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

Why Metal Yoga?

 

Why Metal Yoga?

by Matthew Clark who leads a yearly Metal Yoga class on the Winter Solstice.

A yoga class in the Western world, or at least in America, is often accompanied by a playlist or soundtrack.  Obviously, that wasn't the way of traditional yoga in India.  I believe that some very wise yogis specifically brought yoga to America, knowing the massive cultural influence of this country and used that influence to broadcast the benefits of yoga globally.  In the 1920's, Parahamsa Yogananda established the headquarters of his Self Realization Fellowship approximately 2 miles away from our studio.  His famous book Autobiography of A Yogi, used parallels of Christianity with yogic concepts and philosophy and was successful in initiating many Americans into these new ideas.  Decades later, Ram Dass penned his classic Be Here Now, which was meant to explain yogic concepts through the lens of the American hippy experience.  It always struck me as a book written by his Guru, through him, to best spread the message, using unconventional typesetting and drawings to connect to a new audience.  My point is that yoga, in coming to the West, was always bound to shift and change and cater to an experience that would resonate with a Westerner.  This brings us back to the topic of playlists.  There are definitely very traditional American studios and institutions that would never use a playlist. For those of us that do use music, it's become somewhat of an expectation, something to keep a pace and a helpful tool to establish a baseline of sound to make a passing ambulance siren or loud talker on the street strolling by less jolting.  We don't live in a bubble.  In my playlists, I try to use mostly songs that wouldn't be distracting or emotionally charged and songs that won't alienate most people.  Listening to a pop song or a Kirtan with a house beat could be blissful to one yogi and agonizing to another.  Conversely, listening to a metal song during practice could be ecstatic for one student and could drive another yogi crazy.  Enjoyment of music is completely subjective.  The point of doing our annual Metal Yoga practice is that it is an experience where, for those who would enjoy it, we use a very different sort of music, one which the attendees have signed off on and are excited to practice with.  My playlist will consists mostly of Doom and Stoner metal tracks, specific styles that I find are at a good tempo and have kind of a raga like quality, they float and meander and shred at times.  Bands such as Black Sabbath, Om, Sleep, Earth, Flower Traveling Band are usually featured as well as some heavy space rock sounds from the likes of Hawkwind and other spacey musical explorers.  This music I find to be powerful and cathartic, both being important elements of a yoga practice.  Aligning with the Winter Solstice has become a tradition for this class. The longest night of the year seems an apt time to embrace these sounds and delve into a powerful cathartic practice which leaves us feeling lighter and uplifted heading into the New Year.

Join Matthew Saturday December 21 at 6pm for this special class.

Young Yogis: Help Students Begin Their Yoga Practice

Young Yogis: Help Students Begin Their Yoga Practice

By Olivia Martinez 

Last summer a friend and I decided to go on a 3 day yoga retreat in Mexico. Between the two of us, we had probably taken 5 classes total. So why did we fly 5 hours to do yoga? Well, the gourmet meals convinced her and the spa’s Margarita Massage hooked me. (#bestmassageieverhad). Yoga was just a side note. However, I ended up taking and LOVING every single class - the energizing morning classes and the restorative sunset ones as well. I was hooked after a couple days. I came back to L.A. and immediately joined Namaste. I fell more in love with yoga and found a new love for the studio and all the amazing teachers. Every class I take I learn something new and push myself to grow both physically and mentally.

It’s been a year now and I am still so grateful for this new part of my life. The next step in my yogi journey is to bring it with me to work. I teach 1st grade at Charles White Elementary in MacArthur Park. P.E. is part of our daily curriculum and I can’t wait to start teaching my students the basics of yoga. Not only do I see the physical benefits of yoga but the emotional ones as well. Giving students the tools and space to be mindful and present will last them a lifetime. 

As you can imagine, funding for public schools is limited and Donors Choose has been such a blessing for teachers who usually pay for many classroom supplies and “extras”. With Donors Choose people can select projects that they feel passionate about and help make them a reality for students and teachers. Please take a minute to check out my proposal “Young Yogis” and consider supporting my plan to bring a little Namaste to my classroom. While there, check out my other proposals and those of teachers around the country! And always feel free to share this with any of your generous friends and family. Thank you in advance and I’ll see you around the studio.  

Please visit HERE for more info and to donate! 

Photo via The New York Times.

Cookin' with Jazz - Rich and Creamy Horchata Muesli

Horchata Muesli 

By Jasmine De La Paz

When I first realized the next Breakfast on the Patio at Namaste falls on Cinco De Mayo, the first thing that came to my mind is Horchata. 

Horchata is a Mexican drink typically made from rice milk, cinnamon and vanilla, and is simply delicious. My husband requests Horchata frequently as he likes to add it to his iced coffee. The only thing I don't like about Horchata is the amount of sugar added, so I decided to sweeten mine with dates, and made it vegan by using almonds and coconut milk. It is time consuming, but is so worth it. The result is rich and full of flavor - making the muesli extra creamy. 

Vegan Horchata (serves 4-6) 

1 cup white rice
1/2 cup almonds
1 cinnamon stick
1 can whole fat coconut milk
4 dates
1tsp vanilla 
1 1/2 cups almond or coconut milk
dash of salt

Directions: 

1. Start by soaking the rice, almonds, and cinnamon stick in water overnight. Once done soaking, drain out the water, rinse through, and add the ingredients to a blender. Blend on high with the canned coconut milk until well blended and frothy. 

2. Pour mixture into a cheese cloth strainer, or nut milk bag, and squeeze as much of the liquid out as possible. 

3. Add the liquid back into the blender, and blend with dates, vanilla, almond or coconut milk, and a dash of salt! 

4. Store in the fridge for about 3-4 days. 

Horchata Muesli (serves 2) 

1 cup oats

3 tbsp chia seeds

3 tbsp flax seeds

2 tbsp coconut flakes

1 tbsp almond or coconut yogurt

2 - 2 1/2 cups Horchata

Directions: 

1. Add all the ingredients into a bowl, and mix together. If you notice it's a little dry, you may need to add more Horchata. Keep in the fridge overnight. Enjoy with added fruit, nuts, seeds, and extra Horchata! 

BREAKFAST ON THE PATIO

Join us for yoga, community, and nutritious food! 

Saturday, May 5th from 10:45 - 11:15am. 

Free to those who attend class before or after. 

Reserve your spot online here.