Posts In: Yoga Sutras

Yoga One and DTO Music recently collaborated to host Yoga on the USS Midway, where an amazing 800+ yogis gathered to practice together on the flight deck! 

Co-Founder and Lead Instructor Amy Caldwell discussed yoga and music with DTO, you can read the full interview on their site. 

Here are some of our favorite highlights:

Yoga, as we offer it at Yoga One, is non-competitive. One of the beautiful things about yoga practiced in this way is that it always meets you where you are and supports you at your level. 

Although in our modern Western culture yoga has become so much about appearances, the depth of the practice lies within.

In the Yoga Sutras, Kriya yoga breaks down into three key elements: Tapas (to heat, burning enthusiasm or conscious effort), Svadyaya (self-study or reflection) and Ishvara Pranidhana (allowing or letting go, connecting to the Big energy within and around us).

If we remove the elements of self-reflection and letting go, in my opinion, it really isn’t yoga. Yoga is not only what we do, but how we do it.

How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?

Michael and both share a great love of music. In fact, we met at a CD release party for the Jazz musician and film composer Stanley Clarke. I was working for Budd Carr a music supervisor who does all of the music for Oliver Stone. I helped on Twister, Natural Born Killers, Heat, Nixon, etc. Michael was working for BMI which is a performance rights society. We both got to experience first-hand how integral music is to film. A soundtrack really adds emotion and energy. Try watching some of your favorite movies without the sound sometimes.

While yoga is fantastic without music, adding music certainly can help set the mood, the pacing and an overall vibe. Music often adds to any activity and yoga is no exception. We enjoy music with our yoga so much we created the Yoga One CD which was released by Quango Music Group.

Here is a link where you can purchase a copy of the Yoga One CD for your own home practice!

by Olivia Cecchettini

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Translation and Commentary by Sri Swami Satchidananda

Summary: Sutra in Sanskrit means “thread.” Each verse of the sutras is a thread in the tapestry of Raja Yoga, a yogic path of meditation and concentration. The Sutras of Pantanjali are at least 1,700 years old and contain ancient wisdom in yoga ethics, meditation, and physical postures. This compilation by Sri Swami Satchidananda not only includes the original Sanskrit alongside the translation, but also personal stories and advice shared from his own spiritual journey.

Why I Love It: Timing is everything. I picked up this book in the past and felt overwhelmed. My intuition knew that it wasn’t the right time yet, so I put it back on the shelf until some months later I began to read it one sutra at a time. I gave each one time to marinate in my thoughts. I really believe the quote, “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali uses metaphors and examples that are easy to understand and applicable to a modern lifestyle. I love that the full depth of knowledge contained in each sutra is so accessible because knowledge is power. When we become as curious about our internal landscape as we are about the external world, we are limitless. This book offered me the tools to live a life of introspection, fulfillment, happiness, and peace. It raised and continues to raise my vibration.

Recommended For: Those seeking emotional intelligence, who want to find balance between mind, body and spirit. Understanding The Sutras may come easily, but applying the book’s teaching in your everyday life might be a much harder task. The spiritual methods may be simple, but there could be a lot of work that goes into embodying each step forward.

I’ve found that it’s not by reading that I actually grasp new teachings or new ways of being in the world; it is through experimenting. Practicing, failing, having devotion and patience, and fully participating in my own life is where the learning happens. Being alive and feeling alive can be two very different experiences. My hope is for all to experience the fullness of life.

Ciao,
Olivia

Olivia Cecchettini
Contributing Writer

Olivia’s yoga journey began in 2003. She is certified in Vinyasa, Hatha, and Aerial Yoga and holds a Masters degree in Spiritual Psychology. She believes the mind, body, soul connection is sacred and encourages her students explore and expand within their own bodies and consciousnesses.

Celebrate Earth Day by embracing Saucha (cleanliness and purity) in your thoughts, your home and the whole world.

by Laura McCorry

Spring is a time fo new beginnings and for cleaning out the old cobwebbed spaces to bring in fresh air and light. Sometimes these spaces are in the depths of closets and sometimes they can be found in the depths of our thoughts and habits.

Saucha is one of the five moral observances, or Niyamas, of yoga and it refers to cleanliness and purity of body, thoughts and deeds. At first glance, saucha seems rather straight-forward. It’s easy to remember to bathe and to cut your finger nails. Your body won’t feel comfortable or function properly if you stop doing these items of daily maintenance.

But widen the perspective just a bit and you can see how saucha applies to your home as well. If you were to allow trash, papers and other items to accumulate in your home, it would soon be uninhabitable. A clean living space is good for both your health and your mental clarity.

One of the many benefits of yoga is that over time, your awareness will expand in every direction. If you stick with the practice, you’ll find what is good for the body, is also good for the mind and soul. The lessons learned on your mat will follow you into every corner of your experience.

So my hope is that one day, as a species, we will all recognize that the earth, too, needs to be cleaned and maintained.

We learned disposable habits of living from the adults who came before us. It’s easy to fall into the habits of convenience and sticking with the status quo. But there was a time not so long ago before plastics. When things worth having cost a bit more, or took a bit longer, or we knew how to do without them.

You don’t have to revolutionize your life overnight, but I invite you to take a first step. Here are some of the changes I’ve made in my personal life and some that are on my list of what to do next:

• Consider the “end of life” of each object and avoid the use of all plastics wherever possible
• Choose reusable grocery bags and produce bags
• Shop grocery products sold in cardboard boxes or glass jars
• Refuse single use to-go cutlery
• Use cloth placemats and napkins at home
• Extensive use of kitchen towels to avoid using paper towels
• Bring my own tumbler to the coffee shop
• Replace my toothbrush with a bamboo alternative
• Use a glass water bottle for travel
• Cook my own food and eat the leftovers
• Buy less – bring fewer new items into my home
• Invest in a small space/balcony composter

What’s on your list? Share with us in the comments. Here is a great resource with tons of ideas to go even further: plastic free guide

Laura McCorry
Contributing Writer

Yoga and Laura had an on-again-off-again relationship from 2004 until 2009 when they decided to move in together and there’s been no looking back since. Passionate about both yoga and writing, Laura loves to introduce others to the joys and benefits of yoga and healthy living.

Contact: laura@yogaonesandiego.com

This month we’re showcasing Amy Freeman, a fabulous teacher who has been with Yoga One from the first day we opened our doors…over 11 years ago! Her classes are challenging, fun and rewarding. Join Amy on Tuesday and Thursday at 12pm for a level 2 lunchtime flow or Saturday mornings at 10:30 for an advanced level 2/3 Vinyasa Flow. Click here to see our full schedule.

1. What is your favorite style of yoga?

ALL! Sometimes I crave a hot sweaty Vinyasa class and other days I am in need of a Restorative practice with lots of deep stretches and long holds. I love alignment based practices like Iyengar and Anusara. I love singing bowl, gong and meditation classes; I love yoga with live music; I love laughter yoga; I love Pranayama classes!

2. What first attracted you to yoga when you began your practice?

I began yoga in 1995 during a college Philosophy course and it really resonated with me. What drew me in at first was the philosophy aspect – the study of Patanjali’s Sutras and the Eight Limbed Path. I felt as though I had arrived someplace I’d been seeking for years. It’s a hard feeling to describe, but that professor transformed my life. I feel so humbled and honored to be able to share that same wisdom today. Since the day I found yoga I have never stopped practicing – the focus may shift depending on the season of my life, but the devotion to the ancient spiritual, physical and mental practice is always there.

3. What is your favorite yoga pose right now? 

Urdhva dhanurasana, full wheel 🙂 It’s my favorite because I have struggled with it for a long time and it feels so good to get into now and just enjoy! It’s invigorating and energizing.

4. What pose is still the most challenging? 

Urdhva dhanurasana and its variations (and a whole bunch more). It’s also the most challenging because I have a tight upper back, mid back and low back 🙂 but with consistent practice, it does get better.

5. If you were an animal, you would be: a crane for their long legs and freedom to fly.

6. Describe what yoga means in your life using just 6 words: Creating space, uncovering the stillness within

7. What might your students be surprised to learn about you?

They might be surprised to learn I graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. After graduation I moved to Dallas, Texas for a career as a buyer at Neiman Marcus. (I retired after three years and moved to an ashram in Virginia in 2001. Teaching yoga has been my passion ever since.) Also, I have two sons aged 7 and 9 and I teach yoga and art in their classrooms.

8. Do you have any words of wisdom or advice for new students?

Breathe. I am constantly reminding beginners (and everyone) to breathe. Pay attention to your body and breath – there is wisdom within, body and breath are our real teachers.

Have fun! I like to say our time on the mat and in the studio is our practice, the test begins when we step off the mat. Can we meet life with the same equanimity and courage with which we practice? Can we keep breathing while watching the kind lady write us a parking ticket? While listening to our kids fight? While stuck in traffic on the way to work?  Sometimes. Sometimes not.