Yoginos Yoga For Youth Classes Resume!!

Please visit Yoga Studio of Corpus Christi to get more information and enroll in the amazing Yoginos Yoga for Youth Children's yoga program. Now on Thursdays 4:00pm-4:45 pm. (361)883-1052 or http://www.yogastudioofcc.com/

Duncan Wong comes to Corpus Christi, Texas One Day Only September 11, 2010

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The Heart of Yoga~ Three Life-changing weekends with Manorama

The Heart of Yoga~ Three Life-changing weekends with Manorama

The Heart of Yoga - Home

The Heart of Yoga - Home: "The Heart of Yoga

The Heart of Yoga Program is three weekends of study, contemplation, meditation and chanting with renowned teacher, Manorama. Each weekend can be attended individually or, taken together, will provide a comprehensive introduction to the practices and philosophical precepts that inform the Yoga Tradition.

This program is highly intereactive, deeply engaging and will inspire you to evolve and grow in new and surprising ways. If you have ever dreamed of learning Sanksrit, if you have ever wanted to explore the deeper aspects of the Yoga tradition, if you are longing to get to know yourself more fully, this course is for you.

Dates:
February 11-13, 2011
The Path of Luminous Shabda:
An Introduction to Sanskrit and Yoga Philosophy

June 24-26, 2011
Exploring the Bhagavad Gita

September 30-0ctober 2, 2011
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Schedule:
Friday, 6:00-8:00
Saturday 1:00-6:00
Sunday 9:00-12:00

Tuition:
$175/weekend
$450/all three weekends

For More Information or Registration:
Contact Michele Acebo
(361) 883-1052
www.yogastudioofcorpuschristi.com"

Jivamukti Yoga Focus of The Month~ July, 2010

Jivamukti Yoga Focus of The Month~ July, 2010

India

David Newman Workshop and CD Release Party/Kirtan

Teacher Training Yoga Studio of Corpus Christi, November 2009 Manorama Visit

Addiction
"The great way is not difficult for those who have no preferences." -3rd Chinese Patriarch Most of us spend the first part of our lives desperately trying to acquire an identity and the rest of our lives defending that identity. The definition of an adult, after all, is one who has stopped growing. Addiction is a suppression of our creativity-our natural youthful ability to grow and evolve.

We hanker after experiences that will reinforce a sense of who we are as not different from who we think we are. But the fact is that who we think we are has been decided by us; in other words it is not an absolute "something" set in stone. If we have programmed ourselves, through long-term habitual actions, to feel that we need certain stimulants in order to feel a sense of self worth, then our identity becomes inseparable from our habitual experiences. These stimulants can come from the outside, as in the case of alcohol, marijuana, heroin, cocaine, sugar, caffeine, chocolate, etc., which are referred to as exogenous chemicals. Stimulants can also come from inside the body. These internally produced chemicals are called endogenous chemicals, and they can produce a similar high as the exogenous chemicals. Some people are even said to be addicted to work, gambling, sex or other kinds of activities that can trigger the release of endogenous chemicals in the body.

The human body has receptor cells that have the ability to receive drugs like cocaine and heroin, as well as any other drug or substance that we are capable of being addicted to. It isn't that we are biologically designed to become drug addicts. The fact is that our body is equipped with its own pharmaceutical laboratory that is able to manufacture the same chemicals internally that drug addicts crave from external sources. Any external drug that has an effect in our body works because it behaves like a similar internal chemical that is natural to us. Our body is able to recognize the external drug because our body already has its own receptors that were designed for the internal natural chemicals that we are able to manufacture ourselves. One major problem with chemical addiction is that when you habitually rely on external means to feel good, your body's own ability to manufacture those chemicals decreases, and you become more and more dependent on external means. A similar thing happens in the case of addiction to external activities or behaviors, like work or exercise-your body's ability to manufacture endogenous chemicals when you are not working or exercising decreases. An addict has to go outside of him/herself to find a sense of wellbeing. Dependency is a never-ending search with debilitating results.

These kinds of addictions are counterproductive to the attainment of yoga, as they block a person from becoming truly happy, self confident, self reliant and whole. Addiction suppresses spiritual, emotional and physical development-retarding growth-keeping a person bound to staying the same. Addiction inhibits the blossoming of creativity, the potential for change and the evolution of consciousness.

When external activities are coupled with an intention to grow spiritually, however, they provide a means to consciously train your body to access your own pharmaceutical laboratory and help become free of chemical and other addictions. The practice of yoga asanas is a good example of this. Also, bhakti yogis actively cultivate what they refer to as an addiction to God, yet this "addiction" is not unhealthy, because it moves one closer to God and closer to the realization of who one truly is. Asana practice involves the stimulation of the endocrine system. Consciousness is chemical, and certain asanas stimulate specific glands in the body. These glands in turn secrete chemicals which have a profound effect upon our consciousness: Standing poses affect the adrenals; forward bends, the ovaries and testicles; twists, the pancreas and liver; backbends, the thymus; shoulderstand, the thyroid; child's pose, the pineal; and headstand, the pituitary. Even though a person may practice yoga every day, it will never become an addiction like an addiction to chemicals or to work or gambling, because those kinds of addictions keep one the same and inhibit growth and evolution, whereas yoga provides a means to evolve.

When we become free of addiction, we can then feel what it means to have a body that is an instrument for happiness, ecstasy and bliss, and our body/mind system can do what it was meant to do-take us into new heights of experience beyond our wildest dreams.

-Sharon Gannon

please search Ram Dass on Addiction video on u-tube.com

Manorama from Sanskrit Studies in New York comes to Corpus Christi November 13th, 14th and 15th

Manorama
The director of the School of Sanskrit Studies in NYC, Manorama leads workshops on the Path of Luminous Shabda, a path that combines Sanskrit, Meditation and Yoga philosophy. She leads workshops nationally, as well as internationally. Manorama's mix of earthy charm, deep scholarship and humorous teaching style were born from years of close study with her Guru, Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati. She is a graduate of Columbia University. In 2005, Sanskrit Studies released the acclaimed Learn to Pronounce Yoga Poses, an invaluable tool for yoga teachers & students. Manorama is committed to affecting the world in a positive way through Sanskrit, language of awareness and love. www.sanskritstudies.org

SANSKRIT Level 1: LUMINOUS SHABDA SERIES
THE PATH OF LUMINOUS SHABDA
SANSKRIT ALPHABET
Luminous Shabda Series Level 1
“Level 1 is An Introduction to Sanskrit and teaches students how sound can become a doorway to freedom, through light and awareness.” ~ Manorama

Description: This course is an immersion into the Path of Luminous Shabda (“sound as light and awareness”) through study of the Sanskrit alphabet, Meditation, Yogic life principles and Mantras.
In this course students learn to:
Develop insight into the unique relationship between breath and sound, which is energy and consciousness.
Practice Yoga meditation and the Yoga of Sound to soothe the mind and return it to a natural energized state of tranquility.
Understand how and why Sanskrit sounds are energetically healing.
Experience the harmonious circularity of Sanskrit sounds.

Elements of the course include:

• Learning proper pronunciation of Sanskrit through study of the five mouth positions.
  
• Developing understanding of breath patterns and how to work with them in mantras.
  
• Develop a practice of silent conscious listening.
  
• Introduction to select Mantras, practice of Yoga Meditation, and discovery of key elements in the Yoga of sound.
  
• Reading the Devanagari and Transliteration script.
  
• Light homework exercises support the course material.
  
  Level: Appropriate for all students, Yoga teachers and anyone interested to deepen their practice of Self Knowledge through chanting, Sanskrit & Yoga.
  Please bring: notebook, pencil/pen, meditation shawl

Please contact us by calling 361-883-1052 or yogastudioofcc@yahoo.com or emailing Manorama at classes@sanskritstudies.org to learn more about Sanskrit studies programs. Manorama is currently the director of Sanskrit Studies at Jivamuki's Omega Teacher's Training program 2009. For details go to www.jivamuktiyoga.com

This is part of The Teacher Training Program with Christina Sell at The Yoga Studio of Corpus Christi. We will be allowing students not enrolled in the TT program to this very special weekend. There will be limited space. Registration is open now.

When: November 13-15th, 2009

Where: Yoga Studio of Corpus Christi 513 Clifford Street, Corpus Christi Texas 78404

What: SANSKRIT Level 1: LUMINOUS SHABDA SERIES THE PATH OF LUMINOUS SHAB DA SANSKRIT ALPHABET Luminous Shabda Series Level 1

Cost of entire program $300

Jules Febre
Jules Febre was born and raised in a section of New York City known as the Lower East Side. He grew up in the L.E.S. during a very rough period surrounded by violence, drugs and a general atmosphere of anger. At the age of 13, Jules spent three months in India; two of which were spent in Mysore studying Ashtanga Yoga with Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois. During that time he was invited to share satsang with Swami Nirmalananda and Shyam Das, two radical yogis that have each helped to add to the progression of yoga in the West. At the age of 16 Jules began working at the Jivamukti Yoga School helping to clean, by 21 had become the general manager of two Jivamukti Yoga Schools and eventually became the C.O.O of Jivamukti Inc. in New York City. After years of working behind a desk Jules realized his need was to be with others in a more hands on relationship and took the 350 hour Jivamukti Yoga Teacher training. After completing the extensive one month training, he chose to work for an additional 350 hour advanced certification program. Jules decided it was time to give back to the neighborhood he grew up in and started Hip Hop Asana with two other Jivamukti Yoga teachers. Combining hip hop music and his street smarts, he teaches classes geared toward those interested in the hip hop culture and yoga; especially those who cannot always afford to pay for classes. So far, Hip Hop Asana has been taught by Jules in New York City in Homeless Shelters, High Schools and Recreational Centers for inner city youth. Teaching yoga is Jules' passion. He is grateful to his teachers, Sharonji, Davidji & Yogeswari for igniting his devotion to the Jivamukti Yoga practice and inspire countless students.
Sessions $50 each
$40 per class if you register for 3 or more classes
All Classes and Workshops $300

Wednesday, June 10th 5:00 Basic
Wednesday, June 10th 6:45 Open
Thursday, June 11th 5:00 Basic
Thursday, June 11th 6:45 Open
Friday, June 12th 5:00 Basic
Friday, June 12th 6:45 Open
Saturday, June 13th Forward Bending Workshop 9:00 a.m.-11:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 14th Hip Hop Asana Workshop 11:00 a.m.- 1:30 p.m.

BEGINNER BASICS COURSE If you're a beginner struggling with downward dog or a more advanced student perfecting your shoulder stand, give the Basics course a try. Take advantage of a more intimate environment and focus on the fundamentals. Each week of the month features a concentration: standing poses, forward bends, back bends, and finally, combinations and inversions. The classes are popular and fill up quickly, so reservations are encouraged
OPEN Whether you're a beginner, deciphering the difference between a halasana (plough pose) and sirshasana (headstand) or an advanced yogi, the Open class encompasses all levels at Jivamukti. You work at your own pace, following the teacher's constant guidance. A typical Open class consists of flowing vinyasa sequences partnered with Sanskrit chanting, traditional Vedic and contemporary teachings and commentary, breath awareness, meditation, hands-on alignment, and relaxation. We do sitting, standing, and inverted postures, and suggest challenging variations for more advanced students. Exuberant, eclectic music plays an integral role; in a typical Open class you might practice to a shifting soundtrack of ragas, global trance, Bob Dylan, the chanting of Krishna Das, Miles Davis, Gregorian chants, and Dido
Limited Space available. Registration open Now. Contact The Yoga Studio of Corpus Christi to register by phone (361)883-1052 or by e-mailing michelle.acebo@yogastudioofcc.com.

Jivamukti Yoga Focus of The Month~April '09

The Seat Of Isis

sarva mangala mangalye shive sarvartha sadhike sharanye tryambake gauri narayani namo’stu te (from Durga Saptashati, Chapter 11) I salute the three-eyed goddess, who fulfills the desire for liberation. Realization arises with Her blessing. She is the world itself. Only through the experiences of life can the soul be perfected. Honor this gift, your life.

To the ancient Egyptians, the Goddess Isis was the divine personification of the perfection that comes through the ability to connect perfectly. It was Isis, after all, who, through her power of love, reintegrated the dismembered body of her brother/husband, Osiris. She knew how to put it all back together because she held the key that connects: love.
Interestingly, the Egyptian hieroglyph for Isis, the Divine Mother Goddess, looks like a chair. Her hieroglyph looks like a seat, and its phonetic sound is st, like the Sanskrit sound sthit, which represents stability (the English word “steady” is related).
Obviously, the Egyptians did not mean that Isis should be referred to as “Your Chairness.” They were worshiping a quality of connectedness and relationship to the Earth that is inherent in the power aspect of the goddess.
Ram Dass, the great American spiritual teacher, put a chair on the cover of his classic 1971 book Be Here Now. Not a symbolic chair like the Egyptian hieroglyph for Isis, but an early American ladder-back, rattan seat chair, entangled in a network of interconnected lines that form a wheel. How appropriate for such an innovative book, one of the first books on yoga written by an American to reveal that yoga is about so much more than physical exercise.
Yoga is about being kind and good and connected well to the Earth. When you are, the Earth will support and sustain you. She as the Mother Goddess will also provide you with the means to go beyond mere sustainability, allowing you to rise out of all that has previously bound you to the mundane and impermanent. Through the experiences of life, opportunities to purify our karmas arise, leading to enlightenment or liberation from the world of suffering. Asana can be a means to overcome the limitations of the body revealing the more subtle sources of physical form.
Asana practice is a form of goddess worship. The Earth is another way of referring to the Divine Mother. Mother Earth is the Goddess. To practice asana means to practice perfecting one’s relationships with all aspects of the Earth and all beings that inhabit the Earth.
The Goddess supports those who are not greedy. Selflessness is the key to living happy in the world. It is the key to successful asana practice. It is the key to the attainment of Yoga. It is the way of the jivanmukta, the liberated being. A yogi walks in peace upon the earth, embracing each day, each experience, as providing opportunities for giving back more than he or she has taken.
The root of every asana is this steady connection to the earth. When your connection to the earth is stable, you feel ease in body and mind. Through this ease of being you begin to feel whole and with that wholeness, disconnection subsides, revealing your holiness -your own divine nature.
Practice: Seat of Isis Sequence found on pages 110-111 of the Jivamukti Yoga Book -Sharon Gannon (text adapted from the JY book)

Jivamukti Yoga Focus of the Month~March 09

Guru Mantra
Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnur, Gurur devo Maheshwarah,Guruh sakshat, param Brahma, tasmai shri guravay namah -Guru Stotram
Our creation is that guru (Brahma-the force of creation); the duration of our lives is that guru (Vishnu-the force of preservation); our trials, tribulations, illnesses, calamities and the death of the body is that guru (devo Maheshwara-the force ofdestruction or transformation). There is a guru nearby (Guru Sakshat) and a guru that is beyond the beyond (param Brahma). I make my offering (tasmai) to the beautiful (shri) remover of my darkness, my ignorance (Guru); it is to you I bow and lay down my life (namah).
Guru is the remover of darkness: Gu means darkness, and Ru means remover. Darkness refers to what obscures the light of awareness. Guru is the enlightenment principal that aids one in the realization of the true Self, the whole Self, the holy Self. The guru removes avidya, or ignorance, which is a case of mistaken identity. It is when you think you are your personality, mistaking your body/mind container for who you are and ignore who you really are. It is when you feel separate from the whole.
By reciting this mantra with a sincere heart, you will see that the power that enlightens is all around you at all times. The mantra asks for the ability to see the guru in all names and forms, and even to acknowledge, love and serve the guru who you cannot see, who is beyond all visible forms. The guru is your own self, the inner guiding light.
Your own birth, the creation principle, holds within it the potential for enlightenment. This would include your parents, your day and the place of your birth and all the circumstances surrounding your birth. Many people find it difficult to recognize the guru in their parents. Many of us spend a lot of time complaining about the bodies we have been given by our parents and blame our parents for the difficulties in our lives.
The situation we are living in right now at this time is where guru Vishnu manifests. If we could see our present circumstances-who we work with, who we live with, who our friends are-as embodying the guru principle, we might stop perceiving them as in the way of our happiness and begin to realize that they might be providing us with the way for our enlightenment to unfold.
The most difficult circumstances to accept in a positive way are the calamities, the injuries and illnesses that befall us physically or mentally. Guru devo Maheshwara manifests as the big challenges in our lives, which actually provide us with the greatest opportunities for clearing away avidya and embracing all that happens to us as a gift from God. Destruction always opens the door for transformation.
To see the guru in the teacher who is right in front of you, giving you the teachings of enlightenment, may be very difficult for us due to preconceived idealistic notions about what a guru is suppose to look like. This prejudice may disable us from seeing past the outer form or personality of the teacher.
To acknowledge that the guru is beyond name and form, beyond what we could imagine with the limited vision of the thinking mind, is to begin to open to the mystery of cosmic awareness.
The most potent prayer is the last line of the mantra in which we ask to have the good sense to be humble enough not to miss our chance to recognize the guru when they do appear. Only if we can let go of our self-cherishing, our pride, our need to be recognized and our yearning to be given credit for the things we do, can we ever hope to encounter the guru, that which brings enlightenment to our soul.
-Sharon Gannon

Studio Web Site UP and RUNNING www.yogastudioofcc.com

Our new web site is up and running! Please check it out at www.yogastudioofcc.com
You may also e-mail me for more information at
michelle.acebo@yogastudioofcc.com
Thank you for your support! Take some time to let us know how we are doing! We love to hear from YOU!

Note: We have posted the focus of the month for February, March and April 2009 in our website http://www.jivamuktiyoga.com/.

Satya and Veganism
satya-pratishthayam kriya-phalashrayatvam (PYS II.36)When one does not defile one's speech with lies, the words one says are listened to and acted upon in a positive and immediate manner. The speaker will be able to say what they mean. What one says comes true.
In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali gives us five recommendations, called yamas, for how we should treat others if we want to attain liberation. The second yama is satya, which means "truthfulness." Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati explains that truthfulness means "not to speak untruth, physically, vocally, or mentally.... Speech should not be deceitful, mistaken, or barren of information. It should be used for the service of all, not for injury to any creature."
As yoga practitioners, we come to a time in our lives when we question whether what we have been told is true, including assumptions we hold about ourselves and the world around us. If we don't want to be taken in by the lies people tell us, we can begin to examine our own speech and ask ourselves if we are really saying what we mean. Part of the process of transitioning into living more honestly is to hold yourself accountable for the things you do. Most of us say we want peace, equality, and freedom for all, but our actions say something entirely different as we bite into a hamburger or order an ice-cream cone, wear a fur coat to an anti-war demonstration or serve hot dogs to our children. Once you become more aware, there's simply no way to not notice these everyday hypocrisies, these gaps in awareness justified by group behavior and the culture of dis-ease.
As consumers, we are not told the truth about where food comes from. When advertising is employed to sell meat, milk, and eggs, pictures of happy animals are used. Images like these are false advertising. The truth is that factory farms, and farms in general, are facilities where animals are exploited and manipulated for the benefit of the farm owners. Although in our hearts we know the truth about how food animals are being used, we lie to ourselves. We perpetuate this untruth when we lie to our children and to others and fail to encourage them to investigate the truth. The more we lie to others, the more others will lie to us. Eventually, it becomes quite normal to communicate through lying, never really saying what we mean or doing what we say.
Some meat eaters say they are peaceful people and would never hurt anyone-they didn't kill the animal; they're just eating what is convenient. This type of thinking is an example of how disempowered and disconnected most of the carnivorous members of our culture feel. They have been convinced that what they do doesn't really matter in the larger scheme of things. After all, it is only my lunch-just a piece of ham between two slices of bread; what harm could that do? The fact is that when we buy the meat of an animal, we are the ones who have signed his or her death sentence. If we are buying and eating meat and dairy products, then the slaughterhouse workers, meat packers, and factory farm workers are all working for us. To live by violence and then to deny that you do is to live a lie. Living a lie causes a deep fissure in the human psyche. Yoga seeks to heal that fissure.
One of the ways that you can tell if you are making progress in yoga is by observing your own voice. Through regular practice, you will find that you will be able to say what you mean and mean what you say. When this happens, it is an indication that the disease of disconnection is beginning to be healed. You will experience for yourself what is true, and all the lies you have been told, even those that you have told, will fade away in the light of the greater truth of your true potential.
-Adapted from Yoga and Vegetarianism, by Sharon Gannon