Ravi Shankar celebrates his 90th birthday

Let us celebrate the birthday of Ravi Shankar, esteemed and renowned sitar player, who turns 90 today.

Thanks to Shankar's pioneering approach and prolific output, Indian classical music has been well assimilated into our cultural palate. We have availability of the pure form through concerts, kirtan and audio. The taste of India that Shankar gifted us has filtered into our consciousness through the vastly popular fusion styles from the chic chillout lounge vibes of Buddha Bar, to the New Age devotional Bhakti fusion of Deva Premal and the joyful, exuberant dance orientated compilations of yoga diva Shiva Rea.

Famously George Harrison studied for six weeks in India with Shankar. They met in London after Harrison was introduced to Shankar's work by The Byrds, who were fans of his sound. Shankar has received numerous international prizes, awards, teaching seats and accolades during his long and diverse career and has influenced both eastern and western musicians across popular and classic genres. The full extent contribution is surely beyond measure.

Enjoy this video footage of Shankar instructing Harrison on the sitar in Srinagar



Visit Shankar's official website http://www.ravishankar.org/

Catch this documentary on BBC iPlayer chronicling Shankar's career
(available until 10th April 2010)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rs4s9/World_Routes_Ravi_Shankar_Birthday/

New to therapies? Nervous? Try an Indian head massage

I really enjoy the variety that working as a self-employed therapist provides. I am intrigued how each therapy venue, broadly speaking, attracts a certain clientele.

Visitors to Glastonbury are usually very familiar with holistic therapies and healing techniques and will often be teachers and practitioners in their own right, taking a break or retreat, deepening their knowledge on workshops and courses.

The guests I meet in the spa environment generally have full time jobs and regular, busy lives. For them, therapies are an occasional treat or pamper.

 For two out of six ladies today, their massage with me was to be their first therapy experience; something they would not necessarily have chosen for themselves. They were going with the flow of the group and trying out new things as part of a fun filled weekend - they would be taking a line dancing lesson later in the day.

These clients elected to have Indian head massages and I feel that this is a really sensible choice for a first therapy, particularly if the client is nervous or apprehensive about receiving touch.

There is a degree of familiarity to having the head and scalp touched, surely all women have had their hair washed at a salon, a generally pleasant and soothing experience. (Indeed the word ‘shampoo’ is a corruption of the professional term ‘champissage’ which denotes head massage.)

The treatment is generally performed seated with the client retaining most of their clothing, which lessens feelings of vulnerability and exposure. The massage can also be taken without oil*, which ‘newbies’ seem to prefer.

It is gloriously gratifying to feel tensions subside as the treatment begins; the client relaxes progressively and allows me to support the head and neck enabling a thorough and effective massage.

With all due humility I really do hope that those ‘first timers’ at the spa today might be encouraged to book a follow up treatment, and maybe investigate other therapies. In any event I salute their open mindedness and willingness to receive therapeutic touch.

*Application of oil is strongly recommended for therapeutic value, I always offer a choice of oil/no oil and explain the benefits.

www.somersetspa.co.uk Spa breaks in Somerset with a choice of therapies and activities
www.embodyforyou.com/Treatments/ Information about Indian head massage

Adjusting to Springtime, an ayurvedic perspective

We celebrated the Spring Equinox joyfully in Glastonbury last weekend, with ceremony, music, song and dance, marking the point in the annual cycle at which the day and night are of equal length. From now, days are getting longer and next weekend here in the UK we receive a glorious boost of daylight as we turn the clocks back on Sunday morning and officially enter British Summer Time.

You may have felt the renewal of energy that Spring brings, a sense of re-awakening and re-vitalisation. Quite naturally we find ourselves spring cleaning our homes, clearing old growth from the garden, shedding layers of winter clothing, wanting to lose weight, thinking ahead to summer.

We can support the body too at this time of year, through harmonising with seasonal change. From an ayurvedic perspective, spring is associated with kapha dosha, water held in earth. To skilfully adjust, we must stimulate kapha, and counteract the qualities of cold, damp, stillness, accumulation and heaviness. Quite simply we need to warm up, become lighter and more mobile!

Nutritionally, it is all about moving away from rich and heavy foods, reducing oil and adding gentle spices, and bitter, pungent flavours to stimulate digestion. Nature provides: you can find wild spring greens emerging in hedgerows and verges, which tend to be strong and bitter in taste, this reduces kapha. Add to soups, juices and salads. It is important to take expert advice on what to pick, look out for led foraging or hedgerow walks advertised locally.

Movement is the real key to stimulating kapha, vigorous activity of all kinds, energetic bouts of gardening, decluttering and spring cleaning all count! For our yoga, increase the number of sun salutations and up the pace a little. Include more standing poses, twists and inversions and hold these for longer. Prepare for your practice with ujjayi pranayama, which increases inner fire.

The body naturally wants to detoxify at this time of year. Support this with daily dry skin brushing. Using a palm sized natural bristle brush, make light long strokes towards the heart. Any heating essential oils are great to add to your bathing rituals. Try black pepper and ginger. Now is a good time to move from baths (passive, slow, relaxing) to showering (brisk, active). A weekly sauna would be great too for adding heat to the body and releasing waste through the skin.

I also recommend massage at this time of year. Massage will assist the natural detoxification undertaken by the circulatory and lymphatic systems and also helps tone the muscles. Ask your therapist for an energising treatment. This will include percussive movements such as clapping, cupping and drumming, and will leave you feeling alive and awake! Ideally, you would book a series of three to four full body treatments to be taken within a two week period.

Wishing you a vibrant, healthy and happy Spring time!

What makes a good yoga student?

“Am I a good yoga student?” A question posed in earnest after class recently.

Fundamental expectations of basic courtesy such as arriving on time, respecting other students and paying for the session have, happily, always been met by my students. I love the variety of people who turn up to class. I relish having high quality interactions with my students.

Mostly I am dealing with a group of regular attendees whom I am getting to know incrementally and respectfully, a mutual rapport deepening over time. Occasionally one meets a new student who has a powerful and invigorating effect, bringing new perspectives. They may stay for one or two classes only before they continue their sadhana (spiritual journey) elsewhere.

Personalities vary greatly; and we do bring our personality to yoga. A student may be passive and quiet, working without an apparent need for attention or they may like to engage the teacher with questions, comments and requests for explanation or assistance.

In truth I cannot state a preference for any kind of behaviour or personality type. To categorise students as ‘good’ implies that there is a possibility of being ‘not good’, or ‘less than’; and this is simply not the case! All must be welcomed and accepted for who they are and how they learn. There can be no room for judgement, particularly from the teacher, who best serves by remaining a neutral prop, a facilitator.

The other aspect to the question is the need of the student to receive validation from the teacher in the form of praise or approval. This is such a common scenario as many of us from an early age have not been loved or accepted for who we are are, rather we have built a conditioned and therefore fragile sense of self-esteem and self-respect, needing someone outside of us to tell us that we are ‘good’ that we may feel worthy or even loveable.

One’s yoga can be a valuable space wherein one cleanses the false self, sheds expectations and conditioning and cultivates self awareness. Let us practice for the sheer enjoyment of yoga and commitment to a deeper level of self-understanding. Let us relinquish ideas of succeeding and failing; let us practice without attachment.

This is the very advice offered by Patanjali in the yoga sutras:

Abhyasa vairagyabhyam tat nirodhah I.II

I respectfully offer the following translation: the mind is quietened through repeated practice and non-attachment

In other words, to be a good student; show up for class and then let go!

For a detailed look at the yoga sutras of Patanjali http://www.rainbowbody.net/HeartMind/Yogasutra.htm

Beyond asana: The case for an inner yoga

When I tell people what I do, that I teach yoga, people imagine stretching and movement. And indeed the poses are so useful to us in the west in countering our busy, often stressful lives. For many, the weekly yoga class is a precious opportunity to move the body, calm the mind, release tension, and come away feeling calmer, focused and relaxed.

However effective and enjoyable, the postures represent a fraction of the practice of yoga: the astanga yoga or eight limbs described by the great indian sage Patanjali over two thousand years ago. A complete practice includes breathwork, meditation techniques as well as honouring moral and ethical precepts. In short, a template for how we might live in the world, yoga becomes a lifestyle.

I undertook my final teacher training in India, studying one to one with my teacher. At our first session he observed me as I moved through a sequence of poses that by then had become comfortable and familiar. “No more bending” was his considered conclusion. He taught me the power and beauty of mantra, chanting ancient prayers in Sanskrit, deepened my knowledge of pranayama, breathing techniques and we meditated together daily, releasing the mind to become absorbed in an inner bliss. Later in my studies I added mudra, sacred hand gestures to refine and intensify other aspects of the practice.

I have felt increasingly moved to offer a yoga that combining pranayama, mantra and mudra. Thus enabling one to move from the external world to the internal; from the physical body to the subtle body, to become fully centred, surrendering deeply and becoming absorbed in the self.

We had the first class today and it was a subtle and powerful experience. Intimacy and sacred space were created as we sat together, student and teacher in a circle forming a mandala, the symbol of wholeness. The joy of this way of working is that each of us becomes responsible for our personal experience, there is neither a constant referencing of the teacher, nor a need to give adjustment or correction. In stillness and quiet we practiced with eyes closed and a focus on our private, internal experience.

Personally I felt deeply calmed and relaxed and this was reflected in the comments and feedback of the students. The class runs weekly throughout February and March at Shekinashram, Dod Lane Glastonbury.

Details here:
http://www.jivayoga.co.uk/pages/yoga/inner-yoga-classes.php