Alchemy Z ~ Waking Within Blog

Readers, Yoga can also be a controversial subject and practice. With a larger rate of yogic mutations in style and beliefs, my field is one littered with landmines of the taboo. I have been practicing and studying with in the field intensely for four years now and I am happy to report that the times for narrow minded nonpracticitioners are changing. Yoga practitioners are coming in many more varieties these days: Psychonauts, Christians, Hindu, Buddhists, Tattoo Sporting Practitioners, Professionals in the working and athletic fields, Tantra (John Friend), Native American belief systems (Ana Forrest), Smokers, and just about every other kind of person or ideal you can think of. One thing that I came across in my readings and research is a something called Shadow Yoga. Oh, doesn't that sound mysterious. As far as my research tells me, Shadow Yoga is simply a practice of obscure yoga teachings (breathing, aka pranayama, body positions aka asana, and philosophy). This le...

Readers and Yoga Adventurers, Just recently called the Yoga Mecca of the USA, Encinitas CA and Yoga Swami (where I teach two days a week) are special and are a must visit for any yoga adventurers. See the article in the winter 2008 copy of the Encinitas magazine. http://www.encinitasmag.com/about.html Encinitas, Swami's Surf Spot, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, and Leucadia...can be consider spiritual vortex hotspots. This evident in the number of places to worship just on the coast (west of hwy 101) near the cliffside beachs or Swami's and Moonlight. So my mother's family (mexican americans) lived in Encinitas during the period of time when Paramahansa Yogananda (the Swami that Swami's is named after). This time period was about the 1930's- 1940's. At this time Encinitas, was well liked by Swami Yogananda and he settled there for sometime. Swami Yogananda was a capricorn and he was a very involved meditator and yoga practicioner. His foundation still exists in E...

Chair Yoga which is an infusion of exercises which translate from any yoga style to a seated version with from a chair, usually performed and taught amongst groups of people who are recovering or elderly. Chair yoga is usually gentle but can be vigorous and can make a practitioner sweat. This style of yoga is currently alive and kicking. I would know because Waking Within company is associated with teaching and dispatching teachers to over 6 retirement or assisted living communities in North San Diego county. Postures for chair yoga classes include: Eagle Arms and Legs, Back bends, Prayer Mudra variations, Arm Raises, Half Moon (the version that allows one to reach up and lean to the side--stretchs the side body, torso and hips), Toe and Finger Stretchs, Alternate Nostril Breathing, Breath of Fire/Shinning Skull, Belly Breathing, Hip Openers, Shoulder Openers, Chair Holding Cobra Pose, Ragdoll, and coutless others. I encourage all yoga instructors to teach elderly st...

All Photography By Benjamin Thewlis

Readers and Future Students, 8pm Monday 11 February 2008 Let's go over some yoga history basics. Yoga or "Union" comes from the Indus Valley Civilization 2500 BC and it is a process of method of instilling or realizing complete inner freedom. Yoga is associated orginally with Indo-European peoples who settled in the Indian Valley. In the West, it seems we have become obsessed with the physical and mental exercises that we often associate with body perfectionism. (Let us know if you practice yoga for spiritual reasons or others) Yoga spans every conceivable subject. Swami is a word that entitles an individual practicing a tradition or lineage of Yoga that was handed down from Master to student very selectively. The Swami order is considered to be an ascetic order (monks). "Do you want to be master of your destiny? Do not be discouraged in sorrows, difficulties, and tribulations that manifest in ...