google-site-verification: google2560069c1d18eae5.html Yoga Sutra: 2015

Thursday 19 March 2015

India - more than just a nation

India is one society that can’t be understood with normal sense and lens. If you are visiting Indian subcontinent and see the beauty of nature on the beaches of Goa, Cultural flavors and complexities in Rishikesh, Haridwar etc you might conclude that India is one of the most beautiful countries. If you are carrying the first world mentality, arriving to change the world for better, to serve the thirdworld countries then poverty, illiteracy, slums, filth and an indication for your need to change this country is what you will see. 

Samyak Yoga Ashram, India


India is neither fully systematic, Software-hub nor filthy society. India is not a physical entity. Unlike any other country in the world, India or Bharata (the name of this land) is more than a place. India is a search, a quest and an eternal journey of the humanity. 

Every nation is measured by the way it handles the poverty, the material growth of individuals and the society in large, the wealth acquired by the nation in order to provide enough facilities to the citizens of that particular nation. 

India is one such nation, perhaps the only nation in which billions of people since thousands of years have completely sacrificed every material happiness for the sake of eternal consciousness, for the sake of Samadhi, for the sake of complete happiness. It is not that we did not have the ability to have enough wealth. We had so much wealth that the popularity of our wealth had been attracting the invaders from every corner of the world since centuries. But we never worried of losing the wealth. This exists in the blood and veins of the minds in this society. 

India never worshipped the physical power, the strength to dominate others or the richness that can differentiate people. We worshipped Ashoka, the king who transformed as Monk, Vishwamitra the king of all to be the Yogi of all, the Buddha, Patanjali and so on. 

India is light. India is an effort of every heart to enlighten the light. India is not a space outside but inside. India with all the difficulties and complexities is the hope to have refined actions with sublime emotions. 

Be mindful when you are in India. Try to be more open. India has its own problems, struggles, errors in systems and so on. These superficial layers might hide the essence of what this nation has been offering. Make sure that you touch the depth of India. If you get the soul of India, you get the soul of yourself as India is the expression of a blossoming flower. 

Tuesday 3 March 2015

Being a Yoga Teacher : what should I teach?

Being a Yoga Teacher obviously I will be teaching Yoga right? Yes, but as a Yoga teacher I am not just teaching the asanas, Pranayama and Meditation but I am required to teach the Life. Teaching life is a subtle way of transformation which can't be taught through lectures but by living the life filled with light. 

The beauty of being a yoga teacher is primarily is this. You will never just pass the information of how to practice Yoga asanas. Once you decide to be a yoga teacher you're bound to live a life filled with light, positive perspective. You will start imbibing the qualities of a Yogi, having the balance in every act leading to the stability of the mind. Purification of all the layers of the human system will start taking place with regular practice while it reflects through your actions. 

The students do not just receive the information regarding the alignments of asanas but how to be alligned in the life. We strive to teach life through asanas. Being inspired by the light within we are the ambassadors of Love and Light. 

After every yoga class the students follow, they are carrying the inspiration to lead a better life, a life of warmthness, of love, of light and of positivity. We teach the philosophy of Yoga through practice. 


Monday 5 January 2015

Yogi Ganesha - Tips to be a Successful Yoga Teacher and Leader

Lord Ganesha is an interesting, perhaps the most interesting idols ever created in the history of mankind. Generally, It would be hard to imagine a God, an idol of God with a big belly and elephant face. A funny God! Nobody, apart from the Yogis / Spiritual practitioners would have dared to create, visualize a God that looks funny. You can't make a joke on the Gods in general and here you have a God whose appearance too looks funny. 

This is why, the wise men always say that you see based on the lens you have. You see what you want to see. We need a complete different lens to understand the world of Spirituality. 

Coming back, what's special about Ganesha? Why is he designed the way he is? 

Lord Ganesha, Yoga Teacher, Successful Leadership, Management Lessons, Indian Mythology, know Spirituality, Yoga to Know, Be a Leader,
Yogi Ganesha - The Teacher to Future Leaders!


Ganesha  is the combination of two words in Sanskrit. GANA & ISHA, where inGana means the group and Isha is the leader. Ganesha, therefore is the leader of the group. The image (or Idol) shows symbolically the qualities of a successful leader. 

1. BIG HEAD - THINK BIG
The big head of Ganesha is symbolically telling us to think big, dream big in order to become a legendary leader. A leader can foresee something which other can't. Your vision about your future is one of the deciding factors of your success. 
As a Yoga Teacher, have a vision of something that might look crazy now for every one, but a dream that can drive your everyday, your passion and make your life purposeful. 

2. BIG EARS - LISTEN MORE
Be attentive towards every member of your group. A leader, contrary to the popular belief that he should talk, should listen more to understand the pros and cons, situations and suggestions from the team members. 
As a Yoga Teacher be attentive to every student. Listen to them and listen to fellow Yoga teacher and your teacher too. 

3. SMALL EYES - CONCENTRATION, SHARPNESS
Be sharp in finding out the problems. Your concentration should stay longer than that of others. Be focused even at times the members of your team might be distracted. 

You might be popular, getting rich by teaching Yoga or becoming flexible every day. But nothing will distract you from the passion that you possess i.e. your teaching, spreading yoga so beautifully that every student in the Shala should leave feeling filled. 

4. BIG BELLY - DIGEST GOOD & BAD, CULTIVATE CONTENTMENT
As a leader, you should have the ability to digest the good and bad experiences of the team, of its members and yours too. You are not supposed to get high on success and low on failures. Practice of Contentment is one of the most significant factors a leader should always keep in mind. 

As a Yoga teacher, for example, you might be appreciated by someone taking your class. But when he/she appreciates, its his/her opinion about your class. They might not have taken a lot of Yoga classes before or they had bad yoga teachers. The same is applicable to criticisms too. If some one criticizes your class after the class, its their opinion about your class. It can't be a judgment. They are bound to have their opinion and you can take or leave the opinions which is dependent on you. Therefore, you should be able to digest different opinions and shouldn't let those opinions of others influence your pattern of thinking. 

5. TRUNK - FLEXIBILITY
The trunk of Ganesha represents flexibility. A leader should adapt flexibility in his approach. Your plan designed to face a particular situation might not be handy at times. You might have to look at the situation with a new approach or change your understanding. A leader should be prepare to get changed to the situations without distracting from the principles. 

A yoga teacher too should be flexible physical as well as psychologically too. Physical flexibility helps you in demonstrating the postures while the psychological and intellectual flexibility will enable you to understand the life integrally and yields success. 

6. MOUSE - FIND THE STRENGTHS EVEN IN THE WEAKEST.
Mouse is one of the most ignored animals if not the least. Perhaps, there is no civilization that has given a better place to the mice. Hence, taking mouse as a symbol of least, small, weak animal, Ganesha has made him the vehicle. A leader is the one who can see the strength in the weakest too in the group. Every team member will have his own strengths and weakness. A leader should be able to use the strong sides of every member to the most to bring on the best. 

If you're looking forward to create your own yoga studio for example, this quality is something that is a must for you. Instead of looking for a best team for your yoga studio, think on bringing the best out of the team that you already have. Look at the best sides of every one you have and find the ways to get them refined. 

7. SNAKE AND MOUSE - TEAM FIRST, ENMITY NEXT 
The most decisive factor of a leader is bringing the concept of "Team first." Every body in the group will have their own ideas and want to implement often. As they do not get the priorities, the ego of individuality arises and decreases the growth rate. We might differ in our ideologies, but united for the sake of the team and when it comes to bring the best of the team, individuality will not have its place. This is the idea behind keeping snake and mouse together working for one leader, Ganesha. 

As a Yoga teacher you will prioritize the things and the your students come first in your list of priorities and all the conflicts, personal or professional problems (you will have a few at any given point of time) do not come into the picture when you enter the class. The students, yoga class stand first and everything else next. When you want to inspire your students and spread happiness around you can not carry a baggage to the class and expect a fantastic class.

Click here to see "What should my students carry after my Yoga Class?

Every time we worship Ganesha, we are supposed to meditate on the qualities that he teaches by being Ganesha and inculcate the qualities every day. This is the real worship of any God leading to the realization of Universal Consciousness. 

Thursday 1 January 2015

Happy New Yoga Year 2015 - The Journey gets accelerated now

My master in Gurukulam (Yogic Monastery) used to say on the day of new year celebrations that every time we step into new year, it should remind us how stupid we were and how matured we would have become. It should not go other way around. He has always stressed about "INTROSPECTION" during the new year celebrations. 

Here are a few steps I was told by my master and hope helps you too. 




1. INTROSPECT
Meditate an hour the least after your celebrations and just think about the whole year that has passed. The best incidents, the turning points, happy moments, the lessons learnt and so on. Just a deep "look-back" helps a lot to get the clarity over your own thoughts. 

2. SET A ROAD-MAP
I am not asking you to set your goals and work on to get it every day just like every life coach asks you to do it.  I am just asking you to think briefly about how would you like to see this year in terms of bringing life to your dreams. This helps you in setting the day to day life clearly. 

3. BE PASSIONATE 
Let's be sure this year. You will not do something that doesn't interest you, something to make others happy. If you do it, do it passionately. Be passionate about your work. If you are already into something which isn't your passion, but you can't turn back (your profession, most often) work on finding the ways to make it interesting. I know its harder, but you don't want to live any more for the sake of anything but of you. 

4. GIFT TIME TO PEOPLE AROUND YOU
Be attentive to others around you, listen to them and love them. Find the crazy, creative ways to tell them how much you love them. Yes, its important to tell them that you love them. Spend some time and most often this is what they need. It might be your kids, parents or friends. 

5. FOLLOW YOUR HEART
Find ways to follow what you love. Do something that drives you crazy, something that makes you forget everything in the world. Laugh so loudly that you tear your chest apart and cheeks get painful. Find ways to get excited for tomorrow and beware, nobody except you can find out this for you. 

6. HONOUR THE BODY, HONOUR THE MIND
Honour yourself, shed some sweat and keep your physical body fit and sit silently (or meditate) for at least five minutes to keep the mind fit. Honour the body-mind fir helping you everyday. 

7. BE PRESENT, ENJOY EVERY MOMENT
Yesterday and tomorrow are merely the conceptual existence. Everything comes in the form of present moment. The best present in the world is present moment. ENJOY every moment as if this is the last moment. 

8. EARN MONEY, EARN MATURITY
If you are a good person, its your responsibility to get rich and use it in a proper way. Money is energy and you need it in different forms. Earn enough money so that you can live your life fully and can extend the helping hand to the people who need it. Earn Maturity by reading good, fascinating books and approaching wise people. Maturity doesn't depend on the age, but the wisdom. Go to wiser people and try to learn to get wise. 

9. BE GRATEFUL TO BE GREAT
Be grateful for the beautiful life, for things you have, for people around you, for nature and for everything. When you look at the things to be grateful, life appears to be exciting and makes every second happier. 

10. HAPPILY DISSATISFIED
Be happy with what you have. Be grateful for the life. But this should not stop you in the path of getting better. Contentment shouldn't be the reason for stagnation. Be dis-satisfied with what you are to get better everyday. There is a thin line between both of them. Be happy with who you are and dis-satisfied to get better. Happily dissatisfied. 

Wish you all a beautiful Year ahead...