Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

This mantra of blessing for the world and a reminder to live intentionally and for the liberation of all.

The Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu Sanskrit mantra means: (translation courtesy of Jivamukti Yoga)
“May all beings everywhere be happy and free from suffering, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.”

It is a reminder to be the change we wish to see in the world by examining our deep-seated unconscious thoughts and beliefs. Thoughts beget words; words beget actions. 

Lokah:  The location of all universes existing at this moment
Samastah: All beings living in this location
Sukhino: In happiness, joy and free from all suffering
Bhav: The divine mood or state of union
Antu: May it be so

The freedom implied in Suhkino recognizes the laws of free will and our equal rights to pursue joy. Knowing we are one with all, our actions can support or suppress the freedom of another. “No freedom can come from depriving others of their freedom.”
This mantra reminds us to take responsibility for oneself; to individually do our part to address our limitations and faults. We own our karma and desire to act from places of greater love.

Per Amma Although this mantra does not appear in any of the existent Vedic branches, it is an expression of the universal spirit. The sloka as a whole reads as follows:

svasti prajabhyah: pari-palayantham
nyayeana margena mahim maheesah:
go-brahmanebhya: shubamasthu nityam
lokah: samasthah: sukhino bhavanthu

A loose translation:
May there be well being to the people; may the leaders rule the earth along the right path;

May the sources of nourishment, the cultural and spiritual leaders have well being forever;
May all the beings in all the worlds become free of suffering;

Join us on Wednesday, June 3rd at 5pm to chant mantra with us for 8 mins to honor the struggle of our black sisters and brothers for liberation from institutionalized racism. Chant to find your voice and part in this struggle.  

Yoga Studio Coronavirus Precautions

Dear Namaste Family,

In light of recent developments in the spread of coronavirus, we have implemented a new protocol to minimize the risk to our students and staff.

• We wipe down all the door handles between classes, as well as the front desk and the pens we use to sign in.
• We had all the blankets washed and all the blocks have been wiped down.
• There are disinfecting wipes and hand sanitizers on the prop shelves for you to wipe the mats and props before and after class as well.
• The bathrooms are disinfected daily. 

Most importantly, we’d like you to wash your hands immediately at arriving at the studio. If you feel at all sick, please stay home.

Things to know about CORONAVIRUS:

Coronavirus spreads with droplets, you cannot get it from the air, unless someone directly sneezes in your face. The virus can stay active 6-12h on surfaces. For the virus to spread, you touch a surface and the touch your nose or mouth. So wash hands often and use hand sanitizer!

If you have a runny nose, you don’t have it - coronavirus causes a dry cough without runny nose.

1. First it sets in at the throat. A dry sore throat feeling which will last for 3 to 4 days - hopefully our immune system fights it off here.
2. If not, the virus will blend into the nasal fluid and drips into the trachea and enters the lungs, possibly, in severe cases pneumonia. This process will take 5 to 6 days.
3. With pneumonia, comes high fever and difficulty in breathing. The nasal congestion is not like the normal kind. You will feel like you are drowning in water. It's important to go seek immediate medical attention if you feel like this.

Be safe, boost your immune system. With regular yoga practice your body switches to the rest and digest mode more readily - which plays an important role in regulating immune function.  

Hope this info helps to reassure you and answers all your questions.

With love,

your Namaste family.

The Heart of Ayurveda by Lea Kraemer

Ayurveda is the longest continuously practiced medical system on the planet! I've been studying it's classical teachings since about 2005 and from the start I loved the idea of Ayurveda as the "Science of Life" because it spoke to the same wholeness and wellness of Being that comes alive in a really good Yoga practice. The root of spiritual psychology is right in the texts of Ayurveda, an ancient system that views mind-body-senses-being as a continuum. 

Yoga and Ayurveda merge very closely in their view of synergistic wellness. A healthy mind and body is one that supports joy, Ayurveda says, and the path for natural healing is in this wisdom. It's an emotional grounding that is one of Ayurveda's most welcoming aspects. You know how after a Yoga class the patterns of our lives can just start to naturally shift? Without force, the way we eat our lunch, or the way we think about scheduling the day, or even how we arrange our houses, just start to shift a little and it feels like things fit in place in a better way. I always hear students talk about this as they come in and out for classes  .... saying things like how their diet changed after a few months of Yoga ..... or how they notice the calm sound of their voice when they are speaking to their child. When our life-style practices spring from consciously observing our own tendencies, inherent reactions and even our vulnerabilities, we are understanding Prakriti, our very nature, and Ayurvedic Yoga is coming alive in us. 

Everything on Earth can be understood in relationship to its qualities. For instance, in everyone's life, day and night time have different energies and should have separate rhythms and practices around them. Maybe it's a lot for a blog ... but it's so nice to start to ponder these relationships that I'll include the"Twenty Types of qualities" here:

गु मद हम िनध लण सा मदृ ु िथरा: । गणु ा: ससू म वशदा: वशं त: स वपयया: ॥

Guru(heavy) X laghu (light in weight)       Manda(slow) X tiksna (quick,fast)               Hima (cold) X ushna (hot)

Snighda (unctuous) X ruksa (dry)               Slaksna (smooth) X khara (rough)              Sandra (solid) X drava (liquid)

Mrdu (soft) X kathina (hard)                       Sthira (stable) X cala (moving, unstable)    Suksma (stable, small) X sthula (big,gross) 

Vishada (non slimy) X picchila (slimy)

A great way to start working with the qualities and forces around you and within you is to notice what tastes you are drawn to. What foods are you missing out on? Are you creating balance in your mind and body at breakfast, lunch and dinner? Ayurvedic Yoga teaches that you will bump up your nutrition if you include all six tastes, but not in the same amounts! Are you over-emphasizing your fire? Or under-whelming your taste buds with a sugary palette? Watch which of the six tastes you go to and you will honestly see your tendencies in action! The Astanga Hridaya Sutrasthan says: 

During Winters, (Hemanta and Shishira) and rainy season (Varsa), sweet, sour and salt tastes should be especially used to support as our tissues build. Bitter, pungent and astringent tastes should be used more during Spring Season (Vasanta) to clean us out and keep our fire kindled. Sweet tastes should be used more during Summer (Nidagha) when we can get drained, and sweet, bitter and astringent tastes should be used during Fall (Sharath) when we are in transition. 

Just like the Yogis, Ayurveda teaches that to be healthy, one should get up from bed at Brahmi Muhurtha, as the dawn light is rising! Yes, it's an ideal, but you can do it if you allow your body to rise around 45 minutes before the Sun, around 5 – 6 am. That's the perfect time to meditate, practice Yoga and to balance your spiritual and physical self as the day-light is coming up around you. Many Yoga practitioners rise much earlier to catch this "ambrosia" and for me my ideal time to meditate is at 3:15a.m. 

This past year in a master's class with the DINacharya Institute I had the opportunity to go back and study Ayurveda's incredibly specific morning routine, from what kind of plant material is best for the bristles of your tooth brush to exactly how to clean your nose and eyes. It's all much more detailed than you might have imagined but Yoga and Ayurveda have in common this beautiful idea of waking up to our senses each day. Through special ways of washing and bathing, through Yoga and self reflection best calibrated for you, waking up by cleaning and clearing each sense will give your mind and body a luminous quality that seekers have been enchanted by for eons! We will investigate this higher level of Yogic balance in my upcoming workshop in March. Until then, if you would like to do a bit of self research, take time to clean and clear each sense each day, until .... smelling - tasting - seeing - touching - hearing .... are gateways to the clarity of your mind and power of intuition! 

And last, a kind of charming, curious teaching from a major Ayurvedic text. Don't hold on to crappy energy, is the take away. Be the person you want to be, don't diminish your self for those that are yucky. As life goes up and down, know how to feel like your Self. 

उपकारधानः यादपकारपरे अयरौ सपवपवेकमना,हेतावीयफले न तु

"One should be very helpful even to his foes, even though they are not helpful.

One should maintain a balanced mind both during calamity and prosperity.

One should not be envious towards wealth and happiness of others."

Page No. 20 Astanga Hridaya Sutrasthan

I am giving a workshop called the Heart of Ayurveda on Sunday, Mar 15, 2020 from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm. I hope that you will join me as we explore. It's about radiance through conscious living and there will be a strong Yoga practice as well as discussion.

BEYOND THE MAT by Ani Raya-Flores

Just after new years, I went for a hike with an old friend. We noticed the trails were a little more crowded than usual—an excited conga line of hikers wearing their new grippy trail shoes, hydration vests, and sweat absorbing/UV blocking shirts. “Looks like a lot of folks made resolutions,” she said, and then asked if Namaste, like pilates studios, like crossfit “boxes,” and yes, like the Angeles Crest National Forest, was experiencing a similar influx of resolution-ers.  

The answer, of course, is yes. Each year, the studio gets a new batch of students who’ve come to the mat for the first time or back after some time away. And it’s great— as a teacher, I can sense the enthusiasm and commitment in the room.

Unfortunately in modern culture, committed can start to look more like dogged. Before you know it, “I wanna practice yoga everyday!” becomes, “I have to practice yoga every day!” A rigid or unyielding approach can lead to burn out. If we view our resolution as something to conquer, we only have a few options: 1. achieve mastery and quit because been there stretched that, or 2. die on the hill of crow pose. I don’t know about you, but neither of those sound good to me.

If I could share just one bit of wisdom with my students, it would be that softening the approach to yoga is what gives it longevity. Softening the approach doesn’t have to mean that 2020 is the year of child’s pose. All it means is that each time we come to our mats, we take the time to orient ourselves in the space, to put ourselves in touch with physical sensations, to build awareness of what we need, and then move (or not move) our bodies accordingly.

I’ve found that the work of staying present on the mat is what’s helped me take my practice off the mat. I’m learning to sit with physical sensation, to see a pose as an opportunity—hey, I get to experience burning quads— as opposed to pushing, gritting teeth, bearing the unmitigated agony that is chair pose. And that’s the outlook that I try to bring off my mat, to crowded movie theaters, to long grocery lines, to traffic.

It’s a lot to consider, and the tools for a more present and mindful practice aren’t always covered in your average hour-long practice. Which is why I teamed up with dear friend and Fitzmaurice Voicework teacher Scott Ferrara to bring this workshop to the Namaste community.

Join us the afternoon of February 23^rd and we’ll practice staying present in the safe space of a yoga mat so that we may take that presence into our everyday life. 

For more information and to sign up for workshops go to: https://namastestudios.la/workshops