love|practice

photo credit EE Wang Kachinski

leaving Mysore.

leaving India.

coming home.

It is all way too overwhelming at this moment. The process of digesting has yet to begin. I wish that I could say something more....but I can't until then...

I can say that my teachers here know how to set the bar....high. Each teacher, each an expert in their various limb of yoga, can see the hesitation, the indecision, the fear of failure in the students face and they say go, do, try, practice....so I say go, do, try, practice and set the bar higher than you think....the results are pretty amazing.

See you on the flip side.

soon

Words and Phrases

one more here, one more there!, what you did?, catching?, look..., listen properly, take relations, doubt, sit this type, new friend, old friend, friend, power is there, meter?, go home take rest!, compulsory, no coffee no prana, super moon, yoga is 24 into 7, personal terminations, let the circus begin, authorization, breakfast buddy, split, hot, hotter, hottest, bucket, Rama Raja, Highway 18, this type you can not understand, thali, parampara, tatha kim tatha kim, real time or shala time?, ricksha Jesus, join with the sound, attitude, emotion, rational, kaarita, the teacher and the student makes the teaching, faith, Guru, mosquito driste, who is the master?, Pascucci, flexibility, never difficult nor it is hard, thirst, jada samadhi, what a waste, see it is all vibration, learning is a process...it starts and it never ends, only the context gives the meaning, these are not my rules these are shala rules, what is so special about isvara?, breath, full time life time.


What remains?
Monday practice
Tuesday practice
Wednesday practice
Thursday HOME

Too hot to think

On the East Coast of the US this would be called a heat wave. In India it is just called the month of March.

Home on March 31st.

12/12 (5 days and 4 practices to go)

...I am at the end of my 12th week here in Mysore. Much like every other Friday I am beat from the alarm that rings at 3am, the long haul practice, and now the heat that just will not quit. I am looking forward to a good nights rest. This will be the last chance for meaningful rest until I am home. I practice right up until and including the 30th of March and then I will begin epic cosmic journey through time and space and arrive in Boston on March 31st, 3pm.

It has been an amazing period of study and steadiness. Manorama suggests that yoga is such a powerful method because as students we study the subject but more than that we study the ONE studying the subject. Ashtanga yoga in its essence does that so well. The only sounds in the room are of the practice itself, the breath of the students, and the teachings from the lineage. It is a stripped down, naked kind of experience.

"silence is the language of god,
all else is poor translation."
— Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

I will miss the shala and my brethren in breath, but I am ready to come home.

Many people from home and in Mysore are wondering where Mike and I will be off to next. We still don't know. This is why I think I am really trying to get the word out about my workshops. I don't know when or where I'll have a regular teaching schedule again. I am now an Authorized teacher in the Ashtanga Yoga lineage and have no roots down. I am amused at the timing of it all.

Looking forward to reconnecting with so many and my cute red jacket.

Weather or Not...

...here I come.

The highs have been in the mid-high nineties every day since March began and practice even at 4.15am starts at a steamy 70 degrees before even one sun salutation. I can see that is has been snowing back home. I haven't even seen a drop of rain for nearly 12 weeks.

Things I am looking forward to.

Being with my husband.

Seeing my sweet dogs.

Leaving my bucket in India. I have had my fill of bucket baths, and bucket laundry.

Bringing all that I have understood home and teaching.

The absence of mosquitoes and ants.

7 Stars on the West Side...and now when my I swipe my card and the screen says, "waiting for authorization....authorized." I can have a sweet laugh with myself.

Seeing my risd friends again.

Walks around the armory.

The beach.

This is such a small list. There are so many things I am looking forward to, but most of all I am hoping to see my uncertain future as exciting. I know that if I am tough enough to not only get through but understand and enjoy my epic practice I can do anything.

naiva klishta na cha kathina

While I will not be returning to a regular teaching schedule when I return there are some offerings that I am pretty excited about. Nearly all of the events are posted at http://www.ashtangayogaprovidence.com, and some new workshops coming so stay tuned.

I am returning to United States fully nourished and ready to move forward in a way that only pulling back can provide. My new mission is awareness...please spread the word if there is a special event that will you too springing from your own source. I'll be starting the long journey home one week from now!

I am particularly excited about this:

saṃskṛtam, sūtra, and sound study group
Tuesdays May 3, 10, 17, 24, 6 - 7:30pm
$72 for the program

Jill's Shala (home), Providence, RI

To register email me directly yoga@jillmanning.com

Please join me for four Tuesday evenings in May. Students will be taken deeper into the practice of Sanskrit by chanting the alphabet while experiencing the proper mouth positions and breath patterns. We will practice writing skills, how vowel symbols are recognized and utilized, how two consonants join, and āsana names, select mantras, and yoga sūtra's in Devanāgarī script and how to read the transliteration. Come and develop a chanting practice as a entry point of awareness that enhances an existing āsana practice. Each student will receive a sacred sound packet and there will be weekly assignments given. Space is limited to 6 students. Your space is held once registration has been received.

Once your registration has been confirmed I will send all the details.

वन्दे गुरूणां चरणारविन्दे

Anāhata

I want to write something. I want to share something. I want to at least start the process of distilling this enormous undertaking into something compact, intense, and meaningful. I can't. I can say that the feeling that comes with completion of a commitment is pretty far out....and yes, I nearly bailed like three hundred times. I threw every excuse out there. I was homesick, I was sick-sick, I was authorized early enough to make this a two month trip, I was running out of money and patience for India. Here I am at the end of the end and I can't stop smiling. Practice is a dream. I have thrown my whole yoga nerd self down at the feet of some pretty amazing masters and feel more connected to myself because of the process.

In Sharath's conference last evening he said that the yoga lifestyle is hard. The lifestyle itself is a tapas and it does not come easy. To be in a community where we all know that this method of practice requires so much heart and heat....I felt at last home and ready to come home. I am loving every minute in that marble floored, crazy carpeted shala. It is a place that breathes even when there is no one there. I am honored to have 8 more practices in the shala itself and bring a hunk of it home in my heart.

Listening is Learning

This is the last full week the shala is open until May. While the number of students has reduced greatly in the last few weeks the energy has turned relaxed, the other students feel like family, and there is nearly a giddy excitement in the air. It is the feeling of completion. Many of us have been here since the new year and can feel the very natural end of the cycle.

I am so grateful for this time and experience. The well of gratitude is wide and so deep for my teachers, the amazing global Ashtanga Yoga community, and to India herself.

I have no idea what is next for me. Immediately on my return I will be back teaching in places like Providence, Philadelphia, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. I am so full I can't wait to share this experience and teach through connection. I asked Jayashree if she could talk a little about Goddess Sarasvati and boy! did she ever. At this moment I am leaning into this, "knowledge needs to flow...new water should be there." If you think that you know everything and you are no longer open to new knowledge...the water of knowledge will be stagnant. Stagnant water is always dirty, there is nothing pure or fresh about it.

I feel the river inside...now I need to get out of my own way and let her flow.

धन्यवादः

for Jayashree





Ya Kundendu Tushaara Haara Dhavalaa
Ya Shubhra Vastraavrita
Ya Veena Vara Danda Manditakara
Ya Shveta Padmaasana
Ya Brahma Achyutaha Shankara Prabrithibhih
Devai Sadaa Poojitha
Saa Maam Paatu Sarasvathi Bhagavati
Nishyesha Jyaadyaapaha

11/12

Did you hear? Jill is coming home 12! days.

Scenes from the day

14 days and I am back in Providence!!!

śraddhā

"Faith is an overused coin." Dr. M.A. Narasimhan

śraddhā is having total trust that what I am going through is right; not having any doubt.

śraddhā is deep trust.

It seems my storehouse of śraddhā is seriously lacking today. It is funny that I have spent so much time writing about doubt this trip. At first I was doubting myself....am I strong enough for this long time away from home?, what am I doing here?, why am I practicing? Now I am doubting what will happen next. I am doubting my place as a teacher. I am holding a series of workshops but if there are no students there will be no teaching. All that overwhelmed excitement for being Authorized, given that extreme honor and not be able to teach.

Yesterday at Jayashree's we spent so much time chanting and then she spoke about lineage, sound, vibration, students and teachers, and the Saha na mantra. It was one of those amazing moments as a student having prepared for years to be able to actually take in what this great teacher was offering. Then she said something that made me cry.

"teachers without students...it is of no use
students without a teacher...that is also of no use."
Dr. M.A. Jayashree

New doubt....am I of no use?

I'll be leaving Mysore two weeks...well...from about right now! I am attempting to sit with śraddhā as a deep trust, draw it close to me and have total trust that what I am going through is right.

Loving Mysore

Here in my final two weeks I am celebrating and loving my Mysore life...smiling my way through practice and time with my teachers and this amazing laboratory of learning. If you want to practice with me please check out my schedule and do sign up I keep classes on the smaller, more contained side.

http://www.ashtangayogaprovidence.com

कारित

"Kaarita is getting it done." Dr MA Jayashree

This is just one of the many amazing things that just spills out of my teacher. The foundation that I built this trip (each one if different) all the chanting at the shala, the Sanskrit, the practice, conference was so that I could spend these very long and intense sessions with Jayashree and Narasimhan making connections. I am so deep I fear the bends.

I love it.

I was going to leave some nuggets from my notes but I as poured through them....they are not to be shared in this forum. Yoga is a living tradition passed from human to human.

Here are some photos from Jayashree's shala. The whole room pulses with prāṇa and jñāna. She is a gift. I am full of love and reverence for her as a teacher and a guide.

Thinking about....

.....coming home and my dahl fry with coconut that is coming to my table.

My Favorite Things....

Tomorrow I start my 11th week in Mysore, India. My return seems so close at hand but still there is much work to do. One of my facebook updates went like, "practice, Sanskrit, chant, rise and repeat." I should now add to that list sutra study. Here are a few of my favorite things that have made me at home in Mysore....

1. Old Navy PJ's that my sister gave to me. Trips to India 2.

2. Whole Foods dry brush. Trips to India 3.

3. Hand knitted hat from Tina. Trips to India 2.

4. Orange Mala beads from Corina. Trips to India 1.

5. Card and Book that Mike made for me. Trips to India 1.

6. Various snap shots. Trips to India 4.

7. Nada Yoga book. Trips to India 4.

8. Mysore practice rug. Trips to India 5.

10/12 (Bucket Bath Back Home)

I have been blogging about my Mysore life, long practices, Authorization, back bending, Sanskrit, missing home, and doubt for 10 weeks straight...I want to know how practice is meeting you where you are! Leave a comment here or send me an email at yoga@jillmanning.com

On the 10th week I will leave you some scenes from the day and Jayashree's rules for practice. When I leave here I will have spent over 30 hours studying with her (for this trip alone!) I can't begin to calculate how many hours I have spent with Sharath and Lakshimsh. At lunch today David, a professor of Philosophy in Seattle said, "I bet your students can't wait until you come home...it will just be pouring out of you!" That is so true one of the first things I bought in Mysore was a green bucket so when you come to see me make sure you bring a bucket....or a least a glass or two.

Be sincere and regular
Commit to learning
Enthusiasm to share
Adhere to local cultural (under this category is to dress appropriately, arrive on time, do not point your feet at the teacher or touch your books with your feet.)

How...

photo credit: Stephanie Ewens Photography

does this practice connect with students and why might you want to take a leap of faith spring from source.

“I want to thank you for spearheading the Mysore practice in PVD. Quite honestly, I only started practicing Mysore Ashtanga because it fit into my schedule, which no other classes into the area fit into, but it quickly became much more than that. I fell in love with the ritual, the postures, doing the exact same postures every practice and getting to know them and create a relationship with them in an entirely new way. I love that it inspires me to think about these postures while I'm falling asleep at night, to contemplate the asana in ways that I haven't in a long time, mostly because the practice calls upon only a select number of postures. and in that way, I really find that limiting the asana in my a life is a good thing on a lot of levels. you've also inspired me very much as a teacher. It's not just your attention to your students, but your memory of each of us and our individual practice that means a lot. Teaching is a huge part of my dharma and practicing with you is helping me to become a better teacher.”

~yoga student and teacher

Morning Mysore Week
Straight From the Source
with Authorized Teacher Jill Manning
April 4 - April 8 2011
Two Time Slots 6.15am, 7.30am


A chance to start or go deeper with the daily practice of Ashtanga Yoga. Class will be held for 5 days with enrollment limited to 8 students for each session. In the Mysore style yoga practice method, each student practices the same sequence of poses at their own pace, learn in their own time, and create a practice that is authentically theirs. Over 5 days, a relationship develops between teacher, student, and the practice. This method provides time for observation, assessment and direction. The effects will encourage and inspire you!

You do not need to have an already established Ashtanga Yoga practice to participate in the intensive. It is open to anyone who wants to cultivate a relationship with yoga and Self through steadiness, commitment, and consistency.

Space is limited and is (already) filling up! Contact Motion Center (awarded best yoga studio by RI Monthly 2010) to enroll.

Motion Center
111 Chestnut Street
Providence, RI 02903
401.654.6650

Three Facts

Flexibility is a necessity around here. You have no say as to the power situation...is it on? Is it off? When 25 students are crammed into Jayashree's house and there is no fan in March in Southern India...you are hot...get used to it.

I will be in a car on my way to the Bangalore airport three weeks from now!

There are so many things I will miss about India (this will be a later post) but for now I will not miss ants or mosquitoes AND waking up at three am everyday.

Practice

I just realized that I haven't written about practice in a while. I guess I have written about the practice process, and excerpted some really juicy quotes from Guruji, but I haven't said much about how the practice is resonating with me. I often hate when students drone on and on (yes, I know it sounds like a drone) about this posture or that posture so I tend to abstain from droning in the forum.

As I approach the end of my 10th! week in Mysore I am quite confident that this trip has changed my relationship to yoga and to sound and as always Self. I came here a mess, I cleaned up that mess, and now I feel like I am in the polishing stages. My body and asana's have never been stronger. The collective breath is so present at the shala it sounds like the room itself is breathing. Being apart of that is worth the trip itself, and returning into the loving and amazing arms of Jayashree feels like the perfect closing note to the whole experience.

Jennifer from Michigan is studying Odissi, a form of classical Indian dance. Her teacher taught her that the last two stages when mastering the very intricate dance steps are, first to then remove any tension, and lastly make it beautiful. I am now in the shala working those two stages enjoying the effort that I have put into each vinyasa, each pose, each breath and absolutely "making it beautiful."

Here is a picture of the beauty of a walk home from practice. Time 6.30am.

What I am reading now

With so much waiting at the gate I am really enjoying this collection Mike gave me for Christmas.

March Newsletter

Friends,

Hopefully the long thaw has begun and the signs of spring are slowly
appearing! I had hoped to send a message each month while in India, but
perhaps I was carried away with February's excitement. Many of you know
that after 5 intense years of practice and study with my teacher in the
States and trips to Mysore and so many hours of at home self practice I
was awarded Authorization to teacher directly from my teacher, R.Sharath
Jois. It has been an exciting and humbling time. After such an
unexpected event I have spent many hours sitting contemplating the role of
the teacher.

If you want to climb the 40 foot coconut tree the teacher can lift and
push (depending how tall they are) maybe 6 feet of the way. The rest of
the climb is all yours full of effort, struggle and reward. I have spent
a lot of time over the last three months climbing the coconut tree.

I am very much looking forward to my Spring teaching schedule. Below you
will find the what, where, and when of my teaching itinerary. I am taking
away from this journey a desire to "spring from the source." This sounds
very neat and easy but it is a very big journey and the student will and
needs to struggle a lot to find their way. I offer these
workshops/classes with the intention to kick start, or firm up a practice
of self discovery...an invitation to Spring From Source.


As always you can check in at http://www.ashtangayogaprovidence.com. Many
of you know that I keep a steady blog while I am away trying to share as
much of the experience as possible through photos and little stories, here
is the link to that as well, http://www.jillmanning.blogspot.com

Here's the juice:


If you want to start a Mysore practice or refine/continue your existing
one or if you are a curious vinyasa teacher looking to be more detailed
and design orientated with your sequencing.

Ashtanga Yoga Intensive
Monday April 4 - Friday April 8
Two start times: 6:15 and 7:30am
Motion Center, 111 Chestnut St, Providence, RI
$108
Please call 401-338-5466 to register Space is extremely limited for proper
attention

If you want a "master class" and you happen to be in South Jersey

Three-hour Yoga Revolution
Sunday April 10, 1-4 pm
yogawood, 688 Haddon Ave, Collingswood, NJ
$40
Please call 856-858-9642 to register


If you are looking for a mind blowing practice altering experience in
Philadelphia

Play Me Like an Eastern Instrument: An Early Morning Intensive
Wake Up Yoga Fairmount, Philadelphia, PA
Monday - Friday, April l1 - 15, 6am - 8am
$108, Wake Up Yoga teachers/TT grads receive a 15% discount

Limited to just 22 students, please call 215.235.1228 or email
Alane@wakeupyoga.com to register THIS WILL SELL OUT!

If you were on of those people who always wanted to come to Shabda Sunday
and never made it, if you are a yoga teacher, and if you want to go DEEP
in the Providence area! After three months of being totally immersed in
this material with amazing teachers if this doesn't change your
relationship to yoga I'll give you your money back!

Sanskrit Sound Series: Sounding with the Source
Saturday April 30, 1pm-5pm
Shri Yoga Studio, Pawtucket, RI
$45.00

Email staff@shri-studio.com to reserve your

There will be some more offerings coming and if your yoga studio would
like to bring me in for a workshop email me at yoga@jillmanning.com

As Always

love|practice

Jill

Jesus Take The Wheel

9/12 ( a day late) = 3/4 Home Soon

What have I discovered over the last 9 weeks?...so much....and so little. I am reminded over and over again that practice works. Practice defined as a system, or a design, and also that proper practice requires method. I find myself repeating little old sayings to myself in new ways. I find that I do have something to say about the study of yoga...yes! enough to teach, but at the same time I see the vast enormity of the subject and stand in excited awe of what there is out there to study. As I feel more and more comfortable with the practice of tapah as effort or purification of the physical system and svadhyaya as self appraisal. I realize that these two practices boost the ego and one must equally foster a practice of Isvara Pranidhanani to cool out the egoism to enter a state of yoga. One must practice the three.

I am heading directly into 3 solid weeks (6 days a week) of 3am wake up calls. As students are leaving Mysore in droves the city is quieter, study is more intense, and I am so excited to return home having had this deep learning experience.

...STILL in India...hOMe and teaching very soon!

photo credit: Stephanie Ewens Photography



Morning Mysore Week
Straight From the Source
April 4 - April 8 2011
Two Time Slots 6.15am, 7.30am


A chance to start or go deeper with the daily practice of Ashtanga Yoga. Class will be held for 5 days with enrollment limited to 8 students for each session. In the Mysore style yoga practice method, each student practices the same sequence of poses at their own pace, learn in their own time, and create a practice that is authentically theirs. Over 5 days, a relationship develops between teacher, student, and the practice. This method provides time for observation, assessment and direction. The effects will encourage and inspire you!

You do not need to have an already established Ashtanga Yoga practice to participate in the intensive. It is open to anyone who wants to cultivate a relationship with yoga and Self through steadiness, commitment, and consistency.

Space is limited and is (already) filling up! Contact Motion Center (awarded best yoga studio by RI Monthly 2010) to enroll.

Motion Center
111 Chestnut Street
Providence, RI 02903
401.654.6650

As many of you know I am currently in India studying the many limbs of yoga for three months with my beloved teachers and sure to return with loads to share. Space is extremely limited register early. Many of you also know that I was recently awarded Authorization to teach from the KPJAYI a rare distinction in the New England states (and the only Authorized teacher in Rhode Island).

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now."

-Goethe

Namo Namah (India Flashback)

Mysore, 2006, first trip

As Beth left Mysore I went with her to snap some photos of her and Sharath and Saraswati. When Beth thanked Saraswati for all her help with back bending she smiled and simply said, "it is my duty." She is an example of pure LOVE for her fathers work and legacy. At nearly 70 years old she is a force assisting Sharath in the early morning, teaching her own classes one at 8am and again at 4.30pm.

"First you want to respect the teachers who brought this yoga to you. Guru-that is the mula (root, base). If you don't give that respect there is not coming God. That is very important. Some people change it, but it is just their ego. Think who is the best teacher, and go there. If you keep changing teachers, it is not correct. You will get confused. When your mind is strong, you stay with one teacher. You go everywhere and try, then when you find one, you follow that one person. When you meet the right one, you will know in your heart."

-Saraswathi Rangaswamy from Guruji

Me, Lakshmish, Old Shala