Rutu

The Road Less Travelled

One day I was walking down the street and I fell into a hole.The next day I walked down the street, and again, I fell into the hole. The next day I walked down the street, saw the hole and fell into it. The next day I walked down the street, saw the hole, examined the hole, and fell in. The next day I walked down the street, tried to walk around the hole and fell in. The next day I walked down the street and I painstakingly walked around the hole. The next day I chose a different road to walk down.

Here’s to learning our lessons and choosing another, more glorious path!

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Most People Are Other People

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So true, Mr. Wilde. A great reminder that most things in our world condition us to conform and fit in. A sincere yoga practice cuts through the veneer and teaches us that if the masses are doing it, it behooves us to run in the other direction!

Instead of using the gifts of your mind to gather data from the outside world to help define who you are, draw your senses inward. Dwell in your heart center and listen for the moment-to-moment truth guiding you towards your weird, creative, and wonderful self.

Join me Friday, March 4th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM to learn meditation techniques that have helped me on my journey to discern what is real from what is pretense.

Register Here

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200 & 500 Hour Purna Yoga Teacher Training begins in April

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200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training at All Life is Yoga  This course covers the foundational curriculum of Purna Yoga—alignment-based asana and pranayama, meditation, nutrition and applied yogic philosophy.  In addition, learn the anatomy and physiology of yoga and breath, how to understand injuries and health concerns, how to develop confidence and leadership, and discover the difference between yoga from the mind and the approach to practicing and teaching yoga from the heart. The act of learning to teach elevates your understanding of yoga to a level that practice alone cannot reach. That is why this course shows you how to do, teach, and live the whole of yoga.

At the 200-hour Level you gain the knowledge, confidence and awareness that is essential for becoming an alignment-based yoga teacher.

Apply Here 

500 Hour Yoga Teacher Training at Purna Yoga East, NC. 

I look forward to assisting Aadil Palkhivala for the 500 hour program that begins April 16th, 2016. This is a rare opportunity, and probably the last time, Aadil and Savitri will teach the entire 500 hour program.  The College of Purna Yoga 500 Hour training Affiliate Level is for yoga teachers or serious students who want to affect the world in a positive way by teaching yoga and meditation with more power, potency, professionalism, and purpose!

There are two important facets to this training, expanding your technical knowledge and the commitment to your spiritual development.

Expectations are higher and living yoga is the goal for the student at the affiliate level.

Apply Here

Hip Compression and Decompression

This Friday night from 6:30-8:30 PM, I’ll be teaching the Hip Series with assisted traction: a seemingly simple set of movements that open the hips and allow the body to move freely. Balanced hips and decompression of the hip joints are critical for sustainable, enjoyable, and fluid movement. The hip joint is a ball-and-socket joint. It’s the most mobile of all the joint types, moving in the six different directions possible for your body. Given our body’s structure and the force of gravity, the ball is perpetually being pushed into it’s socket. This joint feels impact whether we are sitting, standing, or moving. Arguably, even when we sleep, the subconscious tension our bodies carry continues the contraction of muscles along the joint.

Therefore the hip joint needs decompression on a regular basis. When Aadil first introduced me to the hip series, he said you will not understand the gravity of what you are learning until many years down the road. After ten years of practicing and training my eyes to see and understand the human body, I cannot say with more conviction; the Hip Series is the single most important thing you can do for the health of your entire body.

We will explore the Hip Series with assisted traction—basically taking a method that is already perfect and refining it with the help of a friend for an even deeper experience of decompression. Bring a friend or make a friend!

Pre-registration is required.

Gentle Reminder: Registration to Vote for Primaries Ends Feb. 1st

I realize that your feeds have been inundated with quotes from Dr. King, so I decided to wait a week :-)

“Let us never succumb to the temptation of believing that legislation and judicial decree play only minor roles in solving this problem. Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decree may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless. The law cannot make an employer love an employee, but it can prevent him from refusing to hire me because of the color of my skin. The habits, if not the hearts, of people have been and are being altered every day by legislative acts, judicial decisions, and executive orders. Let us not be misled by those who argue that segregation cannot be ended by the force of law.”

We have the fortune to stand on the shoulders of giants in this city. We honor their work with our participation.

Register to Vote Online

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Upcoming Events

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I'll be out of the country from January 18th to the 31st. I will do my best to get all my classes covered, but as you know, the current substitute list is limited. Please check the class calendar for updates in the next week. Below is my local and out of town workshop and training schedule thus far for 2016.

2016 Teacher Trainings 

200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training at All Life is Yoga in Atlanta, Ga. Training begins April 2nd, 2016. Here are all the dates for the upcoming training. Contact Rutu to apply.

500-Hour Yoga Teacher Training with Aadil Palkhivala and Savitri in Clayton, NC. April 14th-April 28th and Oct. 25th-Nov. 6th, 2016. I am looking forward to assisting Aadil for the 500-Hour Purna Yoga Teacher Training hosted by Purna Yoga East. Aadil does not usually teach the 500-Hour training, so don't miss this opportunity to study at the seat of a master. Early bird registration ends Feb.1st, 2016.

Workshops at All Life is Yoga 

Restorative Yoga Friday Jan 15th 6:30-8:30pm. Join me for two hours of laying around in deep, nourishing postures. Teach your muscles, organs, and nervous system to rest while I read the Dharma (life-purpose) section of Fire of Love. Suitable for all levels. Pre-register 

Hips of Tomorrow  Friday, Feb 5th  6:30-8:30pm Our actions today affect our tomorrow. Yeah, yeah...you know this. But if we know and don't do, we don't know. Hip decompression is the single most effective thing you can do to prevent hip replacements and for the general health of your hips, low back, and knees.  Our hips are in a constant state of compression—sitting, standing, and even in our sleep, the subconscious tension we carry continues the patterns of imbalance. Most asana that focuses on hip opening does not consider the traction of the hip joint. This workshop will be an assisted hip traction practice. Learn an intelligent, balanced, sustainable opening for your hips. Then do it, often! Pre-register 

Out of Town Workshop Schedule 

Glowing Body Yoga April 29th-May 1st. Weekend Workshop in Knoxville, TN.

One Center Yoga Weekend Workshop at  Asheville, NC. Spring 2016 Dates TBA

Jiva Yoga Center June 24th-26th. Ayurveda Module in Jiva Yoga's 500-Hour Yoga Teacher Training. I'm going back to Jiva Yoga in Hilton Head,SC, this time to host an Ayurveda segment in their 500-Hour program. This will be my first time teaching an entire 20-hour weekend workshop on Ayurveda. Yikes!

2016 Purna Yoga Recertification 

I will be in the beautiful mountains of Leavenworth, WA. from July 3rd-9th, 2016. Every other year, the community of Purna Yoga teachers from around the world come together to refine teaching and practice skills with our teachers, Aadil Palkhivala and Savitri.

"The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time" -Abraham Lincoln That's 2016 for now. Thank you for your support of my traveling schedule. I really appreciate the opportunities I get to study and teach Purna Yoga.

This is Not About Immortality, or Is It?

One of my students recently shared a piece of writing about how yoga practice has changed his life. I'd like to share an excerpt with you.

"I have been on this planet for sixty two solar revolutions. In that time, I have done my body no favors. Three years into a yoga practice, I now have clear evidence that, contrary to the standard narrative, with proper attention and care, the human body can actually improve with the passage of time. This is not about immortality; it is about an exquisite quality of life. It is about the possibility of a profound relationship between my body and my mind. A mind-body symbiosis.

Symbiosis, n. Interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association.

Purna Yoga has brought me to a place of strength, flexibility, and balance. A remarkable physical and spiritual transformation.

Yes, it has become a way of life for me."

—Helme C.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Iyengar

On Monday, December 14th, Google did a few fun doodles to celebrate B.K.S. Iyengar’s 97th birthday. I hope you saw them. Mr. Iyengar was one of the most important yoga instructors in the world, and he died last year, leaving behind a wealth of knowledge on yoga. My teacher’s parents went to B.K.S. Iyengar because they were unable to conceive children. Iyengar guided them with asana and, soon after, Aadil Palkhivala was born. Lucky for us all! Aadil began to formally study with Iyengar at the age of seven and continued for three decades.

I am thankful for Mr. Iyengar, his profound understanding of the body, and his refinement of asana. I am thankful to him for supporting the birth of my yoga teacher and for teaching yoga asana to Aadil for thirty ­five years. Ten years in and I hope I have at least another twenty­ five years to study with Aadil. It’s an honor to be a part of this lineage.

Words Came Down in Torrents

Infinity put on a finite soul,All ocean lived within a wandering drop, A time-made body housed the Illimitable. To live this Mystery out our souls came here. - Savitri , Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo describes the writing of Savitri as words came down in torrents.  When his scribe was asked how he kept up with 724 pages of poetry coming down so quickly, the scribe explained that one word was expressed every few minutes. What felt like streams of intense energy flowing through Sri Aurobindo was apparently not so in real time.

I love this story. Unobstructed inspiration and beauty came through Sri Aurobindo. He is one of the greatest poets, yogis, activists, philosophers and saints this world has had the blessing to know. India's Independence Day was gifted to Sri Aurobindo on his birthday, August 15th. Purna Yoga is Sri Aurobindo's Yoga. He left his body in 1950 and his work is still ahead of it's time. I hope our consciousness catches up with his vision soon...