Due to a fall in attendance this year and an increase in hall hire charges I have decided to close my Wednesday evening yoga class in Sandhurst.
Thanks for attending and sharing your yoga practice.
Tuesday, 3 May 2016
Wednesday, 6 April 2016
Wednesday, 9 March 2016
Interesting posture sequence and discussion on Sciatica:
http://yogagypsy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/therapeutic-yoga-stretches-for-sciatica.html
http://yogagypsy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/therapeutic-yoga-stretches-for-sciatica.html
Tuesday, 26 January 2016
Sandhurst Yoga Class on Microsoft Sway
Have you tried Microsoft Sway? It's a storytelling app.
It works on phones, tablets and PC/Mac.
Have you tried Microsoft Sway? It's a storytelling app.
It works on phones, tablets and PC/Mac.
Wednesday, 6 January 2016
Forward Bend Sequence
| Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose) |
Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand)
|
| Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) |
| Tadasana (Mountain Pose) |
| Vrksasana (Tree Pose) |
| Utthita Trikonasana (Extended Triangle Pose) |
| Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) |
| Utthita Parsvakonasana (Extended Side Angle Pose) |
| Parivrtta Trikonasana (Revolved Triangle Pose) |
| Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose) |
| Parsvottanasana (Intense Side Stretch Pose) |
| Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) |
*Sirsasana (Headstand)
|
| Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand) |
*Eka Pada Sarvangasana (One-Legged Shouderstand)
|
*Parsvaika Pada Sarvangasana (One Leg to Side Shoulderstand)
|
| Halasana (Plow Pose) |
| Upavistha Konasana (Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend) |
| Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose) |
| Janu Sirsasana (Head-to-Knee Pose) |
| *Ardha Padma Paschimottanasana (Half-Lotus Seated Forward Bend) |
| *Triang Mukhaikapada Paschimottanasana (Three-Limbed Forward Bend) |
| Marichyasana I (Pose Dedicated to the Sage Marichi,I) |
| Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend) |
| Jathara Parivartanasana (Supine Twist or Revolved Abdomen Pose) |
| Savasana (Corpse Pose) |
Reference: YogaJournal.com
Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence
Do our emotions control us? Or do we control our emotions?
Emotions are our automated physical responses to our environment. Sometimes they are useful, sometimes not.
While practicing your yoga postures be aware of your emotional responses and take a mental step back from them.
Breathe; relax; watch; allow, and observe your emotions with equanimity and calmness.
From a detached perspective sample the temperature, texture, colour and sound of the emotion.
Allow some distance between the stimulus and your response.
References: 1) Kripalu yoga school. 2) New Scientist 2nd Jan 2016: Control Yourself.
Emotions are our automated physical responses to our environment. Sometimes they are useful, sometimes not.
While practicing your yoga postures be aware of your emotional responses and take a mental step back from them.
Breathe; relax; watch; allow, and observe your emotions with equanimity and calmness.
From a detached perspective sample the temperature, texture, colour and sound of the emotion.
Allow some distance between the stimulus and your response.
References: 1) Kripalu yoga school. 2) New Scientist 2nd Jan 2016: Control Yourself.
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Now
We commonly think there are three kinds of time: the past, the present and the future. We often guide our actions on the basis of regret for our past actions and missed opportunities, or from concern for our future well-being. The problem with living for the future is that the future never arrives. It doesn’t exist except as an invented concept. There is only NOW. Now extends in all places and at all times. The past does not really exist, either. Now, the present, is the only time there is, the only time there has ever been, the only time there ever will be.
This is why it is so absurdly easy to gain enlightenment -- the infinite light is already here, now, within the grasp of each of us. Nothing more is required than ceasing the attempt to live in the past or the future.
The Sun is always shining; we have only to stop identifying with the clouds passing in front of it to be free.
[From Ascension, MSI]
This is why it is so absurdly easy to gain enlightenment -- the infinite light is already here, now, within the grasp of each of us. Nothing more is required than ceasing the attempt to live in the past or the future.
The Sun is always shining; we have only to stop identifying with the clouds passing in front of it to be free.
[From Ascension, MSI]
Friday, 10 July 2009
This week I shall be...
This week I shall be mainly thinking about responding to events in the moment.
'Simples'
'Simples'
Now begins an exposition of the sacred art of yoga...
When I think about yoga I know there is something drawing me towards a personal experience of consciousness. How do I begin to express that experience? Fortunately I am not the only person to have asked; Patanjali threaded together a systematic explanation over 2000 years ago.
“With prayers for divine blessings, now begins an exposition of the sacred art of yoga...”
When I started teaching people one-to-one, and then classes, I was obsessed with having enough work planned to fill the time allotted. I planned the class minute-by-minute to have an elegant flow of postures; a good balance of types of posture and counter-posture. I tried to challenge experienced students, and yet also give easier options for beginners with plenty of detailed instructions and adjustments. I wanted to take people to the edge of their conscious ability and allow them to feel their other-than-conscious ability beyond; asking them to “be present”. I must make time for Pranayama and relaxation at the end of the class… Wait a minute. Did I say that? The one thing no one can do is to make time.
Time is such an elusive concept. We can observe time: we can measure it…the clock ticks. But we can’t control it. We can predict it at a gross level, but at a sub-atomic scale events have a bizarre random nature predictable only by statistical average. We have no direct knowledge of time other than our own physical and mental experience of events in the present moment. It may be that it is the propagation of events that is the reality and time is only a secondary comparative measure after the event. As a pre-supposition, a working definition of time might be as an experience of the unfolding of events.
We are just a formation of seething, boiling, random events unfolding at the microscopic level; blood flows, synapses connect; and at the macroscopic level? We can be agitated and self-conscious; or we can be detached observers. Consciousness is this strange process in time of self-observation. Simple recursive rules can lead to complex behavior, and self-reference leads to our introspective awareness of our own inner states.
So how should I approach the teaching of Yoga? Fortunately I am not the first person to have been concerned about this. Patanjali sewed together this formula over 2000 years ago:
“With prayers for divine blessings, now begins an exposition of the sacred art of yoga.
Yoga is the cessation of movements in the consciousness.
Then, the seer dwells in his own true splendor.
At other times, the seer identifies with the fluctuating consciousness.”
[Ref. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, verses I.1 to I.4 Iyengar’s translation]
“With prayers for divine blessings, now begins an exposition of the sacred art of yoga...”
When I started teaching people one-to-one, and then classes, I was obsessed with having enough work planned to fill the time allotted. I planned the class minute-by-minute to have an elegant flow of postures; a good balance of types of posture and counter-posture. I tried to challenge experienced students, and yet also give easier options for beginners with plenty of detailed instructions and adjustments. I wanted to take people to the edge of their conscious ability and allow them to feel their other-than-conscious ability beyond; asking them to “be present”. I must make time for Pranayama and relaxation at the end of the class… Wait a minute. Did I say that? The one thing no one can do is to make time.
Time is such an elusive concept. We can observe time: we can measure it…the clock ticks. But we can’t control it. We can predict it at a gross level, but at a sub-atomic scale events have a bizarre random nature predictable only by statistical average. We have no direct knowledge of time other than our own physical and mental experience of events in the present moment. It may be that it is the propagation of events that is the reality and time is only a secondary comparative measure after the event. As a pre-supposition, a working definition of time might be as an experience of the unfolding of events.
We are just a formation of seething, boiling, random events unfolding at the microscopic level; blood flows, synapses connect; and at the macroscopic level? We can be agitated and self-conscious; or we can be detached observers. Consciousness is this strange process in time of self-observation. Simple recursive rules can lead to complex behavior, and self-reference leads to our introspective awareness of our own inner states.
So how should I approach the teaching of Yoga? Fortunately I am not the first person to have been concerned about this. Patanjali sewed together this formula over 2000 years ago:
“With prayers for divine blessings, now begins an exposition of the sacred art of yoga.
Yoga is the cessation of movements in the consciousness.
Then, the seer dwells in his own true splendor.
At other times, the seer identifies with the fluctuating consciousness.”
[Ref. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, verses I.1 to I.4 Iyengar’s translation]
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
My web site is updated with details of my Sandhurst Class.
Wednesday Evenings 7:30
Sandhurst Community Hall
GU47 9BJ
Drop-in class, beginners welcome
http://www.bobburtonyoga.com
Friday, 6 February 2009
Silence
"Hear the silence, see the Silence, taste, touch and smell the Silence. Silence is truth, Silence is God, Silence is the peace that passeth all understanding. Close your eyes and become one with the Silence" Swami Vishnu-devananda, founder, International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres
Sunday, 28 December 2008
MANDUKYA UPANISHAD
MANDUKYA UPANISHAD
OM. This eternal Word is all: what was, what is and what shall be, and what beyond is in eternity. All is OM.
Brahman is all and Atman is Brahman. Atman, the Self, has four conditions.
The first condition is the waking life of outward-moving consciousness, enjoying the seven outer gross elements.
The second condition is the dreaming life of inner-moving consciousness, enjoying the seven subtle inner elements in its own light and solitude.
The third condition is the sleeping life of silent consciousness when a person has no desires and beholds no dreams. That condition of deep sleep is one of oneness, a mass of silent consciousness made of peace and enjoying peace.
This silent consciousness is all-powerful, all-knowing, the inner ruler, the source of all, the beginning and end of all beings.
The fourth condition is Atman in his own pure state: the awakened life of supreme consciousness. It is neither outer nor inner consciousness, neither semi-consciousness, nor sleeping-consciousness, neither consciousness nor unconsciousness. He is Atman, the Spirit himself, that cannot be seen or touched, that is above all distinction, beyond thought and ineffable. In the union with him is the supreme proof of his reality. He is the end of evolution and non-duality. He is peace and love.
This Atman is the eternal Word OM. Its three sounds, A, U, and M, are the first three states of consciousness, and these three states are the three sounds.
The first sound A is the first state of waking consciousness, common to all men. It is found in the words Apti, ‘attaining’, and Adimatvam, ‘being first’. Who knows this attains in truth all his desires, and in all things become first.
The second sound U is the second state of dreaming consciousness. It is found in the words Utkarsha, ‘uprising’, and Ubhayatvaom, ‘bothness’. Who knows this raises the tradition of knowledge and attains equilibrium. In his family is never born any one who knows not Brahman.
The third sound M is the third state of sleeping consciousness. It is found in the words Miti, ‘measure’, and in the root Mi, ‘to end’, that gives Apiti, ‘final end’. Who knows this measures all with his mind and attains the final End.
The word OM as one sound is the fourth state of supreme consciousness. It is beyond the senses and is the end of evolution. It is non-duality and love. He goes with his self to the supreme Self who knows this, who knows this.
OM. This eternal Word is all: what was, what is and what shall be, and what beyond is in eternity. All is OM.
Brahman is all and Atman is Brahman. Atman, the Self, has four conditions.
The first condition is the waking life of outward-moving consciousness, enjoying the seven outer gross elements.
The second condition is the dreaming life of inner-moving consciousness, enjoying the seven subtle inner elements in its own light and solitude.
The third condition is the sleeping life of silent consciousness when a person has no desires and beholds no dreams. That condition of deep sleep is one of oneness, a mass of silent consciousness made of peace and enjoying peace.
This silent consciousness is all-powerful, all-knowing, the inner ruler, the source of all, the beginning and end of all beings.
The fourth condition is Atman in his own pure state: the awakened life of supreme consciousness. It is neither outer nor inner consciousness, neither semi-consciousness, nor sleeping-consciousness, neither consciousness nor unconsciousness. He is Atman, the Spirit himself, that cannot be seen or touched, that is above all distinction, beyond thought and ineffable. In the union with him is the supreme proof of his reality. He is the end of evolution and non-duality. He is peace and love.
This Atman is the eternal Word OM. Its three sounds, A, U, and M, are the first three states of consciousness, and these three states are the three sounds.
The first sound A is the first state of waking consciousness, common to all men. It is found in the words Apti, ‘attaining’, and Adimatvam, ‘being first’. Who knows this attains in truth all his desires, and in all things become first.
The second sound U is the second state of dreaming consciousness. It is found in the words Utkarsha, ‘uprising’, and Ubhayatvaom, ‘bothness’. Who knows this raises the tradition of knowledge and attains equilibrium. In his family is never born any one who knows not Brahman.
The third sound M is the third state of sleeping consciousness. It is found in the words Miti, ‘measure’, and in the root Mi, ‘to end’, that gives Apiti, ‘final end’. Who knows this measures all with his mind and attains the final End.
The word OM as one sound is the fourth state of supreme consciousness. It is beyond the senses and is the end of evolution. It is non-duality and love. He goes with his self to the supreme Self who knows this, who knows this.
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Gayatri Mantra Translations
We meditate upon that divine sun,
the true light of the shining ones.
May it illuminate our minds.
the true light of the shining ones.
May it illuminate our minds.
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Yoga is skill in action
" Yoga is skill in action." This is a quotation from the Bhagavad Gita. (Reference The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living, by Eknath Easwaran.)
"Yoga is wisdom in work." Is another translation. (Reference: The Bhagavad Gita, Penguin Classics, translated by Juan Mascaro. Chapter 2, verse 50.)
If we look forward to the results of our action we can be obsessed with the difficulties and obstructions.
When we become detached from the outcome and focus on the present then deeper resources become accessible.
This principle is embodied in Karma Yoga, described as a way of acting, thinking and willing by which one acts in accordance with one's duty (dharma) without consideration of personal selfish desires, likes or dislikes: acting without being attached to the fruits of one's deeds.
It's interesting, too, how the poetic language of the Bhagavad Gita is open to interpretation in the translation, as seen in the two examples above. This very ambiguity is ironically the subject of the following Chapter 2 Verse 53:
"When thy mind, that may be wavering in the contradictions of many scriptures, shall rest unshaken in divine contemplation, then the goal of Yoga is thine."
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
Yoga for Children
Tall as a house
Small as a mouse
Wide as a gate
Thin as a rake
Be a cobbler
Stand on your head
Be a warrior
Lie down dead
Small as a mouse
Wide as a gate
Thin as a rake
Be a cobbler
Stand on your head
Be a warrior
Lie down dead
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Tapping into Inspiration
No thinking allowed
No thinking aloud
Nothing aloud
Nothing allowed.
Mind the gap
Mind the space
Mind the spaces
Mind the spaces in between.
In between the gaps
The moving spaces
Moving in the spaces
The spaces between the gaps.
Now thinking allowed
Mine the gaps
Move the spaces
Move the mind.
When the ocean swells
And space expands
What is my intention
And how do I feel.
Conflict softens
Boundaries stretch
The mind opens
Receiving inspiration.
The mat in the mandala
Focusing energy
Why do we do this
In the moving spaces?
No thinking aloud
Nothing aloud
Nothing allowed.
Mind the gap
Mind the space
Mind the spaces
Mind the spaces in between.
In between the gaps
The moving spaces
Moving in the spaces
The spaces between the gaps.
Now thinking allowed
Mine the gaps
Move the spaces
Move the mind.
When the ocean swells
And space expands
What is my intention
And how do I feel.
Conflict softens
Boundaries stretch
The mind opens
Receiving inspiration.
The mat in the mandala
Focusing energy
Why do we do this
In the moving spaces?
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