57) My Sadhana Intensive (SI) Course experience :

I did the  Sadhana Intensive Course ( SI ) at the Sivananda Ashram ,Madurai ,India at 2009 and repeated again at 2010 and these were life changing experiences for me .I did my Yoga Teachers Training Course (TTC) in 1998 and my Advanced Yoga Teachers Training Course ( ATTC ) in 2004 at the Sivananda Ashram , Neyyar Dam ,India and while TTC and ATTC were itself had a major impact on me ,it was the SI course that really created the big shift in me and brought me to the current state of solitude that I am right now .

About the Course :

 The SI course is only  for the people who have completed the Sivananda TTC .It is not open to any other student however advanced he /she may be .It is a 2 week course i.e full 14 days of intense Sadhana without any breaks in between and right now in the Sivananda Ashrams it is offered in India ( Madurai , Uttar Kashi ) , Canada ( ValMorin , Quebec ) and in Sivanada Ashram in France .

 The maximum no. of candidates allowed  is 26 ( sometimes this rule is relaxed and few additional people are accomodated ) . The course is conducted in a very secluded atmosphere that is pure and unpolluted and away from noise and away from external people .The course is based on developing a personal intensive Yoga Sadhana according to the Classic text " Hatha Yoga Pradipika" .

There is no group/guided  practice here and each and every candidate is required to do his /her own Sadhana as per the instructions given at the beginning of each day .Sometimes the practices are modified according to the capacity of the individual .Each student is required to maintain his/her own personal sadhana diary and note down their own experiences and problems and the same is shared in a group discussion at the middle of the day .

The Diet in SI :

 The students of SI course are given a very special diet that is free of oil ,salt and other spices and is usually a very bland diet  involving boiled vegetables , chapatis , yogic kitchidi ( not the usual spicy one ) ,simple dal and some fruits ,fruit juices . Every morning the students are given a glass of Almond Milk which is very conducive for Pranayama practice .

Some restrictions :

All the students are required not to use cell phones , telephones ,emails etc during this 2 week period .It is a sort of Electronic detox for 2 weeks .However there is no Military like discipline enforced and students are morally expected to abide by these rules and many do so .

 Some background regarding the SI Course :

Everyone knows that Swami Vishnu devananda started the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres world over in late 60s and he was the person who first started the concept of  Yoga TTC , Yoga ATTCs etc . Before starting the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres , Swami Vishnu devananda was a disciple of Swami Sivananda in Rishikesh and he used to do intense Hatha Yoga Sadhana in his own hut in Uttar Kashi on his own and  developed enormous amount of Prana that he used later for his Yoga Mission world over . In Mid 80s some students of Swami Vishnu devananda in Quebec asked him about the secret of his abundant energy and he said that it was due to his intense Hatha Yoga Sadhana based on the Hatha Yoga Pradipika that he did on his own when he was a disciple of Swami Sivananda . The students wanted to know whether he is ready to share those Yogic secrets and Swami Vishnu devananda told that there is no secret in this sadhana but it involves a high degree of self discipline and self control as it is a very intense sadhana for many months to be done under seclusion under strict control of diet and other external factors . However seeing the interest in the students , Swami Vishnu devananda told that he will give a trailer to this sort of Sadhana and hence compressed the essence of this 6 month sadhana in 2 weeks so that people can get a feel of what it is to do undergo a rigorous yoga sadhana .This was how the SI course came in to being in 1986 at the Sivananda Ashram in Val Morin , Quebec ,Canada and slowly it came to be given even in their  Indian Ashrams .Swami Vishnu devananda designed it mainly for the Sivananda teachers / staff to energize themselves each year so that they turn out to to be better yoga teachers and are able to give more energy back to their students .

The Course Schedule :

All the students are required to get up early starting from 5 a.m in the beginning and as the course progress they need to get up still earlier at 4 a.m or so and after finish their bath , toilet they need to do the basic yogic kriyas on their own ( Jala Neti , Sutra Neti , Uddyana Bandha etc ) and assemble for the morning Satsang ( Group Prayer and Meditation ) . After the Meditation and Group Chanting is over , there is a talk on Adi Shankara's  Text Viveka Chudamani .After the satsang is over students are given a glass of Yogic  Almond Milk and they assemble for the instructions for the day . 

 First all the students chant the Sankalpa (i.e Vow ) for the day and then the teacher gives out the type of practice to be done for the day .All are required to do the basic Sivananda Asana routine of  Surya Namaskar and 12 basic postures to start with before starting the pranayama routine .  The main thing in this course is the pranayama practice . So each day the pranayama practices are given and their rounds keep increasing day by day and also new pranayama's are introduced progressively as the course progresses . So at the morning session the teacher introduces the new pranayama to the students and also demonstrates how it should be done . Later Mudras and Bandhas are also added and they are also demonstrated as and when they occur .

Initially the course starts with 2 sessions of practice , morning and evening and later it progresses to 3 sessions , early morning , mid morning and evening sessions .

After the morning session , students go for the lunch and later each student is given some work to do ( Karma Yoga ) and it can be cleaning the toilets , the yoga hall , the garden etc and it is usually kept mild and only for 30 mts or so .

Then the students assemble for the afternoon group discussion where the Hatha Yoga Pradipika text is read and discussed as well as each student shares his /her own morning sadhana as well as previous day's evening sadhana's experience . This is the time where the teacher sometimes modifies the practice for each student based on the problems they encounter .For some he may tell them to lower the counts , for others to lower the ratio ,for others to skip bandhas etc etc .

In afternoon the students are given a glass of some fruit juice or coconut water or water melon to cool the system .After this the next session of Sadhana starts .

In evening the students assemble for the supper and after that they assemble for the night meditation and satsang and at night the holy text SriMad Bhagavatahm is read and after that students retire to bed early and the schedule repeats again .

Sometimes early morning there is a Homa ( Fire Ritual done ) and sometimes in evening there is a Mass Lalitha Sahasranama or Vishnu Sahasranama Puja ( Ritual ) will be done .This is basically done to keep the negativity away and also to energize the students and the atmosphere of the entire ashram plus also to invoke the divine blessings .

 Experience of the students during and after the course :

 Each and every student has varied experience during and after the course and one cannot standardize the same .Some students cannot progress after a few days and hit a block and they struggle a lot in completing , some fall sick for a few days and then recover quickly  and some remain sick for a longer period .The sickness is due to the fact when the Sadhana is being done the body is getting purified  at the physical, mental and emotional level and all the toxins start coming out . That is why students are required to prepare themselves well for a few weeks / months before they do the course otherwise they will have a tough time during this course .Some students have a smooth sadhana for the entire 2 weeks , some have a sea saw like sadahana with its ups and downs .Initially it is very easy for some but later as it keeps getting tougher not many people can withstand it .But as I said earlier that this is not a military camp where people are forced to do everything that is being ordered . There is no compulsion or pressure on any student to do the day's practice . Each and every student is encouraged to do what is best for his /her own capacity and not to force themselves .In Ashtanga term this is like a sort of Mysore Style Pranayama practice - do what is within ur capacity .

Also students are advised not to put their Ego in to the practice and learn the art of surrendering as only divine grace can guide them to a successful practice .As a symbolic gesture of surrender and bhakti each and every student is required to prostrate at the altar before and after they finish their sadhana in each session .

Again after the course each and every student has a different experience and while some are motivated to repeat it again , others feel once is enough and that they do not have the courage to do it again .

My personal experience of the SI:

In 2009 when I first did the SI course  ,I had initial difficulty in adjusting to the course but was later able to pick up and move smoothly . In 2010 it was a smooth experience all along as I was more psychologically prepared .I had an intention of repeating this course in 2011 but then I did not have the favorable situation to do it .Anyway I was happy to do it twice and get a feel of what real Yoga  Sadhana means .

The SI course helps each student to understand what his /her own potential is ,evaluate his /her own commitment to the path of Yoga and for me it gave me a great shift in understanding the greatness of this wonderful Hatha Yoga Sadhana and pushed me further in to making Yoga as my entire life mission - not just as a career but to put my time ,energy and resources in going in to this subject of Yoga  deeply from various dimensions and bring out my own yoga teachings based on this personal discovery . Also after the SI course was over I was  getting lot of indirect signals not to get involved in any external activity that involved me being an extrovert but rather focus on those activities that helped me remain more in solitude and focus on my own personal sadhana at home . This upset many of my friends / relatives as I stopped interacting with them a lot , avoided taking part in functions , get togethers etc etc .Previously I used to run and help lot of people in doing lot of  their personal work or when they visit my town , I used to meet them / take them out etc but now I was saying a big NO to many of such things as all of those activities were sapping my energies and even when I tried doing them  ( after my SI experience ) I ended up burning my fingers  and this gave a clear indication to me that it is high time I put a full stop to such an activity . For some who are curious as to why this change in my attitude I tell them that after my SI have changed a lot and if they try to relate to me in the same way as they were with me before I did the SI course then they are in for a disappointment . Some are hurt by this , some are disappointed by this behavior of mine but I cant help it . I have to acknowledge this shift in me and respect it and move ahead in the way it wants me to go . But at the same time it helped me strengthen the bonds with some close friends , students within India and Abroad and with whom I share a very special spiritual bond  and they say that they feel  a  very special warming energy in my presence and I continue to nurture those good relationships and are also open to those sort of good relationships and now that I am on the path of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga /Structural Iyengar Yoga ,I am forming new friends through various Ashtanga/Iyengar  bloggers online and I hope to meet some of them in real life  and have wonderful discussions related to Yoga and other healing techniques .

I can continue to write many more as to how SI course helped me develop a big shift in my perceptions about my life in general and about my yoga sadhana in particular but I will reserve it for another day .The above is best what I can write about now .

 

56) Why I have slowed down ?

After a long gap I am blogging again . Anyway ,I have never been a compulsive blogger and even though I am not blogging much ,I continue to keep my journaling activity intact by writing regularly in my private  journal offline .Compared to the past I have slowed down considerably and have cut off most of my outer activities and spend more time in solitude , doing my yoga ,reading ,contemplating and writing.Even with regard to my Yoga teaching activity I have cut down a lot and just confining myself  to few dedicated students .This slowing down and loving solitude rather than activity did not come due to any force or pressure from myself .It was due to natural shift in my perceptions about life in general and my yoga sadhana in particular .This shift happened more prominently after my doing the Sadhana Intensive Course ( SI ) twice at the Sivananda Ashram in Madurai in 2009 and 2010 and also after my visit to Rishikesh in Oct 2010 .While the SI course slowed down my thoughts and gave me a glimpse of how it is when the mind is slowed down due to intense rounds of Pranayama , the visit to Rishikesh kindled in me the power of  slowing down the mind due to "Vichara" i.e path of Self Enquiry  . Surprisingly this Vichara that I am talking about was not the Vichara of Ramana Maharshi ( done using  the method of hunting the "I") or the Vichara of Classical Advaita ( done using the Scriptures ) but rather done using a combination of the techniques given by Byron Katie ( through her technique called "The Work") , the pointers and teachings, dialogues   from J.Krishnamurti , pointers from Eckhart Tolle , Adya Shanti , Leonard Jacobson ,Osho,Poonja (Papaji) , Rameh Balsekar  as well as some insights  from the lectures of Swami Dayananda on his talks on Classical Advaita Texts .So it was a combination of many of the above that pulled my mind more inside instead of it going outward . That is one reason why I am not keen on blogging ,writing emails ,chatting , updating my Face Book etc as all those activities involve me to constantly keep interacting with people from the outside world and I feel a severe drain of energy if I do that .So that is one reason why I keep my interaction with outside people ( both online and offline ) quite less and just interact with a select few close friends and students and rest of the time spend time in  solitude doing yoga , reading ,writing ,contemplating and mantra chanting .As regards my Yoga practice previously it was just the Sivananda Style of  Classical Hatha Yoga but now I am doing a combination of Ashtanga Vinayasa Yoga as well as Iyengar based Structural Yoga and with regard to my current reading it is more of  things related to Movement Therapies ( Anatomy , Kinesiology , Yoga etc ) and anything with regard to healing the body and mind .So in short I am basically now doing a sort of research on healing the body and mind using various Yoga techniques as well as other healing therapies as well as non dual techniques and discover for myself what best works for me and later teach that to my students based on my own experience .Just like in my Vichara activity ,where I did not want to get trapped in any specific system like Classical Advaita , Ramana Maharshi etc but preferred to use a system that was a combination of various techniques and teachings from various Non Dual Masters ,similarly with regard to my Yoga practice I   do not want to get trapped in labels like Sivananda , Ashtanga ,Iyengar etc etc but want to take the best from each and develop my own unique way to practice and teach the same .There is lot of hard work in this as it is always easy to follow one system and teach it to others rather than discovering one for urself . I found out that no one system is capable of addressing the needs of all the students however noble it may be  .So trying to solve the problem faced by a student through a single system is like hiring a carpenter who brings only one tool i.e hammer and tries to solve all the carpentry problems using only the hammer and what will he do , he will just be banging on everything .So I do not want to be like that Carpenter having a single tool and I want to equip myself with as many tools as possible to help heal a person physically , mentally .That is what I see as my Dharma for the next phase of my life and I believe that is why Existence is sort of slowing me down to make me focus on the difficult task of being a multi dimensional yoga teacher /healer .How long I will be like this ( i.e in solitude ) I do not know but as of now this is my current state and I leave it to future to decide its own course for me .

54) The key message of J.Krishnamurti according to me 

The last few months I was involved a lot in reading the books/works  of J.Krishnamurti  .For me my first introduction to J.Krishnamurti ( shortly called J.K) came when I was young( around 15 years)  and at that time I came across one of his books "Commentaries on Living-Vol-2 " and after reading one of the chapters in it titled " What is the true function of a Teacher ( Chapter -31 pg.142 )" I was completely bowled over by his insights and many days I sat silent  dazed reflecting on the powerful insights I got from that chapter but then life went on its own course and while I continued to read other works of JK I could not understand what he was trying to convey and hence slowly my interest in his teachings slowly started to drop and I started pouring over the teachings of other Spiritual Gurus like Swami Chinmayananda , Swami Vivekananda , Swami Sivananda ,Ramana Maharshi etc etc . These teachers had a specific message ,their teachings  had clear cut themes and one could at least understand what they were saying even if one could not follow it but the same could not be said of J.K whose talks looked quite vaguge , no clear themes and while what he says looked revolutionary , at the end we come back puzzled as to what is it we can do in life or confused as to how to follow his teachings in our life .
It was only recently i.e 6 months back when I started to read the book J.Krishnamurti: As I knew Him by Susunaga Weeraperuma ,that I got a sort of clear picture of what J.K was trying to say . Unlike other books on J.K this book is not dry and it is easy reading and full of interesting incidents in J.K's life as closely observed by the author .
Coming to the point only from this book I got a clear picture of what exactly J.K was trying to convey . I feel that the essence of J.K's message is this " Investigate the motive behind each and every action of yours and verify whether there is self-centeredness in any of your actions"  . According to JK the root cause of violence whether small or big is due to self-centeredness in one form or the other . But at the same time he says that we cant force ourselves to be not self centered as that is artificial and will not work .He asks us to investigate each and every motive of ours without jumping in to conclusions and without suppressing them by following some spiritual practices like mantra chanting , meditations etc . By the way JK is not against Yoga , Pranayama etc and he says that one can follow any practice to keep the body fit and healthy  and the mind calm and centered but that alone will not help us resolve the problems in our life and nothing will compensate for the self investigation of our own motives .You can call it the direct path or the path of vichara .That is the key of his teachings according to me .
Now in what way has this new insight from JK teachings impacted me ?
Previously I believed that doing spiritual sadhana in one form or the other was itself enough and hence I was doing my yoga practices , pranayama practices , mantra chanting , meditation , study of spiritual books , visit spiritual places etc etc but now  I have understood that while all those activities have their own merit they will never compensate for the vichara or self investigation that I need to do myself to get clarity in my life .This is the sadhana I need to do for myself as only I know the contents of my thoughts and motives and no Guru / Book etc can do that work for me .So these days while I continue to do my yoga sadhana and my prayers I  do it basically to keep my body fit and energetic and my mind calm but at the same time I keep constantly investigating each and every motive of mine , every thought of mine .This is the inner sadhana that I keep doing now silently . While it is easy to explain this sadhana ,it is quite difficult to put it in practice as the mind always resists self investigation and prefers to keep itself busy with some thing or the other - spiritual or worldly .
Now  with this new understanding of J.K's message ,I am able to go understand what J.K is trying to say by reading his other books or listening to his various talks .Now they no longer appear to be vague as they used to be few years back .
So this is my understanding of the essence of J.K's teachings  and I am really thankful to Susunaga Weeraperuma for helping me understand the same through his various books on JK and most notably the book  J.Krishnamurti: As I knew him . I suggest people interested in the message of JK to first start reading books by Susunaga Weeraperuma .

53) A new approach to this blog 

 When I started this blog in 2007 I started with the aim of  writing only about the Sivananda System of Classical Hatha Yoga and it did have many entries explaining the basics of the Sivananda System of yoga , its asana sequence etc etc but in due course I started other blogs also as explained in my last post i.e Post No: 52 ) My Various blogs and they very much resonate the varied interests that I started to develop and I did not want all of those to be bundled in a single blog and hence opened separate blogs each reflecting one specific interest of mine .In the meanwhile I also started maintaining my own personal journal offline and used to write about many insights that I derived through my reading of various books , through my interaction with my students , through observing the behavior of people , through incidents happening in Society and all were directly or indirectly shaping me and I understood the importance of the spirit of Bhagavad Gita- " All life is a Yoga " i.e do not equate yoga to just want happens on the mat but extend it to what all happens beyond the mat also .I have highlighted this aspect also in my blog post No:51 ) Yoga beyond the mat  . So keeping that in mind I have decided that from now onwards I will write in this blog all issues related to Yoga on the Mat as well as Yoga beyond the mat .Since I cannot divorce myself from life and I am in relationship with society in one form or the other and everything directly or indirectly affects me ( as well as everyone ) ,it is high time I start writing about those issues .So from now on you can expect on this blog topics related to Cricket , Sports ,Politics ( India , Global ) , Economy , Technology , Religion , Spirituality etc etc apart from Yoga . Kindly note that I am not writing about these issues as an expert commenting on Politics , Sports  , Economy, Religion  etc but as an individual who is observing these issues and its impact on people .

 Even though I have mentioned about the various blogs in my previous post , I choose to have only  this blog 's address on my visiting Card so that this blog will  be  the first reference point for people to know more about me , my ideas and my approach to life .

As I said earlier I am not writing on these issues as an expert or as a person who has mastered life and understand all its mysteries but rather as observations from a normal individual who is on the path of yoga and trying to live a yogic life both on and off the mat .
Before Concluding I wish to point out  in that last few months ,I was immersed in re-reading the works of  J.Krishnamurti  which had a terrific impact on me and gave me strength and clarity to develop a big shift in my approach not only to my own yoga practice an teaching but also to life in general and apart from J.Krishnamurti two books that has heavily shaped me in the last one year ( and they still continue to do so ) are :
 1) Bringing Yoga to Life - The everyday practice of enlightened living by Donna Farhi
( in fact that is the title I have given to this blog also )
 2) Living Your Yoga - Finding the spiritual in everyday life by Judith Lasater .
 I have mentioned both these books in my post No:51) Yoga Beyond the Mat

 52) My Various Blogs

Here is a list of the various blogs that I have created right from 2006 up till now . They reflect the various interests that I have and how those interests kept evolving over the last few years  .I am not active on all the blogs and right now focused more on My Ashtanga Blog ( http://myashtangajournal.blogspot.com/) as right now that is what keeping me occupied more and it will be like this for the next few more years . However I do keep updating other blogs as and when I have some interesting information to be shared in those blogs .

This post is basically to let people know my varied interests and how it kept evolved over a period of time and what prompted me to start new blogs and also to know what my current interest is .

http://dailyspiritualmessage.blogspot.com/
1)Spiritual Messages related to Nonduality
This site deals with spiritual quotes and messages from various Spiritual Masters like Swami Sivananda , Swami Vishnu devananda , Osho , Eckhart Tolle , Ramana Maharishi , J .Krishnamurthy ,Papaji , Vernon Howard , Atmananda Krishna Menon , Jean Klein etc .Most of the quotes and teachings here reflect non dual teachings

This was my first ever blog that I started in 2006 when I took to blogging and it had a mixture of yoga and Vedanta related messages ( non dual messages ) but since I felt  the messages of yoga and vedanta conflict with each other ( as yoga involves effort and practice and considers mind to be real and  vedanta involves no practices and considers mind itself to be a non entity ) I decided to start a separate yoga blog ( eyogateacher.blogspot.com ) for my yoga related messages and kept this blog only to deal with pure non dual teachings .

http://eyogateacher.blogspot.com/
2)My Yoga Blog
This blog presents a collection of my thoughts ,views related to Classical Hatha  Yoga and related topics like Diet ,Meditation,Fitness ,Health ,Relaxation ,Breathing and anything to do with improving physical and mental health .

This was my first yoga blog that I started as a Sivananda Yoga Teacher and was started mainly to distinguish my yoga messages from the non dual messages given by me in the other blog ( dailyspiritualmessage.blogspot.com ) . As I am now practicing ashtanga I did not want to confuse my Ashtanga experience in this  normal yoga blog and  started a separate blog for my ashtanga experience ( myashtangajournal.blogspot.com ) and this blog will continue to have articles / matter related to the Sivananda Style of Classical Hatha Yoga and  other health related topics like diet , relaxation , meditation ,  etc .Though I am currently  learning Ashtanga , I continue to be involved in the teaching of Sivananda System of Classical Hatha Yoga and hence this will contain articles related to Classical Hatha Yoga from time to time .
Note : up to Post 50. this blog had a sort of structured and one dimensional approach of just sharing about Classical Yoga ( Sivananda Style ) but from post 51 onwards this blog is taking an unstructured and multi dimensional approach and deals with issues related to not only yoga but other things happening in my life as well in society .So keep this in mind when you go through the blog .I have explained the intentions behind this new approach in my blog post No.53) A New Approach to this blog .http://movementtherapies.blogspot.com/
3)Movement Therapies
This blog is to share information about the various Movement therapies like Alexander Technique , Feldenkrais Method , Pilates ,Tai Chi , Continuum movement,Ideokinesis, Hellerwork etc .
This blog I started in year 2010  when I was deeply in quest of addressing some issues of injury related to my lower back ( in 2009 ) and ankle ( in 2010 ) and  while I started it with Pilates , it went to Tai Chi and then I came across various movement therapies and felt that it is high time I start a blog  exclusively for the same and while I am not active in this as I am right now buys with my Ashtanga Vinayasa Yoga but definitely this is a blog I will get active in due course as I believe that each movement therapy has some excellent way to address  our injuries and provide healing .

http://livingaconsciouslife.blogspot.com/
4)Living a Conscious Life
The aim of this blog is to help those seeking to live a Conscious life ( a life in present )point out the best available resources(teachers, sayings , book /cd /DVD review , retreats , courses etc) with regard to Conscious Living from sources world over .
This is again a sort of extension of my Non Dual blog and right now not very active as I still continue to share messages related to non duality in my first blog ( i.e dailyspiritualmessage.blogspot.com ) but will keep this blog updated as and when I get some interesting inputs .

http://myashtangajournal.blogspot.com/
5)My Ashtanga Journal
This blog describes my Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Journey .

This is my most recent and currently active blog . As I am new to Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga  and wanted to document my  Ashtanga experiences exclusively I created this separate blog and this blog will be active as Ashtanga Vinaysa Yoga  is my current activity and will remain so for the next few years .

 51) Yoga Beyond The Mat

While most of us are aware of the type of yoga to be done on the mat but when it comes to practicing Yoga beyond the mat many of us are confused as to how it should be done . Some consider Yoga to be just what is being done on the Mat and nothing more than that . So when someone says that they are practicing Yoga they mean that they are practicing Yoga on the Mat and nothing more than that and they evaluate themselves as to how far they have progressed in Yoga by how many postures they have learnt , how long they can hold the postures , how many rounds of Surya Namaskar they can do , whether they can stand upside down in Headstand or  do advanced balancing postures like Peacock ( Mayur Asan)  , Scorpion , Crow etc . Some measure their yogic life by how many time a week they practice Yoga , how many times a week they take sattvic food , how many times they meditate , how many yoga sutras or Bhagavad Gita verses they have mastered  etc etc .First of all we must understand that Yoga means joining or integrating and hence when we say that we are practicing yoga we need to include in it all aspects of our life and not just confine it to yoga on the mat .While Yoga on the Mat is the very visible part of this journey ,there is a larger invisible yogic journey that is happening beyond the mat but since it does not have a structure like Ashtanga , Iyengar , Sivananda ,Anusara etc it is never discussed much and many do not know what it means to practice yoga beyond the mat . Yoga beyond the mat varies from person to person and situation to situation and there can be no standard yardstick for the same .Take for example the topic on Being Honest or Truthful . While we need to be honest and truthful in our speech most of the time but there are circumstances where we need to lie ,say for example your friend/family member  is seriously ill and admitted in the hospital and while the Doctor says to you personally that he/she will not be alive for long but request you not to reveal the same to the patient , you must not say No No I practice honesty in my speech and if the patient asks me what they Doctor is saying ,I will reveal to him the truth that he will not live for long . This is the most cruel way of practicing Honesty or truth in speech .So in each and every situation in life we need to weight the pros and cons and act accordingly and there is no standard rule for everyone /every situation .While scriptures like Bhagavad Gita , Yoga Sutras talk about Good /Bad , right /wrong ,standard set of universal values  like Yamas ,Niyamas etc etc but kindly note that  life is no black and white where all things are either all  black or  all white and there are hundreds of shades of grey between them and it is these  grey situations that are tricky and need to be handled and no scripture can come to your Guidance under these grey circumstances .So what is to be done under these circumstances ? There is no easy answer but Sages of the past have given 2 tools to be used when we are confronted with a difficult situation :

1) Put yourself in the shoes of the other person and see what you would do in a similar situation 

2) Introspect yourself as to your  motive behind doing anything i.e are u doing it for some seeking some rewards ( monetary or otherwise ) , are u doing it to seek love , approval or appreciation from the other .

 Putting urself in to the  shoes of the other person and verifying whether you are doing anything for selfish reasons will help you un condition your mind and give your more mental space and this extra mental space will help you get the necessary clarity to take proper decisions appropriate to the situation . But this is easily said than done as the mind has been conditioned  for centuries to think in terms of what benefit it will get directly or indirectly and suddenly asking it to revert to an unselfish situation will not work so easily .But all said and done this is the only way we can see things for clear as they are and not what we want it to be .

While the entire yoga market is flooded with Books and DVDs related to yoga postures only few are related to practicing yoga beyond the mat and I found the following 2 books very good ( links given above ):

1) Bringing Yoga to Life : The Everyday practice of Enlightened Living by Donna Farhi 

 2) Living your Yoga : Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life by Judith Lasater

Both Donna Farhi and Judith Lasater are seasoned yoga practitioners and teachers and have a rich experience of  not only yoga in general but life itself in particular and the wisdom accumulated by them in their many years of teaching yoga to people from various walks of life in various countries world over  are very much reflected in both these books and  I suggest every serious Yoga practitioner / teacher  to have these books as a guiding tool in their yoga journey as many of the tricky situations we encounter in our yogic life either as a practitioner / teacher have been already encountered by them before and they have given their own insights as to how they have handled them .