Samasthiti

                                              The 21  Taras  painted by Salga according to the Nyingma terma tradition  When people ask me where do you feel at home the most, which part of the country, my mind first goes to the mountains in northern India and then eastwards to the lands of buddhism. It was during my trip to Nepal, that buddhism resonated in me, more Vajrayana buddhism that it's Mahayana sister. I felt a connection to imagery and the buddhist texts of Tantra - the same buddhism that is found in the Tibetan valley. I glanced at the sculptures and pictures of the Boddhisatvas and Taras and felt an immediate connection. Of course it helped immensely that my teacher with whom I was travelling in Nepal,  was a deep believer herself and I used her energy to guide me to this ancient mystical world.  Since then, a mantra that settled deep wi...

I believe in God, i really do. Maybe not God as in Jesus, or Allah or the millions of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. But a higher power that is guiding us and that also rests within us. Which is why when in our most desperate moments, we kneel down and pray to God and ask for a sign or ask for courage, we tend to find it, in ourselves and in things around us - which too are a part of the magnificence of this power, of the Universe. That Universe which is itself a manifested version of the unknowable and indescribable God.  I share this Universe, or God, and his/her religion with all the beings - human and others. Some days, when i find it difficult to find God within me, and I feel far away from love and hope and faith, I somehow find it in music. One such day as I stopped everything I was doing and just sat, feeling all sorts of things in my head and heart, so overwhelmed that I could break into tears if someone asked me to speak or spoke to me, I shut my eyes and took a couple of d...

I have had the idea for this post for a while now. It came to me when I was practicing in my terrace late one evening - it was a full moon night, I think somewhere around the first week of March. as I lifted up into an Ardha Chandrasana, I found myself shaky. In spite of doing the exact same thing, and balancing the exact same way and using the exact same muscles to remain in that balance and stretch, I was swaying, back and forth. Trying my best to get a grip with my standing leg, I asked myself what was happening today - why was this asana that I had gotten into a million times before and was quote confident of holding for long periods of time, was suddenly a challenge. A part of me was shocked, but a part of me was also quite pleased that I could work on simple asanas again. As beautiful as it is to advance in your asana practice, it takes away the magic of your initial years of getting into a consistent yoga asana practice. The thrill of working through simple asanas and cracki...

There is nothing, i say nothing, as gorgeous as your first downdog of the day. I often delay that rush of energy. I'll start with very gentle neck stretches and spinal movements that are a little bit more fluid than downward dog - cat-cow being my (and everyone else's favourite). When I eventually make my way towards adho mukha svanasana, I have arrived. To my practice, on my mat and in my body. Now different teachers teach this specific instance of arriving into this asana differently. I've had teachers tell me, go ahead and move your body, do whatever it needs to feel ready for further practice . But i have also had teachers tell me to be calm and stay still and for once not to give into the vagaries of the body, of it's need to move - work on disciplining it, work on having the body follow the mind and not the other way around. The thing about being on a journey of any sorts -yoga, life, love, relationships, career, parenting - is that you live and learn, you m...