The Yogic Moment of HolyShitasana

‎So my yoga pal coined a word for an asana. It’s holyshitasana. Practically speaking, it refers to any yoga poses or asanas that make you scream out of frustration:”Holyyy shitttt!!! Why ain’t it getting any easier every time I give it a try?!!”

The answer is our body isn’t built for doing the asanas. Seriously. Just take it easy. Don’t push yourself too hard. Be lenient to your own body. It’s your temple. That’s ahimsa. But that’s of course what you naturally say to comfort yourselves before you‎ take a glance at the neighbors who manage to do better, or slightly better. Envy works in a so subtle way you can’t even detect it.

‎Yet once again I post another challenging yoga asana photos my yoga buddies can’t do without props. I know some will sneer at it. I am completely aware not everyone likes it. I feel like a jerk sometimes for posting it. But then I realize I should just do it. Because who knows someone will get inspired and keep doing his or her practice? You’ll never know. So I stop judging myself for being a poser and let it inspire others. If it doesn’t inspire, let it amuse them in some way I don’t need to know.

If you’re into yoga and really want to try the pose, try some warmups in the quads, hips, back, lower back and chest. Lots of work to do, I know. But if your body is built like mine, you can just skip the warmups and hocus pocus, it’s done!

Kunci Melakukan Pose Mermaid dengan Lebih Mudah

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Pose mermaid atau putri putra duyung mirip dengan pose eka pada rajakapotasana (one-legged royal pigeon pose) tetapi sebenarnya ada satu perbedaan: sisi tubuh yang diregangkan. Dalam pose mermaid, Anda lebih fokus pada peregangan lateral alias dua sisi samping tubuh. Namun, dalam pose eka pada rajakapotasana lebih ditekankan peregangan pada sisi depan torso, sehingga terbentuklah gerak condong ke belakang yang disebut back bending.

Dalam foto, saya seharusnya lebih memiringkan tubuh ke samping tetapi karena sendi bahu saya terlalu lentur dan mungkin tangan saya agak panjang dan sendi pinggul saya juga lebih terbuka lebar dari orang kebanyakan, saya tanpa sadar mengkompensasikan peregangan sisi samping tubuh dengan kelenturan sendi bahu saya yang memungkinkan saya mengaitkan lengan dan telapak kaki lebih mudah.

Nah, jika Anda ingin mencoba melakukan pose mermaid dengan lebih baik, saya sarankan untuk lebih sering melakukan peregangan yang membuka sendi pinggul agar kedua paha benar-benar menyentuh matras atau lantai hingga dari samping tak tampak ada celah. Benar-benar menempel ke tanah seluruhnya. Caranya dengan memperbanyak pemanasan hip opening seperti pose pigeon yang telungkup ke depan untuk regangkan otot di paha samping. Kemudian bisa dicoba juga pose anjaneyasana agar otot quadriceps di paha depan lebih teregang sempurna. Dengan melakukan anjaneyasana yang baik, kaki belakang dalam pose mermaid akan lebih mungkin menyentuh lantai secara menyeluruh.

Untuk peregangan torso agar lebih siap melakukan pose mermaid, cobalah pose banana atau pisang. Berdiri tegak kemudian miringkan tubuh ke kanan dan kiri tanpa membuat bahu jatuh ke depan. Artinya miringkan torso dengan seolah punggung belakang dan kepala serta bahu masih menempel pada sebuah dinding imajiner. Dengan begitu sisi samping torso akan lebih siap.

Untuk mengaitkan kedua lengan dengan lebih mudah, cobalah melakukan peregangan bahu dengan lebih intens. Pose sapi atau gomukhasana akan membantu sekali. Dan jika disertai kelenturan pinggul, kelenturan bahu akan memungkinkan telapak tangan dan siku saling bersentuhan dan terkait.

Selamat mencoba!

Yoga is a Life-long Practice, Says Jois

Practicing yoga is useless unless one does it throughout his or her lifetime.
Practicing yoga is useless unless one does it throughout his or her lifetime.

Yoga means that our mind has the controlling capacity, taking practice. That is yoga, according to the late Shri K.Patthabi Jois. “Yoga is chitta vritti nirodha”, says he. Chitta means mind control, he adds.

Normally people don’t control their mind. Instead, they are controlled by their mind, because the mind is wandering, searching all other places. That is NOT good, Jois says in an interview.

Is this practice(yoga)spiritual or physical? Jois claims that yoga (to him) involves both aspects.

What if we’re not quite into the spiritual aspect? Jois advises that we should just practice regularly. So even of you’re not that spiritual, you may later on become more spiritual as you’re doing more and more practice. “Take practice, and it’s automatically coming,”he adds further. That is the ‘one and only method’ in mastering ashtanga yoga. The emphasis on the importance of practice is just obvious when Jois says:”Don’t ask theory. Theory (I) don’t want.”

Jois explains the 2 methods he employs: the outside and inside method of yoga practice. Outside method, according to him, consists of asanas practice, pranayama, yama, niyama, pranayama. Whereas inside method involves pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, samadhi. “Inside, correcting is possible; outside, correcting is impossible,”Jois elaborates. In other words, when a yogi/ yogini practices yoga, adjusting asanas or pranayama techniques can be a piece of cake. Almost everyone can do that, such as fixing the wrong alignment of feet, position of the palms, etc. However, when it comes to inside practice, others – even the best yoga gurus on earth – cannot fix or adjust what you do wrong. That may be why practicing yoga asanas won’t make one a better person. Becoming bendier, physically healthier is great but it’ll need more efforts to be balanced, both physically and spiritually.

When we follow the practice on a regular basis, eventually when we look inside, we may find God.

To Jois, yoga is not a short-lived fad. It’s a life-long practice and committment as he says,”One month, two months, one year, two years, ten years…No use! (The) whole life!”

Our whole life is practice…

Manfaat 5 Jenis Asana/ Pose Yoga

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Sekadar berbagi saja bagi Anda yang suka beryoga tetapi belum mengetahui khasiat kesehatan masing-masing jenis gerakan yoga yang dilakukan. Dan bagi yang belum pernah beryoga dan belum tertarik mencoba, mungkin Anda akan menyukai yoga setelah membaca ini. Silakan menyimak manfaat-manfaat yang kita bisa tuai dengan melakukan 5 jenis asana berikut ini.

1. Asana berdiri: Pose-pose berdiri seperti tadasana atau pose gunung memberikan vitalitas, energi, semangat. Jika ditambah dengan gerakan mengangkat tangan, detak jantung akan makin meningkat dan menambah semangat. Karenanya, pose-pose jenis ini sangat bagus dilakukan di pagi hari, saat kita membutuhkan penambah semangat. Daripada minum kopi atau teh, lakukan saja pose-pose yoga berdiri untuk menambah semangat. Lebih sehat dan tidak menguras air dalam badan.

2. Asana duduk: Pose duduk seperti paschimottanasana (melipat tubuh ke depan), vajrasana, atau sukasana yang mudah dan bisa dilakukan semua orang membuat kita yang melakukan menjadi lebih tenang. Calm, begitu kata orang Barat.

3. Asana memutar: Memutar atau yang disebut twisting sangat bagus untuk membersihkan (cleansing and detox) organ-organ dalam misalnya organ pencernaan yang setiap hari kita kotori terus dengan memasukkan makanan dan minuman yang belum tentu menyehatkan tetapi malah membebani tubuh. Jika Anda suka menderita sembelit misalnya, cobalah melakukan pose-pose memilin torso atau batang tubuh sehingga organ pencernaan terstimulasi dan akhirnya terdorong untuk mengeluarkan material sampah dan racun di dalamnya. Ditambah dengan pola makan yang sehat dan asupan air yang mencukupi, pose memilin tubuh akan mengusir sembelit. Niscaya…

4. Pose melompat: Dalam melakukan yoga, kadang dilakukan lompatan-lompatan, seperti saat kita harus beralih dari downward facing dog (adho mukha svanasana) menuju half forward standing bend (ardha uttanasana). Di sini, ketrampilan dan kelincahan (agility) kita diasah.

5. Pose terbalik / inversi: Melakukan pose yang membuat posisi jantung ada di atas kepala memacu detak jantung lebih cepat dan bagi banyak orang, asana semacam ini relatif menantang karena risiko terjatuh, terbalik, pusing, berkunang-kunang dan sebagainya membuatnya terasa ‘menakutkan’ dan harus dihindari dengan segala cara. Padahal rasa pusing, takut itu jika dihayati dengan sebaik mungkin dan dilakukan dengan tidak berlebihan akan membuat kekuatan mental kita lebih baik daripada sebelumnya dan yang pasti membuat kita menjadi lebih pemberani dalam menghadapi tantangan dalam kehidupan. Mencoba sesuatu yang baru akan terasa lebih mudah, terutama bagi mereka yang suka zona nyaman (siapa yang tak suka dengan zona nyaman?).

 

Pose Capung (Dragonfly Pose)

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Vinyasa krama pose capung (dragonfly pose):

  1. Duduk jongkok di atas tumit kiri, kaki jinjit,  jari tangan di atas lantai
  2. Silangkan kaki kanan di atas paha kiri
  3. Perhatikan telapak kaki kanan tidak boleh melampaui paha kiri
  4. Duduk jongkok di atas tumit kiri
  5. Tangan kiri dan kanan di lantai, putar tubuh ke arah kiri
  6. Aktifkan tiger claw
  7. Lengan kanan atas berada di tengah telapak kaki kanan
  8. Kencangkan bokong dan kedua kaki, panjangkan punggung ke depan (root to extend)
  9. Jinjit kaki kiri sampai siku berada di atas pergelangan tangan
  10. Cari titik seimbangnya dan angkat kaki kiri dari lantai
  11. Kaki kanan terus tekan/ injak ke lengan atas
  12. Luruskan kaki kiri ke samping
  13. Tetap tekan kaki kanan ke bawah untuk memanjangkan kaki kiri ke samping (opposite action)

Paripurna Himalayasana

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Vinyasa krama Paripurna Himalayasana:

  1. Posisi kayang (urdha dhanurasana)
  2. Geser berat tubuh ke sisi kiri
  3. Putar telapak kaki kiri ke luar
  4. Angkat tangan kanan ke dada
  5. Kunci bahu dan siku kiri
  6. Jinjit kaki kanan. Tetap di sini hingga kuat.
  7. Angkat kaki kanan dengan posisi menekuk
  8. Buka lutut ke samping
  9. Tarik kaki kanan/ kaki atas ke pusar
  10.  Raih jempol kaki atas
  11. Tendang ke atas

Mengenal Nafas Ujayyi (Ujayyi Pranayama) dalam Yoga

“Ujayyi” artinya “victorius”  atau kemenangan. Ada juga yang mengartikannya sebagai nafas penakluk (conqueror breath). Ujayyi pranayama atau ujayyi breathing merupakan salah satu teknik pernapasan dasar dalam beryoga. Teknik ini dilakukan dengan sedikit menekan epiglottis (tempat kita merasakan sensasi batuk atau berkumur) ke langit-langit mulut dan tetap menjaga aliran nafas keluar dan masuk melewati hidung. Jika sudah berhasil, biasanya nafas kita akan terdengar bersuara lembut namun kuat seperti hembusan angin yang melewati dedaunan di tepi pantai. Devi Asmarani dalam bukunya “Yoga untuk Semua” menggambarkan pernafasan ujayyi sebagai “suara berdesir halus dari daerah tenggorokan seperti ketika tidur nyenyak”.

Teknik ini menjadi teknik yang paling umum digunakan dalam Hatha yoga. Ujayyi breathing berguna untuk mempertahankan asana yang sudah dicapai agar lebih kuat dan stabil. Kita akan rasakan dada sedikit menggembung.

Menurut sebagian ajaran yoga, teknik pernafasan ini akan dapat dikuasai dengan sendirinya dari waktu ke waktu, jika yogi/ yogini membiarkan pernafasannya bebas mengalir dalam melakukan praktik asana, bahkan yang paling menantang sekalipun.

Efek ujayyi breathing ada 3 menurut Mark Stephens:

a. Nafas menjadi hangat saat hanya bernafas melalui hidung, paru-paru pun menjadi hangat, darah pun demikian. Sangat berguna untuk membangunkan tubuh dalam melakukan gerakan alaminya dalam melakukan asana.

b. Suara dan sensasi ujayyi membantu mempertahankan kesadaran (awareness) pernafasan agar tetap mengalir konstan, nyaman, dan seimbang.

c. Suara yang ritmis/ berirama dari pernafasan ujayyi membantu menenangkan syaraf yang tegang dan membantu latihan yoga menjadi lebih terfokus pada diri kita sendiri, bukan ke lingkungan eksternal.

Pada intinya, pernafasan ini sangat berguna untuk memantau kualitas dan tekstur nafas kita selama berlatih (Asmarani: 7, 2011).

Cara mengajarkan ujayyi breathing pada murid:

– Duduk dalam posisi yang nyaman di kedua tulang duduk dan batang tubuh tegak, bahu turun, jauh dari telinga. Sikap tubuh rileks. Kedua kaki bersila dengan senyaman mungkin.

– Mulai menutup mata perlahan dan fokus ke nafas tanpa berusaha menguasai keluar masuknya nafas. Nafas rileks.

– Tarik nafas dengan menegangkan tenggorokan dan rasakan pita suara kita bergetar. Inilah yang dikatakan sebagai ‘tekstur nafas’ karena seolah-olah kita dapat meraba nafas dari getaran yang ditimbulkannya.

– Rasakan sensasi bernafas dengan getaran ini di seluruh badan. Konsentrasi penuh ke nafas dan rasakan apa yang tengah terjadi pada tulang belakang. Perubahan panjang pendek tulang belakang saat tarik dan hembuskan nafas menjadi salah satu fokus kesadaran.

– Di antara tarikan dan hembusan nafas, tekan tulang belikat ke arah batang tubuh untuk mengangkat dada. Hembuskan nafas pelan sambil rasakan sensasi memanjang pada tubuh.

– Lakukan smavritti pranayama atau bernafas dengan htungan yang sama dan konstan. Tarik nafas dan hitung dalam hati: 1, 2, 3, 4. Lalu keluarkan nafas dengan hitungan yang sama pula.

– Lanjutkan dengan hitungan yang sama hingga dapat dirasakan perpanjangan hitungan menjadi misalnya 5 banding 5 dan seterusnya. Artinya 5 hitungan/ ketukan nafas masuk dilanjutkan dengan 5 hitungan nafas keluar.

– Fokus pada jeda di antara tarikan dan buangan nafas yang dinamakan “Kumbaka” (retention/ penahanan nafas). Anda bisa memulai jeda 1 sampai 3 ketukan sebelum membuang nafas. Pastikan saat melakukannya badan tetap santai, tidak tegang.

– Setelah beberapa putaran, kembalikan nafas normal kita. Bila kepala terasa pusing atau lelah, berbaring dalam posisi savasana.

How to do Eka Pada Galavasana

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Eka pada galavasana is one of my favorite asanas. “Eka” means one. “Pada” means a leg. “Galava” is a name of a sage ( B. K. S. Iyengar: 1979, 327).
If you read how mr. Iyengar does this, he would perform Salamba Sirsasana first with head on the floor. The biggest challenge is to conquer the fear of falling ahead, which may happen to those who learn bakasana or bird pose.
My method may be not really safe for everyone especially beginners and Iyengar’s method is safer. But if you want to get the pose higher, my method will help. Remember always to activate your ‘tiger claws’ to evenly spread or distribute the body weight on the palms. Engage all the core muscles, and floint! Flointing which means a combination of flexing and pointing is the best way to straighten and keep the legs active all the time without making them look less graceful or less artistic when photographed. Have fun with your yoga practice and be safe. Namaste…

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Eka pada galavasana gives a massage to your abdominal organs and strengthen the feeble wrists

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My Journal : Moving the Mindset from a Self-Taught Student to a Teacher

I started practicing yoga from my own bedroom. I had no teacher. I had no friends. I just had myself, a book titled “The Wonder of Yoga” by Leslie Kaminoff, and a sheer curiosity. Not being able to  afford a pricey yoga class at a premium yoga studio or fitness center, I just did what I could.I experimented. A lot of trials and errors. It’s safe to say I was more amateurish than a novice in a typical yoga class.

To me, yoga is a self practice. It is only about me. Private, that’s how I can describe my yoga practice at the very outset. I locked my room and spread anything on the floor (Seriously, I didn’t have a mat). I never let anyone know I was doing yoga.

Only some months later, I found a class offered by a generous community at a nearby park by chance. That was how I started to do yoga in public and to officially become a student of an instructor, a teacher, a guruji or anyone with more experience who can provide me guidance.

As I practiced in public, I learned a vast array of information and knowledge, a bunch of supportive friends, etc. Then along came competition, in terms of asanas, I won quite easily thanks to my relatively bendy body.

Yoga, however, is not only about bendiness, flexibility and asanas. (Even if it were so, I’d have been extremely easily satisfied and cocky as I can be). And I thank God it is not. That is part of why I participate in the teacher training.

Within these last 2 years, I only practice yoga for myself in my own room and a student in a weekly public class. Hence, it never occurred to me that I would be a yoga teacher or must be one someday.

My mindset is of a student’s for the time being. We all know how hard and long it is to shift a mindset that is rooted from quite a long time. And I basically grew as a yogi  yoga enthusiast with this type of mindset.

Growing Myself in Yoga Teacher Training

You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.“- Swami Vivekananda

On the second day of my first week (of four), I gradually found that this is not only a school of intellect,skills, expertise but also of self growth. It is definitely an opportunity to let myself grow. It is definitely an opportunity to let myself grow. It is a kind of growth that I choose myself. It isn’t because I have to, or I’m obliged to, or I must because of any other people’s willingness. It’s definitely the path I chose to be on.

While the vastness of the knowledge of yoga is infinite, I also found that it’s also connected to the whole aspects of life. Its depth and widths are inmeasurable.

This morning I again learned how to be more understanding and wise to others. Being judgmental is of course humane but wisdom is divine. Just because I can, it doesn’t necessarily mean others can do the same, and vice versa. And I really can relate to what my guru said, “ Do yoga on your OWN degree. Do it 100%.” Don’t struggle so much you injure yourself but never succumb too fast and too early. It is the pain that propels us to grow, not only physically, but also mentally, psychologically, and at last spiritually.

It dawned on me too that the Teacher Training has become a lot like the incubation center of transforming myself into a new “me”. I may not become the greatest yoga teacher but I am happy and content enough as there is so much wisdom to absorb, abundant life lessons to learn, and unnecessary, old, irrelevant insights that I have to unlearn. Maybe someday I will be a yoga teacher but even if I will not, I will still practice on my own. I don’t aim solely at that (i.e. becoming a yoga teacher, and earning money from teaching). It is too shallow of me to focus only on the financial aspects because I strongly believe that yoga is more than that.

The fact that I relatively deal with fewer challenges while doing ‘difficult’ asanas opens my eyes that learning yoga is not merely a mastery of asanas. Here a full grasp of philosophical foundations of yoga is equally essential to both a yoga teacher and student.

In spite of harmony, I also discover contradictions like yin-yang. While I always believed that yoga ractice should NOT involve any pressure, I deal with the fact that some degree of pressure is used to become a yoga teacher or even a yoga student. This non-pressure principle is closely related to non-competition principle very much, to me. Eventually, I must come to terms with the reality that even in yoga, we cannot get rid of that ‘competition’ thing. There is always a set of standards to achieve, which leads to an atmosphere of competition. Who surpasses the standards faster deserves praise. There is always a mission to accomplish. Yet, I realize that standards and missions in turn entail discipline and hence the pressure.

Talking about pressure and self growth, humans need pressure, in the right amount of course, to keep growing. Once the pressure is higher, one can make or break. One can either become a better person or a worse one. Perhaps even if I fail to make and have to break now, may the failure bring me to greater success.

Namaste…

New Entrepreneurial Success Formula: “Yoga + Startup + Geeks = Productive Business”

I don’t work for startups but I know how it feels to be part of the startup grind. Your daily routines would include typing all day long, eyes being glued to the screen of your laptop or smartphone, and sitting for hours from dawn till dusk. All you can eat is anything tasty that can be served fast. You may forget drinking for hours because of the low temperature of the room you’re working in. At the end of the day you feel like your body is aching from head to toes. And to add more to the severity of the unhealthy life style, you work till the early morning and wake up after 10 or 11 am. Caffeine is your best friend. The pattern goes on and on until you find yourself badly near-sighted, feeble both physically and mentally. You then may realize you start lacking the power to perform physically demanding tasks, lacking physical strength and energy. Some people oddly enough can endure such a life style for years, and verily regret later.

 

But some others come to understanding that the typical sedentary life style commonly found in startups DOES kill them sooner or later. Of course everyone will die eventually but the thing is whether you can fully function or not while you’re alive. What can a huge startup success mean to its founders and team members when they’re diagnosed with degenerative, terminal diseases owing to the ignorance of healthy life style? The cost is not worth it all.  Suddenly, it dawns on them. Everyone, entrepreneurs and startups workers as no exception, needs to find balance in life.

 

And I have to admit that the best workout I have known so far for 21st century digital workers so far is YOGA. How so?? You may think I’m exaggerating. “Just because you like yoga, you certainly endorse it,” you may think so, but think this way. If you really want practical workout that can ease the stresses , improve physical fitness and mental acuity at the same time without having to hit any gym or sign up for a pricey class, yoga is definitely for you!

 

I once heard my friend with his new routines as a freshman at a local university. He has  been somewhat a gym rat for like years and then suddenly he couldn’t find any gym nearby. He misses the dumbells and all the equipments he used to use.

This is much different from yoga enthusiasts. All we need is only our mind, body and some space. You can even do yoga at literally anywhere, without performing challenging poses (let’s debunk this myth). Breathing more deeply and slowly is even already part of doing yoga. It naturally lowers the tension level your body is experiencing. It’s called pranayama.

 

Geeks usually sit very long in their chairs. This downward facing dog pose (asana) would energize them back by stretching the hamstring and inverting the head (which means a lot more oxygen running to the brain).

I should say it is such a surprise to read some startup workers in another part of the globe really put this healthy and balanced life style concept awareness into practice by means of yoga (Read “Startups Kick Asana with Nerd Yoga in Amsterdam”). The reportage published on VentureBeat.com itself was written by Ciara Byrne, a startup mentor who happens to be a yogini and voluntarily provided a free weekly yoga session for these Dutch geeks. Along with her is Dave Sevenoaks, a key figure of Nerd Yoga (a weekly yoga class in Volkskrantsgebouw, an area full of startup offices in East Amsterdam). The yogi commented, ” We try to focus on the upper body and back in Nerd Yoga. People who sit in front of computers all day tend to have really bad posture.” Well, I guess he did make a great point here.

 

Another geek named James Bryan Graves told Byrne that startup life style is very much identical to unhealthy one. He mentioned how people he had been working with in a startup in the US were embracing junk foods as their main diets and doing literally no workout. “One guy had back surgery because his back had gotten so weak from doing development for 10 years that he literally couldn’t walk one day. Every time I go to yoga, I think about this particular individual and how I don’t want to end up like that,” Mr. Graves added. Enough said. He decided to choose different path.

Sedentary life style and ignorance of healthy diets worsen the life quality of our brainy startup workers.

But again, even though some startup workers are fully aware of the fact that they have been living in a wrong life style, they still have to conquer stereotypes in their minds: “Yoga is ONLY for my moms and chicks. Real men don’t do yoga.” I wonder what Sting and Adam Levine would say about this.

And considering how male-dominated tech world and startups environment are, the effeminate image of yoga lingers in the minds of our startup workers (who, correct me if I’m wrong, mostly too are young males).

But really if you want to do yoga without being intimidated by the image of flexible females or feeling emasculated when mingling with girls and middle-aged women, you can try broga (a manly version of yoga) or simply invite a yoga teacher to your startup ‘fraternity’.

At the end, it all comes down to one thing: building a successful business is not a sprint. Instead, it’s a marathon. Startup workers should never feel guilty for taking a rest from the routines to do some yoga because it eventually rewards them even more.

Me, Giving Yogic Advice

  • hi mr. akhlis… where do u live now? like to ask you where can I find a yoga trainer in Kudus?

  • Akhlis Purnomo

    jakarta

    it’s even hard to find one in Semarang.

    let alone in our hometown

    why?

  • Miss X

    any suggestion to do yoga?

  • Akhlis Purnomo

    millions of yoga videos there

  • Miss X

    there? where?

  • Akhlis Purnomo

    try Youtube

  • Miss X

    well. smile what’s the most important in doing it?

    i’ll check it out in you tube..

  • Akhlis Purnomo

    nothing is important as long as u can enjoy yourself while doing it

    dont think too much

    let it flow

    and enjoy being who you are.

  • Miss X

    how if the way I do my life does not as good as what it is expected. hmmm…

  • Akhlis Purnomo

    self acceptance

    maybe your impefection is another form of perfection. Try another new perspective.

    and yeah, expectation is overrrated.

    our lives are much too messed up and disoriented because of expectations, from ourselves, parents, social circles,society.

  • Miss X

    yups. those expectations motivate me to reach any goals I hope, however, they bring me under pressure sometimes. I ever read your status about Yoga quiet often. I think it’s a good way to turn perspective of life… become calmer, I guess…

  • Akhlis Purnomo

    yeah,true.

    some people think yoga is not for moslems, but I found some universal positive values there and why not?

    calmer and more self-aware, mindful of our own self and surroundings…and the nature and of course Allah

  • 2:00pm

     Miss X

    I do not understand about flowing the energy of Yin and Yang, comes from nature and back to nature…

    any idea to do it?

  • Akhlis Purnomo

    haha, I’m not sure I have the authority to explain that. Really, I myself am a novice. My approach to anything is like… just do it. haha. i don’t think too much about any theoretical ground, as long as I feel good about it then it’s enough until I want to learn more. it’s a gradual process of learning. i prefer starting with practical things shifting to more philosophical ones

    and I think that’s how one should learn..through experiments, trials and errors..That’s the natural way of learning. I sometimes set methods away..i like thinking simple and doing simple

  • Miss X

    well, okay… my house doesn’t look appropriate to do yoga. mess, crowded, noisy. what should I consider to choose the place?

  • Akhlis Purnomo

    actually any place with fresh,flowing air and a piece of mat is enough

    u can do yoga anywhere,anytime

    u can do yoga at home in the early morning..when silent

    or even better, find an open silent green space to practice

  • Miss X

    ouh… make sense. when silent!

    smile

  • Akhlis Purnomo

    yes, the key is silence

    silence is the source of wisdom, i think smile

    it’s just perfect time to connect to the inner part of us

    clearing the mind

    maybe doing yga after early morning prayer suits you

    Try ester eckhart’s yoga videos. Great and informative for beginners who want to give yoga a try..

    and just in case u have a bad day with kids or coworkers at school, ester offers this sequence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9iXwVJT3rM

    u can download the youtube videos on ixconverter.com. convert them into 3gp format and save them on the phone or PC so u can play them to guide you in practice..

  • Miss X

    really thanks, mr… I’ll try it. smile

  • Akhlis Purnomo

    good luck then

  • Today
  • Miss X

    good evening, sir… Doing yoga in a high stress is so difficult recently. frown

  • Akhlis Purnomo

    really?

    u tried?

  • Miss X

    yes. but I didn’t succeed. bad emotion is dominant. How should i do?

  • Akhlis Purnomo

    never mind. just enjoy anything appears in our mind without judging

  • Miss X

    can we cry in yoga?

  • Akhlis Purnomo

    if u feel like u want to,why not?

    In yoga, we should enjoy the present, being fully conscious in anything we are now doing. So it doesn’t really matter what emotions come up right now..as long as we know this is what is happenign to us and we shall make peace with the real life. Everything happens for a reason. We hate or love it because of the temporary volatile reactions, sometime later we may feel the opposite..That’s life

    Doing yoga is not always about always thinking positively or thinking good things al the time. It is not possible because life is not only a collection of positive things. So just let it go..

  • Miss X

    omg.. you’re right, sir. that’s what I need to realize. smile thanks…

    is it okay to say “I don’t care” in every single frustration?

  • Akhlis Purnomo

    Maybe…haha…but let’s say “it can happen to me but it should strengthen me instead of bringing me down”.

    I think the I-don’t-care attitude will worsen and intensify complicated situations in the long run. So maybe we just have to hit the bull’s eye, find the root of the problem and simplify the problem.