Now this is exciting news in the yoga world. From June1-4  36 of the top renowned yoga teachers and spiritual pundits will gather in Hong Kong for the first ever Asia yoga conference. Such names as Krishna Das, Shiva Rae,Sri Pattabhi Jois, David Life, Andrey Lappy,,the list goes on. Also speaking will be Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, leader of the largest NGO organization on the planet, Swami Dayananda, top teacher of Vedanta, and Swami Veda Bharati,student of Master Rama. There will also a be a massive yoga bazar were retailers or healers can participate. Go to www.yogaasiaconference.com ....Hong Kong is just a short hop over the Pacific. We will try to be there!

If you are aware of the changes that have taken place in the dimension of yoga, you will see that in the last forty years yoga has been accepted in different ways at different times. In the 1960s, yoga was seen more as a physical practice. Yoga teachers taught yoga for trimming the waistline, for getting rid of facial wrinkles and for beautifying the body through asana. In the 1970s, there was some interest in meditation, relaxation and managing the mind for stress management. The concentration and relaxation techniques of yoga came to the forefront.

 

In the 1980s, the application of yoga was more in specific areas of society - prisons, rehabilitation centres, for the elderly. It took on the flavour of a family practice - my grandmother can do it to be mobile, the children can do it, young people can do it to manage their habits, the housewife can do it. Yoga came with that flavour. In the 1990s, there was a renaissance in yoga philosophy. People wanted to know the purpose and aim of yoga and to define it from the perspective of our modern needs. The first decade of the twenty-first century will be a period when yoga will combine both theory and practice. That is very evident with the establishment of Bihar Yoga Bharati, the Yoga University.

 

After all, we have been exposed to yoga in the form of asana, pranayama, meditation and relaxation as well as some kriya yoga, some laya yoga, some nada yoga, some this yoga, some that yoga. But all that understanding and knowledge is only fringe knowledge and understanding of the entire body of yoga.

 

A deepening of yogic knowledge in theory and practice is going to happen now. What is the effect of asanas on the body and mind; the effect of meditation on blood pressure, hormones and glands; the aim of the kriya and kundalini yoga practices? What does the tradition say? Which scriptures have talked about different human needs and how they relate to us today? How can we increase our understanding of yoga to make it a part of our personal culture?

 

Once upon a time, people believed that yoga was a religion or part of Hinduism, but today we find that even that mentality has changed and yoga is seen as a subject in its own right. From my perspective, as a person involved in the propagation of yoga, I see a very big future. I see yoga becoming part of the personal culture of people everywhere. Just as most people have a basic understanding of medicine and keep a first aid kit in their home, similarly, the basic concepts of yoga will be known to everybody in the course of time. "Today I am feeling a bit stiff so I will do this asana. Today I am feeling a bit dull so I will do this pranayama. Today I am feeling low in energy, my digestion is not good, so I will practise agnisar kriya for a few minutes." We are going to come to that point where yoga becomes part of our personal culture and we will understand the relevance of yoga for the maintenance of the body, mind and spirit. Therefore, there has to be in-depth teaching and training in yoga.  Some people come to our university with the idea of learning advanced yoga for spiritual emancipation. When we tell them they will learn basic yoga to begin with, many people leave. They say, "Why? I want to learn how to meditate eight hours a day. I want to use my time for my spiritual development. This is what we are here for." If that is the case then they should have a clear concept of what spirituality is.

Spirituality is not escaping from life, it is escaping into life. If you have to escape into life, become aware of the areas through which you interact and be in control of those qualities which you express in life. That is the first point.

 

The second point is management of the gunas to maintain the sattwic state of mind or being. One has to be in control of the three gunas - tamas, rajas and sattwa. After all, how many people make the effort to maintain a sattwic state of mind for an extended period of time during the day? When we are feeling lazy, lethargic, sleepy or withdrawn, do we have the ability to come out of that state and maintain our mental harmony? No. When we are feeling aggressive and agitated, do we have the ability to pacify the mental and emotional fluctuations? No. It seems that rather than accepting such ups and downs in the human personality and nature, and working to balance, channel and harmonize them, we have chosen to escape from them. Those who choose to escape from such situations can never perfect yoga in their lives.

 

If I am frightened of my fears and insecurities, I can never perfect yoga. Human beings need to become much stronger when it comes to self-acceptance. Another tendency that we have is to accept the good and reject the bad. But can we apply it to ourselves? Can we accept and work to transform the bad in ourselves? It becomes difficult. The aspirations can be very high, but the efforts don't justify the aspirations.

 

Yoga has to be understood from this perspective now. Rather than reaching for instant solutions, you have to search for long-lasting solutions. You also have to know which system or tradition can be continuous and evolving. Yoga has proved to be continuous and evolving. From the sixties onwards, so much New Age stuff has come and gone without leaving any trace, but yoga has been constant.

 

There was never a time when people could say, "Ok, this is the final limit of yoga and there is nothing beyond it." Every time somebody reached the final understanding of yoga, there was something more beyond it. It is this 'something more beyond it' which has made yoga accepted in today's world as being relevant to the human personality and nature. The third point is channelling the energies of emotion. After all, what is emotion? Energy in motion.

When we are feeling the motion of a loving energy, it becomes an emotion. When we are experiencing the motion of an aggressive energy, it becomes an emotion. So emotion is energy in motion, and channelling that energy is the third component of yoga in today's world.

 

Management of the gunas will ensure that your behaviour is appropriate. Management of emotion will ensure that your focus is proper and not egocentric. Acceptance will ensure that you are able to have a clear understanding of life as you go through it. These are the three teachings of yoga relevant for this decade. The teaching and understanding of yoga must happen in these areas in order to bring a human being to a point of excellence. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, we should be able to define yoga as a process of attaining excellence in life. As yoga teachers, it is our duty and our obligation to ensure that this understanding develops in our students. If you wish to meditate, let there be excellence in meditation. If you wish to work hard, let the work be viewed as excellence in meditative work. Work should become meditation and there has to be excellence in it.

 

How can we defend ourselves from the aggressive energies you mentioned?
If you try to defend yourself from an aggressive energy, the energy becomes more potent and powerful. If there is a storm outside and a tree decides to stand upright against the storm, the storm is eventually going to break the tree. But if the tree decides to bend, the storm will pass over and the tree can stand up again, like the palm tree.

 

Similarly, if you are facing a storm outside and you decide to be rigid, then be ready to face the consequences. If you are facing a storm outside and you decide to bend, be assured that you will walk straight again one day. It is a human characteristic that needs to be cultivated - not to defend but to bend. Those people who bend become immortal. Those people who stay upright break like twigs and are never heard of again.

 

provided by www.yogamag.net

T. PETERSBURG -- Ask Don Zimmer about yoga and you will get the following reply: "Yogi Berra?" Zimmer is a baseball lifer, so it's understandable he doesn't grasp the significance of the yoga class being conducted at the Devil Rays' camp this spring. Old school baseball thinking just doesn't lend itself to embracing said practice.

 

Even Carl Crawford shakes his head about the class that takes place Monday, Wednesday and Friday inside the team's weight room at the Raymond A. Naimoli Complex.

 

"I know the guys want to get an edge," the Rays' left fielder said. "But you've got to draw the line somewhere."

 

Wednesday morning, approximately 15 players took part in Dana Edison's class, twisting and stretching their bodies in all different shapes while stationed on blue mats.

 

In the background, the sounds of new age musician Anugama are playing while Edison looks over the players and speaks.

 

"Point your toes up, you're going to feel it," she said. "Remember, you want to lengthen your spine... When you look back at your heels, you don't want to see the inside of your ankles."

 

Rays manager Joe Maddon did not participate. However...

 

"I would like to have," Maddon said. "But my schedule is kind of full in the morning. I get a coffee and a doughnut -- just kidding. ... I love it. I think it's great. I think it's going to become more of a mainstream kind of thing as we go.

 

"It's a great way to build up strength and stamina, flexibility and breathing. The whole thing, it's a great concept. I'd like to see our guys at least give it a try."

 

Maddon likened the prospect of yoga being accepted to weight lifting being accepted back in the 1970s.

 

"At that time, nobody wanted to do it," Maddon said. "I didn't want to do it because [we were told,]

'You're going to get muscle bound' -- like, really, I would have that particular problem."

 

Maddon believes the practice will eventually be accepted once a player has success on the field and

credits part of that success to practicing yoga.

 

Edison has taught yoga to hockey, football, basketball and baseball players and teams, but the Rays are her first Major League team.

 

Baseball is "a high stress job as much as it is glamorous," Edison said. "It's a lot of stress to be out there on the field. Especially for pitchers, they really relate to the mental aspects of it.

 

"There's a lot of functional strength training that I do. I work really hard to stabilize their joints. ... I find that athletes have Ferrari engines and Tempo brakes. What I like to do is get in there and help them work those stabilizing muscles. And stabilize those joints to prevent injuries. That's one of my goals."

 

Ruddy Lugo tried the class Monday, and the right-hander reported being a "little sore."

 

"And I only did it for a half an hour," Lugo said. "I had to get out of there because it was too tough for me for the first time."

 

While Lugo respects the class, he said it falls into the category of this spring's new thing.

 

"Every year there's a new thing in baseball," Lugo said. "There will be something else next year."

 

Shawn Camp went to Monday's and Wednesday's sessions, and the right-hander said it was the first time he's tried yoga.

 

"My wife does it," Camp said. "I was so sore [Monday] night, I tried to explain to her the moves we did and couldn't do it."

 

Camp joked that yoga is like an advanced game of Twister, but he said it's definitely something worth trying.

 

"I think once you get past the initial stage of it, it's like anything else," Camp said. "You get used to it. It's good for breathing, visualizing and stretching your muscles."

 

Tim Corcoran observed, "it was harder than I thought." The right-hander said he could see how yoga might help him.

 

"My hips are so tight, I can see where that will help loosen you up," Corcoran said.

 

Corcoran laughed when asked if yoga is practiced where he is from in Louisiana. And what might the home folks say if they knew he had taken up yoga?

 

"They'll have their doubts," he said.

 

Bill Chastain is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Drop Back into Nature at our 12th Annual Colorado Conference!
Join Yoga Journal once again as we immerse ourselves for a week-long conference in the beautiful Rocky Mountains at the 12th Annual Colorado Conference in Estes Park.

This year's conference includes:
NEW! 3-day Therapeutic Intensive: September 24-26, 2007
NEW! 3-day Ashtanga Intensive: September 24-26, 2007
Back by Popular Demand! 3-day Iyengar Intensive: September 24-26, 2007

Thursday All-Day Intensives including Yoga and Rock Climbing: September 27, 2007

During our Main Conference, September 28-30, deepen your practice with world-class teachers such as Seane Corn, Ana Forrest, Richard Freeman, Shiva Rea, Rod Stryker, Patricia Walden, and Rodney Yee. This year we are pleased to have Tripsichore performing on Friday, September 28 and a YouthAIDS benefit concert with Edie Brickell on Saturday, September 29!

Enjoy evening and lunchtime entertainment, take part in the natural surroundings with breathtaking hikes, enjoy delicious vegetarian meals, and shop for the latest in yoga products in our yoga marketplace.

Join us for our annual escape to the Rocky Mountains!

REGISTRATION OPENS APRIL 2007
provided by the yogajournal website.