Operation Shanti recently sent out an update, included below. I thought you might like to see how much our donations are helping. It is incredible to see how quickly it is turned into real help.
Many of you have know of Operation Shanti. On my first trip to Mysore I carried school supplies donated to them by the YiY community. I was lucky enough to get to deliver them in person, meeting the kids and staff. It was such a pleasure to spend time with them. We talked, they are very curious about the world outside of India, and played games. It was a very enjoyable afternoon. Many of the kids I met then are now the adults mentioned below giving back their community (the destitute) by cooking meals, delivering meals, groceries and masks. It is inspiring, and humbling.
Their update.
Thank you. Dhan’yavādagaḷu
The donations we are receiving from you are going here:
feed the homeless three times a week
pass out masks to the people living on the streets; they gladly take them
provide groceries and stipends to those we help, including poor, orphaned HIV+ kids, teens, and women, and other destitutes
install one more toilet at our children’s home so we can set up a second isolation room (hopefully won’t be needed but likely will be)
This grassroots work is making a difference at the individual level and helps the many going without help. They are the homeless and street vendors who cannot earn now because of the lockdown.
The vaccine situation is still unclear. We are monitoring it closely. Because of you, if the poor have to pay to get vaccinated safely (avoiding large crowds at public hospitals), we can now help them.
The testing situation is also changing. Supposedly, Mysore is limiting the number of free tests because those who can afford to pay for them are taking advantage so they can “advance book” a hospital room. 😡 But if the poor need to be tested, we can now get them one (about $18 for one RT-PCR test).
Our CEO In India said this about our kids (now adults) who are cooking and distributing food:
“These kids are just awesome! They are cooking this food with love, you can tell. The ingredients are the best, fresh veggies hygienically cleaned, good quality rice, real pure ghee and the delicious flavours. They know what life is like on the streets. Hunger, exposure to the harsh weathers, harassment by people and Police, these kids have seen it all. Now they are back on the street, but with a purpose to help other unfortunate people. How much better can it get! God bless these lovely kids of Operation Shanti.”
Our Facebook and Instagram accounts have a lot more photo and video updates on what we’re doing and who we’re helping.
An action done from a meditative state of mind leaves no residues of attachment
Therefore ancient texts, written by enlightened sages in a meditative state of mind, without ego, and studied for thousands of years, are worth studying because they ground the mind and connect us to something higher. Such knowledge is also universal and apply across time, culture and race. This site aims to bring together such pieces of information on yoga by providing links to existing ancient texts, describing and connecting its various aspects, like asanas and ayurveda and provide a repository of information for the like-minded. If you would like to receive information on new posts and articles, please connect on facebook : https://www.facebook.com/yoga.sukshma/
I will slowly populate this site and post on facebook when there are new articles on this site. I would like to your comments and feedback. You can write to me at ganeshkb1@yahoo.com.
This is an opportunity to expand and deepen your yoga practice, and help India’s Covid crisis. The event has been organized by Lara Land and Land Yoga in Harlem, and has some very special teachers. In their words,
“Join us for a marathon of yoga, meditation, pranayama, chanting, lecture & Kirtan featuring teachers from around the world for India relief.“
I am passing a message from Meghan. Please help if you can.
The situation in India is increasingly dire…
Dear Friends,
As I am sure you are all aware, the situation in India is increasingly dire. If you are looking for a place to donate, I am copy/pasting the newsletter Operation Shanti sent out this morning below. Thank you for taking time to read and if you can, make a donation. Their plan for how they intend to distribute aid is listed below. Peace, Meghan
We see and feel what’s going on in India. There are no words. Our kids at Operation Shanti were OK until a couple of days ago when one of our boys tested positive for COVID-19. We are testing more kids and are waiting for their reports. Everything is delayed. We are beyond upset with how the schools were opened up with little precautions, and they were not closed until about 10 days ago. The 10th and 12th grade kids were told to continue in-person classes until last Friday. The complete lack of preparation at the government level is unbelievable. Mysore has not yet been hit as hard as some of the bigger cities in India, but cases are rising. We are doing what we can. Lots of big help from large governments is heading to India to support the country through this devastating second wave. You too can help at the grassroots person-to-person level. Many in Mysore are also suffering, particularly the destitute. We are focusing on destitute individuals, trying to help who we can with cooked food, groceries, and easier and safer access to the COVID-19 vaccine. The government hospital is giving free Covid vaccines, but there is no social distancing in those crowds, so we are directing our people (who would typically use the gov’t hospital because that is where the poor go by default) to private hospitals (which charge for the vaccines). We’ll pay for their shots — about $5.00 each.It is also very difficult for the street vendors and homeless on the streets, especially during a lockdown. To this end, we have two fundraisers. Our original kids (now adults) who were once homeless have volunteered to give back and are helping us help the destitute living on the streets.If you could pass these links around to your friends, it would be greatly appreciated!For India donors –https://milaap.org/fundraisers/support-the-destitute-in-mysore-suffering-from-covid-19#For non-India donors – https://gofund.me/842924b0And, of course, you can donate through our website – www.operation-shanti.org.Thank you. Please send positive thoughts to everyone in Mysore and to our kids and staff.The Operation Shanti Team
I have felt the desire to write about two important topics in Asana practice, the misunderstanding of one leads to the violation of the other and ultimately results in pain. These two topics are Tapas and Ahimsa, respectively. When tapas is misunderstood, it causes us to punish our bodies in extreme ways causing a lot of suffering (Himsa). When I started my first ever sustained asana practice three years ago after a major hip surgery, the first words I heard at the Ashtanga Yoga studio were “The first rule of yoga is Ahimsa”. This resonated a lot with me and I felt those were the most sensible words I have ever heard at a yoga studio. Therefore I felt the desire to share this perspective on Ahimsa and Tapas from ancient texts.
Ahimsa means non-violence. Patanjali in Yoga Sutras 2.35, says that when Ahimsa is established, then there is concord (lack of enmity) with one’s environment and hence all living creatures in it.
Sannidhi: nearby or immediate environment;
vaira: enmity;
tyaga: abandonment
Fig. 1: When Ahimsa is followed, there is concord with other sentient beings
For Asana practitioners, Ahimsa can have many connotations. For some people, it could be calming of oneself and not thinking harmful thoughts during the Asana practice because harmful thoughts agitate the mind and cause mental anguish.
1a) A vegetarian/vegan diet:
For many regular asana practitioners, Ahimsa means eating a vegetarian diet and not harming other sentient beings that feel pain and emotions. An excellent book on this topic is by Stacie Dooreck titled “Ahimsa: Nonviolent Eating.” by SunLight Yoga Publishers, 2016. A short excerpt from the book is attached below (taken from the upanishads)
“Sage Uddalaka instructs his son Svetaketu: “Food when consumed, becomes threefold. The gross particles become the excrement, the middling ones flesh, and the fine ones the mind. My child, when curd is churned, its fine particles which rise upwards form butter. Thus, my child, when food is consumed, the fine particles which rise upwards form the mind. Hence, verily, the mind is food”.”
Fig. 2: A light sattvic diet is conducive for yoga practice
Numerous renowned asana teachers like Kino Macgreogor have talked about the benefits of eating a vegetarian or vegan diet on the ability to go deep (both physically and mentally) in ones Asana practice [Refs 1,2]. All texts that go into some level of detail on asanas, like Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Yoga Rahasya and Gheranda Samhitha talk about the importance of a mild diet (mityahara) for a yogi’s practice. In the book “The Goddess Pose: The Audacious Life of Indra Devi, the Woman Who Helped Bring Yoga to the West”, the author, Michelle Goldberg, describes how, Russian-born Eugenie Peterson, who later took on the name Indra Devi, was at first vexed by T.Krishnamacharya when she started studying asanas under him. Krishnamacharya would at great lengths ask her about her diet and suggest modifications. He would also ask the details of her toilet patterns and recommend her to use the toilet before doing asana and pranayama. To her own surprise, Indra Devi would later say, her gastro-intestinal problems that troubled her for a long time disappeared and her Asana practice became deeper.
Meat is considered a tamasic food in the yogic system because it causes heaviness and dullness and takes a longer time to be processed by the human digestive system than sattvic food. From an ethical point of view also, it makes sense not to inflict suffering on animals when avoidable, while one is one a journey of becoming more sensitive to one’s own feelings as well as those of others. A vegetarian diet is therefore recommended especially for those who try to tune into their subtle body (Sukshma Shariram) through Asanas, Pranayama and Dhyana (meditation).
Change, however, is difficult for most people. Therefore there is a vast chasm between knowing and becoming. Sri M, the famous Indian Mystic and Guru, at his talks, often laughingly says, “If I ask evey one in this room to become a vegetarian starting now, then half the room will be empty tomorrow. However, as you become more subtly tuned to yourself through various yogic practices, then the deep craving that you may have for meat will fall away and be replaced by the desire to eat more Sattvic food.”[Ref. 3] .
1b) Ahimsa toward oneself
For some Asana practitioners, Ahimsa means not pushing oneself relentlessly on and off the mat to the point of self-harm. This is the context, this article is focussed on. Sadhguru Jaggi Vaudev, the Indian Mystic and spiritual Guru says that the worst kind of violence is self-inflicted. This is because when harm is inflicted on another being, there is some kind of resistance that is put up by that being whereas when the violence is directed toward oneself there is no such resistance.
2) Tapas
The literal translation of tapas is heat. The root “tap” from which tapas is derived is also the root for the word “pitta” also meaning heat for one of the three core doshas (mind-body types) in Ayurveda. A.G.Mohan, the yoga scholar who studied one-on-one under T.Krishnamacharya for over 25 years gives an excellent description of what Tapas is and what it is not, in one of his lecture presentations. He says that tapas is Sukha Tyagam i.e. giving up pleasure. This is not to be confused with inflicting pain and agony on the body for various reasons including the need to have a sculpted body. Another definition of tapas he gives is “the bearing of discomfort that arises when one does an action opposed to the latent impressions and the thoughts arising out of it”. This, for example, can be controlling the urge to binge on food.
Fig. 3: Tapas : Heat
Patanjali opens the second chapter of the yoga sutras by laying out Tapas as a core ingredient of the easier form of yoga practice called Kriya Yoga which is the favored practice for the lay human starting on the path of yoga.
self-discipline, study of texts that lead to the self and dedication to the supreme.
Fig. 4: Tapas, Svadhyaya and Ishwara Pranidhana
A.G. Mohan in his lecture quotes the first sentence in Vyasa’s commentary,
न अतपस्विन: योगो न सिद्द्यते
“Na atapasvinah Yoga na siddhyati “
Yoga does not fructify for the one who does not so tapas.
Having laid out the foundation and meaning for tapas, the next section will describe how tapas is commonly misinterpreted.
3) Misunderstanding tapas
Tapas, Krishnamacharya would say, is an internal process. Sage Vyasa,in his Yoga Sutra commentary , uses the word Antarena Tapasah (Tapas is internal). It is not to be confused with profuse sweating and excessively hard breathing as is associated with hot yoga practices like Bikram and Ashtanga. While sweating to remove impurities has its benefits it is not to be confused with what is mentioned in the yoga sutras. This is the most common misunderstanding among many practitioners and also teachers in some traditions like the Bikram and Ashtanga yoga. Any yoga practice that is done should not lead to mental disturbance. Sage Vyasa says that in his commentary on the yoga sutras,
तत् च चित्तस्य प्रसादमानाम्.
Tat cha chittasya prasadhamanam
It (tapas) is like a delicious offering to the mind. (Tapas should not therefore lead to mental suffering.)
Krishnamacharya, who was known to be an exacting disciplinarian when he was teaching his younger students like Pattabhi Jois and B.K.S.Iyengar in Mysore, later in life, significantly softened his attitude toward asanas and would often tell his later students like Srivatsa Ramaswamy [Ref 4] and A.G.Mohan that Asanas should result in slowing down of the breath and that an asana practice should be tailor made to an individual.
Fig. 5: Krishnamacharya teaching his students in Mysore, seen standing on the chest of one of his young students in the very difficult Kapotasana pose
Fig. 6: Krishnamacharya, later in life, offering tailor made Asana sequences in 1:1 sessions with various people
With this background on Ahimsa and the clarification of tapas, the next section will talk about practical tips on how to approach our asana practice, when to follow a sequence and when to skip poses to give space for our body to adjust
4) A Sequence and its Consequence: Practical tips on approaching our asana practice
Many yoga schools like Ashtanga, Bikram and Sivananda, follow a sequence of Asanas which they repeat daily. The sequences are often divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced sets. When a student “graduates” from one sequence, he/she starts doing some asanas in the next advanced sequence and slowly progresses toward being able to do all asanas in that advanced sequence. While there is some logic behind how the sequence of poses are arranged, with sun salutations typically at the beginning, counter poses for several poses,and relaxation poses like head and shoulder stand at the end, the sequence itself is not sacrosanct. The main advantage of following a sequence is that it gets you into a routine of flow without having to think which Asana one should do next. However, since our bodies are different, a sequence of asanas to suit everyone is not meaningful. Therefore, one should tune in to one’s needs and modify the sequence with the help of teachers, if possible, skipping asanas, doing modified poses where needed and incorporating poses that bring one therapeutic benefit or simply joy. Otherwise an asana practice over time can become stale and will not lead to the mental benefits that it is originally meant to achieve. All the ancient yoga texts mentioned before, all talk only of a few asanas. Sadhguru says that you only need one asana to transform your life. While it is difficult for our distracted mind to focus fully on just one asana, doing too many asanas will not provide benefit either.
5) Summary
In summary, the various dimensions of Ahimsa with respect to our asana practice were presented with the two notable ones being a vegetarian diet that does not harm other sentient beings and lack of harm toward oneself by not pushing one’s body excessively. My first Ashtanga yoga teacher would often say that if the Ashtanga yoga practice is not done with a softer inner gaze, it is no different from a GRIT high interval intensity training practice where people push their bodies hard to gain muscle and increase aerobic activity. It is true that with so many Vinyasas in a practice like the Ashtanga yoga practise, one can quickly fall into the huff and puff mode, thereby losing the mental benefits.
The meaning of the word Tapas and its context in the Yoga Sutras was also presented along with how it is often misinterpreted. Finally practical tips on Asana practice balancing tapas while maintaining Ahimsa are presented
We had a nice morning practice in the park today. It felt really special and I want to make it a regular thing. So starting next week we will have a Mysore practice in the park every Wednesday 8:30-10am. As it gets warmer we will probably make it earlier. Unfortunately the 6:30 practice on Zoom will become a self-practice. But I hope more of you will be able to join us in the park. Please make sure to sign up on YiY website ahead of time. No walk-ins. And no chai if you don’t practice 😉
This coming Wednesday April 21st we will have Mysore practice in the park. Because it is still rather chilly in the morning we will try later morning time 8:30-10am. Again we will be meeting on the basketball court in Peer’s Park in Palo Alto. I will be dropping my kids at school on my way to teaching so please don’t be alarmed if you arrive before me. If you are early just claim the basketball court and start practice. Please have your mask on when you move around but you can practice without your mask. Good news is that the restrooms in the park are open. Please sign up on YiY website if you want to participate. No walk-ins. Anne will bering chai so pleas have your cup with you. This is so exciting!
It is an additional practice time so I will still teach online class at 6:30 unless there is no interest for that.
– talk with Yulia Piskulina, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner and acupuncturist, Saturday April 17th, 9am.
Once again we have a please to virtually host a very special guest Yulia Piskulina. This time Yulia will talk about how to stay healthy and energized during hot and dry season. She will address how to adjust your diet, what are the best foods to include in your daily meals and what food combinations are the least healthy during that time according to Traditional Chinese Medicine. She will also talk about acupressure and breathing techniques that will help you to cool down your body during hot days and to stay balanced during cool nights.
We are meeting on Zoom on Saturday, April the 17th at 9am. If you are interested please sign up using YiY website. If you can’t attend that day but would like to watch the recording later it will be available to all participants.
About Yulia
I grew up in Siberia, had a degree in Public Relations, but was introduced to Chinese Medicine and alternative ways of healing by Taiwanese doctor Zen Master Cuckoo. I discovered the healing power of acupuncture when I helped Him in his clinic in Goa and Moscow. At first I was sceptical but then blown away by how much it helped hundreds of people in front of my eyes. I immediately quit my job and started to follow Master Cuckoo all over the world. It was one of the scariest and one of the best decisions I’ve made.
I have been a lover of Traditional Chinese Medicine since then (2008). I’ve been studying and practicing in Taiwan, Russia, European Union, India (Goa, Mumbai).
I am an acupuncturist and have completed training in: Traditional cupping and moxibustion Gua sha massage Facial acupuncture Dr. Tan Balanced Method Acupuncture Auriculotherapy
Its my passion to help people discover new ways of feeling their best. And teaching them to self-heal. The medicine I practice is rooted in a holistic approach. I believe in providing tools for people to help themselves, because for 99% you are doctor for yourself, and 1% is your healer. I invite you to allow me to walk with you on your healing path.
