three simple but effective asanas:

Yogamudra

Sit cross-legged (sit in Padmasana, Ardha padmasana orVajrasana  ). Hold your left wrist with your right hand behind your back. Slowly lowering your chin, then your neck, bend down as far as you can go, breathing out as you go down. Stay there for 8 seconds with your breath held out then rise up, breathing in. Practice eight times.

Cobra  (Bhujangasana)

Lie down on your stomach. Put your hands facing down on the floor beside your ears. Supporting your weight on your palms, push up and raise the chest, looking up towards the ceiling. Breathe in while rising, and hold your breath in that position for 8 seconds. Come down to original position while breathing out. Practice eight times. 

Long Salutation

Kneel down with your buttocks resting on your heels and your toes pointing forward. With your palms together, extend your arms up next to your ears. Slowly bring your arms and head down as one, first bending your neck then the whole upper body, until your fingers hit the floor, keeping your buttocks on your heels all the time. Now stretch out along with your forehead and nose resting on the floor. Breathe out as you go down and stay there with your breath held out for 8 seconds. Then rise up, breathing in. Practice eight times.

and remember: keep breathing, breathe, relax, relax and relax to the max! 

Savasana

Lie on back with arms by the side, inside of hands facing up, make sure that the breathing is calm and relaxed, watch the air flow through the nostrils, throat, into the lungs, the belly, the diaphragm expands, slowly, ever further, the belly, the chest slowly filling the lungs and reverse - exhale, slowly, let the air flow gently back out. 

relax...

Now go through the whole body, starting at the tips of the toes feet, consciously making sure that each part is completely relaxed – with no muscular tension at all.

From the feet up, chins, calves, the legs, thighs, consciously checking each part, into the groin area, into the abdomen (also feeling the internal organs are relaxing), into the chest and shoulders, from the fingers and hands up the arms, then into the neck and up into the face, relaxing the facial muscles, nose, lips, mouth, tongue, ears, including the eyes, forehead, and finally to the top of the head, the brain is relaxed. 

Check once more that the breath is calmly, just floating and relaxed, imagine floating on top of the sea, suspended in space, on top of a mountain, imagine a sunflower or poppy field – whatever seems attractive or comes by itself - float. Now stay like that, fully relaxed, for a few more minutes....forget time, forget it all immerse into the ONE and ALL - float, let go... 

 

I love the whoooooooshing sound of a deadline passed by!" - Douglas Adams -

So how the absolute Brahman, Sat-Chit-Ananda, became what we see here around?

Sri Aurobindo, a great indian philosopher and thinker, wrote:

"The Absolute is not bound - not bound to its infinite existence, not bound to its infinite consciousness and the force inherent in that consciousness, not bound to its infinite bliss."

Clever... very, very deep insights this man had!

In other words it is indeed ALL - as in really ALL - without ANY limitations!

Difficult to grasp, how can (perceived) evil and godliness be one and the same?

Well the easy way out would be: :if this wouldn't be the fact, there wouldn't be an Absolute - the Brahman!

Easy?

Almost as a Koan - but hey... they aren't 'easy" are they?

It's way easier to slurp down a pot of tea and gaze in to the fire, illuminating the mountain mist, which hides the colors of the autumn clad trees, beneath the shades of smoky white and ash grey, to steel blue and fading purple clouds ...

..or something like it.

Well why we are so hungry, to know, to know everything because we are obsessed with knowledge, but in general (we reluctant to admit but...) to patronize, to conquer, to dominate (our mind works hard on it!) but then we always tend to be so critical about knowledge and it's applications, we can't just let it in, like the crisp morning air rolling down the mountain slopes from their icy peaks., nope, it has to be analyzed, checked, categorized, filtered, compared, weighed - the whole procedure, until it is decided "right!" An gets stored in some drawer which "sits up there", ready to gulp the information down and then being hesitant to let go of it, once it has disappeared in the vast crevasses of it's giant array of the library of folders in the mind...



And second, he (Aurobindo of course) explains that by definition Brahman is capable of manifesting within its absolute existence innumerable, limited, even distorted and contrary forms of its being. We may further deduce that an infinitely extended, infinitely diverse manifestation, replete with objects and beings ranging from the most unconscious, the most vile, to the most conscious, the most beautiful, the most divine, would be perfectly consistent with an existence that was Absolute.

Amazing, isn't it - reading it, is soooooooo simple, but grasping it, get the whole idea of it, is another story, may be hours of meditation, maybe light years away.

But then, the Author the honorable and very smart Sri Aurobindo packed this in a couple of sentences, like a pizza is packed for home delivery.

Wow!

Well I am going to have this "pizza" now - and try to reflect upon how this unimaginable Brahman exists.... everywhere, in everything - breathtaking concept - isn't it?

But how does the Brahman do this?

The answer for exploring it, is:

The principle of exclusive concentration - Dharana.

This principle is best explained through the example of our own ability to narrow our conscious awareness on a particular idea or perception, putting behind in the background of our focused awareness the rest of our conscious existence.

Good insight can be attained while practicing these "simple" steps... say as in a life time obsession:

Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses through asana - posturs and pranayama - breathing techniques),

Dharana (concentration, focus on ONE point, between the eyebrows, top of the head, Chakras, candle flame, sound..)

Dyana (finallyMeditation, the trance like state of absolut awareness)

Samadhi.... (I spare any attempt to explain...many tried, I think: everyone should try themselves!! Honestly)

one leading seemless into the other, but no "next step" without the other, carefully following the first steps of Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama !

Or the ability to focus awareness and put into the background all else', is inherent in consciousness. It is through a similar process that the One and Infinite Being becomes the many, apparently separate, individual beings and things we see manifested in the universe. The separation is in appearance only, for in truth all individuals are constituted by the One, are That in their Reality, for there is nothing outside the Absolute. They are forms and appearances of its Being, expressions of its Consciousness, movements of its Delight.

Anyone tried yet, or is still busy listening to the clap of a single hand?

Full circle and back!

... finally to and back from India...

..after completing the YAI 200 Teachers Course with Shivam at Baghsunath/McCloedganj/Dharamshala!

Was a very good and fulfilling experience, being immersed into Meditation, Pranayama, Asana, learning, re-membering all about the Chakras their Location, Colors, Bija-Sounds, about Ida, Pingala and Shushumna, the Nadis, proper breathing, proper postures, proper livelihood.

Learning about Patanjali's eightfold path Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi.

Learning about the various Techniques and their Sanskrit Names and "diving" deeper and deeper into this wonderful, exciting "materia prima" or better understood as the Brahman.

The Jiva, the immortal essence of a living being, Atman, (the German word for "Breath", "Atmen" is probably derived from a shard Sanskrit root) - Atman the individual soul or the observer, the higher individual self or the eternal soul which is identical to Brahman in essence.

In the Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad , Atman is explicitly called a Person that created the universe by first splitting himself into male and female halves. In the Chandogya Upanishad, this single god is called Brahman, and is "the One without a second"; this Brahman is not only the principle and creator of all there is, but is also fully present within each individual.

But as Paramhansa Hariananda puts it, we are engrossed through our senses in the games of the empirical world of appearances, we get so much entangled that we lost our original awareness of our true nature, of the true nature of all things!

It is like we embark on a journey to unknown lands, I started 37 years ago, or even a wee bit earlier, but it really doesn't matter, without a map, blue print or any knowledge, training about what we are going to experience - so we are highly prone to get lost in the magnitude of impressions, experiences, tastes, contradictions, the various moods of the countless gates of perception and it's magnitudes of deceptions!

So the path of Yoga - the eightfold Path is the lighthouse on the disntat shores we once sailed off from, buried in unconsciousness, in want, wishes, dreams, love, desire and the drive we call "life. Leading us back to our true origins, back to the roots, to our very selves, not the one we are impersonating day, after day, year after year, but the very true self, the witness within, that tiny little flame, which is nourished through the bellow of the breath, which contains it's very essence the core energy of the universe, life giving to each and everything, living or simple materia - the life force PRANA !

Remember?

Immersion into ones very own self, into the "one" which doesn't need ears to hear, no eyes to see, no tongue to taste, no hands to touch, no senses to understand, no mind to perceive - the silent witness, where observer and the observed become one!


here some impressions from a journey that will never end.....

"Breathing, breathing, deep breathing, breathing in, breathing out.." he said - repeating monotonously.. and that in a posture where one might last approximately 30 nanoseconds, okay I manged a bit longer then this.. Postures like "the Fish" or Matsya Asana, coming down from the "Shoulderstand" Hala Asana via the Sarvangasana "the Plow", pretty breathtaking stuff, this way I found out what hamstrings are for and that I must have got an iron rod instead!

However, the Akarna-Dhanura-asana "shooting Bow" pose is way more demanding, so is the Ugraasana "Noble Pose", all muscles come into play, like the nutcracker suite demands the out most from the ballet dancer and the Veerabadhra Asana or Warrior Pose II still get's me...seconds can become hours!

Well, started this morning with a couple of sun salutations and ended the session with a deep and relaxing Savasana "Corpse Pose", where nearly the entire class fell asleep - ah' well ...and started another beautiful day!

I know, but as I wrote some blogs ago, time is unbeatable!

Since the Opening of the Hotel and it's successful inauguration, we moved continuously forward.
Build up already returning clientel, very good remarks in Hotel Reviews and the new building, the
"northern wing" is coming up fast, it will be "The Avenue - Samui".

Opening expected by end of this year.

Some five weeks ago I decided to go back to Yoga Class and take up this as a new challenge.

The venue is the "Absolute Sanctuary" near by, 10 Min. drive from the Hotel, here in Chaweng.
It's a very laid back and relaxed atmosphere there, beautiful, pristine, natural environment.

And what I cherish most, other people, from all over the planet joining the yoga classes.

The exercise made me lose already 6 Kilo's and there are still 5 to go, can feel it in my flexibility and ability of movement with the body, but after this time already some results are clearly showing.

I feel better, I changed my Diet completely, the body just yearns for fresh fruit, Juices and light food.

I sleep better, even sometimes my muscles are sore from the exercise I feel much fittter then 5 weeks ago!

I'll be back!
The weather

Hi all,

started Hot Yoga at Absolute Sanctuary on Ko Samui on last Sunday,
it's the fourth day today and had a morning class Pranayama, Meditation, followed by a Detox Yoga Session and feel fantastic!

On the first day I took a Hot Yoga (Birkram Chaudury) class for Starter's and phew.....it blew me away!

It is as rewarding as it is very demanding! I take it easy after having a second Hot Yoga Class on Tuesday, which exausted me so much, I had to take a short break!

But as it is only the fourth day today, I am convinced already - I won't give up!

Absolute Sanctuary Accomodation's

'da Pool - absolutely beautiful - isn't it?

...up there is the stunning swimming pool...

stroll along colorful Chaweng Beach..

Fullmoon rising over Ko Matlang

Chaweng Beach around sunset

Island vista ....

Coastline @ Choengmon

Beach view near Ko Farn - Big Buddha

After a long break, been really busy, here some mor pictures whi do tell more then some fonts in long rows trying to make sense!