Pronounced as You-gaa-dhee. Ugadi marks the new year for a few states in India and was celebrated yesterday. Ugadi means we move from one yug (period) to the beginning of the next yug. A paste made with neem and jaggery is the trademark of this festival. (more…)

I have been vagabonding for the last seven months. Been checking out places, taking courses and visiting ashrams. I travel with a backpack which is a day pack. It is small but is quite sufficient for me. I carry a laptop, camera, a few clothes, toiletries, a pair of slippers, a few books and a yoga mat.

Actually this is all I possess right now. I do have some more books, a sleeping bag and a suitcase  which I will pick up later from storage. The most expensive thing I have in my life right now is a laptop. (more…)

I was wondering what was happening in India when Patanjali wrote the Yoga Sutras. First of all, India was not called India at that time. It was still known as Sanathana dharma.

The first Sutra says Yoga is open to all and there are no restrictions. This got me wondering  as to how open it really was, as Yoga Sutras is written in Sanskrit and if women would practice. Sanskrit was not understood by all as it was a scholarly language. I had assumed that the only religion followed was based on the Vedas and that the so called upper caste was the only one that practiced Yoga. So, I had to read more.

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Check out Vishnu’s peaceful sleep. His eyes are gently closed and looks like he is thoroughly enjoying his sleep. There are two demons on the right trying to create trouble, but Vishnu’s attendants on top are ready to stop the demons. Adi Sesa the snake, is at work providing Sthiram and Sukham. I love this sculpture. (more…)

I saw the best photographs of this year’s Holi celebrations in Boston Globe. Good work! Click on the picture to see the rest of the pictures.

Patanjali’s Yoga Darshanam aka Yoga Sutras is the first authoritative work on Yoga. Patanjali (Puh-th-anjali) is not the author or the originator of Yoga. He is the one that compiled it in writing for the first time. He assembled the vast knowledge of Yoga from the Vedas, Upanishads and from the teachings of his guru. (more…)

In the Vedic times, Saha navavatu was chanted by both teachers and students before starting the class. As the students and the teacher live together in the gurukul , this chant is essential and it asks that there not be any problems during the learning, so there is no break or misunderstanding.

Om saha nAVavatu | saha nau bhunaktu | saha VIryam karavAvahai |

tejasvinAvadhitamastu | mA vidvishAvahai |

Om shanthishanthishanthihi || (more…)

I had recently attended a workshop called Heart of Yoga at KYM, Chennai. I had signed up for this course to learn Yoga Sutras, the first and still the most authoritative text on Yoga. The workshop had a few other classes which I was not aware of.

One such class was Vedic Chanting. I had a faint idea what it was and I thought, I simply have to put up with this class for the greater good. I thought it was something like the Hindu priests chanting in the temples, which always looked meaningless to me. After a few classes, it slowly dawned on me that this class was turning out to be so much fun, that it was one of my highlights at KYM. I have hardly come across anything since Yoga, that I have been so impressed with. (more…)

Sound advice!

Sitali and Sitkari pranayama are one of the simplest ways to cool your body. When Kali went on a non-stop rampage, Shiva had to help her calm down. When Kali finally gave in, by standing on top of Shiva, her tongue is out and she is under control. Sitali and Sitkari are two techniques of pranayama which use the tongue to simply cool you down. (more…)