It’s really important as a teacher to do your practice. You want to be in the most Sattvic, balanced, state possible so you can be of service to your students.
The Hudson Yards.
New Article in LA YOGA Magazine!
Deep Relaxation with Shiva Meditation
Arm Balance and Hip Opening Workshops!
Bye for now, Mysore.
Leaving India today and on my way to Toronto, with a short stop in New Jersey. I had a wonderful time in Mysore this last week. It was great to see some old friends and reconnect. The last time I was here was in 2009. So many things are the same. Lots of familiar faces and familiar places. And lots of changes too.
Shiva Meditation in Chiang Mai
Deep relaxation with Shiva Meditation! Pranayama, yoga nidra and seated concentration. Concentration, meditation, and Samadhi are hard. Most of us need to work on the lower limbs to prepare the body to sit, prepare the mind to concentrate, and learn to turn inward and let go of the outer world. If you are not sure of what direction to take in your life? If you are not sure what intention to set and use in your practice? If you are not sure about your purpose? Start to do some more investigation and get to know yourself a little better. Start practicing! Get on your mat and the answers will come. A good practice is also to look at the 8 limbs of Ashtanga Yoga and think of how you could practice each one a little more than you are doing right now. Could you be a little more kind? Could you tell the truth more? Could you stop stealing on a more subtle level? Could you clean up things in your life a little more? Practice more gratitude? Could you work a little harder and go deeper into the fire? Could you study the mind a little more? Could you let go of something you’ve been holding onto? How could you deepen your asana practice this year? Maybe it’s time to introduce a pranayama or a pratyahara practice too? How could you simplify your life? The yamas and niyamas are very helpful at reducing conflict and eliminating distractions. The asana practice will help you to find more comfort in your body, cleanse and release tension, and help train your mind to focus. Pranayama will purify the energetic body and make the mind clear and sharp. How will you take your yoga off the mat this year? My teacher, Mr. Ramaswami used to say that eventually you have to take your yoga off the mat because one or two hours of practice a day will never compete with 22 hrs of living in chaos. Yoga is not asking us to be perfect, just to move forward one step at a time. Put in the effort and don’t worry about the results. Just show up and do the work.
Another Amazing thing about Yoga
The thing that always amazed me about yoga from the beginning of my practice is that we do the practice in just an empty room. The thing that always amazed me about yoga from the beginning of my practice is that we do the practice in just an empty room. There’s nothing special there. You get out of your practice what you put into it. If you choose to make that room a sacred space then it will be a sacred space. If you choose to make your practice transformational then it will be transformational. You can choose to just do yoga exercise but why would you? Ride your horse to the destination. You’ve been given this incredible technology to conquer the mind. Don’t waste even one second getting distracted. Concentrate. Go into the fire. Take a journey into stillness and experience the true nature of your self. Yoga can change your life. But you’ve got to be ready to change. Here’s some pics from our opening night dinner and opening ceremony. We set the stage that first night for the week ahead. I love these opening ceremonies. I love hearing from each of the students and getting to know each of them a little better. Thank you, everyone. Thank you for showing up for yourself. What a nice start to the retreat. To survive, science teaches us that we need food and water. But to thrive, we need to also be seen and heard, to feel connected, and to know that we belong. So much of yoga practice is about finding that connection again. Connection to our self. And connection to each other, to our community. We were off to a great start after our sharing circle at the opening ceremony. I could feel that this was going to be a really great group right from the moment everyone arrived that first night and introduced themselves. Thank you, everyone!
A magical yoga retreat in Chiang Mai
Yogi’s! We’ve just finished a very magical yoga retreat in Chiang Mai. The thing that always amazed me about yoga from the beginning of my practice is that we do the practice in just an empty room. There’s nothing special there. You get out of your practice what you put into it. If you choose to make that room a sacred space then it will be a sacred space. If you choose to make your practice transformational then it will be transformational. You can choose to just do yoga exercise but why would you? Ride your horse to the destination. You’ve been given this incredible technology to conquer the mind. Don’t waste even one second getting distracted. Concentrate. Go into the fire. Take a journey into stillness and experience the true nature of your self. Yoga can change your life. But you’ve got to be ready to change. Here’s some pics from our opening night dinner and opening ceremony. We set the stage that first night for the week ahead. I love these opening ceremonies. I love hearing from each of the students and getting to know each of them a little better. Thank you, everyone. Thank you for showing up for yourself. What a nice start to the retreat. To survive, science teaches us that we need food and water. But to thrive, we need to also be seen and heard, to feel connected, and to know that we belong. So much of yoga practice is about finding that connection again. Connection to our self. And connection to each other, to our community. We were off to a great start after our sharing circle at the opening ceremony. I could feel that this was going to be a really great group right from the moment everyone arrived that first night and introduced themselves. Thank you, everyone!
Chiang Mai Retreat - Day 3
Day 3 on our yoga retreat to Thailand! Another strong Shiva Power class to start the day! Lots of deep twisting, and some work on Mayurasana, the Peacock Pose. The Peacock represents Sattva, a state of balance and equilibrium, illumination, a state where the light can move through you. When you check in at the end of your practice, hopefully you are closer to a place of balance than when you checked in at the beginning of your practice. Maybe your body is a little more open and a little more relaxed, your breath is flowing a little more evenly, and your mind is a little quieter. You might even feel a little more calm and a little more at peace. You might even experience a deeper connection to your Self. During the practice, though, as you work on finding balance you might not feel balanced at all. The practice is supposed to take you out of your comfort zone. You’re supposed to feel vulnerable and uncomfortable, and your “stuff” is supposed to come to the surface. That’s the point. That’s the cleansing part of the practice. Yoga then asks you to shift your perspective. Sit in the fire. But try to stay calm in the middle of all that intensity. Walk to the center of your wheel. Stop asking the wheel to slow down. Stop asking the world to change for you. Change your relationship to the world. Change your relationship to the movement of the wheel. Move from Tamas, through Rajas to Sattva, and experience the true nature of your self.
Core workshop in Chiang Mai
Core strength Workshop! Here’s some pics of the students on our retreat exploring the function of each core muscle. One of the great things about understanding anatomy is that you can understand the purpose of each Asana a little better. The body is amazing at getting the job done. The problem is that we all have some muscles that aren’t doing enough and some muscles that are doing way too much. When we break it down and get really specific we can see clearly which muscles we need to strengthen and which muscles we need to stretch. We can start to undo some of the physical patterns that are leading to imbalances in our body, that might be causing pain, and that could lead to injury. Anatomy literally means to cut the body into pieces, so that by understanding the microcosm we can understand the whole body, the macrocosm a little better.
Happy New Year to Everyone!
Happy New Year to Everyone! It’s been an incredible 2019! I hope you all had a great holiday and your 2020 is starting off in the right direction. Did you set an intention? What old habit isn’t serving you that you want to let go of and leave behind this year? What seeds did you plant for the new year?
Our master teacher, Sri T. Krishnamacharya, the teacher of several of my teacher’s says, “Yoga is the practice of replacing old patterns that aren’t serving you, with new patterns that will lead you in a more positive direction”. What are your old patterns that aren’t serving you? How are you getting in your own way? It’s time to make some changes. Now, is the time for yoga. It is up to you to do the work. It is your responsibility to shift your perspective. The ego part of us says, ‘I want the world to change for me’. One of my teacher’s used to call this the “Arrogance of specialness”. Yoga says, ‘Change your relationship to your Self and your relationship to the whole world changes. Shift your perspective and you will have a different experience of the world’. There’s a well known modern quote that I love that explains this well. “Yoga isn’t about making the waves go away. It is about learning how to surf”. The teacher can show you the door and encourage you to follow them down the path but you must decide to follow them. You must decide to walk through the door. It’s time to wake up, everyone! Are you still running into the same brick wall? Maybe there’s a better way. Where do you want to go? What shift do you want to make in your life? Create a simple statement. Repeat it to yourself over and over again. Try to see it already happening. You’re already there. You’re already living this intention.
I have just finished leading an incredible yoga retreat in Thailand. It has been such a memorable experience. Thank you to everyone who joined me walking this path in 2019. I look forward to our continued practice together this year. I hope to see you in a class, workshop, on a future retreat, or in an upcoming training program.
Lots of love to you and best wishes to you and your family!
Namaste,
Garth.
Sunya Yoga in Shenzhen!
My student, KiKi owns the studio Sunya Yoga in Shenzhen! I had so much fun teaching at her studio last weekend. We had a really fun Shiva Power master class on Saturday morning. I led a Deep Back Bending workshop on Sunday morning. Thank you to everyone who came to practice with me. The students were so open hearted and very receptive and I think this had a lot to do with KiKi and the energy she is putting out into the world.
A Very Special Vegetarian Restaurant!
A week ago the producer from Yoga Journal took me to this really special vegetarian restaurant in Guangzhou after we finished our first day of shooting. Such a cool place. The menu was designed with Chinese medicine in mind. The food changes on the menu each month with the change of the season. Each course the waiter brought to us he took the time to explain all of the ingredients, where they were from, why they were chosen and how they will affect our body.
Shiva Power class in Guangzhou!
Stay open under challenging circumstances.
I experienced a moment of stillness...
I fell in love with yoga when I experienced a moment of stillness. When I first started practicing yoga I fell in love with how different the practice was to everything else I was doing. I remember sitting at the end of class in stillness and my mind was quiet and I felt a deeper connection to myself than ever before. It was so cool! I wanted to learn more!
Handstand Workshop in Beijing!
We’ve got a Core Strength Workshop coming up this weekend at Space in Shanghai! If you want to be able to do arm balance poses and handstands you need to have a strong core, and this doesn’t just mean the superficial abdominal muscles. Join me this weekend and learn about the function of all the core muscles on the front, back, and sides of the trunk. We touched on a little of this work in the Handstand Workshop. We even did 108 Yogi Bicycles! A very auspicious number! Thank you to everyone who came out to practice and went deep with me in this Handstand Workshop! Hope to see you in class or at a future workshop!
Samkhya Yoga Philosophy.
The last 2 weeks of my Shiva Yoga 200hr RYT Teacher Training Program we dive deep into yoga philosophy. The students debate the Karma Theory and reincarnation. We learn about Samkhya Yoga Philosophy and the theory of the 25 Principles. We explore the Classical Yoga practice Sam-Yoga — concentration, meditation and Samadhi. And we contemplate how we can practice the 8 limbs of Ashtanga Yoga in a deeper way, and practice more yoga off the mat!
Yoga philosophy is one of the most challenging things I’ve ever studied but it’s also one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever learned. Once you get it — once you really get it? Once you understand this practice and the incredible technology used in this practice? You feel like you have the keys to the Kingdom. It changes everything. You’ll never go back to doing yoga exercise and stretching again. What would be the point?
I’m grateful to my teachers for helping me to make sense of it all. And for giving me the incredible gift of their knowledge and wisdom. I do my best to let their teachings flow through me when I lead these training programs. And I think I’ve found a really unique approach to sharing some of the more complicated ideas in yoga philosophy. Some of the feedback I was so happy to hear after this training was how much the students enjoyed learning the deeper philosophy and how much it made sense to them because of how we broke it down. I think this is one of the unique gifts that I’ve found as a teacher. This stuff was really hard for me to understand. I think I’ve found some pretty fun ways to help my students figure it out too. I remember leaving my first training program and having no idea what the teachers had been talking about when it came to the yoga philosophy. It’s amazing how your mind opens and expands. Transformation! Are you ready? Time to get on the mat!
Tantra Philosophy.
The students are working on some mandala’s in these pictures. One of the key concepts of Tantra is connecting the microcosm with the macrocosm. A mandala is a picture that represents the entire Universe. If we look at the yoga story of the wave and the ocean — Tantra says that you are both the individual wave and you are the water that is connected to everything and everyone. You are the wave and you are the ocean. Tantra philosophy primarily influences Hatha Yoga, Kundalini Yoga and Laya Yoga. Some of the tantric practices are also found and were practiced alongside all of the other orthodox and heterodox philosophy teachings of the Classical period. Tantra reexamines the role of the feminine. Darkness isn’t meant to be overcome or avoided. Tantra instead speaks of transformation. Turn your darkness into light. Reimagine your darkness as light. If you want to experience God, become like a God.
