

Greetings!

Welcome to the first edition of our new look e-newsletter, The Sunbeamer. I hope you like it!

Our new e-news format is part of a brand spanking, beautiful, new website. Goodbye, old site… (I am waving & blowing kisses) The old site, as much as we all loved it, was in dire need of a makeover and was becoming unworkable for me to manage. So, dear reader, please meet our new site at www.sunyoga.com.au. Don't forget to update your old bookmarks. Have a browse around and let me know how you find it?

My trip to Bali was restorative, inspiring and luxurious. 12 days of fun, warmth & dedicated yoga time for me. Heaven! This was my second Bali retreat and I am pleased to announce that I have booked the retreat centre for us for a week of SunYoga holidaying in the middle of 2012. (more about this soon)

I am now settled back into life in Melbourne and happily realised that I am very soon to lead a retreat in far North Qld. There are only a couple of spots left now, so if any of you have the urge to join us for fun, sea and beautiful, tropical yoga then let me know, this is your last chance.

Also, heads up on an upcoming weekend workshop with my masterful teacher, Paul Wooden. Rick Harvest (from Harvest Yoga) and I have joined forces to bring Paul to Melbourne for a weekend of yoga on November 5 & 6. I can’t recommend Paul highly enough, so if this interests you then block out this weekend in your diary. The full details will be in the next e-news.

Read on for our feature article all about one of my favourite yamas, (ethical guidelines), ahimsa. Meet Natasha, our feature student who brings ahimsa into the heart of her life, and don’t forget to scroll right down to the bottom for an inspiring example of creative recycling.

Enjoy!

Love Claire xx

Ahimsa -
the Art of Non-Violence

The answer to exhaustion may not be rest; it may be living more whole-heartedly. David Whyte

This is part 1 of a 2 article series looking at my two favourite yamas, ahimsa & satya, (non-violence & truth). My impetus to write comes from my recent studies with Paul and my desire to distil some of my learnings and pass them on to you.

Understanding some of the philosophy of yoga brings a more profound connection to yoga and the world around you. We start to grasp what yoga is actually about and how this practical knowledge brings yoga off the mat, out of the classroom and into the big picture of our everyday life.

So let’s start with the terminology & history. What is a yama? Approximately 2000 years ago the yoga sage Patanjali wrote the yogic text called the Yoga Sutras. One section of the text refers to a set of moral and ethical guidelines for the yoga student called yamas & niyamas. They are very much like the Christian 10 commandments and they are about your behaviour in relation to the world around you and to your inner world; your ethics and moral compass.

The word yama roughly means to constrain and the first yama, ahimsa, is widely considered to be the foundation of the yogic path.

Ahimsa - non-violence in thought, deed or word. To inflict no injury or harm to others, or even to one's own self.

What it interesting me currently, is the internal application of ahimsa; to commit no thought, act or deed that is harmful to one’s own self.
For most of us it’s pretty straight forward to comprehend living with ahimsa in big, general terms. But there are many subtle ways that we are violent towards our selves on all levels; emotional, mental and physical. We berate, bully, punish and play out our habits of subtle self harm daily. Speaking, thinking or acting in ways that we know are not kind, compassionate or useful.

Here’s a couple of examples to get you thinking:

Often when observing students, I see people wincing in pain and pushing as they strive to make the shape of the posture. They use their will to force their body regardless of how it feels, or how many times they hear me saying not to.

In my own life I don’t always find the time to practise my yoga, even after all these years. I know it will improve my day, I know I will enjoy it, but damn it, somehow it slipped to the bottom of the list…again!

Discipline is self respect.

I love this quote and I have written about it before. I love that the word discipline takes on the qualities of self-love and nurturing without loosing its punch. What it means to me is this: If you truly love and respect the unique and priceless being that you are, you will have the necessary discipline to consistently do, be, and act in ways that serve you best. Because? Well, why wouldn’t you? You know the L’Oreal gag line, (oops, I mean tag line),” because you’re worth it”. Why this so successfully sells shampoo is because it touches a deep known place that we all relate to. Yes, you are worth it!

Of course, the practise of self-respecting discipline is forever a work in progress, some days you have heaps of energy and attention, some days not… Sometimes the best action is to let go of the battle and rest. Sometimes it’s to get up early and get that bit of work done so it doesn’t play on your mind for the rest of the day. A little bit Bully, a little bit Nurturer. The yin & the yang. When to say YES and when to say NO…

Not too loose,
not too tight,
what is just right?

How do we judge when it’s right to say yes or no? If it’s too tight or too loose? Is the action best serving your true nature? This brings us to our next topic of discussion, are you speaking your truth? And that, dear reader, means waiting til next month!

Belinda's Banter

The Spiral of Self Ahimsa

Take a moment now to close your eyes and listen to your body and mind, being open to hear what they tell you. Notice what grabbed your attention, was it a pleasant or unpleasant sensation, did you find calm, stillness or busyness?
Self awareness is the first step to self ahimsa, once you discover what you find you can see what needs attention. Without this constant checking in we can get into trouble as the following example demonstrates.

Often we inconveniently get the flu at the worst possible time, when we are very busy and have lots on our plate. If you look at this situation with ahimsa in mind it takes on a whole new meaning. You might be doing too much for others and not enough for yourself. If you miss the warning signs your body falls ill to force you to slow down.

Ahimsa for self is mandatory. I find that when I am not looking after myself, it is a challenge to treat others with ahimsa. If I don’t get enough sleep I notice myself snapping at others, losing patience and making silly mistakes which make me even grumpier and so it goes on.

Ahimsa for self means remaining aware and present in body and mind, no matter what you are doing. I like to picture myself as the centre of an outward spiral, if I treat myself well and look after my needs, that is what spirals out to touch every person I come into contact with. The reverse is also true. Sometimes it takes me noticing how I am treating others to bring my awareness back to myself and notice what needs to change.

Love & Light

Belinda

Our feature Student of the Month

Introducing Natasha Cooper

Natasha has been coming along to SunYoga for the past 18 months. At the beginning she was a bit of an irregular student. This all changed when she upped her attendance from irregular to twice weekly at the start of 2011. What prompted me to ask her about sharing her story with us is her noticeable increase in commitment and enjoyment of her yoga over the past 6 months. How and why did she make the change? Many of us struggle with making consistent space in our life for yoga or for any kind of self-care. Natasha’s story can inspire us not to give up, the changes happen with the simple realisation of what works for you and then the decision to consistently put it into action!

Thanks Natasha, and here is her story:

“I find yoga very beneficial, it is a great way to relax and I always feel better for it… In fact, I actually find it fantastic! Now that I am coming twice a week I can’t imagine not doing it, it has become a cherished part of my routine that I look forward to. It’s a regular part of my life, like brushing my teeth!”

I started yoga in 1999 when I was a student in country Victoria and was living close to the Satyananda ashram in Rocklyn. I went to the ashram once a week and loved it. After uni I lived in Japan for 2 years and found myself in a great exchange with a Japanese Yoga teacher. She taught me yoga in her home, and I taught her what I knew about yoga in English.

After I came back to Australia (for many reasons) there was no yoga in my life for a while. My introduction to SunYoga came through my sister who started doing pre-natal yoga. I started going to SunYoga weekly, but a bit sporadically, on & off, life got in the way, you know how it is…? But gradually I started to notice that when I didn’t do my yoga I didn’t feel so good, and that when I did come regularly it made a big difference.

Doing regular yoga makes me more relaxed in general. The physical postures stretch and release any physical tension in my body. My mind is clearer and calmer; I find I can focus more at work, after yoga I am mentally relaxed!

I work in the community development field and spend my days working with adults and young people from diverse backgrounds. It can be emotionally taxing at times. I care deeply about the people that I work with and it’s easy to bring this concern home and into my personal life.

I am really noticing the benefits of my regular yoga. I have organised my life so that my 2 weekly sessions fit perfectly into my week. The mid week session relaxes and calms me and gives me the space to let go of any building stresses. It breaks up my week beautifully. I find myself talking about it at work the next day, what we did, how I feel…

My Saturday morning session is a strong asana class that I love, it gets me up and moving and I come out feeling good. It marks the transition from working week to weekend. Any left over work stuff is released and then I am free to enjoy my weekend in a positive frame of mind!

I am also enjoying the increasing social and community part of coming to SunYoga. It is fun to get to know the other students and share info; a couple of weeks ago I even got a great tip for a hairdresser! Gotta love that!

My twice weekly yoga is like my medicine, every 3 days I get my dose, my fix, and I really look forward to it…

Thanks SunYoga,
Natasha xx

And one more thing...

This month we take a peek at the Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew temple. Built using more than 1.5 million beer bottles, this incredible and beautiful temple complex in the north-east of Thailand is a wonderful example of recycling. Starting in 1984 the monks have completed 20 buildings and the project is still going. Everything is made from bottles, (and a whole lot of mortar), including the loos!

Click on the picture to view a 3 minute You Tube video.

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