Karma Yoga - Seva

This Karma Yoga (Seva) I conducted was from the assignment of the Yoga Energetics Teacher Training (YETT) I attended in 2012. 

These are some of my personal experiences in 2012 of both learning to teach Yoga to the public and sharing love and kindness by providing free Yoga classes and Craniosacral therapy as soon as I graduated from my YETT.

Yoga For Scoliosis Patients

A man came to me and asked around about yoga for scoliosis. It was for her daughter who has Scoliosis in her back. After I explained to him about my yoga and my price, he said that he could not afford it. So I decided to donate my yoga service to this little girl.

She comes to my place twice a week to practice yoga in the garage and between the cars. It is not a perfect place, but it is all the space I have so far. Around 90 minutes of free yoga practice each time she comes. It is not fancy yoga like the ones in the yoga studio, but it is nice and fun.

She is a very critical person who likes to browse for any yoga poses and consult with me. Sometimes I can sense that she wants to do fancy yoga poses, but I slowly teach her also about patience. So many times I tell her that some of the fancy poses she wants to try can endanger her scoliosis. Gladly she listens to me.

I ask her to keep coming to the doctor, so I know the progress of her scoliosis. The latest one I get is that her scoliosis is slowly decreasing. It is considered good as she does not do anything but yoga.

I am just happy to facilitate the cuteness in her back. Hopefully, she stays in the practice and scoliosis will go away soon. And I thank the doctor who suggested she practice yoga to cure her Scoliosis.

Craniosacral Therapy For Senior

One day, I met an old woman while waiting for a taxi. After a long conversation and after she knew what I do for life, she told me that she had several pains and sicknesses, especially in her knees and hips. When I offered my service for yoga practice or Craniosacral therapy, she refused as she knew she could not afford it. So I told her that I would give it for free. She was surprised and delighted.

Then she invited me to come to her house.

That day, I found out that her house was behind the train station and she opens a small store in front of her house. Something that opened my eyes to why this 70-year-old lady could not afford the fee of my service.

So, this was her first experience with Craniosacral Therapy. During the therapy, I found a blockage in her left middle back. When I touched her heart, she felt pain in her right shoulder. When I put the Crystal Stone pendulum above her body, the movement of the pendulum kept changing directions.

After the session was over, I discussed what I saw with her.

She said that when I found the blockage at her left middle back, it that maybe because her left ribs were broken when her husband fell on the top of her body. When she felt pain in her right shoulder, she confessed that she had lifted heavy pieces of stuff, including lifting her husband each time he falls. And when we discussed the pendulum that kept changing its movements, I asked her how she felt and she said that she was a bit unstable physically and emotionally to deal with her husband who was hit by a stroke several years ago.

I ended the session by asking her kindly not to be too stressed about everything, including about her husband if she wants to really cure the sickness she has.

A few days after the first Craniosacral Therapy, I visited her again to say hello. She told me that her pains were gone and asked my help to conduct the therapy again if I was free. This time, she said that she would pay a little money to appreciate my work. And I said no. I told her that I took my service to her as my service to the community. And I was just happy that I could facilitate her body to heal itself.

At the second session, her body was getting much better, even though I still felt the blockage on her middle back. As I stimulated her middle back with a little bit of massage, I could feel that it started to move. When I checked her body with my Crystal Stone Pendulum, I could find that the energy of her body was so much better as all of her chakras move around the pendulum. I could feel the energy that pulls the pendulum. So strong! Happy to know that her body responded to my hands and that she was getting better.

After the session was over, she cooked for me and we had lunch together. I was so glad that she was so happy to receive the treatment and that we became good friends.

General Yoga Event For Donation

One day, my friend arranged a donation event and asked me if I could also donate some money too. And I told her if I made a yoga session for donation, maybe we both could collect more money. So she agreed to do the yoga event for donation.

The yoga event was held at her home. Around 25 people came from the church, our friend's circles, and the nearby neighborhood. The place was not that large, but everyone said it was fine, as they just wanted to do yoga for fun. Before I started the event, I told them that all the money they paid would be gone to the local Orphanage.

At the yoga event, I gave them very gentle yoga movements as I knew there were a lot of beginners in the room. Started with sitting poses, a few standing poses, and more stretching poses and relaxation.

At the end of the yoga event, I gave some people, maybe around 5 people, a bit of Craniosacral work. I only picked some who really needed it, like the elderly people, and those who were sick and injured.

At the very end of the yoga event, I provided my time for yoga discussion with the participants. They were curious about yoga and diet. So then I shared some of my knowledge about yoga, diet, and detox with them.

We collected good money from the event, and my friends donated the money and the other donations from the other activities at the event to the local Orphanage.

Namaste! 

Book Review: Hatha Yoga Pradipika and Light on Yoga

This is my book review on Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Swami Satchinanda and Light on Yoga by B. K. S. Iyengar. 

This article I wrote was from the assignment of the Yoga Energetics Teacher Training I attended in 2012.

This is only my personal review about the two Yoga philosophy books. Please open your mind too when you read my mind. Namaste.

My Review on Hatha Yoga Pradipika: 

This is a very original yoga book and a wonderful classical book to describe what Yoga is all about. I learn a lot about the secret of Yoga from this book and that Yoga is about Pranayama (breathing) too, not just about Asana (postures).

From Hatha Yoga Pradipika, I can learn something about philosophy and spiritualism. The book has enriched my soul. How to see Yoga not just as Asana, but also as a way of life, a way of how we see the life itself and how we see the world. I also learn about the tools to face the world from a different side.

The book sounds very old school and traditional. Honestly, it is hard to apply some things in the book in our nowadays daily life. The book is full with old values that might not be applicable and practical in modern life, but I can learn a lot about the value of yoga in the past when the book is created and the pureness I can teach in the Yoga class.

It seems that the book is so “high above the world” that I might not have the ability to explain it to my students and the people around me. It explains so many things that can not be seen by the eyes of the men in this world. But hey, it is a challenge for me to introduce it to my circle, so they know that the world is not just about things we can see.

The book is a very straight forward, pragmatic approach to yoga. This book rules the way that Yoga things used to be done. Some of the things in the book are almost beyond reality, but I can learn about how to purify and prepare for my path of yoga.

The book is a good choice for me as I am interested in knowing more about Hatha Yoga. I am so introduced to things that develop Hatha Yoga and how to practice it in my spiritualism life.

Each time I read this book, there's always a different meaning in some sections in the book. And it is good to know that I have been practicing Yoga for some times and I have that Yoga in my blood as the book has multiple meanings that can only be understood after practicing such a good Yoga practice.

My Review on Light on Yoga: 

This is the Yoga book I like. The bible of Yoga! I use it as inspirations for my daily yoga practice for myself and yoga teaching at my yoga class. This is a good book to accompany me as my other teacher, other doctor and other advisor. It really completes me as a Yoga practicioner and Yoga teacher.

Great and fascinating introduction to Yoga, detail description of Yoga philosophy, great pictures of Yoga poses, nice sequences for specific intentions, precautions, contradictons, helpful hints and therapeutics effects. And BKS Iyengar's advice and explanation complete everything. What a nice package!

From the book, I understand that Yoga is more than flexibility and strength. Yoga is all about the way of life. There's a connnection between Yoga, spiritualism, life and the Universe.

From the book, I can learn that yoga is applicable for anyone and any ages at any levels. Every pose has a different meaning, and every pose has its own benefit.

The questions: How can a book that is as old as me explain more about life in the present moment? While I grow up day by day, the book is very wise and mature enough to be used as a life compass for a life time. While I move myself forward, I can always go back to the book at any time from the first page to the last one or the reverse. Amazing!

Iyengar style is detailed and tough. I personally do not like it that much, but the techniques are usefull for me when I teach my Yoga class. It helps me to detail the poses so my students understand what muscle to stretch. Going details means concentration that leads to mindfullness, and that mindfullness means that I am back to my meditation.

For me, using this book as the guidance at class means that I will teach a deep poses of Yoga.

Conclusion:

After reading Hatha Yoga Pradipika, reading Light on Yoga is like going deeper and longer into Yoga life.

I like Light on Yoga better than Hatha Yoga Pradipika. The books are almost the same, especially when talking about the basic principles of Yoga. But the things on Light on Yoga is more applicable in our day to day real life than Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika talk about the basic things on Yoga, the philosophy and the thoughts of the writer about Yoga itself.

Light on Yoga talks more in detail about Yoga. Not just the philosophy, it also talks about yoga practice, key postures, breathing exercises, detail course for beginner to intermediate level and the yoga terms. All in one book!

I guess the book can complete each others. Use Hatha Yoga Pradipika as the introduction to Yoga through its deep explanation about Philosophy of Yoga and use Light on Yoga as the detail description on Yoga, especially what we can do with Yoga in our daily life.

And this is the reason why many Yoga schools use Light on Yoga as their main book, because every single details in the books can be very usefull for both teachers and students of yoga practice, even to those who are not yogi and yogini.

Namaste!