Author: English Yoga Berlin

Yamas and Niyamas, Part 3

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Yoga in Berlin is about more than just physical exercise. It’s about the multitude of benefits you can receive from consistent practice. Although we never push doctrine on our students, our Hatha and Vinyasa Yoga classes do incorporate a traditional understanding and awareness about how yoga can really change people´s lives when they are off the mat.

In our last blog about the non-physical benefits of yoga, we talked about the pillars of wisdom or ethical guideposts set out by Patanjali as a foundation for practicing yoga (aka the Yoga Sutras). The first being the Yamas and the second being the Niyamas. The Yamas are ethical principles about attitudes and behaviors that cause suffering (greed, dishonesty, violence, etc). The Niyamas (the second limb) are the attitudes and behaviors that yogis can work towards.

Step One: stop the behaviors that cause you to suffer.

Step Two: cultivate ones that bring you peace and happiness.

Saucha

This Niyama is often translated into English as purity or cleanliness. Those words have a lot of judgmental, puritanical cultural baggage in the West, so the way we like to explain the concept of Saucha is ‘lucidity’ or ‘clarity’. In essence, cultivating Saucha means trying to keep your space, body, mind and spirit free of clutter and garbage so that you can perceive and act with the most clarity possible. Some yogis interpret this Niyama through strict dietary observances (no meat, no alcohol) or with spiritual rituals (dawn meditation, intensive asana practice every day etc.) In our English Yoga classes, we interpret it to be about maintaining a dialogue with yourself about how your surroundings/diet/thoughts are affecting you, and striving to maintain a feeling of openness and clarity.

Where could your life benefit from a good ‘spring cleaning’? What relationships, lifestyle habits, thoughts, choices make you feel icky? How could you begin to clean up these areas?

Samtosha
Samtosha means contentment or satisfaction. Again, this can be a difficult Niyama for Westerners to understand because it sounds very close to passivity or acquiescence. But it’s more subtle than those concepts. Samtosha is about cultivating an attitude of equanimity. Yogis who practice for a long time begin to realize that all of reality is fluid, linked, and unchangeable. Underlying life’s ebbs, flows, births and deaths is a basic, unchanging whole experience. This is also the basis of modern physics: energy moves but it cannot be created or destroyed. Cultivating Samtosha means cultivating an attitude of acceptance of constant transformation and contingency. In Asana, cultivating Samtosha means accepting your body for what it is or is not on every given day, and knowing that ”you” are indeed much more than ”your body”!

Can you think of a time in your life where a big change seemed like a total disaster- but you now see that it was for the best? What changes are you afraid of now? Can you imagine accepting those changes, and even welcoming them?

 

English Yoga in Berlin’s next workshop Sunday March 24th! Explore and Create your Own Meditation

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All welcome!

Sunday March 24th, 2013

In this 3 hour workshop we will explore many types of meditation in a pragmatic and non-dogmatic way. From melina teaches the yoga of self healingasana to zen meditation, from breathing to tai chi and chi kung, you will be presented with many techniques so you can decide what works the best for you. We will also define the inner workings of meditation and how to apply that to your everyday life.

Please bring paper and pen (or a journal), refreshments and snacks will be provided.

Places are limited, if you want to reserve a place you can place a deposit or pay the full amount for the workshop. It’s a suggested donation of 20euro, so you can choose your price with the drop down menu below. Refunds are available until 48 hours prior to the workshop.

Your contribution

Time: 14h-17h.

Teacher: Geoff

Cost: Suggested donation of 20euro.

Yamas and Niyamas Part 2

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Yamas explained by English Yoga Berlin

In our last blog introducing Yamas and Niyamas, we started to explore a few of the non-physical aspects of yoga. Many people find our English yoga classes in Berlin during their search for fitness or physical rehabilitation. However, because yoga has such mentally and emotionally restorative effects, many people find that over time they are able to not only make peace with their own bodies but with the world around them.

With a total of 10 ethical guideposts (Yamas and Niyamas have 5 each), Asteya is the third Yama, and it means ´not stealing´. This is a more complex concept than the translation conveys. Was Patanjali  talking about stealing a loaf of bread to feed yourself or your family? We believe Asteya is not about stifling need, it is about restraining greed. Asteya guides students to ask themselves: do I really need this? Am I hoarding materials goods out of fear, or taking out of honest need? Can this body, ecosystem or relationship sustain my demands upon it? Asteya challenges us to believe that there is enough in the world to feed us all, if only we can learn to share.

Where do you take, or give, more than your share? What is the effect of this behavior on yourself and your community?

 

Brahmacharya is the fourth Yama, and one of the most widely misunderstood. It  is translated into English as ´celibacy´, but can also be looked at as a ´conscious use of energy, especially sexual´.

The sexual energy can be seen as a sacred force that should only be used responsibly and wisely. Because pleasure, desire and attraction are such powerful feelings that can bring great pleasure, they can be used to manipulate, violate and hurt people very, very deeply. Instead, it challenges students to make their sexual decisions consciously, in a way that feels good for everyone involved.

How could you live your sexual life with more honesty, integrity and pleasure?

Aparigraha is the last Yama, and it means ´non-comparing´. This Yama is about jealousy, and acceptance. Patanjali recognized that the human mind has a tendency to compare, in order to understand. In our Kreuzberg yoga classes we often tell students to observe without analyzing. Unfortunately, this tendency easily slides into envy and jealousy, because, as we all know, ´the grass is always greener on the other side´. Aparigraha guides our focus back to where it should be: our own sphere. Envying other people is distracting and depressing. In asana practice, this means that, even if your neighbor can do the poses perfectly and you feel like a penguin with two left feet, you practice keeping your focus on your own body and your own experience. You let jealousy arise if it needs to, and you also let it dissipate when it has run its´ course. You measure yourself by the only real standard that you have- your own.

How have envy and jealousy affected your life?

 

Sorting Through Suffering–Is your subconscious talking?

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I recently offered a workshop: Self Healing through Yoga. Two weeks before the workshop, I got extremely stressed. At one point, I realized what I was doing. I caught my “ego mental voice” worrying about being successful rather than listening to my heart which was clearly saying, “I trust that the people who need to be there will come and they will receive what they need from the workshop.” Repeating negative mental thoughts, together with the pressure to not fail, brought intense stress and unnecessary mental pain into my life all the way up until the workshop.
The workshop went very well.

The following week, however, I had a series of unpleasant events which seemed to culminate in the loss of my wallet. I wondered what was happening to me. I immediately posed this question to my dreams and asked them to help me understand what was I missing.

I looked at the symbolic messages from my dreams and the things that were happening in my life and was finally able to decipher the message my subconscious was trying to send me. I realized that I had not been humble about the success of the workshop. I took most of the credit for myself without recognizing all the support I had from the other teachers at the studio who promoted my workshop, the support of my community who sent good thoughts my way and also the support from the greater force who guided the right people to attend. I didn’t take the time to sit and meditate in gratitude for all the help sent my way.

The day after this realization, I found my wallet. It had been in my house the whole time!

Instead of believing that the universe was playing a trick on me, I believe that my subconscious mind was trying to bring me to a place of awareness that I previously couldn’t see. The loss of my wallet was representing a loss of focused values within myself.

One of the first questions in the workshop that I had just finished teaching was “what needs to be healed”? This is what I really need to heal: I did not need to lose my wallet in order to make up for my lack of humility after the workshop. I needed to forgive myself without needing to punish myself- to be concious of my attitudes and learn from my mistakes.

Through the symbolic interpretation of the messages of my dreams and others events in my life, things started to make more sense. I became very aware of something that was restraining me from being free. I am now more aware of how difficult my subconscious mind can make my reality- even to the point of actually losing my physical things!

There are many types of pain. There is external, internal, that which is brought by others, and that which we bring on ourselves. They are all difficult and they all hurt. But they can also teach things, about life, about limits, about taking care of ourselves and about practicing gratitude.

Perhaps the most complicated of the types of pain is the kind we bring on ourselves- the kind that is so often created by our subconscious mind. Self inflicted pain often shows itself in the form of useless stress and mental turmoil that we so naturally create in our own lives. Fortunately, we always have the option to examine this pain conciously and to grow in the process.

For more information about interpreting your dreams, join us for our next Dream Yoga Workshop.

Spaces are limited and the last workshop was full–you can contact us to reserve your space in advance.

Yamas and Niyamas, Part 1

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In Patanjali´s classical texts about yoga, he outlines eight parts of a yogic practice. These parts can also be referred to as “limbs”. The most widely known limb of yoga is Asana practice– the practice of physical postures. In our Berlin Yoga Classes, we understand the value of going beyond the physical. This series is therefore dedicated to 2 other limbs of Patanjali´s eight-fold path: Yamas and Niyamas.

knowledge growing out of the yoga sutraYamas and Niyamas are the first two steps of yoga that Patanjali discusses in the Yoga Sutra. They are ethical, behavioral and spiritual guidelines for living. There is a lot of room for interpretation with the Yamas and Niyamas–because of basic translation issues (some concepts are very tricky to twist into English!). Because these guidelines are designed for yogis to personally interrogate, observe and experience in the context of their own lives, they aren´t considered ´rules´. These concepts are given to students of yoga to contemplate and potentially incorporate into their everyday lives.

Ahimsa is the first Yama, and it is most commonly translated as ´non-violence´. This is what Gandhi used to drive the British out of India. It´s also what we use in yoga, when we decide not to push beyond our limits. Ahimsa is about kindness, compassion and strength. It recognizes an ancient spiritual law that is echoed in many traditions- that violence leads to more violence- and proposes that we, as yogis, begin to halt that cycle by stopping it within ourselves.

What does non-violence mean to you? Where do you already practice it in your life? Where could you be a little kinder to yourself?

Personal Yoga Practice

Personal Yoga Practice

Satya is the second Yama, and it means ´truth´. Satya urges us to be honest with  ourselves, and with others. In asana, we practice Satya when we listen to our body and, again, respect its limits. Maybe that backbend looks terrific, but if it doesn´t feel good, Satya guides us to come out of it and rest with awareness in child´s pose. Less glamorous, maybe, but more honest and, in the end, better for you! It also means being honest in our relationships with others- saying ´yes´ only when we really mean it, and saying ´no´, with kindness, when that is the truth. Satya is challenging, because the truth is sometimes hard to hear and even harder to say.

What do you think about honesty? Are you ever dishonest with yourself, and do you understand why?

 

Confused About Yoga Nidra: a Personal Story

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Blue door to yoga in kreuzbergFifteen years ago I moved back to Greece for a two year stay. I had been practicing Hatha Yoga in England and wanted to continue, so I joined the nearest studio to my house that I could find.

When I arrived for my first class, the teacher told me that this type of yoga was called Yoga Nidra but didn’t really explain what that meant. At this point in my yoga journey, I understood that there were many types of yoga. I had heard that the main differences had to do with the way the sun salutation is taught in different schools. But this didn’t bother me as it seemed a pretty small deviation.

Little did I know that Yoga Nidra meant that more than half of the class was to be spent in “shavasana” practicing relaxation! Every time the teacher would say it was time to go into the dead man’s pose I would think to myself, “already?.. but we hardy did any yoga!”. I hadn’t understood that practicing the relaxation was “doing the yoga”. It was the mind doing the yoga rather than the body.

Concious deep sleep yoga in Berlin

As soon as she would start talking, my mind would slip to another place. It felt as if I was not there at all but I could not tell you where I had gone either. It wasn’t that I was thinking of thousands of thoughts, on the contrary, I couldn’t remember a single thought! But I also knew that I had not been present since I couldn’t remember anything the teacher had said. It was a very strange experience. When I asked her if I should be concerned about this phenomenon, she told me not to worry because my subconscious had registered it all. But I wasn’t convinced.

I guess what was even stranger is that I kept on going back every week, for a year! Each time not able to grasp a single word my teacher had said!

It wasn’t until years later, while reading a book about Yoga Nidra, that I realized that during this period of my life I had started having my first lucid dreams. This means I was able to realize that I was dreaming while I was dreaming and could, as a result, be in control of my dream. Although this is not the objective of Yoga Nidra and a practitioner should not waste energy trying to achieve this state, the book said that it was a side effect that comes from practicing this kind of yoga.

yoga nidra dreamingWhen I made this realization it became obvious to me that this course had not been a waste of my time. My subconscious had actually registered everything after all! I started wondering: if lucid dreaming, (which I consider to be a beautiful and empowering experience) is only a side effect of yoga Nidra, then how powerful can the direct effects of yoga Nidra be?!

 

Without further thought, I returned to my mat and started practicing again.

If you are interested in trying out this enlightening style of yoga, join English Yoga Berlin in our Kreuzberg Yoga studio on Tuesday nights at 8pm.

Proudly presenting our first workshop: Self Healing Yoga

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Do you feel stressed? Mentally restless? Physically tense? Or perhaps you simply wish to further your yoga practice…

The process of healing can be on many levels, from the simple need for relaxation, to untangling deeply rooted habits. We will be using simple yoga practices and tools which will empower you to let go of your limitations, gain awareness and appreciate your life as much as possible.

Concepts and archetypes are often the root causes of stress and anxiety. By creating a safe and inspiring space, we will explore these seed problems and find ways to take the next steps in the healing process.

Details:Yoga Workshop in Berlin by Melina Cinq Mars

Reflection, yoga postures, breathing exercises, relaxation and visualization will be used throughout the workshop. Mats are available on site, you will need to bring a pen and a journal (paper).

Jan 20th, 14h-17h

Gorlizter Str 39

Taught by Melina

Price: Sliding scale of 15-30 Euro

Open to all!

The Subconscious Mind Speaks–Yoga Talks Back

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The subconscious. It’s is a tricky thing to grab a hold of. It speaks to us through dreams, physical sensations, inexplicable associations, vague memories, intuitions and other non-linear, tricky-to-define phenomena. It influences the way we interact with the world, whether we know it or not.

But by directing focused attention of the conscious mind into these phenomena, we can use it as a tool to access the subconscious. We can draw back the curtains and  find out how it is working.

Therapy does this through talking: “What does this experience remind you of? How does it feel in your body when you talk to your boss? What did you dream last night?”

Yoga asana access the subconscious through concentration, breathing and physical movement of blocked lymph and muscle. Regular practice helps to loosen and eventually dissolve blocks in energy in both the body and the mind.

When the subconscious blocks are loosened and the energy of consciousness flows freely, chitta becomes incredibly powerful. Fluid, responsive chitta sees harmony, calmness and safety (Whether I make more money or not, everything will be OK). This feeling makes life a lot easier! Decisions come out of a clearer place than before. You perceive a spaciousness and sense of possibility that was always there, but that your subconscious mind could not recognize, because it was tied up in knots about old things.

Directly out of unblocked chitta flows the ability to respond intelligently and thoughtfully to your life and the world around you. You are thus enabled to use your  mind to make smart, helpful choices, and you avoid getting caught in old patterns and recreating bad dynamics.

Classical Hatha yoga and Vinyasa Flow yoga both offer these benefits, but we are happy to announce the addition of a new here at English Yoga Berlin. On Thursdays, from 16h-17h30, Melina Cinq-Mars will be teaching Hidden Language Yoga.

Hidden Language Yoga is a unique technique created by Swami Sivananda Radha. In Hidden Language Yoga, we practice the physical posture of asana, as well as looking at the symbolic meaning behind the posture´s concept. It is a reflective yoga class that
requires a journal and pen to take note of what the body has to say, what the mind thinks and what emotions emerge. This gives participants a chance to create space in both the body and mind, space to learn to know one´s self better. Hidden Language can also involve some sharing of insight at the end of the class for the benefit of all.

We hope to see you on the mat!

English Yoga Berlin reschedules!

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Due to popular demand for evening yoga classes, we will be offering more of them in 2013!

Mark your calendars…

Starting January 11, we will offer Friday evening yoga: Vinyasa Flow classes at 17h and 19h. Come stretch away the stresses of the work week and prepare for a relaxed weekend!

Hidden Language Yoga will also move to 16h, so it will be more accessible to all who want to try this interesting and insightful yoga method.

Click here to see the full, updated schedule.

Happy Holidays from English Yoga Berlin!

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To all of our students, colleagues and friends…

Thank you so, so much for your support, practice and smiles throughout 2012! We wish you a healthy, happy New Year…

…And a flexible, tasty and, above all, relaxing holiday season!

On both Tuesday, December 25 and Tuesday, January 1, there will be no classes. On Thursday, December 27, we will offer 3 classes:

  •  10.15 – 11.45  Vinyasa Flow in English with Meg
  •  18.00 – 19.30  Vinyasa Flow in English with Meg
  •  20.00 – 21.30  Vinyasa Flow in English with Meg

Stay warm, and see you in 2013!