Yoga means union. Yogis, people who practice yoga, believe our individuality is an illusion and yoga’s purpose is to help us go beyond our limited perception of existence to realize our oneness.
Yoga is not a workout or a fad. Yoga is not a religion. It is a path to self-transformation. Through meditation the mind is harnessed and taught to focus or be silent. Yogasanas are yoga postures that help a yogi prepare to sit for longer periods of meditation; for longer periods of silence in the mind and of no movement in the body.
This post gives a bit of background about a special Isha Hatha Yoga Yogasanas workshop coming to Calgary on January 20 and 21, 2018.
In India, where yoga was founded, the first yogi, Adiyogi, shared the knowledge of how to escape the illusion of the individual and attain oneness with seven devotees. They spread his teachings and organized daily life so that the people – who practiced their teachings – were automatically in line with the universe. The way they moved, meditated and ate were all in harmony with the seasons and cycles of life. Life flowed for them and many attained enlightenment.
There have been many mystics, sages and gurus to carry on Adiyogi’s teachings throughout India’s history. Patanjali, was the first to write the teachings down. At present, from India, there is a great teacher named Sadhguru. I came to know about him in 2012. I spent four days with him at a business conference in 2015 and I meditated with him for two days in 2017.
The name Sadhguru comes from sadh – from within – and guru – teacher. Sadhguru has access to all the knowledge of the universe and he stays with us to share his knowledge of the yogic path. He says the same seed to “blossom as a human being” lies within every person and that enlightenment is a possibility for us all.
Of course, not everyone is interested in pursuing a path to enlightenment. But, I think, everyone is interested in feeling better and having a smoother and more health-filled life while we are here. Sadhguru has designed a variety of tools for whatever your life goals are.
There is an Isha Sadhguru app that you can download to get daily quotes of wisdom, to learn about upcoming courses and to access guided meditation and Upa Yoga (easy yoga that anyone can do) to improve your daily life. Sadhguru has also written a best-selling book called Inner Engineering – a yogi’s guide to joy and offers the Inner Engineering course live throughout the world several times each year. For people that want to travel to the Isha Foundation Ashrams in Tennessee, U.S. or Coimbatore, India there are many other levels of training available.
One course that many yogis aspire to is an eight day retreat called samyama. Yogasanas is a prerequisite and because there are quite a few people in Calgary ready for samyama, the Yogasanas course is being offered here January 20 and 21. Anyone can go. There is no prior knowledge needed and anyone can benefit.
I am happy to share this info here (see the poster below). I am travelling on these dates but if I weren’t, I would definitely be there. The teacher will be trained by Sadhguru and will be wonderful to spend time with.
People always ask me, how I am so calm and centred. I share this information here in the spirit of wishing the same for you. Doing yoga is one of the greatest things that helps me savour it all.
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