Sunday, January 10, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
At the End of the Day (Jan 5, 2010)
At the end of the day, I breathe.
*A. took this while I was doing either Agni Sara or Kapalabhati.
*A. took this while I was doing either Agni Sara or Kapalabhati.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Ha-tha (Jan 2, 2010)
From the moment I wanted to get a tattoo, which was eons ago and long before I fell in love with yoga, I wanted to get one with the sun and moon. I loved the celestial symbolism, the oneness of opposites. I loved how it is depicted in various orders of spirituality and mythology. I loved the stories of love depicted between the sun and the moon be it the gods and goddesses of wicca or ancient egypt. I loved the notion of balance in this bipolar universe. I still do.
I searched for so many celestial pieces of half sun and half moon drawings for inspiration. I combed through studio flash art. Many, many pieces later, I still did not have it. Amidst the lotus and mantras, I thought the celestial theme did not seem to fit anymore. Until the meaning unfolded once again and the sun and the moon rose once again in the expanse of my seeking soul.
After years of practicing hatha, I came to understand the meaning beyond "forcefulness". Neil would talk about ha-tha. Sun and Moon. Your movements have the unity of opposites. In every asana, find the ha and the tha. Then there's prana and apana.
From the wikipedia
The word Hatha is a compound of the words Ha and Tha meaning sun and moon ( हकारः कीर्तितः सूर्यष्ठकारश्चंद्र उच्यते | सूर्यचंद्रमसोर्योगाद्धठयोग निगद्यते || ), referring to Praana and Apaana, and also to the principal nadis (energy channels) of the subtle body that must be fully operational to attain a state of dhyana or samādhi. According to the Monier Moneir-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary, the word "hatha" means forceful. It is a strong practice done for purification.
Hatha Yoga, pronounced [ˈɦəʈʰə] in Hindi, is also known as hatha vidya or the "science of hatha" yoga. The word Hatha comes from combining the two Sanskrit terms "ha" meaning sun and "tha" meaning moon. The word "ha" refers to the solar nadi (pingala) in the subtle body and "tha" the lunar channel (ida). However, when the two components of the word are placed together, "hatha" means "forceful", implying that powerful work must be done to purify the body. Yoga means to yoke, or to join two things together, hence hatha yoga is meant to join together sun (masculine, active) energy with the moon (feminine, receptive) energy, thus producing balance and greater power in an individual.
So in looking for my ha-tha, my sun and moon, I finally found the pieces.
The image of sun and moon in drusta calligraphy is from the beautiful Tibetan calligraphy of Tashi Mannox: www.tashimannox.com and the Tibetan script tattoos from www.inkessential.com
http://inkessential.blogspot.com/2009/04/sun-and-moon.html
They are in Tibetan Drusha script.
My Om Mani Padme Hum is in Uchen Script.
Everything is in its place even in the small Universe of my skin.
I searched for so many celestial pieces of half sun and half moon drawings for inspiration. I combed through studio flash art. Many, many pieces later, I still did not have it. Amidst the lotus and mantras, I thought the celestial theme did not seem to fit anymore. Until the meaning unfolded once again and the sun and the moon rose once again in the expanse of my seeking soul.
After years of practicing hatha, I came to understand the meaning beyond "forcefulness". Neil would talk about ha-tha. Sun and Moon. Your movements have the unity of opposites. In every asana, find the ha and the tha. Then there's prana and apana.
From the wikipedia
The word Hatha is a compound of the words Ha and Tha meaning sun and moon ( हकारः कीर्तितः सूर्यष्ठकारश्चंद्र उच्यते | सूर्यचंद्रमसोर्योगाद्धठयोग निगद्यते || ), referring to Praana and Apaana, and also to the principal nadis (energy channels) of the subtle body that must be fully operational to attain a state of dhyana or samādhi. According to the Monier Moneir-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary, the word "hatha" means forceful. It is a strong practice done for purification.
Hatha Yoga, pronounced [ˈɦəʈʰə] in Hindi, is also known as hatha vidya or the "science of hatha" yoga. The word Hatha comes from combining the two Sanskrit terms "ha" meaning sun and "tha" meaning moon. The word "ha" refers to the solar nadi (pingala) in the subtle body and "tha" the lunar channel (ida). However, when the two components of the word are placed together, "hatha" means "forceful", implying that powerful work must be done to purify the body. Yoga means to yoke, or to join two things together, hence hatha yoga is meant to join together sun (masculine, active) energy with the moon (feminine, receptive) energy, thus producing balance and greater power in an individual.
So in looking for my ha-tha, my sun and moon, I finally found the pieces.
The image of sun and moon in drusta calligraphy is from the beautiful Tibetan calligraphy of Tashi Mannox: www.tashimannox.com and the Tibetan script tattoos from www.inkessential.com
http://inkessential.blogspot.com/2009/04/sun-and-moon.html
They are in Tibetan Drusha script.
My Om Mani Padme Hum is in Uchen Script.
Everything is in its place even in the small Universe of my skin.
