Music.

 

"A musician, if he is a messenger, is like a child who hasn't been handled too many times by man, hasn't had too many fingerprints across his brain. That is why music is so much heavier than anthing you've ever felt." -- Jimi Hendrix, Life magazine, 1969

Mark Whitwell, my guru, says that "the great exploration of popular music has arisen from our need to feed something authentic in life....As in yoga, art is the perfect merging of the performer with the performance. It allows the life energy to flow....Do you experience life for yourself, feel things directly for yourself and feel this living, breathing, heart-pumping organism you are? What is living you, breathing you and pulsing your heart? How can we have firsthand experience and expression of our own life, every one of us? By understanding that we are authentic as life itself along with the Sun and Moon and trees and everything else. We allow our yoga and art to arise from that as the natural flow of life. The artistic struggle to make an authentic gesture arises from the deep social denial of the authenticity of our own life. But your life is extraordinary intelligent and powerful. it is already in place. You can move easily from here as your own unique form. The Sun will rise!" -- Mark Whitwell "Yoga of Heart" 

What is LIVING you?

Beach, Bridget, Barley and Blindfolds.

The sun was shining, so I texted my friend Bridget and asked if she wanted to hang out...maybe take Barley down to the beach. It wasn't Costa Rica, thats for sure, but it felt so good to feel the sand between my toes and let the sunshine warm my face. Bridget and I scoured the beach for treasures (she loves collecting sea-paraphernalia) while Barley chased the ball and ran through the ocean. Afterwards we headed back to her and her husbands new house!! It's adorable and cozy, and you feel at home as soon as you walk through the door. Since we are both avid yogi's we started to mess around with some concepts for the nights class that we had discussed on our walk. We both love Mark Whitwell, so the ramble part of my class was inspired by some of what we've connected with in his book Yoga of Heart: The Healing Power of Intimate Connection.

"Enlightenment does not look like anything or conform to any cultural model of perfect behavior or beatitude. It is simply an understanding and enjoyment of the obvious perfection, which is Life."

So often EVERYONE in class is looking around - assessing their neighbors, comparing their poses and their bodies with those of the people around them, instead of realizing that each body and personality and yoga practice is totally authentic. I have been wanting to do a blindfolded class for a while now, so I figured that this would play into the lesson that I wanted to get across. With a blindfold on you can't try to conform to the exact interpretation of the pose from my perspective, or to your neighbors. It is completely and utterly your own. Another great lesson that comes along with the blindfold is the connection to your BREATH.

"To be with the breath is to be with that which is breathing us."

I constantly ramble on about how important your breath is: how it takes you into poses, and out of them...it massages you deeper and tells you when to back off...and it allows your body to relax and absorb any sensations that arise. In LIFE, in YOGA, your breath is EVERYTHING. With your sight removed your whole yoga experience changes, and you realize that your breath is the only thing that will be able to guide you through practice.

Bridget, being my blindfolded guinea pig....

Anywho - Bridget and I messed around at the house, figuring out what worked and what was too confusing or challenging. I also had to be VERY specific with my cues - afterall you weren't able to just look up and find the posture that I was talking you into!

Barley and Bridget in Down DOG....

After coming up with a flow we enjoyed some coffee, snacked a bit, then Bridget read some Nat Geo while I came up with an [instrumental] playlist.

Circling with the breath, blindfolded....

Simply standing in Tadasana becomes a whole new experience with the blindfold....

A blindfolded Bridget binding....

Class was a GREAT success. Of the 11 people there was only one person who said that they DID NOT like it and would love it if he never did blindfolded yoga ever again. Two people approached me about how apprehensive and anxious they were about it during the first several minutes of class. One woman even said that she thought about walking out. But once she relaxed with her breath and TRUSTED her body and breath she was able to simply BE with her experience. I also received 5 text messages after class saying that blindfolded yoga was pretty much the most epic thing that they have ever done in the classroom! All in all, a totally unique yoga experience. Next weeks Wednesday morning Yin we will experiment with eliminating another sense: sound. The yin practice will be TOTALLY silent...the transitions being signaled with my tibetan singing bowl. The practice will be written out on little sheets for everyone and the room will be completely quiet. Yeeeww!! Thanks to my yoga students and to my friends for the constant inspiration to take our classes to the next level!!!

"Simply BE with your experience."

Satya Yoga with Cailin Callahan

Whether the class I am instructing is Vinyasa, Yin, Kundalini, or Slow Flow...one thing will remain the same - the Authenticity of the practice. Spiritually, physically, emotionally - we all need something a bit different from yoga, and amazingly enough Yoga has the capability to MOLD TO US. What's important is that the practice fits the person rather than the person trying to fit the practice. My goal is that each person who walks into my class will walk out the door feeling better than when they walked in...with a smile on their face and some happiness in their heart. As life evolves, as we evolve - our practice evolves, and I hope to be able to offer up authentic variations for physical, spiritual and emotional growth along the way. "SATYA" is a sanskrit term translating to "truth, one who's nature is truth, authentic, sincere"...and that is what is reflected in my teaching: being true to our Authentic bodies, and replying to that with a sincere and Authentic practice.

I created a SATYA YOGA WITH CAILIN CALLAHAN page on facebook to promote my classes and my approach to yoga. If you are on facebook, please take a second to "Like" my page. And even if you aren't on facebook, you are able to view the page and see the latest happenings. www.facebook.com/SatyaYogaCailin

Namaste.

" The only thing that can be done is enabling people into experiencing. A Moment. This moment. The miracle of life happening in us as a breath."

"You are life happening here. There is not much more to be said. What is life? You are whatever it is altogether.... You don't have to find yourself, because you never lost yourself, and all the power and intelligence of life is appearing in you, as you. Yoga is both the relaxation and participation in your own life."

--MARK WHITWELL

"There is immeasurable power and connectedness here. It can only be felt in you, as you. Nature does not work in models. We share the same condition but each one of us is utterly unique, standing in our life. The attempts to duplicate culturally prescribed spiritual models rob us of our unique presence and power. We each have our unique process. What has worked for one great person is not necessarily right for another... If there is any absolute condition of being, THIS IS IT. And this ONE is here, presently and powerfully available. It's not a question of "Be Here Now" - because you ARE here now. Yoga is the movement of the natural state of being." -- Mark Whitwell

We ARE Bliss.

Krishnamacharya:

an orthodox Vedantic Brahman who united the two very different Indian traditions of Tantra and Vedantic Brahmanism. The founder of modern day yoga that we practice (hatha yoga).

Mark Whitwell:

student of Krishnamacharya, author of Yoga of Heart: the healing power of intimate connection.

I received a message from a friend that attends my yoga classes. I am adamant about asking questions, and I encourage that my friends and students feel comfortable having an open line of communication with me. The other day I talked about "detachment" in class, and got a really fantastic inquiry last night in reference to the level of detachment that we should have in our lives. This exact topic has been weighing heavy on my mind for the past two years as I dive deeper and deeper into the true essence of yoga, and I've really struggled trying to understand. That was until I got Mark Whitwells' YOGA OF HEART book. It has shed some light on a controversial issue, long debated in the 'yoga' world. I'm going to break it down for you, in a way that I have taken from the teachings of the great Krishnamacharya and Mark Whitwell.

This is the letter that I received:

"...I've really liked your discussions on detatchment. It's something I've been working on for the past year or so and I've definitely felt it has helped me get through life's frustrating times. I have a question about it though. I've learned in yoga literature and from teachers that to achieve pure "bliss" (whatever that means) the unattachment has to apply to everything in life - the good times not just the bad times. I don't really like the idea of that. When I'm happy, I like to dive right in and experience is fully. I don't want to detach and recognize that the moment is only temporary. Observe without reacting - I can't do it. It's so much easier for me to detach from the bad times. How do you feel about it? Do you detach from the happy times and pleasurable things in addition to the tough times? I've always struggled with the concept for a while and your classes have only made me wonder about it more."

And this is my response (with a huge thanks to Krishnamacharya and Whitwell):

We already ARE bliss. It is not something unachievable that we must attain. Refraining from good times, or trying to detach from positive experience isn't going to help us get any further to Bliss, because Life IS Bliss. These good times are Bliss - the beauty of Life. It's important to observe and not react during the bad times, because they will pass. Reacting to them will only give them more power. So instead of reacting and turning your world upside down, just mindfully observe. Don't detach from the good times. Observe that yes, perhaps it is only temporary - but enjoy every bit of it. Soak it up. And when it is gone, don't want for it. Hold on to it in your heart, but reflect on it with a smile, not with longing. Don't let the good times of the past negatively affect your Now. Don't let a happy memory of the past take you away from Life. Life that is right now. Whitwell has said that the only thing that can be done is enabling people into EXPERIENCING. A moment. This moment. The miracle of Life happening in us as a breath... Jivamutki means "Life Liberation". The conventional interpretation is that yoga means union with the Self: the little self merging with the big self, leading to liberation FROM Life. But yoga is union WITH life - embracing life in all its wonder and incongruities, embracing ourselves and ALL of our Selves - leading to liberation from all things that take us away from life. Traditional Brahmans (an elite caste of Hindus) developed Vedanta yoga. It rejected women, sex and other pleasures in search for a "higher" pleasure and reality. How can intimacy between two people in love be a bad thing? Is sharing that love taking us further away from God? I think not. It's enjoying a night out with friends...enjoying a surf and some beers taking us further from God? No. It is us, enjoying our Lives as they were given, and THAT is yoga. The religious method of attempting to know "source of experience" by denying experience DOESN'T WORK. It is the ultimate unreality of reality - it's denying the wonder that is Life. This is Life - given to us by God. A Blissful Life. And as Whitwell reminds us, Yoga is the mere participation in the wonder of Life as it is already perfectly given. Yoga is not an attainment but a participation in the Given. It is devotion to the Given and not a search. This occurs naturally when there is no effort in the mind to know or achieve. God is not absent, therefore does not need to be found. The basic religious notion that truth needs to be found, that it is higher, deeper but not here in this ordinariness, has denied us our power which is Life.

SO...the next time that your ipod craps on you and you start to lose your shit - DETACH. Detach from this silly object that is causing you pain. And when you have an amazing day with your family, soak it up. ATTACH. Denying love and pleasure is an antique, out-dated way of thinking. And when the good times are over, don't let your longing for them ruin your Present. Life is a river, it will bend right and left and rage with water - and at times it'll run dry. So just go with the flow and enjoy the beautiful moments, and don't identify with the painful and sad moments. And remember, we ARE Bliss. No one and no thing can help us to attain something that already lives inside of us...

Yoga of Heart.

I had a difficult time falling asleep last night, and have been awake since about 3am this morning. We are in Kansas City, a few miles from the Missouri border. Things with Marny aren't as I had thought they'd be, but I'd made the mistake of heading into something with expectations. Expectations to have a situation identical to what we had in Indonesia for those few magical weeks, over 5 months ago. But, I'm not the same person today as I was then. "Life" has happened over these past months, and inevitably I have grown and evolved throughout these experiences, as we tend to do (and should continue to do). I feel like I'm coming into the person that I should be. I feel stronger as an individual- more aware of what I want and don't want, who I am, and what's important. I feel more ready to accept the notion that some things are still a mystery, and to feel confident despite this lack of certainty about certain things.

Just as yoga found me when I was ready, so has Mark Whitwells book, "YOGA OF HEART". I ordered it a while back, and have tried to pick it up a few times but could never quite get into it. Well, apparently I just wasn't ready. Yesterday, I was ready. All of this time on the road, in the passenger seat, with no distractions has given me lots of time to thinks. Miles upon miles to ponder. And now this book-- I'm drinking it up like a tall glass of water on a hot day. I was first introduced to Mark Whitwell a few years back at a yoga conference in Delaware. Laura Warfs classes and workshops LITERALLY changed my life-- they are what inspired me to become devoted to my yoga practice, and to share this passion with others by becoming a teacher. Warf has studied extensively with New Zealand-born Whitwell, and it's under his influence that she's formed her practice. Whitwell is a student of TKV Desikachar, son of Krishnamacharya. I could ramble on and on about how this book has already had a deep impact on myself and my view of "yoga" - but I'll save those rambles for my upcoming yoga classes- and I encourage you, whether you are a yogi or not, to pick up and enjoy this magnificent, compassionate and easy to digest book about God, Truth, Self and...Yoga.

"yoga is the mere participation in the wonder of Life as it is already perfectly Given."