Yoga and Art

While many people understand and study the Yoga practice as an eight limbed practice, there is something very artistic about the third limb, the asana.

B.K.S Iyengar says it best "When I practice, I'm a philosopher, when I teach, I'm a scientist, when I demonstrate, I'm an artist."

If you approach yoga asana like me, it is an offering to something beyond a physical exercise, a moving prayer/meditation. When asana is captured in photos, the beauty in the pose comes from the beauty within the yoga aspirant. That connection with the divine energy that exists in all of us, is the true beauty behind the yoga asana practice. For those who have seen the beloved picture of Sri Dharma Mittra doing the 908 poses, (I have it framed in my room) you may know that Sri Dharma took the pictures himself. Each picture he would be concentrating on God, and the finish product was a gift for his beloved Guru, Swami Kailashananda.

Recently a beloved student of mine sent me an email with an attached photo. The photo was of me doing Pigeon Pose, and it was edited by her friend, an incredibly talented artist named JB Rodriguez. Apparently, JB had seen my photo on Facebook, and felt inspired. I was so touched to see the picture and amazed at how cool it looked, vivid and electric is how I would describe it. JB later asked if he could work with some more of my photos, and of course I said yes. I am so honored that he was inspired to work with my photos, and want to express my appreciation by sharing his incredible talent with you all.

I have seen a lot of his artistic edits, and it truly is amazing! If you are interested in having your photos edited, manipulated and enhanced by an incredibly talented artist, please look up JB Rodriguez on Facebook, he has a page called Way I see it: http://www.facebook.com/way.I.see.it?ref=ts

Yoga with the Amazing Tao Porchon-Lynch

Soon Bamboomoves will be blessed to have the amazing Tao Porchon-Lynch teaching a workshop on Sunday February 20th @ 2:30. From the first mention of this workshop the sign up list filled up, so we most likely will offer another workshop with Tao in the future as she is clearly in demand. This Past Sunday, I experienced why she is so amazing. I ventured out to Westchester to take Tao's class, as I wanted to meet Tao in person and thank her for graciously offering her time to teach the students at bamboomoves. It was amazing! I did not know that Tao is also Indian, she was born in Pondicherry. We were speaking and she mentioned how her favorite place in India, and in the world, to travel is Kerala which is where my family is from. Tao has studied yoga with some of the most amazing and revered yoga instructors in the world including B.K.S Iyengar and the late Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. She has walked side by side with Gandhi, made many films, danced ballroom dance and lived the life everyone should live. The reason why her life and her practice is so inspirational is because Tao abides by the philosophy "nothing is impossible". She is brilliant. Her classes were so wonderful. She teaches with such understanding of alignment (which is typical Iyengar style), she teaches with delightful stories, and demonstrates with ease and joy! At the young age of 92, Tao is an example to everyone that life can be amazing, if you live amazing! Thank you Tao for enlightening my yoga practice! I look forward to learning from you more in the future, and maybe even traveling to India with you.

Yoga at the age of 92

Sometimes people say that they are too old to do Yoga, well tell that to Yoga Master, Tao Porchon-Lynch, who is 92 years young. This inspiring yogi studied under B.K.S Iyengar and Indra Devi, walked alongside with Mahatma Gandhi and modeled in Paris. Her quote "In yoga every breath I take puts me on the right path." is a moto that everyone should maintain. Our breath is after all our life force. This amazing lady can be found at the Westchester Institute of Yoga, where she is the director and instructor of over 2o classes. Her zest for life and fearless mentality is incredible. I hope to one day take class with this amazing woman. For more information about her visit the Yahoo Front Page Article that recently highlighted her workshop at Strala Yoga.