YOGA
Well, according to some, yoga stems from before 1500 BCE because a picture of an antlered sage sitting lotus posture was found on the Vedus written on papyrus from the Indus Valley. Here, the emphasis of yoga seems very much to be settled into the practice of spiritual realisation.
Other recent studies date it back around a century or two, when the western forms of physical culture met the eastern and the yoga we now primarily practice in the West was born. Interestingly, the conclusion drawn from these studies show that the yoga we know and practice as asana/flow, to be little more than a very effective way of staying fit, healthy and strong.
MONKS
I, Jonathan Monks have been practicing, almost daily, what I thought was yoga for over twenty years. The ten years (probably more) prior to the start of my yoga practice also saw daily forms of physical practice, so I have never been short of the discipline required to dedicate oneself to discovery. The reason for the shift from more classic ‘western’ exercise to one more holistic was due to the fact that deep inside I had always felt not as well connected inside as I could be, not structurally balanced and I craved this sense of balance.
Interestingly, I began studying Tai Chi, before beginning my yoga studies through following the practice laid out in the book ‘Yoga, the Iyengar way’. Later a book came on the scene written by Berol Bender Birch and my exploration of ‘Power Yoga‘ began. Ten years of pretty serious self study followed, which toward the end of it saw me begin teaching.
During this time I was very thankful to all the teachers who shared their practice with me, most notably Gingi Lee for teaching me the Ashtanga Series.
Even though crossing paths with many teachers, the emphasis of my practice was always more ‘self’ than practice and it was this that led to me ‘breaking‘ point. I ‘broke’ myself with the very same practice I had begun my the quest to fix my imbalances. I realized that the reason we tend to break is that the connections we use are not strong enough to withstand the workload we put through them. I had spent years perfecting how to flow around my stuck places, never changing the very things that were holding back the progression my practice. The last three years have seen the input of my current teachers, without whose blessings and teachings, the work would be little of what it is today. They have also given me the tools to unblock the parts of me I’ve been waiting to unblock all of my life. I am truly indebted to them.
So, this is the background to the Monks in yogamonks.
My teachers
Peter Niemela. ‘Open’, Gothenburg, Sweden. Genius!
Caroline Ross. Great River Tai Chi. Teacher, dear friend, lovely lady!
Master Mark Raudva. www.thetiachicentre.co.uk. Master says it all.
Kriyaji. Kriyaji@angelic.com. It is very rare that you have the blessing of meeting a truly enlightened being. I recommend all serious practitioners to study at source, go directly to Kriyaji as this will benefit any and all of your practices.
