Andrei Ram-On Dharma Yoga Immersion

Where do I OR more importantly, how do I even begin to describe and experience that is nothing short of profound?
I could begin by sharing all the asanas that we did…or the different principles that Andrei shared with us to help make our asanas stronger…and yet, I am not compelled to do that.
What I am moved to write about though is how it is simply amazing it is to meet a person who has so much light in his heart – it literally flows out of him, through the people who encounter him and channels out to the rest of the world.
And how it is in moments like this, when you meet someone with such a true heart, when you really start to become hopeful for the rest of the world. It brings you back to the basic truth that, at the core of our beings as humans…we are all essentially good. We might have forgotten somehow…but it is there…that tiny light that can explode into a supernova of greatness.
And it is this ultimate self-realization which Andrei has shared with us. It is this self-realization which is the ultimate goal of yoga - the Universal Self that is unbounded by ego, by intellect, by the body and by the constructs of the world. He reminded all of us how asanas are really just specks in the greater scheme of “yoga”. That, yes, as I have shared before – yoga is what happens out there. Not on the mat, not in the studio.
It is a way of life.
While I have come out of the workshop, stronger and more confident about inversions and arm balances, this workshop has left my truly inspired. When you are in a place with such wonderful people, who share the same passion, who have so much positive energy – you find that you are transformed. And you feel an energy, a vibe, a light that shines from the heart…it may be as little as a speck…but it is a there…and it spreads… and soon it is like wildfire.
And as I sat during Kirtan, along with my yogi and yogini friends, clapping and singing along, celebrating the goodness of the universe and all living things, and listening to Andrei say his thank you’s, I could not help but look around and notice that people also had tears in their eyes. I guess when the heart knows it has encountered something significant, you are left in awe and your body just naturally wells up with it.
And I knew…right there and then…that we all understood.

ONLY AS STRONG AS MY CORE

Despite the fact that I have been doing yoga for quite some time now, I have only been to yoga core ONCE. For the most part, it’s really only because this class was not offered in my previous studio in Bangkok. And for the lesser part? Well….not sure exactly…it just didn’t catch my fancy somehow.
And yet, as I move through more challenging asanas and inversions and balances, I find myself taking a step back…breathing in and out…and thinking: “This will not work. I need to work on my core.”
And so it is. Without proper core strengthening and really bringing awareness to your core, you will find yourself…wobbling though a lot of the more advanced poses…or getting by but advancing quite slow…or passing through one pose after another and becoming stuck somewhere, somehow.
And so, as I found myself doing the “100s” pose during Shaun’s class yesterday…and feeling the all too familiar burning sensation in my core muscles…I kept on thinking how much stronger I have become and will still be as I continue to build and work on my core.
And it is perhaps not a coincidence when they say that “you are only as strong as your core”. To a certain extent, it is physical and yet greatly metaphysical as well. At the end of the day, it all boils down to the core – to the “core of our being”. That is what defines us… that is where we draw our strength, where we find balance. Without going back to it – we will always be struggling, wobbling, moving and yet never really changing.