Breathing and Meditation January 30

[myog...@aol.com]

Hi all,

As I mentioned in the class on Sunday, I will talk about and we will practice a variety of breathing techniques from basic breathing as well as get into some of the Pranayam of the yoga practice.  We will also discuss various types of meditation and do some sitting practice.  We'll also talk about the anatomy of breathing and sitting.  Please eat before you come to class so by the time we start any of the practices you are neither too hungry or still feeling food in your system.  For the break, lighter food -- fruit and juice, etc. would be more comfortable than a heavy meal.

I also mentioned, the yogi named Ramdev in class.  He is a famous yogi in India, kind of a televangelist, in that he is basically spreading the practice of yoga to the masses via television in India.  All of his work is for something higher than himself; that is, not for his gain.  In and of itself, his work in the mainstream and his systematic development of Asan/Pranayam sequences for various diseases, are interesting concepts as is his personal story of healing through yoga. 

I am including links for his (organization's) site and for two videos of him practicing/teaching the techniques of some of  the more basic Pranayam.  One is a short 10 minutes that jumps right into the techniques, the other is longer.  They are both dubbed so are in English.  What I'd like you to do is watch them sometime before class and notice his whole body as he sits and performs the breathing exercise (also notice the student in the longer video).  See if you can pick up the subtleties of the breath through simply watching.
 
Main website:
http://divyayoga.com/main.htm

Pranayam - just demo 10 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amkJraCgIng

Pranayam - talk/demo 66 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Jnra2O9Fc

Thank you,
Meg