Will be going this morning to Shanti Yoga in Heliopolis with it’s relatively beginner yoga community to teach a foundational class with emphasis on grounding and feeling the center. Excited to be introducing these ideas to new communities of ashtangis.
I love working through the subtleties of sun salutations and standing postures, it supports the practice. It gives it legs to stand on!
Like in every big city, life in Cairo has its challenges. Tension bubbles up to the surface in a myriad of forms: through levity or manic behavior, traffic or self-imposed isolation. What to do? How to act?
In our yogasana practice, we put ourselves in positions/postures where we are on that edge. And in that place, we find our footing, what grounds us, and from there we find our center. We breathe into it so that we can find that precious balance.
Photo: Monday night Mysore in Ashtanga Yoga Cairo in Zamalek. Mom-to-be Sarah modifies ardha baddha padmotanasana to find a beautiful balance between her practice and her pregnancy.
In India, celebrations have begun for Diwali, the Festival of Lights. And for those of us who can’t join in the lighting of lamps and the igniting of fireworks in India, we can still bring the festivities into the practice.
Think of each moment of practice as an opportunity for light. Every breath, every movement is an act of lamp lighting. The illumination from practice, the experience of it, and what we are able to observe about ourselves in the process then helps guide us through the dark night back to the home where we belong.
Like the story in the Ramayana, where the citizens of Ayodhya put out lamps to lead Rama, the Prince of the House of the Sun and his wife, Sita, home on a moonless night, the practice shines the light of consciousness into our everyday, so that we ourselves can shine.
one love yoga 