Gary Empty Book Justice's blog

Please refer to Using Silence in Asana Practice, where I opine that yoga sessions work best in silence, with occasional departures.

This may not seem important if yoga is being approached more like traditional western exercise that thinks of body as a piece of machinery operating independently from spirit, In this case we might  read the paper, chew gum, have a conversation  and listen to Marylyn Manson all at the same time as working the step master. But if we are pursuing yoga as in “union”, synchronizing body heart and mind in a focused present moment, a reduction not distractions that bring our attention out to multiple directions seems to make sense.

Eating and Fasting: Going Beyond The Information

This is a little about my experience with repeatedly undertaking the well known “Master Cleanse” (Burroughs,1976), in addition to other fasts/cleanses. When combined with other practices from Buddhist and Himalayan yoga traditions, this has led to experiencing vivid parallels between enlightenment teachings and what one intuitively experiences when going without food.

The picture you see above was taken during a heartfelt Kirtan session in rural Maharastra, India in January of this year (2011).  In Maharastra they are more likely to call this a Bhajan session, since Kirtan to them means dressing up and dancing/re-enacting affectionate folk stories about daily goings on in the life of beloved ancient Deities.