Om
Namah Shivaya Gurave
Satchidananda Murtaye
Nishprapanchaya Shantaya
Niralambaya Tejase
Om
Translation
I honor the essence of Being, The luminous Teacher within and without.
Who assumes the forms of Reality, Consciousness and Bliss.
Who is never absent and full of Peace.
Independent and free, and sparkles with a divine luster.
This is the invocation for Anusara. It is actually sung in a very sweet melody at the beginning of class.
This is also very different from Ashtanga in the sense that the Om is very soft and the invocation is very "light"
Last night was my first class in the Fundamental series forAnusara.
I really really enjoyed it. It is like learning yoga all over again. Applying new practices.
Be prepared to be annoyed by my ongoing "gushing" of happiness and ups and downs through this fundamentals course. I may bore you and annoy you. But I can't help it! :)
This practice seems to really "fit"
My chaturanga changed, my downdog has changed and I really enjoyed how deep we explored each posture.
We did some vinyasas, Utthita Trikonasana (Triangle), Utthita Parsvakonasana (Extended Triangle), Parasrita Padottanasana A (Wide-legged Forward Fold).
I really like this approach. I don’t know why, because in the past I was the Anti-slow going asana girl.
I was all about working up a sweat and forcing myself to accomplish a posture.
I used to hold the idea that if you weren’t sweating bullets then the class wasn’t beneficial. I had the wrong impression of yoga and of what I needed from this practice.
I believe the 2 obstacles I’ve been faced with; physical pain and a frustration with my asana practice; have brought me to Anusara for a reason.
I am opening up to it; finally feeling gratitude for my practice and letting the practice lead me and teach me.
It is joyful.
I got a call back from my Doctor.
They are ordering an X-Ray of my Lumbosacral Spine. Thank goodness!
The pain is very dull now; but I really want to figure out what the root cause is so I can work with it.
Tonight is Mysore practice. I am meeting up with my friend/yoga teacher tonight. After mysore we are going to grab something to eat. I am going to take it easy with mysore tonight. Not going far in my forward folds in order to avoid irritating my sciatic nerve. I am going to attempt the entire first series.
What are your plans this weekend?
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5 comments:
I love the Anusara practice. The invocation at the beginning is in my mind such a wonderful way to begin a class. I recently took a workshop with John Friend -- he is great. This is my practice of choice. Best to you in your classes and search.
You sound really happy to have found something that totally resonates with you. That is awesome. I recently started Ashtanga Yoga and I feel the same way...I am totally excited about it, and totally gushing about everything I'm learning.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend. I'm excited Spring is finally here!! I plan to do some Spring shopping this weekend...:)
I love the anusara invocation too
i tried anasura years ago. but it never really resonated. too much attention to detail and alignment. also felt they were trying too hard to emphasize the devotional aspect of the practice. yoga is devotional and it will transform us. we just have to trust that mystical process. but i agree the invocation is truly beautiful and captures the heart of yoga. it's the same invocation that is chanted every day at the beginning of seva throughout all of the ashrams and meditation centers of siddha yoga. john friend is/was a devotee of swami chitvilasanda, and spent many years developing the practice under her guidance.
I'm so glad you said that you've realized you don't have to be "sweating bullets" to work hard. That is what I've found with Anusara, too. You'll probably start to find that you have a lot stronger muscles too. I also notice that I stopped being *quite* so cold in the winter (I'm up in NYC). I think the principles of muscular energy are key! It's so cool to read about someone discovering this practice-glad you're enjoying it.
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