Tag Archives: Egypt

Inner (Dance) Thanksgiving

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It was a soft inner dance last night in Shanti Yoga Cairo in Heliopolis, my second offering at the space that regularly holds meditation classes every Thursday evening.

Soft and subtle, there was little movement–externally anyway. And as a facilitator, I have to remind myself that the moving meditation doesn’t require getting people to stand up and boogie. That there are all kinds of movement, many of which we cannot see. This process is so deeply internal. I continue to be surprised by it, where it goes for each participant.

When we reentered the circle the share there was weightlessness and relief from suffering, exploration of gravity, a delineation of mind and body, a release of emotion, and a timeless sense of being. Connecting us all: a deep sense of gratitude for the experience. When we look beneath the surface there is so much to be thankful for.

The cosmic party was still on, just only very privately!

Hope more will join next time! There will be at least one more Inner Dance in Cairo, Thursday, December 12, 7pm in Ashtanga Yoga Cairo in Zamalek.

Bit of River

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Today, I’ve been here one crazy Cairo month. It’s gone by fast–not surprising as this is a very fast city. Like any big city, Cairo has a lot of edge, in its buildings, in its politics, in its character. And life on the edge can be hard.

Three times a week, however, as I make my monster commute between the areas of Maadi and Zamalek, something softens each time I see the Nile River.

The Nile cuts through all this crazy, maneuvering around obstacles adeptly. It knows its course and moves with ease into the sea.

It reminds me that navigating a place such as Cairo, or for that matter life at large, requires being a bit of river, being light and agile, soft and fluid. But also remembering there is weight in water, that it is a force of nature, that as it moves it generates a great deal of power.

Photo: The River Nile.

Weekend Warriors

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It may not seem so, but it takes courage to get to class sometimes–to subject yourself to Cairo traffic (even on lighter Fridays), to leave your family for a few hours in the middle of the weekend so you can have a moment to yourself to feel your own body and breath.

But the result is worth it: victorious, we enjoyed the two-hour half primary exploration working on breath, workshopping a little this elusive thing called bandha.

Next Friday, 1PM, November 29 will be the last of the Friday Led classes in Maadi. In December, La Zone schedule will be Sunday to Thursday mysore mornings 7-10am until December 15.

Photo: This Friday’s led class at La Zone, Maadi, Cairo.

Posture Perfect

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Posture Perfect

We strive for perfection. That’s built into us by our schooling, our upbringing, our culture and society. We come in to class and pour our bodies into shapes we’ve seen in magazines, posters, in youtube videos, and in the demonstrations by teachers we look up to. And we want our postures, asana, to be perfect!

But when it comes to yoga, what does it mean to have a perfect posture or asana?

Everyone’s bodies are built differently. We have different proportions, different ranges of motion. Some of us are stronger and have sturdier muscles. Some of us are softer and are more flexible. Our bodies have different gifts and along with that: different challenges.

There are certain issues of alignment, certain goals with each posture, and we must proceed with awareness of how to place the parts of the body in a way that is nourishing and supportive. We move to work certain areas, to open and balance. These principles are important to observe and practice.

Perfection, however, is not in the posture but in the practice. If you practice with presence, with love and awareness, if you breath full and even breaths, if you create the opportunity for the body to feel itself steady and easy, then no matter what your posture looks like at that moment, it is already perfect.

The truth is that what the posture looks like doesn’t matter as much as the effort in which we hold and move ourselves. And as our bodies change, what is perfect changes too. Such is practice, such is life.

Photo: Hala in downward facing dog, La Zone, Maadi, Cairo.

The Practice, Light & Dark

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The Practice, Light & Dark

There are days that practice is full of light, it is illuminating, and we stir from our rest (or savasana) with a sense of being one small step closer to enlightenment.

Then, there are the other times, when practice is like navigating the shadows and we feel obscured by our thoughts, fears, habits, or patterns of behavior.

When we have a light practice, we often rejoice: “Ah, I had a good practice!”

When we have a dark moment: “Oh, I had a hard practice!”

It is all practice. The light. The dark. The shades in between. We appreciate the light because of the darkness, we can discern the dark because we know light. They make the big picture, they make seeing full, nuanced, interesting.
Photo: Mysore practice at La Zone, Maadi

Inner Dance, Inner Movement in Cairo

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Inner dance is never easy to explain. The lightness in the body. The cosmic party as you dance with yourself. Something, however little, however quiet, moves.

I received an email today from a participant from last Thursday’s ID offering in Heliopolis (Shanti Yoga), who moved a little physically but felt a big shift within. He described the experience as moving, that the session was like a helpful push to restart a stalled vehicle.

Sometimes we feel broken. Our environment, our culture, our own expectations play upon us. Our mechanisms get rusty or ill used. Imbalances occur. The body suffers. And we identify so much with our physical pains, our frayed nerves, our sad feelings.

This makes me recall a chant that I love to sing:

so ham, so ham
so ham shivo ham
I am not my body,
my body is not me

so ham, so ham
so ham shivo ham
I am not my mind,
my mind is not me

so ham, so ham
so ham shivo ham
I am not my ego
my ego is not me

“So ham”, like “tat tvam asi”, means “I am That” — That which is unchanging, unlimited and eternal.

What would our lives be like if we could identify with That, if we saw That in ourselves, in all our fellow human beings and co-habitors in this planet, how would we live our lives like then? How could we not honor and love ourselves and each other?

Photo: Beautiful bronze. Sculpture by Nathan from Atelier de Nathan at Darb compound in Old Cairo.

Empty Pots

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IMG_6030A lot of times practice can be sublime, the process focusses the attention, the breath is the only sound…

But then there are the other times! when practicing is like swimming through a thick soupy sea of thoughts and impressions.

Things come up. Issues, worries, thoughts of all sorts and sizes eek up into the surface of the mind, some incredibly insignificant and others quite significant, each attempting to derail practice.

Today was one of those days for me, where the practice wrestles with this comedy of the mind. The breath, still steady and easy regardless, is a laugh track as stuff bubbles up. But even this has its purpose.

Yoga, union, is a goal. But yoga is also a process. And today I observed this process of emptying pots, of cleaning house, the house of the mind and the body. This is the process of letting go and of creation, emptying to make space for the new.

Photo: Pottery at one of the Ateliers at the Darb 1718 compound in Old Cairo. Watch for announcements, will be holding ashtanga and inner dance space there soon!

Practice is a Mirror

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Practice is a Mirror

The yoga practice is a mirror. Look into it. See what it reflects back at you. Use it as the powerful tool that it is to observe yourself, use it to discern the difference between the whirlings of the mind and the sweet center of you that is unchanging.

Photo: Yara in purvatanasana in La Zone, Maadi. Ashtanga Yoga Egypt runs Sun/Mon//Wed/Thurs mysore classes 7-10am and Friday 4pm Led in November.

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Ashtanga in Aswan, A Yoga Retreat – Join the Facebook event by clicking here!

December 19-22, 2013. A 4-day, 3-night yoga retreat at Fekra Cultural Centre, El-Shallâl, Aswan, Egypt with Kaz Castillo, KPJAYI authorized ashtanga teacher (Ashtanga Yoga Egypt).
Breathe in the true nature of yoga in the very special surrounds of Aswan. We will explore a holistic view of the ashtanga practice through daily yogasana class, meditation sessions, and other fun and fulfilling activities set in the unspoiled beauty of Aswan.

The Program:
The program 1 yoga class each day in nature’s setting, an afternoon meditation each full day, Accommodation at Fekra Cultural Centre (Two meals/ day), Transportation from Airport, Train Station, Bus Station during arrival and departure day, Fun program during free time includes boat trips, Visiting Philae temple, Nubian night at Fekra and more. Price: LE 1500

The Teacher:
Kaz loves yoga for its transformational power and embraces the constant gifts of change that come with practice. A dedicated ashtanga student, she has been studying at KPJAYI in Mysore, India under the tutelage of Sharath Jois who has given her his blessing to teach the system.She taught at Boracay Yoga in the Philippines up until 2011. Since then, Kaz has immersed herself in the study and exploration of yoga, from the philosophy that fuels the practice to Sanskrit chants and bhajans. She now shares this expansive experience of yoga around the world, from Japan to Europe. Invited by friend and fellow ashtangi Iman Elsherbiny, Kaz is currently teaching for Ashtanga Yoga Egypt.

Fore more about Kaz: www.kazcastilloyoga.com
and Ashtanga Yoga Egypt: https://www.facebook.com/AshtangaYogaEgypt

The Setting:
FEKRA* is the joining together of artists from around the world with the culture and traditions of Southern Egypt. FEKRA supports those artists in their endeavors and promotes a cultural exchange with the local people.

The Cultural Center organizes traditional and contemporary music and dance events, poetry evenings, lectures and film screenings. FEKRA also offers courses and workshops with local and international artists and facilitates an international cultural exchange.

FEKRA is located on 40’000 sqm of land next to the Nile coves and opposite the island of the Philae Temple, in Southern Egypt. More about Fekra Cultural Center at www.fekraculture.com

BOOK YOUR YOGA HOLIDAY
by email: kaz.castillo@gmail.com
or call: +20 122 3717729