Hanna

He is a Guru, and everything is balanced and harmonic about him. And despite the translations everything was clear. Physical body understood everything.

And It was incredible to open your body, chest.

It made such an impression!

We liked kumbhaka a lot.

We hope to see him in Novosibirsk again and probably there will be another workshop on kumbhaka.

Thanks a lot, Guru! 

Elena 

Three days of the Eyal Shifroni’s workshop have passed so fast.

It was absolutely new experience for me.

Thanks Eyal for the new knowledge. My body and conscious transformed into a research laboratory for those three days.

Oksana 

Workshop of Eyal has come to an end.

With huge thanks to Guru for knowledge, for special atmosphere, that brings light of yoga, possibilities to explore yourself, to be in “a laboratory” here and now!

I have these amazing feelings from yoga that brings everyone together. We sing mantra Patanjali and it happens also around the world-we are one international family.

Irina ️

I am still under a deep impression by Eyal, by his practising and his teaching!

Eyal always practices yoga very thoughtfully, deeply, without hurrying, I felt like the place where we are it is Pune, institute, Guruji.

When a man is proffesional and when you observe his work this is magic.

I get an impression that the sequence for personal practice is updated constantly and is also modified by him.

Poses such as standing, back forward, twistings, inversion are completed easily and consciously.

Every day we practiced in a certain sequence and every time it was a new practice. Every time there was something new – this is amazing!

It is surprising how he can build very particular poses, very artfully, without extra instructions, how he can use props for yoga and eventually the pose is light, and it calms you.

I was amazed how simply Eyal can use props for any poses and at the end of the day the pose began to open, to improve.

My best wishes to the Eyal Shifroni and we are looking forward to seeing the teacher again here. 

Find upcoming workshops and events with Eyal.

Our intention and attitude toward the practice is very important – it makes all the difference between doing asanas as gymnastics, or as Yoga! One can easily practice yoga as a body-culture only but in an attentive yoga practice we have a vast potential for self transformation.

It is important to ask ourselves: why do we practice? What are we trying to achieve? Is it only bodily capabilities like strength and flexibility, or do we have something more in mind? Do we approach our practice space like one may come to a gym? Or, as a student entering a classroom or a lab?

We must know that our practice is not only a body culture; it is not a ‘workout’. Our aim is to develop our whole being, to develop capabilities and attitudes like sensitivity, stability, (mental) flexibility, persistence, self-discipline, balance, and equanimity. These capabilities are psychophysical – they pertain both to body and mind.

An attentive yoga practice has the potential to make our life better; to make us better human beings. To do be more wholesome for us, for the people around us and for the environment. We should develop positive qualities such as: tranquility, concentration, consideration, generosity, compassion, joy and happiness with the wellbeing and success of others.

This will only come if we approach the practice with the right attitude, the right mind-set. Our practice should be reflective and mindful. Then it will be a psychophysical lab! A lab for self-study (svadhyaya), a lab for working with and on our entire being.

When performing an asana we should reflect on what happens in our body-mind-breath and senses. Many things are happening!

What we feel is more important than what we do since the purpose of doing is to feel more, to develop our awareness and sensitivity.

There are many correlations between the body and the mind which are revealed in the practice. Here are a few intermutual psychophysical effects we can observe:

• Our level of confidence affects what we can do. Low self esteem can invoke thoughts like ‘I’ll never be able to do that pose’, ‘I can’t jump up to full-arm balance’. If we are able to let go of such fixed and limiting notions and self-images while practicing, and be open to what each moment brings, then we will gain more freedom in our life.
• Our ability to perform balancing asanas is intimately connected with our concentration and focus.
• Our ability to let go, relax mentally and release stress helps to progress physically.
• Our breath can be used to release bodily tensions, to soften, to expand, to energize, to uplift and so on.

In our new book The Psychophysical Lab, we examine these effects and the two-way relations between the body and the mind. We discuss whether and how our practice can develop psychophysical capabilities, such as flexibility, balance, stability, non-injury, self-discipline, patience, truthfulness. We examine whether and how, developing such capabilities on the practice mat, affects our life outside of the mat.

We also show how the practice can become a lab, for observing, exploring and studying our mental tendencies. For example:

1. In a class situation, there will be tendencies to impress, excel and compete. If we are flexible, we may overuse our flexibility in a way that may wear and tear our joints and ligaments.
2. In self-practice, we often struggle with weak determination, lack of perseverance and self-discipline, with our scattered and absent-mindedness. Sometimes we experience irritation, impatience and agitation (rajas). At other times, low-energy, dullness, sadness, laziness, or heedlessness (tamas). We may find it hard to bring ourselves to practice and to kindle our motivation due to emotions such as sorrow, remorse, anger or cravings.
3. We may find ourselves practicing ambitiously, to achieve and show-off, then we will be strongly affected by success and failure.
4. Sometimes we tend to practice mechanically and habitually. We just repeat the things we already know without a real motivation to explore and learn and with no interest, curiosity and creativity. We prefer to repeat the poses we know and are easy for us, avoiding what we really need, even if it’s harder and there are no immediate benefits or satisfaction.

In order to maintain our practice on the right track we should develop and apply the five qualities that Patanjali mentions in sutra I.20, and that B.K.S. Iyengar calls: ‘The five vitamins of the yogi’ (see: The Tree of Yoga in the chapter: The depth of Asana). These are:

• Shrada – faith; trust that the path of yoga is the path we need to undertake in order to improve and progress.
• Virya – prowess, energy and determination that are needed to overcome obstacles and difficulties that we will surely encounter sooner or later on our path.
• Smriti – strong and keen memory to remember, moment after moment, to come back to ourselves, to the present moment, to remember what we are trying to achieve.
• Samadhi –concentration and absorption.
• Pragnia – spiritual wisdom.

Shrada is akin to a mother; since the mother’s love, confidence and trust in her child develops his or her faith. Virya is the energy and willpower given typically by the father. Smriti, the third quality is very central, and it appears at the center of the five. It is the gate for the following two. It is difficult for our mind to concentrate and be quiet. We want to concentrate, but soon forget. We are carried away by the business and worries of our life and forget to breathe, we rarely stop to return to our senses and to be mindful to what is happening in the present moment. We live in our memories or in our plans and worries and miss the joy of being in the present moment – the only moment where life really happens!

Smriti is mindfulness, which develops concentration (samadhi), from which wisdom (pragnia) follows.

If we approach our practice seriously, we have to develop and foster these ‘vitamins’ and combine them in our daily attentive yoga practice. Then our practice will progress and if we preserve in it, we will develop the yogi’s capabilities and qualities we mentioned at the outset of this article.

It is important for us to keep in mind and affirm that yoga practice has immense potential for improving our lives, as well as the lives of those around us. In the hustle and bustle of life and the pressures we are all in, we often forget that.

There is a tendency to focus on the physical aspect of the practice, to practice in order to become more flexible, stronger, to look better, to be healthier. If, for instance, because of life’s overload we can’t practice for a few days, we say, “ugh, I didn’t practice for a few days, my body is really stiff!” but how often do we say: “ugh, I did not practice for a few days, my mind is really stiff!”? And when would we feel more successful? When we grind our teeth to accomplish a difficult asana, even though mentally we experience stress, struggle, and ambition, or when we are performing a simple asana and experience concentration and serenity?

The body is a component of the human system and is of utmost importance, but we must view our entire system holistically and remember that yoga practice is intended to transform our entirety. It is essential to remember this especially in moments of difficulty and crisis when dealing with physical or mental difficulties. There and then, particularly, it is important for us to remember that practice is not intended only to obtain more flexible shoulders, or to succeed in performing Urhdva Dhanurasana, but to bring a greater sense of peace and joy to our lives. But how can yoga practice lead to more peace and joy?

The yoga sages have established certain principles that, if acted upon, will enhance our lives and create more peace. Patanjali wrote of Yama and Niyama that: cultivating a caring attitude (Maitri) compassion, (Karuna) encouragement (Mudita) and emotional stability (Upeksha) (Sutra I.33) will lead to a quiet, enlightened consciousness.

Yet, it isn’t easy to apply these principles. It is not enough for us to hear about Ahimsa or Aatya so that the inherent violence in us will dissolve and we will dwell in truth. It isn’t easy to be Mahatma Gandhi. We must acknowledge that we have aggressive and violent tendencies. We may think that nonviolence is an important value, but how do we actually behave when confronted with aggression or a threat to what we perceive as our legitimate right?

It’s not enough to want to be inoffensive. Prashant Iyengar said that our natural inclinations are: Himsa (aggression and violence), A-satia (non-truth), Steya (tendency to take or use what does not belong to us and was not given to us), A-brahmacharya (non-restraint), and Parigraha (possessiveness and accumulation) — that is, the direct opposites of the five Yamas of Patanjali. In order to overcome these tendencies, a transformation is required, and this, in turn, requires practice. Practice at all levels, physical practice (disciplining the body), mental practice (disciplining the mind), and practice of the heart.

Patanjali does not stop by describing the yogic values; he outlines an entire roadmap for the yogi. In Chapter 1 of the Yoga Sutras, he depicts the high states of consciousness and in chapter 3 he describes transformations of consciousness. He points to the means for quieting the fluctuations of consciousness (I.12); lists the five vitamins a practitioner needs (I.20); reviews the difficulties and obstacles we will encounter along the way (I.30-31) and the ways to overcome them (I.32-I.39) and most importantly, in chapter 2, he provides us with a framework for practice: the Ashtanga Yoga, the eight-limbed yoga whose practice will purify consciousness leading to the dawn of the light of wisdom (II.28).

The potential of practice is a radical transformation of the body matter as well as our mind-stuff, a transformation that includes the entire personality and manifests itself in our behavior, not only in our thinking. Modern neuroscience has discovered that our brain is flexible and that continuous behavioral change, such as physical or mental practice brings about, can alter the brain’s neural circuits — it is scientific proof that the body matter changes. The Yogis did not need scientific evidence and knew that practice could change the body and mind substances, creating a transformation that would reduce suffering and help us find more joy in our lives.

As the body and mind stuff transform and consciousness becomes refined, pure and noble, we can spontaneously respond in accord with these yogic values. There would be no need to preach to ahimsa; it will flow spontaneously from within us. Our responses will become more balanced and compassionate. We will behave naturally according to the yogic principles, as an enlightened or a sage would behave.

This is the potential of yoga practice and it is this potential we should remember and reflect on. It is also important to remind ourselves that the fruits of our practice are not only for us but also for all those around us because when we benefit ourselves, we will also benefit those around us. The internal transformation that takes place within us will be reflected outside. When we act in a pure, balanced manner and become more considerate and caring, more compassionate, generous, and happy with the success of others — the ecology of our lives improves and those around us respond to that change. So the potential of yoga practice is not only for us, but it is also for others. It is important to remember this because it extends greater meaning and value to our practice and can help us overcome crises and periods of difficulty in our own practice.

Translated from Hebrew by Eleanor Schlesinger

Karma – An Ethical Foundation

The literal meaning of the word Karma in Sanskrit is “work,” “action,” or “deed”. This is in the sense of ‘an action carried out externally in the world’, as opposed to the Sanskrit word Kriya, implying ‘an action carried out intrinsically’. Generally, the law of karma says that every action has fruits, i.e. has implications manifesting in samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth. An action done with good intention creates good karma, while one that is done with bad intention creates bad karma. The fruit can manifest in this lifetime or in the next incarnations. The intention, approach, and desire of the doer affect the karma, but also, to a certain extent, the outcome of the action. A common example is envisioning two men standing with a knife over a man lying on the ground. One of the men standing is a surgeon, and the other is a murderer – both are performing the same action – stabbing the man lying in front of them, but their intentions are quite different. In that sense, the concept of karma differs from the principle of pure causality found in the natural sciences. However the result of the operation, also counts since it’s evident that if the surgeon was to be successful, his feelings will be very different than if the patient dies, and this affects his karma as well.

As a man himself sows, so he himself reaps; no man inherits the good or evil act of another man. The fruit is of the same quality as the action.

Mahabharata, XII.291.22

The connection between karma and causality is a central motif in various schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. According to these traditions, both the individual’s actions as well as his intentions affect the course of his life. Any actions carried out with expectation (an outcome in mind) result in an accumulation of karma, as opposed to actions carried out without such expectation, which leave karma intact. Good karma has a positive effect on the life of the doer, and leads to happiness, while bad karma negatively influences the doer and leads to unhappiness. The effect of karma is not limited to the individual’s current life and may also influence his next incarnations.

The concept of karma is therefore used as the ethical basis in various schools of Eastern philosophy. However, it’s not a punishment and reward system. There is no one to grant rewards or punishments. It’s just the way things are – natural law. Although it’s not always clear to us, the law of karma states that it’s simply a fact that any action done with an expectation for an outcome creates karma, actions carried out with good intention will produce good karma, while those done with bad intention will produce bad karma.

Chapter two of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali describes the law of karma thus:

Sutra 34 states that negative thoughts have infinite consequences. Thoughts create karma that the individual carries with him onto future incarnations:

The Application of Karma

There are three types of impressions through which karma is applied in our reality:

• Phala (fruit) – Karma has an immediate impact. It is the result of an action that is expressed immediately, or sometime during the life of the doer, whether overtly or covertly. For example, the good feeling one has after doing an act of kindness, generousity or compassion is an example of phala.
• Samskara – Karma has a hidden influence. It is expressed internally in the life of the doer, influencing his behavior and his degree of happiness (in the current life and in certain schools even in future incarnations). Samskara is often the focus of discussion in Eastern philosophy. Karma sows tendencies (vasna) in the individual’s life, which affect their behavior as well as their vision of themselves and the world, thus dictating their experience of life.
• Reincarnation – The principle of rebirth (samsara) appears in various schools of Eastern religions. All forms of life undergo a process of reincarnation – that is, a series of births and deaths, whereby each birth can manifest in a different life form than the one that preceded it (for example, what was a pig in a previous life can be born again as a human being). The accumulation of karma collected during a creature’s lifetime continues with it even after death in the next incarnation and determines the shape and nature of life to which they will be born. This process of death and rebirth continues indefinitely and the only way to stop it is by consciously reaching a release, or Moksha.

Clearing Samskaras

For the Western mind, the prospect of reincarnation may seem comforting. After all, death isn’t the final and absolute ending. But in the Eastern traditions, the endless cycles of birth and death – the samsara, is replete with suffering. In fact, it seems like a prison that one is doomed to be in, endlessly. As long as we have a karmatic store or samskaras we are doomed to return to this wheel of samsara. So the only way to extricate oneself from it, is to clean our samsakaras. The actions of the yogi, done without desire and without expecting reward or personal benefit, do not produce any samskaras.

The end of chapter 1 of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali describes the process of clearing the samskaras, in order to reach the utmost Samadhi – Samadhi without a nucleus:

Chapter four comes back to the subject of purifying the samskaras and describes the action of the Yogi, as actions that leaves no residue or traces of her or his karma and are therefore transparent:

Lotus Blossom – Transcending Difficult Circumstances

The lotus blossom symbolizes karma in many religions, as the lotus contains its seed while blooming. The seed traditionally symbolizes the cause, while the blossom symbolizes the result. In addition, the lotus grows in murky water, while its flower floats above the surface of the water; it is a metaphor that one can transcend difficult circumstances without being influenced by them.

Attending to the Chest and Spine

in Tadāsana (Mountain Pose)

The Psychophysical Lab

• Stand as you would in a queue during the day, without taking any specific care to your posture.

Photo 1 Standing in a slouch posture 

• Sense the space in the chest as you inhale.

Ω Without changing anything, observe the position of your shoulders, the space in your chest, the flow of your breath, the softness of your eyes, and the state of your brain.

Now do Tadāsana:

• Widen your toes and feet. Feel the touch of the soles of your feet with the floor and ground your heels, the outer edges of your feet and your toe mounds.

Photo 2 Contact regions of the foot with the floor

• Move your tailbone forward into the pelvis and at the same time move the front of your upper thighs back.

In his teachings, B.K.S. Iyengar stressed time and again the importance of this apparently simple pose; he taught fine points about this pose even when instructing his most advanced students and teachers. Some of these subtle actions should be learned over time under the guidance of a competent teacher. Here we can only offer the most basic instructions.

• Elongate the spine; roll your shoulders back and down; move your shoulder blades in and activate your back muscles to widen the chest.

Photo 3 Tadāsana – the mountain pose

Moving the shoulder blades in means moving them forward toward the front (anterior) part of the body. Imagine someone is looking at your back and you want to hide your shoulder blades from her. Activate your back muscles to move the entire plates of the shoulder blades closer and closer to the ribs at your back. This action opens the chest and improves the breath.

• Exhale and concentrate on your spine; then, while inhaling, imagine an external pull, as if a string is connected to the top of your head and gently pulls it up. Feel how this creates space between each adjacent vertebra, as if an air cushion is formed between them. Sense the space in the chest cavity as you inhale.
• Maintain a stable pose but release any tension, especially in the diaphragm, face, eyes and shoulders.
• Mentally connect the back of your brain to your sacrum and then to your heels, and at the same time, open and lift your heart center at the center of the chest.

Ω Observe again: how is the flow of your breath now? How soft are your eyes? What is your mental state? What are the differences between the first casual, sloppy posture and a proper Tadāsana?

Opening the chest – or more precisely, increasing the dimensions of the chest cavity – has enormous effects on our overall disposition. We discuss in more length how opening the chest can rapidly change our mood drastically. This simple action can take us from gloomy and depressed mood to optimism and cheerfulness. When the shoulders are dropped forward and the chest is sunken, one feels restricted and probably even depressed to some degree. Indeed, depression is often associated with a rounded upper back and a tendency for a narrow chest. In a depressed mood, we tend to look down and our breathing is typically shallow. Research into the effect of yoga on depression shows significant relief of depression as a result of a routine yoga practice. Such a practice emphasizes chest-opening poses, and supported back bends; see [research on the effects of Iyengar yoga on depression].

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