My Sister, The Yogi?

I am so grateful that I get a brief respite from the pre-pre dawn practice schedule. Tomorrow is the new moon day and as always we are gifted Saturday as the official day of rest for the week. It has been a tough week. Practice is hard and from here on out it will only get harder. Next Monday I will add on the part of second that Sharath brought me up to from my last trip, and then the possibility of adding more from there…that is a lot of asana.

I really missed home this week. This is how I know I really love my life. Some people here don’t give a thought about home and could care less if they ever landed. I am jealous of that spirit, but I wouldn’t trade my home, my husband, and my dogs for anything. I guess I feel more like myself here and I want to share that with my loved ones like NOW.

Most people know that I have a pretty stellar sister, Joy. Most people know that we live very different “lifestyles.” She eats and drinks for her living, and gets people to eat and drink with her. I yoga for a living, and the last time I was at her house I grabbed the local yoga studio’s schedule and hung it on her fridge next to the Ganesha magnet I bought her when she got married. I want people to yoga. I was totally impressed with her blog that I read this morning. You should read it as well it is the perfect expression of yoga, freedom from distraction, sitting with what is uncomfortable and confronting reality without any distortion.

http://whatiweightoday.com/
January 13th post

Here is the big thought of the day. The state of zero is Samadhi. This is also the egoless state of pure love between two people—both arrive at zero.

Steadiness and Sweetness

So many people ask me about my routine while I am in India. What do I do with myself all day? Well, all day is an interesting concept around here, but here is my schedule so far. It may be tweaked over the next 4 weeks but for now here goes.

I wake up at 3.30am. This will happen 6 days a week with out variation. I shuffle to the gate at the AYRI which is locked and I take a seat alongside of yoga students and rough housing street dogs. I wait. We all wait. At around 4.15am the gate opens and it is like a rock concert or scary soccer match. Students rush into the shala and find their spot and shortly after that practice individually and collectively begins. It has been for me that on the right side of Utthita Trikonasana Sharath comes out of his office and calls us to Samasthiti. This is the best part of the first practice slot we chant. No other time slot chants as a call and response group.

I am back in my bed by 6.20am. I nap a bit until breakfast.

Breakfast. Check emails. Bucket Bathe. Off to a 2 hour chanting and philosophy class.

I am home now trying to beat the power outage to get this out and it is 3pm. I am having a chai and I’ll read and reflect on the frenzied notes I took during class. A light dinner and then lights out at 7pm.

3.30am comes really fast.

We have a two day holiday this weekend with Friday and Saturday off. I hope to share some juice that seems to flood this place. I am so grateful to have this time here. I am so grateful to the teachers that continue to hold the bar so high and keep the light of yoga bright. I am so…

Total Dropbacks-10

No Joking

After the other night battling the mosquito's I took some serious action. I got coils and cream, and I closed all my windows at 6pm. It worked I slept pretty soundly and when my alarm went off at 3:30am I felt rested. Thank Ganesha!

Practice this morning was nice, hot and the whole room seemed be moved slowly in a good way. Two notable moments on practice just after I put myself down into Supta Kurmasana I felt this sensation in my left chest and lung area and I felt a slight panic or anxiety. I did my best to breathe there and I felt all that move and shift out of my body. Then there is always the drama of back bending. Today as I worked with Sharath he said as he tells everyone, "walk." Walk I did, first with straight arms and the with the arms bending I could feel and see my heels and I thought I was done so I started to come up not realizing that Shararth had bent down to help place my hand on my ankle. I hit him in the top of the head. I apologized profusely and then he said..."don't fear."

Jayashree's was great this afternoon. Two hours of uninterrupted study. It seems that I have technical problems here in India. My computer has been acting funny and now my camera will not communicate with the computer to release my photos from the day. Hopefully I can work that out. There is always so much dancing between how you want things to go and how and when they actually do...go.

Maybe more tomorrow I have a lot to do before the power goes out again. That I can rely on.

Total Dropbacks-6

What is Yoga?

When I worked on Teacher Training at Wake Up Yoga an essay that TT's are assigned to write is entitled, "what is yoga?" Over the 5 years I worked on that program I found myself aways amazing at what I like to call the 'heart and unicorn' descriptions of students personal relationship with yoga. Today I find myself sitting at the end of power outage number 9 of the day. It all started really early this morning just past midnight, fan off, stagnant air, and mosquito's buzzing by. I was awake until the power came back on an hour and half later bringing my ceiling fan back to life and keeping the mosquito's struggling against a current of air.

3:30am. The alarm goes off and yet again the power is out. I struggle to find my flashlight and then my headlight. I brush my teeth in the dark, put my clothes on, and manage to unlock my gate all before 4am. With no street lights it is really dark, and I regret not bringing my flashlight for the walk to shala.

Today is the first day of Mysore practice and again being in the first batch really sets the bar. Despite the poor sleep practice is good. I noticed today that Sharath is really keeping his eyes on Supta Kurmasana maybe even more so because this week everyone does Primary Series only and he is stopping people if they aren't binding themselves or if he can't bind them. Shockingly, and I don't know where this has come from I put myself into it deeply.

Today I started philosophy and chanting at Jayashree's. Like everything around here a new course started and we will be all this month (Monday- Thursday) memorizing and discussing chapter one of the Sutra's. I am so excited. Today's class was amazing two hours long and a small group. After we covered the material Jayashree's brother kept teaching and after the day I've had it was like he speaking to me first he said, "yoga is not a continuous process....this is hard." Followed by this new definition of yoga that I am going to sit with for a long time I can tell:

Yoga is not a sugar coated pill it is a bitter coated sugar.

I am going to put some balm on my bites and set my alarm for 3:30am and it is nearly time for bed.

Good Night & OM Shanti

Total Dropbacks-3

It's 3:25am..Time to Wake Up!

Practice makes everything make sense here.

I walked to the gate at about 3:45am to find I am like the 7th person to arrive. I think if I didn't practice here in Mysore and someone tried to explain this ritual to me I would definitely think that this is something that only crazy people would subject themselves to. I am pretty sure that the 4:30am group is all returning students. It is funny to be that large of a group and the straight leg jump-through is the rule not the exception. 80% of the students sit up and wrap both legs tightly behind their head before lying down and binding hands behind the small part of the back....quickly. The heat and the energy was that intense. I must say, that after nearly 6 months of exclusive home-alone practice, I definitely met my own bar and felt right in step and breath.

Sharath ever vigilant did need to bust out a few, "Why you hurry?" I did notice that some of the counts have changed since I was last here in July/August 2008. A breath added here and taken away there. I guess even the steadiest teacher does tailor the material over time.

Overall it was a great first day of school, although a mosquito did bite my face in a pretty long headstand and headstand half-way. I am excited to practice Mysore Style for the remainder of the week.

Practice makes everything make sense (period.)

Week #1

I have never done this before but I am taking a suggestion from my sister's WIWT blog.

Weekly Wrap-Up

I never thought I say this, but so far I have enjoyed my time alone more than the time I have spent with other people. I guess yoga really is freedom from chit chat.

I think I really needed this first week as a rest. The move to Providence really was hard and I had some pretty dark moments. There were times that I felt like I was hitting my stride, but I see here I never really recovered from the heartbreak of the move, the anxiety to find work, and the loss of my yoga community.

I am ready practice in all its forms. Again, too much talking and not enough practicing!

I feel more like myself than I have in ages. My eyes are bright, my skin is clear (except for some mosquito bites) and I will be returning to Providence this time as my real self.

Oh! I think I am in love with Simon Baker.

Morning Sky & Afternoon Chai

Where are you from?

Now that practice starts this Sunday Mysore is filling up fast with students. Earlier this week it was just me and Vivian at her sweet little breakfast place on Shala Rd. After practicing with Thomas this morning we went there together and the place was packed. People have started to ask me where I am from. I don’t really know how to answer that question. I know they mean, “Where did you come from to get here?” That answer is Providence, RI. Sometimes I stop there and sometimes if they know that area I explain that I am there temporarily because of my husbands’ high ambitions and extreme talent.

Practice this morning was so nice. To stand next to someone and chant the opening mantra together I felt recharged. I felt connected to my practice partner, myself, to Guruji and the lineage of Ahtanga Yoga. It feels like going far away is just what you need to feel close to home. On my arrival in Mysore I received an email wishing me a happy New Year from a dear student and its message with sutra like precision said it all, “I hope this year brings you lots of adventure, tons of peace and much happiness in your heartland (India) and homeland (Providence)."

Power Cuts

I didn't write that much about registration yeserday because the power kept cutting in and out and I wanted to make sure I got a blog out. All in all it went rather smoothly and yes I got the most desired time (4:30am) but more than that I noticed that Sharath seemed happy. Last time I was here (July '08) Sharath seemed stressed at registration and I remember feeling off because of that. Maybe it is this new system, maybe Sharath is ready to take on the reigns fully, I dont know.

After regstration it felt like a giant weight had been lifted and I am so excited about practice. Just before this last power cut (about 3 hours ago) I heard a friend call my name from the street below. My dear friend Thomas has arrived. We will practice in my little room tomorrow at half past seven (his phrasing.)

love|practice

Pre-Reg

So my sister Joy (you can find her link under the “stuff I love” heading) totally razed me about my lack of food description. Hey, I am a yogi not a foodie. Sleep has been hard to come by I find myself around 8pm literally unable to keep my eyes open so I go to bed. Then I wake up so many times. Today I finally just got up at 3am. I am sure that when practice at the shala begins my sleep cycle will be ironed out. I am having a really lovely day today. At 8am I went to Vivian’s to have my favorite breakfast (see food photo.) Although she has many Western breakfast options I prefer two paratha’s with home made curd and coffee. After I fully digested this light and lovely meal I practiced in my room. Today was the first day since the epic journey that I included drop backs in my practice. Shockingly they went smoothly. I can already feel the enviromental changes in my body. The heat, the massive consumption of water, and the spices found in India cooking. Everything here really supports the practice.

The power went out so I decided to walk and have an afternoon cappuccino in the sun and read some and write some. In a bit I am going to head over to the shala to register. I can feel my nervous energy rising.

Post-Reg

AHHHHH!

Feeling good

Start time 4:15am

Must eat

I don’t think ever spent this much time by my self. Oddly I am really enjoying the down time. I have small interactions with people but most of the time it is me and me. Maybe I am ok with it because I know starting this weekend it will be full on..yoga,yoga,yoga. I have been doing a lot of thinking about what has been going on in my life and where I want to make changes. I have been missing Mike thinking about our first trip to India and how everything was so new and so different. I find myself walking around the way I used to in NYC, walking with confidence knowing where things are, how much they should cost, what time meals are.

Speaking of meals I had a North India Thali for lunch today (see picture.) I forgot how much spicier Indian food in India really is. It is so hot out. So hot that you even hear the locals complain. I should have brought a hat.

I brought a copy of Emerson’s Self Reliance with me. It is the copy that Make has had since high school. I read where my husband at 16 years old underlined and starred and I now underline around those underlines. This morning this bit really spoke to me.

"what I must do is all that concerns me, not what people think. This
rule, equally arduous in actual and intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is harder because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it."

Mike said that I am being stingy with my pictures. The truth is that I haven’t taken all that many pictures. I am going to try harder. Mysore has changed so much since my first visit in November 2006. I have just this afternoon spotted some goats on the road. The changes are hard to capture with the camera.

I have been up since 1am. I am hoping that this jet-lag will pass soon. I feel if I were practicing at the shala it would have passed already. Registration begins on Wednesday and if my plane ticket weren’t significantly cheaper I would have waited a little longer to leave Providence. So, I am in Mysore practicing still alone, but it feels different somehow. First of all it’s hot. So I am sweating with practice for the first time since like October and then there is the Indian atmosphere, the smells and the sounds, the feel of bare feet on a marble floor. Mike says in social situations that he is, “the straw that stirs the drink.” I would call practice the pin, but really it is the straw that stirs the drink.

It is like a homecoming.

I have been doing a lot of reading and writing and walking. I have been looking at some blog posts on changes for the New Year. I was thinking about what I would like to change/bring into existence for this new decade and how I would frame these intentions. I think this will be a future blog…stay tuned...it will definitely have a yoga flavor.

Now for an afternoon chai!

Bathroom View

The Snow Man

This picture was taken two weeks ago in Philadelphia. I came into town to teach a weekend workshop and wound up staying through Christmas. While the snow stopped many things it did not stop my workshop. Last year as I was getting ready to leave cozy Philadelphia for unknown Providence, I asked many people where my strengths were as a yoga teacher. I asked this not to boost my ego but because I couldn't "see" what made me a strong yoga teacher. I knew that overall I was good because I love what I do and I have been developing a relationship to the material and to teaching the material for nearly a decade. I got a lot of responses. Most of the responses weren't clear, students too could not put their finger on why they responded to me as a teacher. I was still so lost about how I could improve and offer meaningful workshops. After the winter wonderland workshop experience I think I know where my juice lies.

Last year I taught many one day, three hour yoga intensives. I always left not quite feeling like...well...like I communicated what I wanted to, or gave the students a real picture of how I work and then how that may work for them. The answer hit me two weeks ago. I need at least two days. So simple. Two days with the same group of students I can give them the two things that I cherish with practice.

Foundation and Flight

One day to establish a dialog, to define my terms, to work quietly and deeply. Then the next session can soar and students can play their edges with me and the practice.
Hopefully there will be more two days workshops offered this spring. Maybe the series will be called:

Foundation and Flight

Mysore feels like home. Registration for the shala is Wednesday and practice starts next week. After my two day long journey here I rolled out my mat and practiced first, napped later. Students are arriving. Energy is building. The January sun is burning. (I should have brought a hat)


One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Wallace Stevens

Landed in Mysore

....blogging coming....

Snowed in and the end of the year slide

You know it is bad when your father (who just learned how to use a computer 2 years ago) calls you out about not blogging. I have been in Philadelphia since Friday night and I was scheduled to go back to Providence and finish up my yoga session/work at RISD Works for the Christmas crush, but snowed in and "stuck" in my hometown. Here are the highlights:

A great post train dinner with two awesome yogini's in the Art Museum area was followed by the euphoric energy that comes with waiting for the potential snow fall.

A Saturday morning walk to Mugshots alone in the falling snow allowed me to get connected to my teaching material and excited about the workshop.

The workshop was amazing! Such energy and commitment I was in awe.

After trying to get out of Philly I found myself being sucked in between train delays, and the eventual turn around time I made the tough decision to be still and return to Providence after the holiday.

I'll be around until Sunday when Mike, Angie, Charlie and I make our way back to New England to finish up this crazy year. I'll be on a flight headed first to France and then to Bangalore on December 31. I am so excited about returning for my 4th trip to Mysore and I will be blogging a lot! I am still trying to put my spring teaching schedule together so if you would like me to teach in your yoga community get in touch!

...All is Coming

Clear Seeing:

Today is my birthday. I am 31 year old today. Last year I decided to have a really big birthday party. This time last year I had no answers to nearly every question tossed my way. Would Mike be accepted in any graduate school? If he got acepted where then would we move...Chicago? LA? NYC? Providence? Would I continue to teach yoga or get a job that required some other skills?

I thrive on vision. Last year I couldn't stop the arrow spinning even for a moment to see which way to move. The arrow has stopped and just now I am ready to create this life.

I am spending the day quietly. Mike and I got up early and now we are heading out to Walden Pond for a hike. Later I will practice and have a Dosa at my favorite Indian spot with a few friends.

No direction home

I thought that I would blog while I was in Philadelphia. I thought that I would see everyone that I longed to see. I thought that I would practice twice a day. What I failed to realize was just how busy I would actually be. It was a great trip home. I logged many hours with my favorite sister, practiced with my teacher and my yoga tribe, and had some fantastic meals with some of my favorite people. I felt at home, but at the same time I felt distance from all that was happening. Some of the distance I welcomed...yoga drama is so strange.

Now that I am back in Rhode Island I feel a little directionless. Like what is next for me. How can I continue to teach and make a living doing that? Where is my yoga home?

I am starting to put together the pieces of my Winter Solstice workshop, and while I was practicing this morning this poem flew (from God knows where) into my quiet mind.

Prelude To Winter

The moth under the eaves
with wings like
the bark of a tree, lies
symmetrically still-

And love is a curious
soft-winged thing
unmoving under the eaves
when the leaves fall.William Carlos Williams

Some Catch Up Photos

4 Practices

I left Philadelphia nearly three months ago. In some ways it feels much longer and in other ways it feels still very near to me. I have been practicing in my little yoga room for nearly three months. I have had some interesting moments on the mat. Little discoveries followed by big pieces of the ever evolving puzzle coming together. Overall practicing alone is very intimate and none of the normal distractions are present to entertain the mind. While I can feel a solo practice is great for the teacher in me and reaffirms that I practice yoga...that is what I do regardless of who's teaching or who's showing up. That said I am REALLY excited to be coming home next week!

Here is the Juice

I'll have my mat rolled out at Corina-ji's 1pm class on Friday November the 6th

If Saturday's aren't the same since I've been gone I am TEACHING a led primary Saturday November the 7th at 10am at Yoga Squared...this is open to all.

There is still space in the workshop at Yoga Squared but space is limited. Check out my website for details:

http://www.jillmanning.com

I am also giving a three hour intensive on Monday November 9th from 6-9pm at the AFC (also check out the website) you must pre-register because space is limited and it is filling up!

I leave for Philly in 5 days and Mysore in two months after all this alone time I am about due!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

I have missed practice the last two Sundays. Like Cyndi I am aiming for 5 practices this week. Here is a photo from practice today (not a self-y).

My Practice Week

pretty much went to the dogs...literally. Angie got very sick this week and needed to go to the vet twice after throwing up nearly every morning somewhere between 4am and 6am. Charlie needed a haircut and that was also an ordeal. So my aim for practice 6 times was once again met with a 3 day practice reality. Which is not to bad for a sick dog, three jobs, and a husband who is busy all the time. Here is a picture from my practice today. Marichyasana D is proof that practice changes everything.

Second Born

Joy says that I should blog everyday. I know that I should but time is a precious commodity and unlike my sister writing is not my favorite thing to do. I enjoy scribbling a thing or two down and connecting with my thoughts via pen and paper, but seriously I am no writer.

I am a mover.

Adam sent me this really great quote today from Andre Gide, "One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time." Many of my great quotes have come from some other human through Adam down to me and out my mouth into the yogic universe. One such quote that I think has been misattributed to Manorama (always a good guess) is from someone I can't remember right now, but it goes "don't let your thoughts rob you of your experiences." Adam wrote that down from his mythy mind after attending a yoga class of mine on a yellow piece of scrap paper. I still have that paper stuck in my very favorite yoga book.

Adam is my guru. Shedding light like no one else I know.

The Mysore group was awe inspiring today. This was the beginning of week five and all eight came to their mat even though it was holiday and most of them had off from work. All eight 5 weeks in on a holiday at 7am! The best part of teaching is the shared light experience. Teachers enlighten students and YES! students enlighten and enliven their teachers.

Shine On!

Back on Track

Week One

People who know me and my practice habits know that I don't practice on Saturday. This is partly a groove that I got into in Mysore and in Philly my Saturdays were teaching days and a natural fit fit for taking rest. I work at risd|works on Saturdays from 10-5 so Saturdays will continue to be a day in which I will not practice. Sunday has always marked the beginning of the new practice week. Sunday is the high Holy day of practice and I miss the coffee chats after a really intense practice. I love schedules. I love to set the bar and challenge myself to rise to the occasion. Here is the bar for the week 10/11 thru 10/17:

Sunday 10/11
It's parents weekend at RISD so I need to work on Sunday too!
Practice time 7am

Monday 10/12
I am free after my morning Mysore and usually practice around 10am.
Practice tie 10am

Tuesday 10/13
Off all day
Practice time 10am

Wednesday 10/14
This is where is gets really hard. I teach my Mysore group from 7am-9am then run to the YMCA to teach from 9:30am-10:30am and then run to risd|works and work from 11am -5:30pm.
Practice time 5:30am

Thursday 10/15 (Liana is here for the Iyengar Conference and staying with me)
Another full day at my "real" job.
Practice tme 7am

Friday 10/16
Maybe a surprise!

Saturday 10/17
TAKE REST

OK I've set my bar and I'll blog about the experience of week one. Let me know how you are finding practice and how practice is finding you.

I get it!

Practice is hard. Well not exactly the practice itself, but finding the time to practice is just..hard. I used to think it was difficult to find the time as a full time yoga teacher. Consider this blast an apology to all the full time practitioners out there. You know who you are! The students that roll into a 5:45pm yoga class in their pantyhose and practice.

I have been straddling the line of yoga teacher/Museum employee for about four weeks now, and my practice is struggling. After I write this post I will practice for only the third time this week. I need to get back on a 5 times a week schedule. I need to develop a plan. I think I need to get up earlier because after 8 hours of standing in a cute outfit I can't hit the mat especially on my own.

The good news is that I'll be in Philly for some great practice hours next month and I found a flight to India for less than $1100! I just need to finalize some details and get back to the business of practicing.

I am also giving a workshop that my friend Vanessa Mock has set up. Here is what she has said about it:

Hello All,
I am so excited to announce that the lovely Jill Manning will be presenting a "Twists & Binds" workshop on Monday, November 9th from 6-9 pm right here at The Aquatic & Fitness Center. For those of you who are acquainted with Jill, you know how incredible of a teacher she is. For those of you who are not, DO this workshop and you will not be sorry.

This three hour, ALL LEVELS, workshop will place sharp focus on asanas (postures) that twist and asanas that bind. Employing these qualities, you will understand how twisting postures can produce fluidity especially with a solid bind. You do not need to be able to easily twist into a pretzel to do this workshop. Jill has been teaching for over 10 years and has a vast knowledge of information to accommodate various populations, injuries and limitations.

Space is limited to only 20 participants. I am expecting that it will fill to max capacity within several weeks. To ensure a space either stop by to register or call with payment info. The cost is $45 and worth every penny.

Tell your friends, family and others who may be interested in this wonderful workshop.


OM, Shanti, OM. Love is life:)
Vanessa Mock
Group Fitness/Program Director
Aquatic & Fitness Center, Bala Cynwyd

Come Fly With Me!

In Philadelphia

Yoga Squared

“Foundation First” with Jill Manning 7-8 November
1pm - 5pm Saturday
12pm - 4pm Sunday

Understanding the Count, Understanding the Method
This course (9 hours) is designed to introduce a deeper relationship to
the Traditional Ashtanga Yoga Method, as taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of
Mysore, India. In this weekend long workshop we will dive deeply into the
often unseen structure that is the heart of the Method. One of Guruji’s
most repeated teachings is “99% practice 1% theory.” As is the way with
many great thread like teachings there is something that should be
understood. It is not enough to practice, what Guruji is suggesting is
proper practice. The proper understanding and employment of vinyasa
karma, breath pattern, bandha as energy, and drsti as focus.

This workshop will be a collage of practice, and theory filled with some
really informative tips and tricks for making sense of the sequence,
fettering out suggested meaning, and feeling around for the more internal
aspects of this method.

While this workshop is appropriate for all levels it may be most
interesting to those who have a practice and would like to understand more
deeply the design and structure of the tradition.

Wake Up Yoga

ReTurn with Jill Manning
A Winter Solstice Workshop

Wake Up Yoga Fairmount
Saturday, December 19th and Sunday, December 20th
1 - 4 pm

Contribution: $90 for both days; $50 for one day only

This workshop is capped at 20 participants..


In Providence

am very excited to announce the next series for the Mysore program at
Motion Center. At the close of this session there will be a week off. I
am going to teach a workshop in Philadelphia and spend the week practicing
with and assisting my teacher! Classes will resume:

Monday Session November 16th - December 21st (6 weeks) 7am -9am 8 students
only.

Wednesday Session November 18th - December 23rd (6 weeks) 7am -9am 8
students only.

I am then heading to India for my 4th trip to Mysore in January. Classes
will resume in February. Hopefully with an expanded schedule.

If you are interested register early with Motion Center
(http://www.motioncenter.com) and please freely pass the information along
to anyone with interest and always contact me directly with questions.

Pilgrimage

According to Wikipedia, a pilgrimage is a long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a shrine of importance to a person's beliefs and faith.

Some journeys I have undertaken with fierce determination. Each journey to India has been a small part of a larger search for significance, for myself. It indeed is an outward expression of great changes that have and continue to occur inside of me. Some journeys have been much more private, less advertised, and felt more deeply to those who share an intimacy with me. Sometimes it feels that allowing yourself to be still the place of significance takes the long journey toward you.

"If you take one step toward the point, the point takes ten steps toward you." Manorama

Mike and I found ourselves on the banks of Walden Pond yesterday. The sky was moody, and the moon would be full later that night. After two months in Providence it was totally worth the wait.

...is the transformation

Why I practice?

1. Clarity
2. Precision
3. Simplicity
4. Lucidity

6 weeks until Philly

I am so excited about coming back to Philadelphia to teach and spend some time with my awesome yoga teacher practicing yoga. I must admit I have been a "bad lady" when it has come to this blog. I apologize. I have been pretty lackadaisical lately when it comes to sharing this experience. The ground in Providence has shifted and moved under my feet so many times in the last two months. I had all these grand ideas about making practice videos for this blog (I have discovered some BIG gems practicing in my little shala). I can't even seem to write or post a picture.

This is my commitment to write or post a picture everyday for the next six weeks. Here is just some of what I have been mulling over in the mountain ranges of my mind.


A method is a way of doing.

If you are a vinyasa yoga teacher what is your method? In an essay David Foster Wallace describes the difference between writing fiction and non-fiction. In this essay he states the big challenge of writing non fiction is that the writer has "total freedom of infinite choice about what to choose to attend to and represent and connect and how and why." Sound familiar? Maybe my TT brain just turns on this time of year. I think that statement says it all about what makes a meaningful vinyasa class. What do you think?

Bija

A good teacher is known for planing seeds in their students and then being unattached to the growth of those seeds. Efforting to plant and then efforting to step back. Over the last four weeks I have been planting. If you live in Providence you have seen me on a flier. If you have had a job to offer you have seen my resume. If you are a manager of a restaurant on the West Side, yup! you have seen me there as well. Four weeks of planting and the seeds are starting to sprout.

I have faith in this process because I have seen the fruit on the mat. The seeds of breath, energy, and focus have colored my practices with lushness.

Practice is a seed of effort, the catch.
Vairagya is the effort of standing back, the release.

How do you drop back with grace? Marry the the two in your mind, breath, body, but most importantly in your heart. How do you move to a new city and make a life? You practice the drop back of living finding just the right balance of falling and just the right quality of catching.

Major Meltdown...Mysore Coming

Yesterday it happened. Like a giant damn broke in my body and I just lost it. Trying to put a life together out of Providence thin air is really no small thing. There are some things that seem to be coming together. The Mysore program at Motion Center is filling up fast and people seem to be excited about it and have been longing for it for some time. Finding other work has been the big snafu. Spending the last nine years honing in on yoga skills has its benefits for sure, but out there in the rest of the world it has me falling flat as a potential employee.


Pretty soon the Mysore program will begin and I'll be coming back to Philly for some workshops and all will be less melty. It is time to go into my little shala and breathe and love and practice.

Rehydrating a mushroom

This is the beginning of my third week in Providence. I kind of feel a bit like a two year old. The emotional pendulum swings so wildly. One moment I am basking in the glow of receiving a call to come in and audition for a class at the Boston Sports Club, and the next moment I am questioning what the #$%@ I am doing here. I am questioning how long my unemployment status will go on, and how many hours can Mike and I stare at each other in this heat without break.

On the practice front I am pleased to say that I am returning to the mat with regularity, vigorously scribbling thoughts into my current notebook, and hosting some guest in my yoga room (maybe you'll be next). My yoga room has finally transformed into my office now that we have Internet through the entire house. With little to do I am also reading a lot. Some yoga material, but others books, fascinating books, books like I used to read when I lived in NY and took the subway everywhere. That feels like a return to something solid and exciting.

Other things that this Providence life is inspiring:

We have one TV with very little to offer so it is off like 90% of the time.
Mike and I are riding our bikes everywhere. My car hasn't moved in three weeks.
Eating local. We have this amazing farmers market every Thursday and that's where we do all the produce and dairy shopping.

Sure I miss Philly. I miss all the yoga students. I miss the comfort, and security. I feel the fire of Tapas, and although I am afraid I think I like it.

By the end of this week (at least according to my dry erase board) I'll have a fully updated workshop schedule. Including stops in Philly and a retreat in Guatemala!

Two Weeks and Two Days

This is not a vacation. I am not coming home Philly. I will not be resuming the Saturday and Tuesday yoga time slots anytime soon. I am not preparing for Teacher Training. This is some weird stuff.

I am trying to find my way. Reestablish a real relationship with myself and the practice of yoga. Providence has a quiet way about it, and its authentic silence, its off the grid-ness, is allowing me, and I can hear Micheal Carroll in my head even as I write this, to drop the cape. Even more so I am asking myself to drop the costume.

You know what I am talking about!

I have been reading from my notebooks before I start practice. Trying to find those gems that make their way into yoga classes that I teach. Trying to inspire myself. This morning I read something that I wrote boldly in the margin. It said, "You've got devotion, now what?"
Now What?

I woke up this morning with a clear vision, and an urgency, an energy to begin the exploration of just that question. I hope that this begins a daily blog of this very interesting journey. Finding myself in Providence, and exploring the action of devotion. I have said this in yoga class and I am repeating here, where bhakti (devotion) meets shakti (energy) that intersection...that's abhyasa...that's practice, and as always..that's the juice.

Letting Go

What a concept. Putting this into practice is a whole different story. Yogis say, "Svaha!" sometimes when you don't know what else to say. I can feel myself battling the familiar, trying desperately to arrange things in the way I that I think they should go. I just told a friend yesterday about my crazy Spring filled with emotions and depression. I told her that I saw one of those inspirational cards that caught my eye. It said, "if you are at the end of your rope, hold on." For her I think this advice is true, for me, right now, at this very time, this very moment I am at the end of this rope and I have got to find a way to LET GO.

Today and tomorrow Philadelphia.

Next stop Providence.

One Year Ago

I had just landed for my third time in India. I remember when I thought that traveling to, practicing in, and traveling around India was an impossibility. Although last year was the third it was my first time alone, and it was the longest stretch away from my husband and home. The very first night I dropped to my knees (no joke) and cried. I couldn't imagine how this was all going to work, nine weeks without working, nine weeks without my husband, nine weeks in India. I was up all night.

Nine years after planting in Philadelphia I am leaving. I was up all night. Well, not all night, but Mike and I were awake from 3ish until the soft sunrise. I can't image how this is all going to work out. I am starting to freak out.

Tonight is the last Tuesday night class for me at Wake Up, and Saturday is the final class, and there is a party after so hope to see so many sweet faces before the long Philly pause.

What I Like About You

Not to long ago I sent some students, and colleagues and email entitled, "Getting my shit together." The email was a cry for help. As I prepare to leave this city so many people have been asking, "you're coming back to teach some workshops, right?" I have been told by many that I am good at what I do. I know that I love teaching yoga, and I love the subject itself. It would be then impossible (especially given the number of years that I have been at this) not have have some skill. But as I tried to parcel out what was it that I was good at I couldn't see the forest through the vrkshasana's.

Here is some of the feedback, and if you have more please email it to me.


There has never been a class I've taken with Jill that I haven't: a) learned
something, b) been inspired, and c) smiled. All three are enormously
important to me both in my practice and my life. Her depth of knowledge is
something to behold.

Jill is a teacher whose skill and patience are revealed to surprising new depths every time you practice with her. When you begin to feel you've arrived someplace, she is there to illuminate whole new levels and elements of practice, and to encourage you onwards. She offers concrete, matter-of-fact instruction in both the physical and energetic aspects of yoga practice, balancing the joy of asana with the focus and repetition required for mastery. Her guidance has been a continual revelation as I've worked towards a deeper understanding of practice.


So, I will do my best to explain what it is that makes me avoid social plans on Tuesday evenings and Sat mornings as best i can: the you in you that shines through so honestly, your sense of humor, your ability to demonstrate poses with grace and ease that helps give me a confidence so I feel as if I can do the same, your knowledge of asanas so that classes are designed in a way that my body seems to move in ways I wouldnt' think I was capable of ( this in itself builds a sense of confidence I have in you as a teacher and also a confidence in myself), your ability to use your voice to guide my movemennt and breath to sinc and move almost lavishly, and the quotes and themes woven into your classes...I forgot to mention those...many have supported me through some rough spots in my life.

I began a more dedicated practice during and following TT with you, and over the years have had the pleasure of not only watching my own practice grow, but yours as well. What I mean to say is that you are a student yourself, and when you teach, you seem to always draw from both your student and teacher experiences in a way that is so human, so grounding. What I have really grown to appreciate about studying with you is your ability to take poses apart, down to the nitty gritty, and then put them back together like a puzzle, piece by piece, drawing clear connections from one pose to the next. It really doesn't matter what the focus is..backbends or binding...whatever you choose. It's your style of teaching, of getting to know each student, offering options, and building logically and simply (sometimes) from the ground up that really makes you someone I want to learn from and study with.

6 weeks and counting

My last class that I will teach in Philadelphia will be led traditionally counted Ashtanga Yoga class at Yoga Squared. After I actually studied and learned the count I was off to Mysore for my 2nd trip to the Shala. Those first days in India are rough. The jet lag is just crazy, and when I couldn't fall asleep I would practice the count. Instead of sheep, I would be laying on a very thin mattress counting vinyasa's. I used to speak of the word "vinyasa" as a qualitative term that many people agree on, meaning "to place in a special way." I liked the way that this term implied thoughtfulness and craft.

I no longer define "vinyasa" in this way. Now, for me, vinyasa is the understanding of movement. How many movements in Surya Namaskara A? Surya A has 9 vinyasa's, nine (very carefully placed) movements. Triangle has 5. Janu A 22. Marichayasana C and D 19, and ect. It is a complex/simple way of really understanding how efficient a yoga can be. How to break it a part and put it back together.

Although the count has become so much more apart of me, I still find myself counting myself to sleep. It is just that steady, and now more than ever before I am looking for what's steady, and not that interested in what's new.

The.....

In Sanskrit it is called rasam. Here in Philly, I just refer to it as "the juice." What's the juice you ask? I prefer to practice with juice in my heart and juicy-ness in every movement. I like to teach and stay with the juice encouraging students to be juicy, pulpy, etc. I say this so much that a student/friend titled a play list on her I-tunes, "walking the juice." Another beloved student who is working in India right now sent me this photo.

The Subject... For Jill, With Love (from Bhubaneswar)

I guess she found in India, and thought of me. That's the Juice!

The Countdown Continues

Mike hates when I keep a count on the calendar. I routinely do this. There have been countdowns to David's arrival, the wedding countdown, the India countdown, and now we have the countdown until the move. When I have these little numbers written marking the weeks until something important, Mike likes to call it the countdown to destruction. I know by heart the weeks until the move. 7 weeks from this very day. 7 Friday's from this one the house will be totally boxed up, and I Mike and I will load a truck up with all those boxes...ugg..

I managed to practice five times this week, and there was really no excuse for not practicing on Wednesday. I just couldn't get it done. I always feel better after practice. Always. Since Guruji's passing I have really clung to practice, it is a direct way to feel closer to Mysore. My classes have been swimming right along, and I am giving one last drop-back workshop next Saturday in Jersey at a really sweet yoga shala, YogaWood.

I am also in the process of putting together some workshops/intensives/etc for the fall/winter before I leave for Mysore. If you want the most updated info/email blast make sure you get on the list at my website, jillmanning.com.

I am going to continue to go with the flow and swim in the ocean of yoga. Ride ON!

Moving

Doesn't everyone hate moving? Here I am in the midst of this epic move. Everything is moving, even my bank account has to move to a new home. To tell the truth I think I started the moving process as soon as Mike was clear that he was going to apply to graduate school. On many levels I am ready to change and to hit the refresh button, and I am at other times wishing for the comfort and the stability that Philadelphia brings.

Practice is strong, but my body feels really grumpy.

It's 3am...

After one of those fantastic Philadelphia days....class was awesome, juicy, and rocking, then coffee and laughs with friends, a long Reggae walk with the dogs, yoga movie with yoga friends, then Mexican food and a margarita, home by 10pm (practice tomorrow) but at 3am I am now wide awake.

Why am I leaving again? The parade of strangers roaming through the house started this week. Who will be in residence here? What about my yoga classes, my students? This years Teacher Trainee's will not benefit from my endless wit and wisdom, catch heat from the post India glow, they won't get the Guruji/Sharath/Lakshism/Jayashree-isms. Am I failing this community that I have been such a part of?

Is it really smart to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?

To be honest the airplane has been slowly breaking down for some time now, and jumping out it what I need to do to figure some things out and get the clarity that only space can bring. There is nothing comfortable about yoga (future TT's take note) and there is nothing comfortable about taking chances and that is what I am doing. Providence in August, India in January...it's 3am, I must be crazy.

Jai Ho!

10 weeks 'til Providence

This is why after much consideration I am not getting on a plane to Mysore next week. If Mike and I were staying in Philly, there would be no stopping me from celebrating Guruji's life in my beloved Mysore, India. There is just way too much to do, and maybe I am better serving the yoga community here in Philadelphia by continuing to teach, being present right up until I leave.

I relied heavily on practice this week, there is something so profound abut keeping a tradition alive. I could feel practice was bringing Guruji into my heart, and my breath. Taking another cue from Guruji's life, I emailed the Sanskrit Professor at Brown University about attending the Sanskrit class there. I think his response was one of the most intense emails I have ever received. I am in, but I have been warned...it is going to be no joke.

I am having a little gathering at my shala (house) tonight to celebrate the light and life of Guruji, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois if you are interested in coming just send my an email, and I give the details.

Jai Guruji

What more to say about him

Inspiration:

a : a divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to receive and communicate sacred revelation

b : the action or power of moving the intellect or emotions

c : the act of influencing or suggesting opinions 2 : the act of drawing in; specifically : the drawing of air into the lungs 3 a : the quality or state of being inspired

Notes from Practice

Getting up for yourself is key. I subbed for Karen this morning at Yoga Squared. Practice does not begin until 9am on Sunday, so in order for me to practice I had to get there and get practicing by 7:15am. I got up got dressed and made it to the mat. Often on Sunday I design my practice to be very vigorous, a full 2nd series practice complete with dropbacks and advanced backbending. Since my new goal is to pick up more of a Mysore life style I decided to practice primary instead. While I was moving and breathing and gazing I could feel a connection between the cylinder of the rib cage and the sway of the pelvis. I also created (riffing on the vinyasa class I taught yesterday) how essential it is to arch the upper spine but keep some coiled in roundness in the pelvis when jumping or should I say floating forward.

Leading a Mysore practice is a really interesting skill, and it does take practice to manage the room. Over the past two years I think that I have found my intention and voice and sharpened my eyes, and direct each student with calmness and confidence. I really enjoy this style of teaching. I just feel clicked into the Shala, and in service to the great teachers who have guided me.

I am teaching for Vanessa tonight at Wake Up Yoga, Fairmount at 5:30pm...come and chant with me and my harmonium finishing the weekend strong!

Mysore Style

I have really been struggling lately with all this change, with all the answers being "you, know, I don't know." In this struggle I have kind of gotten down. I feel messy, practice is messy, and don't even get me started on the state of my car. I woke up this morning ready to be honest, and get back to business. All teacher training season I make the argument that I can't practice at 6:30 am if I am not getting home from TT until 10pm. Well TT has been over for one month and I have shifted in schedule I have not shifted my attitude. I remember that little sweet swami lady in Rishikesh saying that, "yoga is an attitude." I am ready to return to a Mysore style. I am ready to practice and be at peace with all that means. To put mySelf first and forget the rest of the drama.

In about 11 weeks I am leaving Philadelphia, for life unknown. So much change, so many familiar routines gone. I am excited and scared. I am teaching at 9 am at Yoga Squared, and I will be there early practicing raising my energy that I can teach form a place of energy, and love.

The goal this week is to practice 6 days, rest appropriately, and spend more time with people who invite Rama not the Drama.

Let's try this again

I am feeling so great after a week by myself in NYC with Sharath, and about two hundred fellow Ashtangi's. It was like a little Mysore experience, a perfect echo, just what I needed.

I just got back from a fantastic practice. It felt so nice to dive back into second after spending 5 practices of primary keeping in step with Sharath's count....Navasana supta inhale.....1...2...........3...(seriously.) I am pumped to be heading up the Mysore program from Tuesday on this week at Yoga Squared. Getting ready to end this chapter of my life strong, come and practice.

Love. Love.

Push it Along

I thought that I was there last week, but now I see that I really didn't know how long the rope that was unraveling inside me really was. I think I can safely say now that I have come to the end of the rope and I am ready to be honest with myself and move forward. Some people thrive on stress. I do not. The conclusion of Teacher Training has now allowed me to release some stress, free up some time, and begin the letting go.

I am so excited to be heading to NY this afternoon for a week long practice with Sharath. My practice is in desperate need of a tune up, and my spirit longs for an injection of "the juice."

I will be blogging all week from NY....I promise (amanda)

I am giving a dropbacks workshop on the 9th of May (check my website) and space is limited so sign up and drop back!! I'll be teaching through the month of July, then Mike, Charlie, Angie, and I will be off to Providence to hit the refresh button and begin again.

This Week's Practice Plan

If you have ever read my sister Joy blog you know that her "yoga life" is a food life. Just like my husband who is a photographer for a living but also a photographer for life. I will most likely drop the title yoga teacher when I arrive in my new home, but I will not drop the practice. It is really very interesting when what you "do", is really what you love. The idea of leaving work at the office (well in our cases there is no office) is ridiculous. That said trying maintain a healthy balance of teaching, giving, offering, and making a living has made many a yoga teacher (including myself) lose track of a daily practice.

Taking a good tip from my sister who tries to balance eating out and maintaining a healthy weight I am posting my practice schedule, and will report back at the end of each week with a recap.

This Week

Sunday April 12th-Saturday April 18th

Sunday 9am Mysore at Yoga Squared (I am about to leave for that one!)

Monday 6:30am Mysore at Yoga Squared

Tuesday 7am Mysore at Yoga Squared

Wednesday Sleep in and find an afternoon Vinyasa class (TT party aka Teacher Training Graduation! is that night)

Thursday I am teaching at 6:30am at Yoga Squared, I hope to grab a friend and practice after

Friday This is also up in the air

Saturday Take Rest

Goal

4 Mysore, and 1 Vinyasa

Playing Catch Up

The entire month of April feels like one big blur. Now that I know where I am going to land, I can focus. Mike and I have decided that he will be attending the Rhode Island School of Design this fall, and we will be setting up shop in Providence.

Some things on my mind.

I am creating a list of all the things I want to do before leaving Philly. Please send suggestions!

I am ready to recommit to morning practices at Yoga Squared especially now that TT is closing on Wednesday.

I am getting ready to create a vision board (yes I make these.)

I am giving a workshop at Yoga Squared this afternoon (the weather couldn't be agreeing more) come and wrap your arms tightly around yourself and get closer to yourself, and the experience on yoga!

Seriously Grumpy

I have reached the end of this rope that has been unraveling inside me this morning. At first I thought this could be fun, pick up and move to a whole new city, you know have a real adventure. I am now 9 days away from knowing in which city this new adventure take place.

I am leaving for Providence in about an hour. I am not really prepared. I am bringing my camera and computer, so I can blog about the New England yoga scene.

See you next week...there are still some spots remaining in the binding workshop on Saturday...check the website, and see you then!

Time After Time (this is a rant)

I have never been late for anything. Both of my parents were incredibly intense with time. If you weren't 10 minutes early...you were in fact late. I have carried this into my adult life completely. I once told my boss at the NYU Information Center that if I wasn't there on time I wasn't coming. As I get older I realize that this "good" habit, isn't always so polite, or necessary. Lately I find myself sitting in my car, a little penalty box, being punished for the offense of ridiculously early arrival.

Spending so much time in India has helped. This is one of the many countries where time is more fluid. Everything in India apparently takes "5 minutes." This is code for 1 hour, 15 minutes, but mostly I don't know. Last week I was at Jivamukti Yoga and the class was scheduled to end at 4:30pm, but at 4:30 there was about 15 minutes to go before the teacher wrapped the whole thing up. I spent so much of that class watching the clock, distracted, annoyed that I really should have asked for my money back.

This is the point. When I am teaching a class, I know that the students can relax and totally surrender, free themselves to have an experience because they trust in me to end class on time. By honoring time, I am honoring the students. We all have BIG lives and it is arrogant to think that your teaching is so invaluable that missing your husband, train, bus, next appointment etc. in not important.

There I sat yesterday...completely missing out of the teaching because I did not trust the teacher to honor me and my classmates, or honor the time that we should all spend together. Having that experience I am glad that I watch the time, and give the students in my class the freedom to have an experience watching their body, mind, and breath, instead of the clock.

Take me to the River

Traveling through India this fall, the beginning of the festival season, I landed in Rishikesh on the final day of the Ganesha Caturthi. At the conclusion of puja on the Holy Ganga, Ganesha is placed in the river and set free in the powerful stream. When the group I was traveling with went for the Ashram’s orientation the woman in white smiled and said how happy she was that we were there for the Ganesh Immersion. I wrote in my notebook that night.

“Ganesh Immersion. Take me to the river, and let me go!”

On this wet spring day it is clear that only through this immersion will the city begin to bloom. I am really excited about the immersions that I am offering that may have you too blooming this spring.

As many of you know my beloved husband has been accepted into some really amazing MFA programs. While it is still a bit unclear where we will relocate, we will be leaving Philadelphia sometime this August and washing down the river. Until then come and practice, breathe, and share the magic of yoga. For the most up to date information, and upcoming Mysore dates check:

http://www.jillmanning.com/index.html



Dive In:

Better Binding
A Close Look at Postures Marichyasana A through Garbha Pindasana
Saturday April 11, 2009
1:00pm -5:00pm

Yoga Squared
1923 Chestnut Street, 3R
Philadelphia, PA

$50
For more information, please contact Jill, yoga@jillmanning.com.

Hold Me Closer Cosmic Dancer
Sunday April 12, 2009
12:00pm -2:00pm

Jai
727 Montgomery Ave
Narberth, PA

$45, pre-registration, $50 day of
This “master" class has been designed to celebrate Shiva in the form of Natarajasana, the cosmic dancer and the cosmic dance known as Tandava. On the eve of Shivratri we will celebrate the divine art form. Tandava is a dance performed by Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati (Shakti.) According to Hindu mythology, Shiva's Tandava is a vigorous dance that is the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution. While the Rudra (Shiva’s Vedic name) Tandava depicts his violent nature, first as the creator and later as the destroyer of the universe, even of death itself; the Ananda (Bliss) Tandava depicts him as the enjoyer of his creation - the universe. In Indian tradition, Lord Shiva as Nataraja (Cosmic Dancer) is the supreme lord of dance. This will be a pure celebration as we honor all of these qualities with a practice that includes call and response chanting, breath practices, and a vigorous asana practice that will have us dancing in Shiva’s image and approaching Natarajasana in all of its many forms.
OM Namah Shivaya!


Spring Forward, Drop Back
Saturday May 9, 2009
1:00pm -4:00pm

Wake Up Yoga
2329 Parrish Street
Philadelphia, PA
$50, Early Registration Incentive: $45 if enrolled by 4/24/09
Space is Limited, register early!!!
Are you terrified of dropping back? Have you created mythology around
this practice telling yourself that it is something designed for someone
more flexible, younger, someone with more strength, or maybe just more
chutzpa? Then this workshop has been designed for you.

In this workshop we will explore the qualities of “dropping back”
that are embedded into the fabric of every single vinyasa yoga class. By
learning to utilize the natural curves of the spine, and exploring organic
undulations throughout the entire practice we will make connections so
that dropping back is as simple (not easy) as learning to stand (we will
explore that as well.)

Points of Exploration and Practice:
Learning to Crawl and Fall
Minding Your Head while Opening Your Heart
“Don’t Fear”

Foundation First
Saturday & Sunday, May 16 & 17, 2009
Saturday, 1:00pm -5:00pm, Sunday 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Yoga Squared
1923 Chestnut Street, 3R
Philadelphia, PA
$108
For more information, please contact Jill, yoga@jillmanning.com.

The goal of the workshop is to provide students with a clear understanding and awareness of the Ashtanga methodology as taught by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India. By calling upon the guidance of her teacher, David Keil, and her experiences during her three pilgrimages to Mysore (’06, ’07, ’08), Jill will lay a proper and strong foundation on which the students can confidently build self-practices and continue their studies. Over the course of the weekend, the class will explore the foundations of Ashtanga practice by studying the external postures and working to develop awareness of the more subtle aspects such as the prana (breath), bandha (energy) and dristi (focus). Throughout the class Jill will cover the opening and closing mantras, some history on the origin of Ashtanga, debunk some widespread myths, share some personal tips and tricks as well her own stock of stories and experiences. The weekend will culminate with led (traditionally counted) practice of the asanas (postures) covered during instruction.
The workshop is open to practitioners of all levels; whether just beginning to explore the system or looking to clear up any confusion, hopefully all attendees will fall in love with the divine details and keep these lessons close for a long time.

One Love (Reggae walks with my dogs)

On the ride to DC this weekend I was reminded that my blog has not been updated in a while, and at the same time I totally realized that maybe people do read this blog. This has been a time for great change, and now I am finally coming to grips with the fact that I am pausing on this Philly life, and picking up somewhere else. This place has yet to be revealed, my bet is on either Chicago or Providence, RI.

I am again committing to blogging through this experience of change. Sharing this transition through the lens of yoga as a practice of teaching, and as the big picture practice. I am trying to fill in the calendar so that my time here in Philly can be shared with the large and fantastic yoga community. Be sure to check the website, stop into class, or fully immerse in a workshop (there are some great ones on the horizon.)

Love. Practice.

This is how Manorama says engaged with students. She will randomly send text messages that very simply state "Love. Practice." Those two little words situated next to each other have embedded into my mind and transformed into a little mantra in and of themselves.

Bhakti. Abhyasa.

Daivd was here this week and when I saw him on Tuesday I felt so connected to that mantra, love...practice. In a very relaxed and clear state I practiced with love and affection for so many blessings. As I practiced yesterday morning with a small group under the steady 2nd series count, all that I could feel was love for those in the room and Love for those far away, and that practice is not about fireworks, the big bursts of connection, but steadiness, and regularity.

Shiva Phase...Full On!

I guess it all stared with this last trip to India. Guruji was running the show trip one, with all his super Brahma energy. Sarasvati was holding down the shala second trip, with all her bhakti to keep her father's work going. It was mind blowing to be in her care. This summer it was the Summer of Sharath...full Shiva effect.

So many things broke...may alarm clock, my flashlight, my computer. So many other things felt the turn, the completion of a long cycle.

I haven't been blogging so much because even here it feels that Shiva is in full effect. Mike is being accepted into graduate programs, and it seems that this phase of my Philly life is ending and a new phase is beginning.

I am so blessed. I just returned from the inspiring beauty of Costa Rica into the inspiring hands of my teacher.

In any phase life is good.

Snow Falling....Spring Calling

This is just a quick note to share my excitement for the hatching of
Spring. Even as I sit here in my office feeling like I am in my very own
snow globe, I know that all this wetness is just the nourishment that
nature needs to fully come into bloom.

I have just updated my Spring workshop schedule on jillmanning.com, so be
sure to check it out...there are loads of juicy offerings, workshops that
will have you dropping back, wrapping around your Self, and experiencing
your inner Shiva.

I have been reading this lovely little book from Thich Nhat Hanh titled,
The Blooming of a Lotus. It is helping me during these very confusing,
and uncertain times feel a bit less stressed, a bit more at home with what
is...

"In letting go, we learn that true happiness can only come by way of
freedom, an awakened life, and the practice of love and compassion."

Love. Compassion.


http://www.jillmanning.com/

The Sandhi of it All

I have been very absent with the blogging, but if you could get a peek inside my head. I feel like I have endless streams of thought, that are less like steams and more like very complex mazes, or sudoku puzzles. I am constantly in search of how the dots connect, how all the pieces fit together.

If you can break it apart and put it back together you've got it! I feel like I have been speaking the "sandhi of asana" for so long now, how the shapes break apart and can be put back together, how understanding the purity of say, a foundational asana points to the complex riddle of asana's like Marichyasana. How the fundamental is in there deeply embedded. Can you pull it all apart and put it back together?

Two weeks until Costa Rica!!!!

Big Yoga Week

Workshop this Sunday!!


Hold Me Closer Cosmic Dancer
Sunday February 22, 2009
1pm -4pm

Yoga Wood
688 Haddon Ave
Collingswood, NJ
info@yogawood.com

$45, pre-registration is required

This “master" class has been designed to celebrate Shiva in the form of Natarajasana, the cosmic dancer and the cosmic dance known as Tandava. On the eve of Shivratri we will celebrate the divine art form. Tandava is a dance performed by Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati (Shakti.) According to Hindu mythology, Shiva's Tandava is a vigorous dance that is the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution. While the Rudra (Shiva’s Vedic name) Tandava depicts his violent nature, first as the creator and later as the destroyer of the universe, even of death itself; the Ananda (Bliss) Tandava depicts him as the enjoyer of his creation - the universe. In Indian tradition, Lord Shiva as Nataraja (Cosmic Dancer) is the supreme lord of dance. This will be a pure celebration as we honor all of these qualities with a practice that includes call and response chanting, breath practices, and a vigorous asana practice that will have us dancing in Shiva’s image and approaching Natarajasana in all of its many forms.
OM Namah Shivaya!

Mysore this week at Yoga Squared:

Sun-Thurs (moon day TuesdaY)

(down) and UP for the Count

Last Friday after I taught the Led Primary class at Yoga Squared I felt a little off. I came home walked the dogs and felt very off. I soldiered on practiced yoga, and went to bed early. The next morning I woke up at 6:45am because I was too uncomfortable to sleep. I soldiered on, and taught class, and went to the Sanskrit workshop given Ma.

The next morning I could go on no more. I have been horizontal pretty much ever since. I missed an entire week of work, practice, and so much of my life. Talk about leaning into the pause. I was back teaching this morning picking up where I left off, but today I felt really on. I am heading out to practice myself and I am so excited to announce that photographer, and husband Mike Mergen has a gallery reception tonight of his amazing India work.

Here is the link...please come!

http://www.ucartsleague.org/

Trying to Know the Unknowable

Picking the blog back up after meeting my January goal. I am continually inspired by my sister's blog (see side bar.) People really seem to connect with her, and her struggle with weight and body image, and her penchant for good food. She gave me a copy of her book that will be out the March, Almost Meatless. She went through it and highlighted all the recipes that can be perfectly designed to be adapted for vegetarians.

Once again I am reminded that practice is hard. For me "yoga" is just not a buzz word or a concept. The word itself is a verb, a word of action, not a place to retreat and not something to hide behind, but something which we must stand up into.

I am really excited about some upcoming events...


MYSORE WEEK at Yoga Squared (just come in and practice)
This is a great chance to climb in! Commit to the whole week, and have an experience!
Sunday Feb 22nd- Thursday Feb. 26th, Led Primary on Friday Feb 27th.
6:30am-9am


Hold Me Closer Cosmic Dancer
Sunday February 22, 2009
1pm -4pm

Yoga Wood
688 Haddon Ave
Collingswood, NJ
info@yogawood.com

$45, pre-registration is required

This “master" class has been designed to celebrate Shiva in the form of Natarajasana, the cosmic dancer and the cosmic dance known as Tandava. On the eve of Shivratri we will celebrate the divine art form. Tandava is a dance performed by Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati (Shakti.) According to Hindu mythology, Shiva's Tandava is a vigorous dance that is the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution. While the Rudra (Shiva’s Vedic name) Tandava depicts his violent nature, first as the creator and later as the destroyer of the universe, even of death itself; the Ananda (Bliss) Tandava depicts him as the enjoyer of his creation - the universe. In Indian tradition, Lord Shiva as Nataraja (Cosmic Dancer) is the supreme lord of dance. This will be a pure celebration as we honor all of these qualities with a practice that includes call and response chanting, breath practices, and a vigorous asana practice that will have us dancing in Shiva’s image and approaching Natarajasana in all of its many forms.
OM Namah Shivaya!