GIS Yoga 2023

  Pranayama ·      Use breath to support movement rather than oppose it. ·      Not disturbing the flow of the breath or the focus of the mind ·      Mental steadiness is the goal ·      Breath is the link between body and mind  ·      Therapeutic nature: affects the “doshas” Prana ·      Life force: exists in and makes up all living things ·      Beyond sense conception, energy, not air ·      Prana expresses itself through the functions of the body and mind, it is the reason we keep breathing when we are asleep ·      When prana is blocked in a portion of the body, that portion ceases to function properly. ·      We change the movements of body breath, mind and FOOD in order to restore prana to normal unimpeded levels. This is because food has prana as it was living.  · ...

  The physical culture movement of the 19th century owed its origins to several cultural trends. As a result of the Industrial Revolution, there arose a perception that members of the middle classes were suffering from various  "diseases of affluence"  that were partially attributed to their increasingly sedentary lifestyles. In consequence, numerous exercise systems were developed, typically drawing from a range of traditional folk games, dances and sports, military training and medical calisthenics. Many of these systems drew inspiration from the classical Greek and Roman models of athletic training and were organized according to more-or-less scientific methods. Physical culture programs were  promoted through the education system , particularly at military academies, as well as via public and private gymnasiums. Increasing levels of literacy, the increasing democratization of printing and the relative affluence of the middle classes spurred the  growth of a ...

  Nevrin Article  (Empowerment and the Body) “Empowerment and Using the Physical Body in Modern Postural Yoga (MPY)” -What is the importance of the practice environment? Can you see any of these elements in the setting in which you are practicing? -What is the importance of “performance” and “sequence” in modern postural yoga? (in the Krishnamacharya school) Do you see this in the setting in which you are practicing? -How might one see the practice environment as a “ritual setting”? One that might induce a certain state of mind or encourage a kind of experience? -Consider what Nevrin calls the “elements of experience”: --How are these important (you may elaborate from your readings), and again, do you find them in your practice setting? 1) context/scene 2) ritual enactment 3) importance of the “embodied experience” Consider the three aspects of “embodied experience” 1)        Attending to movement 2)        Heightened...

 This semester we will be practicing a number of This semester we will be practicing a number of "orthodox" styles that have migrated to the West. Below are links to the styles we will be practicing so that you can prepare yourself for the most meaningful practice with an eye to critical analysis.  Lineages: (1) Yogananda Parmahasma---------Ghosh (brothers)  (physical culture and body building)                                                            I                                                       Bikram Choudoroy ( Bikram Yoga ) (2)                                Krishnamacharya (Mysore palace)   ...