My journey to yoga started with DVDs and online. The first website I found was ekhart yoga. Over the last few years, I have discovered a teacher on ekhart yoga, Anat Geiger. She has been a big influence on my yoga practice and my teaching. During the 2019 lockdown, I did an Intro to Philosophy training with her. She always says the right thing in the most eloquent way.
She is now dying from cancer and I want to offer a dedication to her and any other teachers that have influenced your life. Here is a series of quotes from her and a dedication class taught by me.
On Comfort
"Yoga states it clearly: freedom means that our likes and dislikes, our winning and losing, our circumstances in general no longer dictate the quality of our well-being. When we see that all this is passing, and that what brings us real joy is not the comforts but our inner state and inner life, that we can have nothing and feel blessed or have everything and live in fear, that is where freedom starts to really show its glorious head."
About the spine
"For us yogis, the spine is the primary focus, our direction. We make the body strong and supple so that we can sit still with a straight spine. To be able to turn our attention within and actually feel the spine is our path. We want to feel the energy circulating there, and the different pressures we create with our attention and what that brings to the surface. We want to gently awaken the sevencentress of energy and awareness nested within the spine; we want to understand the role they play in our daily and not-so-daily lives, to influence our energy away from what binds and enslaves us and towards what elevates and frees us. The spine is the link, the means and the goal. Take good care of it"
Philosophy
"We are made of light, we are made of bliss and we are made of divine material."
“We spend so much energy worrying.
Worrying that we are not good enough, that our lives are not good enough, that our bodies are not good enough… That life is somehow going to hurt us.
There’s this constant static in the back of our mind, of worry. And even though that is a completely natural human experience, in yoga we are trying to move a little deeper than the surface, and see if we can practice the opposite of worry; which is being completely content, with everything being exactly as it is right now.
For one breath. And if one breath goes, then see if you can take a second breath in this contentment space.
This last little bit (of the practice) is about complete surrender and acceptance. And I find that sometimes when we say acceptance, it sounds almost as if we give up and have to settle for less.
This is a Western way of thinking of acceptance. The true meaning of the word is embracing. Understanding that our desires and what we want are not necessarily better than what is. A true warrior can actually be free like this: to enjoy what is present, what is given.”
Thank you, Anat for your life of yoga.
Anat is also the co-founder of thefatyogis.com website. Here are a few links to follow her work.
One of my all-time favourite yin classes
A dedication class
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