Yoga Stories with Matt and Monica

OK, so January is almost over, but that doesn't mean we cannot still develop some new habits and work on those resolutions we made at the beginning of the year! Monica tells us it only takes 21 days to develop a new habit - so why not use that power to achieve something wonderful?

Our idea (and we don't claim it's original!) is to encourage you to start a personal (yoga) practice. Something simple. Something sustainable. Something you will do every day, and will see and feel a benefit from. So we suggest a very simple practice that starts with Savasana! Along with practicing yogic breathing and some "Proto-Pranayama", you may even begin some simple exercises to help you enter a meditative state. All while lying on the floor. We're serious - and it couldn't be easier.

We share our stories about how much personal practice has helped us (The Testimony section!). And finally, we pick one of the Yamas and one of the Niyamas that we are going to pay special attention to during this time of new resolutions. So maybe we don't quite pick just one of each, but we hope the conversation will inspire you to think about what could do with your special attention right now. 

How quickly and dramatically can things change? In a global pandemic, the answer is "VERY"! In the last episode Monica was looking forward to Christmas in Slovakia and her birthday (and New Year) in Sicily. However, Monica is now in splendid isolation at home after testing positive before trying to take the flight to Sicily. Matt was busy preparing for a Christmas for seven family members, but in the end it was three people and one dog - everyone else at home also having caught Covid...

We continue our conversation about the things we remember from all of our guests, lessons learned, sparks of inspiration that encourage us to try something new, or find a "better" way to practice (or perhaps just one more appropriate for right now).

We are blessed to know so many artists and dancers and to hear how closely linked the need for self-expression is to the need to discover the real self; how understanding and occupying the body can help us to see that we are not our bodies. 

Of course we wander off on a tangent - the focus on tantra from Michael and Tara inevitably led to Matt getting a new book (one which Monica of course has). And we talk about being a channel or a vessel for a higher consciousness. It happens to all of us more often that we think.

On the day of publishing, the last day of 2021, it is Monica's birthday and she is in isolation at home with Tomas, her husband. They won't be allowed back out into the world until the end of next week. So if you have the opportunity, please wish her a Happy Birthday via @yoga.stories.matt.monica on Instagram, or via Twitter @StoriesYoga.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We will have many more stories to share in 2022. Please join us, and share, share, share!

We decided to celebrate the end of the year by listening back to the guests we had over the last year; to share the impressions we had, the lessons we learned, the beautiful stories  shared. However, we were really only half way through when time was up (a booster vaccination appointment was calling!). So this is just part 1. We will talk about everyone before the year is out... (hopefully!)

What have we learned? CHANGE. Everything changes, and we are certainly not the people we were at the beginning of the year. Some of us are very aware of this, others need some time to think about that. We learned that you don't have to believe in God to live a yogic life. The outdoors is good for the spirit. Everything, in the end, works out for the good. And reading should be a part of your practice! (We have a little "debate" about the value of reading something all in one go, as opposed to taking time to study what you're reading...)

Matt gets passionate about gender in yoga... Just because we only heard about male yogis from the past, does it mean there were no yoginis? And how does this relate to today's yoga world, where it's overwhelmingly women who practice?

It may be a cliché but we both feel wonder, awe and gratitude for having spoken to these amazing people. And you're just as amazing - wherever you are, whomever you are.  

For those who celebrate it, Happy Christmas. 

Born in the US Pacific Northwest, Michael was a bookish child, not so comfortable in his body. He grew up in a loving family, but one that had no specific religious or spiritual practice. Realising he was good at school work, he decided to be really good at school. This eventually led to a full ride scholarship to University.

It was while at college that he discovered dance, and took his first yoga class. Soon he was a regular at the local Bikram studio, as well as adding dance to his degree programme, resulting in a double degree - in Dance and Community & Environmental Planning. He was soon off to New York City to live the life of an artist (and working a number of jobs at the same time, as many do).

Michael followed his partner to Brussels and has been there for ten years. A graduate of the Conscious Living yoga teacher training course at Yyoga, he now teaches there (and Matt has taken one of his classes). Join us to hear about Michael's journey to become comfortable in his body, his life as an artist, what he thinks of Tantra, and "spiritual activism". A delightful guest, Michael is engaging and enlightening. See more of him at michaelhelland.com

Born in South Africa, Shannon had an idyllic childhood including time at a catholic boarding school. Sensing the world was bigger than what she saw of it in her home country, she moved to London and enjoyed all the big city can offer.

Along the way she became acquainted with yoga and meditation, but it wasn't until she went on a month long Buddhist meditation retreat that her life turned a corner and she set out in a different direction. Eventually she ended up working in France at a meditation retreat centre based in a chateau, where she met current partner, Vajrayana lama Brian.

Ready to move back into the "world" Shannon and Brian moved to Brussels. They now run www.crystalsingingbowlseurope.com in Brussels, where they hold yoga, meditation and sound bath classes and where you can receive advice on the bowls and perhaps purchase one of your own. Shannon will train you in how to use it!

Tessa is half-Belgian, half-American and is a teacher at Yyoga in Brussels. Monica and Matt chat to Tessa about when and how she discovered yoga - as a student in Florida. Tessa seems to have taken a very different course through life after her introduction to yoga than the one she had envisaged when she went to the USA to complete post-graduate studies.

Tessa found yoga (or yoga found Tessa) after she had already instigated a spiritual practice. Her yoga practice helps to put her in a place that allows her to continue this practice. Although she very much enjoys the physicality of yoga, one of the greatest values it has for her is enabling a "moving meditation".

Tessa talks about her family's love of nature and animals, especially her father's fondness for taking random animals into the home. Listen out for tales of Mr Wiggles! There's also some discussion about mindful eating and vegetarianism. 

Where is Tessa now in her yoga practice and her spirituality? Listen to the episode to find out.

This episode introduces us to Tara - who studied with Monica in Mysore. Tara is based in India but has also lived in Europe. She is a student and teacher of yoga, as well as an artist and mindful cook.

Tara's introduction to yoga came from two sources - a grandmother (who instilled the Yamas and Niyamas in her), and later family friends. That introduction was significant - not only did Tara start to learn yoga asanas, but her eyes were opened to the vastness of artistic expression once released from the confines of art classes at school. Young Tara took both topics very seriously as a child.

After a spell in Art and Design school, Tara's mother brought her back to yoga, hoping she would get some grounding and direction for her life. At the Sivananda Centre she learned quickly and ended up taking a teacher training course. One day, after completing the course, she was asked to teach at the centre. It was then that she learned that opening up to channel a higher power was the best way to teach. 

Listen to the rest of Tara's story to hear her views on being an artist and a yogi; how she has learned to accept her personality and character and how she lives her life now, in this moment.

As the recording involves the internet, sometimes the quality is not the best. You may have to listen more carefully - but that may not be a bad thing 😁

To see Tara's work check these out:

www.taragoswami.com 

Instagram: 
Yoga - @thisistaragoswami
Art - @on.being.art
Food - @labohemienneetlesamis

Summer is almost over - but you wouldn’t know that from Monica’s regular comment on the weather! This summer has been one of growth for both Matt and Monica. With yoga studios in Belgium allowed to reopen, and with Matt having completed a teacher training course, things have, inevitably, changed.

Have we been able to embrace this change, as yogis do? As the young people would say “it’s complicated”. Or maybe it isn’t. So will Matt teach, Monica wants to know… we discuss callings, gurus, “inner-gurus” and “proxy-gurus”. How do we cultivate the ability to listen to that voice inside that helps us make better decisions? How do we learn how to make decisions based on reality, rather than our fantasy of how we would like things to be? And how far do we go when we learn something new; how much of yoga can we absorb into the daily lives of “householders” with families, jobs, responsibilities?

And now that we can physically be with our friends, families, communities, how will we handle that? Is there something we can do in our personal daily practice that will help us to be open to the possibilities that are now appearing? And can we be kind to ourselves and learn from those incidents when we haven’t been calm, haven’t lived up to our own expectations, or failed to be the yogis we thought we were, or hoped we were?

In a recording made during the heady days of summer, Monica and Matt talk to Klara and Sigrid, teacher and student at Reykjavik Yoga in Iceland. Why Iceland? We noticed that after Brussels, Reykjavik is the city in which we had the most listeners. So we wanted to meet some of them!

Klara was born in the Czech Republic but has traveled the world since then. Yoga was seeping into her life from an early age with an interest in rocks and crystals and wondering what chakras were... in Ireland she finally met yoga head on, at the Himalaya Valley Yoga Centre in Cork, Ireland. Eventually she completed a teacher training course, but it was a while before she could confront her fear of actually teaching...

Sigrid was born in Spain. Her parents loved literature and music and Sigrid was drawn to The Beatles and admired George Harrison, the less prominent, spiritual Beatle. Her first introduction to yoga was permanently "borrowing" a book from her aunt... Sigrid studied law at University but realised that a career in litigation was not for her. She discovered environmental law and looked for a Masters course where she could further her studies. She found herself in Iceland, and revelled in the freedom she felt there, where no one judged her.

Listen to Sigrid and Klara inspire us with their stories and remind us of the values of yoga and how regular practice can reshape your life. As the participants were in Belgium, France, Spain and Iceland, the sound quality may not be what you are used to - but persevere - it's worth it!

Shilpi is originally from India but now lives in New Jersey, USA, with her husband, daughter, son and enormous dog (Cosmo). Shilpi was introduced to yoga by her Dad when she was a youngster. It was a very physical practice with very little theory but she continued to practise up until moving to the USA. She has recently taken up yoga again, but perhaps this time with more emphasis on yoga's philosophy and theory.

Shilpi's most common practice is the Vipassana form of meditation. And mindfulness, it's utility and application, is what led her to explore how children and youths could benefit from these kinds of practices and observations. Beginning with helping her own daughter, Shilpi went on to found an organisation that provides mindfulness and meditation tools to children, their parents, guardians and teachers. (https://www.youtube.com/c/FablefyTheWholeChild/about)

Along the conversational way, we talk about what qualifications might mean to setting up with your own idea and how fear can be a motivator as well as something that holds you back if you don't have it. We also learn that the verb "hustle" can be applied to mindfulness and yoga too 😉

Shilpi recommends "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse, and "Be Here Now" by Ram Dass. You don't need links to find them! Shilpi is an inspiration to those looking to share what they have learned about what this life might be all about and how to deal with it. For further information on Fablefy, check out the link above.

In this second episode on the Kleshas, we look at Asmita - ego, and Avidya, the mother and father of all Kleshas. We spend quite some time examining our own lives to see how much we have identified with different roles - professional, family, social. Identifying too much with any of these roles - motherhood included - is going to involve some suffering at some point.

We also look at the idea that egoism can be negative as well as positive - thinking you're not good enough is just as damaging as thinking you are God's Gift to the world. However, you do need some self-esteem and hope to start on your yogic path, as well as an enormous amount of faith. 

Avidya - the first Kleshas - has four parts. It's all about ignorance - mistaking impermanence for permanence, impure for pure, misery for happiness and non-Self for Self. If we could rid ourselves of this four-fold ignorance, we wouldn't have to worry about the other Kleshas.

But given how difficult that is, why not start working on one of the others. Every effort will be rewarded! (In this episode there is a mention of gay sex - it's not explicit, but you may want to give consideration to those you may be listening with!)

In this episode we begin a discussion on the Kleshas - impediments, obstacles of inflictions that inhibit our spiritual growth. We decided to discuss them backwards - starting with abhiniveśāḥ, the fear of death. And after observing that we don't talk a lot about death in our cultures, we spend a considerable time talking about death...

dveṣa is aversion - or attachment to past pain. Not letting go of pain from the past can lead to a lot of unhappiness. Attachment is most often considered in the light of attachment to things we like, or experiences we have enjoyed so it's interesting to look at how we can become attached to the negative and how that plays out in life.

rāga is quite well known to yogis and others - attachment. We usually equate it to material objects, which we all know are not permanent. But the attachment to past pleasure is also raga and it's also not permanent. We could spend a lot of life trying to recreate past pleasures which is a fruitless exercise. 

We're back! In this week's episode, before talking about the last three limbs of yoga from Patanjali's sutras: Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. But before we get to concentration and meditation we have to confess that we're not going to be able to share much about Samadhi. 

There's a very honest discussion about "Why do we do this?" "This" being yoga rather than the podcast 😁. And why do we talk about that? Well, Matt has a confession to make. Don't worry, it's not too shocking.

We discuss a number of concentration techniques: most of the time we think we are spending in "meditation" is actually a concentration exercise to reach a meditative state. How do you know when you've reached it? Well, Monica introduces the rule of 12s. And if, like her, you thought keeping your mind one-pointed was not going to be too difficult... just try it!

Different concentration techniques will suit different people. Reflection on the past day is going to be more difficult for people who cannot see pictures in their heads (and you will discover you know one of these people). And whoever takes up candle gazing, remember safety first! Namaste.

How do you talk about withdrawal of the senses? (Or indeed how do you present that in a photo?) That's how pratyahara is most often translated. The fifth limb of yoga is perhaps something that happens to you when you practice consistently, rather than a recognisable practice or tradition that you can follow. After our discussion about Prana, however, it makes more sense in that context: by making the mind the master of the "sense organs" you can learn to put them under your control, allowing you to focus the mind more successfully.

One really common distraction we are all having to learn to control, which makes pratyahara more difficult, is the smart phone. Indeed any of our electronic devices nowadays is designed to stimulate and occupy the "monkey mind". So for many of us the first step to Pratyahara is going to be switching off the phone.

And when does your teacher stop being your teacher? There's a definite difference of opinion there!

This week, after a week off, Matt has baked diabetic cookies for Monica. They turn out to be not so bad in the end... 

Our discussion focuses on Pranayama. More than breathing exercises, it's a way to expand and control Prana, the energy that animates not only us, our minds and bodies, but the whole Universe. Matt gets very excited about the reading he's been doing on Prana, from Vivekananda's lecture series. Intensifying, concentrating and controlling Prana are ways to "put more coal in your steam engine" (those lectures are more than 100 years old but quote the cutting edge of Physics at the time). 

Monica guides us through a number of pranayama techniques, simple as well as a little more advanced. As a practice, even longstanding yogis can struggle to make it part of their regular practice. But don't be put off. Yoga is an experiential science. Try it and observe the effects. But do it with some awareness of what you're doing: it's your responsibility to research and when needed, find a teacher. 

Popular culture mentions this week are, of course, "Frozen", but also Star Wars. But it turns out that Monica isn't best placed to chat about the similarities of "The Force" and Prana...

Namaste Folks!

This week Monica and Matt chat with Daša Lakner, founder of agniyoga studios in Ljubljana, Slovenia and the teacher with whom Monica completed her first teacher training. Recently a mother for the second time, Daša manages to have an in-depth conversation with us while pushing her new-born son to a local castle to help him sleep! (This does mean you will occasionally hear the joyful sounds of children playing and birds singing.)

Daša was exposed to yoga from an early age, but also was inducted into the Catholic Church through First Communion. With a "new age" mother, a Buddhist uncle and a grandmother with a collection of books on yoga, she was always aware that there were, potentially, a number of ways to spiritual fulfilment.

Daša did her first yoga class in high school, but was soon drawn to a Slovenian teacher recently returned from the USA. She did teacher training at 22 and has never looked back. After developing your own practice and developing your personal growth, it's natural to want to know how you can share something like yoga and learning to teach and opening a studio was Daša's way. 

She thinks it's good that yoga has changed and adapted over time and she sees the recent development of less emphasis on your yoga "lineage" as positive. Finally, she recommends three women authors on yoga, as well as a look at Yin Yoga. Her recommendations:

Fierce Medicine: Breakthrough Practices to Heal the Body and Ignite the Spirit, 
Ana T. Forrest

Any book by Donna Fahri

Yoni Shakti: A Womans Guide to Power and Freedom Through Yoga and Tantra, 
Uma Dinsmore Tuli

Jivamukti Yoga: Practices for Liberating Body and Soul, 
Sharon Gannon, David Life

The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga: The Philosophy and Practice of Yin Yoga, 
Bernie Clark, Sarah Powers

Monica and Matt examine the third limb of yoga: asanas. The discussion gets perhaps more serious than one would imagine for the topic... and Oréo can be heard begging for Monica's coconut cookies!

There's not much to go on in Patanjali or the Gita... so Monica turns to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (HYP). A marvellous handbook for yoga but it only refers to sitting postures. So where do the standing asana (postures) come from?

Of the modern posture styles best known in the west (Hatha, Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Iyengar), most, if not all, trace back to Krishnamacharya's school in Mysore, in the royal palace. We discover that there is some myth behind Krishnamacharya's own training and the origin of some of his ideas contain some mystery. But does that mean it's not authentic? How do we find the right style for us when we in the west are concerned to have our yoga style prove its authentic lineage, but we are also easily tempted by new, seemingly more exciting and dynamic styles?

What should we think when our asana practice guru gets into trouble? Our teachers, after all, are as human as we are. And inspired yoga styles are still channelled through mortals with egos and appetites. 

Patanjali and the HYP both see asana practice as a preparation for meditation and we do too! That's one way to decide how authentic and useful your asana practice style is - if it lights tapas, if it prepares your body and mind for meditation, then it's probably good. 

This week we continue our discussion of the Niyamas, the things yogis should be doing to bring their practice into every aspect of life. Tapas, a kind of self-discipline that helps build the fire inside that burns away impurities, is a concept familiar to many people of faith. 

Svadhyaya is the study of the self - reflection on your actions, characteristics, the direction you are taking and the environment in which you are living. But of course it must be done without too heavy of a critique: Svadhyaya is to help lift you up, not bring you down with further self-doubt. It is a great way to get to know your God - whomever or whatever that may be.

Finally, Ishvarapranidhana is "surrender to the Lord". Like a number of concepts in yoga, it's another aspect of letting go.

In this episode Monica and Matt discuss the first two Niyamas - Saucha (or is it Shaucha?) and Santosha - purity and contentment. Saucha can also mean cleanliness and we discover that what comes out of people can be as "defiling" as what goes in - an idea we look at from the New Testament. We also talk about interdictions on certain foods for observant Jews as well as Muslims. Preparations to commune with the divine, including those related to Saucha can be useful to put you in the right state of mind, but no preparation is needed to get onto you yoga mat to practise!

And it appears that alcohol and drunkenness is frowned upon for all the "People of the Book" and perhaps for yogis too... 

Santosha - contentment - needs balancing as many of the concepts we talk about! You should be grateful and content with what you have, but Santosha doesn't always mean accepting situations that could be improved. Closely related to the Yamas of Aparigraha, contentment can be an important part of daily happiness.

What is the ultimate Yoga movie? Well, it's animated and it has great songs... 😁 And both of us have taken the advice of the guest from the last episode, Ashoka, and found a copy of Isherwood's translation of the Gita. 

This episode is a little longer than usual - we know we have to work on this, but we enjoy talking to each other and these topics so much...

Namaste!

This week Monica and Matt speak with Ashoka Mody, an economics professor at Princeton. Born and raised in India, Ashoka's first asana practice began between graduating from High School and going to University. The Ashram providing the classes was just opposite his school. A great believer in chance/coincidence/conjuncture, his journey led him to begin transcendental meditation and then on to study with Swami Akhandanandji in Vrindavan, the town where Lord Krishna grew up.

After moving to the USA, he continued a dual track - also studying at the Himalayan Institute. His has been a lifelong spiritual practice - of yoga asana, meditation and study of the Vedic Scriptures. Study and practice is best when you keep bringing it into your practical and daily life - something taught to Ashoka that we can all live by. 

Ashoka gives us his recommendations for starting a spiritual reading practice and he recommends that over looking for, or recommending a guru. A good place for those of us in the West to start is with the translations of the Yoga Sutra and the Bhagavad-Gita by Christopher Isherwood. 

We found this interview to be warm and inspiring and we hope you do too!