Articles

Articles written by Madina Tanekeyeva

Yoga in Almaty, Kazakhstan

Details: Created on Thursday, 06 September 2012 09:59

Following my annual tradition, during my home country visit I have led several yoga workshops in Kazakhstan.

The first two workshops, which were organized by Maria Sorokina, took place at Yoga Dom center. Subjects that we have covered are “Adjustment clinic” and “Neutral pelvis – success in asana practice”.

The second batch of workshops was at Ashtanga Yoga Center of Almaty: “Back-bends and twists” and “Turbo Mysore style with Madina and Sergey”. Click here to see some pictures on Facebook page.

I am very grateful for these opportunities to teach, share and live yoga. Everything new that I have learnt this year in Goa from Rolf and Marci, and in London from Eileen Gauthier was transmitted to my students in Almaty. I am honored to be the link in this transmission, and I am delighted to have so many followers and returning students!

Another fun experience was related to Cosmopolitan magazine with which I co-operated in writing an article about “Yoga in the office”. The photo shoot was fun; I have already previewed the future page. This was my first glossy experience and I enjoyed big time! The photo shoot was made in an old Soviet building, so I felt as if I was 30 years back in time! For those in Almaty, I will let you know when you can purchase the issue with me in it!!!

I am looking forward to coming back to my motherland and teaching again!

6 Tips for Inviting Feminine Energy Into Ashtanga

Details: Created on Tuesday, 26 June 2012 19:34

I am just about to finish reading yet another interesting and inspiring book, which my friend has recommended to me. For a long time she was a fan of the author, David Deida, so after listening to so many things about his teachings, I got into it as well. “It’s a guy thing” is a manual into guys’ world for women; and it talks a lot about the play of feminine and masculine aspects in all of us.

But what am I talking about here when I mention masculine and feminine aspects? Basically, these are the opposing energies in life: yin and yang, sun and moon, consciousness and energy etc. Masculine having qualities like sense of direction, unbending intent, structure, control, discipline, diligence, planning and persistence; while feminine is being all about sensual pleasure, intuition, love, connection to one’s own body, enjoyment and surrender. The ideal situation is when each of us is very well connected to both aspects and is able to switch from one to another when necessary, so that the universal balance is maintained.

5 steps to HAPPY FEET

Details: Created on Tuesday, 26 June 2012 19:27

Did you know that each foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, 19 muscles; and all bones in both feet make up a quarter of bones in our entire body? Fascinating, isn’t it?

As feet are furthest from our eye sensory organs, we often neglect them and think of them as something alien and even dirty! For me personally, only once I started practicing yoga, I literally took a closer look at my lovely feet. Before that, I never paid attention to them or cared for them, they were long forgotten since my childhood.

Till one day, in a yoga class we were doing a hip opening exercise and the teacher told us to hold up our one foot and give it a kiss. I was sort of embarrassed to do that really, kiss my own foot and then touch it to my forehead? Though when I did it, it felt amazingly freeing! I connected to the part of my body, which I have not paid attention to at all, and it was great to welcome it back.

Why Bandhas, Breath and Drishti?

Details: Created on Sunday, 01 April 2012 18:14

In my very first Ashtanga class the teacher has mentioned the pelvic floor, inward movement of the belly button, breath and gazing points. And just as everyone else I followed the instructions and tried to look at my navel, squeeze the anus sphincter, pull my lower belly in and breathe soundly. It was not easy, but pretty soon I felt that this actually helped me to work in challenging poses, bend forward and balance in weird positions.

I have read numerous books on this subject and I keep exploring these aspects of Ashtanga practice both on experiential and intellectual levels. To my amazement, I discovered that bandhas, drishti and breath’s action on the physical level is actually connected to sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Desperate ashtangis. Series II. Episode – Kapotasana.

Details: Created on Sunday, 01 April 2012 14:28

One day I walked into an Ashtanga yoga class without realizing what a path I was going to walk, without knowing that this would be a life-changing experience. Even though I was not a noodle girl, thanks to my determination and commitment, my asana progress was rather easy and quick. One and a half years later I found myself in Mysore’s “big shala” practicing at the feet of the lineage Guru, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. This was approximately when my personal soap opera begun.

Ashtanga invocation. Simple explanation.

Details: Created on Friday, 16 March 2012 02:49

Ashtanga practitioners chant this verse 6 days a week before the practice, and the meaning behind it is very beautiful. Not being a Sanskrit scholar, I would like to share my down-to-earth explanation of the chant, the way I perceive it. My view is certainly influenced by Buddhist teachings that I have been following for some years now, therefore please keep this in mind =)

Sahasrara chakra

Details: Created on Thursday, 15 March 2012 13:05

Sahasrara (“sahasra” from Sanskrit means thousand) chakra is the highest and most subtle chakra, the ball of purple light at the fontanel. It is actually located outside the body as often it is spoken of as a multicolored thousand petal lotus. The fact that it is outside the body denotes that this chakra has not much to do with the gross physical body; it is rather related to divine consciousness.

Ajna Chakra

Details: Created on Tuesday, 21 February 2012 02:54

Anja Ajna (command) is the sixth chakra, indigo colored ball of light in between the eye brows. This chakra is related to a deeper insight, intuition visualization and imagination.

Visuddha Chakra

Details: Created on Tuesday, 31 January 2012 02:38

Visuddha (cleanse, purity) is the fifth chakra, a light blue ball of light located at the throat. This is the place where the result of our spiritual practice starts manifesting for real. Here, after stirring the prana, realigning the shushumna nadi and harmonizing the chakras that are below throat, we start waking the process towards constant stream of presence and awareness. However, this is the place where it gets energetically complicated, as with the prana we not only bring up the amrita (the nectar of immortality), but also the hala-hala (poison of delusion).

Anahata Chakra

Details: Created on Friday, 13 January 2012 02:35

Anahata (unhurt or unbeaten) is the forth chakra, a green ball of light located at the heart area. Anahata is the “yammie” chakra (its seed syllable is sound YAM) of love, kindness, affection, sharing, compassion, friendliness, forgiveness. If in third chakra, we talked of more superficial (though still very important) relationships with colleagues, class mates, partners etc., in Anahata we talk about parents, old friendships, life partners and children etc.

On this level to have a healthy harmonious energy center, the most important thing is to truly love ourselves for what we are. This love does not mean loving ourselves for this or that, for certain achievements and victories; instead this love is unconditional. When we start working with Anahata we should, as Sogyal Rinpoche often says, instead of looking outwardly, start SEEING inwardly. We have all experienced it one way or another, by feeling quiet when looking at the sky, when feeling happy being on our own, when hugging someone we love and feeling tingling sensation in the chest, when helping a suffering being we did not know before, during meditation or yoga. Only after we discover and fall in love with our pure being, which is unconditional and perfect from the beginning, can we develop true compassion, kindness and love towards others.

Manipura Chakra

Details: Created on Monday, 02 January 2012 02:03

Mani (jewel) pura (city) is the third chakra, a yellow ball of light located above the navel at the stomach area. Manipura for me is the chakra of our civilization; thanks to its activity our capitalistic empire is flourishing. After taking care of our physical body, heath & home, making sure that we are having fun and enjoying life, we start establishing ourselves in the society. This chakra is all about asserting ourselves in a group, family, society; it is about building our fort or empire (“pura” stands for city). Thanks to Manipura we have got corporations, parties, unions, and countries that exist in our realm.

Swadisthana Chakra

Details: Created on Monday, 12 December 2011 02:00

Swa (self) disthana (residence) is the second chakra, an orange ball of light located below the navel and above the pubic bone. After establishing connection with our physical body and having made it comfortable in the base chakra, we continue our journey with making our life fun and joy. As if building the house itself was Muladhara’s job; lighting up candles, hanging paintings and playing music in that house would be the domain of Swadisthana. This energetic center is all about feelings, sensuality, and sexuality. On the physical level it is connected to ovaries (reproductive system) and adrenal gland which in its turn is responsible for production of adrenalin and various hormones.

Muladhara Chakra

Details: Created on Wednesday, 07 December 2011 01:58

Mula (root) dhara(base) chakra is the lowest located chakra, the ball of red light at the base of our spine. From there we are lifting up to the sky as well as we root our legs into the ground. This chakra is connected to our ancestry, our parents, beliefs which we have formed being brought up in a certain family, basic knowledge on how to survive and sustain our physical body.

Motivations that drive us from this chakra are connected with providing ourselves security and stability, sense of feeling at home. At this level we are very much influenced by our parental background. For instance, kids that are born into the family of musicians, and who commenced on this profession as well, were driven by Muladhara when they took up this path. In yoga world, we can think of Sharath (Rangaswami) Jois, who was born into the family of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and who later became a great practitioner and a teacher of his own right.

Chakras. Simple explanation.

Details: Created on Tuesday, 29 November 2011 01:54

Chakra Explanation As a yoga practitioner I bet you have heard of the word “chakra”. For example, I have heard that it can be opened, harmonized and even cleansed (which I question really). Even though various masters have already written texts and books on this subject, I decided to share my vision of chakras from a perspective of a lay, not yet enlightened being, in a very simple down to earth way. Every week I will write a short piece on each chakra, so do not get discouraged by this rather long preface =)

Astanga Yoga School Amsterdam, the "yellow baby".

Details: Created on Tuesday, 22 November 2011 01:50

Just over a year ago Astanga Yoga School Amsterdam was born, a “yellow baby” as I called it. It was long awaited by Claudia and me – a place, where ashtanga yoga in its pure form would be spread in the Netherlands.

Astanga Yoga School Amsterdam