International Day of Yoga 2019

21st June - summer solstice - officially adopted by the UN as International Day of Yoga after being endorsed by 175 out of 193 member states. That is a noteworthy record where more than 90% of the countries of the world actually agreed on something. Yoga for better health of the entire world population.

Although this year is already the 5th year that it is being celebrated worldwide, I was only aware of it last year when I was on the search for a suitable yoga school to learn to become an instructor. Having decided to take up YICC at Vyasa Singapore, I was informed of the event for IDY 2018 held at CSC Tessensohn.

Then, I was a participant, quite a lonely one too. But this year, I was a volunteer and really glad to contribute as an instructor, a demonstrator, and an assistant alongside my YICC mates. Had assumed it would be a single day event but Vyasa, as one of the main organisers working with the High Commision of India, oversaw nearly 200 sessions across the island over about 2 weeks!

Preparation began a month earlier with weekly practice of the Common Yoga Protocol prepared by the Ministry of Ayuverda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) in India. Volunteers were also invited to a photoshoot at Esplanade before we were assigned to the various venues and sessions.

The photoshoot was set at 7am and it had been a long time since I woke up that early for anything. But upon arriving at the outdoor theatre by the waters, I was immediately refreshed and surprisingly stayed pretty alert for the entire session adopting various asanas for the photoshoot with over 50 other volunteers (an organisation nightmare).

My first assignment was totally out of my expectation. As a first-time volunteer, I assumed I would be taking on the role of an assistant, instead, I became the only instructor available for a session to nearly 20 participants at Boon Lay. Thankfully the teacher in me took over and the session went well. I had one participant inquiring the whereabouts of Vyasa after I mentioned it and another requesting for the sequence of asanas I taught... got to mean something right? 😃

The second one was comparatively relaxed as I was one of many assistants to a regular volunteer. In fact, the number of assistants was more than the number of participants in the beautiful Botanical Gardens. Outdoor yoga was lovely although I really did not enjoy the wet grass we were practising on. The calming and healing sounds of the singing bowls during savasanah were out of the world wonderful too.

Right after that, I went along to my third session at Sunlove Whampoa where I really could put my mandarin knowledge and limited dialect to good use as we guided a huge group of senior citizens in chair yoga. Had the pleasure to meet and hear the High Commissioner of India himself who graced the event.

Later the same day, we ended the day with the main event back at CSC Tessensohn with a full programme of speeches and performances before the yoga practice. It really felt like I came a full circle to where I first started with Vyasa. 😊

My final session was on the following morning at CSC Bukit Batok, semi outdoors in an open pavilion with the pool as our view. So fortunate that the 6yo who gave the speech the previous night was invited here too! I got a much better view to her outstanding performance!! Thereafter, I took on the role of demonstrator and managed to execute all instructions successfully.

Yoga has really become such an important part of my life and it means so much to me that I am now able to introduce it and its benefits to so many more people. Still unsure about becoming a professional yoga instructor as something about linking it to monetary value feels wrong.. Anyway, looking forward to the upcoming thank-you party! And of course, many more IDY to come..

Haleeom

 
"haleeom!" not even sure if the spelling is correct but it was 
something i heard before the start of every class I attended 
with YICC students during my Advanced Yoga Retreat to 
SVYASA Bangalore. I don't even know the actual meaning of 
it but it probably means something along the line of "Here. 
I am present." as it was what students called out when 
attendance was taken. 

There is something about the sound of it that I really like. 
"ha-lee-om!" including "om" - the origin of universe. Perhaps 
it is the entire Sanskrit language but I just love how calming 
it makes me feel... sometimes I wonder if I was born in India 
in one of my past lives!

India... to be honest, I never thought I would ever visit the 
country. After the various horror stories I heard coming from 
this place, it pretty much became the only Asian country I had 
no desire to visit - and I have always preferred our part of the
world over any Western countries on my yearly wanderlust-fueled 
adventures.

So when I saw the opportunity which combined an advancement in 
my yoga journey and assurance of safety as we would be mostly 
in a protected campus, I practically jumped on it! It could well 
be one of the best decisions I made this year. I cannot imagine 
missing out on the wealth of knowledge I had gained during the 
trip..

I can't say that everything that I heard during the retreat had 
made sense to me. But much of the gems which had struck a chord 
with me or within me were quickly swyped onto my dependable S7 Edge 
and now here they will stay for future reference when necessary. 

Don't intend to expand beyond the short notes I have taken but 
my favourite guru certainly deserves a special mention! Mohan-ji 
is a jovial and approachable man who so kindly invited us to spend 
a few afternoons with him at his humble house. Those sessions were 
the best memories of the entire retreat when he shared his teaching 
selflessly and with a touch of humor too! 

A final note to self: be open to listening to something you think 
you have already heard before. Much of what I learnt during the 
trip was not exactly new to me but from a different teacher in a 
different scenario, I gained invaluable insights.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

*if entire philosophy condenses into one word - love
gross love - gone when not reciprocated
sacrificial love - 
divine love - total surrender

*world possession or pleasures
- mixed with dukha - acquire, preserve, loss - all involved pain
- unsatisfactory - due to always wanting
- makes us dependent - want becoming need

*heat light and colour
eternity knowledge bliss
inner peace

*we are all travellers - time,  space,  causation. aim to be 
travellers of yogic type of mind rather than non-yogic. despite 
wanting our journey to be comfortable but we all have 
attachments - partner, baggage, money. mind travelling faster than 
time. don't let mind be disturbed by external circumstances. just 
an expression leads to physical reactions creating ailments. 
disturbed mind creates disturbances in the surrounding.

*yoga is movement from restlessness to restfulness.

*expect the least without being negative. 

*calligraphy - keep mind and hand at same speed. instead of not 
dotting i or crossing t.. staying in the moment

*indocrine glands secrete chemicals or enzymes directly into 
specific body organ endocrine glands secrete chemicals or hormones 
into the blood stream which circulate through entire body. hormones 
are chemical messengers which are only received by their respective 
target organ receptors. only message is "work harder!" and alter the 
action of the body

*pituitary gland is called master gland because it can control 
other glands..

*yoga poses that simulate glands are gently encouraging them to work 
optimally like giving incentives and benefits to workers rather than 
scolding or beating them to work harder

*like darkness is due to absence of light, anger can only be 
diminished by presence of compassion. 

*principle of body: use me or lose me.

*yoga is hyper extending muscles you rarely use. this causes brain to 
send "new" signals to muscles to relax.  bringing about activation of 
relaxation in entire body. yoga enhances parasympathetic system which 
relaxes the body and improves digestive system. parasympathetic and 
sympathetic systems are functional compared to the nerves and glands 
which are structural. vegas nerve. 

*bee breathing with sound production has additional benefit as person 
pays attention to the sound produced bringing him to the present moment 
which again enhances parasympathetic system. thinking about past or 
future which are stress inducing uses sympathetic system. 

*yoga is the only way to activate parasympathetic system. 
modern medicine has nothing for it.

*one tea spoon of salt to half litre of warm water for kriya water

*laughing yoga: 
hand on throat - hehe
on chest - haha
on stomach - hoho 
cocktail yoga
laugh while looking at one another

*drsujatasinghr.com

*story of missing diamond necklace - importance of awareness that 
we are whole. 

*anything that can be objectified is not me. 

*entire person "zipped" into a seed at deep sleep. last thought 
before that will be first thought when wake up like a seed blooming. 
your last thought at death becomes the seed blooming in next life. 

*gurdjief. happy rich man with no attachments. 

*asana and practices are for people who cannot "see" the path. 
people who can.. just continue their lives "playing a role" but 
they are aware and conscious. significantly changed inside. 

*no lifestyle. only wife style. 🤣

*yoga is to see the de-conditioned the mind, see the world as it is. 

*path of science and religion is the same. to find the ultimate truth. 
science does experiments through external means. yogi's lab is within 
his mind through internal means. 

*Paul Brunton "a search in secret India". problems were not solved, 
they were resolved. all questions dropped. 

*bliss is silence. silence is bliss. yogic mindset is to look within 
yourself to identify what is happening when you are 'happy'. the 
instant when you taste your favourite food there is silence- no thoughts. 

*gross. subtle. causal. 

*urge to live/be immortal/going back to our true nature manifest in
 three ways - have children, have money, have recognition/ fame.  
 
*sleep with awareness so you may wake up with awareness. give 5 mins 
to stay in bed and notice. try not to wake up to an alarm. focus on 
time to wake up before sleeping and you will. 

*have awareness to play your role when in society but be detached 
within. like a lotus in the water. 

*navel region is centre of peace. a-kara chanting strengthens it. 
u-kara chanting makes you full of love for everyone and everything. 
m-kara chanting is for intuition/ sixth sense. 
om-kara for spirituality 

*slow down. not physically but in your mind. quiet down the 
inner dialogue. 

*if mind is fast, start by saying om fast too. it has innate quality 
to slow down. start noticing the gap between two om to get into silence. 

*be & make. be peaceful and you will unconsciously make others around 
you peaceful too.

*wrong things only happen when you are not aware. when you are aware, 
things only go right. 

*three tenets of all religions. charity, love, self-control