On a less abstract, more physical plane, this posture helps to tone the arms, wrists, spine, and abdomen. It also develops heat in the body, which on an energetic level is responsible for personal magnetism, self-esteem, and willpower. One way to enhance this posture is to loop and secure a strap around the upper arms, just above the elbows. As you hold the posture, press out against the strap, feeling the shoulder blades move away from each other. Continue to work the upper body in this manner for 15-30 breaths.

To make the posture less intense, lower the knees to the floor; to make it more so, lift one leg a few inches off the floor for a few breaths and then alternate with the other leg. When lifting each leg make sure that you don’t allow your hips to lift; maintain a clean, straight line from the crown of your head out through your heels. And don’t forget to push back through your heels to maintain the aliveness of the legs.

]]> http://www.katrinarepka.com/blog/1031/feed http://www.katrinarepka.com/blog/1020 http://www.katrinarepka.com/blog/1020#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:04:05 +0000 admin http://www.katrinarepka.com/?p=1020 January is a month full of expectation and eagerness, although these feelings are often tempered by the passing of the old year and a sense of wistful regret for things left undone or perhaps unaccomplished. The resulting state of mind brought on by this contradiction can leave a person feeling quite frazzled by the beginning of the second week! To counter this I return again to one of my favourite yogic sutras, “abhyasa-vairagyabhyam tan-nirodhah.” It is a welcome rock in a whirlpool month.

One (rather wordy) translation of this sutra is “the various modifications of the mind-field completely dissolve, cancel out, and cease by sustained and continuous application (abhyasa) and letting go (vairagya).” In other words, as the great choreographer George Balanchine once advised, “Do the work.” And then let go. From the perspective of ISHTA yoga, this means that if we do as much as we can, the Universe will do the rest. That does not mean we should only make a half-hearted effort; it means that we do the best job we can with what we have and then leave it to the Universe to decide the outcome. Do not try to control the uncontrollable.

Since I was a young girl I have always felt overly responsible for the outcome to everything around me. Because of this exaggerated sense of responsibility, I have, ironically, often failed to be responsible to myself. We only have so much energy and desire, after all, and I have frequently dissipated mine on fruitless, futile quests to control what was outside my control–other people’s feelings, fate, the future, etc.–and when it came to honouring my own duty to myself, I had no strength left. Such wasteful emotional expenditure can lead to exasperation, if not exhaustion. For me, it frequently has.

Alan, my guru, the founder of ISHTA, explained it to me thus: I was completely caught up in the “trying I”, the ceaselessly striving ego that is at the mercy of the emotions. With his help and guidance, and through the continuous practice and application of yoga, I am now glad to report that I have achieved a more balanced approach to life (I still sometimes try to control the uncontrollable, but the need to do so is more manageable now!).

If you find the beginning of the year, with its hopes and its doubts, its promises and its uncertainties, overwhelming, then try working towards surrender in savasana, the most difficult (and yet ironically the most pleasurable) of all of the postures. Surrender on the mat, and you can then surrender to the forces outside your control. You may find, as I have, that they have no more power to harm you than the ghosts of the old year. Brush them aside and move forward with confidence.

How has yoga changed you?

It has softened me. I didn’t realise how stiff I was until I started to practise regularly. Physically loosening up has allowed me to let go of a lot of tension I was unaware of carrying. This has been one of the best things about yoga. And I look more relaxed, too. Ultimately, I’ve made better decisions from being calmer and this in turn has made me happier.

How do you hope it will change you in the future?

When you are (relatively) calmer and happier about life, you see things differently. The single biggest impact of yoga has been in getting me out of the rut I was in, and that’s because it’s made me relax. If yoga continues to do this for me, then I’ll be very happy with it.

Has doing yoga given you any important insights about yourself?

Yes, it’s allowed me to get to know myself better. Until I started to practise yoga, I did very little that was remotely creative or unusual. Being someone who naturally loves routine and hates change, I had overlooked how important and enjoyable it is to do something that allows you to step outside of the mundane.

If you had started yoga at seventeen, would it have changed your life?

Most definitely, but I wonder if it would have been quite as important to me as it is now or made the kind of impact it has. However, I wish I was less stiff than I am. So while at seventeen yoga might have been wasted on me, if I’d started at twenty-seven I don’t think I would creak as much as I do.

If you could be a yoga pose, which one would you be?

Sun salutation.

Why?

I aspire to be graceful and to move beautifully (I’m not and I don’t), which is how a sun salutation appears to me. It’s my favourite pose to practise and one of the hardest to get right. And all done for the sun, which we don’t have enough of.

What is your favourite thing to do after a satisfying session of yoga?

Eat. I like to practise in the morning before breakfast and then have a big breakfast and coffee immediately afterwards.

Do you have a favourite yoga quote or saying you would share with us?

“When it comes to the whole subject of loving others, you must know this: how you handle your own heart is how you will handle theirs.” I don’t know who said this, but I like it.

]]> http://www.katrinarepka.com/blog/1006/feed http://www.katrinarepka.com/blog/1002 http://www.katrinarepka.com/blog/1002#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:49:45 +0000 admin http://www.katrinarepka.com/?p=1002 The guiding tenet of ISHTA yoga is that the best yoga is the one tailored to an individual’s needs. In the Yoga Sutras (sayings) of the mythical sage Patanjali, the word ishta is found in a line translated as “self-study provides the individual with the path to enlightenment.” This concept is also found in Hindu culture, where a guru may assign a devotee her own ishta devata – an appropriately inspiring god (from the many available) who will look after her throughout her life and embody those qualities most helpful to the student’s goal of spiritual fulfilment. ISHTA yoga similarly believes that if we can find the right yoga practice for ourselves, we will, over time, discover our true being and the best way to express it in the world. In other words, how to live a happy, productive life.

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ISHTA also stands for the Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra, and Ayurveda; understanding more about these three key sciences of yoga will assist us in developing and sculpting the best yoga practice for each of us.

Hatha relates to the physical body. In practising a sequence of asanas (postures) and pranayama (breathing techniques), we start to open the body’s channels so that energy can flow freely and we can begin to enjoy the feeling of bringing the body back into balance.

Tantra comes from the root words tanoti (”expansion”) and trayati (”liberation”). In ISHTA, tantra refers to the oneness between the individual and the universe (often likened to a drop of water in the ocean), and the ability to expand and liberate the individual consciousness in order to connect to our inherent divinity. We practice tantra by using breathing and meditative techniques that expand our awareness of the more subtle aspects of being.

Ayurveda is the science of life; specifically, what keeps us alive. Prana is the body’s life force and it is uniquely manifested in every individual. If we can understand how prana interacts with five key elements (air, space, fire, water, and earth), then we can begin to understand our body’s constitution. Knowing what makes us tick and, importantly, what doesn’t, is how ayurveda restores balance and ultimately brings us back to optimal health and well-being.

An ISHTA class brings together asana to stretch, strengthen, balance, and release the physical body; pranayama with visualization to still and quiet the mind; and meditation to expand our awareness, with the goal of releasing energy and liberating consciousness.

ISHTA yoga was founded in the 1960s by Mani Finger and his son Alan. Their intention was to integrate all the different systems and teachings from two decades of study with famed yogis such as B.K.S Iyengar and Swami Nishraisananda and to bring yoga into the modern world. Katrina is the head of ISHTA in Europe and only the second Yoga Master (Yogiraj) in the West to be initiated by Yogiraj Alan Finger.